相关题目
1.41It would be better to make a decision now, ()leave it until next week.
1.3The first, second, and third prizes went to Bob, Jack and Henry ().
1.21Until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, man’s knowledge of the physical world ().
1、During the () two decades, research has greatly expanded our knowledge about the sleep and dreams.
10、A centuries-old tradition, illustrated in a modern children’s book, link the sweetness of honey with the joy of learning to read. ‘The grandpa held a jar of honey so that all the family could see. He then dipped a spoon into it and put some honey on the cover of a small book. The little girl had just turned five. ‘Stand up,little one,’he asked the girl softly. ‘I did this for your mother, your uncles,your older brother, and now you!’ Then.He handed the book to her. ‘Taste!’ She touched the honey with her finger and put it into her mouth. ‘What’s that taste?’ the grandma asked. The little girl answered,‘ Sweet!’ Then all of the family said in a single voice,‘Yes,and so is knowledge,but knowledge is from the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to go after it through the pages of a book!’ The little girl knew that the promise to read was at last hers. Soon she was going to learn to read.” This is the beginning of a profoundly moving children’s book entitled Thank You, Mr. Falker. In this book, Patricia Polacco writes of her own passion to read, inspired by the honey on the book. It wasn’t until fifth grade that she met her beloved teacher who provided the help that she needed to finally unlock the magic of the written word. Reading this book, we are in fact acquainted with some enduring traditions of child education that stress the importance of verbal capacity at a very early age. The child learning to read is admitted into a collective memory by way of books. And with the printed words that are active with meaning, the child becomes acquainted with a common past which he or she renews, to a greater or lesser degree,in every reading. Much as the author of the book Thank You, Mr.Falker puts it,” Almost as if it were magic, or as if 1ight poured into her brain, the words and sentences started to take shape on the page as they never had before…And she understood the whole thing…Then she went into the living room and found the book on a shelf, the very book that her grandpa had shown her so many years ago. She spooned honey on the cover and tasted the sweetness…Then she held the book, honey and all,close to her chest. She could feel tears roll down her cheeks, but they weren’t tears of sadness—she was happy, so very happy.”
10、It is often said that politeness costs nothing. In fact, it seems that a little more politeness could save businesses￡5 billion every year. Frequently hearing the phrase” thank you” or” well done” means the same to staff as modest pay rise. Praise and encouragement also makes employees more likely to work hard and stay in their jobs. In this way the business companies can save the cost of finding new employees. A third of 1,000 workers surveyed by a consulting firm said they did not get thanked at all when they did well一and a further third said they were not thanked enough. In both cases,staff said they felt undervalued,meaning they were less likely to exert themselves and were more likely to look for employment elsewhere. The result of the survey shows that there would be around￡5.2 billion loss in productivity if the employees felt less appreciated. According to the firm,praising staff has the same positive effect as a 1 per cent pay rise—and works out much cheaper for bosses. Three out of four employees said that regular acknowledgement by their bosses was important to them, but only a quarter said they were actually given as much praise as they felt they needed. The survey found that those in blue-collar and manual jobs were less likely to be given any recognition for doing well. But it seems that they most need such praise. In regional terms,Scottish staff felt most undervalued. Four out of ten workers said they were never thanked and eight out of ten said they would like more praise. However, workers in the North-East are less impressed by being praised by the boss,as only 69 per cent said they felt the need to be told ”well done”regularly. Older employees and women need the most reassurance,according to psychologist Averil Leimon. She said that words of praise did more than creating a pleasant place to work—they could even promote profits.
3.Many people think New York is a noisy city. In fact, scientists who study noise say that the average noise level in New York is 72.5 decibels. This is a little louder than normal conversation, which is 65 decibels. The noise level is the result of so many people and cars in the same area. Now even the insides of taxis are noisy. When you get into a taxi, you hear the voice of a well-known singer, sports reporter, or Broadway actress giving instructions. That’s right. The voice of a famous person tells you what to do. One popular singer gives this message:” Cats have nine lives, but you have only one, to fasten your seat beat!” Other voices say things such as “Don’t forget to collect all your belongings.”(People often leave hats, umbrella, and bags in taxis.) There is a good reason for the messages. There are more than 12,000 cabs in New York, and every year taxis get into more than 15,000 accidents. In an accident, people who don’t wear seat belts hit the partition, the glass wall separating the driver and passengers in the taxi. They can hurt their foreheads or break their noses or chins. Every year, about 11,000 people are injured in this way. Many people are annoyed by the voices. Cabdrivers in particular dislike the messages. ”I play the messages 12 hours a day. I hear the same voices 60 times a day. It makes me crazy,” says Atnis, a 45-year-old cabdriver.“But if I don’t play the messages, I get fined 100 dollars.” A lot of passengers complained, too. “It’s too much noise,” says a passenger, “I asked the driver to turn off the message, but he said he can’t.” Other people think the voices are a great idea. One taxi driver says,” People like to hear the famous voices, and they put on their seat belts more often.” And passengers from out of town really like the idea. “Most of the time, taxi drivers are in a bad mood, ”says Melanie Benton, who visits New York often on business, “It's nice to hear a cheerful voice when you get into a cab.”
2、Believe it or not,optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes. Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes,called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are,and thus drivers slow down. Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan's success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes. Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents,the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed - related hazards are the greatest - curves,exit slopes,traffic circles,and bridges. Some studies suggest that straight,horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However,traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars. Chevrons,scientists say,not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.
4、In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the “battle of sexes.” If the process goes too far and man’s role is regarded as less important that has happened in some cases----we are as badly off as before, only in reverse. It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired of “Momism”----but we don’t want to exchange it for a “neo-Popism.” What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals. There are signs that psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit----nor all the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman’s place is in the home. We are beginning, however, to analyze man’s place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child. The family is a co-operative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules. because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems. Excessive authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is pertinent not only to a healthy democracy, but also to a healthy family.
3、Parents can have a great impact on the development of their children’s creativity in art. But first,they have to know how. They may find the following advice interesting and instructive. Encourage free drawing rather than coloring books. Coloring books stop the possibility of self-expression. A child may just enjoy colorful pictures and never learn how to express himself. As an art teacher says,“Children have a very powerful instinct to draw freely and roughly. Such practice makes them learn language easily.” In fact,a child expresses himself in rough drawing. This is the beginning of literacy and creativity. Also,parents should not teach their kids “how” to draw and they should not make their kids draw realistic pictures to entertain themselves. Experience tells us that such teaching from the parents will discourage children,making them think they can’t do it the “right” way. Competition and rewards should also be avoided in the process of artistic creation. A child’s natural instinct to create will disappear if he or she thinks about prize while drawing. Parents should be role models for their kids. They should not say things like, “I can’t draw a straight line.” Instead,they should learn to say,“I love to create”. This teaches children that the process of creation is more important than the product. If children see their parents drawing, cooking or building creatively,they wi11 do the same. Buy a notebook for your child to use every day. This can be a journal for making up stories,writing ideas and drawing pictures. Even the youngest child can use it to draw freely and roughly,expressing himself. Take your child to places that promote ideas and creativity. Art museums, science centers,libraries and children’s museums all are great places to see other people’s creativity. That will inspire children to make their own creations and inventions. Give children choices and free time. Some of the best ideas come from daydreaming and imagining. In short,parents should allow their kids to have the freedom to invent for themselves. That means not always teaching and commanding.
