I like writing; I like meeting people; I like discovering new things, then telling everyone about them; and I couldn’t keep a secret if you paid me. So I became a journalist.
I wrote for my school magazine, did unpaid work on my local paper, took a master’s degree, got a part-time job, and then became a full-time journalist.
Or at least that is what my resume would say; but the life of a journalist is more exciting than that---even if that excitement can come with a side of pain and frustration.
I have lost count of the numbers of e-mails I have had ignored. I have spent hours at meetings listening as hard as I could for a story——only to go home empty-handed.
Once I ran around knocking on doors in a dark, dangerous-looking street in the snow to find a woman who (my editor had told me) “woke at night to find water pouring on her head”. Somehow I found her. I took photos. I interviewed her, the building owner and the fireman. I wrote the story...then I opened the paper to find it at the back, which on name on it, only 100 words long.
Strangely, though, that challenge made me want to keep going. If you do succeed, the rewards of journalism are truly great.
I once wrote about an old people’s home where residents, including a 90-year-old blind man, were living in rooms that were full of fleas, and being told to do their own repairs. A week after the story was published, the residents phoned me, overjoyed. The managers had apologized and promised to change their ways.
Journalism can be dangerous and dull, and the pay (at least in the UK) is usually terrible. But it’s also one of the most thrilling, rewarding jobs around. For me, there is no better career than making a difference- and telling the world about it.
1. What is the article mainly about?| A．Getting started in a career in journalism |
| B．The author’s colorful experiences as a journalist. |
| C．How you can be a good journalist. |
| D．Why life is easier for male journalist. |
| A．unfair treatment |
| B．fruitless efforts |
| C．misunderstanding |
| D．danger and risks |
| A．she gets to see her name printed |
| B．she earns a lot through writing fun stories |
| C．she can meet different people and hear their stories |
| D．she can help others and bring about changes in people’s lives |
| A．is not good at keeping secrets. |
| B．does not mind the challenges in her career. |
| C．is not appreciated by her editor. |
| D．is interested in exciting and dangerous work. |
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【推荐1】Latest research provides some good news for those who hope to someday live in a world where women coders and surgeons are as plentiful as their male workmates: Today s elementary school girls are actually more interested in pursuing a STEM（science, tech, engineering, math）career than their male classmates are.
What’s more, while young boys’ ideal jobs have stayed relatively unfluctuating over the past 20 years of the century, young girls’ career dreams have grown more ambitious. Back in 1998, a study found that 11-year-old boys were most interested in becoming an athlete, a service member, or an engineer. Now, a new survey of children 10 and younger found that boys` career dreams have stayed relatively stable. In this study, girls said they aspired（渴望）to be teachers, nurses and hairdressers.
Also notable: Overall, girls are more likely to say they are interested in a STEM job than their male workmates. Indeed, 41% of girls express interest in technical careers, vs. 32% of boys.
"Yet while girls’ increased interest in scientific careers is clearly something to celebrate, there is still progress to be made to make it a reality," said Simon Isaacs, a researcher. "We can celebrate the girls’ focus on STEM, but if we look at children aged 1 through 10 right now, we still have a long way to go with regard to getting girls involved in engineering, computer programming and other tech fields." Other recent studies have similarly found that despite their great interest in STEM careers, most American girls believe they are relatively unlikely to end up in a job that requires computer science or engineering skills simply because they don’t think these jobs belong to girls. "Even as we talk about being a generation that is growing up more gender-non-conformist（无性别意识的）than any other generation, we aren`t necessarily seeing that translate into what kids want to be," said Isaacs.
Isaacs said that he decided to pursue this research to better understand how today’s culture of role models—who are as diverse as Mark Zuckerberg and Malala Yousafzai—are hugely shaping the next generation of students’ career ambitions.
"What we find at the elementary level is that kids are often basing their aspirations on whatever they’ve been exposed to in the media," said Tony Wagner, an expert. Wagner says that gender standards described in the media have begun to change, specifically with regard to female characters in medicine and science. Wagner has found that girls are more interested in careers that are described as having a direct human connection, like medicine and education. "What they don’t understand is that much of engineering and other STEM work, is profoundly human-centered. The problem lies in how it’s taught," he said.
1. According to the latest study________.| A．there will be more female engineers and doctors than males in the future |
| B．more girls show interest in having a job in STEM related areas than boys. |
| C．boys’ career choices have greatly changed compared with those of 20 years ago. |
| D．most girls would like to become teachers, nurses and hairdressers in the future. |
| A．necessary | B．unchanging | C．wider | D．impossible |
| A．more boys under 10 years old prefer STEM |
| B．there are more girls in tech fields than boys |
| C．girls who will really work on STEM are not as many as imagined |
| D．many boys can’t end up with STEM careers, either |
| A．we can’t see the change in careers between girls and boys |
| B．gender difference still exists in career tendency |
| C．there is no sex difference in career choices for kids |
| D．we can’t expect that all children like STEM |
| A．Social culture. | B．School education. |
| C．Family influence. | D．Economic development. |
【推荐2】The world is filled with smart, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago，my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic fixed it in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine sound. I was amazed. The sad truth is that great talent is not enough.
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade told me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant (顾问) who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”
There is an old saying that goes, “JOB means ‘Just Over Broke (破产)’”. And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because schools do not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend that young people seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.
1. The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that .| A．he is just one of the talented people |
| B．he is ready to help others |
| C．he has a sharp sense of hearing |
| D．he knows little about car repairing |
| A．spend more than they can afford |
| B．do in their own way |
| C．live in their own circle |
| D．live within what they earn |
| A．They don’t work hard enough. |
| B．They lack financial intelligence. |
| C．They don’t make full use of their talents. |
| D．They have no specialized skills. |
| A．how young people can find a satisfactory job |
| B．what schools should teach about finance |
| C．why so many talented people are poor |
| D．how McDonald’s makes much money |
【推荐3】When I was at school, I hated art. Growing up in north Wales, I was not able to rate higher than an E in my final exams. I wasn’t too upset; I thought I wasn’t going to choose it as a career.
By the time I was about four, I started sleepwalking. At night, I used to go under the stairs and scribble (乱画) on the wall. When I was 15, I was no longer just making scribbles. I was drawing anything from pictures of Marilyn Monroe to unrealistic paintings. I showed some to my art teachers. They said: “Why can’t you do this in class?” It was something I struggled to understand myself. I tried so hard to draw when I was awake, practising and using the same tools. But no matter what I did, I was unable to recreate the drawings.
Once I left school, I became a nurse, mainly helping people with brain injuries. I also met my partner. He is unbelievably supportive of my art and sleepwalking habits—he often films me as I work. And when I begin to paint in my sleep, I’ll use any tools I can find, sometimes knives and forks. That’s the only thing that worries my partner—that I’ll accidentally hurt myself. I have gone to various sleep clinics to try to get to the bottom of what’s happening, but nothing out of the ordinary was found health-wise. Alcohol or lack of sleep does bring the sleepwalking on more, though, so I am careful about that.
I have learned to hug my unusual talent and set up my first art exhibition in 2007 at my local in library to raise money for cancer research. Within a week, I had 160 calls from different media outlets and organizations wanting to hear about my art. I was over the moon. I then decided to leave my very fulfilling job in nursing and become a full-time artist.
1. Why wasn’t the author upset about her art final exams?| A．She got used to her E in art. | B．She had little interest in her study. |
| C．She was confident in herself. | D．She was unwilling to work in art field. |
| A．They felt worried about them. | B．They expressed doubt about them. |
| C．They were indifferent about them. | D．They showed confidence about them. |
| A．Extremely pleased. | B．Really concerned. | C．Highly annoyed. | D．Greatly shocked. |
| A．She always enjoys painting. | B．She is often injured by sleepwalking. |
| C．She has no trouble in sleepwalking now. | D．She makes full use of her sleepwalking talent. |
【推荐1】In the last three years, I have read approximately 150 books. Reading almost every day in the last three years has increased my reading comprehension. It has also improved my own writing skills. This has boosted my confidence and encouraged me to start writing more often. I am now writing a fiction book. I write and edit for Odyssey, and I am an officer for the SNHU Book Club. This has also helped me become a better student. I’m able to read and comprehend the text more for each class, and do well on the assignments because of my better writing skills. I truly love it, and can’t imagine where I would be right now if I hadn’t become a bookworm.
Because I read so much, I have decided to start doing a written version of a book haul (读书分享会). In short, a book haul is a review of the books read each month. They are typically done as a video, but until I have the proper equipment to do that, I will be writing mine. At the end of each month I will discuss the books I read, the books I bought, or received, and then ask for your thoughts and suggestions.
January was a busy month for me. I only finished one book, Mark of Distinction by Jessica Dotta. It’s the second book in the Price of Privilege trilogy. I bought Carve the Mark, Veronica Roth’s new book, and An Unquiet Mind, a psychology based book by Kay Redfield Jamison. I plan on reading these in February, as well as the third section of the Red Queen series, King’s Cage by Victoria Aveyard, which will be released on February 7. I am so excited for it!
If you’ve read any of the books I ever mention, feel free to reach out either on here, or Twitter! I love chatting about books!
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us about the author?| A．How she writes for a magazine. | B．How she becomes a bookworm. |
| C．How she benefits from reading. | D．How she improves academic performance. |
| A．It’s done as a video. | B．It’s represented in written form. |
| C．It’s a face-to-face review. | D．It’s all about the already-read books. |
| A．It is culture-specific. | B．It is psychology-based. |
| C．It is a series of books. | D．It is to be released soon. |
| A．To introduce her book haul. | B．To share her reading experience. |
| C．To invite people to be her pen-pal. | D．To attract readers to join her book haul. |
【推荐2】Fredric Roi Marquez joined a program to serve food to people at Greenspring Retirement Community, a center operated by the company Erickson Living. By doing so, the high school student hoped to earn a scholarship for college. But the program gave him more than he expected, he learned to pay attention, be patient and move fast.
Roy and Lynn O'Connor moved to the Greenspring center 12 years ago. Many students keep residents updated about their lives. They talk about school projects, exams and even family issues, share their hopes and seek advice from the residents. “It's a great atmosphere to have your dinner being served at night by those enthusiastic polite and considerate young people.” he said.
Lynn O'Connor said the students truly care about the people in the community. She recalled a day when one of the young people spent much extra time explaining the menu to one of the residents. “We're like grandparents to them，” she said.
Marquez also began building special relationships with the residents. “I get to call so many residents I got close to ‘grandma’ and ‘grandpa’. ”
“Greenspring is one of many senior living communities in America that are getting residents to socialize more with young people. About 4,500 students have taken part in the program at three Erickson Living Centers in the Washington, 
area.” Courtney Benhoff, a spokesperson for the company, said the program starting 20 years ago offers students the chance to gain scholarships.
Thirtyone students will receive scholarships this year. Each one will receive $10,000 in scholarship money during the four years of college. Residents help raise the money for the program. The residents also choose the students who receive scholarships. In return, the students learn valuable lessons in life.
1. What does Fredric Roi Marquez mainly do at the center?| A．Serve food to the senior. | B．Socialize with the residents. |
| C．Explain menu to the residents. | D．Earn a scholarship for college. |
| A．They keep the senior's life updated. | B．They are considerate to the residents. |
| C．They can learn a lot from the senior. | D．They deserve to win the scholarships. |
| A．It gives students the opportunity to earn scholarships. |
| B．It was set up thirty years ago by Courtney Benhoff. |
| C．It is supported by the government. |
| D．It enables residents to communicate with more young people. |
| A．Being Treated Like Family Members | B．Building Relationship with Seniors |
| C．Grandparentstudent Relationship | D．Scholarship Program Bridges Generations |
【推荐3】After eight puppies were abandoned on the side of the road in Texas, an animal shelter came to the rescue and brought them all the way from Brownwood, Texas to Wintersville, Ohio. Their journey was, by no means, a simple one.
The puppies were first found fighting for their lives in a muddy channel. They were extremely weak and dehydrated after being forced to protect themselves in the burning Texas sun. Once the puppies were discovered, their journey was far from over. They were immediately brought to what is known as a “high kill” shelter, and after only a few hours, were scheduled for euthanasia. Things weren’t looking good for the pups and were cruel despite lack of suffering. Luckily, they were rescued once more.
“There’s a group that specifically goes around to these high kill shelters and rescues the animals that are scheduled for euthanasia,” said Brandi Damewood, the JCHS Community Outreach Manager. “These guys were rescued by the Corrine T. Smith Animal Center.”
The puppies would eventually end up under the care of the Jefferson County Humane Society. This is because no-kill shelters and rescue organizations often work together to aid in urgent cases. An incredible network of shelters helping other shelters enables these miracle workers to save so many pets in danger of being put down prematurely.
The JCHS has appropriately titled the puppies’ journey “the freedom ride”. The 20-leg trip required 16 different volunteers to drive a total of 1,300 miles and they would meet at specified stops, and then the puppies would be transferred to the next driver for the next leg of the journey. But it was all worth it to save these adorable pups!
Since arriving in Ohio, the puppies have been vaccinated and are hoping to find forever homes in the near future.
1. The underlined word “euthanasia” in Para. 2 most probably means “________”.| A．practice of killing without pain | B．medical examination for an animal |
| C．physical care of a baby animal | D．supplies of food and housing for animals |
| A．Intolerant. | B．Doubtful. | C．Favourable. | D．Neutral. |
| A．volunteers worked together to find homes for abandoned puppies |
| B．abandoned puppies caused animal shelters too much trouble |
| C．shelters tried their best to cure eight abandoned animals in Texas |
| D．eight rescued puppies journeyed 1,300 miles in a “freedom ride” |
The owner of a house in Sonoma County, California called pest (害虫) control when they spotted worms coming from one of their bedroom walls. Those worms turned out to be meal worms, feeding on an unbelievable amount of acorns (橡树子), believed to be collected by a pair of woodpeckers.
“It was really strange. I had never really seen worms with acorns before,” Castro from the pest control said. But the strangeness was just beginning.
After making a small 4-inch-square hole in the wall, Castro said the acorns began spilling out. That alone wouldn’t be terribly unusual, but they “just kept coming,” he said.
“It was very unbelievable to see the amount,” said Castro. He guesses there were at least 700 pounds of acorns, likely collected over the past two to five years.
Often woodpeckers store acorns on the outside of homes, but hardly do they get them inside. In this case, Castro discovered the birds dropped their treasures through a hole in the chimney and entered the attic through a separate hole to eat.
As they dropped from the attic, tens of thousands of acorns gathered from several nearby oak trees filled the hole of the walls, Castro explained.
But this odd find took unusual to a whole new level for the man who has been working in the pest control industry for more than 20 years.
“On a scale from 1 to 10, this is a 10. It’s a one in a million chance to find something this unusual,” said Castro. “I expected to find a few handfuls, nothing like this.”
It took creating another three holes in the home’s walls to remove all the acorns, which piled and reached about 20 feet high, Castro believed.
Castro and his crew of three spent a full day collecting the nuts.
“We filled eight big black garbage bags. They were so heavy we could hardly pick them up,” said Castro. “They had to have weighed at least a hundred pounds each.”
The acorns were thrown away as they were covered in droppings and bits of fiberglass from the wall’s insulation.
1. Why did the owner called pest control?| A．He had too many acorns. | B．He was fed up with woodpeckers. |
| C．He saw worm coming out his wall. | D．He spotted holes on his wall. |
| A．worms hardly comes out from walls | B．acorns hardly get worms |
| C．woodpeckers doesn’t store acorns | D．acorns are hardly stored in walls |
| A．The acorns had seriously damaged the house. |
| B．The acorns were sold because there were lots of them. |
| C．Woodpeckers store acorns to get worms to eat. |
| D．Woodpeckers keep acorns often on the outside of a wall |
【推荐2】About 15 years ago, Andrew McLindon, a businessman and cycling enthusiast, was riding his bike in Austin, Texas, when he thought about a good friend’s 12-year-old son. The boy had never known the joy of biking because he suffered from hydrocephalus, a buildup of liquid in the brain that often causes balance disturbances.
When he got home, McLindon, now 60, went online and found a three-wheel bike with a seat belt, perfect for a child with balance issues. Soon the boy was pedaling around the street with his friends, having fun and getting exercise. But there was more, as McLindon obtained from his friend’s reaction. “To see his son interacting with other kids,” McLindon says, “I’ll never forget the smile on the boy’s face.”
That smile has contributed to launching the McLindon Family Foundation. Funded by donations, the group works with children’s clinics to find children who can benefit from owning an adaptive bike and help craft each bike to the particular needs of the special child. A bike may include a headrest, a shoulder harness, a seat belt, and a caregiver’s steering and braking mechanism in the back. The bikes are expensive—$3,000 to $4,000, and that’s with the foundation’s steep producer’s discount. For kids lucky enough to get one, they’re a life changer.
“We worked with a 14-year-old girl who has spina bifida (脊柱裂),” says McLindon. “She spent most days on the couch watching TV. Soon after she got her bike, she was training for professional sports training. In a magazine interview, she said, ‘I always knew there was an athlete in me.’”
So far, the foundation has given away 450 bikes, and that’s just a start. “I do a lot of things. I run a lot of companies,” McLindon says. “But getting these kids their bikes is the most important thing that I do.”
1. Which of the following led McLindon to start the foundation?| A．His enthusiasm for cycling. |
| B．The joy a bike brought to a kid. |
| C．The proposal from his good friend. |
| D．His son’s suffering from a brain disease. |
| A．They lack fund support. |
| B．They have safety issues. |
| C．They are very cheap and affordable. |
| D．They are designed for disabled kids. |
| A．She recovered physically. |
| B．She stopped watching TV. |
| C．Her athletic potential was developed. |
| D．Her desire to give was stimulated. |
| A．A bike seller. | B．Life-altering cycles. |
| C．Mentally-disabled kids. | D．An interactive platform. |
【推荐3】There were smiling children all the way, waving to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives. This is the simple village people of Malaysia. I was moved.
I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train. I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar face. I sighed and sat down to read my Economics.
It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia. Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight, immediately I came alive; I decided to wave back.
From then on my journey became interesting. I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life. Then everything came alive. The mountains seemed to speak to me. Even the trees were smiling. I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.
The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3:00 pm. Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth. I looked at the people all around me. They all looked beautiful. When my uncle arrived with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug. I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.
I looked forward to the return journey.
1. The author expected the train trip to be ________ .| A．adventurous | B．pleasant | C．exciting | D．dull |
| A．The friendly country people. | B．The mountains along the way. |
| C．The crowds of people in the streets. | D．The simple lunch served on the train. |
| A．Choose. | B．Experience. | C．Enjoy. | D．Dislike. |
| A．Comfort in traveling by train. | B．Pleasure of living in the country. |
| C．Reading gives people delight. | D．Smiles brighten people up. |
