Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a water puddle (水坑) ahead on the path. I walk around to the side of the path that wasn’t covered by water and ______. As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did nothing for it was so ______. I stepped back and my attacker stopped attacking me. ____
attacking more, he flied in the air with its graceful ______ in front of me. Had I been hurt, I wouldn’t have found it amusing but I was unhurt, it was ______ and I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!
I took a step forward, and my attacker rushed me again. He pushed and _____
me in the chest with his head and body over and over again with all his might. It’s just not everyday that ______ is attacked by a butterfly, so I stopped to find out the ______. My attacker moved back as well to ______ on the ground. That’s when I discovered why my ______ was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate beside the puddle ______ he landed and she was dying.
Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only ______ the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate, even though she was ______ dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few ______ moments of life. Now I knew why and what he was ______. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by changing my ______ to the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly ______ those moments to be with her, undisturbed. I cleaned the mud from my boots and left.
Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the ______ of that butterfly whenever I see huge ______ facing me. I use that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration to ____
myself that good things are worth striving for.
1.A. mud B. grass C. stone D. earth
2.A. unnecessary B. unpredictable C. unbelievable D. understandable
3.A. Or rather B. Or so C. Instead of D. Other than
4.A. feet B. hands C. feather D. wings
5.A. funny B. surprising C. shocking D. exciting
6.A. grasped B. hit C. took D. seized
7.A. it B. ones C. one D. that
8.A. reason B. purpose C. origin D. direction
9.A. run B. fly C. stand D. land
10.A. fighter B. attacker C. competitor D. pet
11.A. what B. which C. where D. why
12.A. understand B. give C. remember D. admire
13.A. doubtfully B. clearly C. eventually D. actually
14.A. previous B. precise C. precious D. preferable
15.A. fighting for B. looking for C. struggling with D. providing for
16.A. goal B. way C. opinion D. attitude
17.A. enjoyed B. left C. earned D. remembered
18.A. competition B. intelligence C. determination D. courage
19.A. barriers B. equals C. rivers D. deaths
20.A. request B. permit C. remind D. forbid
How to get along with your boss
In your career, you may have to report to a manager, the person you call boss.
1. Here are some tips to help you develop an effective relationship with your boss.
The first step is to develop a positive relationship with your boss. Relationships are based on trust. 2. Keep timetable commitments (承诺). Never blindside (偷袭) your manager with surprises that you could have predicted or prevented. Keep him/her informed about your projects and interactions with the rest of the organization.
Tell the boss when you’ve made an error or one of your reporting staff has made a mistake. 3. Lies or efforts to mislead always result in further stress for you as you worry about getting “caught”. Communicate daily or weekly to build the relationship.
Recognize that success at work is not all about you. 4. Identify your boss’s areas of weakness or greatest challenges and ask what you can do to help. What are your boss’s biggest worries? How can your contribution reduce these concerns? Understand your boss’s goals and priorities. Place emphasis in your work to match her priorities. Think in terms of the overall success of your department and company，not just about your narrow world at work.
5. Does he/she like frequent communication, autonomous employees, requests in writing in advance of a meeting, or informal conversation as you pass in the halfway? Your boss’s preferences are important. The better you understand them, the better you will work with him/her.
If you sometimes disagree and occasionally experience an emotional reaction, don’t hold hatred. Don’t make threats about leaving. Disagreement is fine. You need to come to terms with the fact that your boss has more authority and power than you do.
A. Do what you say you’ll do.
B. Value your boss’s time.
C. Cover-ups (掩饰) don’t contribute to an effective relationship.
D. Identify what he/she values in an employee.
E. Put your boss’s needs at the center of your universe.
F. The relationship with your boss is important for your work success and career progress.
G. Learning how to read your boss’s moods and reactions is also helpful.
“Heaven (天堂) is where the police are English, the cooks are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss. Hell (地狱) is where the police are German, the cooks are English, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians.”
Obviously the national stereotypes (模式化的思想) in this old joke are generalizations (普遍化), but such stereotypes are often said to “exist for a reason”. Is there actually a sliver (裂片) of truth in them? Not likely, an international research team now says.
“National and cultural stereotypes do play an important role in how people see themselves and others, and being aware that these are not dependable is a useful thing,” said study author Robert McCrae of the National Institute on Aging. “These are in fact unfounded stereotypes. They don’t come from looking around you,” McCrae said.
If national stereotypes aren’t rooted in real experiences, then where do they come from? One possibility is that they reflect national values, which may become known from historical events. For example, many historians have argued that the spirit of American individualism (个人主义) has its origins in the experiences of the pioneers on the Old West.
Social scientists such as psychologist Richard Robins have given several other possible explanations for stereotypes and why they may be incorrect. Robins notes that some stereotypes may have been correct at one point in history and then remained unchanged while the culture changed.
We may be “hard-wired”, to some degree, to keep incorrect stereotypes, since we are less likely to notice and remember information that is different from our stereotypes. Generally, according to Robins, when we meet people who are different from our stereotypes, we see them as unique individuals rather than typical national or cultural groups.
1.The stereotype about Italians is ________.
A. romantic but disorganized
B. friendly and good-tempered
C. dreamy and impractical
D. strict but thoughtful
2.National stereotypes are not always correct because ________.
A. they are formed by individual historians
B. what was true in the past may not be true at the present
C. generalizations are made through personal experience
D. people tend to have false idea about other cultures
3.According to the research team led by McCrae, national stereotypes are ________.
A. interestingB. harmfulC. humorousD. unreliable
4.The underlined word “hard-wired” in the last paragraph probably means ________.
A. forgetfulB. anxiousC. fixedD. helpless
“You can you up, no can no bb.” The latest Chinglish buzz phrase, having swept through Chinese cyberspace (网络空间) and society, has now made a landing overseas, entering the US web-based Urban Dictionary.
According to the entry put forward by “gingerdesu”, “You can you up” which means “If you can do it, go ahead and do it”, is a Chinglish catch phrases referring to people who criticize others’ work, especially when the critic is not so much better.
As well as “You can you up”, other Chinglish catch phrases, such as “tuhao” and “no zuo no die”, have also been recorded on the site.
Coined with roots in Chinese grammar, and even containing Pinyin, Chinglish words and phrases are even spreading beyond grass roots (草根) websites.
In 2013, “dama” and “tuhao” found their way into The Wall Street Journal and the BBC, and words such as “feng shui”, “Chengguan” and “people mountain people sea” have been admitted to the Oxford English Dictionary.
“The frequent use of Chinglish by foreign institutions suggests that people are looking more to the lifestyle and popular culture of China,” says Zhang Yiwu, professor of Peking University’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature.
“Words like ‘dama’ and ‘tuhao’ are so vivid. My friends and I use them a lot —it’s so much fun,” said Satoshi Nishida, a Japanese student studying at Beijing Language and Culture University.
“Behind these Chinglish words and phrases is the Chinese culture. They are reflections of the changes and trends in the Chinese society and they help people from other countries to understand what’s happening in China,” according to Xing Hongbing, a professor of Beijing Language and Culture University.
“When the price of gold went down last year, while the super purchasing power of the Chinese bargain-hunting middle-aged women drew worldwide attention, there was no effective way available in other languages to describe them, and ‘dama’ filled the gap very neatly,” says Xing.
1.Why does the author take “dama” for example in the last paragraph?
A. To suggest the culture and trends in the Chinese society.
B. To show the Chinese women’s super purchasing power.
C. To indicate the women drew worldwide attention.
D. To inform us that the price of gold went down last year.
2.How many Chinglish words and phrases are mentioned in the passage?
A. 6 B. 7
C. 8 D. 9
3.Which of the followings is NOT among the reasons why Chinglish become popular?
A. Chinglish is reflections of the changes and trends in the Chinese society.
B. Foreigners are looking more to the lifestyle and popular culture of China.
C. Chinglish is so vivid and much fun such as “dama” and “tuhao”.
D. Chinglish is spreading beyond grassroots websites.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Chinglish swept through Chinglish cyberspace
B. Behind Chinglish is the Chinese culture
C. Chinglish gains popularity overseas
D. Different opinion on Chinglish
Some of the best things in life don’t happen until you grow old enough to recognize them. I can say that about tea.
I didn’t start to drink tea until I was 35. What happened before that? The first time I felt a genuine urge to drink tea was in 2003, when I stayed briefly in the United Kingdom. After a time of consuming local food, I started to really like strong black tea. Although it was too strong to my tongue, I felt it was a necessity because it was comforting to my body.
I took packs of green teas with me as gifts but was disappointed to find my British friends preferred much stronger black teas from Sri Lanka. Later I learned that although people know China for its teas, it ranks only third among the world’s black tea exporters, after Sri Lanka and Kenya.
After I came back to China and started to cover food stories, I met friends in the tea-drinking circle and learned more. Although the majority of the rest of the world drinks black tea, which the Chinese call“red tea”, China produces and drinks mostly green teas.
I feel lucky to be Chinese because of the great variety of teas available in the country. It is estimated that there are more than 2,000 teas in China if you divide them geographically, including more than 600 locally famous brews. A more simple way to categorize (分类) is by color and extent of fermentation (发酵). That comes down to six main categories—green, white, yellow, dark-greenish (oolong), red and black teas.
Tasting teas can be compared to our lives. They can be plain and predictable but sometimes they are full of pleasant surprises. Occasionally they can even seem too good to be true. The best thing is, you know there’s always more to explore.
1.Which country ranks first among the world’s black tea exporters?
A. Sri Lanka B. China
C. Kenya D. United States
2.The writer of this passage works as a ________.
A. manager B. journalist
C. scientist D. tea grower
3.All of the following statements about tea in China are true EXCEPT ________.
A. varieties of tea is planted and produced each year in China
B. all tea in China can be divided into six categories with no exceptions
C. tea in China can be categorized by color and extend of fermentation
D. tea in China can be divided into more than 2000 categories geographically
4.What column does this passage belong to in a newspaper?
A. World B. Business
C. Travel D. Lifestyle
One of my neighbors used to have a beautiful tree in her front yard. Her dad had planted it for her when it was nothing more than a twig and several years later it started to shoot towards the sky with amazing speed. Soon it blessed her with cooling shade in the summer and glorious, golden leaves in the fall.
When the two-day snowstorm struck our town, heavy snow fell on the tree’s branches that were still full of leaves. The weight split that lovely tree down the middle. It was so sad seeing half of it laying on the ground after the storm. When I talked to my neighbor later, she said that the damage had been too much and that the entire tree would have to be cut down. Thankfully she had saved a few saplings(树苗) from it that she hoped to replant in the future.
Still, it was a shock to drive by her house the other day and see nothing but a stump in her front yard. I missed that tree. I missed its beauty, its leaves shinning in the afternoon sun. I missed seeing its limbs reach towards the heavens. I thought that the stump would be a sad reminder of its loss for a long time to come. My wonderful neighbor, though, had another plan. When I drove by her home today I saw a tiny bird feeder sitting on that stump and a colorful songbird having its dinner. It was such an affirmation of life. It was such a joy to see. I could feel my heart smile.
Life by its very nature is a mixed bag. It hands us both beauty and tragedy, love and loss, pleasure and pain. What we do with it, however, is up to us. We can let it split us in two, or we can use even its hardest times to make our souls stronger and our hearts more loving. We can spend it complaining or we can use it to help others.
1.We know from the first paragraph that _____．
A. the tree grew very slowly.
B. the tree showed its beauty and benefits.
C. the author’s neighbor was good at planting trees.
D. the tree was so strong that it could bear any weight.
2.The author’s neighbor left a stump in her front yard to use it as_____.
A. a good reminder.
B. a seat after dinner.
C. a place to feed birds.
D. a beautiful sculpture.
3.What does the author mainly want to show in the passage?
A. Life has beauty and tragedy.
B. Life consists of pain and suffering.
C. Life should be pleasant rather than painful.
D. Life is determined by our attitude towards it.
