[转载]新视野大学英语读写教程3(CLOZE答案:UNIT 1-7)
2014-11-23 16:47阅读:
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1
Although they may not be the
world’s fastest or strongest athletes, the 1830 competitions in the
2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games held in Nagano, Japan
competed with all their hearts. At the closing
ceremony Princess Takamado of Japan made a speech .She said,
’The past week was all about smiles, gentleness and peace. I
truly hope within my heart that the entire world can learn
something here. We can all learn from the examples these
special athletes have shown us.’
The aim of the Special
Olympics is clear. It is to encourage individuals with intellectual
disabilities to become physically fit. They are also
encouraged to be produ
ctive and respected members of society through sports
training and competition. If an athlete wins in competition,
it is a bonus. However , in a way everyone wins. Lily Kuhn
,12, a skier with Team USA , could hardly restrain her
enthusiasm as the wrote home. She told her parents: I was proud of
myself. I am happy not simply for winning, but for winning
honestly, loving to compete and working the hardest for the longest
time.
The
festival ending the games is something to remember. It isn’t
complete without the hugs. One event volunteer while
hugging and handing out sweatshirts to some of the athletes held
up his thumbs and said, ”All of these athletes are super! I
can’t go anywhere around here without getting a hug. I
pray for more of this sort of thing. I hope that the spirit
with which they have competed might touch the whole world.
Watching these young people blossom over the past week has truly
touched my life. ”
At the end
of the festival, the vice mayor for the city of Shanghai, which
will host the 2007 summer games, accepted the flag for the
Special Olympics pledging that “the city of Shanghai would
open its arms to the world and to the Special
Olympics”.
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2
Jim Fixx had been a heavy
smoker and weighed 214 pounds when he took up running in the
1960s. He soon reaped the benefits from running. His weight
decreased by 60 pounds by the time his book, The Complete
Book Of Running, was published. His book inspired millions
of people. In his book and on television talk shows, he extolled
the benefits of physical exercise and how it considerably
increased the average people’s life expectancy. His readers and
audience became more health-conscious. However , to their
shock, Fixx died at the age of 52 after his daily run. Many who
opposed his beliefs said this was evidence that running was
harmful. However, his supporters revealed that the real
cause of Fixx’s death was a heart attack. He came from a family
where men had poor health stories. His father suffered a
heart attack at the age of 35 and died of one at 42. Given
Fixx’s unhealthy lifestyle until he took up running, many argued
that running added many years to his life.
“Running does have its
shortcomings,” Acknowledges heart specialist Paul Thomas, in
a recent medical journal. “The impact can be hard on your
knees. Runners are more at risk during their training,
particularly if they run marathons. However, the news
for runners isn’t all bad. Evidence suggests in spite of its
shortcomings, moderate amount of running exercise can
actually result in a longer, improved
life.”
Dr.Dale Macdonald, a certified
Strength and Conditioning specialist once summed up a
discussion by saying, “As with all athletic endeavors,
running comes with both great reward and inherent risk. More
than 60% of runners will suffer an injury that causes them to take
time off running—each year!” He also said that improving one’s
balance can reduce the likelihood of
injury.
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Hyde was founded in 1966 to
provide education based on character development rather than
academic achievement. It is a place where well-to-do families can
send their children who have difficulty in other educational
environments. Many students are there because their parents
believe in the educational theory of character before
performance.
Although Hyde is
typically categorized as a college preparatory school, the
school regards its primary purpose as preparation for life.
Hyde helps students learn, embrace, and adopt a character compass
that will guide them for the rest of their
lives.
Emphasis is placed on
performing arts and sports. Hyde believes that one needs to
expose themselves to group and community interactions as
part of the growth process. Competitive sports are played year
round and have led to many championships. There are typical
high school classes and academics. Many Advanced Placement courses
are available and encouraged. Most students are accepted to
four-year colleges and universities.
There are “Group Discovery”
sessions several times per week. Students are encouraged to
counsel each other when they think another student’s actions
or thoughts do not correspond to the school’s philosophy.
These sessions focus on the individual students and their
current issues and problems faced at the school. Students are
encouraged to share intimate secrets, doubts and regrets
about themselves and their families. These sessions are
extended to parents. The purpose of these sessions is to
involve the whole family into the Hyde community social
structure.
Truth is emphasized
over harmony. Students who have difficulty with following
the school rules are assigned to perform maintenance jobs
and lawn care for the school. The practice is not solely punitive
but also serves to illustrate that the transgressor has
separated him/herself from the community by their actions. The idea
behind it is to earn acceptance by the group, and work back
into the trust of the community.
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4
When Henry Ford announced he
was going to produce an automobile that would be affordable
to the general population, he probably did not realize what a great
impact his achievement would have on life in the United
States and, eventually, the world. Ford’s use of mass
production strategies to manufacture the Model T started a
new era in personal transportation. As a result, roads were
built for the sake of cars and the greater mobility of
people. With cars and the roads, having a business of one’s own
became a lot more feasible. Every type of business sprung
up. Customers could easily get to the stores no matter where
they were in town, provided there was a road, so businesses
no longer had to be located at a town’s
center.
And what about the family
vacation? Families packed into their cars
and drove across the country to explore the new frontier,
stopping at every possible roadside attraction on the way.
There was no limit to where you could go and what you could
see. The car offered a sense of independence and, as Americans
particularly hated to be restricted, they fell in love with
the automobile instantly. On average, each American
household owns two or more cars. As the world gets more
complicated, driving cars around helps people cope with the
demands of modern life.
If you ask people what
qualities define Americans, they will probably say that the
two dominating characteristics of an American are
inventiveness and independence. America is truly the land of cars
and car culture.
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5
Aging is a natural process.
Although medical advancements have come up with ways to
cover signs of aging, there is no stopping the process. During the
closing period in the lifespan of human beings, people tend
to “move away” from more desirable previous periods, often
known as “usefulness”.
Age sixty is usually
considered the dividing line between middle and old age. It
is the time where you are considered an “elderly”, meaning
somewhat old or advanced beyond middle age. Period of decline comes
partly from physical and partly psychological factors. The
physical cause of decline is a change in the body cells due
to the effects of the aging process. The psychological cause of
decline has something to do with unfavorable attitudes
toward oneself, other people, work and life in general.
Senility, a more or less complete physical breakdown, will take
place when there is mental disorganization. The individual
becomes careless, absent-minded, socially withdrawn, and
promptly adjusted.
Due to the
unfavorable social attitudes toward the elderly, treatment toward
them in American, unlike other cultures, makes them feel
no longer useful and unwanted. People who come from
countries where respect for the elderly is customary
usually treat elder people with more consideration and
respect.
In fact,
old people are a treasure of experience to society. It is expected
that old people will play an increasingly active role in
social and community affairs as well as in the business and
professional worlds. Because of the reduction in the number
of roles the elderly are able to play , it is
very likely that they will develop a feeling of inferiority.
It is our duty to make them better realize value and help them lead
a life of comfort.
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6
Earthquakes have
plagued our lives for as long as people have inhabited the
Earth. These dangerous acts of the Earth have result in
great damage to human beings.
Earthquakes damage depends
on what area is hit. If an unpopulated region is struck,
there will be low loss of life or property. If it hit a large city
which is densely populated, there may be serious injuries
and destruction.
Earthquakes have the power to
uproot trees and send them crashing into buildings. They can
trigger landslides and cause flooding and tsunamis. Buildings and
structures are also at risk. It is interesting to note that
tall buildings will suffer the least damage if they are
located directly at the epicenter. This is because they can
withstand the up-and-down motion of P-waves. S-waves, on the
other hand, occur far away from the epicenter, and cause the
greatest stress by shaking buildings from side to side.
These buildings are often knocked off their
foundations.
Buildings with thick, heavy
walls do not resist shock waves very well. Violent
earthquakes often cause structures to collapse, burying
people underneath. Brick buildings are the most vulnerable.
The shaking of the earth is sometimes not the greatest disaster. It
is in the subsequent fires and folds that often the greatest
damage occurs.
Predicting an earthquake until
now has almost been technologically impossible. With
improvements in technology, lives have been saved and many more
will. All that remains is to research to the
point that a successful earthquake prediction is theoretically
possible. However, accurate prediction of earthquake may
take more years.
UNIT 7
At the age of 21, Steve Jobs and
a friend, Stephen Wozniak, built a personal computer called the
Apple. The Apple changed people’s idea of a computer
from a gigantic(巨大的) mass of vacuum tubes only big
business and the government could afford to a
small box used by ordinary people. No company has done more to
popularize the computer and make it used friendly
than Apple Computer Inc. Two years after building the Apple I,
Steve Jobs introduced the Apple II. The Apple II
was the best buy in personal computers for home
and small business throughout the following five
years. Steve Jobs was considered a brilliant young
man in silicon valley, because he saw the future demands of the
computer industry. “The personal computer was created by the
hardware revolution of the 1970s and the next
dramatic change will come from a software
revolution”, said Jobs.
Job was an orphan adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs
in 1955. While still in high school, Jobs attended
lectures at the Hewlett-Packard electronics firm. There he was
hired as a summer employee and met another
employee, Wozniak, who had a passion for inventing
electronic devices. In 1972 Jobs graduated from
high school and registered at Reed College in
Portland, Oregon. After dropping out of Reed after one semester, he
hung around the campus for a year, taking classes in philosophy.
Early in 1974 Jobs took a job designing video
games for Atari, Inc. But, he really had his eye on the
commercial end of the electronics business and
persuaded Wozniak to work with him toward building
a personal computer.
They sold everything they had, raising
$1300 to start their new company. With that capital
base and credit begged from local electronics suppliers, they set
up their first production line. Jobs camp up with
the name of their new company Apple in memory of a happy summer he
had spent as an orchard worker in Oregon.