【推荐3】You have the ability to decide whether you are happy or not. Happiness is a choice.
You can’t depend on someone else to make you happy. That is a lesson I learned early in my marriage. I realized that I couldn’t rely on my husband as my source of happiness. I learned that my happiness depended on myself and not my husband’s actions. I learned that you have to choose to be happy.
You can choose your emotions. True happiness comes from within, and it can’t be forced by outside force. So how do you choose happiness? The same way, you choose to smile or choose to wear a certain outfit（一套衣服）. You choose it because that’s what you want to experience in you life.
You want to buy a new pair of shoes so you choose a pair that you like and feels good. You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes that you don’t like or that doesn’t fit well, right? So why do we keep choosing emotions and feelings that don’t make us feel good?
Choosing to be happy after you realize your anger has shown up (or even choosing to be calm) can be beneficial. We choose our feelings; no one else can do that for us. If we let others get to us, influence our emotions — we are giving them power over us. When others cause us anger or pain, we are giving them our power.
We need to keep our feelings in check and not to react（反应） automatically to what is thrown at us. We need to think our actions out instead of just reacting to what someone says or does.
Remember that we can always choose happiness. At first it will be difficult to just switch（使转变）your thoughts and feelings from anger, self-doubt, or fear to joy and happiness. But it is only a thought away. Don’t dwell on（细想） what happens to you unnecessarily but realize what is causing you to feel that way. Realize that thoughts, feelings and emotions can change. Then move on and choose to be happy.
1. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Pretend to Be Happy

B．Choose Your Emotions

C．Choose to Be Happy

D．Find Happiness

2. The lesson the writer learned in her marriage is          .

A．one can’t depend on someone else to make himself or herself happy

B．balancing the relationship between husband and wife is an art

C．she can depend on her husband to find happiness

D．happiness can be influenced by outside force

3. Why did the writer mention buying shoes?

A．To offer advice on how to choose comfortable shoes.

B．To use it as an example to illustrate（阐述）her point of view.

C．To compare choosing shoes and choosing an outfit.

D．To help move to the next paragraph easily.

4. The writer suggests that we should          .

A．let others control our feelings

B．respond immediately to others’ words

C．hold back our feelings properly

D．pay more attention to words than actions

【推荐1】B

Increasing Noise Annoys

People want action on noise, a recent public meeting in Brisbane showed. Some want technical improvements such as quieter air conditioners or better sound barriers around major roads. Others want tougher laws to restrict noise from building sites or to require owners to take responsibility for barking dogs. But the highest priority (优先) was a noise complaints system that works.

Brisbane City Council receives more complaints about noise than all other problems put together. So it conducted survey and found that about half its citizens are upset by noise in one form or another—traffic, mowers, pool pumps, air conditioners or loud parties. This inspired the Council to bring together more than 100 citizens one evening to talk through solutions to the problem.

The meeting found the present noise complaints system bizarre. Depending on the problem, responsibility for noise can lie with the Council, the Environment Protection Authority, one of three government departments or even the police. So complaints often feel they are getting the run-round. When the people at the meeting were asked to vote for changes, the strongest response was for a 24-hour noise hotline to be the first port of call for all complaints.

The meeting also favored regulatory measures, such as tougher minimum standards for noise in appliances like air conditioners. This even makes economic sense, as noise is a waste of energy—and money. Other measures the meeting supported were wider buffer zones around noisy activities and controls to keep heavy traffic away from residential areas（居民区）.

1. According to the passage, what do people want most?

A．Tougher laws.	B．Technical improvements.
C．An effective noise complaints system.	D．Tougher minimum standards for noise.

2. What does the underlined word “bizarre” in the third paragraph mean?

A．reasonable

B．wonderful

C．strange

D．responsible

3. How many regulatory measures against noise are mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．3.

B．4.

C．2.

D．5.

4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Tougher minimum standards for noise in appliances are necessary.

B．Traffic, mowers, pool pumps, and air conditioners are all the sources of noise.

C．90% of the residents are annoyed by noise.

D．Heavy traffic should be kept away from residential areas according to the meeting.

5. Brisbane City Council brought together citizens to talk through solutions to the noise problem mainly due to ________.

A．the result of the survey carried out by itself

B．a noise complaints system that works

C．people asking for tougher laws on noise

D．requirements of an effective noise complaints system

【推荐2】When I was small, my grandmother died. I was so sad that l had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.

So it came as no surprise to learn that scientists believe crying and laughing come frome the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.

Whatever it takes for us to release pressure is important to our emotional health, and a study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.

Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we're very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.

Just as crying can be healthy, not crying—holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering—can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure and heart problems. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural and healthy-emotional response.

1. Why did the father try to cheer his daughter up?

A．Because she was crying.

B．Because she never had tears.

C．Because she was very sad.

2. What does the underlined word “release” mean in Chinese?

A．提高

B．释放

C．保持

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Women cry more than men.

B．When you cry, people will care about you more.

C．Laughing has many health disadvantages.

4. According to the passage, always holding back our emotions will NOT lead to________.

A．head problems

B．blood pressure problems

C．heart problems

5. What is the best title for the passage?

A．How to Keep Healthy

B．Why We Cry

C．Power of Tears

【推荐3】I'm from the South Bronx. At 7, my neighborhood was the beginning and end of my universe. It was a small town to me. Everyone knew each other, so if you got into trouble in school, chances are your mom knew about it before you got home. I felt watched over and safe.

But just before I turned 8, things began to change. I watched two buildings on my block burn down. I remember seeing my neighbor Pito go up and down the fire escape to get people out. Where were the firemen? Where was the truck? Somebody must have called them.

That same summer, after serving two tours in Vietnam, my brother was killed in the South Bronx. He was shot above the left eye and died instantly.

People who could moved out of the neighborhood, and all I wanted to do was get out, too. I used education to get away from there and got good at avoiding the topic of where I was from. To be from the South Bronx meant that you were not a good person. It felt like a stain.

After college, I didn't want to come back to the South Bronx, but in order to afford graduate school, I had to. I was almost 30 and could only afford to live at my parents' home. It felt like a defeat, and I hated it.

At the same time, the city was planning a huge waste facility here, and no one seemed to care — including many of us who lived here. They were like, "Well, it's a poor community; what's the difference?"

I was very angry. It drove me to act. It moved my spirit in a way that I didn't know was possible. And it changed my beliefs — it changed the way I felt about myself and my community. I worked hard with others who felt the same way, and together, we defeated the plan.

After that, I realized it's just as important to fight for something as it is to fight against something. So we dreamed up a new park on the site of an illegal waste dump — and after many community clean-ups, along with $3 million from the city, we have one. And it's a glory. It was the seed from which many new plans for our community have grown.

Today, the South Bronx is no longer a stain; it's a badge(象征) of honor for me. I believe that where I'm from helps me to really see the world. Today, when I say I'm from the South Bronx, I stand up straight. This is home, and it always will be.

1. Paragraphs 2 and 3 make the readers believe ____________.

A．the author felt watched over and safe

B．he author’s brother was a bad man

C．the author’s neighbor Pito was braver than a fireman

D．the author felt his hometown was not a safe place to live in

2. The author went back to the South Bronx after college because ____________.

A．he couldn’t afford to live without his parents’ help

B．he loved his hometown very much

C．he was defeated in studies at college

D．he almost reached the age of 30

3. The underlined sentences(Paragraph 2) imply that ____________.

A．the author wondered where the firemen and the truck were

B．the author wanted someone to call the firemen

C．the firemen didn’t come to help although called

D．the firemen didn’t find a place to park the truck

4. What does the author want to convey in the passage?

A．Great changes have taken place in the South Bronx.

B．The South Bronx is a beautiful place.

C．You can make a difference to your hometown if you act.

D．Everyone should love his hometown.

【推荐1】I start to wonder what else had changed since I’d been gone. My parents are in an awkward puzzle, wondering how to treat me now----whether to treat me—still their daughter—as one of them, an adult, or as the child they feel they sent away months earlier.
I run into two of my best friends from high school; we stare at each other, expressionless. We ask the simple questions and give simple answers. It’s as if we have nothing to say to each other. I wonder how things have changed so much in such a small amount of time. We used to laugh and promise that no matter how far away we were, our love for each other would never change. Their interests don’t interest me anymore, and I find myself unable to relate my life to theirs.
I had been so excited to come home, but now I just look at it all and wonder: Is it me? Why hadn’t the world stood still here while I was gone?   My room isn’t the same, my friends and I don’t share the same promise, and my parents don’t know how to treat me—or who I am, for that matter.
I get back to school feeling half-satisfied, but not disappointed. I sit up in my bed in my dorm room, surrounded by my pictures, dolls. As I wonder what has happened, I realize that I can’t expect the world to stand still and move forward at the same time. I can change and expect that things at home will stay the same. I have to find comfort in what has changed and what is new; keep the memories, but live in the present.
A few weeks later, I’m packing again, this time for winter break. My mom meets me at the door. I have come home accepting the changes, not only in my surroundings, but most of all in me.
1. What can we infer about the writer?

A．She is a high school student.	B．She is a college student.
C．She is a clerk in a school.	D．She is a traveler.

2. . What surprises the writer most?

A．The living conditions of her parents.

B．The decorations in her room.

C．The meeting with her best friends.

D．The things still staying the same.

3. What is this passage mainly about?

A．The writer’s curiosity about the changes.

B．The changes in the writer’s surroundings and in herself.

C．The writer’s disappointment about the changes.

D．The writer’s refusal to accept the changes.

【推荐2】Last Sunday, an earthquake struck the Napa Valley area of northern California. It happened in the middle of the night, becoming the strongest earthquake to strike the Napa Valley in 15 years. No one was killed, but many people were treated in hospitals.

I said to my seven ­year ­old twins, Brad and Brett, and three ­year ­old Meghan, “We have so much, and these poor people in trouble now have nothing. We’ll share what we have with them.”

I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I advised the boys to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much ­loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys. “Oh, dear,” I said. “You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much.” Meghan said, “Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make another little girl happy, too.”

I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It’s easy to give something that we don’t want any more, but hard to give what we cherish(珍爱), isn’t it?

1. How many children does the writer have?

A．One	B．Two
C．Three	D．Four

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The earthquake caused many deaths.

B．The earthquake is the biggest in history.

C．The earthquake happened at night.

D．The earthquake hit the city of California.

3. What did Meghan take out for the people in trouble?

A．A toy	B．Clothes
C．A doll	D．Food

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．A Family Story	B．The Spirit of Giving
C．A white night	D．A Sad Experience

5. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．It’s really selfless to give what we have.

B．It’s really selfless to give what we love.

C．It’s really selfless to give what we want.

D．It’s really selfless to give what we don’t want.

【推荐3】What are your favorite stories you learned as a child? What stories do you hope your loved ones will tell about you when you aren’t around?

Storytellers were once known as “liars”. This was not to say their stories weren’t true. But they were often exaggerated in colorful ways that brought a story to life.

I grew up in a family of “liars”. They all told stories. And I grew up to earn my living by writing stories. The stories I write about my family are always true. But I can’t always be sure of every detail, so I rely on imagination to fill in the gaps.

My grandmother’s stories changed a bit each time she told them, and I smiled at how her changes made a story better. I loved hearing her stories. And my grandchildren seem to love hearing mine.

“Tell it again, Nana!” they say. I do, and they start laughing before I get to the funny part. Recently, they begged to hear a Halloween story I’ve told countless times. Here it is:

Once upon a time, when I was 10, my mother told me to make costumes (服装) and take my brothers to go trick-or-treating. Denton was 4. He looked like a monkey. Joe was 6 and totally blind. I threw a sheet over his head but forgot to tell him he was a ghost (鬼).

We knocked on the first door and waited. The door flew open, and we all shouted, “Trick-or-treat!” Mrs. Fisher patted Joe’s head through the sheet and said, “What a cute little ghost!”

And Joe yelled (叫喊), “I am not a ghost!”

True story. My grandchildren love it. They beg me to tell it again and again.

I hope to tell them more stories as they grow older. I want them to remember me and the big, crazy family I grew up in. Stories are the unbreakable threads that bind generations together, tell us who we are and give us hope.

My grandchildren have never met their “Great Uncle Joe”, but they won’t soon forget him. To them, he will always be, not a ghost, but very lovable.

1. Why did the author say she grew up in a family of liars?

A．Because her family were good at telling lies.

B．Because their stories were not true.

C．Because all her family told stories.

D．Because her grandmother would often change her stories.

2. What can we know from the article?

A．Some family members often lie to one another.

B．Stories may make one remembered in a way.

C．Joe was the youngest child in the family.

D．Joe liked to be called a ghost.

3. What can be the best title of the article?

A．Living on through stories	B．Great Uncle Joe
C．Family liars	D．Grandma’s stories

【推荐1】.
The thing is, my luck’s always been ruined. Just look at my name: Jean. Not Jean Marie, or Jeanine, or Jeanette, or even Jeanne. Just Jean. Did you know in France, they name boys Jean? It’s French for John. And okay, I don’t live in France. But still, I’m basically a girl named John. If I lived in France, anyway.
This is the kind of luck I’ve had since before Mom even filled out my birth certificate. So it wasn’t any big surprise to me when the cab driver didn’t help me with my suitcase. I’d already had to tolerate arriving at the airport to find no one there to greet me, and then got no answer to my many phone calls, asking where my aunt and uncle were. Did they not want me after all? Had they changed their minds? Had they heard about my bad luck—all the way from Iowa—and decided they didn’t want any of it to rub off on them?
So when the cab driver, instead of getting out and helping me with my bags, just pushed a little button so that the trunk (汽车后备箱) popped open a few inches, it wasn’t the worst thing that had ever happened to me. It wasn’t even the worst thing that had happened to me that day.
According to my mom, most brownstones in New York City were originally single-family homes when they were built way back in the 1800s. But now they’ve been divided up into apartments, so that there’s one—or sometimes even two or more families—per floor.
Not Mom’s sister Evelyn’s brownstone, though. Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted Gardiner own all four floors of their brownstone. That’s practically one floor per person, since Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted only have three kids, my cousins Tory, Teddy, and Alice.
Back home, we just have two floors, but there are seven people living on them. And only one bathroom. Not that I’m complaining. Still, ever since my sister Courtney discovered blow-outs, it’s been pretty frightful at home.
But as tall as my aunt and uncle’s house was, it was really narrow—just three windows across. Still, it was a very pretty townhouse, painted gray. The door was a bright, cheerful yellow. There were yellow flower boxes along the base of each window, flower boxes from which bright red—and obviously newly planted, since it was only the middle of April, and not quite warm enough for them.
It was nice to know that, even in a sophisticated (世故的) city like New York, people still realized how homey and welcoming a box of flowers could be. The sight of those flowers cheered me up a little.
Like maybe Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Ted just forgot I was arriving today, and hadn’t deliberately failed to meet me at the airport because they’d changed their minds about letting me come to stay.
Like everything was going to be all right, after all.
Yeah. With my luck, probably not.
I started up the steps to the front door of 326 East Sixty-Ninth Street, then realized I couldn’t make it with both bags and my violin. Leaving one bag on the sidewalk, I dragged the other up the steps with me. Maybe I took the steps a little too fast, since I nearly tripped and fell flat on my face on the sidewalk. I managed to catch myself at the last moment by grabbing some of the fence the gardeners had put up…
1. Why did the author go to New York?

A．She intended to go sightseeing there.

B．She meant to stay with her aunt’s family.

C．She was homeless and adopted by her aunt.

D．She wanted to try her luck and find a job there.

2. According to the author, some facts account for her bad luck EXCEPT that ________.

A．she was given a boy’s name in French

B．the cab driver didn’t help her with her bags

C．her sister Courtney discovered blow-outs

D．nobody had come to meet her at the airport

3. The underlined phrase “rub off on” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A．have an effect on

B．play tricks on

C．put pressure on

D．throw doubt on

4. From   passage, we can know that _________.

A．the author left home without informing her mother

B．the author arrived in New York in a very warm season

C．her aunt’s family lived a much better life than her own

D．her aunt and uncle were likely to forget about her arrival

【推荐2】If you want to deal with the association (交往) between boys and girls properly, here are some advice for you to follow.

1) Keep a normal and healthy state of mind. Our schools and classes are made up of boys and girls. It is very natural for the boys and girls to contact each other and build up the friendship with the students of the other sex. Generally speaking, we should broaden the circle of the association. We should make as many friends as possible. We should have more friends of the opposite sex instead of one or two. We should contact the students in public instead of in secret.

2) Contact students of opposite sex warmly, generously and sincerely. Don’t be too nervous or too shy in contact with a person of the opposite sex. In that case it is very difficult for you to make a lot of friends, as no one likes a person who is too shy to say a word. If you are too shy a person, you can also find a way out. First of all, you can contact the students with the same interest and hobby with you. As both of you have much in common, you may have much to talk about. If you keep doing like that, little by little, you will gladly find you are also as free to express yourself as others.

3) Don't fall into the ditch (泥潭) of early love. The boys and girls at adolescence(青春期)are rich in feelings and full of imagination. They are easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love, and fall in love with other at an early age. In my opinion, boys and girls at middle school are too young and too tender to shoulder the heavy duty of love. Early love is a green apple that can't be eaten. An apple won't taste sweet until it is fully ripe. Do keep out of early love.

1. The underlined word “broaden” in the passage means ________.

A．close down

B．make small

C．make broad

D．make known

2. We should contact (交往)the student of the opposite sex in the following ways EXCEPT ________.

A．with a good state of mind	B．in public
C．in secret	D．warmly and generously

3. A person at adolescence is NOT ________.

A．rich in feelings	B．full of imagination
C．old enough to fall in love	D．easy to regard the friendship as a sign of love

4. The best title of the passage is ________.

A．The early love

B．Some advice on how to associate between boys and girls

C．The contact does good not only to the boys but also to the girls

D．How to talk with a girl

【推荐3】Sitting in a dark movie theater with your friends and a tub of
buttery popcorn sounds like a perfect way to spend a Saturday night
—and it could be, if you are willing to share your popcorn with the
entire row of moviegoers around you.
A review of the nutritional contents of movie-theater popcorn reveals
an alarming amount of fat, salt and calories in even the smallest sizes.
The study, mad by Dr. Nestle from the Center for Science in the Public
Interest, checked popcorn from three movie theater chains and detailed
The contents of all parts offered.
A large tub of popcorn at Regal Cinemas, for example, holds 20 cups of popcorn and has 1,200 calories, 980 milligrams of sodium（钠）and 60 grams of saturated（饱和）fat.
Not so hungry? The medium size popcorn, which comes in a bag, contains the same amount as the large. And even the small, at 1l cups, delivers 670 calories 550 milligranis of sodium 24 grams of saturated fat.
The findings may surprise those who choose popcorn at the concession stand（货摊） because they believe it is a relatively healthy snack. In fact, plain air-popped popcorn is low in calories and free of saturated fat. Movie theater popcorn, however, is popcorn, however, is popped in oil — often coconut oil, which is 90 percent saturated fat. Add salt to the enormous portions（部分）,and your once-healthy snack turns into a health killer.
Even the “healthiest” sample of popcorn tested, a small size from AMC containing 6 cups of popcorn, had 370 calories, enough to share with a friend, eating one grain at a time to make it last the length of a movie.
The third movie theater chain tested. Cinemark, is slightly better than its competitors because it pops its popcorn in non-hydrogenated canola oil instead of coconut oil. Cinemark’s large tub contains 17 cups of popcorn with 910 calories and 4 grams of saturated fat, as well as up to 1,500 milligrams of sodium — nearly enough for the entire day.
One way to make your popcorn healthier? Ask the theater to pop a portion without salt. Two of the movie theaters that had their popcorn tested said they would oblige such a request. The best way to make your movie snack healthier, however, would be to skip the popcorn — and the concession stand — altogether.
“You could share a tub of popcorn with 10 friends.” Dr. Nestle said. “Or, what a concept, watch the movie without eating anything.” K^S*5U.C#O
1. The underlined word in the passage can be replaced by “        ”.

A．refuse

B．agree

C．meet

D．oppose

2. From the passage, we can learn that          .

A．popcorn with much salt will be healthier

B．plain air-popped popcorn has no saturated fat at all

C．popcorn from Regal cinemas contains the least unhealthy substances

D．only the three movie theatre chains provide popcorn for the moviegoers

3. While you are watching the movie,          is the best way to keep you healthy.

A．to eat nothing at all

B．to choose plain air-popped popcorn

C．to share a large tub of popcorn with your 10 friends

D．to buy popcorn popcorn popped in non-hydrogenated canola oil

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

A．Bad Eating Habit	B．Popular Food
C．Movie Theater Food	D．Popcorn’s Dark Secret