What I like to advise people is to find out what it is that makes them happy. What do you love to do? If you truly love what you do just go ahead and try to make a living by doing it. People will throw money at you to do it. But you will always have to work hard at it. I have to draw every single day of my life. I have to draw about 20 ideas. My advice is to put aside a certain amount of time every day and make you draw or whatever, especially when you don’t feel like it. Only in this way will you be able to perfect your talent.
The first step you take is to go to your local library and ask for the publications issued in the current years. When you get these publications, try to find the names of the top people concerned and their presidents. After you find these, write down their names and addresses. Keep this list and update it every year. Next thing you want to do is to create at least 40 cartoons. Get a grid（格子） from one of the strips in the newspapers, enlarge it to whatever size you wish and draw inside this grid. Now take the best 20 of your ideas and make them into finished pieces. To do this, you would want to copy them in ink because if you were a professional cartoonist, that was what you should do. Now you can reduce the size of the finished cartoons to fit onto a regular comic’s page. By comparing yours with the others already in print, it gives you a good idea of clarity to your cartoon.
The next step is to write letters to presidents of the publication. In the letters, explain who you think would read your work, or in other words, what group do you think you would target. After you complete these, send all of your information enclosed with letters in the appropriate envelope.
Now as soon as you send out these letters, start to create a brand new strip with all new characters. Don’t get married to one idea because if your idea gets turned down then you will give up. And always remember. If you receive a rejection from any of them, keep in mind that you are working on something better. You will be working on something new and more exciting and the rejection letter will not have any impact. With this in mind…What is the advice from the writer in the first paragraph when you want to succeed in your life?
| A．Stop doing anything until you find something quite suitable for your future career. |
| B．Put aside a certain amount of time every day to consider how to make a living. |
| C．Make a living by something that you truly like to do as your profession and work hard at it. |
| D．Perfect your talent only by drawing some cartoons. |
The purpose of writing a letter to the president was to ____.
| A．get some money to support the later career |
| B．enclose the information on how to become cartoonists with the letter |
| C．focus his attention on the work |
| D．explain who would be the readers of the work |
The underlined phrase “get married to one idea” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.
| A．having a strong desire to get married |
| B．fixing all attention on one idea |
| C．marrying someone is a good ideas |
| D．refusing one idea to get married |
Dear Alcohol（酒精）,
You've been around forever. I can remember all the pain you've caused for me.
Do you remember the night you almost took my father's life? I do. He loves you. Sometimes I think he loves you more than he loves me. He's addicted （沉溺）to you, to the way you promise to rid him of his problems only to cause more of them. You just sat back and laughed as his car went spinning through the street, crashing into two other cars. He wasn't the only one hurt by you that night.
Do you remember the night of my first high school party? You were there. My friends were intrigued by you. They treated you as if they were never going to see you again, drinking all of you that they could. I spent two hours that night helping my friends who had fallen completely. "I'm so embarrassed," they said as I held their hair back so that they could vomit (呕吐). "I'm sorry," they said when I called taxies for them, walking them out and paying the driver in advance. "This won't happen again," they said as they were sent to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped. Two 15-year-old girls slept in hospital beds that night thanks to you.
Do you remember the night when you took advantage of my 17-year-old neighbor who had to drive to pick up his sister from her dance lessons? Do you know how we all felt when he hit another car and killed the two people in the other car? He died the next morning too. His sister walked home from her dance lesson, and passed police cars and a crowd of people gathering on the sidewalk just two blocks away from the dance studio. She didn't realize her brother was in the midst（当中） of it all. She never saw him again. And it's all your fault.
I wish you'd walk out of my life forever. I don't want anything to do with you. Look at all the pain you've caused. Sure, you've made people happy too from time to time. But the damage you've caused in the lives of millions is inexcusable. Stop luring (引诱) in the people I love. Stop hurting me, please.
Sincerely,
AnonymousWhat is author's purpose in writing to alcohol?
| A．To introduce Mr. Alcohol to the readers |
| B．To describe the harm alcohol did to his family. |
| C．To show how much alcohol can hurt people. |
| D．To show the great fun that alcohol can bring to people's life. |
What did alcohol do to the author's father?
| A．It made him crash into two other cars and took his life. |
| B．It made him drink too much and he had to get his stomach pumped. |
| C．It made him kill two other people when driving. |
| D．It made him get into a car accident and badly injure himself. |
The underlined phrase "were intrigued by" is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．were interested in |
| B．were familiar with |
| C．were disappointed with |
| D．were satisfied with |
What is the tone of the article?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Critical（批评的）. |
| C．Unconcerned. | D．Humorous. |
Many people turn to doctors or self-help books, but they ignore a powerful thing that could help them fight illness: their friends.
Researchers are only now starting to pay attention to the importance of friendship in health. A 10-year Australian study found that old People with a large circle of friends. A large 2007 study showed an increase of nearly 60 percent in the risk （危险） for obesity （肥胖） among people whose friends gained weight. And last year, Harvard researchers reported that strong social ties could improve brain health as we age.
“In general, the role of friendship in our lives isn’t well realized,” said Rebecca, a professor at the University of North Carolina. “Friendship has a bigger effect on our psychological （心理的） health than family relationships. ”
While many friendship studies are about the close relationships of women, some research shows that it can do good to men too. In a six-year study of 736 middle-aged men, having friendships reduces the risk of heart attack. Only smoking was as important a risk factor （因素） as having little social support.
Exactly why friendship has such a big effect isn’t entirely clear. While friends can send a sick person to the hospital or pick up medicine, the advantages go well beyond physical help. Friendship clearly has a big psychological effect. “People with stronger friendships feel like there is someone they can turn to,” said Karen, a doctor. “The message of these studies is that friends make your life better. ” The three studies in paragraph2 show that .
| A．old people need friends the most. |
| B．friends can help us lose weight. |
| C．social ties （关系） are connected to health |
| D．more friends make us healthier. |
What do underlined sentences in paragraph3 mean?
| A．Friendship is more important to women than to men. |
| B．What people need most is a friend’s care. |
| C．Friendship is more important than family relationship |
| D．The value of friendship hasn’t been fully understood. |
The author mentioned smoking in the text to discuss .
| A．the cause of heart attack. |
| B．the risk of having no friends. |
| C．smoking is bad for men. |
| D．friends’ influence on habits. |
There are many international organizations which work to save and protect endangered species(物种)and natural environment. If you would like more information about any of the organizations listed below, you can write to the addresses given.
Friends of the Earth(FOE) campaigns on a range of problems including rainforests，the countryside，water and air pollution and energy. Friends of the Earth International Secretariat P. O. Box 19199 1000 G. D. Amsterdam The Netherlands |
Greenpeace uses peaceful but direct action to defend the environment. It campaigns to protect rainforests and sea animals，stop global warming and end pollution of air，land and seas. It also opposes nuclear(核)power. Greenpeace International Keizergracht 176 1016 DW Amsterdam The Netherlands |
| BirdLife International is an organization which works to save endangered birds all over the world. BirdLife International Wellbrook Court Girton Road  Cambridge CB3 ONA England |
 WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature is the world's largest private international organization for the protection of nature and endangered species. Information Officer WWF International Avenue du Mont-Blanc 1196 Gland Switzerland |
If you want to learn more about the organizations，you can.
| A．call them | B．write them a letter |
| C．visit them | D．send them an e-mail |
BirdLife International is an organization trying to.
| A．reduce pollution |
| B．defend rainforests |
| C．protect ocean animals |
| D．save endangered birds |
If you oppose(反对) nuclear power，you can join.
| A．Friends of the Earth |
| B．World Wide Fund For Nature |
| C．Greenpeace |
| D．BirdLife International |
What can we learn about WWF?
| A．It helps to protect nature and save endangered animals. |
| B．It is the world’s largest international organization. |
| C．It works for private companies and rich people. |
| D．It is a private organization in the United States. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Environmental Protection Organizations |
| B．Global Environmental Problems |
| C．Endangered Animals |
| D．Friends of the Earth |
When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使适应) it to their new environment. These changes were early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (证明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are “divided by a common language”.
Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文学) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”
Answering to this and similar taunts (讽刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.
Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (继承) of the shared language.The author of this passage seems to think ______.
| A．British English is better than American English |
| B．American English is better than British English |
| C．the same language has divided the two nations |
| D．the same language has connected the two nations |
From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.
| A．the British looked down upon American books at first |
| B．the British found American books difficult to understand |
| C．the British thought highly of books written by Americans |
| D．the British had to translate American books into English ones |
The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.
| A．sold | B．discussed |
| C．welcomed | D．refused |
What made it possible for books and writers to cross the Atlantic in both directions?
| A．The War of 1812. |
| B．The American Revolution. |
| C．The language differences. |
| D．The common language. |
In America, when the eighth graders leave the middle school, they are often worried about moving to the high school. It is a hard time for them, but it can be an exciting one as well. To make it easier, students need to get familiar with their school.
Even though they’ve done this already in the middle school, it’s still important to find where their classrooms are. Most schools take students to the high school for a visit at the end of their eighth grade year. And, most schools also have a freshman （新生）speech for parents and students before the first year begins. Sometimes the main office will give away a map of the school. This can help students and parents to find different places in the school.
One way to know your high school more and make new friends is to join a club or play a sport. Schools often offer chances to join different clubs and sports. Fall activities begin in August before the first day of school. If you are not interested in sports, there are clubs for any interest, such as drama, dance, chess, photography, community service, etc. These clubs allow students from different grades. By joining an activity, students can find new friendships, not to mention improving their chances in future college applications （申请）. The school office will have a list of activities offered at the school and information on how to join them.
What’s more, to have a great start to a high school year, students can write down some of their worries, and ask for help from teachers and school workers.According to the text, most students feel _______ when entering the high school.
| A．excited | B．nervous |
| C．lonely | D．disappointed |
Which of the following is TRUE about the school clubs?
| A．There are fewer students from higher grades in the school clubs. |
| B．The school clubs in high school only welcome sports fans. |
| C．Summer activities begin before school starts. |
| D．School officers can help new students join school clubs. |
When do many schools take students to visit their new high school?
| A．Before the eighth grade year starts. |
| B．Right after the high school year starts. |
| C．At the beginning of the new term in the high school. |
| D．At the end of their eighth grade year |
What is the purpose of this text?
| A．To tell the new students how to learn in high school |
| B．To introduce new schools. |
| C．To give the teachers some advice. |
| D．To give advice to new high school students. |