I am writing this letter to express my regret that I can’t go to the Great Wall with you next weekend. It’s really pity. I feel sorry for them and want you to know that happened.
Yesterday, my father, worked in the United States now, informed me that he would be back to home tomorrow. I was very happy when I heard the news. Father and I had not seen each other for two years, but I am really looking forward to this meeting.
I sincere hope that you can be able to think in my position and accept my apology. I would appreciate your allowing me to make another dates to go to the Great Wall.
Once again, I am sorry for any inconvenience I have caused.
Getting away for a short time always seems like a great idea—until you have to pack. 1.The rule is: pack light. Here are some tips to help you pack.
1. Make a list. Think of what you need from your head to your toes. 2.When you’ve done this once, it’ll be easier next time.
2. Consider buying small-size samples of shampoo, toothpaste, and other items at your local drugstore. You can reuse the plastic containers next time you go away too.
3. Choosing which clothes to bring is probably the hardest packing decision to make. Think once again from head to toe — hat, shirts, jeans, sneakers, etc. Once you’ve picked out what you want to bring, think carefully. Do you really need that extra pair of jeans? If so, fine.3.Don’t try to fool yourself. You are the one who will be left holding the bag.
4. Weather is an important factor in your packing. If it’s cold, you could wear a jacket, a - sweater, a regular shirt, and a T-shirt. Putting them on will keep you warm. 4.Remember how much easier it will be to carry your bag! As for shoes, you may want to call ahead to see if dress shoes are necessary. If so, one pair will be enough, along with one pair of comfortable shoes.
Remember that it is you who have been invited somewhere, not your things.5.So, do it right—pack light.
A. Mixing and matching is a smart and easy way to lighten your load.
B. But packing won’t be a problem if you remember one simple rule.
C. You will have an easier time if you’re weighed down.
D. But make sure they’re really worth the extra weight.
E. It’s best to bring these things with you.
F. And it’ll leave more room in your bag.
G. Keep the list for future reference.
One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in park use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment（蚕食）?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment to their lives. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents—and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters（培养）leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest, Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes be is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not to blame. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（仪式）of passage.
Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that strengthen love, respect and need for the landscapes. As parents, we should devote some of our energy to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.
1. According to the author, what causes kids’ getting lost in a “sea of technology”?
A. The wild places of the world
B. The kids themselves
C. The outdoor activities
D. TV and computer games
2.The underlined words “that place” in paragraph 2 can most probably refer to _______.
A. a hill B. a library C. a bar D. a classroom
3.According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is _______.
A. the fault on the part of their parents
B. the natural experience in their growing up
C. the result of their own carelessness in play
D. the effect of stress from computer
4.What’s the author’s opinion on children’s experiencing the nature world?
A. It leads to children’s escape from school.
B. It’s helpful only in a limited way.
C. It helps develop children from all sides.
D. It increases the chance of getting injured.
Disneyland may look like a straightforward theme park. But there’s a secret world hidden behind the balloons, castles and cotton candy — a place where wild cats wander at midnight, Mickey Mouse hides in the wallpaper, and movie stars drink martinis behind closed doors.
Cat security — It’s not easy keeping the ground of Disneyland spotless, as well as free of unwanted pests. Every night after closing time, 200 wild cats were freed into the park to help keep the rodent（啮齿）population under control. Though Disney doesn’t comment on the matter, rumor（传闻）has it that the cat taskforce dates back to 1957. After unsuccessful attempts to chase them out of the park, Disney decided to put the cats to work instead.
Hidden Mickeys—At Disneyland the round-eared Mickey Mouse image is everywhere. But you can also see hundreds of “Hidden Mickeys” across the park, which are very difficult to spot: they’re camouflage （伪装）in the architecture and landscaping as well as in the smallest stylistic details.
Cocktail（鸡尾酒）behind closed doors—Disney is dry unless you can manage to get your name on the list at Club 33. The secret cocktail club has a limited membership of just 487 and a waiting list of approximately 14 years. Walt Disney designed the club as a special space to entertain possible investors; since then, it has hosted US presidents, film stars and foreign guests.
Always on stage—At Disneyland, a doorman isn’t a doorman, he is a “cast member”. So are the large numbers of cashiers, painters, ride operators, gardeners and performers. All “cast members” are trained to follow a specific rule that helps preserve the Disney magic. On the list of dos and don’ts? Never break character. If wearing a costume that belongs in Fantasyland, don’t set foot in Tomorrowland—it might Confuse visitors or break the park’s orderly image. Cast members have a Disney “look book” that details the fresh-faced ideal—no long fingernails, beards, or unnaturally colored hair allowed. It’s a return to Walt Disney’s All-American standards: when the park opened even guests with facial hair weren’t allowed entrance.
1.The reason why there are many wild cats in Disneyland is that ________.
A. they’re in charge of the cleaning of the park
B. they’re allowed to act as cleaners and guards
C. they have to keep watch in the daytime
D. they have a comfortable house to live in
2.From the passage we can know that in Disneyland “Hidden Mickeys” are _________.
A. small B. obvious C. everywhere D. dishonest
3.What do the underlined Words “Disney is dry” in paragraph 4 mean?
A. It’s easy to join the Club 33. B. The ground keeps dry.
C. It doesn’t often rain. D. Drinking alcohol is forbidden.
4. From the last paragraph, we can know the workers in Disneyland _______.
A. must know the dos and don’t
B. needn’t have their facial hair shaved
C. can wear unnaturally colored hair
D. mustn’t get in Tomorrowland
Can a fish hear fishermen moving along the stream? What are the facts about the ability of a fish to see? Can they tell the difference between colors?
The sharp hearing of a fish has been proved by two scientists, who trained a fish to expect its food when it heard the sound of a whistle. And a slight sound two hundred feet away could drive fishes away. That should make fishermen start thinking.
One scientist had made experiments to prove fish can recognize different colors such as red, brown, yellow and green.
Fish also have an eye for different shapes. One scientist proved this by teaching fish to connect certain patterns with food. He used a small circle and a square. If the fish swam towards the circle, they received food as a reward. If they swam towards the square, they received nothing. The fish learned in time to go to the circle but not to the square. Does this mean that in time fish might learn to leave alone all food on hooks that they have seen often before? Here is something for all fishermen to think about!
These facts help to make more believable some of the “believe it or not” stories that have been told about fish. It is clear that fish have sometimes shown their ability to gain knowledge as man does. A good example of what we might call “thinking” by a fish is given by an experience of Dr. Andrew Gage. Fishing over a bridge, he hooked a fish. It struggled and dragged the line two hundred feet away before he stopped it. Then it swam back to the bridge. The clever fish then swam round a pile and, with a sudden push, broke the line. If the story ended there, one could say that the fish had freed itself by chance. However, Gage went on fishing. Below him he could see the fish that had broken loose. After another twenty minutes the fish again seized the food on the hook. This time it did not swim out but swam round one of the piles and again broke the line.
Many stories are told of the fish that get away and the clever “old hand” ones that can’t be caught. The more often a fish is nearly caught, the more difficult it will be to interest it next time.
1.The last two paragraph’s mainly discuss _________.
A. whether a fish can think as man does
B. how a fish could escape from danger
C. how to catch a fish more easily
D. whether a fish is believable
2. What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Fish can hear and see
B. How clever is a fish?
C. Fish can play tricks
D. How scientists help fishermen.
3.We can infer from the last paragraph that _________.
A. it’s difficult to catch fish;
B. fish are cleverer sometimes than fishermen
C. fish seem to learn by their experience
D. fewer people will be interested in fish
I was eight when my neighbors got a TV. It was small and expensive, but that didn’t matter. IT WAS WONDERFUL. Everyone in the building came up to the fifth floor to see this latest wonder of the modern world. That was in 1948.
Soon, a lot of people got a TV, but not us. My parents didn’t think it was good for children. Being a good son, I didn’t argue with them. But I secretly watch TV—at my friends’ homes.
By 1955, televisions weren’t so expensive and were much larger. My parents still thought they were not good for us, but my sisters insisted, saying they were the only people in the neighborhood who didn’t have one. All their friends talked about certain programs and actors, but they couldn’t. Their friends laughed at them, which made them feel very unhappy. My youngest sister cried, saying she was never going back to school and that life without a TV wasn’t worth living. Nothing my parents said made her feel better. The next morning, without telling us, they went out and got a new TV.
When we were young our parents allowed us to watch TV for two hours a night. And we couldn’t watch until our homework was finished. But after a year or two, TV wasn’t exciting or new anymore. It became just another part of our lives like shoes or soap. My parents still had fears about TV. We were going to forget how to read, and TV was going to fill our minds with violence, they said.
Today people still argue about the value of TV. Nobody can deny the power of TV, which has a powerful influence on our lives. On average, Americans spend 30 hours a week watching TV. Is this influence good or bad? This is an unanswerable question indeed: It is hard enough to measure influence; and it is even harder to decide what is good and what isn’t. What is good, I suppose, is that many people are concerned about TV’s influence and that we have the power to change what we don’t like.
The people of Monhegan Island, 18 kilometers away off the coast of Maine, don’t have electricity, and they decided; once again, that they liked that way. Electricity, they think, would make life too easy and spoil their way of life. Maybe the young people wouldn’t want to go to town dances anymore. Maybe they would be more interested in staying at home and watching TV.
1.How old was the author, when their family got a TV?
A. About 15. B. 8. C. 18. D. About 10.
2.The author’s parents finally decided to buy a TV because _______.
A. they wanted to meet their daughters’ needs .
B. the children couldn’t go to school without a TV
C. the sisters would like to be like their friends
D. they had to do as the youngest daughter told them to
3.The author thinks “to judge whether a TV’s influence is good or bad” is ________.
A. concerning B. hard C. meaningless D. important
4.The last paragraph is written to show ________.
A. the disadvantage of TV
B. TV influences people a great deal
C. the advantage of TV
D. we can change what we don’t like
