1 .

http://www.businessaudiopro.com

Business Audio Pro

Enhance Your Company’s Image with a Professionally Recorded Telephone Greeting A professional, personalized voicemail message creates an excellent first impression. Business Audio Pro meets your specifications to record a customized telephone greeting within three business days! Services We Offer: 1. Professional Voice Talent for Voicemail Messages -We have numerous male and female voice actors with a wide range of tones, accents, and dialects. Visit businessaudiopro. com to hear examples of what each actor sounds like and choose the one that best suits your needs. 2. On-Hold Messages - We also create professional on-hold messages with pleasant music to enhance your customers’ experience. 3. Customized Script Writing -Our experienced script writers can help you craft a personalized message that distinguishes you and your business. 4. Multilingual Voice Production-For those with a multilingual customer base, we offer services in a wide range of languages. Send us an e-mail (inquiry@businessaudiopro.com) with your contact information and your specific needs. Arepresentative will call you within 24 hours to discuss your project and provide a price estimate.

To:                 inquiry@businessaudiopro.com

From:             j.annesly@anneslydata.com

Date:             June 25

Subject:        Request

I found your notice in the newspaper and wish to use your services for my data-processing and transcription business. I am looking specifically for a professionally recorded voicemail greeting intended for my clients, and I wonder if you would be available to write and record this for me, and how soon. Since I work with English-and Spanish-speaking clients, I would like the message to be recorded in both languages. Please reach out to me at my mobile phone between the hours of 10:00 A M. and 5:00 P M. I hope to hear from you soon, Thank you. Jody Annesly Annesly Data 512-555-6879(mobile) 342 Maymill Road. Fort Worth. TX 70609

1. From what is mentioned above, we can learn that Business Audio Pro.

A．is always ready to answer customers’ phone calls

B．has its professional services advertised in the newspaper

C．provides voice samples and estimated prices on its website

D．fills orders in three days’time to meet customers’ specific needs

2. What services does Ms. Annesly request from Business Audio Pro?
① Professional voice talent                            ② On-hold messages
③ Customized script writing                            ④ Multilingual Voice production

A．①②③

B．②③④

C．①②④

D．①③④

3. Who is Ms. Annesly most likely to be?

A．A business owner.	B．A data collector.
C．A sales assistant.	D．A customer service specialist.

2 .

Wonders of Australia 22 days from only £6.245 per person Day 1: Depart UK Days 2-5: Singapore Enjoy a city tour including Merlion Park, Marina Bay, and fabulous gardens. As an alternative, you may choose to stop in Dubai at no extra cost. Days 6-11: Melbourne Visit Victoria Markets and Federation Square. Perhaps take an optional excursion to explore Fairy Penguin Parade. Day 12-14: The Ghan Experience one of the world’s most impressive rail journeys. Covering 1,555 kilometres, we see the everchanging landscape as we journey north. Enjoy all inclusive Gold Service with on board meals included as are a wide selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Day 15-17: Uluru (Ayers Rock) We enjoy a refreshing glass of sparkling wine and witness the changing colours as the sun sets. There is a chance to explore the rock in the morning, before visiting the impressive Olgas. Days 18-21: Cairns & The Great Barrier Reef Dive in the sheltered coral lake and view the reef from underwater observatory. Lunch is included. Optional tours on our Freedom Days in Cairns include a scenic railway journey to Kuranda, and a day trip to the nearby World Heritage listed Daintree Rainforest. Day 22: Arrive UK We arrive at your chosen airport, bringing an end to our incredible adventure. Departure Dates Stopover Offer Price Per Person Availability 28 Jul 2024 - £5,895 7 Rooms 06 Oct 2024 £29pp £6,495 New Date 10 Nov 2024 £29pp £6,495 New Date 23 Feb 2025 £29pp £6,495 New Date 08 Mar 2025 £29pp £6,495 New Date 05 Apr 2025 £29pp £6,245 New Date 26 Jul 2025 £29pp £6,795 New Date

Book by 30th April 2024 and enjoy a twin room for a two-night stopover from only £29 per person (£48 for single occupancy). Stopover choices are Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, or Bali and include return transfers and four-star accommodation with breakfast.

For more details and full booking conditions, please request a brochure or visit www.distantjourneys.co.uk. Call FREE for a brochure 0800 141 3719.

1. If Karen is addicted to railway journeys, ________ are most likely to be her favourites.

A．Cairns and the Ghan

B．Uluru and Melbourne

C．Melbourne and the Ghan

D．Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef

2. If you have decided to join the tour, which of the following statements is true?

A．You may be charged an extra £349 in total for daily breakfasts.

B．You will enjoy a day trip to Daintree Rainforest, a world heritage.

C．You may choose to stop in both Singapore and Dubai at no extra cost.

D．You will be offered a meal with drinks when heading north by train in the Ghan.

3. If Jonathan and his two male friends, who have booked the travel, will depart UK on April 5th, 2025, with a two-night stopover in Bangkok, then at least how much will they have to pay for the whole trip in total?

A．£17,791

B．£18,822

C．£18,841

D．£19,572

3 . Fit to Be Tied: Four Common Knots

Are you one of those hikers who always prefers a square knot? Here are simple, easy-to-remember alternatives that will do a better job in four common camping settings.

①Bind cargo to your car To secure a large bag to a car roof, you need a knot that acts like a pulley (滑轮). The trucker’s knot works best. Start by forming an overhand loop, pulling a loop through, and tightening. Next, feed the rope’s free end around a roof rack (架 子) or an S-hook on the frame. Pull on the working end to obtain the desired tension; then use a quick-release half-hitch, a type of knot, to “lock” the tension in place (and make untying cargo quick and simple).

②Attach tent guylines (拉绳) Attached to webbing loops at key stress points on the outer walls of tents, guylines are tied to the ground with stones. They stabilize the tent in strong winds by keeping the fabric walls tight. When setting up your shelter, tighten the guylines until no loose part remains in them or the tent walls. Fit the ropes with a tight-line knot, which lets you adjust the line’s length without untying the knot. When you move the knot by hand, it slides freely along the line, but it holds tight when the loop is tensioned—so the knot holds firm when gusts of wind pull tent walls hard.

③Lower a pack over a rock shelf Some packs feature a strong leather belt for easy rope-pulls—but most require a bowline knot, which doesn’t slip no matter the weight. It is very easy to untie after it’s been loaded. Slide the loop around the middle of the pack, tighten it, then lower away. A handy recall- aiding device: The rope’s long end is the “tree”; the loop is the “rabbit hole”;

④Fasten a canoe to shore The clove hitch is perfect for quickly fastening boats because it’s easy to tie, holds fast under tension, and releases instantly with a pull on the free end. This makes it a speedy way to fix a line to a tree. For extra security, add one or two half-hitches.

1. Which of the following may best match the types of knots in the numbered text description (1-4)?

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

A．(a)(d)(b)(c)

B．(a)(c)(b)(d)

C．(c)(d)(a)(b)

D．(c)(b)(d)(a)

2. What is the best knot to use when a worker carries goods with a rope repeatedly between I^nd floor and 2^nd floor?

A．Tight-line knot

B．Truckers knot

C．Clove hitch

D．Bowline knot

3. Where are you most likely to read this article?

A．A website on backpackers.	B．A leaflet on safety guidance.
C．A scientific journal on knots.	D．A travel guide on beauty spots.

4 . NEW STORY CONTEST

Ah, the New Year — a time for visiting friends and family as we ring out the old, ring in the new and imagine all the new adventures that await us in the year ahead.

Who knows what you’ll find when you open the door to your dryer or gaze up at the night sky? Will you write about a visit from a mythical creature, or maybe a lost animal? Will the visitor cause a problem — or solve one?

Whoever your visitor is, every buggy in Cricket (an American children’s magazine) Country will be gathered around the mailbox, awaiting the visit of your best story — just 350 words or less, please — featuring a surprising or unexpected visitor. Happy New Year!

Contest Rules

Your contest entry must be original. Ideas and words should not be copied.

Your entry must be signed by your parent or guardian, saying it is original, that no help was given, and granting Cricket permission to publish prize-winning entries in the May 2024 issue or on our website.

Be sure to include your name, age and full address on your entry.

Only one entry per person, please.

If you want your work returned, enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope for each entry.

Incomplete entries cannot be considered. Your entry will be incomplete if you forget to include your age or the signature of your parent or guardian that confirms that your work is original.

Your entry must be received by April 25, 2024.

Send entries to Cricket League, P. O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354. (No faxes or email submissions, please!)

1. The theme of the new story contest is “_________”.

A．new adventures	B．New Year’s resolution
C．unexpected visitors	D．surprising inventions

2. Every contest entry must ________.

A．be sent by means of email	B．arrive after January 25,2018
C．be the contestant’s own work	D．contain no less than 350 words

3. Each contestant’s parent or guardian must sign the entry to agree that ________.

A．the prize-winning entry can be publicized on the media

B．all the required information has been included

C．the content of the story is based on a real event

D．editors can make revision to the participant’s entry

5 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Smart TV channels a sense of frustration

The phenomenon of watching less or not watching TV has mirrored a plunge in traditional TV sales in recent years.

“I haven’t watched TV at home for almost five years.” The same sentiment is a true portrayal of many Gen-Zers today. In the past when entertainment options     1     (limit), TV dominated. Nowadays, computers, mobile phones and tablets, all of     2     offer more content, have overtaken TV in the viewing stakes.

“Watching     3     (much) or not watching TV is the inevitable result of the diversification of entertainment for young people. The programs offered by the major TV stations is increasingly unable to meet the needs of young people, and a few minutes of advertisements are added at every turn,     4     (make) it difficult to compete with mobile phones and tablets,” says Li Dadi at Haige Business Watch, a public WeChat account     5     (dedicate) to business analysis.

The phenomenon mirrors a plunge in traditional TV sales in recent years. A report by All View Cloud, a data analysis company, says that domestic TV sales in 2020 were 44.5 million units, down 9.1 percent year-on-year; and sales revenue was 120.9 billion yuan ($19.1 billion), down 11.7 percent.

However, not watching traditional TV does not mean     6     (not use) the actual set. The current development of smart TV is not just a tool for watching programs on the box. The three major video content providers, Tencent Video, iQiyi and Youku, have all launched TV applications. People     7     also cast the content of their mobile phones onto the TV at any time. Leaning on the sofa and watching a 55-inch big screen is still much more comfortable than lying on the bed with a 6.1-inch mobile phone.

However, compared with the rapid development and profit growth of internet smart TV, complaints about a decline in service experience have come to light.

A woman’s complaint over her newly bought TV set has echoed across Chinese social media recently. In her video, posted on Douyin, she says most people watching TV now are elders, and a TV cannot be turned on     8     two remote controls at least. After she finally turned it on, advertisements popped up and lasted for more than 10 seconds. The various charging apps, all required to be purchased to allow for viewing,     9     (make) the experience worse. Without a VIP membership, there came another 70-second advertisement     10     she could finally watch a proper TV series. “I miss the simple TV set of my childhood,” she said.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．The different types of commercial jingle.

B．The early years of the commercial jingle.

C．The importance of the commercial jingle.

D．The reason why the commercial jingle emerges.

2.

A．In the early1920s.	B．In 1926.
C．In the early 1930s.	D．In 1936.

3.

A．Televisions began to take the place of radios gradually.

B．The public was more likely to be impacted by words sung with music.

C．The market in the United States started to care about consumers’ taste.

D．The direct promotion of products was not allowed in peak listening hours.

8 . Citizen science gives curious people the opportunity to become extra sets of hands, eyes and ears in real scientific research. Bringing many people together to document endangered species, monitor water quality or watch the stars makes it possible to do science on large scales and tackle bigger research questions. Here are just five of the hundreds of citizen science projects that you can participate in.

Nature’s Notebook

Volunteers in this project “take the pulse of the planet” by documenting changes in plants, animals and insects to help scientists understand how ecosystems are being affected by climate change. You can join a regional campaign like Mayfly Watch or Pesky Plant Trackers, or choose from over 1, 400 species to watch in North America. Then, log your observations on the Nature’s Notebook mobile app.

Crowd the Tap

Volunteers test the water and pipes in their homes so researchers can map the pipe infrastructure in the United States and identify polluted water supplies. All you need is a penny and a magnet (to determine whether pipes are made of steel, copper, plastic or lead, which is not always obvious visually) . You can also share observations about your tap water like color, smell and taste. If you live near a participating library or school, you can check out a kit to test your water chemistry.

GLOBE Observer

The NASA-sponsored GLOBE project seeks to understand our changing environment and climate through crowd-sourced observations. The project is app-based, and users can upload observations about clouds, mosquito habitat, trees or land cover to give researchers a global picture of how our planet is changing over time.

The Happiness Project

Help psychology researchers understand the relationship between happiness and decision-making by playing games. All you need to participate is the project’s smartphone app to access games that subtly investigate how players approach risky decisions, while periodically asking them to rate their happiness level. Game and happiness scores become data that researchers use to figure out how expectations contribute to happiness.

Exoplanet Watch

Experiment time on big telescopes like Hubble is precious, so NASA needs backyard astronomers to help researchers narrow down when and where to turn their sights to find planets outside of our solar system. Every day, the project posts new exoplanet targets for volunteers to keep an eye on. If you don’t have a telescope, you can still aid the search by analyzing data from others’ observations.

1. What is the primary purpose of citizen science projects, as described in the article?

A．To provide volunteers with opportunities to learn about scientific research.

B．To allow scientists to rely on volunteers for data analysis.

C．To engage curious individuals in scientific research.

D．To highlight the importance of citizens’ contribution to science.

2. What does the underlined phrase “take the pulse of the planet” mean?

A．Monitor the heart rates of endangered species.

B．Record changes in ecosystems to assess the impact of climate change.

C．Observe the behavior of insects and animals.

D．Launch a campaign to raise awareness about climate change.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Crowd the Tap aims to raise people’s awareness about water-related diseases.

B．Exoplanet Watch relies only on professional astronomers to search for exoplanets.

C．The Happiness Project investigates the relationship between happiness and games.

D．GLOBE Observer collects observations about our changing environment through an app-based platform.

9 . How long should my novel be?

This is a question I’m often asked, and it’s certainly not the same answer as how long a piece of string is! So, how long should your book actually be?

If we work backwards, from a production department point of view, a book of approximately 100,000 words will come in somewhere between 300 to 400 pages.     1     I’d suggest that 80,000 words up works well, occasionally stretching to 120,000 words on rare occasions.

Shorter texts are less daunting (使人气馁的) for an agent to submit rather than a block of manuscript so aim to make your publication path easier. There’s an implication that a standard book length should have a tighter handle on pacing, with the reader more readily drawn in. In turn, an overlong novel often indicates to a publisher that there’s potentially extensive editing work to be done by them.

    2     For example, historical fiction could more comfortably sit near the 120,000 mark. Literary fiction can head in the other direction, with 60,000 words still offering a feeling of fundamental worth to the publisher and reader, with an implication that the text is highly developed.

More commonly, issues over length tend to highlight that pacing is an issue, be it too long or too short. Overwriting, in particular, can be an issue for many authors, who might struggle to express their ideas clearly, using complex language that play down the flow of the book. Successful writing contains a clarity of thought that enables the writer to connect with the reader for maximum impact, allowing the story, characters and setting to shine through.

In terms of content, it’s important for an author to prioritise the key themes in the book.     3     Allow your reader to piece together information you delicately work through your text and avoid excess scenes and information, revealing instead what’s needed to keep that tension pulsing. Be brave as you cut back on the unnecessary, keeping a backup copy of your novel just in case you change your mind.

Work intuitively, from the heart, keeping secrets for as long as possible so the reader is forced to read on. In this way, a reader will readily connect with your words.     4    

A．Books do have different thresholds (门槛) according to genre.

B．This is plenty for a typical author’s book, particularly the first one.

C．Yes, there are exceptions to every genre but these are generally rare.

D．Is everything of equal importance and does everything need to be included?

E．Longer books are more expensive to produce and harder to sell in, so it increases their risk.

F．With a firm handle on length, your novel will have increased its chances of commercial publication.

10 .

Life—it gets busy. Digital overload is real: photos, apps, emails... our devices can be a blessing—and a curse. So when it comes to the humble food shop you might be reticent about adding another rewards app to your bulging virtual wallet. Are they worth it? Not only that, some seem so complicated that they require Enigma code-level mastery to crack. Well, hold that thought, because the Asda Rewards App is a little different. Customers using Asda Rewards earn pounds not points, building up a Cashpot to spend at Asda in store or online. It’s easy and engaging to use and there are other benefits too, such as helping you to save for Christmas. When you buy something from Asda, you can scan every time to earn pounds not points. You’ll see your total in your Cashpot on the app. You can redeem the Cashpot as vouchers (代金券) to use against more of the items you love. There are a number of ways you can build up your Cashpot—and this is on top of the already great prices on household favourites.

Complete your first shop and you will get a First Scan Bonus worth ￡5, to get you started. In-app Superstar Missions—sounds very James Bond—could be anything from buying certain products to picking up something tasty for the family dinner. Keep an eye out for specially selected Star Products. Buying these will earn you 10 per cent of their price. Complete various milestone missions by reaching set spending targets to build your Cashpot faster. There’s no better time to download the app than this September to take advantage of Asda’s Spin the Wheel. Everyone who spins, wins. When you spend ￡5 or more you get the chance to spin the wheel to reveal a Cashpot prize. You could win anything from 50p up to ￡100... just like that.

1. How does Asda differ from other rewards apps?

A．It is complicated to navigate but engaging.

B．Subscribers can redeem points for free gifts.

C．Everyone can easily crack the code to get money.

D．Cash rewards are available for further purchases.

2. It’s recommended to download the app in this September in that you can ________.

A．earn a First Scan Bonus when completing the initial purchase.

B．enjoy a 10 percent discount on specially selected Star Products.

C．win the chance to see James Bond in a publicity campaign.

D．draw on the in-app lottery mechanism to obtain extra bonus.

3. Which step contributes to saving more for Christmas on the app?

A．Saving more than 40 Asda Pounds to claim the added bonus.

B．Starting as early as possible to stay ahead of other users.

C．Putting off all holiday purchases until Christmas Eve.

D．Spending excessive money on ‘Spin the Wheel’ to win big.