A
Sometimes we wish we could stop time and go back in time. Well, twice a year, some countries actually decide to1the time.
As summer begins, some countries, like the US, UK and most of other countries in the EU, move the time forward one hour: 12 o'clock becomes 1 o'clock. This is to give people one more hour of 2 This is called “daylight saving time (夏令时时间)”.
But as winter arrives, you'll notice the darkness stays with us3. The sun doesn't enjoy being out as often as in the summer. To deal with this, these countries turn the clocks4one hour: 1 o'clock goes back to 12 o'clock.
Countries have done this for about 100 years. At some point, most of the world has tested with it. In fact, from 1986 to 1991, China used daylight saving time.
By having another hour of sunlight, you can save5by not needing to turn the lights on. Also, it can help the economy (经济), as people enjoy shopping when it is brighter. But people think it disrupts (打乱) sleeping habits. And because mornings are darker, the6of people getting to work and school is a problem.
B
Once upon a time, there lived a kind king. But the king was also very1. He would not do anything other than eat and sleep. He became fatter and fatter, and finally found it difficult to move his2– even his feet.
The king invited doctors from different parts of his country to make him3. But no one could help the king lose weight.
One day, an old man visited the country. He heard about the king's4. He volunteered (自愿) to help the king lose some weight. The king decided to let him5.
The old man lived6. He said that the king had to come to him and asked the king to come for treatment the next day. But the king would have to7there, the old man added.
The king came the next day.8, the old man was not there. His son asked the king to come and meet his father the next day.
The king came every day for two weeks, but he never once saw the old man. But he did notice that he felt a lot9. He had lost some weight. He finally realized why the old man had asked him to walk so far.
Steve was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't – the girl with a rose. She was his pen friend. She had helped him a lot both in study and life. They planned their first meeting for 7 pm at Grand Central Station in New York.
“You'll find me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I'll be wearing on my coat.” So at 7 pm he was in the station looking for the girl with a red rose.
A young woman was coming towards him. She was wearing a green coat and was everything that he hoped Miss Maynell would be. But there was no red rose. Then a plain-looking (相貌平平的) woman walked past. She was well past 40 years old. On her coat there was a red rose.
He did not hesitate (犹豫). “I'm Steve Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me. May I take you to dinner?” he asked.
A kind smile appeared on the woman's face. “I don't know what this is about, son,” she answered, “But the young lady in the green coat who just went by asked me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I should tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was a kind of test!”
B
When was the last time you gave or received a hug? Do your parents hug you before you go to school? In Western countries, it is quite common to greet close friends or relatives with a hug.
You might hug your teammates after winning a basketball game. If one of your friends is having a bad day, you can hug them to cheer them up. Friends who haven't seen each other for a long time will usually hug each other when meeting.
Of course, people in different countries have different opinions when it comes to hugging. After coming to China, I've noticed that people are generally more reluctant (不情愿的) to hug than they are in my home country, the US.
My Chinese friends told me that hugging is considered to be very intimate (亲密的) in their culture. It usually only happens between people who are really close to each other, like couples. Chinese people don't usually hug in public, either.
But people's attitudes (态度) towards hugging can also change. I remember watching a video story about a “hugging party” that was held in Shanghai. A local artist held the party, inviting strangers and asking them to hug each other.
The Chinese participants (参与者) clearly looked uncomfortable. However, after the party, several of them changed their minds. They decided that hugging doesn't have to be awkward (尴尬的) and can actually be quite nice. So next time you see your mom or dad, give them a hug –see how it makes you feel.
C
Last week, I visited my friend Pete in his new home, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Pete used to spend his holidays traveling around the world – visiting the pyramids in Egypt or scuba diving (水肺潜水) in the Caribbean. Nowadays, he prefers to spend his holidays and weekends making his house look more beautiful. Like hundreds of thousands of other British people, he's found the joy of DIY (do it yourself) home repairs. This means that if there's anything that needs fixing around the house, he will try to do the job himself.
Pete showed me his new kitchen, which he put together himself, and his newly-painted walls. I asked him where he got the idea to do these things. He told me that his favourite source (来源) of ideas is a DIY program on TV.
This got me thinking about how popular DIY programs are in the UK. Each main channel (频道) has at least one home or garden makeover show. There are even channels totally on the subject.
I suppose it's not really surprising that DIY programs are so popular. There are two common sayings in Britain – “an Englishman's home is his castle (城堡)” and “there's no place like home” – which show how important our houses are to us. With the social changes of the last ten years or so, many people can't afford to buy bigger houses. So they are looking at how they can make their house better without spending a lot of money. DIY, clearly, is the perfect choice.
A. Each part has a different meaning. B. So they cannot create as many numbers as we can. C. That's because China has the longest mobile phone numbers in the world. D. Also, mobile phone numbers can be recycled. E. The main reason for using 11 digits is that we have the largest population in the world. |
Have you ever counted the number of digits(数字) in your mobile phone number? Your number has 11 digits. You may sometimes find it hard to remember your number. Why is that?
The 11 digits can be divided into three parts. The first three numbers tell you which mobile phone service provider you are using. For example, 135 is for the China Mobile Communication Corporation and 188 is for China Unicom. The fourth to the seventh digits tell you which area the number is recorded in. And the last four digits are random (随机的).
We once had 10 numbers. But as our population grew, there were not enough numbers for us to use. So we began to use 11 digits starting from 1999.
Eleven digits can be used to make tens of billions of mobile phone numbers, according to the Xinhua News Agency. That's enough for each person to have seven or eight phone numbers to use in China. Usually, the service provider will reuse a canceled number after three to six months. If you call a number that you haven't contacted (联络) for a long time, you may find that its owner has changed.
Besides China, Britain and Japan also use 11-digit mobile phone numbers. But their numbers always start with 0.Countries like the United States, Australia and India use phone numbers with l0 digits. Canada's mobile phone numbers are perhaps the world's shortest: they use seven digits.
A husband and wife were driving down a country road on their way to visit some friends. As they came to a muddy (泥泞的) part of the road, their car(break) down.
They tried to get the car out by themselves, but it didn't work. Then they saw a farmer (come) down the road. He was driving some oxen (牛). He stopped when he saw the couple was in trouble. He said he would pull the car out of the mud for $20 (130 yuan). They agreed and minutes (late) the car was free.
The farmer turned to the husband and said, “You know, you're the(ten) car I've helped out of the mud today.”
The husband looked around at the large land and asked the farmer, “When do you have time to plow (犁) all your(field) ?At night?”
“No,” the farmer answered, “I put the water in the hole at night!”
A: I'd like two tickets for the movie on Friday, please.
B:, madam?
A: It's Dark and Stormy Night.
B: I'm sorry, that show is.
A: Well, how about Saturday or Sunday?
B: Yes, we do have tickets for that movie on those days.
A: Are thereleft for the middle row for Saturday?
B: Yes, but they are not next to each other.
A: Oh, that's a pity. We prefer to.
B: In that case, we still have some seats together in the front or at the back.
A: The front row sounds good.?
B: 25 dollars in total.
A: Ok, I'll take them.
1）吃有益于眼睛的食物，如：胡萝卜、鸡蛋等；
2）多做眼保健操，长时间用眼后可看看远方；
3）养成良好的用眼习惯，如：不躺着玩手机或看书等。
注意：1）词数 80 词左右；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3）开头已给出，不计入总词数。
Nowadays, more and more students are getting near-sighted, so National Eye Care Day is set on June 6 every year.
