One day, an electricity（电力）generator（发电机）broke down. The electric lights went out all over the city. Machines1, computers failed, fridges no longer worked, and frozen foods went2.There was no radio and no television.The situation was very3. As a result, the loss of power was costing the electricity company tens of thousands of dollars.It was costing industry and business in the town many more thousands of dollars.
Engineers worked for hours without a stop trying to get the generator to start again, but nothing
4. The generator had a mistake that no one understood. Hopelessly, the manager of the electric company invited a world-famous expert on generators. A few hours 5, he flew into town. He drove to the6 station and walked around the generator. He looked at it carefully and then took a small hammer (锤子) out of his pocket and hit a part of the generator with it. Rapidly, the generator started working again.
The expert gave his 7 to the manager of the electric company. It said: "For restarting one generator: $5,000." The manager was very 8. "Five thousand dollars!" he shouted. "For hitting the generator with a hammer! It's too much money! I won't pay for it!" The expert took the bill back and 9 it slightly. Now it said:"For hitting one generator: $1. For knowing 10 to hit: $4,999."
Are you the person sitting in the corner of the classroom during the break time hoping no one will come up and talk to you? If this sounds like you, you're not alone. If you want to become more socially confident, follow the advice.
Accept your personality. Many people happen to be introverted, meaning that you're more comfortable spending time alone. If this sounds like you, don't force yourself to completely become an outgoing, social person. Doing so can lead to stress, worry, and even heart disease. Instead, spend time in social situations you already enjoy and try to have meaningful conversations.By accepting your introverted nature, you can focus on the quality of your social communications.
Understand the importance of confidence. You can become socially confident by attracting other people in a way that interests them and makes them feel heard. These skills, are known as social ability. Practicing social ability can create chances for yourself to get close to others.
Avoid negative (消极的) thoughts. If you don't see yourself as socially confident, it can be easy to look for things that confirms your thoughts. Catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, and ask yourself what you see or hear can prove the thought. For example, imagine you're thinking, "I know everyone here thinks I'm boring because I have nothing interesting to say." Stop thinking that and ask yourself what proves the negative thought.
I know I'm not an ordinary (普通的) ten-year-old kid. I mean, sure, I do ordinary things. I eat ice cream. I ride my bike. I play ball. I play video games. Things like that make me ordinary, I guess. Also, I feel ordinary inside. But I know ordinary kids don't make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. I know ordinary kids don't get stared at (盯着) wherever they go.
If I found a magic lamp and I could have one wish, I would wish that I had a common face that no one ever noticed at all. I would wish that I could walk down the street without people seeing me and then doing that look-away thing.
But I'm kind of used to how I look by now. I know how to pretend (假装) I don't see the faces people make when they see me. We've all gotten pretty good at that kind of thing: Mom and Dad, my elder sister Via, and me. Actually, I should take that back: Via is not so good at it. She can get really angry when people do something rude to me. Like, for example, one time in the playground, some older kids saw me and made some noises. I don't even know what the noises were exactly because I didn't hear them myself, but Via heard them and she just started shouting at those kids. That's the way she is. I'm not that way.
Via doesn't see me as ordinary. She says she does, but I know that if I were ordinary, she wouldn't feel like she needs to protect me that much. Mom and Dad don't see me as ordinary, either. They see me as special. I think the only person in the world who realizes how ordinary I am is me.
My name is August, by the way. I won't describe what I look like to you. Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse.
Today, our children spend more and more time online. Many children spend a lot of their free time playing games on the Internet, on video game systems or on their mobile phones. In the UK, 99% of the kids aged 8 to 15 play video games every week, and children as young as five play video games regularly (有规律地).This information tells that the advantages and dangers of video games must be carefully considered.
For many people,____________.They have bright lights, funny cartoons and exciting stories. Video games also make you think in a creative way and you have to move your hands and eyes quickly. This can improve the way that a child's brain works. Video games also make children use their imagination (想象力). The player has to do many creative things, like drawing and building things. Video games are also a good way to teach children about technology because they can learn how computers and other devices (设备) work while they play.
However, a recent study suggests that video games can also be bad for children. First, children can download (下载) many games for free. They don't need money, so they don't need to ask their parents if they can download the games. This means that parents often don't know if their children are playing violent (暴力的) or scary games. Second, many children spend too much time playing games on computers, smartphones and iPads and this can lead to health problems — children who spend too much time on the computer and don't exercise can become overweight. Third, if children spend too much time playing games instead of doing homework, they can have problems at school and get bad grades. Finally, video games can affect children's social skills, they might not learn how to play with their friends.
In conclusion, it seems clear that video games have some advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, they are fun and educational. On the other hand, they can cause problems with children's health and social skills. It is up to parents to know what games their children are playing and how much time they spend on them. Parents should also make sure their children get enough exercise and spend time with other children.
Over the past billions of years, many animals and plants have lived on this beautiful planet. But about 99.9 percent of them died out. This is because they couldn't adapt to (适应) where they lived. To survive, living things must change over time. This is called evolution (进化) .
When reading this article, please remember that every one of us is a lucky dog.We evolve, and we survive! After years of evolution, now we have the abilities to live in the world and enjoy it. Just like humans, other animals on Earth also evolve great abilities. For example, giraffes live on the grassland of Africa. To adapt to life there, they have evolved longer necks to reach the high trees, as well as longer legs to run away from lions and cheetahs (猎豹).
However, evolution also gives giraffes a strange habit: They only sleep for about 30 minutes a day and less than 5 minutes a time, and they sleep standing! Why are they so wakeful? Well, that's because they are so tall. They need longer time getting off the ground and run. Because of this special sleep style, they won't become easy meals for others.
As you see, evolution isn't always perfect. It helps animals to live, but it sometimes also gives them what they don't really want. Don't feel sorry. It's part of natural selection (选择). In order to survive, all of this is necessary.
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Facts About Evolution |
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Why evolution happens |
Humans and other animals on earth need to evolve great abilities to adapt to the . |
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Take giraffes for |
They have evolved longer necks to high trees, as well as longer legs to run away from dangerous animals. |
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They only sleep for a very short time and they sleep standing, or they will be eaten by others. |
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Whether evolution is perfect |
Evolution isn't always perfect. On the one hand, it helps animals to live. On the other hand, it sometimes can not just their needs. |
注意事项：
1）短文须根据流程图自拟，要求语句通顺、意思连贯、符合题意；
2）括号中提供的信息为非限定性内容，仅供参考；
3）词数在100 个左右，短文开头已在答题卡上给出，不计入总词数；
4）短文必须写在答题卡指定的位置上。
参考词汇：快乐的状态 a happy state of mind
Everything seems to be out of control sometimes, but what we can control is our state of mind.
