Dear Ralf,
I have received your letter from school and am glad to know that you are becoming responsible(有责任的)enough to decide on your career.
You are now in the final year of college and are about to start more independent life in society. You know that a generation divides us, and the conditions of social life were different in my days. However, all I can say as advice is that you must select a career wisely. The first consideration is your interest. You can only succeed and feel happy when you do something you enjoy. Your job must be both gainful and satisfying. Then, you must read up on the latest books on the field you are aiming at. Also, you should get familiar with the men and women in the profession of that field. When mind and heart function together, success is inevitable(必然的).
No career is more or less important than any other career. It takes different people to operate the machine of life. I think your interest may lie in the field of making TV programs. Your great communication skills, your active participation(参与) in school plays and the prizes you have won in speech competitions all point in that direction. So a career in Mass Communication and TV film production proves suitable for you. If you succeed and make it in that field, fame and treasure will both follow.
Think a thousand times before making any final decision regarding your career. Anyhow, I want you to be a man of success.
I know that you are mature(成熟的) enough to think for yourself.
With all the best wishes!
Your loving father
56. We can infer that Ralf wrote a letter to ask for advice on how to ________.
A. prepare for a competition. B. communicate with others
C. choose a career D. get good marks
57. What can we know about Ralf?
A. He has graduated from college. B. He gets on badly with his father.
C. He has taken part in school plays. D. He won prizes in the field of making films.
58. Ralf’s father thinks that ________.
A. fame is more important than treasure
B. every career is of the same importance
C. Ralf is too young to make a decision himself
D. there is no real understanding between parents and children
59. The father suggests that his son should ____________.
A. consider his interest first when choosing a career.
B. make friends with successful people.
C. be never proud when making progress
D. be active in school activities.
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中(A、B、C和 D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Most of us feel upset if we miss just one meal, and if we try to go without food for 12 hours we would really be uncomfortable. But there are some people who seem able to “fast” for very long periods.
Various records are claimed for long fast, but in most cases there is no medical proof and so the records are doubtful. One South African woman claimed that she lived for 102 days on nothinig but water and soda water.
There are great differences among living things in the ability to survive without food. For example , a tick（扁虱）, which lives on animals, may survive a whole year. Warm-blooded animals use up their stores of food in the body more quickly.
In fact, the smaller and more active the animal, the more quickly it uses up its reserves. A small bird starves to death in about five days, a dog in about twenty. In general, we can say that a warm-blooded creature will die when it has lost about half its normal weight.
This matter of weight is important. Man and other creatures live in a state of metabolic equiplibrium（新陈代谢的平衡）which means maintaining the body weight once a certain point has been reached. This regulation of body weight is done by thirst, hunger, and appetite.
When your blood lacks nutritional materials, this registers（记录）in the hunger center of the brain and you feel “hungry”. The body is crying out for any kind of fuel(food). And it is our appetite that sees to it hat we chooose a mixed diet, which is the kind the body needs.According to this passage, a man will die _________.
| A．when a certain point in losing weight has been reached. |
| B．when his blood lacks nutritional material |
| C．when his normal weight is lost |
| D．when he goes without food for more than 12 hours |
The word “fast” in Paragraph 1 can best be replaced by ________.
| A．eat no food | B．live merely on water and soda water |
| C．live on nothing | D．remains alive for a long time without food |
A tick can survive much longer than a bird because ________.
| A．a tick lives on animals | B．a tick is much smaller |
| C．a bird is more active | D．both B and C |
A person feels hungry _________.
| A．if he doesn’t choose a mixed diet |
| B．because his body cries out for food |
| C．when soemthing is wrong with regulation of body weight |
| D．if there are not enough nutritional in his blood |
From the passage we can infer that the author ________.
| A．believes the South African woman very firmly |
| B．does not believe the South African woman at all |
| C．is not certain whether the South African woman’s claim was true. |
| D．is doubtful whether there was such a South African woman |
A peer is a person who is about the same age as you. Peers affect your life, whether you know it or not, just by spending time with you.
Peers can have a good effect on one another. Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book and now everyone’s reading it.
However, sometimes peers affect one another in another way. For example, one kid in school might try to get another to cut class with him, your soccer friend might try to persuade you to be mean to another player and never pass her the ball, or a kid in the neighborhood might want you to shoplift with him.
Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, to fit in, or because they worry that other kids may make fun of them if they don’t go along with the group. Others may go along because they are curious to try something new that others are doing. The idea that “ everyone’s doing it” may influence some kids to leave their better judgments or their common senses behind.
Peer pressure can be extremely strong and hard to get rid of. Experiments have shown how peer pressure can influence someone to change her/ his mind from what she/ he knows for sure is a correct answer to the incorrect answer——just because everyone else gives the incorrect answer! That holds true for people of any age in peer pressure situations.
It can be hard to walk away from peer pressure, but it can be done. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do. Inner strength and self- confidence can help you stand firm, walk away and resist doing something when you know better. What is the passage mainly about ?
| A．Peers have a good effect | B．Children give in to peer pressure |
| C．Peer pressure is hard to resist | D．Peer pressure |
The underlined word shoplift in Paragraph Three probably means __________.
| A．do some shopping | B．carry goods for shops |
| C．steal in shops | D．take the lift upstairs in shops |
The writer will not agree that ____.
| A．only children change their correct answers to incorrect ones because of peer pressure. |
| B．peers have an effect on one another |
| C．Peer pressure can be got rid of |
| D．Peers will believe in themselves if there are other peers who agree with them |
The writer intends to _________ by writing the passage.
| A．tell people to follow other’s opinions |
| B．warn people to stay away from their peers. |
| C．tell it is hard to walk away form per pressure. |
| D．persuade people to do the right thing regardless of peer pressure. |
It can be learned from the passage that_________.
| A．A peer is someone older than you. |
| B．Peers always affect you in good ways. |
| C．It is easy to get rid of peer pressure. |
| D．The effects of peer pressure have two sides. |
People hold the belief that a fun-filled, pain free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result, many people don’t like the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, commitment(承担的义务)，self-improvement.
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he is honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment, for commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure, excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most obvious features.
Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word “fun” to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting true happiness is one of the most liberating realizations because true happiness has nothing to do with fun. It liberates(解放) time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actully may not be happy at all.According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because____
| A．he is unwilling to take family responsibilities |
| B．he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single |
| C．he finds more fun in dating than in marriage |
| D．he fears it will put an end to all his fun, adventure and excitement |
The underlined word bachelor means_________
| A．a married man | B．a college student |
| C．a single man | D．an academic degree |
From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes results from______
| A．hatred | B．misunderstanding | C．prejudice | D．ignorance |
To understand what true happiness, one must________
| A．have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime. |
| B．make every effort to liberate oneself from pain |
| C．put up with pain under all circumstances |
| D．be able to distinguish happiness from fun |
What is the author trying to tell us?
| A．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain. |
| B．One must know how to attain happiness. |
| C．It is important to make commitments. |
| D．It is pain that leads to happiness. |
Success is everybody’s dream. But what is the key to success? How can you be successful? I think we should measure success based on how much we give rather than how much we receive. Fortunately, it also works nicely the other way around since those who give more almost always will also receive more. So how do you pave your way to success? How do you become more successful? The answer is amazingly simple: the key to success is making yourself as useful as possible to others. Here are some ideas on how to do it.
1. Be observant of needs
To be useful to others, you should always be aware of even the slightest clues of needs. The more sensitive you are to the needs of others, the more appreciative people will eventually become. The best plan is being able to anticipate a need before the other people are even aware of it.
2. Find solutionsto the needs
Now that you are aware of needs, the next step is finding solutions to them. The solutions you offer should be as useful as possible. To be able to do so, there is no other way but to continuously build your own value. It is from the value you have that you could give value to others.
3. Be proactive to help
Do not wait for the other person to ask for your help. Be proactive. Give your help even before they ask.
4. _________________
What matters is not only the solution you offer, but also the way you deliver it. Being sincere means being glad to help others without expecting anything in return. Make it your joy to give something to others. People can somehow distinguish whether or not you are sincere.
5. Go the extra mile
Doing the above four steps is good, but add this one if you can: give more than expected. First, give what is expected, and then add a little more. If you do the above four steps people will be appreciative, but if you add this one step they will be impressed. What is the measure of success according to the author?
| A．Success means giving more as well as asking for more. |
| B．Success is based on how much money you make. |
| C．The more you receive from others, the more successful you will be. |
| D．The more you give, the more successful you will be. |
The underlined word anticipate in para 2 probably means_______
| A．offer | B．expect | C．prevent | D．change |
What’s the best title for the fifth paragraph?
| A．Solutions Are Important. | B．Give More Help to Others |
| C．Expecting More | D．Be Sincere |
The author would NOT agree that______
| A．people should continuously build up their own value. |
| B．the best time to help others is when they ask for help. |
| C．people should help others without expecting anything in return. |
| D．it is good to give others more help than what is expected. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．How to measure success accurately. |
| B．How to make your dreams come true. |
| C．Giving is more important than receiving. |
| D．How a person can be most useful to others. |
I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as Mother sat doing letters(学问). Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world.
Years later, during her final illness, Mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk”, she said again, “is for Elizabeth.” I never saw her anger, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was too emotional. But she lived “on the surface”.
As years passed, I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive（原谅）me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace-it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to Mother. I only knew that I had written in, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not.
Now the present of her desk told me, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside－a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you chose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words. The writer began to love her mother’s desk _______.
| A．after Mother died. | B．before she became a writer. |
| C．when she was a child. | D．when Mother gave it to her. |
The passage shows that _____.
| A．Mother was cold on the surface but kind in her heart to her daughter. |
| B．Mother was too serious about everything her daughter had done. |
| C．Mother cared much about her daughter in words. |
| D．Mother wrote to her daughter in careful words. |
The word gulf in the paragraph 2 means ______.
| A．deep understanding between the old and the young. |
| B．different ideas between the mother and the daughter. |
| C．free talks between mother and daughter. |
| D．part of the sea going far in land. |
What did mother do with her daughter’s letter asking for forgiveness?
| A．She had never received the letter. |
| B．For years, she often talked about the letter. |
| C．She didn’t forgive her daughter at all in all her life. |
| D．She read the letter again and again till she died. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．My Letter to Mother. | B．Mother and Children. |
| C．My Mother’s Desk. | D．Talks between Mother and Me. |