Bobby Moresco grew up in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen, a poor working-class neighborhood on Manhattan’s West Side. But Hell’s Kitchen lies right next door to Broadway, and the bright lights attracted Bobby from the time he was a teen. Being stage-struck was hardly what a street kid could admit to his partners. Fearing their making fun of him, he told no one, not even his girlfriend, when he started taking acting lessons at age 17. If you were a kid from the neighborhood, you became a cop, construction worker, longshoreman or criminal. Not an actor.
Moresco struggled to make that long walk a few blocks east. He studied acting, turned out for all the cattle calls (试戏通告)-- and during the decade of the 1970s made a total of $2,000. “I wasn’t a good actor, but I had a driving need to do something different with my life,” he says.
He moved to Hollywood, where he drove a cab and worked as a waiter. “ My father said, 'Stop this craziness and get a job; you have a wife and daughter.' ”But Moresco kept working at his chosen career.
Then in 1983 his younger brother Thomas was murdered in a killing. Moresco moved back to his old neighborhood and started writing as a way to explore the pain of Hell’s Kitchen. Half-Deserted Streets, based on his brother’s killing, opened at a small Off-Broadway theater in 1988. A Hollywood producer saw it and asked him to work on a screenplay.
His reputation grew, and he got enough assignments to move back to Hollywood. By 2003, he was again out of work and out of cash when he got a call from Paul Haggis, a director who had befriended him. Haggis wanted help writing a film about the country after September 11. The two worked on the writing Crash, but every studio in town turned it down. They kept trying. Studio executives, however, thought no one wanted to see hard lives in modern America.
Crash slipped into the theaters in May 2005, and quietly became both a hit and a critical success. It was nominated for six Academy Awards and won three -- Best Picture, Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Paul Haggis and the kid from Hell’s Kitchen.
At age 54, Bobby Moresco became an overnight success. “If you have something you want to do in life, don’t think about the problems,” he says, “think about other ways to get it done.” Why Bobby Moresco did not tell anyone that he started taking lessons at age 17?
| A.He wanted to give his girlfriend a surprise. |
| B.His girlfriend did not allow him to do this. |
| C.He was afraid of being laughed at. |
| D.He had no talent for acting. |
Which of the following sentences is NOT true?
| A.His father did not support his work as a bartender. |
| B.Before he became an overnight success, his life experienced ups and downs. |
| C.His brother’s death inspired his writing Half-Deserted Streets. |
| D.Moresco grew up in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen which is a few blocks east of Broadway. |
The Studio executives turned the script Crash down because ______________.
| A.they thought the script would not be popular. |
| B.the script was not well written. |
| C.they had no money to make the film based on the script. |
| D.they thought Moresco was not famous. |
Which of the following can best describe Bobby Moresco?
| A.ambitious and persistent | B.shy but hardworking |
| C.caring and brave | D.considerate and modest |
While it is impossible to live completely free of stress, it is possible to prevent stress as well as reduce its effect when it can't be avoided. The US Department of Health and Human Services offers the following suggestions for ways to deal with stress.
Try physical activity
When you are nervous, angry or upset, try releasing the pressure through exercise or physical activity. Running, walking, playing tennis, or working in your garden are just some of the activities you might try. Physical exercise will relieve your anxiety and worry and help you to relax. Your body and your mind will work together to ease the stress in your life.
Share your stress
It helps to talk to someone about your anxieties and worries. Perhaps a friend, family member, teacher or even your leader can help you a better view of what's troubling you. If you feel your problem is serious, you might seek professional help from a psychologist or a doctor. Knowing when to ask for help is an important step in avoiding serious problems later.
Take care of yourself
You should make every effort to eat well and get enough rest. If you easily get angry and cannot sleep well enough, or if you're not eating properly, it will be more likely that you will fall into stressful situations. If stress repeatedly keeps you from sleeping, you should consult a doctor. Make time for yourself.
Make a list of the things you need to do
Stress can result from disorganization and a feeling that "there's so much to do, and not enough time". Trying to take care of everything at once can be too much for you and as a result, you may not achieve anything. Instead, make a list of everything you have to do, then do one thing at a time, checking off each task as it is completed. Set out to do the most important tasks first.
Go ahead and cry
A good cry can be a healthy way to
bring relief to your anxiety. It might even help you avoid a headache or other physical effect of anxiety and stress.What is most probably the writer's purpose in writing the article?
| A.To release his or her working tiredness. |
| B.To help solve the universal problem of stress. |
| C.To strengthen his or her anxiety. |
| D.To have more people cry out. |
Physical activity can help people re
lease stress because________.
| A.only your body movement can help you relax |
| B.your mind can work better to free you of anxiety |
| C.your body and mind can cooperate in releasing stress |
| D.physical activity doesn't play an important part in reducing nervousness |
What is similarity between "Share your stress" and "Go ahead and cry"?
| A.They both help you let out your feelings. |
| B.They both need physical movement. |
| C.They both require mental relaxation. |
| D.They can cause a headache. |
The underlined sentence is close to the meaning of "________".
| A.Strike while the iron is hot |
| B.More haste, less speed |
| C.Practice makes perfect |
| D.Quietness wins time |
Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.
And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin's chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料). The smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example, just one of his cantaloupes(甜瓜) filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.
As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜).Dad pulled out a pressure cooker(高压锅)and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour, the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.
Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!
Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around. It didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup.Why did Dad clean Old Man Mocolgin’s chicken house regularly?
| A.To earn some money for the family. |
| B.To collect manure for his crops. |
| C.To get rid of the terrible smell. |
| D.To set a good example to us. |
What can we infer about Dad’s stew?
| A.It is popular among the neighbors. |
| B.It contains honey and vegetables. |
| C.It looks very wonderful. |
| D.It tastes quite delicious. |
What does the underlined word “offend” in the last paragraph mean?
| A.To attract | B.To upset |
| C.To air | D.To shut |
Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers. But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as£172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income £30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week, 40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate and 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18, it found that, on most days, mums started their routine work at 7 am and finished at around 11 pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at £48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jibs”, with psychologist(心理学家) a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional(情感的) demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing(投入) in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?
| A.£30,000. | B.£142,000. |
| C.£172,000. | D.£202,000. |
The biggest challenge for most mothers is from .
| A.emotional demand | B.low pay for work |
| C.heavy workload | D.lack of training |
What is stressed in the last paragraph?
| A.Mothers’ importance shows in family all year long. |
| B.The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. |
| C.Mothers’ devotion to children can hardly be calculated. |
| D.Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. |
What can we conclude from the study?
| A.Mothers’ working hours should be largely reduced. |
| B.Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. |
| C.Mothers’ labour is of a higher value than it is realized. |
| D.Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. |
In ancient Egypt, a shopkeeper discovered that he could attract customers to his shop simply by making changes to its environment. Modern businesses have been following his lead, with more tactics(策略).
One tactic involves where to display the goods. For example, stores place fruits and vegetables in the first section. They know that customers who buy the healthy food first will feel happy so that they will buy more junk food(垃圾食品) later in their trip. In department stores, the women’s shoe section is generally next to the women’s cosmetics(化妆品) section: while the shop assistant is going back to find the right size shoe, bored customers are likely to wander over and find some cosmetics they might want to try later.
Besides, businesses seek to appeal to customers’ senses. Stores notice that the smell of baked goods encourages shopping, so they make their own bread each morning and then fan the bread smell into the store throughout the day. Music sells goods, too. Researchers in Britain found that when French music was played, sales of French wines went up.
When it comes to the selling of houses, businesses also use highly rewarding tactics. They find that customers make decisions in the first few seconds upon walking in the door, and turn it into a business opportunity. A California builder designed the structure of its houses smartly. When entering the house, the customer would see the Pacific Ocean through the windows, and then the pool through an open stairway leading to the lower level. The instant view of water on both levels helped sell these $10 million houses. Why do stores usually display fruits and vegetables in the first section?
| A.To save customers times. |
| B.To show they are high quality foods. |
| C.To help sell junk food. |
| D.To sell them at discount prices. |
According to Paragraph 3, which of the following encourages customers to buy?
| A.Opening the store early in the morning. |
| B.Displaying British wines next to French ones. |
| C.Inviting customers to play music. |
| D.Filling the store with the smell of fresh bread. |
What is the California builder’s story intended to prove?
| A.The house structure is a key factor customers consider. |
| B.The more costly the house is, the better it sells. |
| C.An ocean view is much to the customers’ taste. |
| D.A good first impression increases sales. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A.To explain how businesses turn people into their customers. |
| B.To introduce how businesses have grown from the past. |
| C.To report researches on customer behavior. |
| D.To show dishonest business practices |
Do you want to get home from work knowing you have made a real difference in someone’s life?
If yes, don’t care about sex or age! Come and join us, then you’ll make it!
Position: Volunteer Social Care Assistant
(No Pay with Free Meals)
Place: Manchester
Hours: Part Time
We are now looking for volunteers to support people with learning disabilities to live active lives! Only 4 days left. Don’t miss the chance of lending your warm hands to help others!
Role:
You will provide people with learning disabilities with all aspects of their daily lives. You will help them to develop new skills. You will help them to protect their rights and their safety. But your primary concern is to let them know they are valued.
Skills and Experience Required:
You will have the right values and great listening skills. You will be honest and patient. You will have the ability to drive a car and to communicate in fluent written and spoken English since you’ll have to help those people with different learning disabilities. Previous care-related experience will be a great advantage for you.The text is meant to ________
| A.leave a note | B.send an invitation |
| C.present a document | D.carry an advertisement |
What does the underlined part mean?
| A.You’ll make others’ lives more meaningful with this job. |
| B.You’ll arrive home just in time from this job. |
| C.You’ll earn a good salary from this job. |
| D.You’ll succeed in getting this job. |
The volunteers’ primary responsibility is to help people with learning disabilities ________.
| A.to get some financial support |
| B.to properly protect themselves |
| C.to learn some new living skills |
| D.to realize their own importance |
Which of the following can first be chosen as a volunteer?
| A.The one who can drive a car. |
| B.The one who has done similar work before. |
| C.The one who has patience to listen to others. |
| D.The one who can use English to communicate. |