When you don’t have a car and need to get around, are you more likely to call for an Uber or Lyft, or a cab? Last Friday, Lyft — the ride-sharing company, went public as its stocks (股票) started trading on the market. Lyft has become the first big initial public offering of the “gig economy” age. While the company is not making profits yet, it is changing the meaning of work. What is gig economy and what makes it so appealing?
Gig works are independent contracts (合同) or part-time jobs such as Uber. In the gig economy, companies hire independent contractors instead of full-time employees. This is different from traditional companies where full-time workers hold a lifetime career. In the past, only small companies hired contractors, while today, employers like Amazon and Google rely on temporary workforce. These companies save costs as they are not legally required to provide healthcare benefits, retirement savings or paid time off to gig workers.
Gig work appeals to different people for different reasons. For some, it affords flexible timings and for otliers who are looking for full-time jobs, it provides a source of income to support themselves. Some people work a full-time job and supplement (补充) their salary with gig jobs such as driving for Uber or Lyft.
Joining the gig economy may be simple, but maintaining a steady career is easier said than done. Gig work comes with unsteady pay and workloads. You're your own boss. It sounds fun, but when you have no self-control and an unsteady job, you might splurge all your money the first week and live on bread pieces for the rest of the month! Besides a strong sense of responsibility, gig workers have to stay up to date to get companies to hire them.
Despite the challenges gig workers face, nearly 60 million Americans are part of this workforce. As this number grows, we have to see how society and companies adapt to this new world of work!
1.What can be learnt about Lyft from the passage?
A.It has built up a large fortune.
B.It marks the arrival of gig economy age.
C.It employs a fixed number of full-time workers.
D.It appeals to people as a means of public transport.
2.Who are most likely to become gig workers?
A.People seeking for a steady income.
B.Those desperate to get paid vacations.
C.People in need of flexible working hours.
D.Those concerned about retirement accounts.
3.What does the underlined word “splurge” in paragraph 4 mean?
A.Spend money freely. B.Deposit money automatically.
C.Earn money quickly. D.Allocate money randomly.
4.What is the message mainly conveyed in the passage?
A.Gig workers have to face some potential challenges.
B.Gig workers have to possess some much-needed qualities.
C.The appearance of gig companies will solve the job problems.
D.People should adjust to new work trends with the rise of gig companies.
CARMEL VALLEY - You don’t necessarily have to be older to be a Good Samaritan. Take Carmel Valley resident, Daniella Marie Benitez, 14, who is not your average teen. Daniella is helping Tijuana families have roofs over their heads — one family at a time.
It began in 2017 while she was volunteering for Build A Miracle and building a home for a family in need in Tijuana, Mexico. Daniella found it so fulfilling that she took the lead in building another home with the support of her family and friends.
To date, she has raised $32,000 for her cause and recently headed to Tijuana to begin building her team’s second home.
“It has been an unbelievable experience,” Daniella, a freshman at Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, said. She learned about Build A Miracle through her previous school, Notre Dame Academy. It is a nonprofit organization that takes a family in need from a shack (棚屋) to a new home with electricity, bedrooms, kitchen and a bathroom. It has built more than 350 homes since 1999.
During this most recent trip to Tijuana, Daniella and her team poured the foundation (基金) for the second new home. Additionally, she used her other volunteering position as a member of KIDBOX’s Kids board of directors to help distribute $10,000 worth of brand new KIDBOX clothing to her BAM community’s kids.
Between BAM and KIDBOX, the busy teen said she would continue to volunteer both locally and in Mexico to “stay humble.” She isn’t about to stop helping others; in fact, it’s something she treasures. “I’ve been working with BAM for about a year and a half. I got involved at the end of seventh grade when my previous school sponsored the building of a school sponsored home; my mom forced my family and me to go down to TJ to actually help build the house,” she said. “Meeting the family and seeing their delight and relief when they walked into their new home was priceless and is what inspired me to keep doing this.”
1.What made Daniella stand out among teens?
A.Her constant efforts to help those less fortunate.
B.The building of a school sponsored home.
C.Her attempt to raise a fund for her cause.
D.The organizing of Build A Miracle.
2.How did Daniella make connections between BAM and KIDBOX?
A.She encouraged KIDBOX to collect money for BAM.
B.She promoted a donation to BAM from KIDBOX.
C.She held leading positions in both organizations.
D.She built a platform for them to communicate.
3.What chiefly inspired Daniella to keep helping others?
A.The support from her parents. B.Carmel Valley’s traditional values.
C.Tijuana families’ happy reactions. D.The influence from her previous school.
阅读下面短文，根据所给的情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
When my family moved to the United States from Colombia, I was 9 years old and knew little about English. As time passed, teachers finally knew all of their students and and everyone began to adapt to the life, except for me. No one called out my name, and no one seemed to know I existed. I spent the next month in my new classroom quietly. I felt that fear, loneliness and sadness came over me.
The school never cared that I didn't speak English, but something else was teaching me English. Every morning when my aunt drove me to school and picked me up, she always had 106.7 Light FM(私家车广播)on. It was this station that introduced my young ears to the English sounds.
Because of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I learned the difference between "witch" and "which". While watching the TV show South Park, I was attracted by the funny characters. In fact, thanks to pop culture, the world of English became available to me while it was being turned down at school.
I also learned how to express my emotions thanks to pop culture. One day at school, we were taking a math quiz and the whole class was quiet. Suddenly, the tip of my pencil broke and I yelled, "My Jesus! " Everyone held their breath in surprise and I laughed to myself because something at that moment told me I had just learned my first bad word in English.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1
I appeared to be embarrassed at that moment, but in my heart I felt happy.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2
Four months passed before the school placed me into an ESL（把英语作为第二语言的语言学习者的专业英文课程）program.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假如你是学生会主席李华，请你代表学生会写一则通知，请全校师生来参加关于中国针灸的报告。内容包括：
1. 报告内容：针灸的历史和特点；
2. 报告的时间和地点；
3. 报告后，有关于针灸的现场问答活动，欢迎大家积极参加。
注意：1. 词数100左右
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Oct 15, 2003 is a day to remember in the history of China. The country launched its first manned spacecraft, Shenzhou V, from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu, 1. made the world amazed.
China became the third country 2. (send) a person into orbit, 3. (follow) the former Soviet Union and the United States. Yang Liwei became China's first astronaut in space. China was the first developing country to 4. (independence) perform a manned space flight.
China's manned space program can be traced back 5. the 1970s. Dongfanghong 1, the country's first space satellite, 6. (launch) in April 1970. Shortly after, Qian Xuesen, ''father'' of China's space program, proposed that the country 7. (start) its own manned spaceflight project.
Shenzhou V started the new era of space 8. (explore). Since then, China has successfully conducted six manned spaceflights. Eleven Chinese astronauts have gone into space for a total of 68 days with 1,089 orbits around Earth.
China is now selecting 9. third group of astronauts and 10. (train) them for its upcoming space station missions. According to government plans, astronauts will start putting together China's first manned space station around 2020.
How many times have parents had to argue with their young son or daughter about getting their face out of their phone and _______ the world around them? It's completely _______ for parents of growing children to be concerned about their child's safety, but is their _________ to social media really harming them?
Social media was created to connect people with others online and has recently been added to smartphones, making it far more _______ than it originally was. This new way to easily be able to use social media has _______children and teens to begin to use sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram frequently. Maturing teens and children are usually very timid(胆怯)when it _______ socializing with their families, which they sometimes _________as ''annoying''. So, _______ do these kids use as a solution or an''escape''? The answer is simple: social media.
However, when they use social media for a large amount of time, parents tend to show _________ for their child and blame social media for __________ their attention.
The word, ''social'', was entered into the term, social media, for a reason. Parents of growing teens don't seem to __________ that. When they see their child using Twitter or Instagram they think that they are using it to get away from real world __________. The truth, __________, is that they are using it to connect with their close friends, make new friends, and receive information about what is __________ happening in the modern world.
Children and teens are wrongly accused for using social media only for __________ purposes and for huge amounts of time. Sure everyone who uses social media enjoys __________ their friends and viewing entertaining things, but how come children receive all of the __________ for abusing it? Parents should really think about how social media can help children and teens learn and grow in the real world __________ it just being another distraction.
Social media as a whole has both positive and negative aspects, but after all of the __________ from pre-teens, teens, and parents is put together, it shows that media is __________ helping the newer generations in their lives.
1.A.focusing on B.subscribing to C.benefiting from D.trying out
2.A.typical B.vital C.normal D.obvious
3.A.adaptation B.translation C.application D.addiction
4.A.complex B.effective C.accessible D.portable
5.A.accelerated B.encouraged C.forced D.made
6.A.comes to B.turns to C.refers to D.relates to
7.A.foresee B.scan C.view D.notice
8.A.Why B.How C.When D.What
9.A.approval B.concern C.respect D.opposition
10.A.demanding B.distributing C.storing D.sacrificing
11.A.oppose B.applaud C.understand D.counter
12.A.responsibilities B.potentials C.circumstances D.evolutions
13.A.however B.therefore C.thus D.meanwhile
14.A.suddenly B.eventually C.formerly D.currently
15.A.entertainment B.circulation C.research D.arrangement
16.A.dialing B.contacting C.constructing D.astonishing
17.A.outcome B.delay C.rejection D.blame
18.A.rather than B.other than C.more than D.no more than
19.A.symptom B.idiom C.feedback D.drawback
20.A.tightly B.actually C.merely D.originally
