A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives.
Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and other things including cups-porcelain(瓷杯子), glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some elegant -- telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "I notice that all the nice looking and expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each others cups. Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate we have. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Thank the Lord for your blessings in 2011. And enjoy your hot chocolate in 2012!” When did they decide to go to see their professor?
| A．After the reunion. | B．During the get-together. |
| C．Before they graduated. | D．Just after the professor retired. |
Why did the professor offer them different cups?
| A．Because cups were not enough for everyone. |
| B．Because cups were beautiful. |
| C．Because the professor wanted to teach them something. |
| D．Because hot chocolate should be contained in different cups. |
What caused the professor to say those words?
| A．Their graduation. | B．Their reunion. | C．Their visit. | D．Their complaints. |
What does the word “cup” in this passage refer to?
| A．Life | B．happy things in life |
| C．hot chocolate | D．tools to hold and contain life |
What is the purpose of the professor’s words?
| A．To tell them life is not easy, so try their best to be happy. |
| B．To educate them that the happiest people don't have the best of everything. |
| C．To wish them to be grateful to their life and make the best of everything that they have. |
| D．To use different cups to tell them they should try different things in life. |
ABORIGINAL is a term used to describe the people and animals that lived in a place from the earliest known times or before Europeans arrived. Examples are the Maori in New Zealand, the Aborigines in Australia and the Indians in America. They all share the fact that they were pushed off their land by European settlers.
Maori
The Maori were the first people to go to New Zealand, about 1,000 years ago. They came from the islands of Polynesia in the Pacific. They brought dogs, rats and plants with them and settled mainly on the Northern Island. In 1769, Captain James Cook from Britain took possession of the Island and from that time British people started to settle. The Maori signed an agreement on land rights with these settlers, but in later years there were arguments and battles between them.
Aborigines
The native people of Australia came from somewhere in Asia more than 40,000 years ago. They lived by hunting and gathering. Their contact with British settlers began in 1788. By the 1940s almost all of them were mixed into Australian society as low-paid workers. Their rights were limited. In 1976 and 1993 the Australian Government passed laws that returned some land to the Aborigines and recognized their property rights.
American Indians
Long before the Europeans came to America in the 16th and 17th century, the American Indians, or Native Americans, lived there. It is believed that they came from Asia. Christopher Columbus mistook the land for India and so called the people there Indians. The white settlers and American Indians lived in peace at the beginning, but conflicts finally arose and led to the Indian Wars (1866-1890). After the wars, the Indians were driven to the west of the country. Not until 1924 did they gain the right to vote.The similarity among Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians is that _________.
| A．they lost their vote right after European settlers’ arrival |
| B．they lost their land after European settlers’ arrival |
| C．they were driven out of their country after European settlers’ arrival |
| D．they were not treated as citizens until recently |
Before European settlers arrived, we can infer that the Aboriginals had lived _________ life.
| A．a miserable | B．a bitter | C．a peaceful | D．a troublesome |
Which of the following was first interrupted by the Europeans?
| A．Maoris. | B．Aborigines. | C．American Indians. | D．Not mentioned. |
The passage mainly tells us _______.
| A．the war between aboriginal people and white settlers |
| B．the history of Maoris, Aborigines and American Indians |
| C．the present unfair treatment to aboriginal people of the world |
| D．European settlers were the enemy of all aboriginal people |
A. Arguments are pointless.
B. Your parents only want what's best for you.
C. Everyone's opinion matters only as much as you want them to.
D. You learn by doing.
E. Your emotions are under your control.
F. You aren't stuck in any situation
Life is the greatest teacher
There always comes a moment when I wonder where I will end up and this moment always serves as a strong motivation for me to learn life lesson. I've learned a great many things, but these are the lessons that I wish I'd learned earlier:_________
There was a time when everyone's opinion was mine as well. Whatever preferences I formerly held were dashed in the face of another's. This most likely came from a need to please others. Remember that your opinion matters just as much as the next guy's, whether they make more money than you or are less popular than you. Everyone's opinion holds the same weight._________
Drama, chaos, and emotional unrest — these were what took up most of my time as a teenager. If I had heard someone said bad things behind my back, I'd be angry. Go crazy. Looking back on those tantrums now, I'm not too surprised. After all, when you have little self control, anything is possible. The lesson here is, remain aware of how you react._________
Will one small argument among friends decide the fate of the entire universe? In my world it felt like it. I just wanted so much to be right and for them so much to be wrong. But in the end, it only resulted in me wasting my time and in the other person storming off in frustration. Is there really a point to arguing? Unless it's absolutely necessary, I've learned that it's better to hold your breath on things you can't control at all. Arguing to change someone's mind is one of them._________
I'm not saying every parent wants what's best for you (there are outliers), but in general, parents do what they do for you in your best interest. My parents used to make me do the dishes, cook dinner, sweep the floors, mow the lawn, take out the garbage… the list goes on and on. And at every turn, I'd whine and complain. I'd eventually end up doing it. Now, I honestly see the value in having learned those skills. I can efficiently cook and clean up after myself._________
Whenever I’d lose a friend, get an awful grade, or disappoint my parents, I stewed in my own muck. Waiting for the bad moments to go away seemed to be the only solution. Fortunately, I know now that you don’t have to be stuck in bad situations. You can go out and create better ones. It all depends on perspective; on how you see the situation. Viewing everything as a learning experience makes life more pleasurable, even during the hard times. You aren't stuck. You can move on.
I'm glad to have learned these lessons the way I did. Each experience helped shape me to become a better person. I don't know if any young people are reading this, but if they are, I'd like to say this: “Listen to life and its experiences. Everyone goes through mostly the same things.”
As I write this, I have half an eye on an old James Bond film that is showing on my computer. But this is a story about how I stopped watching TV and began reading again for pleasure, after ten years in which I hardly turned a page.
I suppose I was an enthusiastic reader of "literature" between the ages of nine and fourteen. I had enough time to be White Fang, Robinson Crusoe, and Bilbo Baggins and Jeeves. Of course there was room in the schoolboy's imagination for some real historical figures: Scott of the Antarctic, all of the Vikings, and Benjamin Franklin were good friends of mine.
Then, in adolescence, I began a long search for strange and radical (激进的) ideas. I wanted to challenge my elders and betters, and shock my fellow students with amazing points of view. Of course, the only place to look was in books. I hunted out the longest titles and the authors with the funniest names; I searched the library for completely unread books. Then I found one which became my bible for the whole of 1982, it had a title composed of eleven long words and an author whose name I didn't know how to pronounce. It was really thick and looked dead serious. Even better, it put forward a whole world-view that would take days to explain. Perfect. I took it out of the library three times, proud to see the date-stamps lined up on the empty library insert.
Later, I went to university. Expecting to spend long evenings in learned discussion with clever people, I started reading philosophy. For some reason I never found the deep-thinking intellectuals I hoped to meet. Anyway, I was ready to impress with my profound (深奥的) knowledge of post-structuralism, existentialism and situationism. These things are usually explained in rather short books, but they take a long time to get through. They were the end of my youthful reading.
Working life was hard to get used to after so much theory. It was the end of books for me. There didn't seem to be much in books that would actually get things done. To do things you had to answer the telephone and work a computer. You had to travel about and speak to people who weren't at all interested in philosophy. I didn't stop reading, you can't avoid that. I read all day. But no books came my way, only manuals (操作手册) and contracts and documents. Maybe most people satisfy their need for stories and ideas with TV and, to tell the truth, it was all I needed for ten years. In those days I only had a book "on the go" for the duration of aeroplane flights. At first I would come home and watch TV over dinner. Then, I moved the TV so I could watch it from bed. I even got a switch so I could turn it off without getting out of bed. Then, one fateful day, my TV broke and my landlady took it away.
My new TV is an extra circuit board (电路板) inside my computer. It's on a desk in front of a working chair and I can't see it from the bed. I still use it for the weather forecasts and it's nice to have it on while I'm typing this… but what to do last thing at night? Well, have another go with books.
Now, I just like books. I have a pile of nice ones by my bed and I'm reading about six at the same time. I don't want to be any of the characters. I don't care if a thousand people have already read them. I don't have to search through libraries. There are books everywhere and all of them have something to read in them. I have the strange feeling that they've been there all along, waiting for me to pick them up.The writer enjoyed reading “literature” between the ages of nine and fourteen because ________.
| A．he thought it was important for a schoolboy to do so |
| B．he was still too young to understand other books |
| C．he believed all the real historical figures were his friends |
| D．he could imagine himself being the characters in the books |
“Existentialism” (in paragraph 4) is probably ________.
| A．a library intended for teenagers | B．a kind of books on traditions |
| C．a philosophy theory | D．a kind of reading skill |
The main reason the writer stopped reading books was that ________.
| A．he found watching TV was more interesting |
| B．he became too busy to read any books |
| C．he found books were of little use to his work |
| D．he had to read a lot of manuals, contracts and documents |
Now the writer starts to read books again ________.
| A．to find back his youth in books | B．for the pure pleasure of reading |
| C．so as to help kill his spare time | D．for only business purposes |
Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
| A．The Years with Books | B．Books and TV Programs |
| C．Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover | D．Reading Makes One Excellent |
Half of the world’s population is affected by Asian monsoons (季风), but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.
Every year, moist (潮湿的) air masses，known as monsoon，produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.
According to Edward Cook, a weather expert at Columbia University in New York, the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings（年轮）, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places.
Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.
Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. “If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology（大事年表） that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability.” With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.
“There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding.” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So, to get a sense of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”What’s the passage mainly about？
| A．The effects of Asian monsoons. | B．The necessity of weather forecast. |
| C．The achievements of Edward cook. | D．A breakthrough in monsoon prediction. |
It is difficult for experts to predict Asian monsoons because _______.
| A．it is hard to keep long-term climate records. |
| B．they are formed under complex climate systems. |
| C．they influence many nations. |
| D．there is heavy rainfall in Asia. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Long and detailed climate records can offer useful information for monsoon research. |
| B．The Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas has a monsoon record for about 1,300 years. |
| C．The trees affected by monsoon grow fast if the monsoon is weak. |
| D．The rainfall might be low although the monsoon is strong in monsoon-affected areas. |
According to Professor Cook, the rings of the trees _______.
| A．determine the regional climate. |
| B．have a great influence on the regional climate. |
| C．offer people information about the regional climate. |
| D．reflect all kinds of regional climate information. |
What do we know about the research according to Eugene Wahl?
| A．It is a great achievement in climate science. |
| B．It should include information about human life in the past. |
| C．It has analysed moisture models world wide, |
| D．It will help people prevent droughts and floods. |
Which of the following best describes the tone of this passage?
| A．Matter-of –fact | B．Pessimistic | C．Humorous | D．Friendly. |
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: Trevor The Taxi
In this children's story, suited to younger children, we have an adventure with Trevor. He is a taxi. Trevor loves his life:
“Sometimes he takes patients to the nursing home, where they can get better after being ill, and sometimes he takes people home when they have been shopping, and Stan puts all their packages inside Trevor's boot, so they will not get wet or broken.”
The black cab, in this adventure, goes far beyond the call of duty whilst he achieves his wildest dreams! What could this be? Well you will just have to read this short story for yourself!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Girl Who Believed In Fairies
The fairy queen is upset and the elves just don't know what to do:
“Oh dear, oh dear," sobbed the queen, getting her hankie all wet with her constant crying. For the twelfth time that day, Elgie the chief elf took her hankie and wrung it out on to the carpet of grass that grew all around the palace.”
How will they manage to help the queen? Why was she so unhappy? There is only one person that can help! Can she do it? This is a lovely fairy tale that will glow the embers of your heart - only for young girls!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Envious Kings
This story is suitable for 6 years and upwards.
Unfolding in the story pages of this recommendation is a children's story about two kings who were competing with each other:
“In spite of the easy life that the two kings had, they were not happy, for each of them kept thinking that the other one had a bigger and better palace, or owned more horses, or had more jewels or even had creamier milk.”
They were both petty and, through their envy, they caused themselves much trouble. Who do you think saved the day? Well, you will just have to read the story to find out!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: The Wise Old Woman
This story is probably suited to the 8 years old age range and upwards, although would appeal to adults, alike.
Here I introduce you to one of my kids on-line stories listed on the writing and literature section of Hubpages. In this parable you will find a magical world of wisdom involving trees, people and someone very special.
“As she stood and watched, the knowledge melted into her and the sapling grew...The magical transition took her breath away and as she watched on with ore, she noticed something strange.”
So, what was this strangeness and magical transition? Let me leave you with wonderment ... and a click of the link!
Free On-line Short Stories For Kids: Unusual Stories - Faffenburger's Odyssey
This story is probably more suited to the older child. So who is Faffenburger? Well with one of these free on-line short stories for kids, we enter into a different realm. A world of nonsense as Faffenburger moves within alpha and omega. This is a rather unusual story as you will find out!
“My friend, Henry Faffenburger stomped down the long lane on his short stumpy legs, moonlight glancing off his bald-spot, which was a little surprising as there was no moon that night. As he rounded the bend, he saw a pair of headlights coming toward him. They drew level, and stopped. A small man with yellow eyes emerged from the darkness behind the lights, and enquired if Faffenburger would like a lift.
"Where are you going ?" asked my friend. "Wherever you want to go", replied the owner of the yellow eyes.”
So, the adventure begins! Where will they go? Alpha, Omega or just the middle? After all, it was a long summer - especially the middle! Take a closer look at this - you might find something a little more strange and a little more hidden that you have noticed before. Intrigued? Well you should be with Faffenburger's Odyssey!Which story is more well-received by young girls?
| A．Trevor The Taxi | B．Faffenburger's Odyssey |
| C．The Wise Old Woman | D．The Girl Who Believed In Fairys |
You can find the description of a night scene in _______?
| A．The Envious Kings | B．The Girl Who Believed In Fairies |
| C．The Wise Old Woman | D．Faffenburger's Odyssey |
According to the passage, the kings in “The Envious Kings” can be described as_______?
| A．Jealous | B．powerful | C．rude | D．ugly |
Who will most probably find the passage useful?
| A．parents with children | B．children who love to surf the Internet |
| C．teachers in high school | D．experts who concern children |