Elephants are truly incredible animals. August 12 is World Elephant Day which means to help save elephants. What do you know about elephants? Here are some facts you may not know.
We know that elephants are large. But did you know that elephants often avoid eating a type of acacia tree(金合欢树), because it is home to ants and an elephant doesn’t want to get the ants inside its trunk. Its trunk is full of sensitive nerve endings(敏感神经末梢).
Female elephants live in groups of about 15 animals. The oldest in the group is the leader. She decides not only when and where they move but also when they rest all the year. Male elephants leave the female groups between age 12 and 15. But they aren’t loners. They live in all-male groups.
Asian elephants don’t run. Running requires lifting all four feet at once. But elephants filmed in Thailand always kept at least two on the ground at all times.
Elephants have passed the mirror test. They recognize themselves in a mirror. According to tests, great apes(巨猿), and dolphins(海豚) also have this ability.
Elephants can get sunburned so they take care to protect themselves. “Elephants will throw sand on their backs and on their head to keep them from getting sunburned and to keep bugs off,” said Tony Barthel, working at Smithsonian’s National Zoo. How do elephants protect their young? Adult elephants will put them in sand and then they will stand over the little ones as they sleep.
Some farmers in Kenya protect their fields from elephants by lining the borders with beehives(蜂巢). Not only are their crops saved, but the farmers also get more money from honey.
1. World Elephant Day is designed to________.| A．show some facts about elephants | B．call on people to protect elephants |
| C．tell people some animals are in danger | D．introduce Asian elephants features |
| A．Elephants are sensitive to acacia trees. |
| B．Acacia trees are too tall to reach. |
| C．Fruits on the acacia trees are hard to eat. |
| D．Elephants’trunks are easily hurt by ants in the trees. |
| A．They live with female elephants at an early age. |
| B．They decide when and where their groups move. |
| C．Their oldest male elephant is chosen as their leader. |
| D．They can run faster than female elephants. |
| A．Put some sand on kids’heads. | B．Guard kids when kids sleep. |
| C．Pat kids’backs from time to time. | D．Use their trunks to keep bugs off. |
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【推荐1】Some termite (白蚁) species have figured out how to enjoy the shelter of the huge complex nests that the insects build without contributing to their construction. They avoid the full anger of their builder hosts by being extremely easy-going.
Animals that live in the nests of another species without affecting them are known as inquilines. Inquiline termites are unique among termites in being unable to make their own nests. Instead, they live in the hallways built by another termite, Constrictotermes cyphergaster. Until now, it has been unclear how the two parties kept peaceful in such tight quarters because termites are typically very aggressive towards outsiders.
Helder Hugo at the University of Konstanz in Germany and his colleagues collected Constrictotermes cyphergaster’s nests in the Brazilian Cerrado and brought them into the laboratory. They then placed host and tenant (房客) termites in either open or narrow areas and used video to track and record the ways in which the two species reacted to each other.
Right from the start, the inquiline’ termites moved around less than their hosts and interacted little with them, even in the much narrower area. “Many times,” says Hugo, “when two unrelated groups are put together in a limited space—such as an experimental area—the outcome is conflict with losses from both sides.” But that didn’t happen here. Despite attacks from host termites, the tenant termites were obedient. Hosts would bite or attack the inquilines with strong chemicals, but their targets never responded in the same way, choosing to flee. Some ignored the hosts completely.
“We did not expect that they would never fight back,” says Hugo, noting that the inquilines are capable of protecting their own place with mouths. “By preventing conflict going worse, inquiline termites may considerably improve their chances of living together with their host termites peacefully.”
“Passiveness does not necessarily lead to defeat, but can be a very useful strategy, saving energy and resources,” she adds. “Nature may not always be red in tooth and claw, and aggression is not any more successful a strategy than ‘cowardice’ (儒弱).”
1. What is the feature of the inquiline termites?| A．They live in another termite species’ nests. |
| B．They are aggressive towards outsiders. |
| C．They like to build their own nests. |
| D．They are communicative tenants. |
| A．The differences between the two species. |
| B．The findings of the observation. |
| C．The living habits of termites. |
| D．The process of the research. |
| A．Aggressive. | B．Unacceptable. | C．Effective. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．The Characteristics of Termites |
| B．Passiveness Doesn’t Necessarily Lead to Defeat |
| C．The Relationship Between Host and Tenant Termites |
| D．Termites Use Cowardice to Avoid Their Hosts’ Anger |
【推荐2】On May 9, 2016, biologist Chris Kelly saw a lone bat on a bridge crossing the French Broad River outside Asheville, North Carolina. Five years later, everything wildlife biologists thought they knew about endangered gray bats in this corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains has been changed.
Kelly, a biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, was on the bridge doing bird work. Bats aren't her area of expertness, so she reached out to the state's bat experts. Joey Weber, a technician who was working for the Commission, arrived at the bridge later that day and found 19 big brown bats inhabiting in the expansion joints. But he heard many more.
That night, Weber was joined by Katherine Etchison, the Commission's bat biologist, for an emergence count. They counted 240, but a busy schedule meant the team couldn't return for a second emergence count until July 18. “I was very eager to get back out there because I really thought there would be something besides big brown bats. I was thinking Mexican free-tailed bats, which would be a first for Buncombe County, and I was right but that wasn't the big news,” said Etchison.
The second emergence count recorded 1,000 bats. To learn which species used the bridge, biologists recorded the ultrasonic(超声的) sounds made by emerging bats, which are species-specific. Later that night, Etchison rolled through the recorded calls, displayed vividly on her computer, and the suspected Mexican free-tailed bats showed up. But, so too did something very unexpected.
She immediately texted Susan Cameron, an Asheville-based biologist. Along with big brown and Mexican free-tailed bats, the computer identified the calls of endangered gray bats. The discovery was confirmed the next day when Etchison, Weber, and Cameron visited the bridge at dusk-just before bat emergence-and carefully captured a bat from one of the expansion, joints. The 2016 discoveries marked the first time gray bats were known to inhabit in North Carolina.
1. How did Kelly find the bat on the bridge?| A．Accidentally. | B．Professionally. |
| C．Purposefully. | D．Skillfully. |
| A．That a big brown bat was identified. |
| B．That Mexican free-tailed bats showed up. |
| C．That the discovery of gray bats was confirmed. |
| D．That 1000 bats were recorded. |
| A．By emergence counting. |
| B．By recording specific sound. |
| C．By capturing the bats. |
| D．By looking through the computer. |
| A．An Endangered Bat Discovery | B．A Biology Research |
| C．The Emergence of Bat | D．The Way of Finding Endangered Bats |
【推荐3】I rescued my little Foxy several years ago. I wasn't looking for her, but she just crawled （爬）up onto my lap and went to sleep, so I took her home. She spent the night with her head on my pillow, and I knew she belonged to me.
I was her person. She didn’t really like other dogs or people.. .until I met my wife-to-be. The day Angelika came over to visit for the first time was the last time Foxy was truly my dog. She abandoned me for the love of a tender （温柔的）woman, and who can blame her? I would have done the same. Then Angelika and I got married, and we became a happy family.
The three of us always walk together through our village from the hills to the lake. We get exercise and have fun because Foxy enjoys her walks and strolls （漫步）through the neighborhood like a 10-pound prize pony （小马）.
How sweet and lovely, you say, but there is dark side to the little furball! Foxy is now a one-woman dog - she has totally bonded with my wife and won’t go for a walk at all if Angelika is out. She just lies in her bed by the window waiting for her angel to come walk through the door, and I have to tell you, I feel a little rejected. But it is pretty cute.
I understand animal bonding. My therapy dog, Mercy, was with me for over a decade, and we were a total item. In fact, it wasn’t until Mercy died that I decided to remarry. That’s how much unconditional love she gave me.
Now my wife is getting to experience that kind of bond for the first time. Young or old, big or little, when your dog finds you, it’s an amazing experience, and the love you feel just makes your life sweeter.
When you adopt an animal, remember that it’s a lifetime commitment. And if your pet falls for your other half, just enjoy watching the love.
1. What can we know about Foxy?| A．Foxy was always friendly to strangers. |
| B．Foxy introduced Angelika to me by accident. |
| C．Foxy’s love for the author remains unchanged. |
| D．Foxy fell in love with Angelika at first sight. |
| A．Jealous. | B．Delighted. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．Plain. | B．Lively. | C．Ironic. | D．Serious. |
| A．Pets can keep us company and never leave us. |
| B．Pets can bring us more joy than sorrow in our life. |
| C．Pets are our lifelong partners and deserve our care. |
| D．Pets are so cute that they are in great demand nowadays. |
【推荐1】In September 2005, the ground suddenly sank 10 feet in a certain area in northern Ethiopia, rapidly separated on both sides, with large holes that could engulf several camels and several goats. In the next three weeks, 160 earthquakes occurred in this area, forming a large crack 25 feet wide and approximately 0.34 miles long.
Tim Wright, a geophysicist at the University of Leeds in England, used satellite radar data to accurately piece together the formation process of this crack. When the African and Arab tectonic plates drift to both sides, the crust between the two plates weakens. Wright said: “The magma (岩浆) formed at the bottom of the crust will drop down regularly, just like the Lava lamp, forming a ‘balloon’, which will gradually expand. When the ‘balloon’ reaches the critical pressure, it will explode.”
According to Wright’s estimate, in the next 1 million years or so, the cracks will continue to expand, and the Horn of Africa will completely detach from the African continent, forming the eighth largest continent on Earth—East Africa. Wright said that this geological process always occurs, but ground separating usually only occur at the bottom of the sea, which is difficult for people to see. He said, “This is the first time we have directly observed this extremely important geological process using modern instruments.”
This discovery caused a shocking in the scientific community. In 2006, inspection teams from the UK, France, Italy, and the United States came to Afar one after another. After analysis and research, they predicted that a new continent would be formed in one million years, the Great Rift Valley in East Africa would be 10 times longer than it is today, and the Cape of Good Hope in East Africa would be separated from the African continent. In response, American geologist Cindy Ebinger said, “Many people believe that violent geological phenomena only occurred in distant ancient times, but we can now see them happening.”
What is the future of the Great Rift Valley? Perhaps our humans can only wait and see.
1. What is the purpose of the data in the first paragraph?| A．Describe economic losses | B．Illustrate the impact of sinking |
| C．Explain the research results | D．Number of participants named for the study |
| A．To better explain plate splitting | B．Further increase research funny |
| C．Explain satellite radar data | D．Causing a shock in the scientific community |
| A．sink | B．destroy | C．contribute | D．divide |
| A．The ground in Ethiopia sank and swallowed 160 camels. |
| B．Ground cracking rarely occurs on the seabed. |
| C．Teams from four countries predict there will be eight continents in one million years. |
| D．Intense geological phenomena only occur in distant ancient times. |
【推荐2】Have you ever spent an afternoon in the backyard, maybe grilling or enjoying a basketball game, when suddenly you notice that everything goes quiet? According to our own experience, we know there is actually “calm before the storm”! But what causes this calm?
A period of calm happens in a particular kind of storm--a single--cell thunderstorm. In it, there is usually only one main updraft, which is warm, damp air. Storms typically draw in the air that fit their need as fuel from all directions -- even from the direction in which the storm is traveling.
As the warm, damp air is pulled into a storm system, it leaves a low-pressure vacuum (真空) coming after. The rising air meets the cold, dry air that has already existed in the storm clouds, thus the temperature of the rising air drops, and the water vapour in it changes into tiny drops that are a precondition of rain. These drops accumulate and build on larger particles (粒子) like dust, until they grow large enough to form raindrops.
This warm, damp air keeps moving upwards, but it becomes cooler and drier during its trip through cloud. When it reaches the top of the cloud, the air gets spit out at the top. This air is sent rolling out over the big thunderclouds. From there, the air goes down. Warm and dry air is relatively stable, and once it covers a region, that air, in turn, causes the calm before a storm.
Most thunderstorms, though, don’t start with calm. That’s because most are actually groups of storms with complex wind patterns. There’s so much air moving up and down storm groups that the calm before the storm never happens. Instead, before the storm, it might be really windy!
1. Which best fits the description of the particular kind of storm?| A．A thunderstorm with a single shape. | B．A thunderstorm without strong winds. |
| C．A storm with air drawn from every direction. | D．A storm fueled by moving air from the ground. |
| A．Warm and damp air. | B．Cold and dry air. |
| C．Storm cloud. | D．Single-cell thunderstorm. |
| A．Presence of the calm results from stable air. |
| B．Not all thunderstorms begin with the calm. |
| C．The drier the air is, the bigger the storm will be. |
| D．Storm happens without air moving up and down. |
| A．Causes and effects of a single--cell storm. | B．A vivid description of a peaceful storm. |
| C．The process of forming warm and damp air. | D．An explanation of the calm before a storm. |
She found that personality had a major impact on learning. The braver baboons learnt, but the shy ones did not learn the task although they watched the baboon perform the task of finding the novel food just as long as the brave ones did. In effect, despite being made aware of what to do, they were still too shy to do what the experienced baboon did.
The same held true for anxious baboons compared with calm ones. The anxious individuals learnt the task by observing others while those who were relaxed did not, even though they spent more time watching.
This mismatch between collecting social information and using it shows that personality plays a key role in social learning in animals, something that has previously been ignored in studies on how animals learn to do things. The findings are significant because they suggest that animals may perform poorly in cognitive (认知的 ) tasks not because they aren’t clever enough to solve them, but because they are too shy or nervous to use the social information.
The findings may impact how we understand the formation of culture in societies through social learning. If some individuals are unable to get information from others because they don’t associate with the knowledgeable individuals, or they are too shy to use the information once they have it, information may not travel between all group members, preventing the formation of a culture based on social learning.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
| A．The design of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| B．The results of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| C．The purpose of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| D．The significance of Dr. Carter’s research. |
| A．Those that have more experience. |
| B．Those that can avoid potential risks. |
| C．Those that like to work independently. |
| D．Those that feel anxious about learning. |
| A．Some baboons are intelligent but slow in learning. |
| B．Some baboons are shy but active in social activities. |
| C．Some baboons observe others but don’t follow them. |
| D．Some baboons perform new tasks but don’t concentrate. |
| A．storing information |
| B．learning from each other |
| C．understanding different people |
| D．travelling between social groups |
【推荐1】The world’s major food crops—rice, wheat, corn—must be planted again after every hard vest. That’s a lot of work for farmers and can contribute to environmental problems such as soil erosion(侵蚀). This year, researchers in China showed a new variety—perennial(多年生的)rice, one that would regrow after harvest without the need to replant, can meet needs.
The variety was created years ago by mixing a common type of Thai rice with a wild rice from Africa that can survive extremely difficult environments. However, improving the variety’s production and quality was a challenge and took more than two decades. Finally, in 2018, researchers at Yunnan University and other institutions released Perennial Rice 23(PR23)to farmers in China, hoping to find out how many times the rice can be harvested and measure the production and other benefits. Thanks to the technical help from Yunnan University and government, more and more farmers are growing PR23, and it is even being tested in Africa as well.
PR23 produced just as much grain as regular, seasonally planted rice, the team reported. However, by the fifth year, production dropped much, meaning that the perennial rice needs to be replanted. Farmers could reduce a major task: transplanting young rice seedlings into the fields, helping lower farmers’ costs by half. Soil nutrients(营养物)also increased in the fields containing perennial rice. But researchers still need to develop a new variety to adapt to the drier environments and soil with little nutrients.
Researchers also worry about long-term impacts. One concern is that weeds and some diseases will increase in the fields that are not plowed(犁), requiring more chemicals to kill them than traditional rice does. Another question is whether the rice gives off more greenhouse gas. Despite the facts, its low costs and other benefits of perennial rice should come into focus when the planting spreads.
1. What is the feature of the perennial rice?| A．It doesn’t need replanting after every harvest. | B．It can damage the soil for a long time. |
| C．It takes a long period of time to grow. | D．It doesn’t require harvesting in time. |
| A．To mix it with a Thai rice. | B．To spread it to Africa. |
| C．To announce their success. | D．To test its quality. |
| A．It has less production. | B．It takes in more nutrients. |
| C．It is harder to survive dry weather. | D．It is weaker in fighting with diseases. |
| A．Perennial Rice Promises Easier Farming |
| B．Perennial Rice Needs More Water Supply |
| C．Scientists Need More Knowledge About Crops |
| D．Scientists Want Farmers to Help Them with Crops |
【推荐2】When most of us think of sand, we immediately think of sunny beaches and summer holidays. But actually it’s in pretty much everything that surrounds us in our everyday lives, from the walls of our homes to the glass bottles in out kitchens and even the mobile phones in our hands. Sand is the second most used resource in the world after water: it accounts for more than two-thirds of everything that’s being dug out of the ground. But there isn’t a limitless supply. In fact, a UN report says we might be running out.
According to the report, we use an estimated 15 billion tons of sand every year in the construction industry alone. That’s enough to build a 20m×20m wall around the equator (赤道) every year. However, sand can take tens of thousands of years to form (形成): the process starts with rock being eroded (侵蚀) in the mountains and ends, eventually, with sand being in river beds, on beaches and on the seafloor.
Sand is heavy and difficult to transport, so in developing countries, sand is often mined from the nearest convenient source, and quite often that means a river bed or beach. But beaches and rivers are delicately balanced ecosystems and when a large amount of sand is removed, the balance is upset. The smallest fish, which eat organic matter on the sand in river beds, form the base of the food chain in a river. If this sand is removed, so is the source of food for the bottom feeders. All organisms in a food chain share the joys and the sorrows. Thus, when they disappear, so does the food for the larger fish which would have been caught and eaten, or sold by fishermen.
It is high time we took into consideration the big problem concerning the tiny thing. More and more conservationists are calling for new choices to replace sand, especially in the construction industry.
1. Why are the things in our daily life mentioned in the beginning?| A．To show the uses of sand. | B．To show our relationship with nature. |
| C．To introduce our lifestyles. | D．To stress the convenience of modern life. |
| A．Sand is actually our most used natural resource. |
| B．Sand is used more quickly than it’s formed. |
| C．The construction industry doesn’t use sand wisely. |
| D．The problem of wasting sand is worsening. |
| A．The river beds. | B．The fishermen. |
| C．The larger fish. | D．The smallest fish. |
| A．The World Is Running Out of Sand |
| B．Alternatives to Sand Will Be Found Soon |
| C．Sand Mining Is Unfriendly to Nature |
| D．Sand Is in Need of Immediate Preservation |
【推荐3】Predictions for Automation by 2040
Experts have given their top predictions for what house technology will revolutionise home living in the near future.
House Robots
Predicted to start appearing in households in the 2030s, they will be able to load the dishwasher and put away pots and pans, fold the laundry, change sheets and move furniture.
Multi-Function Drones(无人机)
Tiny drones will be commonplace in the 2030s. Some will pick up small spots of dirt, clean surfaces, water plants and monitor security around the home. Some will shine an infrared beam(红外光束)at the room's occupants to warm them as they move around the house.
AI Butlers(人工智能管家)
They are best imagined as extremely advanced versions of Siri or Alexa. They will be able to take control of all rountine life administrator like paying bills, managing subscriptions, doing your shopping and constantly monitoring ways to save you time and money.
Reverse Microwave
It is designed to cool things down in seconds so wines and beers can be chilled in seconds rather than hours.
Washing Balls
A tennis-ball sized ultrasonic(超声的)device that uses ultrasound(超声)to clean. It will be placed inside a pile or bucket of clothing to clean clothes without the need for a bulky(庞大的)washing machine.
Super Smart Fridges
They will learn what you eat, record when stocks are low, and even recommend recipes.
1. Which is NOT needed with multi- function drones?| A．Broom. | B．Computer. | C．Fridge. | D．Washing machine. |
| A．Backward. | B．Opposite. | C．Multifunctional. | D．Changeable. |
| A．They can record what they have. | B．They will be environmentally friendly. |
| C．They will learn to cook to people's taste. | D．They can offer people instructions for preparing dishes. |
【推荐1】My son has poliomyelitis（小儿麻痹）and he suffered from it a lot. When he was young, my wife and I took him to see so many doctors and got different kinds of treatments. But still, he couldn’t walk like a normal kid. So he was laughed at by his peers for his walking style. His tears burnt our eyes like sulphuric acid（硫酸）. Then, he became afraid of going to school. He wouldn’t go any more.
One night, my wife had a breakdown and shouted at him, “I tell you, my kid, you might be like this forever. you are a freak in other people’s eyes, and perhaps it would never change. But in my eyes, in your dad’s eyes, you are not a freak! You are not! Even if you are, we love you and we will love you forever!” My son spoke nothing for two days. He didn’t eat or sleep. We could read he was hurt. We hoped something wonderful would fall in our family. On the third morning, he struggled to walk to my car, with his school bad in his hand of course. He raised his head high and hugged me, saying “want to go to school. Nothing will beat me.”
You know, from then on, he was never afraid of being mocked or despised anymore. If he couldn’t avoid these looks, he chose to look at them in the eyes. Later, something nice really happened and me son went to MIT. When he was asked how he managed to bear the pressure, he said, “Because of my parents.”
My dear fellow, if you care too much about how other people look at you or what their opinions are, you will never become what you want to be.
1. What does the underlined phrase mean in paragraph 2?| A．a minor nervousness | B．a serious illness |
| C．a severe depression | D．an outburst anger |
| A．he was from a poor family | B．he didn’t do well in his lessons |
| C．he walked in a strange way | D．he often burst into tears |
| A．didn’t say anything without eating or sleeping for two days |
| B．went to school unwillingly without speaking anything |
| C．burst out crying complaining about his bad experience |
| D．quarreled with his mother and left home angrily |
| A．The boy owed his success to his parents and was grateful to them. |
| B．The boy was brave to face any difficulty after being encouraged by his mother. |
| C．The boy achieved success and admitted to a famous university. |
| D．The boy finally could walk like a normal child after some treatments. |
| A．brave and hard-working | B．determined and brave |
| C．wise and easy-going | D．confident and outgoing |
【推荐2】A China’s face-swapping app that allows users to superimpose their own likeness over characters in movies or TV shows has rapidly become one of the country’s most download apps.But it has also triggered concerns about the issue of privacy.
Released on Friday, the Zao app went viral as Chinese users pursued the chance to act out scenes from well-known movies. This is done using “deepfake” technology, which has already caused concerns elsewhere over its potential misuse.
Users provide a series of selfies in which they blink, open their mouths or assume other expressions. The app will then realistically change the person’s animated likeness onto movies, TV shows or other similar content.
But this has also resulted in privacy concerns as the app’s policy reportedly gave it “free, permanent, transferable, and re-licenseable” rights to all user-generated content.
Apart from worrying that their personal information can be disclosed, users are also concerned that the app, through facial recognition technology, can compromise their online payment accounts.
On Sunday, the app issued a statement promising to modify its privacy policy. It also assured users that the app will not result in any compromise to their payment accounts. The app has since changed its terms to ensure that it will not use headshots or videos uploaded by users other than to improve the app. It also promised to remove from its servers any content that was uploaded but subsequently deleted by users.
Zao is owned by Momo Inc, a Tinder-like Chinese dating service that is listed on the Us Nasdaq. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology spoke to the developer of the AI face-changing app on Wednesday. The Ministry’s department of network security said it demanded the company sick to relevant laws regarding the collection of personal information. Apart from calling on the company to standardize its terms of agreement it also made it clear that the company should do its utmost to ensure the protection of user data.
1. What’s the main idea of this passage?| A．The face-changing app is becoming popular. |
| B．The Zao app has revealed personal information. |
| C．Deep fake technology is applied in a new app. |
| D．There’re potential worries about face-changing app. |
| A．Users provide smiling photos to act out scenes from famous movies. |
| B．The app can find likeness between users and actors in the movies. |
| C．The technology applied in the app can be misused in other places. |
| D．The app can have access to users’ online payment accounts. |
| A．Privacy policy uploaded by users | B．Privacy policy to assure the safety |
| C．Any private content deleted by users | D．The compromise with users' accounts |
| A．give some possible solutions to the problem | B．give some particular reasons for the phenomenon |
| C．present some current difficulties of the concern | D．present some simple tips on payment accounts |
【推荐3】Just a couple of hours ago, I was on the plane, ready to fly home from London. The flight had been delayed by a few hours so it felt good to be so close to take-off. I had my iPod in place and a new book to read. Then, over the loudspeaker came the pilot’s voice: “The ground crew has found a metal instrument in one tire. We regret that we must cancel this flight.”
The passengers’ reactions that announcement led to were interesting. One man close to me began to argue with a flight attendant. A couple in another row complained loudly. A businessman in a black suit actually kicked the seat in front of him. Yet some passengers responded differently. An elderly gentleman smiled as he helped others take their bags down from the overhead compartments. A teenager, rather than trying to rush off the plane like most of the other passengers, stopped to help a woman with a disability. The lady sitting next to me laughed and said: “Hey, it’s not the end of the world,” before she made a call to her kids and shared her adventure with them, the wisest among us who has a remarkable ability to maintain grounded(稳定的) when times get tough.
No life is perfect; mine certainly isn’t. We all must face challenges, both large and small. You and I have the power to choose to rise above the external circumstances(外部环境). We always have the choice to be strong and kind when things fall apart.
That’s grace under pressure. My seatmate was right — things could have been so much worse. Anyway, I am safe. I have my health. I have two wonderful children. I have work I love and so much to be grateful for. Sure I now have to wait a few hours to catch the next flight home.
1. What caused the passengers’ different reactions?| A．The loudspeaker. | B．The delay of the flight. |
| C．The ground crew’s fault. | D．The pilot’s announcement. |
| A．A teenager helping the disabled. | B．An old man taking bags down. |
| C．A man in a black suit. | D．A man close to the author. |
| A．She assisted a disabled woman. | B．She made a phone call to her family. |
| C．She helped others carry their luggage. | D．She told moving stories to her children. |
| A．Our life is full of ups and downs. |
| B．It is natural to be scared under pressure. |
| C．We should help each other in times of difficulty. |
| D．We should be positive and calm when life is hard. |
