Looking at his pile of unpaid bills always makes Giuseppe Del Giudice feel uneasy.More often than not,Del Giudice leaves his paperwork undone and sweeps the floor or watches TV instead,waiting until the last moment to write the monthly checks.
Everyone procrastinates(拖延）.＂It's part of the human condition,"says procrastination researcher Tim Pychyl,"One of the ways we cope is avoidance,and that's what procrastination comes down to:We want to feel good now.The way to do that is avoid the task."You can procrastinate on nearly anything,even enjoyable tasks such as planning a vacation.
One that almost everyone procrastinates on is their wills.70 to 80 percent of people,when they pass away,have no will or an out-of-date or incomplete will.It leaves terrible situations. But death isn't actually the cause of avoidance.Research has shown that the top tasks people delay are cleaning,advancing their careers,taking care of their health,and planning their finances.
Some people welcome procrastination,believing that they perform better under pressure. But researchers don't agree with the idea.I did an experiment several years ago,putting procrastinators under restrictions of time,"says Joseph Ferrari,a psychology professor at DePaul University."They did worse than nonprocrastinators, but they thought they did better.They made more errors.They took longer."
Whatever the motivation,procrastination is usually not going to be good for you.Delaying a diet or exercise program may increase your risk of heart disease.Not having seen the doctor when your illness was easier to treat may shorten your life.Just thinking about what you haven't done may cause discomfort."Procrastinators higher levels of anxiety,"says Fuschia Sirois,a psychology lecturer at the of Sheffield."Some of the research has shown that this anxiety increases their possibility catching colds and experiencing many other health problems."
For those of us in need of motivation,the best advice might be to think small.
＂We used to believe behaviors follow attitude,but if you can start with a little bit of progress,that motivates you, Pychyl says.So if you have been procrastinating on starting an exercise routine,just put on your walking shoes.If you've been putting off a work project, reread your boss's notes about it.
Next,try sending yourself signals to motivate action.For instance,you might put your lights on a timed dimmer switch(变光开关）to encourage a fixed bedtime.Joel Anderson,a philosophy researcher-lecturer at Utrecht University,carried out an experiment around this concept,and it worked on most of his subjects."They formed an intention,"Anderson says. ＂When the lights start to dim,I'll start going to bed."
Finally,reward yourself for each step you take toward your goal.After you've gone to the gym,take a relaxing bath.After you've paid the bills,watch your favorite TV show.(But don't try to convince yourself it will work the other way around!)
1.The author mentions Giuseppe Del Giudice at the beginning to_________
A.provide a setting B.describe the main character
C.introduce the topic D.explain a phenomenon
2.Procrastination is driven by the desire____
A.to feel good for the moment B.to avoid the task
C.to leave things till the last moment D.to carry out enjoyable asks first
3.Which of the following are people least likely to delay?
A.Advancing their careers. B.Taking care of their health.
C.Planning their finances. D.Doing exercise.
4.What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?
A.Consequences of procrastination. B.Significance of procrastination.
C.Motivation behind procrastination. D.Physical problems with procrastination.
5.Which of the following is a wise choice for people lacking motivation?
A.Buy a dress of larger size while losing weight.
B.Treat yourself to a chocolate bar before working out.
C.Place your cellphone within sight when doing homework.
D.Write down your goal and stick it where you can see easily.
6.What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?
A.To analyze the origin of procrastination.
B.To present people's opinions of procrastination.
C.To persuade people to accept procrastination.
D.To urge people to say goodbye to procrastination.
In June 1936,a great novel was published.It gave the world a sense of the Old South,an unforgettable heroine and(in the movie version)the classic phrase,"Frankly,my dear,I don't give it a damn.”
That book is Margaret Mitchell' s(1900-1949)Gone With the Wind,which sold one million copies in its first six months,won the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and brought an explosion of unexpected and undesired fame to its author.It is not in reality the second best-selling book of all-time,behind only the Bible,as generations of Atlantans have claimed,but it does stand as one of the most astonishing victories in the history of publishing.To be specific,more than 30 million copies of the novel are in print worldwide nowadays.
Mitchell,a former newspaper reporter who used to listen to Civil War stories,declared herself to be thoroughly puzzled by the popularity her only book met with.She thought it might appeal to a limited readership,or at worst sell a thousand copies to family and friends.Instead, however,the book now has more than 1,000 foreign-language editions.
“It appeals to different cultures on different levels,"says Pamela Roberts,who had made a film about the author."On the one hand,it's a great story that wins over young women' s hearts with this charming heroine Scarlett O'Hara who did things her way.The other appeal is the theme of survival.Gone With the Wind has inspired people around the world who have lived through war or suffered under cruel governing."
Two years after the book was published,Mitchell was asked if she was writing anything else,or intended to.She said she had been so busy answering the phone,the doorbell and her fan mail that she had not had the time to.She added that"being the author of Gone With the Wind is a full-time job,and most days it is an overtime job filling appointments and meeting visitors."
The fame which came with her book brought her around$1,000,000 in book copyrights. movie rights and other related returns in less than four years,but disturbed her way of living. Asked about her ambitions at the height of the fame of Gone With the Wind,for someone who hated publicity,Mitchell said that she hoped to put on weight,become fat and accessible and grow old gracefully.
The comment which greeted her work was not all in praise,although much of it was applauded.Whatever future generations may decide as to its value,Mitchell wrote a book which was the most outstanding bestseller ever written by an unknown author of a first novel.
1.Which of the followings statements is true as to the success of the novel?
A.It's the second best-selling book of all time,behind only the Bible.
B.It's the most astonishing success in the history of publishing.
C.More man 30 million copies of the novel were sold in its first 6 months.
D.The novel brought unexpected and undesired popularity to its author.
2.How did Mitchell feel at the popularity of the book?
A.Delighted. B.Confused.
C.Relieved. D.Embarrassed.
3.What contributes to the universal appeal of the book?
A.The theme of the novel and the charm of the heroine.
B.The fact that the book is set in the Old South.
C.Mitchell' s personal popularity as a novelist.
D.Praise from different cultures on different levels.
4.We can infer from the text that Margaret Mitchell_______
A.is an ambitious novelist B.enjoys public attention
C.is very confident of her novel D.desires her usual way of living
5.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Mystery behind Margaret' s Success B.Gone with the Wind
C.Someone Never Gone with the Wind D.Forever Heroine:Scarlett O'Hara
Several Eye-Opening Facts about Tears
Humans make three different versions of tears.Basal tears help our eyes move smoothly,reflex tears form in response to irritants(刺激物）such as smoke and dirt,and emotional tears flow when we're sad or over-joyed.Onion tears are obviously of the reflex variety-but what's the irritant?It turns out onions produce a chemical to defend themselves.To cut down on its release,freeze the onion before slicing,then use a sharp knife to reduce the damage to the onion and the release of the chemical.
Crying can be good for you.Some studies have shown a good cry can cause the release of certain chemicals that make us feel better.Crying can also improve people's sense of well being by bringing about social support.On the other hand,crying can sometimes make you feel worse than if you haven't cried at all.One study found that people who tend to cry in general more often feel worse after crying during a movie than people who seldom cry.
According to Entertainment Weekly,the biggest Hollywood tearjerker of all time is Terms of Endearment,about how a family deals with a cancer diagnosis.Number 2:Bambi.According to Merriam-Webster,the term tearjerker first appeared in 1912,which happens to be the same year the Titanic sank.(The movie Titanic is 16th on EW' s tearjerker list.)
In medieval(中世纪）times,crying was perfectly acceptable,even manly.In the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf,when Beowulf was killed by a dragon,his soldiers were extremely sad and cried aloud for his death.King Arthur was also known to turn on the waterworks.
Speaking of war,tear gas was banned on the battlefield via the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993,which was made to happen by Iraq's use of chemical weapons in Iran in the 1980s.That said,American police can still legally use tear gas for crowd control.
1.Why do people have tears while cutting onions?
A.Because they are sad. B.Because their eyes are affected by a chemical.
C.Because they are over-joyed. D.Because their eyes can't move smoothly.
2.The underlined word"tearjerker"in Paragraph 3 probably refers to
A.a popular newspaper B.a touching movie
C.a deadly disease D.an interesting book
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Crying is always beneficial to people.
B.Tear gas is strictly forbidden in any case after 1993.
C.Emotional tears only form in response to negative feelings.
D.It is socially acceptable for men to cry in medieval times.
4.Where does the text probably come from?
A.A guidebook. B.A chemistry paper.
C.A medical report. D.A popular science magazine.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
Growing up, my parents and older brothers all smoked. Being a child of the 80s, it was normal for the adults to be smoking inside and during trips in the car. There just wasn’t the same awareness of the dangers of second-hand smoke exposure that there is today.
I remember the day when I started smoking. I was 11. I was trying to impress one of the “bad boys” at school. I stole tobacco from my father and rather clumsily rolled a cigarette that I took to school with me. Smoking gave me a sense of autonomy and choice over my own life, and at 11 it was the ultimate act of rebellion. Soon I got addicted to it and was taking cigarettes from dad’s packets on a regular basis. I knew he never started counting them until he had less than half a pack left.
After a while I got caught smoking at school. My parents struck a deal with me: if I stopped smoking at school, they would purchase more tobaccos for me to smoke at home. This was perhaps a misguided attempt to keep me out of trouble. I jumped at the idea, and simply got smarter about smoking at school.
I smoked right through my teens and early 20s, spending thousands of dollars on cigarettes, sacrificing food and other necessities to ensure I had cigarettes.
I tried many methods to quit, but each time I would go back to smoking. I have always had a love-hate relationship with cigarettes. On the one hand, they were a friend to me when I had no other, one constant in my life I could rely on. On the other hand, I despised (鄙视) being dependent on something that was going to kill me.
I grew concerned about the effect my smoking would have on my children and I felt guilty putting cigarettes over other things that could have benefited my family. It is with great shame that I admit that I continued smoking even after having a daughter born with cystic fibrosis (囊性纤维). My daughter fights every day to breathe — and here I was intentionally causing damage to my lungs.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
The turning point for me was an incredibly painful experience.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
I set myself further little goals, such as only taking my e-cigarettes whenever I went.
_________________________________________________________________________________
假设你是李华。你的美国朋友George下学期将作为交换生来你校学习。最近，他在来信中表达了对中国画的浓厚兴趣，想请你就“学习国画”这一主题给出建议。请你用英语回信，要点如下：
1.介绍国画；
2.提出建议（至少两条）；
3.表达祝愿。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It takes a special person to see a life in danger and go out of his way to make a difference. But that’s exactly what Kole Devisscher did when he _________ the thin ice of a river to save 10-year-old Chartrand from _________ .
The young man was _________ for his bravery by MP Joy Smith. Smith _________ him with a certificate and said Devisscher would be nominated (提名) for the Governor General’s Medal of Bravery.
Describing the _________ , Devisscher said he thought it was something _________ when he saw a blue jacket in the river. _________ for Chartrand, the teenager decided to back up his truck and take another look.
When Devisscher realized somebody was _________ in the cold water, he leapt into _________ . “I got out of the truck and grabbed the tow strap from the backseat.” explained Devisscher.
“He couldn’t quite grab onto the rope because his hands were already turning blue. Then I made a loop on the hook and got him to put it around his shoulders.”
Devisscher’s dad, Gerry, says his son remembered some of the __________ he learned while snowmobiling over the years. “He was listening. He just couldn’t refuse to __________ it. He wanted to help, __________ at that time I was nervous he went out there.”
To honour Kole’s __________ and to thank him for saving her son, the mother of the boy gave Devisscher Nathaniel’s eagle feather.
“When he called, saying he __________ someone, it didn’t sink in at first. Today’s the first time I’ve heard the whole __________ .”
“It’s just __________ that a young man like Kole stopped... He got him out of the river and he calmed him,” MP Smith said at the presentation ceremony.
“I think he is an outstanding young man, and all of Canada should be __________ of what he’s done.”
Devisscher said he just __________ others would do the same. “It feels good, not everybody gets this __________ . It’s pretty awesome,” said Devisscher. “I hope someone else would do that for me if I was under the same __________ .”
1.A.braved B.melted C.assessed D.transformed
2.A.swelling B.drowning C.panicking D.trembling
3.A.appreciated B.exchanged C.rewarded D.honored
4.A.guaranteed B.congratulated C.presented D.appointed
5.A.consequence B.dilemma C.risk D.incident
6.A.floating by B.coming about C.going up D.trying out
7.A.Steadily B.Fortunately C.Accurately D.Eventually
8.A.waving B.screaming C.struggling D.appealing
9.A.action B.judgment C.process D.commitment
10.A.professions B.symptoms C.emotions D.lessons
11.A.take notice of B.put up with C.subscribe to D.concentrate on
12.A.since B.unless C.though D.until
13.A.achievements B.efforts C.reputation D.encouragement
14.A.informed B.ignored C.treated D.rescued
15.A.story B.assistance C.experience D.state
16.A.appropriate B.flexible C.amazing D.annoying
17.A.guilty B.worthy C.conscious D.proud
18.A.advocated B.expected C.approved D.demanded
19.A.comment B.access C.award D.profit
20.A.circumstance B.case C.trend D.phenomenon
