Two years ago I fell off the steps of a bus while climbing down and twisted my ankle. What followed was the usual way that is common in the US. A few hours later I was treated and discharged. What was uncommon was that I received extra care while going to ER(emergency room) and while I was in the hospital.

People were kind to me, men and women alike. They wheeled me into a private room instead of making me wait in the crowded waiting room. Someone came and asked me if the temperature is OK. When I said I was cold, he brought me a blanket and some magazines, in case I got bored. The nurses stopped by, making pleasant chats with me. People always came to ask me if I was in too much pain and if I needed anything…

There were other people who were brought in while I was waiting. Patients groaning in pain were given the care they needed and then ignored. My injury was not the priority, so while I was not pushed to the front of the line, my several hours’ stay in the hospital was made as pleasant as possible. Why would people do that? They gave others care, while I got kindness.

Like any other good looking, healthy, independent person, man or woman, it looks as if the world is nicer to rich people, and the world is nicer to attractive people. I’m not in the dating world. It’s not about free drinks and gifts. It’s about people being nice.

I’m grateful for any positive behavior because I know this is temporary. Eventually I will join the groups of the elderly, the weak and the seemingly unattractive. One thing I refuse to do is to make excuses for being attractive. I know it’s temporary. I know it’s the luck of the draw and I know that I’m just one of the many. Does it matter to my husband, my mother and my kids what I look like? No. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

1. What caused the author into deep thought?

A. She was given less care in the hospital.

B. Patients were only given physical care in the hospital.

C. She didn’t get treatment immediately in the hospital.

D. Other patients in the hospital didn’t get the same kindness as her.

2.What can we know about the author?

A. She is an attractive lady.

B. She shows great pity to old patients.

C. She doesn’t like free drinks or gifts.

D. She was treated unequally in the hospital.

3.Which of the following does the author agree with?

A. The hospital should treat attractive patients in preference to others.

B. The positive behavior that being attractive brings can last long.

C. Old patients should get much more care from the hospital.

D. Being attractive means nothing to the people truly important to you.

Chinese Emoji (表情符号) Circles Globe

“Funny”, a made-in-China emoji, seems to have recently moved beyond China. Now, it is more than an emoji, but a cultural expansion.

Reaching Global Markets

A series of “funny” emoji-based bolsters (抱枕) have attracted the attention of Japanese customers. Even if one bolster is more than three times as expensive as in China, it doesn’t kill their desires to buy it. One Japanese customer Miki said, “They are just so cute and I bought three bolsters at one time for my family. And every time I see them, my mood just brightens suddenly.”

A Japanese netizen Kiro Kara said, “I think the emoji implies very complicated meanings. My dad will send it when he doesn’t agree with someone but he has to say something and behave politely.”

Addition to Domestic Social Media

Compared with Japanese impressions of the “funny” emoji, Chinese netizens prefer to use the emoji to tease one another on social media.

One commonly seen online comment is, “We strongly suggest stopping the usage of the emoji. Because every time other people send me the emoji, I feel very uncomfortable and consider myself as a fool.”

Regarded as the most popular emoji, the “funny” emoji has received much attention since its release in 2013. In fact, the “funny” emoji is the updated version of its original one; “funny” has a smiley mouth, two eyebrows and a naughty look. All these characteristics present users a sense of satire (讽刺).

In Everyday Use Abroad

It’s not the first time the Chinese emoji takes the world stage. Earlier this year, one emoji from the Chinese basketball celebrity Yao Ming has been spread through the Middle East region. In a city in southern Egypt, Yao’s smiling emoji has appeared frequently in local traffic signs to remind people the road ahead is one-way. Many locals do not know Yao Ming but are familiar with his emoji and nickname “Chinese Funny Face”.

As a new online language, emojis have become a necessary part of people’s daily life, helping people express their views in a more vivid and precise way. Also, it can help foreigners learn about Chinese culture. But how to properly use “the fifth innovation in China” without hurting others and turn them into commercial advantages still need answers.

1.Why do the bolsters attract Miki’s attention?

A. They are inexpensive.

B. They help reach an agreement.

C. They help brighten the mood.

D. They are helpful to express desire.

2.According to the passage, which of the following is the latest “funny” emoji?

3.Emojis are so popular worldwide mainly because people use them to ______.

A. express their views more vividly

B. present their sense of satire directly

C. imply very complicated meanings properly

D. tease one another on social media purposely

4.The main purpose of the text is to ______.

A. promote the emoji worldwide

B. teach us how to use the emoji

C. explain the meaning the emoji

D. show us the popularity of the emoji

I left home to support my sister in her efforts to present a music festival. She lives on the other side of the world, and I went to visit her, not wanting to leave and feeling like I was leaving home against my will. However, I wanted to show her my support because she is my only sister.

So I boarded the plane in mid-August, and hated the long flight. I arrived, tired and hungry. I had left my husband of 2 years, alone, in our old New Orleans house.

I was all set and ready to perform for my sister for the music festival on Sunday morning when I received a call from Chicago. The hurricane was predicted to hit our city, and many people had already evacuated, but my husband chose to stay behind. He could not get a call to me on the other side of the world, but he could call his cousin in Chicago. He gave his cousin a message for me, that he would be just fine, and not to worry.

As the day wore on, I finally took the stage in front of hundreds of Europeans, and I realized, thanks to CNN, that New Orleans was under water.

I performed, hoping that my husband would survive. And I performed perfectly. The audience stood and applauded. I left the stage and went straight to the TV. I saw the street sign near my home, of Humanity Street, but nothing below it, except water.

In the days that followed, I found out that my house, my car, my clothes, my furniture, everything that I’d left behind was gone…but not my husband. He survived by riding on the rear bumper(后保险杠) of a VW bus, holding on to the overhead luggage rack, in the pouring rain, down the highway from New Orleans, half-way to Baton Rouge. The rest of the journey was a long walk, but he survived.

By the first week of September, I flew back to the Baton Rouge airport, and hugged my husband. Since then, our relationship has grown deeper; we have completely rebuilt our house, bought a new car, bought new furniture and new clothes and joined an inspirational, spirit-filled community.

1.Why did the author leave home?

A. To look after her sister.

B. To attend a music festival.

C. To watch a performance.

D. To visit her husband’s cousin.

2.How did the author feel when she left home?

A. Disappointed.B. Worried.C. Tired.D. Unwilling.

3.What does the underlined word “evacuated” mean?

A. Gathered.B. StruggledC. Escaped.D. Hid.

4.What might be the title for the passage?

A. Lost it All, Gained Even More

B. Once Gone, Never Returned

C. Caught in the Hurricane

D. Trapped in a Dilemma

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Everyone knows that the Frenchmen are romantic, the Italians are fashionable and the Germans are serious. Are these just stereotypes(刻板印象) or is there really such a thing as national character? And if there is, can it affect how a nation succeed or fail?

At least one group of people is certain that it can. A recent survey of the top 500 entrepreneurs (企业家) in the UK found that 70% felt that their efforts were not appreciated by the British public. Britain is hostile (敌意的) to success, they said. It has a culture of jealousy(嫉妒).__1._ Jealousy is sometimes known as the “green-eyed monster” and the UK is its home.

Scientists at Warwich University in the UK recently tested this idea. They gathered a group of people together and gave each an imaginary amount of money. _ 2._ Those given a little were given the chance to destroy the large amount of money given to others— but at the cost of losing their own. Two thirds of the people tested agreed to do this.

_3.__ But there is also opposite evidence. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently reported that the UK is now the world's fourth largest economy. That is not bad for people who are supposed to hate success. People in the UK also work longer hours than anyone else in Europe. So the British people are not lazy, either.

“It is not really success that the British dislike,” says Carey Cooper, a professor of management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology. “It’s people using their success in a way that seems proud or unfair or which separates them from their roots.”

_4.__ They set out to do things in their way. They work long hours. By their own efforts they become millionaires.__ 5.__ It hardly seems worth following their example. If they were more friendly, people would like them more. And more people want to be like them.

A. This seems to prove that the entrepreneurs were right to complain.

B. The one who owns most money in the end is the winner.

C. As a result, the survey said, entrepreneurs were “unloved, unwanted and misunderstood.”

D. It is not true that British people are born jealous of others` success.

E. Some were given a little, others a great deal.

F. But instead of being happy they complain that nobody loves them.

G. Perhaps it is the entrepreneurs who are the problem.

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