A bicycle may be seen by most people as just another vehicle(交通工具), but for many Londoners, cycling is a way of life. According to an official UK government survey in 2017, about 570,000 bike journeys are made every day in London. In fact, almost half of the vehicles that pass over London Bridge each day are bikes.
London introduced a public bike-sharing system in 2010. “There can be no doubt that our trusty bicycles have changed the way people get around our great city,” Johnson told The Guardian in 2015.
In London, bikes are used for more than just taking short trips to and from the subway. No matter where you want to go in the city, taking a bike is usually the quickest and easiest choice.
And it’s not just shared bikes that the government is encouraging people to ride. In many companies across the UK, the UK government’s Cycle to Work scheme(骑行倡议) allows employees to buy a brand new bike without having to pay any tax(税). This means that it’s common to see many people cycling to and from work, and some employers even provide workplace showers and lockers(储物柜) for their workers. More importantly, a cycle-friendly boss may let you off for being late if you rode a bike to work.
Not only is it great for the environment and our body, cycling is also good for the mind. According to National Geographic Magazine, “Bike riding can improve people’s happiness.”
1.How does the author show the popularity of cycling in London?
A.By making comparisons. B.By giving examples.
C.By using numbers. D.By using famous sayings.
2.What’s Johnson’s attitude toward the bike-sharing system in London?
A.Supportive. B.Doubtful.
C.Disappointed. D.Uninterested.
3.What can employees get from the government under the “Cycle to Work” scheme?
A.Free bike-sharing services. B.A tax-free bike.
C.Shorter working hours. D.Workplace showers and lockers.
4.What’s the article mainly about?
A.Cycling as a healthy way of life.
B.London’s public bike-sharing system.
C.Why Londoners are encouraged to ride bikes.
D.How cycling has become popular in London.
Bright Side did some research on many places throughout the world where you can buy a house for 1 dollar or for free!
Roubaix, France
If you like France, Roubaix located in the north of France is just for you. The local authorities want it to be populated and attractive. You can buy a small house in the industrial district for just $1. The buyer is supposed to live in this house for 3 years.
Buffalo. USA
Buffalo offers whoever qualifies to buy a house for $1. All you need is to be a lawful citizen of the city and invest amount of money into its decoration. Doing this, the authorities are hoping to make the city beautiful again without spending money.
Liverpool, Great Britain
In Liverpool, most of houses were abandoned (遗弃）by the working class during the years of unemployment. The government is trying to sell the houses for just $1. If you want to buy such a house, it has to be your first deal on buying property（房产）.
Candela, Italy
If you still have any doubts about spending $1 on a house, you should know: the government will pay you some money, if you move to Candela. In order to be paid, you need to become a permanent（永久的）citizen and have an income of $7500 per year. If moving alone, you will get $800, and if you are going with your family, the pay can be four times as much as only one person.
For more information of other cities, please Click Here.
1.Why do the authorities of Buffalo provide a house for people with 1$?
A.To improve the lives of poor people.
B.To make the city attractive at no cost.
C.To solve the problems of employment.
D.To attract people to the industrial areas.
2.What is required to buy a house for 1 dollar in Liverpool?
A.You need to be an unemployed citizen.
B.You should live in the house for 3 years.
C.It must be your first house purchase.
D.You have to repair and decorate the house.
3.How much money can you get if moving to Candela with a whole family?
A.$3200 B.$9600
C.$800 D.$7500
假设你是红星中学高三（1）班李华，你校将在下周五举办“校园文化节（Campus Culture Festival）”系列活动。请给你班留学生Jim写封邮件，邀请他参加，邮件的内容包括：
1.介绍你选择的活动内容； 2.说明参加该活动的理由； 3.询问是否愿意参加该活动；
注意：1.词数不少于50；2.邮件的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
At many Thanksgiving dinners, everyone around the table shares something they are thankful for. As we know, most can do this easily. 1.
Be positive. No matter what happens, it’s best to remember the good things. Find the bright side in bad situations, and push back against negative opinions. Also, do your best not to compare yourself to others. But when you’re around others, give expression to what you like about them. 2.
Accept the negative. At the same time, we can’t pay no attention to bad things that have happened. We should learn from mistakes. 3.Before we know it, we’re thankful for negative things, too. Our mistakes can also make us humble（谦逊的）, which is not all bad. Humble people have better relationship and see life’s blessing much more clearly!
Acts of kindness. Thankful people know that it’s much better to give than to receive. When you’re thankful, you feel it’s your duty to show love to others. Some people volunteer to help people in need.4.
5.By spending time with others, you show them how much they mean to you. But being thankful is also better realized by spending time alone. When you’re alone, you can think about the best parts of your day. You can list them out and think them over. You can find your way to make thanksgiving a part of your life. How wonderful it is! Just enjoy it every day!
A. Use of time.
B. It makes us become strong.
C. Helping others will cost you lots of time.
D. Studies show that volunteers might feel happier and healthier.
E. It’s more important to know how to be thankful people all the time.
F. By keeping good in mind, you’ll give thanks for it even more than before.
G. So you have the stories to get your family talking at the Thanksgiving table.
My doorbell rings. On the step, I find the elderly Chinese lady, small and slight, holding the hand of a little boy. In her other hand, she holds a paper carrier bag.
I know this lady. It is not her first visit. She is the boy’s grandmother, and her daughter bought the house next door last October.
Her daughter, Nicole, speaks fluent English. But she is now in Shanghai, and her parents are here with the little boy. Nicole has obviously told her mother that I am having heart surgery soon, so her mother has decided I need more nutrients.
I know what is inside the bag—a thermos with hot soup and a stainless-steel container with rice, vegetables and either chicken, meat or shrimp, sometimes with a kind of pancake. This has become an almost-daily practice.
Communication between us is somewhat affected by the fact that she doesn’t speak English and all I can say in Chinese is hello. Once, she brought an iPad as well as the food. She pointed to the screen, which displayed a message from her daughter telling me that her mother wanted to know if the food was all right and whether it was too salty. I am not used to iPads, so she indicated I should go with her to her house. Then, she handed the iPad to her husband and almost immediately I found myself looking at Nicole in Shanghai and discussing her mother’s cooking and salt intake. Instantly, tears welled in my eyes.
“Your mother just can’t be bringing me meals like this all the time,” I insisted. “I can hardly do dishes in return.”
“Oh, no, Lucy.” Nicole said. “Mum doesn’t like western food. Don’t worry about it; she has to cook for the three of them anyway, and she wants to do it.”
The doorbell keeps ringing and there is the familiar brown paper carrier bag, handed smilingly to me.
I am now working on some more Chinese words—it’s the least I can do after such display of kindness.
“Thank you” is, of course, the first one. Somehow, it seems inadequate.
1.The elderly Chinese lady visits Lucy regularly because ________.
A.Lucy pays her to deliver food
B.Lucy likes cooking Chinese food
C.she cares about Lucy’s state of health
D.she wants to make friends with Lucy
2.Nicole’s mum took an iPad to Lucy’s home for ________.
A.displaying B.communicating
C.cooking D.chatting
3.In this passage Lucy mainly expresses her ________.
A.preference for the Chinese food
B.gratitude to the Chinese family
C.love of the advanced technology
D.affection for the Chinese language
In business, there’s a speed difference: It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive strategy and how fast the company actually moves. The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track. What’s more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.
How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean. Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value). Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference. But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services.
In our study, higher-companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion. They encouraged new ways of thinking. And they allowed time to look back and learn. By contrast, performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiently, stuck to tested methods, didn’t develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking about changes.
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership. Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals. That kind of strategy must come from the top.
1.What does the underlined part “gain an edge” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.Get an advantage. B.Increase the speed.
C.Reach the limit. D.Set a goal.
2.What can we learn from the text?
A.How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is.
B.How competitive a firm is depends on what if produces.
C.Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes.
D.Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.
3.According to the author, what is the key to deciding strategic speed?
A.Pausing at key moments. B.The size of company.
C.The boss. D.The quality of the products.
4.Which could be the best title for the text?
A.Improve Quality? Serve Better. B.Deliver Value? Plough ahead.
C.Reduce Time? Move Faster. D.Need Speed? Slow Down.
