You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it .But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette is sort of odd,” Gray told the BBC, “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places”.
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, lift users unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally(对角地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
1.According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _____.
A. turn around and greet one another
B. look around or examine their phone
C. make eye contact with those in the elevator
D. try to keep a distance from other people
2.Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?
3.The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _____.
A. judge B. ignore
C. put up with D. make the best of
4.According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.
A. someone’s odd behaviors
B. the lack of space
C. their unfamiliarity with one another
D. their eye contact with one another
The English test will be removed from China’s college entrance exam by 2020, according to the Ministry of Education. The national college entrance exam, known as the “Gaokao” has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades. The Ministry of Education has worked out a plan for reforming exams and enrollment. Tests will be held several times a year to allow students to choose when and how often they sit the exam so as to reduce study pressure and change China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system.
The decision has aroused a heated discussion among Shanghai educators and parents who doubted the reform would reduce the burden of learning English or if the substitute test could reflect a student’s English skills and help students learn English better. Cai Jigang, a professor from Fudan University said, “The reform shows China is to give students more test-taking chances. But more chances might become more of a burden since Chinese students are likely to repeat the test until they get the highest score.”
“In my opinion, the reform doesn’t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students after it will be excluded from the unified college entrance exam,” said Yu Lizhong, chancellor of New York University Shanghai, “In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, while every college and university, even every major, canhave different requirements of a student’s English skills under a diverse evaluation system.”
Yu said some students will have their study pressure reduced if the major they choose doesn’t need excellent English while others still need to study hard if they want to be among the best students.
The education ministry said the reform would not affect students attending the college entrance exam over the next three years. But parents with younger children are concerned. Zhang Hui, the mother of a fourth-grade girl at Pudong Zhuyuan Primary School, said English was her daughter’s strength, so canceling the English test would not favor her child.
1.What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. English will become less and less important in the stage of compulsory education.
B. It has been 30 years since English became one subject of Chinese “Gaokao”.
C. China’s once-in-a-lifetime exam system is unacceptable at all.
D. The system that tests are held several times does more good than once-in-a-lifetime
2.According to the passage, some Shanghai educators and parents argue that _____.
A. the new exam and admission system will make no difference
B. English shouldn’t be removed from China’s college entrance exam
C. the reform may accomplish the very opposite
D. Western educational system does not apply to China
3.According to Yu Lizhong, _______________.
A. Students needn’t lay a good foundation during the period of high school.
B. Whether students should study English hard may depend on their major.
C. Students can constantly strive for perfection only in their major.
D. English must be close to full mark.
4.What’s the purpose of writing the passage?
A. To advise students not to devote themselves to learning English.
B. To call on Education Department to remove English from “Gaokao”.
C. To support Education Department’s act of removing English from “Gaokao”
D. To report people’s opinions on English being removed from “Gaokao”
It was a cold morning at a metro station in Washington DC, a man started to play the violin. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the tin without stopping, and continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most beautiful pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment.
The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we enjoy beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected situation?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”
1.Few people stopped to listen to Joshua Bell playing because____________.
A. it was too cold in the subway
B. they were not interested in music
C. people were in a hurry
D. the performance was not good enough
2.Which of the following is true about Joshua Bell’s performance?
A. Nobody gave him money
B. Nobody recognized him.
C. Nobody appreciated it
D. Nobody organized it
3.Joshua Bell played in the metro station in order to ____________.
A. make more money on the street
B. practice his skills in playing music
C. made an advertisement for his concert
D. find out people’s reaction under such a circumstance
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?.
A. The Importance of Music B. A Talented Violinist
C. A Subway Violin Performance D. The Things We Miss
假设你叫李华, 你将作为高三毕业生代表, 根据以下要点在毕业晚会上用英文做一简短的告别演讲:
1. 对三年高中生活的怀念;
2. 对老师的感谢;
3. 对母校的祝福。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头已经给出，不计入总词数。
My dear teachers and fellow students,
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。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：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，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。
I’m very glad to have received the letter you sent me two weeks before. I have been thought about the question raised in your letter. In my opinion, you should go back after you finish your studies at abroad. For one thing, that you are studying is badly needed nowadays in our country. It will be quite easily for you to find a good job. In fact, I know that a few big company in our city hope to hire people like you. For another, I think it will be more convenient for you look after your parents because they are getting older and older. And this is only my point of view. It is up to me to make a right choice.
Two little children were sitting by the fire one cold winter’s night. Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door. “Who can it be?” they wondered. One ran 1. (curious) to open it. There, outside in the cold and the darkness, stood a child 2. no shoes on his feet and dressed in old thin garments. He was trembling with cold, 3. he asked if he was allowed to come in and warm himself.
Yes, come, cried both the children. They drew the little stranger to their warm seat, 4. (share) their supper with him, and gave him their bed, and they slept on a hard bench.
On the night, they 5. (awake) by sweet music, 6. was played by a band of children in shining garments. Suddenly the stranger child stood in front of 7. : no longer cold and ragged, but dressed in silvery light. He said, I am the Christ Child, 8. (wander) through the world to bring peace and 9. (happy) to good children as you. As you have helped me so much, this tree will give rich fruit to you every year.
When he was saying that, he broke 10. branch from the tree that grew near the door, planted it in the ground and disappeared. But the branch grew into a great tree, and every year it bore wonderful golden fruit for the kind children.
