In a time when too much emphasis has been attached to utilitarianism (功力主义), it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that we people no longer believe in poetry. Utility is now often the standard of what one should devote his or her time and energy to and what he or she shouldn’t, but don’t get me wrong. I am not saying or stating that one should not consider utility at all when making crucial decisions. On the contrary, everyone should take it into account. Medicine, law, business and engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance and love, these are what we stay alive for.
My dad once told me that “life is suffering,”, which now I think is probably a unanimous (无异议的) opinion among most people. With a tough life inevitably comes a tough language---and that is what poetry is and why poetry is needed. It offers people a way to talk about the difficult-to-describe things in life, like death, suffering, profound joy and transformation. So whenever I hear someone say that poetry is not a must, or it’s an option, or it’s only for the educated middle classed, I suspect that he or she must have had things pretty easy.
But how can people live without poetry when poetry is nothing but a ceaseless flow of genuine human emotions? /unlike what the academics may tell you, my suggestion about bring poetry into your lives is that don’t analyze it and don’t ask others to analyze it. Don’t deconstruct it or try to make meaning of it. Just find the poems that wake you up, that make you feel as if you’ve submerged (沉浸) yourself in a mineral hot spring or an ice bath. Find the poems that make you feel almost irrational joy or sadness. Find the poems that make you want to roll around in them or paint their colors all over your bedroom ceiling. Those are the poems you want to play with. Find the poems that communicate with the deepest parts your being and welcome them in.
If finding others’ poems no longer satisfies you, compose your own! You don’t have yo be a poet to compose poetry. After all, poetry is not a luxury only for members desire or genuine willingness to vent feelings. It’s about searching for the real meaning of life and also about giving meaning to life. Just like Walt Whitman’s “O Me! O Life!”, a poem that ends by speaking directly to its readers: “the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse,” poetry is about everyone. And now I want to ask you the mother of all inspirational questions; “What will your verse be?”
Inspired by Jeanette Winterson’s book:
Why Be Happy When You Could be normal?
1.The author thinks that poetry is very important for human beings because it ________.
A.has nothing to do with the shared belief in utility
B.symbolizes a status as an educated middle class
C.offers a medium for describing hard experiences
D.reveals a fundamental truth that life isn’t all roses
2.To appreciate poetry by academic standards, one should first ________.
A.deconstruct and making meaning of it
B.enjoy a mineral hot spring or an ice bath
C.paint it over his or her bedroom ceiling
D.get consumed by irrational joy or sadness
3.The author quoted Walt Whitman’s poem “O Me! O Life!” to emphasize that ________.
A.only a true poet can write poems
B.no poem can appeal to everyone
C.life feels just like a powerful play
D.every human is entitled to poetry
4.The best title for the text may be ________.
A.Composing Poetry B.Poetry for Life
C.The Art of poetry D.Analyzing poetry
What Does the Length of Your Fingers Say About You?
Are you the peace-loving type or the ambitious go-getter? Your finger length might be a clue. Take a look at your fingers. Would you believe me if I told you that the length of your fingers in relation to one another can predict your personality? I know that it sounds like one of those silly tests you see on Facebook, but I have to admit that it is exactly correct for me. Here’s how it works.
Look at your three middle fingers of your hand. Is your index finger longer than your ring finger? Is your ring finger longer than your index finger? Or are the two of the same length? Find the situation that best matches your hand and see if what follows is an accurate description of your personality.
Longer ring finger: The Sweet Talker
If your ring finger is longer than your index finger, research shows that you’re likely a charming type, and you can probably talk yourself out of any situation. Others often find this personality type irresistible and will go to great lengths to help you. You’re more likely to take risks, and you’re good at problem-solving. People in this category make great engineers, soldiers and crossword-puzzle solvers.
Longer index finger: The (Over) Confident One
If your index finger is longer than your ring finger, chances are you are full of confidence—possibly even to the point of being over-confident and proud. You are not necessarily introverted (内向的), but you do enjoy time to yourself, especially when you’re trying to complete a project. You are a dream pursuer who can make things happen, but you may be shy when it comes to taking the first step in a relationship. You are also probably happy with what you have, but you’re always wishing for more.
Index and ring finger are of the same length: The Peacemaker
If your index finger and ring finger are roughly of the same length, you are likely to avoid conflict at all costs and seek to keep the peace in your relationships. You are well-organized, faithful and sympathetic. But deep down under all of that caring and peace-loving, you also have a hot-tempered side that can appear unexpectedly when you’re pushed too far. You will try your hardest to avoid a fight.
How well do these descriptions match your personality? I was surprised at the accuracy in my case, but I’m not going to tell you which one it was!
1.Which of the following hand could be an engineer’s hand?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
2.We can learn from the passage that the author ______.
A. is very charming and helpful B. always tries hard to avoid a fight
C. often takes silly tests on Facebook D. thinks the descriptions suit him well
3.What does the passage intend to tell us?
A. How accurate the description of the test is.
B. The length of fingers can reveal personality.
C. Why your fingers are not of the same length.
D. Personality is determined by your finger length.
4.Where can you probably find the text?
A. A popular magazine. B. An official report.
C. A public advertisement. D. A biology textbook.
It did take me quite a while to start noticing Dr. Yuval Noah Harari’s well-received book: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (人类简史). I bought the book after I heard Dou Wentao (a renowned TV hose) mention it on his podcast, and to be frank, I read the first chapter with little _________. But it turned out to be the best book I read in 2017.
While I was immediately ___________ the book kept evolving as I read it. The book began with a brief introduction of the lives and activities of the earliest proto-humans (原始人)---Neanderthals (尼安德特人), Homoerectus (直立人) and early Homo Sapiens (智人)---and then _________ an examination of why it was the Homo sapiens, after hundreds of thousands of years of surviving but pretty much existing in the middle of the food chain, _________ rocketed to the top of it without any significant genetic changes, conquered multiple climates, and eventually domesticated the world around them from farm animals to crops. And Harari includes an interesting but fairly _________ argument about the true nature of our relationship to our most necessary crop---wheat.
Think for a moment about the _________ Revolution from the viewpoint of wheat. Ten thousand years ago wheat was just a wild grass, one of many, confined to a small range in the Middle East. All of a sudden, within just a few short millennia, it was growing everywhere.
So how did this grass turn from insignificant to ubiquitous (到处存在的)? Wheat did it by manipulating (操纵) Homo sapiens to its advantage. This ape had been living a fairly comfortable life _________ and gathering until about 10,000 years ago, but then began to _________ more and more effort in cultivating wheat. Then, humans in many parts of the world were doing little from dawn to dusk _________ taking care of wheat plants.
However, the body of Homo sapiens had not evolved for cultivating wheat. Therefore human spines, knees, necks and arches paid the price. Moreover, the new agricultural tasks demanded so much time that people were forced to settle __________ next to their wheat fields. This completely changed their way of life. We did not __________ wheat. It’s the other way around. One of the most important and sustained ideas running through the book is that what ultimately __________ Homo sapiens from all other creatures---other mammals, other apes, and even other “humans” like Neanderthals---was not our opposable thumbs or some other __________ standards, but instead it was our ability to generate (生成), believe in and act upon what Yuval Noah Narari calls “myths” or “__________” (essentially ideas and cultural institutions), particularly on a large scale and collective basis, which eventually transformed us from creatures that lived in small, loosely-organized groups (the typical feature of most apes) to our modern status.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind is a fascinating ambitious and difficult-to-summarize book that is also just highly __________. So as senior high school students, you won’t experience too much difficulty following the author’s train of thoughts. And I strongly recommend you to indulge (纵情于) yourself in this well-written book.
Inspired by Yuval Noah Harari’s mind-blowing book:
Sapiens: A brief history of Humankind
1.A.attention B.evaluation C.illustration D.expectation
2.A.fascinated B.confused C.distracted D.uninterested
3.A.turned to B.gave away C.prepared for D.went after
4.A.naturally B.randomly C.suddenly D.hardly
5.A.annoying B.touching C.embarrassing D.depressing
6.A.Industrial B.Agricultural C.Cultural D.Political
7.A.planting B.hunting C.trading D.wondering
8.A.spare B.resist C.invest D.demand
9.A.regardless of B.contrary to C.together with D.other than
10.A.permanently B.delightfully C.temporarily D.instantly
11.A.consume B.grow C.domesticate D.harvest
12.A.distinguished B.disqualified C.discouraged D.dissatisfied
13.A.intellectual B.physical C.psychological D.moral
14.A.poems B.reports C.documents D.fictions
15.A.complex B.overrated C.readable D.appreciated
Directions: Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given words: for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
As a man who has already stepped into the tomb of love, I always have a feeling that it is my obligation to warn those guys who 1. (not; marry) so far or are about to do that of the danger involved in marriage. Those simple-minded men can easily get 2. “killed”, if they don’t know that comes with marriage.
Since I am a quick learner, it didn’t take me long to find out 3. a man needs to do to survive a marriage. Here are the 7 golden principles, which I would like to call “Marriage Survival Tips for Man”. Ready to take notes?
No.1: Anything 4. (request) by your wife should be doubtless taken as your priority in your to-do list. Whether it is to mop the floor or babysit your son, do it immediately and do it for life, idiot! Because the more times she has to ask you to do that, the 5. (patient) she will be.
No.2: Caution! Do not argue with your wife! 6. reasonable you think you are, you will always end up saying sorry to her Trust me. As a man, the last thing you want to do is to get into an argument with a woman. Women are not supposed 7. (reason) with. They are not designed that way. (Pardon me for being such a male chauvinist (直男炎). Deep down, I totally support feminism.) So unless you want to start a full-scale war you can never win, otherwise apologize to her the moment you two make eye contact.
No.3: Always give positive feedbacks 8. any questions raised by her. For example, if she wants to buy a pair of high-heels or a fancy coat, say yes! Of course, always saying yes will cost you a fortune but at least it can save your life! And 9. you are alive, money does grow on trees! But when the questions are related to her weight, stay with a simple life-saving rule: for God’s sake, she is not even a little bit fat! Calling her fat would be viewed as a horrible crime which deserves a death sentence!
No 4: Sorry man! I can’t make this up anymore. Her Majesty 10. (call) me again. I have to go now! Pray for me!
假定你是李华，在你校学习的英国交换生朋友David对于本学期选择哪一门中国文化选修课拿不定主意。请你给他写一封信，建议他选修太极拳，内容包括：
1. 写信目的；
2. 你的理由；
3. 愿意提供帮助。
参考词汇： 选修课 optional course 太极拳 Tai Chi
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear David,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Looking forward to your reply.
Yours,
Li Hua
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（从第11处起）不计分。
It was Tree Planting Day on last Thursday, my classmates and I went to plant trees in a park where is in the west end of the city. In the morning, we gathered at the school gate and went thereby bikes, talking and laughing all the way. Upon arrive, we began to work immediate. Some were digging holes. Some were carrying and plant young trees. Others were watering it. After getting the work done, we put up a board reminding people protect the trees. Before leaving we take some photos to record our green action. Seeing the lines of trees, we both had a sense of achievement.
