Where did your family eat dinner last night? In the car on the way to sport? At McDonald’s? Or at the dinner table? A survey taken a few years ago found that 28% families ate dinner together at home seven nights a week. Another quarter said they ate together three or fewer nights a week.
Once upon a time the situation was different. 1. Plates, forks and spoons would be laid out. As dinner time approached, an increasing number of hungry mouths would begin to appear with the question, “What’s for dinner”?
2. The data seems to point to two main issues: overworked parents and over-scheduled children. When mum or dad do get home in the evening, they are soon in the car again to send the children to soccer, music, tutoring, and a host of other events.
This nightly ceremony around the dinner table is both vital and fruitful; it is what keeps a family together. Sure, the conversation is not always significant and children argue. And sometimes the deepest and most meaningful times in a family are not at the table at all. 3.The dinner table is the place where a family builds an identity. Stories are passed down, jokes are exchanged and the wider world is examined through the lens（镜头） of a family’s values. Children pick up vocabulary and a sense of how conversation is structured. 4. Dinner time is “family time”. Coming back daily to the same place helps gain familiarity.
The significance of dinner time is more than above. Studies show that the more families eat together, the less likely the children are to smoke, drink, get depressed, and develop eating disorders, and the more likely they are to do well in school and learn how to socialize. One professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey stated, “A meal is about civilizing children. 5.”
So start by planning some stay at home family dinners together. Just family talk.
A. It’s a time to teach them to be a member of their culture.
B. Each night the dining table would be set with a simple cloth.
C. Why not cut back on a few activities and have dinner with your family?
D. What accounts for this decline in families eating together today though?
E. They also learn good table manners, something that will benefit them for life.
F. It was important for children and parents to sit down together and get to know each other.
G. However, there is still something unique about the time a family spends around the dinner table.
How do you know if your home is an easy aim for thefts(偷窃)? Around the holidays, many families don’t consider taking proper measures to prevent their homes from suffering holiday thefts. With just a few simple steps, you can better make sure of the safety of your home during all of the holiday celebrations. Here are a few tips for making it difficult to tell you are away from home.
● Either have a trusted neighbor pick up your mail and newspapers, or tell your mailperson to hold your mail until you return. Nothing says “Hey, we are not home!” like when your postbox is filled with all kinds of mails and you have many different newspapers in your driveway.
● Set several different lights in your house on random timers (随机定时器)。Don’t leave your outdoor lights on all the time. Instead, put your outside lights on timers to be on during the nights. If an outdoor light remains on for days at a time, it means that nobody is home to turn it off.
● If you have pets that you are not taking with you on vacation, leave them with a friend, rather than having someone come into your house every day to take care of them. When thefts see a neighbor or friend entering your house every day, they will know you are not home.
● Close all your curtains when you leave town. This is effective to deter possible thefts, as no one can see what is in your house. If they don’t know what there is to take, then the risk is even greater for them to break in.
● This article just has suggested a few tips to help you keep your house safe while you are on holiday. Nothing can truly protect your home unless you have it monitored by a professional home security system.
1.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.to tell us how to prevent the thefts around the holidays
B.to let the outdoor lights on all the time
C.to tell us many families suffering from the thefts while they are on holiday
D.to tell you to have your neighbor go to your house to take care of your pet.
2.If you are on holiday in other places, the lights in your house should________.
A.be kept on all the night B.be lit in an irregular way
C.be replaced by random timers D.be turned on only once one day
3.To make your home well protected, what does the writer advise you to do?
A.Have all the curtains closed
B.Equip your home with security system
C.Turn to your close neighbors or friends
D.Stop your mail service at once
4.Most of the tips mentioned in the text seem to ______.
A.give a false impression on thefts
B.have no effect on preventing thefts
C.be very popular with families
D.be a little hard to be brought into effect
A Teenage Inventor
The world could be one step closer to quick and inexpensive Ebola detection thanks to a teenager from Connecticut.
Olivia Hallisey, a junior at Greenwich High School, was awarded $50,000 in the Google Science Fair for her new method that detects Ebola, a virus that causes bleeding from different parts of the body and usually causes death. Olivia’s method is to ask patients to put their saliva (唾液) onto a testing card. The card changes color if the person is catching Ebloa. Present Ebloa tests take up to 12 hours and cost $1,000. Olivia’s method, however, can be done just in 30 minutes for about $25. Besides, the sample (样本) doesn’t have to be put in a refrigerator thanks to the silk material Olivia uses to produce the testing cards.
Olivia was inspired to deal with this global problem after watching the news that more than 10,000 people died from Ebola in West Africa. She was particularly worried about the fact that, while the acts of involvement can improve survival rates, present detection methods are costly, time-consuming and require complex tools. Olivia got help from her science research teacher. She drew out directions from past research, and figured out detection systems that have proven to work with other diseases, including Lyme disease and yellow fever.
“What affects one country affects everyone,” Olivia told CNBC. “We have to work together to find answers to the huge challenges which cause harm to the global health.” The Connecticut’s teen, who hopes to become a doctor one day, was named the Google Science Fair winner in the competition of 20 competitors from across the globe. The fair is open to young people between the ages of 13 and 18 in most countries.
Olivia hopes her success will inspire other girls interested in science and computers. “I would just encourage girls to try it in the beginning, and remind them that they don’t have to feel naturally drawn or feel like they have a special talent for maths or science,” she told CNBC, “but just really look at something they are interested in and then think how to improve something or make it more enjoyable or relate it to their interests.”
1.According to the passage, present Ebola detection methods ______.
A.must use a large amount of samples
B.may detect other deadly viruses as well
C.have proven to be ineffective in practice
D.require samples to be kept in refrigerators
2.What can we learn about Olivia’s method?
A.Time-consuming. B.Cheap.
C.Complex. D.Out-of-date.
3.What does the underlined word “drawn” in Paragraph 5 probably mean？
A.Attracted. B.Controlled.
C.Admitted. D.Exposed.
4.The Google Science Fair is intended for ______.
A.students B.doctors
C.inventors D.scientists
No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo. But a new study suggests they used a little rock ‘n’ roll. Long-ago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say.
“Technically, I think what they’re proposing is possible,” physicist Daniel Bonn said.
People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks. And there’s no obvious answer. On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck. The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.
The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths. Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds(滑板). Then they would have dragged them along paths. To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated the paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle. Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.
Evidence from the sand supports this idea. Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.
However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study. West said, “I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction. I thought, ‘Why don’t they just try rolling the things?’ ”A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized. That, he notes, should make a block of stone “a lot easier to roll than a square”.
So he tried it.
He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30-kilogram stone block. That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel. Then they placed the block on the ground.
They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled. The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths. They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery(滑的) path.
West hasn’t tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding. At least, workers wouldn’t have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.
1.It’s widely believed that the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid site by .
A. rolling them on roads B. pushing them over the sand
C. sliding them on smooth paths D. dragging them on some poles
2.What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
A. Rolling the blocks with poles attached.
B. Rolling the blocks on wooden wheels.
C. Rolling poles to move the blocks.
D. Rolling the blocks with fat.
3.Why is rolling better than sliding according to West?
A. Because more force is needed for sliding.
B. Because rolling work can be done by fewer cattle.
C. Because sliding on smooth roads is more dangerous.
D. Because less preparation on paths is needed for rolling.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. An experiment on ways of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
B. An application of the method of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
C. An argument about different methods of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
D. An introduction to a possible new way of moving blocks to the pyramid site.
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition & Tour is a unique international resource to explore Shakespeare’s work. Open all year round, it gives you an opportunity to learn more about the most famous playwright, Shakespeare, and helps you seek to further the experience and international understanding of him.
●Group Visits to the Exhibition & Tour Opening Hours
Theatre Tours:
Monday to Sunday 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
Exhibition:
Monday to Sunday 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Groups of 15 people or more are required to pre-book their visit, and each group will have its own tour guide. To make a reservation, please fill in a Group Request Form and return it to us via email.
●Exhibition and Tour Prices
Exhibition & Globe Theatre Tour
Adult: £15.00
Senior (60+): £13.50
Student (with valid ID): £11.50
Children (5–15): £8.00
Complimentary: Every 16th person free
●Getting Here
Shakespeare’s Globe 21 New Globe Walk, London SE1 9DT, UK
We currently have enhanced security, with all bags being checked. Please arrive in good time, do not bring any large bags and check the Calendar before your visit or call +44 (0)20 7902 1500 to find out about our latest opening times.
By car and taxi
Where possible, visitors are advised to arrive by public transport or by taxi.
There is a car park on Thames Exchange on the north side of Southwark Bridge (open 24 hours, seven days a week).
Black cabs may be found all year round on Southwark Bridge. It may also be possible to pick one up from outside the main foyer(大厅) on New Globe Walk.
●Where to eat
Swan at Shakespeare’s Globe serves modern British seasonal food for dinner, afternoon tea or drinks in our beautiful bar and restaurant set over two floors. Available for pre and post-theatre dining.
Swan Restaurant
Monday – Friday:12 noon – 2:30 pm & 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm
Saturday:12 noon – 3:30 pm & 6:00 pm – 10:30 pm.
Sunday:12 noon – 9:00 pm
1.When can you pay a visit to the exhibition?
A.8:00 am on Monday. B.7:00 pm on Sunday.
C.5:30 pm on Saturday. D.2:00 pm on Friday.
2.Which of the following applies to visitors?
A.They’re able to get a taxi near Southwark Bridge.
B.They can park on the south side of Southwark Bridge.
C.They are required to deposit their bags before entering.
D.It’s more convenient to drive there than taking public transport.
3.What can we know about Swan Restaurant?
A.Afternoon tea is not served on Sunday.
B.It serves three meals, drinks and afternoon tea.
C.It is closed from 3 pm to 5 pm on workdays.
D.It has a beautiful two-storey bar.
Translations.
1.难道老师不应该对所有学生一视同仁吗?（suppose）
2.考虑到你的处境，你的确很值得同情，但坦言，你的话我远不能接受。（more than）
3.没有坚决持久的行动难成大事。正由于此，史上各个领域梦想成真的巨星,寥寥无几。（come true）
4.新建的笃志楼，现代感足，设施齐备，将解决教学空间有限的问题。在投入使用之前,欢迎师生前往参观。（welcome a.）
