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Crazy about Selfies
Since the 2014 Oscars ceremony selfie (自拍) of Bradley Cooper stormed the Internet, it seems that every one shows great interest. And now people are sharing even their most private moments. TV star Kim Kardashian could be called “the queen of the selfie”. She’s turned hundreds of her selfies into a book — at every possible moment, in all poses.
If Kardashian is the queen, then you could say Barack Obama is the king. But though Kardashian has nothing to lose by sharing too much, the same can’t be said of the US president. Politicians have to be careful with selfies. The photo he took at the funeral (葬礼) of Nelson Mandela divided public opinions. Some felt it made him look like one of us — glad to record a moment with his “mates”. Others felt the head of state behaved like a crazy teenager.
Unfortunately for the US congressman (国会议员) Anthony Weiner, his habit of sending his private selfies to women killed his political career (事业).
Being crazy about selfies can also harm your health. Todd Fassler from California ended up in hospital after he found a snake — he tried to take a selfie with it. The animal wasn’t interested in the idea and bit him.
Why do we take so many selfies? Dr. Terri Apter, from Cambridge University, told the Daily Telegraph: “We all like the idea of being in control of our image and getting attention, being part of the culture. There’s celebrity (名人) culture — unless you’re being noticed, you’re nobody. You have to get enough attention and show your life is amazing, even if it isn’t.”
The word selfie was Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2013. But many believe it started much earlier in 1839 as Robert Cornelius, a chemist from Philadelphia, uncovered the lens (镜头), ran into the shot for a minute before running back to cover the lens again. These days, you don’t need to run for a photo anymore and soon, you don’t even have to spread your arms. Now you are even able to take a selfie by drone (无人机)! Fix your camera onto it, and it will follow your every move. Does it sound exciting to you?
1. What could Kim Kardashian be called?
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2.Do politicians have to be very careful with selfies?
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3.What happened when Todd Fassler tried to take a selfie with a snake?
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4. According to the passage, why do the celebrities take selfies?
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5. Do you think the selfie is good? Why?
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It’s about Time
Do you know what time it is? If you do, you probably are looking at a clock or Long ago, people didn’t have clocks or watches like you do. When the sun rose, they got up and when the sun went down, they went to bed. They told timeby the position of the sun in the sky.
People discovered that they could use a stick and the sun to tell time. This was called a shadow clock. They put a stick in the ground, pointing straight up. The direction of the stick’s shadow and how long or shortit was told them the time.
A better kind of shadow clock was called a sundial. Sundial had a pointer and a base. The pointer cast a shadow on marks around the base. People could tell time by reading the marks.
But shadow clocks were not good for telling time on cloudy days or at night.
One kind of clock that didn’t need the sun was a water clock. A water clock was container with a tiny hole in the bottom. Water would steadilydropout of the hole. Marks on the inside of the container showed the time. It took one hour for the water to go down one mark.
Another kind of clock that didn’t need the sun was a candle clock. You would know the time by how much of the candle had melted（熔化）. The candle had marks down its side to show the hours.
Sometimes people used candle clocks as alarm clocks. They put a nail（钉子）in the candle at the time they wanted to wake up, hanging a shoe on the nail. When the candle melted down, the nail fell outand the shoe hit the floor with a BANG! Now there are all kinds of timepieces, from tall grandfather clocks to watches we wear on our wrists（手腕）. Most clocks run on electricity from batteries.
There are many more types of clocks, too. Clocks hang in and on buildings. Clocks are everywhere!
1.Did people have clocks or watches like you do long ago?
2.What did sundial have?
3. How long did it take for the water to go down one mark in water clock?
4.How would you know the time when you use a candle clock?
5.What does the writer want to tell us?
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A Different Kind of Spring Break
For many American university students, the weeklong spring break holiday means an endless party on a sunny beach. In Panama City Beach, Florida more than half a million university students arrive during the month of March to play and party, making it the number one spring break place in the United States.
A weeklong party is not for everyone, however, and a growing number of American university students have found a way to make spring break matter. For them, joining or leading a group of volunteers to help solve problems such as homelessness or environmental damage makes spring break a special learning experience that university students can feel good about.
During one spring break week, students from James Madison University in Virginia took part in 15 “spring break” trips to nearby states, three others to more distant parts of the United States, and five international trips. One group of JMU students traveled to Bogalusa, Louisiana, to help rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane (飓风) Katrina. Another group traveled to Mississippi to organize creative activities for children living in a homeless shelter. One group of students did go to Florida, but not to lie on the sand. They did some work to help protect the native Florida plants.
Students who take part in spring break projects find them very rewarding (值得的). While most university students have to get their degrees before they can start helping people, student volunteers are able to help people right now without degrees. On the other hand, the buildings or rooms they live or stay are far from attractive. Students often sleep on the floor of a school or church. But they only pay around $250 for meals and transportation, which is much less than some of their friends spend traveling to more traditional spring break hot spots.
Spring break projects appear to be growing in popularity at universities across the United States. Some students take the opportunity to meet new friends. Others want to exercise their beliefs to make the world a better place. Whatever their reasons, these students have discovered something that give them rich rewards along with a break from school work.
1.What‟s the number one spring break place in the United States?
2.What is the way to make spring break matter for some students?
3.How did the students help in Bogalusa, Louisiana?
4.Where do the student volunteers often sleep?
5.What makes the spring break projects more rewarding?
People always have different feelings. Among them is shyness. It means feeling frightened when you are around other people. Some children were born shy. Some become very shy later because of life experience. In fact, everyone gets a little shy sometimes. It depends on how shy you are. If shyness doesn’t stop you from doing something you want to do, being shy isn’t a big problem.
According to scientists, shyness generally begins during childhood. Most of time, shyness is caused by people’s worry about what other people think of them, so shy people often find it very difficult to meet new people. This fear has bad effects on their work life, social life and love life. The following suggestions may be helpful for shy people.
Find ways to relax when you go out. When you are old enough, consider drinking a glass of wine before heading out for the night. Talk with your friend or family members to help yourself calm down(平静).
Look best when you go out. Wear something that makes you feel confident and comfortable.
Listen carefully when people speak. Shy people sometimes think that meeting new people means having to do a lot of talking. You can ask simple questions and then listen to the answers. People love to feel like other people are listening to them and sharing their point of view.
Build your confidence and change your attitude towards meeting new people instead of worrying about how they will think of you, and think about what are good points you hope to find in the new person you will meet.
Try these suggestions if you do feel very shy. Hopefully you can enjoy your life better.
1.What does shyness mean?
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2.Is being shy always a big problem according to the passage?
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3.When do scientists think shyness usually begins?
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4.Who can help shy people calm down?
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5.What is the passage mainly about?
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Ready, Set, Jump!
For skydivers, the sky isn’t the limit. It’s just the beginning. Thousands if people try skydiving each year. Some only jump once, while others go on to experience lifelong adventures, flying and turning over through the air.
Skydiving is a method of leaving an airplane and returning to the earth with the help of gravity, then slowing down by using a parachute (降落伞). It may include more or less free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been used and the body gradually accelerates (加速) to the highest speed.
There are three choices for the beginners. However, before you try skydiving, a ground course on safety is required. The first method is accelerated free-fall. You jump out of the plane while being held by two coaches, one on either side. They hold onto you until you open your parachute. The second method is called static line. After jumping out, you will experience free-fall for a second or two. Then the weight of your body will pull the line tight, opening the parachute.
Tandem (串联) is the most popular because it is the easiest. You and the coach are
tied together, the coach behind, with you in front. You jump out of the plane together, and the coach takes care of opening the parachute.
For each of these three methods, the coaches give instructions in the air with hand
signals (信号) or a radio. If you are eager to try something challenging and would love to feel the freedom of flying, skydiving might be an adventure for you. Who knows? With risk and excitement mixed together, skydiving might just change your life.
1.Do thousands of people try skydiving each year?
2.How many choices are there for the beginners?
3.Why is tandem the most popular?
4.How do the coaches give instructions in the air?
5.What is the passage mainly about?
Max’s Good Habit
Max reads more than anyone he knows. He loves to read during all of his free time. His friends laugh at him because he would rather read than play video games, but his parents and his teachers are proud of him. They say reading is important, and it will help him learn about the world around him. They also tell him it is a good habit to read on a regular basis.
One day Max was reading a magazine article about volcanoes. He told his friends all about volcanoes and what causes them to erupt(爆发). The very next week, his class was told to do a science project. It was to create a poster board with information about volcanoes and to build a volcano model. Guess who everyone wanted in their project group? Max's friends weren't laughing at him anymore. Max ended up being in a group with Liz, Anna and Josh.
Max made copies of the magazine article about volcanoes so his project partners could read about them, too. They also went to the library to look for more information about volcanoes.
The group met at Anna’s house that night to organize the information. They all asked Max what he thought was most important. Then they discussed and decided on the information they wanted to put on the poster board.
The next night they met at Josh's house to build their volcano. They used cardboard and modeling clay(黏土). First they made a volcano shape with the cardboard, and then they covered the shape in brown clay. They also fixed red clay to the top of the volcano model to make it look like it was erupting.
The volcano looked great. Max. Liz, Anna and Josh were very proud of their hard work. When they turned in their project. their teacher was proud, too. Thanks to Max's good habit, they got an A+ on both parts of the project.
1.Why do Max's friends laugh at him?
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2.What was the science project?
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3.Where did the group get the information about volcanoes?
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4.What did the group use to make the volcano model?
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5.What do you learn from this story?
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