Like many men at some point, I dream about opening a bar. I plan to call it Work Out. It will cater to married women in need of a little fun. On Friday nights, they will be able to come here and enjoy themselves.
See, I have a gift for business. I am, as my wife Zsa Zsa likes to note, “A man with a million ideas, none of them very good.” Speaking of Zsa Zsa, she is fed up with this plain little life I’ve made for us——too many kids, too many chores, mind – numbing debt. The other day, she said she thought we needed a new family car. “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?” I said, and saw my dear Zsa Zsa age about 20 years, and become her mother right before my eyes.
Yes, money is our madness. Last year, we thought we had found a little cushion when I published a book about the life here in suburban America. It sold 12 copies——six of them to my mother. Four other copies went to various aunts and uncles, who used them for martini coasters (杯垫), then sold them at yard sales. The two remaining copies went to perfect strangers. (I think I owe you dinner, whoever you are. Call me, OK? We’ll arrange something.)
When the book didn’t take off, I wrote a TV show. Then I penned a short novel based on the earlier TV idea that didn’t sell. Currently, I am at work on a set of encyclopedias(百科全书). In a month, I plan to sell them door-to-door.
Such is the life of a writer, sending off the most personal thoughts possible to his hard drive. I am a writer, but also the breadwinner in my family. I’m at the keyboard at 6 almost every morning, hoping to tap out one idea——just one——that will take us up the hill, to the mountain, to the top.
According to the passage, the author is leading a/an______ life.
A．enjoyable B．wealthy C．hard D．comfortable
A．promised it to his wife B．was showing off their fortune C．thought his wife would like it D．was just joking
A．It didn’t sell well at all B．He sold it door – to – door. C．He made a lot of money from it. D．It was really a cushion for his family.
A．Comfortable seat. B．Financial help. C．Unexpected success. D．Best-selling book.
A．He has a real gift for business. B．He isn’t serious enough about life. C．He is a hard – working writer. D．His wife is satisfied with their plain life.
It was July 1976. An unmanned spaceship, Viking One, had arrived at Mars. On July 20th, the spaceship . Part of it continued toward a landing on the planet. It fell through the late afternoon Mars’ sky.
Forty kilometers above the planet, the thin began to slow its fall. Six kilometers above the planet a big parachute(降落伞)opened. The landing craft fell more slowly. Then, three rocket engines . And the landing craft set down on the surface. in the Viking One Lander immediately sent a message to the earth. It said, “I am here. I am down safely. I am beginning my work. ”
The message at the speed of light. It took twenty minutes to reach the earth, more than three hundred and twenty million kilometers . Scientists and engineers at the control center .
Moments later, television receiver in the control center began to the first picture from Viking One. People at the center could see the feet of the landing craft sitting firmly on the 11 soil of Mars. Those pictures were our first look at the planet. They showed a red surface, full of rocks, with no sign of . It was our first look at a planet that is full of surprises, mysteries and promise. Viking One was launched toward Mars in August, 1975. The spaceship had two : an orbiter(轨道飞行器)and a lander(着陆器). The orbiter would circle Mars. It would take pictures of Mars’ surface. It would the atmosphere.
The would go down to the surface. It would carry to dig up and study soil and .
It also would report about any evidence of life on the planet. The lander would send this to the orbiter and then back to the earth.
A．separated B．appeared C．worked D．started
A．correctly B．slowly C．quickly D．directly
A．air B．universe C．space D．atmosphere
A．fired B．fell C．opened D．floated
A．heavily B．softly C．suddenly D．immediately
A．A computer B．A rocket C．A pilot D．An astronaut
A．spread B．traveled C．shot D．moved
A．far B．long C．distant D．away
A．shouted B．watched C．cheered D．welcomed
A．make B．take C．show D．search
A．red B．brown C．gray D．black
A．careful B．close C．real D．clear
A．men B．life C．trees D．air
A．parts B．rockets C．engines D．centers
A．through B．towards C．over D．around
A．enter B．examine C．collect D．discover
A．orbiter B．lander C．spaceship D．rocket
A．engineers B．astronauts C．parachutes D．instruments
A．surface B．trees C．rocks D．pictures
A．spaceship B．rocket C．lander D．information
I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a person.
I think my started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really . It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So I tried a(n) . I started asking people around me what they were doing, and if they were having trouble I to help. That was really a big for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of are still my best friends today.
A bigger cause of my new , however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer’s disease became my . Every time I came into her room, she was so because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never her, so I took her place. She let me that making others feel good makes me feel good, too. When she died, I was , but I was very grateful to her.
I think I am a much person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not these experiences. They have me to care about other people more than about myself. I who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.
A．since B．before C．or D．unless
A．famous B．simple C．different D．skilled
A．education B．career C．tour D．change
A．balance B．homework C．degree D．interest
A．talked B．wrote C．lied D．reported
A．careful B．lonely C．curious D．guilty
A．argument B．game C．experiment D．defence
A．dared B．offered C．hesitated D．happened
A．dream B．problem C．duty D．step
A．us B．which C．them D．whom
A．attitude B．hobby C．hope D．luck
A．friend B．partner C．guide D．guest
A．polite B．happy C．strange D．confident
A．bothered B．answered C．visited D．trusted
A．explain B．guess C．declare D．see
A．homeless B．heartbroken C．bad-tempered D．hopeless
A．quieter B．busier C．better D．richer
A．forget B．face C．improve D．analyze
A．forced B．preferred C．ordered D．taught
A．miss B．like C．wonder D．expect
When I was in my second year of senior high school, a girl called Jeanie in my class made a big name for herself. She had successfully the interviews for a famous women’s university in the USA.
On hearing the news, I told the girl that I her very much. Then, she at me and said the words I will never . “You can also do it! If you have , you realize them. You see, action, dreams are still dreams. If you , the dreams will come true. ”Her words gave me so much . She encouraged me to take action to achieve my dreams. From then on, I spent a lot of time an article for competitions. It was a really for me, not only for my writing but also a of my courage.
After several days’ hard work, I finished it. Even though I lacked , I still handed it in. I knew it was the only that may make my dreams come true. But day in and day out, I waiting and waiting, yet I heard nothing. I was very then.
One day, however, a classmate of mine to an English newspaper and said , “Mary, your is in the newspaper! Is that your article? ”My heart beat heavily. With shock and joy, I the newspaper. The thing I thought was had really happened.
A．begun B．given C．attended D．passed
A．loved B．admired C．congratulated D．thanked
A．smiled B．aimed C．laughed D．shouted
A．doubt B．understand C．forget D．accept
A．designs B．demands C．actions D．dreams
A．into B．by C．without D．with
A．try B．like C．work D．live
A．pain B．inspiration C．surprise D．advice
A．seeking B．reciting C．reading D．preparing
A．shock B．turn C．challenge D．success
A．test B．risk C．part D．reward
A．self-respect B．self-confidence C．enthusiasm D．dream
A．way B．suggestion C．question D．purpose
A．hated B．kept C．meant D．remembered
A．worried B．surprised C．disappointed D．ashamed
A．wrote B．explained C．returned D．pointed
A．proudly B．hopelessly C．excitedly D．angrily
A．name B．writing C．report D．diary
A．picked out B．picked up C．made out D．made up
A．incorrect B．impossible C．interesting D．special
It was the district sports meet. My foot still hadn’t healed(痊愈)from a(n) injury. I had whether or not I should attend the meet. But there I was, for the 3, 000-meter run.
“Ready. . . set. . . ”The gun popped and we were off. The other girls rushed me. I felt as I fell farther and farther behind.
“Hooray! ”shouted the crowd. It was the loudest I had ever heard at a meet. The first-place runner was two laps(圈)ahead of me when she crossed the finish line. “Maybe I should , ”I thought as I moved on. , I decided to keep going. During the last two laps, I ran and decided not to in track next year. It wouldn’t be it, even if my foot did heal.
When I finished, I heard a cheer— than the one I’d heard earlier. I turned around and enough, the boys were preparing for their race. “They must be cheering for the boys. ”I was leaving several girls came up to me. “Wow, you’ve got courage! ”one of them told me.
“Courage? I just a race! ”I thought. “I would have given up on the first lap, ”said another girl. “We were cheering for you. Did you hear us? ”
Suddenly I regained . I decided to track next year. I realized strength and courage aren’t always in medals and victories, but in the we overcome(战胜). The strongest people are not always the people who win, the people who don’t give up when they lose.
A．slighter B．worse C．earlier D．heavier
A．expected B．supposed C．imagined D．doubted
A．late B．eager C．ready D．thirsty
A．from behind B．ahead of C．next to D．close to
A．ashamed B．astonished C．excited D．frightened
A．cheer B．shout C．cry D．noise
A．slow down B．drop out C．go on D．speed up
A．Therefore B．Otherwise C．Besides D．However
A．with delight B．with fear C．in pain D．in advance
A．play B．arrive C．race D．attend
A．worth B．good C．valuable D．close
A．weaker B．longer C．lower D．louder
A．well B．sure C．surprisingly D．strangely
A．while B．when C．as D．since
A．finished B．won C．passed D．lost
A．cheer B．hope C．interest D．experience
A．hold on B．turn to C．begin with D．stick with
A．measured B．praised C．tested D．increased
A．sadness B．struggles C．diseases D．tiredness
A．or B．nor C．and D．but
This was not because the woods and fields were always far away, but because they were too far from the city to permit people to make a day trip between morning and nightfall.
He decided to turn his little school house into a dormitory for the summer holidays. Anyone who brought his sleeping bag and cooking equipment along could stay there for a very small quantity of money. The idea was a success. A few years later, the school house was much too small to hold the many young people who wanted to stay there. This was the first hostel(青年招待所).
Today, young students and workers of every country can meet in the hostel and get to know each other. When young people arrive at the hostel, they have only to show their cards of membership in a hostel organization in their own country.
Often, at the evening meal, a group of boys and girls from various parts of the country or world will happen to meet at the same hostel. They may put their food together and prepare a dinner with many kinds of dishes. Sometimes a program will be organized after the meal with dances, songs, or short talks followed by a question period. For this reason, a few weeks spent ‘hostelling’ can be just as useful a part of one’s education as classes in school.
A．In 1970, a young German school master had an idea which changed this situation. B．People could stay in the hostel if they brought enough equipment with them. C．One can learn a lot about other places, just by meeting people from those places. D．As a result, a dormitory was set up in an old castle nearby.