Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents 1.(try) everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic school.
After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on 2. face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. 3., he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished 4. (eat), he went back to his room, without a word. 5. no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time day after day while the mother tried to understand 6. was happening.
Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card, 7. he quietly put on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it. To her surprise, little Tommy got 8. A in math. She could no longer hold her 9. (curious). She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?”
Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man 10. (nail) the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking.”
When Athaya Slaetalid first moved from Thailand to the Faroe Islands, where winter lasts six months, she would sit next to the heater all day:
"People told me to go _________ because the sun was shining but I just said: 'No! Leave me alone, I'm very _________.'"
Moving here six years ago was tough for Athaya _________, she admits. She _________her husband Jan when he was working with a Faroese friend who had started a business in _________.
Jan knew _________ that bringing his wife to this very different _________, weather and landscape would be challenging.
"I had my _________, because everything she was leaving _________ everything she was coming to were opposites," he admits. "But knowing Athaya, I knew she would __________."
There are now more than 300 women from Thailand and Philippines living in the Faroes. It doesn't __________ like a lot, but in a population of just 50,000 people, they now __________ the largest ethnic minority in these 18 islands, located between Norway and Iceland.
In recent years the Faroes have experienced population __________, with young people leaving, often in search of education, and not returning. Women have __________ more likely to settle abroad. As a result, according to Prime Minister Axel Johannesen, the Faroes have a "gender deficit" with __________ 4,000 fewer women than men.
This, __________, has lead Faroese men to look __________ the islands for romance. Many, though not all, of the __________ women met their husbands online, some through commercial __________ websites. Others have made connections through social media networks or existing Asian-Faroese __________.
1.A.outside B.inside C.away D.off
2.A.hot B.cold C.warm D.cool
3.A.at last B.at once C.at first D.at length
4.A.would find B.had found C.would meet D.had met
5.A.Iceland B.Philippines C.Faroes D.Thailand
6.A.ahead schedule B.in advance C.without hesitation D.in particular
7.A.country B.nation C.culture D.minority
8.A.concerns B.conflicts C.beliefs D.problems
9.A.but B.and C.while D.when
10.A.make B.get C.handle D.cope
11.A.sound B.hear C.look D.appear
12.A.consist of B.belong to C.make up D.build up
13.A.decline B.increase C.boom D.failure
14.A.shown B.remained C.proved D.tended
15.A.mostly B.totally C.exactly D.approximately
16.A.however B.then C.actually D.instead
17.A.within B.faraway C.throughout D.beyond
18.A.European B.Asian C.foreign D.poor
19.A.knowing B.playing C.dating D.marrying
20.A.couples B.wives C.husbands D.families
Whether you want to improve your writing skills as a creative writer or simply perfect your skills for schoolwork, you can take some steps to learn how to be a better writer.
1. Use active instead of passive voice.
In English, the most basic sentence structure is S-V-O: Subject-Verb-Object. The passive voice usually requires more words and use of a “to be” verb form, which can suck the energy out of your writing. Learn to avoid these constructions as much as you can. 1. It conventionally uses the passive voice to put the emphasis on the results, rather than the researchers.
2. 2.
Finding the right verb or adjective can turn an uninspired sentence into one people will remember and quote for years to come. Look for words that are as specific as possible. Strong doesn't mean obscure, or more complicated. Don't say "utilize" when you could say "use." 3.
3. Cut the chaff.
4. You don't get points for saying in 50 words what could be said in 20, or for using multi-syllable words when a short one does just as well. It might feel good at first to pack a lot of ideas and details into a single sentence, but chances are that sentence is just going to be hard to read. If a phrase doesn't add anything valuable, just cut it. 5. If you notice that your writing is filled with "-ly" words, it might be time to take a deep breath and give your writing more focus.
A. Use strong words.
B. Show, don't tell.
C. Good writing is simple, clear and direct.
D. The main exception to this is science writing.
E. Cutting the chaff is best done at the editing stage.
F. "He sprinted" is not necessarily better than "he ran."
G. Don't write "screamed fearfully" -- "scream" already suggests fear.
The exact work of ancient astronomers has led to a modern observation --- our days are longer than they used to be. Not that you’d noticed: The new research in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A shows that it takes the Earth a tiny bit longer these days to complete a single rotation (转动) than it did millions of years ago. It’s the kind of stuff that’s measured in milliseconds per century, but those milliseconds add up. Over the last thousands of years, they’d totaled several hours, which the Los Angeles Times puts this way, “If humanity had been measuring time with an atomic clock that started running back in 700 BC, today that clock would read 7 p.m. when the sun is directly overhead rather than noon. The atomic clock won’t lose a second for 15 billion years.” Maybe more remarkable is that the work is the result of a tireless 40-year research into ancient timekeeping records dating back 2,700 years.
Scientists led by Richard Stephenson of the UK’s Durham University have been studying Babylonian clay tablets, Chinese observations made through the use of water clocks, and Arab astronomical records that tracked solar and lunar eclipses(日/月食). “The most astonishing thing about this study is the fact that we have this information at all,” said a geographer not involved in the study. Researchers are still hoping to find observations from the Incas and the Maya, and to fill in their largest hole between 200 and 600 AD, but they’ve measured the Earth’s deceleration at 1.8 milliseconds per day per century. Given the moon’s gravitational effect on our oceans, the discovery that Earth is decelerating isn’t a surprise, notes the Christian Science Monitor, though astronomers had previously estimated a higher rate.
1.Why are days longer than before according to the text?
A.The earth rotates more and more slowly.
B.Humanity has got incorrect timekeeping records.
C.It takes longer for the earth to turn around the sun.
D.The lost milliseconds for centuries are added to our present days.
2.How did researchers come to the conclusion of the study?
A.By resetting the rotating time of the earth.
B.By referring to ancient timekeeping records.
C.By studying the moon’s gravitational effect on the oceans.
D.By measuring time again with an atomic clock.
3.What can we infer about the study from what the geographer said?
A.Geography theory supports the result of the study.
B.The geographer disagrees to the research conclusion.
C.The scientists’ research is meaningless.
D.It’s right to get geographers involved in the study.
4.What is the meaning of the underlined word “deceleration” in Paragraph 2?
A.Evolution. B.Slow down.
C.Enlargement. D.Development.
Twelve years ago, Danny called me from a dark, damp subway station. “A baby!” he shouted. “Get down here, and flag down a police car or something.” By nature, Danny is a remarkably calm person, so when I felt his heart pounding through the phone line, I ran.
When I got to the subway station, Danny was holding a light-brown-skinned baby, about a day old. The baby had been wrapped in an oversize black sweatshirt and left on the ground in a corner behind the gate.
What neither of us knew, or could have predicted, was that Danny had not just saved an abandoned infant; he had found our son.
Three months later, Danny appeared in family court to give an account of finding the baby. Suddenly, the judge asked, “Would you be interested in adopting this baby?” The question surprised everyone in the courtroom, except Danny, who answered, simply, “Yes.”
“But I know it’s not that easy,” he said.
“Well, it can be,” assured the judge before barking out orders to allow me to be a parent-to-be.
My first reaction, when I heard, went something like, “Are you crazy? How could you say yes without consulting me?”
In three years as a couple, we had never discussed adopting a child. I was an ambitious playwright working as a part-time word processor. Danny was a respected yet wildly underpaid social worker. We had a roommate, who slept in our living room, to help pay the rent.
We knew how many challenges couples usually faced when they wanted to adopt. And while Danny had patience and selflessness, I didn’t know how to change a diaper (尿布), let alone nurse a child. I didn’t trust the system and was sure there would be obstacles. Also, I couldn’t handle parenthood. So I promised myself I wouldn’t get attached.
The caretaker held him and then placed him in my arms. But when the baby stared up at me, with all the innocence and hope he represented, I, like Danny, was completely hooked.
1.Why did the author rush to the subway station?
A.Because Danny finally found their lost son.
B.Because she sensed Danny met something urgent.
C.Because Danny had a heart attack.
D.Because someone gave birth to a baby there.
2.How did the author react on hearing Danny’s answer to the judge’s question?
A.Surprised by the question.
B.Crazy to be a parent-to-be.
C.Annoyed at Danny’s decision.
D.Angry at challenging her authority.
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A.the author will adopt the baby
B.the couple were tempted to take the baby
C.the baby will bring hope to the family
D.the couple love each other very much
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To introduce a story of a poor family.
B.To inform people of the difficulty of adopting a baby.
C.To call on people to donate money to them.
D.To show human’s kindness and love by nature.
You’ll soon be 84 years old, Dad, and you and I will have had 55 Father’s Days together.
You know, there was a time when we were not only separated by the generation gap but completely polarized (对立) by it. Split by: age and experience, opinions, hairstyles, cosmetics, clothing and boys.
The Father-Daughter Duel（冲突） of‘54 shifted into high gear（白热化） when you taught me to drive the old Dodge and I decided I would drive the‘54 Chevy whether you liked it or not. The police officer who accompanied me home after you reported the Chevy stolen late one evening was too young to understand father-daughter politics and too old to have much tolerance for a 16-year-old. You were so decent about it, Dad, and I think that was probably what made it the worst night of my life.
Our relationship improved greatly when I had babies. I didn’t know what to expect of you and Mom as grandparents but I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Those babies adored you then just as they adore you now.
I suppose I saw our relationship as aging together, rather like a fine wine. But the oddest thing happened last week. I was at a stop sign and I watched as you turned the corner in your car. It didn’t immediately occur to me that it was you because the man driving looked so elderly and frail behind the wheel of that huge car. It was rather like a slap in the face delivered from out of nowhere. Perhaps I saw your age for the first time that day.
Fifty years ago this spring, we planted kohlrabi together in a garden in Charles City, Iowa.
This week, we’ll plant kohlrabi together again, perhaps for the last time but I hope not. I don’t understand why planting kohlrabi with you is so important to me but it is. I don’t even like kohlrabi... but I like planting it with you.
Honoring a father on Father’ s Day is about more than a dad who brings home a paycheck, shares a dinner table, and attends school graduation and weddings. It’s more about unconditionally loving children who are stubborn, who know everything and won’t listen to anyone. It’s about loving someone more than words can say, and wishing that it never had to end.
I love you, Dad.
1. What is the purpose of the third paragraph?
A.To prove that the father is very strict.
B.To describe the father-daughter politics.
C.To show the conflict between the author and her father.
D.To condemn the policeman for lack of understanding.
2.What does the author mean by saying “a slap in the face” in the fifth paragraph?
A.She regretted the fights she had with her father.
B.She suddenly realized that her father was so old and could be gone one day.
C.She was ashamed of herself that she hadn’t taken good care of her father.
D.She suddenly realized that she had caused a lot of trouble for her father.
3.Which of the following words can describe the author’s father?
a. Unreasonable b. Caring c. Tolerant d. Stubborn
A.bc B.bd
C.acd D.bcd
4.The author wrote his father this letter to _________.
A.tell him about their conflicts B.say sorry for her being stubborn
C.express her gratitude to him D.remind him of the early incident
