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I sat with my friend in a well-known coffee shop in a neighboring town of Venice. As we enjoyed our coffee, a man called the waiter and placed his order, “Two cups of coffee, one on the wall.” We got interested and observed that he was served with one cup of coffee but he paid for two. As soon as he left, the waiter attached a piece of paper to the wall saying “A Cup of Coffee.” Similar occasions took place twice while we were there. It seemed that this gesture was quite normal at this place. However, it was something unique and confusing for us.
After a few days, when we again enjoyed coffee there, a man entered. The way this man was dressed did not match the standard or the atmosphere of this coffee shop. Poverty was evident from his looks. As he seated himself, he looked at the wall and said, “One cup of coffee from the wall.” The waiter served coffee to this man with respect and dignity. The man had his coffee and left without paying. We were amazed to watch all this when the waiter took off a piece of paper from the wall and threw it in the dustbin.
Now it was no surprise for us; the matter was very clear. The great respect for the needy shown by people in this town moved us to tears.
Coffee is not a necessity. However, the point is that when we take pleasure in any blessing, maybe we also need to think about those people who also appreciate that specific blessing but cannot afford.
Note the waiter, who gets the communication going between the affording and the needy with a smile on his face. Think about the man in need: he enters the coffee shop without having to lower his self-dignity; he has a free cup of coffee without asking or knowing about who has given this cup of coffee to him; he only looked at the wall, placed an order for himself, enjoyed his coffee and left. Besides, we need to remember the role played by the wall that reflects the generosity and care of people in this town.
1.What made the author interested as well as confused?
A. The waiter’s making normal gestures.
B. Customers’ buying coffee for the needy.
C. The waiter’s attaching coffee orders on the wall.
D. Customers’ paying for coffee and having it put on the wall.
2.The author thought the man in need was ______.
A. obviously poor
B. not properly dressed
C. not right to leave without paying
D. strange to order coffee from the wall
3. In the author’s opinion, coffee is _____.
A. necessary in our life
B. a blessing some can’t afford
C. respect shown for the needy
D. a blessing everyone should have
4.The passage is mainly concerned about ______.
A. learning from the waiter
B. buying coffee for others
C. caring more about the people in need
D. analyzing the characters in the coffee shop
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Most teenagers in Britain receive pocket money from their parents. A report by the Bank of Scotland interviewed over 1,000 young people in Britain and found that 77% get pocket money. Different families give different amounts of pocket money. The average for eight-to-fifteen-year-olds in the UK is about ￡6 a week. Children in Scotland receive slightly more than the national average and Londoners get the most. Teenagers, logically, get more money than younger children. Some fifteen-to-nineteen-year-olds receive more than ￡100 a month. The report found that many children save at least a quarter of their weekly pocket money and that more boys than girls save their money. Lots of young people have to do housework to get their pocket money. They help at home with jobs like cleaning and cooking.
A part-time job is a choice for teenagers who don’t have pocket money or who want to earn extra money. About 15% of teenagers have a job. Popular part-time jobs for teenagers include delivering newspapers, shop work, and working in a restaurant or café. There are strict government laws about working hours. Only children over 13 can work (there are some exceptions, for example, for actors.) On a school day they can work a maximum of 2 hours a day but not during school hours. At weekends and during school holidays they can work longer hours. The national minimum wage for people aged 16-17 is ￡3.57 per hour. 18-year-olds must earn a minimum of ￡4.83. There isn’t a national minimum waged for people under 16.
In Britain some children and teenagers have a bank account. There is no legal age limit at which you can open a bank account but a bank manager can decide whether to allow a child or young person to open an account. Parents can put pocket money directly into their child’s bank account and then children can use it to pay for things without carrying money.
Saving or spending pocket money, working part-time and dealing with banks are all parts of the process of becoming a financially independent adult and having to earn and look after your own money.
1.The pocket money for a child in Scotland per week may be _____.
A. ￡4 B. ￡6 C. ￡8 D. ￡10
2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. More girls than boys save pocket money.
B. Children under 13 are not allowed to work.
C. Most British teenagers have a part-time job.
D. A 16-year-old can work 6 hours on Saturdays.
3.The best title of the passage is _____.
A. Finance and Independence
B. Eyes on Your Pocket Money
C. The Importance of Part-time Jobs.
D. British Teenagers and Their Pocket Money
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In reflecting on the events of my life that have impacted me, I returned to the night of August 1, 2006. I found myself in a hall in New York City sitting by my mother, not at all tired, although we had flown the day before, and driven five hours to the city for “An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp,” a charity event with readings by three authors. The excitement rushing through me kept me awake and thinking; I was standing and applauding a woman as she prepared to read.
The Harry Potter series was my gateway to my academic adolescence. I was so fascinated by the magic world that my mother began taking me to academic conferences focused on the books. Since 2005, I have attended presentations about the Latin origin of terms and spells, the ancient tales, and the idea of magic. These books opened my eyes to the whole world, and to knowledge itself. They kept my brain working over the summers. More importantly, they helped me adopt the ideas useful in school and beyond, that there is always another way to do something, or to understand an issue. With uncertainty and doubt come creative ideas and new ways to look at problems that may result in new, different, faster and easier solutions. And all this came from a little “magic” from a book that many people see as a series for children.
I also attended lectures about Ms. Rowling’s ability to beautifully write the story, with every small detail connected to something else, for example, details in books by Jonathan Swift to Chaucer to Dickens and Austin. I learned that like all great books, Rowling’s stories encouraged a connection across mind, body, and soul. Although the series has been criticized by those who believe it encourages bad behavior in children, I was able to hear discussions by those who claimed that these books teach wonderful messages if one gets its deeper meaning. It is my generation’s shared text; all college freshmen are familiar with the stories, and that gives us a set of common beliefs and ideas that help us start to learn new things.
1.What did the author do on the night of August 1, 2006?
A. He flew for a charity event.
B. He drove tiredly back home.
C. He listened to readings by some authors.
D. He enjoyed the excitement of driving.
2.The Harry Potter books led the author to ____.
A. getting jobs in summers
B. studying harder in school
C. writing books for children
D. viewing things in new ways
3. From the lectures, the author knew more about ____.
A. story writing skills
B. Rowling’s life stories
C. criticism against books
D. great authors in history
4. What can we know about the author?
A. She decides to write similar stories.
B. She intends to go to major in writing.
C. She doesn’t have her family’s support.
D. She may continue to read magic stories.
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During these past few days I have been reflecting a lot on everything that happened this past year and thinking of what I can do differently so that the coming year will be much better! Here I want to share some tips so you can also do your resolution and you can achieve them all!
·Be realistic: You should always try to reach for the skies with your goals, but things like “I want to win the lottery（彩票）” or “I want to lose 80 pounds in 1 month” are things you shouldn’t have on your list because they will only become frustrations.
·Be detailed: It’s a lot easier to accomplish more specific plans than general ones. Instead of writing “I want to lose weight,” put things like “I will start my Yes You Can! Diet Plan the first Monday of the year” or “I will start a movement routine 3 times a week for 35 minutes.” When we put down concrete activities, we commit ourselves to them and it becomes a lot harder to come up with excuses.
·Think of alternatives: At the beginning of this past year, you put that you were going to start going to the gym as one of your annual plans. During the whole year you intended to take action but you always said that you couldn’t because you came home so tired from work. If this is one of your plans for this year, you should write down how you’re going to achieve it. For example, “I will start going to the gym in the mornings, before work.” That way you prevent what stopped you from achieving your goal last year.
·Focus on goals which depend on YOU: It is very important that all of your plans are for YOU to accomplish, and it is important that you write them down that way. If one of your goals this coming year is to improve a relationship with one of your family members, make sure that you clearly put down what you are going to do for this to succeed. For example, “I will call my sister at least three times a week and I will visit her in the middle of the year.”
Well, I hope that you use these tips so that this year you will accomplish everything you want, and make it the best year ever! Thank you for being with me during everything this past year, and I hope that you keep showing me all of this love and support during the next. Happy new year!
1. Why isn’t “I want to win the lottery” recommended as a New Year plan?
A. Because it is very likely to fail.
B. Because it is too easy to realize.
C. Because it is not big enough as a goal.
D. Because it is not easier than losing weight.
2. The underlined word commit in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by the word_______.
A. devote B. determine C. adjust D. force
3.When you failed to accomplish your plan last year, you’re advised to ______.
A. take action instead of writing it down
B. give up the same plan this year
C. put down the way to realize it
D. stop making any plans
4.According to the passage, which of the following is the best plan?
A. I will become a millionaire in one month.
B. I want to be the champion of the marathon.
C. I will change all of my bad habits in one week.
D. I will go for a walk after supper in working days.
)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
)，并在其下面写出该加的词。