We would probably all be amazed if we watched a videotape of ourselves performing basically unconscious acts as we go about the business of the day. These unconscious acts consist of all the little personal habits that we don’t even think about, but definitely should. These are some of the things that present an image of who we are to others, and if we are careless in performing them, this image may well be other than we would like it to be.
Parents who insist that their children practice good manners and habits at home are doing them a great service, for these habits then become lifelong and the natural way they do things. It proves true that their unconscious actions will reflect a well-mannered person.
People who, for example, eat with both arms on the table at home will
likely do so when out. Those who are lazy and slow in private will certainly be so in public. Children who are permitted to be disrespectful to their parents will follow suit with other adults, and will, most likely, become adults who are disrespectful of others. This is an area where the saying “practice makes perfect” may be applied.
There is an article about the actress, Audrey Hepburn, known for her beautiful carriage and posture. According to her biographer, her grandmother tied her neck to the back of her chair, at table, so that she would not drop down suddenly over her food, but rather would learn to put only small amounts of food on her spoon or fork and bring them to her mouth. This is a rather extreme “at home” method for the development of erect (直立的) posture, but it does illustrate the effectivene
ss of practicing good habits so that, when in public, they are instinctive.
Which of the following expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．Parents should be responsible for their children’s good habits. |
| B．The actress is well known for her beautiful posture. |
| C．We should always be aware of our manners. |
| D．Without good manners, one can never be perfect. |
Those who eat with both arms on the table at home ______.
| A．will probably have the same habit when they have meals in the restaurant |
| B．will probably change the habit when eating out with their relatives |
| C．will feel embarrassed when having meals with so many strangers in public |
| D．will always put their arms on the table no matter where they eat |
The meaning of “practice makes perfect” in the third paragraph is ______.
| A．the more practice one has, the better job he will do |
| B．the more perfect one is, the more practice he needs |
| C．if one has enough practice, he will become perfect |
| D．perfect makes a person practice more |
Which of the following are NOT true?
A．If we are not careful about our unconscious acts, the images of ourselves presen ted to others will be quite undesirable. |
| B．The good habits formed in one’s childhood will benefit him throughout his life. |
| C．If parents do not care about the disrespectful attitude adopted by their children towards themselves, their children might be disrespectful of others. |
| D．It is unlikely that a well-mannered person will not embarrass himself in public. |
In California, young sea lions are in danger of starving to death and it is not clear why.
"I'm going on a rescue right now," said Peter Wallerstein talking on his cell phone while in his truck. "'I've already rescued two sea lions."
Wallerstein can barely keep up with the distress calls. His sea mammal rescue operation has already saved 240 California sea lion pups this year.
"Not much energy left in this guy," he said about one particular sea lion. Almost all were dying from starvation.
"We found them seven miles up the flood control channel, found them under a car, and we don't really know why," he said.
On average, about a hundred sea lions are rescued in Southern California during the winter. But 700 have been picked up over the last three months.
"They're very sick," said Keith Matassa, who runs the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. His team is nursing 115 sea lions back to health.
"A normal sea lion at this age -- 8 to 9 months old -- should be around 60, 70 pounds," said Matassa. "We're seeing them come into our center at 20 to 25 pounds, and really, they look like walking skeletons."
Sea lions depend on herring, sardines and other small fish found close to California's coast.
Sarah Wilkin is a marine biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Asked why it has reached this point, she said: "We're looking at whether the prey that these animals should be eating just isn't available to them for some reason, and that could be because there's less of it or because it's moved and it's not accessible."
It can take four months of care before the animals are strong enough to be released back into the Pacific.
"This is the ultimate gift watching an animal come in as a walking skeleton," said Matassa, "and watching it run off the beach...and just head out where it should be."
Scientists worry they'll find even more starving sea lions in the weeks ahead. April and May are usually peak months for sea lion rescues.
| A．Wallerstein is bored with the calls. |
| B．The situation is terrible for the sea lions. |
| C．Wallerstein’s telephone is hard to get through to. |
| D．The rescue operation is going very well. |
| A．The winter coldness. | B．A lack of prey. |
| C．A flood. | D．Car accidents. |
| A．released back into the Pacific |
| B．sent to the National Marine Fisheries Service |
| C．sent to the Pacific Marine Mammal Center |
| D．released on the Californian coast |
| A．they are very firm | B．they are very active |
| C．they are very ugly | D．they are very thin |
| A．Access to Sea lions’ Prey |
| B．Sea Lion Rescue Operation |
| C．Starvation Endangers Sea Lions |
| D．Protection for Sea Lions Is Pressing |
I was diagnosed with cancer in September 2005, after discovering a small lump in my neck. All seemed well after the lump had been removed. However, a follow-up blood test revealed that the cancer had spread. I underwent chemotherapy(化疗), and within four months I lost nearly 20kg, all my hair and energy.
I got a tentative all-clear(解除警报)two days after my 28 the birthday. To me, it signaled a new start, and I couldn’t wait to get on with my life. The doctors told me that it would be months before I could get back to my old activity levels, but I just didn’t want to accept this. I wanted to be normal again –now, not in six months.
So I started by simply walking around Edinburgh. Each day I would get home four or five hours later feeling like I had run a marathon. After less than six weeks, I half-ran, half-crawled up Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh. I spent the next couple of days in bed recovering, but soon after that I was back in the gym.
My diet had never been great before I fell ill --- I was a real vegetable-phobe(厌恶蔬菜的人)， and to some extent I still am. Nowadays, though, I make myself eat more natural foods. I have discovered that a good blender and a slow-cooker help make foods I don’t like bearable.
When one suffers a physical setback, emotional support from others is important. Still, there are things only you can do for yourself; at the end of the day, you are the one going through it. I went back to work, and now have started a company to take my passion for health and fitness forward. I believe that what holds most people back is a poor mental attitude and lack of determination. You can achieve whatever you want; you just have to work hard at it.
| A．He was diagnosed with cancer after a regular blood test. |
| B．He got back in the gym two days after his 28th birthday. |
| C．His doctors asked him not to do any kind of exercise for six months. |
| D．He wanted to recover from his illness as soon as possible. |
| A．He started eating more natural foods. |
| B．He began to like eating vegetables. |
| C．He learned to cook by himself. |
| D．He liked eating the foods he hadn’t liked before. |
| A．the help and support of others are useless to sick people |
| B．people can’t be mentally unprepared to decide things |
| C．people should do everything by themselves |
| D．hard-working people get what they want |
| A．optimism | B．calmness |
| C．passion | D．honesty |
| A．Life Depends on Exercise |
| B．Perseverance Is the Key to Success |
| C．How I Bear Cancer |
| D．How to Overcome Cancer |
Cooking food over a smoky fire is found everywhere in the world. It is often difficult to find wood for the fire. People who do not have wood must spend large amounts of money on cooking fuel. However, there is a much easier way to cook food using energy from the sun. Solar cookers, or ovens, have been used for centuries. A Swiss scientist made the first solar oven in 1767. Today, people are using solar cookers in many countries around the world. People use solar ovens to cook food and to heat drinking water to kill bacteria and other harmful organisms.
There are three kinds of solar ovens. The first is a box cooker. It is designed with a special wall that shines or reflects sunlight into the box. Heat gets trapped under a piece of glass or plastic covering the top of the cooker. A box oven is effective for slow cooking of large amounts of food.
The second kind of solar oven is a panel(嵌板式) cooker. It includes several flat walls, or panels, which directly reflect the sun’s light onto the food. The food is inside a separate container of plastic or glass that traps heat energy. People can build panel cookers quickly and with very few supplies. They do not cost much. In Kenya, for example, panel cookers are being manufactured for just two dollars.
The third kind of solar oven is a parabolic(抛物线的) cooker. It has rounded walls that aim sunlight directly into the bottom of the oven. Food cooks quickly in parabolic ovens. However, these cookers are hard to make. They must be re-aimed often to follow the sun. Parabolic cookers can also cause burns and eye injuries if they are not used correctly.
You can make solar ovens from boxes or heavy paper. They will not catch fire. Paper burns at 232 degrees Celsius. A solar cooker never gets that hot. Solar ovens cook food at low temperatures over long periods of time. This permits people to leave food to cook while they do other things.
To learn more about solar cooking, you can write to Solar Cookers International. The postal address is nineteen-nineteen Twenty-First Street, Sacramento, California, nine-five-eight-one-one, USA. Or you can visit the group’s Internet Web site. The address is www.solarcooking.org.How long is the first solar cookers invented?
| A．About 1767 years | B．More than 300 years |
| C．More than 250 years | D．Less than 250 years |
In which of the following column could we find the passage?
| A．Development Report | B．Agricultural Report |
| C．Health Report | D．Education Report |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The first sun-cooker was made by a Swiss soldier |
| B．Parabolic cookers can be dangerous sometimes |
| C．Sun-cookers often get hotter than 232℃ |
| D．It is more expensive to cook with a sun-cooker than on fire |
Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?
| A．Different Ways of Cooking |
| B．The History of the Solar Cookers. |
| C．How to Choose Solar Cookers. |
| D．Cooking Meals with the Sun for Fuel |
Dear Friend,
The recent success of children's books has made the general public aware that there's a huge market out there.
And there's a growing need for new writers trained to create the $3 billion worth of children's books bought each year ... plus stories and articles needed by over 650 publishers of magazines for children and teenagers.
Who are these needed writers? They're ordinary folks like you and me.
But am I good enough?
I was once where you might be now. My thoughts of writing had been pushed down by self-doubt, and I didn't know where to turn for help.
Then, I accepted a free offer from the Institute to test my writing aptitude（潜能）,and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed.
The promise that paid off
The Institute made the same promise to me that they will make to you, if you show basic writing ability:
You will complete at least one manuscript（手稿） suitable to hand in to a publisher by the time you finish our course.
I really didn't expect any publication before I finished the course, but that happened. I sold three stories. And I soon discovered that was not unusual at the Institute.
Since graduation, I have authored 34 nationally published children's books and over 300 stories and articles.
Free test and brochure
We offer a free aptitude test and will send you a copy of our brochure describing our recognized home-study courses on the basis of one-on-one training.
Realize your writing dream today. There's nothing sadder than a dream delayed until it fades forever.
Sincerely,
Kristi
Kristi Holl, Instructor
Institute of Children's LiteratureFrom the first three paragraphs, we learn that_____.
| A．children’s books are usually bestsellers |
| B．there is a growing need for writers of children's |
| C．magazines for teenagers have drawn public attention |
| D．publishers are making $3 billion each year |
When finishing the course, you are promised to_____.
| A．be a successful publisher |
| B．become a confident editor |
| C．get one story or article published |
| D．finish one work for publication |
Kristi Holl mentions her experience mainly to_____.
| A．prove she is a good instructor |
| B．give her advice on course preparation |
| C．show she sold more stories than articles |
| D．promote the writing program |
Traditionally, across the world, boys and girls attend a mixed school, where they study together. But boys' schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.
Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their emotional expressiveness, rather than feeling they had to correspond to(和…相符) the "boy code" of hiding their emotions to be a "real man".
The findings of the study go against received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.
Tony Little, head master of Eton, warned that boys were being failed by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls. He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.
The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when girls do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.
But in single-sex schools teachers can tailor lessons to boys' learning style, letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom, wrote the study's author, Abigail James, of the University of Virginia.
Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with "boy-focused" approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them. Because boys generally have more acute vision, learn best through touch, and are physically more active, they need to be given "hands-on" lessons where they are allowed to walk around. "Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine（女性的） and prefer the modern genre （类型） in which violence and sexism are major themes," James wrote.
Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel that they had to be "masterful and in charge" in relationships. "In mixed schools, boys feel forced to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means," the study reported.The author believes that a single-sex school would __________.
| A．force boys to hide their emotions to be "real men" |
| B．help boys to be more competitive in schools. |
| C．encourage boys to express their emotions more freely |
| D．naturally strengthen boys’ traditional image of a man |
It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys __________.
| A．behave more responsibly. | B．grow up pore healthily. |
| C．perform relatively better. | D．receive a better education. |
According to Abigail James, one of the advantages of single-sex schools is __________.
| A．teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys |
| B．boys can focus on their lessons without being distracted |
| C．boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in |
| D．teaching can be designed to promote boys' team spirit |
What does the underlined word “acute” in paragraph 8” mean?
| A．lovely | B．sharp |
| C．serious | D．dull |