Photography has been my interest ever since I was old enough to pick up a camera, but today I want to share with you the 15 most treasured photos of mine, and I didn’t take any of them. There were no art directors, no stylists, no chance for reshoots, not even any regard for lighting. In fact, most of them were taken by random tourists.
My story begins when I was in New York City for a speech, and my wife took a picture of me holding my daughter on her first birthday. We’re on the corner of the 57th and 5th avenue. We happened to be back in New York exactly a year later, so we decided to take the same picture.
Well you can see where this is going. Approaching my daughter’s third birthday, my wife said, “Hey, why don’t you take Sabina back to New York and make it a father-daughter trip, and continue the ceremony?” This is when we started asking passing tourists to take the picture.
So these photos are far more than representatives for a single moment, or even a specific trip. They’re also ways for us to freeze time for one week in October and reflect on our times and how we change from year to year, and nor just physically, but in every way. Because while we take the same photo, our viewpoints change, and she reaches new milestones and I get to see life through her eyes, and how she communicates with and sees everything. This very focused time we get to spend together is something we value and expect the entire year.
What can we know about the author from the first paragraph?
| A．He is fond of being photographed alone. |
| B．He hardly ever asks strangers to take pictures of him. |
| C．He has been interested in photography since childhood. |
| D．He’s proud of the 15 most treasured photos taken by himself. |
Who came up with the idea of having a father-daughter trip when Sabina was 3 years old?
| A．Her mother. | B．Her father. |
| C．Sabina herself | D．An unknown tourist. |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .
| A．children usually get to see life through adults’ eyes |
| B．the 15 photos are meaningful to the author’s family |
| C．it takes the author a whole week to have a family photo taken |
| D．the viewpoints of the author’s family never change with the time. |
What can be the best title of the text?
| A．Believe it or not; photos do change |
| B．Photos help a family become rich |
| C．Even strangers can help take photographs |
| D．A father-daughter bond, one photo at a time |
ARLANDA, Sweden （Reuters Life!）—Many people hate the idea of having to sleep on a plane. But Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios thinks they can be persuaded otherwise and he has created a new kind of hostel to prove it.
Dios says it is the world’s first jumbo （unusually large） jet hostel, an actual jet-plane at Sweden’s main airport outside Stockholm which has been changed into a 25- room guesthouse that sleeps as many as 72 people.
“I learned about this plane that was standing deserted at Arlanda airport and I’ve been trying the concept of hostels in many different houses and buildings,” he told Reuters. “I thou
ght, ‘Why not a plane?’”
Jumbo Hostels opened for business on Thursday, giving customers the chance to check in and sleep in a room that can best be described as comfortable.”
“The most challenging part with this project is trying to build something inside a metal hull（壳） – it’s just really, really tight.”
The jet, which was originally produced for Singapore Airlines, was taken out of service in 2002. It is held on a concrete foundation with the landing gear secured in steel cradles.
One feature of the hostel is its price – a room starts at 350 Swedish crowns （about $ 41）, which is a lot less than hotel rooms outside of major airports.
Another feature is that customers can get married on the wing of the plane and stay in the plane’s more luxurious honeymoon suite （套房）.
Instead of walking down the aisle in the church, lovebirds can take what Jumbo Hostels calls the “wing walk,” where they can be joined in great happiness at the wing tip. The hostel has someone ready to perform the ceremony.
But in some respects this hostel remains a plane – most customers have to share the jet’s nine bathrooms and the staff only wear air host and hostess outfits. The only room that has its own bathroom is the honeymoon suite.Which of the following is not true?
| A．The jet plane was out of use for over eight years |
| B．The hostel provides ten bathrooms for customers |
| C．The rooms in the hotel are comfortable |
| D．The hostel lies at Arlanda airport in Stockholm |
One of the features of the plane hostel is that .
| A．air hostesses can offer good service |
| B．a wedding ceremony can be held on the wing |
| C．customers can sleep in comfortable rooms |
| D．the staff can have a “wing walk” |
Why does Oscar Dios make jet plane hotel?
| A．Because he is fond of plane very much. |
| B．Because he is very curious |
| C．Because he wants to earn more money. |
D．Because he likes trying th e concept of hotel in many different things. |
The writer mainly wants to .
| A．call on people to make use of the deserted things |
| B．describe a wonderful place for weddings |
| C．introduce a new kind of hostel |
| D．prove people can sleep on a plane |
The Worst Part
Mom is usually home on Sunday but this week she was going to a big golf game and I was all alone in the house. I was mad at Mom for divorcing Dad.
I kept looking at the telephone until I couldn’t stand it any longer. I picked up the receiver and dialed Dad’s number over in Bakersfield. I even remembered to dial 1 first because it was long distance. “You promised to phone me this week but you didn’t,” I said, feeling I had to talk to him.
“Take it easy, kid,” he said. “I just didn’t get around to it. I was goi
ng to call this evening. The week isn’t over yet.”
I thought about that.
“Something on your mind?” he asked.
“I hoped you would call, so I waited and waited.” Then I was sorry I said it.
“There was heavy snow in the morning,” he said, “I had to chain up on highway 80 and lost time.”
I know putting chains on eight big wheels in the snow is no fun. I felt a little better, as long as we were talking. “How is Bandit?” I asked.
There was a funny silence. For a minute I thought the line was dead. Then I knew something must have happened to my dog.
“Well, kid—”, he began. “My name is Leigh!” I almost yelled. “I’m not just some kid you met on the street!”
“Keep your shirt on, Leigh,” he said. “When I had to stop along with some other truck drivers to put on chains, I left Bandit out of the cab, I thought he would get back … I have sent out a call to CB radio, but I didn’t get an answer yet.” I was about to say I understood when there came the bad part, the really bad part. I heard a boy’s voice say, “Hey, Bill, Mom wants to know when we’re going out to get the pizza?”We can conclude from the passage that .
| A．Leigh’s mother often went to golf games | B．Leigh was a deserted boy |
| C．Leigh’s dad never had a rest on Sundays | D．Leigh’s father lived in another city |
Which is true about Bandit?
| A．It was killed by a truck | B．It was let out of the cab and got lost |
| C．It was frozen to death. | D．It ran off Highway 80 and into the mountain. |
The underlined sentence “Keep your shirt on”（last para） probably means “ ”.
| A．Cool down | B．Stop talking | C．Be quiet | D．Keep warm |
The worst part in Leigh’s eyes may be that .
| A．he forgot to go to get the pizza | B．his parents got divorced |
| C．his dad got remarried | D．his dad didn’t love him |
Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would constantly be on call as entertainers for their children. They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were kids. But their own kids seem different, less resourceful, somehow. When there’s nothing to do, these parents observe regretfully, their kids seem unable to come up with anything to do besides turning on the TV.
One father, for example, says, “When I was a kid, we were always thinking up things to do, projects and games. We certainly never complained in an annoying way to our parents. ‘I have nothing to do’.” He compares this with his own children today: “They’re simply lazy. If someone doesn’t entertain them, they’ll happily sit there watching TV all day.”
There is one word for this father’s disappointment: unfair. It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language. He deplores (哀叹) his children’s lack of inventiveness, as if the ability to play were something born that his children are missing. In fact, while the tendency to play is built into the human species, the actual ability to play – to imagine, to invent, to elaborate on reality in a playful way –and the ability to gain fulfillment from it, these are skills that have to be learned and developed.
Such disappointment, however, is not only unjust, it is also destructive. Sensing their parents’ disappointment, children come to believe that they are, indeed, lacking something, and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect. Giving children the opportunity to develop new resources, to enlarge their horizons and discover the pleasure of doing things on their own is, on the other hand, a way to help children develop a confident feeling about themselves as capable and interesting people. According to many parents, if there’s nothing to do, the children would .
| A．turn on the TV | B．complain to their parents |
| C．ask their parents to play with them | D．do all of the above |
Many parents think that, instead of watching a lot of TV their children should .
| A．sit silently studying Greek | B．think up things to entertain themselves |
| C．find chances to talk with parents | D．enjoy themselves outdoors |
The father often blames their children for not being able to entertain themselves. This is unfair because .
| A．the children are not really lazy, but there’s nothing for them to do |
| B．they do not lack the ability to play |
| C．they have to learn and develop their playing ability gradually |
| D．the father have done nothing to help the children |
When parents show constant disappointment in their children, the children will .
| A．lose their confidence and respectability |
| B．be much more disappointed |
| C．refuse to learn new things |
| D．discover the pleasures of doing things on their own |
What is the author’s main idea?
| A．Today’s children are becoming less capable and independent than before. |
| B．Parents should give children more help on how to be creative. |
| C．Turning off the TV will help us solve a lot of family problems. |
| D．It’s not just for parents and children to complain each other. |
Step to Discovering Your Passion
By Julie Jordan Scott
Even before the first tip, you simply must get out a notebook, journal, piece of paper, napkin … SOMETHING to write on to save your discoveries! These tips will only help if you pursue them, so please either take a moment to find writing tools NOW or print this out and promise yourself to complete this exercise later. It may take you some thinking time to get it done . . . and now . . . here are your tips . . . . .
1. Find Your Joy Factor
Look at the whole of your life history. When did you experience the most sustained period of Joy? What were you doing then? Where were you? Who were you with? How did it feel?
2. What Are Your 3 Most Favorite things to do?
If you had a free day with NO commitments, where would you be found? What would you be doing with whom?
3. In what area do you excel? (NO MODESTY ALLOWED HERE!)
Truly, what are you complimented on a lot? This could be ANYTHING.
4. What do you most want to be remembered for?
If you were designing your epitaph(墓者铭), what would you want it to say? (NOT what your Mom wants, or your SPOUSE(配偶的一方) wants or your third cousin twice removed, but what do YOU want your headstone to say?)
5. If you had a magic wand(魔杖), what would you change about your life TODAY?
How would it look compared to how it looks now? which aspects of your life ARE changeable, both short term and long term?
6. How does your Joy factor overlap with your favorite things and the areas in which you excel? Do the areas in which you excel bring YOU joy, or are they really for someone else . . . . . do you see which are obvious matches, and which do not fit? Those that overlap, that bring YOU the most Joy, are most likely the things that would bring you into Passionate Living.
7. What is the first even teeny tiny step you can take to living out your Passion as you have defined in #6?
Take some time to really think this one through . . . . . . concentrate and focus, and then you will be able to start the the next step . . . BUILDING YOUR ROAD MAP.The purpose of the first paragraph is .
| A．to arouse the readers’ interest and show them what to do | |
| B．to find the piece of paper that is useful for the tips | C．to print the tips out and show them to others |
| D．to copy the tips and read them |
The underlined word “commitment” has the closest meaning to .
| A．time | B．exercise | C．work | D．joy |
The underlined word “compliment” means .
| A．scold | B．praise | C．criticize | D．question |
Of the following, would probably give the correct evaluation of you.
| A．You Mom | B．Your spouse | C．Your children | D．You yourself |
are most likely
to brin
g into passionate living.
| A．Your favorite things | B．The areas in which you excel |
| C．Your joy factor | D．The things that overlap |
New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses that they use in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to take care of them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole Unite States.
The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty--five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two to three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses ------ for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country form Ireland in 1948.He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and, as he puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a man.
| A．clever | B．rich | C．strong | D．tall |
James Corbin became a blacksmith because he .
| A．was interested in horses. | B．was needed by the policemen |
| C．drew a picture of the horses | D．had to make a living |
In the reading passage “to shape a shoe” is to .
| A．fit it on the horse’s foot | B．use it for two or three hours |
| C．make the form of a horseshoe from a piece of metal | D．draw a picture of the shoe |
The best title for the passage is .
| A．Policemen on Horseback | B．Blacksmiths and Horseshoeing |
| C．James Corbin, a Blacksmith | D．Horseshoeing Is a Good Way to Make a Living |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Only a few large American cities have some policemen on horseback. |
| B．New York is the only city in America to have some policemen on horseback. |
| C．Policemen on horseback enjoy traveling around the United States. |
| D．Policemen on horseback are less expensive than those in cars. |
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