I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town center but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, ‘You mean fortunately.’ He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.
My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to grumble as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally as I wend my way up the incline I console myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smug smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.
Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a University degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents, afflictions and difficulties. Some are of our making but many confront us through no fault of our own. Whilst we cannot choose the adversity we can choose our attitude towards it.
Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs amputated following a flying accident. He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aces in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans. He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.”
The biographies of great people are littered with examples of how they took these kinds of steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become defeatist or depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won. The writer has a smug smile of satisfaction as he reaches the top of the hill because .
| A．he was actually killing two birds with a stone |
| B．compared with those silly people, he was smarter |
| C．he lost weight by cycing to the town center every day |
| D．he was informed of a short route from his house to the town |
The writer quoted Helen Keller and her saying as an example to demonstrate .
| A．one cannot achieve anything with an easy life |
| B．only disabled persons can experience hardship deeply |
| C．one’s success is determined by nothing but his / her attitude |
| D．it’s rare for a deaf and blind person to gain a University degree. |
From this passage we know that Douglas Bader was a person of .
| A．individual and creative character | B．stubborn yet charming personality |
| C．great bravery and strong will | D．excellent speaker with great influence |
In writing style, the last paragraph serves as .
| A．an explanation | B．a demonstration |
| C．an introduction | D．a summarization |
I grew up in a small town. My father raised chickens and ran a construction company. I was barely 10 years old when my dad gave me the responsibility (责任) of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable. He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace, I washed dishes and cooked from 4: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged. One night, a woman executive (懂事) from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call — Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I released my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I’ve ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man. Knowing that I had done my best filled me with pride. I still feel that way today, even though I have become a well-known singer.Why was the writer once known as the singing cook?
| A．Because he was a cook at a country-music club. |
| B．Because he sang for guests while he worked as a cook. |
| C．Because he often sang while cooking. |
| D．Because he liked singing better than cooking. |
Who first recognized his talents and helped make his career successful?
| A．Wamer Brothers. | B．His manager. |
| C．His father. | D．A businesswoman. |
What made the writer proud of himself?
| A．His ability to live independently. |
| B．His sense of responsibility in whatever he did. |
| C．His courage in the face of rejections. |
| D．His hard work in his early days. |
“It hurts me more than you”, and “This is for your own good” —these are the statements my mother used to make years ago when I had to learn Latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework.
That was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school. The schools and the educators made it easy for us. They taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy. We stopped making our children do homework. We gave them calculators, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation.
Now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing we’ve made a terrible mistake. One such teacher is Sharon Clomps who says of her students—“so passive” —and wonders what has happened. Nothing is demanded of them, she believes. Television, says Clomps, contributes to children’s passivity. “We’re talking about a generation of kids who’ vet never been hurt or hungry. They have learned somebody will always do it for them, instead of saying ‘go and look it up’, you tell them the answer. It takes greater energy to say no to a kid.”
Yes, it does. It takes energy and it takes work. It’s time for parents to end their vacation and come back to work. It’ s time to take the car away, to turn the TV off, to tell them it hurts you more than them but it’ s for their own good. It’s s time to start telling them no again.Children are becoming more inactive in study because _______.
| A．they watch TV too often | B．they have done too much homework |
| C．they have to fulfill too many duties | D．teachers are too strict with them |
We learn from the passage that the author’s mother used to lay emphasis on _______.
| A．learning Latin | B．discipline |
| C．natural development | D．education at school |
By “permissive period in education” (L.1, Para.2) the author means a time _______.
| A．when children are allowed to do what they wish to |
| B．when everything can be taught at school |
| C．when every child can be educated |
| D．when children are permitted to receive education |
The main idea of the passage is that _______.
| A．parents should leave their children alone |
| B．kids should have more activities at school |
| C．it’s time to be more strict with our kids |
| D．parents should always set a good example to their kids |
Boxing was long viewed sickly. Generally forbidden by law in earlier days, the fighting was usually done with bare fists, and matches often lasted forty or fifty rounds.
In 1882 John L. Sullivan, a fighter of great power, won the world heavyweight championship from Paddy Ryan in a bare fisted battle marked by hitting, scratching, and biting without any rule. Five years later, while fighting Patsy Cardiff at Minneapolis, Sullivan broke his right arm in the third round, but he continued fighting to the sixth round and won. In 1889, Sullivan defeated Jade Kilrain with his bare fists in another championship fight, winning twenty thousand dollars and a diamond prize medal. His admirers talked then of running him for the next governor, but he traveled to Australia for a boxing tour instead, coming back only to lose his title in a twenty-one-round match with a young Californian named James J. Corbett.
“Gentleman James” victory in this match marked a turning point, for it showed scientific boxing was over strength. But Corbett’s title ended in 1897, when another boxer, Bob Fitzsimmons, in less than three seconds, achieved his feats and then Fitzsimmons knocked out an Irishman, won the heavyweight championship of the world, and invented the terrible “solar plexus punch.” Boxing matches in the early days were ________.
| A．short and bloody | B．usually spare-time competitions |
| C．governed by strict rules | D．cruel |
Sullivan held the world’s heavyweight title for ________.
| A．at least seven years | B．only a year |
| C．five years | D．twenty-one years |
Sullivan’s fight with Kilrain was ________.
| A．the first boxing championship match |
| B．a bare-fisted championship fight |
| C．the last boxing match to be fought bare-fisted |
| D．a six-round match |
Sullivan was so popular that his admirers ________.
| A．encouraged him to be a governor |
| B．raised twenty thousand dollars for him |
| C．advised him to take boxing tour of Australia |
| D．refused to believe he could be defeated |
There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on, water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by “feedback”(反馈). Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So robots are like human beings in two ways.
They work and they have feedback.
In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot’s “arms” and “hands” through each part of the job.
The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling radioactive materials. In this passage the author tells us that ________.
| A．robots are very popular |
| B．there are various kinds of robots |
| C．we see robots only at certain times |
| D．robots can be easily controlled |
What does the author seem to inform you about robots?
| A．They should be greatly improved. |
| B．They will probably take over in the future. |
| C．They are very helpful and useful to humans. |
| D．They are machines that break down a lot. |
The author says that in industry ________.
| A．robots break down a lot |
| B．robots can do many jobs |
| C．robots only get in the way |
| D．robots sometimes cause troubles |
The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that _______.
| A．it is very much like human beings |
| B．it can do boring jobs for people |
| C．it will never bore people |
| D．it will work much better than human beings |
The robots used for scientific research _______.
| A．are not very clever |
| B．are very cheap |
| C．are very big |
| D．are very costly |
Here is a poster on a middle school web site. Read the web-site poster. Then do Numbers 1 to 4.
Going, Going, Gone!
The Haynes Middle School Parent—Teacher Organization
invites you to attend our latest fund(基金)-raiser,
The Fourth Annual(每年一次的) Haynes School Auction(拍卖)!
Saturday, May 10
6:00 pm — 11:00 pm
in the school hall
6:00 pm — 6:30 pm: All items for auction are previewed.
6:30 pm — 7:00 pm: Silent auction begins.
7:00 pm — 7:30 pm: Highest bidders(出价人) from silent auction are determined.
7:30 pm — 11:00 pm: Main auction begins.
Items up for bid in the silent auction range in value from $ 5.00 to $ 30.00.
Items up for bid in the main auction include the following:
●Airline tickets to a place of your choice
●Weekend getaways at first-class hotels
●Season tickets to the Chicago Bears football game
●$ 50 gift tickets to local gift shops, restaurants, and salons
●Theater tickets to The Merchant of Venice
Don’t miss the boat! Book your tickets today.
Last year, tickets sold out in five days!
Tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
$ 15.00 per person
All the money from the auction will be given to the Haynes School computer lab. Which of the following is not mentioned as being up for bid at the auction?
| A．A movie pass to the local cinema. |
| B．A weekend stay at a hotel. |
| C．A ticket to a restaurant. |
| D．Airline tickets. |
The more items that are given or bought for auction, _______.
| A．the less money that will be charged for the tickets to the auction |
| B．the more money that can be raised to support the computer lab |
| C．the faster the ticket will be sold to the auction |
| D．the higher the value that will be placed on the items in the silent auction |
Which of the following is most likely to happen at the year’s auction?
| A．The airline tickets will receive higher bids than any other item. |
| B．All items up for bid will be sold for at least twice their value. |
| C．More money will be raised this year than in any other year before. |
| D．Tickets for the event will be sold out in less than one week. |
The phrase “first-come, first-served” tells you that _______.
| A．people can buy the tickets on the first day only |
| B．the person who is first to arrive will receive a ticket at no charge |
| C．food and drinks will be served at the auction |
| D．tickets are sold in the order of who arrives first to buy them |