Michael Evans was a successful businessman ready to help others. One day, he was standing in line at a treasurers office waiting to pay his _______ when he heard a _______ sound. An elderly woman was crying and so was the cashier helping her. Then from their dialogue, Evans learned _______ : the woman's house was in foreclosure （取消抵押赎回权）and headed for auction （拍卖），and her daughter had recently _______ .
Evans, who had just buried his father, couldn't _______ the idea of this woman losing her home right after losing her child. He approached them. "I don't mean to _______” he said to the cashier, "but if you can get her _______ back, I'll pay for her taxes.” The _______ due: $5,000.
The two women were _______ Their despair turned into disbelief. The cashier left for a moment to ________ the amount and that it was all right for Evans to pay for it. Evans ________ to go straight to the ________ and come right back with the money. And he did But when he ________ he asked someone else waiting in line to hand the $5, 000 check to the cashier. Evans was trying to slip away ________ “I didn't want the ________“, he explained.
Of course, attention found him -- it's not every day that someone pays a stranger's ________tax bill. A few weeks after the tax ________ Evans received the Spirit of Detroit Award for his ________Again, he didn't want the attention, but his son felt it good to see his dad finally got the recognition he ________.
Michael Evans will retire soon, and his son will carry on with his dad’s charity as well as the business. ________ my life on his," the young man says. "When I have kids, I want them to look at me the way I look at my dad."
1.A.bills B.debts C.taxes D.fees
2.A.distant B.familiar C.unique D.disturbing
3.A.where B.how C.when D.why
4.A.got fired B.passed away C.given birth D.got divorced
5.A.bear B.understand C.forget D.reject
6.A.give in B.cut in C.call in D.pull in
7.A.cash B.child C.house D.check
8.A.amount B.worth C.fine D.salary
9.A.terrified B.annoyed C.impressed D.astonished
10.A.confirm B.determine C.believe D.find
11.A.pretended B.applied C.failed D.promised
12.A.office B.house C.bank D.booth
13.A.returned B.settled C.hesitated D.compromised
14.A.abruptly B.willingly C.quietly D.permanently
15.A.award B.attention C.praise D.remark
16.A.vast B.annual C.controversial D.special
17.A.reform B.argument C.incident D.plan
18.A.sacrifice B.honesty C.bravery D.generosity
19.A.required B.deserved C.accepted D.expected
20.A.focus B.model C.spend D.build
Distinguish Between Work and Home Modes
When working at home, slowly moving from bed to the sofa five minutes before you start can also be your biggest challenge. 1.. It is necessary that you should set yourself up the right way.
* Be realistic
A wide, open day working from home can feel full of possibilities. 145 things on the to-do list? No problem! 2. Instead, be realistic and then possibly achieve more than you set out to, and feel satisfied, rather than feeling disappointed, if you didn't do everything.
* 3.
In the office your day is broken up by everything from meetings to lunch breaks and even toilet breaks, but when you are at home, it can be easy to just work for long, unbroken periods. In order to be productive, you should impose structure on yourself, for example, 45-minute to 60-minute chunks of focused work followed by a short break. 4.
* Take some breaks
It can be difficult to tear yourself away from your laptop, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take breaks. Leave your desk for lunch and take advantage of being at home to walk the dog for half an hour in the afternoon. You'll return feeling refreshed and more productive for the rest of the day.
* Be sociable
5. Unless you're self-isolating, working from home shouldn't mean that you don't leave the house at all or don't see anyone for two weeks. Ensure you still keep up social interaction. If you're the kind of person who'll miss your colleagues when you work from home, build opportunities for socializing into your day.
A.Work in short bursts
B.Manage disturbances
C.Don't fall into the trap of being over-ambitious
D.However, don't forget that you are there to work
E.Try to call your friends rather than send messages
F.It's hard to maintain concentration in a new environment
G.This can be effective to break the day up and keep focused
Put "crottin de chevre," into Google Translate, and you'll be told it means goat dung (waste). So if it appears on a menu, you may pass. Alas! You will rule out a delicious cheese made of goats5 milk that is often served as a starter in France.
Such misunderstandings are why Google Translate is not intended to replace human translators. Tourists might accept a few misunderstandings because the technology is cheap and convenient, but when in business, law or medicine, these services often fall short. " Using Google Translate can lead to some serious errors, especially when words have multiple meanings, which is often the case in fields such as law and engineering, " says Samantha Langley, a court-approved French — to — English legal translator in France.
That is not to say professional translators do not use computer assisted translation (CAT) tools. One of the most popular new tools is the translation earpiece. Usually paired with a smart-phone app, they pick up spoken foreign languages and translate them. For conferences, wearable translation tools like Waverly's are undoubtedly popular. But even this new generation tech has limitations. Users must wait at least a few seconds for a phrase to be translated, or more if the Internet connection is poor. And computers still lack the subtlety (微妙之处)of human communication.
"If you want to create a relationship with the user, you need a human translator to make sound natural and capture the sentiment, which often involves restructuring a sentence completely, says Zoey Cooper, director at Wordbank. "I believe CAT tools get in the way of creativity, " says Antonio Navarro Gosalvez, an English-to- Spanish translator in Spain.
Mr. Ochoa Spencer, chief executive of US start-up Waverly Labs, thinks this problem could be resolved within the next 10 years. "When it comes to expressing emotion and intonation, we need sentiment analysis, which may well be in ten years time, " he says. Yet, nowadays foreign language skills are still in demand in the labour market.
1.The writer uses the example of "crottin de chevre" to ______.
A.criticize Google Translate B.regret missing the cheese
C.bring in the main topic D.introduce a starter in France
2.How is Google Translate according to Paragraph 2?
A.Precise and cheap. B.Cheap but inaccurate.
C.Convenient and effective. D.Fast but incorrect.
3.Who might have a different opinion on Al translation?
A.Samantha Langley. B.Zoey Cooper.
C.Antonio Navarro Gosalvez. D.Ochoa Spencer.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The various disadvantages of Google Translate.
B.The chances of human translators being replaced by AI.
C.The difference between computer and human translation.
D.The disappearance of human translators in the near future.
Let’s play a word game. What word can be put in front of the words “stick, maker and point” to make three new compound words? Ready for the answer? Match. Match will combine to make the words “match-stick, match-maker and match-point”. And the point of tasks like this is to measure creativity.
Maybe you have music playing as you think about the words. And, of course, many listen to music while they work. So Emma Threadgold, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire in England, and her colleagues recently used such word puzzles to investigate whether listening to music affects creativity. They asked volunteers to solve 19 puzzles, while listening to either a foreign-language tune, an instrumental version of the same song, a familiar English-language tune, or silence. In every case, volunteers listening to music solved fewer puzzles than their counterparts in total quiet, suggesting that background music does not really aid this kind of creative task. Besides, the researchers tested library noise as well, like the sounds of typing and rustling papers. None of those noises decreased volunteers’ performance at all, compared to the silent control group.
The results are in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology. Still, if you do insist on listening to music while working, you might try something a little more low-key than Lady Gaga, says Threadgold’s colleague John Marsh. A sound with a lot of changes in state information or pitches is more disruptive (干扰的) than one with fewer of those changes. So if you compared a modern pop song with some classical music, you’d expect less disruption from that classical music, just as in actual silence.
1.What is the purpose of the word game mentioned in the passage?
A.To make fun with others. B.To test memory.
C.To evaluate creativity. D.To create new words.
2.Why can the volunteers in total quiet solve more puzzles?
A.Because they can concentrate on the problems.
B.Because other groups are not as clever as them.
C.Because other groups are into listening to music.
D.Because they are better at word puzzle games.
3.What can we infer from Emma Threadgold and her colleagues’ experiment?
A.Volunteers in library can do as well as the ones in quiet.
B.Library noises can affect the volunteers’ performance.
C.Sound has a negative influence on one’s creativity.
D.Those who listen to foreign songs perform worse.
4.If you do insist on listening to music while working, which one is the best?
A.Fast-paced songs. B.High-key songs.
C.Pop music. D.Classic music.
It was Christmas Eve 1949. I was 15 and feeling sad because there was not enough money to buy the dress I wanted. After supper, I was still feeling sorry for myself. It was a cold, clear night, and Pa came in. "Come on, Elizabeth,” he said. "Get dressed. It's cold out. " Pa was dragging me out in the cold. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door.
Outside, I asked, "Pa, what are you doing?” Have you met Mrs. Clark lately?" he asked. Mrs. Clark lived about two miles down the road from us. Her husband had died the year before, leaving her with three children to raise on her own." Yeah, " I said. "Why?” "I rode by just today, " Pa said. Little Jake was trying to find a few woodchips. They're out of wood. " That was all he said. Pa then loaded the truck with a big ham, a sack of flour and a smaller sack of something in his left hand. "What's in the smaller sack?" I asked. "Shoes. They're out of shoes. I got the children a little candy too."
We rode the two miles to the Clarks' place in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. I knew we didn't have much money. The Clarks had closer neighbors than us. Why was it our concern?
When Mrs. Clark realized what was happening, she bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling as tears ran down her cheeks. She looked at Pa as if she wanted to say something, but it wouldn't come out. I wasn't the same person when I got the wood unloaded. We gave each of the kids a hug and said goodbye. Thank you, Brother Cotton," Mrs. Clark said.
On the way back, Pa explained that he and Ma had saved all year long to buy me a dress for Christmas. 441 spent that money on some shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand, he said. I understood very well. My father had given me a gift much greater than a dress.
1.I felt sorry for myself because ______
A.I didn't get the present I desired
B.Pa forced me to go out in the cold
C.Pa didn't have money for Christmas
D.I did a lot of housework after supper
2.What can we learn about Mrs. Clark?
A.She lived on others' help.
B.She was our closest neighbor.
C.She led a hard life that winter.
D.She was a warm-hearted woman.
3.What does the underlined sentence "I wasn't the same person..." in Paragraph 4 mean?
A.I understood what Pa was doing then.
B.I helped with unloading the wood.
C.Mrs. Clark didn't recognize me.
D.Mrs. Clark noticed my change.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Christmas Gifts from Heart B.A Cold Christmas Eve
C.Helping Our Neighbors D.Clark and Her Children
Not sure how to treat the special person in your life who has a daily chocolate requirement? We pulled together a list of different gifts ranging from traditional hot chocolate kits to chocolate soaps that will take their favorite to a whole new level.
1. HOT CHOCOLATE ON A STICK KIT, $36
Rather than traditional powder, inside you'll find eight different chocolate sticks with flavors like peanut butter, peppermint, and salted caramel. All your giftee needs to do is steam some milk, stir in their preferred flavor, and enjoy the sweet, warm goodness.
Buy it: Amazon
2. PRECISION COOKER, $178
The secret to the right chocolate texture is finding the perfect temperature. This one promises to bring the professional temperature control technique to the home cook. And your giftee won't even have to stay in the kitchen to reap the benefits. The tool's iPhone and Android apps allow users to control the temperature and time from far away.
Buy it: UncommonGoods
3. CHOCOLATE SOAPS, $30
The magic of chocolate goes beyond the kitchen. Help your favorite chocoholics start their day off right —— with the smell of warm chocolate. Each of the soaps, which include Amber Chocolate, Chocolate Bar, and Raspberry Drizzle, are made from olive oil, coconut, refined sweet almond oil, fragrance, and cocoa butter.
Buy it: Amazon
4. CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES KIT, $35
This kit is easy to use, so even if someone has never made chocolate before, they can experiment with all sorts of flavors and combinations without any previous experience. Inside the kit is a thermometer, two bags of dark chocolate chips, organic cocoa powder, organic coconut flakes, sea salt, peppermint extract, and vanilla extract.
Buy it: UncommonGoods
1.What is special about PRECISION COOKER?
A.It can teach users temperature control technique.
B.It can be controlled from a distance by its users.
C.It can make chocolate of different flavors.
D.It can cook dishes with better smell.
2.Which one is suitable for a chocolate making beginner?
A.HOT CHOCOLATE ON A STICK KIT.
B.PRECISION COOKER.
C.CHOCOLATE SOAPS.
D.CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES KIT.
3.You can find this webpage on ______.
A.the website of UncommonGoods B.the website of Amazon
C.a website for chocolate recipes D.a website for gift shopping
