修改时间：2024-07-13 浏览次数：247 类型：高考模拟
You might call them "Internet friends" since I haven't met most of them, but for me they're real friends whether we talk online or in person. I name-drop them in conversations with other friends, we have in-jokes, and we share advice or a listening ear when we need to. They are no different to the friends I have made at home.
The problem with my "Internet friendships" comes when I have to explain them to "real friends". "But how can they be your friends if you've never met them?" "What do you really have to talk about?" The list is endless. Even family members think I am a freak (不正常的人) for believing that anyone on the Internet can be a) real b) a true friend c) free of serial killer (连环杀手) tendencies. I've met so many people through Twitter which has led to me meeting them in "real life" as well. When I go to London, it's full of people that I love. At the end of last year after a visit to the city, I spoke to one of my "Internet friends" and said that seeing her had reminded me how much I missed her. Her reply was as follows:
"I forget that my Internet friends are just as real and important to me as the friends I grew up with (if not more important sometimes!)".
Over the past year, as I often wasn't well enough to even leave the house, my "Internet friends" became extremely important and without them I would have struggled to keep my head above water. My "physical friends" were great, truly, but my "Internet friends" became more important in some respects possibly because of our shared love of travel. Many of us share the same dream of being able to live the life of a traveler for as long as we can and they also know what it takes to do that-things my friends didn't know. When I struggled to see what I needed to do before visiting a place, they were there with advice.
The best-known example of outer influence causing language change is the "Americanization" of world culture, which has caused English words to appear all over the world. The effect is most noticeable in pop music. Foreign groups often record in English, and the words are picked up and repeated everywhere, even by children who otherwise have little or no command of the language. I once met a Brazilian child of about ten who could count "one, two, three", but only by adding the words "o'clock, four o'clock rock" at the end.
Some people are often strongly critical of the influence of English on their language-especially when an English word replaces a traditional word. In 1977,France passed a law banning the use of English words in official situations if an equivalent (意义相同的) French expression existed-but the law seemed to be honoured more in the breaking than in the observing. Some other countries have considered introducing a similar law despite the evidence that such laws have very little effect, and that the arrival of loan words (外来词) can greatly enrich a language (as indeed in the case of English itself, which has a long history of welcoming foreign words).
However, not everyone is critical. In particular, commercial firms and advertisers are well aware of the potential selling power that the use of English vocabulary can bring. In Japan, English is even used in television commercials, despite the fact that the majority of viewers would not understand exactly what was being said: the excellence implied by the mere use of English is apparently enough to command the strategy to the advertisers.
Most of the influence of English is upon the vocabulary of foreign languages, but surveys are slowly bringing to light several cases where word order or word structure has been affected. Sentences of the type "The book sells well", using an active construction for a passive meaning, have begun to appear in Danish (Bogen soelgergodt). Several languages keep the English plural ending when they make use of a loan word, and do not translate it into the native form, e.g. drinks. There are many other such cases.
One beautiful day, my good friends and I joined an experienced crew and sailed in the Caribbean. As boating beginners, my friends and I were in charge of spotting the light areas of the seafloor that signaled dangerous reefs (暗礁).Ocean reefs have the potential to destroy any sailboat that passes over them, so while the electronic depth sounder is a necessary tool, it is always helpful to find a reef ahead of time so that it can be more easily avoided.
One aspect of boating that was reserved for the experts was tacking, the sailing term for changing direction. All at once, a smooth sail could turn into complete pandemonium as the captain at the wheel began yelling directions to the first mate (大副), who quickly began struggling with the sails and rigging (索具). Generally, the wind continued to offer resistance. This made the first mate's struggle more demanding and really frightening to the less experienced boaters on board. This mad yelling and tacking could go on for several minutes before all was right again and the boat settled into its new course. Once this had occurred, the captain and the first mate acknowledged each other with congratulatory smiles. We beginners, however, were still recovering from our terror and wondering to ourselves, "Was all that supposed to happen? And they think this is fun?"
As we headed back toward the shore, the unpredictable wind not only slowed but stopped, and soon the boat did too. After several minutes, the ship's crew unwillingly turned on the motor. Unfortunately, it wouldn't start and so we floated at sea, no land in sight, just waiting. It was late afternoon when I began to recognize the panic that was rising in my throat. Eventually, the ship's captain got the engine running. The sails were up and the little motor moved along.
The Indian government may use 3D paintings as virtual speed-breakers on major highways and roads, in an attempt to check speeding and careless driving，and eventually make its deadly roads a little safer. "We are trying out 3D paintings used as virtual speed breakers to avoid unnecessary requirements of speed breakers," India's transport minister Nitin Gadkari tweeted.
The visual illusions (幻象) are supposed to encourage drivers to slow down automatically. Earlier this month, India had ordered the removal of all speed breakers from highways, which are considered to be a danger to safety for high-speed vehicles.
India has the highest number of road accident deaths in the world. According to the World Health Organisation, over 20,000 people are killed by road accidents due to poor application of road safety laws. This is considerably higher than its official figures of 141,526 for 2014.
The use of visual illusions as speed breakers was first pioneered in the American city of Philadelphia in 2008, as part of a campaign against speeding motorists. The technique has also been tried out in China to create floating 3D crossings.
In India, cities such as Ahmedabad and Chennai have already experimented with 3D zebra crossings in the last one year. In Ahmedabad for instance, two artists, mother and daughter have painted 3D crosswalks in the first few months of this year. The artists say their motto is "to increase the attention of drivers", and that the concept has been successfully tested in zones where accidents easily occur on a highway.
However, critics argue that once drivers know that these speed breakers are visual illusions, they may ignore them. Others also point out that India's decision does not consider the safety of a large number of walkers. In the end, the new policy may be just one step towards improving road safety.
The Hotel Wake-up Call Gets Personal
Here's a wake-up call: The hotel front desk will do one better than ringing your phone in the morning. They'll send an actual human being to your room. Don't worry. They won't come in and kiss you good morning.
Never mind that most travelers nowadays have smart phones with built-in alarm clocks. Here are some examples. At the Wolcott Hotel, if a wake-up call is unanswered, they will send an employee to your door. At Las Ventanas al Paraiso, an employee shows up at your room to wake you up with tea, coffee and breakfast bread. At the Mandarin Oriental, a person rather than an automated system will call to wake you up.
Hotels have always taken the wake-up call seriously. If you don't get your call within five minutes of the requested time, you won't have to pay for your room. Travelers, too, still want to have an option of a wake-up call. A study of 285 guests at Crown Plaza found that 53% considered a wake-up call very important.
In the late 1980s, hotels turned to automated systems. Then all you'd get was a ring and silence. In the ever-competitive race for loyal customers, however, many hotels are now getting creative with the wake-up call. Some hotels even have recordings of celebrity voices. And more hotels will go back to the old in-person system of wake up calls.
A. But they might bring you coffee.
B. If you don't answer, you'll get a wake-up knock.
C. Crown Plaza, for instance, has a wake-up call guarantee.
D. But the wake-up call became less personal over the years.
E. The hotel gets 15 to 30 requests for wake-up calls each day.
F. The human wake-up call is a way to personalize a guest's stay.
G. Some guests sleep through the call, while others turn their phone ringers off.
Adventure is in my blood. And I had been considering how I was going to 1 my high school graduation. I didn't just want a small party in the backyard. I started thinking about doing a solo 2 somewhere out of the ordinary. I took out maps and drew the 1,500-mile route along which I would be 3 from the northernmost point in Norway to the southernmost section of Sweden. When I shared my plans with my dad, he 4 as I thought he would. Because I get my adventurous spirits from him, he was 5 it.
I had only been away from my home three days now, but there was an inner 6 going on inside of me. Part of me was 7 and doubting whether I really could make it. The other part of me was ready to 8 to myself and my family that I could do it by myself.
On the road, I met another bicyclist who was quite a bit older than I was. He had started his journey alone by bike at the southern part of Norway and had just finished. I could tell he had a great sense of 9. It encouraged me not to 10.
As I listened to my 11 artists on my MP4 player, I pedaled (踩踏板) with my feet. There was 12 around me for miles. 13, that wasn't entirely true. There were mosquitoes-millions of them. My arms were so dotted with bites that they looked like a topographical map (地形图).But, however 14 it would be, nothing could stop my advance 15 the destination. As you know, adventure is in my blood.
In today's world of mobile payments, all we really need (survive) is a smartphone. But one company is hoping to make traditional wallets cool again, by (bring) them into the digital age.
Armenian firm Volterman's smart wallet takes security to a new level. It's fitted with different technology, such as alarm, GPS tracker, and even a camera. If your phone and wallet become separated, the alarm will warn you you don't leave it behind. And if your wallet (lose) or stolen, the GPS tracker can help you reach it.
Even (interesting) is the front-facing camera."If someone dares to open your wallet permission, a little camera inside (take) a picture and send it to your mobile phone. You will find it (easy) by receiving a picture of the thief," Azat Tovmasyan, Volterman's founder,told news site Banks.am.
The high-tech wallet will be released later this year and will come in three (model), with the cheapest expected to cost $ 179.
A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town. But it was snowing hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village.
On his way home he saw a person lying on the snow. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking the baskets with him.
The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked, "Are these yours?" "Yes, sir," the farmer answered timidly. "Have you killed the man?" "No, no, sir," the farmer said in a hurry. "When did you see the dead man?" "About seven last evening." "Did you see who killed the man?" "No, sir." The officer brought out a knife and asked, "Have you seen it before?" "No, sir." The officer became angry and told the policeman to beat him up and sent him into prison, He wanted to trap the farmer into the confession (供认), but the farmer didn't admit he was the murderer.
注意：
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Paragraph 1:
The officer was so angry that he asked the policeman to beat him up again. ……
Paragraph 2:
The farmer was lucky. A few days later, ……
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