Notices have been put up here and there in the village for the last fortnight announcing a meeting to discuss the yearly Flower Show, which has not been held in Fairacre for a number of years. Before I became the village schoolmistress here, the Flower Show appears to have been an event of some importance and people came from miles around to enjoy a day at Fairacre.
I decided to go to the meeting, as the children in my school, I knew, used to play quite a large part in this village excitement and there were a number of special competitions, such as collecting wild flowers, making dolls' house decorations or little gardens and so on, included in the program.
It was a freezing, starlit night. By the time I arrived at the Village hall, there were about ten people already there. The doctor was chairman of the meeting. A few men were warming their hand over the rather smoky oil stove, which was trying, somewhat inefficiently, to warm the room. The meeting was called for seven thirty—a most inconvenient time in my private opinion as it successfully upsets the evening and puts back the time of one's evening meal. By a quarter to eight only fifteen people had arrived.
"I think we must begin," the doctor said, turning his gentle smile upon us. He gave a short speech about the past glories of Fairarce's Flower Show and his hopes that it might take place again. "Perhaps someone would put forward the suggestion that the Flower Show be restarted?" he suggested. There was a heavy silence, broken only by the movement of feet from the bench at the back. All fifteen of us, I noticed, were middle-aged. John Pringle, Mrs. Pringle's only child, must have been the youngest among us and he is a man of nearly thirty. It was John who, at last, shyly answered the doctor's request.
"I'll do it," he said. "Propose we have a Flower Show then." He sat down, pink and self-conscious, and the doctor thanked him sincerely. "Is there anybody else who agrees with this proposal?" Again that painful silence. It seemed as though we sat in a dream.
"I'll do it," I said, when I could stand the waiting no longer. "Good! Good!" said the doctor cheerfully. "Let's take a vote here then." All fifteen raised their hands doubtfully. To look at our faces an outsider might reasonably have thought we were having the choice of hanging or the electric chair.
Surgery that can improve the way a person looks is being more and more popular in the United Stated. This kind of surgery is called cosmetic surgery, and both men and women are turning to this treatment as a way of keeping their appearance young as well as keeping competitive in their jobs. Men especially are beginning to turn to face-lifts, liposuction, and implants to help them look younger. As companies downsize and move younger employees into higher positions, older employees in their late forties and early fifties feel the need to look and act younger in order to stay competitive. A younger look through cosmetic surgery may give an older employee a few more years on the job.
These operations are not without dangers, however. One young woman had an eye operation to get rid of the bags under her eyes. She described her experience as terrible. She said, "When he started cutting, I was fully awake. Even though he'd given me an injection(注射) near my eyes, I saw everything. "She went on to explain, "I knew I had to keep still because of what he was doing. He was removing fat under my eyes. It took about ten minutes. After he finished I felt I couldn't walk. I was so weak." Her troubles did not end after the operation. For two weeks, her eyes were swollen and almost completely closed, and even dark glasses could not hide the side effects of the operation.
Liposuction is probably the most popular cosmetic operation in the United States. It seems simple enough. First, a small cut is made over the places where the patient wants the fat removed. Next, a small pipe is put into the cut. A machine is then turned on, and the fat is taken right out of the body. However, as one doctor explained, some problems can happen after the operation. He warned, "Irregular lumps(块) and loose skin can result from this operation. If it is not completely done, liposuction can produce a very lumpy result." Patients often must have more liposuctions to correct the problem.
If you are interested in studying at an American university, you have to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The test is widely known as the TOEFL. It is the most widely used language exam for American universities.
There are two major kinds of the TOEFL test. The first is the IBT，or Internet based Test. It is offered in most of the world and accepted by nearly every university and scholarship program in the United States. The other kind of the test is called the Paperbased Test or PBT. The PBT is less costly to take and does not require use of the Internet.
But how to get started with TOEFL? Here are some tips.
⒈Plan ahead — It takes a long time to improve your TOEFL score. Do not expect a big lift in your test results after two weeks. You will have to spend a lot of time and energy.
⒉Master the basics first — You should have to be good at basic English before you take the test. If you score below 500 on the PBT or 70 on the IBT, study for a few months and come back to the TOEFL later.
⒊Get a study guide — It is easy to find study guides for the IBT. Pearson, Barron's, ETS, and Kaplan all produce quality materials, take a practice test once or twice a month. The best study guides will have explanations in the answer key.
⒋Use outside resources — Remember, you are learning a language, not a test. You can improve your TOEFL score by making English part of your daily life. Some simple ways are listening to English speakers, watching movies and reading newspapers. Some others are reading English textbooks, sending and reading text messages in English, and writing online in English.
The best way to do well on the TOEFL is to know English well. The real goal of the test is to measure how well a student can communicate in Englishspeaking classroom.
If you want to know more, please click here.
The Owl Count
Annie slept in the front of the seat with her father drovethrough the darkness. “We're almost there!” Dad announced cheerfully. “Soon we'll be observing and counting owls at the state park.” Yawning, Annie noddedand smiled. The time was 4:30 a.m. Looking out into the darkness, Annie remembered learning in school that most owls are active at night, when they hunt for food. During the day they sleep in hard-to-find spots.
“Dad, why do you need to count owls?” she asked. “It's importantfor the scientists to have current information about bird populations,” he explained. “We want to know which birds have decreased in number and whether any new kinds of birds are coming into a certain area. You and I will write down the kinds of birds that we see today and keep a record of how many times we see each kind. Then we'll send out a report to a scientific organization that is collecting about birds from people all over the country.”
Dad pulled into the parking lot of the state park. Then, with flashing in hand, they began their hike into the woods. Annie zipped up hercoat and tried to keep from trembling. She had not expected the morning to beso cold. Luckily her gloves were in her pocket.
Suddenly Annie's father stopped and gestured for her to bestill. Obeying, Annie did not take another step. She thought she heard a low crying up head. “That's certainly a screech owl,” her father whispered. “Let's get a look at it.” After looking more closely, Annie could see that it was asmall owl. Sensing danger, the owl narrowed its eyes and pulled its feathers tightly against its body. Annie carefully wrote down in her notebook that theyhad seen a screech owl.
Walking a little farther, they came to a tall oak tree. “Thislooks like a perfect spot to attract owls,” Dad said, “I'm going to play a recording of common call of the barred owl. Maybe we can get one to answer." Annie could hardly believe her ear. The recorded call sounded as if the birdwere asking, “Who cooks for you?” Moments later Annie thought she heard areturn call in the distance. She held her breath and waited. Suddenly a huge bird landed very quietly on a branch above them.
Annie had long forgotten how cold it was. She stood in wonder, shining her flashlight on the bird and studying it carefully. The barred owl was nearly two feet tall. Grey feathers surrounded its dark eyes. The bird did not stay long, but it did not matter. Annie would never forget the image of the powerful barred owl.
Have you heard about Leap year? Leap year is a year that has 366 days instead of the usual 365. It normally occurs every four years, always on an even-numbered year. The extra day is added to our shortest month. That is the second month of the year, which in non-leap years has 28 days, two fewer than any other month.
We also call Leap year the bissextile year (闰年). In our calendar system there is a need for a leap year because the solar year (the time it takes the earth to go around the sun once）is actually slightly more than 365 days long. That extra day—Feb 29 every four years—helps correct the difference between our calendar and the solar calendar.
It is said that Leap year was first made part of the calendar by the ancient Roman leader Julius Caesar. His astronomers had calculated the length of the solar year to be 365 days and six hours. So Caesar declared that an extra day be added to the calendar.
However, Caesar's adjustment was not completely accurate because his astronomers' year exceeded the true solar year by eleven minutes and fourteen seconds. By 1582, a difference of ten days had developed between the calendar year and the true solar year. To correct this error, Pope Gregory XⅢ ruled that every fourth year would continue to be a leap year except for century years that could not be divided evenly by 400. By this system, century years such as 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not leap years, but the year 2000 was a leap year.
People born on Feb 29 celebrate their growing up a little differently from the rest of us. But if they go strictly by the calendar, they have only one-fourth as many birthday celebrations as most people.
A. They acknowledge that they get older each year.
B. When you see Feb 29 on a calendar, you know that year is a leap year.
C. This is its formal, or scientific title.
D. This may seem complicated, but it works.
E. In a leap year, the extra day is added to the second month, giving it 29 instead of the usual 28 days
F. The leap year was introduced in the Julian calendar in 46 BC.
G. This is done every four years.
I always hold the view that every act of kindness can eventually change the world as generosity, gratitude and trust.
1 was parking at a hiking road when a man in the car next to mine looked out and started to ask me for help.“No1”I told him, as l was willing to help anyone in 2It turned out that his battery was3and no one would help jump to start his car!
I4him if he had cables（缆绳），which he did, and in less than five5I gave him a jump start and his car6at the drop of a hat. He thanked me and asked "How much do I7you?" and I looked at him in 8 and said "Not a thing!"
He said "You won't believe it 9I've been sitting here for so long and I asked at least three people to10me and no one would do it". That made me really11I was thinking that perhaps because of how he 12his background, or whatever,13 might think he was going to ask them for14or something and just automatically said "no" without even 15that they could help him so16He also told me that one man 17 him "My battery is old so it can't help you".
I was 18that the battery is like the love in our hearts. We get 19 more if we give it away to others! And it doesn't20our hearts to give. I'm happy that I charged his battery and he charged my "battery" with love.I got much more than he offered to me.
Nowadays, time travel is just about everywhere you look, films to TV shows and even literature. Our society has become obsessed with the idea of traveling through time.
However, that wasn't true just 150 years ago. The gate was opened by H. G. Wells' novel, The Time Machine, which (publish) in 1895. In this book, Wells describes a man who builds a machine that enables him (move) throughout the course of history and into the future. The story is important because it views time as something (flow).
Before this book came out, time was (basic) viewed as a oneway street. You could only go forward, and only at one speed. In this way, Wells' (create) account transformed the way people viewed time and time travel.
It was so successful largely because it came out at the end of 19th century when tremendous change was in the air. As the (twenty) century dawned, people were becoming incredibly excited for the future. It was a period of huge technological as well as scientific (grow) and, for the first time ever, people were living in a way that was dramatically different from generation before them.
In other words, it was the first time that the past, future and present would be entirely different. This simple historical moment is made time travel so fascinating.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I will share one experience with you. With the College Entrance Examination draw near, I was filled with great anxiety. However, I couldn't be absorbed in study, resulting from my failing in the examination. I got very discouraging. Just then, my teacher, Miss Zhang, approach me and said, “In life we all have moment when we can't achieve what we want it. It is natural. Don't allow those moments to weaken you, and turn them into motivation to inspire you.” Her words were a reminder which provided myself with constant encouragement to smile at life. Consequently, I gained what I deserved.
So it is an optimistic attitude which matters most of all. It gives you the confidence to deal with difficulties and to achieve what you want in your life.
1）地摊经济的形式；
2）地摊经济的意义。
注意：
1）词数100左右：
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇: 地摊经济street-stall economy，街边商贩: street vendor，路边摊: roadside booth
