修改时间：2024-07-13 浏览次数：541 类型：月考试卷
To err is human. To blame the other guy is even more human.
Common sense is not all that common.
Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?
These three popular misquotes(误用的引语) are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature. To err or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don't want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do. The original quote about human nature went like this, "To err is human, to forgive is divine(神圣的)."This saying mirrors an ideal: People should be forgiving of others' mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite -- find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a making of great maturity(成熟).
Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Common sense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine. Common sense does not seem to be common for large organizations, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company, "the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing."
And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people, get the idea that it's okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary(推论) to that: If a good excuse is "good" even if it isn't honest, then where is the place of the truth?
A new study suggests a simple getting-to-know-you exercise might improve classroom relationships. The teacher-student relationship affects every aspect of the educational experience. When students don't feel safe and respected by their teacher, they are less likely to devote themselves to their education. And when teacher feel distanced from their students, it is nearly impossible to walk into the classroom each day actively, let alone encourage motivation or investment in students.
Hunter Gehlbach, a professor, explained that his research is primarily concerned with social perspectivetaking(换位思考), or the ability to understand what drives the people around us. As he explained, "My focus is classrooms and social perspective-taking--figuring out the thoughts and feelings of others seems important. We want teachers to be able to engage in this process and figure out the thought process of students as much as possible, in order to understand where and why they are making mistakes."
Gehlbach and his colleagues gave 315 students and 25 teachers a "getting-to-know-you" survey of 30 items at the beginning of a school year. The researchers matched similarities between the teacher and the student, and then showed those similarities to the teachers and students. Five weeks later, the researchers returned to start a more indepth survey of both students and teachers, and to measure their opinions of their relationships and the classroom experience as a whole. The second survey showed that when teachers and students know they have five things in common, relationships and educational outcomes both improve.
Gehlbach explained that the similarities he and his colleagues established were not based on personal information, but on shared preferences. Gehlbach explained: one of the biggest surprises in reading the similarity research was how little some of the similarities were that caused positive feelings towards others.
Though Gehlbach's study has limitations, he is encouraged by the results and eager to explore the phenomenon further.
Imagine you went to a restaurant with a date, had a burger, paid with a credit card, and left. The next time you go there, the waiter or waitress, armed with your profile data, greets you with, "Hey Joe, how are you? Mary is over there in the seat you sat in last time. Would you like to join her for dinner again?" Then you find out that your burger has been cooked and your drink is on the table. Forget the fact that you are with another date and are on a diet that doesn't include burgers. Sound a little odd? To some, it is the same with the Internet. The Nets ability to profile you through your visits to and interactions at websites provides marketers with an enormous amount of data on you--some of which you may not want them to have.
Are you aware that almost every time you access a website you get a "cookie"? Unfortunately, it's not the Mrs.
Reid's type. A cookie on the Internet is a computer code sent by the site to your computer--usually without your knowledge. During the entire period of time that you are at the site, the cookie is collecting information about your interaction, including where you visit, how long you stay there. How frequently you return to certain pages, and even your electronic address. Fill out a survey to collect free information or samples, and marketers know even more about you--like your name, address, and any other information you provide. While this may sound scary enough, cookies aren't even the latest in technology. A new system called I-librarian Alexa--named for the legendary third century.
B. C. library in Alexandria, Egypt--does even more. While cookies track what you are doing at one site, Alexa collects data on all your Web activity, such as which sites you visit next, how long you stay there, whether you click on ads, etc. All this information is available to marketers, who use it to market more effectively to you. Not only do you not get paid for providing the information, you probably don't even know that you are giving it.
One of the big challenges that students face in applying to universities abroad is writing the application essay.
Admissions officers(招生负责人) attempt to get at what type of person you are, what motivates you, and what you feel passion for. In a single 500-word piece of writing, they attempt to gather all about you. So your task is to put the stamp of your personality on the essay and make yourself special.
You can try and guess what the admissions officers like. The essay will sound empty and become another dull piece of writing, which admissions officers get thousands of each year.
It is true that admissions officers aren't exactly looking for anything. If they ask for someone who has inspired you, it could be anyone. It could be a grandmother, a teacher, or even a character from a movie. A lot of people will say their dad. But since you really feel it, you'll have a lot to write about.
There are some important things to remember. These admissions officers want good writers. You don't have to be Ernest Hemingway, but you have to be able to form an interesting story. That means revision and editing, cutting out stupid grammar mistakes, reading it over several times, leaving it for a few days and looking at it again.
Also, you should use exciting language and really make the reader feel the same passion as you do. It also means finding something unique about your point of view, something that other people might not think of. For example, if you want to write about your dad, you can focus on a specific anecdote(趣闻) about him.
A. The essays you are required to write differ from university to university.
B. The answer is just as open-ended as the question itself.
C. Admissions officers love personal stories that ring true.
D. The essay topics all have something in common.
E. You can turn to famous writers to polish your essay.
F. Whatever you do, make sure the essay is as good as possible.
G. But that won't work.
For the most part, I don't think about getting older. Perhaps it's just that I've been doing it for a long time so it isn't a top-of-mind 1. Perhaps it's because I like to keep busy and just don't think about it. Sometimes, 2something happens that makes me consider my death and what lies ahead.
I used to be a radio broadcaster and recently I was 3 by the activity director at a senior citizen's home near where I live. She told me there are a couple of 4 broadcasters who live in the home and they 5 really enjoy a visit from someone with a similar 6 who can trade stories with them about the good old days. I'm retired, and I have some free time 7 I said, "sure, I'd come for a visit or two." That has 8 a routine in which I spend an afternoon each week chatting with the old boys and helping them to revisit memories of happier, busier times.
One of them, it turns out, is 9 tied to an oxygen generating machine, can only move about in a wheel-chair using portable oxygen and 10, has dementia(痴呆) and knows he is slowly 11 his memory and ability to think clearly. My other new friend in the home has cerebral palsy(大脑瘫痪) and is also 12 to a wheel-chair. Neither man can live 13 any more; they can't drive a car, can't prepare their own meals, can't plant a garden or mow a lawn. But they're being well cared for and they have family members who come for 14 visits and now I guess they have me. For me, though, it's a look at what may lie ahead, perhaps not for a number of years, perhaps tomorrow, I have no way of 15.
The thought of being dead doesn't bother me although I'm in absolutely no 16 to get there. What bothers me, if I think about it in the dark moments 17 all have from time to time, is the 18 of dying. The young people who 19 the majority of this magazine's readership won't understand this because they are immortal. I was immortal once too and I'm still going strong and feeling great. That said, I go to visit the men in the senior's home and sometimes I look 20 into the unknown. Life gets interesting in unforeseen ways as one gets older.
Every year on the last weekend in August around 1.5 million people go to west London to take part in and enjoy one of the (large) street parties in Europe, Notting Hill Carnival. a colorful group of dancers, a wide range of music and atmosphere of fun and celebration, the carnival is not to be missed. The roots of the carnival date back to 1833 slavery was abolished. In that year the former slaves in Trinidad, a British colony in the Caribbean, took to the streets in celebration of their own carnival party with music, dance and costumes. Soon it (develop) into an important tradition throughout the Caribbean. In 1959 the first carnival took place in the St Pancras area of London. For the next few years, the Carnival _(celebrate) in different parts of London until it(final) came to Notting Hill in 1964. In 2003 the Notting Hill Carnival received royal (approve),when it joined the parade (mark) the Queen's 50th year on the throne(王位). The Carnival shows the (culture) diversity of modern London.
"Nothing will ever be the same again," Ally whispered. She sank slowly into her father's favorite chair and stared at the small American flag on his desk. It was the flag which Chief Russell had given to her after the funeral last summer, when he hugged her and told her how proud the Police Department was of her dad's work for them. His tears had warmed Ally's cheeks; her own tears were still frozen inside her heart.
Ally looked at her father's picture on the bookcase. Dad was sitting in the middle of a stream, wet through but grinning proudly. "I miss you, Dad," she said softly .By this time last year she had already taken dozens of pictures. Ever since she could remember, she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods behind the house each weekend for a glimpse of the special wood warbler(林中莺).
Ally reached for the first photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover a tiny orange bird with bluegray wings and sharp black eyes peered out of the photo her father had clipped from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on his face when he first showed her the pretty bird. "Ally, I bet if we search real hard, we'll see this little guy together some day."
They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. Staying with Dad, Ally felt comfortable, "If only I could get that good feeling back," she thought, sighing.
Staring at the bird, suddenly, she knew exactly what she had to do. Grabbing the little flag, she placed her camera around her neck and hurried outside. Ally stuck the flag among the flowers in the garden. "Please let me see the warbler," she murmured to herself. She gave her worried Mom a kiss and then set off into the woods.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为 150 左右；
2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
Familiar smells of the earth rose up to greet her.
Paragraph 2:
Determined to start out the next morning, she was about to head home when a ringing birdsong floated down to her.
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