In 2013, Alie Ward’s life was falling apart. In quick succession, her relationship with her partner ended; her dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer; and she was feeling increasingly unhappy in her job.
Ward lived in Los Angeles at the time. To distract herself from her sadness, she liked to find and take pictures of her unconventional obsession (痴迷) : bugs. Sometimes, if she found a beetle or a bee that she particularly liked, she’d post it to social media. Those posts attracted the attention of a woman named Lil a Higgins, who worked as an entomologist at the local natural history museum. After seeing Ward’s pictures, Higgins reached out to her to see if she would want a tour of the museum’s insectary (昆虫饲养研究室).
“For most people in the middle of a really terrible year, question like ‘Do you want to come to see 40 cockroaches (蟑螂) in a fish tank’ is not what most people would say ‘absolutely’ to,” Ward said. “But this is my jam. There was nothing I wanted more than to see some scorpions (蝎子).”
When Higgins led her through the different exhibits in the museum, for the first time in ages, Ward felt herself light up. Higgins noticed her enthusiasm and suggested Ward volunteer at the museum for a few hours every week.
Despite her doubts, Ward decided to sign up. “It gave me this sense of purpose. It helped me reconnect with my love of science and nature that I really put on the back burner to chase those careers that were not really what I like,” said Ward.
Soon, Ward quit her job and started working in science media. She now is the host of a podcast called Ologies. Ward had Higgins on the show as her first guest. “She has caused such an increasing effect in my life. It was really because of her that I was able to reconnect with that part of myself, and do something that I really love,” said Ward.
1. Why did Ward like to take pictures of bugs?| A．To help her get rid of her sadness. | B．To show her interest in bugs. |
| C．To draw inspiration from bugs. | D．To show how beautiful the bugs were. |
| A．Confused. | B．Excited. | C．Curious. | D．Worried. |
| A．Ward wanted to chase her career as a host. |
| B．Ward was unwilling to accept the job as a volunteer. |
| C．Ward didn’t show much interest in her previous job. |
| D．Ward accepted the volunteer work without hesitation. |
| A．A Special Passion for Bugs | B．An Unexpected Invitation |
| C．An Appreciation to a Stranger | D．A Positive Attitude Towards Life |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】As nanny, cook, cleaner, shopper, driver, and gardener, she has one of the most demanding jobs in Britain today. And paying someone else to do the chores which take the average housewife 71 hours a week would cost €349.
At over €18,000 a year that’s more than the earnings of 70 percent of the population, including train drivers, firemen, prison officers, and social worker. Looking after a baby less than a year old takes a housewife into an even higher pay league. According to a study, she earns €457 a week — at nearly €24,000 a year, the same as teachers, engineers, and chemists.
Researchers put a price on each chore, then tried to find out how long the average person takes doing them. They found housewives spend an average 70.7 hours a week on housework — with looking after the children (17.9 hours) and cooking and cleaning (12.9 hours each) the most time-consuming.
A wife with a part-time job still works and average of 59 hours a week at home. Those in full-time employment put in longer hours at home than in the workplace. The good news is that these hours sharply as children get older. While the average mother with child under one puts in 90 hours weekly, the figure drops to 80 hours from one to four and to 66 hours from five to ten.
Mother-of-four Karen Williams from London said, “Paying the housewives may not be practical, but the government should recognize the value of housework, perhaps through the tax. Running a house takes a lot of time and most husbands don’t understand this. For example, my husband only puts a shelf up now and again. He never cleans the kitchen — that’s the real test.”
1. Who earns most according to the text?| A．A social worker. | B．A fireman. | C．A gardener. | D．A teacher. |
| A．takes more time than doing any other housework | B．means more duties than being a teacher |
| C．requires the mother to be well-educated | D．prevents the mother from working outside |
| A．66 hours a week | B．71 hours a week |
| C．80 hours a week | D．90 hours a week |
| A．housework is no easy job | B．her husband has no time to clean the kitchen |
| C．a housewife needs to be paid for cleaning | D．the kitchen is hard to clean |
【推荐2】Looking for a well-paid part-time/ student job? Enjoy working with animals? Like helping busy pet owners? If so, then keep reading! On Care.com We have a lot of pet care jobs looking for people like you.
What are you going to do:
Find local pet care job On Care.com and help pet owners with their pets.
To do this job, you will be responsible for a lot of tasks and have flexible( 灵活的 ) working hours to meet the pet’s needs. Make sure you are familiar with the role’s responsibilities before making a final decision.
Task include:
For dogs-walking and sitting
For cats-sitting and litter box cleaning
Playing
Feeding and cleaning
Training
If necessary, vet visits
What we offer:
Flexible working hours
Working in a family environment
Taking part in different kinds of activities
Earning between ₤25 and ₤60 per hour
Being paid weekly or monthly
What we ask:
Enjoying working with pets
Experience in pet care is an advantage
Patience and good communication skills
Extra information
Education Level: Secondary Schools,College University
Location: Northern Ireland, East Midlands, East Anglia, North, South East, London, North Wales, Scotland, South Wales, West Midlands, Yorkshire
Working hours per week: 4-32 hours
Type of contact: Part-Time Jobs, Evening Job, Weekend, Summer/Holiday Jobs, Full- Time
Responsible for: Pet care
Published on: 10-03-2020
Type of job: Home Care
Language: English
1. If you take this job, you should________.| A．Have experience in keeping a pet yourself |
| B．Design different kinds of activities for pets |
| C．Clean the bedroom of the pet owner |
| D．Take a cat to pet hospital if it is ill. |
| A．Short working hours. |
| B．Getting paid every week. |
| C．Changeable working environment |
| D．Taking part in various activities |
| A．₤500 | B．₤750 |
| C．₤1200 | D．₤1500 |
【推荐3】Li Jian, aged 61, is a senior lab scientist at the Chengdu Institute of Biology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， and has dedicated himself to scientific sketching (速写) in the area of animal and plant taxonomy (动植物分类学). Over the past 40-plus years, he has sketched thousands of animal and plant drawings with a scientific attitude and superb skills, presenting to readers more than 730 species on the planet.
Over decades of work, Li has developed a particularly keen eye that helps him identify even the tiniest features of animals and plants. “It is impossible for an animal to arrange every part of its body in the way we want it to be so that we can take a clear picture of it,” Li said, explaining the necessity of scientific sketching in research work. “Different from works of art, my drawings require a high level of scientific rigor (严谨),” he said.
In animal and plant taxonomy, species are often identified through tiny features. Take frogs, for example. Some have long fingers, while others have short ones. Some have fingers that are unwebbed, some partially webbed, and others fully webbed. The tip of their fingers can be pointed or round, and with or without long narrow cuts. “When I sketch, I must sketch accurately. Sometimes, I need to study the structure of my subject under a microscope before getting down to draw,” he said.
Usually, it took Li about ten days to draw a palm-sized animal. For complicated animals like snakes covered in scales, it would take him more than half a month. A big obstacle Li encountered in his work was the fading of the color in samples as a result of long-time immersion in chemicals. In this case, he would need to rely on known morphological (形态学的) characteristics of the samples and text descriptions to make his sketches more accurate.
“With the assistance of Li’s large number of high-quality drawings, China’s illustrated scientific publications rank among the best in the world,” said Fei Liang, a famous Chinese zoologist.
1. What does Li Jian do as a lab scientist?| A．Do experiments on animals. |
| B．Present drawings to scientists. |
| C．Make art of animals and plants. |
| D．Draw pictures of animals and plants. |
| A．Afraid and worried. | B．Doubtful and cautious. |
| C．Devoted and diligent. | D．Dedicated and ambitious. |
| A．Drawing snakes is dangerous. |
| B．Samples are badly kept. |
| C．Samples’ colors become lighter. |
| D．There are too little descriptions. |
| A．Sketching with A Scientific Touch. |
| B．The Advantages of Sketching Accurately. |
| C．Illustrating the Best Scientific Publications. |
| D．The Art Value of Sketching Animals and Plants. |
【推荐1】A Ghanaian man who once made jewelry from glass is now using old glass to make new art. He hopes to reduce glass waste and help the environment in his country. If glass artist Michael Tetteh can earn some money by doing it, he will be happy, too.
Tetteh learned the art of glass blowing during a visit to Europe in 2012. He went to see people who knew about glass blowing in the Netherlands and France and learned to make many-colored, artistic flower holders or water carriers. Many years later, Tetteh has his own workplace where he melts broken glass from waste centers and turns it into art. He looks for broken glass from old televisions or bottles and melts it down in a large round container known as a kiln (窑). The kiln gets very hot, nearly1,500 ℃, and turns the old glass into hot liquid.
Tetteh works in the area called Odumase-Krobo and trains other glass blowers in his shop. He learned how to make his equipment by watching videos on a computer. He said he is trying to follow the designs of well-known American glass artist Dale Chihuly. Over the years, he has gotten better at the work. Now Tetteh’s pieces are sold in shops in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Some of his works are also sold in art stores in Europe and the U.S.
“My heart wants to train young Ghanaians, both men and women, so they can learn this job,” he said. If he can teach more people to make art pieces from glass, more people would get benefit from it. Ghana imports about $300 million worth of glass and pottery each year.
1. What does the author want to show by telling Tetteh’s story?| A．We waste more glass than before. |
| B．We can make a profit from glass. |
| C．We pay little attention to the glass. |
| D．We can turn old glass into art. |
| A．He learned to make glass art. | B．He melted broken glass. |
| C．He set up his own company. | D．He got old televisions. |
| A．His works are sold around the world. |
| B．His works are the same as Chihuly’s. |
| C．His works are made by watching videos. |
| D．His works are getting better. |
| A．Protect the environment in his country. |
| B．Reduce the use of glass. |
| C．Train them to master the skills. |
| D．Improve their lives by blowing glass. |
【推荐2】A bunch of strangers showed up at the gym in the early morning of the last Sunday of April. A few athletes were already stretching their arms, but most of us could barely focus. As I was burning off last night's wrong decision—a big meal, I spotted a poster about a gym's 21-day workout challenge, and I immediately signed up. I always wanted to train for a marathon, so I considered this as my warm-up. Besides, I needed to stop being lazy and this was my chance to make a change.
It was easy to promise on paper, but three weeks of recommended exercise routines and diet restrictions wouldn't be easy. I stuck to working out 30 minutes a day, and I didn't disturb my normal routine. Instead, I had to be faced with the tough work of being more creative in my spare time, thus breaking some bad habits.
Overcoming weaknesses with willpower was my goal for the next part of the journey. But the difficult part about making a challenge is realizing that “wanting" and “doing" are two very different things. Just like a career, you have to physically work for it rather than just wait for it to happen. But that's hard. Throughout the 21 days, I often told myself that the challenge was meaningless and tried to sabotage myself from exercising. However, finally I overcame that negative thought and kept working out.
At the end of the challenge, I learned something even more important: Feeling the results is better than seeing them. I had fewer headaches and more energy, and was simply happier. I even felt a little smarter as I researched which foods were better for my body, and learned how to make healthier meals. I felt a sense of accomplishment, too, because even though I wanted to give up dozens of times, I didn't. I felt my waist got smaller and my arms got stronger, and I no longer felt guilty after having a piece of cake or a drink.
1. What was the author's wrong decision?| A．Going to the gym early. |
| B．Training for a marathon. |
| C．Eating a lot the previous night. |
| D．Stopping being lazy for a change. |
| A．Some of the author's bad habits. |
| B．Some ways of the author's killing his spare time. |
| C．The importance of sticking to the normal daily routine. |
| D．The difficulty of the author's keeping on with the workout plan. |
| A．Prevent. | B．Hear. |
| C．Improve. | D．Distinguish. |
| A．Eating healthy food is more important than exercising. |
| B．Overcoming a challenge could bring good feelings to him. |
| C．It's more important to see what he likes than just feel it. |
| D．There was no need to feel guilty about things he disliked to do. |
【推荐3】Early February, I was flying up to Ohio. Well prepared, I had everything in my favour — fuel for five hours, charts in order, my flight plan on my lap, and a beautiful clear sky.
I was wrong.
I had heard about Alberta Clippers coming out of Canada. I knew all about them — how an entire air mass was streaming along at over sixty miles an hour.
That morning, the Weather Briefer informed me that an Alberta Clipper was going over Chicago about the time I got to the airport. Chicago was some 400 miles from my destination — not a factor, or so I thought. That was the first hint I missed.
The controller called and asked if I wanted to adjust my flight plan. I did the check and everything was in the green. So I told him no. Twenty minutes later the controller called again asking whether I wanted to adjust my flight plan. I checked everything. All was fine. I ignored that hint. I was fooled by the smooth air and limited experience with a rapidly moving air mass that was not changing violently. The Alberta Clipper was clipping along.
The first blast of turbulence (气流) struck my plane. I got slammed into the roof, and then slammed sideways hitting the window with such force up my nose that I started bleeding.
After a 2-hour flight of 100 miles, I realized fuel was now an issue. So was landing. I called Flight’ Following. We. figured out the airport I could land.
The engine stopped. So did my heart. There is no quiet as quietly stunning as this one at such an altitude. I had run out of fuel in the left tank, and only a little in my right tank. The engine quit for a second time. I declared an emergency. I was told that I might get another few minutes of fuel if I gently banked the airplane. Luckily; it worked. Then, the engine quit for the last time. I was a glider now. I made a long lazy spiral descent. Down I went. I stopped at the very end of the runway.
I made so many mistakes, missed so many clues, and showed my ignorance so much that I beat myself up over and over again in my mind. I learned textbook descriptions of Alberta Clippers and real-life experience with one are totally different. I will never forget the sound of that silence.
I flew home the next day. Older. Wiser. Humbler. Lucky.
1. We can know from the passage that Alberta Clippers ______.| A．can bring snowstorms |
| B．are quick-moving air masses |
| C．are violently changing air pressure |
| D．can lead to a sudden temperature drop |
| A．His lack of flying experience. |
| B．His poor preparation for the journey. |
| C．His misjudgement about the air mass. |
| D．His overconfidence in his piloting skills. |
| A．a rewarding training | B．a serious accident |
| C．a painful exploration | D．a narrow escape |
