Learning Chinese calligraphy
As someone who paints, draws, and loves all
After taking the lesson, I now understand the difficulty of calligraphy and that it will take efforts and commitment
2 . Alexis, 17, sat quietly in the passenger seat of her dad’s car. She let her eyes lazily scan the landscape for wildlife. Then a deer came into view about 200 yards in front of them. “Dad, there’s a deer there!” Alexis said. It was a male deer with sharp antlers (角) on each side of its head.
As the car moved closer, Alexis saw that the deer’s head was bent toward the ground. Then she heard a scream and saw an arm fly up near the deer’s head. Alexis realized the deer was attacking a woman. Sue, a 44-year-old mother, had been out for her morning run. The deer followed her and edged closer. “I knew I was in trouble,” Sue says. She went to pick up a stick for self-defense, and the deer charged. It lifted her with its antlers and threw her into the air. Sue could feel blood flew down her leg. Within seconds, the deer had pushed her off the road.
When Alexis and her father pulled up, the deer was throwing Sue like a doll. Alexis looked into the woman’s terrified eyes, and before her father had even stopped the car, the teenager jumped quickly out of the car and ran toward the deer. “I was kicking it to get its attention,” she says. Then her father, who had followed his daughter, pushed the deer away from the woman.
Alexis helped Sue into the car, and then applied a piece of cloth to Sue’s injured leg. “We’re going to get you to a hospital,” Alexis said. Then she heard her father shout loudly. He had been knocked to the ground. Alexis took hold of a hammer from the car and ran to where her father lay on his back. She beat the deer’s head and neck, but the blows didn’t scare it away. “I was losing faith,” she says. “A couple more strikes, Alexis,” said her father. “You can do it.” Turning the hammer around, Alexis closed her eyes and beat the deer’s neck with all her strength. When she opened her eyes, the deer was running away. Alexis got in the driver’s seat and sped toward the nearest hospital.
After Sue was treated, she tearfully thanked her rescuers. “You expect a teenage girl to get on the phone and call for help,” she says, “not to beat up a deer.”
1. What was Sue doing when she was attacked by the deer?A.She was driving home. | B.She was resting on the road. |
C.She was taking exercise. | D.She was feeding wild animals. |
A.She pushed the deer away. | B.She hit the deer with her feet. |
C.She drove the car to hit the deer. | D.She beat the deer with a hammer. |
A.A Woman Was Seriously Injured | B.A Dangerous Deer Attacked a Woman |
C.A Girl Rescued Her Father Successfully | D.A Teenager Saved Others from a Deer Attack |
3 . People who get a good workout almost daily can add nearly four years to their life spans, according to the first study to quantify the effect of physical activity this way.
The researchers looked at records of more than 5,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans and found that those who had moderate to high levels of activity lived1.3 to 3.7 years longer than those who got little exercise, with men and women benefiting about equally.
“This shows that physical activity really does make a difference — not only for how long you live but for how long you live a healthy life.” said Oscar H. Franco of the Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam. “Being more physically active can give you more time.”
Previous studies have found that being physically active has a host of health benefits. It reduces the risk of being overweight and of developing many illnesses, improves overall quality of life, and lowers the death rate. But the new study is the first to directly calculate the effect on how long people live.
People who engaged in moderate activity — the equivalent of walking for 30minutes a day for five days a week — lived about 1.3 to 1.5 years longer than those who were less active. Those who took on more intense exercise—the equivalent of running half an hour a day five days every week—extended their lives by about3.5 to 3.7 years, the researchers found.
The findings show that even for people who are already middle-aged, exercising more can add years to their lives, Franco said.
Other experts said the study was consistent with the growing evidence that exercising on a regular basis is one of the most important things people can do for their health.
“At the end of the day, this is more evidence that the sitting lifestyle is the most damaging to health, longevity and chronic disease development,” said James O. Hill of the University of Colorado at Denver.
Hill and others said exercising regularly also enables people to live healthier lives, free from a host of chronic illnesses that can make it hard for people to enjoy their later years.
In addition, recent studies have also found that exercise has payoffs for the mind, too. It has been shown to improve overall well-being and reduce stress and depression.
“The benefits of physical activity extend well beyond the effects on longevity,” said Joann E. Manson of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
1. What would be the best title for this text?A.A Daily Workout Add More Years to Life. | B.How A Daily Workout Is Good to Health. |
C.Men Benefit More from A Daily Workout. | D.Middle-aged People Benefit from Workout. |
A.It finds that men and women benefited about equally. |
B.Being physically active has a host of health benefits. |
C.It’s the first to calculate the effect on how long people live. |
D.Being more physically active can give you more time to live. |
A.describing successful cases. | B.presenting findings of research. |
C.offering professional comments. | D.explaining a certain phenomenon (现象) . |
4 . The Hard Truth
One day, Marissa noticed a spider web, shining in the sunlight. A spider was spinning
What came naturally to Marissa was
One night, halfway through her homework, Marissa fell
Then a dark thought crossed Marissa’s mind. If she
After a week of
Just as Marissa had
With tears in her eyes, Marissa admitted her
Marissa watched her mother’s face turn from anger to
Marissa thought again about the spider. She realized she had lost sight of her
A.webs | B.clothes | C.balls | D.boxes |
A.music | B.art | C.sport | D.dance |
A.coach | B.fan | C.teacher | D.star |
A.realized | B.wondered | C.insisted | D.remembered |
A.ill | B.silent | C.asleep | D.apart |
A.homework | B.research | C.housework | D.practice |
A.health | B.life | C.grades | D.images |
A.gave | B.took | C.attended | D.failed |
A.completing | B.ignoring | C.preparing | D.copying |
A.risen | B.meant | C.dropped | D.improved |
A.ugly | B.perfect | C.simple | D.serious |
A.doubted | B.suspected | C.acted | D.said |
A.painting | B.clock | C.phone | D.letter |
A.feeling | B.weakness | C.secret | D.excuse |
A.and | B.so | C.or | D.but |
A.surprise | B.scare | C.mess | D.joke |
A.delight | B.concern | C.embarrassment | D.disappointment |
A.speech | B.stop | C.jump | D.choice |
A.balance | B.example | C.purpose | D.success |
A.rebuild | B.break | C.find | D.review |
5 . A Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. While you’re sleeping, your brain is forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information. Although we all know the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, not all of us know the best way of getting it. A sleep expert, Phil Atherton, gave some top tips for getting the most out of the night, which will leave you ready for action in the morning.
According to Phil Atherton, not eating a large meal before bedtime is important for getting a good night’s sleep. The time difference between eating and sleeping should be at least three hours. So you’d better avoid eating any food three hours before bed, as it will lower your blood sugar during sleep and help minimize damage from too much sugar floating around.
It’s also important to find ways to prepare your body for sleep. You can follow a routine like trying not to expose yourself to too much artificial light within 1 hour before bed, as your brain uses light to help set internal “body clock”. Although it might seem unnatural to schedule your sleep, the purpose is to send a signal to your body and mind that it’s time to sleep.
Another way to prepare your body for sleep is to get into a relaxed state by taking a bath or listening to soft music. Both of them will help to take the mind off the daytime pressures.
Having a suitable bed, especially a suitable mattress (床垫), is necessary for a good night’s sleep. Sleep is a personalized activity, and we all adopt different sleeping positions. Finding the mattress that suits you will reduce back pains that can result from a poor sleeping position. The bed should be four to six inches longer than its tallest user, allowing for space to move around.
The recent research is pretty clear that a good night’s sleep is a major component of good health. Since the start of the 21st century, studies have linked a lack of sleep to many diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Taking action now will lead to long-term benefits for you and those around you.
1. What does the author intend to tell us in the passage?A.When to start a sound sleep. | B.How to get a good night’s sleep. |
C.What to do with sleep problems. | D.Why to form a good habit of sleeping. |
A.Not eating food. | B.Taking a meal. |
C.Not sleeping well. | D.Having a good sleep. |
A.record your biological clock. | B.check your blood sugar. |
C.relieve your pain in the back. | D.free yourself from stress. |
Collector’s Corner
People collect a wide variety of things, from the obvious ones like stamps or coins, to the less common ones, such as beer bottles or bus tickets. Some collectors spend hours looking through junk shops and build up a collection for a few pence per object, while other collectors might spend thousands of pounds on antiques, fine china or rare (稀有的) paintings.
Some people collect for money, but most people do it for fun. Collecting is basically illogical. If you simply want to listen to Elvis Presley’s first record, you can get a copy at most record shops. A collector, however, will want to own an original 1955 disc, and will be willing to pay for it.
What makes an item valuable? Rarity and condition are the most important factors. A coin or stamp which is worth hundreds in perfect condition might be worth only pence in average or poor condition.
What should you collect? Most collectors begin acquiring things which interest them, and as the collection grows, knowledge of the subject grows. If you want your collection to grow in value, it is probably best to avoid things which are sold especially for collectors. Nearly everybody who buys a set of new coins or stamps will keep them in perfect condition, so that the new coins or stamps will never become rare. The most valuable items are often things which were widely available, but which were usually thrown away after use, such as Coca-Cola bottles or toy cars. An interesting collection can be started very cheaply.
One collector has started a collection of 1950s and 1960s ball-point pens. At the moment it’s worth nothing, but she predicts it will one day be valuable. Ball-points were widely available, and were made in a large range of colours and styles. They were often designed to be thrown away when they were empty. Many people aren’t willing to throw away used pens, and put them in a drawer or box, perhaps hoping they might work again one day. So it is possible to find unusual examples, made thirty years ago or more, for nothing.
1. For what do most people collect things? (不多于2个单词)2. What makes a collection valuable? (不多于3个单词)
3. What does the example in the last paragraph show? (不多于6个单词)
Let me try, coach! I won’t
The very first Korean military training manual
Zhang Tian
Li Ying is a go-getter and she tend to