When my sister Diane began playing the violin, she was seven. How did she sound? Terrible. But she didn’t _________. At twelve, she asked our parents if she could _________ a full-time music school. They said no. Actually, everyone agreed that my sister __________ talent.
I was better at my _________. My teacher had told my parents that I had great __________. So my parents found the best piano teacher in the area to _________ me. But the only time he was _________was Saturday afternoons at 3 P. m. Back then, I was _________ about the British TV show “The Avengers”, which was ________ every Saturday at 3 P. p. m. I let nothing take up my “Avengers” hour . So I _________ this amazing opportunity. Today, I don’t even have a ________ in my house.
My sister became an engineer, but she _________stopped making music. When she was in her 40s, she switched （转换）_________. She went back to college, got a _________ in music education, and became a music teacher. She starts kids out on their first instrument and gives them all the encouragement and support she never _________.
Recently, she and a pianist pal put on a recital（音乐独奏会）. A big crowd of friends and family _________ for her. As she played, I looked around at the _________. Everyone was _________enjoying the music. It occurred to me that I was the only person who remembered that 7-year-old kid making those perfectly _________ sounds and knew how far she had come, despite _________.
Talent is important. But enthusiasm is even more important.
1.A. admit B. advance C. quit（停止） D. improve
2.A. attend B. join C. leave D. visit
3.A. admired B. lacked（缺乏） C. had D. instrument（仪器）
4.A. major B. project C. composition D. instrument
5.A. ambition（雄心 ） B. patience C. enthusiasm D. potential（潜力）
6.A. examine B. train C. Correct D. challenge
7.A. available（有空的） B. punctual（守时的） C. skillful D. occupied
8.A. sensitive B. serious C. crazy D. particular
9.A. aired（播送） B. filmed C. Designed D. commented评论
10.A. grasped B. valued C. waited for D. turned down
11.A. book B. play C. piano D. violin
12.A. already B. even C. never D. once
13.A. attitudes B. careers（职业） C. plans D. positions
14.A. degree B. chance C. scholarship D. sponsor赞助商
15.A. expected B. provided C. imagined D. received
16.A. paid off B. showed off C. stayed up D. turned up
17.A. audience B. students C. spotlights D. platform
18.A. appropriately（适当地） B. anxiously C. obviously D. desperately绝望地
19.A. sweet B. awful C. powerful D. unique
20.A. everybody B. everything C. something D. somebody
Scientists often see the first ten years of a child's life as the "window of opportunity,"1.And studies show that the following activities can benefit their brain greatly.
2.
Free playtime has always been an important part of "being a kid",but it is also important to a child's development."Free play" not only helps kids develop different skills,it also helps them develop into happy healthy adults in the future.
Read with kids.
Reading has long been known to improve children's intelligence.3.For parents who don't have much time, just surrounding your kids with books goes a long way too.
Put kids to bed early.
4.Preschool children should get at least eleven hours of sleep and kids up to age 12 should try to get at least ten hours of sleep.
Learn a second language.
Early studies in this field have shown that bilingual（双语的）kids can perform better under pressure.Young children can learn new languages with nearly perfect fluency（流利）and pronunciation.
Praise good effort not intelligence.
Your kids may be smart but you should mainly praise the effort they put into tasks.Kids,who are praised on intelligence,often feel it is a fixed quality,and mistakes or failures badly hurt their self-confidence.Kids who are praised on effort often focus more on learning.5.
A.Play some helpful games.
B.Give them enough playtime.
C.And they are not afraid to fail and try again.
D.Kids still need time away from the TV to do homework.
E.Kids who read often develop earlier writing and number skills as well.
F.Everything at this time is very important to the development of a person's brain.
G.Studies show that kids with regular bedtimes are better at languages,math and reading.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted that 42% of Americans could be overweight by 2030. Our expanding waistlines lead to not only a medical problem, but according to a recent article In The New York Times, it could also endanger personal safety in some situations—in an airplane crash, for example.
The New York Times’ Christen Negroni reports that engineers and scientists are questioning whether airplane seats are adequately constructed to protect overweight travelers. Government standards for airplane seat strength（强度）— first set moe than 60 years ago — require that the seats be made for a passenger weighing 170 pounds (77kg). Today, the average American man weighs nearly 194 pounds (88kg) and the average woman 165 pounds (75kg). Negroni reports:
“If a heavier person completely fills seat, the seat is not likely to behave as intended during a crash,” said Robert Salazar, the leading scientist at the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia. “The energy absorption that is built into the aircraft seat is likely to be overpowered and the passengers will not be protected properly.”
“Nor would the injury be limited to that passenger only,” Dr. Salzar said. “If a seat or a seat belt fails,” he said, “those people who are seated nearby could be endangered from ‘the uncontrolled movements of the passenger’.”
Most complaints about airplane seats focus on their lack of comfort and high ticket price, and whether overweight passengers should be made to buy two seats. But The New York Times’ article brings up another reason to feel anxious about flying. Investigators of the issue got in touch with the airplane seat and seat belt makers, but they refused to comment on the problem. Experts agreed that crash testing should be done with overweight dummies （人体模型）. Both airplane seats and seat belts should be tested, they said.
Fortunately, however, according to Nora Marshall, a senior adviser at the National Transportation Safety Board, the board’s investigators have never seen an accident involving a commercial plane in which the weight of a passenger was a problem.
1.What is the article in The New York Times mainly concerned with?
A. The size of airplane seats and seat belts.
B. Safety of overweight airplane passengers.
C. Airplane crashes involving commercial planes.
D. A medical problem caused by being overweight.
2.Robert Salzar would probably agree that .
A. overweight passengers should buy two seats
B. the government should help produce safer planes
C. standards for airplane seat strength should be raised
D. passengers should know how to protect themselves
3.We can learn from the text that .
A. airplane seat makers have taken action now
B. there are few complaints about airplane seats
C. those seate near the overweight may suffer too
D. only a small number of airplane accidents involve the overweight
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. Why Do Passengers Feel Anxious about Flying?
B. Will 42% of Americans Be OVERWEIGHT BY 2030?
C. When Will the Overweight Enjoy Their Flight?
D. Are Airplane Seats Safe Enough for the Overweight?
Aerial performer Jennifer Bricker was born without legs, but she never let it stop her.
Wrapped in a loop of red silk hung from the ceiling Jennifer Bricker climbs and twists to the music. Her head hangs down and her strong arms let go as she balances on her back, high above the ground a move that’s all the more daring because she has no legs.
Jennifer was a few months old when she was adopted by Sharon and Gerald Bricker. She had big brown eyes, a bright smile, and huge amounts of energy. When a doctor advised her adoptive parents to carry her around in a kind of bucket, they refused.
Jennifer soon learned to walk — and run — on her hands and bottom, and grew up fearlessly climbing trees and bouncing on the trampoline（蹦床） with her three older brothers. “My parents didn’t treat me differently so I didn’t grasp the concept that I was different. I knew I didn’t have legs but that wasn’t stopping me from doing the things I wanted to do.”
At the age of three she was fitted with artificial legs, but she never really took to them — she moved more freely without.
In 1996 the Olympic Games took place in Atlanta. Jennifer loved to watch the women’s gymnastics team, and especially adored the 14-year-old Dominique Moceanu who competed for the US. When Moceanu and the women’s team won gold, Jennifer decided she was going to be a gymnast, too. She took up power tumbling, which involves performing floor exercises down a runway. But Jennifer did not want any allowances to be made for her disability.
At the age of 10 she took part in the Junior Olympics and by age 11 she was tumbling champion for the state of Illinois.
Jennifer now travels the world as an inspirational speaker and acts as an aerial performer.
1.Why did Jennifer determine to be a gymnast?
A. She knew that she was different from others.
B. She wanted to make allowances for her disability.
C. She was eager to participate in the Junior Olympics.
D. She was greatly influenced by Dominique Moceanu.
2.What do we know about Jennifer Bricker?
A. She felt embarrassed without legs.
B. She was carried in a bucket as a baby.
C. She was brought up as a normal child.
D. She lost her legs when she was adopted.
3.Which of the following can best describe Jennifer Bricker?
A. Self-respected. B. Cautious.
C. Sensitive. D. Clever.
Your next ca might drive itself. After years of trials on city streets, driverless vehicles are now nearing the live phase. Last moth, a driverless bus began carrying passengers through Lyon, France, Most in the automobile industry think self-driving vehicles will be on the road by 2020 or before.
Driverless cars will at first be huddled with human-driven cars. But the first places where they will become dominant（统治的）are dense urban areas — precisely the spots most damaged by the automobile age. Many advanced cities are already reducing the role of human-driven cargo. Driverless cars will quicken that process and will bring us enormous benefits.
Driverless cars will reduce accidents by around 90 percent. That’s big—the annual death toll on the world’s roads is about 1.2 million a year. Pollution and carbon emissions will drop, because urban driverless cars will be electric. The old, otherwise they would stay at home most of the time and the disabled and teenagers will suddenly gain mobility.
On the other hand, driverless cars will bring catastrophe. The best thing about the automobile age was that it employed tens of millions of people to make, market, insure and drive vehicles. Over the next 20 years, the mostly low-skilled men who now drive trucks, taxis and buses will see their jobs reduced. Carmakers are especially scared. The few cars of the future might be made by tech companies such as Apple, Baidu and Google. Imaging the impact on Germany, where the automotive sector is the largest industry.
Dramatic change is coming, and driverless cars could arrive by 2020. But governments have barely begun thinking about it. Only 6 percent of the biggest US cities have factored them into their long-term planning.
A decade ago anyone hardly saw the Smartphone coming. It has bought an epidemic of mass addiction. Let’s hope we do a better job of handling the driverless car.
1.The underlined words “be huddled with” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “ “.
A. show up B. exist together
C. get rid of D. take the place of
2.Why can driverless cars reduce pollution and carbon emissions?
A. Driverless cars reduce the number of cars.
B. Driverless cars will be powered by electricity.
C. Driverless cars save fuel by driving themselves.
D. Driverless cars will reduce too many accidents.
3.What’s the author’s attitude toward driverless cars?
A. Doubtful. B. Negative.
C. Objective. D. Worried.
4.What can we know about driverless cars?
A. They will not hit the road until 2020.
B. They will only be used in urban areas.
C. They will not cause any road accident.
D. They aren’t still seriously taken by leaders.
Smart phones are so common these days. It’s a wonder that our pets don’t own one. But they don’t necessarily have to. These four apps will help you take care of your best furry friend from dog training to first aid.
Pet First Aid
Price: $3.99
Pet First Aid helps you provide the basic care and attention that your four-legged friend might need in a medical emergency. The application shows owners how to treat illnesses with helpful videos, pictures and articles on subjects like cuts, wound treatment and more. A section called Pet Info lets you enter in information about your pets including when they had their last vaccinations, any medicines they take, or information about any diseases or conditions your animal suffers from.
Paw Card Pet Tracker
Price: Free
Paw Card helps you keep a record of your loved one’s important information. Use it to record your pet’s medical contacts, vaccinations, identity cards, medical conditions and medicines. Additional characteristics include a drawing showing your dog’s weight over time.
Dog Park Finder
Price: Free
Dog Park Finder helps you locate dog-friendly parks and training locations in your area(USA)locations only). The app includes in formation on more than 2,200 off-leash(无需给狗拴链的) areas, user photos and more than 6，500 reviews, so you can have fun with your dog off the leash.
Dog Book
Price: Free
Dog Book is a social networking application for dogs. Like Face book, users can share with other people what’s going on in their dog’s life, share photos, and find great animal-friendly places to meet up.
1.The app Pet First Aid is different from the other thee mainly in .
A. size B. price
C. application D. position
2.If you want to keep a record of your dog’s weight, you can use .
A. Dog Book B. Pet First Aid
C. Dog Park Finder D. Paw Card Pet Tracker
3.Which one is the best choice if you want to find dog training locations?
A. Dog Park Finder B. Pet First Aid
C. Paw Card Pet Tracker. D. Dog Book
4.From the text we can know .
A. Dog Book users can find off-leash areas
B. Dog Park Finder provides worldwide information
C. Paw Card Pet Tracker records your dog’s information
D. Pet First Aid users can find the nearest hospital easily
