The quest for success always begins with a target. As Berra once said, "You got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."
Too many people wander through life like sleepwalkers. Each day they follow familiar routines, never asking, “What am I doing with my life?” and they don’t know what they’re doing because they lack goals.
Goal-setting is a focusing of the will to move in a certain direction. Begin with a clear conception of what you want. Write down your goals and date them—putting them into words clarifies them. Rather than concentrating on objects to acquire and possess, focus on fulfilling your desires to do, to produce, to contribute—goal-setting that yields the true sense of satisfaction we all need.
It’s important to visualize（想象）yourself accomplishing your goal. While losers visualize the penalties（不利）of failure, winners visualize the rewards of success. I’ve seen it among athletes, statistics contrasting air and highway safety, but it made no difference. I had read too many articles describing crash scenes and imagined these scenes vividly. I had programmed myself, without realizing it, to stay off planes.
Then one summer I had the opportunity to fly on a private plane with friends to a resort；I didn’t want to miss out on a great vacation. So I spent two weeks imagining a smooth flight on a beautiful sunny day and an easy landing.
When the day arrived, I was eager to go. To everyone’s surprise, I got on the plane and I loved every minute of it, and I still use the techniques I employed that day.
68．According to the passage, if you want to be successful, the first thing for you to do is _______.
A．find the right methods B．be careful about everything
C．know your ability D．have a clear goal
69．If you have a target, you will ________.
A．wander like a sleepwalker B．know well what you are doing
C．do the same work every day D．put it into words
70．The problem with the author before he overcame his fear of air travel is that ______.
A．he didn’t know air travel is safer than highway travel
B．he couldn’t imagine himself accomplishing his goal
C．he read too much about plane crashes and tried to avoid flying
D．he wanted to take a private plane instead of a public one
71．What would be the best title for this passage?
A．Define Your Coal B．Visualize Rewards of Success
C．Overcome the Fear of Air Travel D．Sleepwalking Through Life
Mark Twain is a name not usually connected with Broadway(百老汇), but now his play “Is He Dead” will receive its first public performance on November 29.
“Is He Dead” was written by Mark Twain in 1898 but was never performed. It was rediscovered in 2002 by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, an English professor and director of the American Studies Program at Stanford University. It was published the following year by the University of California Press.
The story is about a group of poor artists who fake the death of their friend in order to increase the value of his work.
“Is He Dead” is set in France in the 1840s and centers on the French painter Jean-Francois Millet. “Millet was probably the most popular European painter in the United States in Twain’s lifetime,” Fishkin said in a telephone interview. “Americans greatly admired him because he focused on the life of the common man and the common woman.”
According to Fishkin, “Is He Dead” is a satire(讽刺) about how value is created in the art world. Twain wrote the play when he was coming out of the hardest time of his life.What’s “Is He Dead” about?
| A．The death of a poor artist in the 1840s. |
| B．A trick played by a group of poor artists. |
| C．A story about the French painter Jean-Francois Millet. |
| D．An experience Mark Twain had gone through. |
From the second paragraph we learn that ______.
| A．the play was one of Mark Twain’s early works |
| B．no one knew the play until 2002 |
| C．Fishkin is an expert on Mark Twain’s works |
| D．the play was published in 2002 |
According to Fishkin, Jean-Francois Millet was admired by Americans because ____.
| A．he was a famous French painter at that time |
| B．he focused on the life of ordinary Americans |
| C．his works showed respect for ordinary people |
| D．Mark Twain agreed on his thoughts |
We can infer from the passage that Mark Twain ______.
| A．had experienced several difficult times for no money |
| B．was a good novelist but a bad playwright(剧作家) |
| C．was a writer who only cared about ordinary people’s life |
| D．was dissatisfied with some methods of creating the value of art work |
High school students need “cool” jobs in summer holidays. Working at popular retail chains(零售连锁店) and ice-cream shops are good choices. The U.S. Department of Labor(美国劳工部) says that about two-thirds of the teenager workers are in fast food business. 1/5 of cooks and food workers are between 16 and 19 years old and 2/5 of food workers are part-time workers.
If you think taking a part-time job is easier, you are wrong. For young people, whatever you do, do your jobs well. Because a good work record will be useful for higher-paid jobs in the future. Let’s share my story.
Unless with my family members, I would go to eat fast food. That doesn’t mean I don’t like working in a fast food restaurant. My first part-time job, at age 16, was at the McDonald’s in Bloomington, Indiana. It was very hard work. Especially on Indiana University football weekends, we had no time to rest, but we still had a lot of fun. Finally I got a higher-paid job.
A future manager believes that difficult work encourages success. The growing U.S. population will bring more restaurants. While many people can’t deal with the pressure(压力) to fill orders quickly, the people who really do a great job will get plenty of rewards in the workplace. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, ______.
| A．more than half of teenager workers are in fast food business |
| B．teenagers in America like to work in a fast food restaurant |
| C．teenagers like to take a part-time job in summer holidays |
| D．almost all teenagers are interested in fast food |
The author uses his own story mainly to tell us that ______.
| A．he never liked fast food and would never eat it |
| B．he didn’t like working in a fast food restaurant at all |
| C．he did a great job, which enabled him to find a better one |
| D．he never went to the fast food restaurant with his family |
The underlined phrase “A future manager” in Paragraph 4 means the person who ______.
| A．will become a manager in the future | B．wants to be a manager in the future |
| C．doesn’t like his job at present | D．worries about his future |
From the last paragraph, we can learn that ______.
| A．a manager will do less work and get more money |
| B．not all the people are suitable for the job in fast food business |
| C．a hardworking waiter has few chances to be a manager |
| D．the growing U.S. population can bring higher-paid jobs |
Kenya is the first country to protect elephants by text messages. Mobile phone SIM cards are inserted(插入) in the collars of elephants. The cards will send a text message when the elephants wander too close to farms, allowing wildlife protectors to drive them off rather than shoot them.
Hungry elephants cause big problems for farmers and villagers in some parts of Kenya when they are searching for food. Two years ago the Kenyan wildlife service had to unwillingly shoot five elephants who continued to destroy crops.
In order to prevent such bad activities, the Elephants charity put a mobile phone SIM card on a huge bull elephant called Kimani. The conservationists(自然保护者) then set up a virtual(虚拟的) fence. Each time Kimani came near the fence, a text message was sent to farmers. So far he’s been stopped from going into the danger area fifteen times.
The project seems to be working successfully as Kimani hasn’t come near a farm for four months. A similar system has now been put into operation in another part of the country.
One of the biggest benefits of the project is that elephants seem to learn from one another, which can help a whole group change their habits.
The elephants can also be tracked using Google Earth software. This is also helping the protectors know where to use their resources to protect the animals well. Elephants often cause problems in Kenya, because ______.
| A．they are attacked | B．they are angry |
| C．they are sad | D．they are hungry |
What does the underlined word “he” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．The protector. | B．The writer. |
| C．The elephant. | D．The conservationist. |
From the passage, we know that ______.
| A．the text messages are of little help to the wildlife protectors |
| B．the project has worked out to be a great success in Kenya |
| C．a mobile phone SIM card has been put in all the elephants |
| D．the project has been introduced to all parts of the country |
“Where is Papa going with that ax (斧子)?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
“Out to the hoghouse,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”
“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.
“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt (发育不良的小动物). It’s very small and weak. So your father has decided to do away with it.”
“Do away with it?” shouted Fern. “You mean kill it?”
“Don’t shout, Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled springtime. Fern’s shoes were wetting by the time she caught up with her father.
“Please don’t kill it! It’s unfair,” she said.
Mr. Arable stopped.
“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”
“This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.” Tears ran down her cheeks and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.
“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a group of pigs than you do. A weak pig makes trouble.”
“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small. If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”
Mr. Arable smiled. “Certainly not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. It’s a pig.”
“There is no difference,” replied Fern. What puzzled Fern at the beginning?
| A．Why her father refused to eat breakfast. | B．If the hoghouse was big enough for many pigs. |
| C．How pigs were born at night. | D．What his father would do with an ax. |
Why couldn’t Fern control herself?
| A．Because she was afraid of killing a pig. | B．Because the pig was treated unfairly. |
| C．Because she loved pet pigs very much. | D．Because her father was rude to her. |
According to the passage, Fern’s father thought that ______.
| A．it was natural for pigs to be born small | B．he couldn’t afford to have so many pigs |
| C．a weak pig needed more attention | D．he was troubled by raising a weak pig |
It can be inferred from the passage that Fern was _________.
| A．kind-hearted | B．brave | C．shy | D．patient |
Narasimha Das is on his way to feed 169,379 hungry children. Das is in charge of a kitchen in Vrindaban. The town is about a three-hour drive from India’s capital, New Delhi. Das gets to work at 3:00 a.m. Thirty workers are already working to make tens of thousands of rounds of bread. It will be brought to 1,516 schools in and around Vrindaban.
A Growing Problem
Going to school is difficult for more than 13 million children in India. They must go to work instead, or go hungry. That’s why India began the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the largest school-lunch program in the world. A free lunch encourages children to come to school and gives them the energy they need for learning. The program began in the 1960s.
The kitchen in Vrindaban is run by the Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is one of the lunch program’s biggest partners. “Just $11.50 can feed one child for an entire year,” said Madhu Sridhar, president of the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Lunch Is Served!
The Akshaya Patra food truck arrives at Gopalgarh Primary School. Since the program started, the number of underweight children has gone down. The children get foods they need — as long as they finish what’s on their plates.The kitchen in Vrindaban supplies food to _____.
| A．the poor | B．the old |
| C．college students | D．school children |
Why is it difficult for children to go to school in India?
| A．Because there are not enough teachers. |
| B．Because there are not enough schools. |
| C．Because they have to work to make money. |
| D．Because their parents refuse to send them to school. |
Which of the following about the Mid-Day Meal Scheme is NOT true?
| A．It is run by Narasimha Das. |
| B．It has been carried out for about 50 years. |
| C．It is to encourage children to go to school. |
| D．It is the largest school-lunch program in the world. |