So many of us hold on to little complaints that may have come from an argument, a misunderstanding, the way we were raised, or some other painful event. Stubbornly, we wait for someone else to reach out to us—believing this is the only way we can forgive or rekindle a friendship or family relationship.
A friend of mine, recently told me that she hadn’t spoken to her son in almost three years. She said that she and her son had had a disagreement about his wife and that she wouldn’t speak to him again unless he called first. When I suggested that she be the one to reach out, she said, “I can’t do that. He’s the one who should apologize.” After a little gentle encouragement, however, she did decide to be the first one to reach out. To her amazement, her son was grateful for her willingness to call and offered an apology of his own. As is usually the case when someone takes the chance and reaches out, everyone wins.
Whenever we hold on to our anger, we turn “small stuff（问题）” into really “big stuff” in our minds. We start to believe that our positions are more important than our happiness. They are not. If you want to be a more peaceful person you must understand that being right is almost never more important than allowing yourself to be happy. The way to be happy is to let go, and reach out. Let other people be right. This doesn’t mean that you’re wrong. Everything will be fine. You’ll experience the peace of letting go, as well as the joy of letting others be right.
You’ll also notice that, as you reach out and let others be “right,” they will become less defensive and more loving toward you. They might even reach back. But, if for some reason they don’t, that’s okay too. You’ll have the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your part to create a more loving world, and certainly you’ll be more peaceful yourself.The underlined word “rekindle” in Paragraph 1 probably means “______”.
| A．recover | B．develop | C．accept | D．replace |
In the author’s opinion, we hold on to our anger often because we think ______.
| A．we can turn small issues into big ones |
| B．our positions are higher than others |
| C．our own opinions matter most |
| D．others will be less defensive |
The best thing to do after a quarrel is to_________.
| A．let go of our own rights |
| B．realize that you are wrong |
| C．expect others to give in |
| D．apologize to others first |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Be Peaceful | B．Reach Out and Give |
| C．Small and Big Stuff | D．Enjoy Your Friendship |
The Great Wall of China, one of the greatest wonders of the world, was enlisted in the World Heritage by the UNESCO in 1987. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands and mountains, stretching about 6,700 kilometers from east to west of China. With a history of more than 2,000 years, some parts of the Great Wall are now in ruins or even entirely disappeared. However, it is still one of the most appealing attractions around the world.
No one can tell for sure when the building of the Great Wall was started, but it is popularly believed that it originated as a military fortification(要塞) against intrusion by tribes on the borders during the earlier Zhou Dynasty. Late in the Spring and Autumn Period, some states extended the defence work to prevent the attacks from other states.
It was not until the Qin Dynasty that the separate walls were connected to form a defensive system by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. After the emperor unified the country in 214 BC, he ordered the construction of the wall. It took about ten years to finish and the wall stretched from Gansu Province to Jilin Province. The wall not only served as a defence in the north but also symbolized the power of the emperor.
Further construction also experienced several dynasties. The present Great Wall in Beijing is mainly remains from the Ming Dynasty. Today, the Great Wall has become a must-see for every visitor to China. Few can help saying “Wow” when they stand on top of a beacon tower and look at this giant dragon. It has become a national pride of Chinese people. The underlined word “appealing” probably means “______”.
| A．huge | B．attractive | C．ordinary | D．moving |
In the Qin Dynasty, ______.
| A．the construction of the Great Wall was finished in 204 BC |
| B．the emperor wanted to invade other minor states |
| C．the defensive system of the Great Wall was separated |
| D．the Great Wall began its way from Jilin Province |
According to the passage, the Great Wall _______.
| A．is from the west to the east |
| B．is as long as 6,700 miles |
| C．was built in several dynasties |
| D．was begun in the Qin Dynasties |
The best title for the passage probably is _______.
| A．History of the Great Wall |
| B．Culture of the Great Wall |
| C．Construction of the Great Wall |
| D．Projection of the Great Wall |
Some time ago ,I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended ,as there are a whole lot of antique（古董）shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception（接待）. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't oven look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth - so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper,“ Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said,“ Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,”I said. “OK, ”he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds. ”“It ‘s got a slightly broken leg,”I said. “Yes, I saw that, it's nothing.”
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?”I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done. ”“I'll buy it,”I said. “What do you mean？ You’ve just sold it to me,”he said. “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I'm sorry, I'll give you twenty -seven pounds for it. ”“ Your must be crazy, ”he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair. ”“ You’re right, ”I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said,’Would you mend this chair for me I wouldn't have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a fiver?”He was a very nice man and was greatly amused（感到有趣）by the whole thing.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer ________.
| A．was rather impolite |
| B．was warmly received |
| C．asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair |
| D．asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair |
The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper ________.
| A．changed his mind | B．accepted the offer |
| C．saw the writer’s purpose | D．decided to help the writer |
How much did the writer pay?
| A．￡ 5. | B．￡ 7. | C．￡ 20. | D．￡ 27. |
From the text, we can learn that the writer was ________
| A．hanest | B．careful | C．smart | D．funny |
More surprising, perhaps, than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving（旺盛的）. As Skolnich notes, Americans are a marrying people: relative to Europeans, more of us marry and we marry at a younger age. Moreover, after a decline（衰退）in the early 1970s, the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing. Even the divorce（离婚）rate needs to be taken in this pro- marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry. Thus, marriage remains by far the preferred way of life for the vast majority of the people in our society.
What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family. Twenty- five years ago, the typical American family consisted of the husband, the wife, and two or three children. Now, there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children, and there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage, or the husband’s, or both. Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage; sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses （配偶）．
Thus, one can find every type of tamely arrangement. There are marriages without children; marriages with children from only the present marriages; marriages with “full - time” children from both the present and former marriages; marriages with“full- time”children from the present marriage and“ part- time”children from former marriages. There are stepfathers, stepmothers, half- brothers and half - sisters. It is not all that unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents! These are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family. But even so, even in the midst of all this, there remains one constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married.
By calling Americans a marrying people the writer means that ________.
| A．Americans are more traditional than Europeans |
| B．Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans |
| C．there are more married couples in the USA than in Europe |
| D．more of Americans, as compared with Europeans, prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age |
Divorced Americans ________ .
| A．prefer the way they live |
| B．will most likely remarry |
| C．have lost interest in marriage |
| D．are the majority of people in the society |
Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？
| A．Which types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable. |
| B．A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife. |
| C．Americans prefer to have more kids than before. |
| D．There are no nuclear families any more. |
Life on land probably began about 430 million years ago, though it has existed in the water for perhaps as much as 3,000 million years. When we think of the first thing on land, we probably think of strange animals coming out of the oceans, but in fact no animals could have been living if plants had not been on land first. Plants had to be on land before animals arrived. They supplied the first land animals with the surrounding and food necessity, since they, the plants, are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy.
The first plants to exist out of the water were probably certain kinds of algae（海藻）which were followed by other plants that grew close to the ground and needed water in which to reproduce. Once the move to land had been made, however, evolution（进化）took place quickly. By the end of 100 million years, plants had developed their roots（根）,and some had got tree -like forms since height was very important in gaining sunlight. About 300 million years ago, much of the world was covered with forests of huge trees. In most ways they were like modern trees. They had roots, leaves, wood, but mostly they had not developed seeds.The main idea of the first paragraph is ________.
| A．life on land probably began 430 years ago |
| B．the first animal on land came from oceans |
| C．there wouldn't be animals without plants |
| D．plants are the only form of life that is able to get and store energy |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Algae has existed for more than 430 million years. |
| B．It is impossible that algae might be the earliest plant on land. |
| C．Plants get food from animals in the oceans. |
| D．Evolution began after animals appeared on land. |
Plants with roots appeared about ________ million years ago.
| A．430 | B．300 | C．330 | D．100 |
According to the passage, ________ appeared earlier than ________.
| A．apples; oranges | B．oranges; apples |
| C．oranges; roses | D．algae; wheat |
Artificial(假的) flowers are used for scientific as well as for decorative purposes. They are made from a variety of materials, such as wax and glass, so skillfully that they can scarcely be distinguished from natural flowers. In making such models, painstaking and artistry are called for, as well as thorough knowledge of plant structure. The collection of glass flowers in the Botanical Museum of Harvard University is the most famous in North America and is widely known throughout the scientific world. In all, there are several thousand models in colored glass, the work of two artist-naturalists, Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolph.
The intention was to have the collection represent at least one member of each flower family native to the United States. Although it was never completed. It contains more than seven hundred species representing 164 families of flowering plants, a group of fruits showing the effect of fungus diseases, and thousands of flower parts and magnified details. Every detail of these is accurately reproduced in color and structure. The models are kept in locked cases as they are too valuable and fragile for classroom use.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Extensive Collection of Glass Flowers |
| B．The Lives of Leopold and Rudolph |
| C．Flowers Native to the United States |
| D．Material Used for Artificial Flowers |
It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of Leopold and Rudolph was to _______.
| A．create a botanical garden where only exotic flowers grew |
| B．do a thorough study of plant structure |
| C．make a copy of one member of each United States flower family |
| D．show that glass are more realistic than wax flowers |
The underlined word “it” refers to _______.
| A．the intention | B．the collection |
| C．one member | D．each flower family |