“I don, t feel right about this,” I said to one of my cousins in a low voice. She nodded in ______. Not wanting to be the first to touch the food, I waited for one of the older adults to start.
Thanksgiving usually meant ______ and full stomachs. However, this year was ______. My family sat around the dinner table ______ at our feast. Everyone had a full plate, everyone except Grandma. The treatment for throat cancer would ______ one of her great pleasures, eating. This was the first of many food-focused ______ to come. I could not imagine what it would be like to never taste ______ food again. My cousin Molly broke the ______ with a raise of her glass, “To Nat.” We all followed her lead. “Your ______ and strength encourage us all,” she continued. Grandma smiled, holding back her tears with great ______. “Thank you. Please, please eat.” And with that, we all began to eat. Conversation broke ______ around the room while Grandma laughed and talked with us all. Cancer would take away her ability to eat, but not the gift of being the best hostess. The evening went on as normal ______ do. By the time the night was over, I felt ______ to my family than ever before. I learned that we gather together on holidays not to eat a rich feast, but to ______ and share with one another. We ______ my Grandmother’s courage, but we all learned a lesson in grace. In the years following, my Grandma ______ to create meals for family events. She told me once with a laugh, “I may not be able to eat, but I can ______ taste things.” With a ______ heart, Grandma prepared what she could not have for the only purpose of making us ______. She inspired me to learn to cook and helped me find the ______ to make everything come together: love.
1.A. excitement B. surprise C. satisfaction D. agreement
2.A. disappointment B. thoughts C. laughter D. sorrow
3.A. different B. popular C. same D. similar
4.A. glaring B. nodding C. joking D. staring
5.A. take away B. take in C. take up D. take down
6.A. plans B. dinners C. holidays D. action
7.A. delicious B. expensive C. cheap D. terrible
8.A. record B. rule C. dark D. silence
9.A. wish B. concern C. courage D. confidence
10.A. efforts B. effects C. relief D. patience
11.A. into B. up C. down D. cut
12.A. New Year’s Days B. Christmases C. Thanksgivings D. April Fool’s Days
13.A. farther B. closer C. happier D. stranger
14.A. apologize B. promise C. forgive D. support
15.A. remembered B. mentioned C. followed D. celebrated
16.A. decided B. continued C. hated D. started
17.A. still B. ever C. just D. even
18.A. selfless B. selfish C. anxious D. pitiful
19.A. sad B. happy C. surprised D. lovely
20.A. sign B. skill C. attitude D. secret
iPads vs Textbooks
What if you could have your whole backpack at the touch of your fingertips? In the first month of the Apple iPads release, 25million were sold! People all over the world use iPads for all sorts of different things, but one of their finest qualities is the ability to be a textbook. 1.
To begin with, iPads are less expensive. Textbooks become outdated and schools have to buy new books, but with an iPad schools can update them for free. 2. Schools don’t have to spend $500 every year for iPads because they last a while and can be updated.
3. Students usually have multiple classes, which results in multiple textbooks. Heavy backpacks filled with books can cause back problem. A solution to that is an iPad, which only weighs 1.33 pounds and can hold all of a student’s textbooks.
Third, schools should get rid of their textbooks and get iPads because they have more capabilities. Some might think all of the apps are distracting, but the apps actually make iPads more efficient. 4. Textbooks cannot do those tasks, but iPads can easily do them with just a tap of the fingertip.
Lastly, iPads are a better choice for schools instead of textbooks because these devices allow students to access their learning anywhere at any time. 5. With iPads, they find it easier to get their homework done.
In conclusion, schools should get rid of their clumsy textbooks and switch to iPads. iPads have allowed this generation to have their entire backpack in the palm of their hands.
A. Second, iPads cost less and are more popular.
B. These tablets are perfect for busy students.
C. Therefore, they can use the saved money for other programs.
D. Moreover, in high school, textbooks have an average of 4.8 pounds each.
E. iPads have already replaced textbooks in over 600 American counties.
F. Schools have every reason to do away with their school books and switch to iPads.
G. iPads absorb the need to buy calculators, dictionaries, and other items that are found within the device.
You may have heard some of the fashion industry horror stories: models eating tissues or cotton balls to hold off hunger, and models collapsing (昏倒) from hunger-induced (因饥饿所致的) heart attacks just seconds after they step off the runway (T台).
Excessively skinny models have been a point of controversy (争论) for decades, and two researchers say a model’s body mass (体重) should be a workspace health and safety issue. In an editorial released Monday in the American Journal of Public Health, Katherine Record and Bryn Austin made their case for government regulation of the fashion industry.
The average international runway model has a body mass index (BMI) under 16-low enough to indicate starvation by the World Health Organization’s standard. And Record and Austin are worried not just about the models themselves, but about the vast number of girls and women their images influence.
“Especially girls and teens,” says Record. “Seventy percent of girls aged 10 to 18 report that they define perfect body image based on what they see in magazines.” That’s especially worrying, she says, given that anorexia(厌食症) results in more deaths than does any other mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
It’s commonly known that certain diseases are linked with occupations like lung disease in coal miners. Professional fashion models are particularly vulnerable (脆弱的) to eating disorders (失调) resulting from occupational demands to maintain extreme thinness.
Record’s suggestion is to prohibit agents from hiring models with a BMI below 18.
In April, France passed a law setting lower limits for a model’s weight. Agents and fashion houses who hire models with BMI under 18 could pay $ 82, 000 in fines and spend up to 6 months in jail. Regulating the fashion industry in the United States won’t be easy, Record says. But with the new rules in France, U.S. support could make a difference. “A designer can’t survive without participating in Paris Fashion Week”, she says, adding, “Our argument is that the same would be true of New York Fashion Week.”
1.What do Record and Austin say about fashion models’ body mass?
A. It has caused needless controversy.
B. It affects models’ health and safety.
C. It is but a matter of personal taste.
D. It is focus of the modeling business.
2.What are Record and Austin advocating in the Monday editorial?
A. Prohibition of models eating non-food stuff.
B. A change in the public’s view of female beauty.
C. Elimination (淘汰) of forced weight loss by models.
D. Government legislation (立法) about models’ weight.
3.Why are Record and Austin worried about the low body mass index of models?
A. It contributes to many mental illnesses.
B. It defines the future of the fashion industry.
C. It has great influence on numerous girls and women.
D. It keeps many otherwise qualified women off the runaway.
4.What do we learn about France’s fashion industry?
A. It has difficulty hiring models.
B. It has now a new law to follow.
C. It allows girls under 18 on the runway.
D. It has overtaken that of the United States.
Are billionaires good with exams as well as their money? Or are they more likely to have escaped school at the first opportunity and worked their way up to make their fortunes?
A study of the educational background of some of the world’s wealthiest people shows that they are much more likely to have gone to university, and they are more likely to have a postgraduate degree(硕士或博士研究生学位) than no degree at all.
It doesn’t give much support for the image of self-taught entrepreneurs (企业家), who rely on their own wisdom rather than higher education.
The study, by insurance company GoCompare, examined the educational background of people appearing in the top 1 00 billionaire lists by Forbes magazine over the past 20 years.
It shows that 76 percent of these billionaires have a degree. Forty-seven percent of them have a bachelor’s (学士) degree, 23 percent a master’s (文/理科硕士) degree and 6 percent a doctorate(博士学位). The most popular subjects were the ones related to economics and engineering. There were many more studying sciences than arts.
The school attended by the global super rich are also much more likely to be world-class universities, rather than local ones. Harvard University is the single most likely name to be found on the resume(履历) of a billionaire, though one of the most famous names on the rich list, Bill Gates, dropped out of Harvard before finishing.
Stanford University in California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have become the launchpads for a rising number of tech billionaires. Google’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were both postgraduates at Stanford. Borthers Charles and David Koch, who are among the world’s biggest oil tycoons, both got their bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MIT.
Among U.K. universities, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Cambridge have the most multi-billionaires on the Forbes list, while Oxford has produced Rupert Murdoch.
1.The study has found all of the following EXCEPT .
A. most billionaires are not self-taught geniuses
B. billionaires are much more likely to have received higher education
C. nearly half of those on Forbes’ top 100 billionaire lists have a bachelor’s degree
D. there are more billionaires without degree at all than those with a master’s degree
2.Of the following subjects, what is the most likely to have been a college major of a billionaire?
A. Computer science. B. Art history.
C. English literature. D. Law.
3.What does the underlined word “launchpads” in Paragraph 7 mean?
A. Favorite places of famous people.
B. Effective starting points for a career.
C. Places on the Internet that help you find information.
D. Places where rockets and other spacecraft are sent into space.
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?
A. The study was carried out by Forbes magazine.
B. A high percentage of the world’s richest people have a doctorate.
C. Rupert Murdoch went to the London School of Economics and Political Science.
D. Harvard University has produced more billionaires on the Forbes list than any other university.
It has been around for centuries, but up until very recently, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) wasn’t fully accepted abroad. Proof of this can be found in The Treatment (《刮痧》), a 2001 film that tells the story of a Chinese man in the US who’s accused of abuse after he uses guasha, a form of TCM treatment, to cure his grandson’s disease.
During the last 10 years or so, however, TCM has been getting increasingly popular all over the world. A report released by the State Council Information Office on Dec. 6 says this style of health care, which includes different forms like herbal medicine and exercise, has spread to 183 countries and regions.
“We have set up 10 TCM centers outside China, and all of them are popular among locals,” Wang Guoqiang, head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said at a news conference on Dec 6. “Governments of 86 countries and regions have signed agreements with the Chinese government on TCM corporation.”
One of the reasons behind the growing popularity of TCM is the increase of scientific research into it. And after Tu Youyou-the Chinese scientist who discovered the anti-malaria (抗疟疾) drug qinghaosu (青蒿素)-won the Nobel Prize last year, TCM became even more famous internationally.
However, all these achievements in TCM don’t mean that it’s problem-free. Over the years, TCM has faced challenges in being able to prove that it has certain effects.
Some researchers have suggested TCM should be more exact and work together with Western medicine.
“Bringing together with Western medicine and TCM, rather than being in competition, is where the potential for great effects is,” said Bernhard Schwartlander, the China representative of the World Health Organization.
1.The film The Treatment is mentioned in the first paragraph is to .
A. introduce the film to readers
B. show TCM is increasingly popular
C. arouse readers’ interest in Western medicine
D. prove that TCM is not fully accepted in western countries
2.We can learn from the passage that .
A. TCM is not exact in curing diseases
B. 10 TCM centers abroad are all set up by locals
C. 86 countries have cooperated with China on TCM
D. Tu Youyou’s success contributes to the popularity of TCM
3.According to Bernhard Schwartlander, TCM should .
A. combine western medicine
B. face no challenge at all
C. give an exact description of its effects
D. complete with western medicine
4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. A report on TCM B. Opinions about TCM
C. TCM & Western Medicine D. Traditional healing spreads
The Spotlight(公众注意的中心) in Rio
Phelps puts spotlight on cupping(拔火罐)
Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps fed American swimmers to 8 gold medals in the 4 × 100-meter relay, but what grabbed media attention and led to stories and photos around the globe were the purple and red circles on his back.
Michael Phelps of the USA is seen with red cupping marks on his shoulder as he competes during the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s 200m butterfly in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Aug 8, 2016.
Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui goes viral
China’s women’s swimmer Fu Yuanhui has created a hit online not just by winning the bronze medal in the 100m backstroke competition, but also by her facial expressions during the post semi-final interview with China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday.
When asked whether she held back for the final, Fu replied “No, I used my ‘prehistorical power (洪荒之力)’” What she meant was that she had spared no efforts in the semi-final. Since then, the so-called “prehistorical power” has gone viral and become a new Internet meme.
Britain wins first Olympic diving gold in men’s synchronized 3m springboard(男子双人3米跳板)
Britain’s Jack Laugher and Chris Mears ended China’s gold medal monopoly (垄断) over diving events at the Rio Olympics by winning the men’s synchronized 3m springboard final on Wednesday, the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in diving.
Laugher and Mears finished with a six-round total of 454.32 points, just 4.11 points ahead of silver medalists Mike Hixon and Sam Dorman of the USA at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center. China’s Cao Yuan and Qin Kai took the bronze with 443.70 points.
1.What attracted media attention with Phelps’ winning the gold medal?
A. His scars on his back.
B. His great leadership.
C. The cupping marks on his back.
D. His achievements made in the men’s 200m butterfly.
2.Which of the following is NOT the reason why Fu Yuanhui became the spotlight?
A. Her devotion and determination to swimming.
B. Her achievement in the 100m backstroke competition.
C. Her facial expression during the post semi-final interview.
D. Her humourous reply to the reporter—the so-called “prehistorical power”.
3.What can we learn from the third news?
A. China didn’t win any medals in diving events at the Rio Olympics.
B. Mike Hixon and Sam Dorman of the USA took silver with 447.81 points.
C. Britain had never won the Olympic diving gold medal before the Rio Olympics.
D. Britain became the gold medal monopolist (垄断者) of diving events at the Rio Olympics.
