1 . A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her, and she did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them on a plate. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a glass. Turning to her, he asked, “Darling, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied.

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to taste the coffee. She smiled, as she tasted it.

“What does it mean, father?” she asked. He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong end hard. But after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they changed the water.

“Which are you?” he asked his daughter. When adversity knocks on your door in your life, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

1. What can be known from the first paragraph?

A．She found her life full of difficulties and she could do nothing about them.

B．They were very poor and the daughter complained about it.

C．She was fighting and struggling with her classmates so she was not satisfied.

D．The daughter complained about her food.

2. What happened after the father turned off the burners?

A．The carrot was hard as it had been.	B．The egg became soft and fragile.
C．There was a different change in every pot.	D．Similar changes happened in the three

3. The underlined word “adversity” most probably means

A．Temperature

B．difficulty

C．Requirement

D．attitude

4. The author wants to tell us________________.

A．that it is natural for people to complain about their difficulties in life

B．that a father taught her daughter how to cook at home

C．how carrots, eggs and coffee beans change when they are cooked

D．what we should do when facing difficulties

3 . Playing toss and catch with small children can be a fun experience, as they enjoy it very much. “again, Mommy, again!” Sarah exclaims as I toss her up in the air and catch her safely. She spreads her arms and legs as if she were flying, her eyes gleaming with _________. Her complete trust in me is heartwarming, yet it also carries a great deal of _________.

I hope that Sarah will always have complete _________ in me, but I realize that as she grows older, earning and maintaining her trust will require more effort and good judgment _________. Trust is such an essential part of a parent-child bond that it’s something that can’t _________ to lose or be taken for granted. Every time I _________ Sarah to something new, she’ll do it only because she trusts me and feels _________ in the knowledge that she won’t get hurt. For example, teaching Sarah to swim means she has to _________ that when she’s swimming in the big pool, I’ll come to her rescue if her doggy paddle lets her down.

_________ in the workplace, trust is crucial for strong __________. It is something that every manager should work hard to __________ among their team. Without trust, your team is unlikely to __________ your directions and willingly work together to achieve common goals. A __________ of trust can make people work against you rather than for you. At the very least, it means that people are not going to be __________ you their best. Good __________, like good parenting, is a long-term commitment, which requires effort, understanding, and patience.

1.

A．fear

B．delight

C．doubt

D．astonishment

2.

A．relief

B．satisfaction

C．achievement

D．responsibility

3.

A．faith

B．devotion

C．complaint

D．passion

4.

A．on my behalf

B．on my part

C．in my honor

D．in my name

5.

A．afford

B．choose

C．wait

D．expect

6.

A．attach

B．compare

C．adjust

D．introduce

7.

A．secure

B．happy

C．proud

D．grateful

8.

A．admit

B．believe

C．suggest

D．imagine

9.

A．However

B．Therefore

C．Similarly

D．Fortunately

10.

A．affection

B．determination

C．friendship

D．leadership

11.

A．assess

B．organize

C．develop

D．understand

12.

A．repeat

B．follow

C．change

D．forget

13.

A．gesture

B．measure

C．bond

D．lack

14.

A．telling

B．giving

C．selling

D．sending

15.

A．management

B．personality

C．communication

D．education

5 . Ten years ago when I was diagnosed with a serious illness, my first thought was, “Why me?” And this thought _______ me throughout my journey. It wasn’t until I was _______ enough to look back that I realized how much of my life was _______ by my illness not in a bad way.

Being _______ for our past experiences and _______ can be a hard thing to do. We sometimes wish events in our past could be _______ so we could start a new life. But without these events, we wouldn’t learn, change and grow.

The day I _______ this was volunteering with my boyfriend. A friend’s wife came up to me and asked me how school was, _______ I said I didn’t like it that much. She then _______ by saying, “Well, if you hadn’t gone, you wouldn’t have met him,” and pointed at my ________       .

This really opened my eyes, and after I left I started seeing everything in my life in this ________. If I hadn’t gone to that school, I would never have met my future husband. If I hadn’t battled ________ the illness, I wouldn’t have found my true ________. At first I didn’t see how my illness could have ever been a blessing. But when I looked at it as an experience for me, I started to see that I had a lot to be grateful for.

I grew closer to my mother while ________. I gained knowledge about myself that I could ________ gain through struggle, and learned how to take care of my wants and needs in a way that made me happy.

1.

A．injured

B．followed

C．delivered

D．struck

2.

A．well

B．brave

C．scared

D．ill

3.

A．widened

B．lengthened

C．shaped

D．unified

4.

A．mindful

B．thankful

C．hopeful

D．cheerful

5.

A．stories

B．replies

C．rewards

D．struggles

6.

A．ruined

B．caught

C．swept

D．taught

7.

A．recalled

B．reminded

C．removed

D．realized

8.

A．but

B．and

C．so

D．for

9.

A．responded

B．collected

C．refused

D．lectured

10.

A．boyfriend

B．girlfriend

C．husband

D．teacher

11.

A．way

B．system

C．regard

D．case

12.

A．through

B．for

C．within

D．against

13.

A．hope

B．self

C．relief

D．friend

14.

A．living

B．losing

C．recovering

D．searching

15.

A．never

B．already

C．only

D．also

6 . As a child growing up in a suburban town in the Northeast of the United States, the arrival of spring had little meaning for me. Sure, we had a weeklong spring vocation from school, but the key word there was vacation, not spring.

For the kids in my neighborhood, the arrival of spring was a non-event. There were two important seasons: winter, when we could go skating and sledding or build snow forts, and summer, when we could finally make proper use of the beach about 100 meter east of my family home. Spring and autumn were just technical details, weeks and weeks of waiting for the good times’ return.

Admittedly, spring later developed its own attractions for me- “In the spring a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of love”, as the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson noted-however, it was not spring itself, but the other stuff bat got my attention.

In short, I never thought much at all about spring.... and then I arrived in China. I had been in Beijing for about three months when my first Spring Festival rolled around, and it could hardly be ignored. Aside from the random bursts of fireworks at any time day or night, what stood out most for me was that the capital seemed to be empty.

It was as though the crowds and streams of cars and trucks commonly seen in the capital had all gone into hiding. My puzzlement cleared up when I returned to work. My colleagues explained that Chinese traditionally travel, if necessary, to visit their families during Spring Festival, and that many Beijingers were not natives of the capital.

I also got my first knowledge of something about Spring Festival that never ceases to amaze me. Regardless of when the holiday is set to begin, there is an almost immediate and sudden change for the better in the weather. Spring really does arrive.

I can’t begin to figure out how the ancient Chinese could create a system that would almost always accurately predict when the season would shift year after year after year. But they did.

1. What did the author think of spring as a child?

A．It was a season full of promise.	B．It was always beyond his imagination.
C．It was a tiring and long holiday.	D．It hardly left a good impression on him.

2. What impressed the author most about Beijing during the Spring Festival?

A．The busy traffic.	B．The unexpected quietness.
C．Beijingers’ love for travel.	D．Occasional bursts of fireworks.

3. How does the author feel about the system created by ancient Chinese?

A．Adorable.

B．Confused.

C．Wonderful.

D．Convenient.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Spring Festival in Beijing will make one feel quite lonely.

B．The author spent his first Spring Festival at a colleague’s home.

C．In China Spring Festival always indicates the coming of Spring.

D．The author still worked during the Spring Festival while in Beijing.

8 . We talk about the persistence needed to make our dream come true today. Just think of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Their _________ certainly didn’t happen overnight!

Wilbur was 12 years old and Orville 8 when their father brought home a toy. It was a rubber _________ made in France. They liked it so much that they played with it until it broke. Immediately, they began _________ copies. They were hooked on aviation! In 1900, as young men, having built their first glider(滑翔机), they decided to _________ it out at Kitty Hawk on Kill Devil Hills. It _________ consistent strong winds and the somewhat cushioning effects of sand. That first flight was unsuccessful, but it didn’t stop them. After several more tries, on December 17, 1903, with a much _________ plane, they risked their lives to fly it in the wind. They _________ flying the world’s first powered airplane. Beginning at 10: 35 a. m. that day, Orville _________ it 120 feet in about 12 seconds! At 12: 00, Wilbur flew it 852 feet in 59 seconds! Johnny Moore, one of the five men who _________ them that morning (in charge of dragging the plane across the sand for positioning), ran to the village of Kitty Hawk crying. “They’ve made it!” This was the __________ of aviation! At this time, Wilbur was 36 and Orville 32. Roughly 24 years had passed since their father gave them that __________!

If you have a dream, work at it. If it doesn’t turn out as __________, don’t give up! Try again!

__________ what you want and accomplish it. Don’t ever give up! __________ in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more __________ than unsuccessful men with talent. Persistence and determination alone make a difference.

1.

A．failure

B．accident

C．achievement

D．change

2.

A．car

B．bicycle

C．helicopter

D．ship

3.

A．building

B．selling

C．buying

D．drawing

4.

A．put

B．try

C．pick

D．carry

5.

A．avoided

B．prevented

C．provided

D．caught

6.

A．ordinary

B．similar

C．organised

D．improved

7.

A．took to

B．kept to

C．gave up

D．ended up

8.

A．flew

B．placed

C．dragged

D．pulled

9.

A．noticed

B．met

C．visited

D．helped

10.

A．result

B．birth

C．target

D．development

11.

A．toy

B．party

C．promise

D．chance

12.

A．allowed

B．decided

C．expected

D．required

13.

A．Worry about

B．Return to

C．Forget about

D．Stick to

14.

A．Something

B．Nothing

C．Anything

D．Everything

15.

A．common

B．active

C．satisfactory

D．exciting

9 . When I was growing up, I had an old neighbour named Dr Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard. I remember him as someone who was a lot nicer than most of the adults in our community.

When Dr Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest.

The good doctor had some interesting theories concerning plant care and growth. He never watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why. He said that watering plants spoiled them so that each successive tree generation would grow weaker and weaker. So you have to make things rough for them and weed out (淘汰) the weaker trees early on.

He talked about how watering trees made for shallow roots, and how trees that weren’t watered had to grow deep roots in search of moisture. I took him to mean that deep roots were to be treasured.

So he never watered his trees. He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he’d beat it with a rolled­up newspaper. Smack! Slap! Pow! I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.

Dr Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty­five years ago. They’re extremely tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now. However, the trees in my garden trembled in a cold wind although I had watered them for several years.

It seems that adversity (逆境) and suffering benefit these trees in ways comfort and ease never could. I stood there deep in thought.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I stand over them and watch their little bodies, the rising and falling of life within. I often pray for them. Mostly I pray that their lives will be easy. But I think it’s time to change my prayer (祷词) because now I know my children are going to encounter hardship.

1. According to Dr Gibbs’ theories, trees will become weaker if they .

A．are lack of care	B．are watered
C．are weeded out	D．are beaten

2. The underlined word “robust” in Para. 6 most probably means “ ”．

A．strong

B．strange

C．deep

D．old

3. Which of the following may be the author’s best prayer for his two sons now?

A．I wish them strong wings, with which they can fly higher and touch the sky.

B．I wish them nice fortune so that they can meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future.

C．I wish them deep roots into the earth since the rains fall and the winds blow often.

D．I wish them great shades under the tree since the sunlight is always sharp and bitter.

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

A．A nice doctor	B．The deep roots
C．Adversity and suffering	D．My childhood memory

10 . Thirty years ago, I was a senior high school student. One day after our test papers were_________, our math teacher asked twelve students who had made exactly the same mistakes to remain. There is nothing really new about _________ in exams. Perhaps that was why she didn’t even say a word about it. _________, she wrote on the blackboard the words by Thomas Macaulay: the real _________ is not measured by what a man does in _________, where he’ll be seen, but what he would do if he knew he would never be_________ out.

I don’t know about the other eleven boys. Speaking for myself I can say: it was the most important single _________of my life. Now entering my third decade after being_________to Macaulay’s words, they still seem to me the best _________, because they give us a way to measure ourselves rather than others.

_________ of us will be asked to make great decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are_________ daily to make a great many personal decisions. Should the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket _________ turned over to the policeman? Should the _________change received at the store be forgotten or_________? Nobody will know except you. But you have to live with yourself, and it is always_________ to live with yourself deserving your own respect.

1.

A．marked

B．completed

C．examined

D．collected

2.

A．checking

B．discussing

C．cheating

D．worrying

3.

A．Personally

B．Unfortunately

C．Instead

D．Suddenly

4.

A．feature

B．character

C．advantage

D．wisdom

5.

A．practice

B．danger

C．detail

D．public

6.

A．found

B．worked

C．figured

D．pointed

7.

A．chance

B．lesson

C．incident

D．memory

8.

A．referred

B．shown

C．brought

D．introduced

9.

A．sentence

B．choice

C．reason

D．standard

10.

A．Few

B．All

C．Some

D．Any

11.

A．given out

B．cut off

C．cheered up

D．called upon

12.

A．and

B．so

C．or

D．but

13.

A．extra

B．small

C．some

D．necessary

14.

A．paid

B．remembered

C．returned

D．shared

15.

A．easier

B．better

C．harder

D．freer