A back injury led Briton Rose Oliver to t'ai chi, which led her to her husband and then took both of them to China. But three years after moving to Shanghai to pursue their dream, Oliver's husband died, leaving her alone to follow their shared passion for t'ai chi. Twenty years ago, Oliver's back injury ruined her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer. But the injury did lead her to t'ai chi, a martial art typically practiced in slow motion. Her initial hope was to improve her health. She later married her instructor, Rey Nelson, and founded a school with him, teaching the martial art to more than 10, 000 students over eight years. The 49-year-old recalls the injury that left her bedridden for six months when she was 21 years old and with constant pain for decades. "I was active and could not bear resting in bed," she recalls."But the soft tissue injuries were hard to heal. I thought I had to find some way to recover my health." Oliver saw a poster for a t'ai chi class and decided to try the"mysterious exotic sport". She was struck by the beautiful movements and the"nice, patient instructor -- Nelson". The couple later opened a t'ai chi school in the United Kingdom that attracted thousands of people. But they found themselves in a bottleneck. "It was not enough for us to improve ourselves when we just learned from t'ai chi masters for two or four weeks a year,"she says. So the couple moved to Shanghai. They taught English in universities and happily learned t'ai chi under various masters. After years of practice, Oliver found her occasional backaches had disappeared. In 2003, her husband's death brought her much pain. She thought of giving up, but considering the career in which her husband took pride, she stuck to it. She says her t'ai chi"family"-- the masters and students -- also provided a great support network. Her then tutor was Dong Bing and Dong died in 2009 at the age of 88. She speaks of their first meeting:"I had been told that his skill was of a very high level and for some reason I had a... Oliver founded the Double Dragon Alliance . A) to teach t'ai chi to more foreigners B) to improve her own skill at t'ai chi C) to expand the influence of martial art D) to spread Chinese culture to Westerners
D
It was the last day of my four-month interview to hold the job as a salesman in the World Trade Center -- in simpler words, an end to being perfect for four months. I took the last drop of my coffee, pushed in my chair, and said goodbye to my family -- little did they know, this could have been my final goodbye. I went to room 911, as I had the past three times, to meet my boss, Mr. Clarke. I was just about to have a seat, when suddenly I heard the sound of explosion. Then, the floor beneath my feet began shaking, which was when I began to realize that something had gone completely wrong. "Run! Let's get out of here!" Mr. Clarke cried. Seconds after the first massive explosion, I heard another explosion from way above. My heartbeat seemed to be the drum of a heavy-metal song and all the employees were rushing to get out; the lifts were out of order, and only screaming could be heard up and down the stairwell. All of us were unaware at the time that this was the airplane hitting the tower. Fire then began to swallow the walls and all you could see is gray smoke. Mr. Clarke had fallen and went unconscious. I used all my strength to throw his heavy weight on my shoulders and run down the steps. I then felt myself sinking into the floor. I ran and ran, but I was not going anywhere. The only option left was to jump. With Mr. Clarke still lying in my arms, I closed my eyes and jumped. My boss safely reached the edge of the trampoline a group of firemen held beneath us. However, I landed on the concrete floor and suffered a broken back and neck, which was considered lucky. The last sentence of the passage suggests that _ . A) most people suffered more than being injured B) it's fortunate to land on the concrete floor C) some people made jokes about his bad luck D) his injury was considered not that serious
A
Q: Last Sunday I made a visit to some new neighbors down the block. No specific in mind, just an opportunity to sit at the kitchen table, have some tea and chat. As I did so, it occurred to me how rare the Sunday visit has become. When I was a kid in New Jersey of the 1960s, Sunday visits were routine. Most stores were closed, almost nobody worked, and the highways, as a result, were not desperate steeplechases they have become today. My family normally traveled eight city blocks to the home of my grandmother, where adults would sit on the front porch and chat while we children played hide-and-seek. The Sunday visit was something to desire strongly. It was the repetition to church, our reward for an hour of devotion, an opportunity to take advantage of the fact that Dad was not at work, we were not in school, and there was no housework that couldn't wait until Monday. Sunday was, indeed, different from the other days of the week, because everyone seemed to be on the same schedule, which means that there was one day when everyone seemed to have time for everybody else. Sunday as a day of rest is, or was, so deeply rooted in the culture that it's surprising to find that, in a short span of time, it has almost entirely lost this association. In my childhood, it was assumed that everyone would either be home or visiting someone else's home on Sunday. But now the question is, "What do you plan to DO this Sunday?" The answer can range from going to the mall, to participating in a road race, to Montreal for lunch. If one were to respond, "I'm making a Sunday visit to family," such an answer would feel strange, which sounds like an echo from another era. I suppose I should be grateful to live in Maine, a state of small towns, abundant land and tight relationships. Even though folks work as hard here as they do anywhere else, the state's powerfully rural feature still keeps at least remnants of the moral of yesterday's America, where people had to depend on one another in the face of economic vagaries and a... The writer's general impression of the Sunday in the past was a day when _ . A) everyone was paying a visit to some relatives far away B) everyone seemed to be free for others C) Dad was not at work while Mom was busy cleaning the house D) nearly every adult would go to church and children weren't at school
A: B
Q: Read the advertisements, and then choose the best answers. Driver Wanted 1. Clean driving license 2. Must be of smart appearance. 3. Aged over 25. Apply to :Capes Taxis, 17 Palace Road, Boston Air Hostesses for International Flight Wanted 1. Applicants must be between 20 and 33 years old. 2. Height 1.6m to 1.75m. 3. Education to GCSE standard. 4. Two languages. 5. Must be able to swim. Apply to: Recruitment office, Southern Airlines, Heathrow Airport West HR37KK Teachers Needed For private language school. Teaching experience unnecessary. Apply to: The Director of Studies, Instant Language Ltd, 279 Canal Street What prevent Jack, an experienced taxi driver, working for Capes Taxis? A) Punished for speeding and wrong parking. B) Fond of beer and wine. C) Not having college education. D) Unable to speak a foreign language.
A: A