When I was 17，I read a quote that went something like：“If you live each day as if it were your last，someday you’ll most certainly be right．”It made a deep 21 on me, and since then, for the past 33 years，I have 22 in the mirror every morning and asked myself：“If today were the last day of my life， 23 I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a 24 ，I know I need to change something．
Remembering that I’ll be 25 soon is the most important tool I’ve ever known to help me make the big 26 in life because almost everything falls away in the face of death， 27 only what is truly important.
About a year ago I was 28 with cancer. My doctor even advised me to go home and get my affairs 29 order，which is a doctor’s way of telling people to prepare to die．I 30 with that diagnosis all day． 31 ，at last an advanced test showed that it was a very rare cancer that is 32 with surgery．I had the surgery and I’m fine now.
33 wants to die．Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all 34 ．No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be，because death is very likely the single best invention of 35 ．It is life's change agent. It clears out the old to 36 for the new．Right now the new is you．But someday not too 37 from now，you will gradually become the old and be cleared away．Sorry to be so dramatic，but it is quite true．
Your time is 38 ，so don’t waste it living someone else’s 1ife．Don’t be 39 by dogma(教条) —which is living with the results of other people’s thinking．Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner 40 ．And most importantly，have the courage to follow your heart.
A．impression B．curse C．decision D．joke
A．seen B．looked C．found D．1ost
A．hurry B．1ine C．moment D．row
A．successful B．rich C．dead D．frustrated
A．apologies B．fortune C．impressions D．choices
A．proving B．leaving C．confirming D．telling
A．diagnosed B．cured C．treated D．round
A．on B．for C．in D．at
A．met B．got C．did D．1ived
A．However B．But C．Therefore D．So
A．Anyone B．Someone C．No one D．Everyone
A．want B．avoid C．share D．escape
A．destination B．1ife C．science D．disease
A．make up B．make for C．make our D．make way
A．distant B．short C．long D．away
A．1imited B．rare C．enough D．1ost
A．wasted B．cheated C．excited D．trapped
A．voice B．love C．direction D．confusion
That holiday morning I didn’t have to attend school. Usually, on holiday, mother______ me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it . On this particular morning, ______. I felt like getting up early.
I stood by my window overlooking the ______, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something ______ in life.
As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and drive off, I ______ an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its ______and a basket of rags and bottles on its back—carrige. He______ from one ear to another , washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already ______ washing and cleaning about a dozen or more ears. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.
Several thoughts ______ my mind as I watched him work. He wasn’t well—dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a (an)______ T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern ______ would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed ______with life. There he was ,working hard at his small business, ______at passers—by and stopping to chat now and then ______elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby.
There was a noticeable touch of ______ in the way he seemed to be doing things ----______ the windscreen(挡风玻璃)，then standing back to admire it，scrubbing(擦净)the wheel and ______, standing back to see what they looked like after the scrub.
It was a ______to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a ______ if one has good health and is willing to work hard . For a while I felt ______ of myself. Young as I am ----just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the Sun appeared above the horizon.
A．forces B．allows C．causes D．forbids
A．otherwise B．therefore C．however D．besides
A．parking lot B．bus stop C．school D．market
A．interesting B．surprising C．awful D．useful
A．noticed B．recognized C．called D．assisted
A．back B．handle C．wheel D．seat
A．searched B．left C．moved D．wandered
A．stopped B．started C．intended D．finished
A．crossed B．slipped C．disturbed D．inspired
A．attractive B．shiny C．simple D．expensive
A．repairmen B．businessmen C．drivers D．cyclists
A．busy B．content C．careful D．bored
A．waving B．looking C．laughing D．pointing
A．about B．for C．with D．like
A．worry B．respect C．sympathy D．pride
A．cleaning B．fixing C．replacing D．covering
A．still B．yet C．again D．soon
A．lesson B．subject C．skill D．fact
A．business B．living C．success D．right
A．tired B．doubtful C．fearful D．ashamed
Up in Smoke
It’s two in the morning, and we’re all running and fighting the smoke.
The smoke is so ______ that I can’t see more than three feet in front of me. I’m sweating and ______, and if my lungs weren’t black and cloudy, I would be screaming. Flashes, light, flames here and there, and for a second I think I am ______.
We run back and forth, side to side looking for a ______ out with our painful blind eyes. Things are blowing up in the next room. I can’t think about anything. I can’t ______ my brothers. My mother’s crazy screams can’t get to me. I’m ______ focused on myself: my life, to get out, to survive, me, me, me. I can’t ______.
Glass pieces, from the fist of a brave man. He seizes me first and ______ me out the broken window. My bare feet hit the ground and glass from the window ______ into them. Air races into my lungs.
I’m sitting on a sofa letting someone wash the black from my face. My family is crying. Why can’t I ______? I hear my mom say she thinks I’m still ______. For the first time I make eye contact with her and try to squeeze out a tear. It doesn’t ______.
I go to school, come home, go to my room, and by 5 a. m. I have ______ myself to sleep. I hate this new town and this huge house. The only thing that keeps me ______ is my sister and a Saosin CD. Because it never stops playing, I ______ start sleeping with it on. I don’t know if it’s the comfort of Anthony Green’s voice, or time, but sleep becomes ______.
I wonder if my sister hears me crying in the next room. I wonder if she is as ______ as I am. I wonder if to her this brick house replaces our old green house. In my heart it doesn’t ______.
I’ve shared with you the darkest of my life. I am much better now. I can convince you,______, that I’ve not perfectly recovered. I am still homesick. I sleep with a nightlight and often an old Saosin CD. The fire ______ me. It scarred me.
A．thick B．serious C．thorough D．swift
A．rushing B．crying C．hurrying D．speaking
A．conflicting B．escaping C．fighting D．dying
A．passage B．solution C．way D．door
A．worry about B．depend on C．hear from D．come across
A．rarely B．approximately C．naturally D．completely
A．describe B．breathe C．survive D．continue
A．pushes B．divides C．pulls D．drags
A．slips B．digs C．slides D．drops
A．see B．cry C．laugh D．shout
A．in shock B．in trouble C．in vain D．in danger
A．come B．do C．work D．pause
A．allowed B．informed C．expected D．cried
A．awake B．acute C．alive D．active
A．severely B．eventually C．slightly D．explicitly
A．harder B．shorter C．easier D．longer
A．homegrown B．home-like C．home-made D．homesick
A．compare B．pass C．imagine D．decide
A．then B．besides C．though D．meanwhile
A．inspired B．changed C．motivated D．polished
To a watching world, Mike and Mary Murray were a perfect couple. They had been high school sweethearts.
And they ______ to have a happy marriage. Mike had a good job, and Mary was able to ______ home with their children. They owned their home and ______ kids, two cars, and a family dog. ______ to Mike, after seven years of marriage, something was terribly wrong. The Murrays had ______ their material goals and Mike ______, “Now what?” He began to look to his job for fulfillment and often worked 60 hour ______. Mary poured herself into the children. It was so ______ for her to turn her focus from Mike to 6-month-old Eric and 2-year-old Brittany.
And now the marriage seemed ______. Their lives were traveling in two different directions. They no longer really communicated---yes, they answered ______ questions, but they didn’t talk ______ as they had in the early years of their marriage. Mike felt trapped. “I ______ had time to do things that I wanted to,” he said. Mike did not share his feelings with Mary. Instead, he followed the slippery path of many others---he became involved with (与……纠缠不清) a woman at work, who was ______ her husband. It began as a simple friendship. “I was able to listen and she was able to listen,” Mike recalls.
Mary ______ the battle in Mike’s soul. “He wasn’t home as much, and we weren’t talking as much, ” she said. “I was wrapped up in the kids and I just couldn’t imagine anything ever ______.” The situation became worse when the Murrays attended a wedding and began to argue. Mary asked Mike if he was seeing ______ and he said, “Yes. It’s just an emotional(情感的)thing.” Mike can still remember the ______ of hurt and total surprise on Mary’s face. She was troubled, and he knew that he had turned against his best friend ______ high school. The expression on her face jarred(刺激) him into ______, and he began to understand the ______ he was doing to his family.
A．happened B．appeared C．looked D．had
A．live in B．study at C．stay at D．be out of
A．one B．no C．three D．two
A．Luckily B．As C．Thanks D．But
A．arrived B．reached C．got to D．made
A．surprised B．understood C．wondered D．asked
A．a week B．for a week C．on a week D．over a week
A．difficult B．comfortable C．apply D．easy
A．empty B．separate C．full of job D．true of life
A．simple B．surface C．scientific D．social
A．at all B．anything C．heart to heart D．in pain
A．really B．likely C．always D．never
A．loved by B．separated from C．different from D．cared by
A．knew B．understood C．admitted D．had no idea of
A．to take place B．to happen C．happening D．done
A．her B．someone else C．the matter D．anything
A．look B．face C．feeling D．want
A．since B．from C．to D．of
A．fact B．reality C．her life D．his life
A．good B．wrong C．harm D．harmful
A young girl, Hattie, stood outside a small church from where she had been turned away because it was too crowded. A kind pastor carried her ______ and found a place for her to sit in the back. He also told
her they could build a ______ Sunday school by raising money.
The pastor didn't see ______ again until he heard from her parents some two years later. Hattie had sadly died and her parents called for the kind-hearted pastor, who had treated their daughter ______, to handle the final arrangements. As her poor little body was ______, a worn and wrinkled purse appeared in front of them. Inside was found 57 cents and ______, reading "This is to help to build the little church bigger ______ more children can go to Sunday school."
For two years she had saved for this offering of ______. When the pastor ______ read that note, he knew immediately what he would do. ______ this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he ______ the story of her unselfish love and devotion.He challenged his deacons (助祭) to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. ______ the story doesn't end there!
A newspaper learned of the story and ______ it.It was ______ by a rich man who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands.When told that the church couldn't pay so ______, he offered it for a(n) ______payment.
Church members made large donations.Checks _____ from far and wide.Within five years the little girl's ______ had increased to $250,000.00,Her unselfish love had paid large shares.
When you visit Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a ______ capacity of 3,300.In one room may be seen the ______ of the sweet face of the little girl, whose 57 cents made such remarkable history.
A．away B．off C．inside D．out
A．new B．larger C．higher D．modern
A．Hattie B．children C．church D．school
A．fairly B．badly C．well D．equally
A．buried B．hidden C．burnt D．moved
A．a note B．a letter C．a purse D．a box
A．in case B．now that C．even if D．so that
A．money B．love C．friendship D．donation
A．hopefully B．tearfully C．quietly D．excitedly
A．Carrying B．Holding C．Seizing D．Catching
A．stated B．announced C．spoke D．told
A．So B．But C．And D．Or
A．published B．interviewed C．broadcast D．released
A．discovered B．heard C．read D．watched
A．much B．little C．more D．less
A．$1,000 B．57-cent C．nothing D．$100
A．filled B．paid C．ran D．flied
A．gift B．help C．idea D．thought
A．sitting B．covering C．seating D．including
A．memory B．picture C．bill D．expression
Mr. Glen is a millionaire. Five years ago, after returning from abroad to his motherland, he ______ his small company. Speaking of success, Glen often tells us a story about his extra expensive “school” fee. He always ______ his success to it.
At that time, Glen, who already got a Ph.D. degree, ______ to return to the homeland, starting a company. Before leaving, he bought a Rolex watch with the ______ made through years of work after school and the scholarships. At the airport he had to accept the ______ customs check. The watch on his wrist was also demanded to be taken down for ______. Glen knew that carrying the specific goods out had to pay the tax, and he worried about paying ______ for his watch. So when he was checked, he told a lie that his watch was a ______ fake（假货）. When he was ______ of his “smarts”, immediately, in the presence of Glen, the officers hit the watch,______ cost nearly 100,000, into pieces ______ hearing Glen’s words. Glen was ______. Before he understood why, he was taken to the office to be examined ______. For many times of entry-exit ______ he knew that only those people in the “blacklist” would “enjoy” this special treatment. The officers looked over everything carefully in the box, and ______ him no matter what time of entry and exit he must accept the check and if ______ reusing and carrying fake and shoddy goods, he would be ______ according to law! Suddenly, his face turned red, and he had nothing in mind after boarding the plane for long.
After returning to the homeland, he often told the story to his family, and his employees, too. He said that this made a deep ______ on him, because the additional high “school” fee that he had ever paid made him realize the value of ______, which he would remember as the ______ of his success forever.
A．set up B．took up C．went up D．picked up
A．honors B．mentions C．brings D．owes
A．decided B．refused C．objected D．asked
A．books B．things C．savings D．pounds
A．ordinary B．routine C．regular D．common
A．look B．inspection C．test D．experiment
A．one B．it C．them D．these
A．priceless B．useful C．worthless D．valuable
A．afraid B．proud C．ashamed D．hard
A．that B．what C．as D． which
A．on B．at C．who D．in
A．disappointed B．delighted C．amazed D．satisfied
A．strictly B．quietly C．quickly D．curiously
A．conditions B．experiences C．experiments D．chances
A．stopped B．hoped C．warned D．urged
A．came out B．found out C．sent out D．set out
A．hit B．blamed C．praised D．charged
A．expression B．idea C．thought D．impression
A．honesty B．lies C．goods D．bravery
A．secret B．lesson C．choice D．belief