I used to have what everyone might call a good life a few years ago, which was because I had a permanent ____ that paid the bills, I had a good family that I was really close to, and I had a place to live in and money in the bank for trips and____ . However, I was bored even if there was nothing much wrong in my life. I wanted more. I really wanted to live ____ and make sharp memories instead of the ____ ones of everyday life, ____ I was a little afraid. I had never had any ____ in myself. When I was a child, even buying something in a shop caused me a great deal of____ , and even though I did get better as I got older, I never___ that childhood shyness. And I tried everything, like reading books about confidence. I took tiny steps towards my goals. But none of them really___ .
As a result, I___ that the small steps weren’t enough. Soon afterwards, I signed up for an internship( 实 习 工 作 ) teaching English in Vietnam, a huge step which seemed____, one that frightened me as much as it ____ me. I was looking forward to it. And then eventually the day came and I left my home as well as my loved ones. I stayed all alone in a distant country where the local food was ____ and the streets were dirty. I had no idea whether I could ____ everything this very strange environment would___ at me.
I had been in Vietnam for more than five months, teaching, exploring and laughing. I had learned to ____ myself, my skills, my abilities and my decisions. After that period of time, I returned home and was ____ , even to myself, not to mention to others. The ____ that had controlled my life and the self-doubt completely___ . That one big chance___ everything for me, and in me.
1.A.job B.home C.address D.solution
2.A.fines B.medals C.rewards D.treats
3.A.selflessly B.easily C.brightly D.peacefully
4.A.valuable B.sweet C.unforgettable D.ordinary
5.A.but B.so C.or D.and
6.A.shame B.pride C.confidence D.doubt
7.A.amazement B.stress C.joy D.responsibility
8.A.employed B.doubted C.inspected D.overcame
9.A.helped B.failed C.survived D.continued
10.A.imagined B.decided C.predicted D.promised
11.A.equal B.reasonable C.impossible D.unimportant
12.A.excited B.disappointed C.impressed D.ignored
13.A.perfect B.necessary C.tasty D.strange
14.A.add to B.give up C.deal with D.suffer from
15.A.point B.shout C.throw D.aim
16.A.accept B.trust C.excuse D.forgive
17.A.unrecognizable B.unreliable C.unconcerned D.unsatisfied
18.A.respect B.fear C.courage D.tiredness
19.A.picked up B.held on C.broke out D.went away
20.A.drew B.changed C.made D.bought
Chopsticks
When were chopsticks invented?
In fact, before the invention of chopsticks, Chinese ancestors actually used hands to eat, but how did they eat soup and porridge? 1. Chinese Started to use chopsticks about 3,000 years ago in the Shang Dynasty.
Who invented chopsticks?
The records of using chopsticks have been found in many written books but have no exact evidence. However, many stories are about the invention of chopsticks. One says that Jiang Ziya, an ancient wise man,created chopsticks. 2. But there is no exact historical record about the invention. We can only say that smart ancient Chinese invented chopsticks.
How to use Chinese chopsticks?
3. you can do it if you practice it for some time, even if you are a foreigner. The key to managing chopsticks is keeping one chopstick in position while moving the other to pick up food. Remember to practice with patience.
4.
Chopsticks are usually held in the right hand, and left-handed chopstick use is considered as improper in China. Playing with chopsticks is thought to be impolite. It is considered to be polite and thoughtful to pick up food for the elderly and children.
A chopstick-themed museum in Shanghai
If you are truly interested in chopsticks, it will be a good choice for you to pay a visit to the Shanghai Chopsticks Museum. The museum gathered more than 2,000 pairs of chopsticks from China, Korea, Japan and Thailand.5.
A. Which hand to hold chopsticks?
B. Chopstick manners in China.
C. Chopsticks were introduced to many other countries because of their lightness.
D. Using two slim sticks to pick up food is actually not difficult.
E. The oldest one among them was from Tang Dynasty.
F. There also go around some other stories.
G. They had to use sticks to eat them.
Will people remember less with Internet users becoming more and more dependent on the Internet to store information? If you know your computer will save information, why do you store it in your own personal memory, your brain?
Professor Betsy Sparrow, together with her research team, has carried out some experiments in a recent study, wanting to know how the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they offered people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the computer. The information was in a specific computer folder( 文 件 夹 ). Surprisingly, people later remembered the folder locations better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory(交互记忆)”.
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet.
Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organize huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.
1.Why does the text begin with two questions?
A.To make a comparison. B.To introduce the main topic.
C.To show the author’s attitude. D.To list some examples.
2.What can we learn about the first experiment?
A.The Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer.
B.The two groups remembered the information equally well.
C.The first group did not try to remember the information.
D.The second group did not understand the information.
3.What do people usually do in transactive memory?
A.They remember how to find the information.
B.They organize information like a computer.
C.They change the quantity of information.
D.They bear the information in mind.
4.What is Sparrow’s attitude towards the influence the Internet has on people’s memory ?
A.Negative. B.Passive. C.Objective. D.Doubtful.
Recently, the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have suggested that breakdancing be included in 2024, making it closer to becoming an Olympic sport. The other 3 sports-surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing-will all make debuts in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. That is to say, audience will be able to watch these three sports as Olympic events for the first time.
The organizers stressed that four sports had been chosen since they would reflect the city’s identity and help take the Olympics to the street. They added that the purposes were to deliver a Games that was able to keep up with the times and encourage new audience and attract young people. Breakdancing is a typical example which can be played without the limitations of time and places in urban and other environments.
As one of the sports at the Young Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, breakdancing now could see its popularity greatly raised. But the International Olympic Committee(IOC) needs to approve the French suggestion before it can be formally added to the 2024 Paris Olympics sports programme.
With new IOC rules first introduced to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Host cities can select sports and propose them for inclusion in those Games if they are popular in that country and add to the Game’s appeal.
Antonio Espinos Ortueta, the president of the World Karate Federation said, “Our sport has grown rapidly over the last years. We believe that we have met all the requirements and that we have the perfect conditions to be added to the sports programme. However, we have learned today that we still haven’t had the chance to prove our value as an Olympic sport.”
1.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “debuts” in paragraph 1 ?
A.announcements. B.appearances. C.admissions. D.advertisements.
2.What can we learn about breakdancing?
A.It attracts people of all ages.
B.It is the symbol of Paris.
C.It was performed in 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics .
D.It can be played anytime and anywhere.
3.What does IOC do in selecting sports?
A.Give useful advice. B.Offer enough support.
C.Give detailed explanations. D.Have the last word.
4.Which of the following is TRUE according to Antonio Espinos Ortueta’s words?
A.He thought it easy for a new sport to be included in Olympics.
B.He thought breakdancing was far from ready to be an Olympic event.
C.He couldn’t be sure of the final decision of IOC.
D.He found it likely for breakdancing to be performed in Olympics.
When I was reading a post about taking someone to the movies, something happened a couple of years ago suddenly hit me.
I used to drink Cokes and they had a competition where there was a code inside the bottle cap. You might win something so long as you went to a website and entered the code. I won some free Cokes. But what astonished and delighted me was the Grand Prize I won then.
The Grand Prize was free movies for a year. They pointed out that one movie a week was what free movies for a year meant. All of the tickets were valid(有效的) for one year from the day I received them. So I must use them in the following year. I used quite a few taking friends to movies we all wanted to see.
But the best thing I did with them was that I donated 20 tickets (all I had left by that time) to the local Women’s Transition House, a place where women and children could go when avoiding a bad situation in general and get help to make a new start.
My workplace team had decided to help people in need, so we collected donations for that particular New Year’s Day. I knew that the Women’s Transition House provided some childcare for the women so they could go for job interviews and things like that.
I put those tickets in a box and wrote a note on the outside, asking the Women’s Transition House staff to give movie tickets to women there over the holidays to have some fun to do, with or without their children, which made me really happy.
1.How did the author get the tickets?
A.By visiting a website by chance. B.By using some Cokes to get them.
C.By getting a code at the bottom of a bottle. D.By winning the prize for drinking Cokes.
2.How many tickets did the author and his friends use?
A.About 22. B.About 32. C.About 52. D.About 365.
3.Which of the following best describe the author ?
A.Lucky and caring. B.Creative and careful.
C.Responsible and cheerful. D.Thankful and generous.
4.Which of the following proverb can best explain the main idea of this article？
A.The roses in their hands, the flavor in mine.
B.Good luck favors those who are always ready.
C.Actions speak louder than words.
D.God helps those who help themselves.
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