Oprah Winfrey is recognized as one of the most powerful females in the world. An outstanding TV hostess, and an influential producer are among the titles she is known as.
She was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. As a child, she lived with poverty and mistreatment. Although she was not offered everything on a silver platter, she still overcame her childhood struggles and made her mark in the world.
How did Oprah Winfrey overcome the setbacks and build her career from zero? It started when she was 19 and won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty contest. This was her stepping stone towards her journey to work in the media. She started her career as a radio and TV hostess in Nashville. Then she moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she hosted a local talk show called People Are Talking. This show gained popularity and this eventually led to her own national talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which ran for 25 seasons and was the highest-rated talk show in the history of television.
Oprah has a heart of gold and has been a supporter of many causes over the course of her career, such as education, health, and wellness. She has used her platform to inspire, teach, and entertain people worldwide through her charity organization known as the Oprah Winfrey Network. She also took a step for the education of girls in South Africa by starting the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.
Oprah Winfrey’s life is a true example of where being strong and determined can lead you. She has shown people that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it. The lesson we can learn from her is that no matter how hard things get, you can always find the strength to keep going and reach your goals.
1. What was Oprah’s childhood like?A.She was born with a silver spoon. | B.She struggled with health problems. |
C.She went through a lot of hardships. | D.She grew up in an easy atmosphere. |
A.Winning a beauty contest. | B.Launching a local talk show. |
C.Running a national talk show. | D.Hosting a radio and TV programme. |
A.Warm-hearted but impatient. | B.Strong-willed and generous. |
C.Narrow-minded but talented. | D.Easy-tempered and ambitious. |
A.Oprah Winfrey — One of the Most Powerful Men in the World |
B.Oprah Winfrey — A Female Legend of Media Broadcasting |
C.The Oprah Winfrey Show — A Platform to Inspire People |
D.The Oprah Winfrey Show — The Highest Rated Talk Show |
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【推荐1】Social networking isn’t only for the under-40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years of age and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.
“The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus years of age,” said Kevin Donnellan, chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.
Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent say they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. “They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them,” said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults were also on Facebook to stay connected not only with their family, but with their friends and those in the same age group. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and above say they do not use the Internet, according to the report.
The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter, older adults are aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.
Despite the popularity of the Internet among the over-50s, they still mostly go to print newspapers and magazines for news. Only one percent said they followed blogs.
1. What can we know according to the passage?A.85% of Americans 50 plus years of age prefer the Internet to the print media. |
B.About 460 people in the telephone survey use Facebook. |
C.About 20% of adults aged 50 plus have access to the Internet. |
D.Three quarters of the people surveyed get to know the Internet through their family. |
A.Many older Americans are open-minded about new developments. |
B.Kevin Donnellan supports this change among older Americans. |
C.Young people should introduce their elders to new technology. |
D.In a high tech age, it is difficult to avoid social networking. |
A.Social networking isn’t for the under-40s in the US. |
B.American old people’s way of life is quite fashionable. |
C.Social networking is becoming popular among older Americans. |
D.Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are the most popular websites in the US. |
A.A novel. |
B.A newspaper. |
C.A technology guide. |
D.A student’s research paper. |
【推荐2】When people think about improving their physical fitness, they often neglect (忽视) balance. Good balance is a necessary part of being physically fit and key to living a long life, according to research. It’s important for everyone, no matter your age.
Older adults are most affected by poor balance. Falls are the leading cause of injury and death for those 65 and older, with nearly 30% in this age group reporting at least one fall in 2018, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But younger adults frequently fall down, too.
Forty-eight percent of young adults reported falling at least once during one 16-week study. The falls most commonly happened during sports activities, with women in the study reporting more falls and fall-related injuries than men.
Falls within the previous two years were reported by 18% of young adults (ages 20 to 45) in another study published in the journal BMC Public Health. That figure (数据) compared with 21% of middle-aged adults (46 to 65) reporting falls and 35% of those over 65. While falls among young adults were often connected with sports, falls by the middle-aged group were typically related to health problems and physical changes.
Many factors (因素) can affect your balance outside of age, such as vision changes, brain injuries, overweight and a general lack of physical fitness. Even if you have no risk factors, simply neglecting to work regularly on your balance will result in increased instability (不稳定性).
“Our body is conditioned to lose what we don’t regularly use and practice, and balance is no different,” said Susan Baxter.
1. What role does a good balance play in our lives?A.It helps us live a healthy and long life. |
B.It enables us to build a perfect shape. |
C.It protects us from getting seriously sick. |
D.It has the power to make us look young. |
A.By having a discussion. | B.By following the time order. |
C.By raising questions. | D.By giving a list of figures. |
A.When a health problem comes up. | B.When working regularly. |
C.When a physical change appears. | D.When joining in a sport. |
A.We’ll lose our balance if we don’t practise it often. |
B.Our body is used to working in its own way. |
C.We should manage our body properly. |
D.We are naturally born with balance. |
【推荐3】Years ago, I lived next door to an old man named Steve, who told me he hadn’t had any friends since quitting his factory job 20 years earlier. Steve sat on his porch (门廊) all day. Across the street was another neighbor, Werner, who usually sat on an armchair on his lawn. The two men, both around the same age, stared at each other but rarely talked. When Steve fell down on the floor, Werner watched as the ambulance crew tried to save him.
Steve and Werner are a handy example for the kind of separation that COVID-19 has visited upon many of us. Although the pandemic has gone now, a separation still exists. The percentage of men with at least six close friends fell by half between 1990 and 2021, according to the Survey Center on American Life.
In short, man is in friendship recession (衰退). It is the result of social conditioning and 10, 000 years of developmental forces, where cooperation has been changed into competition. The invention of the big-screen TV hasn’t helped.
A 2020 Oxford University study confirms what many people will readily admit: People prefer to socialize in groups rather than on-on-one. Groups are looser, less private. And shared activities often center on something—a sport, a bar, or a football match. But when the activity goes away, the group often goes with it.
I reconnected with an old friend who had played professional football and I asked him if he was in touch with any of his former teammates. “No,” he said. When football ended, those connections did too. Without that central activity to keep the relationship, they all disappeared from one another’s lives.
There was a time when card games or watching the football games was a sort of guilty pleasure, a senseless activity. Now we’re learning that these things, or at least the connection they represent, are basic to mental health.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To introduce the neighbors. | B.To tell the neighbors’ stories. |
C.To give an example of separation. | D.To tell the effect of the pandemic. |
A.Men prefer one-on-one relationship. |
B.Relationships in groups are more private. |
C.Shared activities do not center on anything- |
D.The group’s connection ends after activities go away. |
A.Friendship recession. | B.Peer competition. |
C.Team cooperation. | D.Social development. |
A.A sort of guilty pleasure. | B.Basic to mental health. |
C.A kind of senseless activities. | D.Ways to amuse themselves. |
【推荐1】Tom Costello Jr. was once afraid of homeless Americans. That changed seven years ago after his wife, a volunteer at a homeless shelter, persuaded him to help with a holiday dinner for shelter residents.
Tom Costello remembers going to a store and buying socks for the residents. He knew many of them were in need of clothing. At the shelter, Costello said, he dropped a pair of socks into a bag for a woman. “She started to cry and told me that nobody had ever given her socks before,” Costello said. “Then she reached out and gave me a hug.”
That experience at the shelter helped Costello end his fear of the homeless. It also led him to set up a group called “The Joy of Sox.” The Joy of Sox collects socks from donors and gives them mostly to shelters in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, where Costello and his wife Nacy live. But the group has been expanding its reach, now providing socks for homeless shelters in 21 states and three countries: Mexico, Afghanistan and Uganda.
Why socks? Costello explains that some Americans give food, coats and other clothing to shelters, but donating socks is not something most people think about. And, he says, socks are very helpful in keeping people warm in cold weather. A man named Kiwi, who has lived in homeless shelters, explains that socks are important to people who spend a lot of time outdoors. Kiwi says most of the time he can find enough food through shelters and soup kitchens, but socks are much more difficult to get.
Costello says his hope for “The Joy of Sox” is to be the best sock charity in the world. He also wants the group to give six pairs of socks to every homeless person in the United States each year.
1. Which word can best describe the woman when Costello gave her socks?A.Greedy. | B.Embarrassed. | C.Confused. | D.Grateful. |
A.personally helped at a homeless shelter |
B.heard a shelter resident’s heartbreaking story from his wife |
C.got help from a homeless person |
D.became a volunteer at a homeless shelter |
A.The homeless need food more than socks. | B.Socks can’t help the homeless keep warm. |
C.Socks are precious things to the homeless. | D.The homeless only get sock donations in winter. |
A.To stand out as the world’s best sock charity. | B.To become the only sock charity in America. |
C.To expand its reach to three countries. | D.To provide socks for every homeless person in the world. |
A.treasure what they have | B.face difficulties bravely |
C.try to help those in need | D.stick to their dreams |
Unlike Besie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald taught herself the sentimental music so popular in the 1930’s—songs like “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”—- and her recordings became best sellers. During the 1940’s she developed her own “scat singing”, for songs like “Flying Home” and “Lady Be good”.
Ella Fitzgerald was the perfect musical partner for her friend, the trumpets(号手) Louis Armstrong, matching him in warmth and artistry. “ I just like music,” she has said.“To me, it’s a story. There is only one thing better than singing… it’s singing.”
1. Where did Fitzgerald spend most of her childhood?
A.Virginia | B.Yonkers |
C.New York City | D.Louisian. |
A.Fitzgerald’s father. | B.Louis Armstrong. |
C.Bessie Smith. | D.Chick Webb. |
A.marry him. | B.hire him. |
C.take over his band. | D.perform with band. |
A.They were the inventors of “scat singing.” |
B.They played the same musical instruments. |
C.They performed well together. |
D.They were a married couple. |
A.Ella Fitzgerald | B.Louis Armstrong |
C.Bessie Webb | D.Chick Webb. |
【推荐3】Get up at 6 am, arrive at the hospital one hour earlier to help patients check in, and accompany patients during consultations… In recent years, “patient escorts” has emerged as a new industry, and those who have taken on this career are known as “people who sell time”, 26-year-old Zhang Tian is one of them.
September 4 was a lucky day for Zhang Tian. On this day, Zhang Tian saw a video about patient escorts on a short video platform. The daily routine of patient escorts shown in the video fascinated her and gradually inspired her to take this on as a business. She browsed through many platforms and read multiple information and found there indeed exists a certain demand for patient escorts, especially for the elderly, children, and pregnant women. Since she had never engaged in this kind of work before, she spent two days in major hospitals in Wuhan, in order to familiarize herself with all the departments on different floors, as well as the processes of medical consultation and preparation for surgery.
After preliminary preparatory (预备的) work, Zhang Tian posted a video of myself-introduction on major social platforms, talking about the help and services a patient escort provides, as well as some tips for a quick and convenient medical consultation. At first, she was a little worried that her video would go unnoticed. However, after she uploaded the video, it got over 100 likes and she received her first ever offer as a patient escort.
The memory of her first task is still alive and fresh in her mind. She received a phone call on September 9 from a man whose father was seriously ill and might need surgery. He wanted Zhang Tian to accompany his father through his consultation and treatment.” Zhang Tian made full preparations before meeting her first client and did a very good job despite her nervousness.
“Later, the family expressed their gratitude to me over and over again, which warmed my heart and gave me a sense of achievement.” Zhang Tian said.
1. What do patient escorts do?A.They assist doctors in hospitals. |
B.They arrive at hospitals early to check in. |
C.They take on this career to sell their time. |
D.They help patients get treated in hospitals. |
A.she enjoyed seeing an interesting video |
B.she got inspiration for her own career |
C.she found a demand for medical workers |
D.she was well received on social platforms |
A.She got familiar with the routine work in hospitals. |
B.She spent two days in major hospitals to meet patients. |
C.Her video on social platforms attracted her first client. |
D.The man’s father was seriously ill and might need a surgery. |
A.Hardworking and considerate. | B.Humorous and careful. |
C.Ambitious and imaginative. | D.Talkative and positive. |