The phone rings. It’s a friend who wants to tell you his or her latest health problems. You hate to be impolite and cut your friend off, but what can you do? Stephanie Winston, author of Stephanie Winston’s Best Organizing Tips, offers his advice:
Don’t ask questions like “What’s new?” They give the information that you have time to talk. After “hello”, get right to the heart of the matter.
Time your calls wisely. If you make a call right before lunch or dinner, or at the end of the workday, people chat less.
Set a time limit. Start with, “Hi, I’ve only got a few minutes, but I wanted to talk to you about….” Or, “Gee, I’d love to talk more, but I only have a couple of minutes before I have to leave.”
Jump on a pause. Even the most talkative caller has to pause now and then. Quickly say, “It has been great talking with you.” Then end the conversation.
Forget niceties. Some people just don’t take a hint. Cut your caller off and say, “I’d like to talk to you longer, but I’m afraid I have no enough time. Good bye.” Then hang up.
Find “a partner in crime”. If nothing else works, ask someone in your home to help you. For example, one woman gives a sign to her husband, who shouts, “Jane, I think the roast chicken is burning.”
Avoid the phone completely. Use an answering machine to screen calls. If you have an important message for a chatterbox, leave the message when he or she isn’t in.What’s the good time to make a call so that people can chat less?
| A．After lunch or dinner. |
| B．In the middle of the workday. |
| C．Before lunch or dinner. |
| D．At the beginning of the workday. |
“Finding a partner in crime” means ______.
| A．finding someone to answer the call |
| B．getting right to the heart of the matter |
| C．telling the caller you are just cooking |
| D．asking someone to help you end the call |
What’s Winston’s advice about?
| A．How to talk on the phone. |
| B．How to make calls wisely. |
| C．How to make a phone call. |
| D．How to keep phone calls short. |
Zhu Ting is a famous volleyball player in China.On April 28，2020，she was awarded the "May Fourth Medal"，which is the top honor for the young Chinese.
In a social media post，Zhu showed her greetings to China's youth on this special occasion and shared her experience in life and career.
"I woke up in the morning and left for training.It's a new day with new tasks.I will continue to work hard to ①_______ myself，" wrote Zhu. "Coach Lang Ping used to encourage me with the following words： A small progress a day will make you better and make our team stronger."
Zhu Ting was born in Henan Province in 1994. ②_______ the leader of the Chinese women's national volleyball team，who helped the national team win two World Cup titles and one Olympic gold medal，Zhu said that she wasn't always a talent，especially at the beginning.
"I remember that on my first day in training in college，I had the least experience.When we were practicing digging，everyone was better than me.During practice，my teammates would take a break from time to time because they knew what they were doing.I kept practicing and only stopped until my coach told me to."
Zhu believed that there's no shortcut to success，and sometimes dull efforts are necessary.She planned to challenge more new things outside volleyball in the future.She knew that it could take long before she gained some progress，but Zhu believed that as long as she continues to work hard，she will achieve more success.
任务一：请根据短文内容，分别写出①、②处所缺单词。（每空限填一词）
（1）① ②
任务二：阅读短文，从短文中找出与下面句子意思相近的句子。
（2）I didn't stop practicing until my coach told me to.
任务三：请把上文中划线的句子翻译成汉语。
（3）
任务四：请根据短文内容回答下列问题。
（4）When was Zhu Ting awarded the "May Fourth Medal"？
（5）What does Zhu Ting's story mainly tell us in the passage？
"Colour" and "color"， "favourite" and "favorite"， "honour" and "honor"…Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a "u"？Is it because they are lazy？
Of course not.In fact，the difference in spelling was started by Noah Webster（1758﹣1843）.He was a teacher who reformed（改革）English to make American identity（特征）stronger.Linguists（语言学家）celebrate his birthday on October 16 every year.
After the Revolutionary War（1775﹣1783），Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary，rather than rely on British dictionaries.
He dropped the British "u" in some words.And he changed "centre" into "center" for children to learn English by spelling words more like what they sounded.He used "subway" instead of British word "underground".Some other examples are "soccer" and "football"， "fall" and "autumn".
Webster wasn't shy about expressing his opinions.In defining（定义）preposterous （unreasonable），he wrote： "A republican government in the hands of female is preposterous."
Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70，000﹣word dictionary with his American﹣style spelling in 1828.He also added local words.
His dictionary was widely used in schools.Linguists believed it helped a new country achieve unity（统一）and cultural independence at a time when most people cared about political freedom.
"He was the creator of our language and the creator of American identity，" said Joshua Kendall，who is working on a book about Webster. "He at last brought us together through our language."
（1）Why do Americans spell some words without a "u"？
A.Because the Americans are very lazy.
B.Because the American English developed when people used it.
C.Because the American government reformed the spelling of words.
D.Because a linguist named Noah Webster started the reform in spelling.
（2）Which is NOT true about Webster's dictionary？
A.It has local words in it.
B.It is a 70，000﹣word dictionary.
C.All the words are spelled without "u".
D.Its words are in American﹣style spelling.
（3）What does the underlined phrase " rely on" in Paragraph 3 mean？
A.依赖.
B.信任.
C.容忍.
D.放弃.
（4）What do people think of Webster's dictionary？
A.It is the only dictionary that Americans still use today.
B.It helped to bring Americans together besides its cultural influence.
C.It has no influence on the development of American English.
D.It helped to make American English more useful than British English.
（5）What's the main idea of the passage？
A.The development of the British English.
B.American English is better than British English.
C.Noah Webster added local words to the dictionary.
D.Noah Webster wrote an American English dictionary and reformed English.
A river is a flowing（流动的），moving stream of water.Usually a river feeds water into an ocean，lake，pond，or even another river.Rivers can differ in size and there is no strict rule on how big a flow of water must be to be called as a river.Here are the five longest rivers in the world.
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The Nile River The Nile River is 4，135 miles long.It is located in the continent of Africa，mostly in the countries of Egypt and Sudan.It flows north into the Mediterranean Sea. |
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The Amazon River The Amazon River is 3，980 miles long.It is located in the continent of South America and flows through several countries including Brazil，Venezuela，Bolivia，and Ecuador.It ends at the Atlantic Ocean. |
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The Yangtze River Located in China，the Yangtze River is 3，917 miles long and flows into the East China Sea. |
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The Mississippi River and the Missouri River The river system of the Mississippi River and the Missouri River is the longest river system in North America at 3，902 miles.It flows south into the Gulf of Mexico. |
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The Yenisei River The Yenisei River starts in Mongolia and flows through Russia to the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean.It's 3，445 miles long. |
There are 76 rivers in the world over 1，000 miles long.A lot of people think that rivers always flow south，but 4 of the 10 longest rivers in the world flow north.The United States alone has around 3.5 million miles of rivers.Four of the top 10 longest rivers flow through China at some point.
（1）The Nile River is longer than the Yangtze River.
A.155 miles
B.218 miles
C.233 miles
D.690 miles
（2）Which is the second longest river in the world？
A.The Nile River.
B.The Mississippi River.
C.The Yangtze River.
D.The Amazon River.
（3）The Mississippi River ends at .
A.the Mediterranean Sea
B.the East China Sea
C.the Gulf of Mexico
D.the Arctic Ocean
（4）According to the passage，how many rivers are there in the world over 1，000 miles long？
A.10.
B.76.
C.4.
D.35.
（5）What is the last paragraph mainly about？
A.Fun facts about world rivers.
B.In which direction most rivers flow.
C.Rivers over 1，000 miles long in the world.
D.Four longest rivers flowing through China.
Everyone has his or her own living habits.Building good living habits is important.Why are some habits better than others？Let's find out.
（1）
Corn，sweet potato，soybean and oats are all coarse food grains （粗粮）.Eating coarse food grains is good for your health.They have a lot of dietary fiber （食用纤维）.It's good for your stomach.You can cook them in porridge or make drinks with them.
Why shouldn't we bend our heads for a long time？
Keeping your head bent down for long is not good for your neck.Why is that？It's because you put too much pressure on your neck.It's like putting two watermelons（about 27 kilograms）on your neck.（2）
Why shouldn't we rub （揉） our eyes？
Your hands are much dirtier than you think.When you rub your eyes，the bacteria （细菌） on your hands might go into your eyes.（3） Clean them with running water instead.
（4）
After exercising，your skin is sweating （流汗） and your heart is beating fast.A cold ﹣ water bath will stimulate （刺激） them too much.（5） .You'd better wait for a while until your body cools down.Then you can take a warm﹣water bath to relax.
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A.Why is a cold﹣water bath after exercising bad？ B.You might have neck and shoulder pain by doing that. C.It might make you sick. D.If something gets in your eyes，do not rub them. E.Why do we need to eat coarse food grains ？ |
One day，a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas.The father said， "Look!There is a horseshoe.Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said， "It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself.
When they got to a nearby town，they had a rest.There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with a few pennies he bought some cherries （樱桃）.The father and the son continued their way.The sun was well up in the sky.And there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest.Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on.At this time，his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it.After a while，his father dropped another cherry and once again，his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.And so they went on.The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up.
When Thomas had eaten all the cherries，his father said to him， "My dear son，if you had bent（弯曲）down earlier to pick up that horseshoe，it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries.Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things."
（1）Why didn't Thomas pick up the horseshoe ？
A.He didn't want to waste time on the small thing.
B.He didn't want to listen to his father.
C.He was too lazy to bend down.
D.He had trouble in picking it up.
（2）What can we infer （推测） from the father's behavior of buying cherries？
A.He thought cherries were easy to take.
B.He thought they might be thirsty on the way.
C.He had no money to buy anything else.
D.He liked cherries very much.
（3）What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 mean？
A.The sun was rising.
B.The sun went behind a cloud.
C.The sun was setting.
D.The sun was shining brightly.
（4）Thomas bent down so many times on their way to .
A.pick up horseshoes
B.pick up cherries
C.pick up pennies
D.have a rest
（5）What can we learn from the passage？
A.Practice makes perfect.
B.Where there's a will，there's a way.
C.Detail（细节） is the key to success.
D.No pain，no gain（收获）.
