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Today our life and work rarely feel light or pleasant. Instead, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation(责任). 1.____
We say this to one another with great pride. 2. We are unavailable to our friends and family, unable to find time for the sunset, to finish off our obligations without time for a single mindful breath. This seems to have become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We lose the relaxation that gives us help. 3. Poisoned by the belief that good things come only through tireless effort, we never truly rest. This is not the world we dreamed of when we were young. But how did we get so terribly rushed in a world filled with work and responsibility, yet it lacks joy and delight?
4. Sunday is the time to enjoy and celebrate what is beautiful and good, time to sing songs, give thanks, and walk. It is time to be refreshed as we stop our work, our chores and our important projects.
Sunday is more than the absence of work. Many of us, in our desperate drive to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, feel terrible guilty when we take time to rest. 5. Many of us still recall when, not long ago, shops and offices were closed on Sundays. Those quiet Sunday afternoons are deep in our cultural memory.
A. We also miss the quiet that gives us wisdom.
B. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.
C. It becomes the standard greeting everywhere, “I am so busy.”
D. We work through day and night, feeling rather exhausted.
E. But the Sunday has proven its wisdom over the ages.
F. The reason is simple: we have forgotten the Sunday.
G. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others.
We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen? When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck? And Paul - why didn’t pick up that he was friendly just because I had a car? When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it’s too late.
Why do we go wrong about our friends - or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don’t really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, “You’re a lucky dog.” That’s being friendly. But lucky dog? There’s a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn’t see it himself. But bringing in the dog bit puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn’t think you deserve your luck.
Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn’t important. It’s telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven’t got a date for Saturday night.
How can you tell the real meaning behind someone’s words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people to you may save another mistake.
1. This passage is mainly about ____________.
A. how to interpret what people say
B. what to do when you listen to others talking
C. how to avoid mistakes when you communicate with people
D. why we go wrong with people sometimes
2.According to the author, the reason why we go wrong about our friends is that ____________.
A. we fail to listen carefully when they talk
B. people tend to be annoyed when we check what they say
C. people usually state one thing but mean another
D. we tend to doubt what our friends say
3.The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to ____________.
A. being friendly B. a bit of envy
C. lucky dog D. your luck
Filmmaker Jennifer Nelson had to pay $1,500 to have “Happy Birthday to You” sung in the movie she’s making. The money went to Warner Music Group, a company that claims to own the copyright on the song. A copyright is the legal right to use or sell a creative product such as a song, a TV show, a book, or a work of art. Warner has claimed the copyright for “Happy Birthday to You” since 1988.
“I never thought the song was owned by anyone,” Nelson said in an e-mail to The New York Times. “I thought it belonged to everyone.”
Nelson’s movie is a documentary — a film that uses pictures and/or interviews with people to create a factual report of real-life events — and is actually about the history of the “Happy Birthday” song itself.
Two sisters named Mildred and Patty Hill wrote a song called “Good Morning to All” in 1893. Over a short period of time, people began to sing the words “happy birthday to you” in place of the original lyrics to the tune of the Hill sisters’ song.
A number of history experts say that there is no record of who actually wrote the “Happy Birthday to You” lyrics. Historians also say there is no way to know when the general public began singing the “Happy Birthday” song, but they believe it was being sung by the public long before it was printed and owned by a company.
Nelson’s lawyers say this piece of music’s history proves that “Happy Birthday to You” belongs to everyone in the general public. That would mean Warner Music Group has no right to charge anyone a fee to sing the song in any setting.
Experts estimate that Warner/ Chappell, the publishing division of the Warner Music Group, has made about $2 million a year from licensing fees for “Happy Birthday to You.”
Nelson’s lawyers are asking a court in New York City to order Warner/Chappell to return fees they have collected over the past four years for use of the “Happy Birthday” song.
1.Jennifer Nelson had to pay Warner Music Group to ____________.
A. own the copyright on a song
B. have a song sung in her movie
C. have it play a song in her movie
D. have it write a song for her movie
2.The history experts’ statement can prove that the “Happy Birthday” song ____________.
A. has always been very popular
B. has more than 200 years’ history
C. does not belong to Warner Music Group
D. was initially owned by another company
3.According to Nelson’s lawyers, to sing the “Happy Birthday” song, people ____________.
A. should pay the Hill sisters
B. need not pay for any purpose
C. should pay Warner Music Group
D. need not pay except for commercial use
4. If the court supports Nelson’s lawyers’ claim, ____________.
A. Warner will return about $8 million
B. she can obtain the copyright on the song
C. Warner will have to pay her for her damages
D. she only needs to pay a little money to use the song
Thirty-two people watched Kitty Genovese being killed right beneath their windows. She was their neighbor. Yet none of the 32 helped her. Not one even called the police. Was this in gunman cruelty? Was it lack of feeling about one’s fellow man?
Not so, say scientists John Barley and Bib Fatane. These men went beyond the headlines to seek the reasons why people didn’t act. They found that a person has to go through two steps before he can help. First he has to notice that is an emergency.
Suppose you see a middle-aged man fall to the side-walk. Is he having a heart attack? Is he in a coma from diabetes(糖尿病)? Or is he about to sleep off a drunk?
Is the smoke coming into the room from a leak in the air conditioning? Is it steam pipes? Or is it really smoke from a fire? It’s not always easy to tell if you are faced with a real emergency.
Second, and more important, the person faced with an emergency must feel personally responsible. He must feel that he must help, or the person won’t get the help he needs.
The researchers found that a lot depends on how many people are around. They had college students in to be tested. Some came alone. Some came with one or two others. And some came in large groups. The receptionist started them off on the tests. Then she went into the next room. A curtain divided the testing room and the room into which she went. Soon the students heard a scream, the noise of file cabinets falling and a cry for help. All of this had been pre-recorded on a tape-recorder.
Eight out of ten of the students taking the test alone acted to help. Of the students in pairs, only two out of ten helped. Of the students in groups, none helped.
In other words, in a group, Americans often fail to act. They feel that others will act. They, themselves, needn’t. They do not feel any direct responsibility.
Are people bothered by situations where people are in trouble? Yes. Scientists found that the people were emotional, they sweated, they had trembling hands. They felt the other person’s trouble. But they did not act. They were in a group. Their actions were shaped by the actions of those they were with.
1. The purpose of this passage is ____________.
A. to explain why people fail to act in emergencies
B. to explain when people will act in emergencies
C. to explain what people will do in emergencies
D. to explain how people feel in emergencies
2.The researchers have conducted an experiment to prove that people will act in emergencies when ____________.
A. they are in pairs B. they are in groups
C. they are alone D. they are with their friends
3. The main reason why people fail to act when they stay together is that ____________.
A. they are afraid of emergencies
B. they are unwilling to get themselves involved
C. others will act if they themselves hesitate
D. they do not have any direct responsibility for those who need help
4.The author suggests that ____________.
A. we shouldn’t blame a person if he fails to act in emergencies
B. a person must feel guilty if he fails to help
C. people should be responsible for themselves in emergencies
D. when you are in trouble, people will help you anyway
No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the Art Institute, which is the second largest art museum in the nation.
Opening hours:
Mon - Wed & Fri - Sun, 10:30 am - 5 pm; Thu, 10:30 am- 8 pm; closed on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.
Highlights:
The Modern Wing contains contemporary masterpieces by Dali, Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Pollock, and Warhol.
● View one of the world’s finest Impressionist collections, including masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
● Thorne Miniature Rooms offer a detailed view of European homes from the 16th century through the 1930s and American homes from the 17th century to 1940.
● The past returns as over 550 works from 4,000 years of art come together in Of Gods and Glamour, located in the beautiful new Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art.
Advice for visitors:
● Free guided tours are available daily at noon.
● Free art-making activities are available for children each weekend from 11 am to 2 pm.
● Visit the Family Room in the Ryan Education Center, open daily from 10:30 am – 5 pm, and introduce your child to the museum’s collections with a variety of hands-on activities. Assemble (组装) puzzles based on masterpieces you’ll see in the galleries, build architectural wonders with colorful blocks, and learn about art through stories and games at Curious Corner.
● Check out the Lion’s Trial tour for children ages 5-10. This tour is especially designed for the young people in your group! Don’t miss it!
Getting there:
You can take the follow buses: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 26, 28, 126, 143.
1.The Art Institute of Chicago can be visited on ____________.
A. Christmas Day B. New Year’s Day
C. Thanksgiving Day D. Independence Day
2.Whose works can you see in the Impressionist collections?
A. Picasso’s B. Monet’s
C. Pollock’s D. Warhol’s
3.If you are interested in Greek art, you can go to ____________.
A. the Modern Wing
B. Thorne Miniature Rooms
C. the Impressionist collections
D. the Of Gods and Glamour collections
4.At Curious Corner, children can ____________.
A. get free guidance
B. join the Lion’s Trail tour
C. enjoy free art-making activities
D. take part in many hands-on activities
There is a growing number of kidults---or adults who wear the mask of maturity but prefer to pander(迎合) to their inner child.
They feel ill equipped for parenthood, because they don’t see what values or lessons they could honestly pass on to their young, besides self-centeredness and a passion for the good things in life. They are trying to live by not acting their age.
As Ms Jane put it in her letter: I’m married, in my late 20s and enjoy a lifestyle other married graduate couples enjoy: winning and dining, tasteful clothes, travel and a career. Why give up all these for a baby?
It is reported that when asked whether they were adults, most people in their 20s answered they were not sure. This reflected a global economy in which people chased more papers to get better jobs that would comfortably support middle class living.
Being a kidult is not all about being selfish, though. With the untold uncertainties of war, fluctuating(波动)markets, disease and terrorism, many see this world as a poor place to live in—let alone bring kids up in. This seems especially so in urban living. All anyone wants after a long, hard day at work is some peace and quiet.
My classmate, Jenny, mused(沉思)recently how our friends living in small Malaysian towns were onto their second or third kids. Maybe they just loved having children around. Or maybe, in their own way, they wanted to leave the world a better place than they found it.
That’s how you, I and everyone know we have the chance to breathe air, touch grass and see sky. I think out parents understand that just being alive is an experience worth passing on.
1.What is a kidult in the writer’s opinion?
A. A person who doesn’t have a child
B. An adult who actually has a psychology of a child
C. A child who doesn’t want to grow up
D. A person who doesn’t know that what values he has
2.What does the underlined word “paper” in Para. 4 mean?
A. money
B. reputation
C.qualification
D. power
3.The author explains the kidult phenomenon by ________.
A. presenting research findings
B. making comparison
C. showing her own experience
D. using examples
4.We can learn from the text that kidults________.
A. know little what they can pass on to their children
B. are sure of their abilities for good life
C. living in urban can enjoy more peace
D. living in small towns know well what they’re living for
