A quarter of the world's humans are at home right now. If you're reading this, chances are that you're one of them. Yes, it's important to stay safe indoors to protect ourselves and others, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time. We will create an endless list of things to do indoors. Stick with us and we promise you won't be bored for a second.
Catch up on literary classics
You know that pile of books that you haven't ever quite managed to get into? There'll never be a better time to conquer it. And if you've already exhausted your library, you can now access more than a million books for free online as part of the 'National Emergency Library'. Usually, you'd have to join a queue before being able to borrow anything. But now you can just dip into whatever you want, whenever.
Join a virtual choir
If the videos of cities in lockdown coming together to sing on their balconies left you with a lump in your throat, here's your chance to add your sound to one of several online choirs popping up around the world. The Sofa Singers is a free online singing event that aims to 'bring people together from around the world to promote joy and human connection'. It involves hundreds of singers joining a Zoom call and learning a new song together.
Form new bonds with your neighbours
In normal times, you might not be the type to actually talk to your neighbours. But let's be honest: your social life's a wreck right now, and you're going to make friends with the people next door, no matter what. So why not take inspiration from Balcony Parties In Miami, or the Londoner Hosting Athletic Classes On His Doorstep? Go on, get social - in a distant kind of way, of course.
1. What's the purpose of the writer? '| A．To enrich people's life. | B．To educate the uncivilized. |
| C．To train professional singers. | D．To build a harmonious society. |
| A．the state of being choked. | B．the state of singing aloud. |
| C．the state of wanting to sing. | D．the state of having a bad voice. |
| A．seldom communicate with one another. |
| B．usually form a community singing group. |
| C．often share literary books with each other. |
| D．hold parties on the balcony every weekend. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】If you are tired of staying at home, now make the most out of the weekend by getting stuck into the best things going on this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Kew Gardens
If you are ready to fully put yourself into nature, get yourself down to Kew Gardens. It is famous for its plant collections from around the world. Recently, everyone visiting the garden, including the members, has to book tickets online for the time range before they set foot in it. This is the first time that Kew Gardens has adopted this policy in its history.
Lambeth Country Show
This year the countryside festival won’t be going ahead in its usual home of Brockwell Park. But all your favorite aspects of the fair will be part of the virtual edition, including the highly expected Vegetable Sculpture Competition, the usual flower show competitions, and local-themed talks. Even virtual music performances will make an appearance.
Walthamstow Garden Party in the Air
The free two-day festival in E17 will be held this weekend. You can enjoy online music and dance performances. Don’t miss the most wonderful part of the weekend: East London Radio’s first-ever online show taking place during the weekend with behind-the-scenes chats with local musicians.
Columbia Road Flower Market
As the largest flower market in East London, this market is located in Bethnal Green. It opens on Sundays. Every Sunday morning the quiet street of Columbia Rood is filled with stalls selling fresh flowers and plants. Personally, it is wise to go there between 8:00 am and 10:00 am so that you can walk at your own pace and won’t be pushed by the crowds.
1. What is the biggest change in Kew Gardens this year?| A．The government opens it to the public for shorter time. |
| B．Tickets are booked online for certain visiting hours. |
| C．People are encouraged to appreciate the views online. |
| D．A series of flower competitions can be seen there. |
| A．Kew Gardens |
| B．Lambeth Country Show |
| C．Columbia Rood Flower Market |
| D．Walthamstow Garden Party in the Air |
| A．It will last for a week. |
| B．It requires membership status. |
| C．Music lovers will enjoy themselves very much. |
| D．Music fans can talk with their idols face to face. |
| A．To avoid the traffic jam there. |
| B．To get good deals from stall owners. |
| C．To get the most popular fresh flowers. |
| D．To have a pleasant experience of buying flowers. |
【推荐2】If you’re new to America, or looking for a new playground for you and your dog, here are four of the most amazing dog parks in the country.
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, Calif.
This 23-acre park gives dogs enough space for wandering about off the leash (狗链) and making friends with other members of the doggie community. Humans have the opportunity to fish, hike and bike with ease. The view is beautiful off the San Francisco Bay.
Elm Creek Reserve Dog Park in Maple Grove, Minn.
This fenced 29-acre off-leash park offers tracks through forests and open fields northwest of Minneapolis. Winter visitors can go skiing with their pets. They can try dog-sledding, or skijoring, a sport where dogs over 30 pounds pull humans on skis. Spring and summer brings a chance for long walks. It seems like a completely different park, depending on the season.
Fort DeSoto Paw Playground and Beach in Tierra Verde, Fla.
Dogs get oceanfront action at this spacious park near St. Petersburg, with a dog-friendly beach, where pets can swim freely, or go after a Frisbee (飞盘) across the sand. There are also separate fenced areas for small and large dogs and a shower.
Freedom Barks Dog Park in Medford, N.J.
Dogs can get quite a workout in this 20-acre park with specialized training equipment, like an A-frame, plank and jump set, which is similar to a horse steeplechase. There’s a lot for dogs to play with and a lot to teach them. One day you can make them excellent service dogs.
1. Why do dog owners take their pets to Point Isabel Regional Shoreline?| A．To let them socialize. | B．To teach them rescue lessons. |
| C．To help them form good habits. | D．To increase their physical activities. |
| A．Freedom Barks Dog Park. | B．Elm Creek Reserve Dog Park. |
| C．Point Isabel Regional Shoreline. | D．Fort DeSoto Paw Playground and Beach. |
| A．It has a dog-friendly beach. | B．Dogs must be kept on leash. |
| C．It provides service dogs for visitors. | D．Dogs can get well trained there. |
【推荐3】Four workshops in America
These workshops are places where creative kids can design, develop, code, and construct whatever springs from their imagination. Here's the shortlist of best workshops for kids.
The Crucible, Oakland, California
The Crucible has regular, highly supervised(监督) classes, camps, and after-school programs for kids aged 8 to 17. They're doing something interesting. Students here will learn the details of construction, welding(焊接), pottery … glass blowing!
Sector67, Madison, Wisconsin
For the future scientist in your family, Sector67 goes deep with programs for kids aged 6 to 12 in programming, chemistry and electronics. A kitchen chemistry class offers lessons in how to make your own soda(汽水), another has kids building their own flashlights, and yet another has them decorating mini Christmas trees with voice-activated LED lighting.
FamiLAB, Longwood, Florida
It focuses more on state-of-the-art digital programs including coding fundamentals, 3D printing, and battling robots. It is just a bit outside the House of Mouse. Circuitry and welding means it's mostly for kids aged 12 and up who are comfortable with getting singed (燎) here and there. And if you're eyeing that national Maker Faire prize, this would be the place to get ready for it.
Vocademy, Riverside, California
When playtime is over, it's time to find a job. At Vocademy, high school students get practical training in trade skills related to construction, electronics, welding, and programming classes. Middle school students learn to make robots.
1. What can you do at Sector67?| A．Build flashlights. | B．Practice 3D printing. |
| C．Learn to blow glass. | D．Improve reading ability. |
| A．Sector67. | B．Vocademy. |
| C．FamiLAB. | D．The Crucible. |
| A．They offer hands-on training. |
| B．They aim to encourage teamwork. |
| C．They center on technological inventions. |
| D．They are intended for high school students. |
【推荐1】Since the beginning of social-comparison theory in the early 1950s, psychologists and sociologists have piled up evidence that human beings form opinions of themselves — their looks, gifts, intelligence, and achievement — based in large part on the qualities they see in the people with whom they identify and associate. When those comparisons lead to inaccurate self-representations or evaluations, this distortion is sometimes referred to as the "frog-pond effect."
The phrase stems from a 1966 paper that found college students at elite universities who had low GPAs tended to view their own academic abilities less favorably than students at lower-tier colleges who had good GPAs. “It is better to be a big frog in a small pond than a small frog in a big pond," the author of that paper wrote.
The "frog-pond effect" continues to show up in research today.
“We use the term 'frog-pond effect' as shorthand for this tendency of people with a high rank in a low-rank group to evaluate themselves more favorably than people with a low rank in a high-rank group,” says Ethan Zell, PhD, author of the PLOS One study and an associate professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
“These effects are magnified when we're comparing ourselves to people we view as peers.”
In other words, we look at other people as a frame of reference when we are evaluating ourselves. While "upward" social comparisons can make us feel less attractive, less capable, or otherwise inferior, "downward" social comparisons tend to have just the opposite effect. "These effects are magnified when we're comparing ourselves to people we view as peers, or those in a similar situation to ourselves," Zell explains.
Research has found that all of us engage in social comparisons — consciously or unconsciously — dozens and perhaps hundreds of times each day. To one extent or another, these comparisons influence every aspect of our well-being and behavior, from our confidence and self-regard, to our willingness to take risks, to the likelihood that we'll develop anxiety or depression.
Upward social comparison is not inherently harmful."It can inspire us to take better care of ourselves, or to be ambitious in positive ways," Zell says. But like anything else, too much of it can cause problems.
"Social media and technology have really expanded the reach of comparisons," Zell says. Many of us can't help but feel inferior when we're exposed to image after image or post after post of people who seem cooler, more interesting, funnier, prettier, or more stylish than we are.
Before social media, most of our comparisons were based on face-to-face interactions with friends, schoolmates, co-workers, and those who occupied our real-world social spheres. We saw the good and the bad — the features and the flaws — in something closer to equal measure. And this helped properly calibrate our self-assessments.
All of this suggests that limiting your exposure to online sources of upward social comparison may pay all sorts of dividends. In the infinitely large pond that is the internet, almost all of us are going to end up feeling like small frogs.
1. Which one below reflects the frog-pond effect?| A．Frogs in large ponds are unwilling to compare themselves with others. |
| B．People with a low-rank in a high-rank group feel more attractive than people with a high-rank in a low-rank group. |
| C．People may feel depressed when compared with those with a superior rank. |
| D．Students with low academic grades in key universities have less faith in themselves in comparison with those with good achievements in inferior colleges. |
| A．Social comparisons cause harmful effects. |
| B．Upward social comparisons make people ambitious. |
| C．Despite harmful effects , moderate social comparisons benefit people. |
| D．People are always inspired in positive ways by social comparisons. |
| A．judging everyone equally in real interaction with others |
| B．making comparisons based on face-to-face interaction |
| C．identifying the benefits from social media |
| D．expanding the reach of comparisons |
| A．The "frog-pond effect" and its influence |
| B．The “frog-pond effect” influence self-assessment |
| C．How to evaluate yourself properly using the “frog-pond effect” |
| D．How to manage social comparisons |
【推荐2】Biomedical breakthroughs sometimes happen in the most unlikely places. Take the deep sea for an illustration. Under extreme conditions, at times of no oxygen, microbes (微生物) not only survive there, but they thrive. This incredible adaptation offers insight into how life evolved billions of years ago and how modern humans may be able to fight infections and diseases — tests used to diagnose (诊断) some viruses were developed with the help of enzyme (酶) separated from microbes found in ocean.
“We’ve found marine microbes that produce antimicrobials — basically chemical weapons that help them fight off other organisms and resist viruses,” says Virginia Bdgcomb, a microbiologist investigating deep-sea bacteria. These microbes feed on tough substances and produce antimicrobial chemicals.
The deep sea has already given us chemicals to treat certain cancer or nerve damage. Breakthroughs have also come from the ocean depths in the form of diagnostic tools.
The pathway to developing tests started back in 1969 when some heat-loving microbes were found in the depth of 5000 meters beneath the sea. By mid-1980s, the humble microbes
had enabled a major advance in the emerging field of genetics, Scientists found that their enzymes remained stable enough to make millions of copies of a single DNA sequence (序列) in just a few hours, essentially upgrading geneticists’ tools.
“A lot of people think of the deep sea as a desert,” Virginia says. “To our naked eye, it looks like there’s nothing there but there’s huge potential. What I can do as a science researcher is record the remarkable diversity of microbes and make their gene sequence available, which may help lead to treatment or diagnostic tool in the future.”
“We need to have people constantly exploring the fascinating habitats in order to continue uncovering a new page of medically-relevant enzymes,” Virginia says. “This is tough, but I do hope people realize that the more we can learn about microbes, the better off we are.”
1. What does paragraph 1 aim to tell us ?| A．The need to deal with infections and diseases. |
| B．Incredible conditions for microbes to survive. |
| C．Biomedical inspirations from undersea microbes. |
| D．Significant breakthroughs of human development. |
| A．develop adaptability even in tough conditions |
| B．merely enhance our understanding of diseases |
| C．lead to progress in tools to test stable enzymes |
| D．present us with treatment for common cancers |
| A．More awareness of microbes will benefit humans. |
| B．The deep sea microbes may help us with desert issues. |
| C．Researchers’ future task is to record medical treatment. |
| D．We should explore more habitats to free us from microbes. |
| A．Chemical weapons against viruses |
| B．Finding answers in the deep ocean |
| C．A look back at research in microbes |
| D．Future ways to upgrade human DNA |
【推荐3】The latest fashion in Japan is posing for photos with your hand pressed against your cheek as if you have toothache. The “cavity(牙疼) pose” is said to make the model’s face appear attractive, slimmer and smaller, which is considered more beautiful in Japan. The craze is sweeping Japanese social media, as well as fashion magazine front covers.
Just recently a model of a popular culture magazine, NYLON, did a pose which looked as if she had toothache. Twitter user, Okoge, spotted it among a range of similar magazines, with front cover models all doing the same pose. Okoge posted photos of the front cover models all with the exact same toothache pose, on the social media site, writing, “Does everyone have cavities?” The image has since been re-tweeted more than 35,000 times, but this is anything but an isolated incident (单一事件). Twitter and Instagram are going crazy for the pose, too.
The name, which means cavity pose, is called “mushiba no poozu” or “mushibapoozu” in Japanese. Some people also refer to it as the “mushibagaitaipoozu”, the “cavity hurts pose”, “mushibamitainapoozu” or “looks like a cavity pose”, or even, “mushibaninattapoozu” or “I got a cavity pose”.
According to the magazine, Kotaku, such photographs first appeared on Twitter last year in Japan. Many Japanese people said they are doing the cavity pose. And in only a few weeks, the trend has spread to art, popular cartoons and even national magazines.
There have been more and more photos cropping up online from earlier this year, but whether the trend will stand the test of time remains to be seen.
1. What is the strange thing regarding fashion models in Japan, according to the passage?| A．They are very dissatisfied with the shape of their face. |
| B．Most of them have an occupational disease, such as toothache. |
| C．They are competing to appear on fashion magazine front covers. |
| D．They like doing the toothache pose when being photographed. |
| A．To share interesting things with people. |
| B．To get more people to visit his Twitter page. |
| C．To show his sympathy for toothache patients. |
| D．To teach people how to take photographs. |
| A．why the “cavity pose” becomes so popular |
| B．when the “cavity pose” happened on the Internet |
| C．how many names of “cavity pose” there are |
| D．whether people will continue to like the “cavity pose” |
【推荐1】Sport is not only physically challenging , but it can also be mentally challenging . Criticism (批评) from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can create an excessive amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes . Stress can be physical, emotional, or psychological and research has suggested that it can lead to burnout. Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at one time enjoyable .
The early years of development are critical years for learning about oneself .The sport setting is one where valuable experiences can take place. Young athletes can, for example, learn how to cooperate with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be used throughout their lives. Coaches and parents should be aware ,at all times, that their feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children. Youngsters may take parents’ and coaches’ criticisms to heart and find a flaw ( mistake ) in themselves.
Coaches and parents should also be careful that youth sport participation does not become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today’s youth sport setting , young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport. Following a game , many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and find fault with youngsters’ performances. Positive reinforcement motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout .
1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph ?| A．Mental stress should be reduced . | B．Sport should be made less competitive . |
| C．Stress should be made less. | D．Sport can be mentally challenging . |
| A．it can help them learn more about society |
| B．it enables them to criticize themselves |
| C．it can provide them with valuable experiences |
| D．it teaches them how to set realistic goals for themselves |
| A．enable children to enjoy sport | B．help children to win every game |
| C．train children to deal with stress | D．understand the meaning of sport |
| A．to teach young athletes how to avoid burnout |
| B．to persuade young children not to worry about criticism |
| C．to stress the importance of encouraging children |
| D．to discuss the skill of combining criticism with encouragement |
【推荐2】Many wildflowers of spring in eastern North America bloom thanks to ants. The tiny six-legged gardeners have partnered with those plants and about 11, 000 others to spread their seeds. The plants，in turn, “pay” for the service by attaching a calorie-loaded appendage (附属物) to each seed, much like fleshy fruits remunerate birds and mammals that desert seeds or poop (排泄) them out. But there's more to the ant-seed relationship than that exchange, researchers reported last week at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, which was held online.
Many ants eat seeds. Certain plants attach a nutritive globe called an elaiosome to their seed coats, which serves as a favorite lunch for the ants’ young and gives ants a handle on seeds that can be bigger than their heads. Until now, researchers assumed the ants simply carry the seeds to their nests, feed the elaiosome to their young, and deposit the seed either outside or inside at the colony's “garbage dump”, which provides a rich environment for shooting.
In both the field and the lab, Chelsea Miller presented ants with seeds from various trillium (延龄花) species and found the ants were quick to pick up some species’ seeds while leaving others to rot, Miller said. To find out how ants make their choices, Miller and Susan Whitehead at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) used techniques to analyze the chemical makeup of elaiosomes. They found that ants pick seeds based on the specific combination and concentrations of acid and other compounds (化合物) made by the plant, 20 of which are unique to trilliums. The ants’ tastes may affect plant species’ distributions, say Kirsten Prior, an ecologist at Binghamton University: “Widespread trillium species are preferred by seed-dispersing ants compared to rare trillium species.”
Melissa Burt, an ecologist at Virginia Tech, hopes these studies bring ants new respect. “Many people who talk about ants only know them as insects that are taking over their kitchens, but many ants perform important functions in ecosystems,” she says. “Seed dispersal is just one of those.”
1. What does the underlined word “remunerate” probably mean?| A．Attract. | B．Track. | C．Free. | D．Reward. |
| A．It's a tasty treat for young ants. | B．It's no smaller than ants’ heads. |
| C．It is used as young ants’ new nest. | D．It can be used as a weapon to protect ants. |
| A．To analyze the specific combination affecting the plant growth. |
| B．To find out the reason for ants preferring some seeds to others. |
| C．To prove the accuracy of their lab techniques applied in the field. |
| D．To understand the way of ants distributing different plant species’ seeds. |
| A．Annoying. | B．Greedy. | C．Creative. | D．Hardworking. |
【推荐3】It is reported that the United States Postal Service （USDP） has started tests with self﹣driving trucks to transport mail． The Postal Services is partnering with a California﹣based company， called TuSimple， on the project． The tests are being carried out over two weeks．
Two of TuSimple's self﹣driving trucks will transport mail between the southwestern cities of Phoenix， Arizona and Dallas， Texas． The trucks will make five round trips between the cities． Each one will cover a distance of about 3，300 kilometers．
The testing is aimed at seeing whether the self﹣driving technology can reduce transportation times and costs and improve road safety． If successful， the Postal Service could use the trucks to move mail between major U．S． population centers forever．
TuSimple said a human "safety driver" will be sitting in the driver's seat at all times during the trips to intervene if necessary． An engineer will ride in the passenger seat as a watcher to take notes． The trucks will travel on major interstate roads that pass through Arizona， New Mexico and Texas．
TuSimple noted on its website the trucks are equipped with a camera system that sees about 1，000 meters down the road． It said this provides 35 seconds of reaction （反应） time， giving the system enough time to make the safest driving decisions．
One of the main goals of the technology is to remove the need for truck drivers． Transportation experts say now the United States is facing a shortage of truck drivers． This will result from an aging workforce（劳动力） and the difficulty of getting younger people to work as truck drivers．
Self﹣driving trucks built to transport things have some advantages over driverless cars． They generally run on interstate roads that do not have the complex （复杂的） traffic systems found in cities． This will reduce mapping requirements for the trucks and lower safety risks including people walking on streets or riding bicycles．
1. Which word can replace the underlined word "intervene" in Paragraph 4？| A．push |
| B．escape |
| C．deliver |
| D．drive |
| A．The speed of the trucks is very fast． |
| B．The safety of trucks is very high． |
| C．TuSimple produces high﹣quality cameras． |
| D．Cameras are available on TuSimple's website． |
| A．To ensure the safety of drivers． |
| B．To stop the young driving trucks． |
| C．To avoid the use of truck drivers． |
| D．To remover hard work for drivers． |
| A．It is cheaper to make them． |
| B．They improve road safety． |
| C．They cover a longer distance． |
| D．There are no passengers in them． |
【推荐1】Mandy awoke in a kind of haze (迷糊) still dreary. She quickly looked out the window and noticed that the sky seemed brighter than usual .Then she looked at the clock. Oh, no! She had overslept(睡过头) by a half hour! Mandy jumped up and quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, and threw on some clothes. She was supposed to be in school by now. When her mother had left early for work, she reminded Mandy to get up on time and get herself to school. Obviously, that had not worked out.
There was no time for breakfast. Mandy hurriedly poured a glass of orange juice and spilled (酒) some of it on her blouse(衬衣). She found a towel(毛巾) and quickly tried to clean it off as she dashed out the door. A few seconds later, she rushed back in --- for her backpack. Mandy dashed out again and half-walked ，half-jogged the four blocks to school . She was still catching her breath in first period when she realized that she had left her homework on the desk in her bedroom.Mandy looked down and noticed that she was wearing mismatched(配错的) shoes. What else could possibly go wrong?
Between classes, Mandy was still in a rush, and she tripped(绊倒) on the steps and almost fell down the staircase(楼梯间). Somehow, she miraculously (奇迹般地) caught herself. Mandy tried to relax. She stood sill and tried to collect herself, but it didn't really work. She could not figure out why she was in such a state.
Mandy had to borrow lunch money from Ryan, spilled milk on her blouse next to where she had spilled the orange juice and had trouble concentrating in class all afternoon. She felt lucky to get back home in one piece .Even though nothing had gone terribly wrong, she wanted to make sure tomorrow would be a better day. Just to be on the safe side, Mandy decided to set two alarms(闹钟).
1. Which best explains the author's purpose for the text?| A．To record the day's events in a journal. |
| B．To encourage readers to use alarm clocks. |
| C．To explain to readers why planing is important. |
| D．To entertain readers with a story about a girl's misadventure(不幸遭遇). |
| A．It is worse. | B．It is a total disaster. |
| C．It is about the same. | D．It is better than most. |
| A．To show Mandy's inner thoughts. |
| B．To quote(引述) what Mandy asked in class. |
| C．To find out if the reader understands the text. |
| D．To show the type of question Mandy's teacher gave her. |
| A．Don't delay necessary chores(日常事务). |
| B．It is important to wear clean clothes. |
| C．Too much preparation is better than too little. |
| D．There is no point in doing homework at the last moment. |
【推荐2】Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1. Why does the writer regard “if only” as two of the saddest words in the English language?| A．Because people use them when they feel sad |
| B．Because they express regrets and disappointment in life |
| C．Because the remind the writer of some sad experiences |
| D．Because they mean sadness in the English language |
| A．given up | B．come across |
| C．got through | D．held back |
| A．see a doctor | B．finish her work |
| C．join a celebration | D．accompany her father |
| A．Advice from My Father | B．Avoidance of saying “If Only” |
| C．The “Extra Minute” Rule | D．The importance of Emotional Well-being |
【推荐3】Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.
The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a “forever stamp,” it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or-3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, “forever stamps” will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new “forever stamp” is the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increases will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation (通货膨胀), competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the “forever stamp” and the savings from not printing as many 2-or-3-cent stamps. “It’s not your grandfather’s stamp,” says Mr. Saunders. “It could be your great-grandchildren’s stamp.”
Other countries, including Canada, England, and Finland use similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, says he’s interested in the public’s reaction. “This is an entirely new class of stamps.” Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he’ll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich — the volume printed will be too large for collectors. “We won’t be able to send our kids to college on these,” he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet to accept the Postal Regulatory Commission’s decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps.
1. The main purpose of introducing a “forever stamp” is ______.| A．to reduce the cost of printing 2-or-3-cent stamps |
| B．to help save the consumers’ cost on first-class mailing |
| C．to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates |
| D．to compete with online bill paying |
| A．The investment in forever stamps will bring adequate reward. |
| B．America will be the first country to issue forever stamps. |
| C．The design of the “forever stamp” remains to be revealed. |
| D．2-or-3-cent stamps will no longer be printed in the future. |
| A．With forever stamps, there will be no need to worry about rate changes. |
| B．Postal workers will benefit most from the sales of forever stamps. |
| C．The inflation has become a threat to the sales of first-class stamps. |
| D．New interest will be aroused in collecting forever stamps. |
