Do you know your neighbors? Do you often talk with them? Good neighbors are just like our friends and relatives. They are the important people in our lives. They make our lives more pleasant and give us a sense of who we are, both as an individual and as a member of the community. Here’s how to develop your relationships with these very important people in your life.
Start a conversation. Often neighbors don’t even know each other’s names. However most neighbors enjoy making small talk with each other in their community. You can ask how their kids are or what they think of the prices at the supermarket. But the best way to break the ice is to smile, wave, and say hello to your neighbors.
Be friendly to the newcomers. Your new neighbors may be feeling lonely, especially if they’re far from home, and might expect a friendly face. If they have kids, tell them where the children play in the neighborhood. Introduce the best places to eat and shop. Invite them over for coffee or tea, give them your phone number, and point to your house as you say good-bye.
Develop better relationships. Return anything that you borrow from a neighbor, such as tools, in good repair and as soon as you’ve finished with them. Make sure that your car is not blocking their doorway. Such small actions will help you build up a good relationship with your neighbors.
Make time for your friendship. If you value a friendship with your neighbors, spend time with them. Why not invite them to a barbecue or weekend party? You can write a card to invite them to your party. Then, you can make a call to them ahead. In this way, you will know what your neighbors like. You can plan for proper food and music.
Care about the details. In a good relationship, it’s really the little things that count. When your neighbors carry a lot of things, you can give them a hand. Help to bring in the mail for the elderly neighbor when it rains. If you care about them, they will give you a surprise, too. The respect for your neighbors' feelings can develop your relationship with them.
1.Are good neighbors important people in your life?
2.What is the best way to break the ice when you meet your neighbors?
3.To show your friendship, what should you do if your new neighbors have kids?
4.Why do you make a call to your neighbors before the party?
5.What is the passage mainly about ?
How to Improve Your Memory
Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex (复杂的) part of his body—the brain.It may be surprising to learn that it isn’t age that makes you lose your memory. The reason could be that you have a “lazy” memory, not an old one. Like your body, your memory improves with exercise. Once given plenty of exercise, the brain keeps its power. Before discussing how to improve the memory, let’s look at how the brain works. There are two sides to the brain, the left and the right. The right side deals with senses (what we see, hear, feel and smell). It’s the creative and imaginative side. The left side is related to logical (逻辑的) thinking, which analyzes (分析) information and puts it in order.Some recent research suggests that we remember everything that happens to us. The problem most of us have is recalling (回忆) events. Most forgetting takes place immediately after learning. An hour after learning something new, more than 50% has been forgotten. After a month, 80% has been forgotten, and so on.
This research is very important. It shows if you review new material you have learnt, you remember much more. So it’s of the greatest importance to review newly learned material often, and have breaks often. You best remember what you learn at the beginning of a learning period and at the point where we stop. After the break, review what was learned before the break and then continue learning the new material. These breaks should happen every 20 or 45 minutes.
Other experiments have shown the brain needs time to take in what has been learned. The time necessary for this is 5 to 10 minutes. After the break, the memory will have taken in what it has just learned, and more will be remembered. During this period it is important to exercise the right side of the brain, because the left side is used during the learning period. Therefore you should relax. Listening to music, breathing in fresh air, and looking at a picture are all ways of using the other side of the brain. So when you are studying alone, make a plan which shows when to have breaks and to review newly learned material immediately before you begin studying again. If you do in this way, your memory will improve.
1.To fight forgetting better, we’re advised to ______.
A.break down materials into small prices
B.use two sides of the brain together
C.make proper use of our senses
D.go over what was learned often
2.During the learning process the brain needs breaks to ______.
A.use the right side of the brain
B.review newly learnt materials
C.take in what has been learnt
D.relax the left side of the brain
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Old age makes people lose their memory and forget the past.
B.People can remember 20% an hour after learning something new.
C.Listening to music is the best way to use the left side of the brain.
D.Memory works best at the beginning and the end of a learning period.
Think Before Keeping Pets
More and more people like to keep pets. In their eyes keeping pets has many advantages. It can teach people a sense of responsibility. What’s more, it can drive away the loneliness. It can also reduce people’s stress. But I’d like to voice different opinions.
A recent survey in the United States showed that the common family spent more money on its pets than on its children. Although to some degree unbelievable, it should not surprise anyone who has seen the doggy parlors (客厅) where loved pets rest. Are Americans different from others in treating their little friends in this way? No, the English, too, pay more attention to their pets.
This can clearly be seen when we look at pet foods, which often provide more vitamins (维生素) than human food. They certainly cost much. Last year the British public spent two hundred million pounds on pet food alone, to say nothing of medical bills or animal furniture (家具). It is difficult to feel happy about this when considering what that money could do for the hungry and the poor, so it is not unusual for me to get hot under collar when I read an old man left all his money to his dog instead of his children.
There are some reasons why I find pet-raising worrying. They lead to physical problems. An example of this is New York where it is difficult to deal with the mess that dogs leave on the streets. Many people find this funny, but in a number of large cities it is a big problem. Animals can cause illness, too.
Another problem is the carelessness of pet owners. Most little children want a dog or a cat, and they continually push their mothers and fathers until they get one. It is only when the “sweet little thing” has been brought home that the parents realize how much time and money must be spent on “Rover” or “Bonzo”. Then they just leave the pets they keep. As a result, they are allowed to run free. English farmers lose hundreds of sheep a year, killed by someone’s pet and you must have read of children being hurt by some pets of their own.
So please have a second thought before you keep a pet.
1.According to the passage, keeping pets have many advantages except ______.
A.reducing the stress
B.driving away the loneliness
C.being good for the environment
D.teaching a sense of responsibility
2.The doggy parlors are mentioned in the 3rd paragraph to show ______.
A.how much money pet owners spend on pets
B.how much pets depend on their owners
C.why children love their pets so much
D.where Americans keep their pets
3.In the 4th paragraph “get hot under the collar” probably means ______.
A.staying cool
B.feeling very angry
C.becoming excited
D.getting quite satisfied
4.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A.Pets can do harm to people’s health.
B.The writer thinks it is good to keep pets.
C.Pet owners can take good care of their pets all the time.
D.Americans spend more money on their children than on pets.
Ted's Dream to Fly
Ted Brown's dream as a child was an unusual one: he wanted to fly. What was more unusual was the way in which he made his dream come true.After high school, he wanted to join the U.S. Air Force but he failed because of his poor eyesight. However, his dream remained.At the age of 33,Ted was a truck driver in Los Angeles. One day, while siting outside in his garden, he watched planes fly overhead and an idea came to him: to useballoons to fly.
A few weeks later, Ted bought 42 huge balloons. He tied them to a chair and then he sat down in the chair with some beer, sandwiches and a gun. His plan was to fly to 10 meters above his garden, enjoy a few hours in the air, and then shoot some balloons with his gun to get back down. But things did not go as he planned.
Once his fiends cut the ropes under Ted's chair, the 42 balloons flew into the sky at an astonishing speed until about 4000 meters above the ground with Ted and his chair. He didn’t shoot any of the balloons because he was afraid he might break the balance of his plane. Ted stayed in the sky with his beer and sandwiches for 14 hours, cold and frightened.
Planes heading towards Los Angeles’ busy international airport reported the strange sight. And Ted's balloons caused great danger to them. At last, Ted gathered his courage to shoot a few balloons and slowly landed on the ground, where many policemen were waiting for him.
Ted made his dream come true, but it cost him: he was fined $ 1,500 for breaking the law about air safety. When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Ted answered, “A man can't just sit around and do nothing, he should have his dream and go for it.”
1.Why couldn't Ted join the American Air Force?7
A.Because he was too short.
B.Because his parents stopped him.
C.Because he didn't finish high school.
D.Because there was problem with his eyes.
2.He was fined $ 1,500 because ______.
A.he took a gun with him
B.he used too many balloons
C.he stayed too long in the air
D.his balloons caused trouble to planes
3.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Ted Brown paid the price for his behavior.
B.Ted Brown realized his dream in an unusual way.
C.Encouragement is very important to one's success.
D.Ted Brown became famous because he set a new flying record.
South China Mall Shopping Coupons(优惠券）
Six Hours free parking
If you spend ￥100 or more in our stores, you will receive six hours of free parking. Take this coupon to the service desk on the fourth floor to stamp(盖章)!
Buy one, get one free
Buy one shirt or tie at Daniel's Menswear, and get another shirt or tie of the same value free. Hurry! Offer ends November 14.Offer limited to one per customer.
Win a ￥1,000 CD Collection
Win your choice of ￥1,000 worth of CDs from DJ Music Store. Just buy any two CDs and your name will go into the competition. Choose your own prize from our many kinds of rock, pop, jazz, and classical music.
10% Off
Show this coupon at the Book Store to get a 10% off on any books you buy. We have lots of books to choose from, including children's books, novels and travel guides. You're sure to find something that you will enjoy.
Free soft drink
Buy any meal for at least ￥50 at Mike's Cafe, and receive a free soft drink. We serve the best hamburgers and snacks in the mall. Come in and try our delicious meals and our excellent service. You won't be disappointed!
Half-price movie tickets
Buy any full-price movie ticket on Tuesday or Wednesday, and you can buy a second ticket for a friend for only a half price. The latest movies are all here.
1.If you spend ￥100 or more in the store, you can get ______.
A.a free shirt B.a free stamp
C.a free book D.a coupon of free parking
2.If you go to the Book Store, you can choose ______.
A.shirts B.meals C.Children's books D.movie tickets
3.Linda wants to have a free soft drink, she can go to ______.
A.Mike's Cafe B.Daniel's Menswear
C.the Books Store D.DJ Music Store
As a young man, Al was a skilled artist, He had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son developed a severe stomachache. Thinking it was only some common intestinal(肠内的)disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously. But the boy _______suddenly that night.
Knowing the death could have been _______if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation, Al's emotional health became worse under the huge burden of his guilt. To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol. In time Al became an alcoholic.
As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed—his home, his land, his art objects, everything. Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.
When I heard of Al's death, I thought that AI's life was a complete _______.As time went by, I began to re-evaluate(重新评价)my earlier judgment. I knew Ai's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I _______Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
I hadn’t heard Ernie talk much about his father. One day I worked up my _______to ask him. "I’m really _______by something, "I said." I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do to make you become such a special person?"
Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, "From my earliest _______as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, I love you, son."
Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to _______Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind, But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest, most giving men I have ever known.
1.A.choked B.died C.starved D.worsened
2.A.cured B.saved C.forbidden D.prevented
3.A.failure B.hardship C.trouble D.waste
4.A.identified B.watched C.catered D.treated
5.A.belief B.confidence C.courage D.faith
6.A.puzzled B.worried C.interested D.attracted
7.A.thoughts B.ideas C.minds D.memories
8.A.treat B.call C.judge D.feel
