Countless people long to make a difference this holiday season, yet they don’t realize that opportunities to make a difference are everywhere. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Organize a blank drive
It is cold outside, but imagine how thousands of homeless people may feel without a home of their own, or even a blanket to keep them from the cold. Organize a blank drive for your local homeless, and ask around for donations!
Practice random acts of kindness
I’ll never forget the time when I went to pay for my Dr. Pepper, but the server resisted, saying my bill was paid by an anonymous (匿名的) guest. It’s this random act of kindness that restores my faith in humanity. Bless someone by paying for their drink at Starbucks, or praising them! If you live somewhere where it snows, shovel your neighbor’s snow out of their driveway for them! Whether it is as simple as praise or as complex as paying the bill, you’ll never know how far your impact will reach.
Say thank you
Just a simple thank-you can make somebody’s day, especially if they feel like their work is never noticed. Cultivate（培养）a smile on their face by being sincere and grateful for all that they do.
Use your talents to help the community
The best way to show your appreciation for people is by using the talents and skills you have to bless others. For me, I love to coordinate（协调）events and write , and so my way of reaching out to the community is through writing articles and creating awareness about problems we face today. If you can bake, make some delicious cookies for people to enjoy! If you can knit, put your talents to use by making clothes for children in foster care. Any talent can be used to help the community in meaningful ways.
Wish you a happy, healthy and helpful holiday season.If you join a blank drive, you can _________.
| A．collect donations for the homeless people |
| B．bring a blanket to go on a trip |
| C．buy a home for homeless people |
| D．keep yourself from the cold |
How did the author restore his faith in humanity?
| A．He helps others | B．He often blessed others |
| C．He got help from others | D．He got praised by others |
The underlined phrase “make somebody’s day” is to_________.
| A．make someone feel grateful all day |
| B．do something unnoticed by people |
| C．make someone feel good all day |
| D．help someone to solve problems |
What is the author’s talent?
| A．Sewing | B．Writing |
| C．Baking | D．Knitting |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Make a Difference in Your Holiday Season |
| B．Make the Best of Talent |
| C．Enjoy Your Holiday Season |
| D．Help Others in Need |
In Egyptian myth, Apophis was the ancient spirit of evil and destruction, a demon (恶魔) that was determined to throw the world into darkness forever. A fitting name, astronomers reasoned, for a threat now rushing towards Earth from outer space. Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390-metere wide asteroid (小行星) discovered last year, which is potentially on a collision (碰撞)course with the planet.
NASA has estimated that Apophis has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036. If it did hit us, thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the explosion but the whole of the Earth would see the effects of the dust sent into the atmosphere. At a recent meeting of experts in Near-Earth objects (NEOs) in London, scientists said it could take decades to design, test and build the required technology to deflect the asteroid.
The Apophis asteroid is placed at four out of ten on the Torino scale—a measure of the threat caused by an NEO where 10 is a certain collision which could cause a global disaster. This is the most possible danger of any asteroid in recorded history and it has a 1 in 37 chance of hitting the Earth.
Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer from Queen’s University Belfast, said, “When it does pass close to us on April 13, 2029, the Earth will deflect it and change its orbit. There is a small possibility that if it passes through a particular point in space, the so-called keyhole, the Earth’s gravity will change things so that when it comes back around again in 2036, it will collide with us.” The chance of Apophis passing through the keyhole, a 600-meter patch of space, is 1 in 5,500, based on current information.
There is no shortage of ideas on how to deflect asteroids. The Advanced Concepts Team at the European Space Agency has led the effort in designing a range of satellites and rockets to nudge asteroids that are on a collision course for Earth into a different orbit.The best title for this passage would be ___________.
| A．Apophis Asteroid, a Possible Destroyer of Earth |
| B．Apophis, a Good Name for Dangerous Asteroid |
| C．Our Planet Will Be Ruined in 2036 |
| D．Scientists Study Apophis Asteroid |
The name Apophis mentioned in the passage indicates that the asteroid is _________.
| A．powerful | B．mysterious | C．boring | D．destructive |
The underlined word “deflect” in Paragraph 2 probably means _________.
| A．destroy the quality of |
| B．change the direction of |
| C．measure the size of |
| D．look into the truth of |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．If Apophis hit the earth, its impact would be enormous. |
| B．No way to deal with Apophis is available at present. |
| C．Apophis is the first dangerous asteroid in recorded history. |
| D．It is uncertain whether Apophis will hit the earth in 2036. |
What would the passage talk about if it continued?
| A．An Egyptian myth about Apophis. |
| B．NASA’s study on NEOs. |
| C．How the keyhole influences Apophis. |
| D．What methods can be used to deflect the asteroid. |
Mom’s birthday present? It may be a difficult thing for some people, but for me, it is an easy thing. Mom loved flowers, so every year I sent her flowers. Actually she had a bed of irises (鸢尾花) in the backyard of her small, Indiana farm. They were beautiful. “Take some,” she said, “Dig some up and plant them on the side of your own house.”
But in my yard they became lacking in energy. A year passed, then two, but not one flower appeared. I cut back all their green leaves. I was tired of seeing them so lonely. Finally, I dug the irises up and threw them away.
About that time Mom died unexpectedly. My sister and I sold the farm. I never went back to see the irises. I just couldn’t bear seeing another family living in our home—Mom’s home. Autumn came, then winter. The following spring, as Mom’s birthday approached, I struggled with the question of how to remember her. I stared out the window and saw a few stubborn irises in my side yard sprouting (发芽), —tall, thin but flowerless. Because of seeing them, I decided to order flowers as I always did on Mom’s birthday, and send them to my sister. I wished so badly I could still send flowers to Mom. But that was impossible.
In the morning of Mom’s birthday, I was in my car ready to work. Something in the yard caught my eye. The irises! One had bloomed with flowers, big, showy and purple, as lovely as they ever had been on Mom’s farm. I smiled and turned my eyes upward. I could no longer send flowers to Mom. But somehow, she’d been able to send them to me.According to the first paragraph, Mom ________.
| A．wanted to give the author some flowers |
| B．didn’t like the presents from the author |
| C．lived with the author on an Indiana farm |
| D．got different birthday presents from the author every year |
At first, the irises in the author’s yard ________.
| A．all died quickly |
| B．didn’t bloom at all |
| C．grew as well as on Mom’s farm |
| D．grew better than those on Mom’s farm |
What troubled the author?
| A．She didn’t know how to grow irises. |
| B．She regretted they had sold Mom’s farm. |
| C．She didn’t know what to do in memory of Mom. |
| D．She couldn’t bear others living in Mom’s home. |
After seeing the irises sprouting, the author________.
| A．decided to send flowers to her sister on Mom’s birthday |
| B．dug them out because they were flowerless |
| C．decided to send them to Mom after they bloom |
| D．ordered flowers for the people living in Mom’s home |
What can be learned from the last paragraph?
| A．All the irises in the author’s yard bloomed. |
| B．The author went to see the irises in Mom’s yard. |
| C．It was Mom who took care of these irises in the author’s yard. |
| D．The author thought the blooming irises were gifts from Mom. |
The 2nd World Cup Live Painting Competition
Brief Introduction
The 2nd Youth World Cup Live Painting Competition is a global charity event hosted by Canada Youth Arts Development Foundation and supported by UNICEF. It is a global painting Olympic of the world’s children and youth, and also a global charity event aiming to help poor children worldwide.
We don't have ready formulas, but we believe in action. The Youth World Cup Live Painting Competition aims to change things for the better. The competition will be a platform to raise awareness for the welfare of poor children. We hope that this annual competition and charity event will grow into an annual celebration of painting, the Olympic of cultural and artistic exchange.
All participants are separated into four groups
●Children Group 1 (Age 4-7)
●Children Group 2 (Age 8-12)
●Youth Group 1 (Age 13-17)
●Youth Group 2 (Age 18-25)
Main categories for this edition are
●Friendship
●Dream
●Environmental Protection
Tools
Pen, pencil, oil, water color, any painting tools and materials are welcome.
Size
A3 size (43cm x 28cm)
Entry fee
There is no entry fee.
Eligibility(资格)
This competition is open to anyone worldwide aged 4-25 years old.
Deadline
June 30, 2014
Prize
●The Committee will issue one First Award (Gold Medal), three Second Awards (Silver Medals), six Third Awards (Bronze Medals), and Best Innovation (革新) Award, Best Color Award, Best Structure Award, Best Method Award, Best Quality Award.
●First Award will receive the Golden Cup and $500 CAD, Second Award—Silver Cup and $300 CAD, Third Award—Bronze Cup and $100 CAD.
●All winners of the First Award, Second Award and Third Award from each group will have the opportunities to attend the final competition for live painting competition, which is to be held in Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond, Canada on August 12th, 2014. All participants in the final competition will receive a certificate, which will be delivered directly from the Organizing Committee.Which of the following can we know from the Brief Introduction?
a. The competition’s goal.
b. The competition’s history.
c. The competition’s sponsor.
d. The competition’s participants.
| A．abc | B．acd | C．bcd | D．abd |
According to the passage, the competition _________.
| A．is a global painting Olympic for students worldwide |
| B．is a platform to find out children who have a gift for painting |
| C．is held once every four years like the Olympic Games |
| D．aims to help poor children throughout the world |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Contact information. |
| B．Main categories. |
| C．Entry requirements. |
| D．The prize types. |
It can be known from the passage that ________.
| A．there are no given themes for all the participants |
| B．participants must use special tools to paint their entries |
| C．the groups are divided by the age of the participants |
| D．the larger the painting is, the more welcomed it is |
If you took part in the competition and won the second prize, what will you get?
| A．A silver medal, $300 CAD and certification |
| B．A certificate, $300 CAD and painting materials |
| C．$100 CAD, a certificate and a silver cup |
| D．Final qualification, certification and a bronze medal |
There is no denying that over the years college education has been accepted without the slightest doubt. All high school graduates should go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn more, become “better” citizens and be more responsible than those who don’t go.
But college can never work its magic for everyone. Now with half our high school graduates attending college, those unfit for the pattern are getting more. College graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other’s experiments and write false letters of recommendation in the fierce competition for admission into graduate schools. Others find no stimulation (激励) in their studies, and consequently have to drop out, which is often encouraged by college administrators.
Some observers say the fault lies with young people themselves --- they are spoiled and expecting too much. But that’s a condemnation (谴责）of the students as a whole, and doesn’t explain all campus unhappiness. Others blame our society. Both are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to college because our economy can’t absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.
Some campus watchers suggest that college may not be the best, the proper or the only place for every young person after finishing high school. It seems that through the rosy (玫瑰的) glow of our own college experiences, we may have been looking at those surveys and statistics upside down. Perhaps college does not make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, or quick to learn things—maybe it is just the other way around. Intelligent, ambitious, happy, quick-learning people are merely those who are attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college graduates would have been successful even without college education. This is heresy (异端邪说) to those who have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary evidence is beginning to pile up.According to the first paragraph, ______.
| A．people now no longer challenge college education |
| B．people have great expectations for college education |
| C．the author thinks youngsters should all go to college |
| D．people still have a low opinion of college education |
More young people drop out of college because ______.
| A．they are no longer motivated in their studies |
| B．they can start selling shoes and driving taxis |
| C．they compete for admission to graduate schools |
| D．college administrators encourage them to do so |
Who does the author think is responsible for campus unhappiness?
| A．young students who are all spoiled and expecting too much. |
| B．our society that can’t offer enough jobs to college graduates. |
| C．our society that has not enough jobs for high school graduates. |
| D．young people as well as our society are to blame for all this. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about those surveys and statistics?
| A．They prove high school graduates are smarter than college graduates. |
| B．They are so convincing that we think of our rosy college experiences. |
| C．They may have been misread because of our rosy college experiences. |
| D．They prove wrong because they contradict our rosy college experiences. |
What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?
| A．It is just the opposite | B．There is no right way |
| C．It is the wrong way | D．There’s no other way |
What is the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To inform young people college education is no longer important now. |
| B．To prove college education doesn’t make young people more intelligent. |
| C．Toargueagainsttheideathatcollegeisthefirst choiceforallyoungsters. |
| D．To tell young people that there’s something wrong with college education. |
Back in the early 1900s, American physician Byron Robinson wrote a book proposing an interesting theory: humans actually have two brains --- one in our heads and the other in our stomachs, and the two “communicate” all the time. Interestingly, in Chinese culture, thoughts are also related to the belly in phrases and idioms like fugao (腹稿, a draft), manfu jinglun (满腹经纶, a bellyful of ideas), and yiduzi weiqu (一肚子委屈, a bellyful of complaints).
This may sound a little ridiculous at first. But try to think of a time when you were extremely nervous. Chances are that you also felt uncomfortable in your stomach, didn’t you? This is probably why people use the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” to refer to being nervous.
Now scientists from Canada and the US have found that our guts (肠道), if not as bright as our actual brains, are much more than just where we digest the food we eat. They also affect our emotions and even behavior, all thanks to the bacteria in them, reported Scientific American.
In the study, scientists fed timid mice stomach bacteria from mice that were more active and daring. After eating the bacteria, the timid mice grew more energetic and fearless. Sure enough, when bold mice got the bacteria from timid ones, they became more anxious. The mice’s behavior also changed when scientists disturbed the bacteria in their guts by changing their diets and feeding them antibiotics (抗生素).
“If something goes wrong in the gut, that change is reflected in the brain,” Emeran Mayer, a professor at University of California, Los Angeles, told The Huffington Post.
The brain-and-gut connection also works in the opposite way. Scientists studied children with autism (自闭症) --- a mental illness that makes people unable to socialize with others --- and found that they also have a lot of stomach problems. They have fewer types of stomach bacteria and lower totals of a few key bacteria than healthy children.
This research raises the possibility that scientists could treat patients with brain problems simply by feeding them the right food, which would be much more efficient than providing psychological therapy (疗法).
According to CBC News, you can get “good” bacteria that lift your spirits from food like yogurt while “bad” bacteria are usually in high fat and high sugar foods.What is the author’s attitude toward Byron Robinson’s theory of two human brains?
| A．Unsatisfied. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
The author mentioned the idiom “butterflies in one’s stomach” in the second paragraph to _____.
| A．describe the symptoms of nervousness |
| B．suggest a connection between our stomach and our emotions |
| C．hint at the danger of nervous feelings |
| D．encourage people to calm down and relax |
What’s the closest meaning of the underlined word “bold” in Paragraph 4?
| A．anxious | B．fearless | C．energetic | D．sharp |
According to the article, ______.
| A．people with mental illnesses are more likely to have stomach problems |
| B．the use of antibiotics can turn timid mice into daring ones |
| C．timid mice have fewer types of stomach bacteria than daring mice |
| D．people must consider changing their diets when they feel anxious |
We can infer from the article that______.
| A．psychological therapy has never worked before for autistic children |
| B．yogurt is the best solution for anxiety problems |
| C．high fat and high sugar foods are responsible for many mental diseases |
| D．diet changes can lead to mood changes |
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