Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1.Why does the writer regard “if only” as two of the saddest words in the English language?
A. Because people use them when they feel sad
B. Because they express regrets and disappointment in life
C. Because the remind the writer of some sad experiences
D. Because they mean sadness in the English language
2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “foregone” in Paragraph 3?
A. given up B. come across
C. got through D. held back
3.The author decided to go to her office on Good Friday to ________.
A. see a doctor B. finish her work
C. join a celebration D. accompany her father
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Advice from My Father B. Avoidance of saying “If Only”
C. The “Extra Minute” Rule D. The importance of Emotional Well-being
Metropolis Book Club
Membership:
All you need to do is fill out the order form at the bottom of the page, select your first order from our book list and then post the completed form back to us.
Special offers for new members:
As a special offer, you may choose any reduced-price books from our new members’ book
list, to the value of 100 yuan in total.
Tick the box on your form to order a free watch.
Join before the end of this month and you receive another free book carefully chosen by our
staff.
Order an audio-book from the many on offer, at half the recommended retail price.
When you’ve joined:
As a member you get around 50% off the publisher’s price of every book you buy, and what’s more, they come straight to your door. Your free club magazine arrives once a month to keep you up to date with the latest best-sellers we’ve added to our list. On the Internet, you can find all our titles for the year at our exclusive members’ website. Our website also has a book swap service where members can request or offer books for exchange.
Being a member:
All you have to do is order four books during your first year. After that, you can decide on the number of books you wish to take.
In each of your monthly club magazines, our experienced staff choose a “Book of the Month” for you, which is offered at an extra-special price. If you do not want this book, just say so in the space provided on the form and send it back to us. We always send the book if we do not receive this form.
Once we receive your order, your books are delivered within one week. And remember, you have up to a fortnight to decide if you wish to keep the books you have ordered. If they aren’t what you expected just send them back!
1.How can you become a member of the Metropolis Book Club?
A. By ordering a watch free of charge.
B. By sending the advertisement to the club.
C. By choosing books with special prices.
D. By returning the completed order form.
2.What information does the monthly magazine give members?
A. The percentage saved on each book.
B. The names of all the books sold by the club.
C. The list of the newest books available to buy.
D. The books that can be swapped by club members.
3.What can we infer from the last part of the passage?
A. At least four books should be bought each year.
B. Members can look at the books before they buy them.
C. Members need to buy the “Book of the Month”.
D. The more books bought, the higher the member’s grade.
假如你是李华，你的美国网友Tom前些天浏览微博时发现一个热搜词“小雪”，却发现并非真的下小雪，而是中国24节气之一请你写信为他稍作解释，内容包括：
1. 对“小雪”节气的说明（如：每年1月2日前后，24节气中第2个，轻微降雪等）；
2. 对“24节气”作用的说明（如：古人文化遗产之24节气，一年分为24等份，太阳活动、季节气候变化指导农业日常生活等）。
注意：1. 词数100左右；开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；可以适当增加细节，不逐词逐句翻译。
2. 参考词汇：热搜词top search term，小雪slight snow，浏览微博browse weibo/ microblog，24节气the 24 solar terms，农历 the Chinese Lunar Calendar。
Dear Tom,
How is everything with you? I’m more than delighted to write to you.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Recently, we have had a instructive discussion on how to make English learning relaxing and interesting. It’s all too natural that we had come up with a lot of advices concerning the topic. Firstly, we can have more interactive activities that makes English learning great fun in class and it is generally considered not a little beneficially to us all. Secondly, we need to find more chances to communicating with people in English, whether they are English teachers and classmates, because using English is the best way to learn. As it is known to all, practice makes perfect.
In my eyes, there are many other ways like listening ∧ English songs, watching English movies, joining English clubs or making pen friends on the Internet. That we need most is more time and more space.
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式
Earthquakes can be destructive. Unfortunately, we don t have a 1. (rely) way to predict. But technologies can still help us under such a desperate situation. China is building the world’s largest earthquake alert system and it’s 2. (possible) the most advanced. Engineers 3. (set) up over 15,000 sensors (传感器) nationwide and wiring them into a web, 4. an earthquake happens, the sensors can send electrical pulses to the control center and then ordinary people’s smartphones.
The signal travels at almost light speed and faster than the earthquake shaking, 5. (give) local people a little time to prepare, and the system can usually send messages to people thin less than two seconds. It’s life-saving. The system, 6. can be the most advanced in many ways, will be the largest earthquake observation network in the world, not only detecting the 7. (move of the continents but also calculating the possible impact 8. an earthquake. It will automatically warn local people, making 9. (it) much faster than human observation. The system, overseen by China’s Ministry of Emergency Management, is set 10. (complete) in 2022.
As a teenager in the 1960s, growing up in suburbs south of Boston, I fell under the control of the very pleasantly ____ mysteries of the Chinese language. Someday, I told myself, I would ______ the meanings of the mysteries.
So, entering college, I decided to ______ the study of Chinese. But my small college in Maine offered no courses in that language. Following graduation from college. I entered an evening course at a language center for adults, and thus ______ my personal journey in the study of Chinese. That journey ______ George Washington and Georgetown universities, the Department of State’s Foreign Language Institute’s early morning classes. and after a 15-year ______, restarted in tutoring classes starting in 1999 and later in independent study at George Mason University without:______. From 1983 and through the following decades, a dozen business trips to China ______ my study of Chinese, I experienced the amazing change of China.
My connection to China grew even stronger when quite ______ my daughter Carmen started her study of Chinese at Haverford College. After her graduation, the Confucius Institute ______ her a yearlong scholarship to study Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University. She remained in Beijing for three years, working for a company that helps Chinese high school students ______ top U.S. colleges and universities.
In 2012, I retired.______ that I should find some way to show appreciation for the Confucius Institute’s generosity toward my family, I began to ______ weekly presentations about Chinese affairs sponsored by George Mason’s Confucius Institute, where by late 2014 this.______ contact had led to the formation of a Chinese Reading Club. By mid-2016 six experienced Chinese learners could read and discuss difficult, ______ literary shorter works of such ______ Chinese authors as Mo Yan, Liu Zhenyun, and Su Tong.
Under the teachers guidance the ______ and joys of the group meetings to understand the secrets of the short stories I read, in Chinese, have brought me to a deeper understanding of China. I am personally ______ for the opportunity provided. I can only suggest George Mason Confucius Institute consider ______ the model of this reading group to others, as the worlds most spoken and read language is ______ popular among the Westerners who have started the wonderful voyage to it.
1.A. relaxing B. inviting C. developing D. confusing
2.A. uncover B. deepen C. explain D. evaluate
3.A. look into B. break off C. take up D. seek out
4.A. spread B. postponed C. shared D. launched
5.A. wound through B. shook off C. set up D. lived with
6.A. interaction B. break C. improvement D. exchange
7.A. barriers B. inspiration C. guidance D. destinations
8.A. strengthened B. started C. interrupted D. ended
9.A. on the contrary B. on purpose C. to some extent D. by accident
10.A. returned B. lent C. showed D. awarded
11.A. try out B. apply to C. deal with D. adapt to
12.A. Requesting B. Hearing C. Reflecting D. Demanding
13.A. attend B. join C. post D. condemn
14.A. prepared B. portable C. casual D. complicated
15.A. regularly B. highly C. rapidly D. properly
16.A. rejected B. annoyed C. suspected D. respected
17.A. weaknesses B. challenges C. sufferings D. strengths
18.A. desperate B. concerned C. grateful D. anxious
19.A. guaranteeing B. canceling C. selling D. promoting
20.A. increasingly B. discouragingly C. frighteningly D. decreasingly
