In life, we will succeed and fail often for reasons that are entirely out of our ________. We can work harder than anyone else in the office and still not be ________. We can be incredibly nice and love someone deeply, and they may not love us ________.
The bottom line is that life is not ________.
That is a tough ________ to swallow for many of us. As a result, some people ________ after being hit by even one unfair blow from life. But if we let life’s unfairness ________ us, we will never receive the beautiful blessings that life has ________ for us.
My first ________ marriage felt very unfair to me. No matter how hard I had tried to be a good wife, I could not make the relationship ________. I could have been ________ by that experience. But I believed that I could be ________ married one day ________ I always wanted to experience traditional family life. And then, I met this kind, thoughtful, generous man.
What I’ve learned over the years is that we can do all the things that ________ a good outcome, but get ________ things in return instead.
When we are faced with life’s seeming unfairness, our ________ needs to jump in. When life doesn’t go ________ plan, we have to let go of the outcome that we have been ________ and keep trying, and doing the right thing. ________ that life is neither fair nor straightforward. And by knowing that if we remain confident, we can drive our unfair experiences away and use them for our ________.
1.A. reach B. control C. date D. order
2.A. promoted B. paid C. pleased D. proved
3.A. more B. back C. enough D. unconditionally
4.A. easy B. smooth C. fair D. ideal
5.A. feeling B. word C. fact D. pill
6.A. died down B. looked down C. shut down D. settled down
7.A. confuse B. manage C. betray D. defeat
8.A. in charge B. in return C. in place D. in store
9.A. arranged B. failed C. happy D. trial
10.A. work B. start C. end D. worsen
11.A. teased B. discouraged C. hurt D. shocked
12.A. proudly B. casually C. happily D. shortly
13.A. if B. while C. because D. though
14.A. bring B. require C. serve D. deserve
15.A. bad B. inferior C. silly D. cheap
16.A. faith B. courage C. judgement D. effort
17.A. ahead of B. according to C. regardless of D. related to
18.A. achieving B. affecting C. expecting D. declining
19.A. Accept B. Assume C. Fancy D. Consider
20.A. career B. marriage C. fate D. benefit
Some people are so rude. Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you?” Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on the Internet? 1.
Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little courtesies(礼节). But many social norms(规范) just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.
Take the thank-you note. Daniel Post Senning, a coauthor of Emily Post’s Etiquette，asked, “At what point does showing appreciation outweigh the cost?”
2. Think of how long it takes to listen to one of those messages. In texts, you don’t have to declare who you are or even say hello. E-mail, too, is slower than a text. The worst are those who leave a voice mail and then send an e-mail message to tell you they left a voice mail.
This isn’t the first time technology has changed our manners, 3. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, suggested that people say, " Ahoy! "Finally, hello won out, and the victory sped up the greeting's use in face-to-face communications.
In the age of the smart phone, there is no reason to ask once-acceptable questions about:the weather forecast, a business’s phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, or an office, which can be easily found on a digital map. 4. And when you answer, they respond with a thank-you e-mail.
How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people,especially older ones, appreciate a thank-you message. 5. In traditional societies, the young learn from the old. But in modern societies, the old can also learn from the young. Here's hoping that politeness never goes out of fashion but that time-wasting forms of communication do.
A. Then there is voice mail.
B. Others, like me, want no reply.
C. But people still ask these things.
D. Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
E. Won't new technology bring about changes in our daily life?
F. Face-to-face communication makes comprehension much easier.
G. When the telephone was invented, people didn't know how to greet a caller.
Next month, I’m traveling to a remote area of Central Africa and my aim is to know enough Lingala — one of the local languages — to have a conversation. I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage this — until I discovered a way to learn all the vocabulary I’m going to need. Thanks to Memrise, the app I’m using. It feels just like a game.
“People often stop learning things because they feel they’re not making progress or because it all feels like too much hard work,” says Ed Cooke, one of the people who created Memrise. “We’re trying to create a form of learning experience that is fun and is something you’d want to do instead of watching TV.”
Memrise gives you a few new words to learn and these are “seeds” which you plant in your “greenhouse”. When you practice the words, you “water your plants”. When the app believes that you have really remembered a word, it moves the word to your “garden”. And if you forget to log on, the app sends you emails that remind you to “water your plants”.
The app uses two principles about learning. The first is that people remember things better when they link them to a picture in their mind. Memrise translates words into your own language, but it also encourages you to use “mems”. For example, I memorized motele, the Lingala word for “engine”, using a mem I created — I imagined an old engine in a motel (汽车旅馆) room.
The second principle is that we need to stop after studying words and then repeat them again later, leaving time between study sessions. Memrise helps you with this, because it’s the kind of app you only use for five or ten minutes a day.
I’ve learnt hundreds of Lingala words with Memrise. I know this won’t make me a fluent speaker, but I hope I’ll be able to do more than just smile when I meet people in Congo. Now, I need to go and water my vocabulary!
1.What does Ed Cooke make an effort to do with Memrise?
A. Create memorable experiences.
B. Make progress with hard work.
C. Master languages through games.
D. Combine study with entertainment.
2.What do the underlined words “water your plants” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. Learning new words. B. Being a Memrise user.
C. Logging on to the app. D. Taking care of your garden.
3.How does Memrise work?
A. By linking different mems together.
B. By putting knowledge into practice.
C. By offering human translation services.
D. By applying an associative memory approach.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards Memrise?
A. Positive. B. Doubtful.
C. Uncaring. D. Disapproving.
When a laptop or smartphone battery starts losing its power，the only options are to buy an expensive replacement，or just keep it plugged in all the time．But a woman Mya Le Thai may have found the answer to this problem．
Thai was frustrated that the batteries for her wireless devices degraded(降级)over time，until they failed to charge fully．She did not like having to keep her laptop connected to an electrical outlet to keep it powered on．So，she decided to do something about that problem．At first，she and her team at UC Irvine thought about inventing a new battery．But as they experimented，Thai discovered something that might permit lithium—ion(锂离子)batteries to last forever．
Lithium-ion batteries power most wireless devices．Over time，the batteries lose the ability to hold a charge．Most of these batteries have a life span of about 7,000 charging cycles before they die．One of the reasons lithium—ion batteries degrade is their use of nanowires to carry electricity．Nanowires are extremely thin．A human hair is thousands of times thicker，for example．Nanowires are extremely efficient carriers of electricity，which makes them useful in batteries．
But，Thai had a theory—the nanowires might last longer if covered with a gel(凝胶)．She and her team tested this theory．“It was a long process and a lot of work，”Thai said．The team tried many coverings for the wires．PMMA，a type of plastic，was one of them．The nanowires were coated with PMMA and cycled through charges 200，000 times．The PMMA-coated nanowires showed no evidence of damage．The results suggest that batteries could last forever，without losing charging ability．
Thai hopes to continue her research to understand why this gel works so well and to see if any other gel could create better results and she is enjoying the publicity about her discovery．She said she never expected her research to get media coverage．“It’s kind of cool,”she said．“I'm really glad people are showing interest in my work and not just in the work itself，but also in technology and energy．”
1.Why did Mya Le Thai work on lithium-ion batteries?
A. She disliked the batteries for her laptop．
B. Her team were assigned to invent a new battery．
C. Many people thought batteries were too expensive．
D. The batteries would soon lose the function to charge fully．
2.What can we infer about nanowires?
A. They last only 7,000 charging cycles．
B. They are too weak to carry electricity．
C. They are not suitable to use in batteries．
D. Their thinness is a cause of batteries degrade．
3.What might be Thai and her team’s breakthrough?
A. Coating nanowires in gel． B. A new kind of battery．
C. New materials for batteries． D. A new way of charging batteries．
4.What may be the best title for the passage?
A. The options of batteries for wireless devices
B. A woman invents a life—long battery.
C. Mya Le Thai discovered Nanowires
D. The reasons for batteries degrading
Home prices remained divergent in China during December, with some of the first-tier cities recording price drops, while second and third-tier cities saw increases due to the varied market policies, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
Newly built commercial housing prices in the first-tier cities－namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen－remained stable in December, while those in second and third- tier cities rose by 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent respectively from November 2017.
The same trend was witnessed in second-hand home prices, which dropped slightly by 0.1 percent in first-tier cities and rose 0.3 percent in both second and third-tier cities in December, said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician at the NBS.
In September 2017, the local governments of several regional capitals launched new restrictions to further slow home sales, in response to the central government’s call to end housing speculation and cool the red-hot housing market in certain cities.
As housing regulations in larger cities have tightened, investors have started looking for opportunities in medium-sized and small cities, thus causing a noticeable home price increase in third-tier cities.
Fan Hengshan, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at an economic forum on Thursday that housing prices in third and fourth-tier cities have risen too fast, and this needs to be monitored carefully.
“The home price increase in third-tier cities will have a fairly large impact, considering that a large part of China’s gross domestic product and population come from these cities,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist and head of equity strategy for China at Deutsche Bank, during a recent media briefing.
Zhang estimated that third-tier cities accounted for a major part of Chinese residents’ 50 trillion yuan wealth gains, driven by rising home prices in 2017.
“Despite a relatively large increase in home prices in third-tier cities, studies have found that at the end of 2017, local residents in 85 third-tier cities need to save four to eight years of their income to buy a home, meaning that house price to income ratios are not too high in these cities,” he said.
1.What does the underlined word “divergent” in the first paragraph mean?
A. Diverse B. Stable
C. Increasing D. Decreasing
2.What do we know from the passage?
A. Housing prices in the first-tier cities dropped slightly in December.
B. Home prices in medium-sized and small cities remained stable in November.
C. National housing prices rose in most time of 2017.
D. The second-hand home prices dropped slightly in the first-tier cities while rose in both second and third-tier cities in November.
3.Why did the housing prices in the third and fourth-tier cities rise fast?
A. Because the local governments didn’t launch any restrictions and regulations.
B. Because the governments in the first-tier cities have carried out tougher measures.
C. Because there are more people living in these cities.
D. Because people there saved more money than other cities.
4.Where is the passage probably taken from?
A. A science book. B. A newspaper.
C. A fashion magazine. D. A text book.
In recent years，Myanmar has opened its doors to western tourism. This once-closed state in Southeast Asia is a gold mine for those who enjoy the ancient Buddhist culture of the region. Compared to its neighbors, the landscape of Myanmar has been left largely undamaged. There are so many reasons why Myanmar is amazing and has been rated one of the top Asian tourist destinations for 2019. Here are some of its scenic spots：
Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon
As far as pagodas are concerned，this is one of the most respected in Myanmar. This massive 325-foot Buddhist pagoda is surrounded by smaller shiny-gold pagodas. It is believed that some of the hairs of Gautama Buddha are well- preserved in here. The Shwedagon Pagoda is a must-see destination on your traveling schedule.
Long Neck Tribe of the Hill Country
These women—who are identified by their long necks that are stretched by brass neck coils(项圈)from an early age—have become world-famous. You’ll find this tribe in the mountainous north of the country，especially in Chin state. This custom dates back to ancient times when tribesmen—who were always at war with neighboring tribes—put neck coils on their women to prevent them from being taken as prisoners of war．These days，the long-necked women are used to seeing foreigners，who make the long journey to this isolated region of Myanmar for the purpose of seeing them．
Mandalay City
This dusty, hot center of trading and commerce for Myanmar is both fascinating and exciting. You’ll never find a shortage of things to do here. Temples. Medieval-era castles. Buildings from the country’s colonial British past. There are over 600 monasteries and nunneries in the Holy Hills of Sagaing, which overlook Mandalay. The city also has an exciting nightlife which will be an attraction for many．
1.What does the writer intend to tell in the passage?
A. Life styles people in Myanmar have．
B. Activities tourists can attend in Myanmar．
C. Reasons why Myanmar is suddenly popular．
D. Information about some attractions in Myanmar．
2.For what purpose were the neck coils initially used?
A. To protect women’s necks．
B. To frighten the enemies away．
C. To make women more attractive．
D. To stop women being victims of war．
3.What will impress travelers to Mandalay City most?
A. Promising commercial future．
B. Architecture of different styles．
C. Shiny-gold pagodas．
D. Abundance of goods in night markets．
