Tim Cook is both blind and deaf. And try as they might, staff on a recent flight just couldn’t figure out how to____with the man, who was travelling all alone.
But then, a 15-year-old girl used sign language and genuine compassion to____the day.
Teenager Clara Daly was ___with her mother Jane from Boston to Los Angeles when the flight attendants made a(n)____over the speaker. They were ___for anyone onboard who knew sign language.
Clara____the call button, as she’d studied a year of American Sign Language in school. She was the only one on the plane____of truly communicating with Tim, and her heart went out to him.
“____six hours of just not being able to talk to anyone,” she said.
Clara used fingerspelling to talk to Tim, which is where you____each letter in every word. This way, Tim could____Clara’s hands and they could communicate. First, Clara helped the flight attendants____all of Tim’s needs were met. Then, she spent the rest of the time just____with him.
Together, they shared stories about their families and Clara’s future plans, while Clara____about Tim’s past as a salesman.
A nearby passenger named Lynette Scribner couldn’t____taking a photo and sharing it on social media. She mentioned how____she was to have witnessed such incredible____.
After writing about Clara’s real-life act of ___on social media, Lynette’s post____. In fact, it has since been shared over 730,000 times on US social media platform Facebook.
The____teen was quick to point out that she just did what any one of us should do when given the opportunity: help out.
“Everyone should just be____each other just because that’s the nature of people,” Clara said.
1.A.cooperate B.connect C.communicate D.meet
2.A.save B.enjoy C.spend D.live
3.A.shopping B.travelling C.working D.staying
4.A.forecast B.effort C.suggestion D.announcement
5.A.looking B.waiting C.standing D.sending
6.A.picked B.fixed C.hit D.made
7.A.afraid B.capable C.aware D.fond
8.A.Notice B.Predict C.Describe D.Imagine
9.A.draw B.mark C.sign D.say
10.A.feel B.see C.shake D.move
11.A.discover B.ensure C.prove D.recognize
12.A.chatting B.dealing C.playing D.joking
13.A.cared B.thought C.heard D.learned
14.A.consider B.miss C.resist D.stop
15.A.satisfied B.amazed C.nervous D.doubtful
16.A.compassion B.adventure C.courage D.wisdom
17.A.politeness B.bravery C.patience D.kindness
18.A.put up B.came up C.set off D.took off
19.A.proud B.humorous C.humble D.thankful
20.A.believing B.helping C.accepting D.understanding
Forgiveness
To forgive is a virtue, but no one has ever said it is easy. When someone has deeply hurt you, it can be extremely difficult to let go of your hate. However, forgiveness is possible, and it can be surprisingly beneficial to your physical and mental health. People who forgive show less sadness, anger and stress and more hopefulness, according to a recent research.
1. Try the following steps：
Calm yourself. 2. You can take a couple of breaths and think of something that gives you pleasure: a beautiful scene in nature, or someone you love.
Don’t wait for an apology. Many times the person who hurt you does not intend to apologize. They may have wanted to hurt you or they just don’t see things the same way. 3. Keep in mind that forgiveness does not necessarily mean becoming friends again with the person who upset you.
Take the control away from your offender (冒犯者). Rethinking about your hurt gives power to the person who caused you pain. Instead of focusing on your wounded feelings, learn to look for the love, beauty and kindness around you.
4. If you understand your offender, you may realize that he or she was acting out of unawareness, fear, and even love. You may want to write a letter to yourself from your offender’s point of view.
Don’t forget to forgive yourself. 5. But it can rob you of your selfconfidence if you don’t do it.
A.Why should you forgive?
B.How should you start to forgive?
C.Recognize the benefits of forgiveness.
D.Try to see things from your offender’s angle.
E.For some people, forgiving themselves is the biggest challenge.
F.To make your anger die away, try a simple stressmanagement technique.
G.If you wait for people to apologize, you could be waiting an awfully long time.
When the weather gets cold, we can put on more clothes, stay next to a fireplace, turn on the air conditioner or simply travel to a warmer city to spend the winter – people have many different ways of coping with the cold.
But things are not as easy for plants. Unlike humans, plants can’t move to escape the cold or generate heat to keep themselves warm. So how do they manage to survive the freezing winter?
It turns out that plants have their own strategies too, said a study published on Dec 22 in the journal Nature.
According to researcher Amy Zanne of George Washington University, US, the cold is a big challenge for plants. Their living tissues can be damaged when they freeze. “It’s like a plant’s equivalent to frostbite (冻疮),” Zanne told Science Daily. Also, the process of freezing and thawing (解冻) can cause air bubbles to form in the plant’s water transport system. “If enough of these air bubbles come together as water thaws they can block the flow of water from the roots to the leaves and kill the plant,” she explained.
To live through cold weather, plants have developed three traits, according to the study. Some plants, such as oak trees, avoid freezing damage by dropping their leaves before the winter chill sets in – effectively shutting off the flow of water between roots and leaves – and growing new leaves and water transport cells when the warm spring returns.
Other plants, pine trees for example, protect themselves by narrowing their water transport cells, which makes it easier for cells to travel among air bubbles.
The third strategy is also the most extreme – some plants die on the ground in winter and start growing as new plants from seeds when conditions get warmer.
However, the study also found that these smart strategies were developed very slowly – over millions of years of evolution. This leads scientists to worry that plants may not be able to deal with human-caused climate change, which has only started occurring over the past few decades.
Scientists are hoping that this study can help people find possible ways to save plants from the threat of climate change.
1.What is the article mainly about?
A.Why plants are not afraid of the winter chill.
B.The ways that plants survive cold weather.
C.Changes in plants’ water transport system in winter.
D.How plants evolve to keep up with climate change.
2.According to the article, if a plant freezes in the winter, ______.
A.it produces more living tissues to stay alive
B.its leaves quickly fall out and its roots begin to die
C.its water transport cells are narrowed
D.its water transport system could be blocked
3.How do oak trees usually survive the cold winters?
A.By dropping their leaves before winter.
B.By narrowing their water transport cells.
C.By widening their water transport cells.
D.By dropping seeds on the ground so that the new trees can grow in the spring.
4.What are scientists worried about when it comes to plants according to the article?
A.Plants may not be able to adapt to the increasingly cold climate.
B.Human activities might have a great impact on the pace of plants’ evolution.
C.Plants may not be able to evolve fast enough to adapt to human-caused climate change.
D.The strategies plants develop are not good enough to protect them against cold.
Next time you raise an eyebrow at the views of your friend, brother, sister or colleague, remember they could be helping to make you smarter. New research shows that intelligence is not fixed but can be improved throughout adulthood by family members, bright mates and intellectually challenging careers. The study challenges the commonly held belief that intelligence is fixed by the age of about 18.
Scientific consensus (共识) suggests intelligence is controlled by genes, with environmental factors such as schooling and nutrition playing a part up to this age. After this point, IQ scores become steady. But James Flynn, professor at the University of Otago in New Zealand, argues that people can “upgrade” their intelligence throughout their lives. He believes intellectual stimulation (刺激)from other people is important as the “brain seems to be rather like a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it gets”. However, the opposite is also true—so people who share a home or workplace with the intellectually challenged risk seeing their IQ levels nosedive as a result.
Professor Flynn analyzed US intelligence tests from the last 65 years and created new IQ “age tables”. He found a bright ten-year-old with brothers and sisters of average intelligence will suffer a five to ten point IQ disadvantage compared to a similar child with equally bright brothers and sisters. However, children with a low IQ could gain six to eight points by having brighter brothers and sisters and special educational treatment to help pull them up.
Professor Flynn concluded that although genetics and early life experiences determine about 80% of intelligence, the remaining 20% is linked to lifestyle. This means people can raise their IQ, or allow it to fall, by ten points or more. He suggests the best way to improve IQ levels is to socialize with bright friends, and find an intellectually challenging job.
1.What do people commonly believe?
A.People1 s IQ levels fall as they get older and older.
B.It’s wise for people to share family members’ views.
C.The intelligence changes no more during adulthood.
D.Doing challenging deeds is good for one’s intelligence.
2.The underlined word “nosedive” in Paragraph 2 most probably means ________.
A.vary B.fall C.change D.develop
3.Which of the following can help improve one’s intelligence according to Professor Flynn?
A.Staying with smart people. B.Making many friends.
C.Doing exercise every day. D.Learning from parents.
4.The purpose of the text is to ________.
A.persuade B.advertise C.entertain D.inform
Regarded as one of the English language’s most gifted poets, John Keats wrote poetry that concentrated on imagery, human nature, and philosophy (哲学). Although Keats didn’t receive much formal literary education, his own studies and passion brought him much success. Additionally, his own life situation influenced his poetry greatly.
Growing up as a young boy in London in a lower middle-class family, the young John didn’t attend a private school, but went to a public one. His teachers and his family’s friends regarded him as an optimistic boy who favored playing and fighting much more than minding his studies. After his father’s death in the early 1800s, followed by his mother’s passing due to tuberculosis (肺结核), he began viewing life differently. He wanted to escape the world and did so by reading anything he could get his hands on.
At around the age of 16, the teenage John Keats began studying under a surgeon so that he too might become a doctor. However, his literary appetite had taken too much of his fancy, especially with his addiction to the poetry of Ehmund Spenser. He was able to have his first full poem published in the Examiner in 1816, entitled O Solitude! If I Must With Thee Dwell. Within two months in 1817, Keats had written an entire volume of poetry, but was sharply criticized (批评) by a magazine. However, the negative response didn’t stop his love of rhythm (韵律).
John Keats’ next work was Endymion, which was published in May 1818. The story involves a shepherd who falls in love with the moon goddess and leads him on an adventure of one boy’s hope to overcome the limitations of being human. Following Endymion, however, he tried something more narrative-based (叙事体的) and wrote Isabella. During this time, John Keats began seeing his limitations in poetry due to his own limit in life experiences. He would have to have the “knowledge” associated with his poems. His next work was Hyperion that would attempt to combine all that he learned. However, a bout (发作) with tuberculosis while visiting Italy would keep him from his work and eventually take his life in 1821.
1.John Keats’ attitude towards life changed because of .
A.his early education from school B.the deaths of his parents
C.Edmund Spenser’s poetry D.the criticism of a magazine
2.What is the common thing between John Keats and his mother?
A.They read many books. B.They had a bad childhood.
C.They died of the same disease. D.They showed strong interest in poetry.
3.While trying to achieve his dream of becoming a poet first, John Keats was .
A.determined B.experienced
C.knowledgeable D.impatient
4.What do we know from the passage?
A.Keats received little education at school.
B.Endymion was about a real love story.
C.In 1816 Keats spent two months writing a poem.
D.Keats once had a chance of becoming a doctor.
The World 's Greatest Bookstores
Getting lost in a great bookstore can take you on travels around the world. Put a bookmark beside the names of these booksellers for your next trip.
Atlantis Books, Santorini, Greece
Atlantis books is on the sun-washed islands of Santorini. It was started by university friends with little more than a cat, a dog, and an Idea brought by a bottle of wine. Today, Atlantis takes up the basement of a big house, offering everything bestsellers to books on Greek history and culture.
Barter Books, Northumberland, Northeast England
The store is in Ainwick, a Victorian railway station that dates back to 1887, and model railway sits overhead. Pull up a chair to the working fireplace to eat a cookie and have a cup of coffee, or search the shelves for a wide variety of titles.
Shakespeare and Company, Paris, France
From its home by the Seine River, Shakespeare and Company often has a line of customers and tourists waiting to get in, eager to search its collection of rare books new reads and self-published titles. When you enter this English-speaking store which opened during the 1950syou get a sense of stepping back in time
Ealite Taipei, China
Of all the stores in the Eslite chain, the 24-hour Eslite Dunnan branch is the most popular. With more than 250,000 books to choose from, the store draws tourists and locals who stay for hours, reading books (as if they are in a library), listening to music or watching dance performances and films.
1.How was Atlantis books build up?
A.It was a student’s graduation project.
B.It began during a chat among friends.
C.It was set up by a famous university.
D.It was a collection of the big house’s owner.
2.Where is the Barter Books?
A.By a river B.On a street
C.In a basement D.Under a railroad
3.Which bookstore provides entertainments besides reading?
A.Eslite B.Barter Books
C.Atlantis Books D.Shakespeare and Company
