My mother spreads joy wherever she goes. Right now she is probably writing an encouraging note to a friend, praising someone she has come across in the hallway, or reading the newspaper to someone in her retirement community（社区）.
Growing up, my mother thought about becoming a dancer, but she didn't have the chance until retirement. Then she joined her first group, The Hot Flashes. Once she put on the tap shoes, "Dancing Grammy” was born.
There seems to be no end to her energy as she tap-dances her way into people's hearts, bringing smiles to sad places. But this is nothing new for my mother.
Being a lifetime educator, she was recognized in 2015 as her school district's Teacher of the Year. I remember her evening phone calls to her students' homes when she took a break from grading papers. They weren't the typical bad-news calls many parents would expect. Usually she was calling about something positive.
I was the youngest of seven children and life wasn't easy for my mother. I remember sitting on the back of her bike as she took me to a daycare center for low-income families on her way to Rosary College, where she was seeking an education degree. At home she was tough as she had to be. She had been strict in my childhood, but I learned from watching her. Her work ethic（道德）and determination passed down to me.
I could write a book about my mother, and probably I will someday. Better yet, we may write one together, as her dream to be a writer hasn't yet been realized. But she got one step closer by attending the Erma Bombeek Writers* Workshop in Dayton, Ohio, where she was inspired to write a book.
From mother of seven to grandmother of eighteen, my mother continues to inspire everyone she meets. She has many titles, but my favorite is Mother.
1.What does the author's mother tend to do?
A.She often helps poor people. B.She changes her aims constantly.
C.She joins energetic people. D.She brings happiness to others.
2.Why did the author's mother often make calls to her students, homes?
A.To know her students' performance at home.
B.To help her students' parents build confidence.
C.To tell her students' parents some good news.
D.To ask her students to grade their papers fast.
3.How was the author's childhood?
A.Dull but smooth, B.Difficult but rewarding.
C.Relaxing and enjoyable. D.Rough and meaningless.
4.What is the author's main purpose in writing the text?
A.To show her love and respect for her mother.
B.To keep a record of her mother's retirement life.
C.To find inspiration to write a book for her mother.
D.To praise her mothers professional achievements.
Join us for an exciting day of music at the UNI Dome with the Panther Marching Band!
Band Day is perfect for high school band students in grades 9—12. Come and join us for an outstanding, positive and friendly musical and social experience for high school band students! We hope you'll enjoy the fellowship with other band students throughout the state and the fantastic performances of bands!
Directors who wish to bring their full bands or a smaller group of band students should find this to be an easy and fun event to organize and attend! Individual（个体的）students who wish to participate as single performers are strongly encouraged to attend! You'll have a chance to meet our fantastic students and perform in a friendly, welcoming environment!
Date： November 9
Music： A link to download music will be included in your confirmation email after you register. Music will be available at that link no later than September 1.
Registration:
●Band directors registering full bands or groups of students from the same band should register here： https: //bands, uni. edu/band-day-group-registration
●Individual students registering independently may register here： https：//bands. uni. edu/panther-band- day-individual-registration
Cost： $ 10. 00 per student includes： admission to the game, pizza dinner, music and a Band Day T-Shirt.
Notes：
●We've changed our payment method to improve the registration process. Individual students must pay using a credit card at the time of registration. Band directors may either pay with credit card or mail a check made out to Panther Marching Band.
●Final deadline for registration submissions is Monday, October 14.
●Due to space limitations, band/individual students may be limited to a first-reply basis.
1.How can a participant benefit from the event?
A.Listen to their favorite popular music.
B.Get a chance to join a band they love.
C.Chat with famous musicians face to face.
D.Know new people and enjoy performances.
2.When can a participant use the link in the confirmation email to download music?
A.On August 30. B.On September 2.
C.On October 14. D.On November 9.
3.What are you expected to do to participate as an individual student?
A.Ask for a band director's company. B.Send a 10-dollar check to the Band.
C.Pay 10 dollars with your credit card. D.Email the Band just on November 9.
请阅读下面文字，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
Yuan Longping, 90, known as the “father of hybrid rice”，plays a crucial role in helping China achieve food security. Every morning what he does first is go to the field and works as a “farmer”. When asked how much his shirt was, he told the reporter that it was 35 yuan.
Deng Jiaxian, the Founding Father of China’s A-Bomb and H-Bomb, was the founder and promoter of China’s nuclear weapon cause. However, it was not until he died that his parents and many of his friends realized that he had produced such extraordinary achievements.
Li Junxian, without whom it would have been impossible for us to send the rocket into space, is one of the academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In 2018, this 90-year-old party member, donated 3 million yuan to set up the Doctor Innovation Fund and the Hardship Assistance Fund.
（写作内容）
1. 用约30个词概括上述信息的主要内容；
2. 分析上述国家功臣身上有哪些值得我们学习的优良品质；
3. 谈谈其中某一品质对你的启发，并举例说明。
（写作要求）
1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3. 不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请注意阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单 词。每个空格只填1个单词。
Company culture is a hot topic for nearly every business. Everyone wants to create a productive, collaborative and inviting work environment where all employees follow shared values and work toward a common goal.
We asked a group of entrepreneurs to share how they encourage their teams to participate in building the company culture. Here are their top recommendations.
Get employee input on the hiring process
While a hiring manager should always have a final say over who joins the team, it could help to allow employees of all levels to participate in the hiring process. Ismael Wrixen, CEO of FE International recommends letting some of a candidate's future teammates sit in on an interview, as this can help you find people who will fit in well with your other employees.
"Our company has a real familiar feel, and team members often socialize outside or work." Wrixen explains. ''Considering how people will fit in the team once they are hired has always been an important consideration."
Create a space and environment that allows for breaks
Company culture-building can sometimes feel forced, says Jessica Gonzalez, CEO of InCharged. To make it more organic and natural, Gonzalez believes the best thing to do is to create the space and environment for it.
"Some companies get a Ping-Pong table,” she says. "It doesn't really matter the details, but you have given your employees permission to take breaks and blow off some steam with their coworkers. That's where culture and connection will be built."
Stop micromanaging
If you want your employees to build a great culture of their own, don't disturb the process, says Solomon Thimothy, president of OneIMS. While he monitors all processes on his team (including culture-building), he only gets involved when his staff needs him, rather than constantly micromanaging.
"Connect people with each other, define your expectations, set the pace and leave them alone,” Thimothy says.
Plan activities that reflect your shared values
According to Beth Doane, managing partner of Main & Rose, your internal brand should reflect your external one. She recommends bringing your team together around a shared set of values and then doing activities to strengthen that brand.
"As a social-good focused firm, we love doing activities that give back-hiking, volunteering, cleaning up the environment, Doane adds. "It's fun and it gets the whole team involved in our mission."
Ask for their ideas and suggestions
If you really want your employees to help build the company culture, all you have to do is ask them for their input. Chris Christoff, cofounder of Monster Insights, says he is open to suggestions from team members on how to perform more efficiently.
“Opening the invitation to new ideas fosters a positive company culture because it shows employees their voices are heard and their opinions matter because they do," Christoff says. “It creates a relaxing, trustworthy environment where everyone respects what each other has to say.”
Anyhow, it's important to remember that culture is not necessarily a top-down creation. Instead, a successful culture is developed and maintained by the workers who live it every single day.
Company culture | |
Introduction
| Companies hope to possess a productive, collaborative work environment where every employee 1.shared values. |
2. from entrepreneurs | It helps when staff get 3. in the hiring process, despite the fact that employers always have a final say. |
The company had better create a space and environment that takes 4.of breaks, making it possible for the employees to 5. stress. | |
The employers should leave development room for employees after setting goals for them but come to their assistance only if 6. | |
Based on shared values, the company ought to do activities where your internal brand should 7.external one. | |
It's a wise choice to 8.employees about ideas and suggestions because such a relaxing, trustworthy environment allows everybody to show 9. for each other's opinions. | |
Conclusion
| Company culture is not necessarily a top-down creation. Instead, its 10.and maintenance depend on workers themselves. |
When the novelist Luis Alberto Urrea was 14 or 15, he took a trip deep into Mexico. He was born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and a white American mother before moving just across the border and eventually into the San Diego suburbs. But his father thought he was becoming “too American”, and took him on a 27-hour journey to Mazatian. Along the way, his father gave him a paperback copy of The Godfather and told him it would change his life. “I don’t think he was trying to make a case for us being criminals,” Urrea says, “but he really felt this incredible connection to the family and the traditions and the honor for the old country, as people were making their way in the U.S.”
In his new novel The House of Broken Angels, Urrea has written his own take on the Godfather story with a Mexican-American Don Corleone figure at its center. The story takes place over two days, as Big Angel de la Cruz buries his mother and celebrates his final birthday party on earth; he knows he’s dying, and he’s gathered his extended family around him for a noisy and lively goodbye.
The idea was inspired by the final birthday party of Urrea’s elder brother three years ago. “Everybody was jammed in his backyard, and there was a DJ and people dancing and consuming a serious amount of American junk food — they didn’t want Mexican food, they wanted KFC and pizza. I thought, where are the tacos, dude? And my brother sat in his little chair in the middle of it. People were coming to him and kneeling, and they would thank him and kiss his hand or touch his head and tell him all the ways he had changed their lives.”
Urrea’s brother died of cancer within two weeks at 74, and the heartbreaking event haunted the author. He considered writing a memoir(回忆录)about it—“I was thinking about Truman Capote, when he did those tiny books about Christmas and Thanksgiving.” But his wife encouraged him to aim bigger. When he found himself seated next to the writer Jim Harrison at a dinner event, he shared the story, and Harrison said, “Sometimes God hands you a novel. You have to write it.” Urrea thought to himself “Marching orders from Jim Harrison―this is good stuff. A kid from Tijuana doesn’t get that very often.”
The House of Broken Angels is a celebration of the Mexican-American family, but it also includes moments of frustration with this country’s treatment of the immigrant group. Before he got too sick to work, Big Angel worked in an office and drank coffee from a cup that read BOSS. “Yeah, the employees all got the message,” Urrea writes. “The Mexican-American was calling himself their boss.” In a grocery store, a woman screams at two of his family members that they’ll be kicked out of the country soon. “I had to bite down on the bitterness of my rage(愤怒), man!” Urrea says. “I was having some pretty serious response to Donald Trump’s confusing and empty talk. But you know, it may have shocked a lot of the United States to hear this kind of empty talk and this bald-faced racialism of politics all of a sudden, but to us, this stuff isn’t a surprise?”
“I really wanted to write a tribute to my brother, to my family and to us, but it’s also a love song to the country,” Urrea says. “I think people have this weird, horrible view... that immigrants are evil snakes. People don’t understand that immigration is truly a statement of love for this country, whatever the country represents. People want to be here and work.” And with persistence, they become the boss.
1.Why did Urrea’s father give him the book The Godfather?
A.He wanted Urrea to enjoy the 27-hour journey.
B.He thought the book had changed his own life.
C.He tried to show Urrea a real case of criminals.
D.He hoped Urrea would feel connected to Mexico.
2.The question “where are the tacos, dude?” in Paragraph 3 probably suggests ________.
A.Mexican traditions have been left behind
B.the people like American junk food best
C.it is difficult to buy the Mexican food
D.the tacos are popular with everyone there
3.Urrea thought of Truman Capote because ________.
A.Capote was good at writing tiny books
B.Capote’s books are about Christmas
C.he intended to write a memoir
D.he liked reading Capote’s books
4.In the sentence “A kid from Tijunana doesn’t get that very often”, “A kid” here refers to ________.
A.Jim Harrison B.Luis Alberto Urrea
C.Truman Capote D.Big Angel de la Cruz
5.We can learn from Paragraph 5 that ________.
A.Big Angel himself was the boss of his office
B.Mexican immigrants were treated unfairly
C.Urrea’s family were kicked out of the country
D.Urrea heard Trump’s talk ahead of time
6.The House of Broken Angels mainly focuses on the novelist’s ________.
A.love for the Mexican-American family
B.life in the Mexican-American family
C.mixed feelings towards American people
D.mature reflection on Mexican traditions
To move visual technology into the future, sometimes it helps to make a little noise. Researchers have used sound waves to produce floating 3-D images, create a sense of touch and even supply a soundtrack.
Since the 1940s, scientists have toyed with the concept of acoustic levitation(声悬浮), the use of soundwave vibrations to trap tiny things in midair. The technology has gained greater capabilities in the past decade. Some researchers believe this improvement could lead to applications such as contributing to novel 3-D printing methods, or creating displays that would be visible from any angle without requiring a screen.
Other researchers have also worked on visual displays that use acoustic levitation. In addition to visuals, the system can also produce audible noise to give the display a soundtrack. And the ultrasound speakers can also concentrate vibrations in one spot so that a finger might feel a sense pushing back—a little like the object shown by the floating image is really there. Soundwaves create a 3-D display!
Display without a screen is remarkably useful. It means that everybody in the room can see the image—any angle, location—and that’s extremely helpful. As a communications system, such a display might one day allow users to chat with a 3-D projection(投影) of a person who can turn his or her head to follow as they move around a room.
The display will require a lot more work before you can install it in your living room, however. So far, this has been done in the research laboratory. We need to push it a little bit harder. We need to do more analysis to see if it would make sense to create a real display that people would have at home. The current system can only show simple graphics, such as a smiley face or figure eight, in real time.
Still, we are optimistic about the potential for this type of technology. If the system had only one speaker-covered surface instead of two, it could generate images that are bigger than the device itself. We can’t make a TV image that’s bigger than the TV—even a projector has to have a projection screen that’s bigger than the image itself. But with a volumetric(容积的) display, a small, portable device might produce a much larger picture. We can imagine, in the future, having volumetric displays in watches, for example, that create large images that just project out of your watch.
1.From the first two paragraphs soundwave vibrations can be used to _________.
A.catch very small objects in midair
B.develop 3-D printer’s capabilities
C.replace a creative display screen
D.compose soundtracks by making no noise
2.What do we know about display without a screen?
A.It has resulted in visual technology.
B.It is possible to see the image from any direction.
C.It is already ripe to create a real one at home.
D.It has yet to be tested in the research laboratory.
3.What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?
A.Outlooks for the new technology.
B.Situations of the modern technology.
C.Praise for the cutting-edge technology.
D.Room for the technical improvement.
4.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.Hearing Is Seeing—Sound Waves Create a 3-D Display
B.Seeing is Believing—3-D Printing Methods Arrive
C.Advancing Sense of Touch—3-D Images Float in the Air
D.Promoting TV Technology—Chat with 3-D Projections
