It was the Greek shopkeeper in a small corner shop in London that taught me about the power of an act of ______, which has motivated me to give. I was a student, ______ and very poor. I would work early morning and late nights to pay for my ______, and I was tired—really tired—all the time.
On the day I went to that shop for the first time, I was ______ with a very high fever. I had been ______ work for a few days, and run out of ______. Having been working so hard since I moved to town, I had no ______ nearby who could help. Normally, I would have gone to the ______, but on this occasion, I went into the Greek shop because it was ______.
I ______ a few items, from the looks of which revealed the ______ that I lived alone. Then I handed them to the shopkeeper, who told me, “You are unwell.” She pointed at the salami and bread I was buying and ______, “ I can make you a sandwich, so you don’t have to do it yourself.” I nodded, rather timidly. So , she made the ______ and asked me to ______ a moment. She went in the back room and returned with a container of hot soup.
“ I will ______ you up,” she said with a broad, genuine ______.
What really warmed me up, ______, was not the soup. It was her smile and kindness that made me feel ______ when I was particularly lonely. I had been quite ______, but, from that day on, I did not let shyness prevent me from ______ random acts of kindness.
1.A. bravery B. politeness C. kindness D. faith
2.A. friendly B. single C. unreliable D. honest
3.A. apartment B. dream C. studies D. company
4.A. concerned B. hot C. hungry D. sick
5.A. off B. in C. from D. beyond
6.A. clothes B. food C. energy D. hope
7.A. colleagues B. relatives C. friends D. parents
8.A. clinic B. company C. Greek shop D. supermarket
9.A. closer B. farther C. prepared D. reliable
10.A. came across B. picked up C. wiped out D. put off
11.A. result B. gift C. fact D. chance
12.A. concluded B. imagined C. guessed D. offered
13.A. sandwich B. salami C. bread D. soup
14.A. consider B. sit C. wait D. hold
15.A. fix B. warm C. turn D. take
16.A. cry B. cover C. laugh D. smile
17.A. though B. instead C. too D. still
18.A. amazed B. cared C. lost D. confused
19.A. satisfied B. kind C. honest D. shy
20.A. performing B. searching C. deserting D. treating
Are you truly happy? Do you ever know what it means to be happy and what it takes to achieve happiness? 1. The following are a few tips that I follow to create happiness in my life. Make a plan for achieving goals that you believe will make you happy. Your moods will very likely increase（增加） if you are going after something you value.
Surround yourself with happy people. It is easy to begin to think negatively（消极的）. When you are surrounded by people who think that way. 2.When something goes wrong, try to figure out a solution instead of being absorbed in self pity.
Truly happy people don’t allow setbacks 挫折 to affect their mood because they know that with a little thought they can turn the things back to their favor.
3. These few minutes will give you the opportunity to focus on the positive things in your life and will lead you to continuous happiness.
4. Whether you treat yourself to lunch, take a long, relaxing bath or simply spend a few extra minutes on your appearance, you will be putting yourself in a better mood.
Finding the humor in situations can also lead to happiness. Find a way to make light of a situation that would otherwise make you happy.
Keeping healthy is another way to achieve happiness. 5.
A. There are some tips in life that lead to happiness.
B. It’s also important to take some time each day to do something nice for yourself
C. On the contrary, if you are around people who are happy, their emotional state will be easily passed to you.
D. Being overweight or not eating foods containing nutrition have a negative effect on your mood.
E. What makes one person happy may be very different from what makes someone else happy.
F. These are important questions for anyone who is seeking happiness to ask themselves.
G. Spend a few minutes each day thinking about the things that make you happy.
Children often suffer pain and insecurity when their parents separate. When my ex-husband and I broke up after 10 years of marriage, our daughter was 5 years old and our son only 3. We decided to see a psychologist about the best way to explain this new situation to the children. She shared with us this special story about a land turtle and a sea turtle, which we then used to help them better comprehend.
Once upon a time, a land turtle (Mommy) met a sea turtle (Daddy) close to a beautiful shore. Soon they fell deeply in love and decided to get married. For a time, they continued to live at the water’s edge so that Mommy could sit on the sand and keep dry and warm, while Daddy sat in the shallow water to keep cool. A few years later two baby turtles arrived. They were very special indeed, and looked a little like each of their parents.
But as the years went by, Daddy sea turtle started spending more and more time in the ocean as he traveled deeper and deeper to look for pearls. Mommy land turtle also started wandering up into the sands to hunt for food in the woods. Little by little, Daddy and Mommy turtle started to drift apart. Finally one day, Mommy and Daddy turtle decided they didn’t want to live together any more. The little turtles continued to spend time with each of their parents. They made lots of friends with all the fish, dolphins and whales in the ocean and also many friends with the rabbits, deer, and foxes in the woods. In fact they grew up to be a new kind of turtle that could live both in the ocean and on the land.
Over the years, this tale of the land and sea turtle has helped my children cope and accept the fact that my marriage to their father was over. They know that we once loved each other very much and that they were born out of true love.
1.When the parents divorce, their children often feel ____.
A. unsafe B. relieved
C. indifferent D. annoyed
2.The underlined “They” in the second paragraph refers to “_______”.
A. The land turtle and the sea turtle
B. The two baby turtles
C. The author and her ex-husband
D. The author’s children
3.We can conclude from the third paragraph that ______.
A. the divorce of two turtles harmed their children greatly.
B. the author and her ex-husband still live together after the divorce
C. parental divorce is not always bad for the children’s growth
D. the tale of the two turtles is widely read in the USA
4.We can probably find this passage in the column of _____.
A. Culture B. Parenting
C. Career D. Education
Every evening Sylvie left her grandmother’s house at 5:30 to bring their cow home. The old animal spent her days out in the open country eating sweet grass. When the cow heard Sylvie’s voice calling her, she would hide among the bushes, unwilling to go home.
This evening it had taken Sylvie longer than usual to find her cow. The child hurried the cow through the dark forest, following a narrow path that led to her grandmother’s home.
“Hello, little girl,” a young man called out cheerfully. “I’ve been hunting for birds, but I’ve lost my way.” The young man explained he was a scientist, who searched for birds. “Do you put them in a cage?” Sylvie asked. “No,” he answered, “I shoot them and deal with them with special chemicals to preserve them.”
“I saw a white heron（苍鹭）not far from here two days ago. It’s very rare bird. Have you seen it, too?” he asked Sylvie. Sylvie’s heart began to beat fast. She knew that strange white bird! The young man was staring at Sylvie. “I would give 10 dollars to the person who showed me where the white heron is.”
Sylvie had a plan that she would get the 10 dollars for her grandmother and make the young man happy. Her plan was to climb to the top of a tall pine tree to see where the white heron had hidden its nest.
The pine tree seemed to grow taller, the higher that Sylvie climbed. Suddenly a bird with broad white wings flew past Sylvie and landed on a pine branch below her. The white heron sat on its nest in a nearby tree. Sylvie gave a long sigh. She knew the wild bird’s secret now. Slowly she began her dangerous trip down the ancient pine tree.
About an hour later Sylvie returned. Both her grandmother and the young man stood up as she came into the kitchen. The splendid moment to speak about her secret had come. But Sylvie was silent. She could not tell the heron’s secret and give its life away.
1.Where would Sylvie usually meet the cow every evening?
A. In the open country.
B. Among the forest.
C. On a narrow path.
D. In the bushes
2.What was the young scientist’s job according to his introduction?
A. Collecting birds
B. Raising birds
C. Observing birds
D. Protecting birds
3.What had Sylvie planned to do about the white bird?
A. make good friends with it.
B. prevent it from being caught.
C. find its nest but keep it secret.
D. find it for money and the man
4.What saved the white bird’s life at last?
A. Grandmother’s sympathy.
B. The white bird’s beauty.
C. Sylvie’s kindness.
D. The young man’s generosity.
Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit; most people don’t even notice that they’re doing it when they sit down. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.
A study published in Blood pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason for this is that the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart and that crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate. This causes your body to increase your blood pressure to push the blood back to the heart. You won’t feel any immediate effects, but repeated, drawn-out increases in blood pressure can cause long-term health issues. So, planning to sit for a long period of time? Don’t keep your legs crossed.
Crossing your legs at the knee can also cause pressure on the major nerve in your leg that passes just below your knee and along the outside of your leg, explains Richard Graves, a medical expert. This pressure can cause numbness and temporary paralysis（麻痹）of some of the muscles in your foot and leg, preventing you from being able to raise your ankle—what we know as that “pins and needles” sensation. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your leg until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.
So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.
1.According to the study, sitting with your legs crossed can ______.
A. affect your blood pressure
B. resist gravity effectively
C. lead to heart attacks easily
D. improve the function of legs
2.What can we learn about crossing one’s legs?
A. It is a very bad social habit.
B. It is usually practiced deliberately
C. It can do harm to people’s health.
D. It can make others feel uncomfortable.
3.In the third paragraph “pins and needles” probably means “_____”
A. slight sharp pains B. being a little nervous
C. serious muscle injuries D. being highly flexible
4.What is the main purpose of the text?
A. To compare common habits.
B. To give readers some advice.
C. To evaluate effects of an experiment.
D. To introduce research methods.
In between running one of the world’s largest charitable agencies and acting as Microsoft’s technology advisor, Bill Gates manages to find time to read books, both long and short. Now Gates --who has been labeled a “greedy” reader—has released a list of his favorite books of the year. All of the books are standout reads, according to the billionaire, most of which are focused on business and economy.
Here are Bill’s top four picks for the year (with parts of his full review of each book).
Business Adventures, by John Brooks
Brooks’ collection was published in 1969 and remains one of Gates’ favorites. He re-read it again this year, labeling it “the best business book I’ve ever read”.
“Shortly after we met, Warren Buffett lent me this collection of New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. I loved them as much as he did. Brooks’ insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever.”
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty
Piketty’s novel hit the shelves in August 2013 and sparked much discussion concerning income inequality throughout this year. Gates also got to sit down with Piketty himself after reading the non-fiction work to discuss the topic.
“As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it.”
How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell
Studwell’s work, which was published in May this year, addresses how countries such as Japan, South Korea and China have continued to achieve high growth, and why other countries have failed to do the same.
“The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.
Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, by Vaelav Smil
Smil’s books are a constant favorite of the Microsoft founder—one of his books makes Gates’ list almost every year. Making the Modern World came out late last year and explores the global use of materials, from silicon to wood, and plastic.
“If anyone tries to tell you we’re using fewer materials, send him this book. With his usual skepticism and his love of data, Smil shows how our ability to make things with less materials—say, soda cans that need less aluminum—makes them cheaper, which actually encourages more production.”
1.Of the books, ______ is best praised by Bill Gates.
A. How Asia Works
B. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
C. Business Adventures
D. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization
2.The books mentioned in the text are all about______.
A. charity in the world
B. business and economy
C. poverty in the world
D. Bill Gates’ life experience
3.In How Asia Works, the author analyses ______.
A. why African agriculture cannot be developed fast
B. How they can apply Asian economic model in African countries
C. why Asia is so slow in agricultural development
D. How some Asian countries have rapidly grown in economy
