There are 158 footsteps between the bus stop and home, but it can ____________ to 180 if you aren’t in a hurry, like maybe if you’re wearing platform shoes.
A.signal B.adjust C.stretch D.attend
Develop Note-Taking Skills
Speech students are often amazed at how easily their teacher can pick out a speaker’s main points, evidence, and techniques. Of course, the teacher knows what to listen for and has had plenty of practice. But the next time you get an opportunity, watch your teacher during a speech. Chances are she or he will be listening with pen and paper. 1.
Unfortunately, many people don’t take notes effectively. Some try to write down everything a speaker says. They view note taking as a race, pitting their handwriting agility(敏捷) against the speaker’s rate of speech. 2. But soon the speaker is winning the race. The speaker pulls so far ahead that the note taker can never catch up. Finally, the note taker admits defeat and spends the rest of the speech grumbling in frustration.
3. They arrive armed with pen, notebook, and the best of intentions. They know they can’t write down everything, so they settle comfortably in their seats and wait for the speaker to say something that grabs their attention. Every once in a while the speaker rewards them with a joke, a dramatic story, or a startling fact. Then the note taker seizes pen, jots down a few words, and leans back dreamily to await the next fascinating tidbit(趣闻). By the end of the lecture the note taker has a set of tidbits—and little or no record of the speaker’s important ideas.
As these examples illustrate, they don’t know what to listen for, and they don’t know how to record what they do listen for. 4. But once you know what to listen for, you still need a sound method of note taking.
Although there are a number of systems, most students find the key-word outline best for listening to speeches. As its name suggests, this method briefly notes a speaker’s main points and supporting evidence in rough outline form. By separating main points from sub-points and evidence, the outline format shows the relationships among the speaker’s ideas. 5. But with a little effort you will become a better note taker.
A. Perfecting this taking requires practice.
B. Some people go to the opposite extreme.
C. As the speaker starts to talk, the note taker starts to write.
D. Taking effective notes usually helps you receive higher grades.
E. Most inefficient note takers suffer from one or both of two problems.
F. When note taking is done properly, it is sure to keep track of a speaker’s ideas.
G. The solution to the first problem is to focus on a speaker’s main points and evidence.
The word proactivity is fairly common in management literature, but you won't find it in the dictionary. It means that as a human being you take responsibility for your own life．
Look at the word responsibility: ability to choose your response, response-ability. Effective people are proactive because they take responsibility. Their behavior is a product of their own decisions, based on values, rather than being a product of their own conditions, based on feelings．For instance, you are planning a picnic with your family．You're excited．You have all the preparations．You've decided where to go, and then it becomes stormy, killing your plan．Proactive people carry weather within them. They realize what their purpose really was, and they creatively have a picnic elsewhere even if it's in their own basement with some special games, and make the best of that situation．The opposite of being proactive is to be reactive．Reactive people would say, "What's the use?" "We can't do anything．" "Oh this is so upsetting after all of our preparations and arrangements." They try to persuade the people around them and usually the picnic will be cancelled．
Being proactive is really just being true to your human nature. Your basic nature is to act, and not to be acted upon．That's true, despite widely accepted theories of determinism used to explain human nature. Determinism says that you don't really choose anything and that what you call choices are nothing more than automatic responses to outside conditions．
The language of reactive people is like: " I can't．" " Don't have time．" " I have to．" " I must．" The whole spirit of that language is the transfer of responsibility．They think things are determined by their environment, or by their conditions, or by their conditioning or their genetic makeup．Psychologically, people who believe they are determined will produce the evidence to support the belief, and they increasingly feel victimized and out of control．They're not in charge of their life at all．
On the contrary, a proactive person exercises free will, the freedom to choose the response that best applies to his values．In that way, he gains control over the circumstances, rather than being controlled by them．
1.According to the passage, a proactive person's behavior can result from ______．
A.the environment B.an inner belief
C.the genetic makeup D.a temporary feeling
2.When a picnic plan is threatened by a sudden storm, reactive people will probably ____．
A.have the picnic as planned
B.make the best of the picnic
C.complain and give up the picnic
D.find somewhere else for the picnic
3.What does "carry weather within them" in the second paragraph probably mean?
A.Manage to improve the weather．
B.Give in to the weather passively．
C.Stress the influence of the weather．
D.Find a solution to the weather problems．
4.It can be concluded from the passage that determinists (宿命论者) ______．
A.accept things passively
B.are in charge of themselves
C.are similar to proactive people
D.respond to outside conditions actively
If you’re a male and you’re reading this, congratulations! You’re a survivor. According to statistics，you’re more than twice as likely to die of skin cancer than a woman，and nine times more likely to die of AIDS. Assuming you make it to the end of your natural term，about 78 years for men in Australia，you’ll die on average five years before a woman.
There're many reasons for this--typically，men take more risks than women and are more likely to drink and smoke but perhaps more importantly, men don’t go to the doctor.
“Men aren't seeing doctors as often as they should，” says Dr. Gullotta.“This is particularly so
for the over-40s, when diseases tend to strike. According to a recent survey, 95％of women aged between 15 and early 49s see a doctor once a year, compared to 70％of men in the same age group.
“A lot of men think they’re unbeatable，”Gullotta says．“They only come in when a friend drops dead on the golf course and they think, Geez, if it could happen to him …”
Then there’s the ostrich（鸵鸟）approach．“Some men are scared of what might be there and would rather not know,” says Dr. Ross Cartmill.
“Most men get their cars serviced more regularly than they service their bodies,” Cartmill says. He believes most diseases that commonly affect men could be addressed by preventive check-ups.
“Prevention is cheaper in the long run than having to treat the diseases．Besides, the final cost is far greater，it’s called premature death.”
1.Why does the author congratulate male readers at the beginning of the passage?
A.They can live longer than they expected．
B.They are sure to enjoy a longer and happier life.
C.They have lived long enough to read this article.
D.They are more likely to survive serious diseases now．
2.Which of the author’s statements is the most important reason that men die five years earlier on average than women according to the passage?
A.Men drink and smoke much more than women.
B.Men don’t seek medical care as often as women.
C.Men are more likely to suffer from deadly diseases.
D.Men aren’t as cautious as women in face of danger.
3.Which of the following best completes the underlined sentence “Geez, if it could happen to him…” （in Para 4） ?
A.it could happen to me，too.
B.it would be a big misfortune.
C.I should avoid playing golf.
D.I should consider myself lucky.
4.What does Dr．Ross Cartmill mean by“the ostrich approach”（in Para 5）?
A.A casual attitude towards one’s health conditions.
B.A new treatment for certain psychological problems．
C.Refusal to get medical treatment for fear of the pain involved.
D.Unwillingness to find out about one’s disease because of fear.
The Brown Bear
My wife Laura and I were on the beach, with three of our children, taking pictures of shore birds near our home in Alaska when we spotted a bear. The bear was thin and small, moving aimlessly.
Just a few minutes later, I heard my daughter shouting, "Dad! The bear is right behind us!" An aggressive bear will usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy but would suddenly stop at the last minute. This one was silent and its ears pinned back — the sign (迹象) of an animal that is going in for the kill. And it was a cold April day. The bear behaved abnormally, probably because of hunger.
I held my camera tripod (三脚架) in both hands to form a barrier as the bear rushed into me. Its huge head was level with my chest and shoulders, and the tripod stuck across its mouth. It bit down and I found myself supporting its weight. I knew I would not be able to hold it for long.
Even so, this was a fight I had to win: I was all that stood between the bear and my family, who would stand little chance of running faster than a brown bear.
The bear hit at the camera, cutting it off the tripod. I raised my left arm to protect my face; the beast held tightly on the tripod and pressed it into my side. My arm could not move, and I sensed that my bones were going to break.
Drawing back my free hand, I struck the bear as hard as I could for five or six times. The bear opened its mouth and I grasped its fur, trying to push it away. I was actually wrestling (扭 打) with the bear at this point. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended. The bear moved back towards the forest, before returning for another attack — the first time I felt panic.
Apparently satisfied that we caused no further threat, the bear moved off, destroying a fence as it went. My arm was injured, but the outcome for us could hardly have been better. I'm proud that my family remained clear-headed when panic could have led to a very different outcome.
1.The brown bear approached the family in order to _______.
A.catch shore birds B.start an attack
C.protect the children D.set up a barrier for itself
2.The bear finally went away after it _______.
A.felt safe B.got injured
C.found some food D.took away the camera
3.The writer and his family survived mainly due to their_______ .
A.pride B.patience
C.calmness D.cautiousness
The Pillow
At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.
We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house — something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.
On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, “What do you want for your new room?” Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, “I just want a bed.”
The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.
When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.
That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.
As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, “What is that?”
“A pillow,” he replied.
“What do you do with it?” Eric continued to ask.
“When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.
“Oh . . . that’s soft,” he said, hugging it tightly.
Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, “Do you have a pillow?”
We know exactly what he means.
1.The writer’s first volunteer project was ________.
A.working on a poor trailer B.helping a poor family
C.donating beds and bedding D.dealing with a housing problem
2.On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because ________.
A.the family lived in a trailer B.he expected to get some toys
C.he didn’t know what a bed was D.the boys had no bed to sleep in
3.From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen before ________.
A.a trailer B.a truck C.a pillow D.a house
4.By sayg “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that ________.
A.what they want to get may be unnecessary
B.they should not waste money on small things
C.they should do more volunteer work for the poor
D.what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow
