英语

Ladies and (21)__ gentlemen _________, welcome! You are standing in front of the heart and the home of French fashion ---the House of Chanel, here on the Avenue Charles de Gaulle in Paris. The House of Chanel is today known (22)__ throughout _________the world as a designer of women‟s clothes, as well as handbags, watches, perfumes and (23)____ cosmetics _______But the House of Chanel is perhaps best known for Coco Chanel, who (24)___ created ______ it. Gabrielle Chanel, as she was born, lost her parents when she was young and taught herself how to make, and then how to design, clothes. She opened her first shop in Paris in (25)_____ 1909 ______when she was only 26, but this was the (26)__ basis _________of what we know as the House of Chanel today. She was perhaps the most important fashion designer of the 20th century. Her (27)__ particular ______ style was the use of sports clothes for high fashion in the 20s, her little black dresses, her jewelry, and her use of men‟s suits for women. But perhaps most famous was her perfume Chanel No.5. For four (28)____ decades_____, Chanel was the most important fashion designer in Paris, and probably in the world. Coco Chanel died in 1973 but her name continues under the (29)___ inspiration ________of Karl Lagerfeld who has been chief designer since 1983, and who has (30)____ maintained _______the house style of Coco Chanel and adapted it for the 21st century.
Americans believe no one stands (21)___ still _____. If you are not moving ahead, you are (22)____ falling behind ________ . This attitude (23)__ results in ______ a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is one of the two (24)___ elements _____ that Americans save (25)_ carefully _______, the other being labor.
“We are slaves to nothing but the clock, ” it has been said. Time is (26)__ treated _as if it were something (27)___almost _____real. We budget it, save it, waste it, steal it, kill it, cut it, account for it; we also charge for it. It is a precious (28) resource ___. Many people have a rather acute (29)____ sense____of the shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person‟s hourglass, they cannot be (30)__ replaced ___. We want every minute to count.
Importance of Context in a Language
When conversation gets confusing, North Americans say, “I know you think you understand what you thought you heard me say, but I‟m not sure if what you heard was what I really meant.” We can learn how to find out what is going on around us in our everyday lives. But put into a new environment , we don‟t know what clues to look for. This can be disastrous or funny —but it is always embarrassing. Nobody wants to feel “left out” or “clueless”. As I adapt to China, I learn why teaching culture is harder than teaching language. Language has rules. Context doesn‟t. Every word needs a context to give it meaning. If you don‟t know the context, the word is nonsense. You have no “clue” what it means. The “clue” is the thread that leads you safely through 2 6danger . Two of my student friends were arguing in my home before our Friday evening movie. “The countryside is not the city, so isn‟t a town or village either. How can you say you‟re from the country when I 27 have visited your village?” one student asked the other. “If it‟s not city it‟s country,” the other insisted. Finally they asked me: “What does …country‟ mean?” My 28 favorite way to answer starts: “Well, it depends…” To a city person, it‟s true that anyth ing not in the city is rural, “country”. To me, “country” means wild, natural, 29 uncultivated , since I grew up near that. To a 19th-century writer like Hardy, “countryside” meant 30 small village farming life. “Country” also
means a nation geographically. So both were partially right. It depends on what you mean. Context decides.
The son wants to buy a pair of basketball (21)_ shoes ____ as his old ones look kind of (22)__funny___. But the father thinks there is still (23)_ a lot of life ________ left in the old shoes. The son points out that in an (24)_ad __ Yao Ming claims that these shoes give him (25)___ extra spring_______. The father, on the other hand, says that he does not make as much (26)__money ____ as Yao Ming does, and that the (27)_ tall ma n ______ does not need extra spring. What‟s more, the advertiser may give him (28)___millions of dollars _ for nothing __________ for wearing the shoes in the ad. To this the son answers jokingly that he would wear the new shoes (29)___ for nothing ______. Then the father replies that Yao Ming did not (30)___ reach the top ________ simply because of the shoes. Rather, there must be something else. The son knows his father means things like hard work and dedication. Finally the father asks the son to focus on his studies and forget the shoes.
The United States is full of automobiles. There are still families without cars, but some families have two or even more. However, cars are used for more than pleasure. They are a (21) _ necessary ________ part of life.
Cars are used for (22) ___business _____. They are driven to office and (23) ____ factories _____ by workers who have no other way to get to their jobs. When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city, they have to drive in order to carry their products. Farmers have to drive into the city in order to get (24) __ supplies
_____.
Sometimes small children must be driven to school. In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than (25) ___ a mi le ____ from the school. When the children are too young to walk that far. Their mothers take (26) _____ turns ___ driving them to school. One mother drives on Mondays, taking her own children and the neighbors‟ children as well. Another mother dri ves on (27) ___ Tuesday s ____, another on Wednesdays, and so on. This is called forming a car pool. Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.
More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer (28) __ automobiles __on the road and to use less gasoline. (29) __ Parking _____ is a great problem, and so is the traffic in and (30) __ around ____ cities. Too many cars are being driven. Something will have to be done about the use of cars.
To keep our children safe from dangerous criminals, these tips might be helpful. (21) First , children should be encouraged always to ask permission from their caregiver
before they go anywhere. They should (22notonly tell the caregiver where they
will be at all times, (23) butalso
who will be looking after them. Also, children should never walk or ride their bikes al one. (24) Instead, they should travel in groups whenever possible. (25) More importantly, children should be taught to stay away from strangers,(26) though they may offer to show them a puppy or give them candy. Children sh ould be taught to say "no" and run, scream, or fight if necessary. (27)
Moreover , children should be told that no problem is too big or too small to a
sk grown-
ups. (28) Infact, it is never too late to ask for help, and to keep asking until they get the help they need. (29) Last but not least, we should realize that many child-attack cases involve a family member or family friend, (30) for example
, a stepfather, sister's boyfriend, a babysitter, neighbor, and so on.。