When I was 19 years old, I was at a dance club. It was a very cold night. As my friend and I were walking to my car, a man walked up to us. Behind him was a woman pushing a *stroller with a child inside. The child had a jacket on but it wasn’t *zipped. The man began to tell us that he wanted to borrow some money for the night to get his wife and kid into a hotel …out of the cold. He had a job but no place to live and was waiting for his first *paycheck. He said he could get our address and send the money back to us.
My friend reached into his pocket to give this man a $20 bill. As the man was holding his hand out to take the money. I put my hand on my friend’s hand and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I told him about how my mother works in Seattle and every day people ask her for money. She said they make more money than she does, simply by *begging for money. These people were scamming those with soft hearts. And if they were truly worried about their child, they would have at least zipped his jacket or covered him with his *blanket.
My friend said “Michelle，I know there are people that take advantage of (占便宜)others. I also know there are people that are one paycheck away from being homeless. If I give money to 10 people and only one of them really needs it and uses it for the right thing, it is *worth it.”
I am now 37 years old. But I do remember that the experience changed the way I look at different situations.
| A．find a hotel for his wife and child |
| B．buy food for his wife and child |
| C．let his child join in the dance club |
| D．pay some bills |
| A．挽救 | B．帮助 | C．欺骗 | D．理解 |
| A．thought that someone might really need help. |
| B．had enough money to give away to others |
| C．didn’t think that the man tell a lie (谎言)to him |
| D．had pity for the kid in the cold weather |
| A．Some poor people often tell stories to win pity. |
| B．Never believe what a stranger says to you. |
| C．Look with pity instead of only thinking someone might be telling a lie. |
| D．The homeless need love rather than money. |
MSG(monosodium glutamate) is a food additive(食品添加剂),which has been widely used by many food factories all over the world since it appeared first in Japan in 1909.
MSG is a substance that is added to some food to improve its original(原先的) taste and color. It is used in foods around the world such as cakes, bread, frozen meats, fish and vegetables. In the beginning, people thought MSG was safe just like salt and sugar. However, in 1968 some people reported they seemed to have bad reactions(反应) to MSG after having had a meal at a restaurant. They included headaches and quick heartbeat(心跳). It was also reported that MSG excited a person’s brain and caused his death in Japan. Scientists think that MSG may lead to many neurological disorders(神经紊乱). In mice studies done by a university, the evidence showed the mice didn’t want to eat the food including MSG.
Today many food companies “hide” MSG on food labels(标签) by using different names. If you see “natural flavorings (调味品) ”,“hydrolyzed protein ”and “spices” in a food label, you are probably seeing a hidden way to “report” MSG in a food label. Every time we have a meal in a restaurant, we always feel the food very delicious to taste, but sometimes it is dangerous for our health because some poisonous （有毒的）food additives have been added to the food.
To protect people’s health, our governments, from central to local, are taking actions to stop factories producing poisonous food additives.
| A．a food | B．an additive |
| C．a factory | D．a country |
| A．frozen meats | B．cups |
| C．clothes | D．book covers |
| A．the food including MSG is delicious |
| B．people like to eat in a restaurant |
| C．mice like eating the food including MSG |
| D．MSG is not safe sometimes |
| A．you must eat the food in a hidden way |
| B．the food label must be hidden |
| C．MSG is probably added to the food |
| D．you must report the food to your parents |
| A．color | B．material |
| C．taste | D．Food |
We provide summer English courses which are the best you can find. You will enjoy coming to Los Angels to learn about American culture and improve your English at the same time. The courses last for four, six or eight weeks. They start at the beginning of July and August. Our teachers are well-trained and very experienced. They teach English classes for four hours a day, You can choose between small groups of two or three, or larger groups of up to 15. We provide weekly tests to see the progress you' re making with your language skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. We also provide books and other materials.
As well as learning English, we want you to experience life in the USA. You live with an American family, and you take part in American life. You have meals with an American family and do some activities with them, too. For many of our students this is the most interesting part of the course. Many families create friendships with the students which last a long time. Of course, if you prefer, we can arrange hotel accommodation （住宿）.
Of course, there are many things to do in Los Angels. Every day we have activities which take place after class. You can choose to take trips to Hollywood, Disneyland or the famous beaches around LA. You can also go to various shopping centers, sports centers, movies and concerts. There are also weekend visitors organized to San Francisco and other places of interest in California.
We try to give our students the best possible experience of English and life in the USA. Just ask our students! They say our summer English courses are fantastic!
We hope that you'll enjoy a course with us, too. If you' re interested, please fill in our application (申请) form where you will also find our list of prices.' The course must be paid for one month before it begins.
| A．two weeks | B．four weeks |
| C．six weeks | D．eight weeks |
| A．The students have to take an entrance test. |
| B．Each class has two or three groups of students. |
| C．All the teachers are young but very experienced. |
| D．Tests will be provided regularly to see if students have made progress. |
| A．Accommodation and food. |
| B．Why the students enjoy themselves. |
| C．Sightseeing and other activities after class |
| D．The most interesting part of the summer English courses. |
| A．pay for a one-month course |
| B．fill in the application form |
| C．choose an American family |
| D．learn about American culture |
| A．guide to Los Angeles |
| B．description of life in Los Angeles |
| C．description often English course |
| D．newspaper article on language learning |
Healthy eating doesn’t just mean what you eat, but how you eat. Here is some advice on healthy eating.
Eat with others. It can help you to see others’ healthy eating habits. If you usually eat with your parents, you will find that the food you eat is more delicious.
Listen to your body. Ask yourself if you are really hungry. Have a glass of water to see if you are thirsty—sometimes you are just thirsty, you need no food. Stop eating before you feel full.
Eat breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. After you don’t eat for the past ten hours, your body needs food to get you going. You will be smarter after eating breakfast.
Eat healthy snacks like fruits, yogurt or cheese. We all need snacks sometimes. In fact, it’s a good idea to eat two healthy snacks between your three meals This doesn’t mean that you can eat a bag of chips instead of a meal.
Don’t eat dinner late. With our busy life, we always put off eating dinner until the last minute. Try to eat dinner at least 3 hours before you go to bed. This will give your body a chance to digest most of the food before you rest for the next 8—10 hours.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
| A．Fruits | B．Yogurt | C．Chips | D．Ice cream |
| A．Snacks are bad for our health. |
| B．We should keep eating until we are full. |
| C．Dinner is the most important meal of the day. |
| D．We should have dinner at least 3 hours before going to bed. |
| A．消化 | B．享用 | C．储存 | D．循环 |
| A．where to eat | B．how to eat |
| C．why to eat | D．when to eat |
Neighborhood yentas are well—known women. They spend most of their time watching people around them. The yentas have this title for this. “Yenta” is a Yiddish word. It means a trouble maker or a talkative person. Nobody in the street is safe from their eyes or tongue.
Yentas certainly are not bad people. They pass on messages and advice. They give up-to-the-minute weather reports. They know who is doing what. They see，hear，and know all and usually repeat it. They have called themselves reporters.
Some of the yentas’ neighbors think them so interested in others’ things that they forget their own. Sometimes, however ,a child has to be found，or a robbery has to be reported. Then what yentas do are helpful. Every neighborhood appreciates its yentas very much. It doesn’t matter what their color，belief or accent is.
| A．is famous for watching people walking |
| B．1ikes talking about others |
| C．can be either a man or a woman |
| D．is not a help at all |
| A．will not be safe |
| B．can’t stop yourself from being watched |
| C．will be stopped when you pass by |
| D．have to pay for their help |
| A．will make a joke on you |
| B．will watch you all the time |
| C．can sometimes give you a hand |
| D．will report that to the police |
| A．oldest | B．best | C．latest | D．worst |
| A．We can get weather reports from yentas. |
| B．You can learn things about neighbors from yentas. |
| C．Yentas are sometimes a help to others. |
| D．Yentas care more about themselves than about others. |
Can you write down a Chinese word being read to you? It can be difficult, ewhen the word is not included in most dictionaries.
Lu Jialei, 14, from Hangzhou Foreign Language School, wthe CCTV Chinese Character (汉字) Spelling Contest on Oct 18, 2013.
About 160 people competed. The host read a word to the contestant (参赛选手), explained its meaning and gave sample sentences. The contestant was required to w________ down the word.
Winning the contest was a “surprise” to Lu Jialei. “I am not the smartest one,” she said. “But I pay ato details.”
To prepare for the contest, she and her teammates studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary for 10 days. There are more than 56,000 entries (词条) icharacters, phrases and words in it.
She also has a secret weapon (武器). She studied h______ Chinese characters were structured (构成). In the final, judges gave her the word wanluan and said it means graceful and
p.
“I’ve never h________ of that word!” said Lu.
But she made a good guess. “Characters meaning pretty often have ‘女’ in it, while many characters pronouncing luan have ‘亦’. So I wrote it down: ‘婉娈’,” she said.
This sweapon came from her good reading habits.
“L_____ to write Chinese characters is an important part of inheriting (传承) culture,” said Su Yunsheng, Lu’s Chinese teacher.
Su is happy to see students like Lu find the beauty of Chinese language.