For a long time, a little boy was wondering why his deskmate could rank 1st in the class whenever he wanted to, while he himself failed to: he only ranked 21st.
At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more _____than others? I feel I am obedient (听话的) and as careful as him, but _____I always fall behind?” Hearing the words, Mom was aware that her son began to _____the sense of self-respect, which was now being injured by the ranking system. _____at him, she went wordless, not knowing _____to explain.
In another test, the son ranked 17th, while his deskmate remained 1st. Back home he ____ the same question. Mom really wanted to inform his son that _____differs, which means that students ranking 1st are supposed to be cleverer than normal ones. ____, was this discouraging answer the one that her son was constantly _____about? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
How to answer her son’s question? There were times when she felt an urge to equivocate (搪塞), “ You are too lazy. You are not as hard working as others…” but she stopped _____imagining her son suffering from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings. She thought it _____to put any additional burden on his son and was trying to find out a perfect answer.
Time passing swiftly, the son _____primary school. Despite studying harder and better, he was still unable to keep up with his deskmate. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to _____him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give an answer.
Now, the son no longer worries about his _____, and there are no boring guys who would inquire his rankings in primary school, because, _____the 1st ranking, he was admitted to Tsinghua University. Back home in winter vacation, he was invited to _____the students and parents in his high school. In the speech, he mentioned a valuable experience in his childhood, “… When my mother and I were sitting on the _____, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the sea birds struggling for food over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise _____while “awkward” seagulls will take more time to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that finally fly _____the endless ocean are none other than the “awkward” seagulls?’” The speech ______many mothers present to tears, including his mother.
1.A.considerate B.careless C.stupid D.clever
2.A.what if B.how come C.how about D.what for
3.A.lose B.have C.win D.beat
4.A.Shouting B.Glaring C.Staring D.Pointing
5.A.which B.why C.when D.how
6.A.raised B.met C.answered D.solved
7.A.intelligence B.right C.knowledge D.strength
8.A.Therefore B.Instead C.Thus D.However
9.A.enthusiastic B.curious C.crazy D.clear
10.A.if B.before C.unless D.when
11.A.cruel B.important C.disappointed D.necessary
12.A.attended B.started C.finished D.entered
13.A.direct B.take C.bring D.push
14.A.homework B.belongings C.health D.rankings
15.A.in B.about C.with D.on
16.A.teach B.deliver C.address D.face
17.A.floor B.road C.bank D.beach
18.A.quickly B.suddenly C.slowly D.sharply
19.A.into B.through C.across D.throughout
20.A.made B.moved C.impressed D.inspired
Some people are so rude. Who sends an e-mail or a text message that just says “Thank you?” Who leaves a voice mail message rather than texts you? Who asks for a fact easily found on the Internet? 1.
Maybe I’m the rude one for not appreciating life’s little courtesies(礼节). But many social norms(规范) just don’t make sense to people drowning in digital communication.
Take the thank-you note. Daniel Post Senning, a coauthor of Emily Post’s Etiquette，asked, “At what point does showing appreciation outweigh the cost?”
2. Think of how long it takes to listen to one of those messages. In texts, you don’t have to declare who you are or even say hello. E-mail, too, is slower than a text. The worst are those who leave a voice mail and then send an e-mail message to tell you they left a voice mail.
This isn’t the first time technology has changed our manners, 3. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor, suggested that people say, " Ahoy! "Finally, hello won out, and the victory sped up the greeting's use in face-to-face communications.
In the age of the smart phone, there is no reason to ask once-acceptable questions about:the weather forecast, a business’s phone number, or directions to a house, a restaurant, or an office, which can be easily found on a digital map. 4. And when you answer, they respond with a thank-you e-mail.
How to handle these differing standards? Easy: Consider your audience. Some people,especially older ones, appreciate a thank-you message. 5. In traditional societies, the young learn from the old. But in modern societies, the old can also learn from the young. Here's hoping that politeness never goes out of fashion but that time-wasting forms of communication do.
A. Then there is voice mail.
B. Others, like me, want no reply.
C. But people still ask these things.
D. Don’t these people realize that they’re wasting your time?
E. Won't new technology bring about changes in our daily life?
F. Face-to-face communication makes comprehension much easier.
G. When the telephone was invented, people didn't know how to greet a caller.
We may think we're a culture that gets rid of our worn technology at the first sight of something shiny and new, but a new study shows that we keep using our old devices(装置) well after they go out of style. That’s bad news for the environment — and our wallets — as these outdated devices consume much more energy than the newer ones that do the same things.
To figure out how much power these devices are using, Callie Babbitt and her colleagues at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York tracked the environmental costs for each product throughout its life — from when its minerals are mined to when we stop using the device. This method provided a readout for how home energy use has evolved since the early 1990s. Devices were grouped by generation — Desktop computers, basic mobile phones, and box-set TVs defined 1992. Digital cameras arrived on the scene in 1997. And MP3 players, smart phones, and LCD TVs entered homes in 2002, before tablets and e-readers showed up in 2007.
As we accumulated more devices, however, we didn't throw out our old ones. "The living-room television is replaced and gets planted in the kids' room, and suddenly one day, you have a TV in every room of the house," said one researcher. The average number of electronic devices rose from four per household in 1992 to 13 in 2007. We're not just keeping these old devices — we continue to use them. According to the analysis of Babbitt's team, old desktop monitors and box TVs with cathode ray tubes are the worst devices with their energy consumption and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions（排放）more than doubling during the 1992 to 2007 window.
So what's the solution（解决方案）? The team's data only went up to 2007, but the researchers also explored what would happen if consumers replaced old products with new electronics that serve more than one function, such as a tablet for word processing and TV viewing. They found that more on-demand entertainment viewing on tablets instead of TVs and desktop computers could cut energy consumption by 44%.
1.What does the author think of new devices?
A.They are environment-friendly. B.They are no better than the old.
C.They cost more to use at home. D.They go out of style quickly.
2.Why did Babbitt's team conduct the research?
A.To reduce the cost of minerals.
B.To test the life cycle of a product.
C.To update consumers on new technology.
D.To find out electricity consumption of the devices.
3.Which of the following uses the least energy?
A.The box-set TV. B.The tablet.
C.The LCD TV. D.The desktop computer.
4.What does the text suggest people do about old electronic devices?
A.Stop using them. B.Take them apart.
C.Upgrade them. D.Recycle them.
Give yourself a test. Which way is the wind blowing? How many kinds of wildflowers can be seen from your front door? If your awareness is as sharp as it could be, you’ll have no trouble answering these questions.
Most of us observed much more as children than we do as adults. A child’s day is filled with fascination, newness and wonder. Curiosity gave us all a natural awareness. But distinctions that were sharp to us as children become unclear; we are numb to new stimulation, new ideas. Relearning the art of seeing the world around us is quite simple, although it takes practice and requires breaking some bad habits.
The first step in awakening senses is to stop predicting what we are going to see and feel before it occurs. This blocks awareness. One chilly night when I was hiking in the Rocky Mountains with some students, I mentioned that we were going to cross a mountain stream. The students began complaining about how cold it would be. We reached the stream, and they unwillingly walked ahead. They were almost knee-deep when they realized it was a hot spring. Later they all admitted they’d felt cold water at first.
Another block to awareness is the obsession (痴迷) many of us have with naming things. I saw bird watchers who spotted a bird, immediately looked it up in field guides, and said, a “ruby-crowned kinglet” and checked it off. They no longer paid attention to the bird and never learned what it was doing.
The pressures of “time” and “destination” are further blocks to awareness. I encountered many hikers who were headed to a distant camp-ground with just enough time to get there before dark. It seldom occurred to them to wander a bit, to take a moment to see what’s around them. I asked them what they’d seen. “Oh, a few birds,” they said. They seemed bent on their destinations.
Nature seems to unfold to people who watch and wait. Next time you take a walk, no matter where it is, take in all the sights, sounds and sensations. Wander in this frame of mind and you will open a new dimension to your life.
1.According to Paragraph 2, compared with adults, children are more ________.
A.anxious to do wonders B.sensitive to others’ feelings
C.likely to develop unpleasant habits D.eager to explore the world around them
2.What idea does the author convey in Paragraph 3?
A.To avoid jumping to conclusions. B.To stop complaining all the time.
C.To follow the teacher’s advice. D.To admit mistakes honestly.
3.Why do the hikers take no notice of the surroundings during the journey?
A.The natural beauty isn’t attractive to them.
B.They focus on arriving at the camp in time.
C.The forest in the dark is dangerous for them.
D.They are keen to see rare birds at the destination.
4.In the passage, the author intends to tell us we should ________.
A.fill our senses to feel the wonders of the world
B.get rid of some bad habits in our daily life
C.open our mind to new things and ideas
D.try our best to protect nature
My friends are often jealous of my good memory. When they were beating their brains to recall how many people attended John’s ninth birthday, I succeeded in reminding them of the details. I told them that Tom, Barbara, Tony and I did; that Mary brought a toy car as a gift, Tom brought a four-in-one game disc…; that John said after blowing out the candles his wish was to be a pilot when he grew up… When Bob, Jim and Elizabeth were quarrelling, faces flush with anger, about the name of the forest where they went camping, I stopped them by detailing to them on which date, which month, which year we visited which forest and ate what food for picnic…
Bob often says, “Lewis, if only I had a memory half as good as you!” Whenever hearing this, a voice shouted from the bottom of my heart, “How I wish God gave me a forgetfulness half as good as you!”
In fact, instead of being proud of my memory, I hate it; I’ve suffered a lot from it, for it is sometimes too good: I can remember everything I’ve experienced, including what I don’t want to remember; indeed, I do hope to forget something!
Barbara and I are best friends from the cradle. In fact, our relationship was already beyond friendship; it was that of lovers. But one day she left me for no reason except that I was too familiar to her to further our relationship. Over the next two months and a half, I couldn’t fall to sleep. While in bed wide awake, I warned myself, “You must forget her, otherwise you will get destroyed.” But my good memory failed me again and again — I could remember how beautiful it was when I first kissed her affectionately and then in turn received even more affectionate responses; I could remember every sweet word she had said to me…
1.The first paragraph is intended to describe ________.
A.how the writer’s friends were jealous of him
B.what a good memory the writer had
C.what happy childhood he shared with his friends
D.what an important part he played among his friends
2.Barbara left the writer ________.
A.for nothing B.because she hated it that he kissed her
C.because their friendship broke D.because she was tired of him
3.Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A.The writer and Barbara had a long-time friendship.
B.The writer, somehow, hated his good memory.
C.The writer was struggling to tear himself off the pain of losing love.
D.Tony’s wish was to be a pilot when he grew up.
4.What the writer suffered the most was that ________.
A.he had got too good a memory B.Barbara left for no reason
C.others were jealous of him D.the sweet past was out of memory
Embassy Suites by Hilton Santa Ana Orange County Airport
Neighborhood: John Wayne Airport (SNA), Orange County
1325 East Dyer Road, Santa Ana, CA
OVERALL GUEST SCORE
Very Good
Based on 163 Guest Ratings
Hotel Description
Being close to airport and freeway access makes the Embassy Suites a top choice for our guests in the area. The 300-room Embassy Suites offers homey comforts for those on business and vacation alike—suites with separate living and sleeping areas, refrigerators, microwaves, coffeemakers, Wi-Fi access and two TVs. Wake up to a free cooked-to-order breakfast and enjoy the indoor pool and fitness center. A two-hour evening reception offers drinks and appetizers and the on-site restaurant serves American favorites. The property also has a business center with copy and fax services. Parking is available for an additional fee. Less than two miles from I-405, the Embassy Suites is within a half-mile of various restaurants and just three miles from John Wayne Airport. Our guests say the Embassy Suites’ location, “brilliant” breakfast and “friendly” staff make it one of their favorite Santa Ana properties.
Guest Ratings |
Good Feb 8, 2017 By: Harold Pros: Loved the breakfast and the friendly, helpful staff. Spacious accommodations made this a very good value. |
Cons: Didn’t love the heating/AC system; room was too cold for comfort. Also was not aware of the parking fee until we checked in. The parking fee was $17 a night. |
Good Jan 24, 2017 By: Micaela Pros: Breakfast was amazing with a variety of choices and the staff were helpful. Cons: The room had a very strange old smell when we first got there. I had to open the door to air it out. |
Very Good Jan 5, 2017 By: Bruce Pros: The location was very good for us and the included breakfast was a plus. Cons: The room was not cleaned properly when we got there. The heating system was not working for the hotel as well |
… |
1.________ makes the Embassy Suites a top choice for its guests in the area.
A.The business center B.The friendly staff
C.The convenient location D.Wi-Fi access
2.According to the guest ratings, all the guests are satisfied with its ________.
A.heating system B.accommodations
C.parking fee D.breakfast
3.This advertisement is made more believable by ________.
A.providing the exact address B.using guests’ comments
C.analyzing its pros and cons D.interviewing the guests
