The snow was falling and the roads had become dangerous. The schools were dismissed early, but much to my surprise, my ____ wasn’t canceled. So I went, feeling especially heroic. As far as I could see, I was risking my life to keep my ____. Snow or no snow, I would be on time for my scheduled donation at the local ____ center.
When I got there, I discovered I wasn’t _____. Four more “hero-types” were already lying back in donor chairs with lines ____ to their veins, and machines quietly pumping away to ______ their lifesaving gifts.
Seeing my fellow donors honoring their own commitments, I realized why I was there. I lay back in my donor chair, ready to make a difference in the life of someone I would never _____.
To be honest, I’d never really thought about why I donate. I just do it. But a few months ago, during one of my ____ donations I learned that my blood was specifically for a cancer patient and for a newborn baby—both patients needed what I would give in order to live. I’ve viewed my visits to the blood center _____ ever since.
My wife Karen is a _____, too. And more importantly, she has been on the bone marrow (骨髄) list for fifteen years, ever since she signed up to provide bone marrow to a kindergartner with leukemia (白血病). That little girl died before Karen’s bone marrow could help her, ____ Karen was called again recently. Her test results were still on file, and it turned out she was a potential ____ for someone else. The caller asked Karen if she would still be willing to become a bone marrow donor. “Yes,” she said and then immediately began answering questions on the pages of paperwork for further testing. It was a race ____ time.
I wish I could say that this ____ was won. It wasn’t. The caller later thanked Karen for her participation and asked a few more questions—including whether or not she’d ____ on the donor list. “Of course,” Karen answered.
Last week Karen gave blood and next week I’ll make my usual donation. I’ll ____ an afternoon from my schedule and make an appointment. I don’t know whose life my donation may ____. Most likely it will be a ____, but on any day the person needing a blood product could be you or me or maybe a loved one. It is worthwhile to ___ our time to donate.
I really do feel _____ every time I donate. And I like the feeling.
1.A. appointment B. class C. meeting D. flight
2.A. secret B. balance C. shape D. word
3.A. service B. shopping C. blood D. care
4.A. alone B. welcome C. late D. lucky
5.A. exposed B. attached C. applied D. added
6.A. examine B. produce C. collect D. clean
7.A. meet B. forget C. miss D. recognize
8.A. regular B. unexpected C. special D. pleasant
9.A. wisely B. differently C. hesitantly D. carefully
10.A. receiver B. doctor C. patient D. donor
11.A. or B. but C. and D. for
12.A. risk B. customer C. match D. partner
13.A. beyond B. with C. against D. of
14.A. honor B. test C. prize D. race
15.A. rank B. sign C. appear D. remain
16.A. clear B. separate C. lose D. remove
17.A. touch B. affect C. create D. enrich
18.A. child B. stranger C. hero D. friend
19.A. spend B. save C. kill D. take
20.A. empty B. grateful C. proud D. nervous
Where did your family eat dinner last night? In the car on the way to sport? At McDonald’s? Or at the dinner table? A survey taken a few years ago found that 28% families ate dinner together at home seven nights a week. Another quarter said they ate together three or fewer nights a week.
Once upon a time the situation was different. 1. Plates, forks and spoons would be laid out. As dinner time approached, an increasing number of hungry mouths would begin to appear with the question, “What’s for dinner”?
2. The data seems to point to two main issues: overworked parents and over-scheduled children. When mum or dad do get home in the evening, they are soon in the car again to send the children to soccer, music, tutoring, and a host of other events.
This nightly ceremony around the dinner table is both vital and fruitful; it is what keeps a family together. Sure, the conversation is not always significant and children argue. And sometimes the deepest and most meaningful times in a family are not at the table at all. 3.The dinner table is the place where a family builds an identity. Stories are passed down, jokes are exchanged and the wider world is examined through the lens（镜头） of a family’s values. Children pick up vocabulary and a sense of how conversation is structured. 4. Dinner time is “family time”. Coming back daily to the same place helps gain familiarity.
The significance of dinner time is more than above. Studies show that the more families eat together, the less likely the children are to smoke, drink, get depressed, and develop eating disorders, and the more likely they are to do well in school and learn how to socialize. One professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey stated, “A meal is about civilizing children. 5.”
So start by planning some stay at home family dinners together. Just family talk.
A. It’s a time to teach them to be a member of their culture.
B. Each night the dining table would be set with a simple cloth.
C. Why not cut back on a few activities and have dinner with your family?
D. What accounts for this decline in families eating together today though?
E. They also learn good table manners, something that will benefit them for life.
F. It was important for children and parents to sit down together and get to know each other.
G. However, there is still something unique about the time a family spends around the dinner table.
Runners who encounter visual and auditory(听觉的) distractions may be more likely to suffer leg injuries, according to a research by the Association of Academic Physiatrists in Las Vegas. Runners often seek distractions from the task at hand. Whether it is music, texting, daydreaming, taking in the sights, or propping a book up on the treadmill(跑步机), more often than not a distraction is welcome. But, researchers from the University of Florida have recently discovered that those distractions may lead to injury.
Daniel Herman, MD, PhD, assistant professor at University of Florida, and his team conducted a research on the effect of visual and auditory distractions on 14 runners to determine what effect, if any, these distractions would have on things such as heart rate, how much a runner breathes per minute, how much oxygen is consumed by the body, the speed in which runners apply force to their bodies, and the force the ground applies to the runners’ bodies when they come in contact with it.
The runners were all injury free at the time of the study and ran 31 miles each week. Dr. Herman’s team had each participant run on a treadmill three separate times. The first time was without any distractions. The second time added a visual distraction, during which the runners concentrated on a screen displaying different letters in different colors with the runners having to note when a specific letter-color combination appeared. The third time added an auditory distraction similar to the visual distraction, with the runners having to note when a particular word was spoken by a particular voice.
When compared to running without distractions, the participants had faster application of force to their left and right legs, called loading rate, with auditory and visual distractions. They also experienced an increased amount of force from the ground on both legs, called ground reaction force, with auditory distractions. Finally, the runners tended to breathe heavier and have higher heart rates with visual and auditory distractions than without any distractions at all.
“Running in environments with different distractions may unfavorably affect running performance and injury risk,” explains Dr. Herman. “Sometimes these things cannot be avoided, but you may be able to minimize potentially cumulative(累积的) effects. For example, when running a new route in a noisy environment such as during a destination marathon, you may want to skip listening to something which may require more attention—like a new song playlist.”
Dr. Herman’s team will continue to investigate the potential relationship between distracted running and leg injuries, and any effect this relationship has on different training techniques that use auditory or visual cues(暗示).
1.Paragraph 2 tells us the research ______.
A. process B. results
C. questions D. reflection
2.Based on the research, runners with auditory distractions tended to ______.
A. breathe heavier and have lower heart rates
B. get an increased amount of ground reaction force
C. apply more force with less oxygen consumption
D. gain a faster speed with slower loading rates
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Running with distractions becomes uncommon nowadays.
B. Listening to a new song while running guarantees performance.
C. Runners are more likely to get injured in an environment without distractions.
D. Runners are advised to minimize distractions in a destination marathon.
4.What is probably the next task for Dr. Herman’s team?
A. What determines training techniques.
B. How distractions should be used in training.
C. Why runners use auditory and visual cues.
D. What effective ways can cure leg injuries.
It's rare that you see the words "shyness" and "leader" in the same sentence. After all, the common viewpoint is that those outgoing and sociable guys make great public speakers and excellent net-workers and that those shy people are not. A survey conducted by USA Today referred to 65 percent of executives who believed shyness to be a barrier to leadership. Interestingly, the same article stresses that roughly 40 percent of leaders actually are quite shy—they're just better at adapting themselves to situational demands. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Charles Schwab are just a few "innies".
Unlike their outgoing counterparts who are more sensitive to rewards and risk-taking, shy people take a cautious approach to chance. Rather than the flashy chit-chat that defines social gathering, shy people listen attentively to what others say and absorb it before they speak. They're not thinking about what to say while the other person is still talking, but rather listening so they can learn what to say. Along the same lines, shy people share a common love of learning. They are intrinsically（内在地） motivated and therefore seek content regardless of achieving an outside standard.
Being shy can also bring other benefits. Remember being in school and hearing the same kids contribute, until shy little Johnny, who almost never said a word, cut in? Then what happened? Everyone turned around to look with great respect at little Johnny actually talking. This is how shy people made good use of their power of presence：they "own" the moment by speaking calmly and purposefully, which translate to a positive image.
Shyness is often related to modesty. Not to say that limelight-seekers aren't modest, but shy people tend to have an accurate sense of their abilities and achievements. As a result, they are able to acknowledge mistakes, imperfections, knowledge gaps and limitations.
Since shy people have a lower sensitivity to outside rewards than outgoing ones, they're more comfortable working with little information and sticking to their inner desires. Shy people are also more likely to insist on finding solutions that aren't primarily apparent. Don't believe me? Maybe you'll believe Albert Einstein, who once said, "It's not that I'm so smart, it's that I stay with problems longer." Obviously, finding certainty where uncertainty is typically popular is a huge plus for any successful person.
The myth that shy people are less effective leaders than their outgoing fellows is just a misunderstanding. Make wise use of your personality strengths to lead your business no matter what side of the range you fall on.
1.We can learn from Paragraph 2 that ___________.
A. shy people are sensitive to rewards
B. shy people care more about content
C. outgoing people are more careful about chances
D. outgoing people consider what to learn while listening
2.The example of Johnny shows ____________.
A. shy people are likely to be modest
B. hardworking students speak little in public
C. some students keep silent on purpose at school
D. shy people may have an advantage in discussion
3.We can learn from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 that ____________.
A. success results from devotion B. shyness contributes to popularity
C. outside reward leads to insistence D. uncertainty counts more than certainty
4.The author supports his ideas mainly by ____________.
A. giving definitions and presenting research results
B. explaining problems and providing solutions
C. quoting authorities and making evaluations
D. making contrasts and giving examples
I have a younger brother. To me, he is a fourteen-year-old kid named Joe, with blond hair and blue eyes. To others, he is different. Where I see a kid who just needs a lot more attention, others see a mentally disabled boy, a kid who cannot walk or talk or think for himself. I see someone who just makes daily routine a bit less routine. Others see an annoyance, I a bother.
This is not to say that I have never felt resentful(怨恨的) toward Joe. He is my brother, and with that comes responsibility. “Gina, could you stay in tonight and watch your brother?” “Gina, do me a favor and feed him dinner and change his diaper(尿布) later, please?” “Could you come home right after school today and get Joe off the bus?”
These are phrases that I have heard since I was twelve. And sure, they have made me resent my brother to a certain extent. I would think: that’s not fair! Everyone else can stay after and be a member of this club, or get extra help from that teacher. Or, all my friends are going out tonight, why can’t I? And, how come I have to feed him? He is not my son!
However, the small amount of resentment I feel toward my brother is erased a thousand times over by what I have learned from him. Besides making me responsible from a young age, and helping me be more accepting of all kinds of people, he has taught me to be thankful for what I have.
I know that there are moments in my life that I should cherish and that Joe will never experience. He will never laugh so hard that he cries. He will never feel the glory of a straight-A report card. He will never comfort a best friend crying on his shoulder. And he will never know how much his family love him.
Because he will never know, it is up to me to know, every second, how lucky I am. It is up to me to realize that life should be lived to its fullest, and that you should always, always be grateful that God, or whoever are the powers that be, gave you the ability to live your life the way you were meant to live it.
1.We know from the first paragraph that Gina's brother __________.
A. causes trouble to neighbours B. pays more attention to others
C. lives with mental disability D. considers daily routine a bother
2.If Mother asks Gina to look after her brother now, what will she probably answer?
A. I'm afraid not. B. No problem！
C. It depends. D. It's not fair！
3.The passage intends to tell us that we should _____________.
A. value the glory of success B. appreciate what life gives us
C. comfort unfortunate people D. treasure meaningful moments
Passport Control（护照验证处）
If you are arriving at London Heathrow Airport and are not transferring to another flight outside Britain or Northern Ireland, you must pass through Passport Control and Customs immediately after leaving your plane. If you are not Britain or a citizen of the European Community（欧共体），you must fill out a special form before your passport is examined. This form is called a landing card and should be given to you during the flight to London.
After landing, follow the ARRIVALS signs. Make sure you are in the right channel when you reach Passport Control. There is one channel for holders of European Community Passports, and a second channel marked “Other Passports”.
Baggage Reclaim Area（取行李处）
After passing through the Passport Control, follow the signs to the Baggage Reclaim Area. If you have luggage which is carried in the aircraft hold, it will be delivered to you in the Baggage Reclaim Area. Look for the sign with your flight number. If you have only hand luggage, go directly through the Baggage Reclaim Area to the Customs.
Customs
All passengers must pass Customs after Passport Control. There is a choice of two channels: Green and Red. If you have nothing to declare, go through the Green Channel. If you are not sure about your Duty Free allowance（免税限额）or if you have something to declare, go through the Red Channel. Information about Duty Free allowance can be found on special notice boards in the Baggage Reclaim Area. You should study this information carefully whether you are going through the Red Channel or not. Please note that if you go through the Green Channel, you may be stopped and asked to open your luggage for inspection.
1.All passengers arriving at Heathrow from outside Britain ______.
A. must go through either Passport Control or Custom
B. must go through Customs, but not Passport Control
C. must go through Passport Control and Customs
D. don’t have to be examined
2.At Heathrow when reaching Passport Control .
A. all passengers go through the same channel
B. passengers of the European Community and those from other countries go through different channels
C. British people and passengers from other countries go through different channels
D. All European passengers go through the channel
3.If you have only hand luggage, __________.
A. you may go through the Baggage Reclaim Area to customs
B. you should go to the Baggage Reclaim Areas
C. it isn’t necessary for you to go through the Baggage Reclaim Area
D. it isn’t necessary for you to do anything
4.If you have duty free goods, __________.
A. you don’t have to go through the Green Channel
B. you may go through the Green Channel
C. you must go through the Red Channel
D. you should go through both Green and Red Channel
