Some people are afraid of starting a casual conversation with a stranger because of a fear of not having anything interesting to say. Fear of rejection is also a ______ for keeping silent. Small talk in a conversation can ______ as a way of warming up and getting to ______ each other. Most people, no matter ______ successful they are at work, will find the process of ______ small talk uncomfortable, even pointless.______, you will have a pretty small world ______ you refuse to let others in. Starting off with a casual comment or question will make others ______, and even just greeting them with a simple “hello” will often be enough.
Once you have made the first ______, there is no turning back. You need to keep things ______ before you can gracefully say goodbye. Think about what you would like to ______ with a new friend and that is what you can ask the other person about. Work, family, hobbies or interests are some ______ points of discussion. To keep the ball rolling, you can show that you are really ______ in what they are saying. Once you find common ______ of interest, things will definitely ______ off from there.
Small talk can ______ out to be a pleasant experience. The conversation ______ be brief and casual without turning into a long and boring discussion. Do not let yourself ______ the conversation where other people have no chance to talk. Stop worrying about how big of a fool you may appear to be. You may ______ find out later on that you have the “______” of getting people to open up to you by engaging them in small talk.
1.A. right B. reason C. result D. sign
2.A. take B. use C. mean D. serve
3.A. know B. learn C. recognize D. help
4.A. what B. whether C. why D. how
5.A. giving B. leaving C. making D. forcing
6.A. So B. Instead C. However D. Besides
7.A. unless B. until C. if D. Though
8.A. comfortable B. upset C. nervous D. satisfied
9.A. dream B. plan C. wish D. move
10.A. changing B. rising C. improving D. going
11.A. know B. share C. do D. show
12.A. private B. present C. important D. general
13.A. careful B. surprised C. interested D. encouraged
14.A. ideas B. experiences C. points D. actions
15.A. take B. put C. get D. set
16.A. come B. turn C. find D. figure
17.A. should B. can C. will D. may
18.A. start B. complete C. consider D. control
19.A. still B. even C. ever D. almost
20.A. right B. belief C. talent D. habit
How Teens Can Stay Fit
Any type of regular, physical activity can improve your fitness and your health. Doing physical exercise is easy, but the difficult thing is that you keep moving!1., like brushing your teeth, eating, and sleeping. It can be in gym class, joining a sports team, or working out on your own. Keep the following tips in mind:
2.. A good mental attitude is important. Find an activity that you think is fun. You are more likely to keep with it if you choose something you like. A lot of people find it’s more fun to exercise with someone else, so see if you can find a friend or family member to be active with you.
Take it one step at a time.3.. For example, walk or ride your bike to school or to a friend’s house instead of getting a ride. Get on or off the bus several blocks away and walk the rest of the way. Use the stairs instead of taking the elevator or escalator.
Get your heart pumping(跳动). Whatever you choose, make sure it includes aerobic(有氧的) activity that makes you breathe harder and increases your heart rate. This is the best type of exercise because it increases your fitness level and makes your heart and lungs work better.4.. Examples of aerobic activities are basketball, running, or swimming.
Don’t forget to warm up with some easy exercises or stretching(拉伸) before you do any physical activity.5.. Stretching makes your muscles and joints more flexible too. It is also important to stretch out after you exercise to cool down your muscles.
A. It also burns off body fat
B. Stay positive and have fun
C. Physical exercise can help prevent diseases
D. Small changes can add up to better fitness
E. Exercise should be a regular part of your day
F. This warms your muscles up and may help protect against injury
G. Do the activity as often as possible, but don’t exercise to the point of pain.
Elephants don’t forget-at least, female(雌性的) elephants don’t. Elephant families are matriarchal. And the social knowledge gained by the oldest females is the key to a family group's survival (生存), according to a study published in April by Karen McComb, a biologist at Sussex University in England.
Elephants announce their presence by making a deep, long sound, a practice referred to as contact calling(联络呼叫). An unfamiliar call may mean that an elephant from outside the family group is nearby. A stranger can cause trouble. Interrupting feeding or disturbing the young. So an elephant matriarch signals the family to gather around her; then they all lift their trunks in the air to smell the unfamiliar caller. False alarms can disturb the group and take time and energy away from feeding, so survival may depend in part on getting it right.
Working with Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya 30 years ago, McComb tested the social knowledge of 21 Amboseli elephant families with matriarchs 27 to 67 years old. She played recordings of contact calls to each family and found that the oldest matriarchs were much better at picking out unfamiliar calls. In fact, a group with a matriarch in her fifties was several thousand times more likely to form into a group upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call than when hearing a familiar call. However, families with younger matriarchs were less than twice as likely to gather together upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call as compared with a familiar call. And they gathered together a lot. Moreover, the social knowledge of older matriarchs translated into favorable results: Families with older matriarchs produced more baby elephants in each female-reproductive year.
This finding shows how difficult it is to protect the oldest members of elephant families. As elephants age, they continue to grow larger, as do their much wanted tusks(象牙). So the older-and wiser-a matriarch is, the greater the chance she will be killed. About 800,000 elephants have been killed by people in the past 20 years.
1.What does the underlined word in Para 2 "matriarch" mean?
A. An old member of an elephant family
B. A female head of an elephant family
C. A wise elephant
D. A large elephant
2.The research with recordings of contact calls shows .
A. How fast elephants form into groups
B. How important the age of a leading elephant is
C. How frightened elephants are when hearing a strange call
D. How frequently old elephants call other members of the family
3.When do elephants form into a group?
A. When they are feeding the young．
B. When they see a familiar elephant．
C. When they are giving birth to baby elephants．
D. When the leading elephant gives out a warning．
4.The older a female elephant is, _____.
A. the stronger she will be
B. the poorer memory she will have
C. the more useless her tusks will be
D. the more likely she will be killed
Few laws are so effective that you can see results just days after they take effect. But in the nine days since the federal cigarette tax more than doubled-to $1.01 per pack-smokers have jammed telephone "quit lines" across the country seeking to kick the habit.
This is not a surprise to public health advocates. They've studied the effect of state tax increases for years, finding that smokers, especially teens, are price sensitive. Nor is it a shock to the industry, which fiercely fights every tax increase.
The only wonder is that so many states insist on closing their ears to the message. Tobacco taxes improve public health, they raise money and most particularly, they deter people from taking up the habit as teens, which is when nearly all smokers are addicted. Yet the rate of taxation varies widely.
In Manhattan, for instance, which has the highest tax in the nation, a pack of Marlboro Light Kings cost $10.06 at one drugstore Wednesday. In Charleston, S.C., where the 7-cent-a-pack tax is the lowest in the nation, the price was $4.78.
The influence is obvious.
In New York, high school smoking hit a new low in the latest surveys-13.8%, far below the national average. By comparison, 26% of high school students smoke in Kentucky. Other low-tax states have similarly depressing teen-smoking records.
Hal Rogers, Representative from Kentucky, like those who are against high tobacco taxes, argues that the burden of the tax falls on low-income Americans "who choose to smoke".
That's true. But there is more reason in keeping future generations of low-income workers from getting hooked in the first place. As for today's adults, if the new tax drives them to quit, they will have more to spend on their families, cut their risk of cancer and heart disease and feel better.
1.The text is mainly about .
A. the price of cigarettes
B. the rate of teen smoking
C. the effect of tobacco tax increase
D. the differences in tobacco tax rate
2.What does the author think is a surprise?
A. Teen smokers are price sensitive
B. Some states still keep the tobacco tax low
C. Tobacco taxes improve public health
D. Tobacco industry fiercely fights the tax rise
3.Rogers' attitude towards the low-income smokers might be that of .
A. tolerance B. unconcern
C. doubt D. sympathy
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. The new tax will be beneficial in the long run
B. Low-income Americans are more likely to fall ill
C. Future generations will be hooked on smoking
D. Adults will depend more on their families
Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.
They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady's work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen-a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.
The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof-the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.
There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.
"We have to got and help her," whispered Amy.
"What if it is a trick?" replied Ben.
"Don't be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already," reasoned Meg. "Come on Amy, let's go." The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.
Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady's face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. "Go and get Dad," Amy yelled to her brother. "Tell him about the accident."
The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.
1.Why were the children hiding in the tree?
A. They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely
B. They were playing a hide-and-seek game
C. They wanted to find out if the story about Mrs. Tailor was true
D. They were pretending to be spies
2.Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when .
A. her front steps were clean
B. she noticed the children in the tree
C. she was ready to take a flight
D. she heard the hen cackling
3.Ben did not rush to help Mrs. Tailor because .
A. he thought that she could be tricking them
B. he knew that they could not have been in the tree
C. he did not see the old lady fall down
D. he was afraid of the three-legged cat
4.Which of these old sayings best suits the story's lesson for us?
A. Make hay while the sun shines
B. Never judge a book by its cover
C. People in glasshouses should not throw stones
D. A bird in the hands worth two in the bush
What’s On?
Trouble in Mind
Alice Childress won an Off-Broadway award in 1956 for this story of a black actress rehearsing a play with a white director who increasingly finds it impossible for the show to go on. Tanya Moodie and Joseph Marcell star in the play directed by Laurence Boswell.
8.30p.m.-- 10.30p.m, Theatre Royal. Box office: 01225 448844.
Lazarus
Inspired by the sci-fi (science fiction) novel and movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth, this musical deals with a hero, Thomas Newton. Likely to be the autumn’s hottest ticket, the score includes new songs composed by Bowie.
7.00p.m.--9.00p.m., King’s Cross theatre. Box office: 0844 871 7604.
The Gaul
On the night of 8 February 1974, a fisherman FV Gaul disappeared off the coast of Norway. For people on board, waiting for news was great suffering. Theories began to come up, including the possibility that the boat had fallen victim to cold war. Even when he was discovered, many still felt there were questions that remained unanswered. Mark Babych directs Janet Plater’s play.
8.00p.m.--11.00 p.m., Royal Shakespeare theatre. Box office: 01482 323638.
The Suppliant Women
It is a new version of Aeschylus’s 2,500-year-old play about a group of women seeking shelter who make the long journey to escape forced marriage. It was written by David Greig and directed by Ramin Gray. An ancient piece asks a contemporary question: when we are in trouble, who will open their doors and give us a harbor?
8.30p.m.-- 10.00p.m, Hampstead theatre. Box office: 0131 248 4848.
1.In which theatre can the audience enjoy Joseph Marcell’s performance?
A. Hampstead theatre B. Royal Shakespeare theatre
C. King’s Cross theatre D. Theatre Royal
2.Which one will probably sell best?
A. Trouble in Mind B. Lazarus
C. The Gaul D. The Suppliant Women
3.Who directed the play about the story in Norway?
A. Bowie B. Ramin Gray
C. Mark Babych D. Laurence Boswell
