As I sit here on the eve of my 3rd year non-smoker anniversary, I’m thinking about that last cigarette I smoked. I was sitting at the kitchen table at 10 in the 16 at home, sick with bronchitis（支气管炎） again. I felt miserable, weak and desperate. I 17 smoking that moring in 2005 without any real confidence that I was smoking my 18 cigarette ever.
Today, there’s one thing about my future that I 19 with absolute certainty: I’ll never smoke again! I know without a shadow of a 20 that I’ll never go back. I’ve changed what cigarettes 21 to me and in the process I’ve gained permanent, true 22 from the habit that held me close for 26 long years!
Our thoughts and feelings control the 23 of our lives. It’s how we think about the experiences in our lives that 24 , not the events themselves.
Most of us smoked for years. We 25 to think of cigarettes as a part of us, even a friend. How do we now 26 changing the meaning that has become so 27 established in our lives? There are specific steps that, when 28 , will help you take control and shape your thoughts in ways that 29 you. Work these techniques into your daily routine and give them some time to 30 and flourish. You’ll be surprised at the positive 31 you can create in your life.
Anything you want to change in your life has to 32 from the should list to the must list. Most of us spent years thinking we should quit smoking. I sure did. 33 right now that quitting is a must for you. This has got to be the first step you take on the 34 to freedom. Don’t worry that you feel shaky and unsure. The steps outlined here will help you turn that 35 into strength of purpose. Make your quit a must—it’s where we all have to begin.
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What looks like an angry old man and lives at the bottom of the ocean? It’s the world’s ugliest animal---the blobfish(水滴鱼).
Its strange skin is shaped by its habitat. It lives 800 meters below the ocean’s surface, a depth where very few other creatures can survive.
Most fishes have a swim bladder(鱼鳔), which is filled with gas and helps them stay afloat. At the depth that the blobfish live, water pressure is 80 times higher than that at higher sea levels and any swim bladder wouldn’t be able to serve its purpose.
The blobfish don’t have a swim bladder because their skin works the same way. It helps them stay afloat without having to use any energy.
The blobfish have a pretty relaxed attitude towards eating. All they do is stay and wait for crabs or lobsters to come by.
Since the blobfish like to eat crabs and lobsters, they often get caught in nets that are used to catch lobsters or crabs and end up dying or being killed. They are not suitable for eating so they are useless for fishermen.
There’s a purpose behind the blobfish’s new title; it has become the new mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, an organization whose purpose is to preserve endangered ugly animals.
“We’ve needed an ugly face for endangered ugly animals for a long time and I’ve been amazed by the public reaction,” said the Society’s Simon Watt. “For too long cute animals have taken the limelight(风头) but now the blobfish will be a voice for those who always get forgotten.”They hope this new face will help the world know that we need to help preserve the populations of ugly animals too.The biggest difference between the blobfish and most other fishes is that the blobfish_____ .
| A．cannot be eaten by people |
| B．don’t have a swim bladder |
| C．only live at high sea levels |
| D．aren’t active in catching food |
What makes the blobfish stay afloat?
| A．Their skin. | B．Their tail. |
| C．Their mouth. | D．Their swim bladder. |
We can learn from what Simon Watt said that _____ .
| A．most ugly animals are in danger |
| B．the population of the blobfish is increasing |
| C．the blobfish have attracted the public’s attention |
| D．people knew nothing about the blobfish in the past |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To discuss the importance of preserving animals. |
| B．To give the reason for starting an organization. |
| C．To present the results of a survey. |
| D．To introduce a special animal. |
| Apple picking |
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| Apple picking is always a popular fall activity, with families looking for a fun way to spend time together outdoors. Check out some options on where and how to pick close to Toronto: |
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| Where to pick |
Pine Farms Tel: 905-833-5459 Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9 am to 5 pm Details: Pick your own apples from mid-August to November. |
| Albion Farms Tel: 905-584-0354 Hours: Daily 10 am to 6 pm Details: Pick your own apples on weekends only |
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| Watson Farms Tel: 905-623-9109 Hours: Monday to Friday 9 am to 8 pm Weekends 9 am to 6 pm Details: Pick your own apples only in early September. |
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| Brooks Farms Tel: 905-473-3920 Hours: Daily 9 am to 5 pm Details: Picking your own apples is not available(可得到的)，but apples are available in the farm market. |
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| Willis Family Fruit Farms Tel: 905-876-2606 Hours: Weekends 10 am to 8 pm Details: Pick your own apples only in September and October. |
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| Apple picking tips |
Call first: Certain apple types may not be available because demand and farm hours can change without notice. So call ahead before setting out. |
| What to bring: Some farms provide containers(容器) for you to carry the fruit home, but it’s not a bad idea to bring them yourself. Comfortable shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty are a must. And keep the weather in mind: pack a sweater for cooler days, and bring sun cream. |
According to the author, apple picking ______ .
| A．helps farmers harvest the fruit |
| B．can bring great pleasure to families |
| C．is better for teenagers than for adults |
| D．is becoming more and more popular in cities |
If you are only free after 6 pm on Tuesday, you can choose _____ .
| A．Pine Farms | B．Albion Farms |
| C．Watson Farms | D．Willis Family Fruit Farms |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．You may dirty your clothes when picking apples. |
| B．Apples on all the farms are on sale at the same time. |
| C．You have to pay to take the apples you have picked home. |
| D．You are not allowed to take containers for carrying apples. |
I regularly train at a local boxing gym and I’m lucky enough to meet an amazing man, Adrian Charter. Adrian comes to the gym to train, just like me. The difference is, I’m 31 years old, and Adrian is 72!
I watched Adrian as he was training, early on a Sunday morning, and he was hitting the punching bag harder and quicker than most men in their twenties would. Adrian was a former boxer whose last professional fight was in 1972. Even though he has stopped competing as a boxer, his discipline(纪律) still makes him stick to a training rule.
It simply amazed me as to how a 72-year-old man could train so hard. Believe me, boxing is one of the most difficult sports on the earth, needing much patience,skill, and effort.
What surprised me even more was that a few days earlier he did some running. He ran 9 kilometers. He does this on a regular basis. For me, I can run 5 kilometers at most.
When I questioned him about how he kept such discipline, he calmly replied, “It is all in my mind.”
I thought about it for a moment. If discipline can push a 72-year-old man to train so hard and enjoy it, could I imagine how discipline could serve every single human being on the earth? Right at this point, as you read this story, please pause and ask yourself, “What is my level of discipline?”
Adrian’s example told me that the power of discipline will get us to the finishing line! The bigger the challenge is, the more our discipline can serve us and the sweeter the taste of success will be!The author noticed Adrian Charter mostly because Adrian Charter _______ .
| A．was a famous former boxer |
| B．was the oldest in the boxing gym |
| C．acted faster even than young people |
| D．didn’t want to compete any longer |
What does the author think of boxing?
| A．It has high requirements. |
| B．It has strict training rules. |
| C．It has a limit to people’s age. |
| D．It makes people become quick and strong. |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably means “______ ”.
| A．Rome was not built in a day |
| B．no pains, no gains |
| C．failure is the mother of success |
| D．early birds can catch worms |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Grasp every chance to keep fit |
| B．An unforgotten experience |
| C．The power of discipline |
| D．An amazing boxer |
A bargain is something offered at a low and advantageous price. A more recent definition is: a bargain is a dirty trick to force money out of the pockets of silly and innocent people.
The cost of producing a new - for example - toothpaste would make 80p the proper price for it, so we will market it at £1.20. It is not a bad toothpaste, and as people like to try new things it will sell well to start with; but the attraction of novelty soon fades, so sales will fall. When that happens we will reduce the price to £1.15. And we will turn it into a bargain by printing 5p OFF all over it.
Sometimes it is not 5p OFF but 1p OFF. What breathtaking rudeness to advertise 1p OFF your soap or washing powder or whatever! Even the poorest old-age pensioner ought to regard this as an insult(侮辱), but he doesn’t. A bargain must not be missed. People say one has to have washing powder (or whatever) and one might as well buy it a penny cheaper.
The real danger starts when unnecessary things become ‘bargains’. Many people just cannot resist bargains. Provided they think they are getting a bargain they will buy clothes they will never wear or furniture they have no space for. Once I heard of a man who bought an electric saw as a bargain and cut off two of his fingers the next day. But he had no regrets: the saw had been truly cheap.
Quite a few people actually believe that they make money on such bargains. A lady once told me: “I’ve had a lucky day today. I bought a dress for £120, reduced from £400; and I bought a beautiful Persian carpet for £600, reduced from £900.” It will never occur to her that she has actually wasted £720. She feels as though she had made £580. She also feels, I am sure, that if she had more time for shopping, she could make a living out of it.
Some people buy in large quantities because it is cheaper. Once a couple bought enough sugar for their lifetime and the lifetime of their children and grandchildren. They thought it a bargain not to be missed. When the sugar arrived they didn’t know where to store it – until they realized that their toilet was a very spacious one. So that was where they piled up their sugar. Not only did their guests feel rather strange whenever they were offered sugar to put into their coffee, but the toilet became extremely sticky.
To offer bargains is a commercial trick to make the poor poorer. When greedy fools fall for this trick, it serves them right.Which word best describes the language style of the passage?
| A．Polite. | B．Foolish. | C．Humorous. | D．Serious. |
What does the underlined word “novelty” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
| A．Good quality. | B．Low price. |
| C．Newness. | D．Curiosity. |
How does the author feel about 1p OFF a product?
| A．It’s a gift for poor people. |
| B．It’s an offense to shoppers. |
| C．It’s a bargain worth trying. |
| D．It’s a real reduction in price. |
Which statement will the author probably agree with?
| A．Bargains are things people don’t really need. |
| B．Bargains are often real cheap products. |
| C．Bargains help people make a living. |
| D．Bargains play tricks on people. |
The bed should be reserved as a place for sleep, but people tend to read an iPad a lot in bed before they go to sleep.
Charles Czeisler, a professor at Harvard Medical School, and his colleagues got a small group of people for an experiment. For five days in a row, the people read either a paper book or an iPad for four hours before sleep. Their sleep patterns were monitored all night. Before and after each trial period, the people took hourly blood tests to paint a day-long picture of just how much melatonin (褪黑激素) was in their blood at any given time.
When subjects read on the iPad as compared to the paper books, they reported feeling less sleepy at night and less active the following morning. People also took longer to fall asleep on the iPad nights, and the blood tests showed that their melatonin secretion (分泌) was delayed by an hour and a half.
The researchers conclude in today's journal article that given the rise of e-readers and the increasingly widespread use of e-things among children and adolescents, more research into the long-term consequences of these devices on health and safety is urgently needed. Czeisler and colleagues go on, in the research paper, to note：“Reading an iPad in bed may increase cancer risk.”
However, software has been developed that can reduce some of the blue light from the screens of phones and computers according to time of day, and there are also glasses that are made to filter (过滤) short wavelengths. While they seem like a logical solution for the nighttime tech users, it needs more research.In Charles Czeislers experiment, all the subjects were asked to______.
| A．sit in a row and receive the strict tests |
| B．have their sleep patterns observed all night |
| C．read a paper book and an iPad at the same time |
| D．have their blood tested per hour during the trial |
The third paragraph tells us the iPad readers were likely to____________.
| A．feel less sleepy and tired in the day |
| B．fall asleep more easily after reading |
| C．become less energetic the next morning |
| D．have a lot more melatonin secretion |
The special software recently developed can______.
| A．remove the blue light from your devices completely |
| B．help prevent eyes being harmed by short wavelength |
| C．weaken the harm done by doing nighttime e-reading |
| D．be used in all the e-things widely and safely |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．No e-reading in bed before sleep |
| B．New software for night e-readers |
| C．Wrong behaviors before bedtime |
| D．No games on iPad in bed |