I still remember the days when I was a youthful student in an engineering school. I lived a casual life, without caring about the future. I smoked, drank with friends and made girl friends. Little did I realize that casualness would certainly lead to loss.
Two years had passed and I was staring down a report card that highlighted FALL in more than half the subjects. I didn’t care, at least not until my dad found about it. You see, I studied In India and unlike the United States where the students are expected to finance their own education, my dad financed me.
Then came the day when my dad found out my habit of smoking. He lost his temper but he just told me, “Son, your allowance is cut in half from this moment on”. It hit me like a roundhouse kick.(回旋踢) from Bruce Lee. I was shocked out of my bones. I couldn’t comprehend how to pay off the debts that I had accumulated in college. I owed everybody money: the grocery store, the bars, the restaurants, my friends, etc. I was living a life filled with credit.
When I went back to college, I knew that if I don’t change the way I live my life I won’t be able to pay everybody off. So I decided to make some changes. I quit smoking, cut off from my friends who led me down the wrong the road, starting hanging out in libraries and reading my engineering books.
One year later, I went from a miserable failure to a magna cum laude(优等成绩). Life was never the same again. This incident made me know that anything is possible if you take action and do something about it, however small or large. Even today it still motivates me when I feel that I’m about to lose or give up. It reminds me that I can do it.
1. What kind of life did the author live in the engineering school? (No more than 12 words)
_____________________________________________________________________
2. When did the author begin to care about the serious situation? (No more than 14 words)
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3.How did his father deal with his son’s problem? (No more than 8 words)
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4. What did the author learn from this incident? (No more than 12 words)
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Today, February twenty-ninth, is leap day(闰日). This date only appears on the calendar once every four years. But why?
Everyone knows the Earth takes three hundred sixty-five days to travel around the sun. Well, that is not exactly correct. The Earth really takes three hundred sixty-five days, five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds to complete its orbit around the sun.
The problem for people developing calendars was what to do with the extra five hours, forty-eight minutes and forty-six seconds.
People needed calendars to help them know when to plant crops and when to celebrate religious holidays. The ancient Greeks and Chinese had a solution. They produced calendars that included extra months every nineteen years.
The ancient Romans had a different solution. In the year forty-six, the Roman ruler Julius Caesar made a new calendar. The Julian calendar included an extra day every four years. But there was a problem. The Julian year was just over eleven minutes longer than the cycle of the seasons. In 1582, Pope Gregory the Thirteenth established a new calendar to keep a better recorder of the days. Pole Gregory was the religious leader of most of Europe. He decided that years that could be divided by four would add a day. However, years that ended in two zeros and that could not be evenly divided by four hundred would not be leap years. For example, the years 1700, 1800and 1900 were not leap years. But the years 1600 and 2000 were leap years
So leap years are years with three hundred sixty –six days , instead of the usual three hundred sixty –five.This extra days is added to the calendar on February twenty –ninth , sometimes known as leap day .People born on leap day may be called “leapings ”.They usually celebrate their birthday on February twenty –eight or March first .
Title: 1.
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Reasons |
The Earth really takes 356days, 5hours,48minutes and 46seconds to complete its orbit around the sun. |
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__2.___is needed to benefit people’s daily life and work |
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__3.____ |
How to deal with the extra 5hours,48minutes and 46seconds |
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___4._____ |
__5._____ |
Ways |
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Ancient Greeks and Chinese |
Producing 6.___every 19years |
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__7.______ |
Producing an extra day_8.__ |
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The Pop Gregory VIII |
Producing a leap day if the year could be divided _9.____.No leap day when the year ended in two zeros but could not be divided by 400. |
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Result |
Leap day ___10.___and February twenty –ninth was added to the calendar |
About a third of all common cancers in the United States, China and Britain could be prevented each year if people ate healthier food, drank less alcohol and exercised more, health experts said on Friday.
Reports from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) suggest that making simple lifestyle changes could prevent some 40 percent of breast cancers alone in Britain and the United States, as well as tens of thousands of stomach cancers.
“Even in 2011, people are dying unnecessarily from cancers that could be prevented through keeping a healthy weight, diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors,” said a WCRF medical and scientific adviser.
WCRF findings are supported by World Health Organization (WHO) reports, which say regular exercise can prevent many diseases such as cancers and heart diseases.
Cancer is a leading cause of death around the world and its incidence(发病率) is rising. Each year around 12.7 million people discover they have cancer and 7.6 million people die from some form of the disease. There are about 200 known types of cancer.
Rachel Thompson, the WCRF’s head of science, said that while the message was simple — that not smoking, eating good food and being a healthy weight can help ward off many cancers — it was still a difficult one to get across.
The WHO says adults should do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. This could be done by walking for 30 minutes five times per week or by cycling to work every day.
Peter Baldini, head of the World Lung Foundation, also called on all governments to introduce smoke-free laws and raise the price of cigarettes. Tobacco kills millions of smokers every year, and tobacco-related lung cancers also kill hundreds of thousands of people who don’t smoke but have been exposed to it second-hand.
“There isn’t a magic bullet to cure all forms of cancer, but we have the opportunity and the duty to protect people from developing cancer wherever possible,” Baldini said.
1.Which of the following words can best take the place of the phrase “ward off” in the sixth paragraph?
A. protect B. prevent C. develop D. cure。
2.Which of the following statements is Not true according to the text?
A. Exercising and eating healthily can help to reduce cancer risk.
B. Each year about 12.7 million people are diagnosed with cancer around the world.
C. Every year millions of people die from smoking and lung cancers.
D. Adults should walk for fifty minutes three times per week.
3.Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A. Simple life changes could stop millions of cancers
B. Cancer is a leading cause of death
C. Our bad lifestyle caused many diseases
D. The incidence of common cancers is rising
4.By writing the passage, the author mainly intends to ____.
A. advise people to develop healthier lifestyle.
B. warn people of the danger of cancers
C. explain why many people die from cancers every year.
D. introduce the ways to protect people from developing cancers
5.We can infer from Peter Baldini’s opinion in the last two paragraphs that ____.
A. all the lung cancers are linked to smoking
B. there is no medicine to cure the cancers but it’s our duty to find one
C. all governments should take measures to control smokers and protect people’s health
D. it’s our opportunity and duty to persuade people to give up smoking
It is often said that you cannot “teach an old dog new tricks”, but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise by learning a skill --- driving a car!
What's even more impressive is that the three who have become skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA.
To get their training started, 10-month old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.
The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels（方向盘）and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized（装上发动机的）car. Then finally, it was time for the big test--- driving a real car!
Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit comfortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.
Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.
Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs? The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet.
We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today!
1.Who do the three dogs belong to?
A. Some rich owners. B. Animal Q. C. A shelter. D. A zoo.
2.The car the dogs drove was adjusted ______.
A. because is was too big for the dogs to drive
B. because it had no steering wheels and brakes
C. to ensure the dogs could sit comfortably and drive easily
D. to motorize the car and turn it to be a real one
3.Which is the right order of the following events?
a. Teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques.
b. Selecting three dogs and moving them to Animal Q.
c. The dogs practiced everything they had learnt in a motorized car.
d. Choosing the best driver to show his great driving skill on live television.
e. Driving a real car.
A. a-b-c- d-e B. b-a-c-e-d C. b- d- a-c-e D. a- e- c-b-d
4.Why does the SPCA decide to teach the three dogs to learn to drive a car?
A. To prove old dogs can learn new tricks.
B. To teach them performing tricks for movies and television shows.
C. To provide amusing performances for homeless children
D. To encourage people to adopt the abandoned dogs.
5.What can we learn from the passage?
A. A new Guinness category for driving dogs will probably be created.
B. Abandoned dogs are much cleverer than house-kept ones.
C. All the dogs at New Zealand’s SPCA will soon be adopted.
D. New Zealand has the most homeless dogs among all countries
I received a call today asking if I would be willing to bring food to a family in need. The mother was having a major operation and would be lying down for several weeks. Of course, I responded with an immediate “Yes！”. As I planned the meal in my head, I reflected on how many times over the years I had been asked to prepare food. I have done so countless times with a very open heart.
But the truly amazing thing is that I have received double over the course of my life. When my mother passed away, our house was filled with fresh dinners for weeks. A woman from the church of our community stopped by each evening with some food. The gift of food was her small way of trying to ease our pain.
Later in my life, when I was on bed rest during my pregnancy with twins, women of the church again stepped in to help. They arranged babysitting for my twoyearold daughter, and brought lovely dinners to our house. Even when I was put in the hospital, my husband would bring cooked meals to my hospital room. How we relied on these dinners to feed my tired husband and young daughter.
Food is all about comfort. It feeds our bodies, but it can also feed our souls. When you hear people talking about their favourite holidays, it usually includes their feelings connected with sharing food. I know that I will have many more opportunities in my lifetime to prepare food for others. It is truly a gift I want to prepare and deliver to someone in need.
1.The author has given lots of food to others because________．
A. she is poor at cooking
B．she is a church member
C．she is friendly to others
D．she has received others' food
2.We can learn from the first paragraph that the author________．
A. had to stay in bed for several weeks
B．knew the family in need very well
C．was glad to be able to lend a hand
D．was tired of preparing food
3.Which of the following is TRUE about the author?
A. Her mother died when she was in hospital.
B. She didn't get enough food during her pregnancy.
C．She received food as well as comfort in her hard times.
D．She thinks offering food is the best way to show love.
4.What do we know about the author's family?
A. Her family is too poor to buy enough food.
B. Her family lives not far from a church.
C. Her husband is not good at cooking.
D．She has a babysitter taking care of her twins.
5.According to the passage, which of the following conclusions can we get?
A. A good beginning makes a good ending.
B．One good turn deserves another.
C．Actions speak louder than words.
D．Every man has his faults.
You are mistaken if you think all Chinese people speak in the same way. Have you ever seen a person from Shanghai try talking to someone 1. Guangzhou? 2. is quite likely that both of them may feel puzzled! The Chinese language, as a whole, uses the same set of character, 3. even the same characters can have different pronunciations. That is 4.
it is difficult for people to understand each other. Luckily, the widespread use of Putonghua in China has made a great contribution 5. people’s communication, though people from different areas tend to speak with various accents.
People in Northern Europe are 6. luckier. Even though people from Sweden , Denmark and Norway have their own official languages, it is very convenient 7. them to communicate with one another. Do you know why? That is because their languages are quite similar, though not without small distinctions. 8. , they can communicate easily in their mother tongues.
