I don’t like getting up too early unless I have to. When you’re filming, you’ve got make-up on, which doesn’t happen often. As I’m not filming at present I’ll get up at 8.30.
Work normally means Matt coming over to my house about 10 am. We’re writing at the moment. We’ll chat for a bit before going to my study. One of us will have an idea for a sketch (梗概), we’ll talk about the characters and when we feel we have enough we’ll start writing.
Matt and I met at the National Youth Theatre in 1990 and started doing shows together in ’95, at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. We know we’re onto something if we’ve made each other laugh, and that’s a really special moment. It’s not always like that, but we’re comfortable enough with each other that we can be honest and go. Some days you’re not in the mood to be funny—like writing when my dad was dying of cancer, or when Matt was separating from his partner.
We stop for lunch and sometimes go to Wagamama in Camden, but the last time we were followed by paparazzi (狗仔队), which gets you down—who wants to be pictured eating noodles?
When I’m not writing with Matt I work on other projects. My second children’s book comes out later in the year. It’s called Mr. Stink. The first one I dedicated to my three-year-old nephew, Eddie. Both books have been illustrated by Quentin Blake; it’s been a thrill to work with him—like 20 years ago reading a Roald Dahl book and looking at those drawings, then one day that person illustrates your work… magical.
At 5 I go swimming in Soho. My trainer makes me do horrible exercises, but I always feel better after.
Being in all day, I like to go out in the evening and look smart, but not like I’ve come out of the City. I’m a tall, broad guy and well-dressed.
For dinner I’ll meet friends. When you’re a single guy it’s great to have some good female friends. Or I might take my mum to the theatre, as I know she really appreciates it. I like watching TV comedy shows to see what everyone’s doing. When you see something impressive it makes you work harder. I also love Larkin’s poems: they don’t try to transcend (超越) the commonplace; they’re much more straightforward.
Poetry is great to dip into before going to bed, rather than falling asleep reading a novel and being confused over what you’ve read or not. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in seven years; unfortunately, I rely on pills. I’ve tried everything. If I could wish anything for myself, I’d wish I could sleep better.
67. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. the author spends much time with his friends
B. the author and Matt are both famous in the district
C. the author doesn’t care much about what to wear
D. the author works at home and seldom goes out every day
68. Where does the passage most likely appear?
A. In a travel diary. B. In a news column.
C. In an online diary. D. In a research paper.
69. Why does the author read some poetry before going to bed?
A. Because poetry can often bring him some funny ideas.
B. Because poetry is much easier to understand than novels.
C. Because poetry is very abstract and reflects unusual things.
D. Because poetry can be of some help for him to kill time.
70. What might be the best title for the passage?
A. A day’s work with Matt B. A new life-style
C. A life in the day D. A good way to write
Tess still stood hesitating like a swimmer about to make his dive, hardly knowing whether to return or move forward, when a figure came out from the dark door of the tent. It was a tall young man, smoking.
He had an almost black face, though red and smooth. His moustache was black with curled points, though he could not be more than twenty-three or –four. There was an unusual force in his face, and in his daring rolling eyes.
‘Well, my beauty, what can I do for you?’ said he, coming forward. And seeing that she was quite at a loss: ‘Never mind me. I am Mr. d’Urberville. Have you come to see me or my mother?’
This differed greatly from what Tess had expected. She had dreamed of an aged and dignified face. She tried to keep calm and answered---
‘I came to see your mother, sir.’
‘I am afraid you cannot see her---she is ill in bed,’ replied the representative of the house; for this was Mr. Alec, the only son of the noble family. ‘What is the business you wish to see her about?’
‘It isn’t business---it is ---I can hardly say what!’
‘Pleasure?’
‘Oh no. Why, sir, if I tell you, it will seem--- ’
Tess’s sense of a certain ridicule was now so strong that, despite her general discomfort at being here, her rosy lips curved(弯曲) towards a smile, much to the attraction of the young man.
‘It is so foolish’, she stammered(结结巴巴地说); ‘I fear I can’t tell you!’
‘Never mind; I like foolish things. Try again, my dear,’ said he kindly.
‘Mother asked me to come,’ Tess continued; ‘and, indeed, I was in the mind to do so myself. But I did not think it would be like this. I came, sir, to tell you that we are of the same family as you.’
‘Ho! Poor relations?’
‘Yes.’
‘Stokes?’
‘No; d’Urbervilles.’
‘Ay, ay; I mean d’Urbervilles.’
‘Our names are worn away to Durbeyfield; but we have several proofs that we are d’Urbervilles. The local scholars hold the view that we are, ---and ---and we have an old seal(印章) and a silver spoon marked with the same castle as yours. So mother said we ought to make ourselves known to you, as we’ve lost our horse by a bad accident; we can hardly make a living.’
‘Very kind of your mother, I’m sure.’ Alec looked at Tess as he spoke, in a way that made her uneasy. ‘And so, my pretty girl, you’ve come on a friendly visit to us, as relations?’
‘I suppose I have,’ looking less confident and uncomfortable again.
‘Well---there’s no harm in it. Where do you live? What are you?’
---Tess of the d’Urbervilles By Thomas Hardy
63. How does Tess feel in the whole course of the meeting with Alec?
A. Excited and hopeful. B. Nervous and uncomfortable.
C. Surprised but comfortable. D. Pleased but embarrassed.
64. In the eyes of Tess, Alec is ______.
A. forceful and daring B. unfriendly and talkative
C. a gentle and reliable man D. older than she had expected
65. Why does Tess pay the visit to the d’Urbervilles?
A. To see Alec himself.
B. To see Alec’s mother.
C. To confirm that they are of the same family.
D. To make known their relationship and seek help.
66. Alec appears quite friendly to Tess mainly because ______.
A. Tess is his distant relation B. Tess looks polite to him
C. Tess is a pretty girl D. Tess looks ridiculous
Motorists used to listening to the radio or their favorite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.
The Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of “melody roads”, which use cars as tuning forks to play music as they travel.
The concept works by using grooves(凹槽). They are cut at very specific intervals(间隔) in the road surface. The melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes(音符).
Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, and designers are able to create a distinct tune.
Patent documents for the design describe it as notches “formed in a road surface so as to play a melody without producing simple sound or rhythm and reproduce melody-like tones”.
There are three musical roads in central and northern Japan---one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Reports say the system was invented by Shizuo Shinoda. He scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer(推土机) before driving over them and found that they helped to produce all kinds of tones.
The optimal speed for melody road is 44 kph, but people say it is not always easy to get the intended sound.
“You need to keep the car windows closed to hear well,” wrote one Japanese blogger. “Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 12 mph (20 kph) has a slow-motion effect, making you almost car-sick.”
59. According to the passage, to create different notes, melody roads use ______.
A. cars B. grooves C. spaces between internals D. bulldozers
60. We can learn from the passage that the highness of notes is dependent on ______.
A. how far the grooves are B. how big the grooves are
C. the number of the grooves D. the speed of the car
61. The underlined word “optimal” in the passage might mean ______.
A. fastest B. possible C. bestD. suitable
62. In order to hear the music well, you have to ______.
A. drive very fast B. drive slowly
C. open the window wide D. keep the window closed
| Short Story Contest : Win $8,000 First Prize $5,000 in Cash Writers Creative Writing Correspondence Program offers non-professional authors an opportunity to have a novel, book of short stories, volume of poetry, or a work of creative non-fiction, critiqued(评论) by professors and professionals. Second Prize $2,000 / Third Prize $1,000 |
Short Story Contest Rules
·The contest begins at 9 am Friday, November 29, 2008 and ends at 4 pm Thursday, January 17,2009.
·The contest is open to all residents of Ontario who are at 16 or over, except for employees, judges, and anyone living with any employee of the sponsors or judges.
·The author’s name, address, phone number, and a 25-50-word self-introduction must be included with each entry on a separate sheet of paper. The name of the author should not appear in the story itself.
· Stories must be original and unpublished up to the time the winners are declared on June 23, 2009.
·Stories must be written on a computer or typewriter, be double-spaced and no longer than 2,500 words. Total word count should be printed on the front page of the story.
· No changes to a story are allowed once the Star receives your entry. Manuscripts will not be returned.
· A $5 entry fee must accompany each entry. Cheques or money orders should be made out to the Sunday Star Short Story Contest. Please do not send coins.
·Winners will be informed by telephone between 9 am and 5 pm on June 23, 2009.
·Professors from the writing Centre at Ryerson University will complete the first round of judging. Another group of professional writers will select the final three.
SEND YOUR STORY TO:
SHORT STORY CONTEST, THE SUNDAY STAR ONE YONGE STREET, TORONTO, Ontario M5E1E6
Full contest rules are available at www.the star.com / contests Tel: 416 – 367 – 2000
56. Which of the following is allowed to be written on the front page of the story?
A. The total word count. B. The author’s name.
C. The author’s self-introduction. D. The author’s phone number.
57. From the above advertisement, we can find out ______.
A. the topic of the stories
B. the number of winners
C. the money the sponsors give to the organizer
D. the total number of contestants
58. It can be learned from the passage that ______.
A. Winners will get a book of short stories besides the money
B. Citizens over 16 living in Ontario can compete in the contest
C. Contestants should send printed stories to the organizer
D. Professors from universities will decide the winners
The concept of personal choice in relation to health behaviors is an important one. An estimated 90 percent of all illnesses may be preventable if individuals would make sound personal health choice and do not like to see it restricted when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society. The structure of American society allows us to make almost all our own personal decisions that may concern our health. If we so desire, we can smoke, drink excessively, refuse to wear seat belts, eat whatever foods we want, and live a completely sedentary life style without any exercise. The freedom to make such personal decisions is a fundamental aspect of our society, although the wisdom of these decisions can be questioned. Personal choices relative to health often cause a difficulty. As one example, a teenager may know the facts relative to smoking cigarettes and health but may be pressured by friends into believing it is the socially accepted thing to do.
A multitude of factors, both inherited and environmental, influence the development of health related behaviors, and it is beyond the scope of this text to discuss all these factors as they may affect any given individual. However, the decision to adopt a particular health related behavior is usually one of personal choices. There are healthy choices and there are unhealthy choices. In discussing the morals of personal choice, Fries and Grapo drew a comparison. They suggest that to knowingly give oneself over to a behavior that has a statistical probability of shortening life is similar to attempting suicide. Thus, for those individuals who are interested in preserving both the quality and quantity of life, personal health choices should reflect those behaviors that are associated with a statistical probability of increased vitality and longevity.
68．The concept of personal choice concerning health is important because ____.
A．personal health choice helps cure most illness
B．it helps raise the level of our medical knowledge
C．it is essential to personal freedom in American society
D．wrong decisions could lead to poor health
69．To “live a completely sedentary life style”(L7,Para.1)in the passage means____.
A．to “live an inactive life” B．to “live a decent life”
C．to “live a life with complete freedom” D．to “live a life of vice”
70．Sound personal health choice is often difficult to make because ____.
A．current medical knowledge is still insufficient
B．there are many factors influencing our decisions
C．few people are willing to trade the quality of life for the quantity of life
D．people are usually influenced by the behavior of their friends
ADC
Attitudes differed to small errors of grammar and usage, or inappropriateness of vocabulary and idiom, with the native speakers finding such errors a little irksome(令人厌烦的)，though sometimes amusing, while the Chinese panel members paid hardly any attention to such errors as, for example, misuse of phrasal verbs and similar usages: “When I saw the job description, I decided to apply the position.” “I expect to find out a lot of challenge in the job.” “I can deal the emergency situations efficiently.”
Errors of idiom or appropriateness caused more comment, during the post interview discussion, from the native speakers than from the Chinese panel members, on whom the errors were sometimes lost. For example, one candidate, when asked what salary he expected, replied: “I don’t care about it.” The message was clear enough, namely that he was primarily interested in the job, but the formulation of the message was not quite right. Even such ribticklers(笑话)as “I am a well planned person .”and “I would like to expose myself in another field”(both actually heard at interviews) tended to cause lipbiting among the expatriate rather than the Chinese interviewers.
Panels with two Chinese and one expatriate used to be more common, but are becoming less common. The reason is that with more of the interview now being conducted in Chinese, the non Chinese speaker does not know what has already been asked and is liable to repeat in English questions that have already been covered in Chinese. This caused, naturally enough, confusion in the interviewee and can adversely affect the whole interview.
The sensible procedure would seem to be to open the interview in the mother tongue of the candidates, to put them at their ease, then at a later stage turn to English, to test English proficiency. In practice, however, possibly because of the problem mentioned in the previous paragraph when the panel contains a foreigner, it is often the reverse, with a few, fairly standard, opening questions in English, and if these are successfully answered, then the job interview properly gets underway in Cantonese.
One of the worst interview scenarios(方案)is when a foreigner who thinks she/he can speak Cantonese (but does so, in fact, badly) decides to question the interviewee in Cantonese. In other circumstances of a social nature the interviewee would no doubt politely compliment the foreigner on his or her good Cantonese, but in the seriousness of a job interview situation, the Chinese is confused and slightly embarrassed for the foreigner. These forays(初步尝试)into Chinese usually end pretty quickly with one of the Chinese members of the panel rescuing the foreigner and continuing the interview in English.
64．Concerning misuses of phrasal verbs,____.
A．both Chinese and the native speakers of English find them amusing
B．the Chinese interviewers tend to be tolerant
C．the Chinese interviewers and the English native speaker interviewers often have a discussion
D．might sometimes become a laughing stock to the native speakers of English but draw hardly any attention from the Chinese
65．It is implied in the passage that ____.
A．Chinese are generally liable to make mistakes in English grammar and vocabulary usage
B．expatriate interviewers are generally more friendly with interviews
C．braver candidates can often get the upper hand
D．the candidates often deliver an improper message for the use of inappropriate expressions
66．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A．The non Chinese speaking interviewer might ask the questions which have already been asked by the Chinese and hence cause confusion.
B．It is more practicable to start an interview with a few fairly standard questions in English before switching to Chinese.
C．The best procedure of an interview would seem to be beginning in Cantonese and then testing English proficiency.
D．The Chinese interviewee often politely compliments the foreign interviewer if he or she speaks cantonese if it is not actually so good in the interview.
67．This passage is mainly concerned with ____.
A．whether language proficiency or work ability counts in job interviews
B．how to avoid awkward situation in a job interview in HongKong
C．the language used in a job interview with both Chinese and expatriate panel members
D．the sensible procedure of getting on with an interview where the Chinese interviewee’s English is to be tested