When 24-year-old Hannah Brencher moved to New York after college, she was hit by depression and loneliness. One day she felt so lonely that she wanted to reach out to someone. So she put pen to paper and started writing letters—letters to complete strangers.
But these weren’t sad letters about how she was feeling. They were happy letters, all about the other person, not her. She would write messages for people to have a “bright day” and tell strangers how outstanding they were, even if they thought no one else had noticed. Brencher began dropping the notes all over New York, in cafes, in library books, in parks and on the subway. It made her feel better, knowing that she might be making somebody’s day through just a few short, sweet words. It gave her something to focus on. And so, the website The World Needs More Love Letters was born.
The World Needs More Love Letters is all about writing letters—not emails, but proper, handwritten letters. Not traditional love letters, written to a real beloved, but surprise letters for strangers. They don’t necessarily say “I love you”, but they are full of kindness—telling people they are remarkable and special and all-around amazing.
Brencher’s initiative (初衷) has now exploded. She has personally written hundreds of letters. Last year, she did a TED talk, in which she talks about a woman whose husband, a soldier, comes back home from Afghanistan and they struggle to reconnect: “So she leaves love letters all over the house as a way to say: ‘Come back to me. Find me when you can.’” And then comes another story of a man threatening to kill himself on his Facebook page, only to now be in the land of the living, with many love letters under his pillow.
The World Needs More Love Letters Project works on the idea that “A love letter a day keeps the doctor away”. It’s about sharing positive energy, restoring confidence and happiness. There are now more than 10,000 people from all over the world joining in to write letters to the lonely and depressed, to basically tell them that everything will be okay.When feeling lonely, Brencher wrote letters to _________________.
A.share her sad feelings with strangers |
B.tell strangers how outstanding she was |
C.express her wish to have a bright day |
D.brighten strangers’ day with kind words |
According to the passage, which of the following letters can be found on the website?
A.The email to remarkable people. |
B.The handwritten letters to friends. |
C.The traditional love letters to beloved ones. |
D.The encouraging letters to strangers. |
What can be inferred from Brencher’s TED talk?
A.The man leaves love letters to his wife, asking her to look for him. |
B.The woman gets on well with her husband after his return from Afghanistan. |
C.The life of the man in the second story has been saved by the inspiring love letters. |
D.The man in the second story has written many love letters and put them under his pillow. |
In the last paragraph, the underlined sentence means____________.
A.love letters can help cheer you up in spirits |
B.love letters can keep you physically healthy |
C.love letters can make the doctors out of work |
D.love letters can keep you away from loneliness only |
Pop star Britney Spears tied the knot with a childhood friend,but their two-day-old marriage was dissolved Monday shortly after Britney filed for an annulment(废除契约/婚约).She described the marriage as “ a joke that went too far,” said one source closed to Spears.“I don’t even know if she loves him,”the source said.
The 22-year-old diva(most important singer)walked down the aisle at a Las Vegas wedding chapel early Saturday,the reports said,marrying Jason Alexander,also 22,a childhood friend from her hometown of Kentwood,Louisiana whom she had recently begun dating.
Spears wore jeans and a baseball cap,and was escorted(护送)down the aisle by a hot
el bellman,according to the People.com.
The two apparently decided to marry while partying at the Palms Casino Hotel Friday night,and did so at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.The honeymoon was spent at the Palms,but the next night Spears was seen dining with a group that did not include the groom at a hotel steakhouse.
Raised in the US south,the pop diva started her career at a television program The Mickey Mouse Club at age 11,becoming a famous teen singer.
All four of her CDs, including most recently November’s “In the Zone,”debuted at number one on the charts.
60.The underlined phrase at the beginning of the passage mean.
A.begin to quarrel B.get married C.fall in love D.get divorced
61.The news about Spears’s clothes was most probably taken from a(a n).
A.newspaper B.broadcast station C.internet D.magazine
62.People would have guessed their marriage wouldn’t last long because.
A.Spears was seen to have fun without her newly-married groom
B.Spears was a person forever changing her mind
C.Spears had an odd character
D.Spears had such a kind of history before
63.What made Spears most famous in the world is that.
A.she got married to a man who she just dated for two days.
B.she got divorced two days after her new marriage.
C.she began to appear on the stage as a teen singer.
D.she made great achievements in singing.
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
What if you arrived home to find a delicious hot meal waiting for you,prepared by your very own kitchen robot? It might sound like science fiction,but professors at the university of Tokyo have taken the first steps toward making that scenario a reality.The team recently introduced a humanoid kitchen robot that can pour tea and other drinks into cups and serve them to guests.When teatime is over,the robot can also wash the dishes and put them away.
In California,another interesting kitchen robot has been developed.Called the Ready-bot,it can pick up objects and either store them in cabinets or put them in the trash.It also carries a separate floor-cleaning robot that can operate by itself.Unlike the Japanese robot,Readybot is not humanoid.Instead,it looks more like a large box with arms and wheels.
Readybot was created by engineers and designers who established a club called the Readybot Challenge.They believe that in the future millions of robots will be needed in homes to perform ordinary household tasks.Readybot is just the first step in their plan to create a robot that can tackle jobs not only in kitchens but in other rooms of homes and in offices as well.
Clearly there are technological hurdles to overcome before robots can cook a complete dinner,and there are also many safety concerns.Not everyone(especially parents)would be comfortable with the idea of robots in their house,manipulating hot pans and sharp knives.The European Commission recently funded a project to study these concerns.
56.What does the writer imply about the Japanese robot?
A.It performs fewer functions than readybot can.
B.it looks more like a person than Readybot does.
C.It speaks more languages than Readybot does.
D.It costs 1ess to manufacture than Readybot does.
57.Where do the engineers and designers hope that Readybot will operate in the future?
A.On spacecraft B.In automobiles
C.On playgrounds D.At companies
58.What does the writer imply about parents?
A.They have shown tremendous interest in kitchen robots.
B.They don’t have strong opinions about kitchen robots.
C.They might think that kitchen robots could be dangerous.
D.They can’t wait to buy kitchen robots for their homes.
59.According to the writer,what has the European Commission done for the project?
A.It has built factories B.It has printed manuals
C.It has hired workers D.It has provided money
C
Yellowstone Weather
Yellowstone National Park is at high altitude. Most of the park is above 7500 feet (2275 meters).
Yellowstone’s weather is unpredictable. In summer, it may be warm and sunny with temperatures in the high 70s. At night in any given month, the temperature may drop close to freezing. So it is best to come prepared for cold evenings and mornings, especially if you are camping or hiking. When you leave your campsite, please leave it prepared for possible thundershowers and wind.
A sunny warm day may become fiercely stormy with wind, rain, sleet and sometimes snow. Without enough clothing, an easy day hike or boat trip can turn into a battle for survival.
Seasonal Weather Information
Spring
Cold and snow continue into May, although
temperatures gradually climb. Early in spring, daytime temperatures average in the 40s to 50s; by late May and June, they may reach the 60s and 70s. Nighttime lows fall below freezing. Summer
Daytime temperatures are usually in the 70s, occasionally reaching the 80s in the lower area. Nights are cool, temperatures may drop in the 40s and 30s,sometimes even the 20s. June can be cool and rainy; July and August tend to be somewhat drier, although afternoon thundershowers are common.
Fall
Weather can be pleasant, although temperatures average 10~20 degrees lower than summer readings. Nighttime lows can fall into the teens and even lower. Snowstorms increase in frequency as the weeks go by or towards the end of the fall season. Winter
Temperatures often stay near zero throughout the day, occasionally reaching high in the 20s. Subzero nighttime lows are common. Annual snowfall averages nearly 150 inches in most of the park. At higher places, 200~400 inches of snow have been recorded.
64、The theme(主题)of this passage is in Yellowstone National Park.
A、the special weather B、the beautiful scenery
C、campsites for free D、terrible thunderstorms
65、This passage is mainly written for those who plan to in Yellowstone National Park.
A、do research work B、take a business trip
C、have sports games D、spend their holidays or take a tour
66、Which of the following best describes Yellowstone’s weather?
A、The weather is generally changeable and it snows most of the year.
B、The lowest nighttime temperature often stays about zero in winter.
C、Weather in fall is pleasant and temperatures never fall below freezing.
D、It’s pretty warm in the day and very cold at night throughout the year.
67、If you are planning to spend your holiday in Yellowstone National Park in summer, what should you take with you?
A、Just some light clothing such as T-shirts or skirts.
B、Just some warm clothing such as sweaters or coats.
C、Both light clothing and warm clothing.
D、Either light clothing or warm clothing.
Getting paid to talk about the World Cup is a great job. I’m not a football commentator(评论员),but just an English teacher in Japan.
I came to Japan two years ago, and didn’t think I would stay, but Japan has that effect on you. People often end up living here longer than they planned. I think it’s better to teach in a bigger city where there are other foreigners to mix with, rather than a small town where English teachers often complain of feeling like a goldfish in a bowl. Many people choose to live in Tokyo, of course, which is good for the nightlife factor. But I’d say that for general quality of living, cities of neither too large nor too small, like Sapporo where I live, are better choices.
I teach English privately, which means I’m my own boss. If you want to devote yourself to private teaching, it’s well worth doing a TEFL course first, because your lessons will be much better for it. The problem with private teaching is finding students; it took me a year to build up a full schedule(日程表)of private lessons, so I started out teaching in schools part time.
Most of my foreign friends here work full-time for big English conversation schools. The salary is fine to live on. But whether you can save money depends on how much going out and traveling you do here.
The schools are reluctant to take time off-even teachers with tickets for the England-Argentina game had trouble getting the day off.
60、From the passage we know in Japan the writer likes to live in .
A、Tokyo B、a small town C、a city of middle size D、a big city
61、According to the writer, one had better first to do private teaching better.
A、take a TEFL course B、decide his or her own lessons
C、find students D、build up a full schedule
62、The underlined sentence in the second paragraph implies (暗示)that .
A、there are many foreigners in Japan
B、Japan is good for nightlife
C、they can teach English privately in Japan
D、Japan has something more attractive than expected
63、The underlined word “reluctant” in the passage may probably means .
A、kind B、unwilling C、free D、careless
第三部分:阅读理解:(共20小题,每小题2分,满分34分)
Vocabulary learning is a continuing process. It continues all your life. When you are young, you learn something day in and day out. You should keep squeezing every moment of the day into a new and different learning situation. You continually ask questions and drive yourself to learn more. The more you learn, the more vocabulary you will know. No matter what your age is, you must continue to learn. Words are “Symbols” for ideas. These ideas make knowledge and knowledge is gained largely through words. The following are some suggestions which may help you increase your vocabulary.
•Read books from fields other than your major.
•Read books which interest you and concentrate while you read.
•The more you read, the more words you will come in contact with.
•Use new vocabulary in your everyday communication (writing, speaking).
•Become familiar with the vocabulary in your text books.
•Become familiar with the dictionary. Understand the pronunciation rules as well as the multiple(众多的)meanings of words.
•Try to learn 5 words a day. If you know these words, use them in your communications. Without using these new words, it is a waste of your time.
56、The main idea of the passage is .
A、how to remember vocabulary B、how to learn vocabulary
C、how to use vocabulary D、how to teach vocabulary
57、The underlined word “squeezing” probably means “ ”.
A、压出 B、付出 C、浪费 D、挤出
58、Which of the following statement is NOT suggested in the passage as a way of vocabulary learning?
A、Use the new words you have learned when you write and speak.
B、Use your dictionary and be familiar with it.
C、Concentrate only on the books on your major.
D、The more you read, the more words you will get.
59、From the passage we know.
A、most of your knowledge is gained through words.
B、dictionary is the most important way of vocabulary learning.
C、if you learn a new word, just keep it in your mind.
D、you should spend most of your spare time on vocabulary learning.