Last week I talked with some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.
Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.
“Surgery(外科手术)”, one replied.
I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job.
One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it re-grows, you can get at least 5 cm taller!”
At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!
It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.
No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost.
In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career. We can know from the passage that the author works as ________.
| A．a doctor | B．a model |
| C．a teacher | D．a reporter |
Many graduates today turn to cosmetic s surgery to ________.
| A．marry a better man\woman |
| B．become a model |
| C．get an advantage over others in job-hunt |
| D．attract more admirers |
According to the passage, the author believes that ________.
| A．everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost |
| B．it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs |
| C．it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career |
| D．media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery |
The best title for the passage should be “________”.
| A．Young Graduates Have Higher Expectation |
| B．Young Graduates Look to Surgery for Better Jobs |
| C．Young Graduates’ Opinion About Cosmetic Surgery |
| D．Young Graduates Face a Different Situation in Job-hunt |
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband, Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in the strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
| A．Go shopping | B． Join his family |
| C．Find a house | D．Take a vacation |
The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______.
| A．a friend of his family | B．a letter in his papers |
| C．a Sydney policeman | D．a stranger in Sydney |
What does the underlined word “restored” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Showed | B．Sent out |
| C．Gave back | D．Delivered |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．From India to Australia. | B．Living in a New Country. |
| C．In Search of New Friends. | D．Turning Trash to Treasure.（财富） |
Who found the pile of papers?
| A．the author himself | B．the young daughter |
| C．the author’s wife | D．the parents of the strangers |
A large number of women in Western European countries wish that they were born men. The number is said as high as 60% in West Germany.
“Women often wish that they had the same chance as men have, and believe it is still men’s world,” said Dr James Holden, one of the scientists who did the study.
Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company. She also believes in “Women’ s Liberation(解放)”.
“I don’t wish that I were a man,” she says, “and I don’t think many women do. But I do wish that people would stop looking down upon us women. At work, for example, we often do the work that men do but get paid less. There are still a lot of jobs that are usually the best ones and open only to men. If you’re a man, you have a much better chance of leading an exciting life. How many women pilots are there ... or engineers or scientists?”What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．60% women in West Germany wish that they were born men. |
| B．Most women in Western European countries wish that their babies were all boys. |
| C．60% Western European women wish that they were born men. |
| D．60% Western European women who wish that they were born men are from West Germany. |
“It is still men’s world.” means “______.”
| A．There’re more men than women in the world |
| B．There’re more men scientists or engineers than women scientists or engineers in the world |
| C．Women have not been given the same chance as men |
| D．Women cannot live without men |
Anne Harper considers that women should ______.
| A．be well paid | B．live a better life than men |
| C．be really liberated | D．get better jobs than men |
Anne Harper doesn’t wish that she were a man because she ______.
| A．has got a very good job |
| B．isn’t looked down upon by anyone |
| C．does the work that a man can’t do |
| D．believes in “Women’s Liberation” |
Which is not true about Anne Harper?
| A．Anne Harper has a very good job for an international oil company |
| B．she is one of the scientists who did the study. |
| C．She believes in “Women’ s Liberation.” |
| D．She doesn’t want to be a man. |
For Children
Museum: Children’s Museum, Sundays, 89 North Street, 67641235
Story time: Children’s Library, 106 Green Street, Wednesdays during 9:30 a.m -5:00p.m. 66599624
Sports: Soccer Club, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 16 Yangtze Road, 96725643
Basketball Club, Wednesdays and Fridays, 79071632
Cinema: New films for children, 99 Brick Road, 69001354
Useful Phone Numbers
Fast Food Restaurant: 66387901
Hospital: 68787451
Visitor Information Center: 800-120-9847
Taxi: 79210583
Visitor Hotel Information: 800-739-7302It’s Friday afternoon，you can go to _______ .
| A．visit the museum | B．play soccer |
| C．read children’s stories | D．play basketball |
If children want to watch new films，they should go to ________.
| A．16 Yangtze Road | B．99 Brick Road |
| C．106 Green Street | D．89 North Main Street |
If you dial 66387901，you can __________.
| A．order fast food in a restaurant |
| B．do some shopping |
| C．have a good story time |
| D．ask for some hotel information |
Lily’s father is ill．She should dial ________.
| A．800-120-9847 | B．79210583 | C．6878745l | D．96725643 |
You can not get any information about ________ from the two notices．
| A．looking for a hotel | B．eating fast food |
| C．doing eye exercises | D．taking a taxi |
Yoga(瑜伽) is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I practice hatha yoga at least twice a week, but consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga — you live it.
Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one asana-or pose-to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat, and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. "Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone," says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K. I. S. S. Guide to Yoga. "Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to control weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles length-wise, causing fat to be eliminated around the cells, thus reducing cellulite(皮下脂肪团) . "
Do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.
Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist's chair, and when I'm stuck in traffic.
You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time "fighting" yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you "surrender" (放弃） to the pose by letting go of the tension.From the passage we know that _______.
| A．not all the people are fit to do yoga |
| B．yoga is part of everyone's life |
| C．yoga does good for our health |
| D．yoga has a short history |
According to the third paragraph, yoga can help ________.
| A．a person who wants a good job |
| B．a person who wants to lose weight |
| C．a person who wants to travel |
| D．a person who wants to make friends |
What will be talked about following this passage?
| A．Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. |
| B．Yoga becomes popular all over the world. |
| C．The disadvantages of yoga. |
| D．Encouraging people to do yoga. |
What's the best title of this passage?
| A．What's Yoga? |
| B．How Do I. Do Yoga Poses? |
| C．The Benefits of Yoga |
| D．The Varieties of Yoga |
A cancer-stricken British teenage said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online "Bucket List" of things she wanted to do before dying.
Alice Pyne, 15, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. "I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one," she wrote.
For her list, at the site www.alicepyne.blogspot.com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor(骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting the boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer.
Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked-about subjects on Twitter.
"Oh, dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends！" she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. "Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me."
Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register.What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her "Bucket List?
| A．People around the world sent messages to support her. |
| B．People sent gifts to her from all over the world. |
| C．A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her. |
| D．The media called on people to help her. |
Alice Pyne wrote her "Bucket List" to ____________.
| A．catch people's attention |
| B．say goodbye to a few friends |
| C．give comfort to two terminally ill men |
| D．express her last few wishes |
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne _______.
| A．is unaware of her own conditions |
| B．is very sad to know that she will die |
| C．is calm to know that death is approaching |
| D．is still quite confident in fighting against cancer |
Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's "Bucket List"?
| A．To ask people to donate bone marrow. |
| B．To get a cool computer. |
| C．To swim with sharks. |
| D．To meet a boy. |
"Take That" will arrange to _____
| A．meetPyne in person |
| B．helpPyne in any possible way |
| C．donate money to Pyne |
| D．invitePyne to join the band |