The world’s richest man might seem to have it all, but Bill Gates has one regret. The self-made billionaire said he felt stupid for not knowing any foreign languages.
Speaking in his third Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session for online forum Reddit(红迪网), the Microsoft founder said that he wished he spoke French, Arabic or Chinese.
He said: “I took Latin and Greek in high school and got A’s and I guess it helps my vocabulary. I keep hoping to get time to study one of these—probably French because it is the easiest. I did Duolingo for a while but didn’t keep it up.”
Gates, who is worth $79.3 billion, praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for surprising an audience in Beijing when he spoke fluent Chinese. “Mark Zuckerberg amazingly leamed Chinese and did a Q&A with Chinese students—unbelievable, isn’t it?” he said.
This isn’t the first time for Gates to admit his regret over language. He also showed his habits at home and personal insights.
Last February, Gates said he likes to do the dishes himself—to his own special standards every night and also told the interviewer that his wife, Melinda, would likely want Samuel L. Jackson to play her husband in a biopic(传记片).
He also admitted that he would pick up a $100 bill if he found it on the street.
As he took the top spot on Forbes(福布斯)28th Annual Billionaires list last year for the fourth time, he said he is pretty basic when it comes to so ending on clothes and food, but that he enjoys investing in shoes and racquets(球拍)when he plays tennis.
When asked a life lesson he had to learn the hard way, the billionaire said staying up too late is a habit he is still trying to break. “Don’t stay up too late even if the book is really exciting. You will regret it in the morning. Pam still working on this problem,” he said. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．An Interview with Bill Gates |
| B．How Bill Gates Succeeded |
| C．Bill Gates’ Regret |
| D．The Richest Billionaire |
The underlined part in Paragraph 8 may actually mean that_____.
| A．it is important to lay a good foundation of life |
| B．food and clothing are basic needs for people’s life |
| C．he doesn’t spend much money on food and clothes |
| D．he never cares about buying food and clothing |
What advice did Bill Gates give?
| A．Avoid staying up too late. |
| B．Be a good language learner. |
| C．Do the dishes yourself at home. |
| D．Pick up the $100 bills in the streets. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Bill Gates is also the founder of Facebook |
| B．Bill Gates topped the list of Forbes 28 times. |
| C．Bill Gates was good at learning languages in high schoo1. |
| D．Bill Gates’ wife wants Samuel to play a game with Gates. |
While watching the Olympics the other night, I came across an unbelievable sight. It was not a gold medal, or a world record broken, but a show of courage.
The event was swimming and started with only three men on the blocks. For one reason or another, two of them false started, so they were disqualified. That left only one to complete. It would have been difficult enough, not having anyone to race against, even though the time on the clock is important.
I watched the man dive off the block and knew right away that something was wrong. I'm not an expert swimmer, but I can tell a good dive from a poor one, and this was not exactly medal quality. When he resurfaced, it was evident that the man was not out for gold — his arms were waving in an attempt at freestyle. The crowd started to laugh. Clearly this man was not a medal competitor.
I listened to the crowd begin to laugh at this poor man who was clearly having a hard time. Finally he made his turn to start back. It was pitiful. He made a few desperate strokes and you could tell he was worn out.
But in those few awful strokes, the crowd had changed.
No longer were they laughing, but beginning to cheer. Some even began to stand and shout "Come on, you can do it! " and he did.
A clear minute past the average swimmer, this young man finally finished his race. The crowd went wild. You would have thought that he had won the gold, and he should have. Even though he recorded one of the slowest times in Olympic history, this man gave more heart than any of the other competitors.
Just a short year ago, he had never even swum, let alone race. His country had been invited to Sydney.
In a competition where athletes remove their silver medals feeling they have somehow been cheated out of gold, or when they act so proudly in front of their competitors, it is nice to watch an underdog.From the passage we can learn that the young man .
| A．made his turn to start back pitifully |
| B．was skillful in freestyle in the game |
| C．swam faster than the average swimmer |
| D．was not capable enough to win the medal |
The crowd changed their attitudes because ________.
| A．they felt sorry for the young man |
| B．they were moved by the young man |
| C．they wanted to show their sympathy |
| D．they meant to please the young man |
According to the passage, "it is nice to watch an underdog" probably means _______.
| A．it’s amusing to watch a man with awful swimming skills |
| B．it’s amazing to watch an ordinary man challenging himself |
| C．it’s cheerful for athletes to act proudly before their competitors |
| D．it’s brave enough for some athletes to remove the silver medals |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．Compete for Gold! | B．Try again! |
| C．Break a Record! | D．Go for it! |
阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。(请将答案写在答题卡上相应番号后的横线上) （共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）
When you take a taxi in the United States, if you sit in the front seat, the driver will be pleased and talk with you all the way. If you sit in the back seat, however, the driver may be unhappy and unwilling to speak.
At first, I thought that this had something to do with different characters (性格) of the drivers. Later, after I’d had more experiences with taxis, I found that it happened very often. Only when I arrived in San Francisco did I ____________.
I went to see Sonia in San Francisco. One day, Sonia drove the car while her husband, Ji An, sat beside her, and I sat behind Ji An. Later, Ji An got out of the car and suggested that I sit where he had been sitting. It’s not a long way, so I told him that it didn’t matter, but Ji An insisted. I had to move, feeling a little strange.
“Do you know why Ji An asked you to sit here?” Sonia asked me. I shook my head. “If you sit in the front, it means that you and I are friends. If you sit in the back, it seems that I’m just your driver and our relationship is of employer and employee.”
With those words, I understood at once why taxi drivers were so pleased when people sat in the front. On the face of it, the only issue was where one sat. As a matter of fact, where to sit also reflected (反映) the degree of one’s respect for the driver.
Although it is true that the relationship between driver and passenger is a business relationship, people still place an emphasis (强调) on respect and friendship beyond any monetary (金钱的) relationship.What’s the best title for the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)
____________________________________________Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
It seemed that the problem was no more than the seat.
____________________________________________Please fill in the blank in the second paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words)
____________________________________________What’s the culture of taking a taxi in the United States? (Please answer within 30 words.)
____________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
____________________________________________
Students and Technology in the Classroom
I love my blackberry—it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my laptop computer，as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. Despite this love of technology, I know that there are times when I need to move away from these devices(设备) and truly communicate with others.
On occasion, I teach a course called History Matters for a group of higher education managers. My goals for the class include a full discussion of historical themes and ideas. Because I want students to thoroughly study the material and exchange their ideas with each other in the classroom, I have a rule —no laptop, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule in advance of the class, some of them were not happy.
Most students assume that my reasons for this rule include unpleasant experiences in the past with students misusing technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. Some students assume that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. I love technology and try to keep up with it so I can relate to my students.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is that I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversions and truly engage complex ideas. Interruptions by technology often break concentration and allow for too much dependence on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep within themselves for inspiration and ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I’ve been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations reflect student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize that with deep conversation and challenge, they learn at a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I’m not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I’m sticking to my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.Some of the students in the history class were unhappy with____
| A．the course material | B．the author’s class regulations |
| C．discussion topics | D．others’ misuse of technology |
The underlined word “engage ”in para.4 probably means ____
| A．explore | B．accept | C．change | D．reject |
According to the author, the use of technology in the classroom may ____
| A．keep students from doing independent thinking |
| B．encourage students to have in-depth conversations |
| C．help students to better understand complex themes |
| D．affect students’ concentration on course evaluation |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the author ____
| A．is quite stubborn |
| B．will give up teaching history |
| C．values technology-free dialogues in his class |
| D．will change his teaching plan soon |
Ann Whimey, a sophomore(大学二年级学生) at Colorado State University, first had a problem taking tests when she began college. "I was always well prepared for my tests. Sometimes I studied for weeks before a test. Yet I would go to take the test, only to find I could not answer the questions correctly. I would blank out because of nervousness and fear. I couldn't think of the answer."
The young student was experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is uneasy about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the great nervousness. though poor scores are often a result of poor study habits, sometimes test anxiety causes low scores. Recently, test anxiety has been recognized as a real problem, not just an excuse or a false explanation of lazy students.
Special university counseling(咨询) courses try to help students. In these courses, counselors try to help students by teaching them how to manage test anxiety. At some universities, students take tests to measure their anxiety. If the test shows their anxiety is high, the students can take courses to help them deal with their nervousness. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work at ease, learn information, then come out without difficulty in a test.
An expert at the University of California explains, "With almost all students, relaxation is felt after taking our program. Most of them have better control during their test. Almost all have some improvements. For some, the improvement is very great.The title of the passage should be
| A．Tests at college |
| B．Anxiety and Tests |
| C．How to Get Rid of Anxiety |
| D．Counseling Courses Help Students |
According to this passage, we mainly find poor scores may result from
| A．laziness | B．sleeplessness |
| C．nervousness | D．poor study habits |
In order to get rid of test anxiety, students should
| A．take tests to measure their anxiety |
| B．take counseling courses to help themselves |
| C．let their minds work at ease |
| D．learn to control their nervousness |
According to the counselor at the University of California, the program is
| A．successful |
| B．ineffective |
| C．of great help to all |
| D．worth showing off |
I was being interviewed by a senior manager for a big company, I told him honestly that the principal reason that I was interviewing with them was my need to keep my family in Boston. My wife had recently died of a heart attack. A job in Boston would help me reduce some pain for my 16-year-old daughter and me. It was important to me to keep her present high school.
Bruce, the interviewer, was politely kind, but he didn’t search any further. He acknowledged(承认) my loss and, with great respect, moved on to another subject. After the next round of interviews, Bruce took me to lunch with another manager. Then he asked me to take a walk with him. He told me that he had lost his wife. And, like me, he had also been married 20 years and had 3 children. I realized that he had experienced the same pain as I had and it was almost impossible to explain to someone who had not lost a loved one. He offered his business card and home phone number and suggested that, should I need help or just want someone to talk to, I should feel free to give him a call. Whether I got the job or not, he wanted me to know that he was there if I ever needed help.
From that one act of kindness, when he had no idea if we could ever see each other again, he helped our family deal with one of life’s greatest losses. He turned the normally cold business interview process into an act of caring and supporting for another person in a time of extreme need.According to the passage, the interviewer, Bruce, was very _______.
| A．generous | B．kind | C．happy | D．mean |
The underlined word "principal" in the first paragraph probably means _____.
| A．main | B．unimportant | C．necessary | D．possible |
Which of the following statement is NOT true?
| A．The writer’s daughter was studying in Boston at that time. |
| B．Both the writer and the interviewer experienced the same pain. |
| C．Bruce was a senior manager of a big firm. |
| D．Bruce wanted to make friends with him because he gave him his business card and home phone number. |