In ancient Japan, if you saved someone’s life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone’s story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude (感激).
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There’s an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone’s attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the “charming” little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption — except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn’t made his or her point.
Or you’re all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before their big punch line (妙语), little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny’s carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished — except the joke teller. When it’s you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone’s order just before your funny punch line?
Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, “Now, as I was saying …” Instead, they’ll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn’t get to finish. Here’s where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call “Lend a Helping Tongue.”
Watch the gratitude in the storyteller’s eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back.Very often, a storyteller cannot make his point because _________.
| A．people are more interested in food than his story |
| B．many guests bring their babies to the party |
| C．he is interrupted by something unexpected |
| D．his story is easily forgotten by the listeners |
From Paragraph 3, we know that when someone is telling a joke, _________.
| A．something bad will surely happen just before their punch line |
| B．listeners’ attention is often drawn to something else |
| C．the only person really interested in the joke is the joke teller |
| D．the waiter knows when to take everyone’s order |
How can we help the joke and story tellers when they are interrupted?
| A．By giving them a chance to finish. |
| B．By comforting them to make them happy. |
| C．By going on telling the story for them. |
| D．By teaching them some useful techniques. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．People should learn how to take turns in a conversation. |
| B．We can win someone’s heart by getting him back to his story. |
| C．Telling jokes will make you the center of attention. |
| D．It is impolite to cut in on someone’s talk. |
Saving money is easy when you don’t have anything to spend it on, but what happens when things come suddenly that demand some of your hard-earned money? These are called expenses (开销).
Chances are, most of your basic living expenses — food, shelter, clothing, medical care — are covered by your family. But perhaps you and your family have agreed that you’ll pay for certain other expenses out of your own money, such as cell phone bills, after-school snacks, jewelry, or club fees (费用).
Expenses that happen regularly, like every week or month, are called “fixed” expenses. The good news is that because you know when these expenses are coming, you can plan for them. But life is full of surprises, and sometimes these surprises turn into expenses, too. You might have an emergency like fixing a flat tire on your bike, or something unusual like the class trip to Six Flags. These are called “unexpected” expenses and if you are smart with your money, you’ll plan for these as well.
Here’s a secret when it comes to saving money: if you think of it as a regular expense, it’ll be easier to put a certain amount aside. Tell yourself that the $20.00 you are trying to save up every month is something you must do, and there’s no getting around it.
What kinds of fixed expenses do you have? Can you think of any unexpected expenses that have come up for you in the past? Can you think of any you might have now or in the near future?
| A．Money spent on medicine. | B．Money spent on clothing. |
| C．Money spent on sports. | D．Money spent on meals. |
| A．Changing a new tire. | B．House rent. |
| C．Buying snacks. | D．Paying for cell phone bill. |
| A．Trying your best to prevent emergencies. |
| B．Earning as much as you can after class. |
| C．Cutting most of your expenses. |
| D．Putting some money aside as a regular expense. |
| A．you can’t let out this secret |
| B．there is no other choice |
| C．you have other solutions to it |
| D．there’s no point in arguing about it |
I was very disappointed not to be able to go to the jazz concert last Friday. The advertisement in the paper said that you could buy tickets at the theatre box in Richland Hills any day between 10:00 and 4:00. Since I work from 9:00 to 5:30, the only time I could go to the theatre was during my 45-minute lunch break. Unfortunately, the theatre is on the other side of the town, and the bus service between my office and Richland Hills is not very good. But if you are lucky, you can make the round trip in 45 minutes.
Last Monday, I stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes waiting for the bus. By the time I saw one come around the corner, there was not enough time left to make the trip. So I gave up and went back to the office. The same thing happened on Tuesday, and again the next day. On Thursday, my luck changed. I got on a bus right away and arrived at the theatre in exactly twenty minutes.
When I got there, however, I found a long line of people at the office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in line for over an hour. Realizing I would not have enough time to wait in line, I caught the next bus and headed back across the town. By Friday I realized my only hope was to make the trip by taxi. It was expensive, but I felt it would be worth it to hear the concert. The trip by taxi only took 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour to me. When I got to the theatre, I was relieved to see that nobody was waiting in line. The reason, however, I quickly discovered, was that they had already sold all the tickets.
| A．once | B．twice |
| C．three times | D．four times |
| A．forty-five minutes | B．ten minutes |
| C．just twenty minutes | D．over an hour |
| A．pleased | B．sorry | C．puzzled | D．surprised |
| A．complaints of the public transportation (交通) |
| B．anger for buying the ticket |
| C．efforts to buy the ticket |
| D．disappointment at the concert |
It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries, saving us from having to walk a long distance from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had an amazing effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性)as a whole. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.
| A．The man’s job was bike racing. |
| B．It was their only possession(财产). |
| C．It was a nice Kona 18 speed. |
| D．They used it for work and daily life. |
| A．the couple worked 60 hours a week |
| B．people were busy before Christmas |
| C．life was hard for the young family |
| D．the stranger brought over the bike |
| A．From radio broadcasts | B．From a newspaper. |
| C．From TV news. | D．From a stranger. |
| A．Strangers are usually of little help. |
| B．One should take care of his bike. |
| C．News reports make people famous. |
| D．An act of kindness can mean a lot. |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks' time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive if the rain is spread throughout the year. If it falls, within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes (沙丘) are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs (悬崖) and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand, rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert, mountains are always changing—very, very slowly —as these forces of nature continue to
work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when___________.
| A．the rain is spread out in a year |
| B．the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C．there is little rain in a year |
| D．it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when___________.
| A．sand piles up gradually |
| B．there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C．the sea has dried up over the years |
| D．pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is.
| A．too much sand |
| B．more sand than before |
| C．nothing except sand |
| D．something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert____________.
| A．there is no rainfall throughout the year |
| B．life exists in rough conditions |
| C．all sand dunes are a few feet high |
| D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |
Many people keep the stamps in a drawer at home because they’ll never know when they might need them! The trouble is that they have no idea of how many stamps they have left. When they want to send something by post, it’s very annoying to find out that they have run out of stamps!
The Internet is possible to solve the problem. The United States Postal Service has come up with a system which allows people to print their own postage stamps at their own home! This is the perfect solution for those people that have busy lives!
Whenever you go to the post office to buy a stamp, you are buying a boring and standard postage stamp. They are red in color, and you can easily buy them on the Internet as well. For example, you can just order a regular 1st class stamp and then print it off using your own printer (打印机).
These days, you can have much more fun with your stamps. You can buy them online instead of going to the post office. You can decorate, preview (预览) and print your stamps all at your own home. You are able to use any of your own photos as part of your postage stamp as well.
These stamps aren’t just allowed to be used in the United States; they can be used to send your mail throughout the world. They are perfect to use for many special occasions, such as weddings, festivals and even birthdays! They are fantastic!The problem of keeping stamps at home is that ______.
| A．the stamps may lose color |
| B．you may not find them anywhere |
| C．the stamps may be out of date |
| D．you do not know how many are left |
With the system of the United States Postal Service, people can ______.
| A．buy photo stamps at a very low price |
| B．send their international mails for free |
| C．design their own photo stamps |
| D．have their letters delivered faster than before |
What’s the writer’s attitude toward the new type of stamps?
| A．He thinks they are a great idea. |
| B．He is afraid they may cause trouble. |
| C．He thinks they save a lot of money. |
| D．He thinks they are as good as the traditional ones. |