“Can’t hold a candle to” is a popular expression. When there wasn’t electricity, someone would have a servant light his way by holding a candle. The expression meant that the person who cannot hold a candle to you is not fit even to be your servant. Now, it means such a person cannot compare or compete.
Another expression is “hold your tongue.” It means to be still and not talk. “Hold your tongue” is not something you would tell a friend. But a parent or teacher might use the expression to quiet a noisy child.
“Hold out” is an expression one hears often in sports reports and labor news. It means to refuse to play or work. Professional football and baseball players ‘‘hold out” if their team refuses to pay them what they think they are worth.
The expression “hold up” has several different meanings. One is a robbery. A man with a gun may say, “This is a hold-up. Give me your money.” Another meaning is to delay. A driver who was held up by heavy traffic might be late for work. Another meaning is for a story to be considered true after an investigation. A story can hold up if it is proved true.
“Hold on” is another expression, which means waiting or stopping. As you leave for school, your brother may say, “Hold on, you forgot your book.” It is used to ask a telephone caller to wait and not hang up his telephone.
Our final expression is “hold the line”. That means to keep a problem or situation from getting worse—to hold steady. For example, the president may say he will “hold the line on taxes”. He means there will be no increase in taxes.
1.The expression “can’t hold a candle to” can be used when ________.
A. some footballers refuse to play a game
B. someone else is wanted on the phone
C. someone is not qualified for a position
D. someone was delayed by heavy traffic
2.The tune of the phrase “hold your tongue” is probably a little ________.
A. amusing B. polite
C. unfriendly D. offensive
3.If some teachers “hold out”, they probably ________.
A. change their attitude B. refuse to work
C. make a compromise D. show their devotion
4.Which of the following sentences can convey positive meanings?
A. I was late as I was held up by a hold-up.
B. Hold on! You have to pay the bill, sir.
C. You can’t even hold a candle to Michael.
D. I promise to hold the line on house prices.
How can we reduce the risk?
There are four general approaches to dealing with volcanic dangers. We can try to keep the danger from occurring—often an impossible task. We can try to change its path or reduce its impact on existing development. We can take steps to protect future development. We can also do our best to have disaster response plans in place before they are needed.
Removing the Threat
Clearly, there is no way to stop an eruption. We can, however, attempt to reduce the eruption’s effects by strengthening structures, for example, building protective works such as walls to make lava (熔岩) flow away from developed areas. Such efforts can be and have been successful, but are of limited use in a large-scale eruption.
Planning for the Future
Protecting future development from volcanic dangers is a simple task. Before building houses, we should judge the risk. If the risk seems too great, a safer location should be found. This type of planning is very effective, but all too often, people are drawn to the lush(葱郁的)，rolling land of a quiet volcano.
Disaster Preparedness (预案)
When a volcano comes to life, a few weeks may not be enough time to avoid a tragedy. Planning is the key to saving lives. Well before the warning signs occur, people must be educated about volcanic dangers. Escape plans must be in place. Communication between scientists, officials, the media, and the general public should be practiced. Emergency measures must be thought out and agreed upon.
If you doubt the importance of these efforts, take another look at past volcanic tragedies, such as the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz. Communication failures left the town of Armero unprepared for escape. When a deadly mudflow came down the slope (斜坡), 21,000 people—90 percent of the town’s people—died.
1.The passage is intended for ________.
A. the general public B. architects
C. adventurers D. geographers
2.When building houses , people tend to ________.
A. judge volcanic dangers carefully
B. take volcanic dangers seriously
C. like to live near a quiet volcano
D. find a safer place far away from a volcano
3.The writer mentioned Nevado del Ruiz to prove ________.
A. The failure to keep volcanic dangers from happening
B. The importance of preparing for a volcanic eruption
C. The bravery of the people in Armero Town
D. The uncertainty of volcano’s damage
假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。请根据以下四幅图的先后顺序，介绍在“传统文化进校园”活动中，向面人艺术家学习捏面人的过程，并以“A Day with a Craftsman”为题，给校刊“英语角”写一篇英文稿件。
注意：词数不少于60。
提示词：一个面团a piece of dough 面人 dough figurine
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假设你是红星中学高三学生李华．你的英国朋友Jim 想了解中国人起名字的习惯，并请你帮他起一个中文名字．请给他写封信，内容包括：
1．介绍中国人起名字的习惯；
2．给他起一个中文名字；
3．说明起此名字的理由．
注意：1．词数不少于50；
2．开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数．
Dear Jim，
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Yours，
Li Hua
Why are so many people afraid of failure? Quite simply because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. 1.
Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child's hastily made table as "Perfect!" in spite of its uneven legs. Another way is to pin the blame on someone else. If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
The trouble with failure-prevention ways is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time—and that it's possible to enjoy a game even when you don't win. A child who is not invited to a birthday party, who does not make the honor roll on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. 2. The young should be allowed to experience disappointment, and be helped to master it.
Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts adults and children alike. 3. Step one is to ask "Why did I fail?" Resist the natural impulse (冲动) to blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don't be shy about inquiring.
Success, which encourages repetition of old behavior, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a disastrous party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second. 4. After 12 years of studying ballet a friend of mine went to an interview for a professional company. She was turned down. "Would further training help?" she asked. The ballet master shook his head. "You will never be a dancer. You haven't the body for it."
In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock (清点存货，清理) bravely asking "What have I left? What else can I do?" My friend put away her toe shoes and moved into dance therapy, a field where she's both competent and useful. 5. Often there is a resurgence (复活) of energy--an awareness of new possibilities.
A. Even a failure that seems definite can promote fresh thinking, a change of direction.
B. However, it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it.
C. You can also learn that failure is the mother of success.
D. And we forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.
E. Failure frees one to take risks because there's little to lose.
F. So be strong and never lose heart in the face of failure.
G. But parents should not offer a quick comfort, prize or say, "It doesn't matter" because it does.
As anyone who has tried to lose weight knows, realistic goal-setting generally produces the best results. That's partly because most people who set realistic goals actually work more efficiently, and put more effort, to achieve those goals.
What's far less understood by scientists, however, are the potentially harmful effects of goal-setting. Newspapers convey daily accounts of goal-setting widespread in industries and businesses up and down both Wall Street and Main Street, yet there has been surprisingly little research on how the long-advocated practice of setting goals may have contributed to the current economic crisis, and immoral behavior in general.
"Goals are widely used and promoted as having really beneficial effects. And yet, the same motivation that can push people to put more effort in a constructive way could also motivate people to be more likely to engage in immoral behaviors," says Maurice Schweitzer, an associate professor at Penn's Wharton School. His paper, entitled "'Goals Gone Wild: The Systematic Side Effects of Over-Praised Goal Setting," appears in the February issue of the Academy of Management Perspectives.
"It turns out there's no financial benefit to just having a goal-you just get a psychological benefit." Schweitzer says. "But in many cases, goals have financial rewards that make them more powerful." A major example Schweitzer and his colleagues give is the 2004 breakdown of energy-trading giant Enron(德国安然公司), where managers used financial rewards to motivate salesmen to meet specific goals. The problem, Schweitzer says, is that the actual trades were not profitable.
Other studies have shown that burdening employees with unrealistic goals can force them to lie, cheat or steal. Such was the case in the early 1990s when Sears (西尔斯公司) placed a sales quota (销售限额) on its auto repair staff. It inspired employees to overcharge for work and to complete unnecessary repairs on a companywide basis.
Schweitzer admits his research runs counter to a very large body of literature that praises the many benefits of goal-setting. Advocates of the practice have argued with his team's use of such evidence as news accounts to support his conclusion that goal-setting is widely over-praised.
In a rebuttal (反驳) paper, Dr. Edwin Locke writes: "Goal-setting is not going away. Organizations cannot grow without being focused on their desired end results any more than an individual can grow without goals to provide a sense of purpose." But Schweitzer argues the "evidence" linking goal-setting and harmful behavior should be studied to help draw attention to issues that deserve attention and further investigation. "Even a few negative effects could be so large that they outweigh many positive effects," he says.
The debate is likely to get heated on in future papers, and the practice of setting goals no doubt will continue. For now, though, the lesson seems to be to put more thought into setting goals.
"Goal-setting does help motivate people. My idea would be to combine that with careful management, a strong organizational culture, and make sure the goals that you use are going to be constructive and not significantly harmful to the organization," Schweitzer says.
1.What does Maurice Schweitzer want to show by mentioning the example of Enron?
A. Setting realistic goals can turn a failing business into success.
B. Businesses are likely to succeed without realistic goals.
C. Companies are certain to meet specific goals with financial rewards.
D. Goals with financial rewards have strong motivational power.
2.How did Sears' goal-setting affect its employees?
A. They had to work more hours to increase their sales.
B. They competed with one another to attract more customers.
C. They turned to immoral practice to reach their goals.
D. They improved their customer service on a companywide basis.
3.The underlined words "runs counter to" (Paragraph 6) can be replaced by ________.
A. agrees with B. goes against
C. fits in with D. applies to
4.What is Edwin Locke's argument against Schweitzer?
A. The practice of setting goals only helps people to develop.
B. Goal-setting is of no use motivating people to accomplish their tasks.
C. The positive effects of goal-setting outweigh its negative effects.
D. Studying goal-setting can contribute to successful business practices.
