Even if you are naturally shy, these three tricks will help you to quickly build a new social circle in any new city.
1. Take pictures
One of the great things about taking pictures at an event or party is that it gives you an excuse to get in touch with the person later. Everybody loves seeing pictures of themselves, and it’s very easy after taking a picture to say “If you’d like I can email it to you”. This can be the seed that leads to new connections. The next time you hear about a fun event email your new contacts to let them know about it.
2. Eat alone in public
You might feel self-conscious eating by yourself but it has an important benefit: you are much easier to approach when you are alone. People may be afraid of interrupting you or being rude if you are in a conversation with someone else. Bring a book or newspaper to read (this will make you feel less self-conscious). Plus, having an interesting book with you will give others an excuse to start a conversation if they’ve read it.
3. Join a class, sports team, or club
Yoga, salsa dancing, volleyball, Toastmasters (a public speaking club), a class for work, etc. Take up a new hobby or continue an old one!
These are all great places to meet new people, primarily because you will be forced to see the same people over and over again in the class. You will automatically make friends with them if you have a common interest and are forced to see each other again.
Tips:
* In the beginning, never turn down an invitation from someone, even if it’s something you wouldn’t normally do.
* Email your new friends with fun things to do instead of always asking what their plans are. If they have a better plan you can drop yours and join them. This will help establish you as someone who is contributing value instead of just taking it (people want this in a friend).
* Don’t let little things in life upset you or be a negative person. People don’t want to be around someone like that!________ can give you an excuse to start new connections.
| A．Taking pictures of others |
| B．Eating by yourself in public |
| C．Reading interesting books |
| D．Joining group activities |
When having meals, you’d better ________ if you want to make new friends.
| A．approach others to show conscious friendliness |
| B．start a conversation with those who have friends aside |
| C．invite others to your apartment to eat together |
| D．sit on your own in public places |
According to the text, which of the following is NOT mentioned as an advantage of joining a class?
| A．It helps you find out people who share a common interest with you. |
| B．It helps you find out your interest and take up a new hobby. |
| C．It offers an opportunity to meet the same people repeatedly. |
| D．It is a good way to meet new people and make friends in a new city. |
Which of the following pieces of advice is a tip from the text?
| A．Try to be outgoing and talkative instead of being shy. |
| B．Never turn down an invitation from your friends. |
| C．Offer suggestions on how to spend time together. |
| D．Always give a positive response to any request. |
By writing the text, the author intends to tell us ________.
| A．why you should change when you move to a new city |
| B．how you can make new friends in a new city |
| C．why you should make new friends in a new city |
| D．how you can keep in touch with strangers |
An African farmer had heard tales about other farmers who had made millions of dollars by discovering diamond mines. These tales so excited the farmer that he could hardly wait to sell his farm and go prospecting for diamonds himself.
So he sold the farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African continent, searching unsuccessfully for the shining stone that brought such high prices on the markets of the world.
Finally, broke and worn out, he threw himself into a river and drowned.
Meanwhile, back at the farm, the man who had bought his farm happened to be crossing a small river on the property one day when he saw something shining at the bottom of the river. He picked it up. It was a sparkling stone - a good size stone - and, admiring it, he later put it on his fireplace mantel（壁炉架） as an interesting curiosity.
Several weeks later, a visitor admired the stone, looked closely at it, lifted it in his hand and nearly fainted. He asked the farmer if he knew what he'd found. When the farmer said no, that he thought it was just a piece of crystal, the visitor told him he had found one of the largest diamonds ever discovered.
The farmer was astonished. He told the man that his small river was full of these brilliant stones, and his farmland was covered with them. Not all were as large, perhaps, as the one on his mantel, but they were sprinkled generously throughout his property.
Needless to say, the farm the first farmer had sold, so that he could search for a diamond mine, turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the entire African continent.Why did the first farmer sell his farm?
| A．He had made a fortune by selling diamonds. |
| B．He was tired of his life as a farmer. |
| C．He wanted to make more money elsewhere. |
| D．He was told that there was no diamonds on his farm. |
What happened to him after he sold his property?
| A．He found a river full of diamonds on his farm. |
| B．He lost everything including his own life. |
| C．He discovered a mine filled with brilliant stones. |
| D．He finally got his property back with diamonds. |
When the second farmer first found a shining stone, he ______.
| A．felt sorry for what he had done to the first farmer |
| B．was excited to see he would soon be very rich |
| C．found it special and brought it home |
| D．couldn’t wait to share his joy with his friends |
The visitor nearly passed out after a close look at the stone because _______.
| A．he was shocked by the misfortune of the first farmer |
| B．the discovery was too good to be true |
| C．it was not discovered on his own farm |
| D．he was blinded by the light from the stone |
What do we learn from the story?
| A．Treasure a farm with a river running across it. |
| B．Show your belongings to others to find their real value. |
| C．Dig deep into what we have instead of wandering elsewhere. |
| D．Ask for professional advice before selling anything to others. |
All 20 children who died in a shooting at a school in Connecticut were aged between six and seven,according to an official list of the dead.
The state's chief medical examiner said the gunman used a rifle as his main weapon, and all the victims appeared to have been shot several times.
The gunman, named in media reports as Adam Lanza, killed his mother before driving to the school and opening fire.
Six adults, all women, were also killed before the gunman shot himself dead.
The head teacher at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Dawn Hochsprung, is listed among the dead, along with adults Rachel DaVino, Anne Marie Murphy, Lauren Russo, Mary Sherlach and Victoria Soto.
Eight boys and 12 girls were killed - all but four of them were aged six.
The youngest, Noah Pozner, celebrated his birthday only last month.
A woman who worked at the school was the only person to be shot and survive.
Scores of people have left flowers at a memorial outside the school, and on Saturday evening hundreds attended a candlelight vigil（守夜）.
President Barack Obama is to visit Newtown on Sunday to meet families and speak at an interfaith vigil at the town's high school.
After the attack, he urged "meaningful action" against gun crime in the US.
"As a country we have been through this too many times," he said in an emotional White House address.How many people of the school got shot during this heartbreaking event?
| A．26. | B．27. | C．20. | D．12 |
Among the student victims, how many are just six years old?
| A．12 | B．20. | C．4. | D．16 |
Very few victims survived the shooting probably because _____.
| A．they were all too young |
| B．they failed to call the police in time |
| C．they each were shot several times |
| D．they were not taken to hospital soon enough |
What did the gunman do after the massive killing?
| A．He shot his mother dead. |
| B．He was caught by the head teacher. |
| C．He killed himself with his gun. |
| D．He got out to attend a candlelight vigil |
From President Barack Obama’s words we can expect that ______.
| A．the control of the use of guns will be tighter in U.S.A |
| B．more gun crimes will be inspired by this attack |
| C．more people will own guns to protect themselves |
| D．fewer people will send their kids to the school |
Originally, both the British and the American spoke with a rhotic accent. Rhotic essentially means an accent where the letter “r” is pronounced strongly after a vowel (元音). Rhotic accents are strong in both the US and Scotland, but seem to have disappeared from British English and its derivatives, such as Australian English and New Zealand English.
The major American accent –– the typical accent of the mid-western US –– is rhotic, and British English is, as a rule, non-rhotic. Specifically, US speakers pronounce every “r”, wherever they appear in a word. Most British speakers (and you will note that there are some British Isle accents that are strongly rhotic, like US) do not pronounce every “r”. Americans stress the “r” at the end of words such as “teacher” or “neighbour”, but in many non-rhotic British accents it is more of a “schwa” (an unstressed sound) so it comes out as, “teacha” (unstressed) or “neighba”.
This main difference also differs across the country of origin. For example, the US has a clear difference in the accents between people of the north and south, not to mention less clear differences across the states. Similarly, British people have a different accent according to their locality. The “cockney (伦敦东区)” accent is greatly different to the middle and upper class accents.
Another common difference appears to be that Americans pronounce words such as “herbal” without the “h”. Syllables (音节) may be stressed differently, too. “Oregano” in the US tends to be pronounced “o–reg–a–no” while in British English it is more likely to be “o–reg–AH–no”.When a rhotic accent occurs, ______.
| A．the letter “r” is silent in any positions |
| B．the letter “r” is sounded after a vowel |
| C．the ending syllable of a word is stressed |
| D．the ending syllable of a word is unheard |
The underlined word “derivatives” in the first paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．neighbours | B．ancestors |
| C．symbols | D．branches |
In non-rhotic British accents, ______.
| A．“bother” sounds the same as “buther” |
| B．“cheaper” sounds the same as “chapter” |
| C．“worker” sounds the same as “worka” |
| D．“painting” sounds the same as “paintin” |
Even in the original country of the specific English language, accents differ ____.
| A．from area to area | B．from person to person |
| C．from word to word | D．from stress to stress |
American people trend to pronounce words like “herbal” with the “h” ______.
| A．stressed | B．silent | C．changed | D．loud |
For many people, the name Baskin-Robbins is connected to sweet memories of eating ice cream. Irvine Robbins, who helped create this famous company, died in May at the age of ninety. His career of making fun and exciting ice cream flavors (口味) changed the way Americans enjoy this food.
Irvine Robbins opened his first ice cream store in 1945 in California. At the time, there were no stores that sold only ice cream. His sister’s husband, Burton Baskin, also opened his own ice cream stores.
In 1948 they combined their six stores into one business. Baskin and Robbins realized that they were too busy to operate each store well. So, they decided to sell part of each operation to the manager of that store. This permitted the company to grow quickly.
By 1953, they renamed their company Baskin-Robbins. They advertised that they sold 31 kinds of ice cream to show the many choices buyers had. There was one flavor for every day of the month.
Robbins and Baskin sold “Lunar Cheesecake (月亮奶酪)” the day after astronauts landed on the moon in 1969. Other flavors included “ChaChaCha”, for cherry chocolate chip, and Robbins’ personal favorite “Jamoca Almond Fudge”. They said, “We sell fun, not just ice cream.”
By 1967, there were 500 Baskin-Robbins stores in the United States. The business partners sold their company that year. Today, there are more than 5,800 Baskin-Robbins stores around the world.It can most deeply remain in Americans’ good memories that Baskin-Robbins ___.
| A．launched joyful varieties of ice cream |
| B．purchased much more than ice cream |
| C．combined many stores into a company |
| D．advertised their varieties of ice cream |
Which is the correct order of the events?
| a. Lunar Cheesecake went on the market b. The company got its new name Baskin-Robbins c. Baskin-Robbins sold its company d. Six ice cream stores belonged together |
A. d-b-c-a B. a-b-c-d
C. d-b-a-c D. a-d-c-bAccording to the 5th paragraph, one particular of Baskin-Robbins is that ______.
| A．it struggled for a large size of the company |
| B．its brands actually depended on top quality |
| C．it attempted to develop more chain stores |
| D．its brands closely followed the hot events |
Baskin-Robbins enjoyed its good business essentially due to ______.
| A．the friendly manners | B．the creative ideas |
| C．the unusual efforts | D．the powerful ads |
By the story, the author seems to be suggesting readers: “______”
| A．Explore your new ways! | B．Double your efforts! |
| C．Depend on yourself! | D．Trust your partner! |
Just the mention of the TOEFL, GRE and GAMT exams brings a thought of long hours of dull paper work. But that idea is becoming increasingly out of date. As planned, computerized tests will begin next year which will bring a series of changes from test psychology to scoring techniques.
From computer - equipped rooms, examinees will answer the questions on a computer. If they are sure about their choices, they can pass to the next question by pressing the entry(条目) “next”. Then another question will be randomly(任意地)selected from a vast test item bank and appear on the screen. After answering all the questions, examinees can choose the entry “quit” if they are not satisfiedwith their performance, or “score” if they want to see the result. Scores will be calculated immediately and appear on the screen. By that point, student's marks are official--there is no going back.
Since they greatly shorten the painful waiting process-which used to be two or three months, computerized tests have won worldwide popularity. Besides, there will be no rushing to the registration offices( 登记处)for these exams. Computerized tests will be given every workday in an exam center with all three kinds of tests being held in the same room. All test takers need to do is to call the exam center and book their seats for a particular day.
In addition it will become technically possible to apply new testing procedures. In the past，each examinee had the same set of test items despite differences in their ability. Under a computerized system, however, if the computer judges an answer is right, a question of a relatively difficult nature will follow. But if an examinee continues to give wrong answers and is judged as un-qualified by the computer system, he will be automatically denied the chance to go further in the test. Computerized tests allow the examinee to know their scores.
| A．immediately on a central computer for scoring test papers |
| B．a few minutes after the exam with the help of a test center worker |
| C．on the next day after they have taken the exam |
| D．immediately after the exam by means of the same computer |
If an examinee is not satisfied with his performance .
| A．he can admit defeat and give it up |
| B．he can ask the computer to give some advice |
| C．he can ask another chance within a few days |
| D．he is allowed to do it once again |
Under a computerized system, all of the following would be possible except that.
| A．different exams can be taken in the same room |
| B．one doesn’t need to rush to the registration officer for taking an exam |
| C．it will be much easier to pass an examination |
| D．one can take an exam almost at any time of the year |
The word “denied” in the last sentence most probably means .
| A．refused | B．allowed | C．lost | D．passed |