“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral (道德上的) freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” “Keep cool”, says George Herbert, “for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also. What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?
| A．The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself. |
| B．One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself. |
| C．To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life. |
| D．If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful. |
What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad” ?
| A．If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first. |
| B．If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished. |
| C．If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy. |
| D．If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods. |
If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.
| A．the very backbone and nerve of character |
| B．the patience and power to control himself |
| C．strong feelings |
| D．self-confidence |
The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.
| A．explain that self-control is the key to success |
| B．teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success |
| C．distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it |
| D．advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends |
It was early morning. Peter Corbett helped Mark Wellman out of his wheelchair and onto the ground. They stood before El Capitan, a huge mass of rock almost three-quarters of a mile high in California's beautiful Yosemite Valley. It had been Mark's dream to climb El Capitan for as long as he could remember. But how could a person without the use of his legs hope to try to climb it?
Mark knew he couldn't finish the climb alone, but his friend Peter, an expert rock climber, would be there to lend a helping hand. He and Mark thought that it would take seven days to reach the top.
Peter climbed about 100 feet up and hammered a piton (岩钉) into the rock. Fastening one end of a 165-foot rope to the piton, he let one end of the rope fall down. Mark caught the rope and fastened it to his belt with a special instrument. This instrument would allow Mark to move upward, but would prevent him from falling even as much as a single inch. He next reached above his head and fastened a T-shaped bar to the rope, using the same kind of instrument.
Mark took a deep breath, pushed the T-bar up almost as far as his arms could reach, and began the first of the 7,000 pull-ups needed to reach the top. High above, Peter let out a cheer. “You're on your way.”
Seven years before, at the age of twenty-one, he had fallen while mountain climbing, injuring his backbone. The fall cost him the use of his legs, but he never lost his love of adventure or his joyful spirit.
For the first four days the two men progressed steadily upward without incident. But on the fifth day an unbearably hot wind began to blow, and as time went by, it became stronger and stronger, causing Mark to sway (摇摆) violently on his rope. But Mark kept on determinedly pushing up the T-bar and pulling himself up. In spite of that, he had to admit that he felt a lot better when the wind finally died down and his body touched solid rock again.
It took them one day more than they had expected, but on July 26 at 1:45 in the afternoon, the crowd of people waiting on the top went wild with joy as the two heads appeared. Mark Wellman had shown that if you set your heart and mind on a goal, no wall is too high, no dream impossible.What had Mark Wellman long desired to do?
| A．To finish one of the most difficult rock climbs in the world. |
| B．To be the first to climb El Capitan. |
| C．To climb the highest mountain in California. |
| D．To help his friend Peter climb El Capitan. |
How did Mark climb the mountain?
| A．He fastened the rope to his wheelchair. |
| B．He hammered in pitons so that he had something to hold on to. |
| C．He held on to the T-bar and Peter pulled him up. |
| D．He pulled himself up using a T-bar and special equipment. |
What was the worst problem Mark had during the climb?
| A．He struck against the rock and hurt his arms. |
| B．A strong wind blew him away from the rock. |
| C．He kept falling several inches. |
| D．While swaying in space, he became terrified. |
How did Mark react to difficulties during the climb?
| A．He admitted that he was frightened. |
| B．He often worried about his friend's condition. |
| C．He was able to remain clam and determined. |
| D．He was joking to cheer himself up. |
In most developed countries the government provides free education for children because it realizes that educated citizens are useful to the country in their later life. Most countries also have private (私立的)education. This means that parents can pay to send their children to certain schools. People who agree with this system say that it gives parents a larger choice of schools. Other people think that private schools give the children who go to them an unfair advantage over other children.
At the age of three, many children go to nursery school. Two or three years later, they enter a primary school. At the age of 11 they go to a secondary school. Then they may have a chance .of continuing their studies at a university or college.
Universities and colleges are places where some young people go to continue their education after leaving school. Most university students study one main subject, though they may also study a number of others. Teaching is usually by lectures, or by discussions between a lecturer and students.
Most students stay at university for three or four years. At the end of that, they take an examination. If they pass, they receive their Bachelor’s degree, usually a BA, which is short for Bachelor of Arts, or a BS for Bachelor of Science. Some students study for several more years in order to get higher degree, such as a MA or a PhD
Most university courses don’t train students to do a certain job. Colleges, on the other hand, usually teach skills which enable students to follow a career（职业）, such as clothing design, or business studies.The passage mainly tells us_______.
A Something about the private schools in developed countries
B. How developed countries pay attention to education
C. Some general information about education in developed countries
Why education is important Why do most developed countries provide free education to children?
| A．Because the children don’t have money to go to school. |
| B．Because the government want their citizens to be useful to the country. |
| C．Because education doesn’t cost the country too much money. |
| D．Because there are not enough private schools. |
In the first paragraph the underlined word “citizen” refer to________.
| A．the cities | B．members of a country |
| C．the children | D．people who lives in cities |
Which of the following statement is true according to the passage?
All the university students study one subject.
After studying at the university for three or four years, all the students can get a Bachelor’s degree.
C. Students usually receive a master’s degree before receiving a Bachelor’s degree.
D. Unlike university, colleges usually teach students some useful skills for a career
“How was school, Ben?” I asked my grandson after he began kindergarten(幼儿园) this year. “The work is too long… and there’s not enough time to play,” he replied.
I couldn’t help but remember Ben’s own mother, my daughter, Jane, and her reaction(反应) to the first day of school. Julie was also disappointed with the first day of school and so was her little sister. My three-year-old daughter announced angrily after her big sister got on the big yellow school bus, “I want to go ‘sool’ and you not let me!”
When Julie returned home that afternoon, I asked her the same question that I asked Ben, “How was school, Julie?” Julie replied, “I didn’t learn to read today.”
This year as the school bus passed my house, my mind went back to those school days again. I could almost smell the chalk dust in the air. I also wonder what the children these days manage to get chosen to do in order to get out of school for a few moments since there are no erasers to clean. It was fun to be “chosen” for eraser cleaning duty. This was a task finished by going outside and beating erasers together while sneezing and coughing. No wonder so many babies now have allergies(过敏症), and it’s simply because we all have chalk dust in our lungs!
On the first day of school, the expectation was so great that I would be ready long before it was time to leave for school. We didn’t have backpacks because we had cigar boxes. We carried our small supplies inside a cigar box from one of the local stores. We saved the cigar boxes and used them from year to year until they fell apart.
The first day of school was exciting. It was a new beginning. The doors of knowledge had been opened. The first day of school is an event in our lives that most of us remember. It’s a big step for a small child toward leaving babyhood and so “there isn’t enough time to play”.Why did Jane become angry according to the passage?
| A．Because she didn’t learn to read on the first day of school. |
| B．Because there was too much work for her to do at school. |
| C．Because she had no time to play at school. |
| D．Because she was not allowed to go to school. |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 suggests that .
| A．the author was thinking of her school days jokingly |
| B．the author warned students against the harm of chalk dust |
| C．the author suffered from an allergy because of chalk dust |
| D．the author doubted whether her lungs had chalk dust |
In the opinion of the author, the first day of school is .
| A．a day when a child is the happiest |
| B．a day when a child does much work |
| C．the beginning of great learning |
| D．the end of childhood full of toys |
With big handbags becoming a key fashion accessory(配饰) for working women, health experts are warning they can also become a key health concern.
Bags for women have become bigger and heavier as designers combine briefcases with handbags and straps have become longer, resulting in many users complaining of neck, shoulder and back problems.
“I see so many women with neck pains and headaches and what I usually do is look for their purse and pick it up,”said Jane Sadler, a family practice physician at Baylor Medical Center in Garland, Texas.“We take it over to the scale and weigh it and usually they’re anywhere from 7 to 10 pounds. We’re really going to see women with more and more problems later on if we continue the big purse craze.”
William Case, a physical therapist(临床医生)in private practice in Houston, Texas, urged designers“to place a cute, educational caution tag(标签) on all bags to inform buyers of potential neck and shoulder dangers.”Above all, he suggested correct posture while carrying big purses, keeping the head and shoulders upright. Patients should also often change the size and weight of purses carried.
“The extra-large purses are quite extraordinary. They look beautiful when the women wear them, but I don’t know how aware they are of the potential problems,”Case said.
Placing objects on one shoulder was one of the least efficient(高效率的) ways of carrying a load, according to a professor from Cornell University in New York State.“This causes a great imbalance,”he said.“If a big bag is a fashion accessory, then occasional and symbolic use is fine. If not, then keep it light.”Jane Salder would“look for their purse and pick it up”in order to see whether the purses .
| A．contained enough | B．were worth a lot of pounds |
| C．were too heavy | D．were too large |
Which correctly explains the meaning of the underlined word“posture”in the 4th paragraph?
| A．The way you position your body. |
| B．The part of your body where you place a weight. |
| C．The strength you use to carry a weight. |
| D．The height of the weight you carry. |
None of the experts advised big bag users to .
| A．be aware of the big-bag problems |
| B．wear big bags in the right way |
| C．avoid using big bags very often |
| D．give up the fashion to keep fit |
Are you worried by the rising crime rate? If you are, you probably know that your house, possessions(财产) and person are increasingly in danger of suffering from great rise in the cases of burglary(夜盗;抢劫) and attack.
Figures show an ever-increasing crime rate, but it is only too easy to imagine "It will never happen to me". Unfortunately, statistics show that it really can happen to you and, if you live in a large city, you run twice the risk of being a victim.
Fortunately, there is something definite which you can do. Protect Alarms can help to protect your house with a burglar alarm system which is effective, simple to operate and easily affordable.
You must remember that owning a burglar alarm is no indication(暗示) that your house is packed with valuable possessions. It quite simply indicates to unwelcome visitors that yours is one house they will not break into easily, so they carry on to an unprotected house where their job is made a lot easier.
Send now for our free leaflet telling you how we can Protect Alarm your house quickly, easily and cheaply. Complete and tear off the slip below and post it to us. Postage is free. Also, telephone us on 327 6721 where we have a round-the-clock answering service. It costs nothing to find out about Protect Alarm. Anyone who takes an interest in the crime rate will, according to the text, be aware that ___________.
| A．more burglars are being caught than ever before |
| B．people have more possessions to worry about nowadays |
| C．burglars are more at risk than they used to be |
| D．homes are more likely to be broken into nowadays |
It seems that people who live in cities are ____________
| A．more often victims than those living in other areas |
| B．of the opinion that statistics are wrong |
| C．twice as well as people living in other areas |
| D．of the opinion that burglars only rob unprotected homes |
The article claims that possessing an alarm system will _________.
A. show burglars that you have something worth stealing
B. persuade burglars not to break into your house
C. make the burglars’job less complicatedThe underlined word "Figures" in the second paragraph can be replaced by" "
| A．Illustrations | B．Fingers | C．Numbers | D．Mathematics |