This is a song millions of Americans will hear this New Year’s Eve. It is called Auld Lang Syne (《友谊地久天长》). It is the traditional music played during the New Year’s celebration. Auld Lang Syne is an old Scottish poem. It tells about the need to remember old friends.
The words “auld lang syne” mean “old long since”. No one knows who wrote the poem first. However, a version by Scottish poet Robert Bums was published in 1796. The words and music we know today first appeared in a songbook three years later.
The song is played in the United States mainly on New Year’s Eve. The version (译文) you are hearing today is by the Washington Saxophone Quartet. As we end our program with Auld Lang Syne. I would like to wish all of our radio friends a very Happy New Year! This is Buddy Thomas.
根据以上短文内容，然后从每题所给的四个选项中选择最佳选项。Where is this passage from?
| A．A newspaper. | B．A magazine. |
| C．A TV program. | D．A radio program. |
Who is introducing Auld Lang Syne to us?
| A．Robert Bums. | B．The Washington Saxophone Quartet. |
| C．Buddy Thomas. | D．The passage doesn’t tell us. |
When is Auld Lang Syne mainly played in the USA according to the pass--age?
| A．On New Year’s Eve. | B．On Christmas Eve. |
| C．On weekends. | D．On holidays. |
When did the words and music of Auld Lang Syne we know today first appear?
| A．In 1790. | B．In 1793. |
| C．In 1796 | D．In 1799. |
What’s Auld Lang Syne about?
| A．It’s about the history of Scotland. |
| B．It’s about an old Scottish poet. |
| C．It’s about the need to remember old friends. |
| D．It’s about the wishes to the radio friends. |
阅读短文，根据其内容回答问题。
The British are known for their sense of humour. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.
Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, ‘It’s a little damp (潮湿的) outside.’ Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, ‘She isn’t exactly friendly.’ Understatement is often used in unpleasant situation or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humour.
Another key to understanding British humour is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen to our everyday life when someone accidently falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What’s more, the British love to watch comedies (喜剧) about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedies series Mr Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.
Mr Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr Bean doesn’t talk often, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. Mr Bean is popular in many countries round the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humour. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humour.Is it difficult for foreigners to understand British jokes?
What does ‘understatement’ mean?
What do the British love to watch comedies about?
How does Mr Bean make people laugh?
What are the key points for people to understand British humour?
Thousands of teenagers will be able to move to a new wave of “studio schools” at the age of 14 to improve their chances of finding a job in UK. Twelve new-style schools are open to act as a bridge to the workplace and cut the number of NEETs.
Under plans, schools will operate longer days and work outside standard school terms.
Each teenager will be expected to spend between four hours and two days a week on work placements with business related to the school and a personal coach will be sent to the teenagers to act as a school “line manager”.
The reforms (改革) are put forward because of the fears that too many teenagers are finishing full-time education at present but they are short of the skills needed to succeed in the workplace. According to a recent report, more than two thirds of employers (雇主) believe school and college leavers have less important employability skills, while 55% say they are unable to manage their time or daily routine. And the number of NEETs who are not in education has hit a record high, with almost one-in-five young people being left without a job or a training place.
The Department for Education will tell the public the building of 12 studio schools – providing for around 3,600 teenagers – in areas such as Liverpool, Stevenage, Stock-on-Trent and Fulham, west London. Each one will be connected to the local employers. Under plans, teenagers will be able to move out of ordinary schools to attend them between the ages of 14 and 19.
The government said all subjects would be taught “through projects, often prepared with employers” – with rules such as science being connected directly to local engineering companies or hospitals. Schools will operate a longer day to give teenagers a better understanding of the needs of the workplace. Along with their studies, students will carry out work placements for four hours a week, rising to two days a week of paid work for those aged 16 to 19. They will also get the chance to take professional qualifications (专业资历) connected directly to the needs of local employers.According to the passage, NEETs refer to those who ______.
| A．often miss classes from studio school |
| B．prefer studio schools to ordinary schools |
| C．refuse to take any part-time job after school |
| D．are not in education, employment or training |
Compared to ordinary schools, studio schools will offer the young more ______.
| A．skills to finish full-time education |
| B．personal coaches to help with the work |
| C．chances to get future jobs with job training |
| D．jobs to make money without going outside |
What makes the government decide to build studio schools?
| A．The worry about educated teenagers short of working skills. |
| B．The doubt about whether full-time education is perfect. |
| C．The decision to solve the problems of unemployment. |
| D．The increasing number of teens who drop out early. |
What can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Studio schools are popular in UK at present. |
| B．More NEETs will find jobs from Studio schools. |
| C．Teenagers will get jobs without full-time education. |
| D．Studio schools are built to improve teens’ employability skills. |
Time can be categorized (分类) into three general types:
Predictable Time: Such activities as classes, team practice, eating and sleeping. If you know the restaurant is open between 7:00am and 7:30pm, you should plan to eat sometime between that block of time.
Discretionary Time: This is free time that can be planned in a manner matching with your lifestyle and to carry through the most important considerations in your life.
Imposed Time: Activities including unexpected and difficult or dangerous situations which happen suddenly and which require quick action to deal with them.
How to manage your Time:
Value Your Own Situation. The first step is to know yourself. People work differently. Some people are very active in the early morning and can carry out much at that time. Others find that their most powerful time is later in the day.
Get Organized. Make a shopping list or make some type of planned notebook. This may seem simple but you would be surprised how many people do not use these necessary things.
Prepare a To-Do List. Consider all that you wish to complete and make a list. Prioritize (优先排序) these items using three rules A, B, C:
A=" Most" important goal that needs to be completed very soon
B=" Next" important goal that does not have immediate necessity
C=" Finally," do all other things.
Plan Your Time. Fill in any spaces purposely left blank, and block out time to sleep. Be realistic, most college students don’t go to bed at 9 pm. Choose time for recreation each day.
Plan Study Time. Students should study 2-3 hours for every unit, for a total of 25-35 hours per week.
Time management is a system of learning to give first concern to the tasks you wish to complete. The key to being a good time manager is to learn to make full use of discretionary time and try to use it successfully.What does the underlined phrase “Imposed Time” mean?
| A．Unreasonable time. | B．Valuable time. |
| C．Busy time. | D．Unpredictable time. |
Which of the following can be considered as Rule A according to the To-Do List?
| A．Study for the final exam. |
| B．Play in the sports club in free time. |
| C．Visit an art museum at the weekend. |
| D．Hand in the history report tomorrow morning. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Time preference. | B．Time management. |
| C．Importance of managing time. | D．Instructions of saving time. |
Give this memory test a try. Mix up 52 playing cards. Now look at the top seven for a second. Can you remember them in order?
Players at the World Memory Championships can. In fact, the 2002 champion (冠军), Andi, memorized the order of 1196 cards after looking at them for only an hour! And a German girl, Lara, only ten years old, memorized 75 faces and names in fifteen minutes!
In 1987, a Japanese man, Mr. Tomoyori, wanted to prove that his memory was the best in the world by remembering by heart pi (π), a number in math which starts 3.14159…This number never repeats itself or ends. He recited pi to 40,000 decimal places (小数位). It took the fifty-five-year-old man more than twelve hours to say the numbers, but he did it without making a mistake!
To remember pi, Mr. Tomoyori connected each number with a sound. He then made up stories to help him remember the words he made from the sounds. In an interview after his achievement, he said, “I decided to go ahead and memorize the value of pi up to one thousand places. But it wasn’t easy – in fact, it took me three years. To get to 40,000 decimal places it took me about ten years.”
Unluckily for Mr. Tomoyori, his record was broken in 1995, when another Japanese man, Mr. Goto, memorized pi to 42,195 places.Why was Lara’s success special?
| A．She was just a little girl. | B．She was the 2002 champion. |
| C．She was from Germany. | D．She remembered more words. |
What is true about Mr. Tomoyori?
| A．He found pi easy to remember. |
| B．His memory was the best in the world. |
| C．He used stories to help remember words. |
| D．He only made one mistake while saying pi. |
Who remembered the greatest numbers according to the passage?
| A．Andi. | B．Lara. | C．Mr. Goto. | D．Mr. Tomoyori. |
| THEME PARKS – FUN AND MORE THAN FUN |
 Disneyland will bring you into a magic world. As you walk around Disneyland, you may see Snow White and Mickey Mouse in a parade or on the street. If you want to have fun and more than fun, come to Disneyland! |
 Dollywood, in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in the southeastern USA. Although Dollywood has rides, the park’s main attraction（吸引力） is its culture. You can even take a ride on the only steam-engine train still working in the southeast USA. Come to Dollywood to have fun learning all about America’s historical southeast culture! |
 If you want to experience the ancient days, England’s Camelot Park is the place for you. Every area of the park is modeled after life in the days of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. To enter a world of ancient England, come to Camelot Park! |
 Some theme parks are not only for fun but also educational. Take the Polynesian Cultural Center(PCC) in Hawaii as an example. It not only shows visitors the Polynesian way of life but also protects their skills and culture for the future. |
Which park will bring you into a magic world?
A. Disneyland. B. Dollywood.
C. Camelot Park. D. The PCC.What’s Dollywood’s main attraction?
| A．Magic shows. | B．King Arthur’s life. |
| C．Polynesian culture. | D．America’s southeast culture. |
What can you enjoy in Camelot Park?
| A．Meeting Snow White. |
| B．Experiencing ancient England. |
| C．Riding on the steam-engine train. |
| D．Feeling the Polynesian way of life. |
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