Society today tells us that automatic pencils are a lot better than manual ones which you have to sharpen every 5 seconds. Maybe this is true. However, there are some benefits from using an old-fashioned traditional pencil which you cannot get with an automatic one.
To be honest, it is quite convenient to use an automatic pencil with an easy press on the button. Meanwhile a manual pencil doesn’t enjoy any plus point. But it is sort of strange that manual pencils should be used in standardized tests today. Chances are that the manual pencil makes the line of grey look nicer.
Nowadays, it is always a battle of who has the newest, most high-tech gadget(小装置), from pencils, cars to clothes. The newer it is, it seems the more popular it becomes. If you walk around school, you will for sure find at least three out of ten people walking around with the latest iPhone 4S. If you are one of the luckier ones walking around with the newest Nokia phones, you will get laughed at.
Maybe an automatic pencil is better at the moment, but after using it for a while, usually the pencil will break. Most people lose them and don’t remember to carry extra lead(铅芯) to fill them up with, as it sometimes can do so much that it needs a lot of lead, just like an iPhone 4S needs to be charged after it has done so much work. As for the manual pencil, the lead will also run out but unlike the mechanical pencil it will last longer. Besides, the automatic pencil and the iPhone 4S are more likely to get stolen while the manual pencil along with the Nokia phone will be left alone and most likely-returned to you.
| Title |
Automatic Pencils |
| People’s |
●The newer-gadget like the iPhone 4s becomes more ●You will be |
| Advantages |
●We can use the automatic pencil more easily by ●The manual pencil is ●The manual pencil can last longer. |
| |
●The automatic pencils usually tend to ● People often ● |
Most Americans have a city they like best. Over the years, American songwriters have described these feelings in music. More songs have been written about America's biggest city, New York, than about any other city. Many others dream about leaving their small towns to go there. They want to become rich and famous. Frank Sinatra sings about this dream in the most popular song written about New York.
Almost three-million people live in the middle western city of Chicago, Illinois. It is now America's third largest city. It used to be the second largest city. So, of course, it needed its own song. Judy Garland sings the song, "Chicago, Chicago. "
One of America's most exciting cities is Las Vegas, Nevada. In nineteen-sixty-four, Elvis Presley starred in a movie called "Viva Las Vegas." Here is the song from that movie. It is sung by the group Z-Z Top.
As we all know, one of the most beautiful cities in America is San Francisco, California. The most popular song about the city is called "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." Tony Bennett recorded it in nineteen-sixty-two. It sold more than three-million records.
Many people love Los Angeles, California. It is now America's second largest city. Los Angeles is popular because the weather is warm and the sun shines almost all the time. Randy Newman sings about his feelings for the city in the song, "I Love L.A." Not everyone, however, loves Los Angeles. Some people do not like all the big roads around the city. They like living in a smaller place. A place like San Jose, California. Dionne Warwick sings about going back to this city. The song is, "Do You Know The Way To San Jose."
Songs about American Cities
| States |
|
Features |
Songs |
Songwriters/ Band |
| |
New York |
America's biggest city |
A song about New York |
|
| Illinois |
Chicago, |
|
"Chicago, Chicago" |
Judy Garland |
| |
|
America's second largest city |
Randy Newman |
|
| San Francisco |
|
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco." |
|
|
| |
small |
"Do You Know The Way To San Jose |
Dionne Warwick |
|
| Nevada |
Las Vegas |
exciting |
A song from "Viva Las Vegas." |
|
阅读填空
Alice always wanted to be a singer. Music was the important thing in her life but, to tell you the
(true), she took lesson for years, practised every day,
in spite of all this, her voice didn't improve. Honestly, it didn’t get better, it just got
(loud).
Her teacher finally gave and stopped the lessons, but Alice refused to quit, and one day she decided to give a concert and invited her former teacher to attend.
The teacher was very worried about to say after the performance. She knew it
be terrible and it was. She didn't want to tell a lie, but she didn’t want to hurt Alice’s feelings
. Finally, she got an idea and went backstage to greet her former pupil.
“Well”, said Alice, “what did you think of performance?”
“My dear,” said the teacher, “you’ll be better than you were tonight.”
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
As infants, we can recognize our mothers within hours of birth. In fact, we can recognize the1 of our mother's face well before we can recognize her body shape. It's2how the brain can carry out such a function at such a young age, especially since we don't learn to walk and talk until we are over a year old. By the time we are adults, we have the ability to distinguish around 100,000 faces. How can we remember so many faces when many of us find it difficult to3 such a simple thing as a phone number? The exact process is not yet fully understood, but research around the world has begun to define the specific areas of the brain and processes4for facial recognition.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believe that they have succeeded in5 a specific area of the brain called the fusiform face area (FFA), which is used only for facial recognition. This means that recognition of familiar objects such as our clothes or cars, is from6in the brain. Researchers also have found that the brain needs to see the whole face for recognition to take place. It had been7 thought that we only needed to see certain facial features. Meanwhile, research at University College London has found that facial recognition is not a single process, but8 involves three steps. The first step appears to be an analysis of the physical features of a person's face, which is similar to how we scan the bar codes of our groceries. In the next step, the brain decides whether the face we are looking at is already known or unknown to us. And finally, the brain furnishes the information we have collected about the person whose face we are looking at. This complex9is done in a split second so that we can behave quickly when reacting to certain situations.
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage.
“Let’s Talk”：The Free Advice Project
A few weeks ago, I took a walk around Washington Square Park. I met all the usual people：street performers, the Pigeon Guy, a group of guitarists singing in harmony. But off to the side, sitting on a bench was a woman doing something vastly different—giving free advice.
A week or two later, I set up an interview with her and we discussed her project at length.
Lisa Podell, 32, started the Free Advice Project this past May. It began as an experiment；she sat in Washington Square Park for a day with a sign that read “Free Advice” as a simple way to reach out to people. Podell was astonished at the strong response.
Podell admits that she was doubtful at first, but now she describes the project as mutually (相互地) beneficial. People learn from her—but she also learns from them. She says that the majority of those who come to her are dealing with some pretty heavy issues, and they expect her not only to listen, but also provide real answers.
Having worked as a full time teacher and now as an adolescent advisor, Podell believes that talking things out is an important in the decision-making process.
Sometimes, people walk around all day, keeping their problems in their own head and thinking about them in the same way. Podell simply strives to provide people with perspective.
I asked if there is a future plan for the Free Advice Project. Podell said she would like to promote it to each public space in New York, which would be carried out by various volunteers across the city.
It was truly inspiring to meet someone with such a big heart, especially in New York—where it is sometimes very hard to find anybody to listen. (303 words)In what way was Podell different from other people in the park? (No more than 6 words) (2 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________________What do people in need expect Podell to do? (No more than 10 words) (3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________________According to Podell, what should people do when making decisions?
(No more than 6 words) (2 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________________ How would Podell promote her project in New York? (No more than 15 words) (3 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________________
While there is no widely accepted definition of MOOCs, their key features are open access：they are currently free to participants, no entry qualifications are required, they support an unlimited number of participants and as yet, very few include any form of accreditation (认证).
Currently offered by some famous universities, MOOCs are attractive to people who do not have the financial resources to meet the growing costs of university education, or who do not have formal qualifications. They also allow participants to study at their own pace.
The potential for MOOCs to deliver education is obviously vast-they could be considered as a huge step forwards in widening participation. They also have the potential to provide a unique window on universities that offer popular and valuable courses, they may attract some participants to register for formal fee-paying programmes at the same or other universities and are likely to promote new ways of on-line education.
However, it is still very early days for MOOCs. The quality of the education provision is highly variable, with many courses offering only recordings of lectures, and delivery is particularly difficult in some special fields that require practical classes, research projects or extensive library access. Besides, wider engagement with participants requires very considerable resource. Even limited feedback or examination becomes a major task if there are several thousand students in the class.
Considering the challenges, some people argue MOOCs will soon evaporate (蒸发). But they certainly provide good opportunity for widening higher education, are a means of raising awareness of universities to audiences of tens or hundreds of thousands, and are well worthy of serious consideration. (271 words)
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