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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Most of us would like to have a bright, “white” smile—filled with teeth that would make a Hollywood actor proud. Studies show that up to 52 percent of people are dissatisfied with the color of their teeth. 1. Globally, rows of pearl-white teeth shine out from magazines and cinema screens.
It is hardly surprising, then, that we tend to think that white teeth are not only attractive but also healthy. However, new studies have revealed that pearly teeth don’t always mean great oral health.
2. It can be based on our genes and ages. As you get older, your teeth often become yellower as the enamel（牙釉质）—the hard white outer layer of teeth—begins to wear away. Eating, drinking, smoking and taking certain medications might also discolor your teeth. These stains don’t actually indicate a problem with dental health. You can have pearl-white teeth and still have cavities（龋齿的洞）. Likewise, you can have perfectly healthy teeth that are yellowish or even brownish. 3.
There is even one type of stain that some researchers believe might protect against tooth decay. This is the “black stain” which you sometimes see along teeth at the edges of the gum line（牙龈线）. It can look like a series of dark dots. While the cause of the black stain has been in debate for more than a century, some studies have found that children with the stain are less likely to have tooth decay. It’s thought that some microbes in the stain might be somehow protective.
So what if you still want pearl-white teeth, regardless of what they say about your health? There is a wide range of products you can use. Some kinds of toothpaste promise a whitening effect. Most of them contain substances that rub stains off your teeth. Others add some blueish substances to your yellowish teeth, resulting in a bright white color. 4.
Of course, unless you continue using the product or receiving the whitening treatment, the whiteness will only last for as long as you avoid the foods and drinks that cause the stains in the first place. But now you know that even without that Hollywood white smile, it doesn’t mean you don’t have healthy teeth.
A.Many of the experiments on tooth color have been conducted in laboratory test tubes, rather than in the mouths of living people.
B.In countries such as the United States, tooth whitening is one of the most commonly requested dental treatments.
C.The color of our teeth is influenced by a number of factors.
D.It is no surprise that the red wine leaves the strongest stains.
AB. There are also professional whitening treatments, but whitening can cause temporary sensitivity in some people’s teeth or gums.
AC. Of course, in some cases, discoloration can indicate decay or other diseases, so it is worth getting stains checked out by a dentist.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Jeff Bezos Reveals His No. 1 Leadership Secret
Amazon has reached what its founder and CEO Jeff Bezos called "an interesting milestone.” The retailing giant so highly associated with books and then music and video, now has tens of millions of products in stock and a majority are non-media goods, from drills to tennis balls to almost anything else that can be shipped.
1. The 48-year-old has officially transformed Amazon, which he founded in 1994, from an online bookstore that sells other stuff to a retailer---and business services provider---that once sold mostly books. Amazon's stock is up 397 percent in the last five years.
So, what's behind the success of the world’s largest online retailer? 2. Bezos regularly leaves one seat open at meetings and informs all attendees that they should consider that seat occupied by their customer---the most important person in the room.
Always trying to find out what customers want, Bezos is even stricter about that customers don’t want. They hate delays, defects and out-of-stock products, so the company constantly looks to make them as rare as possible. 3. Amazon data show that a 0.1 second delay in page loading can translate into a one percent drop in customer activity.
But great customer service doesn’t fully explain Amazon's extraordinary success. For Bezos,a
data driven customer focus encourages him to take risks to innovate. Amazon's kindle, for example, came into being because Bezos believed millions would want an e-book reader that could download any book within 60 seconds. 4. Engineers were free to solve technical challenges as they saw fit, only needing to make it right for consumers.
Efficiency ---- cheapness, in the eyes of Amazon’s critics---is also an important part of the Amazon culture. In fact, Bezos liks the two. In 2009, Bezos declared that Amazon had begun fighting against waste. The more he could get rid of needless costs, the easier it would be to deliver rock-bottom prices to customers.
A. That turning point might be Bezos' greatest accomplishment
B. Amazon executives would tell you: the empty chair, the internal nickname of the figure that rule their lives.
C. Bezos could have done it earlier but he took over twenty years to compete that target
D. Even the tiniest delay in loading a web-page isn’t insignificant
E. Customers do enjoy quick delivery, quality products and great after-sales service.
F. He set that target without getting pinned down by technical issues.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Are You Treated Too Nicely?
A new study found that when trying to build high self-esteem in children, parents may unconsciously be creating little narcissists (自恋狂). 1.
Parents who are always praising their children may be trying to develop high self-esteem. 2. In fact, too much special treatment can lead to narcissistic behavior.
"3. That may not be good for them or for society." Brad Bushman, co-author of the study and professor of communication and psychology at the Ohio State University, said in a press release. "People with high self-esteem think they're as good as others, whereas narcissists think they're better than others."
This study, as well as previous studies about parent-child relationships Bushman has worked on, caused him to alter his own parenting style. When he began his research, he thought that children should be treated like they are special by their parents. 4. He said that interventions (干预) can help parents learn how to better support their children.
"Parent training interventions can, for example, teach parents to express affection and appreciation toward children without telling children that they are superior to others," Bushman said. "Future studies should test whether this can work."
A. Now he is careful not to follow that model.
B. Children whose parents tell them they are special are more likely to become narcissists.
C. But actually, they have realized that they are running their children.
D. Children believe it when their parents tell them that they are more special than others.
E. And he carefully carries out the principle.
F. However, the study showed that loving and emotionally warm parents are more likely to have confident kids.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
The Polities of Social Media
In recent years, social media has become the fastest way to reach the greatest number of people. 1. Because of this, politicians have started using it extensively to further their campaigns.
Initially, this sounds like a good idea. Politicians need to use methods that are familiar and relevant to voters, and social media is much more interactive than traditional campaign advertising. 2. By inter-acting on social media, politicians can find out what is truly important to constituents (选民). In a way, this makes the process even more democratic.
3.. In a US Senate election, a conservative organization conducted a campaign against the Democratic candidate Martha Coakley. It opened several fake accounts and sent out Twitter messages accusing her of accepting bribes, Twitter found out about it and shut the accounts down, but the messages had already reached over 60,000 people, and the result stayed in search engines even longer. She lost the election to the Republican candidate, and while there are other reasons that are likely to have influenced her loss, this shows how easily false information can spread.
Of course, the false information online doesn’t only come from politicians. There are a host of other ways news sources and advertisers try to influence our views. Even respected news sites such as CNN have used staged reports related to war news, just to create a greater sense of drama. 4.. If you follow the news closely, it’s usually easy to see whether the news is more conservative or liberal leaning.
Does social media make politics more transparent or does it distort them even more? That may depend on what sites you read and how well you check your facts.
A. Perhaps the speed and extent is all that has really changed.
B. However, it can also be misused in a way that is far more effective than negative advertising.
C. Most news outlets, while supposedly unbiased(无偏见的), do have certain political preference.
D. If a politician does something ridiculous online, people notice and call them out on it.
E. A tweet or video can reach hundreds of thousands in just a few hours.
F. Users can comment on statements and make suggestions for new discussions.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
It doesn’t seem that US singer Bob Dylan has much in common with literary mavens like Ernest Hemingway and T.S. Elliot. 1..This year’s prize makes Dylan the first American since Toni Morrison in 1993 to win the title. At the same time, the surprise announcement has also ignited a firestorm of discussion around the globe.
Influential US writer Jodi Picoult joked that she might now deserve a Grammy. And well-known British-Indian novelist Hari Kunzru lamented on social media by saying: “This feels like the lamest Nobel win since they gave it to Obama for not being Bush.”
Dylan’s new status — a musician awarded the Nobel Prize for literature–to a degree defies convention. However, this is by no means his first prize for his writing talents. Back in 2008, the Pulitzer Prize jury awarded Dylan a special citation “for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power”. 2..
3.. Protest songs like Blowin in the Wind (1962) were the anthems of anti-war and civil rights movements in 1960s US. Densely poetic and image-rich songs such as Mr. Tambourine Man (1965) pushed the folk-rock movement. And even today, many of Dylan’s songs are still relevant and streamed regularly by people all over the world.
In a speech during the MusiCares pre-Grammy honors in 2015, Dylan revealed how he uses lyrics to document American culture and create an American songbook of his own. “I learned lyrics and how to write them from listening to folk songs,” said Dylan. “And I played them, and I met other people that played them, back when nobody was doing it.”
4.. “From Orpheus to Faiz, song & poetry have been closely linked,” Salman Rushdie, the Indian-born novelist also thought to have been a candidate for the prize, told The New York Times. “Dylan is the brilliant inheritor of the bardic tradition,” Rushdie added. “Great choice.”
A. There is nothing more honorable to win praise from one’s competitors.
B. In this sense, it could be argued that what the Nobel Committee is doing is simply reinforcing Dylan’s unshakable standing in the world of literature.
C. Dylan’s competitors questioned his winning the Nobel Prize for literature.
D. But, last week, these three figures became forever bonded by the Nobel Prize for literature.
E. Therefore, the Nobel committee just holds a different opinion from that of Pulitzer Prize jury.
F. The words behind Dylan’s songs address social issues and have been transmitted from generation to generation.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Guilt is one of the most painful emotions that human experience but also one of the most common. Nobody enjoys feeling guilty, but this emotion serves an important purpose: It alerts a person when he or she has done something wrong. This enables the person to make amends and work to heal relationships that were damaged by their actions 1.
Nevertheless, guilt can be destructive if it is not dealt with in the right way, It can cause people to avoid others because they are too embarrassed to apologize for their actions or inactions. Some try to avoid at the pain of duty by turning to other worse habits. 2.
The proper response to guilt depends on what kind of guilt you're dealing with. For false guilty, it's important to recognize that the guilt does not reflect an actual ethical failure.
For example, some false guilt focuses on failing to meet expectations you had for yourself. 3. No one is perfect, and no one can do everything, so admitting your limits is actually a sign of humility.
It is also important to acknowledge what you're feeling. Even when you don't need to feel guilty, these feelings are real and normal, Try to balance them with positive thoughts, but realize that it often takes time for feelings to change.
4. If so, don't try to conceal it. Apologize and ask for forgiveness. Learn from your mistakes, and try to avoid committing the same acts again. Getting on well with the person you hurt should make you guilty feeling fade.
Guilt is painful, but it can serve a good purpose if you use it well.
A. Other people experience false guilt because of high expectations for themselves.
B. It's possible that you feel guilty because you actually did something wrong.
C. Others try to cover up their guilt by blaming others or becoming angry.
D. It can also motivate people to avoid making similar mistakes later.
E. In this case, it's important to remind yourself that you have limits.
F. Moreover, guilt can result in physical and mental discomforts meanwhile
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
In the green hills of northern Thailand, a woman painstakingly picks coffee beans out of a pile of elephant dung (粪便). They are preparing for the ingredient of one of the world’s most expensive drinks.
This remote comer of Thailand is better known for drug smuggling (毒品走私) than coffee, but Black Dinkin decided it was a perfect place for him to combine wildlife conservation with business. 1. The company uses elephant dung to create a wonderful coffee.
Initially, Dinkin considered using a kind of cats to make coffee, but he found the cats were usually kept in cages and force-fed beans. 2. Eventually, Dinkin settled on elephants after discovering that the animals sometimes eat coffee. He also teamed up with an elephant rescue charity which saves the animals from the tourist trade.
3. “I thought it would be as simple as taking the beans, giving them to the elephants and out will come great coffee,” said Dinkin, adding that the initial result was “horrible”. It took him another nine years to actually succeed in doing what he wanted.
According to Dinkin, the enzymes (酶) in the elephant, stomachs function as a kind of slow cooker and the stomach acid takes the bitterness out of the beans. The elephant riders’ wives collect the coffee beans from the dung before washing and drying them in the sun.
The rewards, however, are worth all the work. At around $1, 880 per kilogram, the coffee doesn’t come cheap. 4.This helps its sales a lot.
A.The 4-year-old Canadian founded Black Ivory Coffee.
B.The local elephant riders considered the project a crazy idea.
C.Its unique taste and special processing cycle give the product a romantic appeal.
D.Making coffee from elephant dung, however, turned out to be harder than expected.
E.To make a kilogram of coffee, the elephants have to cat about 33 kilos of the beans.
F.This is against the businessman’s desire to support rather than damage the environment.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
We often focus on building relationships with others that we forget the essential first step: being friends of ourselves. 1. How can we have good relationships with others if we don’t even have good relationships with ourselves?
The problem might be worse than we expect. Maybe we don’t like ourselves without realizing it. Here is a simple checklist: Is there anything you don’t like about yourself from these lists? Your past: Maybe you have made mistakes in the past which you feel bad about. 2. Even if that happened in distant past, your subconscious(潜意识的) mind still has a reason not to like yourself.
Your background: You might wish that you were born in a different family, or that you have a different background. Maybe you could not accept the fact that you are not as lucky as others. They seem to get whatever they want effortlessly because of their background.
Your personal features: You might have some personality features that you don’t like. For example, you may be an introvert(内向的) and you don’t like it; you wish you were an extrovert. Others might have better achievements than you, and no matter how hard you tried, it might seem impossible for you to match them. 3. Is there anything that resonate (共鸣) with you? All these give reasons to you not to like yourself. That in turn makes it difficult for you to be a good friend to yourself. 4. Here are some tips:
Forgive yourself;
Accept things you can’t change;
Focus on your strengths;
Write your success stories;
Stop comparing yourself with others;
Always be true to yourself.
A.That is the first step if we are to have good relationships with others.
B.You might think that it’s because you are not smart enough or don’t have enough talents.
C.You can do something to improve the relationships with others.
D.Fortunately, there are always things you can do to fix the situation.
E.You might be disappointed with yourself on why you make such mistakes.
F.Sometimes you might not believe yourself.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there two more sentences than you need.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
When I was a kid, I felt anxious about the question, because I never had a good answer. Adults always seemed terribly disappointed that I wasn’t dreaming of becoming something grand or heroic, like a filmmaker or an astronaut.
In college, I finally realized that I didn’t want to be one thing. I wanted to do many things. So I found a workaround: I became an organizational psychologist. My job is to fix other people’s jobs. I get to experience them indirectly—I’ve gotten to explore how filmmakers blaze new trails(开创先河)and how astronauts build trust. 1.
My first complaint with the question is that it forces kids to define themselves in terms work. When you’re asked what you want to be when you grow up, it’s not socially acceptable say, “A father,” or, “A mother,” let alone, “A person of integrity(诚实正直)”. This might be of the reasons many parents say their most important value for their children is to car about others, yet their kids believe that top value is success. 2.
The second problem is the implication that there is one calling(使命感) out the everyone. Although having a calling can be a source of joy, research shows that search one leaves students felling lost and confused. And even if you’re lucky enough to stum a calling, it might not be a viable(切实可行的) career. My colleagues and I have form callings often go unanswered: 3.
If you manage to overcome those obstacles, there is a third hurdle: Careers rarely your childhood dreams. In one study, looking for the ideal job left college seniors feeling more anxious, stressed, overwhelmed and depressed throughout the process satisfied with the outcome. 4. Sure, you might be a little less excited to take it, but on average you end up more productive and less likely to quit.
I’m all for encouraging youngsters to aim high and dream big. But take it who studies work for a living: those aspirations should be bigger than work . As they want to be leads them to claim a career identity they might never want invite them to think about what kind of person they want to be -- and about things they might want to do.
A.Many career passions don’t pay the bills, and many of us just don’t have the talent.
B.Extensive evidence shows that instead of painting a rosy picture of a job, you’re better off having a realistic preview of what it’s really like.
C.People who graduate from college during a recession(经济衰退) are more satisfied with their work three decades later.
D.I have become convinced that asking youngsters what they want to be does them harm.
E.When we define ourselves by our jobs, our worth depends on what we achieve.
F.Your job is not always going to fulfill you.
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Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.
Are you still disappointed at your failure? Stop sighing, and change your mental model.
Change your view on “success” and” failure”.
Most people have the following mental model: SUCCESS—YOU—FAILURE. 1.but what if you change that model? YOU—FAILURE—SUCCESS. Instead of for viewing failure as something to be avoided, turn it into a “steppingstone” on the path to success
Increase your failure rate.
If it is true that the more we fail ,the more we succeed then your immediate goal should be to intentionally increase your failure rate! 2.Intentionally increasing failure means the more people tell you “no”, the closer you will get to ultimate success.
Set “No” goals.
3.But how about setting goals for failure? The exciting aspect is how it keeps people “in the game ”when they are “red hot”. If all you have is “yes” goals and then you slow down or quit when you are successful, the hot steak end .But if you keep going when you get the “yeses” of life, the sky is the limit
4.
If the key to success is to increase our failures, then it makes sense to celebrate our setbacks. Yes, you heard right: if someone turns you down, celebrate it! Instead of mentally punishing yourself for not succeeding, buy yourself ice cream and say ,”I am one step closer to success ! ”Stop letting failure have a negative impact on your thoughts and emotions.
A.See courage as a muscle
B.Celebrate your failures.
C.Everyone sets success goals
D.With this thought in mind, you are succeeding even when you fail
E.All the courage you need to achieve success is already in you ,just waiting for you to take action
F.They see themselves in the middle, and do everything they can to move toward success and away from failure
