When you are at odds with someone close to you, the One-Minute Drill can show you how to express your feelings effectively – and how to listen more skillfully. All it requires is two individuals who are committed to improving their relationship.

  Set aside at least ten minutes, and then sit facing each other. Decide who will be the Talker and who will be the Listener. It makes no difference, because later you will change roles.

How to perform the One-Minute Drill

  For approximately 30 seconds, the Talker can say anything he or she wants. Your job will be to express your thoughts and feelings. You can discuss problems you've had a hard time talking about. Remember to limit yourself to about 30 seconds. When the Talker finishes, the Listener will summarize what the Talker just said, as well as how the Talker was feeling inside, as accurately as possible.

  The Talker now gives the Listener a grade between 0 and 100 per cent to indicate how accurate the summary was. If the rating is 95 per cent or more, you can change roles; the new Talker can continue with the same topic or move on to something entirely new.

  However, if the grade is below 95 per cent, the Talker should point out what the Listener missed or got wrong, and repeat the process until the overall rating is 95 per cent or more. Then you can change roles and repeat the exercise for as long as you both like.

How it works

  Thirty seconds of emotionally charged information is sufficiently challenging for anyone. Express your feelings in strong, clear, direct language, but as your partner will be listening attentively, you won't need to shout, exaggerate or put your partner down.

  The Listener should sit and listen respectfully without interrupting. Look into your partner's eyes, but avoid using negative body language. If you like, take a few notes.

  So the Talker might say: "When I come home from work, I feel tired and I need some quiet time. But you tell me I'm supposed to spend time with the kids. This makes me feel frustrated. I work hard and I'm exhausted at the end of the day. I feel like I deserve a little time to relax, not listen to more demands."

  In response, the Listener might summarize like this: "You just told me that you feel exhausted when you come home at night because you've been working hard all day. When I tell you I want you to spend time with the kids, you feel frustrated and ticked off because you're tired and you need time to relax. You see me as very demanding, and you're probably feeling like I don't appreciate you."

  The first time you attempt the One-Minute Drill, you may get a low score. Don't worry, because you'll get up to speed quickly. Once you've tried this exercise a few times, you'll find that you can nearly always get ratings of 95 per cent or better on the first or second try.

Who is the One-Minute Drill intended for?

A. Those who are to act some roles in a certain play for the first time in their life.

B. Those who are preparing for the interview in order to make a good first impression.

C. Those who have difficulty communicating with their colleagues or family members.

D. Those who have troubled relationships with their friends or family members and try to improve them.

Which of the following is NOT true?

A. In the One-Minute Drill, the Talker and the Listener change roles in the process.

B. The Talker should talk about his / her thoughts and feelings in a brief way.

C. The Listener should listen carefully, respectfully and later summarize accurately.

D. After the Talker finishes talking, the Listener is to give him / her a grade.

From the example given in “How it works,” we can guess that the talk might be between _____.

A. husband and wife   B. father and son   C. mother and daughter   D. sister and brother

What does the underlined part “ticked off” probably mean in this reading?

A. fast asleep                           B. very angry

C. burst into tears                   D. marked with a symbol

---Were you satisfied with the exam result?

  ---Not a ______. I should have done much ______.

  A. little; better       B. bit; worse             C. little; worse          D. bit; better

He was driving a lorry load of bananas ____he came off the road at a bend and fell into the valley.

A. since             B. until                C. when                D. while

Yesterday I ____my e-mail box from 163.com and found a strange e-mail.

A. logged on       B. logged off        C. got on             D. got off

Boom boom!( I’m here, come to me!)

Krak krak!( Watch out, a leopard (豹)！)

Hok hok hok!( Hey, crowned eagle!)

Very good — you’ve already mastered half the basic vocabulary of the Campbell’s monkey, which lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The adult males have six types of call, each with a specific meaning, but they can mix two or more calls together into a message with a different meaning.

Having spent months recording the monkeys’ calls in response to both natural and artificial stimuli (刺激物), a group led by Klaus Zuberbuhler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland argues that the Campbell’s monkeys have a certain form of syntax(句法).

This is likely to be controversial because despite great effort to teach chimpanzees(大猩猩) language, they showed little or no ability to combine the sounds they learned into a sentence with a larger meaning. Syntax, basic to the structure of language, uniquely belongs to humans.

“Krak” is a call that warns of leopards in the neighborhood. The monkeys give it in response to real leopards and to leopard shouting broadcast by the researchers. The monkeys can vary the call by adding “-oo”: “Krak-oo” seems to be a general word for hunter, but one given in a special context – when monkeys hear but don’t see a hunter, or when they hear the alarm calls of another species.

The “boom-boom” call invites other monkeys to come toward the male making the sound. Two booms can be combined with a series of “krak-oos”, with a meaning entirely different to that of either of its single parts. “Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo” is the monkey’s version of “Timber!” – it warns of falling trees.

If Zuberbuhler is correct, the Campbell’s monkeys can both vary the meaning of specific calls by adding something and combine calls to make a different meaning.

What is the passage mainly about?

A. A group of scientists.               B. Calls of Campbell’s monkeys.

C. The lifestyle of monkeys.                D. The importance of language.

According to the passage, chimpanzees       .

A. don’t communicate by sounds        

B. only understand simple sentences

C. fail to learn language from humans

D. are not related to the Campbell’s monkeys

If the Campbell’s monkeys hear a lion’s shouting, they will call “   ”.

  A. Krak      B. Boom        C. Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo     D. Krak-oo    

According to the passage, it seems that        .

A. Zuberbuhler has spent years in the forests

B. the writer isn’t sure of  Zuberbuhler’s opinions

C. the Campbell’s monkeys are cleverer than other animals

D. the Campbell’s monkeys can express six meanings by calls

請認真閱讀下面對話，并根據(jù)各題所給首字母的提示，在標有題號的右邊橫線上寫出一個英語單詞的完整、正確形式，使對話通順。

A: I plan to go to Taiwan for my summer holidays. Li Jun, since you come from Taiwan, can you t__________ me something about it?

B: Certainly. Taiwan is the largest i___________ in China.

A: What's the w____________ like there?

B: It's nearly the s_________ as that in Fuzhou, sometimes very hot in summer. But you can taste all kinds o________ delicious fruits.

A: What p_______ of interest should. I visit?

B: Taiwan is f_______ for Mount All and Riyuetan. And you shouldn't miss the hot springs(溫泉) there.

A: It s_________ really interesting and exciting. I can't w__________ to fly there.

B: hope you'll have a great time.

A: Sure. T___________ a lot! .

Have you seen the film “Titanic”,_____ leading actor is world famous?

A. its                       B. it’s                   C. whose                    D. which

_______ on earth is it _______ has eaten up all the leaves of these young trees in just

one night?

A. What, that                B. Who, that                 C. Why, which              D. How, that

As we all know sewing-machine(縫紉機) repair is one of the fastest growing businesses in the world today. Newspapers, women’s magazines, high schools and colleges are all encouraging millions of American women to do their own sewing, not only to make their own shirts and sweaters, but also to make nice clothes for their husbands, sons, or boyfriends. The lattes figures(數(shù)字) show that over 89 million American women, because of the high costs of ready-to-wear clothing are now making almost all of their families’ clothes. Most of these women get great satisfaction from making the family clothes on their own sewing machines. So it is natural that the demand(要求) for excellent service of sewing machines is growing.

Think of it! 89 million or more sewing machines, not including another 10 million sewing machines in schools of all kinds, need service at least once a year, and quite possibly four or more times each year. I know some women who return their sewing machines to repairmen time after time to get them fixed properly. I’ve seen sewing machines come out of repair shops in worse condition than they were when they went in.

So I’ve decided to write an introduction book to sewing-machine repair and teach people how to repair their own sewing machines at home. It’s not that difficult. In the book, I will teach you everything you need to know about how to repair your sewing machine.

The author wrote the passage to        .

  A. teach women to repair their sewing machines.

  B. explain his or her purpose in writing the book

  C. introduce the reasons for doing one’s own sewing

  D. tell us that sewing-machine repair is a fast-growing business

American women make clothes by themselves because        .

  A. they cannot buy the clothes they see in magazines

  B. their husbands or boyfriends want them to do so

  C. ready-to-wear clothes cost a great deal of money

  D. they can’t get great satisfaction from buying clothes

We learn from the passage that sewing machines        .

  A. aren’t very difficult to be repaired

  B. cannot work well after one year

  C. don’t easily get broken

  D. need service 4 times a month

It can be inferred from the passage that        .

  A. the book will also show you how to make nice clothes

  B. there are not enough sewing-machine-repair shops in America

  C. over 99 million sewing machines need service at least once a year

  D. the demand for excellent service of sewing machines grows the fastest in America

 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。（請將答案寫在答題紙上）

　　　　　　　　Getting to Now: How to Beat the Procrastination Habit

　　I am a procrastinator(拖拉者). I always have been. I've tried all sorts of things to beat the habit. Here are some techniques I've been using to try to force myself to get to now:

　　Set aside blocks of time to do things. When I was talking with my wellness coach earlier this year, she asked me why I didn't exercise more often. “　　,” I said. “Something always comes up.” She wasn’t impressed. “J.D.,” she said, “You have to make time. Make an appointment with yourself to run or to go for a bike ride.” The same principle applies to other things you might procrastinate.

　　　　. Often I’ll be sitting on the back porch reading a book, and it will occur to me that some chore needs to be done — mending the fence, for example. “　　,” I tell myself. Wrong! What usually happens is that I forget to write it down, and even if I do, I just look at the list and procrastinate for weeks on end. The best move is to actually do the chore when I think of it. (Assuming, of course, that I have the time at that moment,which I usually do.)

　　Use a timer to bring you back to reality. Part of the reason I procrastinate is that I'm a daydreamer. 　 　. One way to keep on track is to use a timer. I use the Ultrak Jumbo Countdown Timer, but not as often as I should. I set it for 48 minutes. When it goes off, 　 　: Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing?

　　Do not multitask. I often start many things at once, but I never actually do any of them. In order for me to get something done, I need to focus my attention on it. Trying to do several things at once is a sure way to be sure they'll all be unfinished tomorrow.

　　A. I’m always lost in thought

　　B. it brings me back to reality

　　C. If it comes to mind, then do it

　　D. I don’t have the time

　　E. it serves as an instant reality check

　　F. Do it right away if you are asked to do something

　　G. I need to write that down so I can remember it