Like lots of other girls and boys，when Lisa Cao was a kid，she used to watch the Olympics. “I always wanted to be good at sport and I found athletic potential in my body”， the New York City citizen tells her friends. But there was no sport available so she took up piano lessons. Then，at the age of 15，she decided to drop the lessons and put her athletic potential to the test with running. At age 18，Lisa Cao ran her first-ever marathon in New York City. And now，the 27-year-old has 54 marathons 26. miles) and ultramarathons (100 miles) under her belt.
What does it take to be an ultramarathoner? A lot of devotion，even when difficulties occur sometimes. “Making time for running is really hard when life is so busy，” she says. “There’s a big work-life balance that I have to keep. I have to wake up earlier on the weekends. And oh，the potential for excuses! With NYC’s wild winters as of late，it’s easy to blame the weather，roll over in bed and put off a solid run. I have a fix for this，though，” she says. “Cute clothes. With the horrible weather， I bought cute clothes as motivation to run and actually wear them. ”
While she’s training during low season in the winter，Lisa Cao tries to run a “base” of 20 to 30 miles per week to stay prepared. During high season in the spring and summer，she’ll run around 30 to 40 miles，but she also gets a lot of quality miles from her races.
When did Lisa Cao run her first marathon?
| A．At the age of 27. |
| B．When she was 15 years old. |
| C．Three years after she began running. |
| D．Nine years after she dropped her piano lessons. |
What made Lisa Cao have the desire of joining in sports?
| A．Being different from other kids of her age. |
| B．Wanting to join in the Olympics. |
| C．Having no interest in piano lessons. |
| D．Having athletic potential. |
Why does Lisa Cao buy beautiful clothes in terrible weather?
| A．To have a better sleep. |
| B．To motivate herself to keep running. |
| C．To protect herself from any harm. |
| D．To save time for further training. |
Where is the text probably taken from?
| A．A sport website |
| B．A science book. |
| C．A college poster |
| D．A football magazine. |
Many years ago，when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver，I was driving to my parents’ home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站)about 50 miles from Oklahoma City，where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台)，I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off，but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend’s. We chatted on the way into the city，and when I got out of the car，the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank you note for helping me. Soon afterward，I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later，I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I’d left the lights on all day，and the battery(电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership—a shop selling cars —was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
“Just how friendly is Friendly Ford？”I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment，so when I got home，I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you，and it meant a lot，he said.
“Thank you”－two powerful words. They’re easy to say and mean so much.The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City ________.
| A．to visit a friend | B．to see his parents |
| C．to pay at the cash register | D．to have more gas for his car |
The underlined words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “________”．
| A．turned off | B．moved off | C．put up | D．set up |
The battery of the author’s car was dead because ________.
| A．something went wrong with the lights |
| B．the meeting lasted a whole day |
| C．he forgot to turn off the lights |
| D．he drove too long a distance |
By telling his own experiences，the author tries to show ________.
| A．how to write a thank you letter |
| B．how to deal with car problems |
| C．the kind heartedness of older people |
| D．the importance of expressing thanks |
What is a lifestyle and how is that different from a life? A lifestyle is about brand names and buying identity or fame. Lifestyle gives a false sense of peace and acceptability that comes from others recognizing what you’ve bought into (as well as bought). If your car, clothes, and home are expensive, you’re sophisticated(世故的) and stylish. If you have the right kind of job or go to the right social gatherings, then you receive the insincere approval of others. This means that your self-esteem(自尊) is always at the mercy of others, with no appreciation of you as an individual.
A life, on the other hand, is very different. A life is what you lead when you know what matters most to you. It is very simple and comes from being connected to what you know is important and being willing to put that first, no matter what others may think. When you create a life vs. a lifestyle, your self-esteem comes from what’s inside you, not what others think about you.
Lifestyle is expensive financially and personally, because it costs a great deal to keep up appearances and do what you think is socially acceptable. A life is not expensive. Rather than using personal or financial resources, a life generates energy and staying power. It’s about liberating yourself from the mindless consumption that society expects. It is about making the choices that are in line with your values, instead of using up your bank account or energy for no heart-driven reason.
How can you make the change? Understand the difference between a life and a lifestyle. Analyze your current lifestyle to see what is costing you in money, time, stress, and energy to maintain it. Let go and make room for what is really important to you, what supports you and brings you joy. Remember who you are from within, not what you own!Which of the following examples best explains “what is life about”?
| A．We work long hours in a job that we do not enjoy. |
| B．We focus on what we wear, or what kind of car we drive. |
| C．We find out what our true beliefs and values are and choose to live by these. |
| D．We think that how others see us is more important than what we think of ourselves. |
What method does the author use to explain his opinion in the third paragraph?
| A．Making comparison. | B．Giving an example. |
| C．Giving a definition. | D．Giving a reason. |
To make the change, we need to______________________.
| A．be directed from within | B．be directed from outside |
| C．be driven by social values | D．be driven by others’ opinions |
What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To describe what life is. |
| B．To introduce what lifestyle is. |
| C．To promote life instead of lifestyle. |
| D．To tell the differences between life and lifestyle. |
Researchers claimed that waitresses who wear red get up to 26 percent extra in tips than they would wearing other colors. However, the team finds that the sexes tip very differently—with the bigger tips coming only from male customers.
No matter what color they wear, female diners will give the same kind of amounts for service every time. Yet men, whether they realize it or not, add anything between 15 and 26 percent more to a waitress in red than they would if it was the same waitress wearing a different color.
The test was simple. Take 11 waitresses in five restaurants over a six-week period and ask them to wear the same kind of T-shirt every day but change the colors. Previous research has suggested waitresses could earn more if they acted charmingly or wore more make-up than their colleagues. But this study, by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, only changed the color of the T-shirt. Every other aspect from make-up to behavior remained the same.
When wearing either black, white, green, blue or yellow T-shirts, the size of the tips from both male and female customers was almost identical. But when they wore red, the size of the tips went up by between 15 and 26 percent from male customers, yet stayed the same from female ones.
A total of 272 restaurant customers were studied by researchers Nicolas Gueguen and Celine Jacob for the international journal of the tourism industry.
Even as a T-shirt, it shows just how much the color red is thought, by men, to increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of woman, said the researchers.
The researchers wrote: As red color has no negative effect on women customers, it could be in their interest to wear clothes at work.The underlined word “identical” in Para. 4 probably means____________________.
| A．different | B．similar | C．the same | D．close |
According to the passage, in the research by the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research waitresses could earn more by _________________.
| A．wearing red T-shirts |
| B．putting on attractive make-up |
| C．changing the color of T-shirts |
| D．behaving themselves |
Which of the following is right according to the passage?
| A．Bright color can increase the physical and sexual attractiveness of women. |
| B．Waitresses in red make no difference to female customers. |
| C．Make-up makes no difference to man customers. |
| D．Whether male customers tips more or not depends on service. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．People tip differently if waitresses wear different make-up. |
| B．Waitresses who wear red get more tips than they would wearing other colors. |
| C．Male customers are more interested in the red color. |
| D．Red color has no negative effect on female customers. |
Like many languages spoken by people, Ayapaneco is dying. Only two people in the world still speak it, and they won't talk to each other.
Spoken in Mexico for centuries, Ayapaneco is one of 68 surviving languages in the mainly Spanish-speaking nation. The two speakers are Manuel Segovia and Isidro Velazquez. Though they live only 500 meters from each other in the village, the two men seldom talk to each other. Daniel, an American expert, who is working to make a dictionary of Ayapaneco, says the two men “don’t have a lot in common,” and that Segovia can be “active” while Velasquez tends to mind his own business and stay at home.
While Segovia still speaks to his wife and son in Ayapaneco, neither of them can manage more than a few words. Velasquez hardly speaks his native tongue any more. Daniel is working to preserve the language in dictionary form before its last surviving speakers pass away. According to Daniel, Ayapaneco and the other languages began dying out with the introduction of public Spanish education in the mid-20th century. For decades, local children weren’t allowed to speak anything else. Many people to cities, starting in the 1970s, also helped the dying out of native languages.
Ayapaneco is the name given to the language; Segovia and Velazquez call it “Nuumte Oote”, which means “true voice”. Neither man, however, speaks the same language. The dictionary will contain two versions(版本) of the language when it comes out later this year. Those behind the dictionary aren’t the only ones trying to save Ayapaneco. The National Language Institute plans to hold classes so that Segovia and Velasquez can pass on what they know to children.
It is thought that there are about 6,000 languages spoken on earth and that about half will disappear over the next 100 years. Let’s hope the “true voice” isn’t one of them.Which are the main reasons why the language Ayapaneco started dying out?
a. No teacher liked to teach it.
b. Local children had to speak Spanish.
c. many villagers went to live in cities.
d. The surviving speakers didn’t like to use it.
| A．a, b | B．a, c | C．b, d | D．b, c |
How does the National Language Institute try to save Ayapaneco?
| A．Write a dictionary of Ayapaneco. |
| B．Let Ayapaneco be taught at school. |
| C．Introduce a public Ayapaneco education. |
| D．Ask villagers to speak Ayapaneco. |
From the text we learn that the author____________________.
| A．agrees that it is natural that Ayapaneco should die out |
| B．thinks Daniel’s effort to preserve Ayapaneco won’t work |
| C．thinks highly of Ayapaneco and wants people to learn it |
| D．hopes that Ayapaneco will not die out in the future |
MUMBAI, India —The children in their party clothes on the stage were very excited when they received the award. And the two of them said, "It’s unbelievable!"
Nine-year-old, Rubina Ali, and Azharuddin Ismail, 10, were living a very different life and obviously loving every minute of it. The two, some of the child stars of the Oscar-winning Slum dog Millionaire(《贫民窟的百万富翁》)movie, know the Indian slums very well. That was where they grew up, and it is where they will return at the end of their Hollywood dream trip.
But before going back home, there was an interview with the host, Ryan Seacrest. During the interview they smiled and repeated their disbelief in what was happening to them. To their surprise, their movie won first place in the Oscars. When the two received the award, it was late morning in the children’s home city of Mumbai, where family, friends and many fellow residents of the slums watched the result from Hollywood.
"I don’t really know what the Oscars are," Rubina’s mother said. "I’m just glad my daughter looks happy, though she told me she missed Indian food."
"Our children lead a dog’s life," Rubina’s mother said, pointing out the rubbish everywhere, the open drains (下水道) and the lack of education opportunities.
In a few days they will be back in Mumbai and back in the slums which are their home. Fortunately, according to media reports, the movie’s director, Danny Boyle, has promised to help the children chosen from the slum and make sure they will go to a proper school.
The two don’t need to worry about their daily lives because of the Oscar success of Slum dog Millionaire. But the poverty and lack of opportunity —the central theme of the movie—is always all around.Which of the following is NOT true about the two children?
| A．They were both excited about receiving the award. |
| B．They had been having a difficult life in India. |
| C．They were interviewed before they went back home. |
| D．They were the only two child stars in the movie, Slum dog Millionaire. |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．The two children have played in other movies before. |
| B．Rinoms’s mother also went to the Hollywood. |
| C．Rubina may not get used to the American food. |
| D．They will travel to other countries before returning home. |
What will happen to the two children after they return to India?
| A．They will go back to the miserable life. |
| B．They will play in movies as famous actors. |
| C．They will leave school to learn acting. |
| D．They will have a better education. |
According to the author, the value of the movie is that ________.
| A．it has been given an Oscar Award |
| B．it has made the two children famous |
| C．it has become popular all over the world |
| D．its central theme has become known to the public |