I came to Rio, Brazil to work one year ago. So what have I found here?
You need to learn Portuguese
I started studying Portuguese about two years ago. I didn’t end up improving my Portuguese as much as I’d hoped before I came here. While Spanish and Portuguese are structurally quite similar, there are huge differences between the two. You can’t just magically understand Brazilians if you speak Spanish.
I didn’t need to bring heels.
Going out in cities like Buenos Aires is a big deal. You get dressed up, you do your hair, and you definitely wear heels—at least if you’re going out to dance. I had no idea how wrong I was. Yes, Rio is a city, but it’s a city on the beach. Of course, there are fancy clubs that probably expect everyone to show up in dress shoes(时装鞋), but most of the places I’ve been to are fine with sneakers, even for dancing.
Learning about pop music is a must.
Whenever I go out and a pop song comes on, every single other person there sings along to all the words. I still haven’t understood if there are only 25 songs that get played in public or if people really do just have a fantastic memory for lyrics, but either way, I wish I’d spent a bit more time practicing Brazilian pop music so I wouldn’t look like such a lost foreigner.
Airplanes are a surprisingly sensitive subject
In Brazil, the credit for modern flight goes to Alberto Santos Dumont. Brazilians say the Wright Brothers’ use of a catapult(飞机弹射器) was technically cheating and point to their man as the real pioneer of the plane. Therefore, be careful before bringing up the subject of planes in Brazil unless you’re ready for a lecture.
1.What can we infer about Brazilians?
A.They are fond of dancing. B.They understand Spanish.
C.They have a good memory. D.They are informally dressed.
2.How did the author react when the others were singing?
A.She felt like an outsider. B.She felt ashamed.
C.She sang along. D.She pretended to be lost.
3.What topic should you avoid in Rio?
A.Pop music. B.Dressing styles.
C.The history of planes. D.Spanish.
4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To tell us something about Brazil.
B.To give foreigners in Rio some suggestions.
C.To share her life in Rio as a foreigner.
D.To encourage us to learn a foreign language.
Everybody, at some point in their lives, has experienced failure. It could be something as simple as not getting the job you wanted, or getting fewer marks even after hard work. But what makes you is not your failure, but how you get back up after being hit.
Once, a young school boy was caught in a fire accident in his school and was assumed that he would not live. His mother was told that he was sure to die, for the terrible fire had destroyed the lower half of his body. Even if he were to survive, he would be lame throughout his life.
But the brave boy did not want to die nor did he want to be lame. Much to the amazement of the doctor, he did survive. But unfortunately from his waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just hung there, lifeless. Eventually he left the hospital. But his determination to walk was unshakable. At home, when he was not in bed, he had to stay in a wheelchair. One day, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him. He reached the fence, raised himself up and then began dragging himself along the fence, firmly determined. He did this every day, with faith in himself that he would be able to walk unaided. With his iron determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk on and off, then to walk by himself and then to run.
He began to walk to school, and then run to school, to run for the joy of running. Later in college he was on the track team.
In February 1934, in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, this young man who was not expected to survive, who would surely never walk, who could never hope to run — this determined young man, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile.
A good example of the power of positive(积极的) thinking and faith in oneself, Glenn Cunningham continues to be an inspiration for many, and his story, a brilliant evidence to how one can bounce back even when all difficulties are piled against one, to the degree that death seemed the preferable choice.
1.What was the doctor’s opinion about Glenn?
A.There was a little chance that Glenn could survive.
B.Great determination could make a difference to Glenn.
C.Glenn was able to walk with his own great effort
D.Glenn could live a normal life with the upper half of his body.
2.The underlined word “unaided” means ________.
A.for himself B.without help
C.with disability D.without hesitation
3.What do we know about Glenn?
A.Glenn took recovery exercise in hospital.
B.Glenn inspired people with his moving story.
C.Glenn won the first place in Marathon.
D.Glenn organized a track team in college.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Stand up after failure B.Strengthen determination
C.Go after dreams D.Face difficulty bravely
You may be familiar with the following famous people, but have you heard of their graduation speeches, in which they either share their unforgotten experiences or give you some great inspiration(灵感).
Michael Dell, University of Texas at Austin
And now you’ve accomplished something great and important here, and it’s time for you to move on to what’s next. And you must not let anything prevent you from taking those first steps. … You must also commit to the adventure. Just have faith in the skills and the knowledge you’ve been blessed(赐予) with and go.
J.K. Rowling, Harvard University
Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between my ambition and the expectation from my parents who were not rich…But what I feared most of myself at your age was not poverty, but failure. The fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you know little about failure, you might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success.
Steve Jobs, Stanford University
Sometimes life’s going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith…Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle.
Bill Gates, Harvard University
We need as many people as possible to have access to the advanced technology to lead to a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, smaller organizations, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches and deal with the world’s inequities(不公平) like hunger, poverty, and so on.
1.What Michael Dell said is to encourage us to ________.
A.listen to our heart B.run after our dreams
C.follow others’ example D.learn from our mistakes
2.What did J.K. Rowling fear most when she was studying in university?
A.Failure. B.Hunger.
C.Poverty. D.Appearance.
3.What does Bill Gates suggest people do?
A.Master as much advanced technology as possible.
B.Make contributions to the environment.
C.Work together to solve some global problems.
D.Take responsibility for their own behavior.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.When does the speaker help with cooking?
A.In the morning. B.In the afternoon. C.In the evening.
2.What does the speaker like best?
A.Fishing. B.Telling stories. C.Riding a horse.
3.Why are the other kids often laughing at the speaker?
A.She dropped the hot dogs in the fire. B.She couldn’t ride a horse.
C.She got lost in the forest.
4.How does the speaker find the summer camp?
A.Surprising. B.Interesting. C.Disappointing.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What are the speakers talking about?
A.How to laugh. B.How to tell jokes. C.How to make people surprised.
2.What makes the woman feel embarrassed (尴尬的)?
A.Her jokes are not appreciated. B.Her friends often laugh at her.
C.Her parents don’t understand her.
3.What does the man suggest to the woman?
A.Laughing Loudly while telling jokes. B.Telling jokes to the right person.
C.Not using body language.
4.What can we learn from the conversation?
A.The woman doesn’t understand her friends at all.
B.When the man tells jokes, his friends seldom laugh.
C.The man is better at telling jokes than the woman.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Where did the woman move when she was young?
A.To America. B.To Mexico. C.To Japan.
2.What will the woman probably do after graduation?
A.Join a company. B.Become a lawyer. C.Run her own hotel.
3.Who is studying management?
A.Jim. B.Daisy. C.Zoe.
