【推荐1】One day a professor entered the classroom and told the students about a surprise test. After hearing that, all students were seated and waited for the test to begin. Now, the professor gave the test papers to all students with text facing down on the desk. Once he was done with handing out the test to all students, he asked them to turn the test pages and begin.

Students were confused to see that there was not a question but just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor noticed the students’ facial expressions and told them, “I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students were still confused but got started with the test. At the end of the class, the professor took all answer sheets and started reading each answer from each sheet in front of all students. All of them described about the black dot and tried to explain its position. After the professor finished reading, the whole class was silent.

Now, the professor began to explain, “Don’t worry. I am not going to give you grades for this but I just want you to think about something. Here everyone focused on the black dot and wrote about it but no one wrote about the white paper. The same is with our lives. The white paper embodies our whole life and the black spot problems in our life.

Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate---our friends around us, the job that provides us our livelihood, the miracles we see everyday. Still we just focus on day to day problems like health issues, lack of money, problems in relationships, etc. But we never see that these problems are very small compared to everything we have in our lives.”

1. From the text we learn that _________.

A．the professor gave the students an unexpected test

B．the professor graded the students’ test papers

C．none of the students focused on the black dot

D．the students were unwilling to take the test

2. The underlined word “embodies” in Paragraph 4 probably can be replaced by ________.

A．presents	B．represents
C．empties	D．enriches

3. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Be happy to take tests

B．Life is filled with problems

C．There are many black dots in our life

D．Take eyes off problems and enjoy life

【推荐2】The majority of people on this planet live through ego(自我意识). They feel that they are themselves special, apart from the crowd in some way. Also, they aren't willing to acknowledge other people's special-ness, and feel that they are threatened by the people who are different from them.

Besides, there are many different 'exclusive clubs' which people join under certain conditions, like Colour of skin clubs, Sports clubs, and so on. What many people fail to acknowledge, however, is that there is in fact only one club The Human Being club.

Our diversity is what makes life interesting. I love watching people who dance or create music beautifully, draw out emotions through their acting skills, or are accomplished athletes. I also understand myself well enough to know that I don't have enough passion for any of these things to make the sacrifices necessary to come close to their level of excellence.

I believe that it is human nature to communicate and cooperate with people who are like us, but what a lot of people see as 'like us' is narrowed down to very superficial(表面) characteristics. I remember my Jamaican friend's sister being most put out. She had been the only black woman in her company and then another black woman was employed. They were automatically put to work together because they were both black and obviously had a lot in common - so thought the employer! The truth was that they had nothing in common, didn't come from the same country and actively disliked each other. It's always a mistake to assume anything on a purely superficial basis.

I have many friends who are members of a variety of the above mentioned clubs and each one of them has taught me so much about different cultures and life styles, and has enriched my life in the process. I encourage anyone to strike up a conversation with someone who doesn't look like them - you might be surprised at exactly how much you have in common.

1. According to the first two paragraphs people tend to _________.

A．feel they are special	B．feel they are lack of ego
C．admit others are special	D．admit only one club exist

2. How is the Paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By analyzing causes.	B．By setting an example.
C．By giving a description.	D．By making comparisons.

3. The author mentioned his Jamaican friend’s sister to show ___________.

A．black women have a lot in common indeed

B．it is human nature to cooperate with people

C．people understand “like us” in a narrow way

D．people often make mistakes in judging others

4. What does the author advise people to do in the last paragraph?

A．To enrich their own life.	B．To join an exclusive club.
C．To talk to different people.	D．To experience different life.

【推荐3】In my living room, there is a plaque (匾) that advises me to “Bloom (开花) where you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s, when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. The job responsibilities required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothy stands out in my memory as one who “bloomed” in her remote area.

Dorothy taught in a school In Harlan County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain area. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road winding around the mountain. In the eight-mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving the possibility of getting caught by the same train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of hopelessness.

From the moment of my arrival at the little school, all gloom (忧郁) disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy’s classroom, I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children had been prepared to show me their latest projects. Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for “dinner” (lunch). In case you don’t know, poke greens are a weed-type plant that grows wild, especially on poor ground.

Dorothy never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooled down. When it came time to sit for the testing and interviewing required to receive her Child Development Associate Certification, Dorothy was ready. She came to the assessment(评价) and passed in all areas. Afterward, she invited me to the one-and-only steak house in the area to celebrate her victory, as if she had received her Ph. D. degree. After the meal, she placed a little box containing an old pen in my hand. She said it was a family heirloom (传家宝), but to me it is a treasured symbol of appreciation and pride that cannot be matched with things.

1. Upon arriving at the classroom, the author was cheered up by __________.

A．a warm welcome	B．the sight of poke greens
C．Dorothy’s latest projects	D．a big dinner made for her

2. What can we know about Dorothy from the last paragraph?

A．She was invited to a celebration at a restaurant.

B．She got a pen as a gift from the author.

C．She passed the required assessment.

D．She received her Ph. D. degree.

3. What does the author mainly intend to tell us?

A．Whatever you do, you must do it carefully.

B．Whoever you are, you deserve equal treatment.

C．However poor you are, you have the right to education,

D．Wherever you are, you can be successful and accomplish(获得) your achievement.

【推荐2】It is 4:45 am in Samasati village in north-western Zambia and the Chimwanga family, champion beekeepers of the village, are already on their way to collect honey from one of their many hives（蜂房）. Samasati has been famous for beekeeping but it is only in the last ten years that the business has begun to make a difference to the lives of the producers, since they began to trade through an organization guaranteeing them a fair price for their crop.

Samasati is a beautiful place, where nature provides and pollution is non-existent. Here, 61 miles from the nearest telephone or source of electricity, the 322 inhabitants support themselves from the forest and rivers and the only income available to the villagers is from selling their honey.

It is a half-hour walk from the Chimwangas’ house to the hive. On reaching the site, the Chimwangas tear off low, leaf-covered branches from nearby trees. They place these in a pile on the ground as a bundle（捆）and put some dry plants in the middle. A match then sets the plants alight and thick smoke is produced as the fire spreads from the dry plants to the green leaves.

Mr. Chimwanga climbs quickly up the tree trunk and moves carefully along a branch towards the hanging hive, carrying the smoking bundle with him. When he reaches the hive, he waves smoke into the entrance to calm the bees. The bees circle his head continuously. Unafraid, he pulls up a bucket and fills it with the precious delicious honey, fragrant but not too sweet ‒ the result of hundreds of wild flowers the bees have enjoyed in the forest.

This honey is sold straight to the exporting company, North West Bee Products, through Bon Malichi. He is the vital middleman for the beekeepers. Bob believes the honey is Zambia’s future. “Our honey is produced without adding anything.” he says. The honey is transported to Dares Salaam, in neighbouring country Tanzania, for export. Within a month of a Zambian beekeeper climbing to his hive, his honey can be spread on bread anywhere in the world.

1. What are the Chimwanga family going out so early to do?

A．Look for bees.

B．Get honey in the forest.

C．Make honey for trading.

D．Sell their honey crop.

2. Mr. Chimwanga lit dry plants in order to ________.

A．get light and see the hives clearly

B．scare away the bees by thick smoke

C．produce smoke to protect him from the bees

D．keep warm by the burning plants

3. Why does Bob believe the honey is Zambia’s future?

A．It is popular for its superior quality.

B．It has a large quantity of production.

C．He can guarantee a fair price for it.

D．He can help export it to neighboring countries.

4. What can we learn about Samasati from the text?

A．It enjoys beautiful nature and less pollution.

B．It has an abundant supply of electricity.

C．It is well known for processing honey.

D．It is a small, poor and backward village.

【推荐3】The teacher who did the most to encourage me was, as it happens, my aunt. She was Myrtle C. Manigault, the wife of my mother’s brother Bill. She taught me in second grade at all-black Summer School in Camden, New Jersey.
During my childhood and youth, Aunt Myrtle encouraged me to develop every aspect of my potential, without regard for what was considered practical or possible for black females. I liked to sing; she listened to my voice and pronounced it good. I couldn’t dance; she taught me the basic dancing steps. She took me to the theatre—not just children’s theatre, but adult comedies and dramas—and her faith that I could appreciate adult plays was not disappointed.
My aunt also took down books from her extensive library and shared them with me. I had books at home, but they were all serious classics. Even as a child I had a strong liking for humour, and I’ll never forget the joy of discovering Don Marquis’s Archy & Mehitabel through her.
Most important, perhaps, Aunt Myrtle provided my first opportunity to write for publication. A writer herself for one of the black newspapers, she suggested my name to the editor as a “youth columnist”. My column, begun when I was fourteen, was supposed to cover teenage social activities—and it did—but it also gave me the freedom to write on many other subjects as well as the habit of gathering material, the discipline of meeting deadlines, and, after graduation from college six years later, a solid collection of published material that carried my name and was my passport to a series of writing jobs.
Today Aunt Myrtle is still an enthusiastic supporter of her “favourite niece”. Like a diamond, she has reflected a bright, multifaceted (多面的) image of possibilities to every pupil who has crossed her path.
1. Which of the following did Aunt Myrtle do to the author during her childhood and youth?

A．She lent her some serious classics.

B．She cultivated her taste for music.

C．She discovered her talent for dancing.

D．She introduced her to adult plays.

2. What does Archy and Mehitabel in Paragraph 3 probably refer to?

A．A book of great fun.	B．A writer of high fame.
C．A serious masterpiece.	D．A heartbreaking play.

3. Aunt Myrtle recommended the author to a newspaper editor mainly to ______.

A．develop her capabilities for writing

B．give her a chance to collect material

C．involve her in teenage social activities

D．offer her a series of writing jobs

4. We can conclude from the passage that Aunt Myrtle was a teacher who ______.

A．trained pupils to be diligent and well-disciplined

B．gave pupils confidence in exploiting their potential

C．emphasized what was practical or possible for pupils.

D．helped pupils overcome difficulties in learning

【推荐1】Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy—they’re given after all. Choice can be hard.

I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building all online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be all inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.

I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job. ”That 1ogic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.

After much consideration , I took the less safe path to follow my passion , and I’m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choice.

1. What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?

A．His dream of being an inventor.

B．The support of his wife.

C．The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.

D．Millions of exciting titles,

2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?

A．The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.

B．He would be very excited if he tried it out.

C．Be would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try.

D．The decision to not try the online bookstore would terrify him.

3. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Cleverness and Kindness	B．The Starting of Amazon
C．Following My Passion	D．We Are What We Choose

4. We can know from the passage that_______.

A．the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author

B．the author wanted someone else to try the idea

C．the author might not regret if he failed the idea

D．the author might go back to his boss if he failed

【推荐3】Throwing a rock into a calm body of water creates a ripple (波纹) effect across the calm water, until those ripples reach the edge of the water. It also explains how our actions affect other people. When we show love and kindness to others, the powerful effect of our actions spreads out further. The same goes for dislike or anger. It is important that we should begin being more thoughtful about our actions and words.

Love can reach so many different people, making it a powerful force in the world. Anger has the same effect. The world would be a better place if we learn to love and show kindness to others. We can’t always control what others do, but we have power over our actions and contribute our own ripples into the world.

We don’t always know the effect that our actions have on others. There will be times when you are angry. Some people may feel a sense of short-lived relief when they throw a rock of anger into the world, but that feeling usually changes into shame and anger towards oneself eventually. Anger hurts yourself and the world in the meanwhile. I suggest walking away for a while when you feel angry. Spreading love and kindness not only has positive effects on others but also on ourselves. You get to enjoy it, and the people around you can enjoy it too. Personally, I feel my best when I help others and I feel my worst when I’ve made someone upset. When we put kindness into the world, we'll feel thankfulness, sympathy, and understanding. Let my kindness guide my decisions and this allows love and connection to ripple out into the world.

It’s important that we take care of ourselves when we show love and kindness for others. When we love ourselves, we re then able to love others. And when we let this love and kindness guide our decisions, the world will become more beautiful.

1. For what reason does the author mention the experience of throwing a rock into a pond?

A．To share the very interesting experience.	B．To inform readers of a new theory.
C．To stress the importance of his life experience.	D．To introduce the topic of this text.

2. According to the text, which of the following description about anger is NOT true?

A．Anger is a powerful force that can reach other people.

B．Anger can hurt both ourselves and the others.

C．Throwing anger to the world, one may get a sense of eventual relief.

D．Throwing anger to the world, one may get self-directed shame and anger.

3. How is the third paragraph mainly developed?

A．By referring to a theory.	B．By giving some examples.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By analyzing cause and effect.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Dislike usually leads to shame and anger in the end.

B．Love and kindness make the world much more beautiful.

C．Kindness or anger ripples out to other people nearby.

D．Anger has a similar effect on our actions to kindness.