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£­It shouldn't take long to clear up after the party if we all volunteer to help£®

£­That's right£®________£®

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A£®Many hands make light work£®

B£®Something is better than nothing£®

C£®The more, the merrier£®

D£®The sooner begun, the sooner done£®

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Are your table manners much better when you are eating at a friend¡¯s home or in a restaurant than they are at your own home? Probably so, __1__ you are aware that people judge you by your table manners. You take special pains when you are eating __2__. Have you ever stopped to realize how much less self-conscious you would be on such occasions if __3__ table manners had become a habit for you? You can make them a habit by __4__ good table manners at home.

Good manners at mealtimes help you and those around you to feel __5__. This is true at home as much as it is true in someone else¡¯s home or in a restaurant. Good __6__ make meals more enjoyable for everyone at the table.

By this time you probably know quite well what good table manners are. You __7__ that keeping your arms on the table, talking with your __8__ full, and wolfing down your food are not considered good manners. You know also that if you are mannerly, you say ¡°Please¡± and ¡°Thank you¡± and ask for things to be passed to you.

Have you ever thought of a pleasant attitude as being __9__ to good table manners? Not only are pleasant mealtimes enjoyable, but they aid digestion. The dinner table is a __10__ for enjoyable conversation. It should never become a battleground. You are definitely growing in social maturity (³ÉÊì) when you try to be an agreeable table companion. 

A. because        B. but           C. unless D. though

A. in public     B. at home      C. at ease          D. in a hurry

A. such B. no         C. some       D. good

A. acting          B. enjoying             C. practicing   D. watching

A. comfortable   B. stressed      C. depressed     D. outstanding

A. dishes    B. manners        C. atmospheres     D. friends

A. mention   B. prefer          C. doubt           D. realize

A. stomach    B. hands    C. mouth          D. bowl

A. essential   B. considerate     C. obvious   D. unusual

A. time      B. place        C. chance       D. way

This is a story that happened in Europe in the 17th century. Tulips (Óô½ðÏã) were introduced into Holland before the 17th century but it did not take long for the flowers to gain popularity among the upper classes. Flowers of such beauty soon became symbols of power and the rich tried their best to lay their hands on some to display them in their gardens. When more people learned of the prices that the rich were willing to pay for tulips, they knew they just found a ¡°get-rich-quick¡± gold mine.

By 1634, the whole country was so attracted by tulips that all other activities almost came to a stop. People were trading in tulips and even buying and selling bulbs (Çò¾¥). At that time, one rare bulb cost as much as ten tons of cheese.

Many made a fortune in the beginning. As the prices moved in one direction, they only needed to buy low and sell high, buy high and sell higher. After the gains, confidence rose and many sold away all their property in order to invest more money in tulips, hoping to make more money. The desire was so strong that those who were watching also rushed to the tulip market. Everyone thought that the high demand for tulips would continue forever and prices could only go up because more and more people from all over the world would start to like tulips.

When the prices of tulips was much higher than it should be, few people bought them for planting in their gardens. The real demand for the flowers seemed greater than it really was. Many people were buying them for speculation (Ͷ»ú), not appreciation. In 1637, for some unknown reasons, a group of people suddenly realized the danger. The prices of tulips began to fall and the market crashed. When confidence was destroyed, it could not be recovered and prices kept falling. Soon the nobles and the rich became poor. Cries of suffering were heard everywhere in Holland.

Why did the upper classes buy tulips in the beginning?

   A. Because the prices of tulips were low.      

B. Because they wanted to make a fortune.

C. Because tulips were introduced from abroad.         

D. Because tulips were beautiful and represented power.

It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

   A. greed(Ì°À·) was the reason why so many people were mad about tulips

   B. tulips became popular among the upper classes very slowly

   C. people who were mad about tulips bought them for appreciation

   D. when the prices were extremely high, most people planted tulips in their gardens

The passage is mainly about ________.

   A. Europe in the 17th century               B. buying and selling tulips         

C. being mad about tulips                           D. the life of the nobles and the rich 

In the kitchen of my mother¡¯s houses there has always been a wooden stand (ľ¼Ü) with a small notepad (¼Çʱ¾)¡¡and a hole for a pencil.

I¡¯m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can¡¯t be the same pencil? The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely  the original one.

 ¡°I¡¯m just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years.¡± I say to her, walking back into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. ¡°You still use a pencil. Can¡¯t you afford a pen?¡±

My mother replies a little sharply. ¡°It works perfectly  well. I¡¯ve  always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in those days.¡±

Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, ¡°One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.¡±

This story¡ªwhich happened before I was born¡ªreminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have travelled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible (¿´²»µ½µÄ) exhibits at every meal.

1.Why has the author¡¯s mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?

A£®To leave messages.

B£®To list her everyday tasks.

C£®To note down maths problems.

D£®To write down a flash of inspiration.

2.What is the author¡¯s original opinion about the wooden stand?

A£®It has great value for the family.

B£®It needs to be replaced by a better one.

C£®It brings her back to her lonely childhood.

D£®It should be passed on to the next generation.

3.The author feels embarrassed for             .

A£®blaming her mother wrongly

B£®giving her mother a lot of trouble

C£®not making good use of time as her mother did

D£®not making any breakthrough in her field

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A£®The mother is successful in her career.

B£®The family members like travelling.

C£®The author had little time to play when young.

D£®The marks on the breadboard have disappeared.

5.In the author¡¯s mind, her mother is             .

A£®strange in behaviour

B£®keen on her research

C£®fond of collecting old things

D£®careless about her appearance

 

Easy Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp

Everyone is forgetful, but as we age, we start to feel like our brains are slowing down a bit¡ªand that can be a very annoying thing.  1.  Read on for some techniques worth trying.

1£® 2. 

People who regularly made plans and looked forward to upcoming events had a 50 percent reduced chance of Alzheimer's disease (ÔçÀÏÐÔ³Õ´ôÖ¢), according to a recent study.  3. Something as simple as setting a goal to have a weekly coffee date with a friend will do. There's evidence that people who have a purpose in life or who are working on long or short­term goals appear to do better. In other words, keep your brain looking forward.

2£®Go for a walk.

Mildly raised glucose (ÆÏÌÑÌÇ) levels can harm the area of the brain that helps you form memories and physical activity can help get blood glucose down to normal levels. In fact£¬exercise produces chemicals that are good for your brain.  4. 

3£®Learn something new.

Take a Spanish class online, join a drawing club, or learn to play cards. A study found that mental stimulation (´Ì¼¤) limits the weakening effects of aging on memory and the mind. But the best thing for your brain is when you learn something new and are physically active at the same time.  5. Or go dancing with your friends.

A£®Focus on the future.

B£®This can be especially harmful to the aged.

C£®It should be something like learning gardening.

D£®So take a few minutes each day to do some reading.

E£®But don't worry if your schedule isn't filled with life­changing events.

F£®Luckily, research shows there is a lot you can do to avoid those moments.

G£®In other words, when you take care of your body, you take care of your brain.

 

Tayka Hotel De Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $95 a night

Why it¡¯s cool: You¡¯ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That¡¯s something few can claim£®Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt¡ªincluding the beds (though you¡¯ll sleep on regular mattresses (´²µæ) and blankets)£®The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake that¡¯s the world¡¯s biggest salt flat£®Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries£®When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $240 a night

Why it¡¯s cool: Ridding a pulley(»¬ÂÖ)-operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure£®As you look out of your open window¡ªthere is no glass!¡ªyou watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy£®Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read£®You don¡¯t even have to come down for breakfast¡ªthe hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn ¡°elevator¡±.

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $92 a night

Why it¡¯s cool: This doghouse isn¡¯t just for the family pet£®Sweet Willyis a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly£®Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side£®You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a ffew steps of the loft(¸óÂ¥£©in Willy¡¯s head, or hang out inside his nose£®Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant (Ïû·À˨£©outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $130 and $475 a night.

Why it¡¯s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash£®But your stay will be much more modern£®Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65¨Hin summer£®(Don¡¯t worry¡ªthere is heat in winter.)

1.What do we know about Tayka Hotel de Sal?

A£®It is located on a prehistoric lake.

B£®It should be protected against the rain.

C£®Everything in the hotel is made of salt.

D£®You have to cross a rope bridge to the hotel.

2.What is the similarity of the four hotels?

A£®Being expensive.    B£®Being comfortable.  C£®Being natural.      D£®Being unique.

3.What does the underlined part ¡°Sweet Willy¡± refer to?

A£®The name of the hotel.                   

B£®The name of the hotel owner.

C£®The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.  

D£®The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.

4.Which of the hotels makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?

A£®Tayka Hotel De Sal                       B£®Green Magic Nature Resort

C£®Dog Bark Park Inn B&B                   D£®Gamirasu Cave Hotel

5.What may be the purpose of the writer writing the passage?

A£®To show his wide knowledge.              B£®To introduce some interesting hotels.

C£®To develop business in tourism.             D£®To attract attention from the readers.

 

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