One of the worst feelings in the world is trying your hardest at something but still falling short. In the case of schoolwork, studying for hours and bringing home disappointing grades may make you feel hopeless or helpless, but this is far from the truth. If you are dealing with disappointing grades, promise to change your study habits and you'll be amazed by the results.
Act Fast
The most important rule about dealing with disappointing grades is to act fast. Don't sit around and let them get worse, and definitely don't ignore them. Instead, admit that you need help and go in search of it soon. The faster you face up to the problem, the faster you can find a solution and see some results.
Tweak your routine
If you are studying hard and still dealing with disappointing grades, it's probably time to tweak your routine a little. Remember, if you keep doing the same thing all the time you'll undoubtedly keep getting the same results. Mix things up by asking for help, whether from a friend or fellow student, your teacher or a private tutor. Ask for help with the subject matter and tips for studying on your own.
Study Successfully
Of course it doesn't matter where you study or who you study with if you are studying the wrong things. Make sure that you are studying successfully by:
*Reviewing your textbooks.
*Looking over your notes from class.
*Taking new notes while you study.
*Investing in study guides.
*Answering all of the review questions you can find.
*Talking through events or concepts that are integral (整体) to your lessons.
Learn From Your Mistakes
If, after all of your changes and redoubling your study efforts, you are still disappointed with your grades, then it is time to figure out exactly where you are going wrong. Look over exam papers and assignments to see if you are having trouble with a particular kind of question (multiple choice, true or false, etc.) or concept. Examine your essays to see if you are explaining your ideas clearly and completely, or if it is the mechanics of your writing (spelling, grammar, etc.) that is letting you down. Request an appointment with your teacher and use this time to discuss your work and get his/her feedback as well.
Dealing with disappointing grades is something that every student will face at one time or another. It won't be fun, but take a realistic look at your attention in class, your study habits and your performance on past assignments and exam. Figure out where you are having trouble and dedicate yourself to fixing these problems.
51. The purpose of this passage is _______.
A. to introduce practical ways to solve worrying school problems
B. to persuade students to change their attitude toward schoolwork
C. to offer advice on how to improve academic grades at school
D. to emphasize the importance of dealing with disappointing grades
52. The underlined phrase to tweak your routine means _______.
A. to stick to the same study plan and seek help when possible
B. to mix things up before you work out a practical solution alone
C. to examine your everyday life to make room for self improvement
D. to make necessary alterations in your study habits and plans
53. According to the passage, it is desirable to _______.
A. adopt a great variety of successful study methods and work on your own
B. have a study partner who act fast to face up a problem and study successfully
C. find out your weak points by reviewing schoolwork and seek necessary help
D. make an appointment with your teachers and develop useful examination skills
54. The author of this passage is probably a(an) _______.
A. psychologist B. examiner C. parent D. instructor
55. The author thinks that dealing with disappointing grades calls for _______.
A. a strong will power B. a down-to-earth attitude
C. creativity and dedication D. undivided attention
Homebuyers nationwide are watching housing prices going up, up, and up. “How high can they go?” is the question on everyone’s lips? “As long as interest rates stay around 5 percent, there’s no telling,” remarked one realtor in Santa Monica, California.
“It’s crazy,” said Tim, who is looking for a house near the beach. “In 1993, I bought my first place, a two-bedroom condominium in Venice, for $70,000. My friends thought then that I was overpaying. Five years later, I had to move. I sold it for $230,000, which was a nice profit. Last year, while visiting friends here, I saw in the local paper that the exact same condo was for sale for $510,000!”
It is a seller’s market. Homebuyers feel like they have to offer at least 10 percent more than the asking price. Donna, a new owner of a one-bedroom condo in Venice Beach, said, “That’s what I did. I told the owner that whatever anyone offers you, I’ll give you $20,000 more, under the table, so you don’t have to pay your realtor any of it. I was tired of looking.”
Tim says he hopes he doesn’t get that desperate. “Whether you decide to buy or decide not to buy, you still feel like you made the wrong decision. If you buy, you feel like you overpaid. If you don’t buy, you want to kick yourself for passing up a great opportunity.”
Everyone says the bubble(泡沫) has to burst sometime, but everyone hopes it will burst the day after they sell their house. Even government officials have no idea what the future will bring. “All we can say is that, inevitably, these things go in cycles,” said the state director of housing. “What goes up must come down. But, as we all know, housing prices always stay up a little higher than they go down. So you can’t lose over the long run. Twenty years down the road, your house is always worth more than you paid for it.”
60．If Tim had sold his flat last year, he could have earned .
A．$ 510,000 B．$ 440,000 C．$ 280,000 D．$ 160,000
61．Donna paid another $ 20,000 to the owner secretly because .
A．she felt like offering 10% more B．secret money made low price
C．the owner asked for the money D．she was bored with bargaining
62．We can infer from Tim’s words in paragraph 4 that .
A．homebuyers feel hesitate facing rising house prices
B．buying a house is always a great opportunity
C．homebuyers never make the right decision
D．both sellers and buyers become desperate
63．What is the author’s opinion about the housing bubble?
A．It is something everyone hates to see
B．Only experts know when it will burst
C．It is unavoidable in the regular circles
D．It usually stays for about twenty years
A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and loved the boy very much. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for work so he asked the wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. The mother, preoccupied in the kitchen, totally forgot the matter.
The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle and, fascinated with its color, drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous medicine meant for adults in small dosages. When the child collapsed, the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was stunned. She was terrified how to face her husband.
When the distraught father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just four words. The husband just said ‘I am with you, Darling’. The husband's totally unexpected reaction is proactive behavior. The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if only he have taken time to keep the bottle away, this will not have happened. No point in attaching blame. She had also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was consolation and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her.
If everyone can look at life with this kind of viewpoint, there would be much fewer problems in the world. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears and you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think. Sometimes we spend time asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By this way we miss out some warmth in human relationship.
56．The uncapped medical bottle was not put back into the cupboard because .
A．the husband was careless B．the husband was busy
C．the wife wasn’t informed of the matter D．the wife ignored the matter
57．What do we know about the bottle? .
A．It contained poison only for adults B．It appeared like a nice drink
C．It was broken by the child D．It was kept in the kitchen
58．The husband’s attitude towards his wife can be described as .
A．optimistic B．confident C．considerate D．generous
59．What did the writer intend to tell us about life? .
A．Let go the negative side and we can enjoy life.
B．It is always useless finding who is responsible
C．Think of nothing and life will be easy
D．Life should give way to responsibility
The Lantern Festival first evolved along the banks of the Yellow River during the peak of freezing winter conditions. The celebration held on the night of the first full noon of the lunar new year is often referred to as the “Little New Year”.
The festival’s origin has been argued by historians. Some say the festival was set up in relation to New Year Buddhist ceremonies. Lanterns were used to praise Buddha and request his protection for the coming year. However, Taoists insist that the Martial Emperor Wu Ti (141 B.C.~86 B.C.) began the festival a century earlier in an effort to gain eternal life.
In the huge courtyard of his palace, he ordered lanterns to be hung on the night of the first full moon until the entire courtyard was lit as bright as the day.
After a Chinese eunuch (太监) invented paper in 105 A.D., people of all classes began to enjoy the beauty of inexpensive paper lanterns. Today, the lantern has experienced further revolution and paper has been replaced by plastic animated characters lit by battery operated light bulbs. In Taiwan, this development has extended to the creation of extravagant, enormous and highly technical lanterns representing the zodiac animals. Even still, many of the old ways remain mixed with the new.
73. According to the article, which of the following statement is true?
A. Historians are troubled by different opinions.
B. Wu Ti ordered an eunuch to make lanterns using inexpensive paper.
C. The weather conditions under which the first lantern festival was held were extreme.
D. Buddhists believe that Wu Ti began the Lantern Festival.
74. Wu Ti is believed to have established the Lantern Festival in his vain effort to ______.
A. change night into day. B. live forever.
C. make the greatest of offering to Buddha. D. celebrate the “Little New Year”.
75. The invention of paper in 105 A.D. ______.
A. helped to invent paper lanterns.
B. replaced paper lanterns with plastic animated characters.
C. lit up the sky.
D. increased the popularity of lanterns.
It is often necessary to release a fish, that is , set it free after catching, because it is too small, or you just don’t want to take it home to eat. In some cases, releasing fish is a good measure that will help keep fish variety and build their population size. The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) encourages fishermen who practice catch-and-release fishing to use a few simple skills when doing so. The advice provided below will help make sure that the fish you release will survive to bite again another day.
—When catching a fish, play it quickly and keep the fish in the water as much as possible.
Don’t’ use a net in landing the fish and release it quickly to prevent it from dying.
—Hold the fish gently. Do not put your fingers in its eyes. Don’t wipe the scales (鱼鳞) off the fish because it might cause it to develop a disease and reduce its chance of survival.
—Remove your hook quickly. If the hook is too deep or hooked in the stomach, cut the line and leave the hook in. The hook left inside will cause no serious problem to the fish.
—Take good care of the fish by moving it gently in water. Release the fish when it begins to struggle and is able to swim.
—Do not hold fish in a bucket or some other containers and later decide to release it. If you are going to release a fish, do so right away.
With a little care and by following the suggestions given above, you can give the released fish a better chance of survival.
69. People sometimes set a fish free after catching it because they _________
A. don’t want it to die B. hope it will grow quickly
C. don’t want to have it as food D. want to practice their fishing skills
70. Which of the following will probably make a fish ill?
A. Taking the hook off it. B. Removing its scales.
C. Touching its eyes D. Holding it in your hand.
71. A proper way to release a fish is to _________.
A .move it in water till it can swim B. take the hook out of its stomach
C. keep it in a bucket for some time D. let it struggle a little in your hand
72. What is the purpose of the text?
A. To show how to enjoy fishing. B. To persuade people to fish less often.
C. To encourage people to set fish free. D. To give advice on how to release fish.
More than 10 years ago, it was difficult to buy a tasty pineapple. The fruits that made it to the UK were green on the outside and, more often than not, hard with an unpleasant taste within. Then in 1966, the Del Monte Gold pineapple produced in Hawaii first hit our shelves.
The new type of pineapple looked more yellowy-gold than green. It was slightly softer on the outside and had a lot of juice inside. But the most important thing about this new type of pineapple was that it was twice as sweet as the hit-and-miss pineapples we had known. In no time, the Del Monte Gold took the market by storm, rapidly becoming the world’s best-selling pineapple variety, and delivering natural levels of sweetness in the mouth, up until then only found in tinned pineapple.
In nutrition it was all good news too. This nice tasting pineapple contained four times more vitamin C than the old green variety. Nutritionists said that it was not only full of vitamins, but also good against some diseases. People were understandably eager to be able to buy this wonderful fruit. The new type of pineapple was selling fast, and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eater.
Seeing the growing market for its winning pineapple, Del Monte tried to keep market to itself. But other fruit companies argued successfully that Del Monte turned to law for help, but failed. Those companies argued successfully that Del Monte’s attempts to keep the golden pineapple for itself were just a way to knock them out the market.
65 We learn from the text that the new type at pineapple is __________.
A. green outside and sweet inside
B. good-looking outside and soft inside
C. yellowy-gold outside and hard inside
D. a little soft outside and sweet inside
66. Why was the new type of pineapple selling well?
A. It was rich in nutrition and tasted nice.
B. It was less sweet and good for health.
C. It was developed by Del Monte.
D. It was used as medicine.
67. The bold word “fixture” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to something _________.
A. that people enjoy eating B. that is always present
C. that is difficult to get D. that people use as a gift
68. We learn from the last paragraph that Del Monte _________.
A. slowed other companies to develop pineapples
B. succeeded in keeping the pineapple for itself
C. tried hard to control the pineapple market
D. planned to help the other companies