For me personally, I could write for days about many different situations where adversity (逆境) __my life. Now let me tell you one experience where I almost let adversity __
We had a glass studio, which was located 50 feet from our home. A couple of years ago we experienced an ___winter; we had a lot of snow and ice. The ___of the ice and snow ___the roof on our studio, taking with it one of our sources of income. ___it did fall down, we got on the roof and tried to ___the snow and ice, but when you have 5 feet of ice and temperatures of minus 20 Celsius, it was pretty ___to do.
We had a partner come in to help us try to ___the roof by supporting. In the end, there was ___that could be done. The roof came down. We had moved a lot of our goods and tools from the studio __ we lost a lot also: glass, kilns, work benches, to name only a few of the items. It was a ___experience.
Here we were in the middle of winter with our studio collapsed. We couldn’t work as we had almost ___all the material in a building we were not using. We could have done one of two things: we could simply say that we can no longer __ our glass business. Let me tell you that this was certainly a thought that __ our mind. Or we could find a way to get our studio back up and running.
We picked the ___option. We had a large barn that we were not using. So we renovated (翻新) the barn, ___our working area and today we have a nicer studio than we __ had. If the adversity we were ___had not happened, we probably would __ be working in the old studio—a studio that was less efficient.
1.A. promoted B. influenced C. destroyed D. prevented
2.A. suffer B. win C. escape D. work
3.A. awful B. awesome C. agreeable D. awkward
4.A. size B. height C. temperature D. weight
5.A. pressed B. limited C. collapsed D. struck
6.A. Unless B. Before C. Although D. When
7.A. replace B. reduce C. recycle D. remove
8.A. worthwhile B. rewarding C. tough D. annoying
9.A. examine B. test C. restore D. secure
10.A. nothing B. enough C. all D. something
11.A. for B. but C. or D. so
12.A. disastrous B. valid C. vain D. treasured
13.A. displayed B. arranged C. piled D. presented
14.A. predict B. quit C. instruct D. conduct
15.A. approached B. crossed C. cleared D. comforted
16.A. former B. latter C. easier D. further
17.A. redesigned B. evaluated C. organized D. reserved
18.A. desperately B. hopefully C. eventually D. previously
19.A. cautious about B. concerned about C. faced with D. aware of
20.A. ever B. already C. still D. even
We eat in our cars, at our desks, on the go, and in front of the TV. We eat take-out, packaged and prepared meals. Why ? Because it fits our not-enough-time-in-the-day lifestyles. 1. Well, I’m certainly not the first one to think it—or say it—but we all need to slow down.
Consumer trends around the globe show that over the past three decades people are purchasing more prepared foods at the grocery and eating out more than ever before. It’s predicted that we’ll spend more at restaurants in the coming years. 2.However, we’re getting less healthy.
While debates can be seen indifferent media over the food industry’s contribution to our growing waistlines and our health problems, the bottom line is this: 3.We can choose to eat a fast-food lunch on the go. We can throw a frozen meal in the microwave and call it dinner. We can eat without thinking, in front of the tube, at our computers, and while driving a car.
4.Studies have shown meaningful links between family meals and kids’ mental and physical well-being. Eating sensibly doesn’t take much time or money, but it does require you to make a conscious decision to do so. Wrapped in endless work, appointments and social activities, we often fail to enjoy a relaxing meal with our families.
While it can be a challenge to always put healthy eating first, just do your best. Remember that the food you eat has a more significant impact on your health, weight and well-being than almost any other activity you do. 5. Every meal made at home—even just once or twice a week—is a step closer to a healthier body and as lower food lifestyle.
A. Our food matches our lives.
B. Treat it with the importance that it deserves, but start small.
C. We’re consuming an increasing number of calories.
D. Lunch is the biggest calorie intake when it comes to eating out.
E. Purchase food locally and skip as many packaged items as you can.
F. What we eat, where we eat and how we eat are all under our control.
G. We can devote an hour of the day to enjoying a meal with our families.
Senses That Work Together
When we think about how our senses work, we usually imagine them operating separately: you sniff a flower, and the smell is delivered uninterrupted from nose to brain. However, it’s more complex than that. Most evidence for cross-modal perception (知觉) comes from studies into sound and vision (视觉). But research that shows other senses crossing over is coming out all the time, and it seems that even sound and smell sometimes form an unlikely pairing.
When New York researchers, Daniel Wesson and Donald Wilson, tried to find out the truth about a “mysterious” area of the brain called the olfactory tubercle (嗅结节)，they had to deal with this fact. Originally, they only intended to measure how olfactory tubercle cells in mice responded to smell. But during testing, Wesson noticed that every time he put his coffee cup down with a clunk (哐啷声)，the mouse cells jumped in activity. In fact, the olfactory tubercle is well-placed to receive both smell and sound information from the outside world. Later they found that among separate cells, most responded to a smell but a significant number were also active when a sound was made. Some cells even behaved differently when smell and sound were presented together, by increasing or decreasing their activity.
Of course, mice aren’t people, so research team has been carrying out further experiments. They pulled together a group of people and gave them various drinks to smell. Participants were asked to sniff the drinks, and then match them to appropriate musical instruments and produce the notes at different levels. The results were interesting: piano was regularly paired with fruity fragrances; strong smells sounded like the instruments that are made of metal.
Further research found that listening to different sounds can change your perceptions. Studying taste this time, the team ordered some special toffee (太妃糖)and put together “soundscapes” corresponding to bitterness and sweetness. Participants tasted similar pieces of toffee while listening to each soundscape, and found the toffee more bitter or sweeter, depending on which soundtrack they were listening to.
Studies like this are helping scientists correctly describe our understanding of the senses, and how the brain combines them with its advantage. The consequences are worth considering. Could we see musicians work together with chefs to produce sound-improved food and drink? Will you be ordering a coffee with a soundtrack to bring out your favorite smell? Come to think of it, that could be one thing you hope coffee shop chains don’t get round to.
1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. A lot of research focuses on the senses.
B. There can be a link between sound and smell.
C. Sound and vision are relatively easy to study.
D. Evidence about the way senses work is hard to obtain.
2.In Wesson and Wilson’s research, .
A. the mice were affected more significantly by sound
B. the result confirmed what the researchers had suspected
C. the connection between sound and smell was found by chance
D. the mice seemed to be afraid of certain sounds or smells
3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 3?
A. Participants took an active part in the experiments.
B. Experiments showed that links between sound and smell were consistent.
C. The result failed to support what was found in previous experiments.
D. The purpose of the further experiments was totally different.
4.How does the author feel about the effect of the research?
A. She is excited about the creative chances.
B. She is surprised at the recent developments.
C. She is convinced that the findings will be used soon.
D. She is worried about how the knowledge can be applied.
Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.
We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue (疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.
Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.
Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical order, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.
Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can—then let the unconscious take over.
When planning Encyclopedia Britannica( 《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.
One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relived, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.
An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.
Human beings, I believe, must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.
1.People with start-up fatigue are most likely to .
A. work hard
B. delay tasks
C. seek help
D. accept failure
2.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?
A. Before starting a difficult task.
B. After finding a way out.
C. If the job is rather boring.
D. When all the solutions fail.
3.According to the author, the unconscious mind may help us .
A. find the right solution
B. get some nice sleep
C. gain complete relief
D. ignore mental problems
4.What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Success Is Built upon Failure
B. How to Handle Performance Fatigue
C. Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success
D. Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems
For most city people, the elevator is an unremarkable machine that inspires none of the enthusiasm or interest that Americans afford trains, jets, and even bicycles. Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator, they point out, there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings, and city life as we know it would be impossible. In that sense, they argue, the elevator’s role in American history has been no less significant than that of cars. In fact, according to Wilk, the car and the elevator have been locked in a “secret war” for over a century, with cars making it possible for people to spread horizontally(水平地), and elevators pushing them toward life in close groups of towering vertical (垂直的) columns.
If we tend to ignore the significance of elevators, it might be because riding in them tends to be such a brief, boring, and even awkward experience one that can involve unexpectedly meeting people with whom we have nothing in common, and an unpleasant awareness of the fact that we’re hanging from a cable in a long passage.
In a new book, Lifted, German journalist and cultural studies professor Andreas Bernard directed all his attention to this experience, studying the origins of elevator and its relationship to humankind and finding that riding in an elevator has never been a totally comfortable experience. “After 150 years, we are still not used to it, ”Bernard said. “We still have not exactly learned to cope with the mixture of closeness and displeasure.” That mixture, according to Bernard, sets the elevator ride apart from just about every other situation we find ourselves in as we go about our lives.
Today, as the world’s urban population explodes, and cities become more crowded, taller, and more crowded, America’s total number of elevators—900,000 at last count, according to Elevator World magazine’s “2012 Vertical Transportation Industry”—are a force that’s becoming more important than ever. And for the people who really, really love them, it seems like high time that we looked seriously at just what kind of force they are.
1.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1refer to?
A. The particular interests of experts.
B. The general view of elevators.
C. The desire for a remarkable machine.
D. The enthusiasm for transport vehicles.
2.The author’s purpose in mentioning cars is .
A. to emphasize the importance of elevators
B. to contrast their functions with elevators
C. to reveal their secret war against elevators
D. to explain people’s preference for elevators
3.According to Prof. Bernard, what has made the elevator ride different from other life experiences?
A. Vertical direction.
B. Little physical space.
C. Lack of excitement.
D. Uncomfortable conditions.
4.The author urges readers to consider
A. the exact number of elevator lovers
B. the serious future situation of elevators
C. the relationship between cars and elevators
D. the role of elevators in city development
Book 1: Diary of a Fly—By Doreen Cronin
40 pages, US $15. 99
This is the diary of a fly. The fly, when she’s not landing on your head or swimming in your soup, is trying to escape her 327 siblings who are driving her crazy. Even though she’s little—just like her best friends, Worm and Spider— she wants to be a superhero. This is the story of a little fly who’s unafraid to dream big.
Book 2: Iggy Peck, Architect—By Andrea Beaty
32 pages, US $15.95
This book is a story about a kid whose head teacher doesn’t recognize his great talent (though he makes buildings out of anything at hand, including table cloths, fruit and chalk) until it saves her life. With Andrea Beatty’s rhyming text and David Roberts’s interesting illustrations (插图), it will charm creative kids everywhere.
Book 3: The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County—By Janice N. Harrington
40 pages, US $16.00
Our character here loves to run after chickens, particularly Miss Hen, who’s very fat. But, as all farming folks know, this is not a good way to produce happy, productive chickens. What will make her change her ways? The author is a professional storyteller and this book is full of fun, and has great illustrations.
Book 4: Cherry and Olive—By Benjamin Lacombe
32 pages, US $16.95
Children’s books can quickly take little readers into new worlds, such as the big city, 1930s Georgia, or outer space. This book takes us on a little trip to some European capitals. Cherry is fat and likes books, and she has few friends until she meets a SharPei puppy (沙皮狗). She names it Olive. Through it she finds confidence and friendship. But what will happen when its owner returns?
1.What do we know about the fly in Book 1?
A. She is brave and ambitious.
B. She is stupid but interesting.
C. She is loyal and courageous.
D. She is honest but stubborn.
2.What can we learn from the text?
A. Book 4 is the cheapest of the four books.
B. Both Book 2 and Book 3 contain many pictures.
C. The fly in Book1enjoys staying with her siblings.
D. The head teacher in Book 2 thinks highly of the kid.
3.The books mentioned above are intended for .
A. parents
B. children
C. animal lovers
D. architects
