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Writing being largely a self-taught occupation, texts on how to get about it -though great in number- seldom are of much use.
You try, and fail. Then try again. Until at last, if you have some gift for it, the failures become less frequent, or at any rate less apparantly.
It is this ability to cover up one’s defects that is finally regarded as accomplishment or achievement.
Along the way there are the discouragements of unkind criticism, outright rejection, troublesome insecurity and irregular inability to meet debts.
It is uncommon, therefore, to come across a book containing advice of much practical value for anyone toying（漫不经心地考虑） with the dangerous idea of staring on a writing life.
A friend recently lent me such a book, however - one I wish I’d had the luck to read years ago, and which I would recommend to any young person devoted to making a career of words. It is the autobiography （自传） of the English novelist Anthony Trollope, first published in 1883, the year after his death.
Needing some means to support himself, Trollope at age 19 worked as a junior clerk in the British postal service. He was at his desk at 5:30 each morning to write for three hours. And he remained in the mail service 33 years, long after reputation and prosperity had come to him.
Now, what of his advice in his works?
1. For safety’s sake, arm yourself with some other skills, some other line of work to fall back on（求助）。 That way, failure at writing, though the disappointment may appear, will not mean ruin.
2. Do not depend too much on inspiration. Writing is a craft, which Trollope compared to the craft of shoemaking. The shoemaker who has just turned out one pair of his work sets to work immediately on the next pair.
3. Have a story to tell, but, more important than that, people with characters who will speak and move as living creatures in the reader’s mind. Without memorable characters, story alone is nothing.
4. Meet your deadlines. Life is endlessly “painful and troublesome” for writers who can’t finish their work on time.
5. Do not be carried away by praise. And, above all, do not be injured by criticism.
6. Understand the risks of writing for a living. “The career, when successful, is pleasant enough certainly; but when unsuccessful, it is of all careers the most painful.”
This passage mainly discusses__________.

A．the difficulties and risks of making a career of words

B．the uselessness of instructions contained in writing guidebooks

C．the autobiography of the 19th century English novelist Anthony Trollope

D．sound advice provided in Anthony. Trollope’s autobiography

From the context we can figure out that the underlined word “defect” in Paragraph 3 means__.

A．advantage

B．fault

C．truth

D．disadvantage

According to the author, writing _______.

A．is basically a self-taught occupation and no instructions on how to deal with it are of any practical use

B．is a “trial and error” process and it does not count whether you have the gift for writing or not

C．for a living is the most pleasant of all careers, full of praise and enjoyment

D．sometimes provides good hopes of winning public praise and escaping povert

From the passage we may infer that the author is most probably

A．an instructor of writing	B．a writer
C．an educator	D．a publisher

Forgiving someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don’t think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger can change your well-being.
When cartoon book characters like the incredible（难以置信） Hulk get angry, they change colours and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That’s why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, says holding on to anger and hatred can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea.
The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less depression（沮丧）。 They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure, and fewer problems on sleeping.
So it doesn’t matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Techniques such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it’s worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean that you simply accept what happened and say it’s OK. Instead, it’s a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past.
The author of the passage tries to make his viewpoint clear ______.

A．by raising his own examples.	B．based on his own experience.
C．by mentioning some studies.	D．by mentioning some typical patients.

The example of the cartoon book characters is taken in the passage to____.

A．support the viewpoint that anger and hatred harm physical and mental health.

B．introduce a famous expert.

C．let the reader know the different colours of cartoon faces.

D．show how to control one’s temper.

The underlined phrase “holding on to” in this passage possibly means“__”。

A．removing.

B．keeping up.

C．getting rid of.

D．learning about.

The best title for this passage is probably _______.

A．Forgiveness.	B．Forgiveness Is Good for Health.
C．A Secret to Keeping Health.	D．Anger Is Bad for Health.

Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers．Brain-computer interface（BCI） technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines．
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated（展示）a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts．
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand．He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts．
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells．These send signals through the spinal cord（脊髓）to the muscles to give us the ability to move．But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says．“Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices．”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user．This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp（头皮）and sends them to a computer．The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair． The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path．They help the computer react to commands from the brain．
Prof．Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands．“The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices．One example is this wheelchair．”
He says his team has set two goals．One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from．And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time．
BCI is a technology that can .

A．help to update computer systems

B．link the human brain with computers

C．help the disabled to recover

D．control a person's thoughts

How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?

A．By controlling his muscles．

B．By talking to the machine．

C．By moving his hand．

D．By using his mind．

The team will test with real patients to.

A．make profits from them

B．prove the technology useful to them

C．make them live longer

D．learn about their physical condition

Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center

B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries

Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of current answers. That question is “What’s your name?” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.
The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near brook(小溪)；someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are: Carter — a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter —a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.
Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?

A．Places where people lived.

B．People’s characters.

C．Talents that people possessed.

D．People’s occupations.

According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably _______.

A．owned or drove a cart

B．made things with metals

C．made kitchen tools or contains

D．built houses and furniture

Suppose and English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named _______.

A．Beatrice Smith	B．Leonard Carter
C．George Longstreet	D．Donald Greenwood

The underlined word “descendants” in the last paragraph means a person’s _____.

A．later generations	B．friends and relatives
C．colleagues and partners	D．later sponsors

Imagine，one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high—speed railway system．And that’s not a11．China has an even greater high—speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high·-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 1 0 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming with
Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high—speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．
China’s bullet train(高速客车)，the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the
World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge(轨距)，maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on
domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital
investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’11 be a win-win project. For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countries．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for a11．And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because．

A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions

B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways

C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries

D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation，business and tourism

According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is．

A．technical issues

B．safety of the system

C．financial problems

D．maintenance of railway tracks

Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed
railway plan?

A．Critical．

B．Reserved．

C．Doubtful

D．Positive．

Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．New Railway Standards

B．Big Railway Dreams

C．High—speed Bullet Trains

D．International Railway Network

A．food	B．rooms
C．body exercises	D．walking shoes