It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning thirty. 1 was insecure about entering a new decade of my life and feared that my best years were now behind me.
My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy - nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on this particular day, he noticed I wasn't full of my usual vitality and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on my life once 1 reached Nicholas's age, so I asked him, “What was the best time of your life?”
Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, Well, Joe, this is my philosophical answer to your philosophical question:
"When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents that was the best time of my life."
"When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life."
"When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, which was the best time of my life."
"When I met my wife and fell in love, which was the best time of my life."
"The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for North America, which was the best time of my life. "
"When we came to Canada and started a family, which was the best time of my life."
"When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life."
"And now, Joe, 1 am seventy - nine years old. I have my health, l feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life."
46. When Joe's 30th birthday is drawing near, he feels .
A. excited B. frightened C. worried D. eager
47. Joe usually goes to the gym to .
A. take exercise B. begin his work
C. see his friend Nicholas D. do his part -time job
48. What does the underlined word vitality in the second paragraph mean?
A. strength B. Power to survive
C. Happiness D. Energy and enthusiasm
49. What is the right order of the following events?
a. Fell in love b. Grew up in Austria c. Settled in Canada
d. Escape from his country e. Got salaries
A. b a e d c B. b e a d c C. a b e d c D. b c a d e
50. The purpose of the passage is to .
A. tell the reader about Joe's experience
B. tell the story of his friend Nicholas.
C. tell people not to worry about their ages.
D. tell people to take an optimistic attitude toward life.
In October, Ubayd Steed, a sixth grader in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was taking a math test when he noticed a classmate looking at his paper. " I quickly turned my paper over," he said. Later that day, Ubayd met the cheater and told him not to do it again.
Unfortunately, Ubayd' s experience is not unusual. Whether it's kids copying class -mates' answers during tests or friends sharing homework, cheating happens in schools every day. Experts say the behavior starts in the lower grades. Surveys show that one in three elementary students admits to cheating.
Jacob Harder, a fourth grader in Ware, Massachusetts, has had classmates ask to copy his homework. "I wouldn't want to just tell them the answers," he says. So instead, he explains the task and encourages his classmates to do it themselves.
But many kids find it hard to say no. "l hear from kids all the time, ' I can' t say no to a friend,'" says Eric Anderman, a professor at The Ohio State University who studies cheating in school. He says it' s important to say no from the start. "Then you nip it in the bud, and the other kid gets the message," he says. Plus, he points out, "a real friend is not going to disown you because he or she couldn't copy your math homework."
The kids doing the copying may feel they need to cheat to be accepted by other kids. And some students may cheat simply because others do. "If you' re in an atmosphere where cheating is common, you may think that if you don' t cheat, you' re at a disadvantage," says Michael Josephson, founder of the Josephson Institute of Ethics.
But Josephson says students shouldn't think that way. "There are a lot of things kids do," he says. "You have to decide what kind of person you' re going to be."
When school becomes too challenging, Anderman suggests going to the teacher rather than relying on the work of others. "It' s good to ask for help," he says.Ubayd' s experience serves as a(n) __________
| A．explanation | B．introduction |
| C．comment | D．background |
We learn from the text that cheating in elementary school _________.
| A．results from difficult tasks |
| B．is popular among students |
| C．mainly happens during tests |
| D．is unusual in lower grades |
The underlined part "nip it in the bud" in Paragraph 4 probably means _________.
| A．face the difficulty it caused |
| B．realize its disadvantages |
| C．stop it at an early stage |
| D．make it disappear |
Who advises kids to turn to teachers for help when they fall behind in studies'?
| A．Ubayd Steed. | B．Jacob Harder. |
| C．Eric Anderman. | D．Michael Josephson. |
In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair weather (同甘不共苦的) friends. They will be with you as long as you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will run away. How do I know when I have found a good friend? I look for certain qualities of character, especially understanding, honesty and reliability (可靠).
Above all else, I look for understanding in a friend. A good friend tries to understand how another person is feeling. He is not quick to judge. Instead, he tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other person's place, and he tries to think of ways to be helpful. He is also a good listener.
At the same time, however, a good friend is honest. He does not look for faults in others. He notices their good points. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
Another quality of a friend is reliability. I can always depend on a good friend. If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, I can be sure that he will be there. If I need a favor, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not run away from me.
There is a fourth quality that makes a friend special. A special friend is someone with whom we can have fun. We should enjoy our lives, and we would enjoy our friendship. That is why I especially like friends who are fun to be with. A good friend likes the same things I like. We share experience and learn from each other. A good friend has a good sense of humor, too. He likes to laugh with me. That is how we share in the joy of being friends. And I know that he is looking for the same quality in me.
When I meet someone who is reliable, honest, and understanding, I know I've found a friend!Which of the following qualities the writer thinks is the most important in choosing a friend?
| A．Understanding. | B．Honesty. |
| C．Reliability. | D．A sense of humor. |
If you have fair weather friends, __________.
| A．they will give you all that they have when you need help |
| B．you will be refused when you get into trouble |
| C．you will become rich |
| D．you can be sure that you get real friends |
Good friends need to ___________.
| A．always point out each other's mistakes |
| B．be helped with money |
| C．understand each other's feelings |
| D．have money or luck |
This passage mainly discuss __________.
| A．the qualities of a friend |
| B．where to choose friends |
| C．how to get along with friends |
| D．the importance of having a friend |
Over the holidays, I took my three young children into a fancy chocolate shop to buy gifts. Halfway home, I noticed my 7-year-old son playing with a plastic noisemaker. Long story short: He had stolen the toy. I kept my cool -- even when he said, "but it was only $1.50, Mom!" --and explained why it was unacceptable to take things we didn't buy.
A few hours later, I marched my son back to the store with two dollars from his piggy bank. He walked embarrassedly to the counter and told the clerk that he had taken something without paying for it, that he was sorry to break it and that he would pay for it now.
I know exactly how terrible he was feeling. Returning to the scene of the crime is the same shame-causing punishment I received when I was five and stole something from a store. 1 remember my dad sending me back to return the item. It remains one of my clearest child－ hood memories. After that day, I never stole again. My dad taught me such an important lesson 30 years ago and I saw an opportunity to do the same for my son. But now I wonder if it was the fight thing to do.
"Returning to the store is absolutely the right thing to do," Laura Markham, Ph.D., a child psychologist and author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids, says. "Many children steal -- they' re not born knowing the rules so it' s our job to teach them."
And stay calm when you set them. "If you overreact or yell, you might create a fascination with the behavior and a willful child will be more likely to fight against you," she says. Having a child physically return the stolen item helps him or her grasp the situation -- and the consequence.
But don't talk about it for too long. "lf you continuously bring up the incident, the child will believe they' re a thief and that they' re bad," she says.
Only time will tell if this experience will have the same powerful effect on my son as it had on me, but at the same time I can rest if I haven' t dealt with the situation badly.When the author' s son was caught playing with a stolen toy, he________.
| A．responded calmly |
| B．felt very ashamed |
| C．didn't think it was a big deal |
| D．didn't admit stealing the toy |
The author punished her son like that because __________.
| A．her father asked her to do so |
| B．it had been popular for 30 years |
| C．she knew it was the right thing to do |
| D．the same punishment had worked on her |
According to Laura Markham, if parents shout at their kids' stealing behavior, the kids may _______.
| A．feel frightened |
| B．steal again |
| C．think they are bad |
| D．remember what happened clearly |
What does the author think of Laura Markham' s words?
| A．They are doubtful. |
| B．They are unacceptable. |
| C．They help her to stop feeling worried. |
| D．They have taught her a good lesson. |
◆The Big Cake Show comes to the WestPoint Arena in Exeter, England, March 21-22. Hopefully, cakes of all sizes will be on sale and on show. An impressive list of famous people sharing their great knowledge and skill includes Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood and Gregg Wallace. Tickets, from ￡12, are available online (bigcakeshow.com).
◆From January 17 to March 8, RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, England has some special guests to brighten the winter: beautiful butterflies. Butterflies in the Glasshouse introduces a group of butterflies from other countries feeding on fruit and the juice-rich plants of the Exotic Zone, Tickets for adults are ￡13.20, for children are ￡6.60. For a family with 2 adults and 2 children, they should pay ￡32.75 in total. For groups of more than 10 adults, each should pay ￡10.80 (rhs. org.uk/wisley).
◆The week-long London Wine Week starts from May 18. Buy a ￡5 wristband to qualify for a pocket-sized guidebook and discounted wine around the capital. Partnering with London' s best bars and restaurants, we will be organizing events such as master classes and meet-the -maker time, plus offering discounts to wristband wearers ( londonwineweek.com ).
◆The World Shakespeare Festival begins in April, with everything from foreign productions of Shakespearean plays at Shakespeare's Globe to Shakespearean plays at the Royal Opera House. Plays will run until the end of the year in London, Birmingham, Newcastle and Gateshead. And there' s a programme of events such as director talks and family workshops, Prices start from ￡60 (worldshakespearefestival.org. uk).We can infer that Paul Hollywood is most likely to be ___________.
| A．a ticket dealer | B．a professional cook |
| C．the event organizer | D．the cake show host |
If you want to buy wine at lower prices, you should _____________.
A. eat in the specific restaurants
B. pay ￡5 for a discount card
C, buy a wristband first
D. obtain a guidebookWhich of the following activities lasts for the longest time?
| A．The Big Cake Show. |
| B．The London Wine Week. |
| C．Butterflies in the Glasshouse. |
| D．The World Shakespeare Festival. |
Liverpool city council want to clear the city of fat pigeons. They say that people are feeding the birds, which makes them fat. The pigeons get bigger because their normal diet would consist of seeds and insects, not high-fat junk food they are eating in the city centre.
The council want people to know that everyone who feeds the pigeons is responsible for the streets being so crowded with these birds. They hope to encourage the birds to move away from the city centre and into parks and open spaces.
Ten robotic birds have been brought into the city centre to scare the pigeons away and visitors are asked not to give the pigeons any food. The mechanical birds - known as “robops” - will sit on the roofs of buildings. They can be moved around to different locations. They look like a peregrine falcon, which is a bird that kills pigeons. They even make noises and flap their wings to scare the pigeons. They hope that the pigeons will go away before the city becomes the European Capital of Culture in two years.What do Liverpool city council try to do?
| A．They want people to feed the pigeons with healthy food. |
| B．They want the pigeons to move out of the city centre. |
| C．They want people to keep the pigeons at home. |
| D．They want to keep robotic birds instead of pigeons. |
The robotic birds are used to _________.
| A．help feed the pigeons | B．make the city colorful |
| C．drive away the pigeons | D．show people directions |
This passage is most probably a(n) __________.
| A．news report | B．notice |
| C．short story | D．Advertisement |