We've all heard the old saying,“Sticks and stones can break my bones,but words can never hurt me.” Don't you believe it?Words are powerful,and they can hurt—a lot. In fact,if you're not careful,you can even hurt yourself,by using the wrong word in your writing.
Recently a friend sent me a copy of an e-mail she received from the customer service department of her credit card company,after she contacted them with a question about her account. She was happy with their positive response. But as I read the e-mail,one line jumped out at me:“In lieu of good customer service...”
Did they really mean they were offering her a few extra reward points instead of good customer service?I doubt it. More likely,what the customer service department meant to say was,“Because good customer service is important to us...” followed by the details of what they were doing to make sure she remained a happy customer.
So why didn't the writer say that?I can only guess that perhaps the writer liked the phrase “in lieu of”,thought it sounded more interesting than saying “because”,and so used it—without bothering to check the true meaning.
Have you ever done that?Try to impress others with a big word,only to find out you've used the word incorrectly?It's just the opposite effect,isn't it?You may impress people all right,but it's not the impression you were going for.
When you write,remember to choose your words carefully. People may still disagree with what you say,but they won't be able to dismiss you because you made careless mistakes in how you said it.
【小题1】What's the writer's purpose in giving the saying?

A.To amuse the reader.B.To persuade the reader.
C.To support a conclusion.D.To lead to the topic.
【小题2】What does the phrase “in lieu of” most probably mean?
A.Because ofB.In honour ofC.Instead ofD.In favour of
【小题3】According to the writer,the customer service department ______.
A.didn't prefer to use familiar words to attract customers
B.didn't express what they really meant
C.didn't need to offer their customers extra reward points
D.succeeded in impressing their customers


I've tried to explain compound interest to my eight - year - old daughter. When I have finished it, she summarizes back to me, "So, you are saying if I put $ 100 in the bank, when I turn sixteen the bank will give me $ 200?" She has already grasped more of the concept than I understood at her age, but she couldn't clearly understand that until she sees them in action.
One day I gave her a Ziploc bag with a handful of pennies and told her over the course of a week I wanted her to give me a penny a day. I would deposit the penny in " The Bank of Dad" and compound interest would begin to accumulate the day she deposited the penny. At the end of the week we would check her bank balance.
Each day my daughter handed over one penny at the breakfast table and I deposited it in her bank. I gave her a "receipt" for her deposit and explained that she needed to keep up with the receipts to see how much money she had added to her account. In an effort to make this a little more realistic, I deposited a penny from my own piggy bank every other day to give her an additional four pennies at the end of the week.
On Sunday evening we gathered receipts and confirmed she had deposited seven pennies in "The Bank of Dad. " Then I opened the old film container and counted out its contents—all eleven pennies. "Hey, there are four extra pennies in there!" I explained that her original seven pennies had grown to eleven pennies because every couple days the bank paid her a penny for letting them use her money—that's interest. She paused and asked, "Dad, what would happen if you deposited like a hundred million pennies in the bank?
1.We can learn from Paragraph 1 that ____.
A.the writer' s daughter understood compound interest better than him
B.the writer wanted her daughter to understand compound interest
C.the writer' s daughter understood compound interest very well
D.the writer' s daughter grasped the exact meaning of compound interest
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?
A.The writer' s daughter got a handful of pennies from her father.
B.The writer got compound pennies from "The Bank of Dad".
C.The writer placed one penny in "The Bank of Dad" each day.
D.Compound interest would begin to increase at the end of the week.
3.Each day the writer’s daughter ____.
A.got a penny from her father        B.received interest from her father
C.deposited a penny in her piggy bank    D.handed over one penny to her father
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A."The Bank of Dad" paid the girl a penny each day as interest.
B.The father used a good way to show his daughter about interest.
C.There were eleven pennies in the old film container in total.
D.The writer's daughter was very puzzled with compound interest.
5.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.How to Deposit Pennies in "The Bank of Dad".
B.Welcome to Deposit Money in the Bank.
C.How to Teach Compound Interest to Kids.
D.A Good Relationship between Father and Kid.

Facebook users may feel socially successful in the web world but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are doing badly compared with those who don’t. About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-old people are using social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social activities.
“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher. “Every generation has its distractions(娱乐), but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.” Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in(登录) varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.
Some UK students have already realized the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades, urging her to deactivate(使无效) her account, “I was in the library and tried to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said. “I couldn’t resist going online, when thinking about it. Before you know it , a couple of minutes have turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a word.”
Jones is among the few to have realized the risks. 79% of the users, however, believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. The CEO of Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students to decide how to spend their time.”
【小题1】What can we know from Paragraph 1?

A.All the students who don’t use Facebook do well in exams.
B.Social networking sites have both advantages and disadvantages.
C.Facebook is the main site for British people to keep in touch.
D.Most of British students use social networking sites daily.
【小题2】Facebook users check their account frequently to ____________.
A.spend less time on studyB.make sure new messages aren’t missed
C.practise specific use of FacebookD.accumulate amount of time spent on Facebook.
【小题3】Why did Daisy Jones deactivate her account?
A.She was warned about the risk of using Facebook.
B.Spending much time on Facebook affected her study
C.She wanted to write a long article in the library.
D.There was something wrong with her eyes.
【小题4】What’s the best title of the passage ?
A.Facebook fans do worse in examsB.Social networking sites and their fans
C.Facebook helps organize social activitiesD.How to use social networking sites correctly.

Facebook users may feel socially successful in the web world but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are doing badly compared with those who don’t. About 83% of British 16 to 24-year-old people are using social networking site such as Facebook and MySpace, to keep in touch with friends and organize their social activities.

“Our study shows people who spend more time on Facebook spend less time studying,” said Aryn Karpinski, a researcher. “Every generation has its distractions(娱乐), but I think Facebook is a unique phenomenon.” Karpinski and a colleague questioned 219 US undergraduates and graduates about their study and general Internet use, as well as their specific use of Facebook. They found 65% of Facebook users accessed their account daily, checking it several times to see if they had received new messages. The amount of time spent on Facebook at each log-in(登录) varied from just a few minutes to more than an hour.

Some UK students have already realized the potential danger. Daisy Jones, 21, an undergraduate, realized the time she was spending on Facebook was threatening her grades, urging her to deactivate(使无效) her account, “I was in the library and tried to write a 2,000-word essay when I realized my Facebook habit had got out of hand,” she said. “I couldn’t resist going online, when thinking about it. Before you know it , a couple of minutes have turned into a couple of hours and you haven’t written a word.”

Jones is among the few to have realized the risks. 79% of the users, however, believed the time they spent on the site had no impact on their work. The CEO of Facebook said, “There is also academic research that shows the benefits of services like Facebook. It’s in the hands of students to decide how to spend their time.”

1.What can we know from Paragraph 1?

A.All the students who don’t use Facebook do well in exams.

B.Social networking sites have both advantages and disadvantages.

C.Facebook is the main site for British people to keep in touch.

D.Most of British students use social networking sites daily.

2.Facebook users check their account frequently to ____________.

A.spend less time on study

B.make sure new messages aren’t missed

C.practise specific use of Facebook

D.accumulate amount of time spent on Facebook.

3.Why did Daisy Jones deactivate her account?

A.She was warned about the risk of using Facebook.

B.Spending much time on Facebook affected her study

C.She wanted to write a long article in the library.

D.There was something wrong with her eyes.

4.What’s the best title of the passage ?

A.Facebook fans do worse in exams

B.Social networking sites and their fans

C.Facebook helps organize social activities

D.How to use social networking sites correctly.

 

We've all heard the old saying,“Sticks and stones can break my bones,but words can never hurt me.” Don't you believe it?Words are powerful,and they can hurt—a lot. In fact,if you're not careful,you can even hurt yourself,by using the wrong word in your writing.

    Recently a friend sent me a copy of an e-mail she received from the customer service department of her credit card company,after she contacted them with a question about her account. She was happy with their positive response. But as I read the e-mail,one line jumped out at me:“In lieu of good customer service...”

    Did they really mean they were offering her a few extra reward points instead of good customer service?I doubt it. More likely,what the customer service department meant to say was,“Because good customer service is important to us...” followed by the details of what they were doing to make sure she remained a happy customer.

    So why didn't the writer say that?I can only guess that perhaps the writer liked the phrase “in lieu of”,thought it sounded more interesting than saying “because”,and so used it—without bothering to check the true meaning.

    Have you ever done that?Try to impress others with a big word,only to find out you've used the word incorrectly?It's just the opposite effect,isn't it?You may impress people all right,but it's not the impression you were going for.

    When you write,remember to choose your words carefully. People may still disagree with what you say,but they won't be able to dismiss you because you made careless mistakes in how you said it.

1.What's the writer's purpose in giving the saying?

    A.To amuse the reader.     B.To persuade the reader.

    C.To support a conclusion.  D.To lead to the topic.

2.What does the phrase “in lieu of” most probably mean?

    A.Because of   B.In honour of   C.Instead of      D.In favour of

3.According to the writer,the customer service department ______.

    A.didn't prefer to use familiar words to attract customers

    B.didn't express what they really meant

    C.didn't need to offer their customers extra reward points

    D.succeeded in impressing their customers

 

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