It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.

    I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, but my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!

    Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. Then along came email and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we live without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.

    Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb comes from an adjective not a noun. 

Now my children bought me a mobile phone, known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message for them on their phone. Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ ll start using it myself! 　

1.“I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means “____________”.

A. it was a firm arrangement

B. he prefers a pencil to a pen

C. the arrangement should be written as a diary

D. it was an uncertain arrangement

2.A website address can be easily found if it has been ____________.

A. favorited                          B. messaged                         C. emailed                            D. texted

3. Which of the following has not been used as a verb yet?

A. message                           B. mobile                              C. email                                 D. fax

4. The best title for this passage is____________.

A. How to use verbs

B. Development of the English language

C. Origins of verbs

D. New Verbs from Nouns

 

首先请阅读以下宠物的信息：

A. Not named yet: baby, female

It’s a small grey cat with long hair and deep blue eyes. It is very friendly and can get along well with dogs. I can’t keep it because I have too many pets, but I can’t just let it go outside. If you are looking for a cat, please let me know. And I will send it to you, but you’ll have to pay my travel fees.

B. Brooke: orange and white, young, female

She’s a shy cat and likes to be alone at first. Once she gets familiar with you, she is very sweet and loves to be in your lap and play with you. She also loves to talk. The owner shouldn’t be a smoker. For free.

C. Sammi Hammi: adult, male

Sammi Hammi, a blue and gold bird, is looking for his forever home. He loves dogs and likes to sing and dance. He will take your ear off while you cook! He loves delicious food and he is a great boy who loves attention. The new owner will have to pay an adoption fee and for his cage.

D. Buster: black and white, young, male

He will be the sweetest cat you will ever meet. He likes to play and gets along well with other pets. Anyone who gets this guy will love him! For free.

E. Zoey: American Bulldog, adult, female

My dog Zoey is three years old and is very outgoing. She loves the outdoors and she loves kids. She is good at looking after other dogs. She also likes being around people. I need to find her a good home. I would like someone with children and other dogs to take her. For free.

F. Rebel and Maverick: young, male

Both Rebel and Maverick will be 2 years old soon. They’re wonderful dogs, but I can no longer keep them for some reasons. They love children. A home with children would be the best. They also get along well with other animals. The most suitable place for them is a home with a yard because they love to be outside. 600 dollars.

阅读以下人员的信息，然后为他们选择合适的宠物：

1.Alice and her 10-year-old twin sons live in a house with a big yard. She’s looking  for some pets to play with the boys. A pair of dogs is preferred. Money isn’t a problem.

2.Tom, 63 years old, has no children. His wife died last year and he’s very lonely. He would like to have a pet that he can talk to. He used to be a cook and loves birds very much, but he doesn’t like cats.

3.Bruce has a dog and he’s looking for another pet. It must be male and be able to get along well with his dog. Also, the pet has to be free.

4.Neil plans to find a female pet for his daughter. She loves orange and white cats. There are no smokers in the family. Free pets are preferred.

5.Max is looking for an adult dog to join his family. He has 3 children and two baby dogs. He hopes the new pet can help look after the baby dogs and play with his children.

 

 “BANG!” the door caused a reverberation (回声)．It was just standing there, with Father standing on one side, and I on the other side．

We were both in great anger．“Never set foot in this house again!” stormed Father．With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street．

The street lights were shining rather desolately(凄凉的)．I wandered aimlessly．

A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me．I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and harmonious．

But now… I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old．We differ in our ways of thinking．He always imposes his opinions and codes of behavior on me．Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it．We are just like two people coming from two different worlds．It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened．

I wandered the streets, without a destination in mind．My heart was frozen on this hot summer night．As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company．When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on．

In fact, it was nothing．Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps．Perhaps he thought they were useless．I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps．I can’t stand his outrageous(蛮横的) words: “ I can throw you away, let alone these old papers．”

All the lights were off except father’s．

Dad was always like this．Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself．After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret．After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers．

This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature．

The light was still on．“Am I wrong?” I whispered, maybe… With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been．At last, I decided to open the door．As soon as I opened the door, tears ran down my cheeks．I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all．Love – is second to none．

1.Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage．

a．I opened the door and entered the house．

b．Sadly I ran out into the street．

c．I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit．

d．I thought of my father’s kindness towards me．

e．I walked about in the street without any aim．

A．b, e, d, c, a                 B．b, e, c, d, a                 C．b, e, a, c, d                 D．b, e, c, a, d

2.What made the writer think of his childhood?

A．The sight of the desolate street lights．

B．The sight of the empty street．

C．The sight of a father with a child in his arms．

D．The sight of light in his own house．

3.Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?

A．Perhaps the father is getting older and older．

B．Perhaps the son has already grown up．

C．Perhaps they never agree with each other．

D．Perhaps the father has got used to doing that．

4.What conclusion can you draw after reading the passage?

A．The father is actually kind to his son．

B．The father treats his son in an unfair way．

C．The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son．

D．The father is always finding fault with his son．

 

Turns out we aren’t good at walking and talking at the same time, according to a study of pedestrians （行人） on their cell phones．

     Nearly one-third of pedestrians （29．8% ） were distracted （分散注意力） by their mobile  devices while crossing the street, say researchers of a study published online in the journal Injury Prevention．

     Just as drivers who text, talk on cell phones, or adjust MP3 players increase their risk of losing control of their vehicles, pedestrians distracted by their conversations or their devices also put themselves at higher risk of getting into an accident．

    During the summer of 2012, scientists in Seattle, Wash． , studied 1,102 pedestrians at 20 crossroads seeing the city * s highest number of pedestrian injuries over the past few years．

    They watched how pedestrians crossed the street @ whether they looked both ways or obeyed the crossroad signal @ and also recorded how long it took pedestrians to do so． Distractions included listening to music with headphones, using a cell phone or earpiece to talk on a cell phone, text messaging, and talking with another person．

    Overall, researchers found the most common distraction among pedestrians was listening to music （11．2%）, followed by text messaging （7．3%）, and using a handheld phone（6．2%）． But the most absorbing distraction was texting． Compared to pedestrians who were not distracted, those who were texting took 1．87 seconds longer to cross and were four times more likely to not look where they were going, disobey traffic lights, or cross outside of the crosswalk． While the study did not track injuries related to these trends, previous studies have linked such activities to a higher risk of being injured while crossing the street．

    Combined with the rise in the use of mobile devices, especially smart phones, the results raise concerns that multi-tasking while walking may be a rising concern for pedestrians． And that danger may only climb, as the number of wireless devices has already exceeded the population of the United States． Last year, roughly 1,152 people wound up in the emergency room to treat injuries caused by using a cell phone or electronic device, the Consumer Product Safety Commission told the Associated Press in July． Those numbers may be underestimated, however, because patients may not always admit that they were using their phones along with other activities such as walking or driving when they were hurt．

1.The scientists did their study at the 20 crossroads in order to _____．

A．attract more attention                     B．see more injuries

C．record more samples                      D．find more pedestrians

2.According to the research, while crossing the street the most dangerous activity for apedestrian is _____．

A．talking on a phone                          B．texting messages

C．listening to music                           D．disobeying traffic lights

3.The underlined word "exceeded" is closest in meaning to "____"．

A．gone beyond                             B．greatly influenced

C．accelerated the increase of                 D．drawn the attention of

4.Which might be the best title of the passage?

A．Walk and don't Talk

B．Prevention of Distraction

C．Look both ways while crossing the street

D．Cell phones lead to injuries

 

Most recently, it’s very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews.

Naturally, it’s easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to protect our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself all the time that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I’ll let them fail.

I’ll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure—along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism (恐怖主义) and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.

My children are faced with hard situations in their own life almost each day, but they try to negotiate (协商) everything now. It’s a small price to help them learn a skill they’ll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don’t come with them on job interviews. 

1.Why do parents go along with their kids on job interviews?

A．Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties.

B．Because they think they can protect them from being hurt.

C．Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews.

D．Because their kids strongly request them to do so.

2.According to the author, what is helpful to kids’ development?

A．Protecting them.                        B．Keeping them safe.

C．Leaving them alone.                     D．Blaming them.

3.The author believes experiencing failure in life can make kids ___________.

A．become healthier than other kids

B．grow in this challenging world

C．develop all social skills

D．escape from natural disasters

4.If the writer’s boy goes to a job interview, she probably will ___________.

A．go with him to protect her kid from difficulty

B．stay home but give him directions over telephone

C．wait outside and talk with other parents

D．let him go to the interview by himself

5.Which of the following might be the best title of the text?

A．Never help your kids                     B．Let your kids fail

C．Go to the interview with your kids           D．Live without parents