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We see them everywhere — on boxes of food, on packages and on CDs. They, of course, are bar codes. The invention of bar codes has changed the way we shop and how companies learn where their products are.
It was two university students from America, Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland, who first got theidea of bar codes. In 1948, they heard that the president of a food company was looking for a way to easily get information about what was being sold to customers. They tried to help by using a code system. They invented a large electronic reader to read the codes. However, computers couldn’t easily record the data that was read.
Then, in the 1960s, David Collins made important developments in bar codes. He developed a system for recognizing train carriages. In order to develop the recognition system for other kinds of businesses, Collins started his own company. In 1969, Collins’s company put a bar code reading system in a car factory, showing that bar codes could be useful.
Shortly after Collins started his company, an American electronic company called RCA also saw the potential (潜力) of bar codes to help businesses. RCA’s
system, which recorded how much of a product was sold, was not perfect. Since bar codes were not common, not all products had them and different companies used different codes. Then, Woodland helped develop the Universal Product Code (UPC), which gave every product a code that included information about the manufacturer and the kind of product being sold. This made bar codes much more practical.
In addition to shops, hospitals use bar codes to recognize patients by giving them cards with bar codes on them. Libraries use bar codes to record which books have been lent, and airports use them to find out where bags are going. Bar codes have made life much easier and simpler.
1.What changed the way we shop?
2.Who first got the idea of bar codes?
3.Why did Collins start his own company?
4.What do hospitals use bar codes to do?
5.What is the passage mainly about?
Clara sits at her desk deep in thought. She stares at the math problem in front of her desperately trying to remember how to solve it, but as she sits there her long list of homework plays over in her head, and she becomes overwhelmed. She bites her lip thinking and thinking. Then she hears a song on the radio. As she turns up the music, a wave of calm spreads over her body, she closes her eyes and listens to the music.When the song ends, Clara’s eyes open and she turns off the radio. She looks again at the troublesome question and sighs, “I remember how to do this now,” she says to herself. Then she finishes the problem, but this time calmer than before.
According to NPR news, 45% of teens say they are stressed by school pressures, such as homework and grades. High school, and all of the honors and AP courses, can stress out teens like Clara to the point of exhaustion, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Lots of students can use stress relievers to simmer down during their school day. Music can be one of those reliefs.
When the body is stressed, it releases cortisol (释放皮质醇), a life sustaining adrenal hormone (肾上腺荷尔蒙) nicknamed “the stress hormone”. By playing music, students stop the flow (流动) of cortisol released from their body, therefore returning to their normal, non-stressed self quicker than someone who didn’t hear or play any music.
When returning to this state, teens can think more clearly, with their stress gone. Music does not only calm the stressed mind, it develops creativity, as well as improving math and reading skills. A music class can help students who are stressed and give them an hour of relaxation during their day. This can help high schoolers have a clear mind to concentrate on their schoolwork. Adding music to a teen’s day can help them become less stressed and finally help them with their courses, making a smarter generation.
Now, I know you’re thinking, “What about kids who find playing a musical instrument hard or boring? How would taking a music class help them?” Well, even though playing an instrument doesn’t necessarily help all teens, it is agreed that there are very few teens who do not listen to music. This shows that all students, in their own way, like hearing music throughout their day. The music that they listen to calms them and gives them reassurance (保证) that they can make it through their schoolwork. That being said, all schools should have a required hour of ‘relaxation’ time when high schoolers would listen to music, do easy homework, and calm themselves down after their long school day.
Music helps kids in their education, providing them with a brighter future and ensuring that they take care of their generation, the generation before them, and the generations to come.
1.The words “becomes overwhelmed” in Paragraph 1 probably mean “________”.
A. loses confidence B. feels disappointed
C. can not think clearly D. isn’t sure about the answers
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Music helps students to be more creative.
B. Few students can relax themselves at school.
C. Adding music to a teen’s day stops them from studying.
D. Music speeds up the flow of cortisol released from the body.
3.According to Paragraph 5, we know that ________.
A. taking a music class is hard and boring
B. all teens listen to music in their own way
C. playing an instrument is necessary for all teens
D. all schools have a required hour of ‘relaxation’ time
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. The Bright Future of Music
B. The Way of Calming Down
C. The Calming Power of Music
D. The Way of Solving Problems
Learning vocabulary doesn’t have to be boring
Many students have problems with vocabulary when preparing for tests like the SATs. Last week, TEENS offered advice on how to memorize new words. If you’re now familiar with those methods, why not try moving on to the next stage by using the following tips to build up your English vocabulary.
Repeated encounters (反复遇见)
The usual way of “memorizing” new material is through repeating it while it’s still in your mind. However, simply repeating a word seems to have little long-term effect.
But one kind of repetition is effective: repetition of encounters with a word. Words stand a good chance of being remembered if they’ve been met at least seven times in your reading, at intervals (相隔一段时间). So, read English magazines, newspapers, and websites regularly.
Spacing and review
It’s better to distribute (分配) memory work over a period of time rather than do it in a single session (一段时间). This is known as the “principle of distributed practice”, where new vocabulary introduced in one lesson is reviewed in the next, and then in later lessons.
Use it or lose it
Putting words to use in interesting ways helps add them to your long-term memory. In a study of vocabulary learning, students who made up their own sentences with new words and read them aloud remembered them better than those who learned the words separately and silently. Best of all, students were given the task of silently imagining a picture in their minds to go with a new word. So it might help if learners link words with a mental image.
Mix it up
Let’s face it — learning words can be really boring, but it doesn’t have to be. Thanks to the Internet, there are more interesting ways to get the job done. Try watching videos from English-speaking social media celebrities and copying the way they speak. You could even upload your own videos and try becoming a star yourself.
1.According to the passage, a good way of memorizing new words is ________.
A. simply repeating them
B. learning the words silently
C. reviewing them in one lesson
D. reading English magazines regularly
2.To make learning words more interesting, we can ________.
A. try to become a famous star
B. read new words on websites
C. make and upload our own English videos
D. draw a picture on the paper with a new word
3.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Where to use new words. B. How to memorize new words.
C. When to learn new words. D. What to write with new words.
Fast Food Courier Wins Poetry Competition
Lei Haiwei, a 37-year-old fast food courier (送急件的人)from Hunan province won the championship in a televised Chinese poetry knowledge competition, winning fans over with his true love for poems.
“My interest in poems began as early as I was 6 years old,” Lei said after winning the competition.
Lei Haiwei was born in a village of Dongkou county, Shaoyang city. He inherited (继承) his father Lei Changgen’s love of poems. The elder Lei put poetry on the kitchen wall for his son to read throughout childhood.
“My father hoped I would grow up to be a man who keeps the mountains, rivers, lakes and seas in mind,” the courier said.
In the father’s small house, there is a four-story bookshelf, the top of which is filled with poetry books. Lei Haiwei showed great interest in Chinese culture when he was a child. Every time his father told him the stories behind each poem, he was totally attracted. He enjoyed reading poems.
In 2001, the younger Lei graduated from a technical secondary school and found a job in Shanghai. Lei began to read books related to poems at bookstores or libraries in his spare time, since he didn’t have enough money to buy many. The young man also developed a habit of reciting poems he liked, writing down them after returning home.
Though Lei came to Hangzhou city in 2008 and works as a fast food courier, his love for poems hasn’t faded (减退). On his busiest work days, the courier has to deliver more than 50 orders a day, earning up to 9,000 yuan a month. Even so, he seized any available moment to recite poems.
“For example, I am used to reciting poems when I wait for food at restaurants, and traffic lights on my way to deliver food. Reciting poems not only enriches my knowledge, but also makes my job less boring,” the courier said.
As for his future plans, the courier said he will stick to reading and reciting poems.
1.When did Lei Haiwei begin to be interested in poems?
A. At the age of 6. B. At the age of 37.
C. At the age of 50. D. At the age of 16.
2.Why did Lei Haiwei read books at bookstores or libraries?
A. Because he could write down poems there.
B. Because he won the championship in a competition.
C. Because he could talk about poems with others there.
D. Because he didn’t have enough money to buy many books.
3.What does Lei Haiwei think of reciting poems?
A. It helps him get more money.
B. It makes his job more boring.
C. It makes him busier with his job.
D. It helps him get more knowledge.
McDonald’s Wants You!
Join us at McDonald’s — one of the best fast food restaurants in the world.
We are now looking for people interested in working with us.
☆ 3 Cooks
● At least one year’s work experience in a western restaurant kitchen
● Able to work weekends
● Work 16:00 — 21:00 every day($600/week)
☆ Waiters/Waitresses
● At least one year’s work experience in cafes or restaurants
● Part-time welcome
● Like fast rhythm work and able to adapt to change shift
● Work 18:00 — 1:00, 1:00 — 18:00 or 4:00 — 11:00 ($16/hour)
☆ Cleaners
● No experience needed
● Part-time welcome
● Work 12:00 — 15:00 or 17:00 — 22:00 ($12/hour)
☆ We’re also looking for delivery workers who are good at riding a bike.
Tips: All the workers in McDonald’s should be above 18 years old and in good
condition.
Call 654-589-7859 Mr. Zhou.
1.Cooks need to work ________.
A. from 4:00 to 11:00 B. from 16:00 to 21:00
C. from 18:00 to 1:00 D. from 12:00 to 15:00
2.________ need to be good at riding a bike.
A. Cooks B. Waiters C. Delivery workers D. Cleaners
3.All the workers in McDonald’s should be ________.
A. under 15 years old B. under 18 years old
C. above 18 years old D. above 20 years old
The Empty Easter Egg
Jeremy was born with a twisted body and a slow mind. At the age of 12 he was still in second grade. He would make _________, and his teacher, Doris Miller, often became angry with him.
One day, the children talked ___________ about the coming of Easter (复活节). Their teacher Doris told them the story of Jesus, and then to___________ the idea of new life springing forth, she gave each of the children a large plastic empty Easter egg. She asked them to bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life.
The next morning, 19 children came to school, laughing and talking as they_______ their Easter eggs in the large basket on Miss Miller’s desk. It was time to open the now filled empty eggs. In the first egg, Doris found a flower. “Oh yes, a flower is certainly a _________ of new life,” she said. The next empty egg shell contained a plastic butterfly, which looked very real. Doris held it up. “We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that’s new life, too.”
Suddenly, Jeremy spoke up. “Miss Miller, aren’t you going to talk about my Easter egg?” Impatiently, Doris replied, “But Jeremy, your Easter egg is _________.” He looked into her eyes and said softly, “Yes, but Jesus’ tomb (坟墓) was empty, too.” Time stopped. When she could speak again, Doris asked him, “Do you know why the tomb was empty?”
“Oh, yes,” Jeremy said, “Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up.” “And that’s how Easter _________!”
The recess bell rang. While the children excitedly ran out to the schoolyard, Doris cried. The cold inside her melted completely away.
Three months later, Jeremy died. Those who paid their respects were __________to see 19 Easter eggs on top of his casket (棺材), all of them empty.
1.A. noises B. friends C. eggs D. plans
2.A. worriedly B. proudly C. excitedly D. sadly
3.A. guess B. explain C. check D. change
4.A. pushed B. dropped C. threw D. placed
5.A. name B. picture C. sign D. shape
6.A. empty B. small C. big D. broken
7.A. ended B. started C. changed D. developed
8.A. happy B. angry C. disappointed D. surprised
