“Everything happens for the best,” my mother said whenever I faced disappointment. “If you can carry on, one day something good will happen.”
After graduating from college in 1932, I decided to try for a job in radio, then work my way up to sports announcer(播音员). I took the bus to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station. But I was refused every time. In one studio, a nice lady told me that big stations didn’t want to accept inexperienced persons. “Go to the countryside and find a small station that’ll give you a chance,” she said.
I returned home, Dixon in Illinois. While there were no radio-announcing jobs in Dixon, my father said Smith Ward had opened a store and wanted a local sportsman to manage its sports department. Since I had played high school football in Dixon, I applied(申请). The job sounded just right for me. But I still failed in the interview. At that moment, mom’s words came to my mind: “Everything happens for the best.” Dad offered me a car to look for a job. I tried WOC Radio in Davenport in Iowa. The program director, named Peter MacArthur, told me they had already hired an announcer.
As I left his office, I felt sad. I asked aloud, “How can a man become a sports announcer if he can’t get a job in a radio station?”
I was waiting for the lift when I heard MacArthur calling, “What did you say about sports? Do you know anything about football?” Then he made me stand before a microphone and asked me to broadcast an imaginary game. As a result, I did a wonderful job and was told to broadcast Saturday’s game!
On my way home, I thought of my mother’s words again: “Everything happens for the best if you carry on. One day something good will happen.”After the writer graduated from college, he tried to look for a job in at first.
| A．Chicago | B．Dixon |
| C．Davenport | D．Illinois |
The writer couldn’t find a job in Dixon because .
| A．he had played high school football |
| B．he did not pass the interview |
| C．he had no working experience |
| D．he had no interest in the job |
Which sentence below is TRUE?
| A．In all, the writer went to three cities to look for the job. |
| B．The writer took the train to different places to look for the job. |
| C．The writer gave up finally when he was refused again and again. |
| D．MacArthur gave the writer a chance to broadcast Saturday’s game directly. |
The passage mainly tells us that .
| A．it is hard to find a job |
| B．mother’s help is necessary |
| C．we should hope for the best |
| D．life is full of disappointment |
What time will drinks be served?
| A．At 5:30 | B．At 7:30 |
| C．At 8:15 | D．At 12:00 |
You can do the following things EXCEPT ______________________.
| A．bringing your swimming clothes |
| B．dancing with jazz music |
| C．taking a taxi to the party |
| D．wearing jeans and T-shirts |
Which is the following is NOT true about the party?
| A．It is Nicola’s 16th birthday party. |
| B．It is a swimming pool party. |
| C．It will be held at Hillview Hotel. |
| D．You must pay for the towels that the hotel will provide you. |
A. Choose the best answer (根据短文内容，选择最恰当的答案) (12分)
Sir Steven Redgrave—Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes (糖尿病), believing the profession trained for the whole of my life ended, I felt very sorry. Then one of my friends said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it—the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen Pickering—Swimming World Champion (冠军)
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that amount of work by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can’t follow a profession in any field without being well-organized. Make a list of what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kristen Stewart—Actress
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve anything. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to give most of your attention to one thing. When I feel nervous, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘focus’ , ‘calm’, ‘peace’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit and is a powerful psychological(心理学的) tool.”
| A．difficulties stopped his profession | B．doctors offered him help |
| C．illness couldn’t stop him trying to win | D．he didn’t believe in himself |
| A．6 hours a day | B．6 hours a week |
| C．6 days a week | D．4 hours a week |
| A．the amount of work | B．her activities |
| C．her goals | D．her sports news |
| A．things that turn one’s attention away |
| B．things that make one tired |
| C．words to enjoy |
| D．good habits |
| A．self-confidence | B．happiness | C．humour | D．wisdom |
| A．How to Be a Winner | B．Health and Food |
| C．Difficulties and Habits | D．Be a Sportsman |
Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum(论坛) asking what “PK” meant.
“My family has been watching the ‘I Am the Singer’ singing competition TV programme. My little daughter asked me what ‘PK’ meant, but I had no idea,” explained the puzzled father.
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, “PK” is short for “Player Kill”, in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.
In the case of the “I Am the Singer” singing competition, “PK” was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition raking.
Like this father, Chinese teachers at Middle schools have also been finding their students using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand. A teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write the compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn’t understand.
“My ‘GG’ came back this summer from college. He told me I’ve grown up to be a ‘PLMM’. I loved to ‘FB’ with him together; he always took me to the ‘KPM’,” went one composition.
“GG” means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). “PLMM” is Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl).“FB” means Fu Bai (corruption).“KPM” is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald’s.
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language. If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, meaning an ugly looking femal) or a Qing Wa (frog, meaning an ugly looking male ) is, you will possibly be regarded as a CaiNiao!By writing the article, the writer tries to _________.
| A．explain some Internet jargons |
| B．suggest common Internet jargons |
| C．laugh at the Beijing father |
| D．draw our attention to Internet jargons |
What does the underlined word Internet jargons mean?
| A．Internet language | B．Internet action |
| C．Internet behavior | D．Internet fashion |
What does the writer think about the word “PK”?
| A．Fathers can’t possibly know it. |
| B．The daughter should understand it. |
| C．Online game players may know it. |
| D．“I Am the Singer” shouldn’t have used it. |
The example of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons____.
| A．are used not only online | B．can be understood very well |
| C．are welcomed by all the people | D．cause trouble to our mother tongue |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Puzzled Father! | B．Do You Speak Internet English? |
| C．Keep away from Internet English! | D．Kong Long or Qing Wa? |
January 16, 2014 –We know the saying“The early bird gets the worm”, but today you’re going to learn about the interesting saying “The early fish gets the bird.”
An African tigerfish(老虎鱼) was seen jumping out of the air and catching a flying bird. The African tigerfish has bright red fins and very sharp teeth. There have been rumors(传闻) this kind of fish preys on(捕食) birds since the 1940s, but no one was able to catch one.
"The whole action of jumping and catching happens so quickly that after we saw it, it took all of us a moment to really understand what we had just seen," said Nico Smit from Environmental Sciences and Management at North-West University.
Smit and his research team saw it at a lake in the Mapungubwe National Park in South Africa during summer. They found about 20 fish feeding on birds in the morning. Those birds may be out early to look for food, but we will never know for sure!The tigherfish ___________.
| A．is from the USA | B．has bright black fins |
| C．has very sharp teeth | D．was seen in a forest |
The underlined word “one” in Paragraph 2 means _______.
| A．a tiger | B．a fish | C．a bird | D．a person |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Nobody has heard of the rumors about the tigerfish before. |
| B．It took Smit a moment to understand what he had seen about the fish. |
| C．The interesting findings happened in a lake in the afternoon. |
| D．The birds were caught by the tigerfish because they were out too early for food. |
Where is the passage likely to be read?
| A．In a poster. | B．In a tour guide. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a story book. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．The early fish gets the bird. | B．Nico Smit and an African tigerfish. |
| C．Nico Smit and his research team. | D．The Mapungubwe National Park |
Each morning a rich man found a poor man sitting on a bench(长凳) in the park. The poor man always sat there, looking at the big hotel in which the rich man lived. One day, the rich man got out of his car and said to the poor man,“Excuse me. I want to know why you sit here and look at my hotel every morning.”“Sir,”said the poor man,“I am a failure. I have no money , no family, no home. I sleep on this bench, and every night I dream that one day I’ll sleep in that hotel.”The rich man said ,“ Tonight your dream will come true. I’ll pay for the best room in that hotel for you a whole month.”
A few days after, the rich man went into the poor man’s room to ask him how he was enjoying himself. To his surprise, he found that the man had moved out of the hotel back to his bench. When the rich man asked why, he said,“You see, when I’m sleeping on my bench, I dreamed I am there, in the big hotel. It’s a wonderful dream. But when I was there I dreamed I was back to this cold bench. It was a terrible dream, and I couldn’t get any sleep at all.”The poor man lived in ____ before he met the rich man.
| A．the hotel | B．his home |
| C．the park | D．the car |
Every morning, the poor man sat on the bench and____.
| A．waited for the rich man | B．looked at the rich man’s hotel |
| C．looked at the rich man’s car | D．enjoyed the clean car |
Every night the poor man dreamed of ______.
| A．sleeping in a hotel | B．becoming rich |
| C．owning that hotel | D．being the rich man’s friend |
The poor man moved out of the hotel because____.
| A．he didn’t want to live in such a fine room |
| B．he didn’t like the rich man |
| C．he couldn’t pay for the room |
| D．he couldn’t get any sleep at all there |
In the end, the poor man found it _________to sleep in the hotel.
| A．sorry | B．nice |
| C．wonderful | D．terrible |