While car sharing is a concept that’ s catching on, old-fashioned carpooling where a group of people take turns driving each other to work has always faced a resistance(抗拒). In a study on traffic problems by ABC News, 84% of those who drive to work say that they still do it alone. More than half of those lone riders insist that carpooling is just too inconvenient, and 18% say they simply don’ t know anyone to share a ride with. Now technology makes carpooling easier and more fun. NuRide, a company provided an online carpooling service last year, offers daily travelers in the Washington area not just a web-based list of would-be carpoolers but also a way to arrange a trip online. Here’ s how it works: rider seekers enter the positions where their trip will begin and end, the time they want to leave and if they’ re willing to drive or just ride in someone else’ s car. The website’ s search engine then looks for matches and makes lists of the names of traveling companions, along with the car model and the exact time and place to meet for each trip. People who want to share the ride can show their interest in joining in online and then meet their car mates when it’ s time to go. NuRide users aren’ t riding with total strangers. They are required to provide the name of their employer and a work e-mail address, both of which need to be checked before being listed on the website. To attract users, NuRide offers a frequent rider prize: anyone who shares a ride gets a $1 credit. So far, 2,300 people have signed up. NuRide CEO Rick Steele said that more than 50,000 rides have been arranged on the website, resulting in 1.4 million fewer miles driven and 650 fewer tons of automobile emissions(机动车排放).

What seems to be the man’ s problem?W: What’ s going on between you and Charlie? Did you have a fight or something? M: No, but I can’ t stand him anymore. He is the worst roommate I’ ve ever had. He never cleans up after himself and he is always listening to loud music when I try to get some sleep. W: Why don’ t you have a heart-to-heart talk with him? M: I’ ve tried, but it didn’ t work. Maybe you can talk to him. After all, you are his good friend. Keeping his room clean every day. Getting along with his roommate. Having trouble making friends.

Why does the man have the talk with the woman?W: OK, tell me about yourself. M: Well, last year in school I played on the football team. It kept me busy, but I learned to manage my time. And also it has been a great experience in learning how to work on the team with other players. W: How would your teachers describe you? M: My teacher would say I work hard to get homework done on time and I’ m not afraid to ask for help if I need it. They’ d also tell you I’ m friendly to any classmates. W: Well, why should I hire you over the other 8 students? M: I think I’ m the very person you can rely on. I’ll love to work on time and do the best I can on the job. Besides, I’ ve done volunteer work and now I’ d like to gain actual work experience. If you hire me, you’ll get someone who is always willing to learn. To get into a school. To join a sports team. To get a job.

What are the two speakers talking about?M: Hi, Susan. How are you? I’ ve been wondering when I’d run into you. What are you busy with? W: Nice to meet you here, Tim. I’ m buying some Christmas gifts for those who work with me, but it’s really a headache. M: Maybe I could give you some advice. Firstly, you’ d better divide them into different groups—who were the people that are your friends as well as your workmates and who are the people you do not know well but you see pretty much daily. W: OK, then what should I do? M: For the friends, you want to get them personal gift. Do they like chocolate? W: This is what I always give, but I know Mary is on a diet. M: Does she like fruit or coffee? Anyway, think of the gift that you know your friend likes. W: Well, I think fruit is helpful to keep fit. What about the rest of them? M: Leave cards in their mailboxes or on their desks. W: Christmas cards? M: Yes, you can afford that. More importantly, it’ s true of them that you’ re thinking of them. W: Thank you for your suggestion, Tim. You really have saved me and my money as well. Buying holiday presents. Making a Christmas plan. Sharing opinions on friendship.

—Why are you so busy these days? —We______trees. Why not join us? have planted will plant are planting planted

—Who can that be at the door at this hour? —______my neighbor. He often calls this late. Thisis He’s It’s There’s

It was______lovely weather that the boys all went swimming. such that how what

Dick only had some Coke at the party, because he always______asleep after drinking wine. falls becomes feels lies

A thief dropped a winning lottery ticket(彩票)at the scene of his crime, but he has been given a lesson in【C1】______. The man whom he robbed(抢劫) 【C2】______the ticket and won the ￡25,000 prize, but he managed to find the thief, and handed over the【C3】______. The robbery happened when Professor Sabbatuccci was changing a tyre(轮胎)on a highway. Another motorist, who stopped ’ to【C4】______’ , stole a suitcase from his car and drove off. The professor found the【C5】______ticket and put it in his pocket before【C6】______home. Next day, the professor saw the lottery【C7】______on TV and realized it was a winner. He【C8】______the ￡25,000 prize. Then began a【C9】______with his conscience(良心). In the end, he decided he could not keep the money【C10】______he had been robbed. He then put a【C11】______in newspapers and made an announcement on the radio,【C12】______: ’ I’ m trying to find the man who robbed me. I have ￡25,000 for him—a lottery【C13】______. Please meet me. The professor received hundreds of【C14】______from people who were hoping to【C15】______him into handing them the cash. But there was one voice he【C16】______—and he arranged to meet the man in a park. The robber gave back the【C17】______and burst into tears. He could not【C18】______what was happening. ’ Why didn’ t you【C19】______the money?’ he asked. The professor replied: ’ I couldn’ t because it’ s not mine. ’ Then he walked off, turning down the thief s【C20】______to share the prize.

What would you do if you were a fifth grader facing a huge homework load every night, and you found out that there was a machine that would do all the work for you? That’ s the situation presented to Sam, Kelsey, Judy and Brenton in Dan Gutman’ s entertaining new book for young readers, The Homework Machine. The four children, all fifth graders in Miss Rasmussen’ s class at Grand Canyon School, are as different as any four 11-year-olds could be, but they have one thing in common—all are somewhat separated from their classmates. Sam is a newcomer and has had his share of school trouble before: Kelsey quietly carries her pain at losing her father: Judy’s sense of justice(正义感)always annoys others: and Brenton... well, he is another story entirely. Brenton is easily the smartest child in school, so smart that even his parents and teachers have trouble keeping up with him. When Brenton and his three classmates are put into the same study group by their teacher, the others discover that Brenton has made a time-saving gadget(装置)to do his homework for him. While the boy genius(天才)is perfectly able to do the homework himself, Sam, Kelsey and Judy could use the help. Having perfect grades is something new for these three, and as they meet every day to “ do homework,“ they find that they’ re learning a lot—about each other. Such a good thing can’ t last though, and when a secret man starts trying to get in touch with them, the children begin to get nervous. Soon there’ s an even more frightening problem—why can’ t the Homework Machine be turned off? Told in different voices(as all the children make statements to the Grand Canyon Police), the story develops in an interesting fashion. Gutman is a gifted writer who has written dozens of children’ s books, each with a funny and impressing tale that should be equally liked by boys and girls.

In my time here at Carleton College, I’ ve picked up many valuable pieces of advice from others, and have come up with a few of my own. With my time here drawing to a close, here’ s two of the most valuable ones I wish I had known as a freshman(一年级学生). First, don’t expect to join all the clubs here. Taking part in them is good, but the workload here is too heavy and time with your friends is too limited to devote yourself to a million and one clubs. Find a couple of things you dig, and you’ll find yourself much happier than if you had spent your time joining every single organization that sounds somewhat interesting to you. Also, don’ t always think of your free time in terms of organizations you can join. Getting really good at something—an instrument(乐器), creative writing, cooking—is just as good a use of your free time, e-ven if it might never be taken into any resume(简历). Second, when Socrates said “ Know Yourself“ , he was talking about your sleep schedule. You can fool yourself into thinking that an 8: 30 a. m. class in the winter is the perfect way to get your day started, but you soon may find yourself emailing the teacher with excuses for being absent. Scheduling all your classes afternoon is sometimes equally deadly: you might just end up going out the night before knowing you can safely sleep in. I’ ve found that the way to take classes is to load them in the middle of the day: nothing before 9: 50 a. m., nothing after 3:10 p. m.

Your dog is as smart as any two year old, according to a new study. Dogs bring much happiness to their owners, and even improve human health. Most two year olds keep us busy in life—an important part of living a long and happy life. According to Stanley Coren, Ph. D. of the University of British Columbia, our dogs are smarter than we thought. Dr. Coren reviewed many studies to find out that dogs are as smart as 2 to 2. 5 year olds. Forget about one word orders—according to Coren, the smartest dogs can learn up to 250 words. Most dogs understand an average of 165 words. “ The upper limit of dogs’ ability to learn language is partly based on a study of a Border Collie(博得牧羊犬)named Rico who showed knowledge of 200 spoken words, and ’ fast-track learning,’ which scientists believed to be found only in humans and language-learning apes(猿). “ Dogs are also great at tricking. During play, they have the ability to trick humans and other dogs in order to get treats. “And they are nearly as successful in tricking humans as humans are in tricking dogs,“ says Coren. Dogs can also count to four or five, which might explain how they know when their toys are missing. Coren explains, “Their astonishing flashes of smartness and creativity(创造力)are reminders that they may not be Einsteins, but are sure closer to humans than we thought. “ Animals can do much to keep us happy, healthy, and protect us from harm. Stories of dog heroes can be found using a simple Internet search. Pets teach us sense of duty, keep us from loneliness , and can help with treatment of the disabled. Dogs are smarter than we thought—as smart as a two year old.

What do we know about the man?W: Hey, you have so many clocks in your bedroom. Are you crazy or what? M: No, I’m a heavy sleeper. I want to make sure I can wake up in the morning. He gets up late every day. He likes collecting clocks. He has difficulty waking up.

What do we know about Steve?M: Hi, Sue, it’ s me. W: Well, hello, where have you been all day, Steve? Mr. Smith asked me this morning where you were but he didn’ t seem to be looking for you or anything. M: What did you say? W: I told him that I didn’ t know. He seemed very busy as manager always are. Are you OK? M: I’ m sorry. I didn’t call you this morning. I’ ve had a cold since Saturday. I haven’ t eaten much these days and it has made me feel really weak, but I’ll probably be there tomorrow. W: All right. We’ll go on a business trip next week and don’ t worry. You should go to see a doctor, Steve. M: Thanks, but I’ m getting better now. W: Take care then, bye. M: Bye bye, Sue. He’ s seeing a doctor. He’ s absent from work. He’ s on a business trip.

What does the Go Group do?Hello, everyone, my topic today is about the power of a smile. There’ re a number of sayings about the power of a smile. Peace beings with a smile. A smile means welcome everywhere. Life is short but a smile only takes a second or goodbyes. But it may not be as simple as that. According to a new research, if you want to make a good impression when you meet people, it’ s not just that you smile. It’ s how you smile. The study was carried out by the Go Group, a business support organization in Scotland in the UK. It looked at people’ s responses to different smiles. They found that the responses differed greatly. Through this study, they say people should avoid three types of smiles. The first is the Top Fan, very wide or teeth showing, possible evidence that you can have too much of a good thing. Then there is the Big Freeze, a fixed smile that looks practiced and insincere. Finally comes the Robot, a small thin smile lacking in warmth. The group also warns against smiling too quickly, saying it can make you look false. The best smile, they say, is slower and flows naturally across the whole face. Offer support to businesses. Promote peace in the world. Do research on education in the UK.

Admittedly, I could have tried______but I still don’t think all this blame is fair. hard harder hardest hardly

Please remain______until the airplane comes to a complete stop. seating seat seated to seat

______I like Carter personally, I don’t think what he’ s doing is right. If As While Unless

After the argument Colin ran away and______since. isn’ t heard of wasn’ t heard of hasn’ t been heard of hadn’ t been heard of

The door is open but nobody is in. Susan______have forgotten to lock the door. should must would could

—Would you mind helping me with my suitcase?—______. I hope so Not at all That’s nothing Go ahead

What has the study found about people’ s opinion on carpooling?

What can NuRide do for you when you use the service?

One who wants to share a ride with NuRide users must______.

We may infer that NuRide has helped in .