Don’t complain in the NBA
The NBA has a new rule this season. It’s called “zero tolerance”. NBA referees are not letting players complain too long or too loudly about a referee’s call. A player who does can be given a technical foul (犯规). Two technical fouls, and the player is out of the game.
The players don’t like the new rule and want the NBA to change it. They think it’s only natural to get angry during a close, hard-fought game if a call goes against you.
But I like the “zero tolerance” rule and wish other sports would follow the NBA’s example. Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable if football, soccer and tennis players stopped arguing the calls and just played the game?
The biggest reason I like the new rule is that it sets a good example to younger players. When kids see stars such as Rasheed Wallace of the Detroit Pistons shouting at the referees and arguing every call, they think it’s part of the game. But shouting at referees and arguing calls 
should never be part of any kid’s games. Kids should be taught to forget about the referees’ calls and pay attention to improving their skills and play their best.
All players need to learn that you control only one thing in a game, and that’s your own performance. You can’t control what the other players or trainers do. And you certainly can’t control the calls the referees make.
Finally, everyone from NBA all-stars to 8-year-olds should remember that being a basketball referee is a hard job. The referee has to make dozens of sudden calls. No hesitation. No second chances. Not even the best referee gets every call right.
Maybe if the players, trainers and fans who shout at the referees had to wear a whistle and call a few games, there wouldn’t be as many complaints about the “zero tolerance” rule.
The new rule | The players are not 1. to complain too much about a referee’s call, otherwise he might be2. out of the court. |
The 3. opinion | They dislike the new rule and wish it to be4. . |
They think it’s natural for them to get angry during a close game if there is a call 5. against them. | |
The writer’s opinion | He likes the “zero-tolerance” rule and wishes it to be followed by other sports and it would be more enjoyable if players6. arguing the calls. |
The new rule does7. a good example to younger players. | |
Shouting at referees and arguing calls shouldn’t be part of any kid’s games and kids should pay attention to 8. their skills and play their best. | |
All players can control nothing else except their own9. . | |
Everyone should keep in mind that it’s10. to be a basketball judge. |
They were going to Fort Lauderdale — three boys and three girls — and when they boarded the bus, they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags, dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the gray, cold spring of New York w
ent behind them.
As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice Vingo. He sat in front of them, completely in silence.
Deep into the night, outside Washington, the bus pulled into Howard Johnson’s, and everybody got off except Vingo. The young people began to wonder about him. When they went back to the bus, one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.
“Want some wine?” she said. He smiled and took a swig from the bottle. He thanked her and became silent again. After a while, she went back to the others, and Vingo nodded in sleep.
In the morning, they awoke outside another Howard Johnson’s, and this time Vingo went in. The girl insisted that he join them. He ordered black coffee and some cookies as the young people talked about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again, and after a while, slowly and painfully, he began to tell his story. He had been in prison in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home.
“Are you married?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” she said.
“Well, when I was in prison I wrote to my wife,” he said, “I told her that I was going to be away for a long time, and that if she couldn’t stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, and if it hurt her too much, well, she could just forget me. I’d understand. Get a new man, I said — she’s a wonderful woman. I told her she didn’t have to write me. And she didn’t. Not for three and a half years.”
“And you’re going home now, not knowing?”
“Yeah. Well, last week, when I was sure the parole (假释) was coming through, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick, just before J
acksonville, and there’s a big oak (橡树) just as you come into town. I told her that if she didn’t have a new man and if she’d take me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I’d get off and come home. If she didn’t want me, forget it — no handkerchief and I’d go on through.”
“Wow,” the girl exclaimed, “Wow.”
She told the others, and soon all of them were in it, looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children.
Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seats on the right side, waiting for the approach of the great oak. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, as if protecting himself against still another disappointment.
Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, shouting and crying.
Vingo sat there astonished, looking at the oak. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs — 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, flying in the wind. As the young people shouted, Vingo slowly rose from his seat and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.
1.At the beginning of the story, the young boys and girls ______.
A. showed a great interest in VingoB. didn’t notice Vingo at all
C. wanted to offer help to Vingo D. didn’t like Vingo at all
2.The underlined part “Howard Johnson’s” is most probably a(n) ______.
A. bus station B. apartment C. hospital D. restaurant
3.How did Vingo feel on the way home?
A. Ashamed. B. Relaxed. C. Nervous. D. Disappointed.
4.The paragraphs following this passage would most probably talk about ______.
A. Vingo’s experience in prison
B. the young people’s travel to Fort Lauderdale
C. Vingo’s three lovely children
D. the dialogue between Vingo and his family
Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the pl
anets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.
That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”－events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to forget the past “Where are you from?”
Mr. Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.
The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”
As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”
The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.
“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”
Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”
1.What can the “conversations” be best described as?
A. Deep and one-on-one. B. Sensitive and mad.
C. Instant and inspiring. D. Ordinary and encouraging.
2.In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.
A. pair freely with anyone they like
B. have a guided talk for a set of period of time
C. ask questions they themselves would not answer
D. wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features.
3.From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.
A. an attempt to promote thinking interaction
B. one of the maddest activities ever conducted
C. a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas
D. an effort to give people a chance of talking freely
They like using the Internet. They have lots of pocket money to spend. And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us. Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy－games, CDs and clothing－are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a troublesome business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards. Most have to use a parent’s card. They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic. If successful, th
ese products can stimulate online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK. Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK. According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children. Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing them to spend on the high street. They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as InternetCash in the US and Smart cards in the UK. Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.
1.What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. Sellers. B. Buyers. C. Teenagers. D. Parents.
2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access.
B. Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards.
C. Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online.
D. Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop.
3.New way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.
A. a new machine B. special coins and notes
C. prepaid cards D. pay-as-you-go mobile phones
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Online shopping traps.
B. Internet users in the US and the UK.
C. New credit cards for parents.
D. The arrival of cyber pocket money.
Student Membership-----Cambridge Arts Cinema
Cambridge Arts Cinema is one of the art houses in Britain and home of the internationally celebrated Cambridge Film Festival. Since 1947 generations of students have discovered the wealth of world cinema. Now you too can make most of it and save money.
1.Which of the following is the most famous event held at Cambridge Arts Cinema?
A. The Cambridge Film Festival. B. Meetings with filmmakers.
C. The preview screening. D. Monthly premieres.
2.If you're a member of Cambridge Arts Cinema, you will enjoy free＿
A. Darkroom Gallery shows B. mailed programmes
C. special film events D. film shows
3.How long will the membership for Cambridge Arts Cinema last?
A. Four months. B. Eight months.
C. Nine months. D. One year.
4.For what purpose is the text written?
A. Offering students cheaper tickets．
B. Announcing the opening of a premiere.
C. Telling the public of the cinema's address.
D. Increasing the cinema's membership.
While attending a conference, I returned to my hotel room late one evening. The overhead light outside my door was burned out and I had finding the keyhole. When I to open the door, I around the wall for a light switch. I found a plate where a switch was installed... but no switch!
Not discouraged easily, I remembered a lamp by the bed when I deposited my luggage in the day. I found the bed in the and then the lamp, but when I switched it on, nothing ! I thought that perhaps if I opened the curtains I might be able to use whatever light comes in from the to find another lamp. So I my way slowly across the room to the curtains and... no drawstring（拉绳）! I finally stumbled（跌跌撞撞地走）around I found a desk lamp which actually !
That evening I discovered in a whole new way just how dark the world be and how necessary light is! But even more necessary than light is the light that shines from people --the light of and faith. Because, for many people, the world is a dark and place. For someone today just may be stumbling in discouragement or sadness or fear and in of some light. So let your light shine. Whatever light you may be a beacon（灯塔） of hope and encouragement. And if you feel that your light is a candle in a forest remember -- there isn’t enough darkness in all the world to the light of one small candle.
1.A. confidence B. respect C . admiration D. difficulty
2.A. managed B. failed C. wished D. meant
3.A. touched B. felt C. sensed D. looked
4.A. already B. never C. still D. once
5.A. equipping B. producing C. noticing D. removing
6.A. later B. earlier C. lower D. upper
7.A. light B. dark C. room D. corner
8.A. happened B. operated C. fired D. developed
9.A. mac
hine B. street C. room D. car
10.A. wound B. forced C. made D. lost
11.A. after B. until C. while D. since
12.A. helped B. affected C. worked D. inspired
13.A. can B. shall C. will D. must
14.A. mental B. psychologicalC. electrical D. physical
15.A. existence B. love C. truth D. wisdom
16.A. lonely B. colorful C. friendly D. complex
17.A. short B. favor C. face D. need
18.A. make B. offer C. take D. contribute
19.A. not more than B. other than C. no more than D. rather than
20.A. put out B. give out C. get over D. set up
