【推荐1】“We regret to inform you...” These are the words that every writer is afraid of receiving. When the response from a publisher comes back, the writers’ hearts drop. You may have spent years giving up your weekends to write your work, yet still this is often not enough. Everyone knows that success rarely happens overnight, but perhaps not many know that a lot of highly successful writers have been rejected before.

Take for example J. K. Rowling. Rowling had spent years surviving on little money, spending all her time writing. When she finally finished her first book, she received comments from publishers along the lines of “too difficult for children”. However, she kept going. “I wasn’t going to give up until every single publisher turned me down,” she later posted. After a total of twelve rejections, one publisher eventually agreed to print 500 copies of her first book, and as we know, Harry Potter became a global success, with over 400 million books sold and translated into more than seventy different languages.

Another example about persistence was the three sisters from Victorian England. At that time women were not encouraged to become writers. As a famous writer wrote to one of them: “Literature cannot be the business of a woman’s life, and it ought not to be.” However, the sisters didn’t stop trying. Their response was to write a book of poems under male names. Even when the book sold only two copies, the sisters still didn’t give up. They started writing novels, and today Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey are regarded as classics of world literature.

So, it seems that talent alone isn’t enough to ensure success. While a lot of hard work and a touch of luck play a part, persistence is the key. Keep trying and eventually you will read the words “We are delighted to inform you...”

1. What can we learn from J. K. Rowling’s experience with publishers?

A．Rejections from publishers are always fair.

B．Keep going even if you face lots of rejections.

C．Writers should give up after a few rejections.

D．Success comes overnight if you’re talented enough.

2. How did the three sisters respond to the challenges for women in literature at their time?

A．They stopped writing for a short time.

B．They became poets instead of novelists.

C．They followed social rules and quit writing.

D．They used male pen names for their writing.

3. Which can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Successful Female Writers

B．Life Is Hard for Female Writers

C．Never Give Up on Your Dreams

D．Talent Alone Can Ensure Success

【推荐2】One day last summer, watching the boys and girls trying to catch butterflies I remembered something happened when I was young．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. No musician can sing more beautiful than the birds. I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, the bird flied about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out, and on the second day my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my bird was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken good care of my little bird.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in cage.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
1. Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?

A．He had just got a new cage.

B．He liked its beautiful feather.

C．He wanted a pet for a companion.

D．He wanted it to sing for him.

2. The mockingbird died because it ______.

A．drank the poisonous water by mistake

B．was frightened to death

C．refused to eat anything

D．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it

3. An ornithologist probably means ______.

A．a religious person	B．a kind person
C．an expert in birds	D．a schoolmaster

4. What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?

A．Freedom is very valuable to all living things.

B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long.

C．You should keep the birds from their mother.

D．Be careful about food you give to baby birds.

【推荐3】Think of the last time you disagreed with another person. Maybe you argued with a sibling (兄弟，姊妹) over what to watch on TV. Or perhaps you tried to convince grown-ups that ice cream makes a better dinner than vegetables. How did your disagreement end? Were you able to see the issue from the other person’s viewpoint?

In many situations, disagreements are unavoidable. They’re part of life. After all, everyone has different opinions. We all have past experiences that shape how we see the world. Still, not all disagreements are bad. In fact, many people look at them as opportunities to learn. They do so by trying to understand where both sides are coming from.

How can you understand both sides of an issue? Often, it’s best to start by asking questions. Questions help us learn about the world around us. The right questions can also help us learn about other people. In a disagreement, asking for more information can help you learn about a person’s viewpoint. It can also lead you to gather more facts. This can paint a better picture of the entire issue.

When seeking to understand both sides of an issue, it’s important to know the difference between facts and opinions. Remember, facts are based on true information. Opinions can change from person to person. Paying attention to facts can stop biases (偏见) from taking over in a disagreement. This can help everyone involved see both sides of the issue.

Maybe you’re wondering why it’s important to understand both sides of an issue, anyway. After all, don’t most people just want to prove that their side is right? Often, that’s true. However, understanding the whole issue can lead to both sides working together.

Disagreements may be uncomfortable at first. However, when both sides truly try to understand each other, they often find they have more in common than they thought. The next time you disagree with other people, try asking them questions about their viewpoints. You never know what you might learn.

1. What does the underlined word “so” refer to in Paragraph 2?

A．Ignoring chances to learn.

B．Knowing more about themselves.

C．Shaping a right way to see the world.

D．Making the disagreements a chance to learn.

2. According to the passage, how can we solve a disagreement?

A．By changing the other’s opinion.

B．By making both sides comfortable.

C．By trying to stand in the other’s shoes.

D．By telling facts and opinions apart.

3. How does the author support his view?

A．By reasoning.	B．By making comparison.
C．By debating.	D．By giving examples.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to people’s arguments?

A．Indifferent.

B．Pessimistic.

C．Positive.

D．Skeptical.

【推荐3】One of the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was Danish scientist Morten Meldal. When describing his career, Meldal said he started out as an engineer but changed to chemistry because he “wanted to understand the world.”

Meldal’s experience may come as a surprise to students. They might believe they have to center their work and school lives in one field to be successful. But a study from professors at Michigan State University shows that is not always the case.

Michele Root-Bernstein and Robert Root-Bernstein (her husband) published their study in the Creativity Research Journal. They said that a large number of Nobel Prize winners can be described as “polymaths”.

The writers looked at past Nobel Prize winners and their students. They decided that when students of winners go on to win Nobel Prizes, some of what they learned from their teachers is how to live a life with many interests. They are, in a way, learning how to be creative.

Having many interests, the Root-Bernsteins wrote, permits scientists to look for creative ways to solve problems. In fact, one important part of science is not discovering answers, but recognizing problems that need to be solved.

The prize winners, the Root-Bernsteins said, transfer “skills, techniques and materials from one field to another.” They said Alexis Carrel won his Nobel Prize in medicine in 1912 by using techniques he learned from the clothing business. He realized that people who used thread to make and fix clothing had a skill that could be used in operations to put new organs into people’s bodies.

The Michigan State University professors study creativity. They found Nobel winners are nine times more likely to have experience in working with wood, metal or in the arts than most scientists. The researchers say that unlike many people who spend long hours at work and give up some of their outside interests, Nobel winners believe their hobbies are important to creativity.

1. What comes as a surprise to students according to the passage?

A．Meldal’s winning Nobel Prize.	B．Meldal’s original working field.
C．Meldal’s desire to understand the world.	D．Meldal’s study with Michigan State University.

2. What kind of people can be sorted as “polymaths”?

A．People who are equipped with various interests.

B．People who only concentrated on just one field.

C．People who are committed lifelong to their career.

D．People who are admired for established achievements.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards the Root-Bernsteins’ discovery?

A．Subjective.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Opposed.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．A Creative Scientist	B．An Amazing Rise to Fame
C．A Born Nobel Prize Winner	D．A Secret to Winning Top Prize