A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” However, that’s not really true. Words have the power to build us up or tear us down. It doesn’t matter if the words come from someone’s else or ourselves --- the positive and negative effects are just as lasting.
We all talk to ourselves sometimes. We’re usually too embarrassed to admit it, though. In fact, we really shouldn’t be because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit.
This “self-talk” helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solve problems, and calm ourselves down. Be aware, though, that as much as 77% of self-talk tends to be negative. So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves. We should also be quick to give ourselves a pat on the back. The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying “Good job!”
Often, words come out of our mouths without us thinking about the effect they will have. But we should be aware that our words cause certain responses in others. For example, when returning an item to a store, we might use warm, friendly language during the exchange. And the clear will probably respond in a similar manner. Or harsh（刻薄的）and critical language will most likely cause the clerk to be defensive.
Words possess power because of their lasting effect. Many of us regret something we once said. And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves: Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn’t pass this test, then it’s better left unsaid.
Words possess power: both positive and negative. Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively. We can offer hope, build self-esteem（自尊）and motivate others to do their best. Negative words destroy all those things. Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours.The main idea of the first paragraph is that ________.
| A．words have a lasting effect on us | B．inspiring words give us confidence |
| C．negative words may let us down | |
| D．not sticks and stones but words will hurt us |
There is no sense for us to feel embarrassed when we talk to ourselves because _______.
| A．almost everybody has the habit of talking to themselves |
| B．talking to ourselves always gives us courage |
| C．we can benefit from talking to ourselves |
| D．it does no harm to have “self-talk” when we are alone |
The underlined part in the third paragraph means that we should also timely _______.
| A．remind ourselves | B．praise ourselves |
| C．make ourselves relaxed | D．give ourselves amusement |
．The author would probably hold the view that ___________.
| A．encouraging words are sure to lead to kind offers |
| B．negative words may stimulate us to make more progress |
| C．people tend to remember friendly words |
| D．it is better to think twice before talking to others |
Some time ago I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended, as there are a whole lot of antique(古董) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception (接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth－so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I entered the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I’ll give you twenty pounds." "It’s got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes, I saw that, it’s nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I’ll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I am sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You’re right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, “ Would you mend this chair for me?”. “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it," he said. "We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for five pounds?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused (感到有趣) by the whole thing.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
| A．plan for dealing with things |
| B．decision to sell things |
| C．idea of repairing things |
| D．way of doing things |
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the writer |
| A．￡5. | B．￡7. | C．￡20. | D．￡27. |
| A．honest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to warm themselves up during one particularly icy cold winter. They planned to stay at the very same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years ago. They both had jobs, so it was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving as planned, the husband checked into the hotel. There he decided to open his laptop and send his wife an e-mail back in Minneapolis. However, he accidentally left off one letter in her address and sent the e-mail without noticing his error.
In the same time: In Houston, a woman had just returned from her husband’s funeral(葬礼). He was a minister of many years who had been “called home to glory” following a heart attack. The woman checked her e-mail, expecting message from family and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted(昏厥)and fell to the floor. Her son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject: I’ve arrived!
I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then. Hope your journey is as uneventful(平静)as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here.
| A．To visit their family and friends |
| B．To escape from their busy work |
| C．To escape from the cold winter |
| D．To attend a friend’s funeral |
| A．He checked into a wrong hotel |
| B．He forget to bring the laptop |
| C．He forgot to mail his letter |
| D．He misspelled her wife’s address |
| A．died and gone to heaven |
| B．called his family to say hello |
| C．been awarded an honor |
| D．gone back to his hometown |
| A．Pleased | B．Frightened | C．Amazed | D．Moved |
| A．His wife wouldn’t go to Florida for his error. |
| B．The woman liked to chat with her friends by e-mail |
| C．The couple held their wedding in Florida 20 years ago. |
| D．The woman’s husband died of a heart attack |
D
| Awardwinning author Emma Donoghue's latest book, Room, is a unique and amazing story about a boy's experience living in a small，windowless room with his mother. The 11' x 11' space between the walls of the room is actually all the boy knows because he was born there and has never left. Room will horrify ，surprise, sadden, and finally delight you. Attracted from the start, readers of all sorts won't want to put Room down. ◆First published in the U. S. in September 2010 ◆Publisher: Little Brown ◆321 Pages |
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| Literary master Ian McEwan returns with Solar, a novel about a Nobel prizewinning physicist. The physicist's personal life is in a mess as his fifth marriage breaks，but this time he actually loves his wife and wants to make things better. Solar is a funny story, completely unusual and as good as anything the writer has ever written. ◆Published in March 2010 ◆Publisher: Knopf Doubleday ◆304 Pages |
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| One Day by David Nicholls was an international bestseller before it was released in the U. S. in June. Although it is well written and funny at times, don't be fooled—this isn't a goodfeeling romantic comedy. If you decide to read it, be prepared for some heavy moments. ◆Published in the U．S. in June 2010 ◆Publisher: Vintage Contemporaries ◆437 Pages |
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| Fall of Giants by Ken Follett is the first book in a new trilogy (three books)that will take readers through the major events of the twentieth century by following five families. In Fall of Giants, most of the action centers on World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution. Although Fall of Giants is more than 1,000 pages and has many characters，the story is remarkably connected. ◆Published in September 2010 ◆Publisher: Dutton ◆1,008 Pages |
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Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．Ian McEwan once won the Nobel Prize. |
| B．Fall of Giants is mostly set in wars. |
| C．One day is written by David Nicholls. |
| D．Solar is a funny story about a physicist. |
We can know from the text that ________.
| A．the main character of Room has a wide range of knowledge |
| B．Solar is the only book that Ian McEwan has ever written |
| C．all the four books were not published in the same month |
| D．One Day is a funny romantic comedy that sells very well |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．the sixth of Ian McEwan's marriages broke |
| B．Room by Emma Donoghue has a happy ending |
| C．the publisher of One Day is Little Brown |
| D．Dutton and Ken Follett are both publishers |
Children, especially at young ages, are very creative. And creativity can be a glorious(极好的) thing. Look at all the amazing artists and architects that have created glorious pieces of history. Look at all the authors with the award winning books. Now I am not saying everyone is going to end up this way but creativity is an important part of growing up and becoming who you are. This should be encouraged in young children as well as the older children.
Young children grow up playing with make-believe. And so many people try to make their young child see that their invisible friend isn’t real or that talking when someone is not in the room is weird. To adults it is, but for small children it is them being creative. May it be them playing house, or chef, or playing with stuffed animals, it is their creative part coming out. Some kids can have fun playing with rocks and sticks and it’s because of their creativeness that they can do this. The invisible friend part is another part of being imaginative, and is not a bad thing since they will grow out of that phase(阶段). So encourage this and play along with them, play house, or stuffed animals or whatever they want to play. Help keep their imagination running. You can even make up games, like treasure hunts, or dinosaurs, super heroes; there is just so much you can choose from.
All this can help your children’s minds stay creative. The arts and music, even thoughts are an important part of life and important in our society. If we didn’t have and encourage creative thinking, we wouldn’t have had inventors, or philosophers, or as I said before, artists.The underlined word “weird” is close in meaning to .
| A．familiar | B．strange | C．common | D．natural |
According to the author, if a child talks alone in a room, we should .
| A．let him be |
| B．stop him from doing so |
| C．give him some advice |
| D．know that he is suffering from loneliness |
What is mainly talked about in the passage?
| A．How creative artists and architects are born. |
| B．How to help children grow up in a healthy way. |
| C．What kind of activities children like. |
| D．How to help children to be creative. |
The author of the passage would agree that .
| A．every child can become creative artists or inventors |
| B．creative people all show strange behaviors when young |
| C．creativity brings out great artists and architects |
| D．creativity is a natural ability to be born with |
The hottest show this summer-the “Voice” just finished on Sunday at the Shanghai Stadium．But the show that had a good start didn't end to everyone's satisfaction．The two and a half hour show dragged on for more than four hours because of the huge amount of advertising, which the audience and residents（居民） living nearby could hardly bear．
This summer, something hotter than the weather came to Shanghai. That is the Voice of China．The show soon became a cash cow for the organizer as the advertisement prices reached 1.16 million yuan for 15 seconds. And the show has earned more than 100 million yuan up to now in ad income only. But the organizers’ bliss（快乐） was audiences’ melancholy（悲哀）．
In the final live show on Sunday, about 14 rounds of advertisements were aired, each of which came at a crucial result-announcing moment.
Frequently interrupted by advertisements, some audience complained that the show wasn’t worth its ticket prices of 180 to 1680 yuan.
The planned two and a half hour show went two hours overtime because of the advertising. This annoyed audience members, and touched the nerves(神经) of residents living near the site.
Someone called the police, and the show is now facing punishment for going over-time and disturbing residents late at night.Why didn’t “the Voice” make audience satisfied?
| A．It failed to attract audience attention in the end． |
| B．It failed to make audience satisfied． |
| C．It increased by one and a half hours and audience couldn’t bear it． |
| D．It was full of so many advertisements that audience can’t tolerate them． |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The show lasted for two and a half hours. |
| B．Someone called the police because they can’t bear the noises late at night. |
| C．The show was worth its ticket prices because the audience watched many advertisements. |
| D．The show has earned more than 100 million yuan up to now totally. |
Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
| A．The Voice of China—the most popular TV show of last summer. |
| B．The Voice of China—I want you. |
| C．The Voice of China—hard to say I love you. |
| D．The Voice of China—the noises of China. |
This passage is organized in the pattern of____.
| A．time and event | B．comparison and contrast |
| C．cause and effect | D．definition and classification |