Many people like travelling, but they cannot take their dogs wherever they go. Some people let their dogs stay alone at home while others ask someone else to take care of their pets. If you're leaving your beloved pet at home for a holiday, it can turn into a bad experience. Luckily, you don't have to worry about your dogs any more because Rover can cover for you while you are on leave. Rover is the latest service to offer athome dog boarding. It's a good alternative (替代物) to boarding your dog at a dog boarding kennel (狗舍) or your neighbour's house.
The way Rover works is sort of like Airbnb. Dog owners browse the "search" section of the site or app for pet sitters, which can be organized by zip code and available dates. Information of pet sitters is provided, complete with many reviews, specific services and rates. Now Rover has over 25,000 pet sitters in more than 5,000 US cities. And they're all experienced pet sitters.
After finding someone that meets your needs, just send messages to the pet sitter to arrange a meeting. Then, like Rover says, all that is left to do is relax! Rover's pet sitters are encouraged to send text and picture information throughout the day, and if there's a medical emergency, the site will send a vet. Besides, don't worry about a pet sitter who falls through, because someone else will soon take his or her place.
Happy doggie, happy travels — that sounds good to us. To learn more about Rover, click here.
If you're planning on travelling, there are a few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.
First of all, always check and doublecheck departure (起程) time. It is amazing how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10：50. When I arrived at the airport, the clerk at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.
The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards, it is still important to have at least a little of the local currency (货币) with you when you arrive in a country. This can be necessary if you are flying to a place few tourists normally visit. Once I arrived at a place at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi and because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead. "Listen! I only take real money!" the driver said angrily. Luckily I was able to borrow a few dollars from a clerk at the hotel, but it was embarrassing.
The third and last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.
Thirteen hours later we just arrived in Paris after many dramas (戏剧性事件).
I rented a car, filled it up and moved ahead to Bristol airport that morning. We set off at 8:00 a.m. and all was going well until we got to the turn for Bristol airport. The airport sign (指示牌) suggested we went out from the M5, but Suri asked me to continue going straight ahead, so against my better judgment, I let the airport turn pass us by.
Next we left for South Wales, the car was back and we had a plane to Paris to catch in a couple of hours. It was about then that I realized we were heading for Wales on a sixroad highway. I felt very bad. We turned off the highway and turned into a country road, as directed by Suri and there was a sign saying that the road to the airport was closed. I saw a lady watering her garden and asked her about the best way to the airport. She said we were at least 30 minutes from the airport, but she couldn't help us with the right directions (方向).
I was so worried as we really were out in the country without any guidance. All I could think of was to turn Suri off and follow the signs myself.
Then finally after many butterflies in the stomach and feeling like my heart was going to burst (爆裂) out of my chest, there was a proper green sign to the airport and we followed it with so much joy.
Driving from the airport into Paris was a shock, Lots of homeless people were sleeping under the highways with rubbish everywhere.
Anyway we're now in Paris. The experience of getting lost is now almost laughable. In another 24 hours will be my 50th birthday. I have a big party planned for myself in Paris.
①We arrived in Paris.
②We followed the proper green sign.
③We rented a car.
④We got to the turn.
⑤We drove in the countryside.
Scientists have recently discovered that animals that live in groups, such as elephants, foxes, and wolves, are more likely to follow rules. If they don't, and each does its own thing, the group will probably break apart. Group members would be forced to live alone, and would have a harder time hunting and raising their young. That's probably why a traveling wolf pack was seen stopping and waiting for its limping (跛行的) leader to catch up. Similar social ties are believed to be responsible for an elephant saving her friend from drowning.
Sometimes, though, animals try their best to do what's right, even when there's nothing in it for them. Nobody knows exactly why. "It might simply feel good to be kind, just as it does for humans." says Bekoff. If your friend wasn't nice to you, what would you do? Maybe you would just walk away. That's exactly what a wild red fox did when she was playing boxing with another fox.
Toby was a generous cat. For ten years, the kind kitty shared his food with a spaniel (长耳狗) named Katie. After supper, owner Linda Gustafson always divided the food. She'd drop some in Katie's bowl on the floor and some in Toby's dish on the kitchen counter. Gustafson kept the cat's dish up high to keep Katie from stealing Toby's treats. As it turned out, Katie didn't need to steal; she only had to beg. Every night, the spaniel ate her food in a few seconds. Then she'd sit and stare at the cat and every night, Toby would be nice. Using his paw, he'd get several pieces of tasty food down to the waiting dog. Apparently, Katie appreciated it, because whenever she was curled up in her beanbag bed and the cat walked over, she would give up her nice, warm spot. "Toby would then lie down in the center of the beanbag," says Gustafson, "and Katie would lie on the floor."
Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter gatherers, small, tightly knit (联系) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.
Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the nationstate and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.
At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot, wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1,000; Africa 2,400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800.The median number (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that.
Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon(eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan Apache in the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival.
As scientists in the Netherlands tried to figure out how to build a super flying robot, they learned from one of nature's flyers: the humble fruit fly. And by building this robot, they've gained new understanding of how the fly carries out one of its dangerous tasks.
The robot is called the DelFly Nimble. Its wingspan (翼展) is about a foot wide. It has four wings that can beat at 17 times per second, which appear very delicate because they're made of the same material as space blankets.
"In previous designs, they always had a tail, like a traditional airplane tail," said the robot's main designer Matej Karasek. He's based at the Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and he and his colleagues published their findings on Thursday in Science.
"In previous generations," he said, "flapping wings drove the robot forward while the tail helped to guide and stabilise (稳定) it. But now the DelFly Nimble is completely controlled by the wings." "The challenge then was actually combining the control into the wing movement, and that's what we achieved," Karasek said.
"In the latest generation, the wings can each move individually or rotate (旋转) around the body of the robot. The robot can remain in one place in the air for about five minutes on a full battery or fly for more than a kilometre," Karasek said, "and because the scientists are controlling all the movements, they can use the robot to learn more about how fruit flies actually carry out their dangerous tasks, which has caught the attention of biologists. "
English has developed over a long history.
Old English consists of a (mix) of Celtic language and the languages spoken by two Germanic groups from the (Europe) mainland. At the end of the 9th century, the Vikings moved to Britain, (bring) with them their languages. Their languages also mixed Old English, which had become the official language of England by the 10th century.
Middle English refers to the English (use) from around the 12th to the 15th centuries. In 1066, Normans, French speaking people, defeated England. French did not replace English as the first language, it (play) an important role in the formation of English.
During the Renaissance in the 16th century, Modern English appeared, in many Latin and Greek words were included. Now English is (wide) spoken around the world.
Cody and his sister April decide they want to have a pet dog. They head down to the local pet store and have a look around. It is a very small pet store that does not have many animals.
The owner of the shop is a nice old man named Mr Smith. He walks over and greets Cody and April.
"How can I help you?" he asks.
"We would like to buy a dog."April responds.
"Ah, well, we are not a big pet shop," Mr Smith tells her. "So we only have two dogs to choose from."
They ask Mr Smith to show them the dogs.
Mr Smith leads them to the back of the store where the two dogs are. One of them is a very big Bulldog named Buster. It looks strong and fierce. The other is a very tiny Chihuahua named Teacup. It looks cute and lovely.
April wants Teacup the Chihuahua, while Cody wants Buster the Bulldog. To make a decision, they walk outside to discuss.
Even after they have a discussion, they cannot agree on a dog. April suggests they race home for it. The winner of the race will choose the dog.
Cody agrees. Before the race starts, Cody tells April that her shoelace is untied. When April looks down, he runs off and gets a head start.
Cody runs as hard as he can. He really wants that Bulldog as a pet. He looks back. April is so far behind he cannot even see her.
Cody finally gets home. He is tired but he is happy. He knows he is the winner.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为100左右；
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1：
April arrives a few minutes after Cody. ……
Paragraph 2：
Mr Smith tells them the details.……
James Charles is the manager of Kiplin Automotive Group. For about two months, he has been 1 people to use the company's parking lot as a safe place to sleep at night.
Charles was first 2 to pursue (从事)his labor of love after he found there was a woman 3 in a car. Knowing the woman was 4, Charles tried to get her into a shelter. However, he was 5 to find that every shelter in the city was lull. 6 he paid for her to stay in a hotel for a few nights, he knew there were other people experiencing the same situation. "That was really the 7 I got at that time and I realized I needed to do something for those people without delay (耽搁)," he said.
Then Charles 8 made a post online asking community members to 9 the word about his plan, so that people in need could know his good 10. "For those going through 11 times, we would like to 12 a safe place for you. We can't put everyone in a hotel, but13 we can get you a parking lot, a safe place for the night," wrote Charles.
Since more and more people have 14 his social media post, more and more people joined Charles in reaching a hand. "Any 15, no matter how small, will go towards helping the homeless," Charles said, "One hand washes the other; two hands wash the face."
Barbara Millicent Roberts, also called Barbie, (consider) the most successful toy doll in history. She first (appear) in the world of toys about 60 years ago, and has become very popular among little girls.
According to the Mattel Company, created Barbie, 90% of all American girls between 3 and 10 have at least one Barbie at home. However, today there are many dolls competing Barbie on the market. Bratz dolls, for example, look more like today's pop (star) with lots of makeup and miniskirts. Now Bratz is great challenge to Barbie, as the company offers various clothing, too.
It seems that Barbie is no longer (attract) to older girls. "For younger girls, playing with a Barbie is much fun, but when they get older, they want something more fashionable and modern," says a shop keeper of a toy store in New York. On the international scene, Barbie remains number one. Although Mattel has been selling fewer Barbies in the United States over the past years, sales in other countries have kept (rise). It is hard (say) how long Barbie will stay on as a celebrity in the world of toy dolls, but (undoubted) 60 is not the age to retire.
An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son. Suddenly a crow perched on their window.
The father asked his son, "What is this？"The son replied, "It is a crow. "
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, "What is this？"The son said, "Father, I have just now told you, it's a crow!"
After a little while, the old father again asked his son for the third time, "What is this？"
At this time some expression of irritation was felt in the son's tone when he said to his father with a rebuff. "It's a crow, a crow. "A little while later, the father again asked his son the fourth time, "What is this？"
This time, the son shouted at his father, "Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again, although I have told you so many times' IT IS A CROW'. Are you not able to understand this？"
A little later the father went to his room and came back with an old tattered diary, which he had maintained since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary：
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）至少使用5个短文中有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa,
……
After reading the diary,
Remembering names is an important social skill. Here are some ways to master it.
● Recite and repeat in conversation. When you hear a person's name, repeat it. You could also repeat the name in a way that does not sound forced or artificial.
● Ask the other person to recite and repeat. After you've been introduced to someone, ask that person to spell the name and pronounce it correctly for you. Most people will be pleased by the effort you're making to learn their names.
● Admitting that you can't remember someone's name can actually make people relaxed. Most of them will feel sympathy (同情) if you say, "I'm working to remember names better. Yours is right on the tip of my tongue. What is it again？"
● Use associations (联想). For example, you could make a mental note："Vicki Cheng—tall, black hair. " To reinforce (加强) your associations, write them on a small card as soon as possible.
● Limit the number of new names you learn at one time. When meeting a group of people, concentrate (全神贯注) on remembering just two or three names. Few of the people in mass introductions expect you to remember their names. Another way is to limit yourself to learning just first names. Last names can come later.
A. Admit you don't know.
B. Recite and repeat names.
C. Free yourself from remembering everyone.
D. You can let other people help you remember their names.
E. If you can't remember someone's name, you may tell him the truth.
F. Immediately say it to yourself several times without moving your lips.
G. Link each person you meet with one thing you find interesting or unusual.
If you want to have a garden full of life and motion, you have to attract some wildlife.
It's not as difficult as it may sound. Your garden will attract insects, bugs, birds and mammals. You will make yourself happy and at the same time you will provide a living space for these beautiful creatures. All you need to do is to follow this advice and you will have the garden of your dreams. If you think your garden has to be messy and untidy, you're wrong. You need waves and long-living plants and strong curves of hedges (树篱) and paths. It's advisable to have the grass.
Provide water. It's important to provide water. Some animals can use even your pool to have a bath. Bees love shallow water. It's vital to change the water in your pond regularly to avoid breeding mosquitoes.
Provide food. Planting native plants is what you have to do in order to attract wildlife. Plants like roses, honeysuckle and lavender attract different insects like bees and butterflies. Humming birds are fans of fuchsia and geraniums. Trees and shrubs that produce fruit, berries and seed are good sources of food for your little friends.
Provide some shelters for wildlife. You need to plant evergreen plants, too, because they are suitable places for wildlife to take shelter.
Some species will overtake your garden and make it unfriendly. If there are wild cats that threaten the wildlife in your garden, it would be wise to take steps to keep those out.
A. Keep attacking species away.
B. Kill attacking species once it appears.
C. It's reasonable to keep native species.
D. This can be as simple as placing a bird feeder.
E. You can have a fountain and a small artificial pond.
F. Silence won't bother you anymore and you won't be alone.
G. It's important to provide everything animals will need to live in your garden.
