In Western society, especially in the English-speaking world, the chance for young people to see the other countries and experience life is considered important. Many young people, when they finish school at the age of 18, take a gap year before they go to university.
Parents often want their children to grow up a little and see what the real world is like when they finish school. Although they are worried about their safety, many think that the advantages of independence and experience are worth the worries. Children are encouraged to be brave, independent and to explore the world on their own or with friends.
Young people also want to experience freedom and see what life is like on the other side. This other side could be the other side of the world or just the other side of life. For example, if they have a rich life, they may want to see how people in poor areas live.
A gap year after school is also an important chance for young people to spend time thinking about what they want to do with their lives. A little bit of growing up and experience will help them make their important career decisions, especially when they are unsure about what they want to study.
Another reason for going straight after school is to get a break from studying before they start the next few years of university. So anywhere you travel in the world, you will meet young European people exploring the world.
So much of the world has been travelled and explored. The young people are now looking for more worthy experiences. Some of them work as volunteers to do something for the country they are visiting. Many gap year volunteers are now spending a few months teaching English in Thailand, helping feed giant pandas in China or building a well(井) in a village in Africa.
These young people’s wish to explore the world is an expression of the values of the societies that they are part of. Both discovering the world and making a positive difference in it are important parts of the Western mind.Which is NOT a reason for young people to take a gap year?
| A．Young people want to take a break from studying. |
| B．Young people want to be sure about what to study. |
| C．Parents encourage them to be brave and independent. |
| D．Parents encourage them to live a free and wealthy life. |
Now a gap year volunteer might do something more valuable like .
| A．experiencing different cultures |
| B．helping protect rainforests in Brazil |
| C．making friends with more people |
| D．enjoying traditional local food |
By taking a gap year, young people may .
| A．stay with their parents all the time |
| B．make money for their further study |
| C．help change the world for the better |
| D．change the Western mind completely |
The purpose of writing this article is to .
| A．show different opinions about gap year |
| B．offer readers information about gap year |
| C．discover new ways to take a gap year |
| D．tell young people when to take a gap year |
Six years ago, I walked into a local animal shelter（庇护所） on a cold, rainy day. Although my house was already full of cats and dogs, I still couldn’t help visiting the shelter. This time as I was walking down the row of pens full of barking dogs I noticed a small boy looking into one of them.
He had a malnourished（营养不良的） looking body and a bony face with a big nose sticking out of the middle of it. He was looking at a small, golden dog. Its bony ribs were showing and its thin tail was folded between its legs. It wasn’t begging for attention like the other puppies but was hiding in the corner instead. The boy looked up at me with sad eyes and asked what was wrong with it. “It was probably abused(虐待) and abandoned”（ 被遗弃的）, I said. “That is why it is so scared.”
The boy immediately turned to an older lady and said, “Grandma, I want this one.” The old woman smiled and walked to the front desk to fill out the adoption forms. I followed and asked about the boy. I found out that he’d had a hard start in life too. He had just gotten custody（监护权） of him after the state had taken him from his parents. She had hoped getting a dog would make it easier on him. I looked back at him, holding his scared little dog, and said a prayer for them both.
It was yesterday. I was driving down the road enjoying a gloriously sunny, spring day. Then in a green front yard I saw the boy. His teenage body was tall and strong. His nose no longer seemed big but fit well into his smiling face. He was throwing a ball to a healthy, happy dog with shining golden hair. His little act of love and kindness had indeed gone a long way. It had saved a dog’s life, cured his own heart, and given this middle-aged man fresh hope for us all.The writer entered the animal shelter because ____________ .
| A．he loves dogs and pets |
| B．it was too cold outside |
| C．he wanted to buy a dog |
| D．he wanted to see the boy |
. Why did the boy want to adopt（收养） the golden dog?
| A．Because the dog looked attractive. |
| B．Because his grandma also liked the dog. |
| C．Because they had something in common. |
| D．Because the author advised him to adopt it. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph ?
| A．The author is a kind-hearted old man. |
| B．The boy’s nose has become smaller than before. |
| C．The author enjoys watching people playing with dogs. |
| D．Both the boy and the dog are growing healthily and happily. |
With the development of science and technology, our daily life is becoming more colorful and more convenient (便利).
| An Underwater Hotel It looks like a spaceship but it is actually a picture of an underwater hotel. A company plans to build in the sea which is about 18 metres below the surface(表面).The whole building is underwater and you can get to it by swimming and diving. |
| Google Glass Google Glass is a pair of glasses with a battery(电池)hidden inside the frame(边框). It can perform many of the same tasks as smart phones. The glass has a hidden camera and a tiny screen. It is designed to take hands-free photos or videos of anything people are doing. |
| A New Kind of Shirt Hate washing clothes? You’re going to love this kind of shirt made by an American clothing company, Wool & Prince. This shirt can be worn for 100 straight days without washing! The Wool & Prince shirt never needs ironing(熨烫). |
| The Digital(数字) Library Can you imagine walking into a library and finding all books have turned into computers? The first bookless public library is planned to open in San Antonio, Texas. Computers will take the place of books soon. |
You needn’t use ______ when you take photos or video with Google Glass.
| A．a camera | B．a screen |
| C．a battery | D．your hand |
The digital Library tells us something about a library without ______.
| A．books | B．computers |
| C．bookshelves | D．reader |
Which one of the following can reduce our housework in our daily life?
| A．The underwater hotel | B．Google Glass |
| C．The Wool & Prince shirt | D．The digital library |
When something goes wrong, it can be very satisfying to say, “Well, it’s so-and-so’s mistake.” or “I know I’m late, but it’s not my mistake； the bus was late.” It is probably not your mistake, but once you form the habit of blaming somebody or something else for a bad situation, you are a loser. You have no power and could do nothing that helps change the situation. However, you can have great power over what happens to you if you stop paying attention to whom to blame and start paying attention to how to improve the situation. This is the winner’s key to success.
Winners are great at overcoming(克服) problems. For example, if you were late because the bus was late, maybe you need to leave home early. Or, you might call a taxi or call friends for help when in need. For another example, if your workmate causes you problems on the job for short of responsibility(责任心) or ability, find ways of dealing with his irresponsibility or inability rather than simply blame the person. Ask to work with a different person, or leave this person with some simple jobs. You should accept that the person is not reliable(可靠的) and find creative ways to work successfully regardless of how your workmate fails to do his job well.
This is what being a winner is all about—creatively using your skills and talents so that you are successful no matter what happens. Winners don’t have fewer problems in their lives； they have just as many difficult situations to face as anybody else. They are just better at seeing those problems as challenges(挑战) and chances to develop their own talents. So, stop paying attention to “whose mistake it is.” Once you are confident about your power over bad situations, problems are just stepping stones for success. According to the passage, winners .
| A．have responsible and able workmates |
| B．meet with fewer difficulties in their lives |
| C．blame themselves rather than others |
| D．deal with problems rather than blame others |
When your workmate brings about a problem, you should .
| A．blame him for his lack of responsibility |
| B．find a better way to overcome the problem |
| C．tell him to find the cause of the problem |
| D．ask a more able workmate for help |
When problems happen, winners take them as .
| A．excuses for their mistakes |
| B．difficulties to greater power |
| C．chances for self-development |
| D．challenges to their workmates |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage？
| A．A Winner’s Secret | B．A Winner’s Problem |
| C．A Winner’s Chance | D．A Winner’s Achievement |
My parents quarreled a lot, and I was really worried about it. I didn’t know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend’s house. Though I knew I wouldn’t tell her about my parents’ situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was packing up my things when suddenly the power (电) went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on.
I was really disappointed(失望的) because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I’d stay with him until the power was restored(恢复). He was quite happy and said.
“Great chance.”
“What is?” I asked.
“To talk, you and I,” he said. “To hold a one-to-one little meeting about what we’re going to do with your mom and dad, and what we’re going to do with ourselves and the situation we are in now.”
“But we can’t do anything about it, Grandpa,” I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same “boat” as I was.
And that is how the most amazing friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life from how fast things change to how they sometimes don’t change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be.
Suddenly, the lights all came back on. “Well,” he said, “I guess that means you’ll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!”Why was Grandpa happy to see the writer?
| A．Because he felt quite lonely. |
| B．Because he could discuss the problem with him. |
| C．Because he was afraid of darkness. |
| D．Because he had not seen him for a long time. |
In which order(顺序) did the story happen?
a. The lights came back on.
b. The writer went to his grandpa’s room and stayed with him.
c. The power in the neighbourhood suddenly went out.
d. The writer worried about the parents’ disagreement and wanted to leave his home.
e. The writer had a talk with his grandpa and started the most amazing friendship between them.
| A．d-b-e-c-a | B．a-b-e-c-d |
| C．c-d-b-e-a | D．d-c-b-e-a |
What can be inferred(推断) from the story?
| A．The lights would go out again. |
| B．The writer wanted to leave very much. |
| C．They would have more chats. |
| D．It would no longer be dark. |
People often said Thomas Edison was the greatest genius(天才) of his age. There are only a few men in all of history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be pleased only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such a thing as genius,” Edison said. He thought what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a thinker as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. He tried to understand them, and then he tried to learn what he could usefully do with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people would do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking could give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand why anyone could not be interested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what idea he had about life. “Work,” he answered, “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work. What is genius according to Thomas Edison?
| A．Hard thinking. | B．Hard work. |
| C．Useful ideas. | D．Useful inventions. |
How did Edison always deal with the secrets of nature after exploring them?
| A．To write down what he had learned. |
| B．To carry out a new experiment. |
| C．To make them useful in life. |
| D．To share them with others. |
What does the last sentence in the passage mean?
| A．Edison was born to be a great inventor. |
| B．Edison was able to live another 100 years. |
| C．Edison was ready to make his 100th invention. |
| D．Life was too short for Edison to work for human beings. |