That holiday morning I didn’t have to attend school. Usually, on holiday, mother ______ me to sleep in. And I would certainly take full advantage of it .On this particular morning, ______, I felt like getting up early.
I stood by my window overlooking the ______, having nothing better to do. But as it turned out, I was soon to learn about something______in life.
As I watched several people go by, get into their cars and drive off, I______an old man on a bicycle with a bucket on its______and a basket of rags and bottles on its back-carrige.He______from one ear to another, washing and cleaning them. From the water on the ground, it seemed that he had already______washing and cleaning about a dozen or more ears. He must have begun to work quite early in the morning.
Several thoughts ______my mind as I watched him work. He wasn’t well-dressed. He had on a pair of shorts and a (n) ______T-shirt. The bicycle he rode was not by any means the kind modern______would want to be seen riding on. But he seemed ______with life. There he was ,working hard at his small business, ______at passers-by and stopping to chat now and then______elderly men and women on their way to the market nearby.
There was a noticeable touch of ______in the way he seemed to be doing things ----______the windscreen(挡风玻璃)，then standing back to admire it，scrubbing(擦净)the wheel and ______, standing back to see what they looked like after the scrub.
It was a ______to learn, I felt. At no age need one have to beg for a______if one has good health and is willing to work hard .For a while I felt ______of myself. Young as I am ----just sixteen, and there was this old man who must have been usefully engaged perhaps before the Sun appeared above the horizon.
A．forces B．allows C．causes D．forbids
A．otherwise B．therefore C．however D．besides
A．parking lot B．bus stop C．school D．market
A．interesting B．surprising C．awful D．useful
A．noticed B．recognized C．called D．assisted
A．back B．handle C．wheel D．seat
A．searched B．left C．moved D．wandered
A．stopped B．started C．intended D．finished
A．attractive B．shiny C．simple D．expensive
A．repairmen B．businessmen C．drivers D．cyclists
A．busy B．content C．careful D．bored
A．waving B．looking C．laughing D．pointing
A．about B．for C．with D．like
A．worry B．respect C．sympathy D．pride
A．cleaning B．fixing C．replacing D．covering
A．still B．yet C．again D．soon
A．lesson B．subject C．skill D．fact
A．business B．living C．success D．right
A．tired B．doubtful C．fearful D．ashamed
A daughter thought life was unpromising(无前途的) to her and complained to her father about it. She did not know how she was going to and wanted to give up. She was of fighting and struggling. It seemed as if one problem was just solved before a new one .
Her father, a cook, took her to the . He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high
. Soon the pots came to the . In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.
The daughter sucked her teeth and waited, asking repeatedly what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he spooned the coffee out and placed it in another. Turning to her he asked, “Darling, what do you see?”
“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.
He brought her closer and asked her to
the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the , she observed the hard-boiled egg! Finally, he asked her to taste the coffee. She smiled she tasted its rich flavor. She humbly asked, “What does it mean, Father?”
He explained that each of them had faced the same , boiling water, but each differ-
ently. The carrot went in and hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it and became weak. The egg had been . Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, . After they were in the boiling water, they had the water.
“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. “When adversity(逆境) knocks on your door, do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?”
A．make out B．make it C．make up D．make through
A．typical B．conscious C．tired D．warned
A．raised B．arose C．disappeared D．faded
A．room B．market C．kitchen D．grocery
A．shelf B．temperature C．fire D．table
A．boil B．cool C．hot D．smoke
A．happily B．calmly C．casually D．impatiently
A．lights B．burners C．tap D．water
A．see B．carry C．feel D．fetch
A．shell B．pack C．bag D．cover
A．since B．as C．before D．if
A．occasion B．point C．variety D．adversity
A．reflected B．answered C．abandoned D．reacted
A．stable B．weak C．strong D．sensitive
A．softened B．widened C．shortened D．sharpened
A．half-done B．easily-broken C．easily-got D．hard-boiled
A．over B．for C．through D．on
A．however B．otherwise C．besides D．moreover
A．melted B．absorbed C．polluted D．changed
A．what B．how C．when D．why
Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been abroad a couple of times, but I could hardly claim to know my way around, the continent. , my knowledge of foreign languages was limited to a little college French.
I . How would I, unable to speak the language, familiar with local geography or transportation systems, conduct interviews and do
research? It seemed impossible, and with considerable I sat down to write a letter rejecting the . Halfway through, a
ran through my mind: you can't learn if you don't try. So I the assignment.
There were some bad . But by the time I finished the trip, I was an experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most places, without guides or advancebookings, confident that somehow I will .
The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition . But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning , the world opens to you.
I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a(n) . And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept worry as another name for and I believe I can wonders.
A．aboard B．abroad C．away D．out
A．claim B．declare C．hope D．deny
A．Somehow B．However C．Instead D．Moreover
A．accustomed B．added C．limited D．suited
A．resigned B．hesitated C．trembled D．suspected
A．only too B．more than C．apart from D．far from
A．operations B．experiments C．research D．business
A．regret B．doubt C．terror D．disappointment
A．request B．job C．trust D．assignment
A．reaction B．thought C．meaning D．conflict
A．accomplished B．received C．accepted D．resisted
A．exchanges B．conditions C．trips D．experiences
A．remote B．accessible C．interesting D．crowded
A．still B．ever C．even D．yet
A．do B．manage C．make D．fit
A．astonishing B．frightening C．fascinating D．exciting
A．comes up B．shows up C．piles up D．steps up
A．airport B．motorboat C．surfboard D．balloon
A．goal B．opportunity C．struggle D．challenge
A．work B．own C．win D．achieve
A group of graduates have highly been established in their careers. One day they got together to their old university professor. Shortly they arrived, their conversation turned into complaints about in work and life. In order to his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups made of porcelain(陶瓷的), plastic, glass or crystal. Some of
are plain looking, some expensive, and some are exquisite(做工精致的). The told them to help themselves to the coffee.
When the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
If you noticed, all the nice looking cups were taken up, behind the plain and cheap ones. it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the of your problems and stress.
all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, you consciously went for the best cups and were seeing each other’s .
Now consider this: is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are tools to hold and contain life, and do not change the of life. Sometimes, by concen- trating only on the cup, we to enjoy the coffee God has provided. So, don’t let the cups drive you. . . the coffee instead.
A．call at B．call on C．call for D．call up
A．after B．before C．when D．as
A．happiness B．joy C．satisfaction D．stress
A．offer B．provide C．make D．supply
A．for B．to C．with D．along
A．whom B．which C．them D．it
A．students B．professor C．son D．wife
A．all B．so me of C．none of D．both
A．cheap B．ordinary C．glass D．expensive
A．leaving B．remaining C．keeping D．staying
A．Because B．Since C．While D．If
A．source B．resource C．end D．solution
A．That B．What C．Anything D．Something
A．and B．so C．thus D．but
A．cups B．coffee C．eyes D．faces
A．Work B．Life C．Career D．Study
A．more than B．rather than C．just D．not only
A．quantity B．quality C．pace D．style
A．manage B．try C．attempt D．fail
A．enjoy B．drink C．have D．share
Mrs. Green was over seventies, but she still drove her old car like a woman half her age. She loved driving very fast, and was proud of the that she had never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished a driving offence(犯规, 犯法).
Then one day she nearly her record. A police car her, and the policeman in it saw her a red light without stopping. Of course, she was stopped. It seemed that she would be punished. When Mrs. Green came up to the , he looked at her seriously and said that she was old to drive a car, and that the why she had not stopped at the red was most probably that her eyes had become weak old age, so that she had simply not seen it.
When the judge had finished what he was , Mrs. Green opened the big handbag she was and took out her sewing. Without saying a word, she a needle with a very small eye, and threaded it at her first attempt.
When she had done this, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed the needle and the thread to the judge, saying, “Now it is your . I suppose you drive a car, and that you are quite sure about your own eyesight. ”
The judge took the and tried to thread it. After half a dozen tries, he had still not succeeded. The case against Mrs. Green was , and her record unbroken.
A．fact B．action C．skill D．age
A．about B．on C．to D．for
A．kept B．won C．missed D．lost
A．watched B．chased C．followed D．stopped
A．pass B．go C．run D．rush
A．sure B．able C．certain D．like
A．police B．judge C．officer D．captain
A．so B．very C．too D．quite
A．cause B．reason C．matter D．trouble
A．light B．lamp C．sign D．one
A．with B．because C．for D．of
A．speaking B．saying C．talking D．telling
A．holding B．getting C．carrying D．bringing
A．took B．brought C．picked D．chose
A．almost B．hardly C．successfully D．successful
A．both B．all C．neither D．either
A．time B．turn C．chance D．job
A．thread B．glasses C．needles D．needle
A．dismissed B．passed C．settled D．studied
A．was B．kept C．seemed D．remained
Many years ago, when I was in high school and working on weekends, I lost my wallet. After adding gas to my old car, I paid, and my wallet at the gas station. I hadn’t even had time to I had lost it when my phone rang. A man asked me if I had lost my wallet. I my purse and to my , I had. He asked me to him what was in it. I did so. He then told me where to my wallet.
When I reached his , I noticed his wheelchair and a slope(坡道)going up to the house. I thought that it might have been for him to lower his body and pick up my wallet. I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. I him for finding my wallet. While I didn’t want to insult(侮辱)him by offering , I really felt like something. So I asked him if there was anything I could do to repay his , and he said, “Just pass it on. ”I said I would be to do that. I was raised to be honest in any case and I would have done so, promising this fellow I would, but I wanted to his kindness, so I promised I would.
Ten years later I found a lying on the ground. It me several days to find the owner. He lived in another state, about 60 miles away from where I found the wallet. When he me back, we to meet, so I could return his wallet. He was actually all his money was still in the wallet and he tried to hand me a $20 bill. I told him, “Thanks, but just pass it on. . . ”
A．forgot B．left C．found D．saw
A．realize B．regret C．consider D．recognize
A．looked B．checked C．found D．searched for
A．anger B．delight C．horror D．excitement
A．tell B．give C．buy D．offer
A．turn up B．bring up C．look up D．pick up
A．house B．school C．company D．station
A．easy B．practical C．difficult D．useful
A．presented B．thanked C．blamed D．paid
A．help B．thanks C．money D．wallet
A．leaving B．saying C．offering D．owning
A．labor B．patience C．kindness D．support
A．able B．hard C．certain D．possible
A．without B．with C．on D．by
A．repay B．thank C．show D．reply
A．package B．cellphone C．card D．wallet
A．spent B．cost C．wasted D．took
A．called B．paid C．brought D．went
A．started B．preferred C．agreed D．failed
A．satisfied B．worried C．puzzled D．surprised