Sign up for the Los Angeles Times Book Club
Welcome to the L. A. Times Book Club, an opportunity to see, hear and interact with world-class authors, celebrities and newsmakers as they discuss their books and tell their stories. What stories do you want to share with the city? What authors would you most like to meet? Here’s your chance to help us build something amazing.
The latest
On Saturday, Feb. 15，author and former Los Angeles poet laureate (获奖者) Luis J. Rodriguez will discuss From Our Land to Our Land, a new collection of stories and essays about race, culture, identity, and belonging. Rodriguez will be in conversation with Times reporter Daniel Hernandez at the Colony Theatre in Burbank. Call 213-804- 2722 to get tickets.
On March 11, the book club authors Jeanine Cummins (American Dirt) and Reyna Grande (A Dream Called Home) in conversation with Times Column One editor Steve Padilla. Ticket information is coming soon.
Earlier, we read The Library Book by bestselling author Susan Orlean and hosted a community forum where Orlean and readers shared library stories. We also took a deep dive to explore what L. A. is reading right now and showed book lovers how to read for free with library apps.
Get in touch
Want to know more? Sign up for our newsletter (简讯) in the subscription box, and we’ll keep you informed of book club news and upcoming events.
Want to share an idea? On Twitter, you can reach us @Latimesbooks. Or send an email to bookclub© latimes. com.
1.What is special about the L. A. Times Book Club?
A.It has all kinds of library apps.
B.It gives readers access to different cultures.
C.It provides information about some celebrities.
D.It invites you to communicate with great authors.
2.Which author will you meet if you book a ticket now?
A.Susan Orlean. B.Jeanine Cummins.
C.Luis J. Rodriguez. D.Reyna Grande.
3.How can you get more information from the Club?
A.Subscribe to the club news.
B.Contact the club @latimeshooks.
C.Call the organizer.
D.Send an email to bookclub©Latimes. com.
假设你是李华，你的澳大利亚朋友Terry将参加当地中国文化展志愿者的应聘，发邮件向你询问有关面试的注意事项，请你回复邮件，内容包括：
1.到达时间；
2.中式着装；
3.面试礼仪。
注意： 1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Terry,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes!
Yours sincerely,
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。作文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），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：在错的词下面画一横线，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。
We live in the countryside. Most of which we see is the beauty of nature. One of the exceptions to the beauty is the litter some people throw out their windows as they are driving on the roads. One of the few drawbacks to living in the countryside is that public service, such as litter collection, are little available than they are closer to the city.
A helping habit that my family practise regularly are picking up litter in our surrounding area. We have become so accustomed to do this that my little brother will often say, “There’s some litter. Daddy, stop the car!” and we would often pull over and pick it up. It may seem strange, and we actually enjoy it. We pick up litter in parks, on sidewalks, practically anywhere. Once I even saw a complete stranger picking up litter close to where we live in. He smiled at me and said, “I saw you doing it, and it seemed like the good idea.”
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
A kind of insect gets its name for the body shape, which resembles a long stick. Such an amazing 1. (appear) helps it successfully hide from predators(捕食者) in the branches of trees. These creatures 2. (call) stick insects. Often called walking sticks, they live on every continent except Antarctica. They can be smaller than an inch or longer than 3. 18-inch ruler.
There are some other ways stick insects use to defend 4. (they). Some can hit attackers with their spiny legs. Others spray something in no time 5. burns an attacker’s eyes. And some just taste bad. The Peruvian stick insect is one of them. This stick insect is 6. (easy) to see because it has red, yellow, and black markings than others. These bright colors are a warning to predators, who know it discharges something with an unpleasant smell when 7. (attack).
Stick insects are mostly nocturnal, which means they are active at night, when they spend their time eating leaves. Darkness makes it harder for most predators 8. (discover) them. However, darkness doesn’t protect stick insects 9. one super set of insect hunters, insect-eating bats. These bats use echolocation(回声定位) to find yummy bug dinners. And stick insects are 10. (absolute) on the menu as something these bats want to eat!
I was busy that morning. I was already stressing about how I was going to ______ all my deadlines. I’m ______ to do things that I love, but my life is ______ with various writing deadlines. So when I ______ working part-time to our family business, things and schedule got ______ tight now.
When my son called to see if I could ______ my two-year-old grandson Nolan for a few hours, my first thought was, no way I could do that. My second thought was, no way I could not do that. Family comes ______, and I know that ______ with my sweet grandbaby will be worth it.
Nolan’s huge smile and sparkling eyes ______ my heart. We played with cars that had been his ______ when he was a little boy all the morning. Wearing Granddaddy’s hat, Nolan stood on a chair and helped me prepare ______, and then we had a picnic in the kitchen. I could tell he was getting ______, so I sat him on my lap. He put his head against my shoulder. There are no words to ______ the sweetness of that moment.
But I almost ______ all of that preciousness before that day ______ I thought that I didn’t have time. It made me realize something else. Sometimes in the business of my days一most of the time ______ things —it’s easy to forget to spend time with ______.
So this week, I’m ______ for the reminder to take time for what is precious to me. I don’t ever want to miss those ______ moments with my grandbaby any more. Even more, I don’t ever want to miss a minute when family is willing to ______ with me.
1.A.meet B.set C.push D.acquire
2.A.amazed B.admired C.blessed D.honored
3.A.strict B.occupied C.popular D.familiar
4.A.taught B.added C.wrote D.passed
5.A.extra B.sharply C.fairly D.barely
6.A.attend B.adopt C.choose D.support
7.A.last B.first C.best D.late
8.A.bargains B.problems C.quarrels D.moments
9.A.broke B.sank C.softened D.opened
10.A.granny’s B.brother’s C.mother’s D.daddy’s
11.A.breakfast B.dinner C.lunch D.supper
12.A.excited B.lonely C.hungry D.sleepy
13.A.describe B.experience C.develop D.instruct
14.A.wasted B.missed C.enjoyed D.appreciated
15.A.despite B.until C.when D.because
16.A.wasting B.playing C.reading D.writing
17.A.children B.books C.family D.work
18.A.cheerful B.successful C.grateful D.hopeful
19.A.priceless B.worthless C.careless D.aimless
20.A.hold out B.hang out C.work out D.figure out
Everyone knows conferences are great for interpersonal relationships. Conferences are all about meeting people and making friends. Of course, some of those new contacts may become customers for your company too, but don’t try to sell to them at the conference unless you really have to. 1..
The most difficult part of communication is always breaking the ice: 2.. We call it golden time. Actually, it can be incredibly tough to walk into a room full of people, all of whom seem to know each other and are involved in deep conversations. How on earth do you join in?
3.. It’s polite to introduce yourself and ask if you can join the group, but there’s nothing wrong with standing and listening for a few minutes first.
The worst thing to do is to walk around looking busy. This is like holding up a sign saying “Please don’t talk to me”. A much better solution, though, is to move slowly around the room, make eye contact with people, smile and say “ hello”. 4..
Sometimes, we’re our own worst enemies. 5.. However, when someone tries to engage us in conversation, we can’t wait to get away. If someone has made the effort to come up to you, they deserve at least five minutes of your time, no matter how boring that person seems. And if you’re lucky, perhaps more people will join your conversation group.
A.We feel bad when no one wants to talk to us.
B.The best thing to do is to try to get involved in one of the conversations.
C.Just be yourself, and allow any business partnerships to appear naturally.
D.Half the people in the group conversations are nervously trying to get involved.
E.The most important thing to remember is that most people are in the same position as you.
F.Starting a conversation with a stranger and keeping it going for the important five minutes.
G.That way, even if you’re too nervous to start a conversation, other people will understand it.
