任务型阅读
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。
Put a group of strangers in a room together, and they’ll probably start a conversation. “Hot today, isn’t it?” one might say. “You said it,” another replies.
Why do we talk so much about the weather? When we meet new people, we don’t begin by telling them our life story. We start with small talk, a polite conversation about something like traffic or weather.
Research suggests that small talk can build new friendships. When we begin conversations with new people, we want to feel comfortable, and so do they. We use small talk to find common interests. Once we have a common interest, a friendship can begin.
Small talk even helps people get a job. In order to impress at a job interview, you need to bond with the interviewer right away. Proper sma
ll talk can make that first impression get you the job.
So, how can you make small talk lead to a new friendship or job? First off, find common ground. Select something around you that you share with the other person.
Next, keep the conversation going. Compliment (赞美) the other person to make him or her feel comfortable, and ask questions to show interest.
Third, keep eye contact. When you loop people in the eye, they feel you appreciate what they are saying. It makes you appear honest and build trust.
Naturally, shy people might not have enough confidence to start up conversations with strangers. Talking to someone you don’t know is not the easiest thing to do! Some experts say with more practice, small take does get easier.
Some people avoid small talk because they dislike discussing things like traffic or weather. For them, they are just too small. However, when you think about it, small talk is anything but small. In fact, it is actually a very big deal!
Title | Small Talk: A Big1. _________ |
Introduction | We are likely to make small talk when we2.______ meet people. |
3._________ | Small talk can help people form 4.________ friendships. |
Small talk can also help people get 5.__________. | |
Advice | Find some topics6._______ with the other person. |
Keep the talk going by making compliments and 7.__________ questions. | |
Keep eye contact in conversation to build8. ________. | |
9.________ more in order to make small talk easier. | |
Conclusion | Small talk really 10._________ a lot to us. |
On a Saturday morning earlier this September, the world got its first look at the Strati. This electric vehicle is unlike any 
other currently on the road. It rolls on four wheels, but its body and chassis(底盘) weren’t built in a factory. Instead, Strati’s designers used a technology called 3-D printing. It created those parts of the car in one piece, from the ground up.
“Compared to a typical vehicle on the road, the Strati definitely looks different,” says Greg Schroeder, a senior research engineer at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. He did not work on the new car. His organization studies trends and changes in the auto industry.
It took 44 hours to print the new car at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. Over the next few days, the car’s designers installed additional parts. These included the car’s engine, brakes and tires. Then, early on September 13, Jay Rogers climbed into the car, started its engine and drove the vehicle onto the street. Rogers helped found Local Motors. It’s the Arizona-based company behind the Strati. Two weeks later, his team printed a second Strati, and just as fast, at a fair in New York City.
Justin Fishkin, a local Motors official, sees the Strati as a window into the future. Today, car buyers are limited in their choice of a vehicle. They can order only what car companies have already designed. But in the future, he says, you may be able to design your own car online and then get it printed to order.
Manufacturing experts say 3-D printing has begun to revolutionize how they make things. The technology has been around for decades. But these machines used to be so expensive that only large companies could afford them. In the last few years, though, that has changed. Many of the machines are now inexpensive enough for small companies—or even individuals —to own. Some local libraries make them available to the public. High Schools are beginning to use them in classrooms. Wide access to these printers means people can now design and print a wide variety of new things.
The car’s printer is a one-of-a-kind device.
The technology behind the 3-D printer used in Chicago is an example of additive manufacturing. This process builds solid objects, slice by slice, from the bottom up. (“Strati” means layers, in Italian.) A mechanical arm moves a nozzle from one side to another, back and forth. As it moves, the nozzle deposits a liquid—often melted plastic or metal (but it could be food, concrete or even cells) —that quickly hardens or bonds to become solid or semi-solid. This creates a single, thin layer. Once a layer is complete, the printer starts depositing the next one.
“There’s a lot of interest in 3-D printing in the auto industry,” says Schroeder. Right now, the technology is particularly useful for building models of cars or car parts.
To compete with current auto manufacturers, the 3-D printer would have to increase in a hurry, Schroeder says. By contrast, he notes, a Ford F-150 pickup truck rolls off an assembly line at a rate of roughly one per minute. To print as many Stratis would require many more printers. Schroeder says he doesn’t see 3-D printing soon taking over for such high-volume manufacturing. But, he adds, “Who knows what will h
appen in the long term?”
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee designed the 3-D printer used in Chicago. Lonnie Love, a research scientist at the lab, led the effort.
Additive manufacturing often is slow and expensive. It also may produce materials that are unreliable, Love says. So for two years, his team searched for ways to make 3-D printing better. They built new machines and tested them over and over.
All of that work paid off: their new machine is fast and uses less expensive material than earlier printers. In addition, it prints a plastic embedded with fibers of carbon to produce a stronger material. This helps ensure the material won’t crack or break under pressure.
1.Which of the following statements about the first Strati is TRUE?
A. It was born in a car factory in Chicago.
B. All parts of it were not made by using a technology called 3-D technology.
C. It is a pity that it has not run on the street so far.
D. Many senior research engineers worked on it, including Greg Schroeder.
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 
5?
A. Large companies are always rich enough to buy expensive things.
B. Now High Schools are beginning to use 3-D printers in classrooms.
C. Wide access to 3-D printers has made it possible for people to order novel things online.
D. High prices of new products can stop them from being used widely in the beginning.
3.What does the word “nozzle” in Paragraph 7 possibly refer to?
A. A single, thin layer.
B. A part of the 3-D printer.
C. A solid or semi-solid object.
D. A person who operates the machine.
4.Why did Lonnie Love make efforts to improve 3-D printing with his team?
A. Because additive manufacturing might produce unreliable materials.
B. Because he just was interested in making new things.
C. Because he just wanted to build new machines and test them
D. Because additive manufacturing is always slow but inexpensive.
5.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
A. 3-D Printers Are Coming
B. 3-D Printers Are Becoming Well- Known
C. 3-D Printers Are Becoming Cheaper
D. 3-D Printers Are Making Cars
My friend BJ Gallagher told me a great story recently, about her own experience with resentment (愤恨). She once worked as the training manager for a large newspaper, where she found the corporate culture extremely frustrating. The company was a hundred years old and their past success ha
d blinded them to the need for change. Finally, after butting heads with several senior executives (主管) many times, she left the company. But she found that she hadn’t left her resentment, frustration, and anger behind when she resigned.
“I finally decided to write about my experiences and my feelings at the newspaper. I wanted to be rid of that company and those people, once and for all. So I wrote and I wrote. It wasn’t just a story that poured out; it was a whole book! We called it A peacock in the Land of Penguins. I was the peacock and those newspaper executives were the penguins.”
“It took me several more years to finally get over my negative emotions. Through a lot of soul-searching and reflection, I finally was able to let go of my resentment. I came to see that there was nothing personal in the way they treated me, and they were good people doing what they thought best for the company. I was the one who had made it personal. I thought they were making my life miserable on purpose.”
“Finally, the time came when I decided to make amends (弥补) for the sharp, angry things I had said about the company. I invited my former boss to dinner and made my apology. It was a great healing process for me. I finally felt free of the resentment that had been eating me up.”
“What was the final outcome?” I asked her.
“Gratitude,” she replied. “Not only wasn’t I resentful any more, I was grateful to the company. If I hadn’t had those painful experiences, I would never have written a book. And the book became hugely successful – now published in 21 languages; it transformed my business.”
1.What made BJ Gallagher frustrated in the company?
A. Unfair treatment by the senior executives.
B. The culture and tradition of the company.
C. The strict rules in the company.
D. Her low position in the company.
2.Why did BJ Gallagher write about her experiences and feelings at the company?
A. To make peace with the executives.
B. To make suggestions to the company.
C. To do soul-searching and reflection.
D. To express her anger.
3.What does the underlined part “butting heads with” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. making friends with B. working with
C. arguing with D. spending time with
4.BJ Gallagher finally felt grateful to the company because _______.
A. she was forgiven by her former executives
B. she was accepted by the company again
C. her painful experiences there was valuable for her
D. she learned how to forgive others
As the new semester begins, millions of college students across the country are trying hard to remember how best to write a paper or, more likely, how best to delay that paper.
Procrastination is the thief of time and a lot of students suffer form it. They can spend whole days in the library doing nothing but staring into space, eating snacks, surfing the Internet, watching videos and looking at other students sitting around them, who, most likely are doing nothing either.
Paralyzed (使失去活力) by their habit to procrastinate, they write micro blogs about their fears, asking their online friends if they sometimes have the same issue. But this does nothing to break the spell (魔咒).
According to a recent report, 95 percent of us procrastinate at some point and 20 percent of the world’s population are always procrastinating. The figures are disappointing. Procrastinators are less wealthy, less healthy and less happy than those who don’t delay. Procrastinators like to find excuses to justify their behavior, but BBC columnist Rowan Pelling says they are all wrong.
Many procrastinators tell themselves they are perfectionists who work best under pressure. Pelling says this is non sense, as work done at the last minute is more likely to have mistakes than work done on time. The behavior of procrastinators often makes them feel ashamed, inconveniences others and annoys loved ones.
Pelling also points out that procrastination feels particularly delinquent（过失的） in a society that thinks of speedy action as admirable, and, at times, even as a moral good.
Fortunately, social scientists have thrown their weight behind efforts to understand this behavioral mistake and offer strategies to control it. Piers Steel, a Canadian social scientist and author of The Procrastination Equation, believes human is “designed” to procrastinate. Nevertheless, he suggests a couple of good ways to get through the task at hand.
1.Which behavior belongs to procrastination?
A. Never dream away the time.
B. Always complete the tasks ahead of time.
C. Never put off till tomorrow what should be done today.
D. Always wait to work until the “good mood” or “good time”.
2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A. Procrastination makes people waste their time.
B. Speedy action is considered as a moral standard in the society.
C. procrastinators usually complete their tasks perfectly.
D. Procrastination is common among people.
3.What is most likely to be discuss
ed in the paragraph that follows?
A. Ways to handle the study pressures.
B. Introduction to the book The Procrastination Equation.
C. More examples to illustrate procrastination
D. Measures to deal with procrastination.
AT
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1.TV Ears helps you ______.
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D. become interested in ballgame programs
2.What makes TV Ears different from other headsets?
A. It can easily set TV on mute.
B. Its head
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C. It applies special wireless technology.
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A. offering reasons for this invention
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完形填空
阅读下列短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项A, B, C,和D中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Whatever misfortune you face, just hold up your head and face it with a smile! I got to know this from a musical soul.
The other day I was feeling quite _________ , having just been laid off from my job. With so many _________ to pay, I was wondering what was going to happen to my family.
I got off the bus when I heard piano music and singing rising above the noise of the _________ . I walked a bit slower, trying to find out where it was coming from. Through the _________ I saw a young lady sitting at a piano with a box next to her.
She was sin
ging songs about love and her sweet voice _________ me a bit. Then I stood there watching her playing, thinking that it must take _________ to perform on her own in front of hundreds of people she didn’t know.
She might have felt my _________ for she occasionally looked in my direction.
By now I was telling myself that I could at least tell her how good she sounded. I walked _________ and put some money in her box and she expressed her thanks with a smile on her face.
I asked her _________ , “Why are you playing the piano in the middle of this crowded place?”
She explained to me that she sees so many _________ people in the world that she is trying to relieve the pain by _________ motivational (激励的) music.
Instead of continuing my way home, I said to her, “I have been going through a _________ time lately, but you’ve made me_________ again.”
“I’m happy that I could be _________ to you,” she replied. “Why are you so sad?”
I told her my story and said, “I’m not so _________ about what to do….”
“You see, here’s the _________ ,” she responded. “When you were walking, your head was down.” She looked me in the eyes and went on, “Don’t look defeated, because _________ comes in different ways and if your head is down you might never see it. You should_________ more … lift your head up.”
I was really _________ by what she said! I did hold my head up and soon got through the difficult time.
So _________ in trouble, just face it bravely and you are sure to overcome your difficulty sooner or later.
1.A. lonely B. relaxed C. frustrated D. breathless
2.A. fare B. bills C. fines D. prices
3.A. listeners B. background C. instrument D. traffic
4.A. trees B. crowd C. buildings D. street
5.A. shocked B. amused C. excited D. comforted
6.A. energy B. courage C. patience D. technique
7.A. presence B. mood C. thought D. appreciation
8.A. aside B. down C. over D. off
9.A. quietly B. eagerly C. seriously D. curiously
10.A. negative B. unhealthy C. positive D. elderly
11.A. sharing B. creating C. enjoying D. teaching
12.A. tense B. wonderful C. crazy D. rough
13.A. enthusiastic B. emotional C. hopeful D. energetic
14.A. helpful B. worthwhile C. useful D. available
15.A. ashamed B. sure C. particular D. anxious
16.A. problem B. situation C. conflict D. condition
17.A. success B. aid C. opportunity D. happiness
18.A. focus B. look C. fight D. smile
19.A. impressed B. moved C. inspired D. satisfied
20.A. however B. whenever C. whoever D. wherever
