Over the last 15 years, as a doctor, I have had heart-to-heart conversations with countless patients near the end of their lives. The most common emotion they express is______. And that’s______I came up with a project to encourage people to write a______to their loved ones. It’s a lesson I learned years ago from a memorable______patient.
He was a retired______with a cancer. Every day, his______spent many hours watching him watch television. She explained to me he had never been much of a______in their 50-plus years of marriage. But he seemed quite______to share his ideas with me,______when it became clear his days were______. He spoke of his deep regret for not having spent enough time with his wife, and of his great______in his son, who had joined the Navy in his father’s footsteps.
One afternoon, when I mentioned these______to his wife and son, they looked disbelievingly at each other. They thanked me for being so kind but______my patient was unlikely to express such feelings. To make sure his family could hear his______, I took my video camera with me the next morning and with the patients’______, recorded an open letter from him to his family. When I gave them the______letter, both his wife and son were moved to tears.
The experience______my letter project, which can help people complete their life review tasks: remembering to those we may have hurt;______those who have hurt us and saying “I love you”. It may take much courage to write a life review letter. For some people, it______deep and troubling emotions.______it may be the most important letter you will ever write.
1.A. gratitude B. regret C. apology D. affection
2.A. because B. why C. when D. how
3.A. note B. bill C. letter D. sentence
4.A. dying B. weak C. unconscious D. silent
5.A. merchant B. worker C. official D. soldier
6.A. family B. daughter C. son D. wife
7.A. husband B. lover C. talker D. companion
8.A. willing B. disturbing C. embarrassed D. delighted
9.A. specially B. especially C. exactly D. gradually
10.A. numbered B. died C. ended D. completed
11.A. satisfaction B. pride C. concern D. complaint
12.A. comments B. decisions C. explanations D. promises
13.A. denied B. disbelieved C. insisted D. realized
14.A. sorrow B. anxiety C. wish D. love
15.A. desire B. permission C. request D. assistance
16.A. taped B. typed C. written D. unopened
17.A. raised B. inspired C. proved D. welcomed
18.A. acknowledging B. forgetting C. hurting D. forgiving
19.A. calls for B. calls off C. calls in D. calls up
20.A. So B. For C. Yet D. Otherwise
Now, if you want to be charming, then you’ll need to build self-confidence, but becoming more outgoing is actually pretty easy. To get to a point at which you feel comfortable talking to complete stranger, follow these steps.
Encourage your curiosity about people.1.I wonder what his parents look like. I wonder what her favorite color is. Is he from around here? Is she the girl I saw at the movie theater last week? It will take some conscious effort, but you can’t be outgoing if you don’t care about people.
Smile at others. Make it a goal to smile at one person a day. It can be anybody, and it can be the most subtle(微妙的) of smile. A quick glance paired with a smile---then run away if you want!2.Eventually, you will want to get to a point where you smile instinctively whenever you make first eye contact with someone.
Ask people questions. The standard ”how are you?” doesn’t really count, because people use it as a greeting rather than a real question.3.This is where the curiosity and interest in others come into play.
4.This is key to being a good conversationalist. If you don’t make enough eye contact, the other person will feel invisible and the sense that you’re elsewhere mentally. If you make too much, they’ll feel uncomfortable. Is that specific enough for you?
Note your body language.5.To show that you’re outgoing and welcome conversations, keep your body open, you head up, and a smile on your face. Resist playing with your phone or otherwise occupying yourself.
A. Master eye contact.
B. Never hesitate to smile at others.
C. Most of communication isn’t verbal.
D. The more you do it, though, the less scary it will be.
E. Make eye contact when you’re asking questions about people.
F. Wherever you go, try to observe people, and ask questions about them.
G. If you’ve already exchanged eye contact and smiles with someone, start off with a question,
Students taking Georgia Tech’s online Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence course received some surprising news. Jill Watson one of the nine teaching assistants(TAs) that had helped them finish the challenging course for the past five months was not a ‘‘she’’ but an “it”—an intelligent robot!
Watson is the brainchild of Ashok Goel, who teaches the popular online course. The Professor-of Computer and Cognitive Science in the School of Interactive Computing came up with the idea as a way to deal with a number of questions posed by students in the online forums(论坛). According to Goel, every time the course is offered, the 300 or so students that enroll post over 10,000 questions which are often repetitive. This led Goel to wonder if a smart robot would handle the questions which require standard responses.
Having worked’ with IBM’s Watson technology platform in the, the professor knew it would be ideal for his artificial TA: Jill Watson. The artificial intelligence system that uses natural language processing and machine learning to analyze large amounts of data has even been cleverer than human competitors on the television show. It would therefore easily be able to handle routine questions that required little “thinking”.
The professor and his team of graduate students began by populating Jill’s memory with 40,000 questions and answers from past terms. Then came the testing stage. At first, Jill was not very good and often gave strange answers. It often got stuck on certain keywords. By the end of the semester, Jill had attained enough knowledge and skills to participate in forums without any management from Goel, or the other assistants.
1.What surprised the students who take the online course?
A. The course was interesting but challenging
B. A teaching assistant wasn't a real person
C. Jill Watson is a hard-working TA
D. They all failed to pass their course
2.Why did Goel decide to invent a smart robot?
A. A number of students took his online course
B. A smart robot is cleverer than a human being
C. Too many similar questions are to be dealt with
D. A smart robot could be easily controlled by him
3.Why are human competitors mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A. To criticize present TV shows
B. To describe Watson’s operating principle
C. To express the system’s advancement
D. To show the robot’s maximum load
4.What’s Goel’s attitude towards Jill Watson?
A. Cautious B. Critical
C. Expectant D. Satisfied
Hollywood’s only Chinese-American superhero has stirred up heated debate on social media after she spoke out against discrimination in American show business.
Chloe Bennet, a Chinese-American actress who stars in Marvel’s trending TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., explained on social media why she changed her last name from Wong to Bennet, arguing that Hollywood is “racist” and wouldn’t cast her with a last name that made them “uncomfortable.”
“Changing my last name doesn’t change the fact that my BLOOD is half Chinese, that I lived in China, speak Mandarin, or that I was culturally raised both American and Chinese,” replied Bennet.
Bennet’s remarks come after Ed Skrein stepped down from his role as Major Ben Daimion in the upcoming Hellboy movie for fear that his participation would be “whitewashing” a character of Asian descent(后裔).
Racial barriers have been an essential problem in Hollywood. According to research conducted by the University of Southern California in 2015, nearly three-quarters of all characters in the top 100 films of 2014 were white, while only 5.3 percent of Asian artists can share the same privilege. In another report released in 2017, only 3.4 percent of over 1,000 surveyed films had an Asian director.
“Asian artists can hardly stand out in Hollywood. Most roles starred by Asians are fixed and stereotyped, as if all Asians are good at math and martial arts. There is an invisible discrimination lurking(潜伏) in show business, as the difference of your skin color may bring disparity in your income and opportunities,” said Alex She, a New York-based Chinese-American photographer and movie maker.
Bennet’s experience has led to heated debate on both Chinese and foreign social media.
1.What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Racial discrimination worsens in Hollywood
B. Chinese-American actress voices for equal rights in Hollywood
C. Chinese-American actress changed her name
D. Chinese-American actress makes a fame in Hollywood
2.Why did Chloe Bennets change her last name?
A. Because she doesn’t like it
B. Because her parents suggested it
C. Because using an English name is a trend in Hollywood
D. Because the racism in Hollywood’s show business made her no choice
3.Which of the following words can best describe Chloe Bennet?
A. brave and courageous B. selfish and cocky
C. stubborn and aggressive D. overcautious and timid
4.What may be discussed next according to the passage?
A. Netizens’ support to Bennet’s works
B. Netizens’ opinion on Bennet’s experience
C. Bennet’s achievement in Hollywood
D. Bennet’s family background
The main hall of a 135-year old temple in Shanghai will be moved 30 meters to its north in order to create more space for visitors. Thousands of people gather and see the moving of the temple that started on Saturday.
The Mahavira Hall, of Shanghai's Jade Buddha Temple, was built in 1882. The temple in downtown Shanghai attracts more than two million visitors a year. Daily visitors can reach as high as 100,000.
A major renovation project started in 2014. The moving of the temple started on Saturday and is set to be finished in two weeks. The main hall of the temple will be relocated 30.66 meters northward within the temple and elevated 1.05 meters.
Master Jue Xing, abbot of the Jade Buddha Temple and vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, said moving the hall will create more space between buildings and reduce the risks of a stampede as the temple is usually tightly packed.
Buddhist statues and relics in the hall will also be moved together with the hall, he said.
Workers pumped cement into the foundation of the hall because the old building's foundation was rather soft, he said.
Statues and other relics in the building were stabilized and protected with frames to avoid damage, he said.
The moving will be carried out with the help of relic preservation experts from the Shanghai Museum, he said.
Shanghai has had several successful projects to move old buildings, including a school in 2009 and a concert hall in 2002. On Aug. 31st, Shanghai Concert Hall began to move 66.46 meters northward after the last concert was held in the previous location and reopened to audience two years later. The moving was recognized as a wonder of construction protection and inspired the experts of the moving of the the Mahavira Hall.
1.Which of the following job will not be done?
A. The temple will be relocated about 30 meters northward
B. Buddhist statues and relics in the hall will be moved together
C. The foundation of the hall will be strengthened with cerement
D. Statues and relics in the hall will be stabilized with frames
2.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. The Jade Temple of Shanghai attracts 100,000. visitors every year
B. The major renovation project completed in 2014
C. Moving the hall is to make more space for visiting and to reduce the risks of stampede
D. Shanghai have had some successful experience of moving buildings
3.Which column on the the website is the article from?
A. Science and technology B. culture
C. Travel D. Life and Health
While money can’t technically buy happiness, it can buy you a mood-lifting, outlook-improving vacation. Haven’t made plan yet to skip town this winter? These money-saving travel tips can help you book the destination of your choice and enjoy you time there—without breaking the bank.
1.FLY THE COOP FAST
If you’re planning to set off for an adventure right away, try the GTFO(Get The Flight Out) app. It lists the cheapest round-trip flights departing from your local airport that day or by the next morning. At press time, airfare was down 12 percent from last August and round-trip tickets for domestic flights averaged $218.
2.SNAG A DISCOUNTED HOTEL ROOM
If Airbnb, an online service that provide apartment exchange, isn’t your style, reserve marked-down accommodations on Tingo, which lists almost all the rooms in more than 155,000 locations worldwide. After you book a price drop room, the site monitors rates until, typically, 24 to 48 hours before check-in. If the price drops, Tingo refunds you the difference.
3.LIVE IT UP LOCALLY
If you’re planning a staycation(宅度假) this winter, try an affordable escape close to home. The free app HotelTonight offers lodging(租住) deals in more than 100 U.S. and Canadian cities and regions, and has a location-based feature that gives extea saving on already discounted prices on spots closest to you. Same-day prices fall even lower after 6 P.M.
1.The GTFO app is most useful to those who .
A. Take a regular business trip B. Seek a last-minutes travel
C. can’t afford a comfortable travel D. Plan a short-distance flight
2.Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “marked-down” in Paragraph?
A. highlighted B. written
C. discounted D. scored
3.What can we infer about the app HotelTonight?
A. Only the U.S natives can use it B. Its deals include the whole America
C. Prices stay the same within a day D. Its services vary from place to place
4.What is the aim of the passage?
A. To persuade B. To inform
C. To describe D. To instruct
