It is from your parents that you first learn language. This learning involves much more time than mere accent (重音) and vocabulary. You are taught that often you must concern yourself with other people’s feelings and needs instead of your own. You learn to say “I’m sorry” even in a situation when you clearly are not wrong, or to say, “That was a delicious lunch” when you thought it was just the opposite. You learn that different clothing and behaviour are appropriate at the public swimming pool, at the family dinner table, and at other places.
Parents also teach their children social skills. In learning to get along with other people, for example, you are taught when to say “Please” and “Thank you”. Some children are taught that language can be a pleasure itself, in the form of jokes, poems, and stories. Some children are taught that in our society it usually is more acceptable to use verbal rather than physical means to get what one wants. For example, most people say “Excuse me” instead of simply pushing through a crowd.
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2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s)of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
The Internet is a network of linked computers enabling people to search for information and communicate with each other. The rapid rise of the Internet has been driven in part by the ability of users to access it from home, work and other locations. Another key factor has been the ability to connect to the Internet quickly and easily as a result of significant technological advances. In just a few years, the Internet has revolutionized the lives of millions of its users.
One aspect of this revolution is especially impressive: Internet shopping. This is a process of purchasing products or services over the Internet. Shopping on the Internet, or shopping online is becoming more and more popular. More and more people are using the Internet to buy things. Why do people use the Internet to shop? People like shopping online because they find it convenient. They don't have to leave their homes to order something, and they can shop for anything they want at any time, day or night. Other people say they can find things for sale that they can't find in the stores near their homes. Still other people say they can find better prices on the Internet.
However, the rapid growth of Internet shopping does not necessarily mean there are no problems. It raises questions about risks when buying at a distance. Internet users are also very concerned about the risks to the security of their payments and personal data. If you want to buy something on the Internet, you need a credit card. You have to type your credit card number and some other information on the website and send it to the store over the Internet. You have to be sure that the store will not use your information in the wrong way. You don't want someone to get your credit card number and charge something to your account. Of course, you always have to be careful with your credit card number, because people sometimes steal credit card numbers from stores and restaurants too. Protecting Internet shoppers has already been identified as an important area for further work.
Internet shopping allows companies to sell their products to a large number of customers around the clock. They can buy products at anytime from anywhere in the world. Internet shopping is becoming a truly global experience.
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I read what you wrote about “the good old days” with interest. Despite making some sensible points, to my mind your argument is wildly oversimplified in saying that the old days were better. All too often nowadays, we hear these black-and-white opinions about “globalization“. In my opinion, it’s a grey area and there are important benefits as well as some inevitable downsides as we move away from the good old days.
I feel that cultures well-received globally are not fixed and many of the best things come from culture mixing. For example, many British people didn’t like the very spicy food introduced by Indian people. As a result, Indian food in Britain is not the same as an authentic curry from India, but for some, it’s even better. I took part in some market research recently and found out that even branded goods are often changed to suit local tastes. Did you know, for example, that McDonald’s sells beer in France, lamb in India, and chili in Mexico?
I found it hard to take in what you said about language. Did you really mean that English is ”taking over the world“, as you put it? I don’t think so! I agree that huge numbers of people now speak English. At the start of the 21st century, about one and a half billion(1,500,000,000)people spoke English. That includes about 400 million speaking English as their first language and the rest speaking it as a second or third language. However, in many cases, a new type of English has been created. A kind of ”global English“ has taken off across the world. I think this is good in that it promotes communication in an ever-shrinking, ever more commercial world. People certainly don’t want a single world language, but a new common global language has major advantages for global business, scientific research and tourism.
Some people—like you—may be saddened by the passing of the “old days” but it seems to me that most people are welcoming the mixing of cultures and the new things that are being created all the time.
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People who live in the countryside generally live longer than those who live in the city. A number of reasons may also help explain this point.
To start with, farmers are in close contact with nature. They breathe fresh air. They make friends with trees and stones, cows and dogs. They listen to the songs of birds. They fight with strong winds. This contact with nature is good for the health of both body and spirits.
Next, hard physical work keeps farmers fit and healthy. It is widely believed that farmers suffer from far less diseases than people in the city. They are many diseases that are common in the city, but not in the countryside. For example, near-sightedness is almost unknown to farmers. Besides, being free from urban pressure does good to the health of farmers.
Moreover, because there are less cars, motorcars and other kinds of vehicles in the countryside,one can walk more freely without being afraid of accidents. The environment is better in the countryside, which makes the farmers live a quiet and peaceful life.
The farmers can also get fresh grain, vegetables, fruits and milk easily. They enjoy these advantages that people living in the city cannot.
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Have you ever really thought about the effects television has on your children? 98% of families in the US have at least one TV, according to TV-Free America, and the TV is on for an average of 7 hours and 12 minutes a day. On average, a child aged 2-11 watches TV for 1, 197 minutes a week! It is pretty surprising that the same age group of children only spend 38.5 minutes a week on a meaningful conversation with their parents.
As children start watching TV at a younger age, their behaviors and relationships with their family can be affected more drastically. When a group of 4 to 6yearolds were asked to choose between watching television and spending time with their fathers, 54% preferred TV. But what if you don’t let your small children watch TV? You may not. But if your toddler (学步的小孩) goes to daycare, you may not know, 70% of daycare centers use the TV during a typical day. Shouldn’t they be playing with each other and learning, not doing something they can do at home?
Parents do not have to feel completely helpless. As of 2, 000, all TVs now have a chip that helps parents control and even block certain shows. So if you feel TV is not as wonderful as it seemed before, just think you have at least a little power over what your kids watch.
But what is even more shocking is how much violence is shown on television. Some kids do enjoy that but most don’t. The percentage of children surveyed who said they felt “upset” by or “scared” of violence on TV is 91%! I think that shows containing violence or scary scenes should be broadcast at a later time, so smaller children will not be exposed to them.
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When you hear the word “vacation”, what comes to mind? For most it means having fun, pampering (纵容) themselves to some degree or simply relaxing and catching up on sleep. Most people consider it a time to relax and recharge away from work and the stress of life. However, the reality for some is that they end up feeling even more stressed and exhausted than they did before they went on vacation. How is this possible?
A common misconception that people have about going on vacation is that they need to make the most out of their trip. Before they go on every tour they can research 101 places to visit and then pack 98 of those suggestions along their trip. While making the most of your time away, most people over-pack their schedule and overwhelm (压垮) themselves with too many things which result in more stress and less rest.
Today, technology and social media have over-promoted and normalized sharing every experience we have — especially while we are on vacation. The saying “If you didn’t post it, did it really happen?” drives our current culture of documenting and sharing EVERYTHING. Also you may spend more time taking the perfect selfie (自拍) at every stop than you do actually participating in the activity. You end up sacrificing the quality of the trip for the quantity of posts you get out of the trip.
To better appreciate your vacation time, you’d better give yourself one day to recover before returning to work after a vacation. This allows your body and mind to adjust to being back home and getting back into your work routine. You want to go on vacation to recharge, so don’t overcrowd your schedule with late night or early morning activities. Make sure you rest and get plenty of sleep. It’s okay to schedule a lazy day during your vacation when you can sleep. However, don’t overdo it. Try to fit in the minimum recommended amount of daily exercise and if you don’t exercise take this as an opportunity to start a new habit.
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7 . 最近某英语论坛上有人发表观点“Only people who earn a lot of money are successful”。请你就此用英语写一篇短文，谈谈你的看法，然后发表在该论坛上，要点包括：
1.表明你的观点；
2.给出理由并举例说明。
注意：词数80左右。
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词数：120-150
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Radio is for sounds: the sounds of different kinds of music, of announcers reading the news, of sports, and of conversation. These are all sounds we are used to hearing. But in the UK, a new kind of radio programme has been launched, known as “slow radio”. This kind of programme consists of different sounds from the ones we usually hear on radio shows.
On slow radio, listeners can hear the sound of singing birds, cows being brought in from the fields, and the sound of a slow walk through the German countryside.
Some people might find the idea of such sounds boring. These sounds, they might say, are meaningless and unimportant. But, unexpectedly, slow radio has taken off. Why?
If slow radio has an audience, perhaps it’s because it provides an alternative to our fast, event-filled lives. That is what Alan Davey, the head of the slow radio programme, thinks. Slow radio, according to its official description, is “an antidote(解毒剂)to today’s frenzied(狂乱的)world”. In such a world, we’re so busy that we fail to notice the things around us. Listening to slow radio can remind us of the sounds around us that we often filter out.
Slow radio doesn’t just broadcast the sounds of nature and the countryside; some of the sounds are more unusual. The programme makers are also interested in sounds that have already died out and which we hear only in our memory. Examples of such sounds are the noises made by old computers or old-fashioned video games, or the sound made by old telephones. These sounds can take a listener back to times of his life that are long gone.
So, this is the magic of radio and of these “meaningless” sounds. They permit the audience to move out of their lives for a while. A busy office worker in noisy London can be transported to the Irish countryside, and they can even “time-travel” with slow radio’s reminders of sounds from the past.
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Some nations think they must have more and more babies, more and more people, if they are to remain strong and free.
Actually, this is not so. Very often in history, small nations have conquered large ones. It's not so much the size of the army as its organization and the technical level of its weapons. Thus, Greece took over Persia in the 300s BC, Great Britain took over India in the 1700s, even though Persia and India had far bigger population than Greece and Great Britain.
If a nation wishes to avoid being dominated by its neighbours, its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology. This can be done best by not allowing its population to grow to such a point that it is sunk in misery and poverty. In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbour is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty.
If every nation tries to compete with its neighbours by raising its population, then the whole world will be sunk in misery and poverty. The nations will become weak in a disaster that will leave nothing behind that is worth dominating. No one will have gained anything. Everyone will have lost everything.
Once all this is understood, and people generally agree that population growth must not be allowed to continue; they must also come to understand how that growth can be stopped. Population grows because more people are being born than are dying. There are two ways, then, in which the growth can be stopped. You can increase the number of people who die until it matches the number of people who are being born. Or else you can decrease the number of people who are born until it matches the number of people who are dying. The first method-increasing the death rate-is the usual way in which population is controlled in all species of living things other than ourselves, but we don't want that, for disaster lies that way. The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate.
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