Want to live longer? Win an Oscar.
A new study says that actors who received the award earn more than larger paychecks.
So when 94-year-old Katharine Hepburn once remarked that she was respected internationally “like an old building”, she had no idea that her four Oscars directly influenced her longevity(长寿).
The study says winning actors will live 3.9 years longer than their losing counterparts (对手). Actors who have won more than once, like Hepburn, live up to six years longer than those who were nominated (提名) but never won.
“We found that they died from the same things we all die from—cancer, heart disease, but they fought them a bit longer and diseases came a bit later,” says Dr. Donald Redelmeier, the leading author of the study. Redelmeier says the sense of success and satisfaction makes one’s soul become more full of life.
“We are not saying that you will live longer if you win an Oscar,” explains Redelmeier, “or that people should go out and take acting courses. Our main conclusion is simply that social factors are important.” The study’s implied conclusion, he says, is that doctors should ask about their patients’ personal feelings because mental well-being is related to physical health.
Redelmeier says he got the idea for the study when he watched a glowing Gwyneth Paltrow win an Oscar in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare in Love. Redelmeier says, “She looked more full of life than anyone I had seen.”
“We found, too, those that had multi-nominations and no win had the same life expectancy as those with just a single nomination and no win,” Redelmeier adds. The longevity of Oscar winners mainly has something to do with___________.
| A．the big money that was awarded |
| B．mental factors |
| C．rich and colorful lives |
| D．respect from others and better treatment |
Tom had five Oscar nominations but win no Oscar and Peter had only one nomination and won no Oscar either. We can tell__________.
| A．Tom probably will have a longer life than Peter. |
| B．Peter probably will have a longer life than Tom |
| C．Both Tom and Peter probably will have the same life expectancy |
| D．Both Tom and Peter probably will have a long life. |
According to the passage, we know __________.
| A．When Katharine Hepburn was 94, she knew her long life had something to do with her 4 Oscar prizes |
| B．In general the number of Oscar prizes has nothing to do with a person’s life expectancy. |
| C．That Gwyneth Paltrow’s full of life made Redelmeier decide to do the study. |
| D．If you want to live a happy and long life, you should take acting courses and win Oscars. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Most Oscar Winners Live Longer Lives |
| B．How to Get a Long Life |
| C．A New Study about Long Lives |
| D．An Amazing Finding |
Modern Foreign Language Teacher
A successful, popular school in central South London has a new vacancy(空职) for an MFL Teacher of Spanish to start immediately after the Christmas holidays.
We required a specialist Spanish teacher; therefore Spanish should be your major language. Besides this, you need to make the lessons interesting and you should also have teaching experience.
Please contact Robert Eagle at 88143425.
General Manager
We are seeking a General Manager for our new workshop facility in Doha, Qatar. The successful individual should possess a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, along with 19 to 15 years' work experience in the Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals, Fertilizer or Marine industry and CNC machinery tools and equipment. A minimum of five years’; experience in a senior managerial capacity is essential. Candidates (候选人) that have work experience in Gulf countries or in the Middle East are encouraged to apply.
Please contact Brian Gambles at 88146725.
Finance Manager
The successful individual will be able to demonstrate substantial commercial experience working within a corporate, blue-chip environment. You will be able to interact with and present confidently to senior management. The business offers an excellent working culture and genuine opportunities for significant career advancement and development.
Please contact Mr. McMahon at 88147959.
HR Manager
We are looking for an HR Manager to join our project team who will be responsible for a new HR and Payroll project.
A minimum of three years' HR management experience is required for this position.
The successful individual will need to have managed HR teams and supported Payroll.
If you have the relevant experience and are available for a new assignment, contact Matt Ridley at 88146550.Who should you get in touch with if you want to be a Spanish teacher?
| A．Robert Eagle | B．Brian Gambles |
| C．Mr. McMahon | D．Matt Ridley |
We know from the ads that the position of General Manager requires a person who _______.
| A．has five years of work experience in the Marine industry |
| B．can support the senior management teams |
| C．has a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering |
| D．has teaching experience |
If you want to work in an excellent working culture, you should call _______ for an interview.
| A．88143425 | B．88146725 | C．88147959 | D．88146550 |
What is the minimum amount of experience required for the position of HR Manager?
| A．Five years | B．Six years |
| C．Ten years | D．Three years |
In 1826, a French man named Niepce needed pictures for his business. But he was not a good artist. He invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden. That was the first photo.
The next important date in the history of photography was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room. He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.
Soon, other people began to use Daguerre's way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world. People took pictures of famous buildings, cities and mountains.
In about 1840, photography was developed. Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things. That was not simple. The photographers had to carry a lot of films and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard.
Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people. The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike.
Photography also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century. Some photos were not just copies of the real world. They showed our feelings, like other kinds of art.The first photo was a picture of Niepce's _______.
| A．business | B．house |
| C．garden | D．window |
The Daguerreotype was _______.
| A．a Frenchman | B．a kind of picture |
| C．a kind of camera | D．a photographer |
This passage tells us_______.
| A．how photography was developed |
| B．how to show you ideas and feelings in pictures |
| C．how to take pictures in the world |
| D．how to use different cameras |
What is an Oyster card?
Oyster is the easiest way to pay for journeys on the bus ，Tube ，tram，Docklands light Railway (DLR)，London Overground and National Rail journeys in London You can store your travel cards, Bus & Tram Pass，season tickets and credit to pay for journeys as you go.
Where to get an Oyster card?
There are a number of ways for you to get an Oyster card ：
• At over 3,900 Oyster Ticket stops
• At Tube and London Overground station ticket offices
• At some National Rail stations
• At London Travel information Centres
• Online at tfl. gov. uk/oyster
How to use an Oyster card?
To pay the correct fare on the Tube ，DLR，London Overground and National Rail services，you must always touch in on the yellow Oyster card reader at the start of your journey，and touch out at the end. if you don’t, a maximum cash Oyster fare will be changed When using the bus or tram, you must only touch in at the start, but not at the end of your journey.
What happens if I don’t visit London very often?
Don’t worry. Any pay as you go credit on your card will not expire (过期)，so you can keep it for your next visit or lend it to a friend.
Fares
Traveling by Tube from Central London (Zone l)to Heathrow (Zone 6)
Adult Oyster single fare
£ 4. 20 Monday to Friday 06:30 - 09:30 and 16:00一19:00
£ 2. 70 at all other times including public holidays
Adult single cash fare £ 5.00
For further information，visit tfL.gov. uk /fares.You can get an Oyster card at the following places EXCEPT_____
| A．at a post office | B．at an Oyster Ticket stop |
| C．on the website | D．at a Tube station |
If a person with an Oyster card takes the 7 o’clock Tube from Central London to Heathrow for a week (no public holiday in between)，he should pay_____.
| A．£ 18.90 | B．£ 29.40 | C．£ 26.40 | D．£ 21.90 |
The passage is probably taken from a_______
| A．journal | B．travel brochure | C．textbook | D．novel |
Alibaba started taking the lead in China by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商) with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibaba’s advantage wasn’t hard to judge: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its market attracts 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year — and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets — not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is second to consumer buying. Chinese retail(零售) buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping — big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how wide the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine.Alibaba’s advantage mainly lies in .
| A．its low price |
| B．its big size |
| C．its not charging small sellers |
| D．its business-to-business service |
We know from the passage that Alibaba .
| A．will continue to develop. |
| B．charges all the sellers on its site a percentage of the sale. |
| C．acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers. |
| D．is of middle size among all the online sites. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Alibaba’s business-to-business service earns more money than retail. |
| B．TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao. |
| C．Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites. |
| D．The author’s Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Shopping online in China is TaoBao. |
| B．How the author purchases online in China. |
| C．Shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping. |
| D．Alibaba influences people’s daily purchase in China. |
A supermarket checkout operator was praised for striking a blow for modern manners and a return to the age of politeness after refusing to serve a shopper who was talking on her mobile phone.
The supermarket manager was forced to apologize to the customer who complained she was told her goods would not be scanned unless she hung up her phone. Jo Clark, 46, said, “I don't know what she was playing at. I couldn’t believe how rude she was. When did she have the right to give me a lecture on checkout manners? I won’t be shopping there again!”
But users of social media sites and Internet forums(论坛) were very angry that store gave in and the public appeared to be supporting the angry checkout worker. “Perhaps this is a turning point for mobile phone users everywhere. When chatting, keep your eyes on people around you. That includes people trying to serve you, other road users and especially people behind you in the stairs,” said a typical post.
“It’s time checkout staff fought back against these people constantly chatting on their phones. They can drive anyone crazy. It’s rude and annoying. I often want to grab someone’s phone and throw it as far as I can, even though I am not a checkout girl, just a passer-by,” said another.
Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site www. Netmums.com said, “While this checkout operator doesn’t have the authority to order customers to switch off their phones, you can see clearly how frustrated and angry she felt. No matter how busy you are, life is nicer when you and those around you have good manners.”According to Jo Clark, the checkout operator_____________.
| A．lacked the knowledge of checkout manners |
| B．played with a mobile phone while at work |
| C．had no right to forbid her from using her mobile phone |
| D．deserved praise for her modern manners |
The third and fourth paragraphs imply that the public_________.
| A．are used to chatting on their mobile phones |
| B．are driven crazy by constant mobile calls |
| C．ignore the existence of mobile phone users |
| D．seem to support the checkout operator |
The attitude of Siobhan Freegard towards the checkout operator was________.
| A．disapproving | B．supportive |
| C．neutral(中立的) | D．indifferent |
The passage is mainly about _________.
| A．whether we should talk on our phones while being served |
| B．why we can talk on mobile phones while shopping |
| C．what good manners checkout operators should have |
| D．how we can develop good manners for mobile phone users |