What would you do if you had $5, but were limited to two hours to make as much money as possible? Buy a lottery ticket. While this is the most _______ suggestion from people, it means a significant risk in return for a _______ chance.
Tina Selling, who invented the_______ for her students of Stanford University, has a _______ story to tell.
Selling gave each of the fourteen teams a sealed envelope that contains five dollars of “seed funding”. They were, _______ to spend as much time planning, but once they had _______ the envelope they then had two hours to make as much money as possible. The next week, each team were to _______ their project in a three-minute presentation.
It _______ that most of the 14 teams didn’t use the five dollars _______. They realized that focusing on the ________ actually limited the way of solving the problem too tightly. They understood that five dollars is essentially ________ and decided to reinterpret the problem more ________: what can be done if ________ with absolutely nothing?
The average ________ on the five dollar investment was 4,000 times! So what did they ________ do?
One team started a stand on campus to check the bike tire ________for free and charged $1 to refill tires. Another team made ________ at busy restaurants and then sold each of them for up to twenty dollars to customers who didn’t want to ________ line. The team who made the greatest ________ sold their presentation time to a company that wanted to employ them to advertise. They ________ a good business for that company in the three-minute presentation and brought in $ 650,000.
1.A.fancy B.useful C.common D.interesting
2.A.slim B.big C.hopeful D.possible
3.A.form B.challenge C.plan D.method
4.A.funny B.shocking C.dull D.cool
5.A.advised B.forced C.permitted D.determined
6.A.opened B.lost C.got D.posted
7.A.study B.complete C.report D.limit
8.A.pointed out B.turned out C.brought about D.came about
9.A.at all B.after all C.accidentally D.strangely
10.A.envelope B.result C.classroom D.money
11.A.anything B.something C.nothing D.everything
12.A.accurately B.broadly C.patiently D.slowly
13.A.dealing B.working C.meeting D.beginning
14.A.number B.return C.expense D.score
15.A.actually B.roughly C.merely D.generally
16.A.air B.quality C.pressure D.size
17.A.snacks B.decisions C.appointments D.reservations
18.A.sit B.take C.serve D.wait
19.A.profit B.progress C.promise D.present
20.A.had B.created C.sold D.ran
Should schoolchildren have jobs?
Now at school, the last thing you probably want to do is spend your weekends going to work. There is homework to do and sport to play. 1. When I was a teenager I had a Saturday job in a supermarket: stacking(摆放)shelves and working at the checkout.
Today in the UK you are allowed to work from the age of 13, and many children do take up part-time jobs. 2.Teenagers agree that it teaches valuable lessons about working with adults and also about managing your money. So, that’s no bad thing!
Some research has shown that not taking on a Saturday or holiday job could be harmful to a person later on. But despite this, recent statistics have shown that the number of schoolchildren in the UK with a part-time job has fallen by a fifth in the past five years.
3.Probably not. Some experts feel that young people feel going out to work will affect their performance at school, and they are under more pressure now to study hard and get good exam results. However, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College leaders, told BBC News “Properly regulated part-time work is a good way of helping young people learn skills that they will need in their working lives”. In reality, it’s all about getting the right balance between doing part-time work and having enough time to study and rest.
4.One 13 year old girl called Rachel, who has a Saturday job in a shop, told the BBC that “I enjoy my job because I’m earning money and it helps increase my confidence in speaking to people and socializing with people I work with.” That seems like something worth getting up on a Saturday morning. 5.
A.Do you do a part-time job when you are at school?
B.So you are not free to do what you are feeling like doing.
C.It is a waste of time and does no good to your career prospect.
D.It’s a taste of independence.
E.Does this mean that British teenagers are now more afraid of hard work?
F.But your parents probably persuade you to find a job and get some life experience.
G.Many young people actually want to work because it gives them a sense of freedom.
Here’s advice on where to find job applications.
Company Websites
If you are interested in working for a particular company, visit their website. Career information is usually listed in the “Careers” or the “About Us”section of the site. Often, you will be able to apply for all company positions directly from the website
Job Boards and Engines
If you aren’t sure what company you want to work for, you can look for job applications on job boards and job search engines. These contain job listings for positions at many different companies. Sometimes you have to go to the company website to fill out a job application. At other times, you can apply directly on the search engine or job board.
In Person
Applying for a job in person is a little different than applying for employment online. It’s not as complicated, but you will need to be prepared to apply and interview on the spot. You have to make sure you dress professionally, and bring all the materials you need.
Below is a list of sample employment applications and click to find what you want.
1.If you want to land a job in a certain company, you’d better .
A.visit Company Websites
B.call “About Us”section
C.visit Job Boards and Engines
D.look for a job application form first
2.What is special about applying for a job in person?
A.It needs more complicated programs.
B.1t calls for an interview on the spot.
C.It needs all the application materials handed in.
D.It requires the employee to wear a beautiful dress.
3.Where can you find the text?
A.In a magazine.
B.In a textbook.
C.On the internet.
D.In a poster.
Have you ever noticed tiny raised areas on the branches of a tree? These may have been insects. These small insects feed on tree sap (汁液). Insects on urban trees are notably more abundant than those on rural trees. As a result, urban trees suffer from heavy infestations (害虫横行), and are often unhealthy or die. To protect and restore urban trees’ health, we need to determine the factors that make these tree pests more successful in urban habitats.
Living organisms interact closely with their environment. The warmer, more drought-stressed trees harbor more successful pests than cooler, less drought-stressed trees. As cities and natural habitats become hotter and drier, damaging insects will become more abundant on urban trees.
Trees within urban forests are valuable economically and for the environmental sustainability (可持续性) of the region. More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. Across the globe, people are moving into cities at a faster rate than ever. Rapid growth may turn cities into places with harder conditions. Although cities are primarily made of buildings, roads, parking lots, and vehicles, there are still plants in them. The trees within a city are referred to as the urban forest. Urban forests offer very big benefits to human and environmental health. They improve air and water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, cool down temperatures and beautify our environment. They make cities livable.
However, being a city tree is not easy. Heat released by human activities is trapped in cities. As a result, temperatures in urban areas are often warmer than their surrounding rural areas. We call this urban warming or the urban heat island effect. Urban habitats are mostly made of surfaces of asphalt (沥青) and concrete. These surfaces reduce the amount of rainwater that reaches tree roots. As a result, urban forests may suffer, which can negatively affect people and the environment.
What can we do to restore urban forests? Regular irrigation when possible may help keep pest populations under control. Planting tree species that are suitable to handle heat and drought stress would also reduce the occurrence of insect pest outbreaks.
1.What makes tree pests more successful in the city than in rural areas?
A.The warmer and rainy habitat.
B.The hotter and drier habitat.
C.The cooler and drier habitat.
D.The hotter and rainy habitat.
2.Urban forests make cities livable by .
A.providing people enough clean water
B.improving the living environment
C.offering people economic benefits
D.lowering the temperatures
3.According to the text, what results in the city trees’ suffering?
A.Natural disasters.
B.Invisible forces.
C.Human activities.
D.Natural evolution.
4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.The Importance of the Urban Trees
B.How to Protect the Urban Trees
C.Urban Trees Are in Great Danger
D.Let’s Act for the Protection of Urban Trees
Whenever we talk about holidays, my mother teases my sister and me about how we “make out like robbers.” She is referring to the fact that we are half Jewish and half Indian, so we receive gifts on both the. festivals of lights. Hanukkah and Diwali. Though my mother teases us, I do not mind getting two sets of gifts!
Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month. which is usually sometime in December. On Hanukkah, like most Jewish families. we light a menorah and say a prayer each night. We also say a special prayer on the first night. After that, it is a tradition tor my sister and me to do ‘hot and cold’, for our hidden Hanukkah gifts. When we walk towards the gift, our parents say ‘hot’ and when we walk further away, they say ‘cold’. We each receive one present every night of Hanukkah. Another part I like about this holiday is seeing family members who we do not see often. My aunt usually stays for a few days, and we sometimes visit other relatives.
Diwali is celebrated on the 13th day of the dark fortnight of the month of Ashwin(October / November). To celebrate Diwali, my family does a pooja, or prayers, in honor of the goddess Lakshmi. Since she is the goddess of wealth and prosperity, the pooja includes washing silver coins in milk and water. In India, people decorate their houses with lamps, similar to the way you might light up your house for Christmas. My family just places a few candles outside We also set off firecrackers, which is my favorite part. We often do this activity with friends to add to the excitement.
Both holidays have different histories and stories We celebrate them in different ways, yet they both have the same meaning. They both translate into. Festival of Lights, and they both mean family and presents for me!
1.Why does the author receive gifts on both Hanukkah and Diwali?
A.Because he lives in a rich family.
B.Because he lives in two different countries.
C.Because his parents like celebrating their different cultures.
D.Because his parents like spending money buying gifts for them.
2.What does the underlined phrase “hot and cold” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A.A kind of Hanukkah game.
B.A kind of Hanukkah gift.
C.A can of festival drink.
D.A riddle written on lights.
3.we can learn from the text that Hanukkah and Diwali .
A.share the same history and culture
B.are celebrated by both Jews and Indians
C.are both related to the legend of lights
D.encourage the families to do their prayers
4.What is the author’s attitude towards Hanukkah and Diwali?
A.She enjoys celebrating both of them.
B.She does mind spending them.
C.She likes Hanukkah better.
D.She likes Diwali better.
Attention from strangers is nothing new to me. Questions about my height is the center of almost every public interaction. My friends say my height !s just a physical quality and not a personality aspect. However, when I reflect on my life, I realize that, my height has shaped my character in many ways and has helped to make me who I am.
I learned how to be kind. When I was younger, some parents in my neighborhood regarded me kind of dangerous because I was so much larger than other children my age. I had to be extra welcoming and gentle simply to play with other children. Of course. now my coaches wish I weren’t quite so kind on the basketball court.
I learned the quality of not being too proud about myself. At 7 feet tall, everyone expects me to be an amazing basketball player. They come expecting to see Dirk Nowitzki, and instead they might see a performance more like Will Ferrell(successfully starred a professional basketball player). I have learned to be modest and to work even harder than my fellows to meet their (and my) expectations.
I developed a sense of lightheartedness. When people playfully make fun of my height, 1laugh at myself too. On my first day of high school, a girl dropped her books in a busy hallway. I got down to her level and gathered some of her notebooks. As we both stood up, her eyes widened as I kept rising over her. Astonished, she dropped her books again. Embarrassed, we both laughed and picked up the books a second time.
All of these lessons have defined me. Looking back, I realize that through years of such experiences, I have become a confident, expressive person. Being a 7-footer is both a blessing and a curse, but in the end, accepting who you are is the first step to happiness.
1.Why does the author often draw attention from strangers?
A.He is interested in public interaction.
B.He has a unique personality.
C.He is physically strong.
D.He is extremely tall.
2.When he was young, the author intended to be more friendly just to .
A.gain extra favor
B.play with other children
C.prove his kindness
D.please his coach
3.It can be inferred from Para. 3 that .
A.Dirk Nowitzki was an awful basketball player
B.the author seldom disappointed his basketball fans
C.the author expected to make something better of himself
D.Will Ferrell was better at playing basketball than Dirk Nowitzki
4.What does the text mainly talk about?
A.The height has shaped the author’s personality and life.
B.The height has brought the author a lot of trouble.
C.Some funny experiences the author ever had
D.Being tall benefits the author in many ways
