The other day, my friend Jane was invited to a 40th birthday party. The time printed on the _______ was 7:30pm. Jane went off with her husband, expecting a _______ evening of wine, _______, and song.
By 9:45, everybody was having great fun, but no food had _______. Jane and David were restless. Other guests began whispering that they, too, were _______. But no one wanted to _______, just in case some food was about to appear. By 11:00, there was still no food, and everyone was _______ off their heads. Jane and David left _______ and angry.
Their _______ suggests that the words on the printed invitations need to be made ____________. Everyone ____________ and understands the invitations ____________. Most of us would agree that 6:30-8:30pm means drinks only, go out to dinner afterwards; 8:00pm or 8:30pm means possible ____________, but 9:30pm and any time thereafter means no food, eat beforehand, arrive late.
But this is not always the case. If ____________ to a students’ party at 6:30pm, it is normal for guests not to appear before midnight, if at all, and no one cares. Being the first to arrive—looking ____________—is social death. When my mother is asked to a party for 6:30, she likes to be there, if not ____________, then no later than seven. My ____________ group (late thirties) falls somewhere between the two, but because we still think we’re ____________, we’re probably closer to student-time than grown-up time.
The accepted custom at present is ____________, sometimes annoying, and it often means you may go home hungry, but it does lend every party that precious element of ____________.
1.A.application B.invitation C.form D.surface
2.A.disappointing B.unexpected C.merry D.nervous
3.A.flowers B.people C.food D.fruit
4.A.appeared B.equipped C.provided D.unloaded
5.A.dying B.sleeping C.enjoying D.starving
6.A.claim B.forget C.stay D.leave
7.A.happily B.completely C.urgently D.crazily
8.A.full B.foolish C.hungry D.sleepy
9.A.experience B.failure C.normality D.joke
10.A.simpler B.clearer C.cleverer D.prettier
11.A.prints B.expects C.reads D.receives
12.A.indifferently B.differently C.usually D.carefully
13.A.dinner B.lunch C.breakfast D.brunch
14.A.held B.forced C.hurried D.asked
15.A.smart B.boring C.thankful D.eager
16.A.from time to time B.in no time C.on time D.for the time being
17.A.date B.age C.sex D.job
18.A.important B.young C.demanding D.innocent
19.A.understanding B.promising C.confusing D.boring
20.A.surprise B.fear C.loss D.success
Taking care of unsolved issues of the past will free you to move ahead with confidence. The final step toward putting your past behind so that you can reach for what’s possible is tying up your loose ends. Loose ends are the unsolved relationships that keep you from sleeping worry free at night. 1. You have a loose end if there’s someone you don’t want to sit next to at a holiday dinner. Loose ends are distracting and have an amazing way of biting you in the bottom at the worst times.
How to Tie up Your Loose Ends
1. 2.These could be past relationships, employers, business partners, friends, family, or co–workers.
2. Contact each of these five loose ends. Invite each separately to a coffee shop or some other nonthreatening, non-alcohol environment. Tell each one that you want to apologize for allowing things to get crossways between you. Some may doubt your intentions, but tell them that you sincerely feel it’s time to clear the air. Ask those who agree to meet to write down any ways they think you wronged them, and you do the same. 3.
3. Show up on time and thank each for being forgiving enough to meet with you. Be an adult here—finger pointing only tears people apart. Remember, your experience may be—and most likely is—totally different from his. Listen to each issue each of them raises and try to see it from their perspectives (视角). 4. Seek to understand why they have bad feelings toward you. Apologize for each thing they think you did to wrong them (even if you don’t completely agree with his view of the situation).
After you tie up your first loose end, you’ll want to solve them all. This is hard to explain until you have done it; but once you do, you’ll know what I mean. 5. Most of all, I think this process helped me become a more understanding and patient friend.
A.I learned so much about myself by tying up my loose ends.
B.Tell them to bring this list to your get–together.
C.You have a loose end if there’s someone you don’t want to run into on a first date or at work.
D.Loose ends are very disturbing for everyone in our life.
E.Here is a guide on how to tie up your loose ends.
F.Don’t interrupt them when they are sharing.
G.Identify the five people with whom you have the most unsolved issues.
The noble tree house—all natural materials, strong construction, aloof from the troubles of the world. In a more dangerous time in human history, their position above the ground would protect the inhabitant against environmental difficulties and possible predators. As modern construction has improved, these arboreal places have become less of a practical housing and more of a children’s fun—a secret place erected in many a back garden. But now, these fun shelters are appealing to adults too and many are booking themselves in for a few nights among the treetops.
These tree house hotels can be found From Europe to Australia. Best of all, they come in a variety of interesting designs! From the traditional four walls and a roof habitation, such as at TreeHouse Point, in Washington, North America, to the more artistic Nothofagus Hotel in Chilean Patagonia, whose twelve-sided walls make it look like a beehive. If that doesn’t appeal, how about a tree container? The Free Spirit Spheres resort on Vancouver Island in Canada allows guests to stay in one of three yellow spheres (圆球), which are suspended from trees. The company was founded in 1998 by Tom Chudleigh, who hand built the container from cedar wood and fibre glass, and then added fixtures and fittings. Not only are they as safe as houses, they’re popular! Visitor numbers have probably doubled in the past five years, Mr. Chudleigh tells the BBC.
And how about an office? Microsoft, hoping to give its employees thinking space, has commissioned (委托) a three-building structure from Pete Nelson, designer and builder of tree houses. “Studies show people can work better in nature. They are more productive,” says Mr. Nelson. If you’ve no head for heights, then maybe a tree house getaway isn’t going to be your home away from home. But the sense of adventure, the freshness of the setting and the opportunity to return to nature has given an increasing number of tree house-staying adults something to write home about.
1.The underlined word “arboreal” in paragraph one means “ ”.
A.relating to history B.of or relating to trees
C.of danger D.of secret
2.The Free Spirit Spheres resort is mentioned to prove .
A.the company has profited a lot from tree houses
B.tree houses come from interesting places
C.Tom Chudleigh has an eye for safety
D.tree houses are becoming fashionable
3.According to Pete Nelson, why is Microsoft building a tree house structure?
A.Because people are more productive working in nature.
B.Because the sense of adventure make people work harder.
C.Because the freshness of the setting make people cooperate well.
D.Because people need the opportunity to return to nature.
4.The passage is mainly about .
A.how a tree house is built B.the trend for tree houses
C.peoples’ opinions about tree houses D.the history of tree houses
Business meetings are, arguably, a necessary part of any organization where people work collectively to accomplish a goal. But badly managed, meetings can be unproductive, boring and feel like a complete waste of time. In a recent survey conducted by technology firm eShare, it was found that the average UK employee spends over 10 hours weekly preparing for and attending meetings—approximately 50% of which they consider unnecessary. However, there are theories that technology could improve things.
It’s very workable for an AI to be able to recognise when one person is controlling a meeting, or if a circular discussion keeps returning to a single issue. “If no new points are made after a while, the AI could suggest wrapping up a meeting,” says Cynthia Rudin, a computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But AI isn’t quite there yet.
“If AI can do most of the dull work during meetings, that leaves more space for humans to think about strategy and vision,” believes Niki Iliadis at the Big Innovation centre. This seems to be true. Osaka in Japan started using an AI as a minute taker (会议记录员) to record and summarise the 450 annual meetings. It has halved the time needed to produce summaries and cut staff overtime. AI can also help with the matter of attendance. If a meeting with irrelevant subject matter is called, or if it’s an inconvenient time, an AI could be used to decide who should attend the meeting and when it should be. Finally participants can make open-ended responses, exchange comments or vote in multiple-choice quizzes. This has fundamentally changed the atmosphere of a presentation.
While tools that can create agendas, send meeting invitations and keep track of action items should improve effectiveness, they are still in development. Let’s hope that if or when they do arrive, they will meet our expectations.
1.The writer may agree with the fact that .
A.surveyed UK employees believe that about 50% of meetings are unnecessary.
B.average UK employee spends over 20 hours weekly preparing for and attending meetings
C.all the meetings are fruitless, boring and a complete waste of time.
D.it’s impossible for an AI to know when one person is controlling a meeting
2.The underlined phrase “wrapping up” in paragraph two means “ ”.
A.cancelling B.beginning
C.completing D.organizing
3.According to paragraph 3, AI is able to .
A.make open-ended responses B.decide when the meeting should be
C.think about strategy and vision D.vote in multiple-choice quizzes
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A.The Future Belongs to AI B.The Future of Business Meetings
C.What Will Become of AI D.Can AI Save Us from Bad Meetings?
My first reaction was annoyance. It was Friday afternoon, and I was within an hour of finishing my work for the week. As I was leaving, a nurse brought me one more patient message. The statement read: “Mrs. Jones called to say that she has had blurred vision (视觉模糊) ever since her medical test this morning.” I smiled. Suddenly our tests were causing eye problems.
This week my patients had questioned everything. My patient with high blood pressure had stopped coming to her treatment on the advice of an Internet chat room. A woman who had a mental problem was substituting (用……代替) St. John’s word for her medication. Now Mrs. Jones was imagining problems. I rolled my eyes.
My second reaction was worry. As I looked through her record, I tried to figure out why she would have blurred vision, but nothing in her record explained the new problem. She’s probably just anxious, I thought. Still, she wouldn’t have called if she had been all right. I picked up the phone.
What I next felt can only be described as delight. Before I made the call, the nurse ran in: Mrs. Jones called. Her vision is fine. Turns out she picked up the wrong glasses when she left the office. The X-ray technician has been having the same problem. I let out a laugh. Mrs. Jones had been right. Her vision had been blurred. Now we know why.
Finally I felt shame. I came to realize what Mrs. Jones had taught me. I had first known she was wrong, that her anxiety had clouded her judgment. Instead, my medical training had clouded mine. Now I feel thankful that Mrs. Jones figured it out before I made a mistake about our relationship. Patients come to me for my help. They pay me to listen, diagnose, treat and talk. That suggests trust; I must remember that, and trust them too.
1.I rolled my eyes because I was .
A.delighted B.angry
C.worried D.anxious
2.Why did I pick up the phone?
A.Because I was told to by a nurse.
B.Because nobody cared about Mrs. Jones.
C.Because I wanted to point out Mrs. Jones’ mistake.
D.Because I was concerned about Mrs. Jones.
3.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.I felt embarrassed and ashamed.
B.Mrs. Jones would never trust doctors any more.
C.Mrs. Jones’ worry made her less able to think clearly.
D.I had made a mistake about my relationship with Mrs. Jones.
4.The purpose of writing the passage is to .
A.share a story about trust between doctors and patients
B.inform people of the importance of medical science
C.teach people how to choose a good doctor
D.persuade people to trust doctors completely
Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.
SELECTING YOUR BOOKS
When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.
VIEW BASKET
This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also change the contents of your basket by making any changes before selecting Update Basket.
Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.
THE ORDER FORM
After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.
We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.
YOUR FIRST ORDER
We’ll send to you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.
RETURNING CUSTOMERS
If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).
However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just contact us so that we can supply it to you.
1.Where can customers make any change about their orders?
A.At Add to Basket. B.At My Shopping Basket.
C.At View Basket. D.At Secure Checkout.
2.If overseas customers order three or more books, they can .
A.get books at reduced price B.choose gift-wrapping
C.receive an on-screen acknowledgment D.get reduced airmail charges
3.The purpose of the passage is to .
A.persuade readers to read more books
B.show readers how to order books from Booksfirst
C.help customers apply for account numbers
D.inform readers of how to select books
