【推荐1】Have you ever made a promise to yourself that you didn’t keep? Commonly, when the new year ticks over, we make decisions: going to the gym, studying harder or giving up a bad habit. Sadly, not long after we’ve made the promise, we often end up breaking them.     1    ? Well, it’s possible, but willpower might not be the only thing you need.

The basic idea of a habit is something we do almost unawarely, as if you’re on autopilot (习惯性地做).     2    . Good habits can be part of your daily routine. But if we don’t have those habits, how can we create them? According to a psychological study, it takes an average of 66 days to form a new habit.     3    .

Then, the key is to question why you want something to be the norm (常态) . Do you want to lose weight because you want to be healthier or feel more attractive?     4    . A bad mood may mean you don’t want to do something.

    5    . Remember that it’s a case of baby steps. Giving up all your favourite foods, going to the gym, and stopping drinking at the same time will probably result in failure rather than sustainable practice. And don’t worry about failing-just start again!

It might not be quick, but if you follow these tips, you may be able to change something for the better or kick a bad habit.

A．How long did it take to form a new good habit?

B．However, relying only on determination may not be the answer.

C．An example of this would be having breakfast or saying “please” and “thank you”.

D．You should also avoid trying to change too much at once.

E．Don’t do things outside your comfort zone.

F．The issue is, willpower could be easily affected by your mood.

G．What if you want to create a new good habit?

【推荐2】Are you bored with your daily life? Here are some things you should try before you are eighteen years old, because after that it's too late!

Camp out in the garden.

If you don't have your own garden. find a friend who has one! You will need: two or three friends, sleeping bags and warm clothes. Take a lot of food and drink with you and play games until it gets dark     1     You will need a torch (手电筒)or else you won't be able to see all your sweets, and it might get a bit frightening.

    2    

Seriously. this is so important that it could save your life. If you can't swim well, you won't be able to do water sports like waterskiing and surfing. Even taking a boat trip will be dangerous for you Make sure you do it.

Collect something.

One of the best hobbies for under- 18s is collecting things.    3    The best way to collect is to have a special album to put your collection in and to write what each thing means to you. That way you won't forget.

Try at least one kind of team sport.

    4    You have to work well with other people. Other advantages of team sports are that they keep you fit, and they are great fun, Teams usually have a good social life too--- you'll go to lots of parties and make many friends.

Write your family tree.

When you are young. get to know all the older people in your family. Find out as much as you can about them when they were young    5    

A．Learn to swim.

B．Go out for fun.

C．It is an important skill to be a team player.

D．Running helps to train a person's character.

E．Draw a family tree so that you won't forget.

F．You could collect stamps or emails from friends.

G．When it gets dark, tell stories and eat all your sweets.

【推荐3】Good relationship are definitely good sources of happiness in life. We all want happy relationships but if we do not keep that relationship alive, it can also be one of the most distraught things in life. There may be no hard and fast rules in making good relationships, as each of us has different preferences and points of view as to what is a great relationship. The following are some major key players in making relationships work.

It is often said that building good relationship is all about communication. Good communication indeed governs a good relationship---knowing the right thing to say, when to say it, how to say it, and accepting some things that are better left unsaid. I personally think communication must be broadened because relationships involve more decisions to make. From study to work, from money to entertainment and even in things about yourself or about your friends that you do not know, communication is essential in these aspects of the relationships.

Of course, being with someone is not saying that you totally agree with him or her all the time. You and your friends come from different family backgrounds, raised in different environment so there may be disagreement here and there. However, it is important in making relationship work to express disagreements without pushing the relationship to end. Again, good communication and learning to compromise (妥协) at times are essential.

As relationships last longer, you may also discover things about you and your friends that you may not have known before. Therefore supporting each other on both your “hidden selves” can also make a good relationship.

Love is an important aspect of building relationships and for me, I always believe that love needs open communication, respect, support and understanding each other in making relationships work.

1. The underlined word "distraught" in Paragraph 1 probably means ______.

A．helpless

B．surprising

C．funny

D．upsetting

2. To communicate well with people, you should know that ______.

A．supporting each other in anything helps build a good relationship.

B．a white lie is necessary sometimes.

C．compromises are essential at any time.

D．your friends need to have the same backgrounds with you.

3. According to the text, which of the following are important for a good relationship?
    a. communication     b. support     c. love       d. hidden selves

A．a-b-d

B．a-c-d

C．b-c-d

D．a-b-c

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．The Importance to Express Disagreements.

B．Keys to Making Relationships Work.

C．Different Opinions on Good Relationships.

D．Forbidden Rules in Building Good Relationships.

【推荐1】In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁荣). Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.
Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1. What is the best title of this passage?

A．Competition! Why friends turn into enemies.

B．Competition! What self-respect depends on.

C．New meaning found in competition.

D．Two mistaken beliefs about competition.

2. Why do some young people suffering from competitive pressures seek failure?

A．Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition.

B．Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others.

C．Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost.

D．Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others.

3. Which of the following will the author probably agree with?

A．One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair.

B．One should make every endeavor to avoid competition.

C．One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition.

D．One should be given rewards after competing with others.

4. The true competitors and those with a desire to fail both believe _______.

A．one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others

B．one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills

C．one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems

D．one’s success is based on how hard he has tried

【推荐3】John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.

His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting -- 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.

I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured.

Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.

And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. “I'm Lieutenant（中尉）John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”

The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don't know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. “Tell me whom you love,” Houssaye wrote, “And I will tell you who you are.”

1. How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?

A．They lived in the same city.	B．They were both interested in literature.
C．John came across Hollis in a Florida library.	D．John knew Hollis's name from a library book.

2. Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because _____.

A．she thought true love is beyond appearance	B．she wasn't confident about her appearance
C．she was only a middle-aged woman	D．she had never taken any photo before they knew

3. When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was _____.

A．disappointed but well-behaved	B．satisfied and confident
C．annoyed and bad-mannered	D．shocked but inspired

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Don't Judge a Book by its Cover	B．The Symbol of Rose
C．Love is blind	D．A Test of Love