When Danny Wallace, 26, got bored, he put an ad on the worldwide web reading simply: “Join Me. Send a passport photo.” A year and a half later his east London flat is the headquarters for a global internet-based “club” whose members carry out good deeds for strangers every Friday.
It’s not common for people in London to talk to strangers. If you see someone struggling with something, part of the brain goes “I want to help”. But the trained part of the brain says: “They will think you are mad or going to mug them”, so you walk away.
Join Me now has about 3,000 members around the world who do an act of kindness every Friday. For example, I’m usually out on a Friday so I go for one of the standard acts — the unexpected cup of coffee. You might be sitting in a cafe and see an old man in the corner drinking coffee or tea, and you walk up with another cup of whatever they are drinking , and say: “ I’ve bought you a coffee” and walk away. It’s a pleasure to see the look of surprise on their faces. There can be some suspicion, but I think that was mostly in the early days when I didn’t know how to do it properly. I would walk up quite nervously like I was doing something wrong and I didn’t know when to leave. In the end, I learned through trial and error. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn’t. I discovered that you have to walk up with confidence and humour and not “get in their faces”. You say: “This is for you”, then you go. It’s hit-and-run kindness. And there is no point in doing it half-heartedly. You’ve got to do it because you really mean it.
Join Me is without geographical boundaries, but there are quite a few members in London, and such stories about things happen on the underground or on the buses. One lady got on the bus and put a £10 note down and said: “That’s for me and the next nine people”. So at every stop, anyone who got on was told it was paid for. A lot of people were doing this sort of thing anyway. For them it’s an excuse or reason to do something nice for a complete stranger, and it gives them the confidence to walk up and start chatting.
1.When Londoners see someone in trouble, they _______.
A. often give a hand
C. pretend not to have seen it
B. stop and ask questions
D. telephone the police
2.According to the passage, members of Join Me often _______.
A. put an advertisement on the worldwide web
B. go out and make friends with strangers
C. do an act of kindness every Friday
D. buy coffees for the strangers
3.The underlined expression in the third paragraph possibly means _______ .
A. finding something very difficult
B. doing something without much effort
C. making a few mistakes
D. experimenting to get the right result
4.Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Hit-and-run Kindness B. History of Join Me
C. Danny Wallace and Join Me D. Why not Join Me
Entering Space, astronauts can give us a fascinating account of a shuttle flight, describing the pressure of a countdown and launch, the complexities of living the days in the strange weightless environment, the challenges of working in space, the emotional effect of seeing earth from space, the drama of the meteoric landing.
However, there are also plenty of things that astronauts can’t do because of their weightless environment, and that’s very sad. What’s more, they can’t even let their sadness show, because it’s impossible to cry in zero gravity.
Of course, astronauts can still produce tears. But crying is much more difficult in space, reported The Atlantic in January. Without gravity, tears don’t flow downward out of the eyes like they do here on Earth. This means that when you cry in space, your tears have nowhere to go – they just stick to your eyes.
In May 2011, astronaut Andrew Feustel experienced this during one of his spacewalks. “Tears,” he said, “don’t fall off of your eye... They just kind of stay there.”
Besides making your vision unclear, this can also cause physical pain. Back on Earth, tears are supposed to bring comfort to the eyes. But that’s not the case in space. The space environment dries out astronauts’ eyes, and when tears suddenly wet the eyes, it can cause pain rather than comfort. “My right eye is painful like crazy.” Feustel told his teammate during the walk.
Since gravity doesn’t work in space, astronauts need some extra help to get rid of the tears. Feustel chose to rub his eyes against his helmet to wipe the tears away. Another choice is to just wait – “When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eye and float around,” astronaut Ron Parise told The Atlantic.
There are lots of small things – things like crying – that we are so used to on Earth. We usually take them for granted, until they become a problem in a totally different environment, like space. There, astronauts can’t talk to each other directly. They also can’t eat or drink in normal ways. They can’t even burp (打嗝), because there is no gravity to hold the food down in their stomach. If they do burp, they just end up throwing up (呕吐) everything in their stomach, according to the UK National Space Center.
Thus, perhaps it’s only space explorers who can honestly say: “Gravity, you’re the best.”
1.What can we conclude from the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs?
A. Astronauts are unable to feel sad in space.
B. Tears produced in space don’t flow downward.
C. Astronauts produce fewer tears in space.
D. Tears produced in space flow down more slowly.
2.What can the astronaut do to get rid of the tears?
A. Get the tears big enough to break away from his eyes.
B. Get the tears big enough to fall off of his eyes.
C. Rub his eyes against his helmet to let the tears float forward.
D. Rub his eyes by hand to let the tears float around.
3.What’s the second-to-last paragraph mainly about?
A. Suggestions on how astronauts can stay comfortable in space.
B. Why burping is impossible in space.
C. Things that humans can’t do without gravity.
D. Other basic things that are difficult to do in space.
4.What can be the best title of this passage?
A. In the sky, you can’t cry
B. In the sky, you can’t burp
C. No Gravity, no tears
D. Better life with gravity
Thank you, Dean Areen, for that very generous introduction, and very special thanks to my good friends President Lucy Reed and Executive Director Betsy Andersen for the extraordinary work you do with the American education.
It is such a pleasure to be back here at the ASIL. I am embarrassed to confess that I have been a member of ASIL for more than 30 years, since my first year of education school, and coming to the annual meeting has always been a highlight of my year. Let me start by bringing you special attention on something you already know.
As a professor I have grown accustomed to the opinion regarding American education. We are repeatedly told that American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.
There are, of course, problems with the education system. Because of economic inequality some schools are significantly better than others and the ideas of equality of education and equality of opportunity are cruel jokes. However, the only fact that there are serious problems does not mean that all the dire claims are true.
One stock（陈腐的）claim is that America has fallen behind the world in education in terms of performance on various test. While the fact that America is behind other countries is a point of concern, there are at least three points worth considering here. The first is the above-mentioned economic inequality which will tend to result in poorer performance when taking the average for America. The second is that many countries have put considerable effort into improving their education systems and therefore it is worth considering that America’s decline is also due to the improvement of others. The third is the matter of the measures---do they, in fact present an accurate picture of the situation? I am not claiming that the data is bad. I am merely raising a reasonable concern about how accurate our picture of education is at this time.
Another stock claim is that American students are doing badly on standardized tests. While there is clearly value in assessment, it is reasonable to consider whether or not such tests are a proper and adequate measure of education. It is also worth considering whether the puzzle with these tests is itself causing damage to education. That is, as teachers teach for the test and students learn for the test, it might be the case that what is being taught is not what should be taught and what is being learned is not what should be learned.
1. According to the professor, many people’s attitude towards American colleges is ______.
A. approving B. positive
C. indifferent D. negative
2.What does the underlined word “dire” in the second paragraph mean?
A. Extremely serious or terrible
B. Long and boring
C. Fair or objective
D. Exact or precise
3.Judging by the text, the claims are centered on ______.
A. fair judgment of American education
B. an accurate picture of American colleges
C. American students’ performance on tests
D. what should be taught in the American classroom
4.The passage is written mainly to ______.
A. explain why American students do badly on tests
B. show dissatisfaction with American education
C. defend American system
D. offer advice on American education reform
The Winners Club is a bank account specially designed for teenagers. It has been made to help you better manage your money. The Winners Club is a transaction account（交易账户）where you receive a key-card so you can get to your money 24/7 —that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
It’s a club with impressive features for teenagers:
●No account keeping fees!
You’re no millionaire so we don’t expect you to pay large fees. In fact, there are no accounts keeping or transaction fees!
●Excellent interest rates!
You want your money to grow. The Winners Club has a good rate of interest which gets even better if you make at least two deposits（储蓄）without taking them out in a month.
●Convenient
Teenagers are busy —we get that. You may never need to come to a bank at all. With the Winners Club you can choose to use handy tellers and to bank from home using the phone and the Internet. You can have money directly deposited into your Winners Club account. This could be your pocket money or your pay from your part-time job!
●Mega magazine included
Along with your regular report, you will receive a FREE magazine full of good ideas to make even more of your money. There are also fantastic offers and competitions only for Winners Club members.
The Winners Club is a great choice for teenagers. And it is so easy to join. Simply fill in an application form. You will have to get permission from your parent or guardian (so we can organize that cool key-card) but it is easy. We can’t wait to hear from you. It’s the best way to choose to be a winner!
1.Which of the following is TRUE about the Winners Club?
A. Special gifts are ready for parents. B. Services are convenient for its members.
C. The bank opens only on work days. D. Fees are necessary for the account keeping.
2.The Winners Club provides magazines which ______.
A. encourage spending
B. are free to all teenagers
C. help to make more of your money
D. are full of adventure stories
3.What is the purpose of this passage?
A. To set up a club
B. To introduce a new banking service
C. To organize key-cards
D. To provided part-time jobs
高考临近，许多家长用金钱，旅游等承诺鼓励孩子努力学习，考上一所好大学。假定你是高三学生李华，请根据所提供的有关信息，给某英文报社写封短信。
内容要点：
1、许多家长用金钱，旅游等承诺鼓励孩子努力学习，考上一所好大学；
2、可能会导致学生只关注物质奖励，而减少学习乐趣；
3、一旦获得想要的奖励就失去了学习动力；
4、你的建议。
注意：
1、不要逐词逐句地翻译。
2、为使语句连贯，可以适当增加细节。
3、词数100左右，信的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总数。
Dear Editor,
With the college entrance examination approaching, …
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Yours truly,
Li Hua
短文改错(共10小题;每小题1分，满分10分）
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^ )，并在其下面写出该加的词。删除:把多余的同用斜线(\)划掉。 修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Recently, our school has held the meaningful discussion on whether it is reasonable for middle school students to have classes on weekends. Some of our classmates believe we should have classes on weekends because we can make fully use of free time to review the lessons we had learnt. Some others are against the opinion, saying we had better to have a good rest on weekends so that we can work effective during the weekdays. The rest agree with neither of the opinion. They have the view which keeping the balance between work and play are important for us. They suggest one day of the weekend should used to learn our lessons and during the other day we do something interested or have a rest.
