Most of us long for relationships in which we are loved and accepted. Our hearts’ desire is to give and receive love in relationships that make us feel that even if others disagree with what we do or say, they still love us, accept us, and appreciate what we give to the world. While it would be wonderful to have these types of relationships with all people, we know that’s hard to do. However, we can have such relationships with some others, but only when we first have them with ourselves—and, strangely, this is often the hardest relationship of all.
Do you love yourself? You may think you do, but do you really? There’s only one way to find out— by taking a close look at what you think, say, and do. You may not like some of what you find, but if you are serious about really loving yourself, you can use this insight to do some positive inner work. Here’re three ways for gaining greater personal insight for deeper love:
Listen Closely to Your Thoughts
Your thoughts will determine your actions. One thing helping you to listen to your thoughts is keeping a journal. It is not necessary for you to write in it every day, but it helps to record various insights you gain as you go about your life. Instead of using a big notebook, you might use a small notepad that you can keep in your pocket for easy access to record your thoughts as they occur to you. Whichever method you choose, what’s most important is that you write your thoughts down. It will help you know what’s in your heart.
Be Honest with Yourself
To do this, you should pay attention to your actions. Actions speak louder than words, and they always tell the truth. If you say you love your job, but your actions say otherwise, which do you think is more reliable? On the other hand, if you say you’re not good at a certain job, but your actions say otherwise, that’s also important. What do you do with this insight? You can use it to make more positive choices in your life. By being honest with yourself, you will act according to truth instead of just what you tell yourself.
Take Quiet Time to Listen to Your Inner Voice
This is similar to the first point, but it takes a step further— beyond the natural mind to the heart that cannot be seen. You may want to use your quiet time to think deeply. However you use this time, the key is to shut out all of the noise around you by focusing deep within yourself. Breathing deeply during quiet time will also help you focus. I know it’s hard to find quiet time during a particularly busy day, but it’s so important— even if it’s just 10 minutes a day and you have to hide somewhere to get it. Quiet time can really make a difference in your life.
Despite what your mind may be telling you, you can have love with no limits. The key is to unconditionally love yourself first.. By looking deep into what we think, say, and do, we can .
| A．know whether we really love ourselves |
| B．appreciate what we give to the world |
| C．realize what type of relationship we long for |
| D．know whether we are loved and accepted by others |
.An important way for gaining personal insight is to .
| A．do some positive inner work |
| B．keep a journal wherever you go |
| C．look closely at what others say about us |
| D．pay attention to our thoughts |
.The insight we gain from our actions can help us .
| A．focus our attention on our jobs |
| B．make more positive choices in our life |
| C．act according to the truth |
| D．tell the differences between our words and our actions |
.It can be learned from the passage that if we want to have love without limits, we must first of all .
| A．be honest with ourselves anytime |
| B．give our love to others generously |
| C．love ourselves unconditionally |
| D．take quiet time and think deeply |
TIME is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, making it the first weekly news magazine in the US. Hadden was considered carefree, liked to tease Luce and saw TIME as important but also fun. That accounted for its heavy coverage of celebrities(including politicians), the entertainment industry, and pop culture—criticized as too light for serious news.
It tells the news through people, and for many decades, the magazine’s cover depicted a single person. On Hadden’s death in 1929, Luce became the most important man at TIME and a major figure in the history of 20th-century media.
TIME is also known for its signature red border, first introduced in 1927. It has only changed four times since then. The issue released shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States featured a black border to symbolize mourning. However, this edition was a special “extra” edition published quickly for the breaking news of the event; the next regularly scheduled issue contained the red border. Additionally, the April 28, 2008 Earth Day issue, dedicated to environmental issues, contained a green border. The next change in border was in the September 19, 2011 issue, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a metallic silver border. The most recent change(again with a silver border) was in the December 31, 2012 issue, noting Barack Obama’s selection as Man of the Year.
TIME has a division magazine, TIME FOR KIDS(TFK), which is especially published for children and is mainly distributed in classrooms. TFK contains some national news, a “Cartoon of the Week”, and a variety of articles concerning popular culture that the younger U.S. citizens are interested in. All the stories in TFK are written by young reporters.
In some advertising campaigns, the magazine has suggested that the letters TIME stand for “The International Magazine of Events”.TIME has a history of _______.
| A．about 50 years | B．about 70 years |
| C．about 90 years | D．about 150 years |
Why did some people dislike TIME in the beginning?
| A．It had kept its cover the same since the 1920s. |
| B．It didn’t have a serious tone for important events. |
| C．It didn’t report important events quickly enough. |
| D．Henry Luce was in charge of the magazine for too long. |
Why did TIME change its red border for the first time?
| A．To remember the 10th anniversary of an attack. |
| B．To remind readers to protect the environment. |
| C．To show great sadness about the deaths. |
| D．To call on readers to vote for Obama. |
What do we know about TFK?
| A．It has young reporters writing articles. |
| B．It has a division magazine called TIME. |
| C．It is designed for kids and teachers. |
| D．It mainly contains popular culture. |
Deborah Cohen is a senior natural scientist at the Rand Corp and the author of the book A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Forces Behind the Obesity Epidemic and How We Can End It. According to the book, there are lots of misunderstandings of obesity.
1. If you’re obese, blame your genes.
Obesity rates have increased. Yet, between 1980 and 2000, the number of Americans who are obese has doubled—too quickly for genetic factors to be responsible.
At restaurants, a dollar puts more calories on our plates than ever before, because restaurant meals usually have more calories than what we prepare at home, so people who eat out more frequently have higher rates of obesity than those who eat out less.
2. If you’re obese, you lack self-control.
Research shows that if we are faced with too much information, we have a tendency to make poor dietary choices. Our world has become so rich in temptation that we can be led to consume too much in ways we can’t understand. Even the most vigilant(警觉的) people may not be up to the task of controlling themselves.
3. Lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is responsible for obesity.
Although the US Department of Agriculture estimates that fewer than 5 percent of Americans live in the “food deserts”, about 65 percent of the nation’s population is overweight or obese. For most of us, obesity is not related to access to more fresh fruits and vegetables, but to the choices we make in supermarkets.
4. The problem is not that we eat too much, but that we don’t exercise.
Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign is based on the idea that if kids exercise more, childhood obesity rates will decrease. But there was no significant decrease in physical activity levels as obesity rates climbed in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, although a drop in work-related physical activity may account for up to 100 fewer calories burned, leisure physical activity appears to have increased. The problem is that we eat too much.The author mentioned Deborah Cohen’s book in Paragraph 1 to _______.
| A．introduce the topic |
| B．draw readers’ attention |
| C．introduce the author of the book |
| D．advertise the book |
What is the relationship between obesity and the place where you eat?
| A．The less you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| B．The less you eat at home, the lower rates of obesity you have. |
| C．The more you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| D．The more you eat at home, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Four misunderstandings of obesity. |
| B．Four rules to help you avoid obesity. |
| C．Obesity leads to a big fat crisis. |
| D．Lacking self-control leads to obesity. |
Both of Jessica’s parents were lawyers and expected her to follow suit. So she went to law school, got a job at a great firm in Washington, DC, and worked as a lawyer for a decade. But her heart was never in it. “I had a big salary but no personal satisfaction,” she says.
Jessica found pleasure in the same thing that had brought her joy since joining the church choir at the age of 12. “Singing always felt like communicating something real at a spiritual and emotional level,” says Jessica. Yet she never considered it a career option. “That seemed like something people did in fairy tales, and I would never let my parents down,” she says.
It was her mom’s diagnosis of brain cancer in 2009 that made Jessica realize she had to write her own happy-ever-after. “Work was busy and my mother was ailing. So I was flying back and forth from Washington, DC to Houston to see her,” Jessica says. “I finally said, ‘Enough!’ and quit.” While caring for her mom, Jessica made a plan. She would spend her savings and study music for a year, and then open a part-time law practice so she could pursue her passion. Before her mother passed away two years later, she encouraged Jessica to follow her dream. Her song Live This Life was inspired by her mom, and her dad came to watch her perform at clubs.
In 2012, Jessica moved to Nashville to try singing and songwriting. A decade of presenting cases in court gave her the confidence to sing for a crowd. “At 20, I would have been too shy to perform,” says Jessica.
“Doing music is so free,” Jessica says. “There’s no pressure to be a star. Success, to me, isn’t a dollar amount or a record deal; it’s doing what I love.”Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Jessica didn’t really like working as a lawyer. |
| B．Jessica didn’t know what she truly loved for ten years. |
| C．Jessica wasn’t satisfied with the pay she got as a lawyer. |
| D．Jessica was grateful for her parents’ arrangement for her. |
What does the underlined word “ailing” in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Sick. | B．Crazy. |
| C．Worried. | D．Unhappy. |
What was Jessica’s mother’s attitude toward her singing?
| A．Unknown. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
By telling Jessica’s story, the writer most probably wants to _______.
| A．encourage us to pursue our dreams |
| B．show that singing can be a practical career |
| C．tell us the importance of choosing a right job |
| D．show that family members’ support is important |
| A. London Alive This author of many famous novels has now turned to writing short stories with great success. The stories tell of Londoners’ daily lives and happen in eighteen different places——for example, one story takes place at a table in a cafe, another in the back of a taxi and another in a hospital. |
| B. The Last Journey John Reynold’s final trip to the African Congo two years ago unfortunately ended in his death. For the first time since then we hear about where he went and what happened to him from journalist Tim Holden, who has followed Reynold’s route. |
| C. The Missing Photograph Another story about the well-known policeman, Inspector Manning. It is written in the same simple but successful way as the other Manning stories——I found it a bit disappointing as I guessed who the criminal was halfway through! |
| D. Gone West A serious look at one of the least-known regions of the United States. The author describes the empty villages which thousands left when they were persuaded by the railway companies to go west in search of new lives. The author manages to provide many interesting details about their history. |
| E. The Letter The murder of a television star appears to be the work of thieves who are quickly caught. But they escape from prison and a young lawyer says she knows who the real criminals are. Written with intelligence, this story is so fast-moving that it demands the reader’s complete attention. |
| F. Free at Last Matthew Hunt, who spent half his life in jail for a crime he did not do, has written the moving story of his lengthy fight to be set free. Now out of prison, he has taken the advice of a judge to describe his experiences in a book. |
以下是几个有着不同阅读爱好的购书人，请匹配与之对应的书名：
With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. The word “rubbish” could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant(发电厂) for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that founders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally , the rubbish will pass under magnets(磁铁), which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.
| A．have completed what was started |
| B．get ready to start |
| C．have achieved a great deal in |
| D．put an end to |
| A．Breaking up whatever is breakable. |
| B．Sharpening metal bars. |
| C．Separating light elements from the heavy ones. |
| D．Sorting out small pieces of metal. |
| A．To deal with wastes in a better way. |
| B．To protect the environment from pollution. |
| C．To get raw materials locally. |
| D．To get big profits from those plants. |
| A．began to operate fifteen years ago |
| B．will take less than fifteen years to build |
| C．will be built fifteen years later |
| D．will probably be in operation in fifteen years |
| A．a cheap way to get energy |
| B．the location of recycling plants |
| C．new ways of recycling wastes |
| D．the probability of city environment |