B
"How do you account for your remarkable achievements in life?" Queen Victoria of England asked Helen Keller. "How do you explain the fact that even though you were both blind and deaf, you were able to achieve so much?"
Ms. Keller's answer is a tribute(致敬) to her dedicated teacher. "If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown."
According to speaker Zig Ziglar, "Little Annie" Sullivan, as she was called when she was young, was no stranger to hardship. She was almost sightless herself (due to a childhood fever) and was, at one time, diagnosed as hopelessly "insane" (精神失常的)by her by caregivers. She was locked in the basement of a mental institution outside of Boston. On occasion, Little Annie would violently attack anyone who came near. Most of the time she generally ignored everyone in her presence.
An elderly nurse believed there was hope, however, and she made it her mission to show love to the child. Every day she visited Little Annie. For the most part, the child did not acknowledge the nurse's presence, but she still continued to visit. The kind woman left cookies for her and spoke words of love and encouragement. She believed Little Annie could recover, if only she were shown love.
Eventually, doctors noticed a change in the girl. Where they once witnessed anger and hostility(敌意), they now noted an emerging gentleness and love. They moved her upstairs where she continued to improve. Then the day finally came when this seemingly "hopeless" child was released.
Anne Sullivan grew into a young woman with a desire to help others as she, herself, was helped by the kindly nurse. It was she who saw the great potential in Helen Keller. She loved her, disciplined her, played with her, pushed her and worked with her until the flickering candle that was her life became a beacon of light to the world. Anne Sullivan worked wonders in Helen's life, but it was a loving nurse who first believed in Little Annie and lovingly transformed an uncommunicative child into a compassionate teacher.
"If it had not been for Anne Sullivan, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown." But if it had not been for a kind and dedicated nurse, the name of Anne Sullivan would have remained unknown. And so it goes. Just how far back does the chain of redemption(救赎) extend? And how for forward will it lead?
Those you have sought to reach, whether they be in your family or elsewhere, are part of a chain of love that can extend through the generations. Your influence on their lives, whether or not you see results, is immeasurable. Your legacy of dedicated kindness and caring can transform lost and hopeless lives for years to come.Which of the following is true about Anne Sullivan according to the paragraph 3?
She was strange to hardship when she was young.
She would violently attack anyone who came near sometimes.
She was once locked in the basement of a mental institution in Boston.
She generally ignored everyone in her presence all the time.Which of the following words can describe the elderly nurse?
A.kind and stubborn | B.persistent and dull |
C.courageous and talkative | D.optimistic and loving |
The underlined word “compassionate” in the six paragraph means “________”.
A. open-minded | B.ambiguous |
C.complicated | D.sympathized |
We can infer from the passage that_____
A.Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan were both blind and deaf. |
B.It’s hope and love that the nurse believed Little Annie could recover |
C.But for the nurse, the name of Helen Keller would have remained unknown |
D.The results of influence on other people’s lives can be measured. |
Moral science is taught as a subject in most schools but with little effect. Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that morality is not a science, strictly speaking. It is too much of a social phenomenon, and also has too much of the personal and subjective things mixed within. Besides, morality itself changes with generations. So it is impossible to be defined in a textbook.
I remember sitting through forty minutes of moral lessons, which told stories about little children who never told lies and were rewarded for their goodness. It had little effect and left no impression on me, though.
If moral science has to be taught as a subject in schools, it needs a participatory(参与其中的) approach. When you tell a child about morals, you also have to deal with social norms(规范)and cultural differences. You have to explain that morality can be subjective, and be able to co-exist in society. You will probably have to refer to the morals of the present time.
The best way to tell a child how to live is to show him what is valued. If a child likes his friend, you have to make the child think about why. Once the child notices and recognizes goodness in others, he or she is likely to develop it as well.
In fact, children learn most of their morals by watching people around them. They absorb behavior patterns from teachers and older students. They watch to see what is rewarded and who is punished. They learn on the sports field and through social work. Moral science lessons should simply consist of letting them live and interact, and watch you support correct values and reward good behavior. Which is NOT the reason that moral science is taught in schools but with little effect?
A.Morality doesn’t strictly belong to a science. |
B.Morality is more like a social phenomenon. |
C.Morality can’t be written down in textbooks. |
D.Different generations have different moral ideas. |
The author describes his own experience of having moral lessons in order to _____.
A.explain telling lies is not moral for little children |
B.advise people should be rewarded for their goodness |
C.show he has no opinions about moral science |
D.prove moral lessons in schools have little effect |
When you tell a child about morals, you should________.
A.teach him to share personal moral ideas with others |
B.tell him about social norms and cultural differences |
C.explain that nobody can influence his moral ideas |
D.say that the present morals are likely to be changed |
What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A.The influence of people’s behavior on morals. |
B.The value of teachers’ setting a good example. |
C.The best way of teaching children about morals. |
D.The importance of rewarding good behavior. |
Are you a problem shopper? The answer is “Yes”, if you or someone else thinks that you sometimes get carried away with shopping. In other words, do you or does someone else think you are occupied in extreme shopping? If people have regrets later about their shopping, or have an “out-of-control” feeling about the quantities of what they buy or the amount of credit they use, they may be considered to be problem shoppers.
Extreme shopping can lead to a more serious problem – addictive shopping. Addictive shoppers feel driven by the desire to shop and spend money. They experience great tension which drives them to shop and spend money and they feel a “rush” during the time they are occupied with the shopping activity.
Extreme or addictive shopping may result from long-time unpleasant feelings, of which anxiety, pain and shame are common ones. When we feel bad inside, we often do something to make ourselves feel better. In this case, we often go shopping.
A few people shop to relieve their boredom or emptiness. For some people, the motivation is a desire for status, power, beauty or success. Some love to shop as it makes them feel valued in the eyes of the shop assistants. Others shop simply because it makes them forget, at least temporarily, tension, fear or unhappiness in their life.
Besides, shopping malls are designed to encourage continual shopping. For instance, there are some malls where you can’t see clocks displaying the time because they don’t want you to become too aware of the time you spend there. What’s more, food courts, coffee shops and restrooms are provided, so you don’t have to leave the mall because of your physical needs.
Therefore, once you become aware of how market forces work, you will certainly come to control your shopping behavior. For example, how much time you will spend and what areas you will visit can be decided before you enter the mall. Keep a written account of what items you will buy and how much money you will spend. Make a plan for what you are going to buy before you feel the urge to shop and then stick to it. That is vital for gaining self-control.Which of the following people may not be problem shoppers?
A.Those who cannot control the amount of credit they use. |
B.Those who feel sorry for their shopping. |
C.Those who are occupied in too much shopping. |
D.Those who just walk around the shopping malls. |
According to the passage, what may not result in addictive shopping?
A.The desire for status, power, beauty or success. |
B.The awareness of how market forces work. |
C.Boredom, emptiness, tension, fear or unhappiness in people’s life. |
D.Long-time bad feelings of anxiety, pain and shame. |
What does the author suggest to control our shopping behaviour?
A.Never going to the shopping malls because there are many tricks. |
B.Applying for a credit card before we go shopping. |
C.Making a shopping list before we go shopping. |
D.Making the shopping time as short as possible. |
The author writes this passage to.
A.inform the shopping malls how to attract more shoppers |
B.tell a shopping story |
C.scold the problem shoppers |
D.provide solutions to the problem shopping. |
Back those photos up
The images were striking. Homes on the East Coast were washed away by Superstorm Sandy. People were in tears, picking up faded photographs, among their only remaining possessions.
If that doesn’t move you to get serious about safekeeping your lifetime of memories, what will? The digital age offers tools never imaginable before—including one-click access to a lifetime of family photos.
Here is a brochure on how to back up (存) your photos and save them online, where they can live forever and be accessible in good times and bad.
Scanning
The first step for those old photos is to scan them and save them to a digital format. Most printers come with scanners these days, so that’s an easy but extremely time-consuming step.
Storing the photos
With your scans in place, import the photos into your computer, and back them up.
You could make multiple copies of the disks and spread them to loved ones. Or you could choose external(外接的) hard drives or USB thumb drive, and add your photo and video collection from your computer.
Online backup
If you need lots of space, look at a pure online backup service, Caronite.
Caronite backs up 300 million files daily. Once you sign up, it starts to pick up everything you have on your hard drive. But photo collection on your computer’s main hard drive charges for $59 a year.
Cloud Storage
For folks who don’t need automatic backup, but instead want to take a more active approach, Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s SkyDrive let you store files online by yourself, share and instantly access them. All offer free options—2GB of free storage for Dropbox, 5GB for Google and 7GB for SkyDrive. But if you want more, you need to pay.
Bottom Line
The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and easiest. But drives can fail. Online services are more expensive, but more secure. With more of us switching back and forth between our computers, such services are the best way to get access to our data from wherever we are.Why does the author mention Superstorm Sandy?
A.To tell the background of the scanning photos. |
B.To describe a severe natural disaster. |
C.To attract the readers’ interest in the backups. |
D.To win the readers’ sympathy. |
What can we know from the passage?
A.Scanning photos take little time but costs a lot. |
B.Caronite charges for backing up photos from hard drive. |
C.Google Drive offers unlimited free photo storage on line. |
D.The hard drive or flash drive is the cheapest and safest. |
Which of the following allows storing files automatically?
A.Dropbox. | B.SkyDrive. | C.Caronite. | D.Flash drive. |
The main purpose of the passage is to _____.
A.introduce some of the storage services |
B.tell real stories about storage services |
C.describe the functions of storage services |
D.argue about the advantage of storage services |
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what "keeping up with the Joneses" is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbors.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighborhood. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbors.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They had to move back to an apartment in New York City. Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich lifestyle of their neighbors. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories. He called it "Keeping up with the Joneses” because "Jones" is a very common name in the United States. "Keeping up with the Joneses" came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are "Joneses" in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
A.want to be as rich as their neighbors |
B.want others to know or to think that they are rich |
C.don't want others to know they are rich |
D.want to be happy |
It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
A.live outside New York City |
B.live in New York City |
C.live in apartments |
D.live with many neighbors |
What's the author's attitude to keeping up with the Joneses?
A.Negative. | B.Positive. | C.Supportive. | D.Objective. |
In the UK, we like a good bargain. People flock to the sales in January, when stores slash their prices to get rid of all their winter stock. But surprisingly, the British hate haggling. In markets you might see the odd British person battling with a stall owner to bring down the price of a pair of trousers or some furniture. Generally, though, people from the UK are too reserved to haggle. If we think the price of something we want is too high, we’ll simply move on and try somewhere else.
The act of bargaining with someone is very theatrical, in my opinion. It’s a test to see who can stand their ground for the longest. But it is not in British people’s nature to “perform” in public, especially around strangers.
However, in the US, people are generally more willing to haggle. And if you wander into a market, you’re likely to hear a number of phrases that Americans reserve for such occasions.
First, “you drive a hard bargain” is commonly said by the customer to indicate they think the stall holder is working very hard, probably a little too hard, to get the price he wants.
Or you might hear the buyer telling a stall holder that “the kid’s gotta have braces”, which means they don’t have enough spare money lying around to afford the price being offered.
If the customer is really shocked at the price suggested by the seller, they also might say “you’re killing me” to indicate that they think the price is far too high.
In Britain, it’s difficult to imagine anyone saying anything along these lines. If I were forced to bargain, I’d probably say, very simply: “I’m going to make you an offer.” If that offer were refused, I think I’d just walk away.The underlined word “haggling” can be replaced by _______.
A.arguing | B.bargaining | C.performing | D.insisting |
Why don’t the British haggle generally?
A.They don’t think it is polite behavior. |
B.They have sales every January. |
C.They can always get a better price somewhere else. |
D.They dislike openly expressing feelings or opinions. |
The underlined phrase “you drive a hard bargain” means_______.
A.the seller has a lot of deals on offer. |
B.the buyer will make a final offer |
C.the stall holder is too insistent |
D.the buyer doesn’t have a lot of spare money |
What’s the author’s attitude toward bargaining?
A.Negative. | B.Careless. | C.Positive. | D.Critical. |
How does the passage mainly develop?
A.By providing examples. |
B.By making comparision. |
C.By analyzing causes and effects. |
D.By following the order of importance. |