How to improve our life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They’ll say, “This is my destiny (命运). I cannot change it.”
Of course not! You don’t have to suffer needlessly. Your life depends on you, not on any other external (外部的) factor.
I know a woman who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, and then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routine cycle follows.
Huh! Is this what she calls “doing her best”? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that has been intended for her, and that her luck can only change if God wills it. She hasn’t realized that we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.
Remember that you harvest what you sow. You have to get off the sofa, get your eyes off the TV screen, get our hands off the phone (unless it contributes to your success), and get your mind and body to work! Don’t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don’t just regard it as a temporary setback; instead, learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It’s not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively.
If someone’s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person. So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best. In other words, don’t just stand (or sit) there, do something to improve your life. According to the woman mentioned in Para. 3, her life __________.
| A．doesn’t need improving | B．couldn’t be improved |
| C．will be better someday | D．will be worse in the future |
What does the author think of the woman’s life?
| A．Positive. | B．Passive. |
| C．Colorful. | D．Boring. |
Which of the following statements is the author’s opinion?
| A．Your temporary problem is not discouraging. |
| B．Your luck can be changed by your efforts. |
| C．You can only achieve success when God wills it. |
| D．You should treat yourself in the way you treat your friends. |
In Para. 5, the author emphasized the importance of __________.
| A．positive thinking | B．positive action |
| C．hope for the best | D．intention to succeed |
The text is mainly written to advise you to __________.
| A．understand yourself | B．improve your life |
| C．believe in yourself | D．change your normal way |
I will be the first to say that I am not materialistic. My friends regard me as a goody-goody; my parents say I am conservative and modest when it comes to clothes. None of my skirts or shorts end above my knees.
So why, why did I feel so invited? My family and I were in Target, and there it was, waiting. A skirt, specifically designed not to cover anything. It looked like something that one of those modern schoolgirls would wear.
I checked my purse. The skirt cost $10. I had the money. I could buy it. I imagined walking into school and my friends’ jaws (下巴) dropping. Guys would ask me out, and I would be happy. I could buy it, no, — I should buy it.
I showed my mother. She was surprised but said it was my decision. My sister looked on enviously.
I went into the dressing room to try it on. So sure was I that this skirt would change me, somehow make me not what I am but what I wished to be. I slid my jeans off and put it on. I looked in the mirror. There I was — a terrible girl in a Superman T-shirt and sneakers. My glasses fogged up as I started to cry.
The skirt did not change me. Though it fit well and might make me look good in the eyes of today’s world, it was not me. I am not a girl who wears cool clothes to fit in.
I took the thing off and slid back into the comfort of modesty. My mom knocked on the door. “Emily, are you okay?”
I wiped away my tears. “I’m fine.” I looked in the mirror again and saw a slim girl with funny glasses. I saw myself.In the author’s eyes the skirt that interested her was ______.
| A．not modern | B．very short |
| C．too expensive | D．poorly designed |
The author thought if she went to school in this skirt her schoolmates would be ______.
| A．shocked | B．hurt | C．confused | D．happier |
The underlined sentence in the 3rd paragraph indicates the author ______.
| A．hesitated about buying the skirt |
| B．made up her mind to buy the skirt |
| C．was able to afford to buy the skirt |
| D．worried about others’ opinion on the skirt |
The author cried because ______.
| A．she found that she looked ugly in the skirt |
| B．she was aware the skirt didn’t fit her well |
| C．she realized it’s a wrong decision to make a change |
| D．she was disappointed the skirt failed to change her |
Riding a motorcycle is a popular way to travel. A motorcycle often has better acceleration than the fastest . A motorcycle can traffic jams and can speed ahead while the cars wait. A motorcycle is to run --- you need less petrol per mile for a motorcycle than for most cars.
But this doesn’t explain why, for some people, motorcycles are a way to travel, they are a way of life. Everybody knows about the problems of riding a motorcycle. It’s quiet dangerous. It’s very uncomfortable too. However well dressed for a ride the motorcyclist is, wind and rain make the journey difficult and . And then, motorcycles often .
But the motorcyclist doesn’t care!
Take a look at any motorcycle magazine and you will have an idea of what motorcycling means to the enthusiast. The keen motorcyclist may sometimes think about the of his way of life. But he will still go ‘on the ride’ whenever he can!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
National parks in the UK are a wonder to see, run by the National Trust, a non-profit charity which maintains Great Britain's historical and natural landscapes. Britain's park Authority has made planning restrictions to protect these wilderness areas in housing and commercial activities.
Mainland England and Wales have the largest number of protected parks. The first established area was the l,438 kilometer Peak District. The first national park lies in northern and central England. The Peak District with vast beauty is thought to be the world's most visited national park after Japan's Mount Fuji.
In the northwest area of Wales lies Snowdonia National Park. This attractive, mysterious ancient landscape is home to steep mountains. Walking trails to Mount Snowdon is only one of several exciting activities for hikers.
National parks in the UK can also boast of having Britain's largest protected wetland "The Broad", just outside the village of Homing. An ideal spot for families, this 200-mile area combines waterways with an interesting intersection(交叉) of windmills, castles and an ancient Normal church.
Spreading across 885 miles of truly impressive rocky land is Lake District National Park. England's largest park attraction is spread between Edinburgh to the north and Manchester to the south. Although the land itself seems wild, almost 40,000 people live within the park. Within this district's vast borders we can find over 6,000 archaeological(考古的) sites and monuments dating back to prehistory.
The United Kingdom has taken great care to preserve its wilderness areas for the future generations, and all the parks are adventures waiting to De found which can be enjoyed by both natives and visitors.Who is in charge of the National parks in the UK? (no more than 3 words)
According to the passage, which is thought to be the world's most visited national park? (no more than 5 words)
If you want to see ancient monuments, where would you go? (no more than 4 words)
For whom are the wild areas preserved in the UK? (no more than 4 words)
What's the text mainly about? (no more than 6 words)
I give two examples as to why intelligent life may not actually exist, though I admit that for me, or even for a physicist who devoted his or her entire life to researching and studying the universe, it's shocking to claim that completely no life exists elsewhere.
Keeping that in mind, I'd just like to consider conditions elsewhere in the known universe. You really only need to look at our own solar system or the Earth at certain periods in its own history to appreciate that most places are much worse and much less suitable for life than our mild, watery globe.
So far, space scientists have discovered about seventy planets outside the solar. But it appears that if you wish to have a planet suitable for life, you just have to be very lucky, and the more advanced the life is, the luckier you'll have to be. I'm by no means a space observer, but I can recognize some particularly fortunate breaks we've had on the Earth. For example:
We are, to a degree, at the right distance from the perfect type of star, the one that is big enough to radiate a huge amount of energy, but not so big as to bum itself out quickly. Had our sun been ten times as huge, it would have burnt out completely after only ten million years, instead of ten billion and surely we would not exist. Too near, everything on the Earth would have boiled and withered away; any further, everything would have frozen over.
The universe is a surprising place, and our existence within it is a wonder. If a long and unimaginably complex sequence of events dating back 4.6 billion years or so hadn't happened in a particular manner at a particular time --if, to take just one example, the dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out by a meteor(流星)--we might still be a few centimeters long, with whisker(胡须) and a tail, and you'll be reading this in a cave somewhere.What's the best title for this passage?
| A．No Life Exists out of the Earth |
| B．Seventy Planets Discovered |
| C．A Place Full of Wonders |
| D．Perfect Conditions for Life |
What makes the Earth more suitable for life than other planets in the solar system?
| A．The Earth is the only planet that can receive energy from the sun. |
| B．The sun is at the right distance from us and in proper size. |
| C．The distance between the planets was neither too long nor too near. |
| D．The dinosaurs were no longer a threat to the Earth. |
What does the underlined phrase "withered away" in the 4th paragraph mean?
| A．Exploded. | B．Expanded. | C．Floated away. | D．Dried and died. |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A history book. | B．A magazine. | C．A science fiction. | D．A famous novel. |
WELLINGTON, September 19 (Xinhua) -- If your teenage son won't get out of bed in the morning, then take comfort from the fact that he might be sleeping his way to a healthier future, according to a new research from New Zealand.
Researchers in human nutrition at the University of Otago have found that teenage boys who sleep less have more body fat when compared to girls, for whom lack of sleep has no noticeable effect on their body fat ratios.
The study of 386 boys and 299 girls aged 15 to 18 found that average-sized 16-year-old boy weighing 69.5 kg and 176 cm tall, who slept for eight hours a day, had a waist size l.8 cm bigger and l.6 kg, or 9 percent, more body fat than the average-sized boy who slept 10 hours a day.
"The boys who slept eight hours a day would also have l.8 kg more lean (bone and muscle) mass compared to the boys who slept 10 hours, but that's only a 1.4-percent increase, compared to the 9- percent increase seen in body fat," said lead researcher from the Department of Human Nutrition, Dr. Paula Skidmore.
"Our results suggest that for older teenage boys, making sure that they get enough sleep may help to maintain a healthier body. It seems to be that, within reason, the more sleep the better for boys," Skidmore said in a statement Thursday.
"It was unexpected that we did not find the same result in girls, who may actually be more aware of their diet and more in tune with a healthier lifestyle."
The researchers ruled out the effects of food choice and number of screens, such as televisions, games and consoles, which the teenagers had in their bedrooms.What's the research really about?
| A．Boys and girls. | B．Food and weight. | C．Sleep and health. | D．Screens and fat. |
What's the result of less sleep for teenage boys?
| A．Bigger waist and more fat in the body. |
| B．An increase in weight and height. |
| C．More concerned with their diet. |
| D．A decrease in bone and muscle. |
From the sixth paragraph we can infer that ______.
| A．girls usually sleep less and have healthier lifestyles than boys |
| B．the researchers expected to see the same result in girls |
| C．peoples' diet has a great effect on their health |
| D．boys are usually lazier than girls |
Who would be the most pleased to hear the news?
| A．Teachers. | B．Girls. | C．Parents. . | D．Boys. |