To joke around is to have fun with someone. To fool someone is to try to make them believe something that is not true. 1.
April 1st is known as the day to fool people with practical jokes, pranks or harmless tricks. 2. Some say April Fools' Day began as one big mistake.
Many centuries ago, people in the Western world used the Julian calendar. 3. However, when people began using the Gregorian calendar, the New Year was moved to January 1st. Those who forgot the change and tried to celebrate New Year's Day on the wrong date were teased and called ''April fools''. This is just one of the many theories behind the origin of April Fools' Day. 4.
The fool is a common character in art, music and literature. William Shakespeare is famous for his fools. And fools make for great pop songs. Fools are found in many words, expressions and proverbs. To be foolhardy means to do something that are too dangerous or risky. For example, it is foolhardy to hike up a mountain during a heavy snowstorm. If something is foolproof, it is planned or made so well that nothing could go wrong. 5.
''Look, I don't want to get into trouble. This plan of yours sounds risky. ''
''My plan is foolproof. Nothing will go wrong as long as you do exactly as I say. ''
A.Not even a fool could mess it up.
B.And that is the purpose of April Fools' Day.
C.They celebrated the New Year on April 1st.
D.Even a smart person can be a fool at times.
E.But the tradition remains the same—to fool someone.
F.Fools also find themselves in many proverbs.
G.But how did this tradition begin?
Attending a live musical performance in a huge sports center with lots of supporters of the musician is exciting. Even in a theatre, a skilled performer can provide a great show. Here in the U.S., a very different kind of performance space is gaining in popularity.
Singer-songwriter Annalise Emerick is getting ready to play a show. It is something she does most nights in bars, and other small spaces across the country. But tonight, the setting is even smaller. Ms. Emerick will play for a few people in Kristina Shulz's home.
Ms. Shulz has been holding such performances in her home for about four years. As many as 30 people have attended past shows. The crowd is usually a mix of family, friends and neighbors. But some strangers might show up, too. The performances are listed on house concert websites. ''We've done rock, we've had blues, we've had pop, folk...pretty much anything...anything we’ll have here. '' she said.
House concerts have become an importance part of Annalise Emerick's earnings. ''I can play a bar for 100 dollars, but I can play a house concert and if there are 50 people and they all paying $20 I’m having a great night. And they're all buying CDs. It’s amazing. ''
Ms. Emerick says house concert audiences tend to make more supportive fans. They follow her career, buy her new releases, and go to her shows when she is in town.
''There's just a totally unique experience as opposed to playing like a coffee shop or a bar or something like that where people are usually there, but you don’t always know if they're there for you. ''
Charlie Dahan teaches music management courses. He used to organize shows for artists. Mr. Dahan says house concerts can be financially risky for artists.
''The downside for the artists is that most house concerts don't pay guarantees. In fact, most house concerts by law are not allowed to charge admission. Most of them can only do a suggested donation.'' On the other hand, he says house concerts can help fill an artist's performance calendar and build a loyal following.
Annalise Emerick says she has played in some homes so often the owners have become close friends. And that's been really nice for her.
1.All of the following about the house concerts in Kristina Shulz’s home are true EXCEPT ______.
A.Some strangers might attend the concerts.
B.Many kinds of music have been played in the concerts.
C.The performances are listed on house concert websites.
D.The concerts have become an important part of her income.
2.What does “a totally unique experience” refer to?
A.People come just for your music. B.People come to drink coffee.
C.People are paying much for your music. D.People are buying your CDs.
3.In Charlie Dahan’s opinion, house concerts ______.
A.should charge admission
B.should do more donations
C.bring uncertain income
D.help artists make friends
4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A.The advantages of house concerts B.The popularity of house concerts
C.Ways to get royal fans for artists D.Ways to fill an artist’s calendar
Even as a bush fire threatened the rural Australian community, Gary Wilson and his partner Julie Willis decided not to flee their wooden house.
The two had a home full of baby kangaroos to protect. More than 10 of the baby kangaroos — called joeys — stayed safe inside fabric pouches (育儿袋) that hung in the couple's living room. Each piece of cloth looked like the opening in which mother kangaroos carry their young. Wilson and Willis have taken care of wild animals before. Recently, full-grown kangaroos and other wildlife that had left their care long ago came back to the house in search of protection as the fires grew nearer. ''We had too many animals in the house and around the house so we really couldn't go, '' Wilson said. ''We decided we were going to stay and fight. '' Their home is now surrounded by burned land and vehicles.
Wilson and Willis defended their home with fire extinguishers (灭火器) and water pumps. Their house also had a special device on top that sprayed water on hot ashes falling on the roof.
Good preparation and good luck helped the building stay safe. And the animals have survived. But the fire killed two of Wilson's neighbors. ''It was a horrible thing. '' Wilson said.
Willis said, ''It's not until after the fires when it really hits you how close you were to dying... ''
While Wilson and Willis usually care for joeys that are rescued after their mothers are struck by vehicles, they are now welcoming an increasing number of fire orphans.
She said, ''We didn't have children ourselves; this is what we spend our time doing. We think it's worthy — a worthy cause — looking after our babies no matter what they are... ''
1.We can learn from the passage that ______ .
A.Wilson and Willis took care of kangaroos only
B.Wilson and Willis decided to leave their wooden house
C.Wilson and Willis made pouches for baby kangaroos
D.Wilson and Willis had to look after their own babies
2.The underlined phrase ''fire orphans'' refer to ______.
A.firefighters who come to help them
B.special devices which help put out the fire
C.baby animals whose mothers get killed in the fire
D.neighbors whose houses are burnt in the fire
3.Where is the text probably from?
A.A news report. B.A journal.
C.A textbook. D.A guidebook.
Chef Zhang Xuesi lowered the fire on the stove where he was cooking his Cantonese meal. He added all the necessary foods. He quickly lowered the fire and turned toward a phone camera as hundreds of people watched him online. ''It ruins the dish if you burn the breadcrumbs, '' he advised his livestream video watchers.
Many people in China are restricted to their homes in the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. Millions of them are finding a new interest in cooking. People watching television and online cooking shows are learning how to make Chinese and Western foods. They are also pushing up the sale of special cookware on online markets. Downloads of the top five recipe apps doubled in February, said research company Sensor Tower.
Billibilli said it has had more than 580 million views of its cooking videos in the two months since the coronavirus began to spread in China. Another online cooking show producer DayDayCook told Reuters its numbers of new users increased 200 percent from January to February. A recipe for bean curd and shrimp received the most watchers.
Many new home cooks are young people living in cities. This group is used to eating out or getting food delivery. Now these people are cooking at home. Wu Shuang is a 30-year-old who works and lives in Beijing. She was among those trapped at home in February. She says she spent a lot of time online, learning how to make bread and other foods.
Chef Zhang Xuesi explained that many of his online viewers expressed interest in discussing more than just food. In the past, users were only interested in learning cooking tricks, but now we talk about all kinds of subjects.
1.What was Zhang Xuesi doing according to paragraph 1?
A.He was learning how to make Cantonese foods.
B.He was downloading the top five recipe apps.
C.He was pushing up the sale of special cookware.
D.He was making online cooking shows.
2.Which of the following is NOT true about Wu Shuang?
A.She becomes a new home cook.
B.She was trapped at home in February.
C.She learned cooking foods online.
D.She was interested in discussing food online.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Many people are restricted to their homes because of coronavirus.
B.Many people turn to cooking at home because of coronavirus.
C.Many people push up sales on online markets because of coronavirus.
D.Many people spend a lot of time online because of coronavirus.
请认真阅读下面短文，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
Recently, 117 schools in Qujiang District, Zhejiang Province, have included a bow ceremony or “zuoyi(作揖礼)in the teaching content, requiring teachers and students to meet and make a bow with hands folded in front.
Cheng Junning, an officer from Qujiang District First Middle School, said that for thousands of years, the Chinese people have been using “zuoyi” as a general gesture for hello. To a certain extent, it plays a role in carrying forward the traditional culture and has its value.
Dr. Tang Lap Kwong from the Chinese University of Hong Kong said he was “very excited to see this and hope they will insist on it in the future” in an interview with the Chinanews. He said it is a good idea to promote Chinese traditional culture in schools. People have to respect the culture.
However, opinions split online. Not seeing the value of the movement, some netizens argue that promoting the bow ceremony in schools is just formalism. Teachers and students are so familiar with each other that they usually greet or wave when they meet, which is relatively normal. So it is not necessary to make a bow for them.
［写作内容］
1.用约30个单词概述上述信息的主要内容；
2.你对在校园推广行作揖礼持什么观点？请说明理由(不少于两点)。
［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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请认真阅读下列短文，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。
注意:请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上C每个空格只填1个单词。
Many businesses offer membership cards to clients, promising that they will enjoy discounts, and the more they use the cards, the bigger the discounts will be. This is a common practice to attract and keep regular customers. By providing quality products or services at reasonable prices, businesses can indeed achieve this goal.
However, in recent years, consumers trying to book flights or hotels on certain websites have discovered that prices were actually higher for frequent users than for newcomers. They found that they could pay less by opening up a new account rather than using an old one. Unfortunately, these businesses are using information gathered through big data on clients’ preferences and purchasing habits to take advantage of them, which amounts to targeted price discrimination.
There have been numerous cases of overcharging based on big data on various shopping platforms in recent years. However, since it’s difficult to collect sufficient evidence to accuse these businesses, only a small number of consumers have chosen to take them on. Thus, big data, which is supposed to benefit the public, is helping some businesses cheat consumers. Big data itself is not a bad thing, since it is playing an increasingly important role in social life and economic growth. It can serve as a basic resource and tool. But since it is being used to overcharge frequent clients, the public has expressed anger. It’s a short-sighted behavior that will eventually drive away customers. Instead, big data should be used to improve businesses’ services and products by strengthening supervision (监督)and punishment so that this new technology can play its due role in Internet commerce.
It’s urgent to stop the misuse of big data by stepping up supervision. Market and network supervisory authorities need to join hands in this effort. The illegal use of big data should be severely punished. Advanced technology should be more widely used to supervise big data use.
It’s all right for businesses to employ certain methods to make big money, but to charge regular clients more than newcomers by taking advantage of information collected through big data analysis is violating regular clients’ rights as well as their trust in these businesses. The Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests clearly states that consumers have the right to know the truth about the commodities and services they buy. Thus, to overcharge regular clients is not only betraying the principle of fairness and sincerity, but also relevant laws. In the long run, it’s the businesses that will suffer most.
How Do We Make Good Use of Big Data in Commerce
Passage outline | Supporting details |
A common practice | Businesses, which promise quality products with lower costs, offer membership cards with the1. of appealing to regular customers. |
A reality 2. to expectations | • Newcomers can enjoy a 3. discount than frequent clients by registering a new account. • Personal information gathered; clients have fallen 4. to targeted price discrimination. |
The role of big data in social and economic life | • Despite 5.of hard evidence, there have been lots of cases where companies overcharge customers with the help of big data. • Playing its due role, big data can 6.both businesses and the public. |
7.to discouraging misuse of big data | • Market and network supervisory authorities should make 8.efforts. • Severe 9.is necessary to fight against the illegal use of big data with the wide application of advanced technology. |
Conclusion | Overcharging regular clients violates the principle of fairness and relevant laws, which, in the long run, will be most 10. to businesses. |
