My family and I belonged to a country club located across the street from the Long Island Sound. Each summer, the big _______ for us was the pool. I learned how to swim and _______the swimming team. However, swimming in my _______ days was a way to keep cool, and swimming on a team gave me identity and a sense of _______. It also became _______ many years later.
Fast-forward (快进) to 1973 — I was _______, pregnant and had a home. What made our little home even more _______ was that I discovered that four _______ away was Rath Park Pool! For the next 30 years, most of our summer days were _______ around that pool. Each of my five kids took swimming lessons and learned all the __________ swimming strokes (姿势).
As much as I would have liked to have life stand __________, it doesn’t. My children outgrew their pool days and moved on with their own life. But the pool was still four blocks from my home, so I began to __________ swimming again. I got so much out of it that I joined the local pool, so I could swim year-round. Whenever I swam, I would __________ come out feeling physically and mentally__________. I often felt that if I looked hard enough, I would be able to see all of the __________and problems I’ve had in life, sitting at the bottom of the pool!
What has swimming __________ me? I’ve learned that __________ is the key to being a good__________. If you are balanced in the water, you have no resistance. Working on staying balanced made me realize the __________ between life in and out of the swim lane. If you work on keeping yourself balanced, you will be able to swim right __________ the stress and problems life throws at you.
1.A.attraction B.activity C.holiday D.building
2.A.refused B.managed C.founded D.joined
3.A.busier B.younger C.tiring D.exciting
4.A.belonging B.duty C.beauty D.loss
5.A.impressive B.difficult C.invaluable D.boring
6.A.employed B.worn C.dismissed D.married
7.A.disappointing B.encouraging C.wonderful D.hopeful
8.A.blocks B.miles C.hours D.meters
9.A.wasted B.spent C.stopped D.remembered
10.A.clumsy B.strange C.funny D.different
11.A.straight B.still C.away D.high
12.A.take up B.give up C.learn from D.worry about
13.A.yet B.never C.always D.sometimes
14.A.sensitive B.refreshed C.nervous D.weakened
15.A.days B.children C.worries D.dreams
16.A.helped B.taught C.encouraged D.made
17.A.experience B.challenge C.training D.balance
18.A.family B.mother C.kid D.swimmer
19.A.similarities B.activities C.exercises D.skills
20.A.with B.over C.through D.to
Work days are long enough without having to deal with afternoon laziness. Many times when 2 or 3 pm rolls around, We are yawning and considering taking a short nap to help wake us up. 1.There are several tricks that you can do to improve your energy level.
Put on some music. Sometimes all you need is a little motivation to help you feel a little more energized. Put on some of your favorite upbeat music.
2.
If you are able, listen to your music a little loudly. This can help drive away your midday fog. If you are not able, try listening to the music throughout headphones, so you don't bother your co-workers.
Grab an afternoon snack. A small afternoon snack can provide your body with a little nutrition and energy. Just make sure you pick the right type of snack to keep your energy up. 3. It contains caffeine and can improve focus. Avoid high-sugar snacks like candies. These cause your blood sugar to rise and then cause additional laziness.
Pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee. 4. Caffeine is a stimulant that can help you feel more awake and focused. Use very minimal sugar, a natural Calorie-free sugar or none at all.
5. Wash the day's stress from your mind by splashing cold water onto your face and neck. Some studies have shown that the cold water can help you wake up and feel more focused. When you are starting to feel a little sleepy, take a walk to the bathroom and make use of cold water.
A.A faster beat can help you feel a little more energetic.
B.Splash your face with cold water.
C.You can stretch yourself and make some deep breath to refresh yourself.
D.Enjoy some-high sugar snacks.
E.Try a piece of dark chocolate.
F.But most offices don't allow midday napping.
G.Small amounts of caffeine can help you beat afternoon laziness as well.
Late blight (晚疫病) is a common disease of plants such as tomatoes and potatoes, capable of wiping out entire crops on commercial-sized fields. If conditions are favorable, it can quickly spread to other plants through wet soil and wind.
In history, late blight caused over 1 million deaths in Ireland. Today it still causes more than 6.7 billion dollars in annual losses worldwide. Small farms and growers are often the hardest hit, many stating losing almost two-thirds of their yearly production, because usually they don’t have money to identify and treat the disease.
But farmers may have a new weapon now. The technology, designed by researchers at North Carolina State University can recognize sick plants early by employing a piece of test paper that plugs into (接入) a reader on a smartphone.
Plants produce signaling chemicals from their leaves. “If a plant is diseased, the type and concentration of these chemicals changes,” said Wei Qingshan, an engineer at North Carolina State University. If the farmer suspects a late blight infection is underway, he can remove a leaf from a living plant and place it in a small, covered glass jar. After the leaf’s volatile (挥发性的) chemicals have accumulated for 15 minutes or so, the cap is removed and the air is pumped from the jar into a reader attached to the back of a smartphone. Inside the smartphone reader is a piece of paper specially treated with dyes (染料) by the researchers. Upon interacting (相互作用) with the plant’s volatile chemicals, the paper changes color to indicate the presence or absence of the late blight.
The researchers hope to tailor the technology for other crop diseases, which continue to appear as climate change and global trade increase the stress on agricultural systems. “This is an important step in the improvement of global food security,” Wei Qingshan said.
1.What are the statistics in Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A.The damage caused by late blight.
B.The money put into late blight treatment.
C.The number of crops in a commercial-sized field.
D.The yearly production of small farms and growers.
2.According to Wei Qingshan, how would a farmer find out if a plant was infected?
A.By treating the plant with special dyes.
B.By putting volatile chemicals on the plant.
C.By testing the air in the jar with a leaf inside.
D.By examining the land with a smartphone reader.
3.What do the researchers expect of their new technology?
A.It’ll reach farmers soon.
B.It’ll get rid of late blight.
C.It’ll be beneficial to the climate.
D.It’ll be able to detect more crop diseases.
4.What is the purpose of this passage?
A.To introduce a test method of late blight.
B.To explain the causes of late blight.
C.To discuss the effects of late blight.
D.To tell the history of late blight.
When Jen Harris was laid off from her job at MPC Computers in Idaho last October, she tweeted the message “just been laid off from MPC”, “By the time I left the parking lot, I had a job offer from a friend that had a Web development company in town, “ she told CNNMoney.
It’s difficult to know how many people are actually finding work this way. But it’s obvious from interviews with job-seekers, employers, coaches and managers that the Twitter phenomenon is fundamentally changing the way people search for jobs.
“A lot of companies aren’t advertising jobs in traditional ways,” says Jason Rivera, a graphic artist who teamed up with other San Francisco Twiners “to lead the pink-slip party (失业聚会) movement” for the networking messes. Rivera says Twitter allows companies to easily “follow” potential candidates online, while giving job hunters a backdoor peek at companies where they may be interested in applying for a job.
“It’s a great way to get up-to-the-minute information about a company and its latest products,” Rivera says, “as well as give you a shot at actually talking to a hiring manager on Twitter，as opposed to having your e-mailed resume end up as the 500th in his in-box. At the same time, Twitter gives managers faster, more efficient ways to get through the mess, and that save them money.”
Paul Mabray knows that firsthand. As a chief strategy officer for Napabased VinTank, a wine industry think tank （智囊团），he used Twitter to spot and then practically “follow’’ the 23-year-old job candidate and gifted Twitter, Ashley Bellview. “We got to learn about her personality, her work ethic and her thought process by the information she’d linked to in her tweets and by how she communicated with other people on Twitter,” Mabray says.
1.Jen Harris is mentioned in the first paragraph to show that ________.
A.Twitter is becoming an important tool for job seekers
B.more people lose their jobs recently
C.it’s easier for IT workers to find jobs
D.there are less jobs than we have expected
2.Twitter can give job hunters a chance to ________.
A.visit the companies
B.learn more about the companies
C.receive training about the computer operation
D.have a face-to-face talk with the managers
3.We can know from the last paragraph that Ashley Bellview ________.
A.has a large circle of online friends
B.proves to be a gifted actress
C.is not experienced in wine making
D.is considered a gifted candidate
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.The Popularity of Twitter
B.Twitter Helps Find Jobs
C.The Ways People Search for Jobs Are Changing
D.How to Get Jobs on Twitter
Recently, a group of scientists decided to find out what the funniest joke in the world was. This was obviously a difficult task, as no two people really agree about what is funny and what is not—especially when they are from different countries.
Here is the joke which the experts decided was the funniest joke in the world：
Two hunters were out in the woods. One of them fell to the ground. He didn’t seem to be breathing; his eyes were closed. The other hunter took out his mobile phone and called the emergency services.
“My friend is dead!” he cried to the operator. “What can I do？”The operator said，“Don’t worry. First, make sure he’s dead.” There was a silence, and then a shot was heard. Bang! The hunter’s voice came back on the line. He said, “OK, now what?”
This is perhaps amusing. Culturally, it depends on us knowing that often hunters are not considered to be very intelligent people, and that often they are quite violent. But perhaps this is not so all over the world. It’s also quite a “black” joke—a joke about something which isn’t really a funny subject. The experts also found the second funniest joke in the world. Here it is：
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After dinner, they went to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes woke up. “Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.” “I see millions of stars, Holmes,” replied Watson.
“And what do you infer from that? ”
“Well, there are billions of stars ... we are a small part of the universe ...”
“Watson, you idiot!” he said. “Someone has stolen our tent!” I personally think this is better.
Can scientists in the end decide what is funny? Some things are much too complicated, even for scientists.
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A.Few jokes can make scientists laugh.
B.Only scientists can find out the funniest joke.
C.There are different jokes in different countries.
D.People hold different opinions about what is funny.
2.What does the author think of the first joke?
A.It is not so funny as the experts thought.
B.It is really the funniest joke he has ever heard.
C.It can greatly affect readers’ attitudes toward hunters.
D.It shows that not all hunters are brave and intelligent.
3.We can learn that a person’s understanding of a joke can be affected by ________.
A.the reader’s feeling B.the length of the joke
C.the reader’s cultural background D.the language that the teller uses
4.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A.Uninteresting jokes B.Different kinds of jokes
C.The funniest jokes in the world D.Tips on how to make others laugh
Maria Rogers
123 Main Street
Fairfax，,Virgnia 22222
(703) 555-5555
Education：
Praha 5 Gymnasium, May 2011-May 2013
J. E. B. Stuart Transitional High School, June 2015 —May 2016
Experience ：
Cashier, McDonald’s, June 2014—May 2015.
Took customer orders, handled customer complaints(投诉),），mopped floors.
Caregiver, McDaniels family, June 2015—May 2018.
Took care of three children, ages 1 to 7, prepared lunch and dinner, drove children to school, organized children’s activities.
Caregiver, Smith family, June 2018—present
Takes care of twins babies, prepares meals and feeds children, cleans and organizes house, takes children to activities like music class.
References：
Jose Mendez, McDonald’s Manager. 703-111-1111.
Jane McDaniels, employer. 571-555-5555.
Nancy Smith, employer. 301-555-5555.
Leona Riley
1234 Red Oak Drive
Flint, MD 64000
Home：404-555-5555
Cell: 404-555-5556
Email：Leona Reiley@ frontfocus. Com
Objective
To obtain a waitress position in the Food and Beverage Industry.
Qualifications Summary
Extensive knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer service, and so on.
Wide knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services.
Education
Maryland Customer Service Academy, Baltimore, MD
Associate's Degree (July 2015) , 404-554-4556
Work Experience
Waitress：:June 2016—Present, Royal Oak Restaurant, Flint, MD
Responsibilities include :Checking customers' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages, checking with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and so on.
Waitress:May 2013—May 2016, Chez Fayette, Flint, MD
Responsibilities included:Collecting payments from customers, writing food orders on order slips.
Prepared hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons.
Described and recommended wines to customers.
References available upon request.
1.What does Rogers do now?
A.She’s a teacher. B.She’s a cashier.
C.She’s a waitress. D.She’s a caregiver.
2.Where was Riley working in 2015?
A.In McDonald’s.
B.In Chez Fayette, Flint, MD.
C.In Royal Oak Restaurant, Flint, MD.
D.In Maryland Customer Service Academy.
3.Which will Riley's potential employer call to know about her work experience?
A.571-555-5555. B.404-555-5556.
C.703-111-1111. D.404-5544556.
