“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ---Lao Tzu
If you are in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don’t have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn’t control your life you do. I’m not going to tell you how to give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower. 1.
Do less.
Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but on quality.2. Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus.
Have fewer meetings.
3.And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush.
4.
When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, and that don’t get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them?
Practice mindfulness.
Simply learn to live in the present, rather than things so much about future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you are with someone, be with them fully. When you are walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.
Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed. 5.
A.Start to put off or cancel the unnecessary.
B.Meetings are usually a “big waste of time”.
C.The world likely won’t end if you don’t pass one of the examinations.
D.But here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life.
E.Remember the quote: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.
F.Pick 2-3 important things---or even just one important thing---and work on those first.
G.Give yourself more time to get ready and get there.
I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hearing again the radio program for school children to which I listened every morning.
I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving and never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism（乐观）, but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times.”
My responsibilities in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with Immigration officers（移民局官员）, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: Almost all common troubles go away at last! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy.
1.How did the author get to know America?
A. From radio programs B. From books and pictures
C. From her mother D. From her relatives
2.Upon leaving for America the author felt __________.
A. excited B. confused
C. worried D. amazed
3.For the first two years in New York, the author __________.
A. often lost her way
B. did not think about her future
C. studied in three different schools
D. got on well with her stepfather
4.What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 4?
A. She worked as a translator.
B. She attended a lot of job interviews.
C. She paid telephone bills for her family.
D. She helped her family with her English.
I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.
The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.
Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.
The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡110 million a year, funding(资助) medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.
1.The author loves the charity shop mainly because of .
A. its convenient location B. its great variety of goods
C. its spirit of goodwill D. its nice shopping environment
2.The first charity shop in the UK was set up to .
A. sell cheap products B. deal with unwanted things
C. raise money for patients D. help a foreign country
3.Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?
A. The operating costs are very low. B. The staff are usually well paid.
C. 90% of the donations are second-hand. D. They are open twenty-four hours a day.
4.Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
A. What to Buy at Charity Shops.
B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.
C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.
D. The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.
Are people less happy or more happy the older they get ? A study found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age 50. In fact, it found that by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were at 18.
The finding came from a Gallup survey of more than 340,000 adults between the age of 18 and 85 in the United States.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The survey also found that men and women had similar emotional patternsas they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
So why would happiness increase with age ? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The original goal of the study was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that , people reported that they felt their sleep quality improved as they got older.
1.Old people may be happier probably because _________
A. their children have grown up. B. they don’t have to work every day.
C. they can do whatever they like best. D. they are most likely satisfied with life.
2.According to the survey, when will adults feel most stressful?
A. In their twenties. B. In their fifties.
C. In their seventies. D. In their eighties.
3.What may make Arthur Stone a bit surprised?
A. Women usually live longer than men. B. Middle-age men mostly are very rich.
C. Old people usually have a better sleep. D. Most of old people can’t sleep well at night.
4.Which of the following may be the topic of this passage ?
A. The difference between men and women. B. Old people’s feeling of happiness.
C. The young people and the old people. D. The connection of sleep and happiness.
Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum
Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August.
Admission is at normal charges and you don’t need to book. They end around 21:00.
November 7th
The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made a positive contribution to the education of that group of early “civil engineers”.
December 5th
Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London’s ice trade grew.
February 6th
An Update on the Cotsword Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.
March 6th
Eyots and Aits—Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.
Online bookings:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book
More infor:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson
London Cannal Museum
12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT
www.canalmuseum.org.uk www.canalmuseum.mobi
Tel:02077130836
1.When is the talk on James Brindley?
A. February 6th. B. March 6th.
C. November 7th. D. December 5th.
2.What is the topic of the talk in February?
A. The Canal Pioneers. B. Ice for the Metropolis
C. Eyots and Aits—Thames Islands D. An Update on the Cotsword Canals
3.Who will give the talk on the islands in the Thames?
A. Miranda Vickers. B. Malcolm Tucker.
C. Chris Lewis. D. Liz Payne.
假定你是李华，正在你班学习汉语的英国留学生Bill对中国的建筑很感兴趣，周末你想带他到苏州园林游玩。请你给Bill写一封电子邮件，邀请他一同前往。
注意:
1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3.开头语已写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Bill,
How are you doing?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
