I have a close friend who has a good family tradition, that is, each year after Thanksgiving dinner, all of the people sit around in the living room and each person takes a few minutes and gives thanks for what really matters and what has added value to their life over the last year. This is something I valued and followed. I have thought about a lot in the last year, and I finally came up with two things.
The first one is the healthiness of my daughter. She’s as healthy as she can be, and her weight and height are in good condition and she has no illnesses or genetic diseases. I am so thankful for having this wonderful baby in my life, and thankful that she has the gift of good health.
Secondly, I am thankful for the discovery of the value of writing in my life. A year ago, my website. The simple Dollar was only a few weeks old and was far from popular, but on Thanksgiving Day Last year it had about three score readers who ordered it in advance. The process of writing was bringing me enjoyment, but I hadn’t yet realized that I could be successful in it and attract many readers. This past year showed me a lot and I am deeply thankful for it.
After thinking for a while, I began to realize that it was a very powerful and wonderful positive exercise. You spend time reflecting deeply on the positive things in your life, and you often realize that even when things are bad, you do have a lot to be thankful for because there is lots of good in your life, and it can shine a bright light even in a dark spot in your life.
72．What is the good family tradition of the author’s friend’s?
A．Learning from the past and planning for the future.
B．Taking about the things that are most worth appreciation.
C．Learning from the strong points of other family members.
D．Having Thanks giving dinner together with family members.
73．The author is thankful for all the following thins EXCEPT .
A．her success with writing B．the enjoyment in writing
C．the healthiness of her daughter D．the founding of a magazine
74．How many people had ordered The simple Dollar by Thanksgiving Day last year?
A．About 30. B．About 20. C．About 60. D．About 40.
75．What’s the purpose of this passage? It tells us that people should .
A．hold a positive attitude B．reflect on their mistakes
C．have low expectations of life D．neglect their disadvantages
A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious (妒忌的) and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn’t take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly undermine its foundations(地基).
The next morning, the tower was leaning(倾斜) slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: “ I think the tower is going to fall down.” And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: “ The tower is ticklish ( 怕痒的) ！” She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn’t fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city.Why did the people of the second city plan to destroy the neighboring tower?
| A．Because the tower blocked the way of their tourists. |
| B．Because the tower had the same building style as theirs. |
| C．Because they hoped that the tower could lean slightly. |
| D．Because they hoped that visitors just liked their own tower. |
The underlined word“undermine”（in Paragraph1）probably mean “_________”．
| A．test | B．raise | C．damage | D．strengthen |
When local people heard the news that their tower was going to fall down, they were _________.
| A．very anxious |
| B．very happy |
| C．very ashamed of themselves |
| D．angry at the people in the neighboring city |
What lesson can we learn from the practice of the envious people in the neighboring city?
| A．All that ends well is well. |
| B．Every dog has his day. |
| C．A bad beginning makes a bad ending. |
| D．A friend is never known till a man has need. |
The Jungle Book
Lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves, Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies in the jungles improve this child’s strength and cleverness and stir every reader’s imagination.
Price: $ 7.79
ISBN-13: 978-1613820742
Average Customer Review: ★★★★☆
A Stolen Life
The first work of its kind—Jaycee Dugard’s personal life story, her own story of being kidnapped (绑架) in 1991. When Jaycee was eleven years old, she was kidnapped from a school bus stop. She was missing for more than eighteen years, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment (监禁).
Price: $ 19.79
ISBN-13: 978-1442344983
Average Customer Review:★★★★★
While We’re Far Apart
Five-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin is called as “one of the style’s best historical fiction novelists”. Set in Brooklyn, New York, during World War Ⅰ，while a motherless girl longs for her daddy and a young lady hopes for a second chance at love, this tale explores the uncertainty that stays in people.
Price:$ 6.00
ISBN-10: 0764204971
Average Customer Review:★★★★☆
The Fashion Police
The Fashion Police was in the second place in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010 and nominated (提名) Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010 by The Romance Reviews. It is a strange comedy-mystery, combining murder and with romance.
Price: $ 12.73
ISBN-13: 978-1451555653
Average Customer Review: ★★★☆☆If you are interested in personal life stories, then you can choose the book _________.
| A．A Stolen Life | B．The Jungle Book |
| C．The Fashion Police | D．While We’re Far Apart |
The ISBN of the book that is most popular among the readers is _______.
| A．ISBN-13: 978-1613820742 | B．ISBN-13: 978-1442344983 |
| C．ISBN-10: 0764204971 | D．ISBN-13: 978-1451555653 |
What makes the book The Fashion Police distinguish itself from others?
| A．It wins the award Christy Award five times. |
| B．It is a great book on violence and family education. |
| C．It is nominated Best Novel with Romantic Elements 2010. |
| D．It has many elements borrowed from stories of true policemen. |
Deciding which English-speaking country to study in wasn’t difficult for Ann; She had always wanted to visit America. “I wanted to study in an English-language country and I always wanted to visit America because it always seemed to me a very beautiful and friendly country.” Ann is more than happy with the quality of the education she is receiving in America, particularly with the subjects and strong academic support.“ I am very happy with the quality of education I am receiving. All my subjects are useful and connected. I am happy with help I receive from the lecturers and tutors.”
Also of particular satisfaction for Ann is the practical element of her American course. “I find it very important and useful. The theory is a good thing to know but nothing gives you more skills and knowledge than practical work.”
Where her future employment is concerned, Ann is very confident her American qualification will be of great help. “I know that getting a degree here is a good thing for my future; it can open many doors in Poland or anywhere else in the world.”
Ann is also really enjoying life in America; She is making friends and taking time out to enjoy herself. “People are very friendly and helpful. University is a good place to find new friends from America and from overseas. It is a friendly environment with lots of things to do, not only studying. And of course there are the beaches, not to mention the beautiful weather.”The purpose of writing this passage is to _________.
| A．tell us Ann’s decision to settle in America |
| B．tell us Ann is accustomed to life in America |
| C．introduce Ann’s happy study and life in America |
| D．introduce more about Ann to help her make friends |
Why did Ann decide to study in America?
| A．Her parents persuaded her to do so. |
| B．She has relatives and best friends here. |
| C．Her boyfriend was studying here too then. |
| D．She has dreamed of studying here for long. |
What makes Ann particularly satisfied in America?
| A．The comfortable climate and easy lifestyle. |
| B．The help from her host families and teachers. |
| C．The American courses have more practical elements. |
| D．The friends here are mostly from English-speaking countries. |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Ann will try all her best to ensure to get a degree. |
| B．Ann’s degree will help her find a job easily at home and abroad. |
| C．Ann will certainly go back to Poland to work after graduation. |
| D．With the degree received in America, Ann will never be out of work. |
We were flying to a meeting. I was in the middle 36 .I found that the young woman sitting next to me was very 37 and deep in thought. Then I asked her where she was from, where she was going and 38 she did.
She was a student and had been attending 39 in Poland-----the homeland of her father. Then she told me sadly that her father had 40 . She had chosen to attend college in Poland 41 her father’s wishes and their relationship had been42 .They hadn’t forgiven each other 43 he died.
She seemed so sad. I looked at her, trying to44 some words to say. I asked her if she had forgiven 45 for not realizing her father’s dream. She answered that she couldn’t forgive herself and felt so 46 .Slowly, I began to tell her about forgiveness. I encouraged her to 47 that because I believed her father wanted that too. She should forgive herself 48 how awful she thought she had been.
I told her about 49 I had done as a teenager for which I had felt guilty for many years. How I was 50 with the choice of forgiving myself or to 51 feeling guilty for the rest of my life. I had 52 to forgive myself . The light in her eyes went on. She began to understand that she was 53 forgiven and could forgive herself. She could be 54 and happy.
How about you? Is there anything in your 55 for which you feel guilty?
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Dolphins are interesting animals and researchers find them interesting to watch. They don’t have hands, but can use tools to solve problems, just like us. Scientists have observed a dolphin trying to get a shy eel(鳝鱼) to come out of its hole by poking(捅)it with a dead fish. Many species of dolphin live in large societies. They have many different relationships and need a good communication system; they use a variety of sounds to communicate with each other.
There is currently no evidence that dolphins have a language of their own. But scientists still have a lot to find out about these animals and so there are certain to be a few surprises in the future.
At Kewalo Basin Marine Laboratory in Hawaii, the dolphin team have developed a sign langue to communicate with the dolphins, and the results are amazing. Not only do the dolphins understand the meaning of individual words, they also understand the significance of word order in a sentence. For example, when they were asked to ‘touch the ball with your tail and then jump over it’ they generally responded correctly and straight away, which showed that they understood the langue.
Most mammals seem to enjoy play—but dolphins seems to like making their games as challenging as possible. On a beautiful day in 1997, researchers working at a beach, off the southern coast of Brazil, observed a little dog going into the sea and swimming towards the dolphins. To their surprise, the dolphins approached the dog and then started throwing it into the air. The dog seemed to enjoy the ‘game’ and continued playing with the dolphins for more than an hour. From then on, different dogs were seem trying to interact with the dolphins.
Dolphins live in a very different world to ourselves, but they are very good at our ‘intelligence tests’. For example, they will jump out of the water when they hear a whistle noise. They do this because they will get a fish as a reward. There is still much to learn about these flexible(灵活的)problem-solvers, but from the evidence so far, it would seem as though dolphins are very intelligent.To get a shy eel to come out of its hole , a dolphin would poke it with____.
| A．a tool | B．its tail | C．a dead fish | D．its mouth |
At a laboratory in Hawaii, the dolphin team have developed a ____ to communicate with the dolphins.
| A．variety of sounds | B．sign language |
| C．special word order | D．dolphin’s language |
Dolphins not only understand the meaning of individual words, they also understand the importance of ______ in a sentence.
| A．the subject | B．the verbs | C．the main structure | D．word order |
When they play, dolphins seems to like making their games as ______ as possible.
| A．difficult | B．easy | C．interesting | D．relaxing |
Dolphins will jump out of the water when they hear a whistle noise in order to _______.
| A．watch people | B．breathe fresh air |
| C．enjoy themselves | D．get some food |