Don’t be surprised if you see a group of people dancing or shouting on the square. They are a flash mob (快闪族). Confused by their name? Actually, a flash mob, organized with the help of the Internet or other digital communications networks, is a group of people who gather suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a period of time, such as exchanging books, coming together to look at the sky, waving their hands and shouting something at the top of their lungs for 30 seconds, and then quickly disappear before the police can arrive.
Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine, organized the first flash mob in Manhattan in May 2003 and the first successful flash mob gathered on June 3, 2003 at Macy’s department store involving 100 people gathering on Macy’s Department Store. Following this, about 200 people flooded the lobby of the Hyatt hotel, applauding in one voice for fifteen seconds, and next participants pretending to be tourists on a trip invaded a shoe shop in Soho. A later mob saw hundreds of people in Central Park making bird noises.
Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to tease hipsters (追逐时尚的人), and highlight the cultural atmosphere of agreement and of being part of “the next big thing”. Many web logs, chat rooms and Web groups are devoted to the craze. Though flash mobs were originally regarded as useless, the concept has already developed for the benefit of political and social events. Flash mobbing takes advantage of the efficiency of communicating information on Websites and by email, and protesters can similarly use the “on and off” concept to be involved in political events. Such flash mob gatherings can sometimes shock or frighten people who are not aware of what is taking place. They also have enormous economic potential, such as using flash mobs to advertise a product.
The flash mob is now becoming more and more popular. People use it to do many things. For example, in 2009, hundreds of Michael Jackson’s fans took part in a flash mob to remember him, gathering outside the railway station in Liverpool, singing and dancing Michael’s famous song, beat it together. In another example, some people took part in a flash mob to warn people against negative words. Flash mobs give people from all walks of life an opportunity to come together to create a memory.
A flash mob is most likely to .
A.give out leaflets of a brand bicycle to the passers-by |
B.gather in public places performing and leave quickly |
C.plan to go mountaineering on the first day of Horse Year |
D.sit for days in front of the city hall for higher wages |
According to the passage, what contribute(s) most to the popularity of the flash mob?
A.Harper’s Magazine | B.the government |
C.political events | D.digital networks |
The purpose of the writing is .
A.to amuse and interest | B.to argue and advise |
C.to describe and introduce | D.to question and comment |
The words “timetable” and “schedule” make most final year students want to eat their own vomit. Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that final year students must develop a timetable. If you don’t have a schedule or plan for studying, you will have no way of allocating your valuable time when the unexpected arises. A well-thought-out timetable can be a lifesaver. It is up to you to learn how to develop a schedule that meets your needs. Change it if necessary, but most important, follow it . All timetables should be made with the idea that they can be changed. A good one will keep you from wandering off course.
A good timetable should make every hour count—every class ,social event and other activity you engage in .You must focus on the other “free time” available and how you will use it .Make a weekly schedule and divided each day into one-hour increments. Indicate times for classes, socializing, and work time. Also block off a period for sleeping every day. In the precious hours left over, plan time for study. This gives you a rough road map of the time available. Of course, you can change your schedule as circumstances need.
The timetable you develop should guide you in how to distribute the available time in the most productive manner. Sticking to your schedule can be tough, but don’t dribble away valuable time. Avoiding study is the easiest thing in the world. It is up to you to follow the schedule you’ve prepared. A good deal of your success in high school and with any future study depends on this simple truth.
Remember, there is a learning curve. You learn the most in the first 30 minutes of study; after that, it progressively deteriorates. After four or five hours of studying the same material in the same way, you are learning virtually nothing. The solution is to keep switching subjects and study styles.What is the best title of the passage?
A.Advantages of starting a timetable |
B.Keep to it, and you will succeed |
C.Make a schedule, and follow it |
D.Learn to love your timetable |
What does Paragraph 2 talk about?
A.Tips for making a schedule. |
B.Significance of a scientific timetable. |
C.Requirements for making a timetable. |
D.Importance of following one’s schedule. |
The following are characteristics of a good timetable EXCEPT that.
A.it can be changed | B.it is flexible |
C.it is of many periods | D.it can save our time |
From this passage, we can learn if we wish to achieve high learning efficiency, we’d better.
A.shift subjects and use different methods regularly |
B.devote to the same material continuously |
C.turn to teachers for help if necessary |
D.have a break every thirty minutes |
You feel happiest when you create a healthy balance between giving and receiving. If you give and give without making time to fill your own needs, then it’s likely you will burn out, or feel upset .When you take and take without giving anything back, you never feel fulfilled, so you are always searching for ways to fill the void in your life.
The way to create a healthy balance between giving and receiving is to know and then live by your values. I break values up into two groups which I call being and having values. Your being values are the character traits of the ideal person you would like to be. I suggest to my clients that they choose three being values that they are willing to make a commitment to live by. An example of some being values are: kind, loving, generous, inspirational, peaceful, wise and even powerful. By acting on these values you give to others through your actions and you inspire others by being a positive role model. Mastering being these character traits becomes your life purpose.
Your having values are the feelings you need to create in order to be happy. These could be companionship, achievement, support, being valued or financial security. This is what you receive. You take responsibility for filling your own needs by taking steps to create these feelings and conditions in your life.
When you make a commitment to live by your being values, it becomes easier to make conscious choices rather than reactionary ones. If your usual pattern is to talk about your problems, you could choose to think and act like a calm person. A calm person might go for a walk, meditate, or set a time limit before responding. If your usual pattern is to worry, you could choose to act like a responsible or wise person. In other words, you would act like the person you choose to be—this is the key to personal power.
When you choose to act on your values, you not only feel good about yourself, you reinforce your chosen beliefs. Over time acting in this way changes how you see the world, and in turn the way other people think of you.The main purpose of this passage is to.
A.persuade the readers to make a commitment |
B.explain to the readers what personal values are |
C.inform the readers how to be truly happy |
D.instruct the readers how to make wise choices |
According to the text, living by your being values, you would.
A.gain a lot of power | B.form positive personality |
C.seek all human virtues | D.fill your own needs |
The underlined word “void” in Paragraph 1 means.
A.a feeling of emptiness | B.an absence of one’s mind |
C.a break of continuity | D.a state of confusion |
What can be inferred from the text?
A.Having values are better than being values. |
B.A calm person does not choose to complain. |
C.The way other people think of you decides who you are. |
D.A responsible person does not care about financial security. |
My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked,“Who broke this window?” Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done,but also what our teacher may have found out.She seldom became angry,but she was this time.
“Oh,” I thought.I was the one who broke the window.It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball.If I admitted guilt,I would be in a lot of trouble.How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is going to have a fit,”I thought.I didn’t want to raise my hand,but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward.I told the truth. “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had.
My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student,but I feared she was going to start with me. “I know how you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face.“Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now.It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway.You will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.” I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide--the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.
All that remains of that day is my memory and the lesson my teacher taught me. That lesson stays with me every day and it will echo forever.Fromthestory,wecanlearnthattheboy.
A.didn’tbreakthewindowonpurpose. |
B.lackedthestrengthtoadmithisguilt. |
C.triedtothinkaboutwhathehaddone. |
D.didn’tknowwhattheteacherwouldfindout. |
Iftheboyadmittedguilt,hethoughthewouldNOT .
A.bepunishedbytheteacher | B.makehisfatherangry |
C.payforthebrokenwindow | D.getabirdfieldguide |
Whichofthefollowingbestdescribesthechangesintheboy’sfeelings?
A.Afraid-Surprised-Thankful | B.Frightened-Amazed-Proud. |
C.Regretful-Guilty-Excited. | D.Nervous-Afraid-Satisfied. |
Read the following passage and choose the most suitable heading from A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.
A. Promise behaviors B. Attitude beats experience C. Job-winning qualities D. Employer and employee relation E. Stable career choices F. Importance of teamwork skills |
Despite the economy, experts advise students to major in what interests them.
Aware of the worst job market in more than 25 years, many students enrolling in colleges and universities this fall are considering majors that they believe will land them stable career.
Students with degrees in nursing, health care, accounting, computer, general science and engineering report the most success in finding jobs. Those with degrees in finance, journalism, graphic design, and international relations have had tougher times, liberal arts graduates also struggle.
Still career experts say students should major in whatever area most interests them, even if it’s a less specialized liberal arts field, such as Chinese and or sociology. In a national survey, communication, followed closely by a strong work ethic and team work skills, was rated at the most important qualities sought by employers. “Liberal arts teaches us how to learn. When we go out into the world of work, we are going to have to continue to learn,” said Dan Naegeli, director of the university of North Texas career center.
Texas Health Resources uses a wide range of workers at its 14 hospitals and other sites. The 18,000 employees company hires about 2000 people a year. It looks for candidates with “promise (有前途的) behaviors,” human resource director Justin Clem said.
“The resume is great… Education is wonderful,” Clem said. “But when we interview, we really want to look at situations they were put into the past, what actions they took, and what were the results. Do these results really support treating other people with courtesy dignity and respect? And communicating clearly and earning people’s trust? And thinking before they act?”
The company also looks for people who have record of providing service, said Janaelle Nowne, vice president of human resource. If a student mowed lawns or worked at a fast-food restaurant, she said, “ the things that we would want to hear is how you attended to providing service to people that you were working with and how you were attending to the quality of the products that you have. ”
“Experience is always helpful, but it is not always the guarantee that person is going to get the job,” she added. “We look at the behaviors and the attitude they bring in and their willingness to be a part of the team.”
Lockheed Martin has all sorts of jobs in all sorts of fields. One of the skills recruiters consider is the ability to work in teams.
“Most of what we do is problem solving, and you get people with different kinds of skills together to solve the problem,” said Norman Robbins, senior manager community relations. “If you are real bright but you can’t get along with anybody, you’re not going to be as successful as you will be if you can work in teams.”
The rising costs of health care have become a problem for many countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is recommended that a big part of the government's health budget be used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually, many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example, people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so, and have to spend money seeing a doctor.
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankrupt if the patients had taken measures for early prevention. For instance, keeping a balanced diet, such as not consuming too much animal fat and insuring a steady intake of vegetables and fruits, seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular exercise, which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise, such as running, walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better or reduce stress.
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people's health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one's family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problems among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, which will work before it is too late.
However, stressing disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all, prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and education.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.Prevention or Education? | B.Prevention or Treatment? |
C.Health or Illness? | D.Exercise or Illness? |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “bankrupt’’?
A.Unable to be cured | B.Unable to pay one’s debts |
C.Stronger than ever before | D.More successful than ever before |
We learn from the passage that.
A.dressing warmly can prevent diseases |
B.a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise |
C.the more health education, the better |
D.the government’s health budget should be increased |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
CP (Central Point) P (Point) Sp (Sub-point次要点) C (Conclusion)