阅读理解

    It's true that “A small change can make a big difference” in our life. A better technical term that can well 1 this idea is the “Butterfly Effect”. A butterfly's 2 wings can make changes in the path of a tornado; it may  3  create or prevent a tornado at a certain location.

    The “Butterfly Effect” plays a role in our  4  to a great extent. Small  5  could make a huge difference in our relationships. Most of the time we take things for granted in our  6 relations. We don't even think of saying “Thank You” to our parents as we  7 they are supposed to do things for us. Understanding some of the subtle（细腻的）feelings of our loved ones and  8 them the way they need would  9 change the relationship into a stronger one. I've come across people who feel  10 in their relationships as they  11 to address these small needs.

    The “Butterfly Effect” also plays a role in our work. Looking  12 into the smallest details while starting a 13 is critical. A subtle mistake while taking care of our customer's  14 could end up creating big trouble at the end of the process. This would mean a huge expense to  15 at the final delivery stage.

    Every morning, the time it takes me to  16 to my office depends on what time I start from my home. It usually takes 30 minutes if I start at 7:20 am. It takes more than a(n)  17 if I start at 7:30 am. At first I was  18 how just a 10-minute difference initially could add more than 30 minutes to the journey.  19 , the number of vehicles that come out on the road increases more than twice due to that 10-minute  20 and it looks like butterflies crowding on the road. Yes, this is nothing but the “Butterfly Effect”.

阅读理解

    Earlier this year, the social media website Facebook announced that it would work with several news organizations — including The New York Times, The Guardian, and the BBC — to place news stories directly into users' personal Facebook webpage.  Stories published using Facebook Instant will load more quickly and keep the style of the original publisher, who will keep all the advertising income the stories earn — at least for now. The deal shows how important social media has become to news organizations, and is a clear sign of how the world of news is changing — and has been for a while.

    When Google News began in 2002, many saw it as the death of the newspaper. It had no human editor. Instead Google used, and still uses, a secret computer program that selects and displays news stories according to the reader's personal interests. More recently, Associated Press and Yahoo! have been publishing computer-written articles. Both use special software to automatically produce stories about company financial results and sports reports — areas where the quality of writing is felt to be of secondary importance to the accuracy of the data.

    Should we be worried about such developments? I think we should. One concern is that facebook, Google and other social media websites see journalism as a sideline, a way of putting people in front of advertisements. It isn't their primary function — so if it stops making them lots of money, they're likely to stop doing it.

    There's also a concern that computer-written articles are not actually journalism at all, because what a human news team produces is actually quite complex. A well-written news story puts information in context, offers a voice to each side of an argument and brings the public new knowledge.

    Though economics and speed of delivery mean readers will probably choose a computer-written story over a carefully shaped article — at least for daily news — I don't think the computers will be writing any in-depth articles for a while yet.

完形填空

    We always celebrated my Dad's November birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. As years went on, these events took on a(n) 1 meaning – a traditional birthday party for Dad, and a personal 2 for all that he had done for me in my life.

    When we knew that it might be Dad's 3 birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home. It was a crowded party 4 all of us sitting around him. Dad was a wonderful 5 , and here was a biggest audience he'd ever had.

    During a quiet moment, I announced that it was now Dad's turn to 6 stories from us. I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him. 7 , we told stories from our hearts, 8 Dad listened with wet, flashing blue eyes. We 9 all kinds of lost memories – stories about when we were little, stories about when Dad was young and stories that are shared as family 10 . Even the littlest grandchildren couldn't 11 to tell their grandfather why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our 12 to honor him.

    A few months later, at Dad's memorial service, we fully realized what we had given Dad that night. Those were the stories people normally tell at a 13 . They are told, then, full of tears, with the hope that the departed will somehow hear the outpouring of love. 14  we had given those loving 15 to Dad when he was 16 , told through laughter, accompanied by hugs and joy. I'm sure the stories and memories 17 over in his mind during his last months and days.

    Words do 18 , and they are enough. We need to say them, to speak them 19 to the ones we love, for everyone else to hear. That's the way to 20 love, and our chance to honor a person in life.

完形填空

    We always celebrated my Dad's November birthday on Thanksgiving Day, even after he entered a nursing home. As years went on, these events took on a(n) 1 meaning – a traditional birthday party for Dad, and a personal 2 for all that he had done for me in my life.

    When we knew that it might be Dad's 3 birthday, the whole family decided to come together for a huge birthday celebration at the nursing home. It was a crowded party 4 all of us sitting around him. Dad was a wonderful 5 , and here was a biggest audience he'd ever had.

    During a quiet moment, I announced that it was now Dad's turn to 6 stories from us. I wanted everyone to tell Dad what we loved about him. 7 , we told stories from our hearts, 8 Dad listened with wet, flashing blue eyes. We 9 all kinds of lost memories – stories about when we were little, stories about when Dad was young and stories that are shared as family 10 . Even the littlest grandchildren couldn't 11 to tell their grandfather why they loved him. For a man who had been kind to so many people in his life, here was our 12 to honor him.

    A few months later, at Dad's memorial service, we fully realized what we had given Dad that night. Those were the stories people normally tell at a 13 . They are told, then, full of tears, with the hope that the departed will somehow hear the outpouring of love. 14  we had given those loving 15 to Dad when he was 16 , told through laughter, accompanied by hugs and joy. I'm sure the stories and memories 17 over in his mind during his last months and days.

    Words do 18 , and they are enough. We need to say them, to speak them 19 to the ones we love, for everyone else to hear. That's the way to 20 love, and our chance to honor a person in life.