Keeping a diary in English is one of the most 1. (effect) ways to improve our English writing ability.2. (compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes 3.(little) time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English.4. we persist in this practice, gradually we’ll learn how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many 5.. （difficult）In the first place,6.often happens that we have trouble finding appropriate words and phrases to give expression to our mind. Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is extremely hard for us to put them into English properly. As far as I 7.(concern), my 8.(suggest) is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach . Whenever something beats us, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is 9. great use to keep a diary in English for 10.development of our writing skills.
When you give thanks for help，everyone benefits. And the ____ will last longer than you expect:researchers have found that writing thankyou notes raises people's ____ levels for up to six months.
“If you express gratitude in a diary，it makes you happier，but if you ____ it with the person who helped you, it has the ____ to bring you two closer together,” says researcher Jeff Tsang.
Lawyer John Kralik experienced this personally. He'd been feeling depressed and ____ about his life: He'd been divorced and wasn't ____ with his children. He felt tired from the ____ hours he devoted to work. At a/an ____ low point, he remembered his grandfather telling him about the importance of ____. He decided to write 365 thankyou notes over 365 days, hoping for a/an ______ change.
Immediately, he noticed his ____ begin to improve.“The first effects are that you realize that your life is much better than you thought and you become more positive,” Kralik says of his ____ acts of expressing thanks.
___ by Kralik's experience, I decided to try the ____ myself. I chose someone from my past whom I'd ____ thanked before: my wonderful highschool English teacher. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to ____ him，but eventually I found where he lived.
In my letter, I thanked him for the ____ and support that he'd given me years earlier. I may never hear from him ____, but that isn't the ____. The letter helped me ____ my life, and I've been happy now for months.
1.A. time B. thoughts C. effects D. relationship
2.A. education B. happiness C. income D. health
3.A. share B. complete C. compare D. leave
4.A. method B. desire C. energy D. potential
5.A. discouraged B. dishonest C. impatient D. surprised
6.A. bored B. strict C. close D. honest
7.A. limited B. valuable C. delightful D. long
8.A. importantly B. particularly C. physically D. exactly
9.A. forgiveness B. achievement C. gratefulness D. patience
10.A. positive B. unexpected C. possible D. instant
11.A. wealth B. attitude C. position D. competence
12.A. generous B. strange C. brave D. simple
13.A. Struck B. Inspired C. Shocked D. Invited
14.A. idea B. belief C. letter D. test
15.A. nearly B. frequently C. already D. never
16.A. remember B. recognize C. locate D. reward
17.A. degree B. money C. gift D. guidance
18.A. in advance B. in public C. in return D. in person
19.A. case B. point C. fact D. solution
20.A. appreciate B. understand C. face D. review
Lots of people find it hard to get up in the morning, and put the blame on the alarm clock. In fact, the key to easy morning wake-up lies in resetting your body clock. 1. Here’s how to make one.
● 2. In order to make a change, you need to decide why It’s important. Do you want to get up in time to have breakfast with your family, get in some exercise，or just be better prepared for your day! Once you are clear about your reasons, tell your family or roommates about the change you want to make.
● Rethink mornings. Now that you know why you want to wake up, consider re-arranging your morning activities. If you want time to have breakfast with your family, save some time the night before by setting out clothes, shoes，and bags. 3. That’s a quarter-hour more you could be sleeping if you bought a coffee maker with a timer.
● Keep your sleep/wake schedule on weekends. If you’re tired out by Friday night, sleeping in on Saturday could sound wonderful. But compensating on the weekends actually feeds into your sleepiness the following week, a recent study found. 4.
● Keep a record and evaluate it weekly. Keep track of your efforts and write down how you feel. After you’ve tried a new method for a week, take a look at your record.5. If not, take another look at other methods you could try.
A. Get a sleep specialist.
B. Find the right motivation.
C. A better plan for sleep can help.
D. And consider setting a second alarm.
E. If the steps you take are working, keep it up.
F. Stick to your set bedtime and wake-up time, no matter the day.
G. Reconsider the 15 minutes you spend in line at the cafe to get coffee.
In many ways, Providence Mount St. Vincent in Seattle is a typical senior living community. It is home to about 400 elderly people and provides them with different types of assistance. However, it is also the Inter-generational Learning Center---a preschool where children and seniors have the chance to bond（结成友好的关系）.
Established in 1991, the ILC’s purpose is to allow kids to learn about acceptance while also being nurtured. It also aims to help seniors develop a greater sense of self-worth and strengthen social interactions. Babies to prekindergarten-aged children are placed into six different classes at the ILC. The kids attend art and music classes, as well as story time and exercise time with the seniors. Marie Hoover, ILC director, said that interacting with the seniors has proven beneficial for the young ones, making them more open-minded.
“For the ILC children, interacting with the residents is simply part of their day-to-day life here and the way aging is ‘normalized’ , which may be the most important benefit they receive ,” Hoover said. “ I’ve had parents call me years after their children have graduated from our program to let me know about some incidents when their child was the first to warmly greet someone who happened to be in a wheelchair.”
As for the seniors, they’re delighted by the companionship the children provide. The children bring so much energy and joy to our residents. Many of residents are widows or widowers and can become lonely. Their adult children may still be working, so they may not get to see them as often as they would like. Having the children stay with the old makes our residents feel they are still part of a community. The young and the old connect and learn from one another at this unique facility.
1.ILC is intended to _______.
A. build a typical senior living community
B. take good care of the children
C. benefit both the children and the seniors
D. rid the seniors of loneliness
2.From what Hoover said in Para. 3, we can learn that the ILC children _________.
A. keep in touch with the seniors even if they have left ILC
B. come to realize that aging is a normal part of life
C. take different attitudes to the elderly after graduation
D. think it easy to interact with the elderly residents in ILC
3.The last paragraph mainly tells us _________.
A. the benefits the seniors receive
B. the situation of the seniors
C. children’s company
D. the interaction between the children and the seniors
4.The underlined words this unique facility may refer to _________.
A. a special building B. a typical family
C. a typical teaching program D. a special learning center
Kanda really doesn't like to walk alone. The scientist from a research institute of intelligent robots finds the experience so boring that he'd rather drive—even though he lives close to his lab and knows that walking us healthy. "I enjoy walking with someone, like with my wife, with my daughter," Kanda said. "But they are not always available."
So Kanda, who specializes in human-like bots, developed a robotic walking partner that could make small talk based on its surroundings, which, he hopes, might motivate people to get out and exercise more. The bot rests on a person's shoulder like a boxy parrot. It weighs about a pound and a half and sits roughly 8.5 inches high, 3.5inches wide, and 10 inches long. A microphone, speaker, and internal camera allow it to communicate. It's even equipped with a smile.
Kanda and his team collected video form five different locations, including a garden and a shopping mall, and created a dataset of small talk topics related to each location. Then they programmed the robot to associate visual cues with specific topics. A special speech software provided the robot with a voice. Near a group of parked cars, for example, it might say, "In a big parking lot, sometimes I forget where I parked."
They tested the robot on 15 volunteers, 10 males and 5 females, who were paid and averaged about 26 years old. "Have you ever blown a puff of dandelion（蒲公英）seeds into the air?" The robot asked a participant, who smiled and responded, "Yes, I often did that when I was a child." Although several participants noted the robot's weight, Kanda was surprised that no one considered the experience as strange or funny. "I guess people enjoy new technologies," he said.
Just like a human partner, Kanda's bot isn't perfect. It's not able to go for walks in heavy rain and, while the robot can make expressions, it can't really hold a conversation, about which Kanda is most worried. Despite its limits, Kanda was comforted by the bot's presence. "I felt a kind of sense of being with someone, "he said, "particularly when it spoke."
1.Why does Kanda have the idea of developing a robotic walking partner?
A. Because he wants someone to accompany him while walking.
B. Because he has never developed a robot like a parrot.
C. Because his family are unwilling to walk with him.
D. Because he is crazy about developing robots.
2.What characteristic does the robot have?
A. It can "speak" and "see".
B. It can walk like a human being.
C. It can communicate with people freely.
D. It is much more humorous than a real person.
3.What is necessary for the robot to function?
A. A small size.
B. A boxy shape.
C. A human partner.
D. A speech software.
4.What is Kanda most likely to do about his robot next?
A. To make it more convenient to carry.
B. To improve its conversational skills.
C. To enable it to walk in heavy rain.
D. To better its sound system.
If you have a chance to go to Finland，you will probably be surprised to find how “foolish” the Finnish people are.
Take the taxi drivers for example.Taxis in Finland are mostly highclass Benz with a fare of two US dollars a kilometer.You can go anywhere in one，tell the driver to drop you at any place，say that you have some business to attend to，and then walk off without paying your fare.The driver would not show the least signs of anxiety.
The dining rooms in all big hotels not only serve their guests，but also serve outside diners.Hotel guests have their meals free，so they naturally go to the free dining rooms to have their meals.The most they would do to show their good faith is to wave their registration cards to the waiter.With such a loose check，you can easily use any old registration card to take a couple of friends to dine free of charge.
The Finnish workers are paid by the hour.They are very much on their own as soon as they have agreed with the boss at the rate.From then on they just say how many hours they have worked and they will be paid accordingly.
With so many loopholes(漏洞) in everyday life, surely Finland must be a heaven to those who love to take “petty_advantages”．But the strange thing is that all the taxi passengers would always come back to pay their fares after they have attended to their business and that not a single outsider has ever been found in the free hotel dining rooms.And workers always give an honest account of the exact hours they put in.As the Finns always act on good faith in everything they do，living in such a society has turned everyone into a real “gentleman”．
1.The underlined words in Paragraph 5 means to “________”．
A. be ready to help others
B. make good use of one's friends
C. be a little ahead of others
D. gain something at other's expense
2.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. While taking a taxi in Finland，you can get off without first paying your fare.
B. In a big hotel in Finland, you can enjoy free meals if you're living in the hotel.
C. The bosses in Finland pay the employees according to the registration of their working hours.
D. The workers are always honest with their working hours.
3.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. the Finnish society is of very high moral(道德的)level
B. there are many loopholes in everyday life in Finland
C. in Finland，most taxi drivers will not charge you anything
D. everyone in Finland is like a gentleman，for they have faith in themselves
4.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Life in Finland
B. A Society with “Foolish” People
C. What a Life
D. Honest accounts of the Finns
