Sir William Osler has a few words for you: “In the Life of a young man, the most essential thing for happiness is the gift of friendship.” Truer words were never spoken. For what more could you ask than comradeship during the peaks and valleys of life? To whom else but a close, valuable friend can you show off your successes and complain about your failures or losses?
What is a “good friend”? How is he best described? Well, it has been my observation that although many will cry with you, few can sincerely rejoice (欣喜) with you. Therefore, in my opinion, a good friend is one who can enjoy your successes without envy; one who can say, “That wa
s wonderful! You can do it again, even better if you want!” and mean it. Nothing taxes a friendship more than the success of one and not the other. Even the closest of friendships often cannot resist such pressure and fail. No wonder many minor friendships go down day by day for the same reason.
A person of good character and sound moral, of honor and humor, of courage and belief is a friend to be sought and treasured — for there are few. Too often we hear, “If you can count your good friends on more than one hand, consider yourself blessed
.”
What makes a friendship last? Well, I don’t know all the answers, but one of my observations is that most good friends usually have similar tastes. They generally like and dislike many of the same things. There also usually seems to exist a similarity of personality types — especially in the fundamental value
s of life such as honesty, sincerity, loyalty, and dependability. More often than not, birds of a feather do fly together. I don’t think it matters a lot whether one prefers jazz or hockey to another’s Mozart or ballet. Much other matters far more: relying, sharing, giving, getting, enjoying; a sympathetic ear always there; criticism when it can help; praise — even if only because it would help. With not many people on this earth will you find this much in common. When you find one, hang on to him, for a good friend found is a rare treasure.The function of Paragraph 1 is to introduce ______.
| A．a famous saying |
| B．the topic for discussion |
| C．a famous person |
| D．two different attitudes |
What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph two?
| A．People don’t have to pay taxes to develop friendship with others. |
| B．Success of one person can promote his friendship with others. |
| C．Friendship can be affected by the difference in success between friends. |
| D．Nothing can affect friendship because it has gone through the peaks and valleys of life. |
What is the main idea of Paragraph three ?
| A．One is lucky to have many friends. |
| B．A friend should have a good character. |
| C．We should count our friends on more than one hand. |
| D．A true friend should be treasured because there are few. |
According to the passage, which of the following plays the LEAST important role in a long-lasting friendship?
| A．Hobbies. | B．Tastes. | C．Personality. | D．Sympathy. |
On a freezing cold day, a couple had to move into a small apartment because of their failure in business．The husband worked day and night to support the family but with no care of his wife．So she thought, “He doesn't love me any more, he just cares about his business ．．．not me”．
One day, she was about to take a shower when he stopped her at the door, “Let me take it first, okay？”“Why not me first？” she asked．“I am tired, honey, you take it later, okay？”She was entirely unhappy．
One day, she found nothing to do and turned on his computer．A few words came into her sight．Reading them, she burst into tears．It was his diary：
Today, I was quite sad．She asked me why I was always taking the shower first, and I said to her, I was exhausted．She was unhappy．In her mind, I treated her not as well as usual, but what could I do? I was not as rich as before! We moved to the small apartment, and there was only one shower in the bathroom．It was so cold to take a shower in such a cold winter．But I found that if one person took the shower first, the room could get a little warmer．So every day I rushed to the bathroom first．I was thinking that, when she took the shower, the room would get warmer, even if it was only 1℃．
Now I cannot give her a comfortable life, take her to good restaurants, or buy expensive dresses for her, but at least, I can give her 1℃love．Why did the couple move to the small apartment?
| A．Both of them were out of work． |
| B．They wanted to live a better life． |
| C．The man could take better care of his business． |
| D．They were too poor to live in the former house． |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “exhausted”？
| A．Devoted． | B．Worried． | C．Tired． | D．Injured． |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．They would live a richer life soon． |
| B．The woman misunderstood her husband． |
| C．The man would care less about his business． |
| D．The woman would get angry after reading the diary． |
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．A Love Story | B．1℃Love |
| C．A Suffering Couple | D．Fight for the Bathroom |
In recent years, there has been a steady attack on salt from the doctors: salt is bad for you—regardless of your health. Politicians also got aboard. “There is a direct relationship,” US Congressman Neal Smith said, “between the amount of sodium(钠) a person consumes and heart disease, circulatory(循环的) disorders, stroke and even early death.”
Frightening, if true! But many doctors and medical researchers are now beginning to feel the salt scare has gone too far. “All these remarks and cry about salt is unnecessary,” Dr. Dustan insists. “For most of us it probably does not make much difference how much salt we eat.” Dustan’s most recent short-term study of 150 people showed that those with normal blood pressure experienced no change at all when placed on an extremely low-salt diet, or later when salt was reintroduced. Of the hypertensive(高血压的) patients, however, half of those on the low-salt diet did experience a drop in blood pressure, which returned to previous level when salt was reintroduced.
“An adequate to somewhat excessive(过度的) salt intake has probably saved many more lives than it has cost in the general population,” said Dr. John H Laragh. “So an opinion that the whole population should avoid salt makes no sense.”
Medical experts agree that everyone should practice reasonable “moderation”(节制) in salt consumption. For the average person, a moderate amount might run from four to ten grams a day, or roughly 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoons. One to two grams of salt would come from the natural sodium in food. The rest would be added in processing, preparation or at the table.
“Na is not your enemy,” says Comek’s Dr. Laragh. “Salt is the No.1 natural component of all human tissue, and the idea that you do not need it is wrong. Unless your doctor has proven that you have a salt-related health problem, there is no reason to give it up.”
| A．It’s unnecessary. |
| B．It does no good to human health.. |
| C．It is hated by most people. |
| D．It will surely lead to heart disease and circulatory disorders. |
| A．a low-salt diet may be good to some patients |
| B．the amount of salt intake has nothing to do with one’s blood pressure |
| C．the reduction of salt intake can completely cure a hypertensive patient |
| D．an extremely low-salt diet makes no difference to anyone |
| A．people should not be afraid of taking much excessive salt |
| B．doctors should not always advise people to avoid salt |
| C．an adequate to somewhat excessive salt intake is suggested to ill people |
| D．excessive salt intake has killed some patients in the general population |
| A．They should increase salt intake through sodium pills. |
| B．They should avoid salt as often as possible. |
| C．They should consume 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoons of salt a day. |
| D．They needn’t care about how much salt they consume. |
Many countries follow special customs when a child’s baby teeth fall out. Many of these customs tell stories about animals taking the teeth.
For example, Koreans have the custom of throwing the fallen tooth onto the roof of a house so that a magpie (喜鹊) can take the tooth away and bring a new tooth for the child. This custom is also followed by some other Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam.
Other countries, though, have tooth customs about other animals. In Mexico and Spain, for example, it is thought that a mouse takes a fallen tooth away and leaves some money. But in Mongolia, it is dogs that take children’s teeth away. Dogs are highly respected in Mongolian culture. It is believed that the new tooth will grow strong if the baby tooth is fed to a dog, so parents in Mongolia will put their children’s fallen teeth in a piece of meat and feed it to a dog.
In France and the USA, a child will put a fallen tooth under his or her pillow before going to bed. It is thought that in the early morning, when the child is still sleeping, the Tooth Fairy will take the tooth away and leave something else under the pillow. What she will leave is hard to know. It is said that in France the Tooth Fairy may leave some candies; however, in the United States, she may leave money.
| A．get money | B．feed magpies |
| C．get candies | D．get a new tooth |
| A．throw it onto the roof of a house |
| B．feed it to a mouse |
| C．put it in a piece of meat and feed the meat to a dog |
| D．leave it to the Tooth Fairy |
| A．a child will put his or her fallen tooth beside the pillow |
| B．the Tooth Fairy takes the fallen teeth away at midnight |
| C．the Tooth Fairy will leave some candies to the children after taking the fallen teeth away |
| D．no one knows for sure what the Tooth Fairy will leave to the children after taking the fallen teeth away |
| A．customs about fallen teeth in western countries |
| B．customs about fallen teeth in different countries |
| C．stories about human teeth |
| D．stories about some animals |
Did you know that the position you choose to sleep in says something about what kind of person you are?
A study of 1,000 British people has been done by Chris, a British professor and director of the Sleep Assessment and Advisory Service in the UK. It looked at the six most common sleeping positions and which personalities tend to match them. Have a look.
1. Fetus (胎儿) position – This is the most common sleeping position. About 41 percent of the participants said they sleep in this position. These sleepers may appear to be strong but they are usually sensitive (敏感的) and shy. The more they curl (蜷缩) up, the more worried they are.
2. Log position (树干睡姿) – This is the second most common position. People who sleep like a log are usually stubborn.
3. Yearner position (向往型睡姿) – This position says that you are open-minded and eager (急切的) to face challenges.
4. Soldier position – These sleepers lie on their backs with their arms down and close to the body. They are usually reserved and quiet.
5. Freefall position – People who sleep in this position are outgoing (外向的) but feel a lack of control in their lives. This is the least comfortable position.
6. Starfish position – People who sleep like this are good listeners, helpful, and uncomfortable being the center of attention.
| A．Sleeping position decides personality. |
| B．Sleeping position reflects personality. |
| C．What the six different sleeping positions are like. |
| D．Different people have different sleeping positions. |
| A．Those sleeping in fetus position are always strong. |
| B．Those sleeping in log position changes their ideas easily. |
| C．Those sleeping in freefall position usually feel uncomfortable in their lives. |
| D．Those sleeping in starfish position may feel uneasy when focused on. |
| A．Fetus | B．British people |
| C．People surveyed | D．Sleepers |
In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by “small talk”. Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation. In English-speaking countries people often make small talk about the weather. “Nice day, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something that both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. In the UK people usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching. “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus-stops, people may comment on the transport system. “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”
| A．a kind of conversation with short words |
| B．a greeting used when people meet each other |
| C．to let people disagree about something |
| D．something we talk about to start a conversation |
| A．the weather | B．politics |
| C．games | D．languages |
| A．we should learn about the transport system of the country |
| B．we should only master the grammar and the vocabulary |
| C．we should learn the culture of the country |
| D．we should understand the importance of the language |
| A．asking a question | B．having a conversation |
| C．make a comment | D．making small talk |