To send and to read email has quickly become one of the most common daily activities around the world, either for business or pleasure.    1.  

Several reasons why email has become a great tool is that it is fast, convenient, and affordable.  2.  In the past, teachers often organized pen friends project where their students would exchange letters with another group of students in another country   3.  And by that time, students might lose interest in the project or the class might and before a serious of meaningful exchanges can take place.   4.  With email, however, messages can be sent at a click of a button at school, home, or an Internet café, and if you are using a free email account, the cost is free(not taking into account any Internet Service Provider fees that you have to pay).

  5.  Email has a lot to offer, for language learners and teachers in the classroom.

A．In addition, students have to pay imitational postage to send the letters.

B．However, the turn-arcund time for sending and receiving traditional letters can take up months.

C．Now, more students are using this form of communication to improve their language skills.

D．Students can develop friendships with people from around the globe.

E．While chatting online, never give out personal information including your age.

F．One particular activity that takes advantage of these points is a key pal exchange.

G．Instead of waiting days or weeks for a response, students can receive a reply quickly.

 

My wife Julie and I were out on the road that runs around where we live, when we saw an old worn-out dog stumbling (蹒跚) painfully up the road. We stopped, bent down, talked gently to the dog and patted it. I checked and there was a collar with a phone number. I called but no one answered.

The dog was painfully thin. So Julie ran home to get some of our dog’s food while I tried to encourage the dog. After Julie came back, we sat down on the sidewalk while our new friend made short work of the food. Eventually we got her home.

After trying for many times we got a response from the number. A lady came around with a bunch of flowers for us. She explained that Tara had been her father’s dog. She was very old and got lost that morning. So, Tara was safely returned home.

Here is the truth of the story:

Actually Julie and I were out that morning because I was leaving. She was trying to persuade me to come back, but I wasn’t hearing anything that made that sound likely.

I was about to turn and go when an old black dog walked between us and almost fell down. Suddenly we had something more important than our problem to worry about. There was a creature in need right before us and we had to work together to help it.

We did help it. And here I am writing the story in my own home, in my own family.

In the song “Love Is Not a Fight” Warren Barfield talks about marriage. At one point he sings, “And if we try to leave, may God send angels (天使) to guard the door.”

Sometimes angels come disguised (伪装) as dogs.

1.How was the dog when found?

A. Too weak to walk.                                       B. Thin and worn out.        

C. Unable to eat food.                                             D. Homeless but gentle.

2. We can infer from Paragraph 2 that         .

A. the dog didn’t go with the writer                    

B. the writer had his own pet dog

C. Julie bought some food for the dog                

D. the dog didn’t eat any of the food

3.The underlined part “our problem” in the passage refers to the fact that         .

A. the writer didn’t want to take Julie’s advice

B. an old black dog appeared in front of them

C. Julie disagreed with the writer’s travel on business

D. the couple had some trouble with their marriage

4.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. An Angel Dog        B. A Helpful Couple   C. Saving the Dog                D. A Famous Song

 

English teenagers are to receive compulsory (必修的) cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to fight the country’s increasing obesity (肥胖 )rate. It’s feared that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost as parents turn to pre-prepared convenience foods.
Cooking was once regarded as an important part of education in England---even if it was mainly aimed at girls. In recent decades cooking has progressively become a minor activity in schools. In many cases the schools themselves have given up cooking meals in kitchens in the schools. But the rising level of obesity has led to a rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught.
“What I want is to teach young people how to do basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce, a bolognaise, a simple curry, a stir-fry---which they can use now at home and then in their later life”, said Ed Balls, the minister responsible for schools.
The new lessons are due to start in September, but some schools without kitchens will be given longer to adapt. There is also likely to be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since the trend has been to teach food technology rather than practical cooking. Also the compulsory lessons for hands on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believes it will be worth it.
“If we’d done this thirty years ago we might not have the crisis we’ve got now about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they’ll be healthy, but because it’s a life skill which is a real pleasure”.
The renewed interest in cooking is primarily a response to the level of obesity in Britain which is among the highest in Europe, and according to government figures half of all Britons will be obese in 25 years if current trends are not stopped.
【小题1】The passage mainly talks about        .

A．the reason for obesity	B．the lost cooking skills
C．the healthy eating	D．the compulsory cooking classes

【小题2】Which of the following is NOT the purpose for English teenagers to receive cooking lessons?

A．To encourage teenagers to eat healthy food.

B．To reduce the country’s increasing obesity rate.

C．To stop parents from turning to pre-prepared convenience foods.

D．To prevent basic cooking and food preparation skills from being lost.

【小题3】In what way will cooking lessons benefit the students?

A．They will be healthy and enjoy the pleasure of such a life skill as well.

B．They will be able to do some basic, simple recipes like a tomato sauce.

C．They will be able to make food experiments with the knowledge and skills.

D．They will be able to control the level of obesity in the whole country.

【小题4】The well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, thinks it        to offer compulsory cooking lessons in schools.

A．difficult

B．necessary

C．funny

D．timely

【小题5】It can be inferred from the passage that       .

A．cooking has always been an important part of school education in England

B．the obesity rate in Britain has been rapidly growing in recent decades

C．English teenagers will have their cooking lessons twice a week for one year

D．the students will pay a lot of money to the school for the

When an emergency situation occurs, observers are more likely to take action if there are few or no other witnesses． This phenomenon is referred to as the bystander effect．

The bystander effect is also called the Genovese effect, which is named after Catherine “Kitty" Genovese, a young woman who was cruelly murdered on March 13, 1964． Early in the morning, 28-year-old Genovese was returning home from work． As she approached her apartment entrance, she was attacked and stabbed （刺） by a man later identified as Winston Moseley． Despite Genovese's repeated cries for help, none of the dozen or so people in the nearby apartment building who heard her cries called police for help． The attack first began at 3:20, but it was not until 3:50 that someone first contacted police．

Many psychologists were set thinking by the incident, as well as most Americans． As the conclusion, the bystander effect came out and later proved by a series of studies and experiments．

There are two major factors that contribute to the bystander effect． First, the presence of other people creates a division of responsibility． Because there are other observers, individuals do not feel as much pressure to take action, since the responsibility to take action is thought to be shared among all of those present． The second reason is the need to behave in correct and socially acceptable ways． When other observers fail to react, individuals often take this as a signal that a response is not needed or not appropriate．

Other researchers have found that onlookers are less likely to take action if the situation is ambiguous． In the case of Kitty Genovese, many of the 38 witnesses reported that they believed that they were witnessing a "lovers' quarrel", and did not realize that the young woman was actually being murdered．

1.The bystander effect is also called the Genovese effect because          a woman surnamed Genovese．  

A．it somehow caused the murder of

B．its discovery resulted from the murder of

C．it was actually discovered by

D．it always makes people think of

2.Genovese was murdered         ．  

A．while she was going out	B．in her apartment
C．halfway home	D．near her apartment

3. Which can NOT have been a possible reason for the neighbors NOT offering Genovese help?

A．They believed in the bystander effect．

B．They thought someone else might help her．

C．They didn't think they should help．

D．They didn't think she needed help．

4. Before deciding to offer help, observers may         , according to the psychologists． 

A．wait for sort of a signal

B．hesitate and estimate the risk of getting hurt

C．want to be sure it's appropriate to react

D．wonder if the victim is worth helping

5.The article seems to suggest that, if there had been         observers, Genovese might not have been murdered．   

A．no

B．fewer

C．more

D．braver

 

If you have been joining in chat room conversations, or trading email with web pals （网友） , you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English.

And you’ve got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF （= sense of humor failure） to describe Internet newcomers who don’t understand you.

Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are “talking online”, many of them all talking at the same time.

It’s fast: try talking to six people at once．It’s brief: three or four words per exchange．It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers.

And it requires tremendous linguistic economy （语言省略）．There’s neither time nor space for explanations．Why consume precious key-strokes （键盘敲击） telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB（ = be right back） will do?

Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI （= pardon me for jumping in）.

Interested in whom you are talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal’s age, sex and location．You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal.

If something makes you laugh, say you are OTF （= on the floor）, or LOL （= laughing out loud）, or combing the two into ROTFL （ = rolling on the floor laughing） .

And when it is time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG （= got to go） or TTYL （=talk to you later）.

People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can．Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes, more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals．Punctuation （标点） is going, too．

Many people talk on the Internet ______.

       A．by sending short emails                     

       B．by using a particular short form of English

       C．by using peculiar English words and expression   

       D．in a funny way

In order to talk to several people at the same time on the Internet ______.

       A．you have to speak fast and fluently

       B．you should speak with wit and humor

       C．you have to express your ideas in a brief way

       D．one should pay much attention to the accuracy of words

If you get 17/F/NY as an answer to your A/S/L, it means______.

       A．the person on the other end is 17 from New York and he is fine

       B．you are talking to a girl who is 17 and lives in New York

       C．you are talking to 17 girls who are from New York

       D．the person who you are talking to is a 17-foot tall New York girl

To save time on the Internet, __________.

       A．some people leave their letters in the dustbin  

       B．some people never use “shift” in their writing

       C．many people leave the capital and punctuation 

       D．people seldom use capital letters or punctuation