Tony Hawken, 57, is divorcing his wife Xiu Li, 51, Britain’s wealthiest woman entrepreneur(企业家), because he says he doesn’t like being rich and is ‘not in the habit’ of spending lots of money.
The pair traded up their semi-detached home in South Norwood, London, and bought a £1.5million house in Surrey.
Li, who is now worth $1.2billion (£700million) according to Forbes, quickly settled into a life which included sipping a £900 bottle of wine on a luxurious yacht.
However, Mr Hawken says he felt more comfortable getting lunch in his local Wetherspoon’s.
Despite his sudden wealth he continued to buy books from charity shops, and shunned dear clothes.
In an interview with The Times, he said: ‘I think it made me uncomfortable because I’m not in the habit, I don’t like spending lots of money — I’ve been brought up that way.
‘Until recently I was never a wealthy person. I’ve been moderately comfortable because I have been careful with my money.’
Now the couple have decided to part, Mr Hawken will walk away with just £1million, but says it will be enough for him.
He added: ‘I have got a settlement which is not great, but it’s enough for me because I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle. I won’t have to work if I’m careful.’
On a recent trip to China, Mr Hawken said his wife took him on a yacht and treated him to a £900 bottle of wine, but he prefers his local Wetherspoon pub.
‘I’m getting a little pay when you consider her potential wealth, but I don’t really want to fight it.’
Mr Hawken met Li on a blind date while he was still a teacher and she was studying English.
The couple married, but as Li’s business took off the couple spent more and more time apart. Mr Hawken says the couple have spent most of the relationship apart.
Far from driving them apart, Mr Hawken believes the distance kept them together, and says they would have divorced a long time ago if they were under the same roof.
Mr Hawken says his only regret is not getting a divorce sooner, but he didn’t push for it over fears it would affect the couple’s teenage son William, now 17.
Mr Hawken no longer teaches full-time, but instead gives free tuition to under-privileged children.
Tony Hawken is divorcing his wife Xiu Li because________.
A.he doesn’t affect his son. |
B.they spent less and less time together. |
C.he is no longer a teacher. |
D.he isn’t used to spending a lot of money. |
what does the underlined word “shunned”mean in the fourth paragraph?
A.enjoy | B.prefer | C.avoid | D.expect |
From the passage, we inferred that ________.
A.Tony Hawken gave up teaching, because of his sudden wealth. |
B.Tony Hawken wanted to divorce sooner. |
C.Tony Hawken lived a rich life. |
D.Tony Hawken didn’t care about his son. |
From the passage,we know that Xiu Li________.
A.doesn’t like Mr Hawken. |
B.is richest woman in China. |
C.is wealthiest woman entrepreneur in Britain. |
D.is studying English now. |
which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.Mr Hawken wants to get a lot of money by divorcing |
B.When Mr Hawken dated Xiu Li,she was an English teacher. |
C.Mr Hawken believes it was the distance that kept them apart. |
D.As many passed, Mr Hawken still kept his own lifestyle. |
IV.阅读理解:(共32分,每小题2分)
Can you imagine your doctor warning that taking a bath could be unhealthy? In the early 1800s, many doctors thought that bathtubs(浴缸) could carry diseases, so they advised against their use. The advice wasn’t based on personal experience, because few of the doctors owned bathtubs. The White House did not even have a bathtub until 1851.
In the 19th century, only one home out of six had a bathroom. A child took only one bath a week. On Saturday nights, children all lined up for their turns to wash in a wooden bathtub in the kitchen. Mothers had to boil the water on the stove and carry it over to fill the bathtub. It’s no wonder that children could not jump into a bathtub as they do today.
When the first bathtubs were introduced, even their makers weren’t sure whether the new fashion would last. They advertised their products as water containers that “could be used as bathing tubs”.
The bathtub became popular in America shortly after World War I. By then most middle-class families had indoor taps. At first most bathtubs were made of wood, but as the popularity of the product increased, so did the creativity of bathtub makers. Before porcelain(瓷) bathtubs there were rubber o
nes like the plastic swimming pools kids use today. In the past few years owners often invited guests to see them. They told their friends how wonderful baths in these bathtubs could be.
Now doctors no longer warn that bathtubs carry diseases. Instead, they tell their patients about the benefits of frequent bathing in the bathtubs. Maybe one of the best reasons why doctors encourage frequent trips to the bathtub is that bathed patients smell better!
1. Many doctors in the past were against using bathtubs because ______.
A. they didn’t have their own bathtubs
B. they thought bathtubs could carry diseases.
C. the children might hurt themselves in the bathtubs
D. bathtubs were too expensive for the common families
2. Why couldn’t children jump into a tub in the 19th century as they do today?
A. It was unhealthy to do so. B. The bathtubs were not enough.
C. Mothers were always busy. D. The bathtubs were made of wood.
3 .Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Some different materials can be used to make bathtubs.
B. In the 19th century only one home out of seven had a bathroom.
C. The bathtub became popular when they were introduced to the market.
D. Children prefer the bathtubs made of plastic to those made of porcelain.
4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
A. all the doctors have bathtubs in their homes
B. the doctors have realized the advantages of bathtubs
C. the doctors will make lots of money by advertising bathtubs
D. the patients should take a bath before going to see a doctor
Try this little test. A man dressed completely in black is sitting at a bar in a country pub. He is drinking one whisky after another. After three hours, the man in black leaves the pub and walks drunkenly down a small country road. There are no lights, and there is no moon. A car without headlights approaches. The driver notices the man, however, and is able to brake in time to avoid an accident. How could the driver see the man in black? Think about this.
The reason we can get stuck with this – and other problems in life—is that we make assumptions. If we assume that the man in black is out for an evening drink, then the problem is a hard one to solve.
The dictionary describes an assumption as something we take for granted or suppose to be true. Assumptions are essential to logical thinking and decision-making, but what happens if they are false?
Sometimes false assumptions can lead to disaster. On 8 January 1989, a British Midland Airways Boeing took off from Heathrow for Belfast. The number-two (right) engine, which had caused trouble on the previous flight, had been cleared. Twenty minutes after take-off, the plane began to shake violently. The flight recorder later showed what had happened. The captain asked the co-pilot what the problem was. “It’s the f-ing right engine again!” he replied. The captain ordered no.2 engine to be shut down, and the lefthand (no.1) engine to be turned on for an emergency landing. The 737 crashed on the edge of the M1 motorway. The cause of the crash? The captain and copilot made a false assumption and shut down the wrong engine. Of the 118 passengers, 39 died and 74 suffered serious injury.
The more risky or the more expensive the decision, the more important it is to check assumptions. There is a nice way to remember the importance of assumption checking. Look at the letters in the word ASSUME, and note that taking things for granted can make an ASS(傻瓜) of U and ME.
1. What purpose does Paragraph 1 serve in the passage?
A. To provide background information of the topic.
B. To attract readers attention to the topic.
C. To use an example to support the topic.
D. To offer basic knowledge of the topic.
2. The main purpose of the passage is to remind the readers _________.
A. of the importance of making assumptions
B. of the danger of making assumptions
C. to make assumptions before dealing with problems
D. to check assumptions before dealing with problems
3. The best title for this passage may probably be __________.
A. Assumptions Lead To Disaster
B. Ways of Avoiding False Assumption
C. When Things Are Not as They First Seem
D. Assumptions and Decision-making
4. The most probable reason that the driver can see the man in black is that .
A. there were bright stars in the sky when the accident happened.
B. the driver had very good eyesight.
C. the accident happened where the lights were bright.
D. the accident happened during the afternoon, in daylight.
No Mobile Means You’re Not in Touch
My household now has four mobile phones: one for me; one each for my eldest children, the twin boys; and one for my 15-year-old daughter. Only my 12-year-old son does not (yet) have his own mobile. In other words, we’re now in line with national figures, which show that Australia has 19 million mobile phones for a population of just over 20 million people. Among 15-to 17-year-olds, nearly nine out of 10.
The reality is that a mobile phone is the coolest thing of all for a teenager to own. It’s even more important than a television, a DVD player or access to the internet. If you don’t have a mobile you are, quite literally, out of touch.
Of course, there are good and bad sides to mobiles. In my global media world, I’ve lived with a mobile switched on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for the past ten years. At the same time, here in Perth, I started a movement on talkback radio called CAMPIR (Campaign Against Mobile Phones in Restaurants). Nothing annoys me more than people who feel that an incoming mobile call is more important than the company they are with at a restaurant or even at their dining table at home, but I believe that in the long term, we will have a revolt against the intrusion of mobiles into our personal lives.
There was a study in New Zealand last year among young teenagers that showed a quarter have used text messaging to end a relationship. Here in Australia, I’ve read of people being fired by text. That’s cold. On the other hand, lots of parents---myself included---feel their children are safer if they have their mobile with them when they are away from home.
I’ve even read that the use of mobiles among kids may mean that they smoke less. Phones are a stronger status symbol than cigarettes among children and also give them something to do with their hands.
Psychologists, though, argue that mobiles are actually a way for kids to bypass their parents. They can communicate constantly with their friends without their parents knowing anything of the conversations. No matter what the future brings, I don’t expect ever to have fewer mobiles in the house. On the contrary, the next challenge is to see if I can get through the rest of this year without having to buy a mobile phone for my youngest child.
1.According to the passage, a mobile phone is the coolest thing for a teenager to possess because _________.
A.In their opinion, the mobile phone is the most fashionable possession
B.A mobile phone is the most useful tool in the life.
C.The teenager keeps in contact with others exactly by using a mobile phone.
D.The Internet is less important than the mobile phone.
2.,Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.In New Zealand most young teenagers have used text messaging to end a relationship.
B.The writer doesn’t think his children can avoid danger if they have their mobile with them .
C.The use of mobiles among kids may contribute to their less smoking.
D.Cigarettes are the strongest status symbol among children.
3.The underlined word “bypass” in the fifth paragraph probably means __________.
A. contact B. avoid C. inform D. oppose
4. It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
A. The children in the family each have a mobile phone.
B. About 60% of the children aged 15-17 have phones in Australia.
C. The writer is likely to buy a mobile phone for his youngest child this year.
D. The writer doesn’t agree that children should own a mobile phone.
Most of us would say that the older we get, the less we look forward to celebrating another birthday. For children, though, a birthday is that one occasion each year when they are the center of attention all day long.
It’s not surprising, then, that children’s birthday parties have turned into big business in America. Kids—or more likely their parents—often try to outdo one another in putting on the most extravagant birthday party. In the past, you might have hired a man with a horse to come by and give everyone horse rides. Today, you can hire an entire petting zoo’s or a truck filled with animals from abroad.
Barb Hill, a mother of two girls, doesn’t hold extravagant (奢侈的) parties, but she says she does feel pressure to come up with new ideas each year. Her daughter Fiona celebrated her most recent birthday, her eighth, at a sporting-goods store. The kids enjoyed the climbing wall, as well as the pizza and cupcakes. “They always want to do something that nobody else has done yet,” Barb says. You also have to decide how many guests to invite, and if you’re celebrating at a place other than home, that means figuring out how to transport everyone.
William Doherty, a professor at the University of Minnesota, recently started a project called Birthdays without Pressure. Its website (www. birthdayswithoutpressure.org) gives parents the resources to make kids’ birthday parties less stressful and more fun for all. “Our goal was to start a local and national conversation about what’s happened to birthday parties,” Doherty told me. “We’ve succeeded beyond our expectations—tens of thousands of parents are viewing our website, contacting us and taking our online quizzes.”
In the end, most parents would agree that the best parties are usually the ones where the kids have time to hang out and play with each other. After all, isn’t what being a kid is all about?
1. The purpose of this passage is to tell us_________.
A.all the children look forward to celebrating their birthday
B.the children’s birthday parties have turned into big business in America
C.parents would like to make children’s birthday parties less stressful and more fun for all
D.parents don’t know how to hold children’s birthday parties
2. Which of the following sentences is TRUE ______.
A.The girl didn’t enjoy the party held by her mother.
B.The project called Birthdays without Pressure is popular with parents.
C.Children look forward to their birthday parties because they like extravagant parties.
D.Parents feel like hiring an entire petting zoo for their children.
3. The aim of the project called Birthdays without Pressure is to______.
A.attract parents to view the website
B.provide resources for making kids’ birthday parties
C.release parents’ stress of organizing children’s birthday parties
D.hold conversation about what’s happened to birthday parties
4. The best title for this passage may probably be ______.
A project called Birthdays without Pressure
B.Children enjoy their birthday parties
C. How to hold children’s birthday parties
D. How children feel about their birthday parties
I. Associate Product Manager -- New Grad-- Beijing
Responsibilities include working with engineers to define products, understanding user needs, researching markets and competitors, and planning future product directions. As you gain more experience, there’s an opportunity for promotion within the organization.
Requirements:
☆Bachelors degree and more than one year of job experience.
☆Strong organizational and analytical skills.
II. Director of Education -- Sylvan Learning Centers -- Long Beach, California
Job description:
As a successful director of education, your primary responsibility will be to champion the Sylvan developed course, ensure the quality of the education standards and teachings staff as well as grow the business in your center.
We require:
☆Bachelors degree and at least 2 years of teaching experience.
☆Managerial experience.
III. Area Export Manager -- Beijing Import&Export Corporation -- Beijing
Highly developing company is looking for bright, experienced salesperson who will be responsible for the export of frozen seafood and other goods between China and the USA, Australia, and Canada.
Qualifications:
☆Excellent level of English,spoken and written.
☆Excellent communication and organizational skills.
☆Experienced salesperson with proven results in fast-moving consumer goods essential,preferable in frozen seafood market.
IV. Subeditor---Media Contacts----London
Working in the amazing world of law and enforcement(执法), you will be making sure that you are meeting the exceptionally high standards of copy for this company. As part of a team of six, you will be meeting tight deadlines on a daily basis and ensuring regular flow of articles onto the website. Must have a keen eye for detail and confidence in working with challenging copy. Experience in subediting, and a practical knowledge of publishing law are required.
V. Casual trainer---Medilife --- Sydney,NSW Australia
Medilife requires able, reliable trainers who can demonstrate the qualities of flexibility and loyalty and join their young, fun-living team. Successful applicants will receive excellent hourly rates. Suitable training provided to the right applicant.
1. Which of the following are specially required to most of the positions in the ads?
A. Experience and responsibilities B. Experience and good English.
C. Special skills and English D. Responsibilities and bachelor’s degree
2. The positions are offered in _____ different countries.
A. three B. four C. five D. six
3. Which position is possible for a fresh university graduate to apply to?
A. Education director B. Associate product manager C. Casual trainer D. Export manager.
4. From Passage IV we can infer that a subeditor’s work is to _____.
A. write articles for website B. copy information from the Internet
C. enforce publishing laws D. examine other people’s writing