Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor cars ____ a hundred miles in more than an hour, aircraft cross the world within a day, ____ computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of ____ seems never-ending. Every year motor cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of ____ precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but ____ a cost. When we lose or ____ half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag ( 时差). Our bodies feel that they have been ____ behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at ____ results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit (传播) harmful ____ into our brains, a consequence we do not like to ____ about.
However, how do we ____ the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so used to constant activity that we find it ____ to sit down and do nothing or even just one thing at a ____. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen ____to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into ____ world.
There was a time ____ some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation ( 耕作) of the ____ or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking ( 多 重 任 务 ) there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a ____ of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors ____. Modern machines have ____ people from that primitive existence.
1.A. explore B. get C. cover D. fly
2.A. when B. as C. thus D. while
3.A. speed B. time C. product D. distance
4.A. wasting B. losing C. saving D. spending
5.A. in B. at C. on D. with
6.A. earn B. drop C. miss D. gain
7.A. left B. come C. forgotten D. felt
8.A. ships B. airplanes C. computers D. cars
9.A. prevention B. radiation C. combination D. damage
10.A. think B. tell C. carry D. wish
11.A. control B. handle C. do D. deal
12.A. uncomfortable B. easy C. difficult D. good
13.A. second B. day C. year D. time
14.A. actively B. quietly C. enthusiastically D. curiously
15.A. another B. else C. other D. all
16.A. what B. which C. where D. when
17.A. surface B. water C. land D. island
18.A. way B. view C. pathway D. point
19.A. expressed B. charged C. inspired D. faced
20.A. freed B. remained C. kept D. cleared
You probably know that exercise is the key to reducing depression, but you might not know why. Here are some tips for exercising when you’re depressed.
Change your view of “exercise”.
Forget “exercise”. Instead, think “being active” or “having fun”. 1. Besides, it gives you a bigger benefit.
2.
Taking part in physical activities with others supports you in doing those activities. Ask friends what activities they’re doing or they would like to start doing, and join them. Other choices include hiring a personal trainer, joining an exercise group or going to a class.
Try an experiment.
3. Or go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Even if you’re feeling too tired to do any actual exercise, still go to the gym, park your car, walk in, chage into workout clothes, and pick up a 5-pound weight. If you’re really so tired that you don’t want to do anything else, that’s totally fine.
Take it outside.
Nature has a great effect on our feeling and decreases depressive symptoms. Even just looking at images of lakes and trees helps. 4. Or walk on a treadmill (跑步机) by a window.
Tie it to a goal.
Korb said, “When you connect your exercise to a long-term goal, it helps your brain forget momentary discomfort and makes your exercise more satisfying.” For example, Korb started getting active because it made playing sports more enjoyable. Figure out what’s truly important to you. 5.
A.Move with someone else.
B.Sign up and go to exercise classes.
C.It’s a lot easier to do something simple.
D.Remind yourself of your goal regularly.
E.Remember your partner to keep you company.
F.Take a walk around your neighbourhood or a local park.
G.This increases your chances of actually moving your body.
We all know what a brain is. A doctor will tell you that the brain is the organ of the body in the head. It controls our body’s functions, movements, emotions and thoughts. But a brain can mean so much more.
A brain can also simply be a smart person. If a person is called brainy, he is smart and intelligent. If a family has many children but one of them is super smart, you could say, “He’s the brains in the family.” And if you are the brains behind something, you are responsible for developing or organizing something. For example, Bill Gates is the brains behind Microsoft.
Brain trust is a group of experts who give advice. Word experts say the phrase “brain trust” became popular when Franklin D. Roosevelt first ran for president in 1932. Several professors gave him advice on social and political issues(问题)facing the U.S. These professors were called his “brain trust”.
These ways we use the word “brain” all make sense. But other ways we use the word are not so easy to understand. For example, to understand the next brain expression, you first need to know the word “drain”. As a verb, to drain means to remove something by letting it flew away. So a brain drain may sound like a disease where the brain flows out the ears. But, brain drain is when a country’s most educated people leave their countries to live in another. The brains are, sort of, draining out of the country.
However, if people are responsible for a great idea, you could say they brainstormed it. Here, brainstorm is not an act of weather. It is a process of thinking creatively about a complex topic. For example, business leaders may use brainstorming to create new products, and government leaders may brainstorm to solve problems.
If people are brainwashed, it does not mean their brains are nice and clean. To brainwash means to make some accept new beliefs by using repeated pressure in a forceful or tricky way. Keep in mind that brainwash is never used in a positive way.
1.According to the text, if you’re the CEO of Bai Du you can be called .
A. the organ of Bai Du B. the brains behind Bai Du
C. the brain drain of Bai Du D. Bai Du’s brain trust
2.Roosevelt successfully won the election probably because .
A. he was the brains behind America B. he got the help of word experts
C. he was smart at giving advice D. he got his brain trust
3.From the passage, we can infer that .
A. brainy and brainwash are never used in a negative way
B. brainstorming is not a good choice for a political leader for lack of creativity
C. a country suffers a “brain drain” when educated people move to other countries
D. to drain a lake means to fill it with a lot of water
4.The author explains the “brain” expressions by .
A. using examples B. making comparisons
C. making comments D. analyzing origins
Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP, 标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents.
Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country – from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands – are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.
In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowest-rated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.
However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in an RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.
Kong Seong-jae, 25, is an internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.
So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.
1.What can we infer from paragraph 1?
A. Non-Brits usually hold that all Britons speak in a RP accent.
B. Only “the queen’s English” is accepted in the UK.
C. Foreign visitors are disappointed at their own spoken English.
D. Any Received Pronunciation around the world is also called “the Queen’s English”.
2.What do people think of the Brummie accent?
A. Favored by foreign visitors to the UK. B. Closest to the RP accent.
C. Smart and easy to understand. D. Spoken by people of lower class.
3.What does the underlined phrase “doing the opposite” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Speaking in a RP accent. B. Speaking in regional accents.
C. Speaking the Brummie accent. D. Speaking like Harry Potter.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. A study about the most intelligent accent in Britain.
B. A comparison between different British accents.
C. How much British people value the RP accent.
D. The impact of regional accents on people’s lives.
When school started on that warm August day, I threw myself into everything I did, including playing volleyball. I decided to become beautiful, or at the very least, skinny. I stopped eating completely. Soon I began losing weight, which thrilled me, and I even grew to love the tiredness and lightheadedness( 头晕)that came with my poor diet, for those feelings meant that I was winning.
As the season progressed, things had become tense between my head volleyball coach, Coach Smith, and me. She felt that something was wrong with my health. She talked with me about my eating and was angry that I wouldn’t listen to her when she tried to make me eat. She tried to persuade me in a determined way and so we fought constantly. Then my hunger started to affect my performance. I was so tired that practice and games were becoming a struggle. One afternoon, with hurt in her eyes, Coach Smith asked me what I had eaten and I told her nothing yet. She looked at me, disappointment in her eyes, knowing she couldn’t make me stop, and walked away.
A couple of weeks later I attended a formal dinner for our volleyball team. I stood there as my coach managed to say something nice about me. I realized then that I had ruined my senior year by being disrespectful, and I had probably ruined hers as well. So that evening I wrote her a letter apologizing and thanking her.
Then one Saturday, as I was reading in the library, I felt someone gently take my arm and say softly, “Lynn Jones, how are you doing?” I looked up and saw the familiar face. “Thanks for the letter,” she said. “It meant a lot.” When I think of a coach, I think of someone above me, someone who gives instruction — not a friend. But Coach Smith is different, and, like any other good friend, she dealt with my problem in a determined way even when I hated her for it at that time. I didn’t deserve her kindness, but she gave it anyway. I will forever be gratefulfor her help, and now for her friendship.
1.How did the author feel when she ate a poor diet and had a sense of tiredness?
A. Funny. B. Nervous. C. Proud. D. Ashamed.
2.The author fought with Coach Smith because .
A. she refused to go on a diet . B. she caused failure of her team. C. she kept her idea of losing weight. D. she changed the training course.
3.Why did the author write a letter to Coach Smith?
A. She felt sorry for eating too little food.
B. She was grateful for Smith’s care for her health.
C. She decided to improve her performance.
D. She wanted to build a close relationship with Smith.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. My Way of Losing Weight. B. A Fight with My Coach. C. A Strict Volleyball Coach. D. Unexpected Friendship.
Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would think of Confucius, whose birthday was September 28. Although he lived over 2,000 years ago, people still remember and respect him for his contribution to the education today.
Confucius lived in the Kingdom of Lu, which lies in Shandong Province. He lived during the Spring and Autumn Period. He had a hard childhood. His father died when he was only 3. His mother brought him up. As a child, he had to work to help his mother, but young Confucius didn’t give up studying. He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.
Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children from noble families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn. He had about 3,000 students in his lifetime.
Today, people still follow Confucius’ lessons. He told us that we all have something worthy to be learned. “When I am with three people, one of them must be better than me in some areas. I choose their good qualities and follow them.”
He also taught us that thinking is very important in study. “All study but no thinking makes people puzzled. All thinking but no study makes people lazy.”
Confucius is not only a great teacher, but also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about kindness and good manners. “A person should be strict with himself, but be kind to others.” he said.
1.Today we still remember Confucius mainly because .
A. he lived a poor life in his childhood
B. he traveled with his students from state to state
C. he had wise thoughts and great views about education
D. he lived during the Spring and Autumn Period
2.Confucius learned music, history, poetry and sports as a child.
A. by visiting many famous teachers B. with the help of his mother
C. by going to school D. by teaching himself at home
3.The underlined word “noble” in Paragraph 3 has the closest meaning to .
A. cute B. bright C. poor D. wealthy
