I remember him on his first day in the sixth grade. He was the only black face in a sea of white. A few days later, he had yet to connect with anyone. Our teacher asked me to talk to him. So I went over to him and said, “Hi.” He replied, “Hi.” 1. The next day, “What’s up?” “Not much.” We added a word or two each day until full sentences were formed, and then a paragraph.
Soon we became good friends and our friendship survived new friendships and small arguments. 2. When it was my turn, I expressed criticism of his choice of clothing. He was laughing as hard as I was.
Strangely enough, I remember so much about that day except in what context (语境) the N-word (rude word for a black person) was used. 3. He was my best friend. But the look on his face told me otherwise.
It was a few days before we spoke again. Although we insisted we’d be friends forever, I never saw him after high school. It may not have had anything to do with what I said, or it may have had everything. 4.
Several days ago, there was a near race riot (暴动) during a high school basketball game, and angry teenagers shouted several rude words. 5. All I wonder is if these kids will ever feel as bad as I did for using such a rude word. It’s a curse word, but the real curse is on the person who uses it.
A. And that was it for day one.
B. Later that year, we were leaving school.
C. My purposes were not to wound him obviously.
D. These words brought back a flood of memories.
E. By that point, we weren’t close enough for me to ask.
F. One day, with nothing better to do, we played jokes on each other.
G. At our senior graduation party, we made a point of toasting each other.
As We Speak
by Peter Meyers, Shann Nix
The world is full of brilliant people whose ideas are never heard. This book is designed to make sure that you’re not one of them. Whether you are speaking to a large audience or in a one-on-one conversation, the way in which you communicate ideas, as much as the ideas themselves, can determine success or failure. In this invaluable guide, you’ll learn to master principles that you can apply in a wide variety of situations.
Triple(使增至三倍)Your Reading Speed
by Wade E.Cutler
This fourth edition of the book does just that--with tests that make it fun and simple to acquire the skills that will give you an advantage in school and on the job. The method helps you to break old habits that may be slowing you down, and develop strategies for increased comprehension in less time.
The Memory Book
by Harry Lorayne, Jerry Lucas
Unlock the hidden power of your mind through Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas’s simple memory system, and you can become more effective and more powerful. Discover how easy it is to remember things; learn foreign words with ease; read with speed and greater understanding; shine in the classroom and shorten study hours.
How to Become a Straight-A student
by Cal Newport
Most college students believe that straight A’s can be achieved only through cramming(突击式学习) and painful all-nighters at the library. But Cal Newport knows that real straight-A students don’t study harder--they study smarter. A breakthrough approach to completing academic tasks very well, How to Become a Straight-A student reveals for the first time the proven study secrets of real straight-A students across the country and turns them into a simple, practical system that anyone can master.
1.According to the first advertisement, some brilliant people’s ideas are never heard
because_____.
A. they are not well-known enough
B. their ideas are not creative enough
C. they can’t exchange their ideas well.
D. their ideas are rather complex.
2.What do Triple Your Reading Speed and The Memory Book have in common?
A. They help to improve your memory.
B. They help you to read much faster.
C. They offer you the latest ideas.
D. They include many tests.
3.How to Become a Straight-A student mainly conveys the message that______.
A. hard work leads to success
B. cramming before exams work
C. there are techniques for learning
D. anyone can be a college student
4.Which of the following books focuses on discovering your unknown potential?
A. As We Speak
B. Triple Your Reading Speed
C. The Memory Book
D. How to Become a Straight-A student
The saying “a penny for your thoughts” is an English idiom simply asking people to volunteer their opinions on an issue being discussed. In modern usage, it is often stated as an indirect way of asking what someone is thinking about.
This phrase is basically a proposal (提议), and the speaker is offering to pay to hear the listener’s thoughts. It is an idiom, of course, and not meant literally (字面上的) so no real payment generally takes place.
When the saying originated, a penny was worth a lot more than it is in the 21st century. Therefore, “a penny for your thoughts” likely indicated the thoughts were more valuable to those asking the listener for them than they are by today’s standards. This loss of value can be used ironically(讽刺地), however, through tone(语气) of voice; it can be used to indicate that someone’s idea is bad or worth a penny in modern value.
The phrase is generally credited to a man by the name of John Heywood, who was born sometime just before the 16th century. During his life, he was a writer who penned many plays and a book in 1546, later known as The Proverbs of John Heywood. It is likely Heywood did not actually come up with the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”. Rather, he was simply the first person to have set the phrase down in written form. The actual origins of the term are unknown, and since his book was simply a collection of common idioms and expressions, it was probably familiar to people in the mid 1500s.
Another phrase similar to “a penny for your thoughts” is offering “your two cents” after making a statement. Someone might give his or her opinion and then say, “that’s my two cents,” to indicate the value of his or her idea. While, much like a penny, “two cents” is relatively low in value now, it would have been more valuable at one time and the expression is used in much the same way.
1.When someone says “a penny for your thoughts”, he or she ___________.
A. wants to ask you for advice
B. considers your thoughts unique
C. is curious about what’s on your mind
D. will pay for what you’re thinking about
2. The modern meaning of “a penny for your thoughts” ____________.
A. is more closely connected to the value of the penny
B. can differ greatly according to a speaker’s manner
C. can confuse the listener easily
D. is more popularly accepted
3. In what way is Heywood related to the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”?
A. He came up with it while he was writing.
B. He helps to explain the origins of it.
C. He contributed to the wide use of it.
D. He was the first person to use it.
4.What do we know about the phrase “your two cents”?
A. It is usually used at the end of a statement.
B. It comes from “a penny for your thoughts”.
C. It has witnessed some changes since the 16th century.
D. It is more familiar to people than “a penny for your thoughts”.
A cafe owner has defended her decision to pen a Facebook post (an Internet message to be discussed) stating “No, we are not child-friendly,” saying it breaks her heart when children damage her possessions.
On Monday, the Little French Cafe in Newcastle, Australia, posted an announcement on their Facebook page: “Are we child-friendly? If you are looking for a cafe with a children’ s menu, a play area, lounges for your children to jump on, vast space for your baby carriages, an area for your children to run around, and annoy other customers, while you are unaware of them—then the short answer is ‘No, we are not child-friendly.’ However, if you would like to bring your children here and they are happy to sit at a table with you and behave properly, please come in. Otherwise, there are plenty of places that are specifically designed to entertain your children.” The post has since been deleted.
Some Facebook users called the post “arrogant (傲慢的)” and an “attack on parents,” The Newcastle Herald reports. The cafe owner responded with this statement: “I built the cafe myself. It has my blood, sweat and plenty of tears in it.”
The post came about after the cafe owner was asked by a customer, who had left a one-star review on the cafe’s business page, about whether the cafe was child-friendly. Ms Kotz told news.com.au she wrote the bad review because she felt staff reacted negatively towards children at the cafe.
The cafe owner said it broke a piece of her heart every time when she was watching children emptying salt and pepper shakers into her fireplaces, parents changing nappies (尿布) on her lounges, or kids throwing their own food onto her carpet.
Although the cafe’s policy has attracted a lot of criticism, most people who commented on the Little French Cafe’s Facebook page stood by the owner. One woman named Lesley wrote, “I don’t think there was anything wrong with what you said by any means. If parents want to take their children to your cafe, they need to be responsible for their behavior.”
1.What is the text mainly about?
A. An Australian cafe’s policy on children.
B. A Facebook post about parents’ manners.
C. The protection of the customers’ basic rights
D. The relationship between staff and customers.
2.Which of the following is permitted according to the cafe owner’s post?
A. Parents demanding a children’s menu.
B. Children entertaining themselves in the cafe.
C. Children running around their own carriages.
D. Parents taking well-behaved kids to the cafe.
3.The cafe owner wrote the post _____.
A. after a kid damaged her possessions
B. in response to a customer’s question
C. in order to improve the efficiency of the cafe
D. after the cafe was criticized by some Facebook users
4. What did Lesley think of the cafe owner’s action?
A. It was slightly unfair.
B. It was very misleading.
C. It was highly controversial.
D. It was quite understandable.
Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an expensive French restaurant in Denver. The ice cream he was serving fell onto the white dress of a rich and important woman.
Thirty years have passed, but Odland can not get the memory out of his mind, nor the woman’s kind reaction. She was shocked, regained calmness and, in a kind voice, told the young Odland. “It is OK. It wasn’t your fault.” When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.
Odland isn’t the only CEO to have made this discovery. Instead, it seems to be one of those few laws of the land that every CEO learns on the way up. It’s hard to get a dozen CEOs to agree about anything, but most agree with the Waiter Rule. They say how others treat the CEO says nothing. But how others treat the waiter is like a window into the soul.
Watch out for anyone who pulls out the power card to say something like, “I could buy this place and fire you,” or “I know the owner and I could have you fired.” Those who say such things have shown more about their character than about their wealth and power.
The CEO who came up with it, or at least first wrote it down, is Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson. He wrote a best-selling book called Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person,”Swanson says. “I will never offer a job to the person who is sweet to the boss but turns rude to someone cleaning the tables.”
1.What happened after Odland dropped the ice cream onto the woman’s dress?
A. He was fired.
B. He was blamed.
C. The woman comforted him.
D. The woman left the restaurant at once.
2. Odland learned one of his life lessons from _____.
A. his experience as a waiter
B. the advice given by the CEOs
C. an article in Fortune
D. an interesting best-selling book
3.According to the text, most CEOs have the same opinion about _____.
A. Fortune 500 companies
B. the Management Rules
C. Swanson’s book
D. the Waiter Rule
假设你是星光中学的李耀祖，每年的9月22日是“世界无车日”，请撰写一份主题为 “Let’s Ride Bicycles”的演讲稿，主要内容包括：
1. 目前汽车带来的空气污染和交通堵塞等问题；
2. 骑自行车的益处，如节能环保、有利健康等。
参考词汇：低碳生活（low-carbon life）；节能（energy saving）
注意：1.词数：100词左右；
2.演讲稿开头和结尾已给出，该部分不计入总词数。
3.对所给提示，不要简单翻译，可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
Good morning, everyone,
I’m Li Yaozu from Xingguang Middle School. The topic of my speech is “Let’s Ride Bicycles”.
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That’s all! Thank you!
