You may have heard of the American Dream, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.
It began as a belief that the US was a land of opportunity, and that anyone could achieve success through hard work. The dream has referred to home ownership, a good job, retirement security or each generation doing better than the last for a long time.
Yet today, this concept seems to have greatly changed. As Tune magazine pointed out, quite different from the older generation, many Millennials (the generation born after 1980) redefine the American Dream as “day-to-day control of your life”. They “prize job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.
Home ownership, once the cornerstone of the American Dream, is becoming a smaller priority for this generation. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of them choose travel as part of their dream. And running their own business is a rising favorite, as nearly 26% of Millennials consider self-employment as part of their dream.
So what has led to this huge change?
Many point fingers at the poor economy. “Modern young Americans seem bound to face a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity,” noted The Daily Beast.
“The rate of 16-to-24-year-olds out of school and out of work is unusually high at 15%. Many college graduates have taken jobs that don’t require a degree,” Time reported.
The magazine worries that these difficulties may lead to a lost generation who are “unable to ever truly find their feet on the corporation’s ladder”.
Dan Kadlec, a reporter of Time, sees Millennials as resetting their expectations. “This situation is different for young adults today,” he wrote. “A true American dream has to feel attainable, and many Millennials are feeling they can only attain a day-to-day lifestyle that suits them.”
1.Which has similar meaning to the underlined word “cornerstone”？
A. value B. average
C. reason D. basis
2.What has changed Millennials’ views of the American Dream?
A. The discouraging economy and unemployment.
B. The fierce competition in getting a degree.
C. Their dissatisfaction with the government.
D. Their lack of confidence in themselves.
3.What does Dan Kadlec’s think of Millennials’ definition of the American Dream?
A. considerate B. understandable
C. curious D. negative
4.What can be the best title for this passage?
A. Meaning of American Dream B. Redefinition of American Dream
C. Value of Achieving American Dream D. The Reasons of American Dream
Whenever we turn on the TV or radio, read the newspapers, or surf the Internet, we’ll be surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere. We have so easily been attracted by the promise of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.
It’s obvious that diet products weaken us psychologically. They allow us to jump over the thinking stage that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fat. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.
What’s more, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
As a matter of fact, the danger that diet products bring not only lies in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm they cause. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calories only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. And they can indirectly harm our bodies because taking them instead of healthy foods means we are stopping our bodies having basic nutrients. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemicals that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Think twice before buying diet products. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, therefore, prevent the psychological and physical harm that comes from using them.
1.What does “gain comes without pain” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Losing weight is effortless. B. It costs a lot to lose weight
C. Diet products are free of fat. D. Diet products cause no pain.
2.What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. Diet products are cheap and healthy.
B. People enjoy paying for diet products.
C. Diet products are misleading people.
D. People are surrounded by “diet”.
3.Which is true about “psychological effect of diet products”？
A. People would hesitate before they enjoy diet foods.
B. People would pay more attention to their daily diet.
C. People would care about results instead of efforts.
D. People would try out varieties of diet products.
4.Why would diet products indirectly harm people physically?
A. Because they are over-consumed.
B. Because they lack chemicals.
C. Because they provide too much fat.
D. Because they lack basic nutrients.
We often just use our sense of sight, touch, smell, and taste to eat food. But what about our sense of hearing? Does sound also affect our dining experience?
A new report answers, “yes, it does.”
That answer comes from researchers at Brigham Young University and Colorado State University in the United States. They found that hearing is important in the eating experience.
Hearing is often called “the forgotten food sense”, says Ryan Elder. Elder is an assistant professor of marketing at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management. He says that if people notice the sound the food makes as they eat it, they might eat less. On the other hand, watching loud television or listening to loud music while eating can hide such noises. And this could lead to overeating.
For the study, the researchers wanted to test whether the sounds of eating—chewing, chomping and crunching—had any effect on how much a person ate. During the experiments, the test subjects wore headphones and listened to noise at either a high or low audio level. Then researchers gave them a crunchy snack: pretzels. The study found that subjects who listened to the higher volume noise ate more pretzels than those with the low audio levels.
Elder says that when hiding I heard sounds of eating, like when you watch television or listen to loud music while eating, we take away the sense of hearing. And this may cause you to eat more than you would normally. The researchers are calling this, the “crunch effect”.
The researchers admit that the effects may not seem like much at one meal. But over a week, a month or a year, all that food can really add up.
1.Which sense is often ignored in the eating experience?
A. Sight. B. Smell.
C. Hearing. D. Touch.
2.Who would find this article helpful?
A. People who enjoys cooking food.
B. People who cares about losing weight.
C. People who like watching TV.
D. People who want to eat healthy food.
3.Why the researchers use “pretzels”?
A. They can make loud noise. B. They are delicious.
C. They are more available D. They are good for health.
4.Which can be the best title for the passage?
A. Be Mindful of Whatever You Eat
B. Be Sensitive to Your Eating habits
C. Want to Lose Weight? Listen to yourself Eat
D. Better Hear Than Eat
During the cold winter days, there are some interesting festivals in the world. Look at the following ones.
Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
Place: China
Time: January 5 to February 5
People build incredible things out of ice and snow, decorating them with lights.
The Carnival of Venice
Place: Italy
Time: between February and March
One of the most beautiful festivals in the world, people wear masks and elaborate costumes to hide differences among classes, and there are contests for the best costumes.
Holi Festival
Place: India
Time: late February/ March, on the last full moon day
Hindus and Sikhs, in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka celebrate the main day of this incredibly fun 16-day festival by throwing colored powder and water at each other.
Sundance Film Festival
Place: Utah, the US
Time: end of February
The largest independent film festival in the US. Watch both feature films and shorts. You need to buy a ticket.
1.Which country will you go if you life watching movies?
A. America B. China
C. India D. Italy
2.Which festival may you go If you want to see sculptures made of ice?
A. Sundance Film Festival. B. The Carnival of Venice.
C. Holi Festival. D. Harbin Ice and Snow Festival.
3.When can you enjoy Holi Festival?
A. In early January B. In late February
C. In early March D. In late January
假定你是李华，已申请就读美国南加州大学（University of Southern California)。在申请过程中，得到前美国外教Mr. King的帮助。请你给Mr. King写信，包含以下要点：
1.已被大学录取；
2.感谢他的帮助；
3.期待在美同相见。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
If asked whether there is anyone I want to apologize to, I will say Pete. He is my best friend at school and he has been my roommates for two years. He is very generous. Whenever his parents come to see him for snacks and fruits, he will share it with others. However, I made a unforgivable mistake the other day when I thought he had used with my lunch box without my permission. I shout at him, and I was very rudely. But it turned out that it was another student took my lunch box mistakenly. I’m really shame of my rudeness and hope Pete will accept my apologize.
