When Randy Heiss went hiking behind his Patagonia, Ariz. farm, the last thing he expected to find was a Christmas list from a little girl across the US-Mexico border. “I found this balloon on my morning walk near Patagonia on Sunday. Attached to it was a piece of paper with the Christmas wishes from a little girl,” Heiss wrote on his Facebook page.
When he brought the list home to his wife, who speaks fluent Spanish, they determined that the little girl had asked for Enchantimals toys, clothes, art supplies and various other gifts. That's when Heiss set out to make the little girl's Christmas dreams come true. Heiss said he had attempted to send Christmas letters to Santa Claus via balloon when he was a kid but never received a response.
Heiss sent a Facebook message on Wednesday to XENY, a radio station in Nogales, to see if it could help him track down the girl or her family. He later received a response from the station, which had determined the author of the letter was an 8-year-old girl named Dayami, and the station wanted to set up a meeting between the two on Thursday. “It just changed my entire day,” Heiss told the Washington Post. “Instead of going back to my office in Bisbee, I went with my wife to Walmart. “
The couple bought almost everything on Dayami's list. They also brought a few gifts for Dayami's little sister, Ximena. They told the children they were “ ayudantes de Santa,” or Santa's helpers.
Heiss,60, said the experience was very healing for him and his wife. Nine years ago,the couple's only son died. “ Being around children at Christmas time has been absent in our lives,” Heiss said. We now have friends for life. For a day, that border fence with its concertina wire melted away.
1.How did Dayami send out her Christmas wishes?
A.By calling Heiss. B.By attaching them to a balloon.
C.By writing to a radio station. D.By sending a Facebook message.
2.When did Heiss know what the girl exactly wanted?
A.After the help of his wife.
B.When he found the balloon.
C.After their meeting in America.
D.When he got a response from the radio station.
3.What might make Heiss decide to fulfill the little girl's Christmas wishes?
A.His son's will.
B.The girls request for help.
C.His similar unsuccessful experience.
D.His desire to make friends with the girl.
4.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A.The couple got out of the pain completely.
B.The experience was a great relief to the couple.
C.The couple would help more children from Mexico.
D.There will be no border between countries one day.
At school, I was in the top set for maths. My teachers recommended that I study economics and statistics as my A-level subjects, but I had my mind set on a life fulfilled by the arts.
In fact, I was a victim of a gender stereotype made stronger since birth, that men do science and maths and women do arts or languages. Computer science, technology and physics just did not figure in my teenage world view. Nobody popular in my school chose to study those subjects.
Reality struck hard when I began attending job interviews and interviewers would say: “It’s great that you speak foreign languages, but what else do you do?” Nobody asked my friends who had studied science or technology those questions.
A survey recently showed that three of the best-paid jobs for women are in the technology sector. It’s a sector that really can change the world. We must show girls that technology has an effect on every industry out there, from fashion to architecture to journalism. Anybody can learn to code and these days it’s as important as reading and writing. I’ve realized that at university I’d achieved the wrong kind of literacy. Not being able to code limit your impact on the world far more than an ignorance of great literature.
Now I have a five-year-old daughter. I don’t want her to blindly follow gender roles the way I did. I want her to know the fact that a science or technical degree will not limit her creativity but expand it and broaden her horizons far more than my arts background could. I’m exposing her to Minecraft and apps, which help improve analytical thinking and problem solving skills. I’m hoping that my daughter will discover and accept her potentials in science and want to change the world.
1.What does the underlined phrase “gender stereotype” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Personal learning style. B.Sex characteristic.
C.Conventional sex concept. D.Profession difference.
2.According to the author, which may be the benefit of learning science?
A.Increasing job possibility. B.Winning popularity.
C.Improving language competence. D.Enriching imagination.
3.How did the author feel for her major choice?
A.Satisfied. B.Active. C.Discouraged. D.Regretful.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A.Art or Science, Either is OK B.Good Subjects, Good Future
C.Girls, Choose More Wisely D.Catch Chances, Change the World
One way to prevent anxiety from getting out of control is to recognize its benefits. It is a mistake to think that we'd make better decisions if only we keep our feelings under control. Instead, a mix of feelings like anxiety and logical(合逻辑的) thinking leads to sound decision- making. It's true that there is plenty of research showing that higher levels of anxiety can make us more likely to avoid risks in our decision-making. There is also evidence that anxiety can increase the attention you pay to relevant information.
Recent studies have shown that people who are anxious about their relationship (for example, they fear to be abandoned) tend to be better at recognizing people who tell lies and are more likely to raise the alarm when danger is present.
In the real world though, it's worth realizing that feeling anxious once in a while is extremely common. It communicates to others that you care, and what's more, it's probably a sign that you are intelligent. At least two published studies have identified that people who score higher on measures of anxiety also tend to perform better on intelligence tests. This seems reasonable: if you're a thinker, you are sure to be always thinking about the future and imagine possible plots, including bad ones.
The important thing, if you are a worrywart (杞人忧天者) , is not to let your fear destroy your dreams. And don't bury your head in the sand. Instead, act on your fears — do the research as well as preparation, so rather than walking blindly into that which you fear, you meet the challenge in full readiness.
When anxiety beats you, or casts a shadow over your life, this is a serious problem. No one is denying that. But like everyday anxiety of this kind that you feel before a presentation or interview, you needn't see it as your enemy. Anxiety is an important feeling, developed through evolution. As for people who are fairly anxious by nature, there is reason for cheer, too. Your nerves (神经紧张) are a sign of your watchfulness. Listen to them and act on them. Then you can turn your nervousness into your advantage.
1.What can we infer from the first paragraph about anxiety?
A.It can enable us to be more focused.
B.It can stop us from thinking logically.
C.It can make us more willing to take risks.
D.It can be the only reason for all bad decisions.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Anxious people are less sensitive to danger.
B.Anxious people have difficulty discovering liars.
C.Feeling anxious is more likely to put people at risk.
D.Feeling anxious occasionally is a sign of intelligence.
3.How should we deal with anxiety in the author's opinion?
A.Regard it as our enemy. B.Take action to control it.
C.Avoid being defeated by it. D.Treat it as a minor feeling.
4.What is the theme of the passage?
A.Effective ways to prevent anxiety. B.Unexpected benefits of anxiety.
C.Tips on how to keep a good mood. D.Common misunderstandings about anxiety.
Fifteen years ago, I took a summer vacation in Lecce in southern Italy. After climbing up a hill for a panoramic(全景的) of the blue sea, white buildings and green olive trees, I paused to catch my breath and then positioned myself to take the best photo of this panorama.
Unfortunately, just as I took out my camera, a woman approached from behind, and planted herself right in front of my view. Like me, this woman was here to stop, sigh and appreciate the view.
Patient as I was, after about 15 minutes, my camera scanning the sun and reviewing the shot I would eventually take, I grew frustrated. Was it too much to ask her to move so I could take just one picture of the landscape? Sure, I could have asked her, but something prevented me from doing so. She seemed so content in her observation. I didn’t want to mess with that.
Another 15 minutes passed and I grew bored. The woman was still there. I decided to take the photo anyway. And now when I look at it, I think her presence in the photo is what makes the image interesting. The landscape, beautiful on its own, somehow comes to life and breathes because this woman is engaging with it.
This photo, with the unique beauty that unfolded before me and that woman who “ruined” it, now hangs on a wall in my bedroom. What would she think if she knew that her figure is captured and frozen on some stranger’s bedroom wall? A bedroom, after all, is a very private space, in which some woman I don’t even know has been immortalized. In some ways, she lives in my house.
Perhaps we all live in each other’s spaces. Perhaps this is what photos are for: to remind us that we all appreciate beauty, that we all share a common desire for pleasure, for connection, for something that is greater than us.
That photo is a reminder, a captured moment, an unspoken conversation between two women, separated only by a thin square of glass.
1.What happened when the author was about to take a photo?
A.Her camera stopped working. B.A woman blocked her view.
C.Someone asked her to leave. D.A friend approached from behind.
2.In the author’s opinion, what makes the photo so alive?
A.The rich color of the landscape. B.The perfect positioning of the camera.
C.The woman’s existence in the photo. D.The soft sunlight that summer day.
3.The passage can be seen as the author’s reflections upon ________.
A.a particular life experience B.the pleasure of traveling
C.the art of photography D.a lost friendship
环保节约是我们每个地球人的责任。假设你是李华，最近正在和你的美国朋友Jack讨论如何进行“低碳生活”。请你就“低碳生活之我见”给Jack写一封回信，内容包括：1. “低碳生活”的重要性； 2. 如何做到“低碳生活”；3. 邀请对方参加“全球低碳行动”。
注意：1、词数100左右；
2、开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数；
3、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
提示词：低碳生活：low-carbon life
Dear Jack,
How is everything going?
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Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
I’m terrible sorry to make you disappointing for not having finished my homework on time. In fact, I had something else to do, that made me have no time for my homework.
My father was badly injured in a accident yesterday. Hearing the news, I hurried the hospital after school. I had a busy night, but I didn't do my homework. As what you know, I am an ordinary student in class and eager to improve your English. I find I have great difficulty concentrate on my study. Would you please give me some suggestions? Besides, I wish you could give me more chances to practise my English in class.
I’m looking forward to hear from you early.
