On the Saturday morning, I could see rays of sunlight as I said good morning to my brother, Willie aged six while I was nine. Breaking up for a summer holiday, I felt at ease and plotted (暗中策划) our own delightful day.
“Good morning, sleepy head,” Mum smiled at me. “Get yourself dressed, Shawn. Run out and collect some firewood. I’ll fix you some hotcakes.”
I slipped on my clothes, grabbed the ax and headed straight for the outhouse. There father sat freely with a bottle of beer in hand. During the summer holiday, he would find time to take us to catch some fish for supper. However, his fishing pole missing, we could have no choice but to try something different.
I walked with my chin up as I thought about what a great day this was going to be. Willie and I were going to ride our bikes into town, and I was sure we’d find some empty bottles, maybe enough to buy some ice cream, my favorite while Willie had a preference for sweets. With the birds bouncing (跳动) up and down in the tree, I thought it was going to be a great day.
Everything done, Mum’s hotcakes were waiting for me. Willie finished his breakfast in a flash.
“Mum, can we go now?” I asked, as I swallowed down the last forkful of hotcakes.
“Now, Shawn, you be careful. Willie hasn’t gone out on the roads much, so you let him ride ahead of you. Keep a good eye on him. OK?”
“Take care, Willie,”I screamed when we cycled towards a mountain called Andover, the peak of which was the perfect spot to find empty bottles. Stark’s Store paid cash, two cents each, and we thought we were rich every time Mr. Stark handed us our reward in real money. Cycled up the mountain was a lot of work, but it was worth it.
It was the first week of Lily’s middle school. The bell’s ringing brought her out of her daydreaming. She nervously gathered her books, preparing to reach another classroom for the next new class.
Lily followed the other kids and rushed into the hallway. Others walked in groups, chatted, and laughed, using the break to socialize. Lily, instead, walked alone along the wall of the hallway, with her head down. She was a shy girl, afraid to speak in front of other kids, and didn’t think others would like her.
Lily finally sat in Mr. Johnson’s Language Arts class nervously. “Welcome to Language Arts,” said Mr. Johnson. He told jokes as he talked about English. Lily forgot to daydream and laughed along with the rest of the class. “We’ll have some fun with language,” he said. “Just wait and see.”
Fun was far beyond what Lily desired. She just wanted to be like other kids—running with friends in the hallway, laughing and joking between classes. Reminded of her pimply (长粉刺的) face, she felt hopeless and disappointed.
“Take out a piece of paper,” the teacher continued, when pointing at words on the blackboard. “Write for the next thirty minutes on this topic.” Lily began writing crazily as idea after idea fought for recognition in her head. The final result was a short story about a beautiful beach house. As she wrote, she could smell the salty air, hear the crashing waves and feel the pull of the sand beneath her feet. For just a moment, she forgot where she was. She was lost in the story.
“OK, pass your papers forward,” said the teacher. “Let’s see what we have.” For the rest of the class time, the teacher read each individual work aloud. Lily originally thought it would be awkward. However, she was gradually attracted by the excitement in the teacher’s voice. “He’s actually enjoying this,” she thought. When the class would be soon over, there were still fifteen students’ papers not read, including Lily’s paper. Then, Mr. Johnson announced his decision, asking these students to read their work themselves in front of the class next class.
A week later, the bell rang and the Language Arts class began again.
After Lily finished her reading, the clapping from her classmates continued for a long time.
Scientists in Europe have discovered that magpies (喜鹊) and crows (乌鸦) are using an unusual material to build their nests (巢) — spikes (防鸟钉) designed to keep birds away from buildings. The birds appear to be taking away the spikes from buildings and adding them to their own nests.
Auke-Florian Hiemstra is a Dutch scientist who studies how wild animals use materials made by humans. He has seen nests that include some pretty unusual materials — things like plastic flowers, sunglasses and even fishing lines. Mr Hiemstra thinks that in large cities, it’s hard to find suitable materials to make nests, so birds build nests with whatever materials they can find.
Someone at a hospital in Antwerp, Belgium sent Mr Hiemstra a picture of a magpie nest. He never expected spikes could be used by magpies to build their nests. The top of the nest had thin spikes sticking out all over. The spikes were “anti-bird spikes”. They are usually placed on buildings to prevent birds from landing. But this time, the birds had used the spikes to make a nest.
Magpies and crows are known for being clever. The two kinds of birds are related, and are famous for being able to solve challenging problems. But the birds didn’t use the spikes in exactly the same ways. The crows used the spikes on the inside of their nests to help make the nests stronger. Magpies have to worry about other birds, including crows, stealing their eggs. They appeared to use the spikes like humans do-putting them on top of their nests to keep other birds from landing.
Mr Hiemstra said, “We learned about several other nests in Europe that also used anti-bird spikes. What’s more, there are probably more nests out there that are built with anti-bird spikes. They just haven’t been found yet.”
1．Why do birds use unusual materials according to Mr Hiemstra?| A．They make their nests unique. | B．They provide better protection. |
| C．They can be found easily. | D．They are much stronger. |
| A．Worried. | B．Surprised. | C．Satisfied. | D．Confused. |
| A．To introduce the right ways to use spikes. |
| B．To show magpies are much cleverer than crows. |
| C．To explain crows and magpies can learn from humans. |
| D．To tell us crows and magpies use spikes in different ways. |
| A．Birds in Europe first started to use anti-bird spikes to build nests. |
| B．Humans need to learn more about birds’ way of building nests. |
| C．It’s more difficult for birds to find suitable building materials. |
| D．Anti-bird spikes may be used more widely to build nests. |
In America’s retirement crisis, women get the short end of the stick. While women have a lifetime to build up their wealth, there are several factors that impact their ability to achieve economic security into retirement.
Retirement is a gender (性别) issue. Wealth is accumulated by saving and long-term investing, but women are at a disadvantage compared with men. A TIAA report found that if two recent college graduates, a man and a woman, want to have the same amount saved for retirement, it would take about 18% of the woman’s salary to equal 10% of the man’s salary. The reasons are simple. Women are usually paid less and tend to receive fewer salary increases. And women usually retire relatively earlier, so this gives them less time to accumulate wealth. Women have longer life expectancy. As a result, they often face financial instability in retirement.
Investing is another issue. While the investing industry would tell you we’re gender-neutral, 99% of investment dollars are managed at companies owned by white men, 98% of mutual (互助) fund dollars are managed by men, 90% of traders are men, and 86% of financial advisors are men. Maybe the reason women aren’t investing as much is that it is dominated by men.
The pandemic has a greater impact on women. Women who are privileged enough to work from home have lost productivity by double-digit percent, while men have gained productivity, like gains of 50%. The promotions that have occurred during the pandemic had gone something like 3-to-1 to men. A large number of women work in industries that have been deeply affected by the pandemic, including hospitality, retail, restaurants and caregiving, occupations that require in-person work. With these businesses having to either lay off employees or temporarily shut down, and with domestic and caretaker responsibilities, many women have opted to leave the workforce altogether.
How can the retirement risks women face be relieved? That’s what the government should take into consideration.
1．All the following factors contribute to women’s financial risks in retirement EXCEPT ________.| A．women are generally paid less than men |
| B．women live longer than men on average |
| C．women save more of their salaries than men |
| D．women may retire a few years earlier than men |
| A．Women happily choose to work at home. |
| B．Their income is reduced more than ever before. |
| C．Women’s productivity has been reduced to 50% online. |
| D．Only one third of women get the chance to be promoted. |
| A．Be at a disadvantage. | B．Be in a great dilemma. |
| C．Travel a short distance. | D．Become unable to reach one’s goal. |
| A．Whether women are still being discriminated. |
| B．Why women face more retirement risks than men. |
| C．How the government can handle the retirement risks. |
| D．Why women should take measures to solve their retirement problems. |
| A．She is a chef. | B．She is a nurse assistant. |
| C．She is a medical transcriptionist. | D．She is a housewife. |
| A．Listening to the conversation between the doctor and patients. |
| B．Writing down the medical report on the computer. |
| C．Finding the problems in the medical treatment. |
| D．Helping the doctor to take care of patients. |
| A．She gets paid every two weeks. |
| B．She can explain it to her son. |
| C．She can learn from different medical cases. |
| D．She can balance work with domestic duties. |
| A．He regards the job meaningless and looks down upon it. |
| B．He insists that it should be done by the doctor himself. |
| C．He is proud of his mother and understands her choice. |
| D．He feels sorry that it is not paid as well as his father’s job. |
Johannes Gutenberg was chosen to be the most important figure of the past millennium (千年) by the media (媒体). You may not be familiar with him.
He was born into a wealthy family in the city of Mainz, Germany. His early training was in goldsmithing. In 1428, he moved to Strasbourg and lived there for almost 20 years.
The invention of the modem printing press changed the way information was delivered.
| A．Gutenberg made the world a much richer place |
| B．But he has certainly influenced your life in some ways |
| C．Gutenberg's idea was one of the greatest of all mankind |
| D．By 1450, Gutenberg was back in Mainz at work on a printing press |
| E．In fact, this invention contributed a lot of educating the masses (大众) worldwide |
| F．Before the spread of Gutenberg's idea, books were primarily handwritten |
| G．It was in Strasbourg that he probably made his first experiments with moveable type and printing |
CPC Central Committee calls on whole Party to study Xi’s works
BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) — The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued a notice calling on the whole Party to study the
The notice,
The Party committees and leading Party members’ groups at all levels
Party schools at all levels are asked to launch
Running to the window, he opened it, and put out his head. No fog, no mist; clear, bright, stirring; cold, piping for the blood to dance to; Golden sunlight; Heavenly sky; sweet fresh air; merry bells. Oh, glorious. Glorious.
“What”s today?” cried Scrooge, calling downward to a boy in Sunday clothes, who perhaps had loitered in to look about him.
“Today?” replied the boy. “Why, Christmas Day!”
“Do you know the Poulterer’s, in the next street but one, at the corner?” Scrooge inquired.
“I should hope I did,” replied the lad.
“An intelligent boy!” said Scrooge. “A remarkable boy. Do you know whether they”ve sold the prize Turkey that was hanging up there-Not the little prize Turkey: the big one?”
“It”s hanging there now,” replied the boy.
“Is it!” said Scrooge. “Go and buy it, and tell them to bring it here, that I may give them the direction where to take it. Come back with the man, and I”ll give you a shilling. Come back with him in less than five minutes and I”ll give you half-a-crown!”
The boy was off like a shot. He must have had a steady hand at a trigger who could have got a shot off half so fast.
He dressed himself all in his best, and at last got out into the streets. The people were by this time pouring forth, as he had seen them with Christmas Present; and walking with his hands behind him, Scrooge regarded every one with a delighted smile.
He went to church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and fro, and patted children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of houses, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure. He had never dreamed that any walk-that anything-could give him so much happiness. In the afternoon he turned his steps towards his nephew”s house.
Paragraph 1: “A merry Christmas, Bob,” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back.
Paragraph 2: Scrooge was better than his word.
Robert and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day, Robert and Henry were going home from school. On turning a cornner, Robert cried out, “A fight! Let’s go and see!”
“No” said Henry. “Let us go home quietly and not meddle with (管闲事) this quarrel. We have nothing to do with it and may get into trouble. Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together and I don’t want them to worry about me.”
“You are a coward (懦夫), and afraid to go,” said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school as usual.
But Robert had told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down on Henry and didn’t want to play with him together.
Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Robert for his rude behaviour, because he knew that they misunderstood him, and that they ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys’ laughter and continued to go to school and study as well. However, Robert didn’t invite Henry to go home together with him anymore. Instead, he had some other boys who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn’t go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had a lot of fun.
A few days later, Robert was bathing with his new friends in a river, and got out of his depth. He struggled and cried for help, but he failed. The boys who had called Henry a coward got out of the water as fast as they could, but they did nothing to help him.
It seemed as if Robert would be dying.
Thus, Robert’s life was saved.
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