The Internet is full of headlines that grab your attention with buzzwords (流行词). But often when we click through, we find the content hardly delivers and it wastes our time. We close the page, feeling we've been cheated. These types of headlines are called "click bait".
A headline on Businesslnsider.com reads: "This phrase will make you seem more polite". First, when you click through, you find another headline: "Four words to seem more polite." Then, on reading the article, you find it's actually an essay about sympathy. And what are the four words? They're "Wow, that sounds hard." On some video websites, you might encounter headlines such as "Here's what happens when six puppies visited a campus". Turns out it's just some uninteresting dog footage (镜头).
Nowadays, with the popularity of social media, many news outlets tweet (推送) click bait links to their stories. These tweets take advantage of the curiosity gap or attempt to draw the reader into a story using a question in the headline. These click bait headlines are so annoying that someone is attempting to save people time by exposing news outlet click bait through social media. The Twitter account @SavedYouAClick, run by Jake Beckman, is one such example.
Beckman's method is to grab tweets linking to a story and retweet them with a click-saving comment. For example, CNET tweeted "So iOS 8 appears to be jailbreakable but...", with a link to its coverage of Apple's product announcements. Beckman retweeted it with this comment attached: "... it hasn't been jailbroken yet."
Since founding the account, Beckman's Twitter experiment has brought him more than 131,000 followers. Beckman said that @SavedYouAClick is…"just my way of trying to help the Internet be less terrible." Asked about his goal, he said, "I'd love to see publishers think about the experience of their readers first. I think there's an enormous opportunity for publishers to provide readers with informative updates that include links so you can click through and read more.
1.The article on Businesslnsider.com turns out to be ________.
A. useful suggestions on politeness
B. an essay about another topic
C. an article hard to understand
D. a link to a video website
2.Why are readers often cheated by tricky headlines?
A. Social media has become more popular.
B. Readers have questions to be solved.
C. Such headlines are fairly attractive.
D. There're always stories behind them.
3.Beckman attached his comment to CNET's tweet to ________.
A. criticize CNET
B. save readers' time
C. advertise apple's new product
D. tell readers something about iOS 8
4.In the last paragraph, Beckman appeals that ________.
A. publishers be more responsible for the link
B. readers think about their needs before reading
C. publishers provide more information for readers
D. people work together to make the Internet less terrible
City Varieties
The Headrow. Leeds. Tel. 430808
Oct. 10-11 only A Night at the Varieties. All the fun of old music hall with Barry Cryer, Duggle Brown, 6 dancers, Mysitina, Jon Barker, Anne Duval and the Tony Harrison Trio. Laugh again at the old jokes and listen to your favourite songs.
Performances: 8 p.m. nightly.
Admission: ￡5; under 16 or over 60: ￡4.
York Theatre Boyal
St Leonard's Place, York. Tel. 223568
Sept. 23-Oct. 17 Groping for Words—a comedy by Sue Townsend. Best known for her Adrian Mole Diaries, Townsend now writes about an evening class which two men and a woman attend. A gentle comedy.
Admission: First night, Mon.: ￡2; Tues.-Fri.: ￡3.25-5.50; Sat.: ￡3.50-5.75.
Halifax Playhouse
King's Cross Street, Halifax. Tel. 365993
Oct. 10-17 On golden Pond by Ernest Thompson. This is magical comedy about real people. A beautifully produced, well-acted play for everyone. Don't miss it.
Performances: 7:30 p.m.
Admission: ￡2. Mon.: 2 seats for the price of one.
Grand Theatre
Oxford Street, Leeds. Tel. 502116
Restaurant and Cafe.
Oct. 1-17 The Secret Diary of Adrian Mold, Aged 13. Sue Townsend's musical play, based on her best-selling book.
Performances: Evening 7:45. October 10-17, at 2:30 p. m.n. No Monday performances.
Admission: Tues.-Thurs.: ￡2-5; Fir.&Sat.: ￡ 2-6.
1.Which theatre offers the cheapest seat?
A. Halifax Playhouse.
B. City Varieties.
C. Grand Theatre.
D. York Theatre Royal.
2.We may learn from the text that Sue Townsend is ________.
A. a writerB. an actressC. a musicianD. a director
3.Supposing you are interested in a magical comedy about real people, you will see ________.
A. The Secret Dairy Of Adrian Mole
B. On Golden Pond
C. Only A Night At The Varieties
D. Groping For World
Security guard, truck driver, salesperson—year after year, these jobs appear on lists of the unhappiest careers. Although many factors can make a job unhappy, unusual hours, low pay, no chance for advancement — these three gigs stand out for another reason: a lack of small talk.
Psychologists have long said that connecting with others is central to well-being, but just how much conversation we require is under investigation. In one study, researchers eavesdropped(窃听) on undergraduates for four days, then cataloged each overheard conversation as either small talk (What do you have there? Popcorn?(Yummy!) or serious (So did they get divorced soon after?). They found that the second type related with happiness—the happiest students had roughly twice as many serious talks as the unhappiest ones. Small talk, meanwhile, made up only 10 percent of their conversation, versus almost 30 percent of conversation among the least content students.
However, don't just consider chat worthless yet. Scientists believe that small talk could promote linking. Chatting with strangers could brighten your morning. In a series of experiments, psychologists gave Chicago travelers varying directions about whether to talk with fellow train passengers something they typically avoided. Those told to chat with others reported a more pleasant journey than those told to enjoy your being alone or to do whatever they normally would. None of the chatters reported being rejected. And the results held for introverts(内向者) and extroverts(外向者) alike which makes sense, since acting extroverted has a positive effect on introverts.
Small talk can also help us feel connected to our surroundings. People who smiled at, made eye contact with, and briefly spoke with their Starbucks reported a greater sense of belonging than those who rushed through the business. Similarly, one not yet published paper found that when volunteers broke the silence of the Tate Modern to chat with gallery goers, the visitors felt happier and more connected to the exhibit than those who were not approached.
So go ahead, pry. Chitchat needn’t be idle. And nosiness isn’t all bad.
1.The author attributes the unhappiness felt by security guards, truck drivers and sales people to ________.
A. unusual hours and low pay
B. a lack of small talk
C. no chance for advancement
D. an absence of serious conversation
2.What was the conclusion of the study mentioned in the second paragraph?
A．Connecting with others is central to our well-being.
B．We require 30 minutes of conversation every day to be happy.
C．Serious conversation is linked to happiness.
D．Small talk cannot help make us feel happy.
3.The author used the Tate Modern example to demonstrate that ________.
A. connecting with others is key to our happiness
B. unserious conversation could promote bonding
C. small talk can help us feel connected to our surroundings
D. smiling can help people gain a great sense of belonging
4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in this passage?
Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1.Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?
A. Start the car the moment everyone is seated.
B. Leave the room for a minute with the iron working.
C. Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better.
D. Move an object out of the way before it traps someone.
2.The author decided to go to her office on Good Friday to ________.
A. keep her appointment with the eye doctor
B. meet her father who was already an old man
C. join in the holiday celebration of the company
D. finish her work before the deadline approached
3.The underlined word “foregone” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. avoidedB. lackedC. abandonedD. took
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Emotional Well-being
B. The Two Saddest Words
C. The Most Useful Rule
D. The Peace of Mind
为了使我们的校园更美好。作为学生会主席的你，向全校学生倡议要形成环保意识，让同学们明白保护环境是我们中学生应尽的责任。请根据下面内容写一份倡议书，要点如下：
1. 节电、节水；
2. 采用公共交通方式；
3. 不乱扔垃圾，拒绝使用一次性筷子及塑料袋，支持“光盘行动”。
注意：
1. 次数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：一次性筷子once-off chopsticks ; 光盘行动 “clear your plate” campaign
Dear friends,
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Thank you!
Student Union
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。
This morning on my way to school I was deep moved by what I saw outside a bank. An old man was counting his money in the front of the bank. Suddenly a young man came running and knocked him down. To make things bad, his money was flying in all direction. In no time the people around rush to pick the money up while the old man stood there, not know what to do. Surprisingly, everyone gave back the money they had just picked up. The old man counted the money again and found that not a single bill was missed. To my great joy, there are now a lot nice people in your life. It’s true what honesty is more important than money!
