Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth. There are hundreds of kinds of sharks. Most are about two meters long. The dogfish shark, however, is less than twenty centimeters in length. A shark has an extremely good sense of smell. It can find small amounts of substances in water, such as blood, body liquids and chemicals produced by animals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sharks eat fish, other sharks, and plants that live in the ocean.

    Sharks grow slowly. About forty percent of all sharks lay eggs. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Some sharks carry their young inside their bodies as humans do. Some sharks are not able to reproduce until they are twenty years old．Most reproduce only every two years. And they give birth to fewer than ten young sharks. For this reason, over-fishing of sharks is of special danger to the future of the animal.

    Sharks are important for the world's oceans. They eat injured and diseased fish. Their hunting activities mean that the numbers of other fish in ocean waters do not become too great. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 

    People hunt sharks for sport, food, medicine and their skin. Experts say the international market for some kinds of sharks has increased because many parts of a shark are valuable. Collectors pay thousands of dollars for the jaws of a shark. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The skin of a shark can be used like leather.  In Asia, people enjoy a kind of soup made from shark fins. Experts say a fisherman can earn a lot of money for even one kilogram of shark fins. Sharks are among the oldest animals on Earth, but some sharks are in danger of disappearing from Earth. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 

A. Shark liver oil is a popular source of Vitamin A.

B. This protects the plants and other forms of life that exist in the oceans.

C. Sharks are valuable to us and we can make full use of them.

D. These powerful senses help sharks find their food.

E. If too many sharks in one area are killed, that group of sharks may never return to normal population levels.

F. This is a threat to other forms of life in the ocean.

G. The others give birth to live young.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Fans used to be crazy about a specific film, but now the public tends to base its consumption(消费) on the interest of celebrity attached to any given product. Besides, fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practice of putting models on the cover because they don't sell nearly as well as famous faces.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    Celebrity clothing lines aren't a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses{#blank#}3{#/blank#}The most successful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they expand their production scale rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}No matter how famous the product's origin is, if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities, it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the initial(最初的) attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty(忠诚) returning to tried-and-true labels.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}The pop-cultural circle might be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. Each misstep threatens to reduce a celebrity's shelf life, and the same newspaper or magazine that once brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity appears. Still, the ego's(自我的) potential for expansion is limitless. Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short time, but fashion-like celebrity-has always been temporary.

A. Today, celebrities face even more severe embarrassment

B. It is the celebrity effect, rather than the quality of the products that appeals to the consumers

C. Celebrity has become one of the most important representatives of popular culture

D. The public's taste of fashion is not always constant and easy to predict

E. Today they're started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands

F. However, for every success story, there's a related warning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal

G. As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful market potential, moving from advertising for others' products to developing their own

Common public speaking problems

    The use of “I feel”, “I think” and “maybe”

    In the question-and-answer session of the speaking competition, many contestants began their answers with uncertain expressions like “I feel”, “I guess”, “I hear”, “maybe” and “perhaps”. These words show that the person is only speaking from his or her point of view{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Work on keeping your answers brief and to the point{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Instead of the empty-sounding “I guess”, using facts, together with a clear conclusion based on those facts, is far more likely to be popular with an audience.

Using only one speaking style

    “Don't stick to the same tone{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, when they spoke about their dreams some sounded romatic. Others used humor. Very few used several different styles together. Try mixing more than one style, rather than just sticking with the same one.

    Irresponsible answers

    Public speaking is different from personal conversations. You're responsible for your words{#blank#}4{#/blank#}So you should think twice before you talk. Don't belike the student who, when asked about his opinion on book piracy（盗版）, started by saying he supported it.

    Talking around the topic rather than directly answering it

    You should focus on one point and give a clear solution. The key is to work out what question is being asked. Is it asking you to discuss a certain topic or to present your own point of view?

    Use one or two arguments together and give a strong conclusion{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It can be boring. Try to mix it up.

B. Also work on delivering them with calmness and confidence.

C. Even though you want to answer quickly, you don't want to sound foolish.

D. This lacks the support of facts and seems not to be reliable for the judges and audience.

E. Remember that judges are not judging you on whether they agree, but on your ability to say what you think clearly.

F. Confidence is extremely important in public speaking as it lets a speaker sound more convincing.

G. Deliberate gestures and affected（做作的）expressions of feelings are improper in a successful speech.

How to stay focused in class

    Being relaxed during class is a bad habit, and it is also bad to your grade. Focusing in class not only proves to teachers that you are a capable student but also shows that you have the ability to control yourself, which will be very important.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} No matter how much you want to sit with your friends during the class, try your best to avoid them. Talking with friends around you is not going to give you the focus in class. This will get you into trouble.

    Look at teacher and make eye contact. Your teacher is not just standing up there talking.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Show the teacher that he or she has your full attention by looking them in the eye. This person should have your full attention at all times during class.

Take notes. By taking notes, you'll be able to "get into" the lesson. Write down key points as your teacher speaks. And listen to the key phrases such as "This is important" "This is the main idea" "This will be the test" etc.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Get involved in class discussions. This is a wonderful way to become a more focused, successful student. When a teacher asks a question, offer to answer it.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} This shows the teacher that you are listening carefully during the class.

    Ask a question.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} This really shows your teacher that you want to be better, and can recognize the things you are having difficulty with. Chances are that someone else in the class has the same question （and was too afraid to ask!）. They'll be relieved, and so will you.

A. Avoid sitting with friends.

B. This can help you listen more attentively.

C. If he or she ask for an opinion, share your own.

D. Talking with friends makes you lose interest in class.

E. He or she is trying to give you an acceptable education.

F. The more quickly you answer, the more attention you pay.

G. If you don't understand something, never be afraid to ask.

    You might dream of fluency in this or that language, and maybe you have already achieved fluency in a foreign language. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Fluency, like all abstract terms, has no universal meaning. Each individual must determine what the term means. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Perfect fluency means knowing each word you encounter, speaking quickly, clearly and easily and having no accent. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} You aren't familiar with every word of your native language, and sometimes you have to search for the right word, even in your mother tongue.

    Quick fluency is the type of fluency you see in advertisements, because "Master a Language in 2 Months!" sounds very catchier than "Fluency in 20 Years!" {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It is possible to achieve quick fluency, but the fluency achieved after such a short time frame will be a very thin, superficial fluency.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Native-like fluency means that you generally know all the same words that a native knows and can speak at the same pace with the same amount of ease as a native speaker. You will likely have an accent, but as long as your conversation partner can understand you, it doesn't matter.

    Literary fluency is like graduating from native-like to educated-native-like fluency. It focuses on the more intellectual side of a language: including in literature, attending university, composing song lyrics, etc.

    There are a ton of other things that fluency could potentially be, but that's up to you to figure out.

I know just how you feel

    Do you feel sad? Happy? Angry? You may think that the way you show these emotions is unique. Well, think again. Even the expression of the most personal feelings can be classified, according to Mind Reading, a DVD exhibiting every possible human emotion. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    In the mid 1800s, Darwin divided the emotions into six types—anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise and enjoyment. More complex expressions of emotion were probably learned and therefore more specific to each culture. But now it is believed that many more facial expressions are shared worldwide. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} The Mind Reading DVD is a systematic visual record of these expressions.

    The project was designed by a Cambridge professor. His research team first had to define an "emotion". {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Using this definition, 412 emotion terms were identified and discussed, from "afraid" to "wanting".

    Then each expression is acted out by six different actors. "It was really clear when the actors had got it right," says Cathy Collis, who directed the DVD. "Although they were given some direction, the actors were not told which facial muscles they should move. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}"

    Someone who has tried to set such rules is the American, Professor Paul Ekman, who built database of how the face moves for every emotion. The face can make 43 distinct muscle movements. Ekman has also found that it may not be possible for people to reproduce them artificially. The most difficult expression to reproduce is the smile. It isn't only about stretching the lips, but tightening the tiny muscles around the eye. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If we learnt to recognize whether someone was using their eye muscle when they smiled, we would be able to distinguish true enjoyment from false.