Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family. Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can’t peel(剥……的皮) potatoes. I have only one hand.”
Mom never looked up from sewing. “You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me. “And don’t ever use that as an excuse for anything again!”
In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars, swinging from one high steel rod to the next. When it was my turn, I shook my head. Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying.
That night I told Mom about it. She hugged me, and I saw her “we’ll see about that” look. The next afternoon, she took me back to school. At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars.
“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised. She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow(肘). Day after day we practiced, and she praised me for every rung I reached. I’ll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs, I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open.
One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing. I could hear Mom come into my room. “Mom,” I said, weeping, “none of the boys would dance with me.”
For a long time, I didn’t hear anything. Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you’ll be beating those boys off with a bat.” Her voice was faint. I peeked(窥视) out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks. Then I knew how much she suffered on my behalf(利益). She had never let me see her tears. Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom’s attitude when she made the child to peel potatoes?
| A.Cruel. | B.Serious. |
| C.Cold. | D.Strict |
What does the sentence “I saw her ‘we’ll see about that’ look” imply(暗示)?
| A.Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it. |
| B.The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up. |
| C.Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher. |
| D.What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity. |
When the child looked down at the kids, they were standing with their mouths open because _________.
| A.they felt sorry for what they had done before |
| B.they were afraid the author might fall off and get hurt |
| C.they were astonished to find the author’s progress |
| D.they wanted to see what the author would do on the bars |
The most probable conclusion we can draw after reading the passage is ______.
| A.the last incident was sad enough to make Mom weep |
| B.the child’s experience reminded Mom of that of her own |
| C.Mom could solve any problem except the one in the last paragraph |
| D.in fact Mom suffered more in the process of the child’s growth |
Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast(盛宴). The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies(殖民地)began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed(宣布)the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .
| A.in spring | B.summer |
| C.in autumn | D.in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were .
| A.some people from England | B.the American Indians |
| C.Sarah Josepha Hale | D.Governor Bradford |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be .
A. in the U. S. A. B. in Great Britain
C. in Canada D. on some island off the AtlanticWhich of the following is NOT true?
| A.Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest. |
| B.Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations. |
| C.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God. |
| D.There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. |
The passage mainly tells us .
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100, 000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”
There is an old saying that goes, “Job means‘ just over broke (破产)' ”. And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers“ live within their means”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on bui1ding a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that.
| A.he is just one of the talented people |
| B.he is ready to help others |
| C.he has a sharp sense of hearing |
| D.he knows little about car repairing |
The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by .
| A.spend more than they can afford |
| B.do in their own way |
| C.live in their own circle |
| D.live within what they earn |
Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?
| A.They don't work hard enough. |
| B.They lack financial intelligence. |
| C.They don't make full use of their talents. |
| D.They have no specialized skills. |
The success of McDonald's lies in its .
| A.skills at making hamburgers. | B.good business systems |
| C.talented workers | D.excellent service |
The main purpose of the author is to tell us .
| A.how young people can find a satisfactory job |
| B.what schools should teach students |
| C.why so many talented people are poor |
| D.how McDonald's makes much money |
“Confidence” is probably one of the most noticeable traits (品质) in the Americans. They show confidence in the way they talk, the way they smile, the way they dress and the way they walk. Living and competing with all these confident American students, I find it extremely important to be confident as an international student and instructor. As a student, being confident means you should never hesitate to raise your hand whenever a question or a point comes to your mind. Don't mind if it sounds simple or silly. Otherwise you will never get a chance to speak in class at all. What's worse, the professors may think you are not prepared for the discussion or you do not have your own opinion on the issue—this is the last comment any graduate would like to receive.
Being confident for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it. Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace. But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their speeches. (The course I'm teaching here is Public speaking). Modesty is a trait highly valued in China, but it won't be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program.To compete with American students it's very important to.
| A.be quite confident |
| B.be polite and friendly |
| C.have more discussions with them |
| D.understand what they think about |
A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who.
| A.gives a silly or simple answer |
| B.tries to seize any chance to speak in class |
| C.shows no interest in the course |
| D.is considered to have no opinion of his own |
The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if .
| A.he asks a student to repeat what he has said |
| B.the students bargain with him |
| C.he pretends to know what he doesn't |
| D.he has to give a speech |
We learn from the second paragraph that .
| A.we should also remain modest in America |
| B.modesty doesn't help you much in America |
| C.Americans also like modest people |
| D.modesty can help you through an American graduate program |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A.American students are ready to accept the grades from the teacher. |
| B.The writer teaches in Europe for a living. |
| C.Students are encouraged to present simple questions. |
| D.One’s ignorance will give away in time. |
A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying.
Alice Pyne, l5, created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells. “ I've been fighting cancer for almost four years and now l know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one,” she wrote.
For her list, the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film “The Bucket List”, in which two terminally ill (患绝症的) men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die.
On her list, at the site www. alicepyne. blogspot. com, she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor (骨髓捐赠者), swimming with sharks, meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer.
Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter.
“Oh dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention. “Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me.”
Pyne, who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston, revealed (透露) the management of Take That had arranged for her to see the band after reading her blog. A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register. What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her“Bucket List”?
| A.The media called on people to help her. |
| B.People sent gifts to her from all over the world. |
| C.A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her. |
| D.People around the world sent messages to support her. |
Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List” to.
| A.express her last few wishes |
| B.say goodbye to a few friends |
| C.give comfort to two terminally ill men |
| D.catch people's attention |
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne .
| A.is unaware of her own conditions |
| B.is calm to know that death is approaching |
| C.is very sad to know that she will die |
| D.is still quite confident in fighting against cancer |
Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne's “Bucket List”?
| A.To meet a boy. |
| B.To get a cool computer. |
| C.To swim with sharks. |
| D.To ask people to donate bone marrow. |
Take That will arrange to .
| A.invite Pyne to join the band |
| B.help Pyne in any possible way |
| C.donate money to Pyne |
| D.meet Pyne in person |
When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and pestered (纠缠) his relatives, but they had problems of their own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed, then depressed, then a little hardened. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.
“Why don't you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him. “The world is a money-locker. You'd better find a way of opening it.”
“But what can I do?”
“Get out and have a look round.” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way. “See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it.”
Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other snag(障碍). But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop on a new estate where there were plenty of customers but no competition.
Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair scooters and motor-cycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.Which of the following best describes Boris' job hunting experience?
| A.Surprising. | B.Encouraging. | C.Boring. | D.Disappointing. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A.Goodwill is the key to success |
| B.The world is a money-locker |
| C.No education, no future |
| D.Difficulty of starting a small business |
Boris started his career by .
| A.repairing cycles | B.developing a waste ground |
| C.cycling around the town | D.buying empty shops |
Boris finally chose an empty shop on a new estate because .
| A.it was not so expensive |
| B.he had a lot of old customers there |
| C.there were good opportunities there |
| D.he could make good use of his skills there |
We can infer from the last paragraph that Boris.
| A.still couldn't make good profits |
| B.found a lot of gold coins by accident |
| C.set off in a successful career |
| D.had great difficulty running his business |