Amid all the poverty and desperation in Los Angeles’s Skid Row (贫民区), one couple is determined to use their own experience with loss to foster (培养) a sense of hope.
In 2012, Mary Davis and her husband, Ari Kadin were _______ their first child when Davis miscarried (流产).They were extremely _______. But the couple, who were volunteering with adults in a Skid Row homeless shelter, refused to let their heartbreak _______ them.
“In 2013, our child would have been one year old,” says Davis.” And we kept seeing these kids at the shelter, and I said to my husband, ‘We couldn’t _______ a birthday party for our child, so let’s do it for these kids.’”
Since then, the couple have held a party each and every month. They _______attract 200 kids and their parents. There are small presents for the kids celebrating their birthdays, but Davis makes sure there are more than enough to _______.
“I remember a mom came with her two kids,” Davis says.” she’s crying. ‘You have no idea what we’ve been through for the last 24 hours,’ she told me. ‘Yesterday was her birthday. I had _______ to give her. We _______ so much suffering. I really didn’t expect a birthday party for my child.’ I had to walk away and wipe away some tears.”
Doing her best to _______these kids’ lives is both ________ and bittersweet, Davis says.” We’re on this rooftop. It’s this beautiful ________. The sky is gorgeous. You’re above everything. But if you look down, you see homeless person after homeless person on the street, and it reminds you that these kids can’t________ that area after the party.” It may be why, after throwing 88 parties, she still cries after each one.
Davis________ a second miscarriage before finally having a child-she and Kadin have two now, ages two and four. But she owes helping her ________ hope to the kids in the shelter. “We didn’t realize how much ________ they were going to bring us,” she told CBS News. “And that was so healing for me.”
1.A.raising B.supporting C.expecting D.adopting
2.A.upset B.shocked C.awkward D.nervous
3.A.challenge B.beat C.cover D.betray
4.A.house B.afford C.throw D.pay
5.A.usually B.secretly C.briefly D.efficiently
6.A.try out B.give out C.pick up D.put away
7.A.something B.nothing C.everything D.anything
8.A.came across B.rode out C.went through D.built up
9.A.better B.affect C.balance D.handle
10.A.heartwarming B.amazing C.exciting D.satisfying
11.A.landscape B.sight C.view D.scenery
12.A.rule B.change C.leave D.approach
13.A.accomplished B.suffered C.solved D.tolerated
14.A.hold on to B.keep up with C.put up with D.make up for
15.A.wealth B.experience C.fame D.joy
Globalization
Great advances in technology and communications have been made during the past 20 years.In consequence,people around the world have become more connected.The growing link between nations and people of the world is called globalization.1.
Perhaps the biggest change in this process is the effect of globalization on commerce,that is, free trade.Free trade removes certain limits to global commerce to make it easier for nations to exchange goods.A further aim of this process is to aid poor nations and thus reduce poverty. Globalization has indeed increased trade worldwide.2.
The debate about recent trends in global commerce is complex.Those who support free trade in the global market point out that competition lowers prices. 3. For example,the imported milk from the US was cheaper than local milk in Jamaica,so more poor people could drink milk and improve their nutrition.Meanwhile,the cheaper milk put local dairy farmers out of business.
4.When a poor nation begins trading on the global level,it gains certain benefits. Its economy grows rapidly.Multinational companies set up factories,which provide jobs for people.Supporters claim that these factors reduce poverty and lessen the gap between the richest and poorest nations.
5.Although they agree that the global market can offer growth and jobs to poor nations,they doubt whether it reduces poverty.In fact,they cite studies that show that poverty has increased as a result of the global market.
Regardless of which side they are on,most experts believe that globalization has great potential to aid the poor.
A.Both sides need to find a way to make it work.
B.However,experts disagree about its effects on the poor.
C.In this sense,globalization caused as much harm as good..
D.Critics of unrestricted free trade question these conclusions.
E.It is a trend that has changed ways of life throughout the world.
F.In contrast,others argue that free trade often harms poor nations.
G.Those support free trade in the global market for a number of reasons.
There is a country-I read about it once-where the local custom is that if you go to a house and praise some small possession,the owners feel obliged to offer it to you as a gift.I don’t remember the name of the country;the only other place I know of with such a custom is my mother’s apartment.
Knowing Mama,I have always been careful with my compliments,but that doesn’t stop her. Mama senses admiration far more subtle(敏感的)than what’s spoken.If she catches me staring at anything small enough to put in a grocery sack,she hands it to me as I leave.It would do no good to protest.
Sometimes,while visiting Mama,I try not to say anything complimentary.
I have been worrying for weeks now about what to give my mother for Mother’s Day.For most people,this is a modest problem,solved by the purchase of a bathrobe or a box of candy. For me,however,Mother’s Day represents an annual challenge to do the impossible-find a gift that will make neither Mama nor me feel terrible.Expensive gifts-Mama defines as costing over$1.98-are out,because they make Mama feel terrible.There is always the danger that a gift given to Mama will bounce swiftly back to the giver.
Papa,a sensible man,long ago stopped trying to shop for Mama.Instead,on Mother’s Day, her birthday,and other appropriate occasions,he composes a short epic poem in which he tells of their meeting,courtship(求婚)，and subsequent(随后的)marriage.After nearly 30 years of poems,Papa sometimes worries that the edge of his poetic inspiration has dulled,but Mama doesn’t complain.She comes into the room while he is struggling over a gift poem and says,”It doesn’t have to rhyme as long as it’s from the heart.”
This year,finally,I think I,too,have found a painless gift for Mama.I am going to give her a magazine article,unrhymed but from the heart,in which I wish her”Happy Mother’s Day”and tell her there’s nothing Papa or I could ever buy,find,or make her that would be half good enough anyway.
1.The underlined word”compliments”in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to
A.behavior B.purchase C.words D.praise
2.Why has the writer been worrying about what to give his mother for Mother’s Day?
A.It’s difficult to choose a proper but cheap gift.
B.His Mama wishes him to follow his father’s way.
C.Gifts will make his mother feel terrible.
D.The writer has a very tight budget.
3.From the custom in the apartment of the writer’s mother, we can know that________.
A.the writer will be given whatever he wants
B.his mother will give him the things he praises
C.his father will have to compose rhymed poems
D.his mother will return anything to the giver
4.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.An Economical Mother
B.A Challenging Choice
C.A Gift for Mama
D.An Old Custom
The word”Kuitou”in Peking Opera is the technical term for various kinds of hats and headpieces worn by various characters in traditional Chinese opera.More than just meeting the requirements of acting,it also reveals an aspect of traditional Chinese culture.
In traditional Han Chinese culture,people believed that since,one’s whole body was a gift from one’s parents,it was important to avoid anything that might injure it,a principle that showed filial piety(孝道)。Based on this ideology,males were required to let their hair grow long, and wearing hats became a rule of social etiquette(礼仪)in ancient times.
Since ancient Chinese society was divided into various social classes,people in each class wore different styles of clothes,but only the nobility were permitted to wear formal hats for adornment(装饰)。People of lower classes could only wrap their head with a piece of cloth. Anyone under the age of 20 was also not allowed to wear formal hats and could only wear one after the performance of an official capping ceremony to mark their reaching of adulthood.As a result,various types of formal hats in ancient times,in addition to having value as a piece of personal adornment and social etiquette,also revealed the social classes of people and strict social divisions that existed between the nobility and common people.
In ancient times,people attached much importance to the kind of hat they wore.An old saying says,”A man of noble character would rather die than take off his hat.”The saying was based on the story of one of Confucius’s favorite students,Zi Lu,a man who was a brave warrior. Once while fighting in close hand-to-hand combat,his enemy opponent knocked off his hat. When he realized that his hat had been knocked off,Zi Lu placed down his weapon and said to the enemy soldier,”A nobleman can die,but my attire(服装)must be kept orderly.”But the. moment he bent down to pick up his hat,the enemy soldier seized the opportunity and killed him. According to Zi Lu,his proper appearance,which included his hat,represented his dignity(尊严)， and he would rather die than abandon his dignity.
The formal hat culture of the Han Chinese continued up until the Ming Dynasty.Later after the Manchurians entered the Central Plains(满人入关)，common people in society began to wear hats.
1.For Chinese males in the Han Dynasty,wearing headpieces or hats was.
A.a requirement of acting
B.a rule of social etiquette
C.a way to show filial piety
D.a representation of culture
2.We can infer from the third paragraph that in ancient times,
A.the formal hat was a symbol of adulthood
B.headwear was nothing but a decoration
C.only noble people could afford to wear formal hats
D.there existed little distinction between social classes
3.The author mentions the story of Zi Lu to show.
A.how brave a person he was
B.how people valued their hats
C.how fierce an ancient war was
D.how people dealt with etiquette
4.The passage is probably taken from the column of.
A.society
B.technology
C.opera
D.culture
You might associate bees with their cute, fuzzy shape and seemingly aimless interest in flowers. But beneath the yellow-and-black (mostly) stripes lies an incredible mind. To efficiently find and collect food to bring back to the hive, bees have to quickly learn to recognize (and then memorize) the most effective foraging routes.
A new study collected evidence from 23 studies of bees and concluded that levels of pesticides (杀虫剂) currently considered safe to use may still have a big effect on bee colony (蜂群) survival.
They found that pesticides had significant negative effects on learning and memory. That was true both when bees were suddenly exposed to a lot of pesticides, and when they got a little bit over a long time. It was also true regardless of whether the bees were exposed to neonicotinoids (新烟碱类杀虫剂), or other pesticides.
Current pesticide regulations are geared (便适应) toward making sure they aren’t used at levels that kill bees. But these currently legal amounts apparently make the bees dumber, which could have effects for species survival.
The other question these findings implicitly (含蓄地) raise is how these pesticides affect less-studied types of bees. Bees don’t all live collectively. Many wild bees do not live in colonies, and if their learning or memory are affected, there are no other bees to help out.
Ohio State University entomologist Reed Johnson told Popular Science in an email interview, the question is: “Can pesticides ever be used safely around bees?” This study, which in one sense has the strength of 23 studies’ worth of evidence,” suggests that the answer is NO,” he wrote.
The follow-up question goes deep into one of our most fundamental needs-food. Pesticides are an essential part of large-scale industrial agriculture, and some amount of honeybee exposure is inevitable. The question, then-which hasn’t been answered by regulation to date, Johnson says-is how much harm to bees is acceptable.
As ever, more research is needed. But this study is worth paying attention to, University of Ottawa bee conservationist Jeremy Kerr told Popular Science. Its conclusions are based on evidence from over 100 individual experiments included in the 23 studies, he says, lending their findings weight.” The lesson that emerges is that honeybees begin to lose their ability to learn and to remember when they are exposed to neonicotinoids,”he writes.
“With restrictions on neonicotinoids increasing globally, many will be looking on alternative chemicals for crop protection.” It’s important to think about what those chemicals might be doing to the bees.
1.Pesticides have a negative effect on bees in that_____.
A.wild bees fail to live in colonies
B.pesticides destroy food of bees
C.bees’ learning and memory will be harmed
D.even a low level of pesticides kills bees
2.Bees’ survival may be threatened EXCEPT when_____.
A.they are exposed to a lot of pesticides
B.they take in some pesticides for long
C.they are in contact with neonicotinoids
D.they are living in the pure wilderness
3.According to Johnson, it remains unclear now_____.
A.how these pesticides affect wild bees’ survival
B.whether pesticides can be used safely around bees.
C.how much harm from pesticides bees can bear
D.whether bee exposure to pesticides can be avoided
4.In response to the restrictions on neonicotinoids, many people might_____.
A.limit the use of all pesticides
B.do more experiments on bees
C.reduce the amount of chemicals in farming
D.find some other chemicals to protect crops
Women,with equal opportunities now in place,are able to choose.whatever professional path they desire.If a 9-to-5 office job isn’t your style,consider some of the fun and profitable professions available that are a little off the beaten path..
Wedding planner
While some women dream of their wedding day,others grow up to be imaginative wedding planners.Business opportunities are readily available,as more than 2 million weddings take place in the United States each year with an average spend of more than$1,000 per wedding for a wedding planner,according to The Wedding Report.
Chocolatier
If you want to have your chocolate and eat it too,consider becoming a chocolatier.Create new flavor combinations,market your product and sell it from your own store,or work for a large chocolate business and watch your creations sold to the masses.
Personal shopper
If you love to shop,particularly when you are spending someone else’ s money,then you should consider becoming a personal shopper.Personal shoppers assess their clients’ needs, lifestyles,likes and dislikes and then put that knowledge to use by purchasing their clothing and accessories.Although the job does have a few drawbacks,like fussy clients,Entrepreneur.com reports that,”mostly,it’s a pretty good time.”
Disney character
Imagine being paid to be a princess.For many women working at the Disney resorts,that is exactly what they do.The Walt Disney Company hires look-alikes to play the roles of Disney characters,like the Little Mermaid or Cinderella,at its Disneyland and Disney World resorts.
1.One can satisfy her desire for shopping by becoming a_________even if she cannot afford.
A.wedding planner B.chocolatier C.personal shopper:. D.Disney character
2.Creativity is especially needed in the professions of
A.wedding planner&chocolatier
B.chocolatier&personal shopper..
C.personal shopper&Disney character
D.Disney character&wedding planner
3.Who may be interested in the jobs in the passage?
A.Women wanting flexible working hours..
B.Men fed up with 9 to 5 office work.
C.Housewives hoping for social equality.
D.Managers advertising for employees.
