My community and suite are still recovering from the disaster that struck recently. A wall of storms with hurricane force winds struck late on a Friday evening knocking down trees, blocking roads, damaging homes, and destroying power lines.

Hundreds of people suddenly found themselves in the dark without water, electricity, air conditioning, telephones, the Internet, and television. They found themselves cut off from the modem world enduring uncomfortable heat.

The most amazing thing happened, however, as the reality of the crisis sank in: it brought out the best in us. While there were a few acts of selfishness and stealing they were covered by the wave of love that came from the hearts of so many.

People shared their food, ice, and gas. People who still had power opened their homes to those who had none. People rushed out to clear roads and homes. Selfless power crews worked around the clock to repair the damage and restore electricity. People gathered to talk, share hugs and offer words of hope and faith that God would see them through it all. Strangers came together as one family to help each other in this time of great need.

It was such a joy seeing all these people acting like true Children of God under the most trying circumstances. Life's disasters often strike all of us. No one is spared. We all get hurt and challenged. How we respond to them, though, is up to us. We can let them bring out the worst or the best in us. We can react to them like demons of selfishness or like angels of love.

May you always bring the best from your heart and soul to whatever life may throw at you then May you live all of your days here with so much love that Heaven sings and God smiles.

1.How were the community and state affected by the storm?

A. Power lines were restored. B. People were blocking the roads.

C. Electricity supply was cut off. D. The unbearable heat killed people.

2.Why did the reality bring out the best in people?

A. Because there were no acts of selfishness and stealing.

B. Because people were busy repairing the damaged roads.

C. Because Children of God got all of people together here.

D. Because people are only too ready to help others selflessly.

3.What docs “trying” in paragraph 5 mean?

A. easy. B. difficult.

C. convenient. D. comfortable.

4.What suggestion does the writer give when it comes lo difficulties?

A. Throw your heart to life.

B. Leave your soul to demons.

C. Face difficulties with love.

D. Choose whatever you like.

The National Park Service in the United States will mark its one hundredth anniversary in 2016. As it nears its second century, the Park Service plans to increase its educational programs for students and teachers.

The plans include transportation support for one hundred thousand students each year to visit national parks to learn about nature and history. Yellowstone is believed to have been the world’s first national park when it was established in 1872. Other students will get a chance to see parks in faraway places through Skype and other online programs.

The National Park Service also works with partners to provide education. One of its partners is a nonprofit organization called NatureBridge. NatureBridge is celebrating its fortieth anniversary and says one million young people have taken part in its programs. The organization works with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade and uses national parks as its classrooms. It provides field science programs at Yosemite National Park and four other locations in California and the northwestern state of Washington.

Now, NatureBridge is launching an East Coast center with a four?million?dollar grant from Google. The program will begin in April at the Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. Students stay for three to five days in NatureBridge programs. The activities are aimed at developing their science skills. For example, they learn about different soils and study water quality under a microscope.

Jason Morris is executive vice president of NatureBridge. He says when they are not sleeping, eating or in a laboratory, the students spend their time outdoors. Julia Washburn is associate director of education and interpretation for the National Park Service. She says in a time of budget cuts, the agency has to find ways to still meet its goals. Ms. Washburn says one of the most important services that the Park Service provides every day is nature interpretation. Park rangers (公园管理员) try to make visiting the outdoors more meaningful. Interpretation is a form of informal education. Essentially, it is a word that we use for the people in parks that explain the park or help orient (确定方向) you. So park rangers are interpreters. They orient you to the place you are in and help you make connections, emotional and intellectual connections, with the place.

1.What’s the general idea of the passage?

A. National parks are used as outdoor classrooms for students.

B. Students are called on to be members of NatureBridge.

C. Some famous national parks in US are attractive to students.

D. Park rangers make visiting parks much more interesting.

2.Which of the following is the correct structure of the whole passage? (Para.=Paragraph)

A. B.

C. D.

Old age may not sound exciting.But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older.Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty.In fact,they say by the age of eighty?five,people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.

The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States.The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008.At that time,the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty?five.The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness,sadness and worry.They also asked about mental or emotional stress.

Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study.His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty?two and twenty?five.The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.

The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older.However,women at all ages reported more sadness,stress and worry than men.

Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older.One theory is that,as people grow older,they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings.They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.

Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world,or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.

The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children,being unemployed or being single.But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well?being related to age.

1.According to the survey of The Gallup Organization,people are most likely to become happier .

A. when they are between ages of 18 and 85

B. when they come to their old age

C. when they are in their twenties

D. when they are eighteen years old

2.According to Arthur Stone,old people .

A. have a positive attitude toward their life

B. can control their behaviors better

C. dream about good things every day

D. have earned a large amount of money

3.From the last paragraph we can know that .

A. you must be worried if you have young children

B. health has nothing to do with your age

C. you can be happy even if you are still single

D. happiness depends on your family and job

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A. Getting Older Means Getting Happier

B. The Young Are Happier Than the Old

C. The Younger,the Happier

D. Women Are Easier to Happy in Life

Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.

While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions(伙伴) than mere tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately to the user.

The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions; it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.

Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.

Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.

The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.

1.How are social robots different from household robots?

A. They can control their emotions.

B. They are more like humans.

C. They do the normal housework.

D. They respond to users more slowly.

2.What can Oshbot work as?

A. A language teacher.

B. A tour guide.

C. A shop assistant.

D. A private nurse.

3.We can learn from the last paragraph that social robots will ______.

A. train employees B. be our workmates

C. improve technologies D. take the place of workers

4.What does the passage mainly present?

A. A new design idea of household robots.

B. Marketing strategies for social robots.

C. Information on household robots.

D. An introduction to social robots.

My father used to be an amateur wrestler (业余摔跤者) and national champion. He was forced by his father to give up the sport in order to obtain gainful employment, which meant he wouldn’t be able to win a medal for our country. Therefore, he made a vow that his unborn son would. 1.

He was about to give up hope when one day, my younger sister Babita and I beat up two boys accidentally in response to critical comments. My dad found our potential to become wrestlers and began coaching us. 2. We were required to do physical training early in the morning and have a short haircuts to avoid lice.

3. We would complain about him all the time. Gradually, I realized that he wanted us to have a good future and not grow up to be ordinary housewives. Motivated, we willingly participated in his coaching.

With great efforts, he made us competitive wrestlers and I won the junior and senior championships, providing me with a chance to gain training in a National Sports Academy, where pride and pain fulfilled my mind.4. As a result, I found myself losing every match at the international level. After that, I tearfully made peace with papa and turned to him for help. Then he coached me patiently.

Despite difficulty, I finally became the first Indian female wrestler to qualify for the Olympics, inspiring dozens of Indian women to take to wrestling. Even now, papa’s words are still in my mind “Geeta, think about all the girls who are thought to be inferior to boys, girls who are forced to do chores, girls who are married and have children. Not only will you compete with other countries, but also with those who look down upon women!”. I will never forget our father’s instruction. 5..

A. But his methods were cruel.

B. I almost gave up what papa had taught me.

C. Disappointingly, my mother gave birth to all girls.

D. My sister and I tried to escape.

E. I will always owe all success to him.

F. At first, my sister and I did not understand our father.

G. However, my mother didn’t agree with him.

In life, we should try to combine both money and happiness together. To do this I suggest the following steps:

Consider the Importance of Simplicity(简朴)

The aim of life should not be to control as many belongings and as much wealth as possible. If you feel happiness is directly related to material belongings, you are making a mistake. We should learn to be pleased with what we have and appreciate the advantages of simplicity.

Do Not Take Money Too Seriously

Does it pain you to spend your own money—even if it is for something useful? The problem with this, however, is that if we are always unwilling to spend money, we miss the whole point of making it. We should look at money in this way: spending money enables more to come into our lives. It is no good saving a large amount of water unless we use it to produce power; similarly, it is no use accumulating savings if we feel unwilling to spend them.

Reduce Financial(财政的) Worries to the Lowest Degree

We will be happy if we can make money a small part of our lives. To be able to do this, we need to prevent creating situations of debt(负债) as getting out of debt can be difficult and stressful. If you do need to go into debt, plan ahead and find a loan(贷款) which is clear and manageable to repay. Try not to make risky investment plans, as these give you the possibility to gain more as well as to lose a lot more.

Do Not Live to Work

If you spend all your time working, you will have no opportunity to spend your money. Don't feel guilty about turning extra work down; it is also important to have a rest. It is good if we can feel pleased with work, but if we only spend time working then our lives will be short of a proper balance.

Title: Is Money 1. to Happiness?

Four steps

How to combine money with happiness properly in our life?

2. our life

●We shouldn't equal the aim of life with material

●Instead, we should learn to 3. what we have

Keep a proper 4. towards money

Don't feel painful when you spend your money on necessary things, because it is 5. to accumulate savings if you don't want to spend it

Try to reduce financial worries

●Try not to get into debt 6. you have to

7. risky investment plans in case of a great loss

8. your work and rest

●Give yourself 9. to enjoy your life as much as possible

●It is not wrong to 10. extra work to have a rest

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网