【推荐1】Today I’m glad to be here to share with you my idea of success. What’s your idea about success? Some people say that beginners have all the luck, while others believe that success comes only with practice. In fact, I feel both of these statements are not true all the time. Each is true in some ways but not in others.

For example, I went to a drawing competition many years ago and won first prize surprisingly. As a prize, I got a film ticket to see Titanic. I was really lucky because it was the first time I had taken part in a competition. Thinking that I might be lucky again, I tried joining in other art competitions. But the result was that I never won again. I accepted the fact that the other people had a greater artistic ability than I did. Art was not what I was especially interested in and I had never practiced the different art skills. So, the drawings I produced were not of a very high standard.

These experiences taught me a lot. Though I might have been lucky at first, I also need to put in hard work. As we know, practice makes perfect. So I believe success builds on less luck and chance.

1. Which of the following is TRUE about the writer’s first competition?

A．He won the second prize.	B．He got a ticket to a zoo.
C．He didn’t win anything.	D．He got a good result.

2. From the passage we know           .

A．the writer was always lucky.	B．the writer often practiced art skills.
C．the writer didn’t do well in art.	D．the writer had a great talent for art.

3. The writer thinks           .

A．success builds on hard work.	B．success builds on good chance.
C．practice isn’t very useful or helpful.	D．luck is the most important for everyone.

4. What’s the general idea of the passage?

A．What is success.	B．Success is important.
C．My idea of success.	D．Everyone can succeed.

【推荐2】I grew up in a middle-class household in Australia. In terms of safety and standard of living，a comfortable lifestyle is all I ever knew，and as a result，I was not aware just how lucky I was.

It was a Monday，and a teacher told us about an oversea mission trip to Cambodia. I had never been overseas before，and I knew absolutely nothing about Cambodia，but something inside of me knew l needed to go on this trip.

I spent the next few months working on S7. 25 hourly wage at an awful fast food chain，saving every penny I earned. Just days before the trip was set to depart，I managed to hit my target.

I will never forget the moment I nervously stepped off the plane in Cambodia. I vividly recall the sight of malnourished （营养不良）children begging for money tearing at my heart. I saw what true poverty looked like as we went to hand food packages out at a massive garbage dump in the city，home to thousands of families，many of whom were forced to seek for food among the rubbish.

On the following days，I played with children who，despite living in hard conditions, were overflowing with joy and happiness. I met families who，despite having nothing，were some of the kindest people I'd ever met. For the first time，my eyes were opened to the reality that happiness is not defined by money. People here were rich in relationships and community，and shared with each other the little that they had.

Through the trip，I began to see the value of learning from people of other races，cultures and religions. I finally saw that there was a much bigger world outside of my little one，and experienced first-hand the beauty of human diversity.

1. How did the author react when hearing about the overseas mission trip?

A．she considered it a little bit risky.

B．She really looked forward to taking it.

C．She hesitated in the first place.

D．She imagined a lot about Cambodia.

2. How did the author feel when she saw the children at first?

A．Upset	B．Bored
C．Moved	D．Inspired

3. What did the author think of the locals after getting along with them?

A．They considered wealth very important.

B．They were poor but had their simple pleasure

C．They struggled very hard to become rich.

D．They were really bad at building relationships.

4. What was the biggest benefit the author got from the trip?

A．She got some work experience.

B．She learnt to be independent.

C．She made friends with some locals.

D．She learned about the outside world.

【推荐3】Years ago, I lived in a building in a large city.     1     There was a woman living there, and I had never met her, yet I could see she sat by her window each afternoon, sewing or reading.

After several months had gone by, I began to notice that her window was dirty.     2     I would say to myself. “I wonder why that woman doesn’t wash her window. It really looks terrible.”

One bright morning I decided to clean my apartment, including washing the window on the inside.

Late in the afternoon when I finished the cleaning, I sat down by the window with a cup of coffee for a rest. What a surprise ! Across the way, the woman sitting by her window was clearly visible (看见).     3    

Then I came to understand that I had been criticizing (批评) her dirty window, but all the time I was watching hers through my own dirty window.

    4     How often had I looked at and criticized others through the dirty window of my heart, through my own shortcomings (缺点)?

Since then, whenever I wanted to judge someone, I asked myself first, “Am I looking at him through my own dirty window?”     5    

A．Her window was clean!

B．She got on quite well with her neighbors.

C．I should respect others’ opinions and beliefs.

D．That was quite an important lesson for me.

E．Everything was unclear through the dirty window.

F．The next building was only a few feet away from mine.

G．I try to clean the window of my own world to see the world about me more clearly.

【推荐1】Spring is coming, and it is time for those about to graduate to look for jobs. Competition is tough, so job seekers must carefully consider their personal choices. Whatever we are wearing, our family and friends may accept us, but the workplace may not.

A high school newspaper editor said it is unfair for companies to discourage visible tattoos(纹身), nose rings, or certain dress styles. It is true you can’t judge a book by its cover, yet people do “cover” themselves in order to convey certain messages. What we wear, including tattoos and nose rings, is an expression of who we are. Just as people convey messages about themselves with their appearances, so do companies. Dress standards exist in the business world for a number of reasons, but the main concern is often about what customers accept.

Others may say how to dress is a matter of personal freedom, but for businesses it is more about whether to make or lose money. Most employers do care about the personal appearances of their employees, because those people represent the companies to their customers.

As a hiring manager I am paid to choose the people who would make the best impression on our customers. There are plenty of well－qualified candidates, so it is not wrong to reject someone who might disappoint my customers. Even though I am open－minded, I can’t expect all our customers are.

There is nobody to blame but yourself if your set of choices does not match that of your preferred employer. No company should have to change to satisfy a candidate simply because he or she is unwilling to respect its standards, as long as its standards are legal.

1. Which of the following is the newspaper editor’s opinion according to Paragraph 2?

A．People’s appearances convey messages about themselves.

B．Customers’ choices influence dress standards in companies.

C．Candidates with tattoos or nose rings should be fairly treated.

D．Strange dress styles should not be encouraged in the workplace.

2. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Candidates have to wear what companies prefer for an interview.

B．Hiring managers make the best impression on their candidates.

C．Companies sometimes have to change to respect their candidates.

D．What to wear is not a matter of personal choice for companies.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined world “reject” in Paragraph 4?

A．remind

B．repeat

C．refuse

D．reserve

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Personal Choices Matter	B．Appearances Matter
C．Employees Matter	D．Hiring Managers Matter

5. The author’s attitude towards strange dress styles in the workplace may be described to be ________.

A．negative

B．positive

C．enthusiastic

D．sympathetic

【推荐2】Earlier this year, my family experienced an unexpected tragedy. The kind of tragedy which knocks you out of yourself and turns your whole world upside down. A tragedy which also caused me to be out of work for three months. It was completely unforeseen and I had no time to put together an out-of-office plan.

I’ve worked at previous companies where this kind of tragedy would have been handled professionally; I would have been given the legally-required money and asked to leave. But at SAS Institute (an American developer of analytics software), my team stepped in and filled in with no questions or hesitations. My work was not left undone. My clients (客户) were patient when those picking up the pieces of projects unrelated to them needed some time to get familiar with the work. My management and colleagues checked on my family regularly. At last, my manager, my entire team and Human Resources Department helped me back to work at my own pace. They even changed my workspace over a weekend to better suit my personal needs before I even came back to work.

You see, SAS creates a family. The special attention to employee happiness and work/life balance makes that family possible. The flexible work environment enables most employees to create a schedule that best suits their personal needs — whether it’s attending a school play or taking an aging parent to the doctor. The Work/Life Office has a wealth of resources for college planning, anger management, sorrow, etc. But, as you can see, it doesn’t stop there. Most employees believe that SAS is their family. We rely on each other. We help each other succeed. We celebrate team successes. We hang out after work. Our kids play together. We laugh together and cry together.

Sure, we have a lot of convenience benefits at SAS. But, what really makes a difference to me is the SAS culture that the outside world doesn’t always see: The balance. The companionship. The management support. The family it allows me to have.

I’m so eager for others to see the side of SAS that I see every day.

1. After the tragedy, the author       .

A．changed his job	B．felt very hopeless
C．was sick for three months	D．turned to his colleagues for help

2. What did the author’s colleagues do for him during his absence?

A．They raised money to help him.

B．They visited his family every weekend.

C．They asked his clients to wait for him to return.

D．They moved his office desk to a convenient place.

3. By saying the underlined words “SAS creates a family” in Paragraph 3, the author means       .

A．the employees feel at home at SAS	B．SAS often organizes family get-togethers
C．many SAS employees have become couples	D．the offices at SAS are decorated like families

4. The author writes the text mainly to       .

A．tell his life experience	B．introduce SAS culture
C．encourage people to join SAS	D．explain the importance of family

【推荐3】Welcome to The English Garden Shop.
These garden tools are chosen for us by our partners at Quality Garden Tools. All items are discounted. Quality Garden Tools aims to deliver from stock in 48 hours. All items are covered by manufacturer’s guarantees. Postage and packing is just £3. 95 on orders under £l00 and free thereafter.

	HAWS 8.8 LITER PROFESSIONAL LONG REACH CAN GREEN A fabulous professional British made watering can in traditional green. The Haws green 8. 8 liter long reach watering can is given a powder coated painted finish for maximum protection. This can is perfectly balanced and the long spout makes watering the back of beds and borders very easy. Order code: HG88WC OUR PRICE: £52. 95
	ARS 1000L LIGHTWEIGHT HEDGE SHEARS These ARS hedge shears are really difficult to find! Made in Japan, they are some of the very best available, especially for shaping work. These shears are lightweight and perfectly balanced for maximum fort. The blades are very sharp and are made of hard carbon steel. The handles are made of aluminum for both strength and reducing weight. Length: 650 mm. Order code: ARSHS-EG PRICE: £69.95
	BULLDOG STRAPPED DIGGING SPADE & FORK SET A really traditional set of garden tools (just like Granddad used to have!). Both the spade and fork are made in the UK and are strapped for extra strength. The handles are traditionally all made of top quality wood and the spade has treads to save your boots. Order code: BSDTS-EG A GREAT SAVING on the £128. 89
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1. According to the information above, customers may choose the items for a certain reason EXCEPT________.

A．designed package	B．favorable prices
C．fast delivery	D．quality guarantee

2. If you buy a garden tool made of steel and aluminum, you need pay ________.

A．£52. 95

B．£128.89

C．£69. 95

D．£13. 15

3. You don’t have to pay for the postage if you buy ______.

A．SPEAR & JACKSON TROWEL

B．DIGGING SPADE & FORK SET

C．LIGHTWEIGHT HEDGE SHEARS

D．HAWS LONG REACH CAN GREEN

4. The underlined word “workhorse” is closest in meaning with ______.

A．maker

B．digger

C．speaker

D．laborer

【推荐1】My neighbor Mrs. Gargan first told me about it. “Have you seen the tree?” She asked as I was sitting in the backyard enjoying the autumn twilight （暮色）. “The one down at the corner,” she explained. “It’s a beautiful tree—all kinds of colors. All the passers-by stop to have a look. You ought to see it.” I told her I would, but I soon forgot about the tree. Three days later, I was jogging down the street when a splash of bright orange caught my eyes. For an instant, I thought someone’s house had caught fire. Then I remembered the tree.
I approached the tree to look at it closely. There was nothing remarkable about the shape of the tree. It was a medium-sized maple. But Mrs. Gargan had been right about its colors. Like the mess of an artist’s palette（调色板）, the tree blazed a bright crimson（深红色）on its lower branches and burned with vivid yellows and oranges in its center, and deep red at its top. Through these colors were light green leaves as yet untouched by autumn.
Walking closer I noticed several bare branches near the top, their small black branches scratching the air like claws. The fallen leaves lay like a red carpet around the trunk.
As I was amazed at this beauty, I thought of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s comments about the stars. “If the constellations（星座）appeared only once in a thousand years, imagine what an exciting event it would be. But because they’re up there every night, we barely give them a look,” he made a remark in Nature.
I felt the same way about the tree. Because its beauty will last only a week, it should be especially precious to us. And I had almost missed it.
Once in the 19th century when a man noticed a brilliant display of northern lights（北极光）in the sky over Massachusetts, he rang a church bell to alert the whole town’s people. That’s what I felt like doing about the tree. I wanted to awake the countryside to its wonder.
I didn’t have a church bell, but as I walked home, I did ask each neighbor I passed the same simple but important question Mrs. Gargan had asked me: “Have you seen the tree?”.
1. What did the author’s neighbor remind him?

A．To appreciate the beauty of the sunset.

B．To find what happened at the street corner.

C．To draw a picture of a tree.

D．To enjoy the beautiful tree in all colors.

2. From the passage we know _________.

A．the author felt it precious to see the beauty of the tree

B．the author thought of the stars as beautiful as the tree

C．the remarkable scene of the tree only appeared in a thousand years

D．People never had a close look at the tree

3. How did the author call on people to enjoy the wonder?

A．He rang the church bell.

B．He passed on the same question.

C．He awakened all neighbors up.

D．He required people to the corner.

4. The best title of the passage can be ________.

A．Have You Seen the Tree?

B．The Most Beautiful Tree

C．One of the Wonders in Nature

D．The Precious Moment in Life

【推荐1】Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic has, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.

“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700 BC, is generally regarded as one of mankind's earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.

When the wind is from the west

All the waves that cannot rest

To the east must thunder on

Where the bright tree of the sun

Is rooted in the ocean 's breast

As the poem suggests, the Atlantic is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing, and whistling.

It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath——perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters are bathing up and down a sandy beach. It imitates nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with symbiotic existences, too; little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.

1. Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is___________.

A．always energetic	B．lacking in liveliness
C．shaped like a square	D．favored by ancient poets

2. What is the purpose of using the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?

A．To describe the movement of the waves.	B．To show the strength of the storm.
C．To represent the vitality of the ocean.	D．To prove the vastness of the ocean.

3. What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?

A．Living together.	B．Growing fast.
C．Moving harmoniously.	D．Breathing peacefully.

4. In the last paragraph, the Atlantic is compared to        .

A．a beautiful and poetic place	B．a living person
C．a wonderful world	D．a perfect animal

【推荐2】It may not come as a surprise but the world as a whole is getting richer. Some people have more disposable(可自由支配的)income to spend on luxuries such as holidays, cars, TVs and smart phones. Recent data has shown that the number of people living in extreme poverty has halved in recent decades. So should we celebrate the fact that more of us now have a better standard of living?

Maybe not. While the gap between the rich and the poor in some countries is narrowing, there is still a lot of inequality in other places-some people have a lot of money and opportunities and others don't. A recent report by Oxfam and Credit Suisse revealed how divided many of us are when it comes to wealth. A lot of the money in the world is in the hands of very few people. In fact, 48% of global wealth is owned by the richest l% of the population.

But some countries are attempting to reduce this inequality and make the poor, less poor. According to David Bryer from Oxfam, Brazil has been taking "some really sensible measures--measures around having more progressive tax, around investing in a higher minimum wage and investing in central public services." Having a higher minimum wage can help people eat better and seek a better education. And more people with more money buy more things-and factories can produce more. In turn, a factory which produces more will need more workers. So, more jobs are created.

Other wealthy individuals are doing their bit to help reduce inequality. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, earned a lot of money from his company but when he retired, he and his wife Melinda, created a foundation to help the poor. He thinks that rich people should, of course, pay their taxes but he also advises that they should all "look at taking their wealth and being philanthropic (乐善好施的 ) , both in their own country and to help the global poorest."

Bill Gates feels that giving money to help poor people is "fulfilling". But if other super-rich people don't want to experience this fulfillment then, according to Oxfam, very soon the wealthiest l% will soon own more money than the rest of the world's population. Do you think that is fair?

1. The first two paragraphs mainly tell us _________.

A．the poverty and inequality in a richer world

B．some sensible measures to make the 'poor less poor

C．the increase of global wealth in recent decades

D．the narrowing gap between the rich and the poor

2. What is the government in Brazil doing to the minimum wage?

A．Limiting it.	B．Increasing it.
C．Making it lower.	D．Setting it free.

3. What do Bill and Melinda Gates think very rich people should do with some of their money?

A．Spend it on their luxuries.	B．Give it to help the poor.
C．Invest it in their business.	D．Hand it over to their children.

【推荐3】Hawaii is full of attractions, beach parks and gathering places. Looking for something new and lesser-known? Check out these public parks throughout the islands.

Kapiolani Park (Oahu)

Located in the shadow of Diamond Head close to Waikiki Beach, there's a lot to love about Kapiolani Park. It was the first public space in Hawaii, (treated in 1877 by the last king of Hawaii, David Kalakaua, who named it after his wife, Queen Kapiolani. Ifs a nice place to get a glimpse of local life in Waikiki.

Opening time: Sunday to Saturday.

Waihee Beach Park (Maui)

Located off the main tourist trail, on the lesser - visited northeast coast of Maui, is Waihee Beach Park. The beach is small but scenic, with views looking north at the mountains and plenty of shade. Though narrow, the beach is long, making it perfect for a morning or evening walk.

Opening time: Except Tuesday.

Prince Kuhio Park (Kauai)

Prince Kuhio Park on Kauai is a monument to Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole. Close to Poipu Beach, the park has a nice view of the ocean. To the naked eye, that’s about it. But this Park serves as an opportunity to learn more about the lesser-known Kalanianaole, who is so respected in Hawaii that his birthday, March 26th, is a state holiday. Read up on his contributions to Hawaii and have a peaceful afternoon.

Opening time: Weekends.

Liliuokalani Park (Big Island)

Most visitors to Hilo are so focused on Hawaii Volcanoes National Park that they don’t take time to experience the town itself. It is in and around the waterfront park, Liliuokalani Park, that you can get the best glimpse of local life. Hilo has a strong waterfront presence. Liliuokalani Park at sunset is especially nice, thanks to its ocean views.

Opening time: Tuesday to Sunday.

1. Which park is an ideal place for evening walk?

A．Kapiolani Park.	B．Waihee Beach Park.
C．Prince Kuhio Park.	D．Liliuokalani Park.

2. On what day can one visit Prince Kuhio Park?

A．Monday.

B．Wednesday.

C．Friday.

D．Sunday.

3. Which of the following best describes the four parks?

A．Underrated.

B．Romantic.

C．Historic.

D．Well-known.