Never had I given back to the community. I gave generously to family since my father had drilled into my mind that ______ begins at home, but rarely to any cause outside.
One day, my ______ phoned me. “Aunt Lene,” she said in her sweet voice that never fails to ______ my heart, “the blood bank asked if I would ______ blood. Would you donate with me?” I couldn’t ______ her.
I didn’t know______, that I would be able to donate blood in the name of someone ______. On the wall were photos of people who were ______ severe illnesses. One photo was of a little girl, named Alexis, whose smiling face, although swollen from drugs, ______ me. Then I decided to donate blood in her name.
I braved the _____ and the procedure was relatively painless. ______, that gave me a lot of happiness, so I continued to ______ several other donations.
One morning I happened to ______ a report about Alexis on the radio. I was thrilled, but I wasn’t ______ to learn how she had tried to help others although she was struggling with cancer, because when I first saw her angelic face, her ______ was so full of joy and ______ that I began to like her ______. I was so happy I joined her trying to help.
I am grateful for this experience as it has ______ me to the fact that every little thing we do to help has its ____, not just to the one receiving, but to the one ______.
1.A.gratitude B.donation C.charity D.friendliness
2.A.nephew B.daughter C.son D.niece
3.A.freeze B.melt C.break D.fill
4.A.give B.check C.draw D.lose
5.A.refuse B.accept C.stand D.forgive
6.A.later B.before C.soon D.recently
7.A.injured B.familiar C.vague D.specific
8.A.treating B.preventing C.battling D.reporting
9.A.turned to B.submitted to C.appealed to D.applied to
10.A.needle B.knife C.medicine D.smell
11.A.Later still B.Worse still C.More effectively D.More importantly
12.A.receive B.make C.ask D.increase
13.A.read B.construct C.hear D.prepare
14.A.surprised B.pleased C.embarrassed D.encouraged
15.A.mind B.voice C.silence D.smile
16.A.tension B.courage C.relief D.sympathy
17.A.instantly B.occasionally C.gradually D.eventually
18.A.challenged B.blinded C.resigned D.awoken
19.A.price B.value C.ending D.purpose
20.A.holding B.accepting C.giving D.taking
It had long been troubling a little boy that his desk mate could rank 1st in the class every time while he failed to: he only ranked 21st.
At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more stupid than others? I feel I am as hardworking as him, but how come I always fall behind?” 1.
In another test, the son ranked 15th, and his desk mate remained 1st. Back home, he raised the same question. 2. However, was this answer in her son’s best interest? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
There were times she wanted to tell him, “Your father and I used to be outstanding. Why aren’t you just as clever?” But she stopped because she felt it was cruel to blame him and that she needed a better answer.
3. To reduce the burden on her son who was suffering from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give out an answer.
Now, the son no longer worries about his rankings, because, with the 1st ranking, he is admitted to a top university. 4. In the lecture, he mentioned a valuable experience, “…When my mother and I was lying on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise quickly while it would take longer for clumsy sea-gulls to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that finally fly across the endless ocean are none other than clumsy sea-gulls?’ 5.” The moving speech affected many mothers present into tears, including his mother.
A.Feeling sad for her son’s failure, mom scolded him.
B.Mom really wanted to tell her son that intelligence differs.
C.Hearing the words, she went wordless, not knowing how to explain.
D.You might be a bit slower, but you will be the one who will make it!
E.Mom was so proud of her son’s success as to often share her experience.
F.Back to his high school, he was invited to give a speech to the students and parents.
G.Time flying swiftly, despite great efforts, he was still unable to keep up with his desk mate.
Knowing that you are paid less than your peers (同龄人) has two effects on happiness. The well-known one is negative (消极的): a thinner pay packet harms self-respect. The less-known one is called the “tunnel” (隧道) effect: high incomes for peers are seen as improving your own chances of similar riches.
A study by professor Mr. Fitzroy separates the two effects using data from household surveys in Germany. Previous work showed that the income of others can have a small, or even positive effect on people's satisfaction. But Mr. Fitzroy’s team theorized that older workers, who largely know their lifetime incomes already, will enjoy a much smaller tunnel effect.
The data confirm this view. The negative effect on reported levels of happiness of being paid less than your peers is not obvious for people aged under 45. Seeing peers' incomes rising actually makes young people happier (even more than a rise in their own incomes). It is only those people over 45, when careers have “reached a stable position”, whose happiness is harmed by the success of others.
Those with jobs are no happier after they retire, however, perhaps because their lives already line up with social expectations. Indeed, retiring early from work can have side effects. Men retiring a year early lower their possibility of surviving to age 67 by 13%. Almost a third of this higher death rate, which seemed to be concentrated among those who were forced into retirement by job loss, was caused by drug and alcohol addiction.
So a person's value does not only depend on how much they buy material goods and recreations but is also influenced by how well a person obeys the generally accepted standards of social behaviour of the category he belongs to. Applying identity theory to the relationship between unemployment and life satisfaction implies that unemployed people are not only dissatisfied with their life because they have lower incomes, but also because they don’t follow the standards of their social category under which they are expected to work.
1.How will people usually react to a less income than peers？
A.Their pride will be injured.
B.Their status will be acquired.
C.Their reputation will be harmed.
D.Their happiness will be achieved.
2.Who will enjoy a biggest tunnel effect?
A.Working people. B.Retired people.
C.People aged over 45. D.People aged under 45.
3.Early retirement will probably affect people’s _____.
A.income B.health C.privileges D.expectations
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A.Peers, Pay and Pride.
B.Age, Admiration and Attitude
C.Envy, Employment and Expectation
D.Income, Inspiration and Independence
GPS has completely transformed how we get around. But other animals have long had their navigation (导航) systems built right in --- like ants and bees.
“We know their eyes are quite sensitive to polarized light (偏振光), and the sky has a particular pattern of polarized light, connected with the position of the sun.” says Barbara Webb, a bioroboticist at the University of Edinburgh. You can see polarized light firsthand if you take a pair of polarized sunglasses and spin them against the sky --- the light passing through the lenses changes. Webb says the insects have polarization like that built into flat sides of their compound eyes. “You can think of it as the equal of having a little polarization directional filter (滤镜) over them or lots of sunglasses pointed in different directions.”
But Webb was curious about whether there's really enough information in the sky to give insects an accurate sense of direction. So her team built a sensor modeled after a desert ant eye and put it under artificial light meant to simulate the sky. They then fed that sensor input into a model meant to copy the brains of desert ants and other insects with a sky compass. And they found that with the insects' natural sensing and processing equipment, they can likely sense compass direction down to just a couple degrees of error.
A system based on that of insects could someday be a cheap, low-energy alternative to GPS. “Insects have very tiny brains, a brain that's using hardly any energy. And yet they're still able to navigate better than we can with GPS, which is a huge system.” Webb is now working on building a robot that can, like the desert ant, use light to get its direction. Although after sundown, it may have to ask for directions.
1.What make(s) it possible for ants and bees to sense the direction?
A.Flat eyes. B.Polarization.
C.A directional filter. D.Polarized sunglasses.
2.Why did Webb and her team build a sensor?
A.To copy the brains of desert ants.
B.To model after the desert ant eye.
C.To satisfy their desire for answers.
D.To test an accurate sense of direction.
3.What is the future navigation system supposed to do?
A.To save energy. B.To be a substitute for GPS.
C.To guide the blind. D.To help GPS work better.
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To introduce an invention.
B.To praise a scientific achievement.
C.To present new scientific findings.
D.To encourage people to learn science.
Sometimes when we are in our darkest hour, something completely unexpected happens that can give us a little bit of hope and comfort.
Jessica was a healthy woman. One day, she woke up and something was not right. After she was sent to the hospital, her heart rate slowed by nearly 50 percent. It took nine days for doctors to zero in on what was causing her problem.
After several weeks, Jessica was able to move her lips. Staff noticed this and introduced Jessica to Consuelo Gonzalez, a professional lip reader. Consuelo can understand what people are saying by the shape their lips make. She can also understand how annoying it is to not be able to communicate because she has been completely deaf since the age of 8.
For a few hours each week, Jessica could have long conversations with Consuelo, diving into the ocean of words she dearly missed. Through Consuelo, Jessica asked the doctors and nurses questions she had long wanted answers to. She also talked to Consuelo about the vivid dreams she was mixing up with reality.
In fact, there are other ways for Consuelo to earn a living by reading lips, but she says helping patients separate horrible dreams from reality is the most rewarding way she can use her unique skill. “What is really wonderful is being able to use this skill to create healing and to create communication between human beings. That’s what feels good. That’s what’s the best: Love.”
After four and a half months in the hospital, Jessica finally recovered. Consuelo was there, holding Jessica’s hands. Jessica eventually went back to work as a math professor. After her experience she wrote a new living will. One thing she added is that if she ever becomes incapacitated like this again, she is never to be left alone.
1.What did Consuelo do for Jessica?
A.She cured Jessica’s heart disease.
B.She helped Jessica communicate.
C.She taught Jessica how to read lips.
D.She made Jessica’s dream come true.
2.How does Consuelo feel about her job?
A.Horrible. B.Confident. C.Worried. D.Satisfied.
3.Which of the following best explains “incapacitated” underlined in the last paragraph?
A.Seriously ill. B.Desperately lonely.
C.Less reliable. D.More fortunate.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.A close friendship. B.A good living will.
C.An unusual skill. D.A new treatment.
The best way to see the world’s architectural marvels is to visit them in person.
Singapore
The architecture of Singapore is futuristic, to the point that visitors may feel like they have stepped onto a science fiction film. The Gardens by the Bay is one of the most visually striking creations that it has to offer, consisting of large parkland dotted with strange but wonderful structures.
Barcelona
Every year millions of people flood into this colorful Spanish city to see the unique works of famed architect Antoni Gaudi. The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia is the most popular of these and is still being built, in spite of the fact that work began all the way back in 1882. So if you want to avoid the crowds you can take your pick on your trip.
Athens
Ancient architecture is abundant in Athens, with buildings that have stood for thousands of years still managing to tower. From the inspiring remains of the Parthenon to various spirits including Zeus and Hephaestus, Athens is the place to visit if you are eager to see architecture filled with history.
Dubai
If you are looking for breath-taking architecture, Dubai will satisfy your curiosity. From the eye-watering height of the Burj Khalifa to the impressive achievement of the Palm Island, everything seems bigger in Dubai and there is luxury (奢华) in almost every aspect of the city, earning it a serious reputation on the international travel scene.
1.What is special about the architecture of Singapore?
A.Super modern. B.Extremely old.
C.Pretty colorful. D.Rather plain.
2.Which is one of the works of architect Antoni Gaudi?
A.Burj Khalifa. B.The Gardens by the Bay.
C.Parthenon Temple. D. The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia.
3.Where will you travel if you are curious about old tales behind architecture?
A.To Singapore. B.To Barcelona. C.To Athens. D.To Dubai.
