【改编】In the fall of 1985, I was a bright eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty one years later I am still a bright eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65.She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic—and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No.3.In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8！Our home was a complete zoo—a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college fulltime. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!
I am not special, just single minded. It always struck me that when you're looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you're in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't arrive in your life on one day. It's a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.How did the writer develop the passage?
| A．By giving examples. | B．By comparison. |
| C．By giving explanations. | D．By time order. |
How did the author feel when she had to leave home to study?
| A． Relieved. | B．Happy. |
| C．Guilty. | D．Disappointed. |
What is the meaning of the underlined word” withdraw”?
| A．Continue. | B．Drop. |
| C．Graduate. | D．Learn. |
Which word can be used to described the author?
| A．Considerate and strong-willed. |
| B．Generous and learned. |
| C．Clever and sensitive. |
| D．Honest and brave. |
What can we learn from this story?
| A．Well begun is half done. |
| B．God helps those who help themselves. |
| C．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
| D．Pride hurts, modesty benefits. |
We supply the bike, panniers, all the support gear, easy to follow maps, cycle routes and either the accommodation or several accommodation suggestions depending on the tour.
All you need to do is bring your cycle gear. Book your accommodation off the detailed list if required, and you are all set for a cheap, environmentally friendly holiday in New Zealand.
We do all the hard work of sorting routes and where to stay — you just relax and enjoy the riding! Too easy.
There are more tours to come so if you don’t see a tour that suits your needs let us know!
| Tour |
Grade |
Cost from |
Options |
|
| 2 Day Self Guided Road Tour Banks Peninsula |
2 |
$182 |
 |
View Map |
| 2 days of self guided cycling on Banks Peninsula roads. Includes bike hire, trip notes, panniers and lots great riding around lyttelton Harbour. |
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| 3 Day Self Guided Road Tour Canterbury and the Southern Alps |
2 |
$215 |
|
View Map |
| An easy three day introduction to cycle touring to the inexperienced cyclist. From the high alpine passes of Arthur Pass cross the fertile Canterbury plains to the endless sandy east coast beaches. |
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| 5 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
4 |
$480 |
|
View Map |
| The wonderful and wild West Coast in a flash! For the fit and keen cyclist |
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| 6 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
2 |
$365 |
|
View Map |
| A tour that gets you from Christchurch to Queenstown a different way with far less hills! Cycling through the center of the South Island where great feast of fresh Salmon and breath taking views of Mt Cook await. |
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| 8 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
3 |
$390 |
|
View Map |
| From Christchurch to Queenstown in eight days down the West coast. The Transalpine does the hard work for you across Arthurs Pass and drops you in Greymouth for the start of your tour. |
If you learned how to ride bike only a week ago, you should choose _______.
| A．2 Day Self Guided Road Tour | B．3 Day Self Guided Road Tour |
| C．5 Day Self Guided Road Tour | D．8 Day Self Guided Road Tour |
Where can we mostly see the passage?
| A．Newspaper | B．TV | C．Internet | D．Magazine |
What do you have to do when you want to enjoy your cycle tour?
| A．Bring your cycle gear. |
| B．Bring your support gear and book your accommodation. |
| C．Book your accommodation. |
| D．Bring your bike gear and do some hard work. |
For years experts have argued that poor households are consuming less nourishing food than the rest of the population.
But a survey of some of the lowest earners in Britain shows the nutritional value of what they eat is little different to everyone else.
In fact, the same deficiencies in diet were shared by all the population and the findings suggest that poor eating choices are far more widespread than previously suspected - affecting many wealthier families.
These included low fruit and vegetable consumption, not eating enough oily fish and eating too much saturated fat and sugar.
“This is a large and significant study and it shows we are all eating just as bad a diet as each other,” said Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University.
The poorest families were eating only slightly more sugar and slightly less fruit and vegetables, according to the study of 3,728 respondents in the bottom of the population.
Alison Tedstone, head of nutritional science at the Food Standard Agency, said: “ Overall, people on low incomes have less than ideal diets, but their diets are only slightly worse than those of the rest of the population.”
The study also showed that low earners are choosing to eat unhealthily. Their food choices were not linked to their income, their access to shops or their cooking skills.
The findings appear to contradict assumptions that the poor cannot afford healthier foods or are too far away from shops that sell them.
The Low Income Nutrition and Diet Survey showed that like the rest of the population, the poor's daily fruit and vegetable intake on average is below the recommended five portions. Fewer than 10 per cent of respondents hit this target, while around 20 per cent ate less than a portion per day.
More than three quarters (76 per cent) of men and 81 per cent of women did less than one 30-minute session of moderate or vigorous exercise per week.
Some 45 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women were smokers.
This compares with 28 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women in the general population. According to the passage, which of the following is true?
| A．Whether the poor or the rich maybe have a bad diet. |
| B．Even the poor can enjoy enough fruit and fish consumption. |
| C．Only the poor have a bad diet. |
| D．The study was conveyed in both the rich and the poor. |
What kind of persons maybe eat most sugar?
| A．The rich. | B．Men. | C．The poorest. | D．Women |
From the passage, we can learn __________.
| A．the poor choose unhealthy food because of low income |
| B．having no access to shops also leads to the poor’s bad diet |
| C．the poor’s daily fruit intake is as much as general people |
| D．the number of smokers in the poor is bigger than that in general people |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．The poor’s healthy problem. | B．Keep off junk food. |
| C．How to have a good diet. | D．A diet survey. |
Malnutrition (营养失调)remains a serious problem for India. But a new study shows that India’s leading causes of death now also include diseases related to obesity （肥胖）such as heart disease.
India’s National Family Health Survey shows that more than twenty percent of Indians living in cities are overweight or obese. And in the northwestern state of Punjab, that is true for almost forty percent of women.
Aradhna Tripathi is a business professional in New Delhi. She said, “ Eating is the most important thing in any Indian household and how you show your love and gratitude(感激) for a person is through the kind of food you serve him. And the kind of lifestyle we are leading is one of the reasons why we have the number of obese people increasing every day.
But Aradhna Tripathi says she has decided to lose weight. Her mother and grandmother are also diabetic(患糖尿病的). In fact, the International Diabetes Federation says India is now the diabetes capital of the world. Researchers say Indians store more body fat per kilogram than Europeans. That means obese Indians are even more at the risk of diabetes than other people.
Doctor Anoop Misra at Fortis Hospital in New Delhi says the risk of diabetes is crossing social and economic lines. Five years ago, he says, obesity and diabetes were limited to India’s richest people, but now things have changed.
But Doctor Misra is hopeful that the spread (蔓延，传播)of obesity can be slowed. And he says it must start in schools by giving all Indian children the same instruction on physical activity and diet.
The World Health Organization says China is also moving up in obesity rates. The estimate (估计) has reached about five percent countryside and as high as twenty percent in some cities.What is this passage mainly about?
| A．Obesity has become a big killer in India. |
| B．Heart disease is troubling people in India. |
| C．People in India live a very unhealthy life. |
| D．Malnutrition remains a serious problem in India. |
According to Aradhna Tripathi , one of the causes of the obesity problems is_________.
| A．.the development of economy |
| B．the change of Indians’ lifestyle |
| C．Indians’ attitude （态度）towards eating |
| D．Indians’ attitude towards obesity. |
What can we infer from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5?
| A．Most wealthy people in India are overweight. |
| B．Five years ago, few people in India were overweight |
| C．Few poor people are diabetic for economic reasons. |
| D．Now even the poor in India suffer from obesity. |
Psychology（心理学）tells us that many people hate to take risks. But it is good for us to take risks, especially (尤其)when the risk is to achieve a desired result. In that way, we become stronger and braver.
Our human nature should be to take risks, but some people just sit and wish they didn’t have the fear（恐惧）to move on. This is because of one or two failures in their lives. Please step out and don’t let the past hold you back from living life to the fullest. Move forward and move on!
In studying the psychology of taking risks, we find that human nature provides(提供) us with the desire (渴望)to experiment and take chances.
Risk taking is a great benefit（好处）that allowed our ancestors(祖先) to become stronger and stronger day by day. By taking risks they fought off enemies and discovered new territories（领土）. This attitude has become a part of our modern culture. Riding a roller coaster is a common risk taking activity that even the average person seems to enjoy although they have the understanding that it is dangerous. This psychological and biological (生物学上的) connection （联系）creates an interesting connection between what is unsafe and what humans enjoy.
Getting in a car each day is a risk. Getting out of bed is a risk. There is such thing as perfect safety. We need to take risks so that we can complete (finish) many things. Astronauts take risks when they get inside a rocket; however, the things they achieve are great. Businessmen take a risk when they buy parts of a company. However, without doing that, they could not make more money.
We need to take risks so that we can gain something. It is impossible to move forward in life, earn money, enjoy a relationship, play a sport, or do anything else without taking a risk. It is all part of the game. It’s one of the most important parts of life.Some people don’t want to take risks, mainly （主要）because ___________.
| A．they are too lazy to move on |
| B．they feel pleased with the present life. |
| C．they have experienced some failures before |
| D．they show little interest in the strange world outside |
What does the underlined part “This attitude” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Taking risks |
| B．Fighting off enemies |
| C．Discovering new territories |
| D．Becoming stronger and stronger |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Daily life is full of risks |
| B．The safest place has the greatest risk |
| C．People should take risks when they are young |
| D．We can always achieve our goals by taking risks |
What would be the title for the passage?
| A．Taking risks is easier said than done |
| B．On risks taken by ancestors |
| C．Live our life to the fullest(充分地) |
| D．No risk, no gain. |
The whole morning we just checked our own things. We were looking for items to give away. We thought of blankets, food and clothing. Our aim was not to find things we no longer wanted, but things we use every day and would be useful to others.
We made up boxes with the things and added some small toys. Inside the boxes a simple letter was placed, reading:
“Please take these items and know that your life is important. Times are difficult but they will pass. We share what we have, believing it will matter. Use the blanket to stay warm. Be safe and know that the human spirit can overcome anything. Don’t hold your head down. Someday please do the same when you can. How you do it and when, your heart will tell you.
This kind act was not because the phone rang or for any reason. It was simply because it was the right time to do. We have often seen homeless people at the park where we left the belongings. The city would say that it isn’t a problem but I see the lives walking to and from it.
I noticed that my wife had put her favorite green coat into one of the boxes. I asked if she was sure about it and she simply replied that it had a hood (风帽). She liked the coat but knew the hood could shelter (遮挡)someone from the rain.
We don’t know where these gifts of compassion（同情）will go. We never go back and see what happens. It’s unimportant. The right things will find the right people and that is all that counts. On the way my wife started to cry. When I asked why, she said because some things felt so right.What can we learn from the first paragraph about the couple？
| A．They had deep feelings of their work |
| B．They often threw the useless daily items away |
| C．They liked helping others by sharing their things |
| D．They often gave away the daily items they didn’t use |
The couple placed the letter inside the box mainly to_______________.
| A．help the poor go through the difficulties |
| B．let the poor know who gave away the things |
| C．tell the poor how to use the items correctly |
| D．tell the poor to pass on the spirit to others |
The couple liked this kind act because _______.
| A．they thought it was the right thing to do |
| B．they had a good habit of saving things |
| C．they often received telephone calls for help |
| D．they hated being troubled by homeless people |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．Boxes filled with compassion |
| B．Good behavior leading to happiness |
| C．The most important thing in our life |
| D．Happiness coming from sharing things |