As a general rule, all forms of activity lead to boredom when they are performed on a routine(常规)basis. As a matter of fact, we can see this at work in people of all . For example, on Christmas morning, children are excited about with their new toys. But their soon wears off and by January those toys can be found put away in the basement. The world is full of stamp albums and unfinished models, each standing as a monument to someone’s interest. When parents bring home a pet, their child bathes it and brushes its fur. Within a short time, however, the of caring for the animal is handed over to the parents. Adolescents enter high school with great but are soon looking forward to . The same is true of the young adults going to college. And then, how many , who now complain (抱怨) about the long drives to work, drove for hours at a time when they first their driver’s license (执照)? Before people retire, they usually to do a lot of things, which they never had to do while working. But after retirement , the golfing, the fishing, the reading and all of the other pastimes become as boring as the jobs they . And , like the child in January, they go searching for new .
1.A. principle B. habit C. weaker D. power
2.A. parties B. races C. countries D. ages
3.A. working B. living C. playing D. going
4.A. confidence B. interest C. anxiety D. sorrow
5.A. same B. extra C. funny D. expensive
6.A. well-organized B. colorfully-printed C. newly- collectedD. half-filled
7.A. broad B. passing C. different D. main
8.A. silently B. impatiently C. gladly D. worriedly
9.A. promise B. burden C. right D. game
10.A. courage B. calmness C. confusion D. excitement
11.A. graduation B. independence C. responsibility D. success
12.A. children B. students C. adults D. retirees
13.A. carefully B. eagerly C. nervously D. bravely
14.A. required B. obtained C. noticed D. discovered
15.A. need B. learn C. start D. plan
16.A. great B. strong C. difficult D. correct
17.A. time B. money C. skills D. knowledge
18.A. only B. well C. even D. soon.
19.A. lost B. chose C. left D. quit
20.A. pets B. toys C. friends D. colleagues
Tips for cooking on a Tight Schedule
From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don’t cook more often: ability, money and time, ____ 1.__Money is a topic I’ll save for another day. So today I want to give you some wisdom about how to make the most of the time you spend in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:
1. Think ahead. The moments when I think cooking is a pain are when I’m already hungry and there is nothing ready to eat. So think about of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials ready?____ 2.____
2. Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread? ___3.___ it takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.
3. ____4.____ This may surprise you, but one of the best tools for making cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well with your appetite and schedule. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.
Hopefully that gives you a good start. ____5.___ and don’t let a busy schedule discourage you from making some great changes in the way you eat and live!
A. Try new things.
B. Ability is easily improved.
C. Make three or four instead.
D. Understand your food better.
E. Cooking is a burden for many people.
F. Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.
G. A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.
Metro Pocket Guide
Metrorail(地铁)
Each passenger needs a farecard to enter and go out. Up to two children under ago five may travel free with a paying customer.
Farecard machine are in every station, Bring small bills because there are no change machines in the station and farecard machine only provide up to $ 5 in change.
Get one of unlimited Metrorail rides with a One Day Pass. Buy it from a farecard machine in Metro stations. Use it after 9:30 a. m. until closing on weekdays, and all day on weekends and holidays.
Hours of Service
Open: 5 a. m Mon-Fri 7a. m. Sat—Sun .
Close: midnight Sun—Thurs 3 a.m. Fri.---Sat. nights.
Last train times vary. To avoid missing the last train, please check the last train times posted in the station.
Metrobus
When paying with exact change, the fare is $ 1. 35 . when paying with a smarTrip card, the fare is $1. 25
Fares for the Senior /disabled customers
Senior citizens 65 and older and disabled customers may ride for half the regular fare. On Metrorail and Metrobus, use a senior/disabled farecard or SmarTrip card. For more information about buying senior/disabled farecards, farecard or SmarTrip cards and passes, please visit MetroOpenDoors. com or call 202-637-7000 and 202-637-8000.
Senior citizens and disabled customers can get free guide on how to use proper Metrobus and Metrorail services by calling 202-962-1100
Travel tips （提示）
. Avoid riding during weekday rush periods –before 9:30 a. m. and between 4 and 6 p. m.
. If you lose something on a bus or train or in a station, please call Lost & Found at 202-962-1195.
1.What should you know about farecard machine?
A. They start selling tickets at 9:30 a. m.
B. They are connected to change machines.
C. They offer special service to the elderly.
D. They make change for no more than $5.
2.At what time does Metrorail stop service on Saturday?
A. At midnight B. at 3 a. m.
C. at 5 am D. at 7 p. m.
3.What is good about a SmarTrip card?
A. It is convenient for old people
B. It saves money for its users
C. it can be bought at any time
D. it is sold on the Internet.
4.Which number should you call if you lose something on the Metro?
A. 202-962-1195 B. 202-962-1100
C. 202-673-7000 D. 202-673-8000
One of the latest trends（趋势） in American Childcare is Chinese au pairs. Au Pair in Stamford, Conn, for example, has got increasing numbers of request for Chinese au pairs from aero to around 4, 000 since 2004. And that’s true all across the country.
“I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age” Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2-year old son. “I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future, ” After only six months of being cared by 25-year-old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.
Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China. She didn’t want her children to miss out on their roots. ” Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接触) the language and culture. ” she says.
“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom, ” says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of Children. ”But parents must understand that just one year with au pair is unlikely to produce wonders. Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12. ”
The popularity if au pairs from China has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children who want their children to learn Chinese. It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years.
1.What does the term” au pair” in the text mean?
A. A mother raising her children on her own
B. A child learning a foreign language at home
C. A professor in language education of children
D. A young foreign woman taking care of children.
2. Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them ______.
A. to live in China some day B. to speak the language at home
C. to catch up with other children D. to learn about the Chinese culture
3.What can we infer from the text?
A. Learning Chinese is becoming popular In America
B. Educated woman do better in looking after children
C. Chinese au pairs need to improve their English Skills.
D. Children can learn a foreign language well in six months.
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, Americans have gotten a lot “greener” toward the environment . “We didn’t know at that time that there even was an environment, let alone that there was a problem with it, ”says Bruce Anderson, president of Earth Day USA.
But what began as nothing important in public affairs has grown into a social movement . Business people, political leaders, university professors, and especially millions of grass-roots Americans are taking part in the movement. “The understanding has increased many, many times, ”says Gaylord Nelson, the former governor from Wisconsin, who thought up the first Earth Day.
According to US government reports , emissions (排放)from cars and trucks have dropped from 10. 3 million tons a year to 5. 5 tons . The number of cities producing CO beyond the standard has been reduced from 40 to 9 . Although serious problems still remain and need to be dealt with , the world is a safer and healthier place . A kind of “Green thinking ” has become part of practices .
Great improvement has been achieved . In 1988 there were only 600 recycling programs , ; today in 1995 there are about 6, 600 . Advanced lights , motors , and building designs have helped save a lot of energy and therefore prevented pollution .
Twenty –five years ago , there were hardly any education programs for environment . Today , it’s hard to find a public school , university , or law school that does not have such a kind of program . ” Until we do that , nothing else will change! ” say Bruce Anderson .
1.According to Anderson , before 1970, Americans had little idea about ___
A． the social movement B． recycling techniques
C． environmental problems D． the importance of Earth Day
2.Where does the support for environmental protection mainly come from?
A． The grass –roots level B． The business circle
C． Government officials D． University professors
3.What have Americans achieved in environmental protection ?
A．They have cut car emissions to the lowest
B． They have settled their environmental problems
C． They have lowered their CO levels in forty cities.
D． They have reduced pollution through effective measures .
4.What is especially important for environmental protection according to the last paragraph ?
A． Education B． Planning
C． Green livingD． CO reduction
Arriving in Sydney on his own from India, my husband , Rashid, stayed in a hotel for a short time while looking for a short time while looking for a house for me and our children.
During the first week of his stay, he went out one day to do some shopping. He came back in the late afternoon to discover that his suitcase was gone. He was extremely worried as the suitcase had all his important papers, including his passport.
He reported the case to the police and then sat there，lost and lonely in strange city, thinking of the terrible troubles of getting all the paperwork organized again from a distant country while trying to settle down in a new one.
Late in the evening, the phone rang. It was a stranger. He was trying to pronounce my husband’s name and was asking him a lot of questions. Then he said they had found a pile of papers in their trash can（垃圾桶）that had been left out on the footpath.
My husband rushed to their home to find a kind family holding all his papers and documents. Their young daughter had gone to the trash can and found a pile of unfamiliar papers. Her parents had carefully sorted them out, although they had found mainly foreign addresses on most of the documents. At last they had seen a half-written letter in the pile in which my husband had given his new telephone number to a friend.
That family not only restored the important documents to us that day but also restored our faith and trust in people. We still remember their kindness and often send a warm wish their way.
1.What did Rashid plan to do after his arrival in Sydney?
A. Go shopping B. Find a house
C. Join his family D. Take a vacation
2.The girl’s parents got Rashid’s phone number from_______.
A. a friend of his family B. a Sydney policeman
C. a letter in his papers D. a stranger in Sydney
3. What does the underlined word “restored” in the last paragraph mean?
A. Showed B. Sent out
C. DeliveredD. Gave back
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. From India to Australia. B. Living in a a New Country.
C. Turning Trash to Treasure. D. In Search of New Friends.
