My family suffered a lot three years ago when my father died in a car accident. It my mother, two younger brothers and me alone.
At that time, I was in a senior high school. As the eldest son, I had no choice but to of school and work in a factory. Life went on without any wonder. I dared not ask for more and just thought about my two brothers. However, it wasn’t easy, for I couldn’t their tuition (学费) even if I worked from day to nigh t without rest. I also had to look after my sick mother. I wanted to go back to school, but it seemed to be an impractical idea, since I needed to work to support my family.
A thread of appeared during those gloomy (阴暗的)days. It was a rainy dusk when I went outside into the rain and walked in the street. Suddenly the rain stopped! I raised my head, and found that “the sky” was in fact a dark blue umbrella. Then I heard a deep voice say, “Why not without an umbrella?” It was a one-legged man, “If you run, you won’t get so wet.” His words me deeply. Without my father’s protection, was I only a slave to fate﹙命运﹚?
While walking with him in the rain, I knew that his dream was once by an accident. He was glad that he didn’t lose and still “ran” on the road of life. Facing this guy, I had no pity, but admiration.
Inspired by his , I went to a city in the south and became an insurance representative. After two years’ “running”, I got somewhere and my family situation became better . I went back to school and eventually succeeded in being admitted to a university.
Everything is so simple: to run without an umbrella! When you run out of the season of your life, there will be a bright sky ahead of you.
A．left B．carried C．had D．forced
A．take out B．drop out C．make out D．jump out
A．bringing in B．taking away C．bringing up D．taking over
A．receive B．realize C．manage D．afford
A．chance B．need C．hope D．money
A．drive B．walk C．travel D．run
A．shocked B．puzzled C．discouraged D．hurt
A．burnt B．accepted C．ruined D．discovered
A．face B．heart C．sight D．control
A．images B．achievements C．signs D．remarks
A．simply B．gradually C．normally D．immediately
A．rainy B．cloudy C．sunny D．windy
It was the first time in Cindy’s 12 years that she had tried to make a cake, but it wasn’t exactly a success. The cake was well lumpy (结成块的). And it tasted ____, as if she ____ the sugar. Besides, the ____ was in a mess with all the fixings for cake out of place.
But Cindy wasn’t thinking about the mess. She was anxious for her parents to ____ home, so she could ____ her gift to them. She turned off the lights and waited ____ in the darkness. When at last she saw the ____ of the car’s headlights, she ____ herself in the kitchen doorway. When she heard the ____ sliding into the front door, she was close to exploding.
Her parents entered quietly, but Cindy would have ____ of that. She turned on the lights dramatically and gestured towards the kitchen ____, where a slightly off-balance cake awaited ____ praise. But her mother saw nothing but the ____. She shouted, “How many times have I talked to you about cleaning up after yourself?”
“But, Mom. I was only…”
“Clean this up immediately.”
____, Cindy’s mother isn’t the only parent who ____ the occasional inability to see the wood for the trees. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be ____ to things of long-term significance by the thing that seems ____ now — but isn’t. ____ kitchen sanitation (卫生设备) is important, is it ____ the sacrifice (祭品) of tender feelings and relationships? As patents, there are times when we ____ need to see the mess in the kitchen, and times when we only need to see the cake.
A．delicious B．sweet C．fresh D．bad
A．had run out B．had been given out C．had been worn out D．had used up
A．kitchen B．bedroom C．garden D．lab
A．leave B．visit C．return D．miss
A．send B．present C．share D．prepare
A．patiently B．excitedly C．nervously D．politely
A．shadow B．flame C．flash D．body
A．positioned B．managed C．adapted D．dropped
A．window B．car C．chair D．key
A．much B．part C．none D．something
A．floor B．table C．knife D．wall
A．their B．her C．his D．Cindy’s
A．chance B．result C．cake D．mess
A．Hopefully B．Luckily C．Happily D．Unfortunately
A．gives up B．suffers from C．shows off D．takes in
A．blinded B．addicted C．opposed D．devoted
A．necessary B．important C．ordinary D．clean
A．As B．If C．Although D．Since
A．across B．like C．towards D．worth
A．sadly B．only C．really D．hardly
One effective way of destroying happiness is to look at something and focus on even the smallest fault. It’s like looking at the tiled (铺瓦的) ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is .
Once I heard a bald man said, “Whenever I enter a room, all I see is hair.” Once you’ve what your missing tile is, explore whether acquiring it will make you happy. Then do one of the three things: get it, replace it with a different , or forget about it and the tiles in your life that are not missing.
We all know people who have had a relatively life, yet are essentially unhappy, while people who have suffered a great deal generally remain happy.
The first is gratitude. All happy people are grateful. Ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to , but it’s truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy.
The second secret is awareness. We should that happiness is a byproduct (副产品) of something else. The most obvious are those pursuits ( 追求) that give our lives purpose---anything from studying insects to playing baseball. The more passions we have, the more happiness we are to experience.
Finally, the belief that something permanent goes beyond us and that our has some larger meaning can help us to feel happier. We need a spiritual faith, or a philosophy of life. Whatever your philosophy is, it should this truth: if you choose to find the in every situation, you will be blessed, and if you choose to find the awful, you will be cursed. As for happiness itself, this depends on your decision to make.
A．different B．short C．missing D．broken
A．imagined B．predicted C．assumed D．determined
A．really B．naturally C．hopefully D．completely
A．ceiling B．brick C．tile D．house
A．go on B．focus on C．put on D．rely on
A．easy B．difficult C．ordinary D．peaceful
A．factor B．secret C．rule D．key
A．upset B．quarrel C．depress D．complain
A．realize B．decide C．prove D．suppose
A．answers B．results C．sources D．goals
A．curious B．satisfied C．tentative D．likely
A．value B．existence C．survival D．destination
A．include B．tell C．absorb D．mean
A．worst B．positive C．disgusting D．negative
A．absolutely B．totally C．largely D．exactly
There is one word that is on the lips of Americans , day and night -"Sorry."
Once as I was walling on the street, a young man ran by ,brushing against my handbag. Even as he continued on his .way, he back and said "sorry" to me. Even in a rush, he didn't forget to apologize.
One day, after I bought some apples, the salesman was giving me the change, but I wasn't ready for it And a dropped on the ground. "I'm sorry," he said while bending down to pick it up. I was -why would he apologize when it was my .
Another time ,I stepped a man's foot in a lift At the same time, we both said "sorry"．I thought it interesting at first - was it really for him to apologize?
Later on, an American friend o me that according to the American ideas, the lift is a place everyone should be able to stand in. After someone occupies a position in the lift, making it for someone else to find a place to stand in ,isn't it necessary to an apologize?
During my stay in America ,I gradually that when friction（摩擦）happen in daily life, Americans don't care much about who is responsible. Someone is troubled, a "sorry" is always necessary. The "sorry” would cool tempers the other person is hurt. Perhaps this is why I saw anyone quarreling on the buses, subways or street in America.
A．excitedly B．hurriedly C．happily D．hopefully
A．drove B．held C．watched D．turned
A．coin B．handbag C．wallet D．bill.
A．impressed B．moved C．annoyed D．puzzled
A．duty B．attitude C．fault D．business
A．over B．on C．in D．at
A．necessary B．important C．surprising D．polite
A．lied B．explained C．pointed D．admitted
A．crowded B．common C．public D．free
A．unfit B．impossible C．narrow D．difficult
A．express B．receive C．expect D．tell
A．realized B．remembered C．agreed D．meant
A．Although B．What C．Unless D．If
A．as if B．even if C．as soon as D．before
A．always B．often C．never D．sometimes
【改编】Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to join my father, who’d moved there to find better-paying work when I was three years old. He had a at a restaurant and only visited us once every couple of years.
Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But , I didn’t stop to analyze the situation when I was to leave . Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn in a few weeks.
When I in the US and started 8th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was a(n) foreign language I couldn’t understand. I that life had subtitles（字幕）, like in foreign movies.
was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always watching my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the thing was having to read newspaper.
But after almost seven months of about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things. It just made my life worse. If I was going to in this new concrete jungle, I had to adapt. I began to learn English by reading newspaperson my own after . After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers notice my and moved me into a more modern English class. I could go to the storeand ask for things that I wanted to buy any frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again because I didn’t hear talk. I could understand people.
A．work B．friend C．job D．cook.
A．luckily B．eventually C．gradually D． honestly
A．attempting B．packing C．managing D．trying
A．English B．German C．French D．Chinese
A．got B．reached C． arrived D．entered
A．talking B．speaking C．telling D．saying
A．wished B．hoped C．expected D．wanted
A．Restaurant B．Home C．Hospital D．School
A．happiest B．strange C．worst D．most
A．complaining B．quarreling C．fighting D．discussing
A．live B．study C．survive D．continue
A．school B．work C．graduation D．meals
A．mistakes B．accent C．embarrassment D．progress
A．for B．without C．with D．in
A．foreign B．similar C．familiar D．native
Another secret of animals’ survival is telepathy（心灵感应）. This sense becomes atrophied（衰退） in man, but a(n) thought-communication functions in animals. Elsa, the lioness, frequently when George and I intended to visit her camp, even though it 180 miles from our home in Isiolo. On most when we made our irregular visit she was waiting for us. By following the spoor（野兽的足迹），we that she had sometimes walked 50 or 60 miles to meet us.
The same thing when I took Elsa’s sisters to Nairobi to be flown to the Rotterdam zoo, Elsa’s zoo. Elsa stayed behind with George in Isiolo 180 miles . He did not know when I was coming back, no person knew. But Elsa knew. On the morning of my she sat down at the entrance and wouldn’t make any until I arrived in the evening.
I have known this kind of thought-communication with the animal with whom I’ve lived. When Elsa died, I woke in the night, knowing what had happened, even though I was several miles away. The same thing later with one of Pippa’s cubs.
I don’t this sensitivity with my own kind. Feel far more in tune with what is going on when I am in the bush than when I am in London on Nairobi. We don’t know much yet about this telepathy from which gland（腺体） it comes, or how it . But if men could awaken or it in themselves, and then cooperate by trusting each other, fearing and treating one another , the world would be a far better place.
A．extremely B．completely C．thoroughly D．definitely
A．sensed B．aware C．feels D．concerns
A．lay B．lies C．located D．stood
A．case B．conditions C．occasions D．situations
A．discussed B．dismissed C．discovered D．distrusted
A．happened B．broken out C．replaced D．took over
A．far B．farther C．away D．far from
A．turn B．return C．reality D．reappear
A．emotions B．feelings C．exchanges D．movement
A．burst forth B．burst C．appeared D．occurred
A．command B．confirm C．possess D．prohibit
A．starts B．comprehends C．manufactures D．works
A．create B．plant C．cultivate D．produce
A．rather than B．other than C．would rather D．or rather
A．suspiciously B．suspecting C．prosperously D．doubtfully