Making an apology is not the same as making amends. Sometimes we apologize just because it’s the easiest thing to do. What’s actually important is to identify where we go wrong, take full responsibility for our mistakes and , if possible, try to make up for them.
A recent case involving Hewlett-Packed, the US computer giant, shows the importance of presenting a sincere apology. The Chinese consumers who had bought notebook computers of certain models, which have been put on Chinese market since 2007, suffered a massive flash screen failures and overheating problems. Through investigation, Chinese AQSIQ (国家质检总局) identified these HP computers had quality problems and HP admitted this. HP made a proposal that they would extend the warranty (保修) period of such computers, but this could not satisfied the consumers. What they needed was a thorough description of the truth. HP has “sincerely” apologized. But the consumers remain angry, and say that only a product recall — as HP has done in the past — will prove that the apology is sincere.
Another apology that fell flat on its face was that of Thierry Henry, the famous French footballer. His deliberate handball in November 2009 created the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup. The incident caused great anger in the football world, and eventually Henry issued an apology. Two days later, he wrote, “I’m not the referee…but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.” Better late than never, perhaps, but even then he passed the blame onto the referee!
Such high-profile cases, which attract a lot of publicity often under the spotlight, but similar incidents occur in our everyday lives. Stress caused by schoolwork and tiredness can sometimes result in outbursts of anger against friends and family. Have you ever lost your temper for minor reasons? After calming down, most people are quick to realize their mistake and apologize. But it’s just as important to identify what caused the error in the first place and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
No one should hold a negative attitude to making a sincere apology. Empty words are easy to say, but they are as useless as they sound. A real show of remorse（痛悔;自责）demands hard work and commitment to put error right.
1.What does the author intend to tell us in the case of HP?
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A．A true apology needs sincere actions. |
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B．HP should recall all the faulty computers. |
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C．Good quality makes a good company. |
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D．A company should apologize and pay for their mistakes. |
2. According to the author, when we do anything wrong we firstly _________.
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A．make an apology face to face honestly |
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B．admit we were wrong and try to make the wrong right |
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C．take the responsibility for apologizing to others |
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D．choose the easiest thing to do |
3.We can infer from the case of Thierry Henry that _________ .
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A．it’s never too late to say “I’m sorry.” |
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B．writing an apology is not a good idea |
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C．Henry didn’t identify his fault. |
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D．the football fans were mad with Henry. |
4.Which of the following can best explain the word “commitment” in the last paragraph?
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A．Decision. |
B．Promise. |
C．Agreement. |
D．Responsibility. |
5. What’s the best title of this passage?
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A．What really puts things right |
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B．Don’t apologize easily |
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C．Making an apology — no one is out of exception |
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D．How to judge an apology — sincere enough? |
The idea about the phoenix goes back to Ancient Egypt, where we find the phoenix described as a handsome, eagle-like bird, with part-golden, part-red plumage, that spent most of its life in the Arabian deserts. It was rarely seen and according to one version of the story, only appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years, when it flew to Heliopolis, “city of the sun”, and deliberately burnt itself to ashes by settling on the altar (祭坛) flame there! However, it seems it did not really die because from those same ashes a young, fully formed phoenix was born and flew away, apparently back to Arabia.
It is pretty obvious that no one has ever seen or will see a living phoenix. The interesting thing is that we can find certain clues which may explain one aspect of the Egyptians’ idea. It may sound unbelievable, but some birds are apparently quite charmed by flames and small fires, especially members of the crow family. One zoologist actually proved this by setting fire to some straw near to a tame（驯养的）rook, a large black bird like a crow. Far from becoming nervous and backing away, the bird deliberately stood over the flames, with raised and vibrating wings. It didn’t get burnt, but the image it presented by its strange behavior was almost exactly like that shown in illustrations of the mythical phoenix!
Why birds should occasionally behave in this strange way is not clear. One idea is that they carefully use the heat of the flames to relieve the annoyance caused by their feather mites (虱) which all birds have. Whatever the reason, it is quite possible that the Ancient Egyptians saw birds behaving in this way, from time to time, and used it as the basis of their phoenix myth, adding fanciful details which closely linked it to their worship of the sun and their belief in resurrection.
Nowadays, the phoenix is much less important to us than it was to the Egyptians. But the logo of modern fire insurance companies, which employ the phoenix as one of their symbols, refers that in one sense the idea of it remains.
1. According to the passage, the phoenix _________ .
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A．is a handsome and eagle-like bird living in Arab |
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B．used to be seen when the Egyptians held religious activities |
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C．has never really existed in the world |
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D．is the king of all kinds of birds |
2. The reason why birds stand above flames is probably that _________ .
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A．the phoenix used to do so |
B．they may get rid of the mites |
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C．they want to burn their feather |
D．they can heat themselves |
3.Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
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A．The ancient Egyptians worshiped the phoenix. |
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B．The scientists have discovered why birds are attracted by fire. |
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C．The modern people still favor the idea of the phoenix. |
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D．The mythical tales about the phoenix were based on facts. |
4.Which of the following is closest to the underlined word “resurrection” in the 3rd paragraph?
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A．living forever |
B．offering warmth |
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C．coming back to life |
D．staying healthy |
5.What does the phoenix probably mean in the logo of a fire insurance company?
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A．Our company can protect you from being harmed by fire. |
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B．If your property is destroyed by fire, we will help you build it up again. |
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C．Our company will always be energetic and wealthy. |
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D．If needed, we will save you at the risk of losing lives. |
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填人一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为16 ~ 25的相应位置上。
As a child, I was always out exploring my local area, whether swimming at the beaches or hiking through the bush. Australia’s outdoor lifestyle had me hooked on adventure and nature. I always wanted to explore 16 else was out there. Going on family holidays to many of the East Coast beach towns was always 17 fun adventure into the 18 (know). I came to love the beauty of world, and began to recognize just 19 much the planet had to offer, even 20 my experience of it was only in my backyard.
Also, Australia is very remote and detached from the rest of the world. 21 (Europe) often drive into other countries for 22 summer vacations. We never had that luxury and international travel seemed all the more exotic and 23 (adventure) to me. Very often, we 24 (expose) to other countries through TV and movies, 25 I wanted to experience it for myself.
Wherever in the world you’re reading this right now, you will be aware of just how mixed modern society has become in terms of race. Within the UK, mixed-raced children are the largest 1 ethnic minority. Bringing home a partner of a different 2 to yourself is no longer viewed as, “strange” or “different” in a lot of families. When Joseph brought home Hari, the 3 that she was of Indian parentage was never even talked about — she made him happy. They made each other happy. And that was all that 4 .
But the reason why they were together for 11 years before they got 5 is that Hari was afraid of telling her 6 about the person that she’d fallen in love with. She was afraid of the consequences it would 7 for her younger sisters. Would they be packed off to India? Would they end up in arranged 8 they may not want? At 22 years old, when she first fell in love with him — it was a large burden to 9 .
But she loved him, and 10 they moved in together… and then bought a house by the Brighton coast, where they have 11 for almost 8 years. All the while her parents didn’t know. Her sisters did, and they too loved Joseph — they 12 him as the brother they’d never had.
But after nine years together, she finally had to tell her father (her mother 13 away a few years ago). We were on tenderhooks（惶恐不安）the weekend she went up North to tell him.
It was emotional and as a family we were worried. Hari had been 14 of our family for so long, we felt for her. We knew how 15 it would be. She loved her father, but knew this would hurt him, who was a very traditional Sikh man.
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假设有一批澳大利亚学生到广东香城游学，你是项目的负责人，在出发前你简要向学生们介绍这次安排。请写一个简要的发言稿，主要内容如下：
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时 间 |
主要安排 |
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第1天，1月30日 |
早上到达广东省广州，随后坐船去岛屿城市——香城，在简短的接待会上与住宿家庭见面，入住住宿家庭(home carers)。 |
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第2至15天，2月1日至14日 |
上午在香城语言学院学习，下午在岛内旅游，去自然公园，逛森林，看大树。 |
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第16、17天，2月15、16日 |
回广州，爬白云山，野餐。 |
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第18天，2月17日 |
从广州国际机场返回悉尼，大约下午9点到达(澳大利亚时间)，家长在机场接。 |
【写作要求】
只能使用5个句子表达全部的内容，开头和结尾已经为你写好，不计入总句数。
【评分标准】
句子结构的准确性，信息内容的完整性和连贯性。文章的开头和结尾已给出。
Attention please, everyone:
Now I would like to tell you the arrangements for the journey.
That’s all. Thank you.
阅读下列应用文及相关信息,并按照要求匹配信息。选项中有一项是多余的。把选项的编号填写在答题纸对应位置上。
以下是咨询和服务部门的信息：
A. Career Services (Room 113)
The staff of the Career Services center advise students on career choices and applications of for higher education. They also help students and graduates apply their academic and life experiences to achieving career fulfillment, provide them with the services and resources necessary to make better informed career decisions and help them develop the skills necessary to progress their career plans.
Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Phone: (412) 396-6644 Fax: (412) 396-6644
B. The Accommodation Office ( Room 114)
The Accommodation Office is the place to find every thing concerning accommodation during your studying at this university. It offers a free advisory service and a wide range of handbooks and checklists covering the full range of housing available. In addition to this, the office also offers other services, such as the allocation of places in local residences and the provision of information regarding privately owned accommodation.
Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Phone : (412) 396-6754 Fax: (412) 396-6752
C. Medical Center (Room 115)
The staff of the Medical Center aim to provide convenient and comprehensive medical care to students and staff of the university. The center is well equipped and the staff here are trained to deal with a broad range of medical problems. Both female and male doctors as well as nursing staff are available for consultation. Also, all kinds of medicines are sold here and are cheaper for students than other drugstores.
Opening Hours: 24 hours from Monday to Sunday
Phone : (412) 396-6649 Fax: (412) 396-6648
D. The Sports Office (Room 207)
Sport and recreation play an important role in the lives of students. The university has lots of indoor and outdoor sports facilities and all students are encouraged to participate in some form of sport and recreation. This office can provide information about sporting and activities to keep you fit.
Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 7:00am - 10:00pm
Phone : (412) 396-6877 Fax: (412) 396-6876
E. Food Service (Room 127)
Tasty, nutritious meals and a wide variety of snacks are available from the cafeterias on campus. Maybe you are not familiar with different cafeterias here and find it difficult to get a good meal. Don’t worry! The Food Service can provide you with specific information on the food available here and offers meal plans based on your individual needs.
Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 2:30pm - 5:30pm
Phone: (412) 396-6899 Fax: (412) 396-6890
F. Library (Room 215)
There are various books and reference materials in every subject here including literature, art and math. Besides books, there are also photo-copying, video, audio-visual and computing facilities. Our collection is big and our main task is to help you solve problems on making use of the library.
Opening Hours: Monday through Friday: 8:30am - 5:30pm
Phone: (412) 396-6312 Fax: (412) 396-6706
以下是大学生的信息，请匹配大学生与他们要选择的服务部门：
1. Richard is a foreign student majoring in medicine. He can adjust himself to the weather but he is having a lot of difficulties in getting used to the diet at the college cafeterias.
2. John is fond of sports. He plays football every day. Unfortunately, he injured his leg while he was playing this morning. He urgently needs some medical help.
3. Lucy is new student from Washington, and she often arrives at the college late since she lives far away from the university, so she desperately needs to find a new place to live in.
4. Alice is going to leave university next year. She is preparing her papers and has to do a lot of research. She would like to find books on literature and learn how to use the audio-visual facilities.
5. Rosemary studies in the department of computer science. She is really interested in this field, so she plans to be engaged in this booming industry after her graduation, but before she makes a final decision, she wants to consult experienced teachers.
