These days，upcycling(升级改造) is popular with people．They _______ something unique from existing materials rather than buy more．My granny，Bobo has spent 92 years doing just that out of necessity．
Wasting time and resources was _______ an option in the world she grew up in．With seven children to _______，she lived a hard and economical life．Bobo has been upcycling _______ the day Great-Granny Annie put a needle in her hand and taught her how to give new _______ to every fabric(织物)in their farmhouse．
Just like Bobo，my mother，Cindy，_______ making her clothes．She _______ her homecoming dress and bought the fabric with money she earned _______ at the can factory．One generation passed on to the next the _______ of creating something beautiful and useful by hand．
Granny’s and Mom’s sewing skills meant that no matter the budget，Christmas，birthday，and wedding gifts were ________．From a baby blanket to a bib(围嘴)，each treasure ________ a special quality of personalization．In my home I am ________ by upcycling at its best．
Thanks to Bobo’s ________ ways，the artistry of handwork lives on in four ________ of crafters．Granny Bobo lived it．Mom carried it on．I am picking it up by listening and ________．Now my daughter，Greta，is also learning to use those ________．
I sit and watch ________ as Bobo’s hands weave needle and thread．In 92 years，her hands have known and ________ life，home and family．Age has brought the ________ of some memories．But if you listen to her stories while she ________，you’ll journey back to the old farm with her．
1.A. change B. create C. choose D. replace
2.A. always B. ever C. never D. usually
3.A. feed B. teach C. protect D. encourage
4.A. after B. since C. before D. until
5.A. 1ife B. nature C. will D. power
6.A. turned up B. grew up C. settled down D. calmed down
7.A. borrowed B. spread C. designed D. exchanged
8.A. bargaining B. working C. inspecting D. wandering
9.A. art B. duty C. type D. task
10.A. impossible B. precious C. worthless D. accessible
11.A. carries B. 1oses C. demands D. extends
12.A. filled B. controlled C. disturbed D. surrounded
13.A. modern B. strange C. traditional D. regular
14.A. decades B. scenes C. occasions D. generations
15.A. arguing B. observing C. complaining D. photographing
16.A. details B. hints C. skills D. outlines
17.A. closely B. randomly C. carelessly D. secretly
18.A. betrayed B. evaluated C. wasted D. treasured
19.A. 1oss B. recovery C. strength D. storage
20.A. chats B. cooks C. jogs D. sews
Recently, I’ve been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination(拖延症) and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time．1. There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule…
Part 1—If it takes less than two minutes，then do it now．
2. For example，washing your dishes immediately after your meal，tossing the laundry in the washing machine，taking out the garbage，sending that email，and so on．
If a task takes less than two minutes to complete，then follow the rule and do it right now．
Part 2—When you start a new habit，it should take less than two minutes to do．
Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not．But，every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less．3.
It might sound like this strategy is too basic for grand life goals，but I beg to differ．The 2-Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia(惯性)of life．4. I love the 2-Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started．
The most important part of any new habit is getting started—not just the first time，but each time．It’s not about performance，it’s about consistently taking action．
I can’t guarantee whether or not the 2-Minute Rule will work for you．5. Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds．Use this time to get one thing done．Go．
A．I call this little strategy the “2-Minute Rule”．
B．And that’s the purpose behind this little rule．
C．Here’s what you need to know to stop procrastinating．
D．Once you start doing something，it’s easier to continue doing it．
E．But，I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it．
F．The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing．
G．It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less．
Noise-cancelling audio instruments have been around for a while now，but one Berlin-based designer believes that blocking “visual noise” is as important，if not more so，as cancelling out unwanted sounds．To this end he has created a simple accessory called the Focus Cap．
Open work spaces definitely have their benefits，but they come with the drawback of offering employees little to no control over visual distractions(干扰)．With so many people around and so much going on，some of us can easily get disturbed by this information overload and lose focus in what’s really important．That’s where the Focus Cap comes into play．
“As we are still cavemen or mammals kept in an unnatural environment，I believe that only by reclaiming(收回) the normal，stress-free human state through simple tools and techniques can we finally release our actual creative potential and create our meaningful work for a brighter future，”says German designer Hannes Greblin，inventor of the Focus Cap．
After looking at other products designed at minimizing visual distractions，Greblin decided that most of them were either too expensive or too uncomfortable to become mainstream，so he decided to go with something much simpler —a simple cap with a retractable visor(可伸缩的帽沿)．
Greblin’s Focus Cap is really straightforward．You just wear it like a regular cap’ with the sides of the visor retracted，and just collapse the sides whenever you need to focus on what’s ahead of you．Whether you’re trying to focus on a task in an open work office．Trying to study at university，or practicing yoga in a park and trying to ignore stares from strangers，the Focus Cap can help．
To be honest，this whole project sounds like a joke，but the Focus Cap does have its own website where people interested in this unusual accessory can actually sign up for updates on when it will go on sale．Greblin claims it will cost 30 euros($37)plus shipping．
1.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. When to use the Focus Cap
B. How to operate the Focus Cap
C. The Focus Cap—an ordinary accessory
D. The Focus Cap—a visual-cancelling accessory
2.Why did Greblin create the Focus Cap?
A. To help people focus． B. To develop intelligence．
C. To make people comfortable． D. To release creative potential．
3.What do we know about the Focus Cap?
A. It’s expensive． B. It’s simple． C. It’s delicate． D. It’s complex．
4.From the text we can infer that ________．
A. The Focus Cap simply blocks unwanted sounds
B. The Focus Cap can only be used in the office
C. Greblin is confident about the future of his product
D. The Focus Cap has been on sale in quantity
If you’re a book lover，you have a pile of books on your bedside，or a bookshelf in your library with a“to read”sign on it．Yet you can’t stop yourself from adding to the pile．This can lead to feelings of guilt over your new purchases．But I’m here to tell you to stop worrying．
What you have is an antilibrary，and it’s a very good thing．The term comes from writer Umberto Eco．He is the owner of a large personal library．He separates visitors into two groups：those who react with“Wow! What a library you have! How many of these books have you read?”and the others who get the point that a private library is not something to show off but a research too1．Read books are far less valuable than unread ones．Indeed，the more you know，the larger the rows of unread books．Let us call this collection an antilibrary．
If you think you already know everything about a subject，you’re cutting yourself off from a stream of information at an artificial point．So a growing library of books you haven’t read means you’re consistently curious about the unknown．And that attitude is a great foundation for a lifelong love of 1earning．
So don’t feel guilt over your unread books．Those books will be there for you when you do want them，and as you build your library of read and unread books，you can start using it as you would use a bigger library．Certain books may become references more than read-throughs．Or you may find that a book you bought five years ago has special relevance today．Letting the role of books evolve in your life is a healthy sign of curiosity．That’s good for you and good for the world around you．
1.What does the underlined word“antilibrary”in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. Feelings of guilt over new books．
B. A pile of books on the bookshelf．
C. The collection of unread books．
D. A large personal library．
2.According to the author，more unread books mean________．
A. your wrong lifelong learning attitude
B. you limit yourself from the unknown
C. your have no interest in the new world
D. your strong desire about new information
3.What’s the author’s attitude towards having an antilibrary?
A. Favorable． B. Doubtful． C. Ambiguous． D. Contradictory．
4.What can we know from the last paragraph?
A. Curiosity is a sign of high IQ．
B. Books are the ladder in our life．
C. Unread books are surely relevant to the present．
D. We should read through every book．
It was Groundhog Day. A winter storm had hit overnight too. I tried to open my backdoor only to find six inches of wet, heavy snow piled up against it. I knew I had quite a job of shoveling out ahead of me, so I reached over to grab my snow shovel. It looked a lot more ready to work than I did. I sighed and pulled on my boots, gloves, and heavy coat.
The wind chill was below zero and cut into my face as I slowly shoveled off my deck. After that I stayed my way over to my daughter’s house shoveling the path as I walked. It took a while to get her driveway clear and I knew I still had a lot to do. Next came the paths down the hill to my own cars covered in snow. I had grabbed the broom to sweep them off as well. I winced when the breeze blew the swept snow back into my face. Then I started to shovel out my driveways. My back was aching as I worked. I wished I could be building a snowman instead of shoveling. Winter sure had seemed a lot more fun when I was a boy.
When I was done I examined my work. It didn’t look half bad. I smiled and looked at the woods covered in white. They were such a special sight. I leaned on my shovel and took it all in. Then I started up the hill with the snow shovel in one hand and the broom in the other. Suddenly, an urge came over me and I dropped them both. I spread my arms, fed back into the blanket of white and happily moved my arms and legs to make an angel in the snow.
As you go through the seasons of this life take joy in your work. Take joy in your life. Remember that the course of your days rests in your own hands.
1.What’s the theme of the text?
A. Enjoy winter work. B. Take things seriously.
C. Take joy in your life. D. Fight against cold.
2.Which is the correct order of what the author shoveled?
A. his deck-his daughter’s driveway-his cars-his driveway
B. his cars-his deck-his daughter’s driveway-his driveway
C. his daughter’s driveway-his deck-his driveway-his cars
D. his driveway-his daughter’s driveway-his cars-his deck
3.What can we conclude about the author from Paragraph 3?
A. He was not satisfied with his work.
B. He was absorbed in the snow sight.
C. He was fond of making snowmen.
D. He was in low spirits after work.
Several Jobs That Will Be Automated By Artificial Intelligence(AI) And Robots
Translator
Image recognition software and voice recognition software are bringing some major advances to language translation．Applications like Google’s Word Lens can translate words from signs and documents in real time and there are a lot of translation apps that allow you to type in a word or phrase and will translate it for you．
Some will even speak the phrase for you and raw word-to-word translation will be fully automated soon．
Fast food workers
Automated ordering booths have already made their way into a few McDonald’s restaurants around the world，and cooking positions could be removed next．The booths probably can’t handle customer service problems well，so televideo systems could bring in an office employee to deal with complaints．
Field technician
New advances in the Internet of Things could make this work obsolete.
Low-cost sensors combined with high availability cellular／satellite communications and cloud technology are being started to automate and alarm these sites, and can be checked and maintained from a desktop or mobile device.
Sales representative
But, e-commerce is changing how we make purchasing decisions, especially those where there isn’t much differentiation among the major competitors.
If you’re selling a high-differentiation product and／or a high-price, low-volume product you have some job security, but if you’re selling a high-volume, low-differentiation product, you better start polishing your resume, said Doug Camplejohn, CEO of Fliptop. “These kind of product sales are all moving online.”
1.What can Google’s Word Lens do?
A. Translate by image and voice recognition software.
B. Speak the phrase or word for you.
C. Make real-time translation.
D. Allow you to type in a word or phrase.
2.What can we infer from the second part?
A. All the restaurants own automated ordering booths.
B. Service problems can’t be handled automatically.
C. Cooks will not be automated by AI and robots.
D. Customers will have no complaints because of AI．
3.What does the underlined word“obsolete”mean in Part 3?
A. Abandoned. B. Welcome. C. Forbidden. D. Efficient.
4.What does the author mean by“you better start polishing your resume” in the last paragraph?
A. You must value your present work.
B. You have some job security.
C. Your resume needs correcting further.
D. You should consider changing the job.
