“Kevin, we are getting a divorce,” said my mother. My heart plunged. I was 9 years old and I thought that my life was going to . My brother and I were going to move with my mother to southern California. My dad was to in New Jersey because of work. My family was splitting apart.
Now that my mom is a single parent, I do my own , make dinner and do extra chores around the house. it was hard at first, I now recognize the positive that this responsibility had on me. My mother gave me these chores and duties so that I would learn to become and trustworthy.
I strive to display these in all aspects of my life, and have seen the benefits. When I was only 11 years old, my told me that he was selecting me as soccer team captain because of my determination and ability to get my teammates to themselves. We lost the championship, but I won the play award for keeping my team together.
I am always to be an individual and not participate in anything that I feel is wrong. I am, for example, extremely proud of my decision not to drink alcohol. , I don’t feel the need to drink to have fun, and I stand by my decision even when others try to me.
My mom and dad both found new and happily remarried. I am close to my father, even though he lives 4,800 km away. I thought my parents’ divorce was going to be the worst thing that happened to me. Ironically (讽刺的是), it turned out to be the . I wasn’t willing to let it ruin my life without putting up a fight, and was my family.
At age 9, I struggled with the confusion and of divorce. Today, at age 16, I understand that can bring opportunity and success, and that hard work, determination and self-control can turn your worst time into your best time.
A．fall apart B．give away C．pick up D．take off
A．drop B．remain C．call D．break
A．housework B．farming C．cooking D．laundry
A．Although B．Because C．If D．Since
A．attitude B．experience C．effect D．situation
A．self-centered B．self-absorbed C．self-disciplined D．self-concerned
A．skills B．difficulties C．emotions D．qualities
A．father B．headmaster C．brother D．coach
A．enjoy B．teach C．prove D．push
A．fierce B．fair C．close D．decisive
A．determined B．reminded C．relieved D．amazed
A．Fortunately B．Surprisingly C．Personally D．Consequently
A．cheat B．pressure C．please D．delight
A．families B．jobs C．kids D．partners
A．still B．not C．rarely D．less
A．never B．even C．ever D．almost
A．best B．worst C．busiest D．first
A．so B．such C．as D．neither
A．pain B．memory C．significance D．emergency
A．barriers B．families C．parents D．routines
This is no joke. Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, 20, and Kelly Carl Hildebrandt, 24, are expecting just over 100 guests at a(an) 21 at a church, where they will become husband and wife.
Their modern romance was a 22 made in cyberspace（网络空间）. She was 23 and bored one night last year, so she typed her name into the 24 social networking Website Facebook just to see if anyone 25 it: Hildebrandt, 24, in South Florida. At the time, Kelly Hildebrandt, of Lubbock, Texas, was the only one matched. So she sent him a 26 . She said, “Hi. We had the same name. Thought it was cool.” Kelly Carl Hildebrandt said, “I thought she was pretty 27 .”
For the next three months the two 28 e-mails. 29 he knew it, occasional phone calls turned into daily chats, sometimes 30 hours. He 31 her in Florida after a few months and fell head over heels.
“I thought it was fun,” he said of that first online meet. “I had no 32 that it would lead to this.”
Months after Kelly Hildebrandt sent her first e-mail, she found a diamond engagement 33 hidden in treasure box on a beach in December. “I totally think that it’s all God’s 34 ,” Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt said. “He planned it out just 35 .”
She's a student at a local community college. He works in financial 36 . They plan to make their home in South Florida.
There was also some uncertainty 37 how to phrase their wedding invitations, so they decided to include their 38 names. But 39 confusion likely won't carry on past the husband and wife, as Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt said there are no plans to pass along the name to their future 40 . “No,” she said. “We're definitely not going to name our kids Kelly.”
A．situation B．occasion C．ceremony D．meeting
A．game B．match C．contest D．competition
A．curious B．serious C．anxious D．generous
A．ordinary B．common C．fashionable D．popular
A．understood B．made C．shared D．recognized
A．word B．message C．letter D．reminder
A．clever B．simple C．attractive D．easy
A．exchanged B．changed C．expected D．received
A．After B．As C．While D．Before
A．wasting B．spending C．lasting D．taking
A．dropped B．visited C．forgot D．called
A．idea B．decision C．chance D．hope
A．call B．lace C．phone D．ring
A．preparation B．reason C．arrangement D．appointment
A．great B．perfect C．excellent D．smart
A．crisis B．conveniences C．customs D．services
A．about B．on C．in D．at
A．first B．last C．middle D．family
A．some B．no C．any D．little
A．wife B．husband C．parents D．children
One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. To make the point 1, he used an illustration.
As he stood in front of the group, he said, “Okay, time for a quiz.” He then pulled out a wide-mouth jar and set it on the table. Then he 2 placed about a dozen fist-sized rocks, one by one, into the jar.
When the jar was filled to the 3 and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this jar 4?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”
“Really?” Then he 5 under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel(石子), dumped some in and 6 the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces 7 the big rocks. Then he asked the group the same question. “Probably not,” one of them answered. “Good!” He replied.
He reached under the table and 8 a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all the 9 left between the rocks and the gravel. 10 he asked the question. “No!” the class shouted. “Good!” Then he grabbed a can of water and began to pour it in 11 the jar was filled to the brim.
Then the expert in time management looked at the class and asked, “What is the 12 of this illustration?” It is such a seemingly easy question that one 13 student raised his hand and said, “It is, however full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always 14 some more things in it.
“No,” the speaker replied. “The truth it teaches us is that you will 15 get them in at all if you don't put the big rocks in first. 16 the big rocks in your life are, do things that you love and 17 for yourself. In your schedule if you value the little stuff then you’ll fill your life with 18 things and you will never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big, important stuff. So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are 19 on this short story, ask yourself what the ‘big rocks’ in your life are. Then put those in your 20 first. ”
A．harder B．rougher C．clearer D．wiser
A．carefully B．firmly C．actively D．unwillingly
A．full B．pure C．enough D．smooth
A．sent B．reached C．managed D．felt
A．delivered B．shook C．dropped D．held
A．beneath B．across C．beyond D．between
A．threw out B．came out C．brought out D．set out
A．spaces B．caves C．blanks D．holes
A．At last B．shortly after C．Later on D．Once more
A．unless B．until C．before D．while
A．result B．opinion C．point D．comment
A．calm B．awkward C．nervous D．eager
A．add B．fit C．include D．collect
A．never B．even C．still D．ever
A．Whether B．However C．Whatever D．Which
A．conclude B．encourage C．achieve D．value
A．more B．little C．much D．less
A．reflecting B．counting C．deciding D．insisting
A．packet B．can C．jar D．luggage
When I was a teenager, I volunteered to give out water at a marathon. Watching the different runners who passed by and grabbed a cup was 36 . The next year I signed up for the race. I did little preparation and my only goal was to finish. On the day of the race, it was 37 hot. I remember struggling at about the 5th mile, thinking, “I am never doing this again!”
Have you ever felt that way about something? You eagerly choose a goal 38 soon realize it is 39 to achieve than you imagined it would be. That first 10 km race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. Then 40 a decisive moment. Near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me. I felt 41 that I was younger than him but I couldn’t keep up with him. I felt defeated for a second but then I realized 42 . He was running his race and I was running mine. He had different experience, training and goals and I had mine. 43 in life do we 44 ourselves with others and feel disappointed in ourselves when we really shouldn’t? I decided, then, that one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who were still running. 45 I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my achievement. Since then I have run several races and run purely for fun.
In life we all 46 compare ourselves with others, which is only natural. But don’t let them weaken you. 47 , you should use them to inspire you and show you what is possible. Then you are a true winner.
A．pleasing B．interesting C．inspiring D．amazing
A．extremely B．strangely C．sadly D．certainly
A．and B．but C．while D．or
A．easier B．harder C．better D．worse
A．went B．flew C．happened D．came
A．exhausted B．disappointed C．embarrassed D．annoyed
A．something B．anything C．everything D．nothing
A．How many B．How much C．How often D．How old
A．cooperate B．compare C．combine D．compromise
A．When B．Because C．Since D．Until
A．hardly B．sometimes C．always D．never
A．Furthermore B．Therefore C．Meanwhile D．Instead
In the first week after arriving in the new city for further study, I fell and broke my leg. I was really ___36___by the kindness of my new roommate. “We are family now,” she said when she __37__me lying in my bed with a swollen leg, unable to move. She took me to ___38__ by taxi to get my leg examined. The driver was so___39__ that we arrived there very quickly. After that, my __40___continued helping me though I told her I could do things on my own.
So many blessing I had never expected came to me when I was alone and helpless. Bus drivers picked me up from anywhere they saw me. Many people __41__ the door for me. Such things were small but __42___ for a person on walking sticks.
___43___for people’s kindness, I did whatever I could to make people laugh. I made many jokes about my two sticks and the bad fall. And I tried not to __44__ a single time about what had happened. I also tried to be kind to other students who were injured. I took time to __45__ with a girl in a wheelchair who always ate lunch alone.
I soon realized that pain can be__46__ by mental strength. I could see that although I was using physical sticks, there were hundreds of mental sticks I could depend on. I also saw that sometimes ____47____ situation can be good. There are choices to discover great kindness in the world.
A．touched B．saved C．cured D．supported
A．heard B．left C．found D．viewed
A．hotel B．hospital C．playground D．library
A．patient B．angry C．kind D．brave
A．driver B．doctor C．family D．roommate
A．cleaned B．moved C．opened D．decorated
A．hard B．impossible C．different D．useless
A．In turn B．In reply C．In return D．In addition
A．complain B．advise C．miss D．enjoy
A．study B．discuss C．practise D．chat
A．reduced B．gained C．caused D．limited
A．busy B．unpleasant C．puzzled D．tiring
Since I moved to Seattle, there’s no farm whose name has come up more than Quillisascut. Quillisascut is a cheese company, 36 what they call “traditional farmstead cheese’’, but it’s also a school. 37 completing a five-day “Introduction to Farming” workshop at Quillisascut, I understand why this farm school is so 38 . I hope that you can one day visit it, too.
At Quillisascut, mornings begin at 5:30 am with 39 and milking the goats. The morning’s 40 is made into cheese in the afternoon. Cheese making requires many steps. The process can take one day to several months, 41 the type of cheese being made.
During our workshop, we were lucky enough to have the farm’s chefs 42 meals of grains and beans from neighboring farms and herbs from the garden. All of the foods used for cooking are either grown there or 43 sourced.
Any 44 from meals is made into compost(堆肥). It is 45 onto the farm’s land, transforming Quillisascut’s soil 46 fertile salad bars for the goats. In addition to sunlight, rain, and compost, the goat farm 47 seeding and reseeding.
When I know where my food came from, who 48 it, and the complex process it took to get to my 49 , food does more than fuel my body. It also heats my 50 . I wonder how different our food and healthcare systems would look like if all people learnt firsthand about the 51 and tears involved in bringing food to the table.
If every food production operation 52 the public onto its ground, it is possible that our country’s food system would look very different; and our country’s connection with food could 53 . But for now, Quillisascut and other educational farms are making a(an) 54 , carrying out the goal “to make the world a more 55 place”.
A．displaying B．selling C．advertising D．designing
A．Until B．Unless C．After D．If
A．beloved B．interested C．moved D．excited
A．observing B．feeding C．introducing D．finding
A．goat B．milk C．choice D．meat
A．putting on B．taking on C．focusing on D．depending on
A．describe B．check C．cook D．heat
A．regionally B．comfortably C．formally D．positively
A．leftover B．makeup C．food D．drink
A．passed B．based C．worked D．spread
A．with B．of C．as D．into
A．avoids B．protests C．requires D．promotes
A．tasted B．measured C．grew D．learnt
A．car B．wallet C．wall D．plate
A．soul B．face C．hand D．dream
A．seed B．sweat C．money D．imagination
A．welcomed B．persuaded C．demanded D．suggested
A．break B．settle C．begin D．deepen
A．performance B．difference C．expression D．impression
A．famous B．curious C．beautiful D．traditional