Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city. The next building was only a few feet away from mine. There was a woman living there, and I had never met her, yet I could see she sat by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.
After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty. Everything was unclear through the dirty window. I would say to myself. “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”
One bright morning I decided to clean my flat, including washing the window on the inside.
Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible (看见). Her window was clean!
Then it dawned on me. I had been criticizing (批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.
That was quite an important lesson for me. How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings?
Since then, whenever I wanted to judge (评判) someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?” I try to clean the window of my own world so that I may see the world about me more clearly.The writer couldn’t see everything clearly through the window because _______.
| A．the writer’s window was dirty |
| B．the woman’s window was dirty |
| C．the woman lived nearby |
| D．the writer was near-sighted |
“It dawned on me” in paragraph5 probably means “_______”.
| A．it began to get dark |
| B．it cheered me up |
| C．I began to understand it |
| D．I knew it grew light |
It’s clear that ________.
| A．they lived in a small town |
| B．the writer often washed the window |
| C．they both worked as cleaners |
| D．the writer had never met the woman before |
From the passage, we can learn _______.
| A．one shouldn’t criticize others very often |
| B．one should often make his windows clean |
| C．one must judge himself before he judges others |
| D．one must look at others through his dirty windows |
My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.
My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.
From the passage, we know that the author is probably ______ .
| A．a poet | B．an educator | C．a novelist | D．an engineer |
We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that we students still _____ .
| A．have enough time | B．can meet the president |
| C．get everything done well | D．should accept the explanation |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework. |
| B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job. |
| C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time. |
| D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student |
Every pet owner loves his pet .There is no argument here.
But when we asked our readers whether they would clone their beloved animals , the responses were split(分裂) almost down the middle . Of the 228 readers who answered it ,108 would clone, 111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion .
Clearly, from readers’ response, this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and eventual (最终的)sadness of owning a pet. It speaks, as well, to people’s widely differing expectations over the developing scientific procedure (步骤)
Most of the readers who favored the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original; many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side, however, held little hope that clone could truly recreate a pet; many simply did not wish to go against the natural law of life and death.
Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More of them owned “the best dog/cat in the world”. They thought of their pets as their “best friend” or “a member of the family”. They told moving stories of pets’ heroism, intelligence and selfless devotion.
No wonder the loss is so disturbing---and the cloning so attractive. “People become very close to their animals, and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies,” says Gary Kowalski, author of goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. “For me, cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away…It’s understandable. Death is always painful. It’s difficult to deal with. It’s hard to accept.”
But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seems to be at the heart of this problem.
As far as the cloning of pets is concerned, a recent survey shows that, of all pet owners, .
| A．a lot more of them are for it | B．a lot more of them are against it |
| C．very few of them are willing to tell their opinions ． |
D．about half of them are for it and the other half against it |
The expression “eventual sadness of owning a pet.” (in paragraph 3) refers to .
| A．the death of one’s pet |
| B．the final ownership of a pet |
| C．the troubles one has to deal with in keeping a pet |
| D．the dangers involved in the cloning of a pet |
In spite of their differences on the problem of cloning, it seems that.
| A．all pet owners love their pets very much |
| B．all pet owners try to go against the natural law of life and death |
| C．people who support cloning love their pets more |
| D．people who dislike cloning love their pets more |
From what Gary Kowalski says, we can know that he.
| A．has never thought about the problem of cloning |
| B．thinks it hard to accept the idea of cloning pets |
| C．is in favor of the idea of cloning pets |
| D．is all against the cloning of pets |
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
The best title of the passage may be _______.
| A．Long Loving Hugs | B．My Future |
| C．Don’t Hope. Decide | D．Love Is Everywhere |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face. |
| B．After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much. |
| C．It was fourteen years since the couple had got married. |
| D．Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds. |
By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that ____.
| A．he failed to express his ideas to the man |
| B．the man sensed his real feelings from his expression |
| C．he didn’t believe in his expression any more |
| D．his expression was not faithful to him |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
| A．the experience may be easily forgotten by the author |
| B．the author will live a passionate life from now on |
| C．the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return |
| D．Americans prefer to save the best for last |
One in five American families will move every year. Moving is one of the most stress-producing events a family has to go through. Experts say it can be harder for children. How do you help your child adjust to the changes?
The Ricardos moved from their old house to a new home. Same family, same dog-but it was harder for 9-year-old Elena. She hated the room, the house and everything. She hated leaving her friends the most.
“ I was so emotional. I mean, saying goodbye to all my friends…..my very close friends, who was my neighbor, made me so sad,” says Elena.
For some children, the emotional stress of moving is not much more different from the emotions when someone has died.
“There’s that sense that, ‘I’ve lost my friends, my friends, my base, my school, my teachers-everything I knew that made me feel safe is all gone now. I have to start over,” says Dr. Tim Jordan.
Starting over is exactly Dr. Tim Jordan’s advice. Make new friends, enter the new school and enter the new neighborhood. And here are some other pieces of advice.
●Explain clearly to the children why the move is necessary.
●Familiarize(使熟悉) the children as much as possible with the new area with maps, photographs or the daily newspaper.
●After the move, got the children to join in activities in the place.
●Help the children keep in touch with friends from the neighborhood before through telephone, letters, e-mail, and personal visits.
Which of the following is useful to reduce the children’s stress before the move?
| A．Let doctors give children some advice. |
| B．Try letting children accept the fact of moving. |
| C．Let children keep in touch with their former friends. |
| D．Copy the new environment in the old home. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Most American children can get used to the changes in moving. |
| B．Dr. Tim Jordan lost his family, friends, teachers after moving. |
| C．The emotional stress of moving is the same in some way as that of knowing someone’s death. |
| D．the Ricardos lost their dogs after moving to their new house. |
The passage mainly wants to _____
| A．tell parents the reasons of moving. | B．explain the reasons of stress. |
| C．give parents some advice on moving. | D．teach parents how to move. |
Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh．The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21st．Hundreds more are missing or feared to be dead．
The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country．The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April-May stormy season. One of the ferries，MV Mitali，was carrying far more people than it was supposed to．About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300，police said．The second ferry carried about 100 passengers．
“The number of deaths is certain to rise．”said an official in charge of the rescue work．“No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived.” Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists，making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board．Besides the ferry accidents，at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes．falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats．Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh，as are boating accidents．Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people．Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions． Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh．It is a country covered by about 230 rivers．Some 20,000 ferries use the nation’s Waterways every year．And many of them are dangerously overcrowded．Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents． The two ferry disasters occurred_______.
| A．at noon | B．in the morning | C．at night． | D．In the afternoon． |
_______ passengers was MV Mitali designed to carry?
| A．500 | B．100 | C．400 | D．300 |
Officials attribute boating accident to _______
| A．strong winds． | B．bad weather conditions． |
| C．the blockages of waterways． | D．the lack of safety measures． |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the two ferry disasters?
| A．They happened during a storm． | B．They sank on April 21． |
| C．The exact number of deaths could be easily determined． | |
| D．They sank somewhere near Dhaka． |