Until a few months ago, he was a butler(管家) in one of the more expensive residential buildings in Manhattan. But now, Nepal-born Indra Tamang is the owner of two multi-million dollar apartments in the same building.
The former owner - his former employer, Ruth Ford - died last year and left the apartments to Mr Tamang in her will.
Mr Tamang is happy but quickly points out that his good fortune did not come easily. "I am happy and have been touched by the generosity of the Ford family," he says. "I never expected that I will be given the ownership of these apartments. But I have been working for the family for the last 36 years, devotedly, with honesty and dedication(奉献). So my hard work has been rewarded."
Mr Tamang was 21 when he was brought from Nepal by Charles Ford, a writer and a photographer. Mr Ford died in 2002; his sister, actress Ruth Ford, then took charge and told Mr Tamang that he was like a brother to her after Charles's death.
Mrs Ford died aged 98. During the last five years of her life, she lost her eyesight and also developed speech problems. Mr Tamang looked after her most of the time and took care of her medicines and food.
He also worked with Charles Ford on various photography projects, which he now wants to keep as the photographer's legacy(遗产). He hopes to organize exhibitions of Mr Ford's photographs and edit a book of his works.
Mr Tamang plans to sell the bigger, three-bedroom apartment to pay the taxes he owes to the government on his legacy. He says: "The rules of the building might be a problem, as they require a minimum monthly income to qualify to live as owner of apartments. I have my small house here but I am happy with it,"
Mr Tamang has learnt his lesson from the life of his employers and plans to use his money with great caution. "I think one should save money for old age. That's when you need it the most to get care," he says.
1.Mr Tamang treated the legacy as __________.
A. a reward B. a punishment C. business D. a gift
2.What DIDN’T Mr Tamang do in the Ford family?
A. Show Mr Ford's works in the exhibition.
B. Look after Ruth Ford when she was ill.
C. Work on kinds of photography projects
D. Experience deaths of Charles Ford and Ruth Ford
3.Mr Tamang wants to sell one apartment to _______.
A. buy the small house
B. pay the government the tax of the apartments
C. edit a book of Charles Ford's photographs
D. move into the expensive apartments as soon as possible
4.What lesson does Mr Tamang learn from the Ford family?
A. To find a good butler.
B. To spend money thoughtfully.
C. To save money for children.
D. To get good care when people get old.
5.What can we know from the passage?
A. Charles Ford gave the apartments to Mr Tamang.
B. Charles Ford couldn't see or speak before his death.
C. Mr Tamang treated Ruth Ford much better than her brother.
D. Mr Tamang will still live in his small house in the near future.
You may not pay much attention to your daily elevator ride. Many of us use a lift several times during the day without really thinking about it. But Lee Gray, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, US, has made it his business to examine this overlooked form of public transport. He is known as the “Elevator Guy”.
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed (理解) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
1.The main purpose of the article is to _____.
A. remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator
B. tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette
C. share an interesting but awkward elevator ride
D. analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator
2.According to Gray, when people enter an elevator, they usually _____.
A. turn around and greet one another
B. look around or examine their phone
C. make eye contact with those in the elevator
D. try to keep a distance from other people
3.Which of the following describes how people usually stand when there are at least two people in an elevator?
4.The underlined phrase “size up” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to _____.
A. judge B. ignore C. put up with D. make the best of
5.According to the article, people feel awkward in lifts because of _____.
A. someone’s odd behaviors
B. the lack of space
C. their unfamiliarity with one another
D. their eye contact with one another
有市民向记者报料：网上有人代写暑假作业, 且参与代写的学生大多是在校大学生。“枪手”透露：代写作业收入可观。引起了各方说法。你作为记者将此事报道在某教育报上。
|
学生 |
作业太多找人代劳很无奈。 |
|
家长 |
强烈反对这种做法，只会耽误孩子的学业。 |
|
老师 |
暑假作业应因人而异：老师在布置作业时应该根据不同成绩的学生设置不同的作业， 这样既能对学生有所帮助也能减轻学生负担。 |
|
专家 |
代写作业害人不浅。老师不能把暑假当成学期的延伸，布置作业应尽量少，让学生在暑假得到充分的休息。 |
【写作内容】
市民报料网上代写作业现象；
各方说法。
【写作要求】
1. 只能使用5个句子表达全部内容。
2. 文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】
句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章结构连贯
Florence Chadwick was a great swimmer. However, not all of her efforts worked out. In addition to working hard, she had a secret for success. At the age of 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast. However, in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense that she could hardly see her support boats. Her body was numb(麻木) and she had been swimming for nearly 16 hours. Against the cold grip of the sea, she struggled on—hour after hour—while millions watched on national television. Alongside Florence, in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had… until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out. Still warming her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it.” It was not tiredness or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal. Two months later, she tried again. Despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact（未受影响的）and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it!
【写作内容】
你准备参加学校最近组织的一次英文演讲比赛，主题是“The Value of Goals”。在准备演讲时，你读到上面的文章，给你很大的启发。请准备一份演讲稿。开头部分已给出，但不计入总词数。
1、以约30个词概括短文的要点；
2、然后以约120个词谈谈你对“目标的重要性”的看法，内容包括：
1）你读完这个故事的感受；
2）谈谈你是如何理解目标在人生当中所起的作用的；
3）鼓励大家要树立目标，并为目标的实现而努力。
[写作要求]：
1．在作文中可以使用自己亲身的经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子；
2．作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
[评分标准]：概括准确、语言规范、内容合适、篇章连贯
Several days ago, I came across a story about Glorence Chadwick, __________