“Mum, can I invite my classmate Brett over to stay tomorrow night, please? It’s Friday, and we don’t have any ___.Can I, please?” Mum was sitting at the kitchen table. Dad was ___next to her, resting his head on his arms. Mum could ___that James wanted so badly to have his friend over.
“I’m so sorry, James,” she said.
“I’m never allowed to have friends come to the house? Why, Mum?” James asked sadly, almost in ___.
“I know it’s ___ for you,” Mum said softly. “But I’m just worried other people might think we’re a little… strange. And then they would make fun of you.”
“No, they wouldn’t, Mum,” James protested. “We’re not ___ at all. We’re just ordinary people.”
Mum sighed heavily. “To tell you the truth, James, my neck has been so painful that it’s given me a heavy ___. And your poor father –he doesn’t feel ___. He really needs a rest.”
“I can help, Mum!” James said. “___ I can make you and Dad feel better, can Brett come over? Please?”
“Well…”Mum began.
“Great! Thanks Mum!” James almost shouted. “Just sit there, don’t move.” He rushed over to the kitchen drawer and ___ what he needed –two spanners. “Hang on, Mum,” he said. “This won’t take a second.” After some ___, James was finished. With a smile of ___ on his face he said, “There! How does that feel?” “Oh, James,” Mum said. “That’s a much better! How did you do it?”
“Easy,” James said ___.” Dad had tightened your neck bolts (螺栓) too much! I just___ them slightly! I learned that in robotic science at school.”
“What about you father? Can you ___ him?” asked Mum.
“I’ll try,” James replied. He ___ up Dad’s hair at the back of his neck. and plugged the electric wire into Dad’s head. Then he turned the ___on. Dad opened his eyes and ___ immediately. “He just let his ___run too low, that’s all,” James said, “Shall I tell Brett to come over straight after school tomorrow?”
“I guess so,” replied Mum. “Your friends will just have to ___ that we are a very unusual family. Thanks, son!”
A．chance B．message C．homework D．difficulty
A．asleep B．reading C．alone D．standing
A．explain B．see C．agree D．doubt
A．terror B．tears C．surprise D．silence
A．fair B．easy C．good D．hard
A．strange B．normal C．popular D．anxious
A．headache B．loss C．task D．day
A．ill B．funny C．sorry D．well
A．As B．If C．Since D．Before
A．kept B．controlled C．found D．returned
A．requests B．thoughts C．repairs D．instructions
A．sympathy B．satisfaction C．bitterness D．politeness
A．embarrassedly B．gratefully C．impatiently D．proudly
A．adjusted B．collected C．produced D．covered
A．greet B．accompany C．help D．ask
A．lifted B．caught C．gave D．filled
A．television B．power C．light D．gas
A．grew up B．lay down C．broke down D．sat up
A．food B．temperature C．battery D．blood
A．prove B．expect C．suspect D．accept
One effective way of destroying happiness is to look at something and focus on even the smallest fault. It's like looking at the tiled (铺瓦的) ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is
Once I heard a bald man said, "whenever I enter a room I see is hair. " Once you've
what your missing tile is, explore whether acquiring it will
make you happy. Then do one of the three things: get it, replace it with a different
, or forget about it and
the tiles in your life that are not missing.
We all know people who have a relatively life, yet are essentially unhappy while people who have suffered a great deal but
remain happy.
The first is gratitude. All happy people are
Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to
, but it's truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.
The second secret is that happiness is a byproduct (副产品) of something else. The most obvious
are those pursuit (追求) that give our lives purpose—anything
studying insects to playing baseball. The more passions we have, the more happiness we are
to experience.
Finally, the belief that something permanent goes beyond us and that our has some larger meaning can help us to feel happier. We
a spiritual faith, or a philosophy, it should
this truth: if you choose to find the
in every situation, you will be blessed, and if you choose to find the awful, you will be cursed. As with happiness itself, this is
your decision to make.
A. different B. missing C. short D. broken
A. nothing B. none C. all D. anything
A. determined B. predicted C. assumed D. imagined
A. completely B. naturally C. hopefully D. really
A. tile B. brick C. ceiling D. house
A. look on B. focus on C. count on D. focus on
A. peaceful B. difficult C. easy D. ordinary
A. certainly B. merely C. hardly D. generally
A. secret B. factor C. rule D. key
A. wealthy B. grateful C. proud D. generous
A. upset B. quarrel C. complain D. depress
A. admitted B. assuming C. proving D. realizing
A. sources B. results C. answers D. goals
A. among B. from C. through D. for
A. probable B. possible C. likely D. capable
A. value B. destination C. survival D. existence
A. need B. lack C. demand D. expect
A. involve B. include C. absorb D. mean
A. worst B. best C. positive D. negative
A. absolutely B. totally C. exactly D. largely
I believe that everyone has a dream. A dream can be great or petty,or ordinary, good or bad. In my opinion, the real problem is not whether you have a dream, but whether you have enough
to admit that you have a dream.
Of course there are so many people who can't be . The fact is that the No. 1 winner is just one and others are losers. The fact is that everyone
the position but only one can get it.
, we don't have enough resources which can be given to
. So, how can we do? Maybe if we hide the dreams, life can be
. Maybe we had better not
the competition,
it's so easy to fail and so hard to be a
. Maybe we should give up the dreams because it's really
to bear all the jeerers (嘲笑者) and blamers. In a word, we are often afraid of
.
But a man won'this dream because of the fear of failure. Benjamin Franklin, we all remember him as Doctor Franklin, philosopher, patriot, scientist, philanthropist and statesman. But the most valuable things we should
is that how he peddle (叫卖) ballads (歌谣) in Boston, and how he walked the streets of Philadelphia, homeless and unknown, with three penny rolls for his breakfast. But he also had dinner at the tables of princesses, and
his friends in a palace. This poor Boston boy, with hardly a day's schooling, became master of six languages and
gave up his dream for studying. No matter
a prospect (前途) he had, he didn't fear it and still
his dream.
Every failure can make us gain new and make us strange! Only when we beat the fear, can we really make our dreams
! As we all know, what we fear is fear itself.
A. common B. similar C. small D. unusual
A. chance B. time C. courage D. need
A. successful B. careful C. clever D. strange
A. leaves B. wants C. refuses D. serves
A. In all B. First of all C. Above all D. After all
A. everyone B. somebody C. nobody D. no one
A. easier B. more tiring C. harder D. more serious
A. get rid of B. go against C. take care of D. take part in
A. if B. until C. because D. while
A. writer B. runner C. jumper D. winner
A. comfortable B. normal C. unpleasant D. natural
A. failure B. death C. accident D. trouble
A. go on with B. carry on C. give up D. get back
A. forget B. doubt C. expect D. remember
A. punished B. received C. guided D. defended
A. always B. never C. ever D. usually
A. how B. which C. when D. what
A. stuck to B. broke down C. turned to D. got away from
A. room B. relation C. experience D. pity
A. come along B. come true C. come on D. come back
Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament (灯丝) for the light bulb. Whenworked satisfactorily, his assistant
, "All our work is in
. We have learned nothing."
Thomas Edison replied very , "Oh, we have come a long way and we have
a lot. We know that there are two thousand materials which we can't
to make a good light bulb."
"If you learn from your , then you are intelligent. But
you learn from someone's mistakes, then you are a genius." "Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines
daily and failure is nothing more than a small few
repeated daily."
Howthe above lines are! Success or failure takes root in our
. When we don't practise disciplines in life, we don't
enough confidence to attempt new and challenging tasks which are important and
in life. Our confidence
what we think of ourselves and whether we believe in ourselves. We are all born with exceptional
but only a few really realize their true potentials and forge (继续) ahead in life and the others just lead a (n)
life. Do you want to be exceptional?
is a fruit that everyone wants to eat but it is not found everywhere and no one can achieve it
serious efforts. Those who want to succeed will find a way, those who don't will find a (n)
!
A. neitherB. noneC. either D. any
A. screamedB. addedC. complained D. argued
A. vainB. doubt C. wonder D. use
A. unsatisfactorily B. unhappily
C. confidentlyD. surprisingly
A. sufferedB. learned C. earned D. paid
A. useB. produceC. search D. afford
A.experiencesB.experiments C.failuresD.mistakes
A. ifB. unlessC. though D. until
A. providedB. required C. accepted D. practised
A. disciplines B. errorsC. tasksD. lines
A. trueB. possible C. proper D. perfect
A. linesB. materials C. mindsD. lives
A. lackB. loseC. buildD. share
A. matterB. failC. function D. stress
A. results in B. depends on C. leaves out D. takes up
A. figuresB. appearances C. characters D. qualities
A. bitterB. easyC. hardD. average
A. ConfidenceB. Intelligence C. Success D. Failure
A. throughB. forC. toD. without
A. opportunity B. wayC. excuse D. explanation
Dorothy Brown was very happy as she sat in the theatre listening to the music. Today her little daughter Lauren was giving her concert. She had been waiting for this for years and years. "Now it is here at last," she thought. "How beautiful her is."
The song made her to the days when she was Lauren's . As a young , Dorothy wanted to be a concert singer. She studied in France, Italy and in the United States. "You can become a fin in the future, " her teachers told her. "But you must be to study hard and work for many years. There will be time for anything but music in your life." Dorothy was at that time and she was that music was all she wanted or needed to her life. For almost a year Dorothy of nothing else. Then she David, a young engineer travelling Europe. They soon fell in . David asked her to be his Dorothy also wanted to marry David. But she loved , too. She didn't know what to do. David was against her being a singer. He said, "If you want to be a singer, you must forget about getting married. You can't do both." Thus her days were gone and would never return. Now Lauren became a singer instead of her, which was her .
A．sorry B．successful C．first D．wonderful
A．dance B．moment C．show D．party
A．voice B．face C．dress D．life
A．think of B．bring back C．go back D．come back
A．age B．friend C．mother D．teacher
A．musician B．pop star C．lady D．girl
A．French B．music C．piano D．dance
A．actress B．student C．singer D．dancer
A．prepared B．learning C．driven D．waiting
A．some B．any C．no D．enough
A．eight B．eighteen C．eighty D．eighty-eight
A．lucky B．sure C．afraid D．fond
A．fill B．live C．lead D．take
A．heard B．knew C．talked D．thought
A．saw off B．learned from C．heard of D．met with
A．love B．feeling C．music D．touch
A．assistant B．teacher C．wife D．student
A．him B．engineering C．herself D．music
A．certainly B．possibly C．only D．mainly
A．thought B．hope C．purpose D．will
Childish Voice
When I was a young child, my parents often told me that it was time to teach a man everything. I didn't understand and wondered why had such a big influence
a person. I thought I could grow up quickly to find it out as an adult. But now,
I come to knock at the door of adulthood, I feel
to express my own
on this saying. I know that I'm just a high school student with very
experiences. There are still many things
me in the future, yet I would like to express myself in a childish voice.
I once read this sentence: "To make this world a happy place to live, you'd better yourself and your heart, instead of the whole world." I was shocked. It made me think about life
. There are so many things around us that
our will. We can't force life
our wishes. The earth won't stop turning no matter whether we
it or not. What we can do is just to make ourselves
the world. I think we should learn to accept
life gives us, no matter whether it's the spring sunlight or the winter snowfall, and try to be happy.
Deeply moved by the pop song Grandmother (by Jay Chou), I always try to every pleasant thing in my life, but now I see I don't catch most of the pleasant moments. It is more
that they slip by and leave you feeling
. I realize that I'm not just living
myself and that there are the others around me I should think of. They all pay attention to my growing up, even if it's just a little progress.
Everyone has his or her own attitude towards life, be it positive or . It doesn't matter, I think. There is one
that should be obeyed and that's to make this world better.
A. man B. time C. thing D. parent
A. about B. with C. on D. in
A. before B. after C. as D. when
A. anxious B. worried C. tired D. glad
A. beliefs B. opinions C. confidences D. expressions
A. a few B. little C. few D. a little
A. waiting for B. sticking with
C. dealing with D. doing with
A. ask B. change C. exchange D. force
A. myself B. itself C. oneself D. themselves
A. go with B. go along C. go ahead D. go against
A. being followed B. to be followed
C. to be following D. to follow
A. receive B. accept C. refuse D. approve
A. fit B. suit C. beat D. match
A. what B. whatever C. which D. why
A. miss B. catch C. escape D. lose
A. probably B. likely C. possibly D. unlikely
A. regretful B. awful C. successful D. terrible
A. for B. by C. on D. with
A. wrong B. false C. negative D. true
A. point B. rule C. thing D. word