When my kids were small, I started a tradition in our house of giving eight gifts over the course of the eight days of Hanukkah (光明节). I liked the idea of ______ a candle every night and giving my children a gift to unwrap to ______. It was easy to go into a toy store and pick up something ______ less than $ 10 each, or even $ 1 each (at the Dollar Store). My children didn’t ask for anything much in particular and they ______ whatever they got.
As the years progressed, I ______ the tradition of eight ^fls for each night of Hanukkah.
But this year, Hanukkah ______ something else. My special-needs son decided that he wanted to ______ a computer, and it was up to me to buy all the parts of it. When I wouldn’t ______ that, he decided he wanted a PlayStation. Then Amazon gift cards. Then money. And it became clear that it wasn’t going to happen, he got ______.
I keep ______ him that Hanukkah isn’t about greed or materialism. It’s about the miracle of an oil lamp that ______ for eight days. It’s about being ______ of our heritage. It’s about freedom.
But he ______. I know deep down that his obsessions (迷恋) are out of his ______, and definitely out of mine. Having a special-needs child is as ______ as it gets. Some days are better than others and not all holidays ______ the way I hope. But despite his unrealistic requests, he’s a(n)______ child who is showing me the true meaning of life.
And as we enter a new year and light the ______ approaching the time, I welcome his differences ______ I learn how to turn negative requests into ______ ones.
1.A. lighting B. donating C. buying D. drawing
2.A. send B. present C. celebrate D. play
3.A. with B. from C. of D. for
4.A. ate B. liked C. threw D. drank
5.A. kept up B. gave in C. handed in D. held up
6.A. made B. found C. became D. designed
7.A. use B. buy C. build D. watch
8.A. rely on B. learn from C. dream about D. agree to
9.A. calm B. upset C. selfish D. happy
10.A. telling B. warning C. promising D. accusing
11.A. bums B. hangs C. waits D. lays
12.A. tired B. afraid C. proud D. lack
13.A. nodded B. insisted C. slept D. failed
14.A. mind B. sight C. place D. control
15.A. wonderful B. dangerous C. challenging D. interesting
16.A. work out B. breakdown C. run out D. put down
17.A. strange B. bad C. amazing D. energetic
18.A. torches B. lamps C. candles D. lanterns
19.A. when B. until C. unless D. as
20.A. relative B. positive C. reasonable D. possible
Common-sense Safety Tips for Travelling Abroad
When a holiday is just around the comer, you may be planning a trip abroad. But to enjoy a worry-free adventure abroad, you also should pay attention to the following common-sense safety tips for travelling abroad.
1.
Another reason to take only carry-on carriage---besides avoiding baggage fees---is that the less you have to carry around, the more quickly you can move, if necessary. You should always have a free hand. Besides, you won’t be exhausted from dragging all those bags around.2.
Lock it up.
Leave your hotel with only what you need and lock up the rest. Take a lock for your luggage just in case your hotel doesn’t offer a safe.3. If you don’t need all your cash and cards, don’t take them all with you when you go out for a day of sightseeing or shopping. Also, leave your passport in the hotel. Make photocopies of all your important documents and leave the hotel with a copy of your passport plus a one photo I.D. Why?4. If all of your identification is in it, imagine the trouble you have to go through to replace it all.
Think and Plan.
Always keep in mind that, when you travel abroad, you are in a place you don’t know well and you can always be a target. Trust your senses.5. After your arrival, ask the hotel staff and locals about the areas you are thinking of visiting, especially at night. And you should walk in well-lit areas at night and know how to contact the local police with your cell phone or a payphone in a foreign country, if necessary.
A. Travel light.
B. Pay by credit card.
C. Imagine having your bag stolen off a restaurant table.
D. You should also make it a habit to take your watch with you.
E. Plus, dragging lots of luggage is a dead giving away that you aren’t a local resident.
F. You should call ahead to be sure, especially if your luggage is made of cloth material.
G. You are smart and mature, so if something or some situation doesn’t feel safe, it probably isn’t.
Researchers say current exercise guidelines are unrealistic and argue that doctors should sometimes advise small increases in activity instead. They warn the 150-minute weekly target is beyond the reach of some people - particularly older individuals. And striving to reach these goals could mean the benefits of lighter exercise are overlooked. But public health officials say current recommendations have proven benefits in lowering the risk of heart disease.
There is increasing evidence that inactivity is linked to heart disease, Type 2 diabetes (糖尿病) and some types of cancer. UK guidelines for adults recommend at least two-and-a-half hours of moderate activity a week, in short periods of 10 minutes or more.
But in two separate articles in the BMJ, experts argue the message needs to change, with greater emphasis on making inactive people move more. Prof Philipe de Souto Barreto at the University Hospital of Toulouse, advises people who sit too much to make small increases in their activity levels - rather than pushing to achieve current goals. He points to previous studies which show even short periods of walking or just 20 minutes of vigorous activity a few times a month can reduce the risk of death, compared to people who do no exercise.
In the second article, Prof Phillip Sparking of the Georgia Institute of Technology, says doctors should tailor their advice --- particularly for older patients. He suggests using GP visits for people over 60 to discuss “realistic options” to increase activity — such as getting people to stand up and move during TV commercial breaks.
Prof Kevin Fenton at Public Health England, says: “Everyone needs to be active every day — short periods of 10 or more minutes of physical activity have proven health benefits, but getting 150 minutes or more of moderate activity every week is the amount we need to positively impact on a wide range of health conditions.” This includes reducing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.”
1.What is the current exercise week goal mentioned in the passage?
A. 150-minute exercise B. 20-minute exercise
C. 60-minute exercise D. 10-minute exercise
2.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A. A 10-minute exercise has little effect on the health.
B. Heart diseases happen easily to the old in activity.
C. Inactivity easily brings about many serious diseases.
D. Two-and-a-half hours of exercise is not necessary.
3.What is the suggestion of Prof. Philipe de Souto Barreto according to the third paragraph?
A. People should spend less time on exercise.
B. People should lower their activity levels.
C. People should increase exercise properly.
D. People should achieve their current goals.
4.Which of the following is TRUE about current exercise guidelines?
A. They are popular with people B. They are reasonable.
C. They have no effect on us. D. They are impractical.
A young man wandered through the desert for forty until he reached a beautiful castle at the top of a mountain. There lived the sage that he was looking for.
With considerable patience, the sage listened attentively to the reason for the boy’s visit, but told him that at that moment he did not have time to explain to him the secret of happiness.
He suggested that the young man take a walk around his palace and come back in two hours’ time.
“However, I want to ask you a favor,” he added, handing the boy a teaspoon, in which he poured two drops of oil. “While you walk, carry this spoon and don’t let the oil spill.”
The young man began to climb up and down the palace staircases, always keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. At the end of two hours he returned to the presence of the wise man.
“So,” asked the sage, “did you see the Persian tapestries hanging in my dining room? Did you see the fantastic garden that the Master of Gardeners spent ten years in creating?”
Embarrassed, the young man admitted that he had seen nothing.
“So, go back and see the wonders of my world,” said the wise man. “You can’t trust a man if you don’t know his house.”
Now more at ease, the young man took the spoon and wandered again through the palace, this time paying attention to all the works of art that hung from the ceilings and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around the palace, and the delicacy of the flowers. Returning to the sage, he reported in detail what he had seen.
“But where are the two drops of oil that I entrusted to you?” asked the Sage.
Looking down at the spoon, the young man realized that he had spilled the oil.
“Well, that is the only advice I have to give you,’’ said the sage of sages. “The secret of happiness lies in looking at all the wonders of the world and never forgetting the two drops of oil in the spoon.”
1.What was the intention of the young man to travel to look for the sage?
A. To appreciate the most beautiful scenery along the way
B. To learn the secret of happiness from the wisest man
C. To figure out whether the sage was knowledgeable or not
D. To experience adventures of the outside world
2.Which of the following statements is wrong?
A. The sage listened to the young man with patience
B. During his second round of wandering, the young man appreciated the wonders of the castle
C. The young man made it as the sage had expected
D. The young man was too concerned about the oil when he first went around the castle
3.Why did the sage ask the young man to go around his castle with a spoon of two drops of oil?
A. Because he wanted to help the young man to uncover the secret of happiness in an indirect way
B. Because he intended to let the young man know that happiness came at a price
C. Because he wanted to let the young man trust him
D. Because he wanted to find out whether the young man was perseverant in accomplishing his goals
4.What can we learn from the story?
A. We can t trust a man unless we get familiar with his house
B. It s not easy to keep balance between enjoyment and commitment
C. The search for the secret of happiness demands our devotion
D. Real happiness consists in enjoying our rights and meanwhile fulfilling our duties
Last month my mother moved into a nursing home. This came after years of witnessing the worsening of her cognitive abilities and changes in her personality, all thanks to life-sucking frontotemporal dementia (FTD).
My mom is going to lose her ability to speak, have trouble forming complete thoughts and sentences, and eventually forget how to do things she loved, like cook and read.
But despite all of her inabilities, when I walked in on her having dinner with the rest of the women that make up the dementia floor of the nursing home, I didn’t think she belonged.
It wasn’t until I spent three days there bonding with those women that I realized what scared me the most-she did fit in.
If you were an outsider looking at these women, you’d pity them. You’d think it was cruel that our bodies could turn on us in this way. You’d think it was sad that their families have put the burden of taking care of them on someone else. You’d want to intervene.
You’d want to give the lady eating mashed potatoes with her hands a spoon, you’d want to peel the orange for the lady who’s eating it like an apple, you’d want to scold the lady who forgets to flush the toilet and wash her hands after using the bathroom.
I did all those things to my mother. But when I see her in an environment that lets her be herself, it somehow seems okay.
Learn to love them unconditionally. It’s easier said than done, but if she loved me after giving her hell for making me come home by 10 p. m. on Fridays, I can love her even if she forgets my name.
1.What frightened the author most?
A. Her mother adapted to the nursing home.
B. She had to look after her mother.
C. Her mother suffered from FTD.
D. She lived with those women at the nursing home.
2.Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “intervene”？
A. Amaze. B. Interrupt.
C. Permit. D. Explore.
3.What was the final decision of the author?
A. She let her mother alone.
B. She took care of her mother at home.
C. She sent her mother to hospital.
D. She let her mother stay at the nursing home.
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards her mother?
A. Mean. B. Selfish.
C. Grateful. D. Honest.
On Sept. 15, TripAdvisor, one of the world’s largest travel review websites, named the world’s top 25 museums in its Travelers’ Choice Award according to the reviews and opinions of travelers worldwide. Now let’s take a look at the top four museums which are ranked as follows by the popularity around the world.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
It is the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere, with a collection of 2 million items from more than 5,000 years of world culture. The iconic museum includes important collections from ancient Egypt and medieval Europe as well as ancient Greece and Rome. Here, visitors can get lost in different centuries: They can see the Temple of Dendur from early Egypt, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh’s Wheatfield With Cypresses an US pop Andy Warhol’s Souper Dress, all in one place.
Muse d’Orsay, Paris
Located in the center of Paris on the bank of the River Seine, the Musee d’Orsay houses the world’s most amazing collections of impressionist and post-impressionist art. It offers the chance to view major works from greats like Van Gogh and Claude Monet. The museum is famous for being home to Starry Night over the Rhone, an oil painting by Van Gogh that is often praised along with his masterpiece Starry Night.
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
It was named the world’s best museum in 2014. The world-famous Windy City museum houses nearly 300,000 works, including one of the largest collections of modern art, including pieces such as Spanish painter Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist, US artist Georgia O’Keeffe’s Black Cross and French artist Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River. A TripAdvisor reviewer commented, “No matter how many times I visit, it never gets old. Paintings from every era, works from every great artist.”
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
Nowhere is able to present the entire history of Spanish art like the Museo Nacional del Prado.
Here, visitors can enjoy a detailed view of the Spanish school of the Modem Age. Outstanding masterpieces by artists such as Diego Velazquez, Francisco Goya and Joaquiin Sorolla make up an internationally-famous collection. The Italian school is another highlight of the museum’s collection, as it includes the 15th century masterpieces such as The Annunciation by Fra Angelico, The Death of the Virgin by Andrea Mantegna and The Dead Christ Supported by Angels by Antonello da Messina.
1.How is the Metropolitan Museum of Art different from the other three museums?
A. It is the largest art museum in the world
B. It is so big that visitors may easily get lost in it
C. Its main collection is from ancient Egypt and medieval Europe
D. It is the most popular museum of the four museums
2.If you are interested in impressionist art, is a place you cannot miss.
A. Metropolitan Museum of Art B. Musee d’Orsay
C. Art Institute of Chicago D. Museo Nacional del Prado
3.Which is a correct match of the painting and the museum?
A. Pablo Picasso’s The Old Guitarist—Musee d’Orsay
B. Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River—Metropolitan Museum of Art
C. Andrea Mantegna’s The Death of the Virgin—Museo Nacional del Prado
D. Vincent van Gogh’s Wheatfield With Cypresses—Art Institute of Chicago
