Are you single or married? Are you a cat or a dog owner? Do you exercise, or are you a “couch potato”? These questions and many others are about your lifestyle.
People in the United States feel that they can choose their lifestyles and even shape their own identities. In newspapers, lifestyle issues are discussed in the features or style section. In the Chicago Tribune this section is called “Tempo”. People turn to this section for lively discussion on lifestyle choices they face with regard to their personal identities, their families, and their social lives.
Many American people believe that they can make their lives happy and satisfying despite their problems. If they lack confidence or tend to feel anxious, shy, angry, or depressed, they believe that they can change themselves. Self-help books, magazines, and feature articles are filled with advice from experts about steps to take to become a happier or more satisfied person and to improve one’s self-respect. Part of this research for self-improvement is a belief that even one’s own appearance can be controlled.
Lifestyle choices also involve moral and social issues. How should children be raised? How should people behave on a date? How should elderly people be treated? How can people stay happily married? All these kinds of issues are constantly discussed and are constantly changing.
Not only are experts such as psychologists consulted, but stars from the political and entertainment worlds are held up as lifestyle leaders as well. In the newspaper, some articles discuss in detail the personal lives or public work of famous movie stars, authors and artists. The lifestyle choices these people make contribute to the public discussion of all the issues that people think about.
A well-known advertising slogan is “Just do it.” In the culture of the United States, people believe that they can take action and become the kind of people they want to be and live the way they want to live.
1.The section “Tempo” in the Chicago Tribune mainly discusses ______.
A. current affairs
B. lifestyle choices
C. experts’ opinions on life
D. one’s self-respect
2.According to the author, Americans are pretty sure that they can ______.
A. control their own appearance
B. solve all the problems in their life
C. live a happy life in spite of their problems
D. improve their life by following the elders’ advice
3. According to the passage, people’s opinions on moral or social issues can be influenced by ______.
A. their teachers
B. family members
C. experts and famous people
D. friends and colleagues
4. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. Lifestyles in the United States
B. Americans’ opinions on happiness.
C. Advice on shaping Americans’ identities
D. A famous advertising slogan —“Just do it.”
An artist in Oakland, California is using his skills to help the homeless. Greg Kloehn builds very small shelters that make life on the streets more comfortable. The structures offer the homeless some safety and protection from bad weather. Each little house also has wheels on the bottom so it can go wherever its owner goes.
Greg Kloehn has given away at least 20 tiny houses to the homeless on the street. On a recent day, Mr. Kloehn stops to visit his homeless friends. One of them is Oscar Young. The two men hug when they see each other. Inside his little shelter Mr. Young gets relief from cold nights on the streets. Mr. Kloehn also visits Sweet-Pea, another friend who also lives in one of the little homes the artist built. She says it keeps her safe and protects her belongings.
In the mornings, Mr. Kloehn searches the streets for building materials. He gathers what he can and takes it to his studio. There, he puts the houses together. Empty coffee bags become roof material. A washing machine door and refrigerator part become windows. Nails, screws and the sticky glue hold all the pieces together. The artist also attaches a small electrical device(装置) to the house. The device is powered by the sun.
Some of the people living on the streets once had normal houses of their own. But some of the people say they have learned to live with less and they are thankful to that man.
Mr. Kloehn says his work is not a social project. He says he is just someone using his skills to help his homeless neighbors.
1. The passage is likely to be taken from ________.
A. a textbook B. a book review
C. a science magazine D. a news report
2. The followings are the advantages of the small shelters EXCEPT________.
A. saving power and energy
B. protecting belongings of the homeless
C. decorating the streets where they are
D. keeping the homeless safe and comfortable
3. We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. the shelters can’t be removed
B. the homeless don’t like the shelters
C. Greg Kloehn has sold at least 20 tiny houses
D. an act of kindness has made people simple and grateful
4. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. A successful social project in Oakland.
B. An artist creates homes for the homeless.
C. A more comfortable shelter on the streets.
D. An artist makes a living by designing small shelters.
For my brother and I, mowing(割草) yards during the summer is a good way to earn pocket change. Dad was our salesman. He traded our service to neighbors at a low price they could not refuse. My brother and I got $10 per yard. However, I later found out our competitors were charging $ 20 or more for the same amount of work.
One afternoon we were cutting our neighbor’s yard. When I was finishing up, I was tired and sweaty. I pictured the tall glass of icy drink I would have to cool down soon. I was just about to cut off the lawn mower when I saw Dad pointing to one piece. I thought about the poor change I was getting paid for cutting grass so high that it almost broke the mower. I ignored him and kept walking. Dad called me out, “You missed a piece.”
I frowned (皱眉), hoping he would let me slide and go home. He kept pointing. So angry, I went back to cut that piece of grass. I said to myself, “That one piece isn’t hurting anyone. Why won’t he just let it go?”
But when I became an adult, I understood his message: When you are running a business, the work you do says a great deal about you. If you want to be seen as a businessman with honesty, you must deliver a quality product. That single piece of grass meant the job was not done.
Other neighbors took notice of the good work we did and we soon got more business. We started out with one client(客户), but by the end of the summer we had five.
The lesson my dad taught me stayed with me: If you say you are going to perform a job at a certain time, keep your word. Give your customers the kind of service you would like to receive. It shows how sincere you are and how much pride you take in your work.
1.Which of the following statement is true?
A. His father was not a good businessman.
B. His father charged more for his service.
C. His father’s service was good but cheap.
D. His neighbors thought their service was poor.
2.When Dad asked the writer to go back, the writer felt ___________.
A. doubtful B. surprised
C. terrified D. annoyed
3.What did Dad teach the writer?
A. To do your work as well as possible.
B. To earn as much money as possible.
C. To get as more business as possible.
4. The best title for the passage may be ___________.
A. The Memory of My Childhood
B. The Lesson from My Dad
C. The Yard of Our Neighbor
D. The Grass Cutting days
An ordinary teacher named Pan Shanji has moved China by devoting the past 34 years as an educator who has been his knowledge to children with few other for schooling. Pan Shanji has about 200 students over his 34-year teaching , and although not one of them it to college, he is very proud of all of them. "My students are the first group of people from three local villages who have dared to leave the mountains to look for jobs," Pan, 53, says .
Pan, a member of the Mulam ethnic group(么佬族), is the only teacher for 12 students from 6 to 9 years old in the mountainous Dayandong village of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. He teaches many subjects, Chinese, math, sports, painting and music.
As far as the three villages are concerned, they are the most in Guzhai town. In the 1940s, their ancestors to the mountains to avoid the Japanese invasion(侵略) and there. The average annual income per family is less than 1,000 yuan ($159). They plant some crops on the farmland in valleys and a self-sufficient life.
Pan is the first high school in Dayandong village, which makes him feel for helping the illiterate villagers.
"I have four younger sisters who their only chance of schooling for me. My father lost his chance to the army because of illiteracy(文盲) in the 1950s. In the early 1970s, when he worked as a temporary worker at a local railway construction site, he often cried at night , because he missed home but could not home for three years and he was too shy to ask for help. So I tried my best at school and realized that writing is for us."
Pan told the media that he will stay in the village and do he can to help the children because they are the future of the village.
1.A. passing on B．deciding on C．fixing on D．relying on
2.A．opportunities B．equipment C．patterns D．technique
3.A．discussed B．taught C．learned D．chatted
4.A．project B．choice C．work D．career
5.A．took B．appreciated C．made D．managed
6.A．proudly B．sharply C．slowly D．sadly
7.A．choosing B．seeking C．ranging D．growing
8.A．appointing B．including C．consisting D．attracting
9.A．clean B．fancy C．remote D．quiet
10.A．led B．hid C．fled D．forced
11.A．slid B．settled C．improved D．constructed
12.A．earn B．act C．perform D．live
13.A．graduate B．driver C．coach D．director
14.A．generous B．responsible C．professional D．funny
15.A．gave off B．gave out C．gave up D．gave in
16.A．attend B．join C．fight D．devote
17.A．firmly B．happily C．surprisingly D．silently
18.A．write B．support C．visit D．raise
19.A. essential B．creative C．typical D．careful
20.A．wherever B．whatever C．whenever D．whichever
With the land of the city becoming rare, more and more high-rise buildings are under construction around the Jingmen City ___________ space.
A. in search of B. on behalf of
C. for lack of D. in charge of
Beijing's first unmanned subway trains, which can run ______ without the control of any drivers, are expected to be put into operation next year.
A. regularly B. deliberately
C. automatically D. desperately
