A Full-Time School Called Life
You are enrolled in a full-time school called "life". Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but you have designed them as part of your curriculum.
Why are you here? What is your purpose? Humans have sought to discover the meaning of life for a very long time. What we and our ancestors overlooked, however, is there is no one answer. The meaning of life is different for every individual.
Each person has his or her own purpose and distinct path, unique and separate from anyone else's. As you travel your life path, you will be presented with numerous lessons that you will need to learn in order to fulfill that purpose. The lessons you are presented with are specific to you; learning these lessons is a key to discovering and fulfilling the meaning and connection of your own life.
As you travel through your lifetime, you may encounter challenging lessons that others don't have to face, while others spend years struggling with challenges that you don't need to deal with. You may never know why you are blessed with a wonderful marriage, while your friends suffer through bitter arguments and painful divorces, just as you cannot be sure why you struggle financially while your peers enjoy abundance. The only thing you can count on for certain is that you specifically need to learn; whether we choose to learn them or not is entirely up to you.
The challenge here, therefore, is to align (与……保持一致) yourself with your own unique path by learning individual lessons. This is one of the most difficult challenges you will be faced with in your lifetime, as sometimes your path will be completely different from others. But, remember, don't compare your path to the people around you and focus on the difference between their lessons and yours. You need to remember that you will only be faced with lessons that you are capable of learning and are specific to your own growth.
Our sense of fairness is the expectation of equity-the assumption that all things are equal and that justice will always prevail. Life is not, in fact, fair, and you may indeed have a more difficult lift path than others around you, deserved or not. Everyone's circumstances are unique, and everyone needs to handle his or her own circumstances differently. If you want to move toward calm, you will be required to move out the comparing phrase of "it's not fair". Focusing on the unfairness of circumstances keeps you comparing yourself with others rather than appreciating your own special uniqueness. You miss out on learning your
individual lessons by distracting yourself with feeling of bitterness and anger. According to the passage, how can the meaning of your life be realized?
| A．Having the same opinions as others. |
| B．Taking the distinct path from others. |
| C．Learning the lessons presented to you. |
| D．Doing the different things from others. |
From the passage we can conclude _____.
| A．everyone has his own track to follow |
| B．the same thing usually happen to the peers |
| C．a painful divorce must lie in financial problems |
| D．a wealthy man must have a wonderful marriage |
In your lifetimes, the lessons you are faced with _____.
| A．are beyond your power |
| B．keep you from growth |
| C．limit your development |
| D．help you with your success |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．All things are equal and justice will always prevail. |
| B．You should learn to appreciate your specific uniqueness. |
| C．One has to fix his mind on unfairness of circumstances. |
| D．The teachers have designed the lessons as part of your curriculum in the life school. |
Life is called a full-time school, because _____.
| A．it is full of all lessons to learn |
| B．you have plenty of time to learn lessons |
| C．you meet with specific lessons every day |
| D．there are so many subjects for you to choose |
第二部分：阅读理解（共25小题；第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分，满分45分）
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每小题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中，选出最
佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A．
Each Indian tribe had a different language. Many Indians never learned any language except their own. Do you know how Indians from different tribes talked to each other? They had two ways to talk without sound． One way was by sign language; the other way by signals.
Sign language is a way of talking by using signs. Indians used sign language when they met strangers. In this way, they could find out whether the stranger was a friend or an enemy. In the Indian sign language, signs were made with the hands. One sign meant “man”. Another meant “horse”. To tell the time of day when something happened, an Indian pointed to the sky. He showed where the sun had been at the time.
Indians usually used signals when they wanted to send messages to someone far away. To make signals, an Indian might use a pony. He might use a blanket. Or he might use smoke, a mirror or fire arrows.
To signal that he had seen many animals, an Indian rode his pony in a large circle. Sometimes the Indian gave a signal like this and then went away to hide. This meant that there was danger.
The blanket signal was visible from far away. An Indian held the corners of a blanket in his hands. Then he began to swing the blanket from side to side in front of him. An Indian could send many different signals with his blanket.
He could also send many signals with a mirror. He usually used the mirror to warn someone of danger. Or he attempted to get the attention of a person far away. But he also used it to send messages in code. Of course, mirrors could be used only when the sun was shining. At night, Indians used fire arrows for signaling.
An Indian also sent signals with smoke. He made a small fire of dry wood． Then he put grass or green branches on it. He held a blanket over the fire for a minute. When he removed the blanket from the fire, there was a cloud of smoke. The number of clouds of smoke told his message in code.
Now you can see that Indians didn’t need to learn each other’s language. They could talk to one another by using signals or sign language.
41． The whole text is mainly about _______.
A． different tribes have different languages
B． the Indians had many kinds of languages
C． how Indians communicated between different tribes
D． why the Indians used many languages
42． An Indian used a mirror to do all the followings EXCEPT _______.
A． send messages in code
B． get the attention of someone in the distance
C． warn someone of danger
D． to tell a friend from an enemy
43． Sign language is _______.
|
A． to write one’s signature
B． a secret way of talking to some Indian tribesE
“The world's oceans are slowly getting more acidic.” say scientists. The researchers from California report that the change is taking place in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
The lowering of the waters' PH value is not great at the moment but could cause a serious threat to current ocean life if it continues, they warn. Ken Caldeira and Michael Wickett, from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, report their concerns in the journal Nature. Increasing use of oil fuels means more carbon dioxide is going into the air, and most of it will eventually be absorbed by seawater. Once in the water, it reacts to form carbonic acid. Scientists believe that the oceans have already become slightly more acidic over the last century.
These researchers have tried to predict what will happen in the future by combining what we know about the history of the oceans with computer models of climate change. “This level of acidity will get much more extreme in the future if we continue releasing CO2 into the atmosphere,” said Dr Caldeira. And we predict the amount of future acidity will exceed(超过) anything we have seen over the last several hundred million years, let alone perhaps after rare disastrous events such as asteroid(小行星) impacts.
However, it is not absolutely clear what that means for ocean life. Most organisms live near the surface, where the greatest PH change would be expected to occur, but deep－ocean life forms may be more sensitive to PH changes. Coral reefs(珊瑚礁) and other organisms whose shells contain calcium carbonate(碳酸钙) may be particularly affected if the water's acidity levels keep going up, the team predict. They could find it much more difficult to build these structures in water with a lower PH.
In recent years some people have suggested storing carbon dioxide from power station in the deep ocean as a way of dealing with global warming. But Dr Caldeira said that such a strategy should now be re—considered. “Previously, most experts had looked at ocean absorption of carbon dioxide as a good thing——because in releasing CO2 into the atmosphere we warm the planet, and when CO2 is absorbed by the ocean, it reduces the amount of greenhouse warming.”
57．The ocean is becoming more acidic due to_______.
A．the lower water PH value B．the warming atmosphere
C．the higher level of CO2 in the air D．the increasing use of oil fuels
58．According to Dr Caldeira,________.
A．ocean absorption of carbon dioxide is a good thing
B．more oil fuels will be used in the near future
C．scientists may predict climate changes with computer models
D．the future situation of the amount of acidity is extremely serious
59．If the water's acidity level keeps rising,____________.
A．ocean life whose structures contain calcium carbonate may be affected
B．the water's PH value will become higher and higher
C．organisms living near the surface are more sensitive to PH changes
D．some disastrous events will occur more often than before
60．Most experts once believed storing carbon dioxide in the ocean would reduce_________
A．the CO2 absorbed by the ocean B. the amount of greenhouse warming
C．the acidity of the ocean D．the gradual release of CO2
D
The most detailed breakdown(分析) of ethnic and gender performance in national curriculum tests for 7, 11 and 14－year－olds shows that Chinese pupils do best in every subject at every age. Chinese and Indian pupils outperformed white British children in English tests for 11－year－olds. In all, 83% of Chinese students reached the required standard compared with 78% of Indian pupils and 75% of white UK pupils and only 65% of Bangladeshi children reaching level four, the standard that an 11－year－old should achieve.
While the overall results show the performance of every ethnic group at GCSE(中等教育普通证书) is improving, they do highlight a worrying trend for white British pupils. David Miliband, the minister for School Standards, said the results showed that while standards in secondary schools were rising, there was “a shocking gender gap between boys and girls”. He added: “58.2% of girls achieved five A to C grade passes at GCSE in 2003 compared with just 49.9% of boys, and white working－class boys are one of the lowest performing groups at 14.” According to researchers,” In the weeks leading up to GCSE unsupervised study leave at home in many areas has become the norm(惯例). They are left to their own devices.” Mr. Miliband is supporting a plan to persuade schools to drop study leave before GCSEs and replace it with structured revision in school.
53．What's the best title for this text?
A．Chinese－British Pupils' Education in Britain
B．British Primary Education
C．British Ethnic Minority Education
D．The GCSE In Britain
54．All UK 11－year－olds' required standard in English tests is that they should reach .
A．grade A B．grade B C．grade C D．level 4
55．What worries David Miliband according to the text?
A．Chinese－British and Indian－British pupils surpass British pupils in every subject.
B．White working class boys perform worst in schools.
C．Girls perform much better than boys.
D．Before GCSE all students are asked to do revision at school by themselves.
56．According to David Miliband, the study leave before GCSE is .
A．unacceptable B．practical C．admirable D．Understandable
C
My name is A. J. Hoge. I am the creator of the Effortless English Teaching System and I am the Founder and Director of The Effortless English Club——one of the most popular English learning systems in the world. My audio lessons are best－sellers in over 25 countries and my radio podcast (播客)has over one million listeners worldwide. I am also the publisher of the Effortless English Online Newsletter, which has over half a million subscribers(用户) (and growing every day). I am a leading expert on topics related to English speaking success and teaching mastery.
I created the Effortless English Teaching System after many years of teaching English in universities. My former students include business professionals, scientists, teachers, professors, graduate students, and many other successful adult English learners. These students were just like you. They were frustrated English learners who could not speak well. Using the Effortless English system, they learned to speak English easily and automatically.
Each of these students made incredible improvements in a very short time. You also will improve quickly when you use the entire Effortless English System. The Effortless English System is designed for you——the independent adult learner. Effortless English focuses exclusively on speaking and listening skills. The system is designed to improve your speaking power as quickly as possible——using proven and tested methods.
When you follow the entire system every day for 6 months, your speaking becomes much faster and easier. Your spoken grammar improves powerfully——yet you will never study grammar rules in this system. Your pronunciation improves powerfully——yet you will not focus on pronunciation.
49．What's the author's purpose of writing this text?
A．To introduce himself.
B．To suggest some ways of speaking English easily and automatically.
C．To show readers he is a successful English teacher.
D．To make his Effortless English System popular.
50．The text is intended for____.
A．the students whose English is poor
B．the learners whose English pronunciation and grammar are not good
C．the adults who plan to make their English speaking ability improved
D．the English teachers who want to their improve English teaching techniques
51．The author's Effortless English System doesn't deal with .
A．how to learn English grammar and pronunciation
B．advanced teaching methods
C．English speaking skills
D．English listening skills
52．What will the author discuss in the following text?
A．What he did when he was an English teacher.
B．The Effortless English System overview.
C．His radio podcast.
D．The Effortless English Club.
B
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class walking home. His name was Kyle. He was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd(书呆子).” So I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw some kids running at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. I jogged over to him, and as he crawled around looking for his glasses, I handed him his glasses. He said, “Thanks!” There Was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived, It turned out he lived near me, so I asked him why! had never seen him before. He said he had gone to a private school before coming to this school. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home. He turned a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play football on Saturday with me and my friends. He said yes. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.
Graduation day arrived. Kyle was valedictorian of our class, so he had to prepare a speech for graduation. In his speech he said. “Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. I am going to tell you a story.” I stared at my friend in disbelief as he told the story of the first day We met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He gave me a little smile. “Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.” I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment.
45．What does the underlined word “valedictorian” in the second paragraph mean?
A．A graduate who delivers a farewell speech in a class.
B．A graduate who is the youngest in a class.
C．A student who is the most popular in a class.
D．A student who can not graduate on time in a class.
46．It can be concluded from the text that the author______.
A．was good at playing football in high school
B．had not liked to make friends with the students from private schools before
C．seldom helped others
D．did not study hard in high school
47．Not until the graduation day did the author know_______.
A．the real reason why Kyle carried all his books home the first day they met
B．Kyle was his best friend
C．Kyle enjoyed making speeches in front of the class
D．Kyle's many weaknesses
48．What does the author mainly want to express by telling this story?
A．A friend in need is a friend indeed.
B．Helping others is a Virtue.
C．Your action is powerful: with one small gesture you can change a person's life.
D．We should have a pity on the weak.