Microsoft PowerPoint is the world’s most common presentation tool. It emerged from software company Forethought Inc in the 1980s. Bob Gaskins was the man behind it.
“I knew in the early 80s that there were as many as a billion, a thousand million presentation slides being made per year just in America,” Gaskins says，“ but they were all made by hand and almost nobody was using computers to do them.
“It was clear to me that here was a huge application worth billions and billions of dollars a year that could be done on computers as soon as there was a revolution in the kinds of computers that we had.”
Gaskins was onto something, but it was a hard sell at the time. The software wouldn’t run on any existing personal computers. Anyone wanting to use it had to buy a new machine. Even so, people bought personal computers for the first time in order to be able to use PowerPoint, says Wired magazine journalist Russell Davies.
Davies explains that before PowerPoint, people used slides to convey information to groups --- but anyone creating a presentation had to send away to get their materials made. It took a long time to do, was difficult to make changes and because it was so expensive, only the most senior people in an organisation got to do it.
“ PowerPoint，” Davies says，“made it possible for everyone in an organisation to stand up and say their piece.”
PowerPoint has helped turn us all into presenters --- but it’ s also been accused of over-simplifying ideas and distracting (干扰)us from clear thinking.
Sarah Kaplan is a management professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She has noticed that, rather than people asking for new analysis or insights in meetings, they were asking for more PowerPoint slides.
Kaplan says that some CEOS, such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, have banned its use. “He felt, and I think many people feel, that PowerPoint became such an object of the process that they lost the ideas inside of it and that is the risk.”
1.What drove Bob Gaskins to develop PowerPoint?
A.His personal needs at the office.
B.The support from Forethought Inc.
C.The great potential market demand.
D.His interest in science and technology.
2.What was the problem with Bob Gaskin’s PowerPoint in the 1980s?
A.It was very expensive.
B.It was very difficult to use.
C.It couldn’t t be used on old computers.
D.It couldn’t satisfy young people’s needs.
3.What might be Russell Davies’s attitude to PowerPoint?
A.Critical. B.Appreciative. C.Cautious. D.Contradictory.
4.Why does Jeff Bezos ban the use of PowerPoint?
A.It fails to solve practical problems.
B.It fails to convey messages effectively.
C.It makes something valuable unavailable.
D.It results in creative thinking getting ignored.
Positive thinking is a significant element of happiness. In order to become a positive thinker, determination and consistency are important. The first thing to know about positive thinking is that everyone can do it. With certain cognitive (认知的) and behavioral changes, we can all become positive thinkers. Another important factor is that being a positive thinker does not mean you become numb to anything that is not working properly in your life or is negative - it just means that you approach life and face challenges with a healthier outlook.
Instead of selectively attending to negative events, focus on the positive ones. Then pay attention to the delayed consequences of your behavior rather than the immediate ones. For example, if a job is not going like you want, focus on the fact that you have a job and how you can take your time to make the situation better.
Challenge any internal attributions and see if you compare your behavior to standards that are excessively rigid and perfectionistic. If so, change these and be reasonable with your comparisons. For example, if you constantly compare your weaknesses with other people's strengths, then switch this and compare yourself with those who are doing poorer than you as well. Overall, people who focus more on their strengths than their weaknesses but at the same time are aware of their weaknesses have a healthier self-evaluation result.
When faced with too much fear about a situation, imagine the worst case and visualize a solution for it, then let go of fear. This way, you will be prepared for anything and your fear will not block you from being open and creative to different solutions. For example, if you are constantly worried about losing your job up to a point where it is creating a lot of anxiety and fear and is effecting your performance and your happiness negatively, then think of losing your job, visualize how you will handle it, find solutions in your mind and then let go of the thought and the fear attached to it.
So positive thinkers are better problem solvers and have better interactions. In addition to that, people who are positive thinkers are happier and more satisfied with their life.
1.Why is positive thinking a significant element of happiness?
A. It means that one is blind to the troubles and difficulties that exist.
B. It means that one constantly compares everything with other people's.
C. It means that one is strong in mind and has nothing to be afraid of.
D. It means that one approaches life and faces challenges more healthily.
2.What does the text suggest about the job you don't like?
A. Quitting it and finding a better one.
B. Keeping and trying to make it better.
C. Being negative and numb to it.
D. Challenging yourself with a new outlook.
3.What does the author intend to tell us in paragraph 4?
A. Be prepared for the worst: and let go of fear.
B. Being constantly worried will lose your job.
C. Fear will prevent you being open and creative.
D. There is nothing to fear if well prepared.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. How to focus on the positive events
B. How to be a positive thinker
C. What to do when faced with fear
D. What to know of self-evaluation
I walked up to the counter. Behind it was a lady with glasses on the tip of her nose and gray hair on her head.
"Excuse me," I said. She looked up. "You're that Clements kid," she said."I'm Miss Bee.Come closer and let me get a look at you." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "I can describe you to the police if something goes missing from the store."
"I'm not a thief!" I was shocked. I was seven, too young to be a thief!
"From what I can see, you're not much of anything. But I can tell you've got potential." She went back to reading her newspaper.
"I need to get these." I said, holding up my list. "So? Go get them."Miss Bee pointed to a sign on the screen door. "I'm not your servant,so I suggest you get yourself a basket and start filling."
I visited Miss Bee several times a week that summer. Sometimes she short-changed me. Other times she overcharged. "That can of beans is only twenty nine cents" I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the numbers change on the cash register closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn't seem embarrassed. She just looked at me over her glasses and fixed the price.
But she ever let me declare victory. All summer long she found ways to play tricks on me. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda(小苏打)and memorized its location on the shelf than Miss Bee rearranged the shelve and made me hunt for it all over again.
One day before I left, she said, "I know what you think of me, but I don't care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason.I believe my job is to teach every child I meet life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad our paths crossed!" Glad I met Miss Bee? Ha! The idea was absurd...
Until one day my daughter asked me to finish her math problems. "If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?" I said. Suddenly, I remembered the lady Miss Bee.
1.The girl felt when Miss Bee implied she could be a thief.
A.surprised B.shocked
C.puzzled D.annoyed
2.We can infer from Paragraph 6 that Miss Bee .
A.showed no care about her mistakes
B.made the girl learn to double-check
C.was always playing tricks on the girl
D.was careless and dishonest to do business
3.It can be learned from the passage that Miss Bee .
A.knew her job was to help every child she met
B.asked the girl to shop by herself to test her honesty
C.taught the girl many lessons but she didn't understand
D.rearranged the shelves to teach the girl to be changeable
4.Which is NOT the lesson the writer learnt from shopping?
A.Treat others kindly and politely.
B.Don't be so quick to judge others.
C.The best teachers aren't only in school.
D.Try our best though the task seems beyond us.
Auctions(拍卖行) are everywhere. Here are just a few standouts and some of the areas they specialize in. All have brick-and-mortar(实体的) sales rooms in addition to online buying.
Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
Headquarters(总部): Chicago
Founded: 1982
Best bets: contemporary art, jewelry
The founder, Leslie Hindman, has been on an expansion kick from her Chicago base and now runs eight offices across the country. Ms. Hindman said that plenty of items sell at her house for around $500. As in the auction world generally, jewelry and contemporary art receive lots of attention from bidders(出价者)， and in2017 a diamond ring sold for $97,000.
Swann Auction Galleries
Headquarters: New York
Founded: 1941
Best bets: books, works on paper, African-American art
Founded as a rare-book auctioneer, Swann still holds dozens of such sales a year. The president, Nicholas D. Lowry, noted that Swann was the first auction house to sell old photographs, in 1952.The house has also had a department of African-American art for 12 years.
Stair Galleries
Headquarters: Hudson, N.Y.
Founded: 2001
Best bets: English and Continental furniture and paintings, modern and contemporary art
Colin Stair, the founder and president, comes from a long line of antiques dealers (商人). Stair is frequented by dealers and bargain hunters, and it's a place to find interesting things like a George I carved walnut wing armchair, coming up as part of a sale on April 28 and 29.
Heritage Auctions
Headquarters: Dallas
Founded: 1983
Best bets: coins, sports memorabilia, movie posters
With roots in coin auctions, Heritage has grown quite large. But their bread and butter are items that the company president, Greg Rohan, calls "the kinds of things that everyone has. " "People aren’t buying what were selling for decoration or for resale, " he added. "They’re buying things they absolutely love. "
1.At which place can you buy old photographs?
A.Stair Galleries. B.Heritage Auctions.
C.Swann Auction Galleries. D.Leslie Hindman Auctioneers.
2.Who once sold antiques?
A.Colin Stair. B.Greg Rohan. C.Leslie Hindman. D.Nicholas D. Lowry
3.What can be learned about these auctions?
A.They all have online shops.
B.They all sell valuable artworks.
C.They are all run by local people.
D.They are all located in New York.
假如你是李华，你看到美国留学生Sharon 在网上发帖，希望有人能够帮助她提高普通话(Mandarin)水平。请根据以下提示用英语给她写一封电子邮件。
1. 表达给她提供帮助的意愿；
2. 说明你能胜任辅导的理由；
3. 给出讲好普通话的两点建议。
注意：1. 字数100词左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
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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11处起）不计分。
I like travelling and my dream of visit Beijing, the capital city of our country, come true during the National Day holiday this year. In October 1st, I went to Tian'anmen Square with my parents, there we watched the flag-raising ceremony. As I watched flag rising slowly, I sang the national anthem, feel extremely excited. Then we went to some other famous tourist attraction, like the Great Wall. Standing on the Great Wall, I felt very proudly. I thought of the old saying that "One who fail to reach the Great Wall is not a hero." Although I was tired, I really had a fun.
