How to Order

Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.

Selecting Your Books

When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you’ve selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you’re ready to place your order, select View Basket.

View Basket

This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also amend (修改) the contents of your basket by making any changes and then selecting Update Basket.

Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you’re happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.

The Order Form

After you’ve completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.

We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.

Your First Order

We’ll send you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.

Returning Customers

If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).

However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order—simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don’t have a note of your account number just Contact us so that we can supply it to you.

1.We can probably read this advertisement ______.

A．in a newspaper     B．in a magazine       C．on the Internet     D．on TV

2.Yours choices will be displayed in order to ______.

A．To make it easy to keep track of the books.

B．To make sure you’ve selected a book.

C．To make an advertisement.

D．To show this is the postal destination.

3.Which of the following is true?

A．You must put what you choose in a basket as you do in a supermarket.

B．You can find your Shopping Basket nowhere but in View Basket.

C．You will get your personal account number the third time you order..

D．You can get an account number after you place an order online

4.The purpose of this advertisement is______.

A．to promote the sale of books

B．to show the procedure of ordering books online

C．to help readers apply for account numbers

D．to supply account numbers to readers

 

On Jan 23, 2012, I was aboard a ship on the Yangtze River, listening to the sound of fireworks and eating plate after plate of dumplings.

On Sunday Feb 10, 2013, I was preparing to celebrate Chinese New Year again – in London’s Chinatown.

It was raining. It was cold. But ever since I left Beijing in August, I had promised myself I would celebrate Chinese New Year – if only to help with my Beijing “homesickness”.

Central London was dressed up for the occasion. There was a stage for a big fireworks display for the evening. Even so, it wasn’t like my real Beijing chunjie.

Even buying a baozi didn’t cheer me up. It cost about 10 times as much as the real thing does in Beijing and got stuck to its rain-ruined paper bag.

Cold, wet and depressed, I ran into a shop for shelter. Suddenly, there it was. Between the packets of dried meat and fish, the bags of rice and the smell of dried noodles in this little Chinese supermarket, I had found home.

An hour later, I hurried into my house with bags of frozen jiaozi, packets of sauce and a large bottle of vinegar. I boiled water, tore open the packets, grabbed my chopsticks and settled down to a feast. This, I thought, is a Happy Chinese New Year.

I even watched the fireworks on TV. After all, why face the British weather when I can bring China home in one bite?

1. We can conclude from the first three paragraphs that the author ______.

A. likes watching fireworks on the boat

B. misses Chinese food more than anything else

C. finds it great fun to celebrate Chinese New Year

D. misses her life in Beijing very much

2.How did the author feel when she found some Chinese foods in a supermarket?

A. a little curious                B. rather tired

C. a bit comfortable           D. very depressed

3.Why did the author watch the fireworks on TV?

A. She didn’t want to get wet and cold again.

B. The square is far away from where she lives.

C. She doesn’t like fireworks very much.

D. She was too hungry to go out.

4.What is the best title of the passage?

A. Unforgettable Chunjie in Beijing            B. Wonderful Experience in Britain

C. Finding Home in London                                   D. Festival in London

 

Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.

Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.

“Surgery(外科手术)”, one replied. I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job. One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!”

At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!

It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.

No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost. In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.

1.We can know from the passage that the author works as ______.

A．a doctor          B．a model           C．a teacher          D．a reporter

2.Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to______.

A．marry a better man\woman               B．become a model

C．get an advantage over others in job-hunt     D．attract more admirers

3.According to the passage, the author believes that ______.

A．everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost

B．it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs

C．media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery

D．it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career

4.What does the author think of his height?

A．He hates to be called a short man.

B．He tries to increase his height through surgery.

C．He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact.

D．He just accepts it as it is

 

My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.

My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.

Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.

If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.

That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.

If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.

Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.

1.We can infer from the 2^nd paragraph that we students still _____ .

A．have enough time                       B．can meet the president

C．get everything done well                  D．should accept the explanation

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework.

B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job.

C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time.

D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student.

3.What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Students don’t have enough time.         B．Don’t work harder; work smarter.

C．No one can get more time.                D．Read better and write better.

 

There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time set aside for fun. And the best part is that these are the kind of memories a child will remember for a lifetime.

Family game night

Find out any of the games that are already around the house. Kids often get computer games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of your own. “Charades” is a fun game to play that will challenge a child to use his/her imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words that the other has to act out.

________________________

Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own masterpiece. It doesn't need to be just a drawing -- take some old magazines sitting around the house, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own montage. Or, use items from nature. Let them use leaves, pine cones, twigs and whatever else they can find to create something from their imaginations.

Family Picnic

Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn't cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let the kids have a day of playing. Or, if it is the middle of winter and a foot of snow is on the ground, set up a picnic in the living room.

Family Field Trip

A family field trip doesn't have to cost a dime. Ask a nearby farm if it would be alright to bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park and make a scavenger hunt where they need to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work -- you might be surprised at the number of people who would be thrilled to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for the kids.

1.We can learn from the passage that “charades” ________.

A．is a computer game

B．is too difficult for children

C．involves acting out words

D．should be played by more than four people

2.What is the best title to be put in the blank of part two? ____________

A．Family art time                         B．Family gardening time

C．Family music time                       D．Family cleaning time

3.According to the passage, the family picnic____________.

A．should be held in the middle of winter

B．can be held inside your house

C．will be very meaningful if held in offices

D．will cost much money if held on a farm

4.Who might be most interested in this passage? _________.

A．Parents           B．Teachers          C．Farmers           D．Employers

5.The writer wrote this passage mainly to _____________.

A．encourage children to use imagination.

B．share precious family memories

C．discuss young children’s interests

D．suggest fun activities to families