【推荐1】Anyone who is afraid of failure and afraid to face challenges will never taste success, so said our professor in marketing. I laughed it off at that time, but got frightened when it actually happened in my life.

I landed in a small city in the Middle East to set up a firm, a world－class car rental firm. Having decided on the project, I earnestly settled in preparation. With a positive mind, I told myself nothing should stop me now, and was more than keen to make it a success.

However, the least expected thing happened. Iraq invaded Kuwait. Tension ran high in the region. Eventually the war broke out, and many people fled the country, leaving my firm in deep trouble.

As usual, “things become difficult, and every effort seems to bring disappointment, it can be tempting to lower your expectations or even water down your goals and ambitions.” I was no exception. I thought of running away. I remembered the words of Thomas Edison, “Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to succeed when they gave up.”

I decided to hang on, telling myself, “I am not afraid of challenges and obstacles.” I stayed on through months of uncertainty and insecurity. Finances ran low, and banks could not wait to get their dues. To add to all this, the banks even threatened to take all my vehicles. I felt I made a wrong decision to move there. I was now ready to face failure.

I was living against all hopes, believing that something good would happen. After 2 months the war ended. My persistence paid off: people started flooding back and the car bookings picked up, five times over.

Success comes to the one who dares, even after failure, to think positively and look forward confidently. After all, it is only the experience that makes a man tough. Failure does not mean you will never make it. It means that it will take a little longer. It provides us with a learning experience.

1. The main method the author uses to support his understanding of his professor's viewpoint is ________.

A．offering analyses	B．providing explanations
C．making comparisons	D．giving examples

2. How did the author feel when the war between Iraq and Kuwait broke out?

A．Unconfident	B．Indifferent
C．Nervous	D．Calm

3. What does the underlined phrase “water down” in the 4th paragraph probably mean?

A．get rid of	B．smooth away
C．make less forceful	D．improve on

4. The author's purpose of writing the passage is most likely to ________.

A．inform	B．persuade
C．describe	D．entertain

【推荐2】How to Succeed in Science

To succeed in science, you need a lot more than luck. In my view, you have to combine intelligence with a willingness not to follow conventions when they block your path forward. Thus, these have come to be my rules for success.

    1    That might sound proud, but the fact is that you must always turn to people who are brighter than yourself. It's like playing any game. Even as a child, I never wanted to play games with anyone who was as bad as I was. If you win, it gives you no pleasure. And in the game of science or life, the highest goal isn't simply to win; it's to win at something really difficult.     2    

Take risks.

To make a huge success, a scientist has to be prepared to get into deep trouble. If you are going to make a huge jump in science, you will very likely be unqualified to succeed by definition.     3     This can be more than personally upsetting.

Never do anything that bores you.

My experience in science is that someone is always telling you to do things, and then leave you alone.     4    

It's very hard to succeed if you don't want to be with other scientists—you have to go to key meetings where you spot key facts that would have escaped you. And you have to chat with your competitors, even if you find them objectionable. So my final rule is:     5    

A．Avoid foolish people.

B．Meet challenges with great courage.

C．I'm not good enough to do well in something I dislike.

D．If you can't stand to be with your peers, get out of science.

E．Be sure you always have someone to save you from a deep mess.

F．Besides, you even have to be prepared to disbelieve your scientific heroes.

G．To put it another way, it's to go somewhere beyond your ability and come out on top.

【推荐3】Is smile just a facial expression? Of course not! It is not only used to express pleasure, affection, and friendliness, but also the commonest way to show our good will perfectly without saying anything. A Chinese saying runs: “Never hit a person who is smiling at you.” It is a time-proven fact that smile is a language all its own-a universal language-understood by the people of every nation in the world. We may not speak the same tongue as our foreign neighbors, but we smile in the same tongue. We need no interpreter for thus expressing love, happiness, or good will.

One day while shopping in a small town in southern California, it was my misfortune to come across a clerk whose personality conflicted with mine. He seemed quite unfriendly and not at all concerned about my intended purchase. I bought nothing, and marched angrily out of the store. On the outside stood a young man in his early twenties. His expressive brown eyes met and held mine, and in the next instant a beautiful, brilliant smile covered his face. The magic power of that smile made all bitterness within me melt, and I found the muscles in my own face happily responding. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” I remarked, in passing. Then, obeying an impulse(冲动), I turned hack. “I really owe you a debt of gratitude,” I said softly. His smile deepened, but he made no attempt to answer. A Mexican woman and two men were standing nearby. The woman stepped forward and eyed me inquiringly. “Carlos, he no speak English,” she volunteered. “You want I should tell him something?” At that moment I felt changed. Carlos’ smile had made a big person of me. My friendliness and good will toward all mankind stood ten feet tall. "Yes," my reply was enthusiastic and sincere, “tell him I said, ‘Thank you!’ ” “Thank you?” The woman seemed slightly confused.

I gave her arm a friendly pat as I turned to leave. “Just tell him that,” I insisted. “He’ll understand, I am sure!”

Oh, what a smile can do! Although I have never seen that young man again, I shall never forget the lesson he taught me that morning. From that day on, I became smile-conscious, and I practice the art diligently, anywhere and everywhere, with everybody.

1. Why did the author marched angrily out of the store?

A．Because he was unlucky to meet with the clerk.

B．Because he conflicted with the clerk in the store.

C．Because he bought nothing.

D．Because he was unfriendly.

2. How do you like the woman?

A．Curious and sincere with good English.

B．Easy-going and helpful with good English.

C．Helpful and curious with poor English.

D．Warm-hearted and generous with poor English.

3. What might follow the end of the passage?

A．The lesson that Carols had taught him.

B．How he used smile to solve problems.

C．How he became a big person of ten feet tall.

D．How hard he tried to look for the young man.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．An Impressive Young Man	B．A Rude Clerk
C．A Warm-Hearted Woman	D．A Powerful Smile

【推荐1】Rosie, a first-year university student in Beijing, entered a classroom for her oral English exam and slid her topic across the table to Joe, a foreign teacher. My Story, it read. “In middle school, my classmates laughed at me for having deaf-mute parents,” she began softly. “From that moment on, I decided not to tell anybody. But today…”

It’s widely considered taboo(忌讳) in Chinese to discuss the details of an unhappy family life with anyone other than very close friends. However, as Joe has noticed, many Chinese students appear surprisingly comfortable discussing emotional moments from their lives when they speak with foreign teachers in a language different from their own.

“Speaking English,” one of his Chinese students told him, “I feel like another person.” When speaking Chinese, he is kind of reserved; in English class, he is more open. English, to the Chinese speaker, may be like a mask, creating a buffer(缓冲物)between speaking the truth and the listener’s reaction. Students focus on how to speak rather than what is being said. If there’s a misunderstanding, English can take the blame.

Another reason why Chinese students are more comfortable sharing their secrets during English class may be the distinct approach to teaching used by their foreign teachers. “I always try to come to each student, make eye contact, have a 20-second conversation and see how they are doing,” Joe said. Classes taught by Chinese teachers, in contrast, are more formal. Many students said they had never been asked their opinion in class.

Rosie’s English vocabulary is now extensive, but she still can’t find the words to describe her feelings towards the English language. “English makes me feel I am different,” she said. “English is beautiful.”

1. Which might be the best title of this passage?

A．Sharing Secrets in English.	B．English Is a Beautiful Language.
C．Learning with Foreign Teachers.	D．Which Is More Popular, Chinese or English?

2. What can we infer from paragraph1?

A．Rosie and Joe are good friends.	B．Rosie will mention her personal affairs.
C．Rosie looks down upon the disabled.	D．Rosie lacks confidence in the oral exam.

3. The underlined word “reserved” can best be replaced by ________.

A．shy	B．curious
C．terrified	D．distinctive

4. What is the main idea of paragraph 3 and 4?

A．How students feel when speaking English.

B．What Joe’s approach to teaching English is.

C．How Chinese acts as a mask while communicating.

D．Why students prefer to share emotional stories in English.

【推荐3】At primary school in New Zealand, I was introduced to a school savings account run by one of the local banks.When our money box was full, we took it to the bank and watched with pride as our coins flowed across the counter. As a reward, we could choose our next money box from a small variety, and start the whole savings routine again. Every week I watched my parents sort out the housekeeping and “make ends meet”. Sometimes it was annoying to wait for things we really felt we needed.

Later, as a university student, I managed on an extremely small student allowance. Students were ignored by banks then, because we were so poor, and there was no way I could have gotten credit, even if I had tried. We collected our allowance three times each year, deposited it to the best advantage and withdrew it little by little to last until the next payout of the allowance.

When our daughter, Sophie, began to walk, we made a purposeful choice to encourage her to use money wisely. We often comment when the TV tells us “You owe it to yourself to borrow our money"to whom do we really owe it? And what would happen if our income were reduced or dried up? Now, as a 12-year-old child, its almost embarrassing to see her tight “financial policy”, and wait for the unavoidable holiday sales to buy what she wants.

I agree that financial education in schools is very important. But the root of the problem lies with us and the way we behave as role models to those who follow.

1. What did the author learn from her parents?

A．How to become a banker.

B．Where to open a savings account.

C．Where to choose a money box.

D．How to make ends meet.

2. How did the author manage the student allowance?

A．He applied for a credit card.

B．He spent it three times a year.

C．He put it in the bank.

D．He seldom withdrew it.

3. What reflects Sophie’s tight “financial policy”?

A．Reducing her savings.

B．Buying things on sales.

C．Canceling holiday plans.

D．Borrowing money from banks.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．Parents, money problems.

B．Students’ school performance.

C．Children’s saving behavior.

D．Children’s financial education.