Three Feet From Gold
Darby’s uncle was caught by the “gold fever” in the gold-rush days, and went west to dig and grow rich. After months of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore (矿石). He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. So, with the “strike”, he returned home. And with the help of Darby, he borrowed a lot of money. After buying the machinery and having it shipped, Uncle and Darby went back to work the mine.
The first car of ore was mined. And the returns proved they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Uncle and Darby!
Then something happened! The vein (矿脉) of gold ore disappeared! They drilled on, but all in vain. Finally, they decided to quit and sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars. The junk man called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The engineer’s calculations showed that the vein would be found just three feet from where the Darbys had stopped drilling! The junk man took millions of dollars in the vein, because he knew enough to seek expert’s advice before giving up.
Most of the money which went into the machinery was borrowed through the efforts of Darby, who was then a very young man. The money came from his relatives because of their faith in him. He paid back every dollar of it, although he was years in doing so.
Long afterward, Mr. Darby made another discovery that desire can be changed into gold. This discovery came after he went into the business of selling life insurance. Remembering that he lost a huge fortune, for he stopped three feet from gold, Darby profited by the experience in his chosen work, saying to himself, “I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop because men say ‘no’ when I ask them to buy insurance.”
Darby sold more than a million dollars in life insurance annually. He owes his “stickability” to the lesson he learned from his “quitability” in the gold mining business.
1.Darby’s uncle went back home to ________.
A. receive his reward
B. seek financial support
C. look for more helpers
D. consult an engineer
2.The Darbys failed in mining business because of ________.
A. quitting drilling on
B. the disappearance of the vein
C. the shortage of the machinery
D. competing against the junk man
3.From the passage, we can know Darby ________.
A. was unable to pay off the debts
B. mined his gold from the failure
C. learned a lesson from selling insurance
D. devoted himself to making new discoveries
4.The author intends to tell us that ________.
A. hopes and difficulties exist side by side
B. correct decisions stems from correct judgement
C. we should catch it when an opportunity comes
D. we won’t reach our goal unless we persist
They hide in trees, hang from helicopters, even follow people down on motorcycles—all so that they can snap a shot of a celebrity. They are paparazzi—photographers who make a living by taking pictures of the rich and famous.
This September, California, a state with plenty of celebrities, passed a law aimed at taking action against paparazzi. The law forbids photographers from entering private property to take pictures, from using high-tech devices to take pictures of people on private property, and from “persistently following in order to take a picture.” Violators can be fined or spend time in prison. The United State Congress is considering passing a similar law.
Supporters of the California law say it will protect the privacy of celebrities, whom paparazzi have been bothering for years. Opponents (反对者) say the law restricts photojournalists from doing their job.
Most celebrities seem to like having their pictures taken when they are in public at award shows or other events. After all, it’s free publicity. But when they’re not in public, they say, photographers should leave them alone. Yet paparazzi have been known to secretly look in windows and worse. Actor Michael J. Fox said that paparazzi have even “tried to pretend to be medical personnel at the hospital where my wife was giving birth to our son.”
Celebrities have as much right to their privacy as anyone else, supporters of the law state. Supporters further argue that the California law is a fair way to keep the press at bay, because the law still allows photographers to do their job. It only punishes them, supporters say, when they violate celebrities’ privacy.
Opponents of the law say it violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (美国宪法第一修正案), which guarantees that no laws will be made to limit “the freedom of speech, or of the press.”Although some people might not consider paparazzi a part of the legal press, the California law does not single out paparazzi. It applies to photographers working for any publication.
Opponents of the law are also concerned about its wording. “Does ‘persistently’ mean following someone for six minutes, six seconds, or six days?” asked lawyer Douglas Mirell. The wording of the law is too vague, critics complain, and could be used to punish almost any news photographer.
The United States needs a free press to keep the public informed about important news, paparazzi law opponents say. Limiting the press in any way, they argue, limits the freedom of all.
1.Which of the following will be considered illegal by the new California law?
A. Paparazzi slipping into the house of a famous person to take a shot.
B. Paparazzi taking photos of famous people with high-tech cameras.
C. Paparazzi hiring helicopters as a fast means of transportation.
D. Paparazzi rushing towards filming sites on motorcycles.
2.Supporters of the new law believe that ________.
A. it prevents the media from getting worse
B. it gives photographers a fair way to compete
C. punishment forces paparazzi to quit their job
D. privacy of famous people needs special protection
3.Opponents of the new law are concerned that _________.
A. it will violate paparazzi’s privacy
B. the First Amendment will be changed
C. some photographers will be wrongly accused
D. people will not be informed of important news
4.What is the author’s attitude towards the new California law?
A. Critical. B. Neutral. C. Approving. D. Skeptical.
Donald Trump was born in Queens, a borough of New York City. He was the fourth child. He had two brothers and two sisters. By his own telling, young Donald often created trouble in school. So when he was 13 years old, his parents sent him to a military-style school.
Trump went on to college first at Fordham University in New York, and then at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a degree in economics. He was also already investing in real estate. After he graduated, Trump quickly returned to New York City and his career.
In time, he became the head of the family business. He re-named it the Trump Organization. As its president, Trump developed and put his name on luxury buildings, casinos, hotels, and golf courses around the world. Later, he became linked to the entertainment industry, too. He became a part owner of beauty pageants, hosted a television show, and wrote a book about how to succeed in business.
During these years, Trump also married three times and divorced twice. The media wrote especially about his first and second marriages because he openly had a relationship with his second wife while he was married to his first. In 2005, he married Melania Knauss, a former model from Slovenia. She is only the second first lady who was not born in the United States. The first was Louisa Adams, who came from Britain in 1801.
But, until he officially entered the 2016 campaign as a Republican candidate, few linked him to politics.
Trump is unusual among past presidents because he had never worked in the government before. Nor has Trump served in the military. Only Presidents Taylor, Grant, and Eisenhower had no previous government experience; however, they had all been generals.
Trump is the oldest person ever to take office. He was 70 years old when he was sworn in.
He is also one of the richest.
And Trump is unusual in how he communicates with the public. As president, he continues to use Twitter to communicate his thoughts directly to anyone who wants to follow him.
While the long-term effects of Trump's presidency are not yet known, he will likely be remembered in part for his direct and unscripted style of communication.
1.Donald Trump is quite a different American president ever because _______.
A. only he has never entered politics before
B. he is the first to use the modern social media Twitter to speak
C. he is the richest president ever
D. only his wife wasn’t born in the US
2.Trump is a successful businessman and his business involves in the following except________.
A. television B. beauty
C. real estate D. publishing
3.Which of the following can’t suit Donald Trump?
A. He is the oldest president when taking office.
B. He has once served in the army.
C. He wrote a book about how to do business.
D. His father had five children.
4.What does the underlined word unscripted in the last sentences mean?
A. Unfinished. B. Undertaken. C. Unprepared. D. Unspoken.
Google announced new features to make devices smarter and more useful to open its yearly developers' conference. The announcements came at Google's I/O 2018 conference in Mountain View, California.
Google Duplex
"So what you're going to hear is the Google Assistant actually calling a real barber’s to schedule the appointment for you.
Hello, how can I help you?
Hi, I'm calling to book a woman's haircut for a client. I'm looking for something on May 3rd.
Sure, give me one second.
Mm-hmmm.
That was a real call you just heard."
Google Chief Pichai said the demonstration was the result of the company's research and development over many years in the areas of natural language, deep learning and text-to-speech. Google calls the technology Duplex. The idea is to create machines that sound and act more human-like in interactions with people.
Continued Conversation
Another new feature related to Assistant is called Continued Conversation. Until now, users have had to say "Hey Google" each time they asked a question or wanted help. But now, a user can issue more than one command – such as a follow-up question – for up to eight seconds, and Assistant will answer.
Gmail Smart Compose
The latest new tool for Gmail is an auto-complete feature called Smart Compose. It uses AI to suggest ways to finish sentences as they are written. For example, "I haven't seen you" might be auto-completed to "I haven't seen you in a while and I hope you're doing well."
Digital Wellbeing
Google says it recognizes many users are trying to find the right balance in life with technology. Sometimes they would like to break away from their devices to be able to spend time "on better things." New features with this in mind can help users prevent overuse of technology.
A Dashboard will provide users detailed information about how much time they are spending on which parts of their device. When the device is placed face down, a new feature will put the device on hold and silence it so the user can center on other things. A Wind Down Mode feature can let users enter the time they want to go to bed. At that time, the device will again go silent and the front of the device will dim to help users disconnect before bed.
1.What does the small dialogue mean in Google Duplex?
A. Google Chief Pichai calls his assistant to arrange an appointment for him.
B. Google’s digital assistant sets a haircut appointment for someone all by itself.
C. An assistant in Google sets a haircut appointment for a woman.
D. That wasn’t a real call the receiver had heard.
2.What can we learn about Digital Wellbeing?
A. It can find the right balance in work.
B. It may automatically go silent while the screen is still bright.
C. It can tell how much time is being spent on parts of the device.
D. When one feature is operating long enough, a new one will disappear.
3.If you are poor in writing compositions, you probably like________.
A. Continued Conversation B. Google Maps - Augmented Reality
C. Google Duplex D. Gmail Smart Compose
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.When will the race be held this year?
A. On May 11th. B. On May 23rd. C. On May 24th.
2.Where does the race start?
A. At the football ground.
B. On the north side of the park.
C. At the main entrance of the park.
3.What can every runner get?
A. A T-shirt. B. A water bottle. C. A pair of running shoes.
4.Who can run in the race free of charge?
A. Children under 8 years of age.
B. Children between 8 and 15 years of age.
C. Adults registering in advance.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Why did Mel Flynn become interested in diving?
A. To learn more about sea animals.
B. To join a group of teenagers.
C. To help with her parents’ research.
2.How old was Mel Flynn when she started diving?
A. 7. B. 10. C. 12.
3.What did Mel Flynn do to stay safe underwater?
A. She always kept close to other divers.
B. She didn’t go deeper than seven meters.
C. She stayed away from dangerous fish.
4.Why does Mel Flynn like working with the scientists?
A. She can earn money from it.
B. She can gain valuable experience.
C. She can get a good job through it.
