阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Deorating with Plants, Fruits and Flowers for Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is a 1. (celebrate) marking the end of the winter season and the beginning of spring. This is why decorating with plants, fruits and flowers 2. (carry) special significance. They represent the earth 3. (come) back to life and best wishes for new beginnings.
These are some of the most popular in many parts of the country:
Oranges: Orange trees are more 4. decoration; they are a symbol of good fortune and wealth. They make great gifs and you see them many times 5. (decorate) with red envelopes and messages of good fortune.
Bamboo: Chinese love their “Lucky Bamboo” plants and you will see them often in their homes and office. 6. (certain) during the holiday period, this plant is a must. Bamboo plants are associated 7. health, abundance and a happy home. They are easy 8. (care) for and make great presents.
Branches of Plum Blossoms (梅花): The 9. (beauty) long branches covered with pink-colored buds (蓓蕾) make fantastic decorations. The plum trees are 10. first to flower even as the snow is melting(融化). They represent the promise of spring and a renewal of life.
It was just after sunrise on a June morning. “Nicolo,” whose real name cannot be _______ to the public because of Italy’s privacy laws, _______ working the whole night at a factory in Turin. As he often did, he stopped by the “after work auction(拍卖)” _______ by the Italian police where things _______ on the trains were sold to the highest bidder. There, among many other things, Nicolo spotted two paintings he thought would look _______above his dining room table. Nicolo and another bidder _______ until Nicolo finally won the paintings for $32.
When Nicolo retired and went to live in Sicily, he _______ the paintings with him. He hung them above the same table he had _______ from Turin. His son, age 15, who had _______ an art appreciation class, thought that there was something ________ about the one with a young girl sitting on a garden chair. It was signed(签名) “Bonnato” or so he thought, but when he ________ it, he only found “Bonnard,” a French ________ he had never heard of. He bought a book and was ________ to find a picture of the artist Pierre Bonnard sitting on the same chair in the same ________ as his father’s painting.
“That’s the garden in our picture,”Nicolo’s son told his father. They ________ learned that the painting they ________was called “The Girl with Two Chairs.” They ________ the other painting and learned that it was ________ Paul Gauguin’s “Still Life of Fruit on a Table with a Small Dog.” The ________ called the Italian Culture Ministry; the official confirmed that the paintings were ________ and worth as much as $50 million.
1.A.attached B.allocated C.exposed D.submitted
2.A.finished B.delayed C.considered D.tried
3.A.attended B.reserved C.cancelled D.run
4.A.shown B.found C.kept D.hidden
5.A.nice B.familiar C.useful D.real
6.A.battled B.debated C.discussed D.bargain
7.A.held B.left C.registered D.brought
8.A.chosen B.received C.ordered D.moved
9.A.missed B.failed C.taken D.led
10.A.concrete B.unusual C.unappealing D.natual
11.A.appreciated B.touched C.researched D.witnessed
12.A.painter B.designer C.author D.actor
13.A.expected B.surprised C.anxious D.ready
14.A.room B.kitchen C.hall D.garden
15.A.apparently B.confidently C.eventually D.temporarily
16.A.owned B.borrowed C.sold D.stole
17.A.collected B.cleaned C.framed D.studied
18.A.suitably B.actually C.rightly D.specifically
19.A.girl B.artist C.family D.police
20.A.copies B.originals C.models D.presents
Emoji(表情符号) and Workplace Communication
In Asia, messaging platforms are growing rapidly, with users in the hundreds of millions, both at work and play. 1.. It’s been reported that 76 percent of employees in some western countries are using emojis at work.
Written communications can often read as cold and dull. Using emojis can add humor and feeling, keeping intention clear. 2., encouraging better and more frequent communication.
In any given office, employees can range from age 22 to 70 and beyond, and finding common ground in communication style can be a challenge. 3.. While the younger generations prefer to communicate visually, for those used to working with traditional tools like email, it may feel like a learning curve(曲线). The good news is that it’s simple to learn and can be worth the effort.
There is also the matter of tone(语气). Who hasn’t received an email so annoying that it ruined an entire day? 4.. Emoji can help communication feel friendlier, and even a serious note can be softened with an encouraging smile.
5., and emoji can contribute directly to that positive outcome. And when your employees begin adding smiling emojis to their business communication, you’ll know you have succeeded in improving your work culture.
A.Message with emojis feel more conversational
B.Even a formal email can seem cold and unfriendly
C.Sending smiling faces to colleagues may seem strange
D.The popularity of these platforms is spreading globally
E.Giving employees the tools enables them to communicate honestly
F.Studies show that friendlier communication leads to a happier workplace
G.An easy way to bring all work generations together is with a chat platform
I have a special place in my heart for libraries. I have for as long as I can remember. I was always an enthusiastic reader, sometimes reading up to three books a day as a child. Stories were like air to me and while other kids played ball or went to parties, I lived out adventures through the books I checked out from the library.
My first job was working at the Ukiah Library when I was 16 years old .It was a dream job and I did everything from shelving books to reading to the children for story time.
As I grew older and became a mother, the library took on a new place and an added meaning in my life. I had several children and books were our main source(来源) of entertainment. It was a big deal for us to load up and go to the local library, where my kids could pick out books to read or books they wanted me to read to them.
I always read ,using different voices ,as though I were acting out the stories with my voice and they loved it !It was a special time to bond with my children and it filled them with the wonderment of books .
Now, I see my children taking their children to the library and I love that the excitement of going to the library lives on form generation to generation.
As a novelist, I’ve found a new relationship with libraries. I encourage readers to go to their local library when they can’t afford to purchase a book. I see libraries as a safe haven(避风港) for readers and writers, a bridge that helps put together a reader with a book. Libraries, in their own way, help fight book piracy(盗版行为) and 1 think all writers should support libraries in a significant way when they can. Encourage readers to use the library. Share library announcements on your social media. Frequent them and talk about them when you can.
1.Which word best describes the author’s relationship with books as a child?
A.Cooperative. B.Uneasy. C.Inseparable. D.Casual.
2.What does the underlined phrase “an added meaning” in paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Pleasure from working in the library.
B.Joy of reading passed on in the family.
C.Wonderment from acting out the stories.
D.A closer bond developed with the readers.
3.What does the author call on other writers to do?
A.Sponsor book fairs. B.Write for social media.
C.Support libraries. D.Purchase her novels.
4.Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Reading: A Source of Knowledge
B.My Idea about writing
C.Library: A Haven for the Young
D.My Love of the Library
When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list, fur probably didn’t cross your mind. But some ecologists and fashion (时装)enthusiasts are trying to bring back the market for fur made from nutria(海狸鼠).
Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have(showcased)nutria fur made into clothes in different styles. “It sounds crazy to talk about guilt-free fur-unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast wetlands every year”, says Cree McCree, project director of Righteous Fur.
Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters $5 a tail. Some of the fur ends up in the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month.
Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild. “The ecosystem down there can’t handle this non-native species(物种).It’s destroying the environment. It’s them or us.” says Michael Massimi, an expert in this field.
The fur trade kept nutria check for decades，but when the market for nutria collapsed in the late 1980s，the cat-sized animals multiplied like crazy.
Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana. He says it’s not easy to convince people that nutria fur is green, but he has no doubt about it. Hunters bring in more than 300,000 nutria tails a year, so part of Mouton’s job these days is trying to promote fur.
Then there’s Righteous Fur and its unusual fashion. Model Paige Morgan says，”To give people a guilt-free option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them-1 think that’s going to be a massive thing, at least here in New York.” Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable. She trying to come up with a lable to attach to nutria fashions to show it is eco-friendly.
1.What is the purpose of the fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn?
A.To promote guilt-free fur.
B.To expand the fashion market.
C.To introduce a new brand.
D.To celebrate a winter holiday.
2.Why are scientists concerned about nutria?
A.Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously.
B.Nutria are an endangered species.
C.Nutria hurt local cat-sized animals.
D.Nutria are illegally hunted.
3.What does the underlined word “collapsed” in paragraph 5 probably mean?
A.Boomed. B.Became mature. C.Remained stable. D.Crashed.
4.What can we infer abouf wearing fur in New York according to Morgan?
A.It’s formal. B.It’s risky. C.It’s harmful. D.It’s traditional.
Some parents will buy any high-tech toy if they think it will help their child, but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills.
Psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children the University of Chicago, found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills. Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents’ income, education and the amount of parent talk, Levine said.
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.
“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not, on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate(旋转)and translate shapes,” Levine said in a statement.
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would, and about half of children in the study played with puzzles at one time. Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently, and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills. However, boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls, and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than parents of girls.
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.
1.In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?
A.Building confidence. B.Developing spatial skills.
C.Learning self-control. D.Gaining high-tech knowledge.
2.What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？
A.Parents’ age. B.Children’s imagination.
C.Parents’ education. D.Child-parent relationship.
3.How do boy differ from girls in puzzle play?
A.They play with puzzles more often.
B.They tend to talk less during the game.
C.They prefer to use more spatial language.
D.They are likely to play with tougher puzzles.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.A mathematical method. B.A scientific study.
C.A woman psychologist D.A teaching program.
