I was somewhere in Utah, trying to take a ride. It was getting dark and beginning to_________. I didn't have many clothes to protect me from the snowstorm. I'd_________in Vietnam and come home to see my dad in Minnesota. Vietnam had left me bad_________. I was in an artillery unit (炮兵部队）. Once, we accidentally hit a South Vietnamese militiaman. He died alongside his pregnant wife. I tried to_________the horrible memories with alcohol.
I'd been walking all day without_________anything. It was getting colder and I was starving to death. _______, a truck stopped before me and a voice said, "Hi! Where're you heading?” The driver was rough-looking. _______, his voice put me right at ease.
“Minnesota,” I said.
“No_________. I can take you 50 miles and then I have to turn south," he said.
After I got on the truck, he said, "I used to be in your_________. I once served in South Korea. One day I was driving drunk and__________someone. The guy lived, but he was disabled. That horrible__________made me take a long, hard look at myself." His story__________me. It seemed as if he had lived my life and was telling me I could__________.
The driver's__________was in a small town. He__________me to take some money for a bus ticket to Minnesota. I got off and watched the truck run away until it__________into the snowy darkness.
That__________was the turning point for me. I ________drinking, went to college, found work and got married. Through the years, anytime I've felt__________, I think of that trucker. His words__________me and made me believe that great things can happen if we have a try.
1.A.snow B.rain C.shine D.thunder
2.A.emigrated B.studied C.served D.settled
3.A.situations B.imaginations C.impressions D.memories
4.A.form B.record C.cover D.distinguish
5.A.eating B.wearing C.gaining D.noticing
6.A.Finally B.Suddenly C.Completely D.Simply
7.A.Meanwhile B.Besides C.Instead D.However
8.A.way B.luck C.problem D.need
9.A.favour B.shoes C.hands D.honor
10.A.hit B.greeted C.discovered D.affected
11.A.expression B.conflict C.accident D.coincidence
12.A.shocked B.struck C.attracted D.comforted
13.A.appreciate B.understand C.leave D.change
14.A.turnoff B.direction C.home D.destination
15.A.invited B.persuaded C.encouraged D.commanded
16.A.slid B.dived C.disappeared D.crashed
17.A.journey B.ride C.truck D.meeting
18.A.practised B.enjoyed C.limited D.stopped
19.A.exhausted B.excited C.depressed D.inspired
20.A.saved B.hurt C.embarrassed D.reminded
A green gym is a health club that focuses on running an environmentally conscious business in order to be more eco-friendly. 1.So a big part of being greener is having eco-friendly cleansers (清洁剂). Not only do they have a non-chemical smell but they also aren't made up of the harsh (刺激性强的) chemicals like many other cleansers. The gym may also use recycled paper items, such as recycled toilet paper, paper towels and tissues.
Considering the amount of electricity a gym uses, a green gym may have solar panels (太阳能电池板) to help use the sun's energy as well as reduce the electricity bill. 2. When they use certain machines, such as the bikes, the energy generated goes back into the gym’s network of electricity.
3.One option is to use an energy-efficient washer and dryer for any cleaning. Another option is to use low-flow shower heads in the showers to reduce the amount of water used. Energy-efficient toilets in the bathroom are also a choice for reducing water use.
Part of becoming a green gym is using recycled exercise equipment.4.It may also have the exercise floor made from recycled materials.
Before long, more gyms may find themselves shifting toward eco-friendly practices, even if it involves small changes. Some people may prefer going to a gym that has eco-friendly practices. A green gym will be great for the environment and for saving money. 5.
A.A green gym does a lot of cleaning for health purposes.
B.A green gym focuses on using as little water as possible.
C.People have many different reasons for joining a local green gym.
D.You must be willing to learn the business side of running a green gym.
E.Another way is for gym goers to supply energy that goes back to the gym.
F.For example, it may purchase exercise equipment made from recycled metal.
G.Meanwhile, it helps bring in new clients who find that type of business appealing.
Amazon sells 1,161 kinds of toilet brushes. I know this because I recently spent an evening trying to choose one of them for the bathroom in my new apartment. Nearly an hour later, after having read countless contradictory (矛盾的) reviews and considering far too many choices, I felt tired and simply gave up. The next day, I happily bought the only toilet brush the local dollar store offered.
Too many choices exhaust us, make us unhappy and lead us to sometimes flee from making a decision altogether. Researcher Barry Schwartz calls this “choice overload”. And it’s not just insignificant details like which brush to wipe the inside of the toilet with — having too many choices in our creative and professional lives can lead us to avoid making important decisions.
Understanding how and why we make decisions can perhaps help us make better choices down the line. We make poorer decisions when we are tired. It’s caused by decision fatigue (疲劳). The mind can only sort through so many choices and make so many choices before it starts to run out of steam. That’s why impulse buys like candy bars and magazines at the checkout aisle in the grocery store can be hard to resist. We’ve exhausted all our good decision-making skills.
The same goes for our workday. Making lots of decisions not only exhausts us; it can put us in a bad mood. That’s why it’s necessary to make your most important decisions in the morning rather than at the end of an exhausting day when your energy has been used up. The idiom “sleep on it” is indeed effective when it comes to making big decisions.
When we’re tired, we tend to conserve our energy by making choices based on a single factor like price, rather than considering all the other determinants that go into making the best decision. When you’re doing this, you are acting as what researchers call a cognitive miser (小气鬼).
To conclude, letting yourself have fewer choices to choose from can help you arrive at a more creative answer.
1.Why did the author go to the local dollar store in the end?
A.She saw no good toilet brushes in Amazon. B.She had got tired of the choices.
C.She read good reviews about brushes there. D.She wanted to save some money.
2.What can we learn about“choice overload”?
A.It can benefit our creative thinking.
B.It means learning too much at a time.
C.It was first discovered by Barry Schwartz.
D.It can stop us from making good decisions at work.
3.What does the underlined idiom “sleep on it” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A.To make a big decision regardless of sleepiness.
B.To make decisions at the end of the day.
C.To think carelessly about making a big decision.
D.To put off making big decisions until the next day when you are not tired.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.Having fewer choices may benefit us more.
B.Reading reviews before shopping online is important.
C.Getting enough sleep every day is helpful.
D.Considering many factors to make a choice is unnecessary.
According to the WHO, 90 percent of the world’s population lives in a place where they are exposed to unsafe levels of airborne pollutants, contributing to up to seven million deaths each year. If you live in a city, chances are that you’re part of that 90 percent, even if your city is relatively clean. That’s why cities worldwide have started embracing Internet of Things (IoT)solutions.
One of the best ways to fight pollution is to figure out where it’s worst and where it’s coming from. If you’ve ever made a habit of checking air quality around you, you may notice that there aren’t actually that many monitoring stations, and your closest one may not be that close. For pollution data to really be accurate and helpful, we need a lot more of it.
Luckily, IoT sensors and low-power wide-area networks are making it a lot easier to get and spread ultra-local data. Lampposts are one popular place to put them. For example, the Republic of Korea and Barcelona have already built out a network of pollution sensors in their streetlights. On the other hand, outfitting (配备) cars, bikes, and even people with pollution sensors provides valuable data on a smaller, more mobile scale.
Since pollutant levels can change dramatically even from one city block to another, having smaller-scale data is important for making a lot of decisions that, over time, might have a major influence on our health and behavior. It can influence where we decide to live, when we exercise, whether we bike to work, and, perhaps most importantly, what we can do about pollution in our area.
What all the Internet of Things can help us do on a personal level is use less energy. The data it provides, though, can be used to make big and small changes to the way we behave and build, and that is eventually where we’ll see benefits.
1.What’s the problem mentioned in Paragraph 1?
A.The death rate is high every year. B.There are too many people in the world.
C.There is little space for people to live in. D.Air pollution is more serious than expected.
2.How does the author mainly develop Paragraph 3?
A.By analyzing main causes. B.By citing research findings.
C.By giving specific examples. D.By making close comparisons.
3.Why is it necessary to collect data on a smaller scale?
A.It directly decreases pollutant levels. B.It uses less energy to clean the air.
C.It covers more areas of air pollution. D.It betters decisions on our lifestyle.
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards using IoT to solve air pollution?
A.Disapproving. B.Doubtful.
C.Positive. D.Uncaring.
Ali Coletta always wanted someone to share her adventures. Then she met her husband Nick, and things seemed perfect — for a while. But she knew there was still something, or someone, missing.
“I knew we needed an addition to our family to share our passion for adventure together,”Ali said.“I even created a PowerPoint slideshow on why we needed a sweet golden retriever (金毛猎犬) in our lives.”
In 2016, Stella joined the family and the Colettas finally found the perfect pet to make them feel complete.“Stella’s personality is lovely and contradictory. One minute she’s sitting at the kitchen table as if it’s no big deal, and the next minute she’s bossing us around,”Ali said.“She loves swimming, hiking and recently snowboarding.”
The fearless pup loves following Nick around wherever he goes and is always up for an adventure. This was never more apparent than when the family went on a recent ski trip. Their vacation was cut short due to COVID-19, but on their last day, the family hiked up a mountain park. Of course, they brought Stella along for the journey so she, too, could enjoy the snow. Then something unexpected happened — as Nick began snowboarding downhill, the faithful Stella refused to be left behind. She bounded happily through the snow, following Nick’s every move. “We knew she would love the hike in the snow,” Ali said.“But we honestly had no idea she would love running down just as much.”
Stella has always loved the cold, and now it’s clear that she’s finally found her calling.
Regardless of what Stella does, the Colettas couldn’t be happier to have such a special pup in their lives. “She truly completes our family and is the best companion one could ask for,” Ali said.
1.What do the first two paragraphs imply?
A.Things have been perfect before Ali’s marriage.
B.Ali and Nick met in a mountain adventure in 2017.
C.Ali and her husband are both crazy about adventures.
D.The dog is always necessary for guarding adventurers.
2.What can we know about Stella?
A.She is gentle and obedient. B.She has a changeable character.
C.She loves following Ali around. D.She has joined the family for a year.
3.What does the underlined part in the last but one paragraph mean?
A.Found something really desirable for her. B.Figured out her permanent home.
C.Realized the cold of the snow. D.Learned a new skill.
4.What is this text mainly about?
A.Stella’s love for snowboarding.
B.Advice on finding a perfect pet.
C.Ali and her husband’s hiking adventures.
D.The story of the Colettas and their golden retriever.
Are you looking to load up your e-reader with some new books to promote your career? Well,look no further. Here are four best sellers for you!
The Boss of You by Lauren Bacon & Emira Mears
This book is a goldmine for women looking to start their own business. As a freelance writer (自由撰稿人), I read it several times when I decided to begin a career. I've folded so many pages in this book, and found some sections especially helpful, like the ones on figuring out start-up costs, drawing up a budget, and the ways to market yourself.
Suggested by Steph Auteri
The Path from Motherhood to Career by Diane Lang
I have used this book professionally myself after having my first child. Ms. Lang gives several choices that have worked for the women. At 62 pages long, every word counts. For moms that are still weighing choices, this book will help them decide if indeed it is time to go back to work.
Suggested by Anne Newton
Minding Her Own Business by Jan Zobel
Taxes are the same for women as are for men. Yet many women seem to have number anxiety that makes them feel they can’t deal well with their money. As a tax expert, I've seen this among my clients (客户) over the years. This book is designed for one-person businesses. Read it, and you’ll know what taxes to pay and what you needn’t.
Suggested by Jan Zobel
The Relationship Edge in Business by Jerry Acuff
For most women, the biggest challenges in our lives are the relationships we build and develop with our family and friends. Jerry explains how we can use those same relationship-building skills to build good relationships with our customers and co-workers that will help our business to grow soundly.
Suggested by Cyndy Kryder
1.What do we know about Steph Auteri from her recommending words?
A.She was out of employment. B.She was the author of the book.
C.She's read the book carefully. D.She's made a fortune by writing.
2.What is Minding Her Own Business intended to do?
A.To help readers manage taxes. B.To tell readers how to start business.
C.To advise readers to get on with colleagues. D.To assist readers with re-employment.
3.What do the four books have in common?
A.They are written by the same author. B.They are recommended by experts.
C.They are intended for women. D.They are free to download.
