Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.
Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.
Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.
Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.
1. According to the passage, sharing bread______.
| A．indicates a lack of food |
| B．can help to develop unity |
| C．is a custom unique to rural areas |
| D．has its roots in birthday celebrations |
| A．Trust. | B．Success. |
| C．Health. | D．Togetherness. |
| A．using examples | B．making comparisons |
| C．analyzing causes | D．describing processes |
| A．The custom of sharing food. |
| B．The specific meaning of food. |
| C．The role of food in ceremonies. |
| D．The importance of food in culture. |
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【推荐1】What's the point in dining out when we can have whatever meal we want delivered to our homes as we watch movies on our giant flat-screen TVs? According to statistics from Technomic, 86% of consumers are using off-premise (非经营场所的) channels at least once a month, and a third of consumers are using it more than they did a year ago.
Most restaurants companies are chasing these trends simply to keep up with quickly changing consumer demands. Fazoli's has spent the past two years investing in its drive-through, carryout, catering and delivery businesses, and has launched a new loyalty app aimed at making carryout orders easier. These efforts have paid off so far- off-premise sales are up 18.5% over last year for the company, said Jennifer Crawford, director of off-premise sales at Fazoli's.
But, she notes that sales aren't the only benefit to giving priority to these channels.“The off-premise channel is a great opportunity to communicate and connect with a new consumer group," Crawford said.“Many of our off-premise guests have not dined in a Fazoli's or experienced our menu. With options like third-party delivery and online ordering, we have the capability to tap into potential new guests.
Sales lifts and new customer potential are great rewards, to be sure. But that doesn't mean carrying out off-premise channels comes without challenges. Crawford said a big one is the lack of control and maintaining the guest relationship.“When a guest dines in, we can provide a level of service that improves the consumer dining experience," she said, The lack of control extends into the digital experience, as third-party apps can also be an issue. “Orders are not often processed properly due to the drop-down menus and default (默认) orders in third-party software," Crawford said. She adds that staffing issues can also arise when heavy delivery periods overlap strong in-restaurant traffic and maintaining food quality and integrity (完整) during drive time is tricky with certain dishes.
Nevertheless, Crawford believes the juice is very much worth the squeeze.“Across the industry, dine-in traffic continues to decline or remain flat. If brands are not driving sales through catering, carryout and delivery, they are missing out on income," she said.
1. Why does Fazoli's invest in off-premise channels?| A．Because it wants to see the potential of its consumers. |
| B．Because it wants to keep up with the latest changes. |
| C．Because it wants to survive in the changing consumer landscape. |
| D．Because it wants to communicate and connect with its new consumers. |
| A．it is challenging to maintain quality and integrity of dishes during delivery |
| B．third-party apps cannot offer as good an experience of ordering as restaurants |
| C．third-party apps may get out of control when consumers experience online ordering |
| D．during heavy delivery periods, more staff is always needed to deal with busy dine -in traffic |
| A．Cautious. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Favorable. |
| A．What challenges off-premise channels create. |
| B．How restaurants are adapting to the rise of takeout. |
| C．Why restaurants are prioritizing off-premise channels. |
| D．How important off- premise channels are for restaurants. |
The Changing Diet in North America
What do most Americans and Canadians usually eat? Many people think that the typical North American diet consists of fast food—hamburgers, hot dogs, French fries, pizza, fried chicken, and so on. They think Americans and Canadians also eat a lot of convenience foods, usually frozen or canned, and junk food—candy, cookies, potato chips, and other things without much nutritional value.
However, some people’s eating habits are changing.
| A．Our junk food will not be “junk” at all. |
| B．How are we going to eat in the future? |
| C．Unfortunately, this description is not totally incorrect. |
| D．The nature of American diet has changed a lot in this century. |
| E．Restaurant menus are also changing to reflect people’s growing concern with good nutrition. |
| F．We can choose foods from a variety of sources, control the quantities that we eat, and limit fats. |
| G．They are becoming more interested in good health, and nutrition is an important part of health. |
【推荐3】Jeremy Baras remembers the first time he ever saw a pop-up restaurant. The 26-year-old entrepreneur was on vacation in England four years ago and had to look up at the London Eye Ferries wheel to see it. Hanging above him was a capsule(航天舱) full of diners who were served a new course each time a revolution was made. “I thought that was the coolest thing ever”, he says. Baras, who founded PopUpRepublic.com in 2012 to promote the idea of pop-up restaurants in the USA, has been studying them ever since.
Pop-ups, which have been around since at least the early 2000s, are open anywhere from a few hours to several months, but their defining feature is that they are temporary. They may be only a tiny part of the $709 billion U.S. restaurant industry, but pop-ups have gotten a boost in recent years as a lower-cost, lower-risk way for entrepreneurs to test the waters. Some restaurant owners see them as a way to renew interest in existing locations. And some struggling cities, like Oakland, California, have turned to them to help revitalize local economies impacted by the recession(衰退).
The concept has been especially popular with up-and-coming chefs who want to test-drive as a menu concept without investing a fortune in a permanent space. “Your cooks and chefs are really talented, but they’re stuck in the back of somebody else’s kitchen cooking somebody else’s menu,” says Zach Kupperman, chief businessman officer and co-founder of Dinner Lab.
Chefs in Dinner Lab cook in the middle of space, give a brief introduction about the menu and themselves — and then bravely listen to diner feedback afterward. Pop-ups’ temporary nature also allows restaurateurs to charge a deposit to make sure the diners will show up.
Of course, trends in the food industry come and go quickly, and there is no guarantee that diners won’t tire of the concept. Some entrepreneurs have resorted to even weirder locations — in a former limestone mine, say, or at the top of a crane — to keep customers interested. “It’s not quite part of the mainstream economy yet.” says Baras.
1. What does the underlined part “a revolution was made” in Paragraph One possibly mean?| A．Chefs designed creative dishes. |
| B．Diners tasted food in a new and creative way. |
| C．The capsule containing diners made a circle. |
| D．Great changes were made in the food industry. |
| A．pop-ups are becoming increasingly popular with diners worldwide |
| B．they have the desire to explore a safer way to make a living |
| C．their investment in pop-ups will bring them a long-lasting fortune |
| D．pop-ups provide a changeable test field for talented chefs’ creativity |
| A．to appeal to people to dine out in pop-up restaurants |
| B．to give a brief introduction of pop-up restaurants |
| C．to warn business owners of the appearance of pop-up restaurants |
| D．to foresee the future of pop-up restaurants’ development |
【推荐1】Every March, the country celebrates the accomplishments of women in American history. Even though these accomplishments go back a long way, most schools didn’t start focusing on women pioneers and their achievements until recently. Today, most colleges offer classes in women’s history and most schools teach kids about the many contributions women have made to our country.
On March 19, 1911，a German woman named Clara Zetkin organized the very first International Women’s Day. Inspired by American working women, the annual event took on the causes of peace and women’s rights. In the 1960s, the women's movement caused women to wonder why they weren’t included in the history books.
By the 1970s, more female historians began to look back at the contributions of women in history. In 1978，a California school district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials picked the week of March 8 to include International Women's Day. It was so popular that, in 1981, Congress passed a law making the week a celebration for the entire country. The concept of studying women's history continued to grow in popularity. In 1987, a group of women asked Congress to amplify the celebration. That same year, Congress declared the entire month of March National Women's History Months
Today, schools and communities across the country celebrate the month with special lessons and activities designed to teach the ways women have helped shape the U.S. The women who have worked hard to make women’s History Month a reality would like to see women’s history all year, not just every March. In 1996, the National Women’s History Museum was founded. It’s a non-profit organization devoted to preserving and celebrating the various contributions of women in history. The organization is working with Congress to open a permanent museum site in Washington, D. C.
1. What does the first paragraph imply?| A．Women's achievements used to be ignored in America. |
| B．More women pioneers are needed in America. |
| C．Celebrating women's achievements has a long history in America. |
| D．Few American schools pay attention to women s contributions. |
| A．is held every second year |
| B．has a history of over a century |
| C．was started by an American |
| D．was a product of women's movement |
| A．organize | B．support |
| C．expand | D．protect |
| A．It was set up less than two decades ago. |
| B．It focuses on women’s historic contributions. |
| C．It is an organization aimed at making profits. |
| D．It has a permanent site in Washington, D. C. |
In China, family is everything. In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me how they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents. Many times the subjects in the classes center on families and friends. I teach many students a year, talking to them freely.
The cost of living here is very low compared with that of the US. The city of Xiang Fan I live in isn’t large and I live better. Non-imported(非出口的) foods are very cheap, so are clothing and articles of everyday use. The cost of public transportation is very low, too. Chinese value education. However, it is reported that many children can’t afford the expenses of schooling and are forced to leave school in some poor areas in China. But they organized Project Hope many years ago. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school. In my opinion, Project Hope is of great importance to the development of the rural education.
When we read news of China in the west, rarely, if ever, will we see anything mentioned of the positive changes China has gone through. While it is true that economic miracles have not reached many areas of China, but we also have the same problems.
When I am asked which country I consider better. China or the US, my answer has always been the same, “We are not worse or better than each other, we are only different.”
1. How does the author find Chinese people ?
| A．He thinks most Chinese people hardly work. |
| B．He praises most Chinese people a lot. |
| C．He thinks most Chinese people are proud. |
| D．He dislikes most Chinese people. |
| A．Imported foods |
| B．Local foods |
| C．Public transportation tickets. |
| D．Clothes and shoes made in China. |
| A．the westerners have got to know China well |
| B．China’s economic miracles have appeared everywhere |
| C．the education in rural areas is never cared about in China |
| D．the progress of China is seldom reported in the US |
| A．China is better than the US |
| B．China is different from the US |
| C．Americans are richer than Chinese |
| D．China bears great similarities to the US |
| Name of the country | The People’s Republic of China |
| Capital city | Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China. 43.5 meters above sea level, Beijing covers an area of 16,808 square kilometers and has a resident population of 21.7 million (the year 2017). Under the city’s control there are 10 districts and 8 counties. Beijing’s history as a city can date back to 3,000 years ago. Its time-honored history left Beijing plenty of historical relics and colorful customs. As the center of the country, here gathers the offices of the Party, the Government and the Military, as well as headquarters of national companies, industrial associations and financial institutions. Beijing is in the central place of the nation’s financial decisions and macro-control. It is also China’s most prosperous city in terms of science, education and culture, because it covers all subjects of sciences and has strong research capabilities. Beijing is the communication pivot between China and the international community and, the most important center for international exchanges. |
| Population | China has a population over 1.39 billion people (the year 2017), and over 58.52% of the total (the year 2017) are distributed in urban area. Strict population controls was in place for several decades, but now two-child policy has been carried out. |
| Area | China has a territory area of 9.6 million square km, second to Russia and Canada, with a sea area of about 4.73 million square kilometers. |
| Location | In East Asia, border on the west Pacific Ocean |
National flag | The National Flag of the PRC is a red rectangle emblazoned with five stars. The proportion of its length and height is 3 to 2. The upper left of the face of the Flag is set with five yellow five-pointed stars. One of the stars is bigger than the others, with its circumcircle’s diameter being three-tenth of the height of the Flag, and is placed in the left; the other four stars are smaller, with their circumcircle’s diameter being one-tenth of the height of the Flag, surrounding the big star on its right in the shape of an arch. |
| National anthem | March of the Volunteers (lines: Arise, those who do not want to be slaves! We will use our flesh and blood to build another Great Wall. China has reached the brink of national collapse. All the people have been making their last outcry. Arise! Arise! Arise! All our hearts become one. Let us face the enemy’s gunfire. March on! Let us face the enemy’s gunfire. March on! March on! March on! On!) |
| National Emblem | The National Emblem of the PRC features Tiananmen Gate beneath the five shining stars, encircled by ears of grain and with a cogwheel at the bottom. The ears of grain, stars, Tiananmen and cogwheel are gold; the field within the circle is red, as are the ribbons festooning the bottom of the circle.
|
| National flower | Peony |
| National Animal | giant pandas |
| Ethnic groups | There are 56 ethnic groups in China. The Han people make up 92 percent of the country’s total population, totaling 1159.4 million; and the other 55 ethnic groups, 8 percent, totaling 106.43 million. |
| Languages | Of the 56 ethnic groups in China, the Hui and Manchu use the same language as Han people, while the rest groups have their own spoken and written languages. |
| Written languages | 23 ethnic groups have their own characters. |
| Religion | The main religions are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Christianity, and Catholicism. Chinese citizens’ right of the freedom of religious belief is protected by the Constitution and laws. |
| Main festivals | New Year’s Day (January 1), the Spring Festival (the New Year’s Day by Chinese lunar calendar), International Labor Day (May 1), and the National Day (October 1) |
| Currency | Renminbi (RMB) yuan |
| Time difference | 8 hours earlier than the Greenwich |
| Climate | Most of the country is in the temperate zone, although geographically the country stretches from the tropical and subtropical zones in the south to the frigid zone in the north. |
| Topography | High in its west and low in its east: mountain areas 33.3%, plateaus 26%, basins 18.8%, plains 12% and hills 9.9%. |
| Mountains | Among the 19 mountains over 7,000 meters high in the world, seven are in China. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as “the roof of the world”, has many high mountains. The Himalayas, with an average elevation of 6,000 meters, have the world’s highest peak Mount Qomolangma, 8,848 meters above sea level. |
| Rivers | The Yangtze River, 6,300 km long, is the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon. The Yellow River, the second longest in China, stretching 5,464 km. |
| Canal | The Grand Canal, 1,801 km long, is the longest man-made river in the world. Its cutting began in the fifth century BC. |
| Lakes | The Poyang Lake on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is China’s largest freshwater lake, with an area of 3583 sq. km; the Qinghai Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is the country’s largest salt lake, covering 4583 sq. km. |
| History | China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations with a chronicled history of more than 5,000 years. China has gone over a long history of primitive society, slavery society, feudal society and semi-feudal semi-colonial society and the present socialist society. In 221 BC, Qinshihuang established the Qin Dynasty, the first feudal autocracy in Chinese history, therefore unveiling a 2,000-year period of feudalism which was to last through a succession of dynasties such as the Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, a period which finally met its end in the bourgeois democratic Revolution of 1911 by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. October 1, 1949 saw the founding of the People’s Republic of China. |
| Famous Tourist Attractions | Tiananmen Square, Badaling Great Wall, the Imperial Palace, the Summer Palace, the Water Cube, Chengde Imperial Summer Resort, Hulunbuir Pasture Land, Shenyang Imperial Palace, the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower, Mount Huang, Mount Lu, Mount Tai, the Longmen Grottoes, the Three Gorges, the Potala Palace, figurines of soldiers and horses from the Qin Mausoleum. |
| Traditional Festivals | Spring Festival, New Year’s Day, Lantern Festival, National Day, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Tomb-Sweeping Festival. |
2. Describe the National Emblem and its meaning.
3. Please list some main festivals of China?
4. Which time zone does China lie in?
5. What is The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau known as?
6. Which is the longest river in China?
7. Please list some famous tourist attractions in China.
8. Please list some typical traditional festivals.
【推荐1】As the latest crop of students pen their undergraduate application form and weigh up their options, it may be worth considering just now the point, purpose and value of a degree has changed and what Generation Z need to consider as they start the third stage of their educational journey.
Millennials were told that if you did well in school, got a decent degree, you would be set up for life. But that promise has been found wanting. As degrees became universal, they became devalued. Education was no longer a secure route of social mobility. Today, 28 percent of graduates in the UK are in non-graduate roles, a percentage which is double the average among OECD countries.
This is not to say that there is no point in getting a degree, but rather stress that a degree is not for everyone, that the switch from classroom to lecture hall is not an inevitable one and that other options are available.
Thankfully, there are signs that this is already happening, with Generation Z seeking to learn from their millennial predecessors (前辈), even if parents and teachers tend to be still set in the degree mindset. Employers have long seen the advantages of hiring school leavers who often prove themselves to be more committed and loyal employees than graduates. Many too are seeing the advantages of scrapping a degree requirement for certain roles.
For those for whom a degree is the desired route, consider that this may well be the first of many. In this age of generalists, it pays to have specific knowledge or skills. Postgraduates now earn 40 per cent more than graduates. When more and more of us have a degree, it makes sense to have two.
It is unlikely that Generation Z will be done with education at 18 or 21; they will need to be constantly up-skilling throughout their career to stay employable. It has been estimated that this generation, due to the pressures of technology, the wish for personal fulfillment and desire for diversity, will work for 17 different employers over the course of their working life and have five different careers. Education, and not just knowledge gained on campus, will be a core part of Generation Z’s career trajectory (轨道).
Older generations often talk about their degree in the present and personal tense: “I am a geographer” or “I am a classist”. Their sons or daughters would never say such a thing; it’s as if they already know that their degree won’t define them in the same way.
1. The percentage of UK graduates in non-graduate roles reflect ________.| A．the shrinking value of a degree |
| B．Millennial’s opinions about work |
| C．the desired route of social mobility |
| D．public dissatisfaction with education |
| A．school leavers are willing to be skilled workers |
| B．Generation Z are seeking to earn a decent degree |
| C．parents are changing their minds about education |
| D．employers are taking a realistic attitude to degrees |
| A．The employers’ preference for high school leavers. |
| B．A wider variety of choices besides pursuing a degree |
| C．A change in parents attitudes towards college education. |
| D．More emphasis put on lecture hall rather than classroom. |
| A．They will have a limited choice of jobs. |
| B．Lifelong learning will determine what they are. |
| C．They will focus more on personal accomplishment. |
| D．Education will no longer be a core part in their life. |
【推荐2】If you had to pick one, who do you think is greater in terms of their contributions to the Western world: British physicist Isaac Newton or Greek philosopher Aristotle?
Chances are that you’d find it hard to make a decision, at least right away.
But somehow, when choosing a major in college, the line between the two areas of study couldn’t be clearer. Science majors － the likes of technology, engineering, math － are considered to be more practical choices because of the wealth of opportunities, while those who choose a liberal arts (文科) major － language, music, philosophy － may have more difficulty finding a job.
But perhaps we should look at liberal arts studies in another way to understand its value. In the BBC’s documentary Civilizations, for example, presenters (主持人) take us to 31 countries on six continents to appreciate human creativity in its tangible(有形的) form, such as Angkor Wat (吴哥窟) in Cambodia, and the Suleymaniye mosque (苏莱曼清真寺) in Turkey.
To Simon Schama, one of the presenters, human civilization isn’t just about technological inventions or meeting basic needs, but about creating things for the purpose of leaving a person’s “mark of their existence for future humans to witness and admire”.
By comparing science and liberal arts, we’re drawing “an artificial (人为的) line” between the two, wrote Loretta Jackson-Hayes, an associate professor of chemistry at Rhodes College in Memphis, US, on the Washington Post website. And to some of the greatest innovators (革新者) in history, this line never existed in the first place.
Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was just as successful a scientist as he was a painter. He was so interested in biology and anatomy (解剖学) that he drew the famous Vitruvian Man, part of his study of the proportions (比例) of the human body. Then there’s Steve Jobs, who, despite being an engineer, was also an artist. He summarized his view on the relationship between science and the arts in 2011: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough － it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields (提供) us the result that makes our heart sing.”
1. What advantage are science majors believed to have over liberal arts majors?| A．More opportunities for practice. |
| B．Better job prospects. |
| C．More choices to satisfy students’ interests. |
| D．Greater chance for making contributions to society. |
| A．Finding creativity in what ancestors have created. |
| B．Creating a tangible heritage for future generations. |
| C．Getting inspiration for technological inventions. |
| D．Drawing people’s attention to human history. |
| A．Science and liberal arts are divided in a logical way. |
| B．Science and liberal arts are not totally unrelated to each other. |
| C．It makes sense to separate science from liberal arts. |
| D．There is no real difference between science and liberal arts. |
| A．Great innovators must know both science and liberal arts. |
| B．Science plays an important role in advancing liberal arts. |
| C．Liberal arts studies are essential to inventing new things. |
| D．People can achieve great things through both science and liberal arts. |
| A．Contributions to the Western world |
| B．The greatest innovators (革新者) in history |
| C．Liberal arts’ hidden value |
| D．Technological inventions |
【推荐3】Société Cartier designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewellery and watches. Founded in Paris, France in 1847 by Louis-François Cartier, the company remained under family control until 1964. The company maintains its headquarters in Paris and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Compagnie Financière Richemont SA.
Cartier is well known for its jewellery and wrist watches, including the “Bestiary” (best illustrated by the Panthère brooch of the 1940s created for Wallis Simpson), the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder Singh the Maharaja of Patiala and the first practical wristwatch, the “Santos,” of 1904.
Cartier has a long history of sales to royalty and celebrities. King Edward VII of England referred to Cartier as “the jeweler of kings and the king of jewelers.” For his coronation in 1902, Edward VII ordered 27 tiaras and issued a royal warrant to Cartier in 1904. Similar warrants soon followed from the courts of Spain, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Greece, Serbia, Belgium, Romania, Egypt, Albania, Monaco, and the House of Orleans.
In 1986, the French Ministry for Culture appointed Perrin head of the “Mission sur le mecenatd’ entreprise” (a commission to study business patronage of the arts). Two years later, Cartier acquired a majority holding in Piaget and Baume & Mercier. In 1990 the Musee du Petit Palais staged the first major exhibition of the Cartier collection, “l’Art de Cartier”.
Perrin founded an international committee in 1991, Comite International de la Haute Horlogerie, to organise its first salon, held on 15 April 1991. This has become an annual meeting place in Geneva for professionals. The next year, the second great exhibition of “l’Art de Cartier” was held at the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. In 1993, the “Vendome Luxury Group” was formed as an umbrella company to combine Cartier, Alfred Dunhill, Montblanc, Piaget, Baume & Mercier, Karl Lagerfeld, Chloé, Sulka, Hackett, Seeger.
In 1995, a major exhibition of the Cartier Antique Collection was held in Asia. The next year, the Lausanne Hermitage Foundation in Switzerland hosted the exhibition “Splendours of the Jewellery”, presenting a hundred and fifty years of products by Cartier. As of 2012, Cartier is owned, through Richemont, by the South African Rupert family and 24-year-old who is the granddaughter of Pierre Cartier, Elle Pagels.
1. Which one of the following features distinguishes Cartier from other ordinary brands?| A．It is well known for its jewelry, wrist watches and wearable products. |
| B．It began to sell products to royalty and celebrities years ago. |
| C．Cartier became a member of the “Vendome Luxury Group” in 1991. |
| D．Cartier received warrant mainly from Asian countries. |
| A．Cartier has a history of more than 400 years. |
| B．Cartier has always been under family control and it designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewellery and watches. |
| C．The Musee du Petit Palais staged the first major exhibition of the Cartier collection four years after Perrin was appointed head of the “Mission sur le mecenatd ’entreprise”. |
| D．The exhibition “Splendours of the Jewellery” presented products from Chloé, Sulka and Hackett. |
| A．Cartier, a local Paris brand. | B．Cartier, a brand standing the test of time. |
| C．Cartier, a brand with modern technology. | D．Cartier, a shining star in exhibitions. |
【推荐1】Finding the Real You
Psychometric testing—personality testing—has been very popular nowadays as studies show their results to be three times more accurate in predicting your job performance. These tests are now included in almost all graduate recruitment（招聘）and are widely used in the selection of managers.
The most popular of these personality tests is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator（MBTI）. It is based on the theory that we are born with a tendency to one personality type which stays more or less fixed throughout life. You answer 88 questions and are then given your “type”, such as Outgoing or Quiet, Feeling or Thinking.
Critics of personality testing raise doubts about “social engineering”. Psychologist Dr. Colin Gill warns that the “popular” personality traits（特性）have their disadvantages. “People who are extremely open to new experiences can be butterflies, going from one idea to the next without mastering any of them.” However, the psychometric test is here to stay, which may be why a whole sub-industry on cheating personality tests has sprung up. “It's possible to cheat,” admits Gill, “but having to pretend to be the person you are at work will be tiring and unhappy and probably short-lived.”
So can we change our personality? “Your basic personality is fixed by the time you're 21,” says Gill, “but it can be affected by motivation and intelligence. If you didn't have the personality type to be a doctor but desperately wanted to be one and were intelligent enough to master the skills, you could still go ahead. But trying to go too much against type for too long requires much energy is actually to be suffered for long. I think it's why we're seeing this trend for downshifting—too many people trying to fit into a type that they aren't really suited for.”
Our interest in personality now exists in every part of our lives. If you ask an expert for advice on anything, you'll probably be quizzed about your personality. But if personality tests have any value to us, perhaps it is to free us from the idea that all of us are full of potential, and remind us of what we are. As they say in one test when they ask for your age: pick the one you are, not the one you wish you were.
1. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is based on the belief that _______ .| A．certain personality traits are common |
| B．personality is largely decided from birth |
| C．some personality types are better than others |
| D．personality traits are various from time to time |
| A．Employers often find the results unclear. |
| B．They may have a negative effect on takers. |
| C．People can easily lie about their true abilities. |
| D．The results could be opposite to what. employers want. |
| A．It's impossible in your childhood. |
| B．It's easy if you have great motivation. |
| C．It's difficult before the age of 21. |
| D．It's unlikely in your adult life because it requires much energy. |
| A．They are not really worth doing. |
| B．They may encourage greater realism. |
| C．They are of doubtful value to employers. |
| D．They can strengthen the idea we have of our abilities. |
【推荐2】
The idea of using radio or wireless to broadcast to audiences was formed in 1916 by a president of the American Marconi Company, David Sarnoff. His superiors were doubtful about his idea to “make radio a household cause, so that by purchase of a ‘radio music box’, the audience could enjoy lectures, music performance, etc.”
Four years later the American engineer Frank Conrad, an employee at W E Corp, attracted considerable attention when a local newspaper reported on the growing audience listening on crystal radio sets to his evening and weekend amateur broadcasts. A local music store had provided records to play on the Victoria, and Conrad and his family served as disc jockeys(唱片音乐播音员). Westinghouse vice president Harry Davis asked Conrad to build a more powerful transmitter(发射台)in time to announce the outcome of the next US presidential election. Conrad completed his assignment, and on November 2, 1920, station KDKA in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, broadcast the announcement that Warren G. Harding had been elected president. About 1000 people heard this first news broadcast.
Radio communicated news much faster than did newspapers, and because crystal sets were easy to build and inexpensive, radio expanded rapidly in the following years. To stimulate the sale of radio sets, equipment manufactures provided transmitting facilities. Singers, comedians, and entire orchestras volunteered their services for publicity. The eventual financial basis of the new industry, however, was still unclear. One group in New York City tried to seek contributions from listeners while others urged that private foundations support radio stations as a public service. In August 1922 the first commercial radio advertisement was broadcast on WEAF (now WNBC) in New York City. In 1926, when about 5 million homes had radios, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), in cooperation with the American Telephone & Telegraph Company, established the first commercial radio network. In the 1920s radio was established as a new mass medium had a practicable industry, and it became a national forum(论坛)for news and popular culture.
1. The passage is mainly concerned with _______.| A．the contribution of radio to popular culture |
| B．the invention and uses of radio |
| C．early radio programs for a mass audience |
| D．the history of radio broadcasting |
| A．Frank Conrad | B．David Sarnoff | C．Harry Davis | D．Warren Harding |
| A．people could easily get it in stores | B．it was cheaper than newspapers |
| C．it had advantages over newspapers | D．people were interested in anything new |
| A．the private foundations were unwilling to support the stations |
| B．the stations were not sure yet where to get the operational money |
| C．advertising and commercial programs could not raise enough money |
| D．the listeners would not pay for the broadcasting stations |
【推荐3】Imagine your body is like the house you live in. Every day, your family creates rubbish. The rubbish builds up until it is put out for the weekly garbage collection.
Now, say you put three bags of garbage out, but because one of the collectors was away sick, only two bags are collected. You take the leftover bag inside to be put out again next week. The following week you put out another three bags, plus the leftover bag from last week. But again, only two bags are collected. Imagine this cycle is repeated over the following weeks.
This is a simple description of what happens to your body when your kidneys (肾) don’t work efficiently. Your body is not thoroughly emptied of waste products. Other areas of the body such as blood pressure and red blood cell production are affected and the insidious process that may lead to kidney failure begins.
It’s not uncommon for people to lose up to 90 percent of their kidney function before developing any symptoms. There may be no warning signs. This makes early detection(诊察) difficult.
Kidney’s main job is to remove toxins (毒素) and unwanted water from our blood. Every day our kidneys clean an average of 200 litres of blood. Kidney failure may be a gradual and silent process, going unnoticed because there is no apparent pain.
Research shows that more than 25 percent of patients found to require dialysis (透析) do not see a kidney specialist until less than 90 days before dialysis starts. Some risk factors for kidney disease such as age and genetic make-up are out of our control; however, some changes in lifestyle may help prevent kidney damage. Two major risk factors for kidney disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, have been on the rise over the last few decades. Both conditions are chiefly affected by being overweight and not getting enough exercise, which are the potential factors for the disease.
1. The author gives the example of the house we live in to indicate that ________.| A．it’s safe and harmless for our body to keep some waste |
| B．it doesn’t matter much if the waste in our body is not emptied in time |
| C．it’s important for our body to empty the waste in time every day |
| D．our body will not produce any waste if our kidneys work efficiently |
| A．gradual and unnoticed | B．apparent and fast |
| C．smooth and safe | D．painful and long |
| A．the kidney failure begins |
| B．the kidneys may have been seriously damaged |
| C．we have lost about 10 percent of kidney function |
| D．the kidneys can still work properly |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．Go to see a kidney specialist shortly before dialysis starts. |
| B．Go to see a kidney specialist whenever you find any warning sign. |
| C．Try to keep low blood pressure and a stable lifestyle. |
| D．Take enough exercise and make early detection of kidney disease. |
