When Cathleen Gardiner's twins were born 17 years ago, doctors told her that they were a pair in a million. One had Down syndrome , while the other did not. Here, Cathleen tells their touching story. Since Sean was born 17 years ago, I have always thought that he is just as wonderful as his brother and sister. Though he had a disability , we have never viewed him as a burden. He has always been a blessing. The doctors explained that though they were twins, they came from two different eggs. Lisa could walk at 11 months old, while Sean didn't take his first steps till he was three. By two, Lisa was talking a lot, but Sean wasn't able to speak until he was nearly four. For the first five years of his life, Sean needed a great deal of care. Looking after him was my full-time job, though I also worked as a technical adviser in a computing company. We never treated them differently. We gave them the same toys and spoke to them in the same way. We encouraged Sean to keep up with Lisa, even though he never could, and we would help him develop his abilities. We sent them to the same primary school even after doctors advised us that Sean should go to a school for the disabled. We had to explain to Lisa that he wouldn't learn as quickly as she would. She told us that she'd help him with his school work. Having a non-disabled twin has really helped Sean develop. The love they share has given him a great deal of support. Now Sean and Lisa are both about to finish high school. I don't think he would have done nearly as well today without Lisa's help. At least how many children does Mrs. Gardiner have? A) Two. B) Three. C) Four. D) One.
B
As each semester begins, my colleague greets his students wearing a jacket and tie. "You make only one first impression," he says. So while the rest of the semester he teaches class in his usual, more casual clothes, the first week he presents a different image. His thought is that students will remember their first meet positively and more readily think highly of him as the semester goes on because that favorable first impression has an influence on them. The sequence that we meet matters in how we judge subsequent information. The big influence of first impressions is related to the halo effect, where the perception of positive qualities in one thing or part gives rise to the perception of similar qualities in related things or in the whole. Here is an example: You meet a friendly person at a party and later are asked to collect money for a worthy cause. You call that person because you think she will make a contribution. In reality, there is no connection between being pleasant and being generous. Yet the halo effect leads you to think that the two are related. The halo effect is powerful, but it is questionable whether it matters much in long-term relationships, such as that between teacher and student. While dressing up may make students think the teacher must know his subject matter because he creates a professional first impression, the effect wears thin if the person turns out to be a poor teacher after all. First impressions matter but they don't have the final word. Facts speak louder. If you had never seen or heard of Einstein, the first time you saw him your impression would most likely be negative. Now his face is connected with genius , not madness because he is the person who has come to define what genius is. The problem is that few of us are Einsteins and we often don't get the chance to change a negative first impression. The author uses the example of Einstein to show the importance of _ . A) appearance B) impressions C) truth D) fairness
C
Q: Don't you hate it when someone snubs you by looking at their phone instead of paying attention? The word "Phubbing", which comes from "phone" and "snub", describes such behavior . With popularization of smart phones, we see a new "Phubbing" group everywhere in public places: in subway, restaurants, roads, people are checking the mobile phone, ignoring the people around completely. What is worrying us is that not only young people, but also the elderly and kids are getting addicted to Phubbing. On Dec 29th, a 28-year-old woman--a mother of two in Wenzhou, drowned after she fell into a river while looking at her mobile phone. A Pakistani man was killed on Dec 15th, 2015, after being hit by a fast moving train while trying to take a selfie with it on the track. Last month, Justin, a college student was shot in subway in San Francisco, the U.S. The surveillance video showed that before Justin was killed, the killer pulled out the gun several times, and even wiped his nose with it. However, nobody noticed that. The surrounding passengers all focused on their cell phones. Phone is the tool for communication, but now it distances people and makes them separated from each other. Therefore, someone jokes "the furthest distance in the world is not the distance between life and death, but that you don't know I stand in front of you while you focus on the mobile." Phubbing appears harmless; however, it does affect our life. 23-year-old Alex from Melbourne wrote in his blog: "I can no longer focus on what I am eating since I started twittering. My skill of food photography has improved very fast, while my interest in food drops a lot as a result." The author wants to tell us in the passage that _ . A) Kids shouldn't use phones B) it's time for us to stop phubbing C) Phubbing distances people D) phubbing can cause accidents
A: B
Q: The year was 1932. Amelia Earhart was flying alone from North America to England in a small single--engine airplane. At midnight, several hours after she had left Newfoundland, she ran into bad weather. To make things worse, her altimeter failed.(The altimeter shows the height of the plane above the ground.) At night and in a storm, a pilot is in great difficulty without an altimeter. At times, her plane nearly plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. Just before daylight, there was further trouble. Amelia noticed flames coming from the engine. Would she be able to reach land? There was nothing to do except to keep going and to hope. Amelia Earhart did reach Ireland, and for the courage she had shown, she was warmly welcomed in England and the rest of Europe. When she returned to the United States, she was honored by President Hoover at a special dinner in the White House. From that time on, Amelia Earhart became famous. What was so important about her flight? Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone, and she set a record of fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes. She ran into bad weather. Here "ran into" means _ . A) rushed into B) raced into C) met into D) met with
A: D