We were all raised on fairy tales with glass slippers, brave princes and magic! It didn’t take too long to realize that stories like that aren’t necessarily true. In the life, you learned that glass slippers are really uncomfortable, no prince is perfect and magic doesn’t always work.
So what do you do when the way you planned things is not the way they turned out?
Know that parts of your fairy tale have already been written, and sadly, there’s not a whole lot you can do about those first few chapters.You didn’t get the best start.Your trust was unexpectedly betrayed. You didn’t get the job. Whatever falls and failures that happened in your past are just that in your past. There’s still more to the story.
While your life has a lot of contributors(投稿者), you are the editor-in-chief. You take what’s there and create the masterpiece. All the good pages and the bad can come together to make a beautiful adventure.
When you find yourself wishing your life was more like the fairy tales, remember that in some ways it already is. There will be dragons, bad witches, great romances, winding roads and friends to help you along the way. So, keep rewriting your story every day that you’re alive. Whether it’s a comedy, tragedy or a little of both, the pen is in your hand. How it all ends is up to you.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A.To help the readers to live a good life. |
B.To encourage the readers to write their own stories. |
C.To advise parents to tell the fairy tale to their kids. |
D.To describe the difficulties in today’s education. |
A.Glass slipper. | B.Winding roads. |
C.Sad ending. | D.Bad witches. |
A.wise | B.cruel | C.brave | D.stupid |
A.To express the doubt to life |
B.To compare different ideas. |
C.To introduce a point for discussion. |
D.To describe the conditions in life. |
2 . Noah Webster, born on October 16, 1758, is known for The American Dictionary of the English Language. He has been called the “Father of American Scholarship and Education.” His “Blue-Backed Speller” books were used to teach spelling and reading to five generations of American children. But how much do you know about him beyond that?
At the age of 16, Noah Webster began attending Yale College, Unfortunately, he spent his four years at Yale during the American Revolutionary War, and, because of food shortages, many of his college classes were held in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Later, he served in the army. Having graduated from Yale in 1778, Webster wanted to continue his education in order to earn his law degree. He had to teach school in order to pay for his education. He set up many small schools that didn’t survive, but he was a good teacher because instead of forcing his students to learn, like what most teachers did, he rewarded them.
He earned his law degree in, 1781, but did not practice law until 1789. Once he started he found the law was not to his liking. Webster did not have much money.
In 1793, Alexander Hamilton lent him $ 1500 to move to New York City to edit a newspaper. In December, he founded New York’s first daily newspaper, American Minerva, and edited it for four years. For decades, he published textbooks, political essays, a report on some diseases, and newspaper articles for his party. He wrote so much that a modern list of his published works required 655 pages.
Noah Webster died on May 28, 1843 and was buried in the Grove Street Cemetery.
1. Which of the following best describes Webster’s life at Yale?A.Tough. | B.Smooth. |
C.Normal. | D.Tiring. |
A.A teacher. | B.A lawyer. |
C.A headmaster. | D.A scholar. |
A.Webster was a most productive author. |
B.Webster led a miserable life in New York City. |
C.Webster’S books added up to 655 pages. |
D.Webster didn’t write any political Works. |
For four centuries, historians have guessed why Elizabeth never married. In her own day, her decision to remain single was considered absurd and dangerous. A queen needed a husband to make political decisions for her and to organize and lead her military campaigns. More important, she needed male heirs (继承人) to avoid a civil war after her death.
There was no shortage of suitors for the Queen, both English courtiers (朝臣) and foreign princes, and it was confidently expected for the best part of 30 years that Elizabeth would eventually marry one of them. Indeed, although she insisted that she preferred the single state, she kept these suitors in a state of permanent expectation. This was a deliberate policy on the Queen's part, since by keeping foreign princes in hope, sometimes for a decade, she kept them friendly when they might otherwise have made war on her kingdom.
There were, indeed, good political reasons for her avoiding marriage. The disastrous union of her sister Mary I to Philip II of Spain had had an unwelcome foreign influence upon English politics. The English were generally prejudiced against the Queen taking a foreign husband, particularly a Catholic one. Yet if she married an English, jealousy might lead to the separation of the court.
There were other deeper reasons for Elizabeth's unwillingness to marry, chief of which, I believe, was her fear of losing her autonomy as Queen. In the 16th century, a queen was regarded as holding supreme dominion(统治权)over the state, while a husband was thought to hold supreme dominion over his wife. Elizabeth knew that marriage and motherhood would bring some harm to her power.
She once pointed out that marriage seemed too uncertain a state for her. She had seen several unions in her immediate family break down, including that of her own parents. Elizabeth's father, Henry VIII, had had her mother, Anne Boleyn, killed; her stepmother Catherine Howard later suffered the same fate. When Elizabeth was 14 she was all but attracted by Admiral Thomas Seymour, who also went to the prison within a year. Witnessing these terrible events at an early age, it has been argued, may have put Elizabeth off marriage.
Elizabeth had to decide her priorities. Marriage or being single? Elizabeth was far too intelligent. The choice she made was courageous and revolutionary, and, in the long run, the right one for England.
1. To the suitors including English courtiers and foreign princes, Elizabeth ________.
A.held back the truth |
B.gave a definite answer “no” |
C.kept them expecting on purpose |
D.said she preferred the single state |
A.prejudice against her |
B.separation of the court |
C.jealousy among English courtiers |
D.a negative impact on English politics |
A.Queen Elizabeth was not a Catholic. |
B.Some foreign princes made war on Britain. |
C.Catherine Howard was killed by Anne Boleyn. |
D.Admiral Thomas Seymour was killed by Henry VIII. |
A.Pitiful. | B.Approving. | C.Negative. | D.Neutral. |
There were many questions at the time about whether Jessica would be able to live a “
With the
As a child, Jessica studied dance in her hometown. When her first
Tentatively she took the stage with the other students and performed her
After
Jessica’s most famous accomplishment was learning how to
Jessica now
A.challenges | B.trouble | C.advantages | D.influences |
A.unique | B.special | C.normal | D.unusual |
A.frequently | B.never | C.ever | D.certainly |
A.argument | B.understanding | C.opposition | D.support |
A.decorate | B.explore | C.explode | D.establish |
A.performance | B.image | C.exhibition | D.appearance |
A.back | B.front | C.edge | D.middle |
A.line | B.emotion | C.routine | D.behaviour |
A.sympathy | B.sorrow | C.doubt | D.confidence |
A.Unfortunately | B.Delightedly | C.Disappointedly | D.Hopefully |
A.admitting | B.entering | C.graduating | D.settling |
A.which | B.when | C.what | D.where |
A.dreamed | B.ignored | C.explained | D.refused |
A.symbol | B.frustration | C.evidence | D.impact |
A.board | B.fly | C.seat | D.launch |
A.find | B.lose | C.cancel | D.seek |
A.experienced | B.scheduled | C.received | D.praised |
A.for | B.against | C.beyond | D.within |
A.describes as | B.regards as | C.treats as | D.works as |
A.amazing | B.encouraging | C.enjoying | D.astonishing |
“The lift becomes this interesting social space where etiquette (礼仪) is sort of odd (奇怪的),” Gray told the BBC. “They [elevators] are socially very interesting but often very awkward places.”
We walk in and usually turn around to face the door. If someone else comes in, we may have to move. And here, according to Gray, liftusers unthinkingly go through a set pattern of movements. He told the BBC what he had observed.
He explained that when you are the only one inside a lift, you can do whatever you want – it’s your own little box.
If there are two of you, you go into different corners, standing diagonally (对角线地) across from each other to create distance.
When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a fourth person it becomes a square, with someone in every corner. A fifth person is probably going to have to stand in the middle.
New entrants to the lift will need to size up the situation when the doors slide open and then act decisively. Once in, for most people the rule is simple – look down, or look at your phone.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
“You don’t have enough space,” Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin, told the BBC. “Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm’s length of distance between us. And that’s not possible in most elevators.”
In such a small, enclosed space it becomes very important to act in a way that cannot be construed (理解) as threatening or odd. “The easiest way to do this is to avoid eye contact,” she said.
1. The main purpose of the article is to _____.
A.remind us to enjoy ourselves in the elevator |
B.tell us some unwritten rules of elevator etiquette |
C.share an interesting but awkward elevator ride |
D.analyze what makes people feel awkward in an elevator |
A.turn around and greet one another |
B.look around or examine their phone |
C.make eye contact with those in the elevator |
D.try to keep a distance from other people |
A. | B. |
C. | D. |
A.judge | B.ignore |
C.put up with | D.make the best of |
A.someone’s odd behaviors |
B.the lack of space |
C.their unfamiliarity with one another |
D.their eye contact with one another |
One day, I was riding with my dad when he noticed a hitch-hiker with a backpack. Without hesitation, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name, and proceeded to talk to him about all sorts of things. Dad asked him where he was going. The hitch-hiker told him he was heading for the west. I can’t recall why but he told Dad a lot of things that had occurred to him and that persuaded him to make that decision . He talked about the tragic events that occurred to him several years before. He was low in spirits, but I could see that the hitch-hiker’s attitude was changing as someone was really listening to him.
We drove 45 minutes before the hitch-hiker got off. We pulled over and Dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitch-hiker a twenty-dollar bill. The guy smiled. He nearly lit up right there on the cold, dark highway.
We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I had just witnessed. I was always told by everyone never to pick up a hitch-hiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. While reflecting upon that story I came to understand that just one single kind act could change someone’s life, and I am sure that my father’s deed made that poor man’s day.
1. The underlined words “that decision” in Para. 2 refer to ___________.
A.catching the car | B.heading for the west |
C.talking about his experiences | D.driving 45 minutes |
A.The writer’s father offering him a free ride |
B.The writer’s father really listening to him |
C.The writer’s father agreeing to driving him to his destination |
D.The writer’s father talking to him about all sorts of things |
A.was deeply moved | B.strongly disagreed |
C.admired his father | D.couldn’t understand |
A.willing to help | B.easy-going | C.far-sighted | D.full of sympathy |
A.show his respect for his father |
B.tell a story about his kind father |
C.prove his father is the best teacher |
D.advise people to learn from their fathers |