When Medicine Hat, a city in southern Alberta, Canada, promised to put an end to homelessness in 2009, there were many people doubtful about it. A good six years later, the city says it has fulfilled its promise with the help of a surprisingly simple idea: giving every homeless person a home with no strings attached.
While traditional housing programs ask that potential participants shouldn’t have crime record and seek psychological treatment before they are admitted into the system, the Housing First approach makes the homeless free from such things. Whoever is in need of a permanent place to stay will get help, no matter what their circumstances are. “We thought that people are worthy of a home and it is a fundamental human right to have a shelter and a roof over their heads, ” Jamie Rogers, who ran the Housing First program in Medicine Hat told the BBC. “Of course it is recovery-oriented and we help and support people in making different choices in their life, but we don’t withhold (抑制) housing because of who they choose to be.”
Since April 2009, the community of about 64,000 collectively housed 1,013 homeless individuals; 705 adults and 308 children. Apart from the obvious success of getting people out of the street, Housing First also brought with it a number of unexpected positive effects. In Medicine Hat, emergency room visits and run-ins with police have dropped while at the same time court appearances went up. Once people felt that somebody cared about them, they gathered the necessary motivation to begin dealing with their past in a positive way.
Medicine Hat didn’t just carry out Housing First (which is also being used in other cities with varying levels of success) but rather changed its whole approach to homelessness. Rather than building, or relying only on subsidized (补贴的) housing, the city built a relationship of trust with landlords, property management companies, and local communities as a whole. Fear and prejudice towards the homeless have been replaced by the realization that they are simply people down on their luck and nowadays landlords call up city hall to offer their apartments to the program.
Medicine Hat’s inspiring success proves to us all that if we put aside our fears and differences and instead come together as a community, nothing is impossible.
1.What can we know about the homeless in Medicine Hat?
A. Most of them have been offered shelters.
B. They needn’t sleep in the street any longer.
C. They only need to pay a little for the shelters.
D. They have gained great help from local charity.
2.Compared with the traditional one, the Housing First approach, .
A. houses the homeless with fewer requirements
B. cares less about the homeless people’s crime record
C. cares more about the homeless people’s psychological health
D. gives the homeless shelters regardless of their backgrounds
3.Carrying out the Housing First approach, Medicine Hat didn’t expect .
A. the task would take so much time
B. the work would cost so much money
C. public security would improve
D. conflicts among people were nearly removed
4.What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell about?
A. Medicine Hat’s achievements.
B. Medicine Hat’s work summary.
C. Medicine Hat’s plan for the future.
D. Medicine Hat’s working with police.
If you’re showering every day, you’re probably over doing it. In fact, showering too often can actually hurt your body in the long run.
As Time’s public health column explains, daily showers are common due to social norms more than any proper health need. We connect being freshly showered with being attractive and pleasing, so we tend to showering often to feel better.
But what’s the ideal shower frequency? In terms of your health — not how you look or smell — probably once or twice a week, assistant professor of dermatology at George Washington University, Dr. C. Brandon Mitchell says. “Your body is naturally a well-oiled machine,” he says. “A daily shower isn’t necessary.”
Of course, your situation may vary. If you have a job like car maintenance or construction, you’ll obviously have a visible layer of dirt you’ll need to wash off every single day. Similarly, if you work out every day, you may not have any health risks by washing every day, but you’ll still be smelly. If you feel like you need to take daily showers for aesthetic(审美的) reasons, at least make most of them light showers. “I tell patients who shower daily not to soap their whole bodies,” Mitchell says. Hit your pits, butt and groin, which are the areas that produce strong smells. The rest of your body doesn’t need much soaping, he says.
Too much time spent under the hot water can dry out your skin, cause cracks（裂纹）that can lead to infections or germs getting into your skin, and take away the natural oils on your skin that help keep it healthy. So, even if you’re aiming to be your most presentable, be sure to keep it moderate to avoid hurting your skin in the long run.
1.According to the passage, why do most people shower daily?
A. To add to attraction. B. To wash off dirt.
C. To meet health need. D. To get relaxation.
2.Which of the following people might be advised to shower once or twice a week?
A. Car maintainer. B. Office staff.
C. Building workers. D. Gym-goers.
3.The underlined phrase “light showers” in Para. 4 refers to the showers in which ________.
A. bright lights are equipped B. less hot water is used
C. gentle skin touches are allowed D. a little soaping is involved
4.What is the best title for the text?
A. Showering Daily Becomes a Custom
B. Daily Shower Does No Good to You
C. You Probably Needn’t Shower Daily
D. Protect Your Skin When Showering
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. The film was a critical and financial success, winning Benigni the Academy Award for Best Actor as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1939 in the Kingdom of Italy, a bookstore keeper Guido, who is a Jew, falls in love with a local school teacher, Dora, who is to be engaged to a rich civil servant. Guido steals her from her engagement party on a horse. Soon they are married and have a son, Giosue.
In 1945, Guido and his son are forced onto a train and taken to a concentration camp. Despite being a non-Jew, Dora demands to be on the same train to join her family. In the camp, Guido hides their true situation from his son, telling him that the camp is a complicated game in which Giosue must perform the tasks Guido gives him, earning him points；the first team to reach 1,000 points will win a tank.
Guido uses this game to explain features of the concentration camp that would otherwise be scary for a young child. Despite being surrounded by the misery, sickness and death at the camp, Giosue does not question this fiction because of his father’s convincing performance and his own innocence. Guido keeps the story right until the end when, in the chaos（混乱）of shutting down the camp as the Americans approach, he tells his son to stay in a small box until everybody has left, this being the final competition before the tank is his. Guido tries to find Dora, but is caught and killed by a Nazi soldier. As he is taken away to be shot, he maintains the fictions of the game by marching in a goose-step on purpose…
1.How many Academy Awards does the film win?
A. One. B. Two. C. Four. D. Three.
2.What kind of person is Dora?
A. Romantic and hot-headed. B. Money-loving and foolish.
C. Loving and responsible. D. Brave and intelligent
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. Giosue regards all that happens as a game.
B. Guido lies to make their life more interesting.
C. Nazi soldiers killed all the Jews in the camp.
D. Giosue finally knows the truth.
4.This passage is most probably taken from a(n) ________.
A. game brochure B. entertainment magazine
C. history book D. travel journal
Amazon Best Sellers: Best Books
A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership-April 17, 2018
by James Comey
In his book, former FBI director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-risk situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical(道德的) leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.
Hardcover $17.99
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos- January 23, 2018
by Jordan B_Peterson
What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Famous psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the great findings of most-advanced scientific research.
Hardcover $15.57
How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading Revised Edition
by Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren
With half a million copies in print, How to Read a Book is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader, completely rewritten and updated with new material. Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and clarifies the various levels of reading and how to achieve them-from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading.
Paperback $10.31
Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People- April 17, 2018
by Bob Goff
Paperback $10.19
What happens when we stop avoiding difficult people and simply love everyone? In his wildly entertaining and inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a life-altering journey into the secret of living without fear, care, restriction, or worry.
1.If you want to become an effective leader, you can try ________.
A. How to Read a Book B. A Higher Loyalty
C. 12 Rules for Life D. Everybody, Always
2.What do we know about How to Read a Book?
A. It has been published since 1940.
B. It is completely the same as the original one.
C. It is written by Mortimer J. Adler.
D. There are many other books similar to it.
3.We can learn from the passage that ________.
A. All the four books are paperbacks
B. Bob Goff is a journalist of the New York Times
C. Jordan B. Peterson is the former FBI director
D. Paperbacks are cheaper than hardbacks
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.What does the Golden Rule ask people to do?
A. Develop personal rules.
B. Respect their families and ancestors.
C. Treat others as they wish to be treated.
2.Which is a teaching of Confucius?
A. Governments should be moral.
B. Husbands should respect wives.
C. People should memorize rules of behavior.
3.How did Confucius teach lessons?
A. Through arguments.
B. Through reasoning.
C. Through personal examples.
4.What does the speaker say about Confucius’ influence?
A. He used to be even more important.
B. He has influenced many cultures.
C. He has little effect on people today.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Which decorations are on the sofa?
A. The Christmas ones.
B. The Halloween ones.
C. The Thanksgiving ones.
2.What did the man use to get the box out?
A. A pole. B. A chair. C. A ladder.
3.Where might the conversation take place?
A. In the basement. B. In the bedroom C. In the living room.
