Do you wake up in the morning dreading the moment that your feet have to hit the floor for you to get ready for work? If that’s the case, join most of Americans. Very few people wake up to that annoying alarm clock and spring out of bed excited about having to go to work.
As if that were not enough, most of us have to fight traffic getting there, usually an hour’s drive. Then, when we get to work, we have to fight with unruly co-workers or a nagging boss. And to make matters worse, you have to fight the same traffic going in the opposite direction just to get back home.
Making dinner, fixing plates, eating and then straightening up afterwards is a job within itself. If that sounds like your life, you probably have a J-O-B. you know what J-O-B stands for? Just Over Broke, that’s what! With a job, most Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck and hating every minute of it. I know because I was doing the same thing: trading time for money. And, I came to a conclusion that it stinks (糟糕透了)! Big time!
Looking around at my co-workers, friends and relatives, I saw that they were all doing the same thing I was doing. They were complaining about the same things I was complaining about : not having enough time or money. And, I decided that I wanted to do something different.
So, I started a home-based business. There are several to choose from. The extra income has done so much for our family. We can vacation more. We have been able to give more. And, we’ve even been able to do something calling save! It’s been amazing.
Therefore, if you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, it’s time you make a change, too. The definition of insanity (疯狂) is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I know you aren’t stupid. If you continue to do what everyone else is doing: trading time for money, you’re going to keep getting what everyone else is getting: being broke and not having the time to do what is really important to you.
Do your due diligence. Find a home-based business that works well for you. Go to work, and live the life you’ve always imagined!
68. According to Paragraph 1, which of the following statements is TRUE about most Americans?
A. Most Americans are excited to go to work every day.
B. Most Americans are used to sleeping in the morning.
C. Most Americans are tired of having to go to work every morning.
D. Most Americans have alarm clocks to wake them up in the morning.
69. By writing the first three paragraphs, what feeling does the writer express?
A. Regret. B. Joy. C. Pride. D. Dissatisfaction
70. What does “something different” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. To set up a business at home. B. To complain about life and work.
C. To spend more time on holidays. D. To resign from the former job and get a new one.
What’ s the fastest way to learn a language?
 |
Learning a new language seems hard and frightening as
we look back on the years of grammar and translations in
school．Yet babies communicate t eighteen months and speak
the language fluently before they go to school.
Firstly and most importantly, a child’ s natural language-learning ability exits only in a speech environment free of translations and explanations of translations and explanations of grammar．Secondly, a child’ s language learning speeds up by constant feedback（反馈）from family and friends．Thirdly, children learn through play.
At Rosetta Stone, you know adults can recover the native language-learning ability they once had as children．At every step and in every skill, you receive immediate and actionable feedback, including speech recognition（识别）, advice and attention.
Every act is an act of play for children and there’ s no reason why it should be different for learners of any age．With Rosetta Stone programs, you rediscover the joy of learning languages．Clever, puzzle-like activities produce sudden “aha!” moments and astonishing language discoveries, we see it all the time．A slow of recognition, as though the brain suddenly realizes what is like to learn a language as a child.
Visit our website and find out how you can make your own language-learning ability active with Rosetta Stone．It’ s the fastest way to learn a language.Which of the following as is TRUE about Rosetta Stone?
| A．You can learn only a few languages. |
| B．You will get some advice in time during learning. |
| C．You may take part in the language school today. |
| D．You can get your money back after seven months. |
The main purpose of the text is to ．
| A．tell adults how to 1earn a language well |
| B．present readers to buy CDs of Rosetta Stone |
| C．present some problems of learning languages |
| D．compare adults and children 1earning 1anguages |
If there’ s a$499 program，you order it today and pay.
| A．$479 | B．$459 | C．$449 | D．$439 |
The passage is most 1ikely to be a（ n）．
| A．education paper | B．review on 1anguage |
| C．science report | D．advertisement for a product |
Although Thomas Edison created the technologies behind three major 21st century industries electrical power，recorded music and movies—his greatest invention may have been the modern method of inventing．He basically came up with the modern system of research and development．Edison was not the only scientist doing research in his garage but someone who gathered around him a team of creative scientific minds．Edison’s 1aboratories were the forerunners（先驱）of Apple，Google and Microsoft．
Yet for a11 his scientific gifts，he was no Steve Jobs or Bill Gates．He once said，“Anything that won’ t sell，I don’ t want to invent．” But Edison，unlike Jobs or Gates，had no real sense of what the public wanted or how to change his discoveries into products that might sell．It took him years to understand that the phonograph（留声机）was not a business tool but an entertainment invention．He helped create movies but resisted the idea that people might want to go into a theater to watch one．
We chose Edison this year because we need his example now more than ever．Though we live in a time of great reformation，the U．S．is in danger of losing its advantage in science and technology．American investment（投资）in research and development has not increased as a percentage of GDP since the mid一1980s，while the government’ s share has been dropping．And this is at a time when China is rapidly increasing its money on research and development．The U．S．was once among the 1eading nations．Now it ranks near the bottom of the 23 nations that collect such data．We hope that Edison’ s story might not only encourage reformation but also inspire more
young Americans to study science and engineering．The first paragraph is mainly about.
| A．the number of Edison’ s great inventions |
| B．Edison’ s special personal characters |
| C．Edi son’ s modern system of research |
| D．Apple．Google and Microsoft and their forerunners |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．A11 the things Edison invented sold well． |
| B．Edison wanted to invent things that sold well． |
| C．Edison’ s inventions were not valuable for being unpopular． |
| D．Edison had a gift for changing his discoveries into best sellers. |
The author’ s main purpose is to．
| A．inform US of the danger the USA is in |
| B．get young Americans to study science |
| C．be in honor of Edison for his contributions |
| D．tell US how important Edison’ s inventions are |
We can infer from the text that．
| A．the USA is no 10nger advanced in science and technology |
| B．the USA falls behind China in research and inventions |
| C．more and more young Americans will be interested in science |
| D．China is spending more and more money on research and development |
When Christina Brouder was five years old, a drunk driver ran over her as she and her father were crossing the street in front of their home．Hurt badly, the young girl was forced to spend a long time in a full-body cast（石膏） to recover from her injuries．Mostly, she traveled between the hospital and her home．Once out of the cast, Brouder sat in a wheelchair for almost a year.
In spite of the horrible accident, Christina was grateful for her recovery．She was so grateful, in fact, that she and her four talented siblings（兄弟姐妹）（ three sisters and a brother） started a music group, Gilbride．The group performed at local hospitals and nursing homes, performing for the patients．Among them, the children could sing, dance and play about 20 different musical instruments．At their first show in 1988, held at Montefiore Hospital, the kids were 2,3,6,8 and 9 years old．That year alone, the group made over a hundred appearances．
From the local public entertainment places, the group expanded to charity performances．They also entertained people at Disney World, Radio City Music Hall, and even the White House．
Christina balanced her happy and successful musical career with academics．First graduating from New York City’s High School of Music and Art，and then from Fordham．In 2000，as t he youngest graduate from Fordham，1 8一year—old Christina and her siblings went on tour for a year．Not pleased with the applause she received from the audience, she entered Pace University Law School．On May 19，Christina Brouder realized part of her dream when at only 22，she received Health Law Certificate（文凭）．What happened to Christina when she was five years old?
| A．She was coldly deserted by her father． |
| B．She got a strange and serious disease． |
| C．She had to give performances to make a living． |
| D．She was seriously injured in a traffic accident． |
According to the text，Christina was.
| A．thankful and hardworking | B．a little shy but gentle |
| C．a 1ittle stupid and 1azy | D．sad and bored with her 1ife |
According to the passage，the siblings.
| A．were talented in music |
| B．were interested in sports |
| C．were enthusiastic about writing |
| D．had the ability to draw very well |
In terms of time，what is the correct order of the things Christina did?
a．She graduated from Fordham．
b．Christina received Health Law Certificate．
c．Their first show was held at Montefiore Hospital．
d．She and her siblings entertained at the White House．
| A．d，a，b，c | B．d，c，b，a | C．c，d，a，b | D．c，b，d，a |
A Good Teacher is a Strict Teacher
One of the most important parts in the healthy development of a
child is played by education. But the way in which education is
understood has changed completely, as we must not forget that
the severe and unfeeling way of bringing up a child in the past
was primarily based on cruel grounding（基础）and strict
rules that were supposed to create accomplished individuals, the typical gentlemen. Nowdays,
society is much more open-minded and it does not put a great value on being strict, although this
doesn’t mean that opinions regarding this subject do not differ.
On the one hand, there are also people who believe that there has got to be a bound between
teacher and student if any satisfying results are awaited. Luckily for us, more and more teachers are
understanding this fact and are doing their best to get over the strict rules and get in touch with us.
My opinion is that only by having a friendly attitude and accepting other opinions, especially
those of your pupils, you are truly able to do your job at high standards. However, this does not
mean that a teacher shouldn’t be a bit more rough when he feels that things are getting out of hand.
All in all, I must say that a good teacher is the teacher that has the ability to be kind and strict at the
same time, thus achieving to gain his students respect and interest.The aim of education in the past was to.
| A．create perfect persons | B．create open-minded persons |
| C．bring up a child | D．build a cruel grounding |
According to the passage, the narrow-minded people think.
| A．a pupil is always interested in what he is learning |
| B．a pupil himself will improve his studies |
| C．children should be made to study |
| D．children don’t like a rough hand |
The underlined word “job” in the last paragraph can be replaced by.
| A．controlling | B．teaching | C．learning | D．punishing |
The author thinks a good teacher should be.
| A．kind and strict | B．skilled and clever |
| C．rough and cruel | D．friendly and practical |
It can be inferred from the passage that.
| A．society is much more open-minded and being strict is out date |
| B．as long as the teachers are strict with students, the students will certainly get good marks |
| C．most people are in favor of strict teachers because they have strict grounding and strict rules |
| D．if we expect students to develop in a healthy way, the good relationship between teachers and students is important |
As dangerous as sharks may have seed to people after watching Jaws, which was released on June 20,1975, the recent disastrous decrease in their numbers show that people have proven far more dangerous to sharks.
This disastrous decline is due in large part to commercial fishing of sharks. “The market for
shark fins（鱼翅）in East Asia opened up thanks to changes in their economy, increasing their
ability to spend money on things such as shark fin soup,” Burgess said.
However, the biggest worry for sharks and their relatives, the skates and rays, which are suffering a similar fate, “is how they are killed incidentally when fishermen try and take other fish—the problem of bycatch（渔业混获）,” Burgess explained. “They may be thrown back afterward, but they’re still dead.”
The key of the problems behind bringing sharks back is that “they’re not the same as other fish,” Burgess said, “Sharks are slow growing and slow to reach maturity. Sharks are live bearers, which means females keep their young in their body just like us, but instead of nine months, it takes 12 to 18 months or more in sharks. Also, sharks generally can’t give birth again until a year after they’ve given birth—sometimes they’re on a three-year cycle. So once you get a shark population knocked down, this ‘life in the slow lane’ means that recovery is measured in decades rather than years.”\
Burgess said, “I’m on the recovery team for it, but the recovery plan for that is over the course of 100 years. So I won’t see them recover, nor will you, nor will your children. That’s what it means when these animals go down—they’re down a long time.”
Any measures aimed at saving sharks must not only consider byeatch, “which is the real killer right now,” but also encourage interactional cooperation, Burgess said.
“Sharks are very migratory, and many species cross borders,” he said. “We can protect them only by getting many govemment to come aboard. That’s the hardest part about this.”The text mainly tells us.
| A．shark fins are valuable | B．sharks are dangerous |
| C．bycatch brings bad effects | D．sharks are in danger |
The number of sharks is decreasing mostly because of.
| A．the film Jaws | B．commercial interests |
| C．changes in economy | D．shark fin soup |
Bringing sharks back is difficult because.
| A．they’re like the other fish |
| B．their reproductive rate is slow |
| C．they can’t give birth again |
| D．their life cycle is only 3 years |
What can be concluded from the last paragraph?
| A．Sharks live the way human beings do. |
| B．It’s time many govemments cooperate. |
| C．Sharks’ migration takes a very long time. |
| D．Bycatch shouldn’t be forbidden by intemational laws. |
The test is most probably a .
| A．newspaper ad | B．book review |
| C．science news report | D．science fiction story |