Money was a constant source of tension and stress when I was growing up. My parents were , well-educated and hard-working, but they lived from paycheck to paycheck. When I was 13, they split up. Then my mom to raise three kids, often relying on free lunch tickets and food stamps. As my mother retirement age, she was filled with over the fact that she hadn’t saved enough for her golden retirement years, she often sighed. My father had always been to work—we had always he’d work less and spend more time with us . But he is just a workaholic(工作狂).
My parents were trying so hard to make ends meet, so I couldn’t become a on them. As a result, I college and spent the next couple of years drifting from one minimum wage job to another. I my broken-down car, went to work on foot, reduced my by sharing a one-bedroom apartment with three other women, and got free food during Happy Hour at our local bar. I learned to do whatever it took to .
One night, while I was working at a donut shop and 34 coffee for a homeless customer, I . that I was one paycheck away from being homeless myself. That was my wake-up . Motivated by fear of an uncertain , I opened the Yellow Pages(电话黄页), . professional dog trainers and negotiated an unpaid apprenticeship(学徒工作). Less than a year later, I was by a dog trainer, and I loved the work. A couple of years later, I started my own dog-training school, which luckily turned out to be . My efforts paid off.
Though I didn’t have rich parents to rely on, I discovered the power of asking for what I want.
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My friend Tom came across an accident when driving in darkness. His legs were so hurt that he couldn’t move. What was was that he found himself unable to ask for help—his mobile phone went out of as a result of exhausted battery. Nothing could be done but in the cold wilderness. It was 8 hours later that day broke and then the of the rescue team.
It is almost that he could stand the horror in the darkness for so long. Even more surprising was his . “First of all I checked my conditions and found myself not in danger. As there was no to call for help, I leaned（斜靠）back in my seat trying my best to keep the wound from . In this way I dozed（打盹）off.”
His story put an end to my regret for the of an exploration that happened last year. A group of young men to explore a mountain cave and got lost. to find a way out in the dark cave they were frightened and ran anxiously without a sense of . Finally, they fell dead in fear and exhaustion. According to the team that found them, the place where they got lost was only about 10 meters away from the of the cave. If they stayed on the spot when they lost their way and tried to themselves, they would probably have sensed a faint light glowing(发出) not far away.
Don’t you think that you can compare it with itself? When you meet with difficulties in life, you are lost in darkness. Focus that it’s unclear to you yet and you needn’t put up struggle . It seems to be a negative attitude, a person who can do so must have foresight as well as a great in the first place.
A．hopeless B．worse C．more D．best
A．service B．way C．control D．work
A．cry B．lie C．wait D．sleep
A．delay B．success C．team D．arrival
A．untrue B．unimaginable C．possible D．useless
A．plan B．decision C．explanation D．excuse
A．physical B．mental C．working D．medical
A．method B．way C．tools D．strength
A．rotting B．spreading C．bleeding D．running
A．loss B．failure C．sadness D．disappointment
A．had B．managed C．tried D．planned
A．Willing B．Unable C．Determined D．Deciding
A．hearing B．sight C．feeling D．direction
A．rescue B．village C．local D．brave
A．end B．top C．opening D．side
A．save B．help C．stop D．calm
A．adventure B．work C．life D．mankind
A．really B．immediately C．carefully D．hopefully
A．and B．so C．but D．while
A．courage B．imagination C．thought D．opinion
There are going to be moments in life when you must make very important decisions. You will find many people to offer you advice if you ask for it (and even if you don’t), but always remember that the life you is yours and nobody else’s. It’s important to decide for yourself what’s important to you and what you want before you others. Because while there will be times outside advice proves wise, there will be at least as many times when it proves completely . The only way to really evaluate other folks’ advice is to first learn everything that you can about whatever challenge you are . Once you’ve done that, in most cases you should be able to make a wise decision anyway.
You were with the ability to decide what is and what isn’t in your best interest. Most of the time, you will make the right decision and the appropriate action, and in thinking for yourself, you will become far more successful than if you had gone against your own .
Early on in my investment career, I made the mistake of a few important business decisions on colleagues’ opinions instead of conducting the necessary to make a wise decision. It wasn’t due to on my part; no one could ever accuse me of that. But, being to Wall Street, I intended to suppose that my more senior knew more than I did, and so I too much significance to their opinions.
You know what happened? Each of those investments ended in . Eventually I stopped allowing myself to be influenced by and began doing the work myself and making my own decisions. It took me until I was almost 30 years old to this—it’s never too late for a person to change his approach both to and to life.
A．easy B． ready C． unwilling D． hard
A．lead B． lend C． take D． earn
A．look at B． pick up C． turn to D． learn from
A．that B． since C． when D． while
A．useless B． useful C． priceless D． clever
A．getting B． making C． suffering D． facing
A．on one hand B． on your own C． on the whole D． on all sides
A．born B． tired C． satisfied D． covered
A．enjoy B． step C． plan D． take
A． assumption B． judgment C． condition D． fortune
A． basing B． depending C． relying D． focusing
A． research B． search C． resources D． activity
A． poverty B． laziness C． richness D． diligence
A． used B． accustomed C． new D． old
A． students B． brothers C． colleagues D． classmates
A． owed B． paid C． gave D． held
A． disaster B． progress C． failure D． success
A． either B． another C． each D． others
A． think B． remember C． realize D． recall
A． payment B． dreams C． happiness D． business
So tired as I was, I bothered myself to open up my cafe shop on the cold morning. With many consumers streaming in, I knew another long business day began. And I had to serve far into the night.
As I rushed among the tables, suddenly, a asked if I could mind a child. I was quite but I could tell the man was quite desperate（绝望的）. So I had to make a with him that if he wanted his son to stay and wait for him, he had to something in the shop.
This was quite for the man to do; I could he was quite poor by the he was dressed. It looked as if he had tried to come in his clothes. But they still looked a bit old and worn out he had often worn them, just to make himself look best. Looking down I could see his were also a bit shabby（破旧的）and the heels（鞋后跟）were in a terrible state. I thought he was going for a job interview. In the end he bought a small box of for his little son and seated him down in the corner. I could tell the boy was feeling down and only could with a bit of cheering up.
Seeing that the kid sat there for quite a while, I was a bit as the poor little kid was sitting his own. People watched him and some kids even came over to pick on him. I was to see one of them even knocked his cookies off the table. He quickly went and got them back without saying a word. I was hoping his father would up and come back for his son's .
At closing time, the only person left was the little boy. After a while, the father finally came in with a tiresome look. I he didn't get any job. As they were leaving, I offered the kid a little cake, but the man rejected（拒绝）it. I he felt as if I had just abused（虐待）him. Of course I didn't mean to. But I could understand why he felt like that. I only wished them good whatever happened.
The man opened the door to leave — father and son hand in hand.
A．voice B．sound C．noise D．tune
A．pleased B．frightened C．annoyed D．interested
A．deal B．decision C．promise D．date
A．leave B．buy C．do D．eat
A．easy B．natural C．hard D．possible
A．explain B．prove C．think D．tell
A．manner B．means C．method D．way
A．poorest B．best C．prettiest D．oldest
A．even though B．so that C．as if D．now that
A．socks B．gloves C．pants D．shoes
A．sweets B．cigarettes C．cookies D．cakes
A．laugh B．speak C．do D．help
A．relaxed B．nervous C．satisfied D．worried
A．on B．of C．by D．for
A．touched B．disappointed C．astonished D．excited
A．hurry B．give C．turn D．run
A．chance B．benefit C．future D．job
A．hoped B．imagined C．doubted D．guessed
A．clarified（分类） B．assumed C．confused D．ignored
A．luck B．progress C．supper D．night
A couple were having a wedding. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely and all had a wonderful time. The bride was in her white wedding gown and the groom was very handsome. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a , “Each of us will write a list of things we find a bit with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can them and make our lives happier.” The husband agreed. So they went to think of the things that annoyed them about the other.
The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided they would go over their .
“I’ll start,” said the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “Nothing.” the husband replied,“ reading your list.”
The wife continued to read until she had read all three to her husband.
“Now, it’s your turn and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists.” she said happily.
the husband stated，“I don’t have anything on my list. I think you are the way that you are. I don’t want you to change anything for me.”
The wife by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time seeking the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the things before us?
A．house B．factory C．ceremony D．church
A．attractive B．nervous C．serious D．strict
A．preparation B．order C．shame D．suggestion
A．annoying B．exciting C．interesting D．puzzling
A．adopt B．keep C．make D．fix
A．celebration B．table C．lists D．document
A．Keep on B．Put on C．Call on D．Get on
A．attacks B．items C．annoyances D．pages
A．Nervously B．Calmly C．Angrily D．Anxiously
A．outgoing B．careful C．perfect D．beautiful
A．shocked B．moved C．disappointed D．threatened
A．bad B．wonderful C．wrong D．horrible
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从文后所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出一个可以填入空白处的最佳答案。
My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other , including her“sixth sense”, that she rarely gives the impression that she's anything.
Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, that she doesn't push too hard on them, really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, and she moves around so fast that often don't realize she's blind.
I this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was excited about her finger-painting project.
“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle with us”.
To my great , my child had learned about color from a blind friend! Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never known how good finger paints felt Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.
I realized Kayla didn't know that Michelle was blind. It had just never in conversation. When I told my daughter that Michelle was blind, she was for a moment. At first, she didn't believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla . And I knew my child was because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her art work. Michelle had also heard Kayla's in her work.
We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my .”
Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.
A．senses B．means C．methods D．ways
A．enjoyed B．found C．missed D．lost
A．instead B．except C．since D．but
A．who B．it C．she D．which
A．guests B．family C．children D．friends
A．realized B．heard C．recognized D．witnessed
A．sad B．satisfied C．excited D．enjoyed
A．especially B．not so C．a little D．not at all
A．paint B．draw C．create D．mix
A．stayed B．painted C．talked D．played
A．excitement B．surprise C．delight D．encouragement
A．attitude B．color C．picture D．paper
A．touched B．distinguished C．saw D．understood
A．after B．before C．until D．when
A．turned out B．come up C．referred to D．talked about
A．curious B．quiet C．puzzled D．worried
A．cried B．insisted C．complained D．informed
A．right B．wrong C．worried D．uncertain
A．shortcomings B．difficulties C．pride D．description
A．paper B．eyes C．hands D．pens