A stranger’s sweet offer toward a stressed-out mother at Starbucks has had a surprising effect on both women’s lives．
Clawson’s family was ____ lots of transition(变故)recently．Her father，who had provided daily ____ for her children，passed away．About two months ago，her babysitter quit suddenly，____ Clawson to leave her job to become a stay-at-home mother，a role she was not prepared to ____．
That day，Clawson felt ____ while sitting in Starbucks．“It’s been hard because I am no longer providing ____ ，but I still decided to ____ myself to a coffee，”the 32-year-old mother said．When a(n) __ at the order window said her coffee had been paid for by a woman called Mauller，she was ____ ．
On the way home，Clawson ____ to see the car driven by the stranger ____ into a driveway across the street and a few houses down from Clawson’s ____ ．So，she wrote a thank-you note and ____ it into Mauller’s mailbox．“Thank you for the coffee，”wrote Clawson．“What you did for me was ____ a coffee．It was something that has turned my whole day around，put tears in my eyes and a ____ on my face．The last couple of months have been a bit of a __．Your kindness gives me much encouragement and comfort．I feel so ___ ．
That evening，having read the ___ ，Mauller went door to door in search of Clawson．When the women met in person，they hugged．“A stranger bought me coffee when I was in need and I want to ____ the kindness，”said Mauller．
“Small acts can make a big ____ ．Guys，spread some kindness，”Mauller wrote on Twitter．
1.A. receiving B. 1osing C. seeking D. experiencing
2.A. care B. comfort C. attention D. information
3.A. begging B. forcing C. urging D. advising
4.A. carry on B. depend on C. take on D. agree on
5.A. puzzled B. touched C. delighted D. depressed
6.A. income B. food C. protection D. accommodation
7.A. devote B. treat C. adapt D. apply
8.A. interviewee B. employee C. trainee D. retiree
9.A. shocked B. frightened C. annoyed D. interested
10.A. seemed B. failed C. refused D. happened
11.A. jump B. break C. pull D. 1ook
12.A. office B. home C. school D. community
13.A. stole B. changed C. slipped D. turned
14.A. other than B. rather than C. 1ess than D. more than
15.A. spot B. mask C. smile D. mark
16.A. struggle B. task C. 1esson D. message
17.A. successful B. grateful C. merciful D. painful
18.A. email B. comment C. note D. notice
19.A. remember B. witness C. record D. repay
20.A. difference B. achievement C. fortune D. deal
There are frequent reports on the need of volunteers in so many different charitable organizations．1. There are actually many ways to find opportunities to help others．When a person is looking for volunteer opportunities and doesn’t care where he volunteers，a good place to look for jobs is through local volunteer centers．These centers may have lists，much like classified ads，requesting volunteers in a variety of fields．It can help to choose a volunteer position that will take advantage of work or life experience．2. Other employers and companies may not be that picky and are willing to take on anyone who has enthusiasm for the work．
Sometimes people want to become a volunteer in a specific type of work．3. The best route may be to contact these facilities and find out what available volunteer programs they have．Some programs may require job applications and training，and this training isn’t always free．Looking around at a few programs can help people find the ones that don’t charge for training．
4. Schools may additionally have volunteer job listings that can help people become a volunteer．Sometimes listings for jobs are exclusive(独有的) to the school and people may find work as tutors or administrative assistants．
It isn’t always necessary to look at non-profit companies to find volunteer opportunities．Plenty of individuals and for-profit companies may benefit from volunteers’help too．A volunteer babysitter or someone who helps a neighbor with the housework can make a big difference in a community．Volunteering doesn’t have to be a full-time commitment．5.
A．Different organizations have different ways to attract volunteers．
B．They may want to help at an animal shelter or work in a hospital．
C．Many schools now have community service requirements for students．
D．It may be an occasional thing that promotes good feelings between neighbors．
E．Many people will give more time if they see the benefit of their volunteer work．
F．But people don’t know how to start sometimes if they want to become a volunteer．
G．Some volunteer positions do require that applicants have certain experience before they are hired．
A portrait created by artificial intelligence(AI)made a historic appearance on the auction(拍卖)block at Christie’s in New York City this week．It is the first artwork created by an algorithm(算法)to be offered for auction in the world of fine art．
The strange-looking painting of an imaginary man in a dark long dress left the auction block at Christie’s for $432，500 on Oct．25 in New York City．
The portrait—designed in the“Old Master”style of European fine artists from centuries ago—only partially fills the canvas(画布)，leaving empty space around the central figure．It appears to represent a man with an unclear face，dressed in clothing similar to that worn by subjects painted by the Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn in the 17th century．
Of course，a computer didn’t pick up a brush and become an artist．The AI that generated(生成)the image had human programmers—a Parisian art team called Obvious．To generate the portrait，titled“Portrait of Edmond De Belamy”，the Obvious team first fed the neural network a diet of 15，000 images painted between the 14th and 20th centuries，to train it to recognize visual elements in fine art，Obvious artist Hugo Caselles—Dupré told Christie’s．The algorithm that eventually created an original image had two parts that worked against each other，called the Generator and the Discriminator．
“The Generator makes a new image based on the set，and then the Discriminator tries to spot the difference between a human-made image and one created by the Generator．The aim is to fool the Discriminator into thinking that the new images are real—life portraits．Then，we have a result，”he told Christie’s．
GAN’s final image was then inkjet—printed on canvas and framed，according to Obvious．At the bottom of the portrait is a mathematical formula(公式)representing the algorithm that created it，Obvious artists wrote on the team’s website．
The goal of the painting and of Obvious，also co-founded by Hugo Caselles-Dupré and Gauthier Vernier，was to prove“artificial intelligence can do more than operate driverless cars or transform industry—it can be creative，”CNBC reported．
1.What does the author think of the portrait?
A. It might frightened away the visitors． B. It was a breakthrough in history．
C. It was well received by all the artists． D. It is a masterpiece painted by Christie．
2.How does the portrait look?
A. It is painted with some empty space．
B. The figure wears a strange expression．
C. It is in the style of European fine artists of the time．
D. The figure is dressed in the same way as the Dutch artist．
3.What did the artists do to generate the portrait?
A. They invested $432，500 to buy paintings．
B. They taught the network to learn painting．
C. They worked with the Generator to paint 1 5000 paintings．
D. They input a large number of paintings into the computer．
4.The Obvious team created the portrait to show artificial intelligence can_______．
A. replace human beings B. be applied in many fields
C. operate driverless cars D. be better than human beings
There are many programs for high school students today that help isolated teenagers cope with loneliness．However，loneliness is not only an issue for teens but also an important and rarely acknowledged one in the elderly．
In Britain，Tracey Crouch was appointed to be the first Minister of Loneliness in order to address the issues caused by loneliness．This is the first time such a position has been created．
In Britain，there are around 9 million people who say they are lonely frequently．In Germany，a study conducted by Ruhr University Bochum found that 20 percent of people over the age of 85 felt lonely，and 14 percent of those between age 45 and 65 felt socially isolated．In the United States，more than 25 percent of the population lives alone，more than 50 percent are unmarried．
Isolation is generally associated with cardiovascular disease，depression，obesity，and anxiety．Additionally，the stress from loneliness can cause your cells to change on a molecular(分子)level that reduces its abilities to defend your body against diseases．In fact，doctors believe having feelings of loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes per day in regard to its impact on health!
In Britain，the new Minister of Loneliness will help establish government policies on the issue and fund charities to devote their efforts towards aiding loneliness．There are charities that link lonely seniors to high school students in order to give them a line of communication whenever they feel lonely!
The possibilities for the new Minister of Loneliness are endless．For example，she can provide education services to household businesses so that they can identify lonely customers if they see one．Loneliness fits into the category of being a social issue that must be monitored by the entire community in order to help those in need．Hence，government involvement in medical services and care for seniors and others is essential for happy seniors．
1.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. UK becomes the capital of loneliness． B. Loneliness affects old people’s life．
C. Many teenagers suffer from loneliness． D. UK appoints Minister of Loneliness．
2.How did the writer develop the third paragraph?
A. By listing some specific numbers．
B. By giving examples of lonely people．
C. By pointing out similarities and differences．
D. By comparing different cultures in different countries．
3.What does the underlined words in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. Relevant． B. Equal．
C. Opposite． D. Superior．
4.What will the Minister of Loneliness do?
A. Do housework for lonely people．
B. Develop friendships with the elderly．
C. Help fund charities to aid lonely people．
D. Communicate with depressed school students．
As a teenager working at part-time jobs in New York City in 1939，Stan Lee never expected to become a legendary talent behind some of the world’s most memorable super-heroes．
“I never looked that far ahead，”says Lee．“In fact，I never thought I’d get into the comic book business．I applied for a job at a publishing company and I thought they published regular magazines，which they did also．But the one place they had an opening was in the comic book department，so that’s where I went．”By the time the company became known as Marvel Comics，in the 1960s，he was art director and about to revolutionize comics．
Unlike the perfect comic book superheroes of other companies，Lee made Marvel’s new characters faulty，more human．“And I tried to show that even though they had super power，everything wasn’t perfect in their lives．They still had to worry about earning a living．About their relationship with other people，about their families and their health and so forth，”Lee says．The characters that Lee and the Marvel artists created are so popular，more than two billion comic books based on their adventures have been published，in 75 countries and 25 languages．
Looking back over his 70 years in comics，Lee sees other changes，too．“When we did the comics years ago，we tried to make them so they were suitable for every age．We had a lot of action，but we didn’t really have what we’d call violence，”he says．“I tried to write them，so they were intelligent enough for an older reader，but a young kid could also understand them and enjoy them．”
Interest in stories about Marvel’s superheroes is growing，especially in Hollywood．Next year，Captain America and The Mighty Thor will bring their adventures to the big screen．following in the super-footsteps of The X-Men and Spiderman．
Lee is no longer surprised at the popularity of the characters he helped create．“Now I expect it．In fact，if people talk about some of the great characters in the world today and they don’t mention Marvel’s characters，I get very upset”
1.What do we know about Stan Lee?
A. He is not satisfied with his characters． B. He will appear on the big screen．
C. He is noted for the gift for comic artwork． D. He wrote over two billion comic books．
2.What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
A. Stan Lee happened to enter comics industry and made it．
B. Stan Lee applied for a job at a publishing company but failed．
C. Stan Lee got into the comic book department with large goals．
D. Stan Lee ran Marvel Comics and reformed comics in the 1960s．
3.The characters made by Marvel Comics_________．
A. were perfect comics heroes
B. 1ed readers to live a perfect life
C. satisfied the taste of readers of all ages
D. exposed the violence and darkness of the world
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Comic Superheroes of Marvel Comics
B. Comic Films Created by Marvel Comics
C. Superheroes Comics Company in Big Screen
D. Father of Greatest Comic Super Heroes—Stan Lee
Our“What’s New”collection features a massive range of the latest new DVD releases in movies，TV series，and documentaries．
Andre Rieu—The Magic of Maastricht
Andre commemorates(纪念)a remarkable 30 years since the founding of his beloved band，Johann Strauss Orchestra．This collection of finely crafted interpretations of uplifting evergreens is a must-have!
Tracks include：Sole Mio，Hava Nagila(Let Us Be Happy)，Halleluia，Tuti Frutti，Can’t Help Falling in Love，and more!
$25．95．1 DVD，200 mins．
Railroad Australia
Meet the kings of the train world and discover what it takes to keep these metal monsters on the tracks．In a wild frontier of extreme heat and vast distances，an army of workers toil day and night to keep the nations lifeblood flowing．．．with a lot of help from the biggest and most powerful trains in existence．
$24．95．2 DVDs，325 mins．
Gentle Ben
Based on the beloved children’s novel Gentle Ben follows the thrilling adventures in the Florida Everglades of a game warden，Tom Wedloe(Dennis Weaver)，his wife Ellen(Beth Bricknel)，their son Mark(Clint Howard)and Mark’s tame bear Ben．
$39．95．4 DVDs．7 11 mins．
Land Giris
Land Girls follows the lives and loves of four girls away from home，doing their bit for Britain in the Women’s Land Army(WLA)，a British civilian organization in WWII．The four girls have all joined the WLA with one common goal，to serve their country and help win the war．Follow the girls as they try to live out their lives in very challenging circumstances，with lots of laughter and tears along the way．
$29．95．1 DVD．222 mins．
1.Which of the following probably appeals to kids most?
A. Andre Rieu-the Magic of Maastricht． B. Railroad Australia．
C. Gentle Ben． D. Land Giris．
2.What is Andre Rieu most probably?
A. A detective． B. A musician．
C. An engineer． D. A novelist．
3.What do you know about Land Girls?
A. It is set in Britain in the Second World War．
B. It describes the lives of four American girls．
C. It is a TV drama series about British army life．
D. It is a story about four British women victims．
