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I remember doing the household chores to help my mother when I was nine. I hated changing the vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器)bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up. Twenty years later, in 1978, with this lifelong dislike of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless one.

Easier said than done, of course. I didn't realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (样机).By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627, my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.

In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (滤网). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business. But soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents on my vacuum cleaner.

I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.

Today, I still embrace risk and the potential for failure as part of the process. Nothing beats the excitement of invention.

1.What drove the author to make a bagless vacuum cleaner? (No more than 10 words)

2.What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us? (No more than 10 words)

3.Why did the companies refuse to license the author's technology? (No more than 10 words)

4.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean? (No more than 10 words)

5.What lesson may you learn from the author's experience? (No more than 25 words)

    If you believe that scientists and artists are most creative when they're young, you are missing an important part of the story. A new study published in De Economist looked at Nobel Prize winners in the field of economics. It found there are two different peaks of creativity. One comes early in a person's career, while another comes later.

The research supports previous work by the authors that found similar patterns in the arts and other sciences.

"We believe what we found in this study isn't limited to economics, but could apply to creativity more generally," said Bruce Weinberg, lead author of the study and professor of economics at The Ohio State University.

"Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you're talking about."

In the study, those who did their most groundbreaking work early in their careers tended to be "conceptual" innovators（创新者）.

These type of innovators "think outside the box", challenging conventional wisdom and suddenly coming up with new ideas. Conceptual innovators are not yet immersed（沉浸于）in the accepted theories of their field, Weinberg said.

But there is another kind of creativity, he said, which is found among "experimental" innovators. These innovators accumulate knowledge through their careers and find new ways to understand it.

The long periods of trial and error for important experimental innovations come later in a Nobel laureate's（荣誉获得者的）career.

"Whether you hit your creative peak early or late in your career depends on whether you have a conceptual or experimental approach," Weinberg said.

The researchers took a novel, empirical（经验主义的）approach to the study, which involved 31 laureates. They arranged the laureates on a list from the most experimental to most conceptual.

This ranking was based on the laureates' most important work, classifying them into "conceptual" or "experimental".

After classifying the laureates, the researchers determined the age at which each laureate made his most important contribution to economics and could be considered at his creative peak.

They found that conceptual laureates peaked between ages 25 and 29. Experimental laureates peaked when they were roughly twice as old, in their mid-50s.

"Our research suggests that when you're most creative is more about how you approach your work."

1.What does the underlined phrase "think outside the box" mean?

A.Follow rules strictly. B.Experiment on boxes.

C.Break old thought patterns. D.Figure out how to escape from a box.

2.What do we know about "experimental" innovators?

A.They usually come up with new ideas all of a sudden.

B.They make discoveries through constant trial and error.

C.The majority of them reach their creative peak in their twenties.

D.They make more contributions than "conceptual" innovators.

3.Which of the following statements about the study published in De Economist is false?

A.The study is not the first of its kind.

B.The conclusion can be applied to other areas.

C.The laureates' most important work decides whether they are "conceptual" or "experimental".

D.The "conceptual" won their Nobel Prizes between ages 25 and 29.

4.What do the researchers believe determines someone's creative peak?

A.One's personality type. B.What kind of job one takes.

C.How one handles their work. D.One's attitude toward their work.

5.What's the main idea of this passage?

A.Creativity comes at any age, young or old.

B.Creativity tends to decrease as people get older.

C.Economists, artists and other scientists have much in common.

D.Economists are more creative than artists and other scientists.

    Eric Attayi, owner of the Urban Bicycle Gallery in Houston, Texas, has watched the pandemic transform his shop in a way most businesses can only dream of.

Bicycles are selling before he has time to assemble them for display. Attayi said he'd matched his 2019 sales by the start of May. He's had to hire new employees to meet demand, and hasn't taken a day off since February. Attayi said now the phone doesn't stop ringing and his guys get overwhelmed. He'd given raises and started buying lunch for his stressed staff.

As unemployment reaches record levels and small businesses scramble to survive, bike shops have been an exception.

They're thriving whether they're in car-dominated cities like Houston or more traditional biking areas like New York. Keeping enough bikes in stock, and finishing repairs in a timely manner, has become a challenge. Customers are being turned away, in some cases.

New customers are looking for ways to be active and outdoors. Bike shop owners say that the closing of gyms and yoga studios during the pandemic has contributed. Others say customers are looking for a commuting alternative to public transportation. Social spacing is easiest on individual modes of transportation, like cars and bikes. In March 2020, US cycling sales increased 39% when compared with March 2019, according to a survey.

"Bikes are like the new toilet paper," Attayi said. "If it's available, buy it."

Robert Keating, owner of the Triathlon Lab outside Los Angeles, said he's never seen anything like the current bicycle boom in the 37 years he's worked in bike shops. He's shifted his shop from a focus on high-end bicycles to affordable bikes people are likely to ride in their neighborhood. Beach cruisers have been especially popular, he said.

Bike shop owners are also wondering how long the current boom will last. Some said customers were more interested in biking because with less car traffic, roads felt safer. Their interest may decrease as traffic returns. But some cities have begun to reallocate street space to bike lanes, which could lead to more biking in the long term.

Phil Koopman, owner of BicycleSpace in Washington DC, compared the current bicycle boom to 1999, when many people bought computers to prepare for Y2K.

"Then those companies didn't sell a lot of computers for a few years because everyone already had one," Koopman said. "That's the big question. Is this a one-time thing or is it something sustainable?"

1.What can we learn from Para l and Para 2?

A.Most businesses have experienced the same development as Attayi's shop.

B.Attayi's 2019 sales were as many as those of the start of May.

C.Bikes are flying off shelves, overwhelming shops.

D.The staff's wages were raised because they had no day off since February.

2.What does the underlined word They in Para 4 refer to?

A.Unemployment levels.

B.Small businesses.

C.Bike shops

D.Stressed staff

3.What is the challenge for bike shops?

A.Jo attract customers when they are not keen on biking.

B.To survive in car-dominated ciles.

C.To promote their sales in traditional biking cities.

D.To prepare enough bikes for sale and do repairs quickly.

4.Which is not the reason why more customers are turning to bikes during the pandemic?

A.They can spend much less on qualified goods.

B.They cannot go to gyms and yoga studios.

C.They prefer biking to public transportation.

D.They are trying to find an active way in the open air.

5.We can infer from para7 and para8 that _______?

A.The current bicycle boom was totally within Keating's expectations.

B.Triathlon Lab used to mainly sell bikes that were unaffordable for most people.

C.Roads feel dangerous when there are more bikers.

D.People lose interest in biking because there is no bike lane.

6.What is Phil Koopman's attitude towards the bike boom?

A.Short-sighted. B.Unconcerned.

C.Skeptical. D.Optimistic

    The first time a tortoise walked through my hut at Middle Camp on Aldabra Atoll, I was amazed. I grabbed my camera and carefully positioned myself to take this wildlife encounter. The second time: same thing. The third time: I picked up my phone and took a snapshot. By the fourth or fifth time, I didn't even look when I felt something bump into me. I knew what it was.

I was there to shoot a story about island restoration（修复）in the Seychelles, far off the east coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. Until roughly the middle of the past century, the small island nation showed signs of real environmental killing—local vegetation（植被）cleared to make way for coconut plantations, foreign rats and mice running uncontrolled, native sea turtles and giant tortoises being exploited. Biodiversity seemed destroyed. But then the country experienced a shift in conservation awareness — and the giant Aldabra tortoises are among its most visible signs.

Every morning when I woke up and walked outside the hut, I had to remind myself that I hadn't traveled back in time. I could see flightless Aldabra rails, coconut crabs the size of dinner plates, and giant tortoises—roughly four feet long and weighing up to 550 pounds—just wandering around. The number of sharks in the bay was crazy. Frigatebirds and boobies（鲣鸟）nested in the mangroves（a kind of tree）. When we left our hut doors open, which we often did to let in air, the tortoises would walk right through.

In the late afternoon or early evening, whenever they'd finished eating, the tortoises would drop themselves down and fall asleep with their heads outstretched. That made nighttime trips to the outhouse perilous. To get there, we'd have to go 200 feet into the mangroves, negotiating what I called the tortoise slalom （之形障碍）trail.

It was a track without a pattern, because of course they picked different places to sleep every night. Avoiding them was important: Falling headfirst over a tortoise onto the sharp coral rock could lead to serious injury on an island far from medical facilities.

Nothing was easy on Aldabra, and much of it was insanely difficult. Yet living among the tortoises in this primordial place, in one of the last spots where reptiles still rule; was one of the happiest times of my life.

1.How did the author feel about his final meeting with the tortoise in his room?

A.Calm B.Excited C.Concerned D.Disturbed

2.What made the wildlife on the island suffer during the last century?

A.Introducing foreign species. B.Killing too many rats and mice.

C.Planting lots of coconut trees. D.Repairing the building on the island.

3.What does the author intend to do in paragraph 3?

A.To stress the importance of their work.

B.To introduce how large the tortoises are.

C.To present his daily routine on the island.

D.To show how the wildlife is diverse on the island.

4.Which can best replace the underlined word "perilous" in the 4th paragraph?

A.risky . B.competitive C.successful D.interesting

5.What might be the suitable title for this passage?

A.Island fills with curious tourists.

B.Tortoises rule on this isolated island.

C.Efforts are made to protect the environment.

D.Aldabra is heaven for wild animals.

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Delivery method Online

Study level Professional development, Short, Accredited

Ref FACE-GUARD

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Module 1 Your Introduction to Becoming a Face Painter

Module 2 The Equipment and Materials You Will Need for Face Painting

Module 3 Health & Safety and Risk Assessments

Module 4 Starting / Running Your Own Business

Module 5 Pricing and Costs

Module 6 Marketing Your Business & Social Media

Module 7 1'he Do's and Don'ts and What to Do If Your Business Doesn't Go Well

Module 8 How to do a Dog / Cat Face Paint Design

Module 9 How to do a Butterfly / Dolphin Face Paint Design

Module 10 How to do a Monkey / Frog Face Paint Design

Module 11 How to do a Rabbit / Swan Face Paint Design

Module 12 How to do a Tiger / Dinosaur Face Paint Design

Module 13 How to do a Spiderman / Batman Face Paint Design

Module 14 How to do a Minnie Mouse / Princess Face Paint Design

1.The course is intended mainly for those _______.

A.keen on showing off new skills

B.eager to get an academy diploma

C.equipped with a unique taste for art

D.interested in learning face painting

2.You can save £ _______ if signing up for the course now.

A.30 B.269 C.299 D.329

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE about the course?

A.It is presented both online and offline.

B.The diploma can be obtained in one day.

C.It provides not only many face paint designs but also lessons on business.

D.Some clients will be invited to examine your qualification.

4.In which module are you likely to learn how to advertise your business?

A.Module 4. B.Module 6. C.Module 7. D.Module 10