I entered a cabinetmaking(家具制造)program. I didn’t think I would be good at making furniture. I’m not handy. Nobody in my family is.
I had great teachers, but making furniture is hard. There are so many steps and something can go wrong at each one. I couldn’t even get organized. My toolbox always looked as if a hurricane had gone through it.
I didn’t fully know what I was committed to in the beginning, but I kept attending class. I tried to be wrapped up in math. The projects forced me to solve new kinds of problems. My brain started to build new connections. Working in this new physical manner and giving it 100 percent of my effort had huge benefits for my mental health. I got over my fear of embarrassment and asked for help at every opportunity.
I spent that year truly learning. True learning is the most challenging experience, especially for those of us who are learning a new set of skills. I could understand exactly what was wrong with the furniture I made, but I couldn’t fix those problems. And yet, I kept trying. I failed again and again, until I learned to fail better.
In the end, I finished the program—with honors, no less! My grades were helped by my good written work. I also learned how to use tools. Having to constantly push myself to step outside my comfort zone has made me a more well-rounded person.
Maybe most importantly, the school gave me a more realistic idea of my strengths and limitations. I’m stronger than I thought!
1.What can we know about the author from the first two paragraphs?
A.She had a gift for making furniture. B.She lacked practical skills.
C.She disliked making everything in a mess. D.She went to the program to surprise her family.
2.What was the biggest challenge the author encountered?
A.Physical condition. B.Psychological preparation.
C.To know how to correct mistakes. D.Not being good at math.
3.What do you think of the author?
A.Hard-working and determined. B.Confident and efficient.
C.Cooperative and creative. D.Modest and talented.
4.What did the author benefit most from the project?
A.She won an award for good writing. B.She became stronger both mentally and physically.
C.She became skillful at making furniture. D.She had a better understanding of herself.
Escape Surf School
The Escape Surf School is in Newquay and has been teaching people to surf for over 12 years. As well as being one of the longest running UK surf schools, we are also the only school in Newquay with a 35-year professional surfer as head coach.
We are open 12 months of the year, 7 days a week, so if you want to learn to surf or improve your surfing, then look no further.
Surf Lessons
At the Escape Surf School we are proud to specialize, not generalize. We offer lessons at all levels, from complete beginners to advanced and contest surfers. As well as offering surfing lessons, we also offer a variety of packages which include surfing and accommodation!
All lessons take place on Towan, Great Western or Fistral beach, all of which are less than 5 minutes walk from school. So we meet at the school, where we all change into wetsuits, and then proceed to the best beach.
Guide Prices
1 lesson--￡65:
Perfect for a beginner, taster session, or quick surfing fix!
Full day (2 lessons)--￡90:
Can be split over 2 days to really progress in your surfing.
Family lesson--￡160:
Have fun with the family in a private lesson with one of our professional coaches. (Price is based on 2 adults and 2 kids.)
One on One--￡100:
Experience private coaching with Pro Surfer. All levels taught.
Two on One--￡140:
Couples or friends, experience a private surf coaching session, perfect to fast track your surfing and impress your partner! All levels taught.
The prices include board and wetsuit(and boots or gloves if required), there are no hidden charges.
1.What advantage does the Escape Surf School have over the others?
A.Its head coach. B.Its courses.
C.Its prices. D.Its location.
2.How much will be paid if a beginner wants a private lesson?
A.￡90 B.￡100 C.￡65 D.￡40
3.What do we know about the Escape Surf School?
A.It teaches surfing as well as swimming.
B.Learners should bring board themselves.
C.It opens from Monday to Saturday all the year round.
D.Learners at all levels can take the lesson.
假设你是晨光中学的李津。你校英语社团的微信公众号正在开展以 “Changes in Our Life”为题的征文活动。要求同学们谈一谈这些年来，在生活方 面发生的、使人们受益的变化。现请你投稿，文章内容应包括：
(1)描述生活上发生的变化(两个方面)；
(2)这些变化给人们带来的好处；
(3)相信未来生活更加美好。
注意：(1)词数不少于100；
(2)内容充实、行文连贯；
(3)题目已给出，不计入总词数。
Changes in Our Life
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By Li Jin
阅读短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题
I remember doing the household chores to help my mother when I was nine. I hated changing the vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器)bag and picking up things the machine did not suck up. Twenty years later, in 1978, with this lifelong dislike of the way the machine worked, I decided to make a bagless one.
Easier said than done, of course. I didn't realize that I would spend the next five years perfecting my design, a process that resulted in 5,127 different prototypes (样机).By the time I made my 15th prototype, my third child was born. By 2,627, my wife and I were really counting our pennies. By 3,727, my wife was giving art lessons for some extra cash, and we were getting further and further into debt. These were tough times, but each failure brought me closer to solving the problem.
In the early 1980s, I started trying to get licensing agreements for my technology. The reality was very different, however. The major vacuum makers had built a business model based on the profits from bags and filters (滤网). No one would license my idea, not because it was a bad one, but because it was bad for business. But soon after, the companies that I had talked with started making machines like mine. I had to fight legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic to protect the patents on my vacuum cleaner.
I was still in financial difficulties until 1993, when my bank manager personally persuaded Lloyds Bank to lend me $1 million. Then I was able to go into production. Within two years, the Dyson vacuum cleaner became a best-seller in Britain.
Today, I still embrace risk and the potential for failure as part of the process. Nothing beats the excitement of invention.
1.What drove the author to make a bagless vacuum cleaner? (No more than 10 words)
2.What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us? (No more than 10 words)
3.Why did the companies refuse to license the author's technology? (No more than 10 words)
4.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean? (No more than 10 words)
5.What lesson may you learn from the author's experience? (No more than 25 words)
If you believe that scientists and artists are most creative when they're young, you are missing an important part of the story. A new study published in De Economist looked at Nobel Prize winners in the field of economics. It found there are two different peaks of creativity. One comes early in a person's career, while another comes later.
The research supports previous work by the authors that found similar patterns in the arts and other sciences.
"We believe what we found in this study isn't limited to economics, but could apply to creativity more generally," said Bruce Weinberg, lead author of the study and professor of economics at The Ohio State University.
"Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you're talking about."
In the study, those who did their most groundbreaking work early in their careers tended to be "conceptual" innovators（创新者）.
These type of innovators "think outside the box", challenging conventional wisdom and suddenly coming up with new ideas. Conceptual innovators are not yet immersed（沉浸于）in the accepted theories of their field, Weinberg said.
But there is another kind of creativity, he said, which is found among "experimental" innovators. These innovators accumulate knowledge through their careers and find new ways to understand it.
The long periods of trial and error for important experimental innovations come later in a Nobel laureate's（荣誉获得者的）career.
"Whether you hit your creative peak early or late in your career depends on whether you have a conceptual or experimental approach," Weinberg said.
The researchers took a novel, empirical（经验主义的）approach to the study, which involved 31 laureates. They arranged the laureates on a list from the most experimental to most conceptual.
This ranking was based on the laureates' most important work, classifying them into "conceptual" or "experimental".
After classifying the laureates, the researchers determined the age at which each laureate made his most important contribution to economics and could be considered at his creative peak.
They found that conceptual laureates peaked between ages 25 and 29. Experimental laureates peaked when they were roughly twice as old, in their mid-50s.
"Our research suggests that when you're most creative is more about how you approach your work."
1.What does the underlined phrase "think outside the box" mean?
A.Follow rules strictly. B.Experiment on boxes.
C.Break old thought patterns. D.Figure out how to escape from a box.
2.What do we know about "experimental" innovators?
A.They usually come up with new ideas all of a sudden.
B.They make discoveries through constant trial and error.
C.The majority of them reach their creative peak in their twenties.
D.They make more contributions than "conceptual" innovators.
3.Which of the following statements about the study published in De Economist is false?
A.The study is not the first of its kind.
B.The conclusion can be applied to other areas.
C.The laureates' most important work decides whether they are "conceptual" or "experimental".
D.The "conceptual" won their Nobel Prizes between ages 25 and 29.
4.What do the researchers believe determines someone's creative peak?
A.One's personality type. B.What kind of job one takes.
C.How one handles their work. D.One's attitude toward their work.
5.What's the main idea of this passage?
A.Creativity comes at any age, young or old.
B.Creativity tends to decrease as people get older.
C.Economists, artists and other scientists have much in common.
D.Economists are more creative than artists and other scientists.
Eric Attayi, owner of the Urban Bicycle Gallery in Houston, Texas, has watched the pandemic transform his shop in a way most businesses can only dream of.
Bicycles are selling before he has time to assemble them for display. Attayi said he'd matched his 2019 sales by the start of May. He's had to hire new employees to meet demand, and hasn't taken a day off since February. Attayi said now the phone doesn't stop ringing and his guys get overwhelmed. He'd given raises and started buying lunch for his stressed staff.
As unemployment reaches record levels and small businesses scramble to survive, bike shops have been an exception.
They're thriving whether they're in car-dominated cities like Houston or more traditional biking areas like New York. Keeping enough bikes in stock, and finishing repairs in a timely manner, has become a challenge. Customers are being turned away, in some cases.
New customers are looking for ways to be active and outdoors. Bike shop owners say that the closing of gyms and yoga studios during the pandemic has contributed. Others say customers are looking for a commuting alternative to public transportation. Social spacing is easiest on individual modes of transportation, like cars and bikes. In March 2020, US cycling sales increased 39% when compared with March 2019, according to a survey.
"Bikes are like the new toilet paper," Attayi said. "If it's available, buy it."
Robert Keating, owner of the Triathlon Lab outside Los Angeles, said he's never seen anything like the current bicycle boom in the 37 years he's worked in bike shops. He's shifted his shop from a focus on high-end bicycles to affordable bikes people are likely to ride in their neighborhood. Beach cruisers have been especially popular, he said.
Bike shop owners are also wondering how long the current boom will last. Some said customers were more interested in biking because with less car traffic, roads felt safer. Their interest may decrease as traffic returns. But some cities have begun to reallocate street space to bike lanes, which could lead to more biking in the long term.
Phil Koopman, owner of BicycleSpace in Washington DC, compared the current bicycle boom to 1999, when many people bought computers to prepare for Y2K.
"Then those companies didn't sell a lot of computers for a few years because everyone already had one," Koopman said. "That's the big question. Is this a one-time thing or is it something sustainable?"
1.What can we learn from Para l and Para 2?
A.Most businesses have experienced the same development as Attayi's shop.
B.Attayi's 2019 sales were as many as those of the start of May.
C.Bikes are flying off shelves, overwhelming shops.
D.The staff's wages were raised because they had no day off since February.
2.What does the underlined word They in Para 4 refer to?
A.Unemployment levels.
B.Small businesses.
C.Bike shops
D.Stressed staff
3.What is the challenge for bike shops?
A.Jo attract customers when they are not keen on biking.
B.To survive in car-dominated ciles.
C.To promote their sales in traditional biking cities.
D.To prepare enough bikes for sale and do repairs quickly.
4.Which is not the reason why more customers are turning to bikes during the pandemic?
A.They can spend much less on qualified goods.
B.They cannot go to gyms and yoga studios.
C.They prefer biking to public transportation.
D.They are trying to find an active way in the open air.
5.We can infer from para7 and para8 that _______?
A.The current bicycle boom was totally within Keating's expectations.
B.Triathlon Lab used to mainly sell bikes that were unaffordable for most people.
C.Roads feel dangerous when there are more bikers.
D.People lose interest in biking because there is no bike lane.
6.What is Phil Koopman's attitude towards the bike boom?
A.Short-sighted. B.Unconcerned.
C.Skeptical. D.Optimistic
