Tips for a happier workplace
You don’t have to be friends with your co-workers, but you do need to be friendly. Read on for fresh ways to make your office a kinder, gentler place.
◆Give a happy “Hello!” in the morning.
Do you walk into the office, eyes down, and immediately start work? If so, you are likely to find that co-workers ignore you or avoid you. 1. It’s really amazing how fast this small gesture can change unfriendly workplace relations.
◆Learn the art of small talk.
Ask your co-workers about their interests— their favorite music, movies, and books, as well as their hobbies. 2. Once you know what catches their imagination, pick up stories from newspapers or magazines to help start conversations.
◆ Ask what they think.
People love to be asked for their opinion, so go out of your way to ask ,“What do you think of this report?” or “How do you think I should deal with this situation?” 3.
◆Avoid gossip.
4. So return the favor. When a co-worker walks towards you bearing a piece of gossip, respond with, “Really?” and then change the subject or get back to work. If you don’t respond, the gossiper will move on.
◆5.
To win friends at work, start with good office etiquette (礼节).There’s nothing more frustrating to busy co-workers than to have their emails and phone messages ignored. Your silence doesn’t just make their jobs harder, it also conveys an unpleasant message: You are unimportant to me.
A. Stop complaining.
B. Return calls and emails immediately.
C. Then give the advice giver a silent thank-you.
D. Always work as hard as anyone working for you.
E. You don’t want anyone talking about you behind your back, right?
F. Showing an interest in them will make them feel comfortable around you.
G. Get into the habit of greeting your co-workers with a smile as you arrive in the morning.
How important is your mobile phone, better known to Americans as a cellphone? Jack said, “I use my phone all the time. I’m always on my phone.” Ann said, “It’s important to me because it’s like my life saver.” Jenny said, “I need my cellphone. I cannot live without it.”
So far, no studies have proven beyond question that the radio signals from cellphones cause brain cancer or other health problems. But a new study by government scientists in the United States has some people wondering what to think. The scientists have found that holding a cellphone to your ear for more than fifty minutes increases brain cell activity. Even the scientists themselves are not sure about the meaning of their findings.
Dr Nora Volkow led the study. She heads the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. Dr Volkow says she is not concerned that fifty minutes of cellphone exposure (暴露) would harm anyone. But she says the research does show the need to study whether there are long-lasting effects of repeated exposure over several years.
Her team studied forty-seven healthy volunteers between January and December of 2009. The volunteers had cellphones placed against both ears while the scientists made images of their brain activity. As part of the test, one phone was activated （使激活）for fifty minutes. The other phone was off. After that, the volunteers were tested with both phones turned off. Dr Volkow says the brain scans（扫描） showed increased activity in brain cells closest to the activated phone.
The scans showed how the brain cells used sugar to produce energy, a normal activity. The activity was seven percent higher in areas of the brain closest to the cellphone antenna（天线）.
Dr Giuseppe Esposito is a nuclear medicine expert at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington. He says after many years of studies, better kinds of research are still needed to settle questions about cellphone safety. These studies would take years.
1.What the three people said in Paragraph 1 shows that .
A. not everyone needs to use a cellphone
B. cellphones are the most important thing in our life
C .cellphones play an important role in our life
D. cellphones have different functions for different people
2.According to Paragraph 2, what is still unknown to scientists?
A. Whether radio signals cause health problems or not.
B. Whether using a cellphone for too long can lead to brain cancer.
C. Whether cellphones have more advantages than disadvantages.
D. Whether people worry about talking on the cellphone for too long.
3.The results of the study tell us that .
A. people use cellphones for too long every day
B. using cellphones has an effect on brain cells
C. cellphones that are powered off can also affect the brain
D. increased activity in brain cells has many causes
4.Which statement would Dr Giuseppe Esposito probably agree with?
A. Cell phone safety is not an important issue.
B. It goes without saying that cell phones harm people’s health.
C. Few studies have been done on whether cell phones are safe to use.
D. There is still a long way to go to find out whether cell phones are safe to use.
There is one language that is used in every country in the world. The people who use it are young and old, short and tall, thin and fat. It is everybody’s second language. It is easy to understand, although you can’t hear it. It is sign language.
When you wave to a friend who is across the street, you are using sign language. When you smile at someone, you are saying, “I want to be friendly”, but you are not using speech. You are using sign language. When you raise your hand in class, you are saying, “Please ask me. I think I know the correct answer.”
Babies who can’t talk can point at things. They are using sign language. A policeman who wants to stop traffic holds up his hands. He is using sign language.
Many years ago, a French priest, Charles Michel de Epee, became interested in education for deaf people. He invented a finger alphabet (字母表). It is still in use. People can make the sign for letters and spell words with their hands, and deaf people can read and understand them. Soon there were schools for the deaf in many countries. The only university for the deaf is Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C.
Today, in the United States, there are special TV news programs for deaf people. The newsreader tells the news in sign language. At the same time, the words appear on the TV screen.
The actors in the Theatre of Deaf don’t spell every word. Sometimes they use hand signs. When they put two hands together, it means sandwich. They can make a roof with their hands when they want to show a house. One finger in front of an actor’s mouth can mean quiet. You can talk to people who are behind windows that are closed. And when you go swimming with your friends, you can have conversations under water.
How many hand signs do you use every day?
1.Which of the following about sign language is TRUE?
A. It is a special language used in a few countries in the world.
B. It is a way to express one’s ideas without words.
C. It is only used by the deaf.
D. It can be heard.
2.If you want to express the idea that “I am very friendly” to someone, you will ______.
A. raise your hand
B. put one hand onto the other
C. smile to the person
D. make a roof with your hands
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Hand signs instead of finger signs are used everyday.
B. There are schools, colleges and universities for the deaf in the USA.
C. The French priest Charles invented sign language.
D. Even babies are using sign language.
4.The passage is mainly about ______.
A. an introduction to sign language
B. the importance of sign language
C. a famous priest in France
D. how to use sign language
Camp memories last forever! We make sure they are unforgettable!
Shadow Ridge Summer Camps offer so many exciting things for campers to do. Unlike other camp programs that include horses as a small part of their program, at Shadow Ridge horses ARE the program! We are 100%horse from stable(马厩)management, nature walks, and track rides to bedroom furnishings.
Horses help us achieve many of our aims. Girls can learn to develop responsibility, self-confidence and personal connections in their lives while having fun. Using horses as a wonderful tool for education, our camps offer an interesting place for growth and learning.
Imagine each girl having her very own horse to spend time with and a best friend to love and take care of. Each camper is responsible for a horse for the week. Our riding program provides a lot of riding and lesson time. Campers will learn how to take care of the horse and the tack(马具), as well as how to ride. Days are filled with horse-related activities to strengthen the connection between each girl and horse, as the girls learn to work safely around the horses.
At Shadow Ridge we try to create a loving, caring family atmosphere for our campers. We have “The Bunkhouse”(4 girls), the“ Wranglers Roost”(4 girls), and “The Hideout”(2 girls)in our comfortable 177-year-old farm house. All meals are home cooked, offering delicious and healthy food for the hungry rider.
Our excellent activities create personalized memories of your child's vacation, Each child will receive a camp T-shirt and a photo album(usually 300-500 pictures)of their stay at camp.
Our camps are offered during June, July and August , for small groups of girls aged 13-16 years, not only from Canada but also other parts of the world.
We will send you full program descriptions at your request.
1.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To attract people to the camps.
B. To talk about camping experiences.
C. To describe the programs of the camps.
D. To explain the aims of the camps.
2.What do we know about the camp programs at Shadow Ridge?
A. Campers are required to wear camp T-shirts.
B. Horses play a central role in the activities.
C. Campers learn to cook food for themselves.
D. Horse lessons are offered all the year round.
3.The programs at Shadow Ridge mainly aim to help people .
A. understand horses better
B. enjoy a family atmosphere
C. have fun above other things
D. achieve an educational purpose
4.The passage is written mainly for .
A. horse riders
B. teenage girls
C. Canadian parents
D. international travelers
We were on tour a few summers ago, driving through Chicago, when right outside of the city, we got pulled over. A middle-aged policeman came up to the car and was really being troublesome at first. Lecturing us, he said, "You were speeding. Where are you going in such a hurry?" Our guitarist, Tim, told him that we were on our way to Wisconsin to play a show. His way towards us totally changed. He asked, "Oh, so you boys are in a band (乐队)?" We told him that we were. He then asked all the usual broad questions about the type of music we played, and how long we had been at it. Suddenly, he stopped and said, "Tim, you want to get out of this ticket, don't you?" Tim said, "Yes." So the officer asked him to step out of the car. The rest of us, inside the car, didn't know what to think as we watched the policeman talk to Tim. Next thing we knew, the policeman was putting Tim in the back of the police car he had parked in front of us. With that, he threw the car into reverse(倒车), stopping a few feet in back of our car. Now we suddenly felt frightened. We didn't know if we were all going to prison, or if the policeman was going to sell Tim on the black market or something. All of a sudden, the pollen's voice came over in a loudspeaker. He said, "Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever, we have Tim here singing on Route 90.” Turns out, the policeman had told Tim that the only way he was getting out of the ticket was if he sang part of one of our songs over the loudspeaker in the police car. Seconds later, Tim started screaming into the receiver. The policeman enjoyed the performance, and sent us on our way without a ticket.
1.The policeman stopped the boys to ______.
A. put them into prison
B. give them a ticket
C. enjoy their performance
D. ask some band questions
2.The policeman became friendly to the boys when he knew they ____
A. had long been at the band
B. played the music he loved
C. were driving for a show
D. promised into a performance
3.The boys probably felt ______ when they drove off.
A, joyful B. calm
C. nervous D. frightened
假设学生李华，你的英国笔友Jack刚转入一所新学校，感到一切都很陌生。他在邮件中向你询问如何尽快融入新环境。请你根据以下信息回信。
1. 多跟同学交流沟通；
2. 积极参加学校活动；
3. 向老师寻求帮助。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数。
Dear Jack,
I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble fitting in at your new school.
Yours,
Li Hua
