Last year, my brother and I went to Miami for a vacation. Some of my friends who had been there before said1.___ was a wonderful holiday destination. Before we went, we had planned for months. When the day came, we were ready.
After our plane landed, we went to the hotel. We had made our reservation six months_2.____ （early）, but the man at the front desk said there had been a mistake. We 3._____（tell）that our rooms hadn’t been reserved for that week, 4.___ for the week after. I didn’t understand 5.___ this would happen. What’s worse, the hotel had been fully booked. When we were wondering what to do, the manager came out. She was6._____（surprise）helpful. She apologized for the mistake and gave us a spare VIP room on 7.____ top floor. We had never stayed in such an 8.____(amaze) room, and we weren’t charged extra.
The next day, my brother and I went to the beach9.____ we watched some people play volleyball. We got a little10.____（sunburn），but the day had been so relaxing that we didn’t mind.
A businesswoman got into a taxi in midtown. As it was the rush hour and she was in a ____ to catch a train, she ____ a quick way to reach it. “I have been a taxi driver for 15 years！” the driver said ____. “You don't think I know the best way to go？”
The woman tried to explain that she hadn't ____to annoy him, but the driver kept ____. She finally realized that he was too annoyed to be ____， so she changed her ____. “You know, you are right，” she told him. “It must seem _____ for me not to think you know the best way ____the city.”
____， the driver glanced at his ____ in the rearview mirror（后视镜）, turned down the street she wanted and got her to the train on time. “He didn't say another word the rest of the ride，” she said. “_ ____I got out and paid him. Then he thanked me.”
When you find yourself ____with people like the taxi driver, you will always try to ____ your idea. It can lead to longer arguments, lose job chances or ____ marriages. I have discovered one simple ____extremely unlikely method that can prevent the disagreement or other difficult situations from ____in a disaster.
The ____is to put yourself in the other person's shoes and look for the ____in what that person is saying. Find a way to ____， and the result may surprise you.
1.A. moment B. rush C. hurry D. way
2.A. Suggested B. made C. found D. chose
3.A. jokingly B. angrily C. anxiously D. curiously
4.A. supposed B. expected C. decided D. meant
5.A. apologizing B. driving C. Shouting D. asking
6.A. normal . B. thoughtful C. reasonable D. practical
7.A. road B. direction C. mind D. manner
8.A. strange B. stupid C. terrible D. wrong
9.A. through B. in C. across D. along
10.A. Annoyed B. Worried C. Surprised D. Disappointed
11.A. speaker B. rider C. helper D. comer
12.A. after B. until C. because D. since
13.A. faced B. concerned C. crowded D. satisfied
14.A. give up B. turn down C. point out D. stick to
15.A. destroy B. combine C. suffer D. divide
16.A. and B. that C. though D. but
17.A. lying B. leading C. setting D. resulting
18.A. problem B. key C. importance D. reply
19.A. fact B. truth C. expression D. meaning
20.A. explain B. argue C. agree D. escape
However difficult you find it to arrange your time, it will pay off in the long run if you set aside a certain part of the day for studying － and stick to it. __1._ But don't forget to make sure that you have enough left for recreational activities or simply to be “with” yourself: reading a novel or watching a television programme.
As part of your weekly schedule, it is also advisable to consider exactly what you have to do in that week, and make sure that you handle the most significant tasks first. __2._
On a physical level, make sure you have an area or space for studying. __3. If you always study in the same place, preferably a room of your own, you will find it easier to adjust mentally to the activity when you enter that area. You should have everything that you might need at hand.
Make sure that all the physical equipment that you use, such as a desk, chair etc. is at good height for you. If you use a personal computer, there are plenty of guidelines available from the movement on angles, lighting and the like. __4.__
If you are working on topic your teacher has set, but finding it hard to concentrate, it may be that you actually need to take your mind right off it for a period of time. __5.__ After a period away from the test, having not thought about it at all, you may return to it refreshed and full of ideas.
A．It's wise to leave the easier or less urgent areas of your work until later.
B．It's all too easy to read something and then forget where it came from.
C．Consult these and avoid the typical student aches and pains.
D．“Airing the mind” can work wonders sometimes.
E．Make use of equipment that is available to you.
F．It is best to make a weekly schedule.
G．Don't do it just anywhere.
Grammarphobia is the fear of grammar. This fear attacks almost everybody at one time or another, and it's most likely to strike during English or language arts classes. Even people who love reading and writing have been known to get feverish and insecure when they are aware of the possibility of turning in homework with grammar or spelling mistakes. Though writing may be enjoyable, being corrected is definitely not!
Grammarphobes, it's time to put your fears behind you. Grammar isn't that dreadful (可怕的). Here's why.
Let's assume you like hearing and telling stories and that you enjoy joking with friends. You probably also like emailing and instantmessaging. Well, what do you think makes all these possible? Grammar!
Grammar is simply the art of putting words together to make sentences. Whenever you use words to express yourself, you're using grammar. You do this all the time without even thinking.
So why think about it? Because good grammar helps you convey the ideas you intend. If your words aren't right, or if they are not in the right order, the person you are talking to might get the wrong idea. This can have embarrassing results.
Grammar helps us understand each other. It's like a manual (手册) for assembling the words in your head. You have to put your words together the right way if you want them to make sense. They can't do what you want if they aren't put together correctly.
What if everybody you know had a different manual? How would you agree on what others' words mean? People with different grammar manuals might be speaking different languages.
Communicating is similar to playing cards. To make sense, we have to play the same game, by the same rules. What are the rules for playing the game of English? You already know most of them without having to open a book.
1.Grammarphobes refer to people who ________.
A. consider grammar to be boring
B. are afraid of making grammar mistakes
C. mind grammar too much in writing
D. are worried about grammar homework
2. The underlined word “assembling” in Paragraph 6 may mean ________.
A. directing B. remembering
C. looking for D. bringing together
3.What does playing cards have in common with communicating?
A. Both can be learned easily.
B. Both can be interesting games.
C. Both need standards.
D. Both can make sense for our life.
4.What might be the main idea of the passage?
A. Grammar is not horrible.
B. Forgetting grammar when writing.
C. Improving grammar through writing.
D. What is grammarphobia?
I fell in love with the minister's son the winter I turned fourteen. He was not Chinese. For Christmas I prayed for the boy, Robert. When I found out that my parents had invited the minister's family over for Christmas Eve dinner, I cried in panic. What would Robert think of our shabby Chinese Christmas? What would he think of our noisy Chinese relatives who lacked proper American manners?
On Christmas Eve, my mother created abundant Chinese food. And then they arrived—the minister's family and all my relatives. Robert greeted hello, and I pretended he was not worthy of existence.
Dinner threw me deeper into disappointment. My relatives licked (舔) the ends of their chopsticks and reached across the table. Robert and his family waited patiently for a large plate to be passed to them. My relatives murmured with pleasure when my mother brought out the whole steamed fish. Robert made a face. Then my father reached his chopsticks just below the fish eye and picked out the soft meat. “Amy, your favorite，” he said, offering me the tender fish cheek. I wanted to disappear.
At the end of the meal, my father leaned back and burped (打嗝) loudly, thanking my mother for her fine cooking. “It's a polite Chinese custom to show you are satisfied，” explained my father to our astonished guests. Robert was looking down at his plate with a reddish face. The minister managed to bring up a quiet burp. I was shocked into silence for the rest of the night.
After everyone had gone, my mother said to me, “You want to be the same as American girls on the outside.” She handed me an early gift. It was a miniskirt. “But inside you must always be Chinese. You must be proud that you are different. Your only shame is to have shame.”
It was not until years later that I was able to fully appreciate her lesson and the purpose behind her particular menu. For Christmas Eve that year, she had chosen excellent Chinese food.
1. When the writer found out the minister's family would come for Christmas Eve dinner, she cried mainly because ________.
A. she worried about their shabby Chinese Christmas
B. she worried about their Chinese relatives lacking American manners
C. she worried about being laughed at
D. she worried about meeting the minister's family
2.What does “he was not worthy of existence” probably mean? It means ________.
A. he should not exist
B. he was worthless
C. the writer was not interested in his existence
D. the writer expected his coming
3. The dinner threw the writer deeper into disappointment mainly because ________.
A. she childishly expected all of them to act in the same way as Americans did at table
B. her father reached his chopsticks to pick fish for her
C. her father leaned back and burped loudly
D. her relatives licked the ends of their chopsticks
4.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. the writer appreciated her mother's lesson years later
B. the mother prepared to show Chinese different food culture
C. the writer must be proud that she is different
D. the minister's family really enjoyed the food
If your parents take out a loan, remind themselves to make the payments on time. Otherwise it will become a negative record in their personal credit reports, which are playing an increasingly big role in people's daily lives. A story carried by Chongqing Morning Post in June, underlines this trend.
According to the report, a Chongqing student borrowed money from the bank to finance his university studies. After he graduated in 2005, he went to work in Shenzhen. Later, he wanted to buy a house using loans. But several banks turned down his loan applications. The reason was that he had not paid back 1,500 yuan he borrowed from a bank when he was at university.
A personal credit rating is becoming an essential “pass” in everyday life, as China establishes a nationwide credit database. Personal credit systems go back 150 years. In developed countries, enterprises and banks use them to decide whether or not to loan money or do other business with a person.
A credit report estimates the credit worthiness of an individual, a company, or even a country. It is an evaluation made by credit bureaus of a borrower's overall credit history and his or her ability to repay debt. A poor credit rating means a high risk of defaulting on a loan, and thus leads to the refusal of a loan by the lender.
Today in China, credit history in banks is the major content of a credit report. But in the future, reports will include information about the payment of telephone bills, water use fees, electricity and natural gas bills, and taxes, according to officials of the People's Bank of China, the central bank.
Personal information such as appearance, genetic data, fingerprints, blood type, disease history, ethnic identity, family and religious beliefs are not to be included in credit reports, according to a draft regulation on credit rating issued last year by the Sate Council. The authors of the draft have just finished soliciting(征求) public opinions.
The Credit Reference Center run by the People's Bank of China is in charge of developing a nationwide credit database. Credit reports for all people with bank transactions (交易)began in 2006.
A personal credit rating is important to the social and economic activities of a person. According to the draft, if you have a personal negative credit record, it will be kept for five years.
1.The author took the story as an example in order to ________.
A. warn us of the importance of our personal credit report
B. tell us the story of a Chongqing student
C. encourage us to use credits widely
D. inform us to apply for a loan at university
2.Credit reports will include the following except ________.
A. taxes B. telephone bills
C. water use fees D. genetic data
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Personal credit systems go back 150 years in China.
B. You can turn to the People's Bank of China for the information about your credit report.
C. Credit history in banks is the only content of a credit report.
D. Credit reports began in 2006 in China.
4.What's the best title for the passage?
A. A Credit Report Rating
B. Credit in China
C. Credit Really Counts
D. Credit Report Contents
