“Do not decide something too fast; otherwise you will regret it later.” This is what my _______ told me when I was young. In May 2, I went to window shop to buy a beautiful _______ in Siam Square with my friend for my first party. Having walked for 5 hours, we were so _______ that our shirts .stuck to our body. We were like robots only _______ to find beautiful dresses. Then we found one _______ with many dresses hanging on the wall. We ran in and found a pink dress which looked _______ than any other we saw. I immediately bought the dress with a smiling face, though not _______ to buy it on that very day.
When I went back home, I started to feel like something was _______. Did my dress look cheap or too ordinary or match me? The _______ was going around my brain for a whole day. ________ that party was the first one in my life. I really wanted to look beautiful.
Two weeks later, I went to Siam Square again with my same ________ to buy accessories for the party. We walked to the same place again and ________ a shop which we did not see on the dress choosing day. We went in and found the shop full of brilliant dresses. After trying on a dress ________ by my friend, I found it simply ________. The color was perfectly beautiful pink; the shape was exactly what I ________, and the price was lower than the one I had bought. Thinking of the dress bought last time, my excitement for the party ________.
On June 2, I went to party with no confidence on myself. Seeing many people with wonderful dresses, I could not stop ________ the pink dress. From this ________, I learned what my father said was correct. I should have been more ________. Each time I look at my dress in wardrobe, I remember the ________ decision that I made by being too hurried.
1.A.father B.teacher C.grandpa D.relative
2.A.hat B.dress C.skirl D.coat
3.A.exhausted B.shocked C.relieved D.accustomed
4.A.helping B.failing C.moving D.Agreeing
5.A.case B.shop C.party D.exhibition
6.A.cheaper B.larger C.newer D.better
7.A.affording B.promising C.planning D.remembering
8.A.special B.wrong C.vital D.fashionable
9.A.test B.image C.direction D.question
10.A.If B.When C.Because D.While
11.A.purpose B.friend C.money D.shirt
12.A.forgot B.missed C.found D.researched
13.A.made B.recommended C.donated D.distributed
14.A.unpopular B.single C.ordinary D.awesome
15.A.wanted B.bought C.deserved D.designed
16.A.doubled B.expected C.increased D.disappeared
17.A.trying on B.thinking about C.picking out D.judging from
18.A.task B.journey C.experience D.performance
19.A.energetic B.generous C.active D.careful
20.A.stupid B.final C.eager D.common
Reading for pleasure is an alien concept especially between your to-do list, your deadlines, and your complete lack of “your time”. 1. However, tons of super successful people find time in their schedules to read. After spending hours and hours trying different strategies, I’m excited to share the tricks that have helped me make reading for pleasure reality.
Combine it with an existing, enjoyable habit.
Writer James Clear introduced me to the concept of “habit stacking（叠放）” 2. According to Clear, “the quickest way to build a new habit into your life is to stack it on top of a current habit.”
Since I’ve always loved breakfast, I decided to “stack” the new habit of reading for 30 minutes on top of my existing one of going to cafes and eating fried eggs.
3.
At the beginning of each month, my friend and I share our reading lists and make sure to help each other to finish them. After posting my first reading list with an image and “mentioning” a few authors, one of them started following my account and another asked me to share my thoughts on his book. 4.
Only allow yourself to buy a new book for every book you’ve finished.
Although I never read much until recently, I did have the bad habit of buying books—books that would only collect dust on my shelves. I’ll assume that I'm not the only one with this problem. 5. No matter how eager you are to purchase the new release that appeared in your local bookstore or on the homepage of your Amazon account, don’t—not unless you’ve recently finished a book from your reading list. It’s that simple.
A.Share your monthly reading goals with a friend.
B.Picking up a book and reading for fun feels impossible.
C.Be responsible to your friends and the Internet strangers
D.Thanks to this strategy, I got my bookish lifestyle started.
E.So I propose a solution that will help you both read more and save money.
F.Being addicted to social media sure keeps you from achieving your reading goal.
G.Posting your list online to build connections with writers you admire will always make a difference.
Just how much does the Constitution （宪法）protect your digital data? The Supreme Court will now consider whether police can search the contents of a mobile phone without a warrant （(授权令) if the phone is on or around a person during an arrest.
California has asked the justices to restore the practice that the police may search through the contents of suspects' smartphones at the time of their arrest. It is hard, the state says, for judges to assess the implications of new and rapidly changing technologies .
The justices would be careless if they followed California's advice. They should start by rejecting California's weak argument that exploring the contents of a smart phone is similar to say, going through a suspect's wallet. The court has ruled that police don't offend against the Fourth Amendment（修正案） when they go through the wallet, of an arrestee without a warrant. In fact, exploring one's smartphone is more like entering his or her home. A smartphone may contain an arrestee's reading history, financial history, medical history and comprehensive records of recent correspondence.
Americans should take steps to protect their own digital privacy and should avoid putting important information in smartphones. But keeping sensitive information on these devices is increasingly a requirement of normal life. Citizens still have a right to expect private documents to remain private and protected by the Constitution's prohibition on unreasonable searches.
In many cases, it would not be very difficult for authorities to obtain a warrant to search through phone contents. They could still trump （打出王牌）the Fourth Amendment protections when facing severe and dangerous circumstances, such as the threat of immediate harm, and they could take reasonable measures to ensure that phone data are not deleted or altered while a warrant is on the way. The justices, though, may want to allow room for police to cite situations where they are entitled to more flexibility.
But the justices should not swallow California's argument whole. New technology sometimes demands fresh applications of the Constitution's protections. Orin Kerr, a law professor, compares the explosion and accessibility of digital information in the 21st century with the establishment of automobile use as a digital necessity of life in the 20th. At that time, the justices had to explain new rules for the new personal domain （领域）of cars. Similarly, the justices must sort out how the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution applies to digital information now.
1.The author's attitude toward California's argument is one of ________
A.disapproval. B.tolerance.
C.indifference. D.cautiousness.
2.The author believes that exploring one's phone content is comparable to
A.scanning one's correspondences. B.handing one's historical records.
C.getting into one's residence. D.going through one's wallet.
3.In paragraph 4 and 5, the author shows his concern that
A.citizens' privacy is not effectively protected.
B.principles are hard to be clearly expressed.
C.phones are used to store sensitive information.
D.the court is giving police less room for action.
4.Orin Kerr's comparison is quoted to indicate that
A.the Constitution should be implemented flexibly.
B.Principles of the Constitution should never be changed.
C.California's argument violates principles of the Constitution.
D.New technology requires reinterpretation of the Constitution
People who have got rhythm might have an advantage when it comes to language and reading skills. A new study shows the brains of people who can move to a musical beat react to speech on a more consistent basis than those who can't. Researchers also find that musical training can sharpen the brain's response to language.
The researchers say their discovery provides the first biological link between the ability to keep a beat and how the brain responds to speech, something that can have important value for reading skills. To gather materials for their research, the team got more than 100 teenagers who lived in Chicago, Illinois. The teens were given two tests. First, they were instructed to listen to and tap their fingers along to the beat. The researchers calculated how accurately their young volunteers were able to tap along to the musical timekeeper. Second, the teen subjects were linked to an EEG device, which measures electrical activity in the brain. The EEG device was focused on an area of the brain that not only processes sound, but is also connected to parts of the brain responsible for motor-movement. The researchers recorded the brainwaves as their teen subjects listened to the synthesized speech sound, which was repeated irregularly for half an hour. The researchers were able to find out how the nerve cells in that particular region of the brain responded every time the synthesized sound was played. a Across this population of adolescents, the more accurate they were at tapping along to the beat, the more consistent their brains' response to the letter unit was," said Nina Kraus.
While past studies have showed the links between reading skills and a person's ability to keep a beat, the researchers said their new findings show the hearing system is what provides a common basis for those links. “Rhythm is naturally a part of music and language." Nina said.
1.According to the first paragraph, what can get the brain's reaction to language more effectively?
A.Rhythm. B.Musical training.
C.Language. D.Reading skills.
2.The underlined word “subjects” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ________
A.areas of knowledge studied in a school, college, and so on
B.things that are being discussed in a conversation or a book
C.persons or things that are the main features of works of art
D.persons or animals that are studied in an experiment or a research
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A.reading skills may make language learners keep a beat
B.the hearing system may be useless while a person is learning to read
C.the hearing system may separate sound from meaning while a person is reading
D.the hearing system may be used while a person is reading or taking musical training
4.What can we conclude from this passage?
A.Experts are expanding their studies on rhythm.
B.Rhythm might help us improve our reading skills.
C.Moving to a musical beat is more popular nowadays.
D.Experts find the links between the hearing system and reading.
The sound that woke Damian Languell at 8:15 in the morning was so loud he assumed it came from inside his house in Wade, Maine. As he got up to investigate, he heard another sound, this one coming most definitely from outside. Looking out of his bedroom window, he noticed a tree enveloped in smoke about 500 yards away. A car wrapped around the tree's base, its engine on fire.
Grabbing buckets of water, he and his wife ran to the crash site. Up close, the accident looked worse. The car was split nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver's seat ought to have been, as if planted there. No one should have survived this crash, and yet there was 20- year-old Quintin Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver's side window, in visible pain.
Languell tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water but failed. When the flames got into the front seats, he knew he had to get the young man out. So Languell opened the car's back door and climbed in. Using a pocket knife he'd brought with him, he cut through Thompson's seat belt. Now that Thompson was free, Languell pulled him out, and dragged him to safety before the entire car was in flames.
It is empathy that drove Languell to help, just as he said, "My heart goes out to Thompson. When you are that close to that level of hurt, you feel it so directly." For his heroic action, Languell was added to the list of real-life heroes changing the world.
1.Where was the first sound actually from?
A.A house on fire. B.A car crash.
C.The bedroom window. D.The basement.
2.What do we know about Quintin Thompson?
A.He saved his car from fire. B.He was successfully rescued.
C.He remained calm all the time. D.He was capable of helping himself out.
3.Which of the following best explains "empathy” underlined in the last paragraph?
A.Honesty. B.Wisdom. C.Sympathy. D.Responsibility.
4.Which words can best describe Damian Languell?
A.Daring and generous. B.Caring and grateful.
C.Courageous and noble. D.Ambitious and reliable.
The Visitor Oyster card
A Visitor Oyster card is the cheapest way to pay for a single adult journeyin London. It’s a plastic smartcard. You can use it on the bus, tube, tram, DLR,London Overground and most National Rail services. It’s much cheaper thanbuying individual tickets, in some cases costing 50% less than the price of a regularpaper ticket.
How to get a Visitor Oyster card
You can buy a Visitor Oyster card online. Your card will be delivered by post.The card costs £5 and you choose how much money you want to add to the card.This means you can start using the card the moment you arrive in Central London.
How does the Visitor Oyster card work?
The Oyster card works on a pay-as-you-go system. You start by adding money to the card. Then you travel, the cost of the fare will automatically bededucted from your Visitor Oyster card. For example, if you add £20 to thecard and make a tube journey of £2.30, you will have £17.70 left on the card.
A few more points:
·A child under the age of 11 travels free when accompanied by an adult.
·You’ll save more money if you use the tube several times. The Visitor Oyster cardis “capped (给……定上限)” at £6.80 per day.
·You’ll pay more during peak times. Peak fares apply from Monday to Friday (6:30am—9:30 am; 4:00 pm —7:00 pm), except for public holidays.
·Reuse the Oyster card by adding credit at a tube station, Oyster ticket shop orVisitor Centre.
·Receive a discount on the Thames Clippers River Bus services.
1.What can we learn about the Visitor Oyster card?
A.You can’t use it during public holidays.
B.You can have it mailed directly to your home.
C.You can get a free Oyster card if you order online.
D.You can receive a 50% discount at any shop in London.
2.How much money will be deducted if you take the tube four times in a day witha Visitor Oyster card?
A.£2.30. B.£3.40.
C.£6.80. D.£9.20.
3.Where can you add credit to your Visitor Oyster card?
A.On the Internet. B.At a bus station.
C.At a tube station. D.In convenience stores.
