Chinese culture certainly has no shortage of symbols of good 1. (fortunate)many of them arising from wordplay or riddles. For example, fish in China are considered to be a symbol of luck in several ways. Since the Chinese pronunciation of fish is the same as 2.of another word meaning surplus, fish are often used as 3.sign of wealth or abundance. During the Spring Festival, a fish 4. (prepare) but left uneaten to represent the desire to always have something 5. (leave) over for the coming year. One can also often see carp(鲤鱼) in Asian artwork. This fish is able to grow very old, therefore 6. (serve)as a symbol of longevity. It also represents unity since they often swim together in pairs. This explains 7.fish charms are often given 8. a wedding gift to represent a perfect union. Finally, fish are also a symbol of fertility because of their 9. (able) to reproduce 10. (rapid) and in large volumes.
Have you ever been tempted to cut a comer or to take the easiest route, though you know it may not. ______be the best one? Or have you ever made a ______because it was quick and simple, knowing that it might come back to bite you later!
I appreciate a parable (寓言) Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegard told about the ______of taking the easy route. It is story about a ______duck. Though life was dificult______the beautiful creature. ______the boundless heavens and the endless stretches of wilderness. Soaring about treetops and towns, the duck was a symbol of freedom to its tame counterparts相对物)，who could not ______
One evening during fall migration, he______to enter a barnyard where a farmer was______his ducks, The beautiful creature ate the______the farmer sprinkled (撒)about and liked it So much that he stayed the night in a bed of ______straw. He ate the duck’s corn again the next day. And the next And the next. . .
When ______came, he heard his old companions flying overhead and an almost forgotten longing deep. ______him awoke. The duck had reduced his instinct for freedom over the ______w inter. Now he longed to ______his comrades in the sky, but he had grown fat and unable to fly. The wild duck had become a tame duck.
The easy way through our problems, though. ______ may not be the best way. Always remember. The only place you will find success before ______is in the dictionary! It’s always easier to borrow than to save; easier to jump in now than to do the hard work of planning; easier to cut comers than to do it right; easier to ______the same than to make changes
______you want to fly, you may have to pay a price. But ______is worth it-at any cost!Are you ready to soar?
1.A. likely B. necessarily C. gradually D. obviously
2.A. bet B. difference C. decision D. suggestion
3.A. results B. conditions C. benefits D. dangers
4.A. wild B. fat C. clever D. brave
5.A. at one time B. at times C. at once D. at night
6.A. ignored B. admired C. hated D. disliked
7.A. think B. dream C. fly D. run
8.A. attempted B. intended C. happened D. decided
9.A. watching B. feeding C. washing D. gathering
10.A. bread B. wheat C. grain D. corn
11.A. warm B. thin C. hard D. damp
12.A. winter B. fall C. spring D. summer
13.A. within B. beyond C. to D. for
14.A. bitter B. cold C. comfortable D. tough
15.A. join B. visit C. welcome D. greet
16.A. interesting B. surprising C. instructive D. attractive
17.A. pay B. effort C. reward D. prize
18.A. go B. get C. become D. remain
19.A. If B. Before C. Although D. Since
20.A. adventure B. experience C. justice D. freedom
Have you ever started to read a book in English, then stopped because it was too hard !Don’t worry! You’re on the right track. Books are an amazing tool for learning languages but some are easier to use than others, 1.
1. Read dual-language books
Dual-language books (or ‘parallel texts’) are the same story written in two languages. They have your native language on one page and your target language on the other, so you can quickly check what a word means.
2. 2.
Learning a language is the perfect excuse to dive back into the magical land of fairy tales and unicorns or the exciting world of spies and secret agents. 3.Look for books with pictures, as they help you to follow the story.
3. Read your favorite childhood book in English
Do you have a beloved childhood book in your own language? 4.You know lots about the fictional world, the characters and the story already, So it is much easier to understand what is happening
4. Make notes!
If you are using a book to learn English, buy a cheap copy you can write in. Don’t be afraid to write translations and thoughts in the margins, as your notes can help you to remember.
Starting to read in a foreign language does not need to be scary. With the advice above, you will be reading in English in no time at all! 5.a film online.
A. Read comic books
B. Read new children’s books
C. Find a copy of it in English
D. Here are my top tips for using books to lean English
E. Buy a cheap copy you can write in
F. Children’s books use simpler language and are fun to read
G. Remember that you can use these tips for films and television, too
Frauds (诈骗犯)play complex psychological tricks to fool others, says Colin Barras. And that means anyone can be cheated unless they know what to look for.
None of us likes to be cheated. and David Modic has done some researches on it. It’s the personal passion that has convinced Modic to study the psychology of cheating. He’s not alone: the field is thriving, and the information that researchers are uncovering is ) valuable to us all-from those single in search of love to the technology wizards (人才) in charge of the world’s online security.
Modic is particularly interested in w hat makes people easy to fraud. It’s common to imagine that only the foolish or poorly educated might fall victim but even hard evidence suggests this is not the case. Take Paul Frampton, an Oxbridge educated academic professor of physics for example. In 2012 Frampton was given almost 5 years in prison for drug smuggling in Argentina, after falling victim to an online dating fraud. And then there’s John Worley, As a psychotherapist, Worley knows more than most of us about controlling life’s right ways. But in 2005 he was put on trial for bank fraud after becoming a victim of a fraud. This fraud sees people contacted by someone claiming to be a Nigerian government official appealing for help moving large sums of money out of the country—who just requires a little money upfront (预付的)to release the fortune. Worley was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison.
Intelligence and experience offer no protection against cheaters, says Modic. “If it did, then better educated people and older people would be less likely to fall for scams(骗局). And that is not supported by my research.”
To look for answers to that question, Modic and Frank Stajano have quizzed thousands of people, asking them first whether they think various frauds are reasonable—and whether they have fallen victim to them—before asking them to perform a personality test. The research has identified a number of characteristics that people who are victims of frauds seem to in common. Some of these traits —like a lack of self-control—we would probably recognize as dangerous. But others—a trust in authority, a desire to act in the same way as our friends, or a tendency to act in a consistent way —we might think of as good characteristics.
1.According to the passage, the frauds may .
A. threaten the world’s online security
B. play their tricks in a consistent way
C. receive much education of psychology
D. have high intelligence to help cheating
2.Paragraph 3 mainly tells us that .
A. who and what makes people easy to fraud
B. all walks of life would be likely to fall for scams
C. the poorly educated may be easier to be cheated
D. government officials should be responsible for frauds
3.Modic and Frank Stajano’s researches find out that the victims .
A. often follow friends’ actions
B. are considered to be dangerous
C. also share good characteristics
D. shouldn’t have a trust in authority
High levels of chocolate consumption might be associated with a one third reduction in the risk of developing heart disease, suggests a study published online in the British Medical Journal. The findings confirm results of existing studies that generally agree on a potential beneficial link between chocolate consumption and heart health. However, the authors stress that further studies are needed to test whether chocolate actually causes this reduction or if it can be explained by some other unmeasured factor.
The World Health Organization predicts that by 2030, nearly 23 6 million people will die from heart disease. However, lifestyle and dict are key factors in preventing heart disease, says the paper, A number of recent studies have shown that eating chocolate has a positive influence on human health due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This includes reducing blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity.
However, the evidence about how eating chocolate affects your heart still remains unclear. So, Dr Oscar Franco and colleagues from the University of Cambridge carried out a large scale review of the existing evidence to evaluate the effects of eating chocolate on cardiovascular(心血管)events like heart attack and stroke.
They analyzed the results of seven studies, involving over 100,000 participants with and without existing heart disease, For each study, they compared the group with the highest chocolate consumption against the group with the lowest consumption.
Five studies reported a beneficial link between higher levels of chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events. They found that the “highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels.” No significant reduction was found in relation to heart failure.
The authors say the findings need to be interpreted with caution, in particular because commercially available chocolate is very calorific (around 500 calories for every 100 grams)and eating too much of it could lead to weight gain, risk of diabetes and heart disease.
However, they conclude that given the health benefits of dating chocolate, initiatives to reduce the current fat and sugar content in most chocolate products should be explored.
1.Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?
A. There used to be studies about the beneficial link between chocolate consumption and heart health.
B. Millions of people will die from heart disease according to the WHO
C. There are still other factors that may reduce the risk of heart disease.
D. There is clear evidence about how eating chocolate affects your heart.
2.What are the possible causes of heart disease ?
A. Eating chocolate
B. Unhealthy diet
C. Exercising regularly
D. Drinking coffee.
3.What’s the authors’ attitude towards the findings?
A. cautious
B. doubtful
C. disapproving
D. negative
4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. We should eat less chocolate.
B. Chocolate benefits our health.
C. We should consider the fat and sugar problem.
D. Eating chocolate will lead to fat gain naturally.
The Alice Ferguson Foundation is a non-profit group that works to improve the environment by building relationships between people and nature. It teaches people ways to protect the environment. At the end of the year, it designs events to help children celebrate Christmas without increasing the amount of waste they create.
Hanna Seligmann works for the foundation. VOA joined Seligmann recently during one of her talks. “So let’s figure out what is in our bag of trash.” She shows adults and children how to reduce waste during the holiday gift-giving season. “You can sort it as a cardboard item of you can sort it as a plastic item,” Seligmann works with volunteers. “We encourage using things that arc already in your house like newspaper, old magazines, using a gift within a gift. You can wrap something in a reusable napkin, wrap something in a scarf, or a shawl(围巾)or even a reusable to tote bag (大手提袋)。”
Lori Arguelles is the executive director for environmental education at the Alice Ferguson Foundation. “Over time we realized that really just doing trash, cleanups was the symptom of the problem, not getting to the root cause. And 50 it was just a little over a decade ago that we started the initiative itself.”
One activity is called the Trash Timeline Game. It teaches children that the things they throw away do not decompose at the same rate. For example paper dissolves in about four weeks. An apple core takes two months. A metal can takes up to 100 years. A plastic bag will not decompose for 450 years Glass takes 1,000 years And, they say, Styrofoam (泡沫聚苯乙烯) never dissolves.
Young people taking part in the program learn that reducing waste is important not just during the holidays, but every day of the year.
1.Why is the Alice Ferguson Foundation created?
A. To help children celebrate Christmas.
B. To reduce the amount of waste.
C. To make the environment better,
D. To bu id relationships between people and mature
2.What suggestion docs Seligmann give on wrapping gifts?
A. It is better to use cardboard items to wrap gifts.
B. It is better to wrap gifts in some things capable of being used again.
C. It is better not to wrap gifts in plastic items.
D. It is better not to wrap gifts at all.
3.What can we infer from Lori Arguelles’s words?
A. Doing trash cleanups means a lot to protecting the environment.
B. We still need to make great efforts on the way to protecting the environment.
C. Over a decade our efforts to protect the environment proved fruitless.
D. Over time we found the root cause of protecting the environment
4.What’s the meaning of “decompose”?
A. break down
B. break out
C. store up
D. store away
