Ancient Rome was one of the world’s most powerful empires more than 2,000 years ago. The Romans’ Ideas about roads, laws, government and buildings still influence us today. Italy is shaped like a boot.
The Colosseum (角斗场) in Rome was built during the time of the Roman Empire, in the first century A.D. 1.. It is a popular tourist attraction today.
Italy is well-known for its designers, who create cars, handbags, clothes, shoes and other items that are in demand for their style and fine workmanship.
Today, the economy of Italy is stronger than in the past. 2.. Today, manufacturing and tourism are the main sources of income. There are some big companies, but Italy has many smaller companies, too. 3.. The southern part does not offer as many manufacturing jobs, so it is not as prosperous.
Italy is a member of the European Union, a group of countries that join together for better trade. The currency, or money, they use is called the “euro”.
Food and eating good meals are important to Italians. 4.. Popular foods include pasta, risotto, minestrone and pizza. McDonald’s is also popular there.
Many families still eat their main meal in the middle of the day. 5.. Families spend a lot of time together.
A.The family is very important to the Italian way of life.
B.The country used to depend on agriculture.
C.Mountains cover about three-fourths of the country.
D.It could seat about 50,000 people, who went to see fights between animals and people.
E.While there are some supermarkets, many people shop at small, neighborhood markets.
F.Italy has several islands off the coast.
G.The northern part of the country is the main manufacturing center.
Many people think that listening is a passive business. It is just the opposite. Listening well is an active exercise of our attention and hard work. It is because they do not realize this, or because they are not willing to do the work, that most people do not listen well.
Listening well also requires total concentration upon someone else. An essential part of listening well is the rule known as ‘bracketing’. Bracketing includes the temporary giving up or setting aside of your own prejudices and desires, to experience as far as possible someone else’s world from the inside, stepping into his or her shoes. Moreover, since listening well involves bracketing, it also involves a temporary acceptance of the other person. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will seem quite willing to open up the inner part of his or her mind to the listener. True communication is under way and the energy required for listening well is so great that it can be accomplished only by the will to extend oneself for mutual growth.
Most of the time we lack this energy. Even though we may feel in our business dealings or social relationships that we are listening well, what we are usually doing is listening selectively. Often we have a prepared list in mind and wonder, as we listen, how we can achieve certain desired results to get the conversation over as quickly as possible or redirected in ways more satisfactory to us. Many of us are far more interested in talking than in listening, or we simply refuse to listen to what we don’t want to hear.
It wasn’t until toward the end of my doctor career that I have found the knowledge that one is being truly listened to is frequently therapeutic (有疗效的). In about a quarter of the patients I saw, surprising improvement was shown during the first few months of psychotherapy (心理疗法), before any of the roots of problems had been uncovered or explained. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but chief among them, I believe, was the patient’s sense that he or she was being truly listened to, often for the first time in years, and for some, perhaps for the first time ever.
1.What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 2?
A.How to listen well. B.What to listen to.
C.Benefits of listening. D.Problems in listening.
2.According to the author, in communication people tend to ________.
A.listen actively B.listen purposefully
C.set aside their prejudices D.open up their inner mind
3.According to the author, the patients improved mainly because _______.
A.they were taken good care of. B.they knew they were truly listened to.
C.they had partners to talk to. D.they knew the roots of problems.
4.What type of writing the article likely to be?
A.Science fiction B.A news report.
C.A medical report. D.Popular science
When international aid is given, steps must be taken to ensure that the aid reaches the people for whom it is intended. The way to achieve this may not be simple. It is very difficult for a nation to give help directly to people in another nation. The United Nations Organization (UNO) could undertake to direct the distribution of aid. Here however rises the problem of costs. Also tied with this is time. Perhaps the UNO could set up a body of devoted men and women in every country who can speedily distribute aid to victims of floods and earthquakes.
More than the help that one nation can give to another during a disaster, it would be more effective to give other forms of help during normal times. A common proverb says, “Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime.” If we follow this wise saying, it would be right to teach people from less developed nations to take care of themselves. For example, a country could share its technology with another. This could be in simple areas like agriculture or in more complex areas like medical and health care or even in building satellites. Even a small country is able to help less developed nations. Sometimes what is taken for granted, like the setting up of a water purification plant or the administration of a school, could be useful for countries which are looking about to solve common problems. It does not cost much to share such simple things. Exchange students could be attached for a number of months or years and learn the required craft while on the site. They can then take their knowledge back to their homelands and if necessary come back from time to time to clear doubts or to update themselves. Such aid will be truly helpful and there is no chance of it being temporary or of it falling into the wrong hands.
Many countries run extensive courses in all sorts of skills. It will not cost much to include deserving foreigners in these courses. Besides giving effective help to the countries concerned, there is also the build-up of friendships to consider. Giving direct help by giving materials may be effective in the short run and must continue to be given in the event of emergencies. However, in the long run what is really effective would be the sharing of knowledge.
1.The second paragraph is developed mainly _________.
A.by example B.by process
C.by comparison D.by contrast
2.Which aid is likely to fall into the wrong hands?
A.A medical team. B.An exchange program.
C.A water plant. D.Financial support.
3.What can we infer about international aid from the passage?
A.It is facing difficulties.
B.It should be given in the form of materials.
C.It has gained support by developed countries.
D.It is unnecessary during normal times.
The light from the campfire brightened the darkness, but it could not prevent the damp cold of Dennis’s Swamp (沼泽地) creeping into their bones. It was a strange place. Martin and Tom wished that they had not accepted Jack’s dare. They liked camping, but not near this swamp.
“So,” Martin asked as they sat watching the hot coals. “How did this place get its name? ”
“Are you sure you want to hear it? It’s a scary story,” warned Jack.
“Of course!” cried out Tom. “If there were anything to be scared of, you wouldn’t have chosen this place!”
“Ok, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Jack, and he began this tale.
“Way back in time, a man called Dennis tried to start a farm here. He built that cottage over there to live in. In those days, the area looked quite different — it was covered with tall trees and the swamp was a crystal-clear river. After three hard years, Dennis had cleared several fields and planted crops. He was so proud of his success that he refused to listen to advice.
“You are clearing too much land,” warned one old man. “The land is a living thing. It will hit back at you if you abuse it.”
“Silly fool,” said Dennis to himself. “If I clear more land, I can grow more crops. I’ll become wealthier. He’s just jealous!”
“Dennis continued to chop down trees. Small animals that relied on them for food and shelter were destroyed. He was so eager to expand his farm that he did not notice the river flowing slowly towards his door. He did not notice salt seeping (渗透) to the surface of the land. He did not notice swamp plants choking all the native plants.”
“What happened?” Martin asked. It was growing colder. He trembled, twisting his body closer to the fire.
“The land hit back — just as the old man warned,” Jack shrugged. “Dennis disappeared. Old folks around here believe that swamp plants moved up from the river and dragged him underwater. His body was never found.”
“What a stupid story,” laughed Tom. “Plants can’t…” Before he had finished speaking, he screamed and fainted. The other two boys jumped up with fright, staring at Tom. Suddenly, they burst out laughing. Some green swamp ivy (常春藤) had covered Tom’s face. It was a while before Tom could appreciate the joke.
1.The underlined word “dare” in Paragraph 1 is closed in meaning to ________.
A.courage B.assistance
C.instruction D.challenge
2.Why did Tom scream and faint?
A.He saw Dennis’s shadow. B.He was scared by a plant.
C.His friends played a joke on him. D.The weather became extremely cold.
3.What lesson can we learn from the story of Dennis?
A.Grasp all, lose all.
B.No sweat, no sweet.
C.He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
D.It is no use crying over spilt milk.
假如你是李华，在英国某中学参加了为期一个月的交换生交流活动。请你给该校校长Mr Black 写一封电子邮件，表示感谢。
内容主要包括：
1.感谢帮助(包括提供的活动，赠送的礼物)；
2.交流感受(了解了英国文化、提高了英语水平)；
3.欢迎来访。
注意：1.词数不少于100 词；可适当增加细节。
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mr. Black,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
短文改错
I will never forget that at the age of 12 I was asked to deliver a speech entitled An Unforgettable Experience before the whole class! How terrible shy I was the moment I thought of that. I had no choice but prepare for it, though. First, I drafted the speech, which was easy. But the hardest part lies in my oral presentation. The real moment began as I stood on the platform with my legs trembled and my mind blank. But my listener were waiting patiently. Gradually I found myself back, giving out my speech fluently. After which seemed to be ages, I found my audience applauding. I made it! From then on, my fear disappeared. Actually with your confidence building up, I now turn out to be the great speaker. Looking at back, I know the greatest difficulty on the way to success is fear. Overcome it, or you will be able to achieve your goals.
