Bad news travels fast – when you watch the evening news or read the morning papers, it seems that things that get the most coverage are all sad events or situations like wars, earthquakes, floods, fires and murders.
This is the classic rule for mass media (大众传媒). ―They want your eyeballs and don’t care how you’re feeling,‖ Jonah Berger, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, US, told The New York Times.
But with social media getting more and more popular, information is now being spread in different ways, and researchers are discovering new rules – good news can actually spread faster and farther than bad accidents and other sad stories.
Berger and his colleague Katherine Milkman looked at thousands of articles on The New York Times’ website and analyzed (分析) the ―most e-mailed‖ list for six months.
One of his findings was that articles in the science part were much more likely to make the list. Those science stories waked up feelings of awe (敬畏) and made the readers want to share this positive emotion with others.
Besides science stories, readers were also found to be likely to share articles that were exciting or funny. “The more positive an article was, the more likely it was to be shared,”Berger wrote in his new book. “For example, stories about newcomers falling in love with New York City,” he writes, “seemed to be shared more than the death of a popular zookeeper.”
But does all this good news actually make the readers feel better? Not necessarily.
According to a study by researchers at Harvard University, people are more likely to say more positive things about themselves when they’re talking to a bigger audience, rather than just one person, which helps explain all the perfect vacations that keep showing up on micro blogs. This, researchers found, makes people think that life is unfair and that they’re less happy than their friends.
But no worries. There’s a quick and easy way to take the despair from you that you get from viewing other people’s seemingly perfect lives – turn on the television and watch the news. There is always someone doing worse than you are.
1. In Berger’s opinion, bad news covers most papers because ______.
A. the public cares for reading sad events
B. mass media wants to attract the public’s attention
C. the public tries to share positive feelings with each other
D. mass media wants the public to help those unlucky people
2.Which of the following might be e-mailed most according to Berger?
A. The perfect vacation of your friend.
B. The death of a popular zookeeper.
C. The story of a creative scientist.
D. The flood hitting a small town.
3.We can infer from the passage that ______.
A. bad news always makes people sad
B. good news sometimes has negative influence
C. people can remove despair by reading good news
D. people prefer to share bad news with a bigger audience
4. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Good News Spreads Fast
B. The Power of Good News
C. The Effect of Bad News
D. Bad News Travels Fast
One of the most common forms of public speaking is the ―presentation‖. A presentation is one of the best ways of communicating your message. This article will give you seven of the most important areas to consider when giving any presentation.
◆Preparation Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Good preparation is very important for any presentation. With good preparation and planning you will be fully confident. This will give you control. With control, you will be ―in charge‖ and your audience (听众) will listen positively to your message.
◆Structure A good presentation has a clear structure, like a good book or film. It usually has a beginning, a middle part and an end.
◆Equipment You may use any of the following pieces of equipment as you want: whiteboard, flipchart, overhead projector, 35 mm slide projector and computer graphics.
Each of these has advantages and disadvantages. The important thing is to know and understand your equipment perfectly, and then you can use it freely and properly.
◆Visual Aids ―A picture is worth 1,000 words.‖ There are many types of visual aids (直观教具) – photographs, maps, tables etc. But you should use them with care. Do not overload your audience with too much information in a short time. A good rule is: use one image to give one message.
◆Signposting When you read a book, you know where you are. You know the title of the book, the end of one chapter, and even the page number. But when you give a presentation, your audience does not know where they are – unless you TELL them! You can use special language called ―signaling‖ or ―signposting‖ to help you. Here are a few examples: Let’s begin by...; Now we’ll move on to...; To start with...later...; To finish up....
◆Audience Relations You need a warm and friendly relationship with your audience. How do you achieve this? Well, enthusiasm is contagious. If you are enthusiastic (热情的), your audience will be enthusiastic too. Try to make eye contact with each member of your audience. Each person should feel that you are speaking to him or her personally.
◆Body Language Your BODY speaks to your audience even before you open your mouth. From your clothes, walk, glasses, haircut and your expression, your listeners form their first impression as you enter the room.
1. How will you be fully confident in a presentation according to the passage?
A. With necessary equipment.
B. With enough visual aids.
C. With proper body language.
D. With careful preparation.
2.The writer may agree that signposting can help ______.
A. speakers to be more enthusiastic
B. the audience catch up with speakers
C. the audience form the first impression
D. speakers avoid using equipment improperly
3. What does the underlined word ―contagious‖ in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Highly praised. B. Deeply hidden.
C. Clearly expressed. D. Easily spread.
For centuries, the body’s blood has been connected closely with the feelings. People who show no human emotions or feelings are said to be cold-blooded.
Cold can affect other parts of the body. But the expression ―get cold feet‖ has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you have decided to do. For example, you agree to be CEO of a company. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned (辞职), and all the work of the company will be your responsibility (责任). You are likely to get cold feet about being CEO when you understand the situation.
The expression “give someone the cold shoulder” probably comes from the physical act of turning your back toward someone, instead of speaking to him face to face. You may give the cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise (遵守诺言) he made to you, or to someone who has lied about you to others.
“A cold fish”is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and shows no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone. Someone who is a cold fish could be cold-hearted. He or she will never feel sorry for those in bad situation.
“Out in the cold” means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise—he was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.
1. How many expressions about ―cold‖ are mentioned in the passage?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Seven.
2. If you ―get cold feet‖, it means “ ______”
A. your feet are very cold
B. you offer much of yourself to anyone
C. you miss something that everybody else got
D. you are afraid to do something you have decided to do
3.You may think of an unfriendly person as “ ______”
A. a cold fish B. the cold feet
C. the cold shoulder D. being out in the cold
4. What’s the passage mainly about?
A. Ways of making friends.
B. Advice on keeping warm.
C. Expressions connected with ―cold‖.
D. Opinions about cold-hearted people.
阅读下面的短文，根据短文内容，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项。
1.You can go to ______ to have guitar lessons.
A. Magellan Books B. Island Language School
C. Youth Volunteers D. Kowloon Community Centre
2.Life Line is a hotline to help ______.
A. feed the homeless
B. read to the elderly
C. check out travel books
D. deal with teenagers’ problems
3.Magellan Books is ______.
A. next to the language school
B. at 88 Queen’s Road Central
C. at 232, Cityplaza, Tai Koo Shing
D. on the left side of Youth Volunteers
4. You can call ______ to join Youth Volunteers.
A. 29553000 B. 31810000 C. 27886388 D. 27882200
完形填空，阅读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳选项。
She had been shopping with her Mom in Wal-Mart. She must have been 6 years old. It was raining hard outside. We all stood there, just inside the door of the Wal-Mart. We all waited.
Her voice was sweet as it _____ the daydream we were all caught in. ―Mom, let’s run through the rain.‖ She said.
―What?‖ Mom asked.
―Let’s run through the rain!‖ She repeated.
―No, honey. We’ll wait _____ it slows down a bit.‖ Mom replied.
This young child waited about another minute and repeated, ―Mom, let’s run through the rain.‖ ―We’ll get_____ if we do.‖ Mom said.
―No, we won’t, Mom. That’s not what you said this morning.‖ the young girl said as she held her Mom’s arm.
―This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?‖
―Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer (癌症), you said, if God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!‖
We all stood dead silent. I promise you couldn’t _____ anything but the rain. No one came or left in the next few minutes. Mom thought for a moment about what she could say.
Now some would laugh at the girl for her being silly. Some might even fail to notice what was said. But this was a_____ of importance in a young child’s lifetime when trust can be cared for, it will grow into faith (信念). ―Honey, you are right. Let’s run through the rain. If get wet, well maybe we just need washing.‖ Mom said. Then off they _____ .
We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they rushed past the cars. They held their shopping bags over their heads. They got wet. But they were_____ by a few who laughed like children all the way to their cars. And yes, I _____ . I ran. I got wet. I needed washing. Sometimes your money can be taken away, and your health can be taken away. But no one can_____ take away your precious memories. So, don’t forget to make time and take the chances to make _____ every day!
To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.
1.A. hit B. broke C. built D. described
2.A. since B. so C. until D. for
3.A. funny B. wet C. sick D. hurt
4.A. smell B. touch C. taste D. hear
5.A. condition B. behavior C. step D. moment
6.A. jumped B. took C. ran D. got
7.A. followed B. criticized C. changed D. recognized
8.A. realized B. accepted C. reviewed D. did
9.A. ever B. yet C. never D. almost
10.A. suggestions B. memories C. friends D. Introductions
I have to start off early every day ______ I can catch the train.
A. unless B. since C. as soon as D. so that
