I went with my husband to Roatan for our vacation, a tropical island off the north coast of Honduras, where tourists can swim with dolphins at Anthony’s Key Resort.
The Roatan dolphins are kept in a roped-off pen(围栏). The cheapest “swim” with the dolphins costs $ 89. Kissing costs extra. The tourists line up and, one after another, get photographed while being “kissed” by a dolphin. The tourist bends down a bit, the trainer lifts an arm, the dolphin comes up and for a few seconds holds its bottlenose to the tourist’s face. The picture is ready for purchase when the tourists exit through the gift shop.
These tourists must love dolphins, but what kind of love is that? At sea these highly intelligent creatures are always on the move, traveling thousands of miles. They are complex social creatures that need a lot of space to live in.
Yet Teri Bolton, the head trainer at Anthony’s Key Resort, defends the pen as a suitable habitat. “We feel this is the closest to keeping things as natural as possible”, she said. “You’re getting a window into how these animals really are.”
The discussion about this tourist behavior can be found on the Internet. Some people try to justify their desire, saying the fence of the pen is low; the dolphins could jump over it if they wanted to, and therefore they’re staying in captivity(圈养)by free will. One contributor to the discussion said, “Dolphins are social creatures. Jumping over the fence would mean leaving the females and their babies. Besides, by now they are used to captivity with three meals a day. Jumping over the fence would be like asking you to jump out of a spaceship alone onto Mars.”
But visiting any institution that keeps dolphins in captivity means supporting the concept of captivity. It’s like wearing a fur coat and then justifying it by saying it’s OK because the animals are already dead.
Remember that you cannot buy love, and if you try to buy dolphin love, you hurt the ones you love. In fact, a dolphin’s kiss has nothing to do with love, just as a dolphin’s smile has nothing to do with happiness. While many claim that dolphin encounters provide healing(治疗))qualities and help you to feel better, the opposite is true for the supposed healers.
1. How much does a tourist pay for a dolphin’s kiss?A.More than $ 89. | B.Less than $ 89. |
C.As much as $ 89. | D.It’s free of charge. |
A.It’s like a prison. | B.It’s like a spaceship. |
C.It’s no fun for the dolphins. | D.It’s suitable for the dolphins. |
A.Dolphin lovers. | B.Unhealthy people. |
C.Dolphins in the wild. | D.Dolphins in captivity. |
A.Are Dolphins As Smart As Humans? |
B.Swimming with Dolphins: Is It Love or Not? |
C.Dolphins—Creatures with Feelings |
D.Kissing—A New Way to Communicate with Dolphins |
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【推荐1】Since Abbi Hickman was just a little girl, she has been surrounded by animals. Chickens, cats, dogs, rabbits, and sometimes goats are just some of the animals she cares for. At the age of 9, Abbi went to the Tracy Animal Shelter,in her hometown of Tracy,California,to adopt Sheldon,her favorite cat. There,she saw the poor conditions that the animals were kept in. Abbi knew that it was her duty to take action.
Pins for Pets is Abbi’s solution. For the last three years, she has organized a bowling tournament to raise funds for the Tracy Animal Shelter. She has raised more than $30,000, resulting in a better home for the animals. “Now the shelter is nicer and cleaner and animals have more space. It is far better, a hundred percent better,” Abbi says.
To praise Abbi for her outstanding efforts, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) named her the 2015 ASPCA Tommy P. Monahan Kid of the Year. This award is given to kids who make a substantial (大量的) effort to help animals. Abbi responded to the news of her win with shock. “I was pretty excited. I’ m really honored to receive it,” she says.
Sacrificing time and effort to assist animals can sometimes be difficult, but Abbi hopes to do more. “I want to spread my free services to more shelters. I really just hope people are kinder to animals and respect them more,” says Abbi, sharing her goals for her organization.
At the age of 12, Abbi has already accomplished so much. The advice she has for kids like her, who want to accomplish their goals, is, “Nothing is impossible. You can do anything you put your mind to. Even if it is something small, it can make a huge difference.” Abbi’s work has improved the lives of animals, and she plans to keep coming up with new ways to help them.
1. When she was very little, Abbi went to the Tracy Animal Shelter and .A.adopted a dog called Sheldon she liked best |
B.raised kids’ awareness of protecting animals |
C.found the poor conditions the animals lived in |
D.learned some knowledge about some animals |
A.By begging from door to door. |
B.By organizing a bowling match. |
C.By helping others look after some animals. |
D.By turning to the Tracy Animal Shelter for help. |
A.Cautious and loyal. |
B.Determined and imaginative. |
C.Changeable but optimistic. |
D.Responsible and Caring. |
A.Abbi’s organization is non-profit. |
B.Abbi thinks she has done enough. |
C.Helping animals is a piece of cake. |
D.People are friendly enough to animals. |
【推荐2】A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading(扩大) quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely falling below 16°C. Rainforests have a great influence on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate.
Without the forest cover, these areas would reflect(反射)more heat into the atmosphere, warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns,potentially(潜 在地) causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years, humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources : land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example, a lot of carbon dioxide in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when people cut down trees, generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly, cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now, but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply. Rainforests are often called the world's drugstore. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than 1% of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking(减 少)rainforests.
1. Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they______.A.reflect more heat into the atmosphere |
B.bring about high rainfall throughout the world |
C.rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than 16°C |
D.absorb(吸收) the heat from the sun, reducing the effect of heat from the sun on the earth |
A.We will lose much more than we can gain. | B.Humans have begun destroying rainforests. |
C.People have a strong desire for resources. | D.Much carbon dioxide (二氧化碳)comes from burning rainforests. |
A.we can get enough resources without rainforests |
B.there is great medicine potential in rainforests |
C.we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land |
D.the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns |
A.How to Save Rainforests? | B.How to Protect Nature? |
C.Rainforests and the Environment. | D.Rainforests and Medical Development. |
【推荐3】It was always very cold on that lake shore in the night, but we had plenty of blankets and were warm enough. We never moved a muscle all night, but waked at early dawn in the original positions, and got up at once, thoroughly refreshed. There is no end of medicine in such an experience. That morning we could have defeated ten such people as we were the day before—sick ones at any rate. But the world is slow, and people will go to “water cures” and “movement cures” and to foreign lands for health. Three months of camp life on Lake Tahoe would bring back Egyptian mummy to life, and give him a healthy appetite. I do not mean the oldest and driest mummies, of course, but fresher ones. The air up there in the clouds is very pure and fine. And why shouldn’t it be? —it is the same the angels breathe. I think that hardly any amount of tiredness can be gathered together that a man cannot sleep off in one night on the sand by its side. Not under a roof, but under the sky; it seldom or never rains there in the summertime. I know a man who went there to die. But he made a failure of it. He was a skeleton (骨瘦如柴的人) when he came, and could barely stand. He had no appetite, and did nothing but read tracts (小册子) and reflect on the future. Three months later he was sleeping out of doors regularly, eating all he could hold, three times a day, and hunting game over the mountains three thousand feet high for fun. And he was a skeleton no longer, but weighed part of a ton. This is no fancy sketch, but the truth. His disease was consumption. I confidently recommend his experience to other skeletons.
—Mark Twain
1. Which of the following is the topic of the passage?A.How to live near Lake Tahoe |
B.The imagination of Lake Tahoe |
C.The area of Lake Tahoe has amazing powers to bring back people’s health |
D.Lake Tahoe’s air and water quality are fantastic for Egyptian mummies |
A.determined | B.persuasive |
C.homesick | D.entertaining |
A.The altitude is very high. | B.The wet air surrounded the lake. |
C.The cold wind in the area. | D.The wideness of the land. |
A.people who lost their families | B.sick and exhausted people |
C.a dead man | D.the writers bad dream |
【推荐1】I don't realize that I've been at college for nearly one and half year until now. Looking back into the last year, what shall I say? It consisted of both happiness and sadness. Life always goes like this, up and down, as is so exciting. Now when I recall the past, no matter how I felt at that time, they are all treasures for me.
That was the moon festival last year, which was also the first time we went out after we entered the college. It was said that the sea in Dalian was well-known and was also a wonderful place to watch the moon. After getting all the food and drinking ready, we four girls set off for the seaside. There were many people and we picked up a less crowded beach. At first, we enjoyed ourselves by drinking and eating. When the moon turned brighter, we played with the seawater. As a result, we were all drenched with water. Bathing in the moonlight, we ran and laughed. We seemed to land on another world, where was full of fresh air, laughter and love. The laughter is still echoing on my mind so far.
Life doesn't stay the same, occasionally having a particular taste. That is sadness. What impressed me deeply is a failure in a singing competition. It was the first time I had given a performance on such a large stage in front of so many people. I was so nervous that the whole song was performed out of tune. As you could imagine, I was greeted with boos from the audience. I still remembered how dismal I felt that moment and I sat alone crying at the seaside. After that, I talked to mother about it. She told me that it was not a failure; at least, I was brave enough to show myself publicly.
Everything has passed. I’ve stored them at the bottom of my heart. I am in the second grade already. Yet much needs me to challenge. On the way, there's both happiness and distress. However, I will go ahead just all the same.
1. The underlined word ''drenched'' in the second paragraph has a similar meaning with _______.A.dried | B.wet |
C.frozen | D.washed away |
A.full of happiness | B.filled with sadness |
C.made up of laughter and tears | D.not worth living |
A.It was wonderful | B.It was disappointing |
C.The passage doesn’t say | D.It was perfect |
A.A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
B.Do wrong once and you’ll never hear the end of it. |
C.Where there is a will, there is a way. |
D.Time and tide wait for no man. |
【推荐2】When I started Social-Engineer, I just left a company that was amazing. It was like a family. The pain of leaving was real for me and like all family separation, it wasn’t 100% smooth. I was heartbroken to leave but wanted to take every lesson I learned to my new company. I was determined to also take all the good memories with me. Yes, there were mistakes from both sides of the fence but instead of focusing on those, I went away remembering all the great times, life lessons and growth I had gifted to me.
I figured I would grow my company by being a nice man and working hard, and never demanding more from my people than I was willing to give, believing this approach would earn respect and effort in return. I would say things to myself like, “Well, I did this, so they should do that.” Or “I am this way, so they should be that way.”
And to be honest, it felt real. It felt like it was an honest evaluation.
But... But... But...
I started to have people problems. I am a very strong, direct communicator and although in many ways that is a strength, it can be a weakness in other ways. I often hurt people’s feelings. Even though I was very self-aware of this, I still messed up. Now this is odd to admit out loud for a company that basically focuses on helping dozens of companies make huge changes.
I went to see a psychologist. Natasha actively listened to all I said and then every now and then presented a thought as a question or a mild statement. She wanted to challenge me to change, challenge me to expand my thoughts. I was in my session with Natasha and I was saying things like this:
“I gave this person tens of thousands of dollars in a raise in one year, they should be more appreciative.”
“I have a great salary, benefits and support package, this person should have been more thankful.”
Natasha stopped me and said, “Well, you just SHOULD all over yourself, didn’t you? Did you pay for devotion? Did you pay for honor? Did you pay for appreciation?”
The sad answer was NO.
“You want to see the change that you so desire — then be the change,” Natasha said. She then mentioned Bruce Lee, who said “Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle... Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
I know what I should do. Will you join me?
1. Why was the author confident about his company management?A.He believed he was gifted for it. |
B.His employees were well qualified. |
C.He had lessons and work principles. |
D.His previous mistakes had been removed. |
A.The rigid rules. | B.The lack of vision. |
C.The company’s focus. | D.The author’s social skill. |
A.The author fell into a thinking trap. |
B.The employees expected too much. |
C.The author was not really committed. |
D.The employees were victims of management. |
A.Read Bruce Lee. | B.Learn to change. |
C.Take more duties. | D.Desire less for more. |
【推荐3】I once met a young woman who had dreams of swimming for the U.S Olympic team. She had to get up every morning at 4 a.m. to swim for 3 hours before going to school. She did not party with her friends on Saturday night. She had to study and keep her grades up, just like everyone else.
When I asked her what compelled her with such super-human ambition and sacrifice (牺牲). She simply said, “I do it for myself and the people I love. It’s love that gets me over the hurdles and sacrifices.”
A reason or a purpose is a combination of “wants” and “don’t wants”. When people ask me what my reason for wanting to be rich is, it is a combination of deep emotional “wants” and “don’t wants”.
I will list a few. First the “don’t wants”, for they create the “wants”. I don’t want to work all my life. I don’t want what my parents aspired for, which was job security and a big house. I don’t like being an employee. I hated it that my dad always missed my football games because he was so busy working on his career. I hated it when my dad worked hard all his life and the government took most of what he worked for at his death.
Now the “wants”. I want to be free to travel the world and live in the lifestyle I love. I want to be young when I do this. I want control over my time and my life. I want money to work for me.
Those are my deep-seated, emotional reasons. What are yours? If they are not strong enough, the reality of the road ahead may be greater than your reasons. I have lost money and been set back many times, but it was the deep emotional reasons that kept me standing up and going forward. I wanted to be free by age 40, but it took me until I was 47 with many learning experiences along the way.
I wish I could say it was easy. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard either. But without a strong reason or purpose anything in life is hard.
1. The passage is started by __________.A.giving an example | B.explaining the causes |
C.pointing out similarities | D.describing the differences |
A.committed | B.inspired | C.forced | D.combined |
A.the “wants” lead to the “don’t wants” |
B.the “wants” come from the “don’t wants” |
C.the “don’t wants” have little to do with the “wants” |
D.the “don’t wants” are more important than the “wants” |
A.The reality is greater than the deep emotional reasons. |
B.With stronger emotional reasons, life must be much easier. |
C.With deeper emotional reasons, the road ahead is likely to be harder. |
D.In reality, we may meet many more obstacles without deeper emotional reasons. |