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Ways to save time

We all wish we had just a bit more time．Just think what you could do with an extra hour or two each day: you could finally stick to an exercise routine, or spring-clean the house, or write your novel, or learn the guitar and so on．

1.   But I can help you find more hours in your day for the things that really matter．

         1．Get Out of Bed Earlier

         If you normally get up at 7; 30 a．m．try getting up at 7:00 a．m．That half-hour might not sound like much, but it could be time that you use to exercise, to read that book you've been meaning to finish．2. 

2．Do the Important Tasks First

Once you get to work, get the important ones done first （not the easy ones, or even the urgent ones）．You can afford to spend at least an hour working on big, important tasks rather than on all those little urgent ones．

3. The urgent tasks will still get done, and you won't miss the important ones．

3．Reduce Interruptions

If colleagues have a habit of hanging around your desk to chat, or if the phone is constantly ringing, you might find that it takes you half the day to finish a simple task like writing a letter．Constant interruptions don't just eat up time, they also break your concentration．

When you've got a big task to focus on, let your calls go to voicemail．4. Wearing headphones makes it less likely that people will try to strike up a conversation．

         4．  5. 

A few minutes chatting, browsing the web, and so on, can easily turn into hours of wasted time over the course of a day．

When you're working, work．If your concentration is slipping, take a proper break: go and get a glass of water, or stretch your legs a bit．And if you're facing a difficult task, try breaking it into small steps or stages so that it's easier to deal with．

A．Stay Focused on Your Work

B．Take Breaks When Necessary

C．If you have an office door, close it．

D．If you work like this, you'll usually save time．

E．Would you want me to make your day longer?

F．I can't magically make all your days 25 hours long．

G．Or simply to get your day off to a calm and organized start．

 

About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.

He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and — WHUMP! — it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. " That’s my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please....I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!" begged the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. "It’s my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. "Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman," Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.

Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the black, shining 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.

The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ________.

A. the businessman drove at a high speed

B. he envied the brand-new car very much

C. he wanted to ask for some money

D. he wanted to get help from the driver

Which of the following is the right order of the story?

A. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car.

B. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.

C. The younger brother begged Josh for help.

D. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair.

e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.

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

What can we learn from the passage?

A. Josh would accept the money from the kids.

B. The two kids were Josh’s neighbors.

C. Josh was a kind-hearted man.

D. Josh’s new car broke down easily.

according to the passage, the last sentence means ________.

A. trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life

B. driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous

C. trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble

D. protecting oneself from being hurt

There exist cruel wars, fighting and sadness in the world today, so it’s not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us go through difficult times in our lives. Putting a smile on someone’s face when you know they are feeling depressed, as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart.

How would you feel if you could not joke around with your wife, husband, child, co-worker neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your corner store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don’t know the person I’m joking around with. My Grandma always found humor in everything she did, even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine. This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is a common manner to speak to others that are around you.

I know of a few people that don’t have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say. Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their face. They don’t get the joke that makes others laugh. I am busting a gut while they just sit there, looking at me as if I were from outer space. How can people not get a really funny joke?

Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control. Without humor we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy. There is too much sadness in this present world. It drives people crazy. We all need to find a way to avoid the sadness and bring a little light into our lives. Therefore, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together.

1.According to the author, humor is useful in the aspect that ____________.

A．it can pick up people’s spirits

B．it can help people get on well with others

C．it can help get rid of the cruelty in the world

D．it makes people more confident

2.The author answers the question in the second paragraph with ___________.

A．facts and descriptions                    B．evidence and argument

C．examples and conclusion                 D．stories and persuasion

3.The underlined phrase “busting a gut” in the 3rd paragraph can be replaced  by        .

A．keeping silent                          B．speaking loud

C．laughing hard                          D．explaining carefully

4.In writing the passage, the author mainly intends to __________.

A．talk about his own understanding of humor

B．encourage people to be humorous in daily life

C．introduce a practical way to get through daily life

D．convince people of the power of being optimistic about life

5.What is the author’s attitude towards the present world?

A．Indifferent        B．Positive           C．Satisfied          D．Critical

 

下面是美国长大的台湾人气歌手Wang Lee Hom在接受CNN Talk Asia栏目专访时，回答了主持人Lorraine Hahn提出的五个问题。请从下列提问（A、 B、C、D、E和F）中选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项。

A. What do awards mean to you?

B. How would you describe your style?

C. What is it about acting that’s so attractive?

D. How do you deal with this loss of privacy?

E. How do you divide your time in acting and music?

F. What gave you the idea to start the studios in the first place?

Born in New York in 1976, Wang grew up in the United States. Blessed with a mix of brains and talent, he spent his youth performing in local musicals. While in university, Wang landed a recording contract in Taiwan. His breakthrough album firmly established him as a rising star in the Asian music scene. In addition to writing and producing his own music, Wang has also taken part in movie projects around Asia. He has won a great popularity, and now he is having an interview with CNN Talk Asia.

1. _______

WL: It is a school of hip hop, which is the way I like to think of it. It combines Chinese elements and sounds. I started it off in my last album called Shangri-La. And this album combines the music of ethnic minorities, in China, in Tibet, and in Mongolia. It’s beautiful and original to Chinese culture. And this new album called Heroes of Earth combines Opera and Quench, which are thousand-year-old traditions also unique to Chinese culture. Very unique instruments, costumes, singing styles. I don’t think anyone has ever done this before in the hip hop world.

2._______

WL: Um, just the large quantity of work that I have to come up with. I produce for other artists and compose for them as well. And there are a lot of changes in music going on right now in Asia. And it’s really exciting so I decided that I’m going to need a studio in New York. I’m going to need a studio in Taipei. And maybe the rest I can get by with just my laptop.

3._______

WL: Well, I started doing musical theatre. And I loved it so much from the age of 13, you know. Actually in 2000, I did my first movie and ever since then I’ve been enjoying doing movies. I don’t think I’m much of an actor. But I just love being surrounded by creative people and a lot of times doing music is a lonely struggle, especially composing, and arranging, producing my own albums. Acting, every day you get called and you’re surrounded by other actors and creative people.

4._______

WL: The first time I won, like you just said, when I was 22, it meant a lot to me. It was like…I didn’t know I could make this happen. I didn’t know I could get this kind of recognition. So back then, it was huge increase of confidence. And I don’t want to say vanity (虚荣心), but confidence. I think every artist needs confidence.

5._______

WL: Well, it can be a real pain in the neck. You know, I feel lucky that I can go back to New York and not be recognized and not be followed. At times it can be really, really annoying. Today many people own a cell phone that has a camera on it… and a blog. In the entertainment news, there’s a recent trend of journalists or media just going on to the Internet and saying “Oh, so and so saw so and so.” when they see a blog. You know, it’s completely irresponsible but in the blog what he says can become the title of the newspaper article.

 

Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there are a whole lot of antique (古董) shops near my home . So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and, the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes I saw that, it’s nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said.  “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I’m sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me’?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a five?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.
【小题1】We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer     .

A．was rather impolite	B．was warmly received
C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair	D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

【小题2】The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper     .

A．changed his mind	B．saw the writer’s purpose
C．accepted the offer	D．decided to help the writer

【小题3】How much did the writer pay?

A．£5

B．£7

C．£20

D．£27

【小题4】From the text, we can learn that the writer was         .

A．smart

B．careful

C．honest

D．funny