The joy of absence

How some companies fight the curse of presenteeism (出勤主义)?

RONALD REAGAN famously joked that “it’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?” Beyond a certain level, extra effort seems to be self-defeating. Studies suggest that, after around 50 hours a week, employee productivity declines sharply.

But that doesn’t stop some managers from demanding that workers stay chained to their desk for long periods. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce group, recently praised the 996 model, where employees work from 9a.m. to 9p.m., six days a week, as a “great opportunity”. Yet presenteeism is the curse of the modern office worker.

There will be days when you do not have much to do; perhaps because you are waiting for someone else in a different department, or a different company, to respond to a request. As the clock ticks past 5p.m., there may be no purpose in staying at your desk. But you can see your boss hard at work and, more importantly, they can see you. So you make an effort to look busy.

The consequence is often wasted effort. Rather than work hard, you slave to make bosses think that you are. But presenteeism has more serious consequences. As well as reduced productivity, this can mean greater medical expenses for the employer. According to a study in the Journal of Occupation and Environmental Medicine, these costs can be six times higher for employers than the costs of absenteeism among workers.

None of this is to say that employers are not called to expect workers to be in the office for a proper period of time. Surely there will be a need for some (preferably short) meetings. Dealing with colleagues face-to-face creates a feeling of togetherness, allows for a useful exchange of ideas and enables workers to have a better sense of their mutual needs.

Turning an office into a prison, with inmates (囚犯) allowed home for the evenings, does nothing for creativity that is increasingly demanded of office workers as routine tasks are automated. To be productive you need presence of mind, not being present in the flesh.

1.Why does the author mention Ronald Reagan’s joke in Para. 1?

A.To encourage people to grasp the chance to work hard.

B.To show that hard work is harmless.

C.To introduce the topic of the passage.

D.To praise Ronald Reagan’s accomplished joking skills.

2.What is the meaning of the underlined sentence?

A.Extra effort causes problems or difficulties.

B.With extra effort, we can defeat anybody.

C.We should say no to extra effort.

D.Extra effort isn’t necessarily helpful.

3.According to the passage, which of the following situation is helpful to the company?

A.Your team has a ten-minute meeting after work for an urgent problem.

B.You don’t go home until 7:30 p.m. because your boss is in his office and he can see you.

C.The manager tours the engineering department at 7:30 p.m. to check people are at their desks.

D.You attend the office even when you suffer lower back pain.

4.Which of the following opinions agrees with the passage?

A.Some managers expect workers tie themselves up with a chain to their desks.

B.Reduced productivity can mean greater medical expenses for the employer.

C.With growing demand of creativity on office workers, a prison-like office is not a wise option.

D.Presence of mind guarantees your productivity.

    A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech integrated systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components,” said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.

They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically, it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.

Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day to day basis.”

1.Which of the following statements was the difficulty engineers met while making the robotic fly?

A.They did not have sufficient fund.

B.No ready-made components were available.

C.There was no model in their mind.

D.It was hard for them to assemble the components.

2.What can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4?

A.The robotic fly has been put into wide application.

B.The robotic fly consists of a flight device and a control system.

C.Information from many sources can be collected by the robotic fly.

D.The robotic fly can just fly in limited areas at present.

3.Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A.Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.

B.Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.

C.The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.

D.There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.

4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A.The Development of Robotic Fly

B.Robotic Fly Promotes Engineering Science

C.Harvard’s Efforts in Making Robotic Fly

D.Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect

    My family and I never talked about school as the ticket to a future. I was in the classrooms, but I wasn’t there to learn to write, read or even speak. When it was my turn to read, I wanted to hide. I was 13 years old, but I already hated being who I was.

I had an English teacher, Mr. Creech, who knew I couldn’t read. In one of my first lessons the teacher said that anyone who had a reading age below six had to stand up. I felt so embarrassed. But at the same time, it made me realize that I needed to change the situation. I was determined it wouldn’t happen again. Later that day, Mr. Creech encouraged me and promised he would try his best to help me learn to read. From then on, I never gave up practicing reading.

Now I was 41 years old. One day, I planned to fly back to Texas to visit my friends and family. On my way from the airport, I saw Mr. Creech buying himself a drink. I rushed over and reached into my pocket to pay for him. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Yes, sir, you do know me,” I answered excitedly. “My name is Anthony Hamilton. You taught me English.” The look on his face told me that he remembered the boy he’d once encouraged.

“I’m so glad I had a chance to see you,” I said. “And Mr. Creech, I have great news to share.” I told him I had learned to read. But that wasn’t all. I had become a published author and an active speaker. “The next time you get another Anthony Hamilton in your classroom, please encourage him to read as well,” I added.

The experts say what once worried me has a name: dyslexia (诵读困难症). But I can tell you it was a lack of desire for education.

1.Why did the author want to hide?

A.Because he felt sorry for himself. B.Because he hated being laughed at.

C.Because he couldn’t read at all. D.Because he didn’t have a ticket.

2.Which of the following could best describe Mr. Creech?

A.Considerate and dutiful. B.Demanding and enthusiastic.

C.Emotional and dedicated. D.Friendly and ambitious.

3.Why couldn’t the author read before meeting Mr.Creech?

A.Because his reading age was not long enough.

B.Because his parents didn’t teach him how to read.

C.Because he was afraid of reading before the class.

D.Because he didn’t have inner driving force to learn to read.

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A.Mr. Creech taught two students called Anthony Hamilton.

B.The author had become a published author and an active speaker.

C.Dyslexia was the underlying reason that made the author unable to read.

D.The author was grateful to Mr. Creech.

Returns & Refund Guarantee

The “Returns & Refund Guarantee” is a promise provided by sellers for every item they sell on DHgate.com. When you receive an item that was bought and paid for on our site, and you find it is not as described or is of low quality, you can contact the seller to resolve these problems. DHgate will offer additional assistance if the seller is not cooperative.

Scope

The following points should not be included in the “Returns & Refund Guarantee”:

▲The seller didn’t make any promise.

▲The seller can provide evidence to prove the items are as described.

▲You didn’t contact the seller within the promised time.

▲You have released the payment to the seller before asking DHgate for help.

Sellers are able to set up the following promise:

Returning items for any reason

Buyers can return items for a refund within a specific day which has been set up by sellers, such as 3 days, and 7 days from the day when the items are received. The items’ receive date is the date that is indicated on the shipping carrier’s official website. Buyers should prepay any return shipping cost, which will be given back to the buyers after the seller receives the items as long as the items are returned in the same exact condition as when they were delivered.

Returns or Refunds accepted if the product has quality issues

Buyers can return the items for a refund when they are not as described or possess quality issues by communicating directly with the seller. The seller is responsible for the return shipping cost.

Buyers can get a refund and keep the items when the items are not as described or possess quality issues by negotiating directly with sellers.

1.Who can get additional assistance from DHgate in the guarantee?

A.The buyers in physical stores. B.The buyers on DHgate.com.

C.The sellers on DHgate.com. D.Both the buyers and the sellers.

2.Which situation is within the scope of the guarantee?

A.The seller didn’t make any promise.

B.The buyer has paid the seller in advance.

C.The buyer asked for help within the promised time.

D.The seller proves that there is nothing wrong with the item.

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A.All the sellers didn’t make promises.

B.DHgate sometimes will pay the buyers.

C.Sellers should prepay return shipping cost.

D.The buyer can’t keep the items after getting a refund.

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。

Last Saturday, David was taking a walk in the park near his home when he noticed a woman with a boy of about eight years old. When David passed them, he heard the woman yell, “How stupid you are! You’re good at nothing.”David stopped and looked at the little boy. The boy said nothing. He just stood there, looking upset.

David was reminded of his English teacher Mrs Brown in middle school. After he entered middle school, David lacked self-confidence because he was often made fun of by others. He was often told that he was good at nothing, which David believed. But one day it all changed.

One day, in an English writing class, Mrs Brown asked them to read a novel. They were asked to write a new chapter of the novel after they finished reading the book. A few days later, David handed in his story. He didn’t give it much thought. But the next day to his surprise, the comment “well done” from Mrs Brown came into view the moment he turned to the page where the story was written.

When David read that, he almost burst into tears. He never expected to be praised one day. He suddenly gained some self-confidence.

That day after he returned home, he wrote a short story and gave it to Mrs Brown the next morning. And again he was praised.

David became very interested in writing. He often wrote short stories and asked Mrs Brown to read them and correct them for him. Mrs Brown always correct them for him. Mrs Brown always corrected the mistakes he had made and gave him good advice to improve them. One year later, David joined the school newspaper and became an editor of it. He was no longer that boy who lacked self-confidence. He gained his confidence and was hopeful about his future.

He succeeded in entering college and kept writing. Several years after graduating from college, he had his first book published. With some more books coming out, he became famous as a writer in his country. And he owed his success to Mrs Brown’s encouragement. Without her encouragement, his life might be very different now.

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:

Inspired by his own life story, David decided to do something for that boy.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

The mother was ashamed when she heard that.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

假如你是李华，你班交换生Tim这两天因身体不适，未能到校上课，请给他写一封邮件，要点如下：

1. 表示安慰，希望他尽快适应新环境；

2. 询问他是否能参加这周六学校举行的篮球比赛；

3. 邀请他下周日一起去春游、赏花。

注意：1. 词数80左右；

2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。

参考词汇：春游 go spring outing

Dear Tim,

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours，

Li hua

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

When he was a little boy, Christopher Cockerell once noticed his mother turning the wheel of her sewing machine with her hand. “Won’t it work quickly if a machine1.(turn) the wheel for you?” he asked. “I suppose it will.” said his mother, without paying any attention to him. Christopher knew she always had a lot of work and that she was2. stubborn that he could hardly do anything to change3.mind. But he wanted to help. In his bedroom there was a toy steam engine4.(buy) by his father as a gift to him. “I will make better use of it,” little Christopher said to himself. So, when his mother was not using her sewing machine, he decided to fix the toy steam engine onto it. When he finished5.(do) it, he was quite pleased, thinking his mother would like it. “Very clever,” his mother said when she saw it. But then she sat down and went on turning the wheel6.hand. “I7.(work) like this for too many years,” she explained. Christopher felt very8.(disappoint). He couldn’t understand his mother’s9.(behave).

This teaches Christopher a lesson, 10.made him depressed for several days. It is that anyone who tries to improve anything has to learn: many people don’t like new ideas.

    One young person, who was well educated, went for a job as a manager in a big company. The president did the final _______.

He discovered the youth was _______ and felt satisfied. Then the president asked who paid for his school fees. The youth answered, “My mother did it. She worked as a clothes _______.”

The president requested the youth to _______ his hands. So the youth did. They were smooth. Then he asked, “Have you ever _______ your mother wash the clothes before?” The youth answered, “Never, my mother always wanted me to _______.”

“Go and clean your mother’s _______ when you go back today, and then _______ me tomorrow morning,” the president said _______.

The youth felt his chance of getting the job was high, so when he went back, he ________ requested his mother to let him clean her hands. However, his tears fell ________ he cleaned his mother’s hands slowly. It was the first time he had ________ that his mother’s hands were so wrinkled (布满皱纹的). After that, the youth didn’t say a word and washed all the remaining clothes for his mother ________. That night, Mother and Son ________ for a very long time, longer than any talk before.

The next ________, the youth went to the president’s office. The president noticed the tears in the youth’s eyes and asked: “Please tell me how you ________ about helping your mother.” The youth said, “Number One, I know now what ________ is. Without my mother, I wouldn’t be successful today. Number Two, by helping my mother, I realize how ________ it is to get something done. Number Three, I’ve come to realize the ________ of family relationship.”

The president said, “You are ________. This is what I’m looking for to be my manager.”

1.A.election B.test C.interview D.competition

2.A.strong B.excellent C.humorous D.cute

3.A.maker B.cleaner C.mender D.seller

4.A.wash B.hide C.show D.dry

5.A.found B.let C.helped D.watched

6.A.study B.ignore C.work D.rest

7.A.clothes B.hands C.feet D.shoes

8.A.see B.move C.recognize D.answer

9.A.on purpose B.in patience C.by chance D.at last

10.A.carefully B.nervously C.happily D.shyly

11.A.after B.until C.because D.as

12.A.believed B.sensed C.noticed D.expected

13.A.quietly B.sadly C.excitedly D.angrily

14.A.thought B.slept C.sat D.talked

15.A.morning B.noon C.afternoon D.evening

16.A.worried B.felt C.brought D.spoke

17.A.courage B.appreciation C.success D.family

18.A.important B.difficult C.different D.impossible

19.A.value B.secret C.type D.change

20.A.educated B.respected C.trusted D.hired

    Spring and summer are the best seasons of the year for lots of activities, especially jogging(慢跑). This kind of running is the choice of many people who live in the city, work in the office and want to keep healthy. 1.

1. Make good preparations before jogging.

2.There, you’ll have an opportunity to find and buy all the necessary sportsware. Pay attention to the selection of jogging shoes, if you don’t want to suffer from the feeling of heaviness, pain and leg swelling after the run. With all these pieces of wisdom. your body will be truly grateful to you.

2. Do fitting warming-up activities

Every runner, especially the beginners should know that all physical activities without proper warming up can cause a terrible pain and result in harm to muscles. It will probably lead to a final discomfort in your body or even disease. 3.Actually, it usually just takes you 15 minutes to increase the range of motion of our joints and warm up every muscle of the body.

3.4.When running, you usually feel physical and mental pleasure. Sometimes this pleasure can be replaced by negative feelings or even some kind of pain. No matter how healthy you’re, you should always pay attention to how your body reacts. If something is wrong during your jog or run, the body will certainly let you know by giving you some hints(暗示). Watchfulness can help you avoid all possible aftereffects of over exercise.

Every type of sport is special and useful in its own way. While jogging can sometimes bring pain and discomfort, it really offers you greater joy and satisfaction. So don’t step back.5.I hope these tips will help you prepare yourself for jogging and avoid any serious issues.

A. Listen to your body signals.

B. Never give in to difficulties while jogging

C. However, jogging without preparation will bring great harm.

D. One of the best ways to prepare is to go to specialized (专门的) shops.

E. Just go in for jogging, but remember to follow the above rules

F. Therefore, you should make it a habit to warm up before jogging

G. Here are some basic rules to make jogging safe, useful and comfortable

    Having a smart phone may not be as smart as you think.They may let you surf the Internet,listen to music and take photos wherever you are…but they also turn you into a workaholic（工作狂）,it seems.

A study suggests that,by giving you access to emails at all times,the smart phone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Experts found that British people work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles.The study shows the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours,but 2 more hours is spent responding to or sending work emails,or making work calls.

Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers say they are on call almost 24 hours a day. Nearly two-thirds say they often check work emails just before they go to bed and as soon as they wake up, while over a third have replied to one in the middle of the night.The average time for first checking emails is between 6 a.m and 7 a.m, with more than a third checking their first email in the period, and a quarter checking them between 11p.m.and midnight.

Ghadi Hobeika,marketing director of Pixmania,said:“The ability to access millions of Apps has made smart phone invaluable for many people.However,there are disadvantages.Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week,and smart phones mean that people cannot get away from work.The more frequently in contact we become,the more is expected of us in a work capacity.”

1.With a smart phone the average UK working day is         .

A.11 to 12 hours B.9 to 10 hours

C.8 hours D.2 hours

2.We can learn from the text that the British people         .

A.prefer to check emails in the morning B.are crazy about different smart phone

C.work more hours with smart phones D.shorten their normal working hours

3.What does the underlined word “invaluable” mean?

A.useless B.necessary

C.expensive D.cheap

4.What does Ghadi Hobeika feel about smart phones?

A.They are unimportant for most of people.

B.They have disadvantages for some companies.

C.They are useful to improve a work ability.

D.They make it impossible for people to rest.

    What will man be like in the future--in 5000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make guesses, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today, for man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an obvious example, Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity. As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.

Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.

But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald (光秃的).

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. But in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

1.The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A.humans needn't wear glasses in the future.

B.man's life will be different in the future.

C.future man will look quite different from us.

D.man is growing taller and uglier as time passes.

2.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A.future life is always predictable (可预测的)

B.human beings will become less attractive in the future

C.less use of a bodily organ (器官) may lead to its degeneration (退化)

D.human beings hope for a change in the future life

3.Future man will be similar to us in ________.

A.Colour and height B.size and appearance

C.thought and observation D.thought and emotion

    John，a very thin boy, loved football with all his heart when he was very young．Practice after practice，he eagerly gave everything he had．But being half the size of the other boys，he could only sit on the bench and hardly ever played in games．Even though the son was always on the bench，his father was always standing with cheers and encouraging him．

When John went to college, he decided to try out for the football team as a “walk-on”．Everyone was sure he could never make the cut，but he did．The coach thought he could provide the other members with the spirit they needed．

The news that he had survived the cut excited him so much that he rushed to the  nearest phone and called his father．His father shared his excitement and was sent season tickets for all the college games．

It was the end of this last football season．One day John received a telegram and  asked one week off．Nobody knew what happened except the coach．The coach said，“Don't plan to come back to the game on Saturday．”

Saturday arrived，and the game was not going well：When the team was ten points behind，John came back．“Coach，please let me play．I’ve just got to play today,”said John．The coach pretended not to hear him．But John persisted，and finally feeling sorry for the kid，the coach gave in．

Before long everyone could not believe their eyes. John was doing everything to fight. The opposing team could not stop him. He ran, he passed and blocked like a star. And at last his team won the game．

After the game，John looked at the coach，with tears in his eyes，and said，“Well,you knew my dad died,but did you know that my dad was blind?''John swallowed hard and forced a smile, “Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him that I could do it.”

1.Why did John hardly have any chance to play in games?

A.Because he had no time to practice．

B.Because he was too young to play games．

C.Because everyone looked down upon him．

D.Because his body condition was not good．

2.The underlined phrase “make the cut” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “       “

A.make progress B.be allowed to join the team

C.cut himself D.be refused by the coach

3.From the text we can know that        ．

A.John felt very depressed as a “walk-on”

B.John's father always taught him how to play

C.John's father went to most of his college games

D.the coach was sure John would be the best player one day

假定你是李华，你计划和同学去当地博物馆参观中国瓷器(Chinese Porcelain)展。请给喜欢中国文化的外教Josie写封邮件，邀她一同前往，内容包括:

1.出发及返回时间:

2.活动内容:了解中国瓷器的历史，欣赏首次展出的中国瓷器等。

注意:适当增加细节，使行文连贯，词数100左右。

Dear Josie,

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours truly,

Li Hua

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写上该加的词。

删除:把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。

修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写上修改后的词。

注意:1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。

2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分

I like travelling and my dream of visiting Beijing, the capital city of our country, come true during the National Day holidays this year. My mother booked an one-day tour for me. On the morning of October 1st I went to Tian’anmen Square with one of my classmates , there we watched the flag-raising ceremony. As I watched the flag rising slowly, I sang the national anthem, feeling extreme proud. Several hours later, a grand military parade was held mark the People's Republic of China's 70th founding anniversary. In the afternoon we decided to go to other famous tourist attraction, like the Great Wall. When we reached the destination, it was crowded with tourists. I was glad for which those volunteers had done for little kids and elderly people . Standing on the Great wall, we couldn’t help admire the splendid scenery. This travelling, with doubt, meant a lot of to me.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式(不超过3个单词)。

A teahouse is a special house which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments(茶点). Its function varies widely1.(depend)on the culture. In China, a teahouse is a place 2.people gather to enjoy tea, chat and socialize. It3.(consider) as a symbol of Chinese tea culture and people’s leisure lives.

Chinese teahouses enjoy a long-standing history. They developed from tea 4.(stand) in the Western JIN Dynasty, took shape in the Tang Dynasty, developed 5.(gradual) in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties and became booming in modern times.

In the Song Dynasty, teahouses spread all over the cities and villages, at a rate comparable with that of restaurants. The owners preferred to decorate their teahouses 6.paintings of celebrities or rare and precious plants 7.(attract) customers. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the number of teahouses went beyond that of restaurants, gaining much 8. (wide) popularity and becoming more famous. Later, the acculturation(文化植入)of western culture forced traditional Chinese teahouses to take on9. new look.

Since reform and opening-up, with the rapid development of the economy and evident improvement of people’s living standards, teahouses10.(flower) in China.

    We first met Tom and Gee in the early days of our marriage. Jim and I worked full-time, and in the _______our garbage cans went out to the curb(路边), _______to wait the long, lonely 10 hours there until we returned to fetch them because we were busy. _______, we’d come home every garbage day to find them neatly_______ in their spot next to our garage. We_______who had done it for us, and then one day we_______ him: an elderly man who lived across the street from us.

I baked cookies and we left them on the bench outside the garage with a thank-you _______. When we got home from work that day, a typed letter had _______the gift. The letter was from Tom and _______how he had come to walk the________on garbage day, returning cans for people he ________knew. Back when he was ________in the army, his young wife Gee had to live by herself. In those ________days, neighbors had taken the time to ________her garbage cans so she didn’t have to. He never________ it, and now he paid it forward by doing it for all of us.

Over the next few years, we would ________Tom in their first-floor extra bedroom, where he spent his last days, still sharp and smiling.

We told Gee how________Tom had been to us, how we grieved(感到悲伤的) for his death and how________ we were to have known him. She wrote us back and told us she still talked to Tom every day. Sharing that ________our bond with her.

Tom and Gee, who opened up their hearts to us, made us realize that home doesn’t________at a property line. It extends to all the people in the neighbourhood.

1.A.morning B.afternoon C.evening D.lunchtime

2.A.advised B.pretended C.hoped D.supposed

3.A.Moreover B.Instead C.Therefore D.Meanwhile

4.A.exchanged B.repaired C.placed D.filled

5.A.wondered B.proved C.learned D.ignored

6.A.invited B.spotted C.praised D.wandered

7.A.pencil B.note C.book D.photo

8.A.become B.celebrated C.replaced D.shown

9.A.argued B.signed C.solved D.explained

10.A.garden B.countryside C.yard D.neighborhood

11.A.actually B.apparently C.barely D.seldom

12.A.serving B.showing C.winning D.talking

13.A.lonely B.frightening C.noisy D.interesting

14.A.take charge of B.deal with C.give up D.take off

15.A.minded B.refused C.forgot D.allowed

16.A.visit B.limit C.convince D.examine

17.A.optimistic B.polite C.strange D.special

18.A.curious B.successful C.thankful D.patient

19.A.prevented B.unlocked C.cut D.deepened

20.A.occupy B.end C.cross D.start

One of the healthiest Foods on the planet

There is probably no flower more hated, or misunderstood, than the bright yellow dandelion (蒲公英). 1. In an effort to have the perfect green grass lawn, people try their best to kill all dandelions with chemical products. Or they dig them out at the roots—only to see them grow right back.

2. They are a great source of vitamin K and also are a good source of vitamins A and C. They also have vitamin E, folate and small amounts of other B vitamins. Also, they provide lots of iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Besides nutrition, another great thing about dandelions is that you can eat every part of them—from the bottom of the roots to the top of the flower. 3. Do not eat ones that have been treated with dangerous chemicals or are growing near high traffic areas.

Dandelions are said to provide several possible health benefits such as helping in digestion and improving some skin conditions. They may also reduce inflammation (炎症).

Children in many parts of the world have had the simple pleasure of blowing the soft, white dandelion tops. 4. In fact, there is a game children play with dandelions that have gone to seed. Pick the white top, make a wish, close your eyes and blow! If you blow all of the seeds off in one breath, your wish will come true! 5.

A. Well, that is what many children believe.

B. They watch the seeds float easily in the air.

C. At least the seeds have traveled far and wide.

D. Just make sure to take care when picking wild dandelions.

E. You can let more of this nutritious food source continue to grow.

F. Dandelions are actually one of the most nutritious foods in the world.

G. In the United States, they are considered “weeds”, the name for any unwanted plant.

    Researchers in Australia have discovered an effective new method to capture the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is damaging our planet and transform it into something solid, making it much easier to store.

Carbon capture isn’t new, but previous methods call for the gas to be compressed into liquid and then injected underground. Widespread usage of that technology has been locked by economic and environmental concerns due to possible leaks. Instead, in a study published in Nature Communications, the group details their sustainable and cost-effective plan for transforming CO2 into coal.

This new process involves a liquid metal catalyst( 催化剂 )that is efficient in conducting electricity. CO2 gas is dissolved in a container with some liquid. Once electricity charge is introduced, the CO2 begins to turn into solid pieces of carbon, which can be collected and stored.

What makes this particularly unique is that the entire process can occur at room temperature. Previous experiments have only shown a gas to solid conversion at extremely high temperature, which made it impossible on a large scale. Now, the researchers are hoping that their work will be used to create even further when it comes to carbon storage.

In an interesting side benefit, the solid carbon also works as an electrode( 焊 条 ), which opens up a world of possibilities. “A side benefit of the process is that the carbon can hold electrical charge, becoming a super battery, so it could potentially be used as a part in future vehicles,” explains Dr. Dorna Estrafilzadeh, a researcher. “The process also produces fuel as a by-product, which could also have industrial applications.”

1.What can we know about the previous carbon capture methods?

A.People have to inject liquid to the gas.

B.The previous methods can be done easily.

C.The previous methods are not very popular.

D.People have widely accepted previous methods.

2.What is the special part of the new method?

A.It needs electricity to make the process efficient.

B.It can be done in any kind of container.

C.It doesn’t need extreme temperature.

D.It can produce much solid carbon.

3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A.The method will make fossil oil disappear.

B.The method will influence the future industry.

C.The method will make developed countries more powerful.

D.The method will be used to make new vehicles.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A.How to change carbon into CO2.

B.A new carbon capture technology.

C.A new technology to get useful carbon.

D.Australia makes the world cleaner than before.

    The term“smiling depression”—appearing happy to others while actually suffering depressive symptoms—has become increasingly popular. In fact, many people who experience a low mood and a loss of pleasure in activities manage to hide their condition in this way. And these people might be particularly easy to suicide.

While smiling depression is not a technical term that psychologists use，it is certain to be depressed and manage to successfully mask the symptoms. The closest technical term for this condition is “atypical depression”. It can be very hard to spot people suffering depression because they may seem like they don’t have a reason to be sad — they have a job, an apartment and maybe even children or a partner. They smile when you greet them and can carry pleasant conversations. In short, they often put on a mask to the outside world while leading seemingly normal and active lives. Inside, however, they often feel hopeless and down, sometimes even having thoughts about ending it all.

People with smiling depression put on a happy face to the outside world, but they can experience a lift in their mood as a result of positive occurrences in their lives. Other symptoms of this condition include overeating, feeling a sense of heaviness in the arms and legs and being easily hurt by criticism or rejection. They are also more likely to feel depressed in the evening and feel the need to sleep longer than usual. With other forms of depression, however, your mood might be worse in the morning and you might feel the need for less sleep than you are normally used to.

So how can they break this circle? A starting point needs to be known that this condition actually exists and that it’s serious. Only when we stop ignoring our problems because we think they’re not serious enough can we start making an actual difference. Then we can find purpose by taking the attention away from ourselves and placing it onto something else. Feeling that our lives matter is finally what gives us purpose and meaning — and this can make a significant difference for our mental health and well-being.

1.What do we know about people suffering smiling depression?

A.They are wearing masks all day. B.They are difficult to get along with.

C.They lead an abnormal life actually. D.Most of them commit suicide.

2.What does the underlined word “atypical” in paragraph 2 mean?

A.representative B.common C.hidden D.formal

3.Compared with smiling depression, people suffering other depressions  .

A.may feel sleepless B.feel more depressed in the evening

C.are tired of heaviness in the arms D.may eat more food

4.What can we do to overcome smiling depression?

A.Never talk about smiling depression and ignore its existence.

B.Admit the condition and pay attention to ourselves.

C.Value the importance of our life and enjoy it.

D.Find out the problem and place it onto somebody else.

    Imagine someone who has spent the majority of their life sitting with a sign on the side of the road and that very person giving someone their last 20 dollars. That’s exactly what Marine Corps veteran (退伍军人) Johnny Bobbitt, 34, did in October in Philadelphia.

Bobbitt served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a paramedic (医务辅助人员) in Vance County, N. C. before he became homeless. Nobody knew how he got to where he was because he was discreet about that.

One night in October, Bobbitt was sitting roadside with a sign in Philadelphia as usual, when Kate McClure of Florence Township, N. J. was driving home down Interstate 95 and ran out of gas. Scared and nervous, she got out of the car to head to the nearest gas station. As McClure was heading to the nearest gas station, she ran into  Bobbitt and he told her to get back in the vehicle and lock the door. Minutes later, he appeared with a red gas can. He’d used his last $20 to buy her gas.

After that unexpected meeting, McClure and her boyfriend, Mark D’Amico, who both live in New Jersey, visited Bobbitt several times to deliver gift cards, cash, snacks and toiletries. They then decided to create a fund raising page so he wouldn’t have to spend the holidays sleeping on the street.

McClure started the GoFundMe page on November 10. With the page, the couple hoped to raise $10,000, enough money for his rent, a reliable vehicle and up to six months’ expenses. Bobbitt’s story ran in a local paper. By November 15，more than 10,000 local people had made donations through the GoFundMe page and more than $300,000 had been raised.

On Thanksgiving, Bobbitt was resting in a hotel, his feet up on the bed, drawing up a grand plan for his new life, thanks to several thousand dollars raised to repay him for a good deed.

1.What does the underlined word “discreet” in paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A.Doubtful. B.Cautious.

C.Guilty. D.Optimistic.

2.McClure met Bobbitt when she      .

A.couldn’t find a gas station B.got to the way home

C.couldn’t unlock her car D.was in search of gas

3.It can be known from the text that   .

A.Bobbitt’s story obtained wide attention

B.Bobbitt became world-famous overnight

C.the GoFundMe page collected over $400,000 for Bobbitt

D.the GoFundMe page was started to help people like Bobbitt

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.A Homeless Veteran Paid Kindness Forward

B.A Homeless Veteran Had a Generous Heart

C.A Homeless Veteran’s Kindness Paid Off

D.A Small Kindness Made a Big Difference

New Jersey Botanical Garden Membership

It’s easy to join New Jersey Botanical Garden (NJBG) Membership online, by phone or by mail. Your membership dollars help to improve the Garden, and provide educational and entertaining activities for the general public. Thank you for your support!

To join or renew, please click on the appropriate section and membership category below for safe and convenient online payment processing by PayPal.

If you prefer to join by phone or mail, call the NJBG office at (973) 962-9534 or download and send in our membership brochure (Adobe Acrobat PDF file).

※ Join NJBG Today

※Renew Your Membership

The Botanical Garden started life as Skylands, a large area in the grand manner. It is famous for a 44-room Tudor Revival granite mansion(公馆)designed John Russel Pope. Skylands has 96 acres of formal and naturalized gardens and is surrounded by over 1,000 acres of meadows(草坪) and woodlands. Purchased by the State in 1966 and officially named as the New Jersey Botanical Garden in 1984, the gardens contain approximately 5,000 species and varieties of trees and flowers.

For you, the NJBG is an exciting and beautiful place to visit where you may enjoy each season’s best. Members enjoy special events, festivals, lectures and rewarding educational opportunities for both city and gardeners.

Your NJBG membership offers you discounts at participating nurseries, garden centers and other fine businesses. Simply present your NJBG membership card when beginning your purchase.

1.The money paid for NJBG membership will be used to _____

A.offer further education B.update the payment system

C.provide better service D.protect the environment

2.To renew the one-year membership for your parents, you need to pay_____

A.$30 B.$50 C.$60 D.$80

3.According to the passage, New Jersey Botanical Garden_____

A.was officially named in 1966 B.used to be privately-owned

C.presents members with awards D.offers discounts in most shop

听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

1.How much did Ron Wallace’s pumpkin weigh?

A.1,200 kilograms. B.1,026 kilograms. C.1,011 kilograms.

2.Whose pumpkin was the champion in an event in California?

A.A teacher’s. B.A farmer’s. C.A gardener’s.

3.From where do we know a person in Belgium produced the heaviest pumpkin?

A.A newspaper. B.A magazine. C.A website.

4.What seeds are most popular?

A.Those of smart farmers.

B.Those of champion pumpkins.

C.Those of magazine ads.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What can we know about Morag?

A.She’s got a painful feeling.

B.She’s invited Harvey to her birthday party.

C.She’s going to be 27 years old.

2.How’s the celebration?

A.Great. B.Terrible. C.Simple.

3.When is Morag’s birthday?

A.In summer. B.In fall. C.In spring.

4.What does Harvey do at the end of the conversation?

A.Gives a suggestion. B.Makes a joke. C.Offers some help.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What’s Ash doing?

A.Preparing for a driving test.

B.Reviewing for an exam.

C.Having a course.

2.What does Ben offer to do for Ash?

A.Help her with the lesson. B.Practice together with her. C.Give her a ride.

3.What does Ben want to get at first?

A.A GPS. B.A map. C.A phone.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.Where does the conversation take place probably?

A.In a hotel. B.In a shopping mall. C.In a party.

2.What does the woman thank the man for?

A.The lunch. B.The boots. C.The shoes.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.Where was Jason kicked out of yesterday?

A.A restaurant. B.A work place. C.A food store.

2.What did the man ask Jason about?

A.His motion. B.His food. C.His job.

In what school is the man’s daughter?

A.Kindergarten. B.Primary school. C.College

How is Andrew?

A.Fine. B.Sick. C.Tired.

Why does Tim apologize?

A.He made Helen embarrassed.

B.He asked for a public apology.

C.He took the dictionary without asking.

How long would the man work in the library?

A.5 hours. B.3 hours. C.4 hours.