How to Make Friends
Friendship is a very important human relationship and everyone needs good friends. Good friendship has many benefits. It offers companionship, improves self-worth and promotes good health. There are times in our lives such as when we have recently moved into a new town, or changed our jobs or schools. Such changes often leaves us without a friend. Making new friends comes easy for some people. But for many of us the process is difficult and requires courage. Below are some helpful suggestions on how to make and keep friends.
Associate with others.
The first step to making friends is associating with other people. You can go to public places to meet new people. Besides, you will need to make yourself known by becoming an active member of such places.
Start a conversation.
Starting a conversation is the second most important step in making new friends. Do not wait to be spoken to. You can always start the conversation. Being able to make small talk is a very useful skill in relating with other people.
Do things together.
Choosing friends with common interests is important in building friendship as these interests would always bring you and your friend together. Hanging out will always be a pleasant experience.
Let it grow.
It is a good thing to stay in touch. However, try not to press your new friend with calls, messages or visits as this would likely wear him or her out and finally you may lose your friend. So you will need to give your friend time to react to you. The best friendships are the ones that grow naturally.
Enjoy your friendship.
The best way to enjoy your friendship is to allow your friends to be themselves. Try not to find fault with your friends. Try not to change them from who they are to what you want them to be. Become the kind of friend you will want your friend to be to you.
How to Make Friends
It’s ______ for us to have a good friend.
Many of us have ___ in making and keeping friends.
Below are some suggestions.
I．Associate with others.
Go to public places to meet new persons.
Be active to make people know you.
II．Start a conversation.
Speak to other people actively by making small talk.
III．Do things together.
Choose friends who have __ with you
Have an aimless___with your friends for pleasure.
IV．Let it grow.
Avoid pressing your new friend with calls, messages or visits all the time.
Give time to your friend to adapt to you.
V．Enjoy your friendship.
Try not to find _ with your friends.
Let your friends be themselves
Strive to improve yourself.
A hobby is an activity we can do in our free time, so that we can keep ourselves busy with something that makes us happy. Different people pursue (追求) different kinds of hobbies, according to their personal likes and dislikes. Hobbies are activities we choose to do, but not activities we have to do. There is a lot of difference between wanting to do something and having to do it. We only want to do those things we like to do, and things that give us pleasure and peace of mind.
Hobbies hold a very important place in our lives. For example, they are a means of connecting us with our inner self. The time devoted to taking up a hobby is our own time. This is the time when we can connect and communicate with ourselves. During this personal time, we can do whatever we like. Doing things according to our own wishes gives us a sense of inner satisfaction, and also helps develop self-confidence.
Hobbies also help discover talents. There is a possibility that we are interested in a certain activity, but have never had a chance to actually try it. If we develop our interest as our hobbies, it’s obvious that we’ll do it with great interest. So, even if we have never tried a certain thing before, we can still learn to do it. Thus, the hobbyists’ hidden talents can be discovered, and this can make them feel extremely proud and satisfied.
It’s human nature to try to know more about the things we like. The moment we pursue some activities as our favorite hobbies, we tend to gain more knowledge about the same hobby. Whether it’s gardening, cooking, painting or collecting stamps, we always try to get a deeper understanding of what we’re doing, so that we can do it more correctly. What’s more, we also happen to meet people with similar tastes and sometimes, possessing (拥有) rich knowledge about their hobbies. Thus, besides gaining knowledge, hobbies also provide us with a chance to meet people who share similar likes and dislikes with us.
Whatever our hobbies are, they can be developed at any age, as a child or as an adult. However, if we begin at a young age, we can get more time to experience the joys of our favorite pursuit. The hobby tends to grow with us, and someday, may also take us to great heights.
| Why to take up a hobby |
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| Paragraph outline |
Supporting details |
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| Meanings |
·Hobbies are activities we do in our free time and can make us ·Our hobbies are based on our likes. ·Hobbies are those activities people are |
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| Helping connect With the inner self |
·The time ·We’ll feel |
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| Helping discover talents |
·We can learn a lot by trying some activities with great ·We’ll be able to find our |
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| Helping gain knowledge |
·When pursuing a hobby, we tend to try our best to ·We can also |
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| Though all hobbies can be developed at any age, yet it’s better to develop one when we are young. |
首先请阅读以下几种巧克力的广告：
| A. |
Guittard Chocolate Truffles Favors We have got the perfect wedding favor for your guests, which will really win your guest over. Each truffles are made with some of the finest ingredients from Guittard with vintage chocolate. Available in 24 pcs per box. Don’t worry about left over, you will be having fun eating them while you assemble the favors together. |
| B. |
Chocolate Covered Delight Square Come in our beautiful square, you can find a variety of chocolate such as Pastel chocolate covered apricots and cranberries, chocolate covered espresso mix, and powder dusted chocolate almonds make for a really fine gift. Everyone loves to choose chocolates freely! Furthermore, they are fresher than packaged ones. |
| C. |
Dove Milk Chocolates Bouquet What better way to celebrate a special day than adding a little sweetness with luscious dreamy Dove Chocolate. It can let them know you are thinking of them and loving them. Two Dozen stemmed chocolate square dove chocolates, rose shaped. All bouquets include your gift message and a reusable container. |
| D. |
Ferrero Rocher 48 count box At the heart of Rocher chocolates are a whole roasted hazelnut and creamy chocolaty filling inside a light, crispy wafer, all wrapped in milk chocolate and finely chopped hazelnuts. This beautiful clear box contains 48 gold foil wrapped chocolates, enough and perfect for your special gathering. |
| E. |
Kinder Surprise Chocolate Egg Kinder Surprise eggs are those lovely milk chocolate eggs with white chocolate lining and a surprise toy, which often requires adults to figure out how to put it together! Kids all love Kinder eggs, because it is one of their favorite treats. The toys sometimes turn out to be collectors’ items too! |
| F. |
Mars Snickers Bar The Snickers candy bar was introduced in 1930. Packed full of roasted peanuts caramel and milk chocolate. Packed with roasted peanuts, creamy nougat, rich caramel, and milk chocolate. Snickers candy bars will drive your taste buds wild. Snickers handles your hunger, so you can handle everything else! |
下面是一些需要购买巧克力的人，请为她们选择项是和他们的巧克力：Mr. And Mrs. Johnson are going to buy a gift for their nephew Mike, who likes chocolate very much. They hope their gift can offer Mike more than delicious food, like bringing more fun and helping him develop a good hobby.
Aron is going to marry Maggie in this month, but this Valentine’s Day he can’t be with his fiancee because he is on a business trip. Therefore, he decides to buy some chocolates in special shape to express his love and missing.
After a 10 years’ leave, Isabella and her high school classmates will have a great party to celebrate the anniversary of graduation. Isabella hopes to share her favorite chocolate, which is with wafer and nuts, with her classmates.
Emma and her husband have a habit to enjoy chocolate with their children every night when watching TV. In order to buy fresh and various chocolates at a lower price, she will choose those unpacked ones.
Cooper Smith is an enthusiastic fan of out-door sports. Each time he goes hiking or rafting, he will prepare everything carefully, including buying some handy chocolates for his body energy supply.
Public speaking is a common cause of stress for everyone. The idea of standing in front of a large group with all eyes on you can make you feel fearful in almost all kinds of situation, for example giving a presentation in class, proposing a toast at dinner or making a work-related presentation. It seems to be a fear that’s impossible to overcome. If you have ever experienced this, you know while the anxiety may develop at the actual event, it is a feeling that begins much earlier than the actual day. There are many ways you can work on your confidence and prepare yourself for a public speaking event.
A consultant specializing (专门研究) in presentation skills can help you to overcome your sense of panic. Working with a consultant does not indicate that you have a major problem; it is only an approach to receiving guidance on relaxation strategies, such as deep breathing, which can help you deal with public speaking problems with ease.
Consultants can also help you work on your confidence. Confidence is extremely important in public speaking as it lets a speaker sound more convincing. Even well-established public speakers practice techniques such as meditation (沉思冥想) to calm themselves before a public appearance.
It’s well worth the time and effort to overcome the fear of public speaking, particularly if talks and presentations are part of your work description. Keep in mind that many of those around you are also struggling with this fear of public speaking. It will help you to become an able speaker if you can prepare beforehand. For example, you can put in time on planning your presentation in detail and practicing it many times in secret. As you get more and more familiar with your material, you’ll be able to fine-tune (微调) the details of your presentation and this will make you a confident speaker. Your speech will become excellent in terms of style and content.
Remember that the more you get into this pattern of feeling good about yourself, the stronger you will feel about approaching events when you have to make a speech. You can also work on physical details such as adjusting your tone (音调) before the presentation by doing some warm-up exercises.
In a word, believing in yourself and presenting yourself well can help you deeply impress your audience. And after a few speeches you’ll notice yourself overcoming the sense of panic that you now feel in public speaking situations.
| Title |
About the fear of public speaking |
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| Introduction |
* When speaking in public, you will feel * This feeling usually begins |
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| Ways |
Turn to a consultant. |
* A consultant can guide you and help you ( * A consultant can also help you build confidence which can make your public speaking |
| Make |
* Make a detailed * Spend time * Pay attention to your tone. |
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| A combination of great confidence and a good |
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage.
Kids and Ponds
Years ago there was a group of kids who would hang around at some local ponds in the woods near their houses in Warwick, Rhode Island. In summer they caught frogs and fish. When winter arrived they couldn't wait to go skating. Time passed, and the ponds became the only open space for the kids to enjoy themselves in that neighborhood.
One day. a thirteen-year-old boy from this group of kids read in the local newspaper that a developer wanted to fill in the ponds and build over a hundred small houses called condominiums. So the boy went door to door and gathered more than two hundred signatures (签名）to stop the development A group of citizens met and decided to support him.
At the meeting of the town planning board (委员会)，the boy was quite nervous at first and spoke very softly. But when he saw the faces of his friends and neighbors in the crowd and thought about what was happening to their favorite ponds，his voice grew louder. He told the town officials that they should speak for the citizens. He also insisted that they should leave enough space for children. A few days later，the developer stopped his plan.
Nine years later, when that teen was a senior in college, he was informed that the developer was back with his proposal to build condominiums. Now twenty-two years old, he was studying wetlands ecology. He again appeared before the town planning board. This time as an expert witness, he used environmental protection laws to explain restrictions on development in and around wetlands and the knowledge of wetlands ecology to help improve the development. Finally some condominiums were built, but less than half the number the developer wanted. The ponds where those kids used to hang around were protected by a strip of natural land，and are still there today.
| 1． |
What did the kids like to do at the local ponds in winter? |
| 2． |
How did the boy win the citizens' support? |
| 3． |
What did the boy tell the town officials? |
| 4． |
What helped the boy to protect the ponds successfully nine years later? |
Educators have spent ages arguing about whether the traditional classroom structure, with students all working on the same lesson, is really suited to different learning styles.
Twelve-year-old Yuval Kagan looks like he’s ready to work at a call center. He’s among 10 students sitting at a long table covered with laptop computers, talking into their headphones. ”Yes,” he says, looking at his computer screen. Yural is talking to a math teacher. If he has a question, he hits a button called “raise your hand” and the teacher speaks to him.
Yuval says he enjoys this form of teaching. “In a lesson with a class, the teacher always has to tell other students to stop talking, but here you can have one-on-one teaching.”
That personalized approach is what makes School of One different. It’s an after-school math program taking place here at I.S. 228 and two other middle schools. Kids spend part of their time working with online teachers. But teachers can also set instruction in small groups, where a teacher explains a special math problem. And sometimes they work together, as demonstrated by two boys using colorful blocks to figure out a geometry problem.
School of One was first piloted last summer with middle scholars in Chinatown. Assessment tests showed so much progress that the Department of Education expanded the program. Dominick D’Angelo, the principal of I.S. 228, says he wanted his sixth graders to take part because the traditional classroom doesn’t serve every child. But School of One is what its name suggests.
“A student is working at his or her own pace,” says D’Angelo. “Not with a group of 30 other students. If they don’t get it today, they have to work on it again tomorrow. They’re not left behind because they can’t catch up with the class. It’s at their own pace.”
Chancellor Joel Klein says “This kind of approach---students centered, not classroom centered---is going to be a part of the future of Education.”
But Daniel Willingham, a professor of Psychology says “Studies have been done trying to prove that some people learn best visually, however, other people learn best aurally (听觉上). They have shown that there’s no benefit in meeting the needs of those learning styles.” He adds, “It’s not clear whether considering different styles of learning makes a real difference.”
The city has raised money from private donors to keep the program going next fall. And though officials say they didn’t deliberately launch it this spring in time for the state exams, they’ll be very curious to see the performance of those 240 sixth graders at the three schools now using the School of One.
Title: Arguments about classroom structures and learning styles
| A comparison of two |
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●Classroom centered: all the students work on the ●Teachers have to tell students to keep |
| School of One |
● ●Teachers can also organize the kids in small groups to explain special problems. Sometimes they can |
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| Experts’ opinions |
●The new approach will be part of the future of Education. ●Some people learn best visually, while other people learn best by ●It is not ●We are not |
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| Officials’ expectations |
● How the three schools’ sixth graders |
Studying Abroad
Nowadays, studying abroad gains popularity in China. Many rich parents would rather send their children abroad to receive education than let them be educated in China.
As every coin has two sides, studying abroad is not an exception. There are advantages for people to attend school abroad. In the first place, he can use the foreign language in his daily life so that his ability in the second language may be greatly improved, as it is obvious that there is no better chance to improve second-language than living in the country where it is spoken. While studying in a foreign country, he will most likely meet many others from overseas and it is possible to make friends from all over the world. This is not only exciting on the social level, but could lead to important overseas contacts in his career as well. He can get familiar with the latest knowledge in science and make use of the first-rate facilities (设备) available. In this way, there is every chance that he is able to widen his horizon (眼界) and broaden his mind.
Of course, attending schools abroad may bring about a series of problems. The most serious problem is language barrier (障碍). Most of the students who go abroad don’t have enough skills in the language spoken there. As a result, on arriving there, they will find it difficult to understand what the teachers say. Besides, for lack of knowledge of the customs of the local people, they may constantly run into trouble in dealing with various situations.
Therefore, given an opportunity to attend a school abroad, one must consider both sides of the factors carefully before making up his mind.
| Title: Studying Abroad |
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| Phenomenon |
Sending children abroad to receive education is |
| Advantages |
● Children have the ● They can make friends with other students from ● They can |
| |
● Language barrier is the number one problem. Because students are not ● It is not easy for them to deal with cross-culture communication |
| Conclusion |
Both sides of the factors should be |
Educating girls quite possibly harvests a higher rate of benefit than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be an unusual field for economists， but increasing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics， with its focus on rewards， provides an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of(剥夺)an education.
Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family： girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school — the predict becomes self-ffulfilling， trapping women in a vicious circle (恶性循环) of neglect.
An educated mother， on the other hand， has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children， ensuring that her daughters and sons are given fair chances. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls， as well as of boys， will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle(良性循环).
Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously， there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments， but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices， including family planning.
Topic： The significance of in developing countries
| Viewpoint |
Educating girls is more |
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From low-income families |
From educated mothers’ families |
| Attitudes |
Girls are of |
Development should be for |
| Practices |
●There is ●Girls are made to stay at home， |
Girls and boys are sure to have |
| Consequences |
A vicious circle |
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| |
Educating girls contributes to social benefits， Educating girls in developing countries is important and rewarding. |
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What do you usually use your cellphone for? Calling friends or sending them text messages?
As technology develops，nowadays cellphones can do much more than that．They have become all-in-one cell-phones.
A typical example is Apple’s phone.The touch-screen cellphone plays music，connects to the Web，sends emails and takes photos. More than 1 million Apple’s phones have been sold since it was sold in June.
“Today’s young people enjoy using all kinds of digital functions，such as those of a music player，a camera and even a computer. An all-in-one cellphone is easy to carry. That is the goal of developing a technology to make our lives more convenient，simple and relaxed，said Professor Ding Shouqian at Nankai University．
However, the all-in-one cellphones come with some problems. Users have complained that they are too complicated to use them, and that their battery life is too short. Cellphone producers say that they are working hard to make their phones even better.
It is very convenient to use it. “We are trying to make the cellphones in a way that people can quickly move from phoning to taking pictures to listening to music, said Alastair Curtis, Nokia’s chief designer.“If you look at the Nokia 3250 model, it has a twisting(转动) bottom. So you twist it half a turn，and it’s in camera mode. You twist it another 90 degrees, and it’s in music player mode．”Japanese companies such as Toshiba and Fujitsu are also working to develop a new kind of battery for cellphones．
If all the problems are solved in the future, all-in-one phones will change our lives for the better.
| Title: |
Situation |
With the |
| Functions |
◆It plays music. ◆It is ◆It can send e-mails and take photos. ◆It can even be used as |
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| |
◆The cellphones are ◆The cellphone is designed to bring people much more |
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| Problem |
◆They are too complicated to use. ◆Their battery life is short. |
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| |
◆To make it easy and ◆The companies make better batteries that last |
Each summer, you hear news about a sports player being rushed to the hospital or passing out because the heat was just too much. If you follow some basic safety tips, you’ll be safe and happy playing outside for years to come.
Drinking water is crucial to your health in the heat. This is the first thing that everyone says when it is hot outside. You should not drink soda, coffee, or iced tea when you’re playing outside, and for a few hours after you get inside too.
Be sure to take enough breaks to let your body rest. If you feel that your coach don’t let you take enough breaks in the heat, don’t wait until you feel awful to march to the sidelines. Once you feel bad, it’s usually too late. Just be honest with your coach when you need breaks. He’ll understand.
When you do have a break, don’t sit in the sun. With the sun beating down on you, you’ll only heat up and sweat more. Try to grab a seat in the shade under a tree, or even better, go indoors for a little while. Cooling yourself down can help you stay active longer.
The signs of dehydration（脱水）can be tough to recognize. They include a dry or sticky mouth, dry skin, a headache, and dizziness（头晕）. You might not always feel thirsty, so watch out for the signs of dehydration, and get yourself into the shade and get some water before it gets worse.
The earlier in the day you start your workout or practice, the cooler it will be. If you can start practice before the sun comes up, you have a few good hours to practice in the cool hours of the morning. Also, the earlier you practice, the earlier you can be done, which gives you some good recovery time when the heat gets bad in the afternoon. If you need more practice time, a good idea is to take a break when the heat is bad and come back to the field later in the evening, when the sun is setting.
As long as you pay attention to the above, playing sports safely in the heat isn’t a difficult thing.
Title: Some safety tips while playing sports in the heat
| Drinking water in time |
●Drinking water is crucial and necessary when you play outside. ●Some drinks are not |
| Taking enough breaks |
●Breaks can ●Take a rest before it is too late. ●Take a break in the shade or go |
| ● ●Get into the |
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| Choosing |
●Practice before ●Do extra exercise in the evening with the sun |
Teamwork is just as important in science as it is on the playing field or in the gym. Scientific investigations (调查) are almost always carried out by teams of people working together. Ideas are shared, experiments are designed, data are analyzed, and results are evaluated and shared with other investigators. Group work is necessary, and is usually more productive than working alone.
Several times throughout the year you may be asked to work with one or more of your classmates. Whatever the task your group is assigned, a few rules need to be followed to ensure a productive and successful experience.
What comes first is to keep an open mind, because everyone’s ideas deserve consideration and each group member can make his or her own contribution. Secondly, it makes a job easier to divide the group task among all group members. Choose a role on the team that is best suited to your particular strengths. Thirdly, always work together, take turns, and encourage each other by listening, clarifying, and trusting one another. Mutual （相互的）support and trust often makes a great difference.
Activities like investigations are most effective when done by small groups. Here are some more suggestions for effective team performance during these activities: Make sure each group member understands and agrees to the task given to him or her, and everyone knows exactly when , why and what to do; take turns doing various tasks during similar and repeated activities; be aware of where other group members are and what they are doing so as to ensure safety; be responsible for your own learning, though it is by no means unwise to compare your observations with those of other group members.
When there is research to be done, divide the topic into several areas, and this can explore the issue in a very detailed way. You are encouraged to keep records of the sources used by each person, which helps you trace back to the origin of the problems that may happen unexpectedly. A format for exchanging information (e.g., photocopies of notes , oral discussion, etc.) is also important, for a well-chosen method not only strengthens what you present but also makes yourself easily understood. When the time comes to make a decision and take a position on an issue, allow for the contributions of each member of the group. Most important of all, it is always wise to make decisions by compromise and agreement.
After you’ve completed a task with your team, make an evaluation of the team’s effectiveness — the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and challenges.
| Title |
Working Together |
| Theme |
Effective performance needs highly cooperated |
| General rules |
Keep an open mind to everyone’s Divide the group task among group members. |
| ● Understand and agree to the ● Take turns doing various tasks. ● Show concern for others to ensure safety. ● Take ● Compare your own observations with those of others. |
|
| Explore an issue |
● Break the ● ● ● Make all decisions by compromise and agreement. |
| ● Analyze the strengths and weaknesses. ● Find out the opportunities and challenges |
In the winter of 1964, the Beatles, a British musical, packed up their electric guitars, drum kits, and rebellious ways and set off for America.
Two days later, more than seventy million people watched the group perform four of their hit songs on the Ed Sullivan Show. This was sixty percent of the American television audience. Here the Beatles sing one of those songs, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
The Beatles soon had the top five hit songs on the Billboard singles chart. Millions of fans became infected with Beatlemania. They rushed to stores to buy Beatles albums, wigs, clothes, dolls and lunch boxes.
The Beatles recorded more than twenty number one hits in America. A Beatles song was almost always at the top of the charts until the group's next hit replaced it. They played to more than fifty thousand fans at large sports stadiums. And they filmed several movies that made millions of dollars.
The Beatles were influenced by American singers including Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard. Yet the group's music sounded completely new and different. The Beatles wrote more than two hundred songs that revolutionized American popular music.
In addition, young people saw the Beatles as spokesmen for their generation. They copied the band members' long hair and free-spirited ways. The band became so popular that in 1966 John Lennon said they were more popular than Jesus Christ.
Soon other musicians began writing their own music the way John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the Beatles songs.
Many other British groups followed the Beatles to America. This was known as the "British Invasion." They included the Dave Clark Five, the Kinks and the Rolling Stones.
The Rolling Stones called themselves the "World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band." The Stones first performed across America in 1964. This song was the group's first Top 40 hit in the United States.
In the spring of 1970, the Beatles released "Let it Be." But their fans were not celebrating. This was the last studio album the Beatles recorded as a group. It tells the story of the band's break up.
| British |
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| Time and Place |
Events |
| 1964 |
Get everything |
| After arriving in USA |
Over half of American TV audience watched their |
| In America |
1. They 2. They played a lot to many fans; 3. They filmed movies. |
| 1966 |
Although American singers had |
| 1970 |
The last group album “Let it be” was |
Are we too quick to blame and slow to praise? It seems that while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow unwilling to give others the warm sunshine of praise.
It’s strange how mean we are about praising. Perhaps it’s because few of us know how to accept praise gracefully . Instead , we are embarrassed and ignore the words we are really so glad to hear. Because of this defensive reaction, direct praise is surprisingly difficult to give.
Do you ever go into a house and say, “ What a tidy room!” Hardly anybody does. That’s why housework is considered such a boring job. Shakespeare said, “ Our praises are our wages.” Since so often praise is the only wage a housewife receives, surely she is worthy of praise.
Mothers know naturally that for children an ounce of praise is worth a pound of scolding. Still, we are unaware of children’s small achievements and we seldom apply the rule. One day I was criticizing my children for quarrelling. “Can you never play peacefully?” I shouted. Susanna looked at me confused. “ Of course I can,” she said. “But you don’t notice us when we do.”
Teachers agree about the value of praise. “ I believe that a student knows when he has handed in something above his usual standard,” writes a teacher, “ and that he is hungry for a belief comment in the margin to show him that the teacher is aware of it, too.”
Behavioral scientists have done countless experiments to prove that people have a tendency to repeat an act which has been immediately followed by a pleasant result. In one such experiment, a number of schoolchildren were divided into three groups and given arithmetic tests daily for five days. One group was constantly praised for its previous performance; another group was criticized; the third was ignored. Not surprisingly, those who were praised improved dramatically. Those who were criticized improved ,too, but not so much. And the scores of the children who were ignored hardly improved at all. Interestingly, the brightest children were helped just as much by criticism as by praise, but the less able children, who reacted badly to criticism, needed praise the most.
To give praise costs the giver nothing but a moment’s thought and a moment’s effort—perhaps a quick phone call to pass on good comments , or write an appreciative letter. It is such a small investment—and yet consider the results it may produce. We will not only bring joy into other people’s lives, but also, very often, added happiness into our room.” I can live for two months on a good compliment.” said Mark Twain.
Title : Profits of Praise
| Theme |
Compared with_____ |
| Reasons for unwillingness to give praise |
We feel embarrassed and ignore the words pleasant to our ears____ We have ____ |
| Importance of praise in some cases |
A housewife ___ A mother is supposed to be aware of their children’s small achievements and ___ A student waits ____ |
| Findings of experiments on profits of praise |
Everybody___ Those who receive constant praise have made dramatic improvement. Unlike brilliant children, less able children ___ |
| ________ |
It pays to make a moment’s ___ |
On Christmas morning, Linda wakes up, and tries to imagine the wide-eyed surprise of children in another household as they unwrap the presents she carefully chose for them. Linda has never met the children, but that’s all part of the joy of giving as secret Santas, she says.
"It's an amazing feeling to buy gifts on an anonymous (匿名的) basis," says Linda.
"It brings a whole new meaning to the holidays."
Linda and Tony are an American couple living in Toronto, Canada, and Linda did charitable work as a member of the American Women's Club of Toronto. As the name suggests, members are U.S. citizens living in Toronto, who join together for fellowship and community service.
To find her "adopted" family, Linda goes to the local schools and requests a wish list for a family that's struggling to survive. Last year she helped a single mother with three children. The mother works as a cleaning lady in a nursing home.
"The list is always heartbreaking. They have an opportunity to ask for anything and do just the opposite, asking for basic clothes or simple toys," she says. "We always buy the kids a new winter coat, hats, and gloves." She also buys gifts for the parents.
Last year Linda asked the mother for a second wish list--one that didn't include the basics. "Every child should have a Christmas that sticks with them for a lifetime." She purchased iPods for the two older children and a video game system for the youngest."I have learned a very valuable lesson in all of this," says Linda. "Pay attention to what's going on in your own backyard--no matter where you live."
The joy of giving as secret Santas is much sweeter when the gift is anonymous.What reaction does Linda imagine the children will have?
(No more than 5 words) (2 marks)
Why did Linda join the American Women's Club of Toronto?
(No more than 10 words) (2 marks)
Why did Linda ask for a second wish list?
(No more than 15 words) (3 marks)
What kind of people does "secret Santas" in the passage refer to?
(No more than 12 words) (3 marks)
A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked decline in the use of emotional words over time. The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, a facility for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to search for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.
They found that almost all of the categories (类别) showed a drop in these “mood words” over time. Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage.
“It is a steady and continuous decrease,” said Dr Alberto Acerbi. He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape. “One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media. Maybe these media—movies, radio, drama—had more emotional content than books.”
Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behaviour：the ratio (比率) between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events.
During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached a peak that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash. But the ratio plunged at the height of the Second World War. Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends. In the paper, they even argue that the reverse could be true.
“It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression (压抑) of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing ‘filled with romance and sex’… perhaps,” they conclude, “songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body.”
(Note：Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.)A study of more than five million books indicated a decline in “mood words” over time except
According to Dr Alberto Acerbi, one reason for the drop of “mood words” in books may be that
What were the two periods when the joy-to-sadness ratio was at its highest?
While the researchers found some changes in the use of “mood words” in books, they werenot sure that
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