Have you ever noticed that the more you have the more you want? Let’s face it. Thinking our life is good enough doesn’t come naturally to many people. When we have high expectations of everything in life we will run into disappointment. Only when we are aware that needs are different from desires can we live with satisfaction. Here are a few ideas to help you be happier with what you have and who you are.
Focus on what you are thankful for. Most people want things to be better than they are, or when things are going well, we forget to appreciate what we have. Learn to reflect on how much better things are than they could be. Focus on what you are thankful for. Write down 5 things you are grateful for right now.
When we hold onto regrets from decisions we have made, it can really poison our well-being. Many people regret something they can no longer change, which ends up holding them back from moving forward in a more positive manner. What happened in the past is done and gone, so work to stay present and be mindful of the current moment to find more joy and fulfillment.
When we use other people as the measuring stick for our personal success and quality of life we are likely to be less satisfied. Social comparisons can provide useful information when we try to learn from others, but they also hold our perspective in a discontented position. Compare yourself less with others so you can be satisfied more.
When you are focused on your big ambitions and future goals you might elide the daily pleasures that surround you. Learn to slow down and absorb the wonder and beauty around you. Stay present and focus on the task you’re undertaking at the moment. Don’t let the life pass you by because you’re always on the go and distracted by ambition.
Practice looking at life through the lens of contentment and it will become more natural.How can we live with contentment?
| A．To change our lifestyle. |
| B．To have a motivation in life. |
| C．To give less attention to what we are grateful for. |
| D．To realize the difference between needs and desires. |
What’s the main idea of Paragraph 3?
| A．Make wise decisions. | B．Know the present situation |
| C．Let go of regrets. | D．Remember the past. |
The underlined word “elide”(in Paragraph 5) probably means “__”.
| A．enjoy | B．change | C．create | D．neglect |
What should you do to put yourself in a good mood?
| A．Make time for simple pleasures. |
| B．Learn from successful people. |
| C．Focus on your future goals. |
| D．Create chance to learn more. |
Fatu Kekula is a hero. The 22-year-old Liberian nursing student, in her final year, managed to save the members of her immediate family from the Ebola virus, all without the help and convenience of a hospital.
Kekula reduced the rate to 25 percent. Four of her family members were infected with the virus. Her father, Moses, her mother, Victoria, her sister, Vivian and her 14-year-old cousin, Alfred Winnie. Sadly, Kekula’s cousin succumbed to the virus. It’s also impressive to note that while Kekula was treating her family members she managed to avoid Ebola entirely.
On July 27, Kekula’s father, Moses, went to a hospital in Kanata, after his blood pressure rose sharply. The only reason the hospital had a bed to offer him was because someone had just died. But the staff in the hospital didn’t realize the patient died from an Ebola infection. Shortly, after he was admitted to the hospital, Moses developed a fever, started vomiting and was suffering from diarrhea. Once nurses started dying of Ebola, the hospital shut down and Moses had to leave. Kekula drove 90 minutes to Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, to seek treatment. Three hospitals turned them away because there is no spare bed for patients at all.
Kekula made the drive back to Kanata to another hospital. They told Moses he had typhoid fever and did very little to treat him. So Kekula took him home. Once he was there, he infected three other family members. Her mother, sister and their cousin who was living with them.
Kekula only lost one patient, her cousin. Her method proved so effective that international aid workers, including UNICEF, began teaching it to others in West Africa who may not be able to get to hospitals for treatment.
Her father, mother and sister were already recovering when space became available at the JFK Medical Center on August 17. Alfred passed away at the hospital the next day. Kekula’s father, Moses said, “I’m very, very proud. She saved my life through the almighty God.”What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A courageous and selfless nurse. |
| B．Give her a medal: Woman saves family members from Ebola. |
| C．A family survived Ebola with the help of government. |
| D．The dreadful disease Ebola. |
What does the underlined word “succumbed to” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．was affected with | B．survived |
| C．died of | D．fight against |
Why Kekula took her father home?
| A．Because a patient died from an Ebola infection in the hospital in Kanata. |
| B．Because they were turned down by hospitals and little can be done to her father. |
| C．Because Moses were already recovering when he was admitted to the JFK Medical Center. |
| D．Because nurses started dying of Ebola and many hospitals were shut down. |
If you want to walk in the footsteps of some of the world’s greatest figures, then go to Oxford. Many of Oxford’s 38 colleges are open to the public year-round. Here are a few of the colleges worth visiting and some famous people who have studied there.
Christ Church College
Long before it became known as a location for the Harry Potter films, Christ Church was the college where Albert Einstein, author Charles Dodgson who wrote Alice in Wonderland, and 13 British prime ministers studied. In this large and popular college, you can see the paintings in the 16th-century Great Hall.
Magdalen College
Many consider Magdalen to be one of the most beautiful Oxford’s colleges. This is where author Oscar Wilde read his classics course. You can enjoy the medieval(中世纪的) church with its 15th-century tower. Opposite the college is the beautiful Botanic Garden founded in 1621.
Merton College
Founded in 1264, Merton has the oldest medieval library in use. J. R. R. Tolkien is said to have spent many hours here writing The Lord of the Rings. One of the college’s treasures is an astrolabe(星盘)，thought to have belonged to Chaucer. The college has the most amazing collection of medieval colored glass in Oxford.
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is the largest university library in the UK. It is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library. It holds more than 9 million printed items on 189 km of shelving and seats up to 2,500 readers. The users of the library here include five kings, 40 Nobel Prize winners, 25 British prime minister and countless famous writers.If a Harry Potter fan travels to Oxford, he’ll probably visit ____________.
| A．Merton College | B．Bodleian Library |
| C．Magdalen College | D．Christ Church College |
Which of the following can travelers see in Magdalen College?
| A．A 15th-century tower. |
| B．A seven–ton tower bell. |
| C．England’s smallest cathedral. |
| D．British oldest botanic garden. |
According to the passage, J. R. R. Tolkien is ____________.
| A．the founder of Merton College |
| B．the author of The Lord of the Rings |
| C．the designer of the oldest medieval library |
| D．the owner of the astrolabe in Merton College |
What do we know about the Bodleian Library?
| A．It lies in Magdalen College. |
| B．It is the most famous library in the UK. |
| C．It has a collection of 2,500 kinds of books. |
| D．It is smaller than the British Library. |
A British farmer has been searching for a group of fighter planes for 15 years. The planes were lost in Burma during World War II. David Cundall, 62, traveled to Burma a dozen times. He spent about US $207,000 in the hope of finding a British Spitfire（喷火式战斗机）buried in the Southeast Asian country. Finally, his hard work paid off.
Cundall started his search after his friend heard from a group of U.S. war veterans（老兵）that they had buried Spitfires in the region. “We’ve done some pretty silly things in our time, but the silliest was burying Spitfires,” the veterans said.
Cundall began placing ads in magazines to try to find soldiers who might have been involved. After 15 years of searching, he finally managed to locate the missing airplanes. The planes had never been flown and were buried in their transport crates（条板箱）. “We made a borehole（钻孔）and used a camera to look at the crates. They seemed to be in good condition.” Cundall told The Telegraph. The aircraft had arrived at a Royal Air Force base in Burma in August 1945. But, by that point in the war, the planes weren’t needed. “In 1945, Spitfires were ten a penny, and you could see them everywhere.” Said Cundall.
British Prime Minister, David Camerion, recently visited the country. As The Telegraph reports, Camerion’s help may mean that the Spitfires could soon be on their way back to the United Kingdom. Cundall hopes that with the help of investors, the planes can finally take to the skies.
“Spitfires are beautiful aeroplanes and should not be rotting away（腐烂）in a foreign land,” Cundall says. “They saved our neck in the Battle of Britain and they should be protected.”Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．A British Farmer’s Dream |
| B．Burma’s Buried Treasure |
| C．A Search for Buried Planes |
| D．The Design of the British Spitfire |
What did the war veterans feel when they talked about the buried planes?
| A．Disappointed | B．Excited. |
| C．Regretful | D．Hopeful |
What does the underlined phrase, “ten a penny ”, in the third paragraph mean?
| A．expensive. | B．cheap. | C．rare | D．common |
What can we learn about the British Spitfires?
| A．The planes buried under the ground were seriously damaged. |
| B．The planes were not needed at that time during World War II. |
| C．It will be very difficult to take the planes back to the United Kingdom. |
| D．The planes were buried in Burma after they crashed there. |
What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
| A．Cundall has asked Prime Minister David Cameron for help to bring Spitfires back. |
| B．The government of Burma will not allow Britain to bring the Spitfires back |
| C．The Spitfires buried in Burma are beginning to rot away. |
| D．Cundall likes Spitfires very much and he thinks they should be preserved. |
（London）—If it really is what’s on the inside that counts, then a lot of thin people might be in trouble.
Some doctors now think that the internal( 内部的) fat surrounding important organs like the heart or liver could be as dangerous as the external fat which can be noticed more easily.
“Being thin doesn’t surely mean you are not fat,” said Dr Jimmy Bell at Imperial College. Since 1994, Bell and his team have scanned nearly 800 people with MRI（核磁共振） machines to create “fat maps” showing where people store fat.
According to the result, people who keep their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits （沉积）of internal fat, even if they are slim.
Even people with normal Body Mass Index scores can have surprising levels of fat deposits inside. Of the women, as many as 45 percent of those with normal BMI scores (20 to 25) actually had too high levels of internal fat. Among men, the percentage was nearly 60 percent.
According to Bell, people who are fat on the inside are actually on the edge of being fat. They eat too many fatty and sugary foods, but they are not eating enough to be fat. Scientists believe we naturally store fat around the belly first, but at some point, the body may start storing it elsewhere.
Doctors are unsure about the exact dangers of internal fat, but some think it has something to do with heart disease and diabetes. They want to prove that internal fat damages the body’s communication systems.
The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “If you want to be healthy, there is no short cut. Exercise has to be an important part of your lifestyle,” Bell said.What is this piece of news mainly about?
| A．Thin people may be fat inside. |
| B．Internal fat is of no importance. |
| C．Internal fat leads to many diseases. |
| D．Thin people also have troubles. |
Doctors have found _____.
| A．the exact dangers of internal fat |
| B．internal fat is the cause of heart disease and diabetes |
| C．being slim is not dangerous at all |
| D．being slim doesn’t mean you are not fat inside |
According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
| A．Exercise can help to reduce the internal fat. |
| B．People can get rid of internal fat by improving diet. |
| C．Men are more likely to have too much internal fat. |
| D．People with heart disease all have internal fat. |
From the last paragraph, we can find that _____.
| A．whether internal fat can lead to disease has been proved |
| B．exercise plays an important role in people’s life for keeping healthy |
| C．thin people usually have internal fat even if they are slim |
| D．it is easier to burn off internal fat than external fat |
The underlined part in the last paragraph means _____.
| A．a long road | B．an easy way |
| C．a clear difference | D．a short distance |
Have you ever dreamed about sending a letter to yourself or your friends in the future ? While express mail representing efficiency and speed is prevalent（盛行的）in China , there is another type of mail appearing as a new business : “ Future Mail ” . “ Future Mail ” service can make people slow down and let them understand the meaning of “ time ” in another way . And “ Future Mail ” letters are “ reminders of affection , friendship and love ”.
Lin Xiaofan , a senior high school student in Hefei , wrote a letter to her mother in advance to express her love to her mother for next Mother’s Day . Feng Xiao , a youth who feels pressure despite of some achievements in her career decided to write a letter to herself on her 25th birthday and have it delivered five years later on her 30th birthday through a “ Future Mail ” . She expressed her thoughts about her present life and her expectations for the future to encourage herself to face up to the challenges of her life with courage .
While “ Future Mail ” is gaining popularity , some people are concerned about what happens if the postal address of the receiver changes or if the company goes broken before letters are delivered . Actually , customers required to complete an acceptance form and make an assessment so they can be compensated if their letters or goods are lost or damaged .
Most of the business’s customers are college students and young white-collar workers . Psychologists said young Chinese might be given a vent（发泄）to their negative feelings through the service . Most people put their hopes and wishes in the letters so they can experience the connection between “ past ” and “ present ” while they receive the letters . It can help people reunderstand the meaning of “ time ” .The underlined word in Para . 3 probably means .
| A．paid | B．changed | C．bought | D．repaired |
Which of the following is NOT true ?
| A．People can express their thoughts and feelings to themselves or others through a “ Future Mail ” . |
| B．The “ Future Mail ” business is not perfect . |
| C．Only young people accept the new “ Future Mail ” service . |
| D．“ Future Mail ”service can let people reunderstand the meaning of “ time ” . |
You can read this article in newspaper’s part .
| A．sports . | B．science |
| C．leisure(闲暇) | D．policy |
Which is NOT the purpose of Feng Xiao’s letter ?
| A．To encourage herself to face up to the challenges . |
| B．To express her thoughts about her present life . |
| C．To express her expectations for the future . |
| D．To remind herself of something she must do . |
The best title of this article should be .
| A．The Different Kinds of Letter |
| B．“ Future Mail ” Business Taking off in China |
| C．The Advantage of “ Future Mail ” |
| D．The Letter in Future |