Before you hit ‘Enter’ on MSN, read this
It is often said that the language we use online is less formal than that we use in a letter, or in direct speech sometimes. This is true, but it can also make us in trouble sometimes.
The thing about online communication is that you have no idea what the person who is reading your messages is feeling. For this reason, it is always a good idea to be polite and cautious when writing e-mails or messages to your friends.
Chinese can be a direct language, but in English, people often talk about a subject in another way. So instead of saying “Please meet me here” or “Do this for me now”, English speakers usually go for indirect phrases like “Would it be possible”, “if you have time” or “It would mean a lot to me if…”
If you have a close friend, you may still run into trouble because of your jokes. If you have asked someone to do something and they need a bit more time, you might joke with him: “What? You still haven’t done it yet? What’s wrong with you?” While this seems funny to you, your friend may feel unhappy.
If you have foreign friends in different countries, the time difference can also be a factor. While you are waking up for class on Friday morning, they may be having a party on Friday night. You will be serious and they will, probably, be excited. So don’t be angry if they seem not to care about you. Just try to message them at the proper time. According to the passage, we learn that our letters are more ______ than the e-mails.
| A．formal | B．direct |
| C．different | D．funny |
As a language, Chinese is ______, but English is not.
| A．polite | B．rude |
| C．direct | D．formal |
Why should we be polite and cautious while chatting online?
| A．Because we mustn’t play jokes online. |
| B．Because our friends are easy to be angry. |
| C．Because it can help us avoid lots of troubles. |
| D．Because we can’t see our friends online. |
According to the passage, which of the following is right?
| A．It is OK to connect your friend by MSN anytime. |
| B．Using the proper way to chat online is necessary. |
| C．Don’t ask your friend to do something for you by MSN. |
| D．Never play jokes with your friends. |
If you have had a volunteer experience, share it with other readers. Also you can tell us about the worst volunteer experience you’ve had. And tell us how to improve.
| Volunteering is inspiring. Volunteering is inspiring. I never had the interest to volunteer until I was in my late 20s. Volunteering gave me the best experience in social life. Now I’m confident to do my challenging work. I thank volunteering more and more. --Guest Wilton |
| Animal rescue (营救) 11 years ago, as a member of our local Great Dance Club, I volunteered to help with animals. Now I am the founder of Animal rescuers. And it covers all Texas. I’ve placed the homeless dogs in homes from Maine to California, and have met some of the worst and some of the best people on the planet. I only regret that I didn’t volunteer sooner. --Guest Jerry Dunham |
| Terrible experience I was asked to help out in the computer lab because I was a computer expert. When I arrived, a person (another volunteer) there was very rude to me, said she didn’t need any help. I was speechless and left. It really made me sad and I didn’t offer to volunteer again. --Guest Rebecca |
Sam is twenty-seven now. He’s tall and strong. He worked hard in the small field. He’s known a girl called Mabel for three years, who lives in another village. He wishes she could marry him soon, but she won’t marry him until he has built a new house. He hasn’t enough money. Of course it’s difficult for him to do so.
Winter had come and the fields were covered with thick snow. Sam had nothing to do at home. Mabel told him to find some temporary employment in the town. He thought she was right and came to Mr White’s factory, where he carried stones from the hill to the workplaces. It was hard work but he was paid more. At the end of the month Mr White paid the young man nearly two thousand dollars. He was very happy. He hurried to the post office, but it was closed. He had a look at the clock on the wall. It was half past five, and he was told to go there the next morning. He had to return to the factory. He felt hungry and went into a restaurant and ate something. He didn’t see a thief following him, and as soon as he sat at table, the man sat down next to him and asked him to drink a cup with him. He agreed and drank a lot. And when he woke up two hours later, his money was stolen. He was sad of it and cried for a long time.
The following day Mr White saw the young man’s eyes were red and asked what had happened to him. He told him about it and at last he said, “I worked for the thief last month!”
根据材料内容选择最佳答案，将其标号填入题前括号内。Mabel doesn’t marry Sam because _______.
| A．he lives in a small field | B．he’s a poor farmer |
| C．he lives in an old house | D．he is too tall |
Mabel asked Sam to ______.
| A．make money in the town | B．borrow some money from his friend |
| C．spend the winter in town | D．build a house in her village |
The underlined word “temporary employment” means _______.
| A．许多钞票 | B．全职工作 | C．临时工作 | D．轻松工作 |
Sam went the post office to _____.
| A．ring up Mabel | B．post the money | C．buy some stamps | D．post a letter |
The money was stolen when ______.
| A．Sam left the factory | B．Sam went into the restaurant |
| C．Sam ate something in the restaurant | D．the thief got Sam drunk. |
Jiang Wen and his new film are at the top of the world - the world of Chinese cinema. His Let the Bullets Fly has just broken the box-office record for a Chinese film with some 700 million yuan ($107 million). It is such a big success that wherever you go, you can hear people talking about Bullets.
This time, he is not just the leading actor in the film, ______ also the _______ himself. Young people believe he was playing himself because to them, he himself is a true man. And experts also think highly of his way of telling stories. It seems that he does not need others to tell him how great he is ––– not any more.
That does not mean he is not proud of Bullets. It’s just that Bullets, for him, is fun. He has heard of all the political interpretations（政治隐喻的解读）of his story that have up across the Web and mainstream media（主流媒体）.
The most wonderful scenes in his movies all seem to have something to do with reality, for example, in Bullets opens with a train pulled by white horses.
"I did not invent this set-up. For 30 years in the early 20th century, there was a part of rail line in Northeast China that was powered by horses," he explains, "You may come up with the most unlikely scenes, and you’ll find that fact is stranger than fiction." 根据上下文在空格处填入所需单词使句意完整、正确。 _________、__________
将划线句子译成中文： ____________________________________________________.
在文中找出下面句子的同义句：
The film is so successful that it’s popular with people almost everywhere.
__________________________________________________________________________What do young people think of his performance in the film?
___________________________________________________________________________What is this article mainly about?
__________________________________________________________________________
He Junquan is a Chinese swimmer and has won many Paralympic(残奥会) gold medals. Born in Jingmen, Hubei province, He Junquan was a healthy boy. But one day at the age of three, he climbed up to the high-voltage electricity(高压线) box and lost both of his arms forever. He became a disabled boy!
From then on he learnt to do everything with his feet: writing, eating, getting dressed and taking things. Seeing other pupils swimming in the river, he jumped in, too. Without arms, he suffered a lot in the river at the beginning. But he finally learnt to balance himself in water and could swim much faster than the other pupils. Once he even saved a little boy who fell into the water and couldn’t swim. His father was so happy to see that this son had a talent in swimming.
In 1995, He Junquan became a real swimmer. He practices swimming for more than four hours every day. Since 1996, he has won more than twelve gold medals of the world class. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, he won a silver medal. Reporting on the competition at the 2008 Games, Will Swanton of the Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
“The Water Cube has been a sight for sore(气愤的) eyes. China’s He Junquan, with no arms, was leading the 50m backstroke(仰泳) final. … He came to the finish— and had to crash into the wall with his head. As he slowed down to lessen(减少) the impact(撞击力), Brazilian Daniel Dias hit the wall first with a hand. You’ve never heard a silence like it.”What happened to He Junquan when he was three?
| A．He climbed up the tree but failed onto the ground. |
| B．He saved a little boy who fell into the river and couldn’t swim. |
| C．He climbed up to the high-voltage electricity box and lost his two arms. |
| D．He began to practice swimming in the swimming pool with the other children. |
How did He Junquan do everything after he became disabled?
| A．With his feet. | B．With his mouth. |
| C．With his legs. | D．With his hands. |
How many gold medals did He Junquan win after he became a real swimmer?
| A．Only one. | B．Less than four. | C．About ten. | D．More than twelve. |
What might Swanton’s report want to tell us?
| A．He Junquan should not take part in the 2008 Games. |
| B．Daniel Dias didn’t hit the wall first at the 2008 Games. |
| C．The match was a little unfair for He Junquan because he had no arms. |
| D．He Junquan swam a little faster than Daniel Dias but he won a gold medal. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．A Terrible Accident. | B．A Disabled Boy. |
| C．An Unforgettable Experience. | D．A Hero without Arms. |
When Steven was a young boy, he moved quite often with his family and so he never had many friends. He spent a lot of time on his own and liked to play with electronic(电子的)things. Steven had a neighbour, Steve Wozniak. Steve was a little bit younger than Steven but also liked to play with electronic things. Steven made a microphone(麦克风)and Steve asked him many questions about it until he understood how it worked. Steven liked the fact that such a young boy was also interest ed in electronic things and so he taught him everything he knew.
When they were a little older and knew more about electronic things, they made a “blue box”. People could make free phone calls by breaking into the phone company’s system with this box. They sold this to many people even though it was illegal(非法的), but this is not why they are famous today.
Steven and Steve were the inventors of the first PC—personal computer. They called their first computer the Apple I. They invented it only for fun and to make themselves known among their friends. They did not think it would become so popular. They just liked playing computer games on it. Their computer made it cheaper and easier for people to own and use a computer. Their PCs were so popular that they made a new PC called the Apple II. Soon many schools, families and factories were using their computers.
Without the two clever men, the personal computers might never have appeared.Why didn’t Steven have many friends?
| A．Because he wasn’t a very nice boy. |
| B．Because he liked electronic things. |
| C．Because his family moved a lot. |
| D．Because he did some illegal things. |
Why did Steven like Steve?
| A．Because he made a microphone. |
| B．Because he was also interested in electronic things. |
| C．Because he was his neighbour. |
| D．Because his family moved a lot, too. |
What did the “blue box” do?
| A．People could play computer games with it. |
| B．It helped people make electronic things. |
| C．It paid for everybody’s telephone calls. |
| D．It helped people make free phone calls. |
Why did they invent the Personal Computer?
| A．For fun and to impress their friends. |
| B．To make money. |
| C．For a school project. |
| D．For schools, families and factories. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Steve became interested in electronic things after Steven made a microphone. |
| B．Steve and Steven had done something illegal. |
| C．The Apple 1 was the first computer in the world. |
| D．Factories don’t use PCs. |