When I was fifteen months old．I fell on a glass rabbit which cut my eye badly enough to blind it．And as I grew，this sightless eye , in so many ways controlled me that I walked with my face looking at the floor so people would not see the ugly me．
Yet Mama would hold me in her arms and stroke my hair and say，“If you hold your head up high，it will be OK．And people will see your beautiful soul．”She continued this message whenever I wanted to hide．
As a little child，I thought Mama meant，“Be careful or you will fall down or bump into something because you are not looking．”As a teenager, I found that my mama’s words helped me begin to realize that by letting people look at my face，I let them recognize the intelligence and beauty behind my eyes．
In high school I was successful both academically and socially．I was even elected class president，but inside me I still felt like a freak(畸形人)．When things got really bad，I would cry to my mama and she would look at me with loving eyes and say, “Hold your head up high and face the world．Let them see the beauty that is inside．”
When I met the man who became my partner for life，we looked each other straight in the eye，and he told me I was beautiful inside and out．Mama’s love and encouragement were the spark that gave me the confidence to overcome my own doubt．
“Hold your head up high” has been heard many times in my home．Each of my children has felt its invitation．The gift my mama gave me lives on in another generation．What is TRUE of the writer’s eyes?
| A．She was blind in one eye when she was born． |
| B．Her blindness was caused by a traffic accident． |
| C．She became blind in one eye because of a fall． |
| D．She lives unhappily because of her blindness． |
When the writer was a high school student，she ________ ．
| A．was proud of her beauty that was inside |
| B．was active in taking part in social activities |
| C．was filled with doubts and worries about her sightless eye |
| D．was good at her study but sometimes lacked confidence |
What does the underlined word “invitation” mean?
| A．encouragement | B．advantage | C．warmth | D．weight |
What’s the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To show the power of confidence． |
| B．To express her attitude to her mom． |
| C．To explain how to build confidence． |
| D．To inspire people to face difficulties |
Welcome to the Electronic Village to explore new ways of language teaching and learning.
| Electronic Village Program (Thursday, June 18, 2015) |
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| Nearpod 9:00 am to 10:00 am Room 501 Nearpod is a software program that creates a rich context(语境) for students to learn vocabulary. The presenter will show how to use it. |
TEO 2:00 pm to 3:00 p m Room 502 Our students come from different backgrounds but have the same desire to learn on-line. The presenter will use examples from his first on-line class to explain how any teacher can begin teaching on-line with TEO. |
| Kahoot 10:30 am to 11:30 am Room 601 Kahoot software can be used to create grammar tests which can be graded on a network. It can provide students with instant feedback(反馈), including resports about their strengths and weaknesses. |
Prezi 3:30 pm to 4:20 pm Room 602 Uses of Prezi in listening and speaking courses draw students’ attention to speaking more fluently. The presenter will show how students can use Prezi to confidently present on a variety of topics, including introducing family, friends, and hobbies. |
Nearpod can be used to ______．
| A．offer grammar tests |
| B．teach listening on-line |
| C．help vocabulary learning |
| D．gain fluency in speaking |
If you want to improve your speaking skills, you can go to____________．
| A．Room 501 | B．Room 502 |
| C．Room 601 | D．Room 602 |
Which of the following can assess your grammar learning?
| A．Nearpod． | B．Kahoot． |
| C．TEO． | D．Prezi． |
A teacher who wants to learn on-line teaching is expected to arrive by ______．
| A．9:00 am | B．10:30 am |
| C．2:00 pm | D．3:30 pmB |
My 11-year-old son and I rides bikes to and from his school every day. I accompany him on the 20-minute ride through Manhattan, drop him off and return at the end of day to pick him up. We always ride together; sometimes he leads; sometimes I do. And as we ride, we communicate the ways to minimize (使减少或缩小到最低限度) the dangers: Don’t go too fast, and watch out for doors suddenly swinging out from parked cars and jaywalking pedestrians, etc. Some friends worry about the risk of riding in traffic, but is there a better way to let my son know how to deal with traffic dangers?
But recently he requested me to start hanging back a half block or so. This way he could enjoy the feeling of riding on his own, with the security of knowing that I was nearby in case he needed me. This is healthy, of course, as my son needs space to develop independence in preparation for his inevitable (不可避免的，必然发生的) departure from home. However, that means soon he will want to ride to school on his own, and I will no longer have this wonderful routine. “Let your children go if you want to keep them.” I understand this and am trying to let my son go in age-appropriate phases, but I still suffer. It’s one of the most troubling experiences of parenthood — recognizing that your presence is becoming less welcome.
My dilemma as a husband mirrors the concern I feel as a parent. My wife has just left on a six-month mission to cover the situation in Libya. In the days leading up to her departure, we spoke openly about the possibility, however unlikely, that she might be killed. But while I influence her decisions, I do not control them. Finally, it was her decision. I know that letting go is the wisest path in this case too.
As we travel through life’s phases, we must let go of so much. And I don’t think it gets easier with practice. But maybe just accepting that eventually we will have to let go is the secret to living a full life.Why does the writer accompany his son on his daily ride to school?
| A．To build up his strength. |
| B．To teach his son to ride in traffic. |
| C．To tell his son the way to school. |
| D．To communicate more with his son. |
Although he thinks his son’s request understandable, the writer ________.
| A．is worried about his son’s safety |
| B．is angry for his son’s leaving alone |
| C．feels upset for being rejected by his son |
| D．feels sorry for not giving his son enough space |
What does the writer’s wife do?
| A．She is a soldier. | B．She is a politician. |
| C．She is a media person. | D．She is a businesswoman. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Letting go. | B．Father’s love. |
| C．Living a full life. | D．Lessons from riding. |
There are times when nothing seems to be working in our favor. We may use complaining as a coping mechanism (办法，途经) when we are truly unhappy. However, there are many times when we don’t try our best and just want things to work our way. We may try to cover our faults by complaining about the unfairness of it all. These are expressive complaints where the complainer just wants to let out his/her anger or frustration, with no real intention of solving the problem. The complainer expects pity and recognition from the listeners although the results often disappoint him/her.
Sometimes, we use complaints as a conversation starter. Conversations that start with a complaint often have a domino effect. It may cause the listener to include his/her complaints in the conversation as well, which makes you think that you are not the only one facing problems. However, your good feeling won’t last long as long as you are always focusing on the negative.
When complaining becomes a habit, you complain to anyone that comes around. Negativity that comes from complaining kills creativity and innovation (创新). Habitual complainers are less likely to come up with new ideas, as they are busy finding faults and discourage others from trying new things by making them feel that they won’t work. When you spend time with people who constantly complain, you are likely to view things in a negative light. This will make things worse. This can affect the way you perceive your own situation, and even the people around you.
Though expressing your feelings may momentarily improve your state of mind, it could sometimes have a bad effect on the listener’s state of mind. A recent study has shown that at social gatherings while people who are unhappy may join you when you play the victim at the beginning, the majority would start avoiding you because of your negativity.Why do people who don’t try their best often complain?
| A．They want to get others’ pity. |
| B．It is the best way to let out their anger. |
| C．They try to find an excuse for their faults. |
| D．They hope to get a solution to their problems. |
According to Paragraph 2, complaints in conversations ________.
| A．are easy to deal with |
| B．can spread to others |
| C．may help you make friends |
| D．help focus on the similar unfairness |
What do we know about habitual complainers?
| A．They can hardly influence others in their negative way. |
| B．They can get momentary comfort by complaining. |
| C．They have a better understanding of their faults. |
| D．They are more likely to put forward new ideas. |
According to the author, complaining at social gatherings is ________.
| A．unusual | B．acceptable |
| C．unwelcome | D．frustrating |
The world was mysterious (神秘的) when I was a child, so miracles (奇迹) were welcome wonders. Now, there doesn’t seem to be space for them in this world I so intelligently understand.
Perhaps it’s from years of working around sick and often dying children, watching time and time again as a child slips away from the arms of a begging mother. I have stopped hoping as the parents around me hope.
I recently cared for a patient near the end of his life. Medically speaking, his situation was hopeless, which made me feel helpless and defeated.
His mother came in to see him. I had prepared myself to support her, imagining she would crumble (崩溃) into a pile of tears.
“Our God is faithful,” she said, with a smile on her face and the sunshine of hope in her eyes.
“Cancer is faithful,” I muttered (嘀咕) in my mind.
“We still believe he can heal him,” she continued, as if she had heard what I was thinking.
I provided updates on his body. In a laundry list of updates, perhaps two things were positive. She thanked me for the information, repeating back the minor positive notes I had given.
I brcame kind of angry. And I wanted to sak, “Do you really not understand the gravity (严重性) of this illness?”
And then, yet again, as if she had heard me, she replied with this: A positive attitude gives us power over our circumstances, rather than allowing our circumstances to have power over us.
I was shocked. Here I was, judging her positive attitude as a fault. I completely disregarded the choice to believe in something more powerful than me, more healing than the doctors on our team. It wasn’t blind faith. It was strength and devotion.
When I came out of the room, tears welling in my eyes, I sat at my computer and looked
down at a small plate of candies she must have left for me on her way into the room. A hand
written note was laid above them: Kate, your devotion is so appreciated, S.
S, it is your devotion that I am appreciating today. Because of you, I am begging again to
believe in miracles.The author is probably a ________.
| A．nurse | B．patient | C．teacher | D．mother |
Before seeing the patient’s mother, the author thought that the patient ________.
| A．would recover soon |
| B．had got much better |
| C．was going to die of cancer |
| D．might make a miraculous recovery |
Why was the author angry with the patient’s mother?
| A．Because of her optimism. |
| B．Because of her impoliteness. |
| C．Because she couldn’t stop crying. |
| D．Because she was always complaining. |
Finally, the patient’s mother made the author become ________.
| A．more patient | B．more positive |
| C．more aggressive | D．more sympathetic |
A few weeks ago, while I was reading the morning paper, I turned the radio up to listen to a Saturday morning talk show and I heard an old sounding gentleman, with a golden voice. He was telling whoever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles”.
I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say …
“Let me tell you something, Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities (优先考虑的事).”
He continued, “You see, I sat down one day and did a little math. The average person lives for about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 by 52 and I came up with 3,900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with (继续倾听……的话) me, Tom. I’m getting to the important part.”
“It wasn’t until I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays that I started thinking about all this in any detail,” he went on. “I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought 1,000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.
“I found that by watching the marbles diminish (变少), I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.
“It was nice to meet you, Tom. I hope you spend time with your family, and I hope to meet you again.”
You could have heard a pin drop on the radio when the old man signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had panned to work that morning. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “Come on, honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast. And can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”The underlines word “intrigued” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ________”.
| A．encouraged | B．moved | C．worried | D．attracted |
The old man started practicing the theory of “a thousand marbles” ________.
| A．in his twenties | B．in his fifties |
| C．in his seventies | D．in his eighties |
What life lesson does this text teach us?
| A．Spending more time with our family. |
| B．Enriching our life with marble games. |
| C．It’s never too late to love our family. |
| D．Learning to live life to the fullest. |