There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world. But 36 a few of them are very 37 .English is one of these. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the U.S.A., but in other parts of the world. About 200,000,000 speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a 38 language. Many millions are 39 to do so. Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different 40 Have you ever 41 ads of this kind in the newspapers or magazines? "Learn English in six weeks, or your 42 back..." "Easy and funny! Our records and tapes 43 you master your English in a month. 44 the first day your 45 will be excellent. Just send …"Of course, it never 46 quite like this.
The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should 47 that we all learned our own language well when we were 48 . If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. 49 what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears. When he is using the language, talking in it, 50 in it all the time. Just imagine how much 51 that gets!
So it is 52 to say that learning English is easy, because a good command of English 53 upon a lot of practice. And practice needs great effort and 54 much time. Good teachers, records, tapes, books, and dictionaries will 55 . But they cannot do the student's work for him.（词数278）
A．not B．quite C．only D．very
A．difficult B．important C．necessary D．easy
A．native B．foreign C．useful D．mother
A．learning B．enjoying C．trying D．liking
A．questions B．problems C．ideas D．answers
A．found B．watched C．noticed D．known
A．knowledge B．time C．money D．English
A．make B．help C．let D．allow
A．From B．On C．Since D．After
A．spelling B．grammar C．English D．pronunciation
A．happened B．looked C．seemed D．felt
A．know B．remember C．understand D．think
A．students B．children C．babies D．grown-ups
A．Imagine B．Mind C．Do D．Think of
A．using B．thinking C．trying D．practicing
A．time B．money C．language D．practice
A．hard B．easy C．funny D．silly
A．depends B．tries C．has D．takes
A．uses B．takes C．gets D．costs
A．do B．work C．help D．master
I was in a department store with my mom, aunt, and my sister a few days ago. 16 , I am one of those people who do not like to go shopping with my family. However, I decided this time to 17 them.
My aunt and I were 18 for some things to buy for our family when I noticed two 19 on the side. One of them had a little girl sitting on it with her 20 nearby and the other one was 21 . So, I decided to sit down. While I was 22 my own thing there, I 23 that the family were not in front of the 24 anymore. I saw the girl 25 and look around for her family. She came back and I saw her in 26, crying.
I knew that she 27 her family and was all by herself . Now, I am sure that almost everybody has been lost in a department store or 28 big before and we all know that feeling. 29 I went up to her and asked what was 30 and in between tears she told me she was lost. I 31 her a smile card I just bought. You should have seen the 32 on her face when she read it. Then I went up to customer service center and 33 them what happened. People there promised to 34 her. After I left, the little girl’s parents went there and I could see them looking around for the person who had found their daughter and given her the35. Little did they know it was a regular teenager who did it.
A．Luckily B．Usually C．Sadly D．Surprisingly
A．help B．encourage C．join D．support
A．answering B．looking C．preparing D．calling
A．chairs B．children C．signs D．toys
A．friends B．book C．family D．bags
A．clean B．large C．empty D．beautiful
A．studying B．carrying C．buying D．doing
A．noticed B．believed C．doubted D．understood
A．shop B．gift C．girl D．lady
A．get up B．come up C．give up D．make up
A．return B．detail C．vain D．tears
A．hated B．raised C．lost D．lived
A．somewhere B．something C．everywhere D．everything
A．If B．As C．So D．Or
A．important B．wrong C．strange D．different
A．lent B．gave C．sent D．posted
A．smile B．hope C．puzzle D．worry
A．reminded B．warned C．asked D．told
A．look out for B．take care of C．wait for D．call up
A．courage B．money C．explanation D．card
My first job was at a local restaurant, where I worked for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow 36 .
Helen was in her 30s and had extraordinary（非凡的） self-confidence, something I was really 37 . I looked up to Helen 38 she was doing what she loved— 39 people better. She always made everyone, customers and co-workers（同事） 40 and feel good.
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my 41 customers was Fred Hasbrook. He always ate an omelet, and when I saw him _42 , I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
Thanks to the new found confidence I 43 __from Helen, I dreamed of having my own __44 . But when I called my parents to ask for a loan（贷款）, they said, “We just don’t have the money.”
The next day, Fred saw me and asked, “What’s 45 ? You’re not smiling today.” I 46__my dream with him and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody 47 just have faith in(信任）me.”
Before long he handed me checks 48 __$50,000—along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The only collateral（抵押品）on this loan is my trust in your 49 as a person. Good people with a dream should have 50 __to make that dream come true.”
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch, where the money was provided for me. I 51 working at the restaurant, making 52 for the restaurant I would open. My plans soured（破灭）, and I lost the 53 .
Later I decided to apply for a job at Merill Lynch. Even though I had no experience, I was__54 and ended up becoming a pretty good agent. 55 ，I paid back Fred the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.
A．friend B．waitress C．citizen D．customer
A．losing B．earning C．sharing D．lacking
A．while B．though C．because D．unless
A．helping B．respecting C．serving D．praising
A．work B．eat C．smile D．speak
A．regular B．favorite C．respected D．fresh
A．eating B．greeting C．smiling D．coming
A．found out B．picked up C．got back D．took away
A．restaurant B．work C．house D．money
A．ahead B．that C．there D．up
A．exchanged B．discussed C．shared D．explained
A．should B．would C．might D．must
A．counting B．totaling C．adding D．valuing
A．ability B．honesty C．responsibility D．identity（身份证）
A．patience B．confidence C．choice D．chance
A．loved B．practiced C．continued D．enjoyed
A．tables B．preparation C．decisions D．suggestions
A．faith B．honesty C．money D．friend
A．hired B．rejected C．encouraged D．determined
A．fortunately B．excitedly C．personally D．eventually
What’s the secret of success? Is it having loads of money? Good luck? Great
teeth?
Sure, cash, luck, and a nice 36 can’t hurt. But many social scientists agree that what successful people have in common is this: They were 37.
There’s George Washington, the top general of America’s troops in the Revolutionary War, who lost two huge 38 and was nearly fired. 39 Steve Jobs, who developed a lot of failed products---and even got fired from Apple---before 40 to change the world with the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
The 41 goes on: From Katy and Hall of Fame （名人堂）basketball legend Michael Jordan to Glee(欢乐合唱团 ) star Chris Colfer, the majority of today’s most successful people were 42 losers. They were dropped from record labels, 43_from basketball teams, or bullied in school. They felt humiliated, lost and 44.
But they eventually figured out how to move forward. And that is the key skill: the 45 to dust yourself off and try again. And again. Experts call this resilience(复原力 )---being able to 46 from setbacks. This is what turns losers into winners. Experts say that in terms of future success, resilience is more important than brains or talent. So 47 you fail a test or strike out at bat or sing off-key, don’t give up.
A．gift B．smile C．health D．habit
A．successes B．failures C．talented D．disabled
A．battles B．selections C．quarrels D．arguments
A．He’s B．It’s C．There’s D．They’re
A．doing B．leading C．applying D．returning
A．story B．paper C．research D．list
A．at a time B．at one time C．at times D．at which time
A．cut B．put C．thrown D．taken
A．promising B．happy C．hopeless D．hopeful
A．disability B．ability C．force D．desire
A．come B．resign C．recover D．keep
A．by the time B．next time C．before D．until
On the way to school, a little boy found a cocoon(茧) of a butterfly and watched it everyday. One day, it started to break through a small hole in the cocoon, but it 26 greatly. Finally, it seemed it couldn’t succeed.
The boy felt 27 for the butterfly because he knew it was going to die if it didn’t get out. So he ran into the house and got a pair of 28 and cut the cocoon a little. The butterfly came out and was free.
The only strange thing was that the butterfly has a swollen(肿胀的) body and dry 29 . The boy kept waiting for the swelling to go down and for the wings to grow, but 30 didn’t. The butterfly crawled（爬）around and unable to 31 and then it died an early death.
Therefore, he learnt that the butterfly was supposed to struggle to get out of the cocoon. In fact, the struggle to get out of the cocoon 32 the fluid(液) out of the body and it its wings. 33 the struggle, the butterfly couldn’t grow, and would 34 fly. By trying to help the butterfly, the boy 35 hurt it.
A．shouted B．struggled C．changed D．waved
A．ashamed B．satisfied C．happy D．sad
A．knives B．trousers C．scissors D．shoes
A．wings B．feather C．stomach D．legs
A．it B．you C．they D．he
A．walk B．fly C．move D．run
A．pulled B．dropped C．pushed D．flowed
A．without B．by C．with D．for
A．seldom B．hardly C．ever D．never
A．actually B．gradually C．slowly D．generally
Cure for Sorrow
There is an old story telling about a woman whose only son died in an accident. In her 31 , she went to the wise man that is always 32 for his wisdom in her town and said, “What advice or what 33 ways do you have to bring my son back to life? I will 34 you with all I have if you can.”
Instead of sending her away or 35 with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard(芥末) seed from a home that has never 36 sorrow. We will use it to drive the sorrow out of your life.” The woman went off at once in 37 of that magical mustard seed.
She came first to a splendid apartment, 38 at the door, and said in a 39 voice, “I am looking for a home that has never known sorrow. Is this such a(n) 40 that I want? It is very important to me.”
41 , she didn’t get what she wanted, even without a single word of 42 . They told her that she had come to the wrong place. And they began to 43 all the tragic things that recently had happened to them.
The woman said to herself, “Who is better able to help these poor, 44 people than I, though I also have had misfortune of my own?” She 45 to comfort them till they 46 . Then she went on searching for a home that had never known sorrow. But 47 she turned up, in small cottages or in other places, she found one 48 after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so 49in helping other people out of their sorrow that finally she forgot about her quest for the special mustard seed, in fact, never 50 that it had driven the sorrow out of her life.
A．joy B．danger C．belief D．sorrow
A．envied B．considered C．respected D．treated
A．strange B．magical C．valuable D．important
A．reward B．supply C．provide D．award
A．quarreling B．discussing C．reasoning D．arguing
A．suffered B．known C．obtained D．forgotten
A．honor B．favor C．need D．search
A．knocked B．broke C．stood D．pointed
A．excited B．confident C．sad D．urgent
A．place B．answer C．apartment D．person
A．Luckily B．Immediately C．Gradually D．Unfortunately
A．praise B．Respect C．comfort D．encouragement
A．exchange B．describe C．simplify D．decorate
A．unfortunate B．unfriendly C．unimportant D．unfamiliar
A．planned B．managed C．continued D．stayed
A．settle down B．break down C．calm down D．get down
A．wherever B．whatever C．however D．whenever
A．excuse B．tale C．lie D．reason
A．curious B．puzzled C．worried D．involved
A．recognizing B．realizing C．remembering D．wondering