Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect ? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized (分类) as “honor” help you create this life of good feelings.
Here’s an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item.If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement.Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune.On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thanks us for our honesty.We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness ?
In the first case where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen.Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief.In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect.We would also demonstrate that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends.We damage our own reputations by telling others.
In contrast bringing the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen.Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable.Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased.Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions.Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions.Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence.And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy.While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started, it’s easy to continue.Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our________.
A.self-respect | B.financial rewards |
C.advertising ability | D.friendly relationship |
How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake ?
A.We’ll be very excited | B.We’ll feel unfortunate |
C.We’ll have a sense of honor | D.We’ll feel sorry for the clerk |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage ?
A.How to Live Truthfully |
B.Importance of Peacefulness |
C.Ways of Gaining Self-respect |
D.Happiness through Honorable Actions |
阅读理解
Cheaters called “pirates” often use camcorders(便携式摄像机) and cell phones to make illegal copies of blockbusters in the local theater. These pirates then sell those recordings on the street or over the Internet for very low prices. Some share them for free.
“It’s unfair for people to pirate movies,” says 15-year-old Hadaia Azad Ezzulddin. Movie piracy “takes money out of the pockets of thousands of people in the movie industry,” she notes. Victims include famous actors and directors as well as local theater owners and their employees.
Hadaia came up with an idea that could help stop movie piracy. Hadaia’s idea uses infrared(红外线的) light. This range of light is invisible to the human eye. It is visible, however, to many types of cameras. Theater owners could place small infrared lights on their movie screens. The lights would not disturb people watching the movie. It would, however, distort the recordings made by many types of cameras.
To test her idea, Hadaia built a box with a movie screen inside. Then, she projected images on that screen through a hole in the box. She took recordings of those images, using nine different types of cameras. These included the types found in cell phones as well as camcorders. During some tests, she also turned on light emitting diodes(发光二极管), or LEDs. The LEDs were embedded(植入的)in a certain place behind the movie screen. They gave out infrared light.
Sure enough, she showed, a pirated movie included odd stripes or spots if it had been recorded while the LEDs were on. It might be possible to use the LEDs to flash the date and time on the movie screen. The information would then appear in the illegal recordings. Theater owners or police might use the information to track down the pirates.
Cutting down on piracy might get more people into theaters to watch the real movie instead of an illegal copy. Six out of every ten films now produced aren’t profitable. They don’t make enough money to recover how much was spent to make and market them. Such a poor payback can discourage filmmakers from producing anything but the types expected to become blockbuster hits. It might also keep smaller theaters from showing a wider variety of movie types.From what Hadaia says in Paragraph 2, we can infer that _______.
A.most people spend less money on pirates moves |
B.the pirates don’t have to pay for the movie tickets |
C.theater owners will increase the price of movie tickets |
D.she strongly criticizes those who video movies in the theater |
Infrared lights are put on the movie screens to _______.
A.adjust the brightness of the movie screens |
B.make sure the images of movies are dark |
C.make illegal copies of movies unpleasant to see |
D.protect the eyesight of viewers in the darkness |
What is the correct order of the steps in Hadaia’s test?
a. She projected pictures on the screen.
b. She used cameras to record the pictures.
c. She turned on the LEDs placed behind the screen.
d. She made a special box with a movie screen inside.
A.d c a b | B.d b a c |
C.b a c d | D.b c a d |
According to the last paragraph, we can know that _______.
A.forty percent of movies now are profitable |
B.small theaters often choose to show low-cost movies |
C.more and more people go to theaters to fight movie piracy |
D.filmmakers prefer to produce ordinary movies than blockbusters |
阅读理解
Although I started learning English during my college years, when I entered the States, I only understood two English words “Yes” and “No”. We learned many grammar rules but we could not make the language connections to the real English world. Language frustration worries almost all first generation immigrants. For example, I got a letter from a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for a long time and has a good IT job saying “My 11-year-old girl writes quite well, but as her parents, we could not even read her article.”In addition, my Chinese-American professor friend has difficulty reading a novel. Improving our English skills has become a long journey for all of us. Honestly, if I have a chance, I really want to reach out to everyone in the world who has had a similar experience: learning a second language in adulthood. I wish I could encourage them to speak out about the culture shock, frustration they felt about the differences between West and East.
I have mainly focused on my English writing since 2008 after I found “Literacy Volunteers”, an organization that specially focuses on helping immigrants improve their English. I decided to challenge myself, writing a story like an American. I saw many wonderful Americans there. As soon as I met my teacher Alice, I asked her to be my private language tutor and have taken Tims English class. Every week Alice and I have worked on my English essays sentence by sentence.
To observe the culture differences between West and East, occasionally, I posted a few of my English essays online. I mentioned previously about American culture; when people read the same article or even face the same situation, American and Chinese act very differently. In my viewpoint, these differences make America the strongest country in the world. I know you have the right to express your own opinions, but accusing others without proof is not acceptable.The underlined word “frustration” in the first paragraph means .
A.failure and setbacks | B.words and problems |
C.understanding and progress | D.slang and idioms |
In the passage, “Literacy Volunteers” is .
A.only intended to help the Chinese-Americans |
B.an organization which is set up to make a profit |
C.of great use to people like the author |
D.a school showing how to enjoy literature |
From the last paragraph we can learn that .
A.Americans and Chinese are of the same idea about something |
B.culture shock only exists between Chinese and Americans |
C.accusing others freely can be acceptable in America |
D.culture differences have great influence on the people |
The purpose of the passage is .
A.to show how hard a Chinese-American lives in America |
B.to share her experience of improving her English |
C.to imply grammar rules are not important |
D.to warn Chinese-Americans of English |
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
My students often tell me they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork. My reply is often brief –You have as much time as the president. I usually carry on a bit about there being 24 hours per day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to justify myself to one of my professors by saying that I was working. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant. What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to reflect on the “hard worker” dodge(伎俩), and I have come to some conclusions – all relevant to the issue of how much time we have.
If you look at the matter analytically, you can identify two parts of the problem. There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the issue of “work” during that time, which can vary in intensity. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not diligence but the quality of the product that is important.
That led me to a new idea, the quality of work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office – Don’t work harder but work smarter! There’s a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of work. That means thinking of ways of getting more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “learning habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off across the board in all your studies.From the passage, we know that the author is _____.
A.a poet | B.an educator |
C.an editor | D.a director |
We can infer from the first two paragraph that we students _____.
A.have enough time |
B.can meet the president |
C.get something done well |
D.should accept the explanation |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 means _____.
A.That is impossible | B.That is not important |
C.That is unbearable | D.That is not acceptable |
The main purpose of writing the passage is to give _____.
A.information | B.encouragement |
C.criticism | D.advice |
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
Kompong Phhluk Private Tour
Depart the city for an unspoiled floating community called Kompong Phhluk which is astonishing for its stilted-house villages and flooded forest.
Stop on the way for the Rolous Market tour. This is a great chance for you to take the photos of locals selling vegetables, different fish species and other local produce.
After this market tour we’ll all have a boat trip to the floating community of Kompong Phhluk, visit an island pagoda, a school and houses standing on 8 or 10m high stilts, fish farms and learn about the village life.
Stop and have lunch in a family’s house before getting into a row boat and venturing into the flooded forest, the habitat to some famous water-bird species.
Eventually we jump back into the big boat and set off for the largest fresh water lake in SE Asia, Tonle Sap.
Tour Details
·Departs 8:30am
·Returns around 2pm
·A picnic lunch with sandwiches and drinks is provided. We cannot provide local food from the area due to poor sanitation(卫生), lack of hygiene standards and refrigeration.
·No passes required
Rates
·These rates are based on an English speaking guide.
·Rates include all transport, water and a picnic lunch.
·Children 11 years and under are 50%.
·Children 4 years and below are free.
·If your group is larger than 5 people, please email us for the best rate.
Number of People Price Per Person
1 Person$65
2 People$45
3 People$40
4 People$35
5 People$32
What to Wear
·Please be mindful of your clothing and try to avoid anything too revealing.
·We strongly recommend a sunglasses, hat and sunscreen.
General Information
·This is a poor rural village, please be mindful of the environment.
· Please do not hand things out to villagers, for this contributes to creating a begging cycle and can create jealousy.
·We recommend heading to the toilet before you go on this trip as facilities are very basic.Kompong Phhluk is famous for its ______.
A.local vegetables and different fish species |
B.stilted-house villages and flooded forest |
C.Rolous Market and an island pagoda |
D.water-bird habitat and fish farms |
A private trip for two parents and a 3-year-old boy costs ______.
A.$40 | B.$80 | C.$90 | D.$120 |
Which of the following is not included in the rates?
A.A tourist guide. | B.Transport. |
C.Drinks. | D.Local food. |
We can conclude from the passage that ______.
A.the living standard in the village is quite low |
B.the tourist facilities along the way are quite good |
C.revealing clothes are appropriate in the hot weather |
D.giving local children small gifts is strongly recommended |
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
Barack Obama has really gone wild. The US president has taken part in the survival television show Running Wild With Bear Grylls, which will air on NBC later this year. In the show, Obama goes on an adventure with host Bear Grylls, learning how to survive in the Alaskan wilderness.
Edward Michael “Bear” Grylls, 41, has become known around the world as one of the most famous outdoor adventurers. The Briton has appeared on a number of wilderness survival shows in which he has climbed, sailed, and eaten bugs or cow tongue.
Obama doesn’t have to eat bugs or cow tongue on his adventure with Grylls. But he does have to eat leftovers - a bloody salmon (三文鱼). It was partly enjoyed by a bear that left some meat behind.
Although he is far from the White House kitchen, Obama seems to enjoy the outdoors. “As president, I am in what’s called the bubble(保护膜), and the Secret Service makes sure that I’m always out of danger ... but I sometimes want to get out,” he said in a video.
However, Obama’s appearance on the show isn’t just for fun. He took part to raise awareness of the effect global warming has had on the US’s largest state, Alaska.On his adventure, Obama______.
A.has to eat something strange like bugs |
B.enjoys cow tongue with Grylls |
C.takes in some unusual food |
D.never has any difficulty |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
A.Obama has been tired of the life in the White House |
B.US presidents have never been in danger because of the Secret Service |
C.the food prepared in the White House is not as good as the food outdoors |
D.The life outside the White House is sometimes attractive to the president |
The purpose of Obama’s appearance on the show is _____.
A.to have some fun |
B.to promote environmental protection |
C.to enjoy the wilderness in Alaska |
D.to get out of the White House for a change |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Grylls is the most well known outdoor adventurer around the world.
B. The TV show with Obama’s appearance is now on air on NBC.
C. Obama learns how to survive with host Bear Grylls in African wilderness.
D. Grylls has special abilities to survive in the wild