American workers continue to demand shorter and shorter working hours each week. The possibility of a four-day working week is now being seriously considered; some companies are already experimenting with it. Since machines have helped to reduce the time needed for work, at the office, factory, and in the home, men and women have more leisure time today than ever before in the country’s history. It is true that much leisure is used in play. America is a country of sports-of hunting, fishing and swimming, and of team sports like baseball and football. Millions of Americans watch their favorite sport on television, play in community orchestras, make their own films or recordings, go camping, visit museums, attend lectures, travel, garden, read, and join in hundreds of other activities. America is a “do-it-yourself“ country. The people enjoy building things for their homes, sewing their own clothes, even making their own photographs. They do these things for fun as well as for economy. But as much as Americans enjoy their free time, the country is at the same time a “self-improvement“ country. More than 25 million adults continue their education, chiefly by going to school in the evening, during their own free time, at their own expense. Added to the time spent on personal activities, Americans also devote a great amount of their time to the varied needs of their communities. Many hospitals, schools, libraries, museums, parks, community centers, and organizations that assist the poor depend on the many hours citizens devote to these activities, often without any pay.

(increase) His hot temper was making it ______difficult for others to work with him.

(familiar) The goal of the experiment was to ______ the people with the new laws.

Friedrich Dobl, a Yugoslav (南斯拉夫人) working in Germany, was annoyed with traffic jams. At long weekends and holiday times when he wanted to get home quickly, he always found himself moving slowly with hundreds of other cars along the crowded foreign workers’ route through Germany and Austria. How easy it all was for police and emergency services! A siren (警报器) a flashing light? And like magic everyone was out of the way. Going home from work one night, he passed a garage. And there in front of him was the answer to his problem. An old ambulance was for sale. The red cross had been removed. But not the flashing light, and the siren. He tried the light. It flashed magnificently. He tried the siren. That too sounded impressive. He bought the ambulance and opened up for himself a dream world of motoring. It began early in the morning, all his luggage in the back of the ambulance and the motorway in Germany looking reasonably clear. Soon, as always, a long line of traffic appeared ahead. He switched on the flashing light and set off the siren. Cars swiftly slowed and pulled off the fast lane. Other cars stopped and drivers waved him ahead to an open road all his own. In record time he crossed the border into Austria. His trick was working. Police even waved him through the confusion caused by an accident. But then the Yugoslav made his bad mistake. Until then he had only stopped for petrol. Now he was driving past a real accident, lights flashing, too late to realize that it was not another traffic jam as he assumed. They stopped him, and after hearing the story of his ride across two countries fined him 12. 5 pounds.

If it were only necessary to decide whether to teach elementary science to everyone on a mass basis or to find the gifted few and take them as far as they can go, our task would be fairly simple. The public school system, however, has no such choice, for the jobs must be carried on at the same time. Because we depend heavily upon science and technology for our progress, we must produce specialists in many fields. Because we live in a democratic nation, whose citizens make the policies for the nation, large numbers of us must be educated to understand, to support, and when necessary, to judge the work of experts. The public school must educate both producers and users of scientific services. In education, there should be a good balance among the branches of knowledge that contribute to effective thinking and wise judgment. Such a balance is defeated by too much emphasis on any other field. This question of balance involves not only the relation of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the arts but also relative emphasis among the natural sciences themselves. Similarly, we must have a balance between current and classical knowledge. The attention of the public is continually drawn to the discovery of new knowledge; it should not be allowed to turn our attention away from the sound, established materials that form the basis of courses for beginners.

Ever since humans have inhabited the earth, they have made use of various forms of communication. Generally, this expression of thoughts and feelings has been in the form of oral speech. When there is a language barrier, communication is ac-complished through sign language in which motions stand for letters, words and ideas. Tourists, the deaf, and the mute have had to resort to this form of expression. Many of these symbols are very colorful and exact and can be used internationally; spelling, however, cannot. Body language transmits ideas or thoughts by certain actions, either intentionally or unintentionally. A wink can be a way of flirting or indicating that the party is only joking. A nod signifies approval, while shaking the head indicates a negative reaction. Other forms of nonlinguistic language can be found in Braille (a system of raised dots read with the fingertips) , signal flags, Morse code, and smoke signals. Road maps and picture signs also guide, warn and instruct people. While verbalization is the most common form of language, other systems and techniques also express human thoughts and feelings.

American workers continue to demand shorter and shorter working hours each week. The possibility of a four-day working week is now being seriously considered; some companies are already experimenting with it. Since machines have helped to reduce the time needed for work, at the office, factory, and in the home, men and women have more leisure time today than ever before in the country’s history. It is true that much leisure is used in play. America is a country of sports-of hunting, fishing and swimming, and of team sports like baseball and football. Millions of Americans watch their favorite sport on television, play in community orchestras, make their own films or recordings, go camping, visit museums, attend lectures, travel, garden, read, and join in hundreds of other activities. America is a “do-it-yourself“ country. The people enjoy building things for their homes, sewing their own clothes, even making their own photographs. They do these things for fun as well as for economy. But as much as Americans enjoy their free time, the country is at the same time a “self-improvement“ country. More than 25 million adults continue their education, chiefly by going to school in the evening, during their own free time, at their own expense. Added to the time spent on personal activities, Americans also devote a great amount of their time to the varied needs of their communities. Many hospitals, schools, libraries, museums, parks, community centers, and organizations that assist the poor depend on the many hours citizens devote to these activities, often without any pay.

(accurate) This information has to be altered if it is ______ or likely to cause damage or distress.

(understand) The concept of arranged marriages is badly______ in the west.

(operation) There are______ advantages in putting sales and admin in the same building.

(short) Patients were dying because of an acute______ of nurses.

(legal) Under French law, it is ______ to import dangerous waste, such as hospital rubbish.

(suspicion) It’s a bit______ that no one knows where he was at the time of the murder.

create attribute different recognize how as develop into expression whom understand of tribal write Five thousand years ago a story which told of the creation of this world in seven days was common among all the people of western Asia. And this was the Jewish version of it. They vaguely 【G1】______the making of the land and of the sea and of the trees and the flowers and the birds and of man and woman to their 【G2】______ gods. But it happened that the Jews were the first among all people to 【G3】______ the existence of One Single God. Afterwards, when we come to talk of the days of Moses, we shall tell you 【G4】______ this came about. In the beginning, however, the particular Semitic tribe which later was to 【G5】______ the Jewish nation, worshipped several divinities, just as all their neighbors had done before them for countless ages. The stories of the creation, however, which we find in the Old Testament, were 【G6】______ more than a thousand years after the death of Moses, when the idea of One God had been accepted by the Jews 【G7】______ an absolutely established fact, and when doubt of His Existence meant exile or death. You will now 【G8】______ how the poet who gave unto the Hebrew people their final version of the beginning of all things, came to describe the gigantic labor of creation as the sudden 【G9】______ of one single and all-mighty will, and as the work of their own tribal God, 【G10】______they called Jehovah, or the Ruler of the High Heavens. And this is how the story was told to worshippers in the temple. (From The Story of the Bible)

Sport is not only physically challenging, but it can also be mentally challenging. Criticism from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can create an excessive amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes (运动员). Stress can be physical, emotional, or psychological, and research has indicated that it can lead to burnout. Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at one time enjoyable. The early years of development are critical years for learning about oneself. The sport setting is one where valuable experiences can take place. Young athletes can, for example, learn how to cooperate with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be used throughout their lives. Coaches and parents should be aware, at all times, that their feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children. Youngsters may take their parents’ and coaches’ criticisms to heart and find a flaw (缺陷) in themselves. Coaches and parents should also be cautious that youth sport participation does not become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today’s youth sport setting, young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport. Following a game, many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and find fault with youngsters’ performances. Positive reinforcement (加强) should be provided regardless of the outcome. Research indicates that positive reinforcement motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout.

Regular interaction or familiarity seems to increase liking; often, the people we interact with the most are simply those who are closest to us. A classic study by Festinger found that residents of an apartment complex tended to interact with, and like those who happened to live on the same floor more than those who lived on other floors or in other buildings. The researcher did not analyze this phenomenon in terms of the development of in-group versus out-group perceptions and biases, but such an analysis might prove interesting. Likewise, when classroom seating is alphabetical (依字母顺序的) , students are more likely to be friends with people who share the same initial. There are two major explanations for the relation between proximity (接近) and liking. The first is simple availability. If most people are nice and easy enough to approach, it follows that proximity will determine who you get to know and, therefore, like. The second explanation is based on the mere exposure effect, that is, simple familiarity increases liking for a person or object that is not necessarily likeable. The mere exposure effect has been demonstrated in the laboratory with some meaningless syllables, which people find more pleasing after they have repeated them several times. It seems reasonable to conclude that repeated exposure to people in proximity to us leads us to like them more.

English is now the international language for airline pilots, scientists, medical experts, businessmen and many others. Consequently, more and more people are learning it. The BBC’s English teaching programs are broadcast daily to four continents 【C1】______ . Films and video are on the air or used in institutions in over 100 countries. All this helps to add more speakers to the estimated 100 million 【C2】______ . The rush to learn English has reached even China. The main reason for the upsurge (上升) in interest is 【C3】______ Unlike many other widely used languages, English can be correctly used in a very simple form with less than one thousand words and 【C4】______ . This was pointed out in the 1920’s by two Cambridge scholars, Ogden and Richards, 【C5】______. Another reason for the popularity of English is that English-speaking countries are spread throughout the world. An estimated 310 million people in Britain, the U. S. A. , Canada, Australia, South Africa, etc. 【C6】______ . Also in former British colonial areas in Africa and Asia 【C7】______ , no common language has been found which would make a suitable substitute for English. In Delhi, although nationalists would prefer to phase out (逐步停止) the use of English, the man from South India finds English more acceptable than Hindi, 【C8】______ . Turning from India to Africa, a similar problem exists. However reluctant African nations are to use English and, as it were, subject themselves to a kind of “cultural imperialism“, there seems to be no alternative language which will do the job of communication effectively. The view 【C9】______. Some teachers who have returned from overseas consider it creates a wider gap between those who are educated 【C10】______. Nevertheless, in many parts of the world, the technical and scientific knowledge needed to develop a country’s resources and improve people’s living conditions, is just not available in the mother tongue. A second language opens the door to the world-wide sharing of skills and discoveries in science, engineering and medicine. (From English World-wide) A. and supplied to radio stations in 120 countries B. very few grammatical rules C. who use English as a second language D. recent increase in China’s contacts with the outside world E. use English as their mother tongue F. who devised a system called “Basic English“ G. while the northerner prefers English to any of the southern languages H. where many local languages are spoken I. that spreading the use of English is entirely beneficial has its opponents J. English in one form or another will be spoken by far more people K. and those who have little or no education L. it will doubtless continue to change and develop

(curious) She decided to call her ex-boyfriend out of______.

(profit) Drug manufacturing is the most business in America.

What is the major finding of the classic study conducted by Festinger? And what does Festinger’s study intend to confirm?

What are the author’s two major explanations for the relation between proximity and liking?

Which of the following best reflects the style of the passage? ( )

The proposal of a four-day working week in America______ ( )

What makes the reduction of working hours possible? ( )

According to the passage, America may not be described as ______. ( )

In addition to the time devoted to personal activities, a great amount of free time is also spent on______. ( )