When was the last time someone did something unexpectedly nice for you? Not someone you knew, but a total stranger? It's happened to me a few times, but two instances really stand out. A few years ago, I was dining out with a person who kept going on and on about himself, completely oblivious to the fact that I was sitting there in misery.It wasn't his company that disappointed me.I was recovering from a broken heart, and just sitting down to dinner reminded me of my last relationship.I could have collapsed in tears right there at the table. When we picked up the check, the waitress said, "Your meal was already paid for." My friend and I didn't have a clue how it happened.Then I remembered a man coming in out of the corner of my eye.He was dressed in mostly white, sat down at the bar, had a glass of wine, stayed for maybe ten minutes, and then left.The waitress said, "Yes, the gentleman who was in here a while ago paid for you." Just last year, I was running a half-marathon.With just 0.1 miles to go, I was out of gas. Runners call it "hitting the wall"; I thought I couldn't move another muscle.Out of nowhere, a teenager jogs up next to me and says, "What's your name, sweetie? Jennifer? Okay, Jennifer, let's go! Come on! It's just around the corner! You can do it!" And he ran with me until I picked up my pace.I found him at the finish line to thank him for the encouragement only to learn he wasn't even supposed to be in the race that day.He was running in place of someone else. I still shake my head when I think of these momentary angels that came to me at my point of need.Do you have any experiences like this? Why did the author say he was in misery? A) Because he couldn't enjoy his meal. B) Because he fell into conflict with his companion. C) Because his companion talked a lot. D) Because he was then disappointed in love.
D
12-year-old Romina Mohaqqeq, believed to be Iran's youngest filmmaker, is dreaming of winning an Oscar someday. "I will not regard myself a filmmaker until I win an Oscar," she remarks. Born in 1998, she has so far directed several documentaries and short films and has received several awards at national and international festivals. "I made my first documentary when I was eight years old. The idea came to my mind when I saw an Afghan boy who was collecting paper in a dustbin near our house. I thought it might be a good topic for a documentary," she said. "I asked my dad to make a movie about this boy but he said that it would not be an interesting topic. He told me to work on the topic myself if I liked it, so I made my first documentary and named it Long Way". Romina's "Long Way" took the best film award at Roshd International Film Festival in 2007, encouraging her to continue filmmaking. "Next, I adapted a story published in a magazine and made the short film A Box Full of Affection". She is now working on Thought, a new documentary about positive thinking. Romina admits that her dad has been her only advisor all these years. "When Romina decided to work on a topic herself at the age of 8, I taught her the whole process of filmmaking within 6 to 7 months. I even worked as a cameraman in some of her productions." her father said. "We also reviewed the book Film Directing Shot by Shot. We read all the sections together where she learned the entire process from pre-production to post-production." Romina also played in one of her dad's productions when she was 6, and acted in the movie The Earrings. She was among the judges of 39th edition of the Roshd International film Festival. Which is the best title of the passage? A) The Youngest Oscar Winner B) Iran's Youngest Filmmaker C) The Best Ever Films in Iran's History D) A Father and a Daughter
B
Q: China's new popular word, "tuhao", may be taken in next year's Oxford English dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary's editing team after BBC's recent program on influential Chinese words. "If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words," said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team. Kleeman told the Beijing Youth Daily that "tuhao" has some similarities with the English word "bling", which refers to expensive, ostentatious clothing or jewelry. Both the two words have existed for long but later on took a new meaning. In Chinese, "tu" means rude and "hao" means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China's rural areas. In recent years, people in the ACG (anime, comic and game) circle borrowed the term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable manner. The word gained acceptance in September with the launch of Apple's new gold-colored iPhone, an item loved by China's nouveau riche . The color became known as "tuhao gold".The word is now often used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it. Kleeman also mentioned another Chinese word "dama" which may also be taken in the dictionary. "Dama", meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal in May when thousands of Chinese women were buying up record number of gold. They were the driving force in the global gold market between April and June when the gold prices had dropped. "People can have an intuitive grasp of the meanings if they see pinyin", Kleeman said adding that people avoided using an English word to keep the original meaning. The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months. Why is the word "tuhao" likely to be taken in Oxford English Dictionary? A) Because it represents noble and rich B) Because it has the same meaning with an English word. C) Because its influence becomes bigger and bigger D) Because it is popular in online game circle.
A: C
*Question*
Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in intercultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear. Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm even when things do not go as one wants them to, or hopes they will, or has even been sure they will. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not. A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in her own reactions than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to. "The awareness of being unclear" is a more difficult concept than patience or a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear to the newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in the situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can't be sure of different people's roles in what is going on. "It's like I just got here from the moon," a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said, "things are just so different here." The passage mainly tells us_. A) that it's not easy to travel abroad B) that humor is very important in communication C) about some characteristics in dealing with foreigners D) about three main ways useful for communicating with foreigners
**Answer**
B