A hobby is an activity we can do in our free time, so that we can keep ourselves busy with something that makes us happy. Different people pursue (追求) different kinds of hobbies, according to their personal likes and dislikes. Hobbies are activities we choose to do, but not activities we have to do. There is a lot of difference between wanting to do something and having to do it. We only want to do those things we like to do, and things that give us pleasure and peace of mind.
Hobbies hold a very important place in our lives. For example, they are a means of connecting us with our inner self. The time devoted to taking up a hobby is our own time. This is the time when we can connect and communicate with ourselves. During this personal time, we can do whatever we like. Doing things according to our own wishes gives us a sense of inner satisfaction, and also helps develop self-confidence.
Hobbies also help discover talents. There is a possibility that we are interested in a certain activity, but have never had a chance to actually try it. If we develop our interest as our hobbies, it’s obvious that we’ll do it with great interest. So, even if we have never tried a certain thing before, we can still learn to do it. Thus, the hobbyists’ hidden talents can be discovered, and this can make them feel extremely proud and satisfied.
It’s human nature to try to know more about the things we like. The moment we pursue some activities as our favorite hobbies, we tend to gain more knowledge about the same hobby. Whether it’s gardening, cooking, painting or collecting stamps, we always try to get a deeper understanding of what we’re doing, so that we can do it more correctly. What’s more, we also happen to meet people with similar tastes and sometimes, possessing (拥有) rich knowledge about their hobbies. Thus, besides gaining knowledge, hobbies also provide us with a chance to meet people who share similar likes and dislikes with us.
Whatever our hobbies are, they can be developed at any age, as a child or as an adult. However, if we begin at a young age, we can get more time to experience the joys of our favorite pursuit. The hobby tends to grow with us, and someday, may also take us to great heights.
Why to take up a hobby | ||
Paragraph outline | Supporting details | |
Meanings | ·Hobbies are activities we do in our free time and can make us 1. . ·Our hobbies are based on our likes. ·Hobbies are those activities people are 2. to do. | |
3. | Helping connect With the inner self | ·The time 4. on the hobby is our personal time when we can be free to do anything we like. ·We’ll feel5. and become more confident. |
Helping discover talents | ·We can learn a lot by trying some activities with great6. ·We’ll be able to find our 7. talents. | |
Helping gain knowledge | ·When pursuing a hobby, we tend to try our best to8. it well, and them we gain a lot of knowledge. ·We can also9. some learned people and learn a lot from them. | |
10. | Though all hobbies can be developed at any age, yet it’s better to develop one when we are young. | |
Baby girls make their way to dolls as son as they can crawl(爬), and boys will head for the toy cars, a study has shown. The findings-the first t o show consistent differences in very young babies-suggest there is a biological basis for their preferences.
Psychologists Dr Brenda Todd carried out an experiment involving 90 babies aged 9 months to 36 months. They were allowed to choose from 7 toys. Some were boys’ toys-a car, a digger, a ball and a blue teddy. The rest were girls’ toys; a pink teddy, a doll and a cooking set. They were placed a meter away from the toys, and could pick whichever toy they liked. Their choice and amount of time they spent playing with each toy were recorded.
Of the youngest children (9 to 14 months), girls spent much longer time playing with the doll than boys, and boys spent much more time with the car and the ball than the girls did. Among the two and three-year-olds, girls spent 50 percent of the time playing with the doll while only two boys briefly touched it. The boys spent almost 90 percent of their time playing with cars, which the girls barely touched. There was no link between the parents’ views on which toys were more appropriate for boys or girls, and the children’s choices.
Dr Brenda Todd said, “Children of this age are already exposed to much socialization. Boys may be given ‘toys that go’ while girls get toys they can care for, which may help shape their preferences. But these findings are consistent with the former idea that children show intrinsic(内在的) interest in particular kinds of toys. There could be a biological basis for their choices. Males through evolution have been adapted to moving objects, probably through hunting instincts (本能), while girls prefer warmer colors such as pink, the color of a newborn baby.”
1.Baby boys and girls have different toy preferences probably because .
A. baby boys are much more active
B. baby girls like bright colors better
C. their parents treat them differently
D. there is a biological difference between them
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
A. Nine-month-old baby boys don’t play with dolls at all.
B. Two-year-old baby girls sometimes play with cars and balls
C. The older the babies are, the more obvious their preference is.
D. Parents should teach baby boys and girls to share each other’s toys.
3.What conclusion did Dr Brenda Todd draw from the results of the study?
A. Adults purposely influence the preference of babies.
B. Babies’ preference isn’t affected by social surroundings.(环境)
C. Baby boys preferring moving toys will be good at hunting.
D. Baby girls preferring warmer colors will be warmhearted.
4.Which column of a newspaper does the passage probably appear in?
A. Science. B. Health.
C. Education. D. Entertainment.
I walked down the hall heading to see my 88-year-old grandma who had been in hospital. Each member of the family was taking turns sitting with her because of her dementia (痴呆). As I did I looked very carefully at some of the rooms on this wing of the hospital, and it seemed that almost every bed held an elderly person. Some appeared to be confused, and some just looked lonely. I couldn’t help but notice that there was no family there, no one to care them, and no one to reduce the ache of loneliness. My heart broke inside me.
They are aging, with withered (萎缩的) skin on their faces and hands, their eyes look tried, and yet no one notices them. Could it be that we are far too busy to slow down and give a moment of our time to anyone that may swerve (使突然转向) us off the course we are traveling on? Are we afraid of those who have come before us to pave the way, afraid that they carry some awful disease that if we get too close we might catch it?
Whatever the case may be, one day we will be those same people that we long to avoid. We pay thousands of dollars for staying young, and we may turn up the music to forget the thoughts of getting older. But, try as we might, time and age will catch up with us.
We seem to have come to detest (嫌恶) the elderly. While we once held them in high regard and honor, always enjoying their stories of history, we now see them as a pain, always in our way. Isn’t it time we wake up?
So, next time you see a withered hand extended in need, or peer into the eyes of a lonely aging face, don’t run or look away. Remember, it might just be you in that place one day.
1.What made the author deeply sad?
A. The poor food for the patients.
B. The sight he saw in the hospital.
C. The hopeless patients in the hospital.
D. The bad service of the hospital.
2.What’s people’s excuse for not visiting the old?
A. They are too busy.
B. They can’t afford it.
C. They live too far away.
D. They usually travel abroad.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Time will tell the truth.
B. People are afraid of being old.
C. A doctor is important to old people.
D. Respecting elderly people is a good tradition.
4.What does the author advise us to do in the last paragraph?
A. Respect the old.
B. Get along well with the old.
C. Help and pay attention to the old.
D. Spend more time with our parents.
After mom died, I began visiting my father every morning before I went to work. He was weak and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note, reading, ‘Drink your juice.” Such a gesture, I knew, was as far as my father had ever been able to do in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned mom, “Why doesn’t father love me?” Mom frowned, “Who said he doesn’t love you?” “Well , he never tells me,” I complained. “He never tells me either.” She said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. He owned and operated a small scrap metal (废旧金属) business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. He fed scrap steel into a device that chopped it as cleanly as a butcher chops a rack of ribs. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors, with blades thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” mom asked him one night as she bent over him and rubbed his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” my father asked, giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, father.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.
1.The author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because .
A. that was the author’s favorite
B. he was sure the author would be thirsty
C. the author was always complaining
D. that was a gesture of love
2.The author’s fathe didn’t hire a helper because .
A. his job was too dangero
B. his job required high skills
C. he wanted to save money
D. he was not good at working with others
3.We can infer from the passage that .
A. the author’s father lacked a sense of humor
B. the author quite understood his father as time went on
C. the author’s father didn’t love him very much
D. the author’s father was too strict with him
4.What’s the passage about?
A. The proper attitude towards life.
B. The importance of education.
C. Silent fatherly love.
D. Ways to live happily.
During the seasons of fine weather, kids can play outside, happy and active. But when winter comes around, it is wet, windy and cold. Since they can’t go outside to play, kids get restless and miserable.
Fun activities for kids are pretty much necessary at that time of year, and they need to be kept entertained. One way to do this is to have an indoor treasure hunt, where children can look for clues and then get to the treasure. Treasure doesn’t even need to be much, because just the activity is fun enough.
Art activities are always fun, and if you start off with some paper in different colors they can draws shapes on the back, cut them out and stick them on the white paper to make all sorts of things. Cardboard boxes, stuck together and then painted, can be made into buildings or robots. You can keep all boxes in a bag in the loft. Then you have something you can draw on when the weather is bad and the children need to play indoors.
Dressing up is another fun indoor activity. Why not read a book to them and then ask them to act it for you? That can keep them busy and develop their imagination. When you encourage children to use their imagination, you are giving them confidence in themselves, in their own creative abilities; by suggesting they put on a play you are encouraging them to work together and develop teamwork skills.
The best way to help your kids have fun when it is rainy outside is to let them come up with some ideas. When you feel that they are old enough, let them write their ideas on a piece of paper and you can pick an idea that you find practical. That way, every day can be fun!
1.Kids are most likely to be unhappy in winter because .
A. it is very cold and windy
B. they lead a miserable life
C. they like spring very much
D. they can’t enjoy themselves outside
2.The indoor treasure hunt is an activity in which kids .
A. would like to get much treasure
B. are eager to find something
C. are forced to stay indoors
D. try to help each other.
3.Dressing up can help kids to develop their .
A. confidence, creation and teamwork skills
B. creation, interest and determination
C. teamwork skills, hobby and creation
D. imagination, hobby and bravery
As a young girl, I remember a very special doctor named Dr William R. Vincent. When I was eight years old, I was with a serious heart and I needed heart surgery(手术). My mom did not have the to have it done, and the surgery I would not live to be thirteen years old. After several organizations Dr Vincent was to get financial help for me through United Way, a Crippled Children’s Organization.
Dr Vincent was very and caring. I remember when I was in hospital for a(n) before surgery, I was crying hysterically(歇斯底里地). So the medical workers Dr Vincent to calm me down, and he was able to me when no one else could. , the time came for me to have heart surgery; there was a fifty-percent that I would not make it through the surgery. At that time I was only the second or third person to have it. I was really , and again Dr Vincent reassured me he would see that would be all right.
, the surgery was extremely painful but very successful. Dr Vincent came to see me and me a toy animal. I was so surprised to get this from Dr Vincent; I gave him a hug. I had a wonderful doctor who time helping a scared little girl who felt all . This was twenty-eight years ago. So wherever you are, Dr Vincent, I want to thank you for not only my life, but also helping me live a(n) life.
1.A.problem B. question C. matter D. puzzle
2.A.condition B. situation C. money D. time
3.A.beyond B. without C. through D. beside
4.A.joining B. seeing C. reaching D. contacting
5.A.able B. ready C. willing D. happy
6.A. careful B. clever C. honest D. gentle
7.A.check B. exam C. test D. watch
8.A.depended on B. searched for C. woke up D. called in
9.A.prevent B. comfort C. protect D. move
10.A.Later B. Now C. Instead D. However
11.A.hope B. choice C. chance D. effect
12.A.satisfied B. frightened C. pleased D. moved
13.A.nothing B. something C.none D. everything
14.A. Fortunately B. Specially C. Fairly D. Hardly
15.A.lent B. carried C. brought D. held
16.A.regret B. award C. support D. gift
17.A.made B. spent C. lost D. wasted
18.A.alone B. strange C. comfortable D. sick
19.A.giving B. saving C. sending D. passing
20.A.exciting B. ordinary C. normal D. rich
