When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000m race. My job was to water to the runners, I remember being so to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. Some ran past, some walked past and a few wheeled past. I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I up for the race.
That first 10,000m race was quite an . I jogged（慢跑）, I walked, I jogged and I walked. , I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining(起决定性作用的) .
At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me, very, very fast, and I felt because I was 15 years old, younger than him but I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt for a second.
But then I something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had abilities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my was only to finish.
After a minute, it me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself in that moment. I turned my embarrassment into .
I that I would not give up running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare and one day I would be one of those 70-year-old persons who were still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my .
In life we all have those moments when we ourselves with others. It’s only . Don’t allow those moments to you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. With the proper preparation and training, you can improve your result to anything you want in life.
A．bring out B．pass out C．take out D．pick out
A．excited B．worried C．concerned D．anxious
A．gave B．made C．signed D．dressed
A．achievement B．encouragement C．interest D．experience
A．At times B．In time C．In all D．After all
A．victory B．decision C．moment D．conclusion
A．embarrassed B．annoyed C．moved D．thrilled
A．relaxed B．defeated C．puzzled D．inspired
A．realized B．lost C．noticed D．remembered
A．necessary B．evident C．common D．different
A．motto B．plan C．goal D．direction
A．worried B．hit C．reached D．hurt
A．attraction B．devotion C．inspiration D．expectation
A．hoped B．promised C．decided D．suggested
A．slightly B．hardly C．clearly D．properly
A．excitement B．accomplishment C．movement D．Judgment
A．introduce B．relate C．present D．compare
A．important B．natural C．strange D．ridiculous
A．weaken B．wound C．amuse D．cheer
A．reserve B．deliver C．achieve D．abandon
William Wordsworth wrote that “the human mind is capable of excitement without the application of violent stimulants(刺激)”. And it appears that simply reading those words proves his .
Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and had a beneficial effect on the mind. It can the reader’s attention and trigger moments of self-reflection.
Using scanners, they the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their form and in a modern translation.
And, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more prose and poetry far more electrical activity in the brain than the easier versions.
The research also found poetry, , increased activity in the right part of the brain, an area with “autobiographical(自传式的) memory”, which helped the reader to 45 on their own experiences. The academics said this meant the were more useful than self-help books.
The brain of 30 volunteers were watched in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in different .
In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, “A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded”, before reading the : “A father and a gracious aged man: him you have enraged”. Shakespeare’s use of “mad” as a(n) caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward prose.
The next stage of the research was looking at the to which poetry could affect and provide therapeutic(治疗的) benefit. Volunteers’ brains were scanned while reading four lines by Wordsworth, and four “translated” lines were also provided.
The first version caused more brain activity, not only the left part of the brain connected with language, but also the right part that relates to autobiographical memory and emotion.
“Poetry is not just a of style. It is also about deep versions of experience that the emotional to the cognitive(认知的),” said Prof Davis, who will present the findings at the North of England education conference in Sheffield this week.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1-20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项
I finished my last work of the week and could hardly wait to get home, take off my nursing shoes, and relax.
As I __ my car, I saw one of my _ standing by the bus stop. I thought it would only take a couple of extra minutes to give her a ride home, and _ , it was too cold to be standing outside on the coldest _ in January. I didn’t know where she lived, but I was __ I would be able to find my way back.
We __ about our work as I drove and __ we knew it, we arrived at her house. I started driving back. _ looked familiar, but at first that didn’t __ me. But soon I __ something wrong. I recognized nothing. But I told myself to stay _ .
I was __ neighborhoods, streets and even streetlights. I no longer knew where I was now. How could I be so stupid! I looked down at my __ . It was now 2:30 a.m. My gas was slowly running out. I __ _ the car and turned off the engine. In total defeat, I put my head down on the wheel, __ . Then I raised my head and saw a(n) _ down the road in front of me. I turned my headlights on. A car! I drove a little _ _, got out of my car and knocked on the window of that car. An elderly man _ rolled his window down.
I said that I didn’t know how to get back into town. In silence, he started driving. I ran back to my car and drove behind him. Finally I __ a familiar street. As I turned to head home, the car disappeared. Then I _ my driveway (车道) when the warning light for my gas tank (汽油箱) turned on.
Though so many years have passed, I still thank the old man from my deepest heart.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1～20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项选项的标号涂黑。
Every day on the way to work I drive down a street lined with pine trees. One tree in particular ____ my attention. It must have suffered some severe ____. Part of its trunk grew nearly parallel(平行) to the ground, and then in an effort to ____ its own course of life, the trunk took a 90 degree turn ____ to stand tall and stretch（伸展） toward the sun.
This tree became a ____ for me. Each day as I drove by, I saw this bent but determined tree and I would be ____. It was a reminder to me that ____ I may not have had the best start in life, I could change ____ in the paths of my life at any time.
I was planning to stop one day to get a perfect ____ of my kindred-spirit(志趣相同的) tree. But that week I was ____. After that busy week, I still didn’t take any action. Every time I drove by the tree I ____ tell myself, “Tomorrow, I’ll stop tomorrow to take one.” Then one day, as I drove by, I glanced over and, much to my ____, I found a lonely sawed-off stump(树桩) ____ the symbolic tree had stood. It was gone! I had ____ my plan until “tomorrow” and tomorrow proved to be too ____.
A picture of a tree is not of great ____. But my lesson rang through clearly ____ I found out one of my colleagues had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer. He may no longer have many ____.
What have you been putting off? What would you do if you knew you would ____ have the opportunity to do it again? Why not do those things ____ that you have been putting off until tomorrow?
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About five years ago，I found myself working in a terrible middle school. The hours were long and the work was boring. ________, the pay was low. Every day the job seemed a physical ________ for me. My neck would burn with pain from the ________ bending. My feet would ache from ________ the entire day. The skin around my fingernails would ________ because of the work my hands were doing. I tried to keep my ________ up while I worked there, but day by day I felt myself ________ down. Every morning I would press sticking-plaster on my neck, place Band-Aid around my fingers and ________ my worn-out shoes. And every night I would _______ myself home and fall onto the couch.
One evening I felt like I could________ it no more. As I drove home alone, I said to myself. “Why am I working myself here just to ________? Why couldn’t I find a better job than this? Why do I have to ________ this right now?”
I wasn’t really expecting a(n) ________, but life always loves to surprise us. As I ________up the steps to my front door, I found my wife and my son waiting for me ________ smiling faces. “Daddy, Daddy!” my son yelled. I smiled and picked him up with my ________ arms. Then after hugging and kissing him, I laughed for the first time in days and sat down ________. At that time, I found the answer which would give me the ________ I needed to go on.
Eventually I moved on to a better school, but I________ forgot that answer, which had gently reminded me of the simple truth. We may have to work to live, but we live to ________. May you always fill your days with love and joy.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1～20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The students at Sandy’s high school were badly shaken by the news that a classmate had himself. The suicide note read: “It’s hard to when nobody cares if you die.”
Glen, a teacher, realized this was a moment about the importance of making people feel
. He asked his class to imagine they were about to and to write a note “telling someone how and why you him or her.”
Sandy, who had a relationship with her mother, decided to write her . Her letter read: “We’ve had some times and I haven’t always been a very good ,but I know I’m lucky to have you in my life. You’re the person I’ve ever known, And even when I disagree with you, I never you love me and want what’s best for me. Thanks for not up on me”.
When her mom read the note, she cried and hugged Sandy but said little.
The next morning, Sandy found a on her mirror: “Dearest Sandy, I want you to know being your mother is ,by far, the most important thing in my life. I got your note, I thought I had lost your love and . I felt like such a failure. I intended to it all last night. Your note saved my .”
Be careful not to underestimate the of expressed appreciation. It won’t always save a life, but it will always make someone’s life better.
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