【推荐1】Creating opportunities

Don’t allow your excuses to prevent you from following your dreams. “I really want to, but I can’t because...” It hurts every time I hear someone say it. I see it for what it is — an excuse. Every one of us has hopes, dreams and goals. We talk about how we will achieve them, but when it’s time to do them, we use that sentence.

During my teen years, I felt stuck. I wanted to learn so many things and achieve my wildest dreams, yet I couldn’t. Living in an underdeveloped country, we suffer from a lack of water, electricity, security and opportunities. And, we don’t have training courses, libraries or clubs, and the internet is slower than a snail crawling (爬行) through peanut butter.

One day, I had had enough. I decided to use the resources I had to create the future I dreamed of. I set my mind on getting the Japanese Monbusho Scholarship. I found articles and books online to become fluent in Japanese. In a few months, I was able to hold a simple conversation in Japanese.

I realized that I would need money. I set out to build a hedgehog(刺猬) care website. Every day, after school, I would research hedgehogs and write detailed articles about them. I studied Japanese and wrote about hedgehogs for three years.

I’m sure you’re expecting a spirit-lifting ending where I travel to Japan and live off my website. That’s not how this story ends. The fact is, I didn’t even get the chance to apply for the scholarship. I failed. Unwilling to accept the facts, I started an online university the next year. And the hedgehog website made me a total of $60.

I can tell you that I tried, but it didn’t work out. It did — just not the way I expected.

I’m not in Japan, but I know how to speak Japanese and have met many interesting people along the way. My hedgehog website didn’t succeed, but I created a new one that’s even better with the experience I gained.

I didn’t let my difficulties stand in my way, and I created my own opportunities. Anyone can embrace (欣然接受) the cards they’ve been dealt (发牌) and create their own way to make them into a winning hand.

1. Why does the author mention the underlined sentence at the beginning of the text?

A．To explain how it hurt her.

B．To show she disagrees with it.

C．To show how often people say it.

D．To explain when people usually say it.

2. What prevented the author from realizing her dreams during her teens?

A．Her lack of aim in life.

B．Her unrealistic dreams.

C．Her lack of interest in studying.

D．The shortage of educational resources.

3. What do we know about the author?

A．She won a scholarship to study in Japan

B．She kept trying even though she failed.

C．Her website earned her a lot of money.

D．She didn’t go to a university in the end.

4. What does the author want to tell us with this article?

A．Opportunity seldom knocks twice.

B．Failure is the mother of success.

C．The weak wait for opportunities, the strong create them.

D．The more you expect, the more disappointed you will be.

5. What do you think of the author?

A．Hopeful and Hardworking.

B．Anxious and Enthusiastic.

C．Patient and Pessimistic.

D．Nervous and embarrassed.

【推荐2】Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.

The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.

You cannot be successful without first developing your self-confidence. Your level of self-confidence is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-confidence are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.

You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.

Everything happens as a result of something. If we can find the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.

In all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.

1. Why are people with low self-confidence compared to leaves?

A．Because they don’t have the power to face their lives.

B．Because they are ready to change their minds.

C．Because they can’t exercise control over themselves.

D．Because they are easily affected by windy weather.

2. What would losers think?

A．They fail only because of bad luck.	B．They don’t make efforts to succeed.
C．Success is the result of hard work.	D．Working hard will lead to success.

3. What can be inferred from the fifth paragraph?

A．What we believe in is the result of creative mind.

B．Whether we will succeed depends on our attitudes.

C．Setting our expectations is vital before taking action.

D．Knowing cause and effect is the key to future success.

4. What does the last paragraph serve as?

A．An introduction to another topic.	B．A comparison between two views.
C．The proof of the author’s points.	D．The summary of the argument.

【推荐3】I rushed to the back of the ambulance before I thought to fasten my seat belt as our ambulance dashed down the road. My legs trembled uncontrollably as I felt around for boxes of gloves and passed them to the rest of the crew. Despite my jumpy nerves, I felt a thrill. Here I was, on my first real call after three months of training.

We pulled up to the scene and I jumped out, feeling official and important at having arrived in such style. As we approached the patient, we saw the terrible scene, but the two emergency workers with me were prepared. One immediately began treating the patient while the other calmed the anxious family. I was asked to give breaths to the patient while a worker did chest compressions (按压).

Though I agreed, my excitement and nervousness disappeared as I felt the gravity of the situation. This person’s life was in my hands. For the next 20 minutes the emergency workers and I counted breaths and compressions, occasionally switching positions. We continued administering CPR for the whole of the rough ride to the hospital and I grew increasingly alarmed since the patient was not responding.

Arriving at the emergency room, we knew it was over. My first call, my first chance to save someone, but I failed. I was horrified. A complete stranger had died before my eyes, under my care. The doctors comforted me, and though I felt responsible, I soon realized that there was nothing we could have done to change the result. Our CPR technique had been sound, but the reality was that the chances of life after a heart arrest were very slim.

As the initial shock wore off, a strong motivation to go on another emergency call replaced it. Watching life turn into death is not an easy experience to forget, but it can create a thirst to try again and perhaps save a life the next time. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the chance hasn’t yet happened. The worst call I’ve had since that first day is a twisted ankle.

1. Why did the author feel nervous and excited on the ambulance?

A．He could assist his partners.

B．He didn’t fasten his seat belt.

C．He was driving the ambulance.

D．He was doing his first emergency task.

2. It can be learned from the text that the patient .

A．called the ambulance himself

B．responded instantly to the treatment

C．was in danger of life on the way to hospital

D．was dead due to the delay of the ambulance

3. What can be learned from the fourth paragraph?

A．The doctors cared little about the patient.

B．Patients suffering a heart arrest rarely survived.

C．The author was responsible for the patient’s death.

D．The emergency workers used the wrong CPR technique.

【推荐1】Homesickness at college

The thought of college life is quite exciting for students as they taste independence for the first time at college. Their hard work and effort paid off after all. Though college life brings lots of dreams and expectations for students, most of them soon start feeling homesick.     1    But change is a part of life and dealing with change helps us to grow. In the same way, homesickness at college is a brief experience which goes away once students start adjusting in their new environment.

    2    Some students may turn to alcohol and drugs. So it is important that students who experience homesickness at college know about how to deal with it. Students should understand that rather than constantly thinking of their hometown, it is better to see it as a challenge and try to defeat it . Though it is not a difficult task, the time that will take each person to deal with home-

sickness at college will be different according to their attitude and personality.    3    You

can do that, too.

Remember overcoming homesickness is accepting what you are experiencing. Many students think that being homesick is childish and undeveloped feeling and try to cover it up by acting cool or showing that they are very busy.    4    Besides, even their classmates will be going through the same emotions and feelings. Instead of trying to make them understand that they are totally fine after shifting to the new school, going through their emotions and thoughts about life at home for a day or two will be a better choice.    5    

A．Homesickness helps students build up a better understanding of life.

B．Homesickness leads to dangerous results if not solved properly.

C．But they don’t realize that homesickness is common to people of all ages.

D．You may miss your parents as you leave home for the first time.

E．This is an important part in the process of beating homesickness.

F．The main reason for the development of such a feeling is change.

G．Believe this is a possible achievement that everyone can achieve.

【推荐3】Many people connect gratitude with saying “thank you” to someone who helped us, making it a short act of appreciation. According to Robert Emmons, a leading researcher, gratitude is an emotion that can result in long-lasting positivity.     1    

Gratitude is good for your health.

Through his research, Emmons found that grateful people reported feeling healthier and happier, both mentally and physically.     2     In the workplace, employees who are shown that they are appreciated are healthier and more productive by 50 percent.

    3    

Gratitude is a selfless act. We often take for granted the simple things in life. Those who recognize the goodness in life, no matter how simple, are more likely to be sensitive to the needs of others and to help whenever they can. Thinking about other’s opinion, experiences and backgrounds will make you a better person.

Gratitude makes us more self-aware.

            Working in an ever-developing, fast-paced society, we are surrounded by ambitious people who are always struggling for more and better.     4     It starts by paying attention to what’s now going on in your life, and that’s true self-awareness is the key to being successful.

Gratitude helps us build strong relationship.

Gratitude is a powerful tool for strengthening relationship, both at work and in your personal life. People who express their gratitude tend to be more willing to forgive others and therefore able to create long-lasting connections.

    5     Taking the time to thank people for their work and kindness — whether it was today, last month or many years ago — makes you happier and more self-aware.

A．In fact, those who were grateful were 25 percent happier than those who weren’t.

B．Gratitude builds understanding.

C．The old saying goes “It’s never too late to say you’re sorry”, but the same is true of gratitude.

D．All in all, we feel and express our gratitude in different ways.

E．Gratitude makes you reflect (反思) in the moment instead of always thinking about the future.

F．Gratitude helps us build up self-confidence.

G．Here are a few benefits of being grateful.

【推荐2】A group of 75 female volunteers from India’s Odisha state has spent every day of the last 20 years patrolling(巡逻) a 75-hectare forest to protect it from illegal woodcutters.

In 1999, the eastern state of Odisha was hit by a supercyclone (超级飓风). “Our homes and standing crops were destroyed. There was no food or clothing for days,” 52-year-old Charulata Biswal, a volunteer forest protector, told Mongabay-India. “But we realized it was because of the surviving forest that many people in Gundalba, a small village, were still alive. We promised we would protect the forest in return and restore the biodiversity.”

Groups of women patrol the forest at least twice a day. As they walk among the trees, they blow their whistles and bang wooden sticks against tree trunks. “We beat our sticks and patrol in groups of 10,” Biswal said. “We spread out inside the forest and blow whistles. Anyone with the intention to harm the local biodiversity will flee on hearing our whistle and the banging of our sticks on tree trunks.”

In 2001, over 70 women from Gundalba came together to form the Women’s Forest Protection Committee. Apart from their daily patrols, they also approached neighboring villages that also depend on the forest for firewood about setting up a system for sustainability (可持续性). For example, every village is allowed to gather firewood from the forest on a set day of the month, usually a few days after another settlement has finished the gathering process.

Over the years, they have caught several people cutting trees illegally in the forest. Asked if they have ever been afraid of patrolling the large forest they said no. “The forest is an extension of our home,” Biswal said. “Won’t it hurt to see your children suffer? This is how a mother feels and we are doing something that comes to us naturally.”

Thanks to the women’s efforts, the forest gradually came back to life. Birds started nesting in trees again and the animals returned.

1. What does the author intend to do in Paragraph 2?

A．To introduce the natural disaster in India.

B．To show what people in Gundalba did to survive.

C．To explain why the women decided to patrol the forest.

D．To describe the poor situation in eastern state of Odisha.

2. Why do the women whistle and bang the sticks?

A．To attract more birds and animal.

B．To relax themselves during their work.

C．To make themselves brave to go among the forest.

D．To warn people meaning to damage the forest to leave.

3. What did the Committee do after its foundation?

A．They gathered firewood from other forests.

B．They reduced the time for patrolling the forest.

C．They adopted environment-friendly woodcutting methods.

D．They stopped neighboring villages from cutting their trees.

4. How does Charulata Biswal feel about the forest?

A．It is like her family.	B．It will take long to recover.
C．It has lost some natural functions.	D．It suffers a lot from illegal cutting.

【推荐3】Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding. We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue (疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.

Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.

Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical order, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.

Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can — then let the unconscious take over.

When planning Encyclopedia Britannica (《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had even been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.

One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reason why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relieved, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.

An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved effective at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.

Human beings, I believe must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.

1. According to the passage, people with start-up fatigue are most likely to _________.

A．delay tasks

B．work hard

C．seek help

D．accept failure

2. What does the author recommend doing to prevent start-up fatigue?

A．Writing essays in strict order.	B．Building up physical strength.
C．Leaving out the toughest ideas.	D．Dealing with the hardest task first.

3. According to the passage, on what occasion would a person most likely to suffer from performance fatigue?

A．Before starting a difficult task.	B．If the job is rather boring.
C．When all the solutions fail.	D．After finding a way out.

4. What could be the best title for the passage?

A．Success Is Built upon Failure

B．How to Handle Performance Fatigue

C．Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success

D．Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems