Severe heat waves have killed more than 100 people in India this summer and are predicted to worsen in coming years, creating a possible crisis as large parts of the country potentially become too hot to be inhabitable (适宜居住的).
Heat waves in India usually take place between March and July and abate (减弱) once the rains arrive. But in recent years these hot waves have become more severe, more frequent and longer.
India is among the countries expected to be worst affected by severe heat, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) say that even if the world succeeds in limiting the rise in average global temperatures, parts of India will become extremely hot.
Last year, there were over 480 official heat waves across India. During that period, more than 5,000 people died. This June, temperatures of 48 degrees Celsius hit Delhi. Churu nearly broke the country's heat record with a high of 50.6 degree Celsius. Bihar closed all schools, colleges and coaching centers for five days after severe heat killed more than 100 people. The closures were accompanied by warnings to stay indoors during the hottest time of the day.
India is trying to develop a heat action plan. The city of Ahmedabad, in Gujarat introduced the country's first action plan in 2013, and its text messages, extra drinking stations and advice to keep out of the sun are credited with saving more than 2,000 lives.
At the same time, India is seeking long term solution The country has planned to cut its carbon emissions (排放) by 33% to 35% in 2030.
1. What's the possible crisis for India?| A．It will rain less and less. |
| B．Drinking water will run out. |
| C．Some places will be too hot to be livable. |
| D．More people will be killed in coming years. |
| A．The heat record was broken. | B．People are warned to stay indoors. |
| C．More heat waves hit India this year. | D．The heat waves brought great loss. |
①Avoiding carbon emissions.
②Building more drinking stations.
③Sending messages about severe heat.
④Giving advice to stay away from severe heat.
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①②④ | D．①③④ |
| A．Heat Waves Hit India | B．India Suffered a Lot |
| C．Global Warming Affected India | D．A Plan to Fight Severe Heat |
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【推荐1】NEW YORK (Reuters) — Global warming has cut about $5 billion worth of value from the world’s most commonly grown grains over 20 years, according to a new study.
Warming temperatures from 1981 to 2002 cut the combined production of wheat, corn and other crops by 40 million tons per year. “Contrary to what most people think, this study shows that warming over the past two decades has already affected global food supply. The effect is not a faraway thing,” said Christopher Field, a co-author on the study, the first to estimate how much global food production has already been affected by climate change.
Not every scientist agrees that agriculture is suffering from warmer temperatures. A UN report said warming is expected to turn the planet a bit greener by encouraging plant growth, but crops and forests may wilt beyond mid-century if temperatures keep rising.
Average global production for several of the crops suffered from warmer temperatures, with production dropping by about 3-5% for every 1°F increase, the study said. Average global temperatures increased by about 0.7°F during the study period, with even larger changes in several regions.
“If the past is an indication, agriculture will also suffer going forward,” Field said. “We expect future warming to continue to be a drag on grain production, like driving with the parking brake engaged.” The study said the cereal crops hit by global warming account for 55% of non-meat categories consumed by humans and they also contribute more than 70% of the world’s animal feed.
“Farmers can adapt to warmer temperatures by changing crop planting times, the varieties they grow, or the locations used for each crop,” Field said. “In the past farmers have been very adaptable to environmental challenges, but adaptation to warming can take years.”
1. It is commonly thought that global warming ______.| A．will have a bad effect on human beings’ present life |
| B．is something that will just affect the future |
| C．is becoming more and more serious |
| D．will soon lead to great decrease in food supply |
| A．increase | B．grow taller |
| C．stay the same | D．grow badly |
| A．agriculture will not suffer a lot from global warming |
| B．grain production will increase despite global warming |
| C．grain production will be affected by global warming |
| D．farmers can increase crop production by changing crop planting times |
| A．the future food supply will change with global warming |
| B．global warming reduces global food production |
| C．traditional agriculture will disappear due to global warming |
| D．global warming prevents the growth of plants and grains |
【推荐2】Gold Fame Citrus
by Claire Vaye Watkins ($ 5.99)
With the flight of its characters through a landscape destroyed by climate crisis, this novel does not indicate much hopefulness for the future. Within it is a series of situations and consequences made more severe in a future California short of water. Across the desert, we follow Watkins’ characters through a place so transformed that it needs its own field guide of animals newly adapted for strange survival.
The Ministry for the Future
by Kim Stanley Robinson ($ 18.1)
The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate will affect us all. Its setting is not a deserted world, but a future that is almost upon us. This extraordinary novel from the visionary science fiction writer will change the way you think about the climate crisis.
Breathing Fire
by Jaim Lowe ($ 27)
The front lines of the fight against climate change are peopled with those society has forgotten. Up to 30 percent of the firefighters battling wildfires in California each year are prisoners performing backbreaking labor while earning a 40th of what a civilian makes. This book follows six female prisoner firefighters and their worried families, looking into the human cost of environmental crisis.
Something Under the Sun
by Alexandra Kleeman ($ 28)
In Alexandra Kleeman’s new novel, a novelist new to Los Angeles teams up with a former child actor to investigate a conspiracy (阴谋). But this is L. A．, where wildfires burn all year long and the rich store water while the poor suffer from the consequence of climate crisis. Human weakness is pushing the city toward a disaster.
1. Which book would you recommend to someone interested in Non-fiction?| A．Gold Fame Citrus | B．The Ministry for the Future |
| C．Breathing Fire | D．Something Under the Sun |
| A．He is an actor. | B．He is a minister. |
| C．He is a firefighter. | D．He is a novelist. |
| A．They are best sellers. |
| B．They show concern over climate. |
| C．They are based on the author’s childhood experiences. |
| D．They care much about human society. |
【推荐3】You may laugh it off if someone told you that extreme weather disasters were actually a child’s tricks. But El Nino, meaning “little boy” in Spanish, could be about to cause trouble
A recent statement from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned ofa strong El Nino event that may be similar to the strongest in modern times. Scientists believe that evidence shows a more than 90 percent chance that it is coming — and it’s going to be big. “If this lives up to its potential, this thing can bring a lot of floods, mudslides（泥石流）, and trouble,” said Bill Patzert, a NASA scientist.
El Nino is a climate event occurring in the Pacific Ocean. The wind usually blows strongly from east to west due to the rotation（旋转）of the Earth. This causes water to pile up in the Western Pacific and pulls up colder water from the boom in the eastern part. However, in El Nino years, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back toward the east. This warms the ocean as it travels before finally reaching the shores of North and South America. In an El Nino event, the waters of the eastern Pacific can be up to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than usual.
Most El Ninos last from 9 to 12 months and their effects are felt around December. They don’t happen every year though, usually between every two to seven years.
Last seen in 1997-98, El Nino caused severe droughts in Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as deadly floods in Peru and Ecuador. The world also heats up during an ElNino-1998 became the warmest year on record at the time. If the current trend continues, 2015 is almost certainly to become the hottest year yet again.
A strong El Nino also affects hurricane seasons around the planet. The warmer the Eastern Pacific is, the more hurricanes it gets. The Western Pacific, on the other hand, tends to see more and stronger typhoons.
The weather isn’t the only thing that’s affected. Warmer surface waters in the Eastern Pacific make the cold-water fish swim away and damage the fishing industry in much of Latin America.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．Extreme weather disasters ever. |
| B．El Nino and its harmful effects. |
| C．The hottest years ever in history. |
| D．The strongest El Nino in history. |
| A．It results from hurricanes or typhoons in the oceans. |
| B．It happens every two years and last about half a year. |
| C．It is a weather phenomenon occurring in the Atlantic. |
| D．It can cause extreme weather, such as floods and droughts. |
| A．the fishing industry in much of Latin America is likely to suffer |
| B．the wind blows so strongly that it causes the water to pile up |
| C．the more typhoons it experiences, the warmer the Western Pacific is |
| D．the surface water in the Eastern Pacific usually gets colder than ever |
| A．a little Spanish child’s trick | B．the natural rotating of the Earth |
| C．an American expert’s prediction | D．the weaker winds in the Pacific |
【推荐1】We have most friends at the age of 26 after having spent the first quarter of our lives building up our friendship circle, a new research has claimed.
The research into friendship shows that our social circle peaks at 26 years and 7months, at which we typically have five close friends. Women are most popular at 25 years and 10 months with men hitting the highest friendship point a little later at 27 years and 3 months.
The research, by Forever Friends, shows that about a third of adults meet their closest friends while at school, with about a fifth saying they meet them at work.
Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter now also play a major role in building new friendship. The research points out that 25 to 34-year-olds make 22 friends via Facebook compared to 18 to 24-year-olds who make 12, and 35 to 44-year-olds who make just four.
Forever Friends’ relationship coach Sam Owen says, “It is no coincidence that over a third of us meet our best friends at school. It is a key time in our lives when friendship is growing through sharing notes, giving gifts, seeing each other regularly and laughing a lot. As adults we can often forget how powerful these small things are and how the little things can make a difference.”
Later in life we find ourselves losing friends. Over half of us lose friendship through a moving, while 36% say that over time they grow apart from close pals. Having children also causes 19% to drift away from childhood friends.
With growing pressures being put on friendship these days, it’s important to make time for our friendship.
1. How many friends can a 20-year-old college student make via Facebook?| A．4. | B．12. | C．18. | D．22. |
| A．Friendship is not easy to keep. | B．How important making friends is. |
| C．Friendship at school is important. | D．How much has been done to keep friendship. |
| A．Make sense of . | B．Feel sorry for. |
| C．Lose contact with. | D．Make up with. |
| A．Facebook. | B．An advertisement. | C．A textbook. | D．A newspaper. |
【推荐2】A study by the Institute for Employment Studies found that learners reported higher life enjoyment and greater confidence. The following apps will help you to learn something new…
Quizlet
Whether you’re learning gardening knowledge and cooking techniques, or getting to grasp your favourite literature classics, the online learning platform, Quizlet, gives you access to over 300 million different study sets on almost any subject you can imagine — for free. Whether you are learning a skill yourself or helping your grandchild revise their school work, Quizlet is a great study platform for mastering any subject.
Babbel
As well as being a great skill to show off on holiday, learning a new language can have profound effects on the way you approach problem-solving and might even give you a hand in your career. Not only does speaking a little of the local language give you a great sense of accomplishment, studying a language sparks a strong desire to travel, too.
Blinkist
Blinkist is the perfect app to assist you this summer, providing the key highlights from non-fiction books in both audio and text form. Whether you want to start a new business, improve your management skills, or achieve a better work/life balance, micro-learning app Blinkist takes key ideas from non-fiction texts and summarize them into easy-to-consume 15-minute digests.
Remente
Whether the aim is to improve mental wellbeing, mindfulness, stress management or personal or professional relationships, Remente guides a user through every step in order to make their goals a reality. It does this through breaking down your overall aim into daily goals, making large tasks, manageable and keeping you on track.
1. Which app favors senior citizens?| A．Babbel. | B．Quizlet. |
| C．Blinkist. | D．Remente. |
| A．It provides key non-fiction books. |
| B．It improves your micro-learning ability. |
| C．It offers shortened non-fiction books. |
| D．It improves your management skills. |
| A．Babbel & Quizlet | B．Remente & Quizlet |
| C．Blinkist & Babbel | D．Blinkist & Remente |
【推荐3】A program at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is hoping to fight against loneliness brought on by the pandemic by forming friendships between students and seniors in the community. They’re making it possible through weekly calls.
“It’s been a thing I look forward to every week,” Miranda Savioli, a VCU medical student said.
The program is run by students involved with the American Geriatrics Society and pairs medical and health science students with seniors in the community.
VCU education administrator for the School of Medicine, Chuck Alexander, says it was formed to fight against loneliness and give students valuable interaction with that age group — something that’s been missing since training programs stopped earlier this year. “It’s mostly just social — just chatting,” Alexander said. “A lot of times they just need someone to talk to. A lot of times they feel that they have a connection with someone younger who is just entering a new phase in their career and that they have some wisdom to impart to them — medically and socially as a friend.”
So far, the volunteer program has paired around 40 students with seniors.
Every week, Savioli video calls retiree Joan Kerby, who lives in a retirement community in Henrico.
“It’s a really good connection because in lockdown you really don’t have long conversations with anybody,” Kerby said. Those long conversations soon turned into a visit. The two participants decided to meet in person back in November and Kerby said it was a special moment. “We talked for two hours. We probably could have gone on longer but we had to stop,” Kerby said.
Savioli says they plan to keep the program going, and encourages others to pick up the phone and call a loved one who may be isolated. “It was developed to help seniors with isolation, but mean, we all got isolated during this pandemic,” Savioli said. “It’s been nice to talk to someone every week.” The group has no plans to stop the program. “We’re going to keep the program going and as for Joan and I, we’ve established ourselves as lifelong friends,” Savioli said.
1. What can be learned about the program?| A．It is run by college teachers. | B．It asks students to write to seniors. |
| C．It charges participants for weekly visits. | D．It connects college students with elderly people. |
| A．It should involve families. | B．It should be more professional. |
| C．It reduces students’ training time. | D．It benefits both students and seniors. |
| A．It was boring. | B．It was stressful. | C．It was wonderful. | D．It was humorous. |
| A．Stop face-to-face visits. | B．Reduce conversation time. |
| C．Inspire people to talk to each other. | D．Switch from weekly calls to daily visits. |
【推荐1】Today’s post is about signs in English. You will see signs on the road while driving or when walking down a street. Now let’s take a closer look at the signs in the picture below, so you can fully understand what they mean in case you come across one of them.
Starting with the top row, we have:
Yield sign- This sign indicates(标示) that you need to slow down, but you may not have to come to a full stop.
Crosswalk- This is a sign which indicates that people have the right to cross the street, so cars have to stop when they see a person waiting next to the sign.
Second row:
Do not enter- This sign indicates you are not allowed to enter a road at that point.
Buckle up! -There are often signs on roads in the United States reminding people that wearing seat belts is mandatory(强制的) (seat belt laws differ depending on what state you are in, but all US states have seat belt laws)
Third row:
Be alert(警惕) for bears- This is another sign that is sued to indicate that you should be alert for wildlife in the area.
Playground - This is the sign use to alert drivers that there is a playground nearby, so it is a good idea to slow down and watch for children.
1. Where can you often see the signs?| A．In a factory | B．On a farm | C．On the road | D．In the class |
| A．Slow down | B．Enter a road at that point |
| C．Come to a full stop | D．Be alert for wildlife in the area |
| A．All US states have the same law about seat belts |
| B．All the people in a car should buckle up in the US |
| C．Pedestrians (行人) should walk slowly at a crosswalk |
| D．Drivers should stop the car at the sign of playground. |
【推荐2】My 17-year-old daughter went off to college and having her away from home brought back memories of watching Peter Pan when she was little. In the classic TV production, one scene in particular impressed me: when Mrs. Darling puts her children into bed. As she turns off the last of the night light, she takes one last look at the bedroom and says, “Dear night lights protect my sleeping children.” As a mother, I know how much she loves her children.
It has been several weeks since we took our daughter to college and she seems to be adjusting well after a short period of homesickness. For us, though, it’s another story. Like most parents, I love checking in on my children at night. But now she’s gone, and I find night times the hardest. I miss her most at night.
In my neighborhood, most of the parents whose kids are off to college are dealing with similar melancholy. My husband is filled with anxiety. One friend talked about getting this sick feeling in her stomach as she prepared for the college drop-off. We complained that many of us were too busy to truly enjoy being with our children while we had them.
For us moms, seeing Toy Story 3 only made the sadness worse as we watched the character Andy, who is the same age as our kids, say goodbye to his childhood as he prepares to leave for college. And it’s not just “first-time” parents like me. Two moms who have kids already well into college said the separation didn’t get any easier. “You feel like something has been taken away from inside you，” said one of them.
I imagine things will get easier with time, especially as I see my daughter adjust to college life. Meanwhile, as I keep my cell phone close to me in bed and text my daughter goodnight and sweet dreams every night, I like to think at messages serve as a night light that keeps her safe.
1. The writer was deeply impressed by the scene in Peter Pan because ________.| A．she watched the scene with her daughter |
| B．the scene was very exciting and interesting |
| C．the scene taught her and her daughter a good lesson |
| D．as a mother, she understood how much a mother loved her children |
| A．didn’t get used to the change for a long time |
| B．often cried as she missed her daughter so much |
| C．realized she hadn’t done enough for her daughter |
| D．failed to have a good sleep every night |
| A．Happiness. | B．Anger. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Excitement. |
| A．To call her daughter any time. | B．To wait for her daughter’s calls. |
| C．To say good night to her daughter. | D．To wait for her daughter’s messages. |
【推荐3】Say goodbye to standing in long lines holding boarding passes and other travel documents. Step this way, instead. Look into the camera lens and off you go.
Sound convenient? Technology companies working with travel providers and the federal government to install facial recognition systems at airports hope you think so.
But privacy advocators don’t want you to become too comfortable. They worry that what we’re willing to accept for convenience today will soften our resistance to the idea of filling public spaces with cameras that can identify us and track our every move.
Facial recognition technology came suddenly into modern reality with very few people prepared for it. Facial recognition is a biometric technology that uses distinguishable facial features to identify a person. In many cases, we see it being used by governments and law enforcement agencies—testing its accuracy and value for future purposes.
Today, it’s used in a variety of ways from allowing you to unlock your phone, go through security at the airport, purchase products at stores. It checks the identities of ride-hailing drivers, permits tourists to enter attractions and let people pay for things with a smile. Airports are increasingly adding facial recognition technology to security checkpoints. It’s even said that past footage of unsolved mysteries would benefit greatly from this technology as it would help identify the criminals of crimes long forgotten.
However, there has been a serious clash between the government and citizens in general over the technology’s use cases. At an airport, travelers are requested to present their passports, from which the software will determine whether the person standing in front of the camera matches the identity. If it matches, then they can get through quickly. However, the surveillance system searches a large database for the face presented to the camera. Editing such a big database, many worry, will inevitably lead to privacy concerns down the road. The biggest drawback for facial recognition technology in most people’s opinions is the threat to an individual’s privacy.
Some say that it’s the most powerful tool as they fear for their privacy being invaded almost on a daily basis, while the government tries to push it as something necessary for better civil control and crime prevention. Overall, talks usually boil down to whether facial recognition technology should be banned or if it should be regulated.
According to IBM, the banning of facial recognition technology would be a step backward for human scientific advancement. However, restricting it within light regulations could yield just as many gains as it would in a “free market”.
There are many useful applications of facial recognition technology—both at the consumer level as a matter of security and convenience, and for governments and law enforcement agencies. The challenge is finding the balance between those benefits and the expectation of privacy. Banning facial recognition is not the answer. Regulating it, however, may be necessary to put an acceptable framework of rules around its use.
1. With the help of facial recognition, we can _______.| A．purchase products at home |
| B．figure out unsolved mysteries |
| C．reduce the number of criminals |
| D．pass the security at the airport faster |
| A．Conflict. | B．Crisis. |
| C．Challenge. | D．Consequence. |
| A．have no idea of its benefit |
| B．have already got well-prepared |
| C．worry their information is misused |
| D．refuse to accept the convenience |
| A．Banning facial recognition. |
| B．Debating with the government. |
| C．Maintaining the current situation. |
| D．Regulating facial recognition with rules. |
【推荐1】It is a common sight on Japanese public transportation: Children troop through train cars, alone or in small groups, looking for seats.
They wear knee socks, polished leather shoes, and school uniforms, with train passes pinned to their backpacks. The kids are as young as six or seven on their way to and from school, and there is no parent in sight. They may chat happily, listening to music or just reading books quietly.
Kakaito, a 12-year-old boy in Tokyo, has been riding the train by himself between the homes of his parents, since he was nine. “At first, I was a little worried,” he admitted, “whether I could ride the train alone, but only a little worried.” Now, he says, “It’s easy.” His parents were worried at first, too. But they went ahead because they felt he was old enough, and lots of other kids were doing it safely.
“Honestly, what I remember thinking at this time is, the trains are safe and on time, and he is a smart boy,” Kakaito’s stepmother says. “I took the train on my own when I was younger than him in Tokyo,” she recalls. “We didn’t have cellphones back in my day, but I still managed to go from point A to point B on the train, If he gets lost, he can call us.”
Kakaito’s stepmother says she wouldn’t let a nine-year-old boy ride the subway alone in London or New York-just in Tokyo. Japan has a very low crime rate, which is surely a key reason parents feel confident about sending their kids out alone. But small-sized urban spaces and a culture of walking and public transportation use also bring people safety.
1. The writer describes the scene at the beginning in order to__________.| A．encourage the readers | B．introduce the topic |
| C．make a sharp comparison | D．show us the beauty of riding the train |
| A．Ask his classmates for help. | B．Get off the train and take another. |
| C．Contact his family members. | D．Wait for his parents to pick him up. |
| A．The reasons why Japanese kids take trains alone. |
| B．The reasons why London or New York has a high crime rate. |
| C．Japanese people like walking and take public transportation. |
| D．The reason why Kakito’s stepmother is worried about his safety. |
【推荐2】Shop with Your Doc is part of a broader and still growing movement in US medicine to shift the focus away from simply treating disease toward caring for the whole person.It is meant to help people make educated,healthy choices,one grocery cart at a time.Across the country,hospitals are setting up food banks and medical schools are putting cooking classes on the curriculum.Nonprofits are connecting medical centers with community resources to ensure that low-income Americans have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
For centuries,Western medicine’s mission was to cure disease.”But over the past generation,two significant trends are of concern to the medical community,”says Timothy Harlan,executive director of Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine at Tulane University in New Orleans.Healthcare costs began to increase sharply,and relatively inexpensive, poor-quality food became more common.”There’s a very straightforward link between people improving their diets and improving the condition that they have,”Dr·Harlan says.
The connection drove the medical and nonprofit communities to rethink their approach 10 health.What emerged(浮现)was the concept of the”social determinants of health”-the concept of taking into account the biological,physical,and socioeconomic circumstances surrounding a patient.A healthy person isn’t just someone who is free from disease,the theory goes；he or she also enjoys”a state of complete mental,physical and social well-being.”
The question the medical community now faces is how to get patients-especially low-income families-to recognize these determinants and make it possible for them to eat and live healthier.In Boston,medical experts responded by creating an on-site pantry(食品室)at Boston Medical Center.Since its founding in 2002,the pantry has evolved into a kind of nutrition center when primary care providers at BMC send patients food.Today the pantry, which gets 95 percent of its stock from the Greater Boston Food bank,hosts free cooking classes and serves about 7,000 people a month.The Greater Boston Food Bank has also launched its own initiatives(倡议),striking partnerships with four community health centers across the state to offer free mobile produce markets.The organization also helped develop toolkits(软件包)that map local pantries,markets that accept government food vouchers(代金券),and other resources.
At Tulane in New Orleans,Harlan is leading the development of a curriculum that combines medicine with the art of food preparation.His philosophy:Doctors who know their way around a kitchen are better at helping their patients.And empowering(增强自主权) patients to take charge of their own diets is one way to help them deal with the incredible costs of health care,Harlan says.The curriculum has since been adopted at 35 medical schools around the United States.”Chipping away at bad habits is a good place to start getting patients to think about the choices they make for themselves and their families,”says Dr Maureen Villasenor,the Orange County pediatrician(儿科医生).
1. The aim of Shop with Your Doc is to________.| A．help patients relax before an operation |
| B．assist patients in finding food fit for them |
| C．control people’s food consumption in supermarkets |
| D．persuade low-income families to take more fruits and vegetables |
| A．the role Western medicine has been playing |
| B．how a new concept of health came into being |
| C．medical communities’worries about food safety |
| D．why low-income families are less reliable on healthcare |
| A．Its cooking classes are free of charge. |
| B．It treats many a patient from BMC. |
| C．It helps people locate pantries and markets. |
| D．It was founded at the beginning of the 21st century. |
| A．It appeals to a number of us medical schools. |
| B．It is specially designed for doctors in communities. |
| C．Its content has little to do with medicine. |
| D．Its philosophy is questioned by Dr.Maureen Villasenor. |
【推荐3】Zaki was small for his twelve years, and he was angry being treated as a child. Farid, his older brother, had been looked upon as a man long before he was Zaki’s age. Every day Farid and the other young Bahraini men went out in their wooden boats to dive for oysters (牡蛎). Many times Zaki begged to go along, but Farid always refused to let him.
So every day Zaki would go to the shallow water to practice. His grandfather, a former diver, would watch him and advise him. All morning, Zaki would practice diving beneath the waves. Every afternoon, again and again he would go underwater and hold his breath. With each day’s practice, his diving improved and he could hold his breath a little while longer. Soon Zaki felt as much at home in the water as he did out of it.
Zaki rose early one day. He wanted to compete with his brother. They dived beneath the waves. Zaki opened his eyes and found himself looking into his brother’s face. Farid was smiling with confidence. Slowly, the smile was disappearing from Farid’s face. As more seconds passed, a worried look appeared on Farid’s face. Farid was realizing that Zaki could possibly beat him. Looking into Farid’s eyes, Zaki suddenly understood what losing could mean to his brother. Never would the villagers allow him to live it down. He would be laughed at by losing to a little child. Almost without thinking, Zaki kicked his feet and rose to the surface of the water a second before Farid’s head appeared beside him.
The men around them cheered and patted Farid on the back. Farid, however, put his arm around Zaki’s shoulders. “Today,” Farid announced, “we shall have a new diver among us.” Then quietly, for Zaki’s ears alone, he said “Thank you, my brother.” And Zaki knew that they both had learned that it takes more than strength to make a man.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?| A．Zaki’s grandfather was a good diver. |
| B．Zaki liked staying at home every day. |
| C．Zaki practised hard in the water daily. |
| D．Zaki’s grandfather encouraged him to dive. |
| A．Considerate. | B．Ambitious. |
| C．Confident. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．Farid beat his little brother easily. |
| B．Zaki was as strong as his brother. |
| C．Zaki regretted losing the competition. |
| D．Both Farid and Zaki had grown up. |
| A．Farid’s Pride | B．Zaki’s Challenge |
| C．Brothers’ Competition | D．Grandfather’s Advice |
