【推荐3】The world we live in is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain. And with it, the conventional thinking of yesterday is no longer sufficient. Creating real breakthrough opportunities requires a fundamental change in our thinking. As Einstein said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

There's no better example of this than the myth of the four-minute mile.

For centuries, runners had been attempting to run a mile in under four minutes. In the 1950s, the attempt to break the barrier took on renewed importance, and a number of famous runners publicly and unsuccessfully attempted the challenge. Many of the newspapers of the day began to question whether humans would ever be able to run a sub-four-minute mile. Then, in 1954, a man named Roger Bannister did the unthinkable. He broke through the imaginary barrier, running the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. It was an amazing achievement.

But here's what's really interesting: it was only forty-six days later that another runner broke Bannister's record. And the following year, two new runners broke the four-minute mark in the same race. Dozens followed, and as of this writing, more than 1,400 runners have accomplished the goal, including one runner who ran two miles in less than eight minutes.

Did something change with respect to human body, track conditions, weather patterns, running shoes, or the human diet between the start of Bannister's race and the few years that followed? No. So what explains the sudden and dramatic explosion of athletic achievement?

The myth's unimaginable power over runners had lifted. What Bunnister had done was not just break the four — minute — mile barrier; he shattered(粉碎)the myth that created the barrier in the first place. This paradigm (榜样)had offered a set of actions available for runners to take. Runners were really free to run through the invented boundary.

Creating breakthroughs requires shattering the myths that limit our imagination and lock us into conventional thinking. Think about your own situation. What myths are you stuck in? And what would be possible if you had the courage to challenge the myths?

1. What is needed to create breakthroughs?

A．Conventional thinking.	B．Changes in our thinking.
C．Complex situation.	D．Einstein's encouragement.

2. What was the real barrier that kept runners succeeding in the four-minute mile?

A．The belief that it was unachievable.

B．Lack of professional training.

C．The poor track conditions.

D．Lack of sufficient diet.

3. The example of Roger Bannister is used to .

A．list a new record in the race	B．prove newspapers are wrong
C．show barrier can be broken	D．call on us to learn from him

4. What does the writer try to explain in Paragraph 6?

A．The power of the myth.

B．The achievements of Bannister.

C．The importance of running freely.

D．The significance of breaking barriers.

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Creating Breakthroughs	B．Accepting the Myths
C．Locking Your Imagination	D．Becoming the Best Athlete

【推荐1】Abraham Lincoln turns 200 this year, and he’s beginning to show his age. When his birthday arrives, on February 12, Congress will hold a special joint session in the Capitol’s National Statuary Hall, a wreath (花环) will be laid at the great memorial in Washington, and a webcast will link school classrooms for a "teach-in" honoring his memory.

Admirable as they are, though, the events will strike many of us Lincoln fans as inadequate, even halfhearted — and another sign that our appreciation for the 16th president and his towering achievements is slipping away. And you don’t have to be a Lincoln enthusiast to believe that this is something we can’t afford to lose.

Compare this year’s celebration with the Lincoln centennial, in 1909. That year, Lincoln’s likeness made its debut on the penny, thanks to approval from the U. S. Secretary of the Treasury. Communities. and civic associations in every comer of the country erupted in parades, concerts, balls, lectures, and military displays. We still feel the effects today: The momentum unloosed in 1909 led to the Lincoln Memorial, opened in 1922, and the Lincoln Highway, the first paved transcontinental thoroughfare (大道) .

The celebrants in 1909 had a few inspirations we lack today. Lincoln’s presidency was still a living memory for countless Americans. In 2009 we are farther in time from the end of the Second World War than they were from the Civil War; families still felt the loss of loved ones from that awful national trauma (创伤) .

But Americans in 1909 had something more: an unembarrassed appreciation for heroes and an acute sense of the way that even long-dead historical figures press in on the present and make us who we are.

One story will illustrate what I’m talking about.

In 2003 a group of local citizens arranged to place a statue of Lincoln in Richmond, Virginia, former capital of the Confederacy (南方联邦). The idea touched off a firestorm of controversy. The Sons of Confederate Veterans held a public conference of carefully selected scholars to “reassess” the legacy of Lincoln. The verdict — no surprise — was negative: Lincoln was labeled everything from a racist totalitarian to a teller of dirty jokes.

I covered the conference as a reporter, but what really unnerved me was a counter-conference of scholars to refute the earlier one. These scholars drew a picture of Lincoln that only our touchy-feely age could recall. The man who oversaw the most savage war in our history was described — by his admirers, remember — as “nonjudgmental,” “unmoralistic,” “comfortable with ambiguity (模棱两可) .”

I felt the way a friend of mine felt as we later watched the unveiling of the Richmond statue in a subdued (征服) ceremony: “But he’s so small!”

The statue in Richmond was indeed small; like nearly every Lincoln statue put up in the past half century, it was life-size and was placed at ground level, a conscious rejection of the heroic — approachable and human, yes, but not something to look up to.

The Richmond episode taught me that Americans have lost the language to explain Lincoln’s greatness even to ourselves. Earlier generations said they wanted their children to be like Lincoln: principled, kind, compassionate, resolute. Today we want Lincoln to be like us.

“This helps to explain the long string of recent books in which writers have presented a Lincoln made after their own image. We’ve had Lincoln as humorist and Lincoln as manic-depressive, Lincoln the business sage, the conservative Lincoln and the liberal Lincoln, the emancipator and the racist, the stoic philosopher, the Christian, the atheist (无神论者) — Lincoln over easy (两面煎的) and Lincoln scrambled (把…搅乱) .

What’s often missing, though, is the timeless Lincoln, the Lincoln whom all generations, our own no less than that of 1909, can lay claim to. Lucky for us, those memorializers from a century ago — and, through them, Lincoln himself — have left us a hint of where to find him. The Lincoln Memorial is the most visited of our presidential monuments. Here is where we find the Lincoln who endures: in the words he left us, defining the country we’ve inherited. Here is the Lincoln who can be endlessly renewed and who, 200 years after his birth, retains the power to renew us.

1. The author thinks that this year’s celebration inadequate and even halfhearted because ________.

A．no Lincoln statue will be unveiled.

B．no memorial coins will be issued.

C．no similar appreciation of Lincoln will be seen.

D．no activities can be compared to those in 1909.

2. In the author’s opinion, the counter-conference ________.

A．approved of the judgment by those carefully selected scholars.

B．offered a brand new reassessment perspective.

C．came up with somewhat favourable conclusions.

D．resulted in similar critical remarks on Lincoln.

3. According to the author, the image Lincoln conceived by contemporary people ________.

A．conforms to traditional images.

B．reflects the present-day tendency of worship.

C．shows the present-day desire to match Lincoln.

D．reveals the variety of current opinions on heroes.

4. Which of the following best explains the implication of the last paragraph?

A．Lincoln’s greatness remains despite the passage of time.

B．The memorial is symbolic of the great man’s achievements.

C．Each generation has its own interpretation of Lincoln.

D．People get to know Lincoln through memorializers.

【推荐2】Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat with tears threatening to ruin my already-trembling façade — but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a blubbering mess of anxiety.

I feel permanently scarred inside churches — no longer admiring their beauty because, over the years, I have received such terrible marks from examiners hiding behind the stained-glass partitions. Despite being 15 — too old, too cool to be frightened — I remember trembling inside the bathroom stalls before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.

But this time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here, a little practice there. And then it happened.

My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. Middle C started to sound like an F-sharp and all other keys sounded like they were a fourth above their natural tone. Thankfully, my precious, boredom-saving buttons still worked. I could still change my piano’s settings from “piano” to “harpsichord .” I admit, it was a lot of fun banging on my wacky keys. Each note bonged like the sound on children’s TV shows when a character repeatedly runs into a wall.

Goofiness aside, I had to get my act together. I hated practicing but I really wanted a good mark. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”

Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came upon a decision: I’d practice at school.

Going to a private school had to have its benefits, so I looked for a place to play. The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, my piano books, my artistic best friend and I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity.

I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and I laughed at the dusty old historic pianos. They really had character. I spent hours in those music rooms while my friend honed her art skills in sketching and drawing. She suffered through my annoying, repetitive scales while I looked over my shoulder once in a while and admired her work. Not only did I become a better musician, but I also managed to gain a few subpar skills as an art critic.

As my exam drew close, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms during recess, after school and late on Fridays. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.

Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually, maybe, kind of proud of my work. And over countless hours spent in my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed. It was like I had developed a sixth sense, one that only musicians could understand.

When I played, my worries about what others thought of me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent musings made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key. Sitting behind a piano and creating music combined the movement of my body and the inner workings of my heart.

Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. I loved the idea of being on a stage and creating something for others to enjoy and remember. Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a feeling that the audience would carry outside into a world where music wasn’t the only thing that people cared for.

When the time came to play in front of an examiner, instead of fearing my judge, I feared nothing but being unable to represent all my hard work. All the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and when the lights went on, all I could think about was the marvellous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of when I’d spent nearly two hours alone in a music room, more content than I had been anywhere else. Playing the melody reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years.

Many days later, I received my mark. Not only did I earn a rarely mentioned “well done” and an 82 per cent, I had rewritten what music meant to me.

Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.

1. What made the author so stressful inside churches these years?

A．The religious atmosphere.	B．The artistic performance.
C．The horrible surroundings.	D．Her colorful fantasy.

2. What can be inferred according to the underlined sentence in Para 5?

A．The author’s family was too poor to afford a new piano.

B．The father was quite angry about the author’s bad behavior.

C．The author showed great dissatisfaction about her father.

D．The father wanted the author to address the problem independently.

3. Which of the following word has the closest meaning to the underlined word in Para 11?

A．mixed

B．separated

C．interacted

D．exploited

4. The author changed her attitude towards music mainly because________.

A．Her good friend accompanied her to get through hard time.

B．Her teachers treated her much better than before.

C．Her family supported her quite well.

D．Her own understanding of musical value.

5. Which of the following indicates the change of the author’s feelings?

A．Nervous — disappointed — angry — calm

B．Curious — frustrated — hopeful — grateful

C．Frightened — indifferent — passionate — proud

D．Depressed — satisfied — disappointed — peaceful

6. What might be the best title of this passage?

A．An important Music Test

B．A Hard but Enjoyable Life

C．The Key to Happiness

D．My Favourite Piano

【推荐3】When considering housing options at the University of Waterloo in Canada, Nigerian undergraduate student Ayooluwa Solaja chose a Living Learning Community, a residential house focused on a theme or academic interest area. Solaja lived on campus with 10 to 1s other students in the Arts and Business LLC.

Three reasons may account for the prospective international stadents willingness

to consider LLCS.

1. Connect with like-minded students: Prospective international students can choose an LLC to fully experience college life in a new country and find immediate support among residents: Unlike other housing arrangements, LLCS can provide a built-in community of like-minded individuals

Solaja says a highlight of her experience in the LLC was"forming relationships with upper-year students in my program. This peer leader provided her with everything from academic support to guidance on how to survive Canadian winters. Many LLCS have upper-division students who serve as peer leaders.

Australian Natasha Fitzpatrick says she's happy to share her love for travel and cultural exploration. "A group of us hired a car and traveled down to North Carolina sightseeing.”

2. Participate in community activities: For those worried about being on the outside as a new international student, LLCS encourage participation through various on-and off-campus activities. For example, students in a fashion LLC have attended Toronto Fashion week

Through LLCS, international students will have more opportunities to interact with domestic students, faculty and staff members outside classrooms,"says Shijuan Laurel Liu, assistant professor of Chinese and a partner with the Global Awareness LLC. In a Chinese New Year celebration associated with the LLC, for instance, students from her language and culture courses worked with Chinese students to introduce Chinese culture to the community

Solaja says coming from a different education system in Nigeria with sometimes unapproachable professors, she enjoyed LLC on-campus events like when she played board games with Waterloo professors and academic advisers.

3. Network for job opportunities: International students who plan to gain work experience in the country they study in can benefit from LLCS that are associated with campus departments and staff. This can provide them with chances to network and inquire about work opportunities.

Liu says when Chinese tutoring positions and graduate assistantships became available, she thought of international students from the Global Awareness LLC who previously helped her organize events. She also wrote reference letters for those students when they applied to graduate school.

Robert C. Demezzo, director of residence life at Southern Connecticut State University, says LLCS "help many international students secure employment on campus.

Solaja says her year living in Waterloo's Arts and Business LLC was one of her best decisions." You get what you put into the program," she says.

1. What impressed Solaja most in the LLC?

A．A group of students in the LLC rented a car to travel together

B．She got a reference letter when she applied to graduate school.

C．The peer leaders shared their experience both in study and daily life

D．They celebrate the Chinese New Year together with an assistant professor

2. Who are more likely to get Job opportunities?

A．Students who have participated in more on-campus events.

B．Students with better language skills especially in Chinese.

C．Students who have global awareness and interest in network.

D．Students with more working experience through LLCs.

3. Which of the following statements is FALSE?

A．Various activities help international students get oriented to the new life

B．Individuals with similar minds will have the same career prospect.

C．Each LLC focuses on a particular theme or academic interest area,

D．LLCS Provide opportunities of communicating with domestic students

4. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?

A．The teachers in Nigeria seldom participate in off-campus activities

B．Many overseas students are not accustomed to the winter in Canada

C．The campus staff offer international students some academic support.

D．LLCS help many international students find jobs after graduation