Colorful lanterns are lighting up China’s night sky, as activities begin across the country to celebrate Lantern Festival today.
1. (date) back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), the Lantern Festival is held on the 15th day of the first lunar month2.(mark) the first full moon of the lunar new year.
You Guoqing, 3.folk custom expert in Tianjin, said the Lantern Festival was about going out for a colorful celebration rather than a family get-together. 4.watching lanterns, 5. is also a day to appreciate the full moon, solve lantern riddles, watch art 6.(performance) and eat tang yuan.
The festival was once also a time for romantic encounters. In feudal times, young women were not allowed to go out7.(free), but Lantern Festival was an exception, 8. young men and women could meet up.
Some aspects of the festival, such as its romantic atmosphere, 9. (fade), but people 10. see the Lantern Festival as a day to rejoice and a chance to wish for happiness.
It was many years ago. I was a young dad sitting on the couch reading a fairy tale to my little girl. She sat next to me with her head on my arm as I told the _______. When it came to the _______ I finished with those famous words：“And they lived happily ever after.” _______ I looked over to her with her wavy, brown hair and big, innocent eyes, I could see the _______ on her face and I never wanted it to end. It _______ me then that the ending of the book was what I wanted for her. I wanted her to “live happily ever after."
_______, deep in my heart I knew that this couldn’t always be so. I knew that there would be times when her heart was _______. I knew there would be times when she cried in grief and I couldn’t _______ her. I knew there would be times when all she felt was _______, sadness, sorrow, and despair. As I stroked her hair and smiled at her I hoped that those times would be ________ and that she would have joy in her life more often than not. Living happily ever after, though ________ out of the question.
It took me a lot of years to ________ that it is possible to live happily ever after. You just have to do it "one day at a time." Happiness you see isn’t some ________ that you get at the end of your ________. Happiness isn't something dependent on ________life hands you. Happiness is ________ you create in your life choice by choice and day by day.
The ________ is that happiness comes when you love. Love is a(n) ________ from God. It is love that ________ broken hearts. It is love that heals grief. It is love that gives us joy. ________ to “live happily ever after, one day at a time.”
1.A. tale B. words C. times D. book
2.A. beginning B. middle C. end D. bottom
3.A. Until B. Though C. As D. Unless
4.A. tear B. smile C. worry D. sadness
5.A. dawned on B. took in C. caught on D. made out
6.A. Therefore B. However C. But D. So
7.A. hurt B. injured C. harmed D. broken
8.A. persuade B. entertain C. comfort D. satisfy
9.A. desire B. eagerness C. stress D. fear
10.A. quick B. fast C. brief D. soon
11.A. remained B. stayed C. kept D. seemed
12.A. recognize B. realize C. know D. accept
13.A. prize B. award C. reward D. value
14.A. journey B. trip C. travel D. tour
15.A. how B. when C. what D. which
16.A. something B. anything C. everything D. nothing
17.A. reality B. truth C. faith D. belief
18.A. fate B. fortune C. offer D. gift
19.A. improves B. recovers C. mends D. calm
20.A. Choose B. Accept C. Prefer D. Remember
Success is so much more than just money or fame.1.If you want to have a successful life, if you want to create a life that makes you feel passionate to be alive, here are the three things you need to focus on.
Believe In Yourself
If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect other people to?
If you don’t believe that you can have the life you desire, if you don’t believe that you can achieve all that you are setting out to achieve, it is going to be very difficult to create a successful life. 2.It also helps you to take a leap of faith when it comes to going after what it is that you truly desire.
3.
If your intention is simply rooted in money and fame, chances are you are never going to truly feel successful. The feeling of success that is given through money and fame is only temporary and is not enough to sustain a long-term feeling of fulfillment and happiness.
4.When your intention is to serve your purpose, make a change in the world and express your gifts and talents, you will feel true success and satisfaction no matter what the outcome.
Realize You Are Already Successful
Success is all around you and flows through you and the more you can welcome that into your life, the more you will start to feel it.
Being grateful for the tiniest successes in life will also help you to create more and more success. 5.The truth is that you are already successful and once you realize this, there is no stopping what you can do.
A. Know Your Intention.
B. Realize your dream.
C. When you believe in yourself, it fuels your creativity, your ambitions and your motivation to do things.
D. Success is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.
E. For a truly successful life, your intention has to be rooted in your purpose, in your passions and in what feels good to you.
F. This is a powerful mindset shift and one that will help you to align (使结盟）with your ambitions and dreams.
G. Success is about being able to live a happy and fulfilling life that allows you to be true to who you really are.
I used to believe courtesy(礼貌) was a thing of the past. Very seldom have I encountered a courteous human being in this modem era of the so called Generation X.
Recently, I had to change my thinking, when I came face to face with just such a human being. I had gone to a happening coffee place, with two of my grown up daughters. The place was crowded with the usual loud crowd and we had to climb a sleep flight of stairs in order to find an empty table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we were at the steep descent down the stairs, where the narrow space made climbing down only possible in a single file, with hardly any space for another person to either climb up or come down.
Just as I was in the middle of my descent, a gentleman entered the main entrance of the restaurant which right in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed roughly by this man who will want to go up in a hurry. I kept coming down as fast as I could, holding on to the banister (栏杆), instead of my advanced years. My agile daughters were already down, looking up at me worriedly, hoping I would reach them before the stranger strange started up the stairs, knowing I was a nervous sort.
Nearly reaching them, I noticed the man still standing near the door. I reached my daughters and passed the stranger at the entrance door which he kept holding open. I looked back thinking he was still at the door, deciding whether to go in or find another less crowded place. I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time. I told my daughters about it and all three of us felt had that we did not even thank the courteous gentleman who was actually holding the door open for us ladies to pass through before going up.
1.What happened after the writer saw the young man?
A. The young man pushed the writer roughly and went upstairs.
B. The writer’s daughters helped her down the stairs as fast possible.
C. The young man stood at the door deciding whether to go in or not.
D. The writer caught hold of the bannister to walk as fast as she can.
2.What do you think caused the writer’s nervousness?
A. The stairs were too narrow and sleep.
B. Her two daughters had been down already.
C. She was afraid of being pushed roughly.
D. She could not walk fast because of old age.
3.What can be the best title?
A. A polite young man B. Generation X
C. The coffee place D. A family get-together
Too Good To Go, an app operating in the UK, allows users to order leftover food at a discount from restaurants, according to the website. The goal is to help cut food waste.
Users simply log in, pick a restaurant, pay through the app and then pick up their food at a set time—usually around closing or after peak meal times. Orders through the app cost between 2 British pounds ($2.60) to 3.80 British pounds (about $5). Users aren’t able to pick the food items, but they get an idea of the type of food that will be available, according to Business Green.
Users also have the option to give meals to people in need by donating 1 British pound or more through the app. More than l, l00 meals have been donated so far.
To ensure the entire experience is super eco-friendly. Too Good To Go provides recyclable takeout packaging to participating restaurants.
Restaurants using the app make extra money by selling food what would otherwise have been throw away. And Too Good To Go itself makes money by taking a fee from participating restaurants on each sale.
Founded in Denmark last year. Too Good To Go launched this year in the UK and is expanding to other countries. The app is available in Brighton, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and will be in London later this month.
“Food waste just seems like one of the dumbest(愚蠢) problems we have in this world,” co-founder James Crummie told Business Green. “The restaurant industry is wasting about 600,000 tonnes of food each year, and in the UK alone there are one million people on emergency food parcels from food banks. Why do we have these two massive social issues that are completely connected, yet there is not much going on to address them?”
Too Good To Go has already helped cut a significant amount of waste. So far, the app has saved 600 meals from landfills in the UK, reports Business Green.
1.Why is the app introduced into UK according to the passage?
A. To help users find proper restaurants.
B. To reduce food waste in UK.
C. To help people in need of food.
D. To make orders of food much cheaper.
2.Which of the following statements are TRUE according to the passage?
A. The app has made some progress in saving food.
B. The app has been used throughout UK by now.
C. You can make money if you are a customer.
D. The restaurants provide recyclable takeout packaging.
3.From what James Crummie said we know that ________.
A. it’s stupid for the restaurant industry to waste so much food
B. food bank should provide more food to people in need
C. people don't pay much attention to food problems
D. it’s stupid trying to solve food problems by using the app
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. How to use the app.
B. Who benefit from the app.
C. Food waste is the biggest problem.
D. Using an app can reduce food waste.
If you've not heard that the decade-old princess-culture is causing problems—especially if you're a parent—you must be actively working to avoid it.
The latest study adding fuel to the fire comes out of Brigham Young University and finds that the Disney princess obsession can be harmful to girls.
“I think parents think that the Disney princess culture is safe. That’s the word I hear time and time again—it’s safe.” Lead study author Sarah M. Coyne of the Mormon institution in Utah noted in a press release. “But if we’re fully jumping in here and really embracing (accepting) it, parents should really consider the long-term impact of the princess culture."
So, what’s the problem this time around? Same as always, confirmed the study, published in the journal Child Development, which involved the assessment of 198 preschoolers: Lots of engagement with princess culture (whether through moves or toys) can lead to gender-stereotypical(性别定性) behavior as well as self-critical body image.
The strict gender stereotypes can hold girls back. “They feel like they can’t do some things,” Coyne said, “They’re not as confident that they can do well in math and science. They don’t like getting dirty, so they’re less likely to try and experiment with things.”
On the other hand, “Disney princesses represent some of the first examples of exposure to the thin ideal,” Coyne said. “As women, we get it our whole lives, and it really does start at the Disney princess level, at age 3 and 4.”
So, what should a parent do? Try his or her best to avoid all princesses for the entire of a girl's childhood? I'd say, have moderation in all things, have your kids involved in all sorts of activities, and just have princesses be one of many, many things that they like to do and engage with." Coyne suggested. “This study has changed the way I talk to my daughter, the things I focus on, and it's been really good for me as a parent to learn from this study,” Coyne said. “I usually can't say that my research findings have such a personal impact on my life."
1.What do we know about the study?
A. It proved that the Disney princess obsession is harmful.
B. Sarah M. Coyne is the first one to do the research.
C. It started a heated discussion among people.
D. It suggested watching TV programmes of I lie Disney is safe.
2.How many problems can the Disney princess culture cause according to the study?
A. One. B. Two. C. Three. D. Four.
3.What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 6 refer to?
A. The Disney princess culture.
B. The idea that girls can't do some things.
C. The idea that girls should be thin.
D. The problem the Disney culture causes.
4.What advice does Coyne give to parents?
A. Actively work on the old princess culture.
B. Change their way they talk to their daughter.
C. Avoid girls to watch any princesses.
D. Have girls involved in all kinds of activities.
