Some people view a bad situation as a disaster. It’s not. It’s an opportunity. Once your old world collapses(倒塌), you can recover and rebuild. Now you have the chance to start fresh and do things more intelligently. I built my business on an unstable structure. I kept it going for years, but the business collapsed last year. I had to leave my office, selling off all the furniture and equipment. I got kicked out of my apartment because I couldn’t pay the rent. I couldn’t pay my bills or debt. I declared bankruptcy.(破产)
For years there was the worry that this might happen if I didn’t keep straining（尽力） to keep the business going. And my worries were right. What I worried about would happen did happen .But you know what? Going through that experience wasn’t really so bad. It was interesting. Some of it was actually pretty easy. Throughout most of it, I felt increasing relief and a renewed sense of freedom and possibility. All the old baggage was gone. No more office. Fewer possessions. Fewer obligations. No more debt. Most of all , no more straining. Life became a lot easier.
I got a cheaper and smaller apartment. I became debt-free. I learned to live within my means. Those were actually good things. The others were just feelings. The reality wasn’t actually painful. After that, I kept going with the same business but completely changed the business model. I avoided the earlier mistakes, and that business recovered just fine and worked great. It was profitable every year from then on. But I had to go through the collapse first to reach that point.
If you’ve been feeling out of control with your current work or lifestyle, and you’re currently straining to keep it going ,consider letting it go. Try allowing the old world to collapse, many or all of your fears and worries might actually come to pass, but that’s ok. You don’t have to keep the old world alive. If it keeps falling apart on you ,let it collapse. Experiencing the collapse isn’t as bad as fearing the collapseThe author regards the collapse of the old world as an opportunity to_____
| A．get a new world started in better ways |
| B．turn to others for help to save ourselves |
| C．sum up the failure and make up for the mistakes |
| D．bury ourselves in the disasters and then recover ourselves |
In the author’s opinion, the old baggage in Paragraph 2 included______
| A．the freedom and possibility of refreshing himself |
| B．the experience he learned from his former failure |
| C．the old possessions and the invisible pressure |
| D．the business knowledge and skills he got from various media |
What did the author do after his business failed last year?
| A．He cleverly transformed his business model. |
| B．He started another completely different business. |
| C．He received further training about doing business at college |
| D．He borrowed some money from his friends and relatives to pay off his debts. |
According to the author, when our work or life is out of our control we can_____.
| A．prevent it from falling apart on us. |
| B．set it free or just let it completely break down |
| C．keep straining and go on with determination |
| D．keep it alive with the courage to change it again |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）K_S_5_U
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项。
When I was a boy every holiday that I had seemed perfect. My parents took me by train or by car to a hotel by the sea. All day, I seem to remember, I played on the sands with strange exciting children. We make sandcastles with huge yellow walls, and watched the incoming tide destroy them; we splashed each other in the water and shrieked with excitement. When the tide went out, we climbed over the slippery rocks and stared down at the fish and the seaweed in the rock-pools.
In those far-off days the sun seemed to shine constantly and the water was always warm. Sometimes we left the beach and walked in the country, exploring ruined houses and dark woods and climbing trees that overhung streams. There were always sweets in one’s pockets or convenient places where one could buy ice-creams. Each day seemed a life-time.
Although I am now an adult, my idea of a good holiday is much the same as it was. I still like the sun and the warm sand and the sound of waves breaking on the beach. I no longer wish to build sandcastles and I dislike sweets instantly, but I look forward to sitting down to a good meal and a bottle of wine in the evening.
I think, too, that I prefer spending my holiday abroad. I want to smell different smells; I want to see different kinds of trees, flowers and birds; and I also want to see people with different colored skins, wearing different kinds of clothes. Above all, I want to hear a different language spoken and listen to different musical rhythms from those I am used to.
But I still need my companions----not, of course, to play on the sands and eat ices with, but to drink with and talk to on warm moonlit nights.
Sometimes I wonder what my perfect holiday will be when I am old. All I shall want to do then, I expect, will be to lie in bed, reading books about children who make sandcastles with huge yellow walls, who watch the incoming tide, who make themselves sick on too many ices…
56. Where did the author mostly spend his holidays when he was young?
A. In the countryside. B. On the beach. C. In the mountains. D. On the sea.
57. What does the underlined word “shrieked” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. shouted B. swam C. struggled D. surfed
58. What now interests the author as an adult is ____.
A. to enjoy a nice dinner B. to spend his holiday sunbathing
C. to chat with someone D. to experience a foreign culture
59. When the author grows old, he expects that ____.
A. he will read more books about children
B. he will lie in bed without worrying about anything
C. he will bring back wonderful childhood memories from a book
D. he will make sandcastles with his children
Grand Opening
Bentwood Truck Museum
Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 A．M．
After eighteen months of hard work by more than 100 volunteers, the Bentwood Truck Museum is ready to open．The old factory had been scheduled to be destroyed．When Roger Haygood heard about the plans to tear down the building, he bought it so that he could store his collection of old trucks there．Then he had the idea of turning the building into a truck museum．
During the past year and a half, the old building has been transformed into a treasure chest of memories．Instead of a dark and dull house, the building has become a cheery, bright home for all kinds of trucks from the past．The museum now houses 68 trucks, and we hope to have even more soon．There is a 1959 school bus, a 1942 bakery truck, and a 1937 fire engine．Our oldest vehicle is a 1919 milk truck．Our newest vehicle is a 1966 tow truck．
You can take a ride on a fire truck, a mail truck, or an ice - cream truck．Rides are $ 2．00, but you can get a ticket for a free ride at any grocery store in Bentwood．
Help us celebrate our grand opening by bringing your family and friends! There is something to interest everyone who attends．The Bentwood Truck Museum is a special piece of our history．
● To get to Bentwood Truck Museum, take Route 29 (Kingston Highway) to Palmer Street．
● Go south on Palmer Street for one block and take a left onto Norman Drive．
● You will see the museum building and the amusement park on your left．
● Parking is available across the street, on your right．
72．In which of the following can visitors take a ride?
A．A milk truck．B．An ice - cream truck．
C．A bakery truck． D．A school bus．
73．Where is Bentwood Truck Museum?
A．On Norman Drive． B．On Palmer Street．
C．On Kingston Highway． D．On Route 29．
74．What is special about this museum?
A．It is built on the ruins of an old building.
B．It offers visitors free rides to the museum.
C．It exhibits trucks dating back to 200 years ago.
D．It’s transformed from an old factory by volunteers.
75．What’s the purpose of writing this passage?
A．To introduce the old history of Bentwood Truck Museum．
B．To persuade readers to attend the opening of the museum．
C．To explain why Bentwood Truck Museum was set up．
D．To call on the visitors to take a ride in old trucks．
The ocean bottom, a region nearly 2．5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth, is even today largely unexplored．Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible and hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep．Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a strangeenvironment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the outer space．
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks for over a century, the first detailed global study of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1969, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project(DSDP)．Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’ s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, taking samples of rock from the ocean floor．
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983．During this time, it sailed 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 samples of rocks aroun d the world．Those samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to make out what it will probably look like millions of years in the fu ture, Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’ s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics （构造学）and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes．
The samples of rocks drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also provided a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years．The information of past climatic change can be used to predict future climates．
68．What does the underlined word “inaccessible” in line 3 means?
A．unrecognizable B．unreachableC．unusable D．unreasonable
69．Why does the author mention “outer space” in the first paragraph?
A．The Earth’s climate millions of years ago was similar to that in outer space．
B．It is similar to the ocean floor in being strange to the humans．
C．Rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor
D．Techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in ocean exploration
70．Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger?
A．It is a type of submarine． B．It is an ongoing project．
C．It has gone on over 100 voyages． D．It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968．
71．Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being a result of the Deep sea Drilling Project?
A．Geologists were able to determine the Earth’s appearance millions of years ago．
B．Two geological theories became more widely accepted by scientists．
C．Geologists observed forms of life never before seen
D．Information was revealed about the Earth’s past climatic changes．
The repairman told me, “No charge Professor Pan! We’re friends．” “I’d rather pay,” I replied．“If it’s free, I can’t afford it!”
Chinese often refuse payment for professional services, insisting, "We’re friends now!" But then they show up later to ask me to tutor them in English, or get them into an American university, and I wish I’d have just paid the 30 yuan I owed them in the first place!
According to the Americans, "There’s no free lunch," meaning that there’s a price for everything, and I’m always looking around to figure out what this means．Many of our neighbours have given us fruit or flowers or costly teas, never asking anything in return．For years, a bicycle repairman has repeatedly refused to let me pay him．"Wait until you have something major to fix! "he insists．
I mentioned to a peasant friend that I wished I had a stone mill to grind(磨)flour for bread．A month later he showed up with a beautiful mill that he’d had his uncle in the countryside carve from a solid block of granite(花岗石)．
Chinese generosity(慷慨)is a real education for Americans like me, who would rather avoid social entanglements (纠纷) and just hand over the money．But cash can’t compensate(补偿)for the greatest gift--friendship．
When an American saw some of my friends sitting on bamboo stools under the trees, sipping(呷)tea, he said, "They must have nothing better to do．""Actually, "I said, "they are professors, with plenty to do．But probably you’re right in saying that, at this moment, they have nothing better to do．And neither do I!" And I joined the group．We chatted about tea and Chinese cooking and how much my boys have grown since we arrived．One man said, "They were pocket-sized when you came here．Now
they’re taller than you．How time flies!"
How life flies．And Chinese are smart enough to share what they know they cannot keep．They freely give of their time, never too busy to help a friend．And they are teaching me, slowly, to both give and receive．So the next time someone says, "No charge．We’re friends! " I will thank them heartily．But if they show up later asking me to tutor them in English, I’ll make sure they tutor my son in Chinese as well, because there’s still no free lunch．
64．The author insisted on paying repairman while he was offered free repairs because he .
A．was an honest man
B．didn’t know the repairman
C．thought it natural to pay for others’ service
D．didn’t want to help others in return
65．Generally, the author thinks that Chinese are _________．
A．generous and always ready to help their friends
B．good at exchange of equal values
C．free enough to drink tea and chat with their friends
D．helpful but don’t treasure time
66．The best title of the passage should be “ ”.
A．Learn to Both Give And Receive B．A Good Lesson from Chinese
C．True Help or Not D．Still No Free Lunch
67．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．The Chinese would rather not take the money to avoid problems in social communication.
B．When a peasant knew the author needed a mill, he made one for the author himself.
C．The author thinks that Chinese are wise enough to enjoy the limited life.
D．The author thinks little of Chinese way of life.
Lateral thinking（迂回思维），first described by Edward de Bono in 1967，is just a few years older than Edward’s son．You might imagine that Caspar was raised to be an adventurous thinker，but the de Bono was so famous，Casspar’s parents worried that any time he would say something bright at school，his teachers might ask，“Where do you get that idea from？”
“We had to be careful and not overdo it．”Edward admits．Now Caspar is at Oxford-which once looked unlikely because he is also slightly dyslexic（诵读困难）．In fact，when he was applying to Oxford，none of his school teachers thought he had a chance．“So then we did several thinking sessions,”his father says，“using my techniques and，when he went up for the exam，he did extremely well．”Soon after，Edward de Bone decided to write his latest book，“Teach Your Child How to Think”，in which he transforms the thinking skills he developed for brain-storming businessmen into informal exercises for parents and children to share．
Thinking is traditionally regarded as something executed in a logical sequence，and everybody knows that children aren’t very logical．So isn’t it an uphill battle，trying to teach them to think？“You know，”Edward de Bono says，“if you examine people’s thinking，it is quite unusual to find faults of logic．But the faults of perception are huge！Often we think ineffectively because we take too limited a view．”
“Teach Your Child How to Think”offers lessons in perception improvement，of clearly seeing the implications of something you are saying and of exploring the alternatives．
60．What is TRUE about Caspar？
A．He is Edward’s son． B．He is an adventurous thinker．
C．He first described lateral thinking． D．He is often scolded by his teacher．
61．It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that Edward .
A．was likely to improve children’s logic with his book
B．gave a description of lateral thinking several years after his son was born
C．was prompted to study lateral thinking because his son was slightly dyslexic
D．once taught businessmen how to think before he wrote for parents and chikdren
62．According to Paragraph 3，which of the following statements expresses Edward de Bone’s view？
A．Everybody knows that children aren’t very logical．
B．It is an uphill battle trying to teach children to think．
C．We often think ineffectively because we take too limited a view．
D．Thinking is traditionally regarded as something executed in a logical sequence．
63．Lateral thinking refers to the following EXCEPT．
A．improving one’s logic in thinking
B．improving one’s perception in thinking
C．seeing the implications of what you are saying
D．exploring the alternatives for what you are saying