-
The girl is gazing at herself in the mirror. staring laughing shouting smiling
-
What were the consequences of the decision she had made? reasons results causes bases
-
Some desirable changes have taken place in this town. identical uncertain frequent satisfactory
-
The committee comprises five persons. absorbs concerns excludes involves
-
It’s impolite to cut in when two persons are holding a conversation. leave talk loudly stand up interrupt
-
The chemical is deadly to rats but safe to cattle. fatal hateful good useful
-
Mary called me up very late last night. praised me visited me telephoned me waked me
-
Universities usually give diplomas or certificates to students who complete course requirements adequately. responsibly sufficiently patiently successfully
-
He collapsed following a vigorous exercise session at his home. broke down fell down come down went down
-
While we don’t agree,we continue to be friends. Because Where Although Whatever
-
Up to now,the work has been easy. So So long So that So far
-
The price of vegetables varies according to the weather. jumps rises falls changes
-
The child’s abnormal behavior puzzled the doctor. funny frightening repeated unusual
-
His motive in coming was to find out the truth. reasons arguments targets stimuli
-
The interview took place around the kitchen table and was very casual. formal informal regular irregular
-
American Wedding
“I do.“ To Americans, those two words carry great meaning.They can even change your life, especially if you say them at your own wedding.Making wedding vows is like signing a contract.Now Americans don’t really think marriage is a business deal.But marriage is a serious business.
It all begins with engagement.Traditionally, a young man asks the father of his sweetheart for permission to marry her.If the father agrees, the man later proposes to her.Often he tries to surprise her by “popping the question“ in a romantic way.Sometimes the couple just decides together that the time is right to get married.The man usually gives his francee(未婚妻) a diamond ring as a symbol of their engagement.They may be engaged for weeks, months or even years.As the big day approaches, their friends will provide many useful gifts.Today many couples also receive advice during engagement.This prepares them for the challenges of married life.
At last it is time for the wedding.Although most weddings follow traditions, there’s still room for individualism(个人主义).For example, the usual place for a wedding is a church.But some people get married outdoors in a scenic spot.A few even have the ceremony while sky-diving or riding on horseback! The couple may invite hundreds of people or just a few close friends.They choose their own style of colors, decorations and music during the ceremony.But some things rarely change.The bride usually wears a beautiful, long white wedding dress.She traditionally wears “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.“ The groom wears a formal suit.
As the ceremony begins, the groom and his attendants stands with the minister, facing the audience.Music signals the entrance of the bride’s attendants followed by the beautiful bride.Nervously, the young couple repeats their vows. Traditionally, they promise to love each other “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.“ But sometimes the couple composes their own vows.They give each other a gold ring to symbolize their marriage commitment.Finally the minister announces the big moment: “I now pronounce you man and wife.You may kiss your bride!“
At the wedding reception, the bride and groom greet their guests.Then they cut the wedding cake and feed each other a bite.Later the bride throws her bouquet of flowers(花束) to a group of single girls.Tradition says that the one who catches the flower will be the next to marry.After the reception,many couples take a honeymoon,a one-to-two-week vacation trip,to celebrate their new marriage.
-
A.differs among animal species
B.to psychological distance
C.begin to attack
D.to physiological distance
E.distance between an animal and its enemy before fleeing
F.distance between certain animal species before fleeing
-
Spacing in Animals
1.Any observant person has noticed that a wild animal will allow a man or other potential enemy
to approach only up to a given distance before it flees.“Flight distance“ is the terms used for this interspecies spacing.As a general rule, there is a positive relationship between the size of an animal and its flight distance—the larger the animal, the greater the distance it must keep between itself and the enemy.An antelope will flee when the enemy is as much as five hundred yards a-way.The wall lizard’s flight distance, on the other hand, is about six feet.Flight is the basic means of survival for mobile creatures.
2.Critical distance apparendy is present wherever and whenever there is a flight reaction.“Critical distance“ includes the narrow zone separating flight distance from attack distance.A lion in a zoo will flee from an approaching man until it meets a barrier that it cannot overcome.If the man continues the approach, he soon penetrates the lion’s critical distance, at which point the cornered lion reverses direction and begins slowly to stalk the man.
3.Social animals need to stay in touch with each other.Loss of contact with the group can be fatal for a variety of reasons including exposure to enemies.Social distance is not simply the distance at which an animal will lose contact with his group—that is, the distance at which it can no longer see, hear, or smell the group—it is rather a psychological distance, one at which the animal apparently begins to feel anxious when he exceeds its limits.We can think of it as a hidden band that contains the group.
4.Social distance varies from species to species.It is quite short—apparently only a few yards— among some animals, and quite long among others.
5.Social distance is not always rigidly fixed but is determined in part by the situation.When the young of apes and humans are mobile but not yet under control of the mother’s voice, social distance may be the length of her reach.This is readily observed among the baboons in a zoo.When the baby approaches a certain point, the mother reaches out to seize the end of its tail and pull it back to her.When added control is needed because of danger, social distance shrinks.To show this in man, one has only to watch a family with a number of small children holding hands as they cross a busy street.
A.Philosophical distance
B.Flight distance
C.Social distance is determined in part by the situation
D.Critical distance
E.Social distance
F.Physical distance
-
Some Things We Know About Language
Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so.But some things we do know.
First, we know that all human beings have a language of some sort.There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language, no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another.Furthermore, in historical times, there has never been a race of men without a language.
Second, there is no such thing as a primitive language.There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped, who are, as we say, uncivilized, but the languages they speak are not primitive.In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.
This has not always been well understood; indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated.Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate.Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises.Study has proved this to be nonsense.There are, or were, hundreds of American Indian languages, and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old.They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with, but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.
A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate.That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.
Finally, we know that language changes.It is natural and normal for language to change; the only languages which do not change are the dead ones.This is easy to understand if we look back-ward in time. Change goes on in all aspects of language. Grammatical features change as do speech sounds, and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.
-
The Family
The structure of a family takes different forms around the world and even in the same society.The family’s form changes as it adapts to changing social and economic influences.Until recently, the most common form in North America was the nuclear family, consisting of a married couple with their minor children.The nuclear family is an independent unit.It must be prepared to fend for itself.Individual family members strongly depend on one another.There is little help from outside the family in emergencies.Elderly relatives of a nuclear family are cared for only if it is possible for the family to do so.In North America, the elderly often do not live with the family; they live in retirement communities and nursing homes.
There are many parallels between the nuclear family in industrial societies, such as North America,and of families in societies such as that of the Inuits,who live in harsh environments.The nuclear family structure is well adapted to a life of mobility. In harsh conditions,mobility allows the family to hunt for food. For North Americans, the hunt for jobs and improved social status also requires mobility.
The nuclear family was not always the North American standard.In a more agrarian time,the small nuclear family was usually part of a larger extended family.This might have included grandparents, mother and father, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts, and cousins.In North America today, there is a dramatic rise in the number of single-parent households.Twice as many households in the United States are headed by divorced, separated, or never-married individuals as are comprised of nuclear families.The structure of the family,not just in North America, but throughout the world, continues to change as it adapts to changing conditions.
