I was cycling and noticed a person, about a quarter of a kilometer in front of me. I could tell he was cycling a little slower than me and decided to try to _______ him. I had about a kilometer to go on the road _______ turning off.
So I _______ cycling faster and faster and every _______ I was gaining on him just a little bit. After just a few minutes I was only about 100 yards _______ him, so I really picked up the pace and _______ myself You would have _______ I was cycling in the last section of London Olympic triathlon.
_______,I caught up with him and passed him by. On the inside I felt so _______.I beat him, of course, but he didn't even know we were __________ .
After I passed him, I __________ that I had been so focused on competing against him that I had __________ my turn. I had gone nearly six blocks past it and had to turn around and go all the way back.
Isn't that what happens in life when we __________ competing with co-workers, neighbors, and friends, trying to __________ that we are more successful or more important? We spend our time and ____________ chasing after them and we miss out on our own __________ to our future.
The __________ of unhealthy competition is that it's a never-ending ____________, because there will__________ be somebody ahead of you, someone with a better job, more money and more education, etc.
Therefore, just take what life has given you, your height, weight and personality. Stay focused and live a healthy life. There's no __________in life. Run your own race and wish others well!
1.A. follow B. catch C. remind D. grasp
2.A. before B. after C. unless D. when
3.A. stopped B. enjoyed C. started D. regretted
4.A. way B. block C. step D. time
5.A. apart from B. above C. ahead of D. behind
6.A. protected B. pushed C. supported D. comforted
7.A. thought B. remembered C. dreamt D. hoped
8.A. Fortunately B. Finally C. Surprisingly D. Apparently
9.A. calm B. lucky C. astonished D. good
10.A. racing B. exercising C. celebrating D. cycling
11.A. believed B. expected C. realized D. understood
12.A. escaped B. missed C. made D. lost
13.A. worry about B. care for C. depend on D. focus on
14.A. prove B. declare C. explain D. inform
15.A. tears B. money C. energy D. pain
16.A. paths B. entrances C. plans D. barriers
17.A. task B. difficulty C. problem D. goal
18.A. movement B. cycle C. event D. routine
19.A. never B. often C. sometimes D. always
20.A. mistake B. competition C. pressure D. challenge
You know that eating healthy, staying active, and solving a few brain games can help keep your memory. But the following lesser-known habits work wonders too.
1. 1.
When we sit with our shoulders bent forward, this defeated position actually causes us to feel anxious or depressed — which makes it harder to think clearly and remember things. Conversely (反过来), straight upright posture apparently improves memory because it boosts blood and oxygen flow to the brain.
2. Exercise — Once
Having trouble remembering faces? 2. In a study, pictures of faces were shown to
older folks after they pedal a stationary (静止的) bike at an intense pace or simply sit on a self-pedaling bike. On average, people remembered the faces better after the intense exercise. What’s more, the memory gains after a single workout were similar to the gains after 3 months of regular exercise.
3. Limit TV
Every parent and grandparent has heard that too much screen time can hurt a child’s
cognitive development. 3. According to a study, people (aged 50 or older) who watched
more than 3.5 hours of TV a day for 6 years experienced a greater drop in verbal memory test scores than those who watched less.
4. Draw aimlessly
A research shows those who drew the words remembered the most when recalling words. That’s because while some parts of the brain about getting memory back become worse as people
grow older, the picture processing regions usually don’t. 4.
5. Walk Backward
5. Walk back! Backward motion — whether real, imagined, or watched — helps people remember the information better than sitting still and, in most cases, better than forward motion. It may be that moving backward in space mentally helps us move back in time to the moment we learned something.
A.Sit Tall.
B.Stand Straight.
C.Start more workouts.
D.Sweat for physical training.
E.Thus sketching can help adults keep their memory sharp.
F.But what about those at the other end of their life span?
G.Next time you’re trying to recall something, don’t just think back.
Anecdotal evidence has long held that creativity in artists and writers can be associated with living in foreign parts. Rudyard Kipling, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Paul Gauguin, Samuel Beckett and others spent years living abroad. Now a pair of psychologist has proven that there is indeed a link.
As they report in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, William Maddux of INSEAD, a business school in Fontainebleau, France, and Adam Galinsky, of the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, presented 155 American business students and 55 foreign ones studying in America with a test used by psychologists as a measure of creativity Given a candle, some matches and a box of drawing pins, the students were asked to attach the candle to a cardboard wall so that no wax would drip on the floor when the candle was lit. (The solution is to use the box as a candleholder and fix it to the wall with the pin.) They found 60% of the students who were either living abroad or had spent some time doing so, solved the problem, whereas only 42% of those who had not lived abroad did so.
A follow-up study with 72 Americans and 36 foreigners explored their creative negotiating skills. Pairs of students were asked to play the role of seller of a petrol station who then needed to get a job and a buyer who would need to hire staff to run the business. The two were likely to reach a deadlock because the buyer had been told he could not afford what the seller was told was his minimum price. Nevertheless, when both negotiators had lived abroad 70 % struck a deal in which the seller was offered a management job at the petrol station in return for a lower asking price. When neither of the negotiators had lived abroad, none was able to reach a deal.
Merely travelling abroad, however, was not enough. You do have to live there. Packing your beach towel and suntan lotion will not, by itself make you Hemingway.
1.What is the purpose of mentioning the famous names in the opening paragraph?
A. To show the relationship between creativity and living abroad.
B. To indicate the link between artistic creation and life experience.
C. To emphasize how great these artists are.
D. To impress the importance of creativity.
2.What can be inferred from the text?
A. William Maddux and Adam Galinsky have carefully designed the test.
B. Negotiators who had lived abroad are more flexible in negotiating.
C. American business students are less creative than those oversea students.
D. One's creativity is associated with the length one has spent abroad.
3.What does the author mean in the last sentence of paragraph 4?
A. There exist sharp differences between travelling and living abroad.
B. You shouldn't lie on the beach when travelling.
C. Only real experience of living abroad can help drive creativity.
D. Living abroad is more meaningful than just travelling abroad.
4.Where is the text most likely from?
A. A diary. B. A magazine.
C. A novel. D. A guidebook.
Pinocchio may be just a children's fairy tale, but Spanish scientists at the University of Granada recently investigated the so-called ''Pinocchio effect'' and found that our noses don't grow when we tell a lie, but actually shrink a bit.
Dr. Emilio Gómez Milán and his team developed a lie detector test that used thermography to tell if people were lying, and found that whenever participants in their research were being untruthful, the temperature of the tips of their noses dropped up to 1.2℃, while the temperature of their forehead increased up to 1.5℃. Scientists also found that drop in temperature at nose level actually caused it to slightly shrink, although the difference is undetected by the human eye.
''One has to think in order to lie, which rises the temperature of the forehead, '' Dr. Gomez Milan explained the findings. ''At the same time we feel anxious, which lowers the temperature of the nose. ''
For this study, researchers asked a number of 60 students to perform various tasks while being scanned by thermal imaging technology. One of these tasks involved calling a 3 to 4 minutes call to their parents, partner or a friend and telling a significant lie. Participants had to devise the lie by themselves during the call, and the thermal cameras picked up this ''reverse Pinocchio effect'' caused by the fluctuation (起伏) in temperature in the nose and forehead.
Interestingly, the thermal lie doctor picked up the temperature difference in 80 percent of test subjects, which is a better rate of success than that of any modern lie doctor.
''With this method we have achieved to increase accuracy and reduce the occurrence of 'false positives', something that is frequently with other methods such as the polygraph (测谎仪) , '' said Dr. Emilio Gómez Milán, who added that law enforcement interviewers could one day combine other lie detection technology with thermal imaging to achieve better results.
The thermal lie doctor has been the most reliable in the world, 10% more than the popular polygraph.
1.Why does the author mention ''Pinocchio'' at the beginning?
A.To tell a fairy story B.To warn us not to lie.
C.To introduce a research. D.To inspire us to doubt old beliefs.
2.According to the research, what might happen if you tell a lie?
A.Your nose gets longer.
B.Your nose becomes smaller.
C.Your temperature gets higher.
D.Your temperature remains stable.
3.What can we learn about the research?
A.Researchers conduct the study by interviewing.
B.Researchers design difference lies for participants.
C.The thermal lie detector will prove a popular one.
D.The thermal lie doctor may assist law enforcement.
4.Which might be the best title for the passage?
A.Will lie detectors tell the truth?
B.Will lying make your nose longer?
C.Will lying make your temperature rise?
D.Will thermal imaging technology be reliable?
Being stuck behind crowds of slow walkers when you’re in a hurry is one of the most annoying things. But now, Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, one of the UK’s largest shopping malls, has introduced its very own fast lane(通道) for shoppers in a hurry, aiming to help impatient shoppers avoid slow walkers and the anger that goes with them.
The Lakeside Shopping Center in Essex has introduced a 720-foot “fast lane” reserved for fast walkers only, just in time for the Christmas rush. The Center’s management team said, “The lane will help the shoppers who know where they want to go quickly and don’t want to get caught in behind unhurried shoppers at the busiest time of the year.”
The fast lane was introduced after a MasterCard survey found that 80 percent of consumers found slow walkers their biggest annoyance while shopping. The research also found that the average walking speed slowed down by 21 percent during the Christmas shopping period, as most shoppers spent more time window shopping during this period.
Gary Mortimer, an expert from the Queensland University of Technology, said he wasn’t surprised by the promotion about the launch of the fast lane, and thought the concept would appeal to shoppers all over the world. “Crowded parking lots and busy shopping centers tend to be two of the biggest complaints of shoppers over the festive season,” he said. “I think the fast lanes are a new approach. However, I suspect it will be a bit like fast lanes on the highway, so it might end up being more trouble than its worth.
The MasterCard survey also identified the four most common types of shoppers. They include“Skaters” who try and make their way through crowds politely, “Dodgers” who move down the paths to avoid slow walkers, “Bulldozers" who push their way through crowds, and “Tutters” who express their frustrations to slow walkers.
1.The fast lane is intended for the shoppers who____.
A.can’t move quickly because of physical disabilities
B.buy things on their shopping lists quickly
C.take their time to do window shopping
D.want to leave the mall quickly
2.What is Gary Mortimer’s attitude to the fast lane?
A.Supportive. B.Indifferent.
C.Objective. D.Negative.
3.Who patiently moves behind a slow crowd?
A.Skaters. B.Dodgers.
C.Bulldozers. D.Tutters.
4.What is the main idea of this passage?
A.Shopping can be annoying sometimes.
B.How to avoid “slow walkers” when shopping.
C.The problems that shopping centers face during busy holidays.
D.The shopping mall creates the fast lane to avoid“slow walkers”
Four Sydney Youth Stamp Group (SYSG) workshops are held each year during the school holidays for children aged 7 to 17. We have a Junior group (7 to 11 year olds) and a Senior group (12to 17 year olds). The workshops are for children at home and abroad, who want to further their stamp collecting enjoyment and skills, and we especially welcome those who are new to this field.
2020 Workshop Dates:
Friday 24 January 2020-- Theme: Italy
Saturday 18 April 2020--Theme: Sport in Australia
Saturday 18 July 2020--Theme: USA
Saturday 10 October 2020-- Theme: Netherlands
Cost: Free
Venue: Philatelic Association of NSW, Inc. (Philas House) 17 Brisbane Street, Surry Hills
Time: 10:30am to 3:00pm (children are to be seated by 10:30am. Parents, please arrive a little earlier to have your children’s names checked off)
How to book: Download a registration form, click here (PDF 24kb). Complete the form and mail it to the Coordinator ( 协调者)。The Coordinator will send you an email confirming your booking. Bookings are accepted up to 28 days before each workshop. Parents can also email the Coordinator to add your name to our mailing list, you will receive a letter in the mail and registration form, about our next workshop.
Items (物品) children can bring(we understand beginners may not have some of these items, but do not worry, just come along):
Stamp Album, with or without stamps
Lead pencil, coloured pencils, scissors, ruler, ballpoint or felt-tip pen
Australian Stamp Catalogue (Seven Seas- - preferably a fairly recent edition)
1.Who are most welcomed in the SYSG workshops?
A.Junior group members.
B.Senior group members.
C.Foreign stamp collectors.
D.Beginners of stamp collecting.
2.What does the last SYSG workshop in 2020 focus on?
A.Sport in Australia B.Netherlands
C.Italy D.America
3.Where is the text most probably taken from?
A.A website. B.A children magazine.
C.A tourist brochure. D.A newspaper.
