US student Ariana Levin, 15, has an unusual way of memorizing speeches: She turns the words into lyrics and sings them.
Then she delivers her speech to the local Gavel Club, which launched (成立) this year to help teenagers to practice public speaking.
“I’m very passionate about music,” says Levin, a sophomore (高二学生) at Walt Whitman High School. So forgetting a speech isn’t her main concern. “My main thing is stuttering (口吃),” she says.
But monthly rehearsals (彩排), presentations and competitions have taught her to take a moment to pause, she says. In that way, she avoids “ums” or “uhs”, which are noted by a club member given the task.
Gavel Clubs are a new initiative (方案) of the Jack and Jill organization in the US. The organization provides opportunities such as leadership development, financial literacy (素养) and volunteer service for kids aged between 2 and 19 years.
“We do group activities to build our character and get us ready for the outside world,” says Chandler Perry, 17, a senior at Friends Academy in New York.
“It’s important for children to be able to enjoy public speaking,” says Mondi Kumbula-Fraser, the Eastern regional director overseeing (监督) 59 Jack and Jill chapters (分部). They’ll use the skill in college and job interviews, she says.
The students gain confidence in an “open and caring environment,” says Mecca Baker, a mother of twin daughters.
On March 10, Perry took part in a competition held by the local chapter.
For her speech, Perry talked about pets and what they do for their owners. “The toughest part was the first time I had to get up on the stage,” Perry says. “I told myself this is only three minutes of my life and I only have three minutes to be the best I can be. I feel like this could help me in my future.”
Taylor Fernandez, of North Babylon, says that he puts on a suit and tie to give his speeches and that he’s learned to project (投射) his voice and to move around the stage to emphasize (强调) what he has to say.
1.What can we know about Ariana Levin from the first four Paragraphs?
A.She helps teenagers to practice public speaking.
B.She improves her speaking skills in a local club.
C.She often forgets words when giving a speech.
D.She prefers public speaking to music.
2.When students join Jack and Jill, they ______.
A.are recommended to take part in speaking competitions
B.take one-to-one speech training classes
C.can learn some practical skills
D.get the chance to become the leader of a chapter
3.What is Chandler Perry’s attitude toward the organization?
A.Worried. B.Doubtful. C.Supportive. D.Critical.
A foreign degree was once believed to be a sure path to a well-paid job. However, more and more graduates have found that this is not necessarily true.
The number of Chinese studying abroad grew at a slower rate in 2018 compared with 2017, according to a recent report released by the Ministry of Education. In 2018, 662,100 Chinese went abroad to study, up 8.83 percent from a year earlier, while the growth rate was 11.7 percent in 2017.
A major reason for the slower growth is that more and more students have realized that overseas study does not necessarily guarantee a well-paid job, reported China Daily.
According to a 2018 report by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), about a third of graduate returnees to China earn less than 6,000 yuan a month, while 25 percent make between 6,000 and 8,000 yuan a month.
For example, Lucy Liu, a woman from Beijing, was disappointed after being interviewed by a famous film studio in Beijing. She had just finished her postgraduate (研究生) studies in documentary production at New York University in the United States.
“The pay would be 150,000 yuan for one documentary, and at best I could finish one documentary a year,” Liu told South China Morning Post.
“After spending so much on my studies, I couldn’t accept that pay,” said Liu. She spent about 1 million yuan in tuition and living expenses while studying abroad.
Worse still, it takes over four months for over 50 percent of returned students to land a job, and only 20 percent get job offers before graduation, according to Qi Bin, from Haiwei Career Services, a company that specializes in employment for returnees.
Two major reasons are that they often miss the main job-seeking season while they’re abroad and they lack internship experience, Qi told China Daily.
However, this doesn’t mean studying overseas is useless.
On the contrary, it may provide students with good language and communication skills, an independent character and a global mindset, which are important for their career development, according to Qi.
“Studying overseas cannot guarantee everything, but foreign-educated students have great potential, and at some point their break will come,” Li Qing, a researcher from CCG, told the South China Morning Post.
1.What does the report by the Ministry of Education tell us?
A.Fewer students returned to China after studying overseas in 2018.
B.The growth of Chinese students studying abroad slowed in 2018.
C.Fewer Chinese students went to foreign universities in 2018.
D.More Chinese students found good jobs after studying abroad in 2018.
2.The example of Lucy Liu proves mainly that ______.
A.an overseas degree doesn’t guarantee a good salary
B.the cost of studying abroad is too great for an ordinary family
C.foreign-educated students earn less than those who studied at home
D.it takes a long time to produce a good documentary
3.What does Qi Bin think of studying abroad?
A.It is a waste of students’ time and money.
B.It gives students better internship chances.
C.It limits the possibility of students’ getting jobs that interest them.
D.It provides students with useful skills for their career development.
4.How does Li Qing feel about the future of foreign-educated students?
A.Worried. B.Unsure. C.Positive. D.Challenged.
However exciting space travel sounds, astronauts must still suffer with bad food. Now, food in space has to be dehydrated ( 使 脱 水 ) or pre-cooked and stored. This means astronauts aren’t really eating fresh food.
New technology may change this. Scientific American reports that a specially-designed oven will be sent into space this autumn with NASA’s NG-12 cargo (货物) mission (太空飞行任务).
Far from the common vacuum-packed (真空包装的) meals, astronauts may get to enjoy freshly baked cookies before the end of 2019.
Why aren’t they baking cookies in space already? For one thing, there’s the risk of a fire. Engineers also have to overcome the challenge of microgravity ( 微 重 力 ), which prevents heat from circling inside ovens the same way it does on Earth.
Astronauts will still have to wait a while before they can have their cookies, though. After baking, the results will be sent back to Earth for safety testing. If successful, this will be the first oven to bake food in space.
“I believe ... that will be game-changing for both science and astronauts,” food technology researcher Maeena Naman Shafiee told Scientific American.
One of the main driving forces behind this project has been NASA’s 2018 research into the effects of “confinement (封闭) and isolation (隔离)”. Unlike on the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts traveling out of Earth’s orbit (轨道) may not be able to speak to their loved ones on future missions, which could lead to negative feelings.
It’s hoped that the chance to bake and sense familiar smells can bring joy to crews (宇航人员).
“Is the ISS going to smell like fresh-baked cookies? We don’t know,” said NanoRacks’ communications manager Abby Dickes. “But that’s a feeling we all know and love ... that will make someone feel at home.”
Baking cookies in space would mark an important step, offering a small comfort in the difficult and unfamiliar environment of space travel. Astronauts have already grown plants aboard the ISS.
With commercial ( 商 业 的 ) space travel now being planned, who knows what other developments may surprise us in the future?
1.What can the new technology help astronauts to do in space?
A.Enjoy fresh cookies.
B.Store more food.
C.Quickly prepare food.
D.Cook many different kinds of home-made meals.
2.Why is it difficult to bake cookies in space?
A.It’s difficult and costly to send food into space.
B.Microgravity stops food from staying in one place.
C.Baking cookies in space would pollute the spaceships.
D.It is hard to heat food properly because of microgravity.
3.What was the main purpose of the cookie project?
A.To improve astronauts’ health.
B.To make improvements in space travel.
C.To encourage more people to travel to space.
D.To make space travel more comfortable for astronauts.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What is the purpose of the talk?
A.To present a prize. B.To introduce a lecturer. C.To recommend a book.
2.Where is Russel working now?
A.In Oxford. B.In Chicago. C.In Virginia.
3.What does Russel think of sleep?
A.It’s seldom studied.
B.It’s just a waste of time.
C.It’s of great importance.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What is the man doing?
A.Placing an order. B.Selling insurance.
C.Conducting an interview.
2.What did Leaney study for a degree?
A.Finance. B.Education. C.Public Relations.
3.What is an advantage of a smaller business according to Leaney?
A.Greater contributions to the neighborhood.
B.Closer employer-employee relationship.
C.More flexibility in providing services.
4.What is Leaney’s plan for the next two weeks?
A.To visit her parents.
B.To call her relatives.
C.To finish her work.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Why does Jessica make the call?
A.To look for her passport.
B.To apply for a credit card.
C.To ask for the manager.
2.Where will Jessica go right after the phone call?
A.The bank. B.Her home. C.The supermarket.
3.How does the man sound?
A.Helpful. B.Nervous. C.Surprised.
