One day all the workers reached the office and they saw a big notice on the door which said, “Yesterday the person who has been preventing your growth in this company (公司) passed away. We invite you to attend the funeral (葬礼) in the meeting room on the 5th floor.”
In the room, everyone thought, “Who is this guy that was preventing my progress? Well, at least he died!” One by one the workers got closer to the coffin (棺材), and when they looked inside they suddenly became speechless. They were shocked. There was a mirror inside the coffin; everyone who looked inside it could see himself. And there was also a sign next to the mirror that said, “There is only one person preventing your growth: it is YOU.”
You are the only person who can change your life. You are the only one who is taking responsibility for your life. Your life changes when you change. The world and your life are like the mirror lying in a coffin. It’s the way you face life that makes the difference.
1. The workers attended a funeral in the meeting room on the2. As soon as the workers looked inside the coffin, they were too
3. There was a sign beside the
4. You are the only one who is
5. If
相似题推荐
If our time is our most valuable thing, maybe we should be surprised how willingly we waste it.
I’ve read when smokers give up the habit, their lungs (肺) begin to repair themselves. So could it be true that our brains are boring by hours of phone use?
One day, something in me touched me and I decided to stop my phone addiction (上瘾) habit to live my life fully.
Of course, a complete change was impossible because the phone was part of our daily life. My new rules allowed for basic uses such as texting, calling, checking the news and making planned searches. Also, online shopping and social media (媒体) use should be limited. But my No. 1 rule was simple: Do not pick up the phone as a reflex (反射动作) to kill boredom.
Reducing my screen time has caused a lot, which is quite interesting. Just a few days after giving up the habit, I’ve read two books and I’ve had more creative ideas for writing projects in the last week than I had in the last year. More interestingly, I’ve also had more active communication with someone I don’t know, whether it’s giving out a praise, laughing at something funny, or taking an extra moment to hold open a door.
We’ve given the little computers in our hands far more of our time and attention than they should. They’ve become crutches (拐杖), giving us excuses. But the funny thing is, when we put them down, we’ll fill our time in a wise way.
And we may just discover a new enjoyment of old pleasures or new ones, which makes our brains fresh and new instead of being weak in ways we’d almost forgotten.
Time for change | |
| Brief introduction | Realizing the |
| My new | *Basic activities *I should |
| The | *I've done more *I’ve communicated with |
| My reflections (反思) | *Managing our phone use allows us to make use of our time *We can discover old joys and find new ones. They do not make our brains weak |
During the Eastern Han Dynasty (东汉), there was a man and his name was Chen Fan. When he was young, he studied hard, because he wanted to help other people. One day, an old friend of his father’s, Xue Qin, came to see him. Xue Qin saw that Chen Fan’s house was dirty. The yard (院子) was full of the wild grass and he could see the garbage (垃圾) everywhere. He asked, “Why don’t you clean the house? ” Chen Fan answered, “A great man has to do something important. How can he do such a small thing? ” Xue Qin asked at once, “How can you do the important thing if you don’t even clean a room? ” Chen Fan thought Xue Qin’s idea was right and that he should correct (纠正) his wrong idea.
From then on, he began to pay attention to the small things around him, and at last he became a famous minister (大臣). Chen Fan’s story tells us: If we want to be great, we should start from little things.
1. What was Chen Fan’s house like at the beginning? (不超过5个词)2. Why would Chen Fan correct his idea? (不超过10个词)
3. What can we learn from the story? (不超过15个词)
There was once a boy who was out playing in a field with his friends. As they were playing, the boy came across a stone that looked interesting. It wasn’t as dull (黯淡无光的) as the other stones. It was a little bit shiny. But it was still quite dirty. The boy picked it up and decided to polish (擦亮) it.
His friends laughed at him for this. They said, “Why are you polishing that old dirty stone? You are so stupid.” But every day, when they went out to play, the boy would bring the stone with him, polishing it no matter when they took breaks.
This went on for some time. Then one day, the boy left his home to join his friends as usual. He had quite a surprise for them. When he showed them the stone, they were amazed. It was, in fact, not a common stone at all—it was a beautiful diamond. The boy had stayed up all night, polishing it until it was completely clean.
There will be times in your life where people will try to discourage you. They will tell you that you’re wasting your time on some meaningless task. But when they do this, the best thing you can do is to pay no attention to them and continue to work toward your goal. You can turn a rough (粗糙的) stone into a diamond if you have persistence(毅力) and courage.
Finding diamonds in the rough | |
Beginning | While playing in a field with his friends, a boy |
Main body | The boy polished the old dirty stone |
Conclusion | In our life, sometimes, people around us may tell us it’s just a |
Kevin Michael Connolly began to love skiing when he was a child. He has skied and won medals in skiing competitions since 1999, and he has traveled all over the world taking photos. He’s also written a book about his life and it has been very successful. But the most unbelievable thing about Kevin is that he doesn’t have legs. Kevin hasn’t had a terrible accident or been in a disaster. He was born without legs. Kevin’s parents helped him to overcome the condition by raising him like any other child. He learned to “walk” using his hands, and he went to school with the other children from his neighborhood. Kevin grew up in Montana. Most Montana kids learn to ski, and Kevin did, too. He used special equipment, and he became a very good skier. He also hiked and camped in the mountains a lot. After he finished high school, he studied Film and Photograph at Montana State University. Later, Kevin returned to his university to give a speech to welcome new students. Now he has his own TV show called Arm & Ready. On the show, Kevin travels to different places and faces different challenges. People love the show because they feel inspired when they see the world through Kevin’s eyes. Kevin’s excellent journey will change the way they look at others, and the way they see themselves. |
1. When did Kevin Michael Connolly begin to love skiing?
2. What is the most unbelievable thing about Kevin?
3. How did Kevin’s parents help him overcome the condition?
4. Where did Kevin study Film and Photograph?
5. Why do people love Kevin’s TV show?
【推荐2】23-year-old Reggie Nelson comes from a poor family in London, UK. His mother brought him up after his father died. Life was never easy, but Reggie wanted to be successful in his life. When he was a teenager, he had an idea: he was going to ask rich people for advice.
Young Reggie first searched for the richest area on the Internet. Then he decided to go door to door to ask for advice. It took him a few weeks to summon up the courage to do it. After the door opened, he had the same speech ready for everyone. “My name is Reggie from East London…I just want to know what skills and qualities you have that allowed you to live in such rich area like this, so I can learn from those and use them for myself.”
Reggie spent hours knocking on the doors. Luck smiled on him when a woman named Elizabeth invited him for a cup of tea. Reggie poured out his story to the couple. Elizabeth was the wife of Quintin Price, head of a famous company in the UK.
Mr Price invited Reggie to the office for the day—finally getting him some work experience. He also encouraged Reggie to get a place at Kensington University. Reggie took his advice and studied hard.
Now Reggie has got a good job in the heart of the city. “For anyone in a similar position to mine, I would say knock on the right doors and work hard.” said Reggie.
根据短文内容回答下列问题。1. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese. （将文中划线句子翻译成汉语）
2. What does the underlined word “those” in paragraph 2 refer to?
3. What did Reggie get from the couple?
4. To be successful, what do you learn from Reggie?（至少写出两条）
5. Give a proper title for the passage.
Zhou Chu was born about 1,700 years ago. He grew up without much parental control. He was tall and strong with great physical strength. However, he had a bad temper（脾气）, had lots of bad habits and was sometimes violent. Everybody was scared of him. They tried not to meet him or talk to him in the street. Gradually, he started to feel lonely.
One day, Zhou Chu saw some old men talking. He went up to them and asked. “Hey! Old men! Why are you looking so worried?” One man said, “We are worrying about the Three Evils around. ”
“What are the Three Evils? Tell me and I’ll beat them!” Zhou Chu waved his arms to show his strength. “Well,” said one man. “First, there’s a tiger in the South Mountain. It often takes away our animals and even attacks（袭击）people. Then, there’s a flood dragon under the long bridge over that river. It often makes big waves, breaks our ships and kills many people.”
“Okay,” said Zhou Chu. “So what’s the third evil?” The men looked at each other but nobody spoke. “What is the third evil?” Zhou Chu said angrily. One man said, “The third evil is you!”
“Me?” Zhou Chu was very angry. “Am I a tiger or a flood dragon?” he shouted. The man said. “You’re always doing bad things. Are you different from the tiger or the food dragon?”
Zhou Chu went home. He felt very ashamed of himself and was very sorry for his behaviour. In the end, he said to himself. “I must stop behaving like this. I’ll get rid of（除掉）the Evils, all three of them!”
The next day, he found the big tiger and killed it. After that, Zhou Chu went for the flood dragon. They fought in the river for three days and three nights. Finally he killed it.
He went home and decided to change himself. From then on, Zhou Chu was a completely changed man. With hard work, he became a famous man and he has been praised by generations ever since.
1. What did Zhou Chu look like?（答题词数不超过5个）____________________________________________________________
2. Why did Zhou Chu feel lonely? （答题词数不超过11 个）
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3. What were the Three Evils?（答题词数不超过 10 个）
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4. What can we learn from Zhou Chu? （答题词数不超过 15 个）
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