Crossroads International
How does crossroads work?
Crosswords is a resource network. We take goods Hong Kong doesn’t want and give them to people who badly need them. We collect those goods and give them out in the welfare agencies in Hong Kong, Mainland China, elsewhere in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. 1.
Who do we help?
2. They are grass-root groups who have seen a need and tried to meet it. They can’t get the job done without backup, though, so our task is to help them do their task. Our warehouse (仓库) is full of goods, from computers to high chairs, clothing to books, cupboards to dining sets. They send us a list of their needs and we try to match it with the resource we have in stock.
3.
Crossroads itself also operates on a low budget. We do not buy the goods we send. They are donated. Similarly, rather than raising funds for freight (货运), we ask transport companies to donate their services.4. Even our full-time staff work on a voluntary basis.
What can you do?
5. While we receive large quantities of goods and there is never a short supply of requests for them, we are always in need of hands to help sort and prepare them for shipping. If you are volunteering regularly, we can offer work in some of the categories, some of the time.
A. What do we need?
B. How do we operate?
C. So Crossroads is just that: a Crossroads between need and resource.
D. Nobody in our organization receives a salary.
E. One resource that we are always in need of is people.
F. welfare agencies we help do not run on large budgets.
G. All volunteer work is done at our warehouse.
In the movie Alice in Wonderland, Alice comes across a Cheshire cat and asks the cat which road she should take. The cat responds, “Well, that depends on where you’re trying to get to.” Alice replies, “I don’t know.” The cat responds, “Then any road will do.”
You see, knowing where you’re going increases your chances dramatically of getting there, and there is no better way of “GETTING THERE” than setting your goals for the upcoming year. Think of your goals as destinations and the action steps as your GPS guiding and directing you. If you are like many other people, for years you have resisted the need to set goals and even laughed at the thought that setting goals and, even more importantly, committing them to writing have positive effects on your life. However, a closer look might convince you that setting goals is a sensible thing to do.
In 1979, a class of Harvard MBA students was asked: Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made an action plan to accomplish them? The following will astonish you. Only 3 percent of the class had written goals and a plan in place, 13% just had goals, and an amazing 84% had no specific goals at all.
Ten years later the numbers of the class were interviewed once again and the following results will no doubt give the reason for our setting goals. The findings were that the 13% who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84% who had no goals at all. And the 3 percent who had clear, written goals with a plan to achieve them were achieving ten times as much as the entire 97% combined.
Goal setting will increase your chances of arriving successfully at your destination. Remember, always set SMART goals. Goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound!
1.Why does the author mention Alice in Wonderland?
A. To introduce the topic.
B. To recommend it to readers.
C. To show its popularity.
D. To criticize those with no goals.
2.What does the underlined word “them” refer to?
A. Action steps.
B. People.
C. Goals.
D. Effects.
3.What did the second interview find out?
A. Action helped with the realization of goals.
B. People with goals were certain to succeed.
C. The income gap among students was bigger.
D. People with goals earned the most.
4.Which of the following can best serve as the title?
A. Why we set goals
B. How to set goals
C. How to be successful
D. What SMART goals are
One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange problem—inability to read.
In the library, I found my way into the “Children’s Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.
There on the book’s cover was a beagle which looked identical (相同的) to my dog. I ran my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. Unknowingly, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.
Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. The dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together.
My mother’s call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.
I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般的) experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words was held.
1.The author’s mother told him to borrow a book in order to .
A. encourage him to do more walking
B. let him spend a meaningful summer
C. help cure him of his reading problems
D. make him learn more about weapons
2.The book caught the author’s eye because .
A. it contained pretty pictures of animals
B. it reminded him of his own dog
C. he found its title easy to understand
D. he liked children’s stories very much
3.Why could the author manage to read the book through?
A. He was forced by his mother to read it.
B. The happy ending of the story attracted him.
C. The book told the story of his pet dog.
D. He identified with the story in the book.
4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. The author has become a successful writer.
B. The author’s mother read the same book.
C. The author’s mother rewarded him with books.
D. The author has had happy summers ever since.
People aren’t walking any more-if they can figure out a way to avoid it.
I felt superior about this matter until the other day I took my car to mail a small parcel. The journey is a matter of 281 steps. But I used the car. And I wasn’t in any hurry, either. I had merely become one more victim of a national sickness: motorosis.
It is an illness to which T had thought myself immune(免疫的), for I was bred in the tradition of going to places on my own two legs. At that time, we regarded 25 miles as a good day’s walk and the ability to cover such a distance in ten hours as a sign of strength and skill. It did not occur to us that walking was a hardship. And the effect was lasting. When I was 45 years old I raced—and beat-a teenage football player the 168 steps up the Statue of Liberty.
Such enterprises today are regarded by many middle-aged persons as bad for the heart. But a well-known British physician, Sir Adolphe Abrahams, pointed out recently that hearts and bodies need proper exercise. A person who avoids exercise is more likely to have illness than one who exercises regularly. And walking is an ideal form of exercise-the most familiar and natural of all.
It was Henry Thoreau who showed mankind the richness of going on foot. The man walking can learn the trees, flowers, insects, birds and animals, the significance of seasons, the very feel of himself as a living creature in a living world. He cannot learn in a car.
The car is convenient means of transport, but we have made it our way of life. Many people don’t dare to approach Nature any more; to them the world they were born to enjoy is all threat. To them security is a steel river thundering on a concrete (混凝土) road. And much of their thinking takes place while waiting for the traffic to turn green.
I say that the green of forests is the mind’s best light. And none but the man on foot can evaluate what is basic and everlasting.
1.What is the national sickness?
A. Walking too much.
B. Traveling too much.
C. Driving cars too much.
D. Climbing stairs too much.
2.What was life like when the author was young?
A. People usually went around on foot.
B. People often walked 25 miles a day.
C. People used to climb the Statue of Liberty.
D. People considered a ten-hour walk as a hardship.
3.The author mentions Henry Thoreau to prove that .
A. middle-aged people like getting back to nature
B. walking in nature helps enrich one’s mind
C. people need regular exercise to keep fit
D. going on foot prevents heart disease
4.What is compared to “a steel river” in Paragraph 6?
A. A queue of cars.
B. A ray of traffic light.
C. A flash of lightning.
D. A stream of people.
Explore the possibility of using the iPad App Store in the classroom.
App Name: Bridge Constructor/Cost: $1.99
Bridge Constructor lets players build increasingly challenging bridges over deep valleys, canals and rivers. Stress tests reveal whether the bridge kids build can withstand continual use from cars, trucks, and more recently, super-heavy tank trucks. Players can choose from among a range of bridge-building materials such as wood, steel, cables and concrete pillars (混凝土柱). Each bridge also has a budget, and there are numerous ways to successfully complete each challenge.
App Name: Pyramid Adventure 3-D/Cost: $13.99
The interface allows users to fly around the plateau where the pyramids and the Sphinx are located at Giza near Cairo. Interactive, three-dimensional maps let students wander around the labyrinthine tombs and passageways. Uses can examine wall paintings in detail, or view royal statues and objects with a 360-degree feature. To help explain the world of ancient Egyptians, the app offers an accompanying interactive book, specially written by world-famous Egyptologist Zahi Hawass.
App Name: Grammar Up/Cost: $4.99
Grammar Up is a multiple-choice quiz system for English grammar. Kids and adults can learn most quickly when playing learning games with real-time error feedback, which Grammar Up provides. The app also offers students practice tests so they can see how much they’ve leaned. A summary is presented at the end of each test, showing the time spent, a score, and the questions answered correctly and incorrectly. The results are also e-mailable.
1.By playing Bridge Constructor, you can .
A. learn how to drive
B. improve your ability of building
C. save a large amount of money
D. try many ways to become successful
2.Playing Grammar Up means .
A. answering some grammar questions
B. making some grammar mistakes
C. talking with your friends online
D. listening to a grammar expert carefully
3.The text is meant to .
A. show the development of modem technology
B. show the differences among the iPad apps
C. offer some tips to buy some cheap apps
D. introduce some practical apps to students
为了号召大家多读书，你校于7月25日组织了一次“亲子共读（parent-child reading) ”活动。假设你是校英文报的记者，请根据以下要点用英语写一篇短文，报道此次活动。
地点：学校图书馆；
参加者：高二年级学生和家长
活动内容：亲子共读一本书：分享读书体会；互相推荐优秀书籍；
简短评论。
注意：1、词数100左右；2、可以适当增减细节，以使行文连贯。
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