Around four years ago, I received a call from the principal of our school as to the “Parents View” talk the next morning. He asked me to speak to the group. After the call, my whole body became feverish and panicky. The time from his call to the next morning seemed like years. The whole night, I could not sleep with many ominous apprehensions in mind. One of them was to call the principal with regret and tell him that I could not come. Finally, I gathered some courage. I thought, “If I miss this opportunity, surely the school will never invite me again to any of their programs.”
I reached the school in time. Before my turn came, my whole body was trembling. When my turn came and I started speaking, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn’t even able to read the written speech properly. I was not aware of where I was standing and what I was reading. That was the day when I realized my biggest weakness, Public Speaking.
After my speech, I met with the principal and explained what happened to me. He told me that this happens to everyone. Even great speaker, faced the same things when they started. He suggested that I come again next time.
Around one month later, I was invited to refer to a topic on Motivation. This time I was feeling comfortable. My speech was not only appreciated by the principal as well as the teachers, because I was able to get my idea across to them. They encouraged and praised my efforts.
After delivering is successfully, I became more confident .l said to myself, “If I can speak in front of such a learned audience, like the principal who educates others, I can now speak in front of others too.”
I started delivering lectures in my plant, on various topics like Self Motivation, Personality Development, Personal Excellence, Spoken English and Presentation Skills. This has become a passion for me. I learned that everything is possible if we have the courage to take the first step.Which of the following is the hest title for the passage?
A.Practice Makes a Man a Better Speechmaker |
B.![]() |
C.Principal Provides the Best Chances. |
D.Spoken English Develops in Malting Speeches. |
The author had bad feelings before the speech because______.
A.he disliked the idea of giving a lecture |
B.he had got a high fever before that |
C.he regretted accepting the invitation |
D.he feared he couldn't perform it properly |
What does the underlined part ominous apprehensions in the first paragraph mean?
A.Unlucky opportunities. |
B.Negative ideas. |
C.Curious views. |
D.Happy comments. |
What can we conclude from the passage?
A.Nothing is to be got without pains but poverty. |
B.Knowledge makes humble, ignorance makes proud. |
C.A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. |
D.Necessity is the mother of invention. |
As a senior, my future is always on my mind. To be exact, thoughts of the future have kept me up countless nights and made me worry enough to do poorly on more than one test. Because of this, words of wisdom are a source of comfort. Steve Jobs gave a speech to Stanford’s graduating class in 2005 and his words resound repeatedly in my mind whenever I think about my future.
It wasn’t always like that, though. It started when I became a junior, when college came into view. It’s the first big step to making your life your own. So when Jobs discussed his life as a student, some fears were eased. He, too, felt the need to attend college to make something of himself. He faced what many are extremely afraid of: uncertainty. His lack of understanding caused him to stop attending college and focus on what he felt was important. His story had a happy ending, of course, since he certainly turned out well.
This doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t attend college, but rather that they shouldn’t worry so much. You’ll get where you need to go, even if your path is a bit more winding than you’d like.
Jobs talked about the hardships in his work. His love of his work helped him carry on and he got where he was meant to be, which restates the point: don’t panic.
One particular part of his speech stayed with me. Steve Jobs quoted the saying “Stay hungry, stay foolish” and it has become my motto. Staying foolish is realizing that you are still a fool, no matter how much you’ve learned or experienced. There is always more to explore. Staying hungry is wanting to find those things about which you are still uneducated.
Steve Jobs’s level of success is attainable, and I aim to prove that. With the will power to go into the world living every day like it’s my last and allowing the future to take care of itself, I will do great things. In the last moments of my life, I’ll be proud of what I have done and hope to have all the wisdom a person could wish for.The author felt worried when _________.
A.he had to take tests at school | B.he thought about his future |
C.he had lots of sleepless nights | D.he searched for words of wisdom |
What did the author gain from Jobs’s speech?
A.Courage to drop out of school. | B.Confidence in defeating Jobs. |
C.Interest in computer industry. | D.Bravery to face uncertainties. |
What did NOT Steve Jobs encourage students to do in his speech?
A.Have the desire to learn more. | B.Be content with what they know. |
C.Stay calm in the face of hardships. | D.Be modest so as to learn more. |
An older friend once gave me a piece of advice, “Enjoy the last few weeks of college,” she said, “since college is the best time of your life.”
This was not the first time I’d heard such a statement, but with graduation fast coming close, her words especially struck me. It seemed a bit disappointing to reach one's life peak at only 22 years of age, but in her opinion, college had been one of the best times in my life so far. I made friends, took classes, and learned a great deal about myself. But I was also excited for the time after college—moving to a new city, starting a new job, and becoming a "real" person. I hoped that my great dreams were practical.
Then, last week I read a column in Real Simple Magazine called 100 Years of Attitude, in which women 100 years or older shared their life experiences and views. I noticed that none of them considered college as the "best" time of their life. Not all of them went to college, but still in most cases their teens and twenties were not the best times of their life. They said some of their favorite times were raising their children, traveling after retirement, and even enjoying their present time and age.
Enjoying one's present time and age was a clear theme of the interviews. A piece of advice given by the women was about the importance of making the best of all situations. I think it more accurate than that of my friend; I can say with certainty that if I am lucky enough to make it to 100, I refuse to spend the last 80 years of my life plummeting (跌落) downhill, or even leveling off.
I am sure that our eagerness and devotion will make us college students live a meaningful life. We will not just look backwards or miss our college days. We will look forward in excitement about continued journey uphill. Which of the following opinions does the writer agree with?
A.College is the best time of one’s life. |
B.Twenties were the best time of the old people. |
C.One should make the best of all situations. |
D.One should not look backwards at their college time. |
In the second paragraph, the writer wants to say ______.
A.her achievements in college would be the peak of her success |
B.she is looking forward to living as a “real” person in college |
C.she becomes more and more uneasy with graduation |
D.she is satisfied with the college life but is hopeful for the future |
The column the writer read is mainly about those old women’s ______.
A.best time of life at youth | B.life experiences and views |
C.different opinions about life | D.favorite time with best friends |
By saying “I refuse to spend the last 80 years of my life plummeting downhill, or even leveling off” (in Paragraph 4), the writer really means ______.
A.she will not spend the rest of her time at college |
B.she will not just obtain a college level certificate |
C.she will not be satisfied with what she has already accomplished |
D.she will not be content with the life in the future |
The American local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too. A new start-up, Foodzie, is an online farmers market where small food producers and growers can sell their products.
Foodzie was started by Mr LaFave and two of his friends, who met during college at Virginia Tech, where they would pay frequent visits to farmers markets. Last year, while living in North Carolina, one of them, Emily Olson, now 24, came up with one idea. She was working as a brand manager for a gourmet grocery chain and realized that people who enjoyed fine food but didn’t work in the business had no way to discover handmade foods outside their local farmers markets. Small farmers had no way of finding or selling to faraway customers, either.
Mr LaFAve and the third co-founder, Nik Bauman, both 25, worked in corporate sales and software development. “With business, food and computer science backgrounds, we figured we had everything we needed.” Mr LaFAve said.
The three quit their jobs, and opened this site to the public in December and the site has had 43,000 visitors in the past month. So far, 29 sellers have opened shops and 41 are in the process of opening them. The founders recently hired a fourth employee to help Ms Olson recruit(吸收) new food producers at farmers markets and food shows. Mr LaFAve is convinced that the recession(经济衰退) will not reduce people’s interest in buying locally grown and handmade food. “There is misunderstanding that all these foods are more expensive than mass-produced alternatives,” he said. “People are pouring their heart and soul into these products, and they are of the highest quality.”The passage is mainly about_______.
A.how an online farmers’ market works |
B.the American local food movement |
C.three youths starting an online farmers’ market |
D.the reasons why people are interested in local food |
Why did the founders start the online farmers’ market?
A.Because it met the need of the market. |
B.Because the founders were interested in seasonal food. |
C.Because some people wanted to buy locally grown food. |
D.Because farmers wanted to sell their foods. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 2 can be used to describe _______.
A.food of high quality | B.terrible food | C.food of low fat | D.fried food |
About the three founders, we know that ______.
A.they are of the same age |
B.they gave up their work to start the website |
C.they used to be colleague |
D.they majored in farming at college |
Healthy people with stressful jobs who work long hours but get little satisfaction from what they do have twice the risk of dying from heart disease as satisfied employees, according to a study. Job stress has been known to cause heart problems in people who already have cardiovascular disease (心血管病). Finnish scientists have now shown that even in healthy people the pressures of work can take their toll. High blood pressure, lack of exercise, smoking and being overweight contribute to heart disease—a leading killer in many industrialized countries.
But Mika Kivimaki, of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, and his colleagues, who studied the medical histories of 812 healthy Finnish men and women in a metal industry company over 25 years, said job stress also plays an important role.
Workers who had the highest job-related stress levels at the start of the study were more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to the study published in The British Medical Journal. Work stress involves too much work as well as a lack of satisfaction and feeling undervalued and unappreciated. Many people work long hours but if the effort is rewarding the stress is minimized.
The British Heart Foundation said the results support earlier research showing that people in jobs with low control, such as manual(体力的) workers, could be as great risk of heart disease than other employees. “ It is advisable for people to try to minimize levels of stress at work and for employees to allow people to have more control at work and to be rewarded for their successes,” the foundation said in a statement.Healthy people may die from heart disease of ____________.
A.too much job stress | B.working too hard | C.feeling valued | D.being satisfied |
Which one of the following is NOT right according to this passage?
A.High blood pressure is likely to cause heart disease. |
B.Being overweight may cause heart disease. |
C.Job stress is most likely to cause heart disease. |
D.Working long hours must cause heart disease. |
The underlined word “minimized” in the third paragraph means “_________”.
A.increased | B.reduced | C.raised | D.cured |
The author’s purpose in writing the passage is to _________.
A.advise people not to work long hours |
B.suggest that everyone be satisfied with everything |
C.ask us to learn to enjoy ourselves |
D.tell us that job stress threatens our health nowadays. |
Sure, it’s good to get along with your teacher because it makes the time you spend in the classroom more pleasant.
And yes, it’s good to get along with your teacher because, in general, it’s smart to learn how to understand the different types of people you’ll meet throughout your life.
“But really, there’s one super-important reason why you should get along with your teacher. When you do, learning bursts right open,” says Evelyn Vuko, a longtime teacher who writes an education column(专栏) called “Teacher Says” for the Washington Post newspaper.
In fact, kids who get along with their teachers not only learn more, but they’re more comfortable asking questions and getting extra help. This makes it easier to understand new material and do your best on tests. When you have this kind of relationship with a teacher, he or she can be someone to turn to with problems, such as problems with learning or school life, such as bullying.
As a kid in a primary or middle school, you’re at a wonderful stage in your life. You’re like a sponge (海绵), able to absorb lots of new and exciting information. On top of that, you’re able to think about all this information in new ways. Your teacher knows that, in most cases, is very excited to be the person who’s giving you all that material and helping you make it. Remember, teachers are people, too, and they feel great if you’re open to what they’re teaching you. That’s why they wanted to be teachers in the first place—to teach!
Some kids may be able to learn in any situation, whether they like the teacher or not. But most kids are sensitive to the way they get along with the teacher, and if things aren’t going well, they won’t learn as well and won’t enjoy being in class.In the passage, the author mainly talks about _______.
A. how to get along well with others
B. the importance of a good relation with teachers
C. how much the students are expected of to get along with teachers
D. how to make the time in the classroom more pleasant
【小2】“Learning bursts right open” in the third paragraph really means _______.
A. learning becomes easier for you at once
B. you find an opening to learning
C. there’ll be more problems with learning
D. there’ll be no problems at all with learningAccording to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.If you get on well with your teachers, you must have a good result in exams. |
B.The more questions you ask, the higher marks you will get. |
C.If you have a good relationship with your teacher, you can turn to him when in trouble. |
D.Many kids can do well without a good relationship with teachers. |