There was a young painter who made a living by painting portraits (肖像). One day, a rich man asked him to paint a portrait for him and promised to pay him 10,000 dollars.
After a week, the rich man came to take the painting, but he was not pleased with it. He told the young painter, “I will only pay 3,000 dollars for this painting.”
The young painter was angry. He argued (争吵) with the rich man, hoping the rich man would keep his word.
The rich man thought, “The man in the painting is me. If I don’t buy this painting, no one else will buy it.” So he said, “I will ask you one last time: will you sell it for 3,000 dollars?”
The young painter said firmly (坚定地), “No. I would prefer not to sell it, rather than be humiliated by you. Someday, you will pay 20 times the cost for breaking your promise.”
After that, the painter worked hard night and day. Finally, he became well-known in the art world.
The rich man forgot about the artist and what he had told him. But one day, some friends told him, “There is a painting selling for 200,000 dollars and the man in the painting looks exactly like you. The painting is titled ‘Thief’ (贼)”.
Then, the rich man remembered the artist. He quickly went to apologise and paid 200,000 dollars to buy the portrait. The young painter made the rich man bow his head in the end.
1. Why would the rich man only pay 3,000 dollars for the painting?| A．Because he wasn’t very satisfied with it. |
| B．Because he thought others would buy it. |
| C．Because he didn’t have 10,000 dollars. |
| A．He wanted to humiliated the young painter. |
| B．He thought no one else would buy his portrait. |
| C．He didn’t have enough money to buy the portrait. |
| A．欺骗 | B．吓唬 | C．羞辱 |
| A．The rich man. | B．The artist. | C．The rich man’s friend. |
| A．Portraits can be very expensive. |
| B．People shouldn’t break their promises. |
| C．We should work hard to become better. |
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I’m John. When I was young, I was always sad, almost everything ending in failure (失败). I completely lost my heart, sighing (叹息) unhappily all day. Having seen me like that, my father decided to cheer me up.
One day, he gave me a cup of water and asked me to taste it, I found it salty (咸的). My father said he just put one small spoon of salt in the cup. And then, he led me to a lake, where he put a big handful (一把) of salt into the lake, picked up a spoon of water and let me taste it again. He asked, “Does it still taste salty?” “Not at all,” I said. My father said, “Now, you may know the reason for your pain: you are just a cup of water, but not a lake. Be a lake and you won’t feel sad any more.”
I came to understand my father’s purpose. I feel frustrated (沮丧) because my heart is as small as a cup of water. He hoped that I can be a person with a heart like a lake.
1. When John was young, he was always excited.2. To help John, John’s father asked him to taste salty water in a cup first.
3. According to the passage, we know a big handful water is not mentioned.
4. John’s father made John understand him by letting others tell John.
5. The best title of this passage is to be a lake.
【推荐2】People all considered Raghu to be a smart boy. He got lots of praise (表扬) from his classmates, and neighbors. Raghu soon had a big head and thought highly of himself.
Raghu’s father was worried about his son’s change. One day, he mixed some sugar with sand in a bowl. And then he asked his little daughters to remove the sugar from the sand. The two girls tried hard, but it was quite difficult for them. They decided to ask their elder brother for help. Being an excellent university student, Raghu believed he could solve the problem easily. Raghu tried his best to remove the sugar from the sand, but without success.
When their father returned home, the girls explained everything to him. Raghu’s father got the kids together and said, “It’s very easy to remove the sugar from the sand. Let me show you how to do that.” He took the bowl near the ant(蚂蚁) hill. Soon lots of ants came close to it and took the sugar out from the sand bit by bit. Everyone was amazed to see how such a small creature removed the sugar from the sand so well.
“We can learn new things even from an ant. If we think we know everything, then our ego will close all the doors for our improvements,” Raghu’s father said. Raghu promised his father that he would keep on learning.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. The father mixed sugar with sand to ________.
| A．play with his daughters |
| B．make friends with his children |
| C．help his son change for the better |
| A．easy | B．amazing | C．exciting |
| A．成就 | B．自负 | C．焦虑 |
| A．Seeing is believing. | B．It’s never too late to learn. | C．Learning is a life-long journey. |
【推荐3】I’m seventeen years old, but most people think I look much older. Some have mistaken me for thirty because I have a full beard (胡子). I’m working part-time in a bookstore. The bookstore is beside my school, so most of the teenagers who shop there are my schoolmates. Day by day, I know many of their parents. When they come to the bookstore, I usually say hello to them and make small talk with them.
One day, a lady came in and chose three books. When she reached inside her wallet for the money, I saw a picture of her and her two daughters. I know the two girls. One is my classmate Sally and the other is her younger sister.
“Oh, you—Sally’s mother! I think you look…”, I said. Before I finished my words, the lady quickly closed her wallet with a scared look on her face. “How do you know my daughters? They’re only high school students!” she said.
It took me a few seconds to realize the reason. The lady was wondering why this “old guy” was hanging around with teenage girls, especially her daughters!
“Uh, madam, seventeen,” I said. Then we both had a good laugh about it.
The lady learned not to jump to conclusions (匆忙下结论) ,and I learned I should shave (剃须) more often.
1. When the writer meets the parents he knows in the bookstore, he usually ________.| A．gives them free gifts | B．tells jokes to them |
| C．introduces good books to them | D．has conversations with them |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．bored | B．worried | C．excited | D．proud |
| A．Don’t hang around with teenage girls. | B．Having a beard makes people look bad. |
| C．He should shave off his beard more often. | D．It’s important not jump to conclusions. |
| A．The writer enjoys reading in his free time. | B．The writer and Sally are in the same class. |
| C．Sally’s sister is the same age as the writer. | D．The writer isn’t good at dealing with people. |
【推荐1】Cedric was a pig. He loved playing in the mud (泥).
After the rain, Cedric came back.
根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使短文意思通顺，内容完整，并将其标号填写在下面题号后的横线上。
| A．They wondered when he ate and drank. |
| B．He was clean, but the other pigs didn’t think he was Cedric. |
| C．And he always wore a “mud” coat. |
| D．Cedric ran and jumped in. |
| E．One day it rained for hours. |
【推荐2】Once upon a time, a turtle (龟) lived in a pool with two ducks. The turtle enjoyed her life here because she could talk with the ducks every day. And the turtle loved to talk.
After many years, there was very little water in the pool. The ducks planned to fly to another area. They walked over to the turtle to say goodbye.
“Oh, don’t leave me behind!” said the turtle, “Take me with you!” “But you cannot fly!” said the ducks. “Take me with you! Please!” said the turtle.
The turtle felt so sorry for herself, and at last they got an idea. “We will each carry one end of a stick and you bite (咬) the middle of it. Then we will fly with you. But remember not to talk! If you open your mouth, you will fall down.” said the ducks.
The turtle agreed and thanked the ducks. So they began to fly.
When they came over a small town, some people saw them. “Isn’t it strange? Look!”they shouted, and everyone ran to look. The turtle forgot everything, and started to say, “Hush, you stupid people!” But when she opened her mouth, she fell to the ground.
It is a very good thing to be able to hold one’s tongue!
1. Why did the ducks plan to fly to another area?| A．Because they didn’t like the turtle. | B．Because they didn’t like the pool. |
| C．Because there was very little water. | D．Because some people always saw them. |
| A．open her mouth | B．remember not to talk |
| C．fly with them | D．carry one end of the stick |
| A．fell to the ground | B．kept flying |
| C．carried the stick again | D．forgot everything |
| A．思维 | B．舌头 | C．眉毛 | D．呼吸 |
【推荐3】Huck is my name, Huckleberry Finn. I live in the town of St. Petersburg in the state of Missouri. It is a small town but it is near a very big river called Mississippi. This is a story of a journey that I made down the river on a raft and the adventures I had on the way.
It all started when my best friend, Tom Sawyer and I found $12,000 in a cave. That money made us rich. We got $6,000 each. Judge Thatcher, an important man in St. Petersburg, put it in the bank, and now we get a dollar a day interest(利息).
Then a kind old lady called Widow Douglas invited me to live with her. Because I haven't got a family or a home. My mother died a long time ago, then my dad, Pap, went away. He was an unkind man especially when he drank a lot, which was, most of the time, and he often beat me. I was afraid of him. I didn't go to school like the other boys of my age. I lived on the streets and in the woods.
My life changed after I lived with the widow(寡妇). She gave me a bed to sleep in and bought new clothes for me. She read stories to me and taught me how to eat at a table.
But then her sister Miss Watson arrived. She brought her black slave Jim with her. I liked Jim but I didn't like Miss Watson very much. She often shouted at me.
"Don't put your feet on the table. Huckleberry! Sit up straight! Why don't you try and behave well, Huckleberry?"
1. What was the relationship between Huckleberry and Tom Sawyer?| A．Friends. | B．Relatives. | C．Brothers. | D．Neighbors. |
| A．Miss Douglas was very kind to Huckleberry |
| B．Mr. Thatcher was unimportant to Huckleberry |
| C．Miss Watson was rather patient with Huckleberry |
| D．Huckleberry's dad was very generous to him |
| A．Huckleberry had a happy life with his parents. |
| B．It was Widow Douglas who helped Huckleberry when he was in trouble. |
| C．Huckleberry was thankful to Thatcher because he offered a bed to him to sleep in |
| D．Both Miss Watson and Miss Douglas had a heart full of love. |
【推荐1】Little stream (小溪) ran down from a high mountain through many villages and forests. Then it reached a desert. “I went through so many difficulties. I should have no problem crossing the desert,” she thought. As she started, she found herself slowly disappearing into the sand. After many tries, she still failed.
“Maybe I can’t reach the ocean.” she said sadly to herself.
At this time, a deep voice said, “If a breeze (微风) can cross the desert, so can a river.” It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, “That’s because a breeze can fly, but I cannot.”
“That’s because you can’t give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate (蒸发) into the breeze, and it can take you across.” said the desert. “Give up what I am now? No! No!” The little stream could not accept this idea. “The breeze can carry the vapor (水蒸气) across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again,” said the desert. “And whether you’re a river or vapor, your nature never changes.” Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze. It carried her to the next stage of her life.
The course of our lives is like the experience of the little stream. If you want to go through difficulties in your life to head for success, you should also change the way you are.
1. Where did the little stream want to reach?| A．The forest. | B．The ocean. | C．The desert. | D．The village. |
| A．She didn’t meet much difficulty. | B．She was worried about herself. |
| C．She was confident about herself. | D．She knew well about the desert. |
| A．She wouldn’t give up what she was. | B．She failed many times. |
| C．She was afraid of the breeze. | D．She wasn’t able to fly. |
| A．By evaporating into the breeze. | B．By forming a river. |
| C．By disappearing into the sand. | D．By changing her nature. |
| A．Give up what you have. | B．How to cross the desert. |
| C．Little stream and the desert. | D．Change means success. |
【推荐2】Sixteen-year-old Linda from Vancouver has won the British Columbia “Young Poet (诗人) of the Year” competition, with her poem (诗) Whale Song. Linda, from Steveston High School, takes home a prize of $1,000. Linda has already written about 30 poems, but she has never entered a competition before. “It was a big surprise for me.” She says, “I didn’t expect to win.”
Linda says she thought of the poem when she came out of a lift and saw a painting of a whale on a wall. “But sometimes I get ideas for poems when I’m walking on the sidewalk, or when I’m on the subway.” She says.
Linda has already decided how to spend the prize money. “A web camera for my computer, and some books by my favourite poets.”
Linda has just done her school-leaving examination, and she hopes to go to university to study Marine Biology. “I haven’t decided about a certain job yet. But I’d like to work in something to do with the sea, for sure,” she says.
Linda also wants to keep writing poetry. “I’ve won one competition, and it would be nice to win another one!”
1. Which the following word cannot describe Linda?| A．Well-planned. | B．Rich. | C．Talented. |
| A．Narration (记叙文). | B．Argumentation (议论文). | C．Novel. |
| A．Talent is the most important reason leading to success. |
| B．We can find a hobby to earn money. |
| C．Be well-planned, ambitious and positive people, and do what you want. |
★Using mobile phone in public
More questions are asked about mobile use than any other case. According to Debrett’s, it is always rude to pay more attention to a phone than the people around you, and they should always be put away when you’re paying for something in a shop. They should be turned off in theatres, cinemas or any space where silence is required.
★Smoking e-cigarettes at work
As electronic cigarettes become more popular, questions about whether they are acceptable in the workplace are asked more often. According to Debrett’s, they should never be used in a work environment. Smoking e-cigarettes at work shows that you’re not focused on your work and may also have a bad influence on your workmates.
★Giving up your seat on public transport
In a recent university experiment only 20 per cent of London tube passengers are willing to give up their seat to people in need. According to Debrett’s, passengers should always offer to give up their seat to any person that is pregnant, elderly, or clearly in need. It is important to remember, however, that it is just as impolite to rudely refuse the offer of a seat as it is to not offer a seat.
★Eating before everyone is served
The final question is one that we’ve all asked ourselves: is it rude to start eating at the table before everyone else has been served? According to Debrett’s, the simple answer is yes, unless the host or hostess permits dinners to start.
1. How many questions about good manners are listed in the passage?
| A．250. | B．2014. | C．4. | D．20. |
| A．using mobile phone in public |
| B．smoking e-cigarettes at work |
| C．giving up seats on public transport |
| D．eating before everyone is served |
| A．people should turn off mobile phones when shopping. |
| B．more people smoke e-cigarettes at work than before. |
| C．it’s always polite to refuse when others offer a seat to you. |
| D．we can start eating as soon as all of us sit at the table. |
