Every people uses its own special word to show its ideas and feelings. Some of these expressions are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is “Where’s the beef?” It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be. In the early 1980s “Where’s the beef?” was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone using it at the time.

Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and food is more popular in America than a hamburger made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Ray called this “McDonald’s”. Ray became one of the richest businessmen at last in America.

Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company called “Wendy’s” said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald’s or anyone else. The Wendy’s Company began to use the expression “Where’s the beef?” to make people know that Wendy’s hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy’s television advertisement showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef. “Where’s the beef?” she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy’s hamburger restaurants was a success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression “Where’s the beef?”

   English is full of colorful phrases to describe shyness. Someone shy might be called shrinking violet or a wallflower, while for especially nervous types we have the curious expression: they wouldn’t say boo to a goose.

       None of these are traditionally seen as positive descriptions, even if you like geese. In a culture of go-getting, high achievers, shy people don’t come first. Or that’s what the self-help industry would have you believe. Bookshops are filled with vital tomes(巨著) that promise to help beat social fears and find success in life, love and business. That is why one book, Shrinking Violets: A Field Guide to Shyness, bucks the trend. It became a sudden success across English-language media recently for its new take-on shyness.

       Author Joe Moran says that despite struggling with shyness and longing for loneliness all his life, being shy can also be “a gift”. Freed from the constant urge to participate and compete in social situations, people are liberated to look at the world in new ways, and gain fresh insights.

       Indeed, many of the world’s great thinkers and artists are introverts(内向的人). Scientists Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein preferred their own company; actress Keira Knightley often finds herself tongue-tied at parties; and Harry Potter author JK Rowling claims she used to be too nervous to even borrow a pen.

       Moran told BBC Future: “I think shyness probably does turn you into an amateur anthropologist(人类学家), really—you are more likely to be an observer.”

       So, while extroverts make all the noise, they don’t necessarily have the best ideas.

       If you’re shy, you’ve probably known this for a long time. You just don’t shout about it.

Why do Chinese people love hot pot (火锅）so much? As the winter months are coming in, more and more people are sitting around a table, enjoying this kind oftraditionalmeal. I find myself wondering what it is about this traditional meal, which has existed for more than 1,000 years. What makes it a Chinese food favorite? It seems that the answer lies beyond the dish itself.

Hot pot isn’t just designed to keep you warm during the cold months; it’s also asocialexperience. It’s a “theater” cooked food that turns a meal into an event. There is a lot of fun for everyone to have in adding some foods to the hot pot.

Hot pot is eaten over two to three hours. For this reason, it is often considered an evening’sentertainment，and a time to spend with friends and families. However, many Westerners would beput offby the idea of other people sticking chopsticks in their food. When we come to eat at the table in the UK, we tend to have our own shares, although the experience is still a social one.

    Asimilarexperience to the hot pot can be found in Korean barbecue restaurants, which let you cook your own meat.This allows people to have their meat done .

 For most Westerners, the idea of going to a restaurant to cook their own food is very strange. But I find it’s now one of my favorite meals in Beijing. The steam from the pot left my clothes smelling of food when I got home, but perhaps this was also part of the experience. When the cold wind is blowing outside, I am sitting aroundwith my good friends, eating and drinking. For me it’s like a dinner party where my taste buds (味蕾)and myappetiteare equally satisfied in the warm company of friends.

The requirements for high school graduation have just changed in my community. As a result, all students must  (1)  sixty hours of service learning,   (2)  they will not receive a diploma. Service learning is academic learning that also helps the community.   (3)   of service learning include cleaning up a polluted river, working in a soup kitchen, or tutoring a student.   (4)  a service experience, students must keep a journal and then write a   (5)   about what they have learned.

Supporters claim that there are many   (6)   of service learning. Perhaps most importantly, students are forced to think   (7)   their own interests and become   (8)   of the needs of others. Students are also able to learn real-life skills that   (9)   responsibility, problem-solving, and working as part of a team.  (10)  , students can explore possible careers   (11)   service learning.For example, if a student wonders what teaching is like, he or she can choose to work in an elementary school classroom a few afternoons each month.

First, they   (14)   that the main reason why students go to school is to learn core subjects and skills.

Because service learning is time-consuming, students spend   (15)   time studying the core subjects.

Second, they believe that forcing students to work without  (16)   goes against the law. By requiring service, the school takes away an individual’s freedom to choose.

In my view, service learning is a great way to   (17)   to the community, learn new skills, and explore different careers.   (18)  , I don’t believe you should force people to help others – the   (19)   to help must come from the heart. I think the best  (20)  is one that gives students choices: a student should be able to choose sixty hours of independent study or sixty hours of service. Choice encourages both freedom and responsibility, and as young adults, we must learn to handle both wisely.

People in the United States honor their parents with two special days: Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June.

Mother’s Day was proclaimed a day for national observance(庆祝) by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. Ann Jarvis from Grafton, West Virginia, had started the idea to have a day to honor mothers. She was the one who chose the second Sunday in May and also began the custom of wearing a carnation（康乃馨）.

In 1909, Mrs. Dodd from Spokane, Washington, thought of the idea of a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart. After her mother died, he had the responsibility of raising a family of five sons and a daughter. In 1910, the first Father’s Day was observed in Spokane. Senator Margaret Chase Smith helped to established Father’s Day as a national commemorative （纪念的）day, in 1972.

These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.

These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead．Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery. On these days, families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.

a. The first Father’s Day was observed

b. Mother’s Day was proclaimed a day for national observance

c. Father’s Day became a day for national observance.

d. The idea of honoring fathers was bought up

Putting a dinosaur skeleton together is not easy. The skeletons are usually very incomplete. Many dinosaur fossils are discovered badly damaged. Bones are often found crushed (压碎) or bent by the great weight of the dirt and rock above. Sometimes parts from different creatures are mixed together. This just adds to the confusion.

    Unfortunately, some scientists have not been careful enough in their descriptions of dinosaurs. They have told grand stories of how dinosaurs looked and behaved. All of these descriptions are based on guesswork — the imaginations of people who have never seen a living dinosaur. Some scientists have made complete pictures of dinosaurs based on just a single bone or tooth or leg. Such pictures are based on many guesses and very little facts. The scientists’ ideas often turn out to be wrong when more facts are discovered.

    Dinosaur fossils are not found with labels attached showing what the animals looked like. That is why no pictures of dinosaurs are exactly right. Every dinosaur painting is sure to contain at least some wrong information. No artist in the twentieth century ever saw the living, breathing animals — complete with skin, flesh, and color.

    For instance, imagine never having seen or heard of a peacock. One day you find the jumbled bones of it buried in the ground. You try to put the bones together to form a skeleton. And then you try to draw a picture of what the animal looked like when it was alive. But bones cannot tell the whole story. Even if you are a very good artist, it would be a miracle if you drew a true picture of a peacock just from the bones and your imagination.

    San Francisco has its cable cars. Seattle has its Space Needle. And, Longview has its squirrel bridge. The bridge, which has attracted international attention, is now a local landmark.

      The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in 1963 by a local builder, Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross the busy road without getting flattened by passing cars.

      The original bridge was built over Olympia Way on the west edge of the library grounds. Before the bridge was built, squirrels had to avoid traffic to and from the Park Plaza office building where office staff put out a nutty feast for the squirrels. Many times, Peters and others who worked in and near Park Plaza witnessed squirrels being run over.

      One day Peters found a dead squirrel with a nut still in its mouth, and that dayˈs coffee break discussion turned into squirrel safety. The group of businessmen cooked up the squirrel bridge idea and formed a committee to ask the blessing of the City Council. The Council approved, and Councilwoman Bess LaRiviere jokingly named the bridge "Nutty Narrows".

      After architects designed the bridge, Amos Peters and Bill Hutch started construction. They built the 60-foot bridge from aluminum and lengths of fire hose(消防水带). It cost $ 1,000.

      It didnˈt take long before reports of squirrels using the bridge started. Squirrels were even seen guiding their young and teaching them the ropes. The story was picked up by the media, and Nutty Narrows became known in newspapers all over the world.

      In 1893, after 20 years of use, Peters took down the worn-out bridge. Repairs were made and crosspieces were replaced. The faded sign was repainted and in July 1983, hundreds of animal lovers attended the completion ceremony of the new bridge.

The Nutty Narrows Bridge was built in order to ________.

What happened over the coffee break discussion?

What does the underlined phrase "teaching them the ropes" probably mean in the text?

Which of the following is true of the squirrel bridge?

Americans use many expressions about fish and fishing. For example, if something sounds fishy, it may not be true. Sometimes I feel like a fish out of water when I go to a party and everyone but me is doing the latest dance. When I ask my friend if she likes my new dress, I would like her to say something nice. In other words, I am fishing for a compliment.

   Some expressions involve different kinds of fish. Information that is used to draw attention away from the real facts of a situation is called a red herring(鲱鱼). Once I went to a county fair and tried my luck with a game of chance. It was so easy; it was like shooting fish in a barrel(桶). Then I went on the fastest, highest and most frightening ride: the roller coaster. At the end of the ride, I did not feel so well. A friend said I looked green around the gills.

     I grew up in a small town where everybody knew about my life. There were times when I thought I was living in a fish bowl. So I moved to Washington, where things were different and I found I was a little fish in a big sea.

     Now I take the train to work every day during rush hour when many other people travel to their jobs. Sometimes we feel that we are packed in like sardines. Sardines are tiny fish that lie close to each other in cans.

    One man who works in my office is a cold fish. He is unfriendly and does not like to join us at office parties. Another man in my office likes to enjoy alcoholic drinks at parties. In fact, you might say he drinks like a fish. We need to help him stop drinking.

 To us, it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains. But in fact the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain. Its first use was as a shade against the sun.

      Nobody knew who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese, back in the eleventh century BC.

      We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its uses: it became a symbol of honor and power. In the Far East in ancient times. the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office or by royal people such as the kings or queens.

       In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. The umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece. but it is believed that the first people in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans. During the middle ages in Europe. the use of the umbrella almost disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again It became a symbol of power.

Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasnˈt until the twentieth century that the umbrellas for women began to be made in all kinds of colors.