About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and — WHUMP! — it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. " That’s my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?" "Please, mister, please....I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!" begged the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. "It’s my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. "Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman," Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.
1. The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ________.
A. the businessman drove at a high speed B. he envied the brand-new car very much
C. he wanted to ask for some money D. he wanted to get help from the driver
2. Which of the following is the right order of the story?
a. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car.
b. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.
c. The younger brother begged Josh for help.
d. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair.
e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
A. b, a, e, c, d B. a, c, d, b, e C. b, a, c, e, d D. a, c, b, e, d
3. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Josh would accept the money from the kids. B. The two kids were Josh’s neighbors.
C. Josh was a kind-hearted man. D. Josh’s new car broke down easily.
4. According to the passage, the last sentence means ________.
A. trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life
B. driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous
C. trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble
D. protecting oneself from being hurt
Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world, an international cultural ambassador. And hewas also a teacher and activist. For more than sixty years, Mr Stern performed excellent music. He performed in concerts around the world and on recordings.
Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in Ukraine. His parents moved to California the following year. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory (旧金山音乐学院). He progressed quickly. When he was sixteen, he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York and was praised by music critics.
Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more than one hundred concerts a year. He also became one of the most recorded musicians in history. Isaac Stern also supported artistic development and freedom.
In 1979, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film. It is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.
In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said music is an important part of a civilized life. He said people need music as much as they need bread.
Isaac Stern died in 2001 at the age of eighty-one. He was a major influence on music in the twentieth century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.What did Isaac Stern think of music?
A.Necessary. |
B.Difficult. |
C.Entertaining. |
D.Interesting. |
The passage mentioned Isaac Stern's visit to China mainly to __________.
A.encourage people to develop the international relationship |
B.advise the readers to take up music |
C.introduce more achievements of Isaac Stern |
D.show he acted as an international cultural ambassador |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Isaac Stern?
A.He was born in California in the 1920s. |
B.He had visited many countries to advertise his recordings. |
C.He played less than one hundred concerts in all. |
D.His excellent music life lasted over 60 years. |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
A.Isaac Stern influenced the culture in the 20th century a lot |
B.Isaac Stern was one of the most active musicians of his day |
C.Isaac Stern was so busy that he couldn't spare time to educate the youth |
D.Isaac Stern led a rich life in his later life |
What will be the best title for the passage?
A.Isaac Stern and the Awards He Got |
B.Isaac Stern's Life of Pursuing Music |
C.Isaac Stern: One of the Most Honored Musicians |
D.Isaac Stern's Visit to China |
Dayron Robles of Cube was disqualified (取消资格) of his mark and the title in the men's 110m hurdles final for disruption (中断,破坏) of the event after the Chinese team made an appeal on Monday "night at the Daegu worlds."
In the breath-taking final, Robles and Chinese legend Liu Xiang were neighbors in Lane 5 arid Large 6, respectively. After the starting gun fire, the two world's fastest-ever hurdlers were almost running neck to neck in the first eight hurdles and took the lead.
In the ninth hurdle, however, Robles, right trailing hand was seen hitting on Liu's left hand. As a result, Liu's rhythm was disturbed and his blistering pace slowed down. Right before the tenth and final hurdle, Robles made further hand contact with Liu, who tripped on the hurdle.
An official with the IAAF told reporters that the Daegu track referee council has decided to disqualify Robles, mark and it was unknown whether the Cuban team would appeal.
Before the disqualification, Robles won the 110m hurdles in 13. 14 seconds, followed by Jason Richardson with 13.16 seconds. Liu Xiang finished third in 13.27 seconds.
Robles, in a televised interview, admitted that he didn't like his technique in Monday night's game and he was tangling with Liu over the last hurdle.
Liu said he "felt like someone touched my elbowand I lost my balance for a while but then I managed to stabilize it".
A member of Liu's coach team had told Xinhua right after the game that the Chinese Athletics Association might appeal for the disruption. While Liu told reporters that he didn't care about the color of the medal.
Daegu on Monday night sees the first Championship clash of hurdling's current big three—Robles, Liu Xiang and 2011's fastest man David Oliver of USA.
They are also the three fastest men in the history of the event—Robles, 12.87 seconds, Liu 12.88, Oliver 12.89. The 110m hurdle final is their first meeting in a final at a global championship.Who won the gold medal after the disqualification?
A.Dayron Robles. |
B.Jason Richardson. |
C.David Oliver. |
D.Another famous runner. |
Robles admitted in an interview that __________.
A.he had quarreled with Liu before the race |
B.he had touched Liu's elbow on purpose |
C.he had made technical mistakes |
D.he had run less faster than Liu |
Who is the fastest man in the history of the men's 110m hurdles?
A.Dayton Robles. |
B.Liu Xiang. |
C.David Oliver. |
D.Not mentioned. |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A.After the starting gun fire, Liu Xiang ran faster than Dayron Robles. |
B.In the ninth hurdle, Liu's running rhythm was disturbed by Robles. |
C.It was still unknown if the Cuban team would appeal. |
D.Liu was not disappointed at the results of the competition. |
I learnt about the Pygmalion effect (皮格玛丽翁效应) when I was 7 years old at Riverdale School in Palmerston North and I copied Melissa Crawford's answers in a spelling test. Before that I was average at school but after that, because Melissa Crawford was smart, and I got all the right answers, I got put in all the smart kids groups.
From then I did really well at school because it was believed by the teachers that I would and I also got grouped with the smart kids. This experience that occurred at my primary school shows just how important the Pygmalion effect is in terms of being around mentors (导师) that expect that you're going to do well and also being around people who are smart.
The Pygmalion effect is one principle you want to use if you want to make money fast. Have mentors that expect you will make money fast and as an extra boost hang around, copy and learn from other people who are also making money fast.
Yesterday this site had over 5, 000 unique visitors and the traffic to it is increasing all the time. A year ago I contacted a group of people who got lots of traffic in their sites and I learnt from them. Truthfully I don't know if they expected me to start getting decent traffic to websites but I imagined they did so they might as well have.
So there you have it—the Pygmalion effect.
P. S. My grammar and spelling are not that great nowadays but that's actually completely irrelevant (不相关的) when it comes to getting lots of visitors to your site.When did the author learn about the Pygmalion effect?
A.Before he took the spelling test. |
B.After he cheated in the spelling test. |
C.When he did badly in exams. |
D.After he finished primary school. |
The author got grouped with the smart kids because __________.
A.he was an average pupil at school |
B.he did better than all the others at school |
C.Melissa Crawford was smart |
D.he did better than expected |
What does the underlined word "contacted" mean in the passage?
A.got in touch with |
B.made friends with |
C.lost touch with |
D.was concerned about |
From the passage we can infer that __________.
A.the author was busy meeting visitors every day |
B.there was lots of traffic in his city |
C.the author opened a website himself |
D.the author's grammar was poor at school |
You just think you know what will make you happy. Researchers in the new science of happiness know better. They have evidence that married people on average end up being no happier than they were before the wedding. Winning the lottery (彩票) will probably reduce your pleasure in ordinary events that used to make you happy. And being in good health isn't as much of a factor as the right genes when it comes to satisfaction.
Soligman and Diener studied 222 Illinois college students to find out what the happiest 10% had in common. It turned out they were extroverts (外向的人), had more friendships and romantic relationships, but didn't exercise more and didn't feel they had more good events in their lives than those who weren't as happy.
Some of the results come as a surprise. A classic study of lottery winners and people with spinal (脊骨) cord injuries, for instance, found that neither event changed their lives as much as observers thought they would.
Gilbert is looking into how accurately people predict what will make them happy, which turns out, not accurately at all. What we think will bring us pleasure—a new car, the home team winning the NCAA championship, a move to California—usually doesn't bring us as much as we expected, and the positive impact doesn't last as long. The good news is that we also overestimate the impact of catastrophic (悲惨的) events. Even with data from research pouring in, scientists still don't have an easy answer to what we all want to know: How do I get long-term life satisfaction? The answers they do have are often the same ones that philosophers and priests have been giving us for centuries. It's just nice to have them backed up with hard data.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A.A research on happiness. |
B.The level of happiness. |
C.The secrets of happiness. |
D.The prediction of happiness. |
The happiest people have the following characters except that __________.
A.they are rich |
B.they are outgoing |
C.they are very sociable |
D.they don't pay more attention to exercise |
According to the passage, we can know if the hurricane happens, it will cause __________.
A.more suffering than people expect |
B.as much suffering as people expect |
C.less suffering than people expect |
D.nothing is mentioned about it |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.We ourselves know what makes us happy the best. |
B.The happiest 10% in the world have nothing incommon. |
C.People can predict the things that make them happy accurately. |
D.We just need to do what the philosophers and priests tell us to keep happy. |
A spiraling (成螺旋形的) tower made from thousands of books in dozens of languages is the later landmark in Buenos Aires, named the World Book Capital this year.
Called the Tower of Babel, the 25-meter high tower by Argentina's artist Marta Minujin is made from 30, 000 books, donated by readers, libraries and more than 50 embassies.
Climbing up its seven floors, visitors to the tower hear music composed by Minujin and the voice of the artist repeating the word "book" in scores of languages.
"Building this tower is really a wonder," Minujin said, standing before the structure as curious passersby looked at a downtown city square. "A hundred years from now, people will say 'there was a Tower of Babel in Argentina... and it didn't need translation because art needs no translation'."
Minujin, who worked with US artist Andy Warhol, built a full-scale mode of the Parthenon in Buenos Aires in 1983, using books banned by the military dictatorship (专政) that ended that year.
This year's book tower marks Buenos Aires' naming as the 2011 World Book Capital by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
"We've been laying books for 10 days straight, " said Sebastian Atienza, 26, who works for the company that built the tower under Minujin's command. "But it's worth it. It's where all languages come together."
When the exhibit ends later this month, Minujin said literature lovers will be allowed to come and pick one book each. The rest will be brought down to start a new archive (档案馆) that has already been named The Library of Babel, the name of a story by Argentina's most famous author, Jorge Luis Borges.According to the passage, the Tower of Babel __________.
A.is made from 30,000 books from nearly 50 countries |
B.is designed by American artist Matte Minujin |
C.will hold the book exhibition for 10 days |
D.has a height of twenty-five meters |
After the book exhibition, most books will be __________.
A.handed out among visitors |
B.donated to UNESCO |
C.sent to Argentina's new archive |
D.bought by Jorge Luis Borges |
The passage is probably taken from a (n) __________.
A.advertisement |
B.tourism guide |
C.textbook |
D.newspaper |