The malls were filled with people seeking gifts for their loved ones. Some of the malls remained open around the clock, partly to satisfy our needs to buy gifts.
Behind the materialistic aspect of shopping for gifts lies the idea of caring, being attentive to the desires of special people in our lives. However, to use a well-worn play on words: it is our presence, not our presents, that truly counts. Many of us, unfortunately, can be so inattentive, even in the presence of our loved ones, that we might as well not be there at all.
Attention is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. Companies around the globe spend billions every year on advertising to catch our attention for just a short moment at a time. Whole industries – media, entertainment, education – rely on the precious gift of our attention for their continued existence. A baby lacking attention for a long time is likely to he psychologically unhealthy.
In earlier times, both diet and attention could be left unregulated without major cause for concern. There were natural checks and balances: limited availability of food meant few got fat, for example. Similarly, in bygone times we might have spent a few hours communicating with the village storyteller, today, watching an entire TV series, while speaking to nobody, is common. In traditional societies, with smaller population, everyone would get a fair deal of attention. On many issues we might go to see Grandma or Grandpa; now we have Google and Wikipedia.
“She just wants attention.” people tend to think little of those doing things simply for attention. But the truth is that human beings need attention, and giving attention to each other is, to a large extent, what human civilization is based upon. This perhaps explains the runaway success（一举成功）of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. While we use such sites for “micro blogging”, “idea voicing” and “status updates” – the reality is that we are often doing no more or less than fulfilling our basic human drive for attention exchange.
I friend you, you friend me, I retweet you, you retweet me. The charming case with which we can now get and give attention is why many people appear overly attached to their smartphones. It is also a vicious（恶性）circle. As ever more people are busy exchanging attention online, there is increasingly less attention to be paid in the real world, which forces more people to seek their attention exchange online, or else risk attention-starvation.
The very nature of attention exchange is being rapidly transformed, and there is a danger that some of us will develop unhealthy practices. Just as eating red meat every day is a bad idea, so it is with too much attention exchange. The biological consequences of our technological advancement in food production are highly visible; heart disease, diabetes and obesity. The consequences of our transformed attention exchanges will be psychological and social, and so may take longer to identify, but they will be equally damaging.
Face-to-face attention is becoming rarer, and therefore more valuable. In a sense it is priceless. And it is a gift that can be given all-year-round.
1.In the first two paragraphs the author .
A．offers advice to attention givers B．analyses the present problems
C．states the necessity of presents D．puts forward his point of view
2.People use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to .
A．obtain information B．give attention to others
C．voice their opinions D．notice and get noticed
3.Attention exchange was not a major concern in traditional societies because of .
A．limited availability of food B．natural checks and balances
C．a much smaller population D．the guidance from old people
4.What can we infer from Paragraph 6-7?
A．More people will risk attention-starvation in future.
B．The nature of attention exchange is rarely changed.
C．Technological advancement contributes to all diseases.
D．Transformed attention exchanges do harm to society.
5.The writer’s purpose for writing the passage is to .
A．advocate more focus on real life attention
B．analyze the necessity of attention giving
C．give practical tips on attention exchange
D．recommend some social networking sites
Chinese writer Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize for Literature might ignite an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
“Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated,” says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. “Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years.”
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo’s win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary（富于幻想的）writer. “We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available,” Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, “It’s mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture.”
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, “The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts — in particular, China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way round — and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap.”
1.The underlined word “ignite” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”.
A．start out B．burn up C．set off D．appeal to
2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A．Chinese literature has spread with the development of China.
B．The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years.
C．In the past, no Chinese writers were accepted outside China.
D．Foreigners know about China mainly by reading Mo Yan’s works.
3.Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention mainly because
A．Chinese writers have been writing more and more books in English
B．the Chinese language has become the most widely used language in the world
C．the Chinese government attaches great importance to literature
D．the cultural communication between China and western countries has developed
4.How do you understand the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A．China knows more about Europe and America than before.
B．China knows more about Europe and America than they know about China.
C．China, Europe and America know one another more than before.
D．Compared with America, China knows more about Europe.
If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal(内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes. They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no short cut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle,” Bell said.
1.According to the pass age, which of the following is WRONG?
A．People with heart disease all have internal fat.
B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet.
C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat.
D．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat.
2.From the last paragraph, we can find that ______.
A．whether internal fat can lead to disease has been proved
B．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy
C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim
D．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat
3.Doctors have found ______.
A．the exact dangers of internal fat
B．internal fat is the cause of heart disease and diabetes
C．being slim doesn’t mean you are not fat inside
D．being slim is not dangerous at all
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph means ______.
A．a long road B．a clear difference
C．an easy way D．a short distance
The common Chinese greeting of “Ni chi le ma?” may soon be replaced by a new greeting: “Have you cleaned your plate?”
Over the Spring Festival holiday there was a big effort to get people to curb their habit of ordering too much food in restaurants because a lot of that food ended up being wasted. Holiday eaters were urged to “clean their plates” and were asked to take leftover food home in “doggy bags.”
The impetus behind the campaign was the startling government statistic that over 200 billion yuan is spent every year on food that ends up in the garbage bin. And in the midst of all this waste, statistics show that 128 million people are living below the poverty line and going hungry.
The “clean your plate” campaign is part of a worldwide effort to stop precious food from being wasted. The United Nations estimates that $1trillion (yes, that’s a very big number) worth of food is wasted each year. Most of that is lost during food production and transportation, but a significant percentage is attributed to waste by consumers. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has launched a campaign called “Think. Eat. Save.” to make people aware of the problem.
Chinese actress Fan Bingbing is an ambassador for UNEP and she encouraged people to upload pictures of their “clean plates” to show their support for the program. Thousands of people responded and demonstrated that they had a clear conscience to go along with their full stomachs.
Xi Jinping, the incoming Chinese president, is also urging people to be less wasteful and he told Party members to cut back on extravagant holiday banquets and to be more careful when spending the people’s money.
For some, though, Xi Jinping’s and Fan Bingbing’s admonitions don’t go far enough. Yuan Longping, an agricultural scientist, caused a stir by saying that wasting food should be treated as a crime. (Jail time for leftover chicken feet!?)
If not a crime, wasting food is certainly a sin and it goes against what Xi Jinping calls, “the Chinese tradition of being diligent and thrifty.” Having a “clean plate” is just a traditional and responsible thing to do.
1.Which statement is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A．Over 200 billion yuan is wasted every year on food around China.
B．It’s quite common for Chinese people to order more food than they need in restaurants.
C．It’s universally acknowledged that wasting food is a crime.
D．Fan did something to promote people’s awareness of saving food.
2.What’ the best title for the passage?
A．Food is important. B．Have you cleaned your plate?
C．Jail time for leftover chicken feet!? D．Wasting food is crime.
When I was young I loved taking part in high school musicals．I loved to 36 in front of hundreds of people．In one production, I auditioned（试音）like 37 else. My music teacher was 38 that I would get a particular part in the music drama. The part I thought I had was a 39 lead who sang some of the most beautiful love songs.
But one day the show director pulled me aside. I was 40 to be offered the leading role. To my disappointment, he said, “Bob, I found a boy with an excellent voice. I need to give the 41 to him.”
From that moment on I began hating music class. I 42 that I didn’t like what we were singing. My music teacher didn’t know why. She 43 me in front of the class and told me I had changed. She didn’t know what I had been told. But when they 44 the finalists, I was given a 45 role. For some time my pride was 46 with having to do something I didn’t think I should be doing. But I did it. The minor role I had 47 to be much more fun than I had expected. My performance even 48 my brother who was also in the audience.
Life is really like a 49 and although we do not audition for the role, each of us is 50 by the director to play a certain part in it. The 51 is that we sometimes don’t like the part we are given. Like me in high school I became 52 -–if I couldn’t be the lead, I wouldn’t show up for rehearsal（彩排）.
Then we wonder why we feel so 53 . Sometimes we don’t even feel like we are a part of the “Big Show. ” Everyone does indeed have a role. Some are in front of the curtain, some are behind, but all are 54 for the show to go on. All 55 to success no matter how minor the part is.
1. A．debate B．broadcast C．sing D．show
2. A．someone B．everyone C．anyone D．no one
3. A．prejudiced B．concerned C．unexpected D．convinced
4. A．romantic B．ridiculous C．mysterious D．sensitive
5. A．attempting B．expecting C．volunteering D．pretending
6. A．part B．deal C．favor D．item
7. A．assessed B．advocated C．concluded D．complained
8. A．warned B．scolded C．informed D．suspected
9. A．presented B．identified C．announced D．delivered
10. A．specific B．super C．slight D．small
11. A．struggling B．competing C．swinging D．changing
12. A．happened B．proved C．expanded D．switched
13. A．terrified: B．disappointed C．surprised D．embarrassed
14. A．joke B．journey C．stage D．play
15. A．appointed B．attached C．employed D．instructed
16. A．reason B．problem C．balance D．focus
17. A．curious B．helpless C．angry D．positive
18. A．exhausted B．lost C．delighted D．thrilled
19. A．necessary B．dependent C．natural D．perfect
20. A．react B．adjust C．refer D．contribute
—Do you think you will be able to finish your writing by five o’clock today?
— ______. I’ll be busy with experiments all day.
A．Not a chance B．Not a little
C．Not to mention it D．Not a big deal
