When I was a sixteen-old girl, I was asked to deliver a speech titled “ A Red Test in My Life ,”To talk before the whole class !Just imagine how ___1._____(terrible) shy I was the moment I thought of that with so many eyes fixed upon me. I had no other choice, ___2.___. First I was to draft the speech and that was just a piece of cake for me, because I was a good writer---something to pride myself in. But the hard part ___3.__(lie) in my oral presentation: to read from__4.___ paper was not allowed; I had to give the speech ___5.___my memory and in front of such a big audience! A real trial began when I stood on the platform with my legs __6._____(tremble) and my mind blank. How much time had passed by, I didn’t know. My listeners were still waiting, patiently and without any signs of rushing me. Gradually I found _7._____back, giving out my speech with difficulty. Finally I finished. After__8._____seemed to be a hundred years, I found my audience applauding, I made it! From then on, my fear of talking before an audience disappeared. Actually with my confidence building up, I now turn out to be a great speaker. Looking back, I know the__9.___(great) difficulty on our way to success is our fear; overcome it,___ 10.___we will be able to achieve our goals.
Things have been kind of tough lately for Shannon Baker and her little family. They have each other’s parents and young daughter and for that they are . But she and her husband are both currently . And their car is in great need of . And then there is the matter of their second child, who is soon. So things are a little tense for the Baker family these days.
When Shannon and her daughter were walking through a store lot recently, Shannon picked up an envelope from the ground that $4,000 in cash. There were a of different interpretations (explanations) that could be considered. Was this a kind of good ? Could it be an attempt by the universe to balance everything? Could it be simply a gift from God? Shannon didn’t know. The only thing she knew was that the cash in that envelope to someone else. Oh, and one other thing she knew: Her young daughter was . “My kid was standing right there I found it,” Shannon told WLS-TV in Chicago. “So basically I wanted to teach my daughter how to be . And for me that was enough.”
Never mind the bills that were , or the car that needed to be fixed, or the baby that would come soon. And forget that when she the money over to the police she was told that there was actually nothing illegal if she it.
The police were able to return the money to the person who it: an old woman. And one can imagine the and relief she felt when the police handed the lost envelop back to her. “She came to my house and she was almost in tears, me,” Shannon said. “She gave me a hug and an envelope with a small in it. But the amount, large or small, wasn’t . What was important was the opportunity to teach my daughter honesty.”
1.A. restricted B. grateful C. sensitive D. upset
2.A. disappointed B. appreciated C. unemployed D. removed
3.A. cash B. protection C. repair D. sale
4.A. sick B. due C. desperate D. dull
5.A. parking B. gathering C. cleaning D. begging
6.A. participated B. contained C. charged D. paid
7.A. number B. deal C. handful D. flood
8.A. expense B. prize C. hope D. luck [来源:
9.A. pointed B. reacted C. responded D. belonged
10.A. watching B. urging C. laughing D. affecting
11.A. before B. though C. because D. when
12.A. honest B. loyal C. ripe D. humorous
13.A. passing by B. giving away C. showing off D. piling up
14.A. watched B. turned C. got D. collected
15.A. checked B. made C. kept D. promoted
16.A. sent B. disliked C. lost D. generated
17.A. respect B. anxiety C. tension D. joy
18.A. comforting B. congratulating C. offending D. thanking
19.A. amount B. present C. envelope D. option
20.A. important B. necessary C. evident D. Essential
What is critical thinking? To a certain degree, it's a matter of logic -- of being able to spot weakness in other people's arguments and to avoid them in your own. It also includes related skills such as distinguishing fact from opinion and assessing the soundness of evidence.
In the broad sense, critical thinking is focused, organized thinking -- the ability to see clearly the relationships among ideas. 1.__. The greatest thinkers, scientists, and inventors have often taken information that was really available and put it together differently to produce new ideas. That, too, is critical thinking.
_2._. As the class goes on, for example, you will probably spend a good deal of time organizing your speeches. While this may seem like a purely mechanical (机械的) exercise, it is closely connected with critical thinking. If the structure of your speech is loose and confused, chances are that your thinking is also disordered and confused. If, on the other hand, the structure is clear, there is a good chance your thinking is too. Organizing a speech is not just a matter of arranging your ideas you already have. 3.___.
What is true of organization is true of many aspects of public speaking. _4._. As you work on expressing your ideas in clear accurate language, you will improve your ability to think clearly and accurately. __5. As you learn to listen critically to speeches in class, you will be better able to assess the ideas of speakers in a variety of situations.
If you take full advantage of your speech class, you will be able to develop your skills as a critical thinker in many circumstances. This is one reason public speaking has been regarded as a vital part of education since the days of ancient Greece.
A．Rather, it is an important part of shaping the ideas themselves.
B．This may seem take a lot of time, but the rewards are well worth it.
C．It may also help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech.
D．It has often been said that there are few new ideas in the world, only reorganized ideas.
E . If you are wondering what this has to do with your public speaking class, the answer is quite a lot.
F. The skills you learn in your speech class can help you become a more effective thinker in a number of ways.
G. As you study the role of evidence and reasoning in speechmaking, you will see how they can be used in other forms of communication as well.
Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few apparent benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth?These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.
Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup as human beings. What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? The wider the spread of a species, the better its chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.
Nearly every successful civilization has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger. With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.
Exploration also allows minerals and other potential resources to be found. Even if we have no immediate need of them, they will perhaps be useful later. Resources may be more than physical possessions. Knowledge or techniques have been acquired through exploration. The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives. We have already benefited from other spin-offs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites for weather forecasting and in communications systems. Even non-stick pans and mirrored sunglasses are by-products of technological developments in the space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The danger exists, but knowledge can help human being to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets. It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.
1.What is the reason for exploring space based on Paragraph2?
A. Humans are nature-born to do so.
B. Humans have the tendency to fight.
C. Humans may find new sources of food.
D. Humans don’t like to stay in the same place.
2.The underlined word“spin-offs” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to______.
A. survival chances B. potential resources
C. unexpected benefits D. physical possessions
3.What makes it possible for humans to live on other planets?
A. Our genetic makeup.
B. Resources on the earth..
C. The adaptive ability of humans.
D. By-products in space exploration.
4.Which of the statements can best sumun the passage?
A. Space exploration has created many wonders.
B. Space exploration provided the best value for money.
C. Space exploration can benefit science and technology.
D.Space exploration may help us avoid potential problems on Earth.
Consumers everywhere are faced with the same dilemma: given limited resources, what sorts of purchases are most likely to produce lasting happiness and satisfaction? Recent research has confirmed that experiential purchases tend to produce greater hedonic (享乐的）gains than material purchases.
The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. For example, if you think back to a fantastic summer from your youth, you might easily remember an abstract sense of warm sunshine and youthful exuberant (生气勃勃), but you're less likely to remember exactly what you did day-by-day.
Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. The car you bought is still a car, that great new jacket you picked up cheap is still just a jacket. It’s more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.
Purchasing may have a negative impact on happiness because consumers often buy “joyless” material possessions, resulting in comfort but not pleasure. In general, people adapt to experiences more slowly than to material purchase. This can be seen in both negative and positive purchases: hedonic adaptation would result in a positive experience causing more happiness but a negative experience causing less happiness than the comparable material purchase with the same initial happiness level.
Experience, however, seems to be more resistant to these sorts of unfavourable comparisons. It is because of the unique nature of experience. It’s more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable. After all, each of our youthful summers is different.
It’s well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. One striking example is the finding that people prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earns $25,000, instead of earning $100,000 themselves and having other people earn $200,000.
A similar effect is seen for possessions. When there are so many flat-screen HD TVs to choose from, it's easy to make unfavourable comparisons between our choice and the others available.
1.An abstract sense in the passage refers to awareness of something __________.
A. you cannot think about
B. you can’ t remember well
C. you cannot understand
D. you cannot see or touch
2.If you make an experiential purchase before a material purchase, you may go to__________.
A. a theatre before going to a store
B. an exhibition before going to a park
C. a mall before going to a grocer's
D. a market before going to a restaurant
3.The example of earnings is given to actually indicate__________.
A. how ridiculous people are B. how people feel content
C. how nearsighted people are D. how people hold prejudice
4. It is implied in the passage that, after their material purchases, people might__________.
A. enjoy their ownership of what they have bought
B. pick every fault in the products they have got
C. regret making a wrong decision to buy the items
D. leave what they’ve purchased untouched at home
Severely disabled people may soon be able to use their noses to write, drive a wheelchair or surf the Internet, thanks to a device (装置) developed by doctors in Israel.
The device will be used by breathing in and out through the nose, according to a study. Healthy people who tested the device quickly learned to play computer games and write sentences by sniffing. Encouraged by the results, the researchers decided to test their device on people who are paralyzed (瘫痪) but whose intelligence remains normal. Ten paralyzed who tested the device quickly learned to use their noses to write words, open a webpage, copy words and put them into a search engine.
With their success in helping severely disabled people to communicate * the researchers decided to make use of the new technology to design an electric wheelchair to be driven by sniffs.
Ten healthy people easily mastered sniff—driving a wheelchair through a maze (迷宫), and a 30-year-old man who had been paralyzed from the neck down for six years was as good a sniff-driver as the healthy participants at his second attempt. In other words, a paralyzed person could use the sniff controller to drive an electric wheelchair.
At the moment, sniff-controlled technology is still in the stage of development, and the Weizmann Institute has already applied for a patent on the device. "Ill be very happy if it can help us to make money, but the real problem is that I hope someone will develop it, because this would help a lot of people," said Sobel, one of the lead researchers of the study.
1. What’s the purpose of the passage?
A. To introduce a new invention.
B. To equip the disabled with life skills.
C. To show the nose's special functions.
D. To instruct doctors to apply for a patent.
2. In the test, the paralyzed people with normal intelligence can use their nose to ______.
A. type long sentences quickly
B. play computer games easily
C. enter a website without much difficulty
D. communicate with others successfully
3.With the help of the sniffing device, a 30-year-old disabled man ______.
A. spent six years learning how to drive a wheelchair
B. failed to drive through the maze at his first attempt
C. took the wheelchair controlled by healthy participants
D. managed to drive an electric wheelchair by sniffing
4. From the last paragraph, we can infer that the sniff-controlled technology ______.
A. will be applied to other fields of research
B. needs further developing to serve more people
C. has become an important patented invention
D. shows the wisdom and talents of Israel doctors
