1 . I got on an overnight, bus journey from Kolhapur to Aurangabad in India. The bus — an ordinary, air-conditioning-free one — was more than ______. All 55 seats were taken and there were some 20 people ______ in the aisle (过道). The hot day ______ the discomfort of the 10-hour journey. Because I was travelling on a student bus pass I had no choice but to-stand.

After approximately two extended hours, I was wet with _______ in the noise of the bus. I suddenly ______ a hand tapping my hand, asking for ______. Turning around, I found a middle-aged man with a smile looking up at me. He stood up and said I could take his ______ for a little while. I was pleasantly ______ and immediately accepted his offer, my entire body feeling a sense of relief. And the man just stood next to me, looking around. After about 20 minutes, I signaled him to ______ his space. Another man, who was sitting by the window on the other side of the bus, had observed our’ ______.

Just then, something ______ happened. Our observer stood up and offered his seat to another standing man. Unexpectedly, we had caused a chain reaction: almost all the standees got a(n) ______ to be seated. More surprisingly, people-even started chatting with each other while exchanging their positions, and soon began sharing jokes. Needless to say, the rest of the journey was quite ______.

The bus reached its destination the next morning. I stood in the early morning light, waving goodbye to the groups, who-went-their separate routines. But this extraordinary experience has stayed with me after all the years. I am always ______ of an important life lesson — that we can all ______ what we have, including our burdens, and help our co-passengers in the journey of life.

1.

A．narrowed

B．crowded

C．advanced

D．delayed

2.

A．standing

B．sitting

C．lying

D．moving

3.

A．sharpened

B．brightened

C．worsened

D．shortened

4.

A．rain

B．water

C．tears

D．sweat

5.

A．touched

B．held

C．raised

D．sensed

6.

A．company

B．help

C．seat

D．attention

7.

A．advice

B．space

C．hand

D．instruction

8.

A．frightened

B．shocked

C．awkward

D．satisfied

9.

A．take back

B．set up

C．cut in

D．give out

10.

A．adventure

B．conversation

C．deal

D．exchange

11.

A．confusing

B．powerful

C．magical

D．positive

12.

A．appointment

B．goal

C．arrangement

D．chance

13.

A．enjoyable

B．glorious

C．shocking

D．admirable

14.

A．warned

B．reminded

C．freed

D．affected

15.

A．receive

B．deliver

C．share

D．track

2 . A few years ago I went through a period of such severe depression that life didn’t seem worth living. It was like permanent _________, so dark and cold that the sun would never shine.

Then I saw snowdrops pushing through the _________, iron-hard ground. I looked at them every day until I felt that if they could _________, then so could I.

_________ spring came, I started to put in more and more plants, until the garden was _________ with colour. Life was growing through my hands, gentle, peaceful, but, above all, _________. If I gave love, it was _________, a hundred times.

I could spend hours _________ in gardening. The form of depressive illness I have is biological. It has _________ generations of my family and follows no rhyme, reason nor circumstance. I can be __________ when the sun is shining or I am surrounded by a group of loving friends.

Of course, fresh air and exercise help to __________ depression, but for me gardening is more than that. It represents endurance as well as __________.

At the end of the first garden I made __________ a tree, huge and magnificent. It withstood freezing temperatures and strong winds. It bent but never broke.

The leaves dropped until it looked no more than a(n) __________ skeleton (骨架), but it always, always came back to life. And so I learned that we may be battled and __________, but hope is a living thing.

1.

A．spring

B．summer

C．fall

D．winter

2.

A．freezing

B．soft

C．smooth

D．dirty

3.

A．come back to earth

B．come back to life

C．come true

D．come up

4.

A．Before

B．Whether

C．Although

D．As

5.

A．dead

B．burdened

C．alive

D．compared

6.

A．optimistic

B．pessimistic

C．traditional

D．creative

7.

A．recovered

B．accompanied

C．blocked

D．returned

8.

A．addicted

B．eager

C．lost

D．devoted

9.

A．touched

B．impressed

C．affected

D．released

10.

A．excited

B．depressed

C．delighted

D．sensitive

11.

A．accumulate

B．relieve

C．disturb

D．deepen

12.

A．hope

B．desire

C．emotion

D．moral

13.

A．stood

B．suffered

C．waited

D．lined

14.

A．stable

B．complex

C．absolute

D．useful

15.

A．promoted

B．inspired

C．awarded

D．hurt

3 . Climbing, I once thought, was a very manly activity, but as I found my way into this activity, I came to see that something quite different happens on the rock.

Like wild swimming, rock climbing involves you into the landscape. On the rock, I am fully focused. Eyes pay close attention, ears are alert, and hands move across the surface. Unlike walking, where I could happily wander about absent-mindedly, in climbing, attentive observation is essential.

As an arts student studying English literature, I discovered a new type of reading from outdoor climbing. Going out on to the crags (悬崖), I saw how you could learn to read the rocks and develop a vocabulary of physical movements. Good climbers knew how to adjust their bodies on to the stone. Watching them, I wanted to possess that skillful “language”.

My progress happened when I worked for the Caingorms National Park Authority.Guiding my explorations into this strange new landscape was Nan Shepherd, a lady too. Unlike the goal-directed mindset of many mountaineers, she is not concerned with peaks or personal achievement. Shepherd sees the mountain as a total environment and she celebrates the Caingorms as a place alive with plants, rocks, animals and elements. Through her generous spirit and my own curiosity, I saw that rock climbing need not be a process of testing oneself against anything. Rather, the intensity of focus could develop a person into another way of being.

Spending so much time in high and st ony places has transformed my view on the world and our place in it. I have come into physical contact with processes that go way beyond the everyday. Working with gravity, geology (地质学), rhythms of weather and deep time, I gain an actual relationship with the earth. This bond lies at the heart of my passion for rock climbing. I return to the rocks, because this is where I feel in contact with our land.

1. What does the writer find important in climbing?

A．Balance.	B．Concentration.
C．Determination.	D．Perseverance.

2. What does the writer learn from Nan Shepherd?

A．Climbing goes together with nature.

B．Every mountain top is within reach.

C．The best climber is the one having fun.

D．You can not achieve high unless you change.

3. What does the underlined word“it”in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Time.

B．Transformation.

C．The world.

D．My view.

4. Why does the author like rock climbing?

A．It challenges her to compete with men.

B．It allows her a unique attitude toward rock.

C．It teaches her how to possess a new language.

D．It makes her feel connected with the earth.

6 . One night several years ago, after filling up my car at a gas station and pulling away, I notice a strange sound behind me in I traffic. It sounded to me like someone was dragging a bumper (保险杆) , so I started looking for the car to alert the driver. But no matter how fast or slow I moved, or where I turned, I couldn’t locate the car.

At this point I noticed people on the sidewalk pointing and laughing at me. I stopped and found the gas hose (软管) still attached to my car. I immediately pull out the hose and drove back to the gas station, where I was educated on the economics of breaking a gas pump (泵) .

My memory of that night is odd because I was judging the behavior of another person, who then turned out to be me. Philosophers might say that in these rare minutes, my “I-self” (the seer of things around me) and “me-self” (the one seen) were mentally separated.

This kind of separation is unnatural. Making it your permanent state of mind would be difficult and perhaps even undesirable. Each of us can, however, purposely change the balance of time we spend as observers and as the object of observation—even without doing something as ridiculous as I did. And working to observe more than you think about being observed can be an excellent way to get happier.

We think constantly about how other see us; we look in every mirror; we check our mentions on social media; we obsess over our identity. This brings trouble. Research has shown, for example, that focusing on the world outside yourself is linked to happiness, while focusing on yourself and how others see you can lead to your moods going up and down like a yo-yo. The good news is that you can certainly increasing your happiness by adopting conscious practices that help lower the mount of time you spend in an objectified state.

1. What happened to the author that night?

A．He was probably fined.	B．He damaged the bumper.
C．He got trapped in traffic.	D．He knocked into the sidewalk.

2. What does “I-self” refer to at the early stage in the incident?

A．The hose.

B．The people.

C．The author.

D．The pump.

3. What does the author suggest readers to do in the last two paragraphs?

A．Separate yourselves from the outside.	B．Spend more time being an observer.
C．Avoid being an object of observation.	D．Work bard to increase happiness.

4. What might the author continue talking about?

A．How to be aware of happiness.	B．How to spend our spare time.
C．How to reduce the state of “me-self”.	D．How to adjust our moods.

7 . A group of graduates, successful in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaining about stress in work and life.

Before offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of _________ — porcelain (陶瓷), plastic, glass, crystal (水晶), some plain-looking and _________, some delicate (精致的) and expensive — telling them to _________ themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: “If you _________, all the nice-looking and expensive cups were _________, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is _________for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the _________ of your problems and stress. It is definite that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. _______ all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you all went for the _________ cups. And then you began __________ each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and __________ in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and __________ life, and the type of cup we have does not change the __________ of life we live. Sometimes, by __________ only on the cup, we fail to __________ the coffee.

1.

A．tools

B．materials

C．cups

D．gifts

2.

A．cheap

B．wonderful

C．beautiful

D．valuable

3.

A．invite

B．allow

C．help

D．adapt

4.

A．noticed

B．admitted

C．accepted

D．relaxed

5.

A．sold out

B．taken up

C．broken

D．abandoned

6.

A．normal

B．unfair

C．selfish

D．painful

7.

A．way

B．value

C．judgement

D．source

8.

A．Why

B．Although

C．Unless

D．What

9.

A．ordinary

B．best

C．special

D．strange

10.

A．using

B．washing

C．eyeing

D．introducing

11.

A．position

B．kindness

C．character

D．temper

12.

A．disturb

B．contain

C．mix

D．limit

13.

A．way

B．pace

C．direction

D．quality

14.

A．concentrating

B．relying

C．keeping

D．holding

15.

A．drink

B．enjoy

C．share

D．boil

8 . When I was a boy, we lived right next to a forest. I spent a lot of time ________ alone. I would spend hours every day playing in the ________ with the oak trees (橡树).

That was why it was so hard for me ________ I worked in a lumber mill (木材厂) as a young man.It wasn’t just the ________ work and the low pay. It was also seeing day after day beautiful oak trees being ________ and made into flooring (地板). I thought they looked more ________ as living trees reaching up to the sky than as dead flooring lying under my feet.

One afternoon after a long day’s work, I was feeling particularly ________, thinking I should be out somewhere. I then decided to take a ________ in the forest in the hope of lifting my spirits.As I walked along with my aching body I longed for those ________ days again. Suddenly, I saw a single acorn (橡子) that had somehow ________ the hungry squirrels all winter long. A ________ flashed through my mind, “Eventually an acorn becomes a forest!” I smiled, bent down, dug up a handful of dirt, and ________ that little acorn. My heart was filled with joy.

In this life we all start out as an acorn, but whether we ________ a forest or not is up to us. We have the ______ to grow, learn, laugh, love, smile... Don’t just be an acorn. Embrace this gift of life.________ it to your everyday life to stretch your soul towards the sky and create a large forest of love.

1.

A．working

B．playing

C．studying

D．watching

2.

A．mountain

B．yard

C．forest

D．park

3.

A．when

B．until

C．if

D．unless

4.

A．unfair

B．tiring

C．poor

D．dangerous

5.

A．thrown away

B．carried off

C．cut down

D．turned over

6.

A．available

B．promising

C．lovely

D．concrete

7.

A．depressed

B．amazed

C．ashamed

D．frightened

8.

A．walk

B．picture

C．lesson

D．risk

9.

A．school

B．team

C．childhood

D．farm

10.

A．survived

B．attracted

C．surprised

D．convinced

11.

A．message

B．sentence

C．letter

D．story

12.

A．uncovered

B．pocketed

C．planted

D．swallowed

13.

A．discover

B．protect

C．search

D．become

14.

A．reason

B．ability

C．courage

D．chance

15.

A．Leave

B．Explain

C．Introduce

D．Apply

9 . A boy walked into a candy store with his father and since he was just 6 years old, he was surprised by so many candies on offer. “It’s amazing. What should I ________?” he asked himself.

“Come on, son, we don’t have much ________. I have to attend an important meeting,” his dad said.

“These are all my ________ and I don’t know what to choose.” He picked up some bags and then put them back . He couldn’t make up his mind. “ Hurry up, son, we have no time. I’m very ________,” his dad said. So the boy ran around the store _______ again. His eyes moved from one bag to another, ________   all of the sweets looked so good and he couldn’t make up his mind. ________, the dad had enough. He caught his son by the hand and they walked out the store empty-handed (两手空空). The boy_________. He wanted them all, but ended up with __________ because he couldn’t choose just one.

Some of us are that boy. The __________ is that candy store. We have a great number of choices available to us, but if we don’t make a(n) _________ about our jobs, education, relationships, marriage or other __________ things, we will end up empty-handed. Sometimes we worry about making the __________choice. What if we _________ the direction that we take and it’s too late to go back? We don’t have to worry about this. How do we know whether it is good or not if we don’t make a choice? The bigger __________ is that we make no decision at all and end up going nowhere and doing nothing.

1.

A．think

B．choose

C．say

D．make

2.

A．time

B．money

C．interest

D．power

3.

A．secrets

B．ideas

C．favorites

D．away

4.

A．busy

B．tired

C．fair

D．patient

5.

A．carefully

B．quickly

C．quietly

D．nervously

6.

A．and

B．or

C．though

D．but

7.

A．Luckily

B．Finally

C．Certainly

D．Hopefully

8.

A．returned

B．waited

C．cried

D．understood

9.

A．nothing

B．fear

C．peace

D．fun

10.

A．sky

B．school

C．world

D．company

11.

A．decision

B．plan

C．guess

D．ending

12.

A．simple

B．important

C．common

D．good

13.

A．right

B．great

C．wrong

D．difficult

14.

A．regret

B．change

C．accept

D．face

15.

A．difference

B．game

C．danger

D．fact

10 . Most of us need to heal (痊愈) once in a while. For some of us, the _________ part of healing is simply to believe that it’s possible.

Years ago, I was watching my son _________ free throws. He made a dozen _________ through the net without a miss. “How do you do that?” I said. “Before I _________ the ball,” he said, “I see it in my mind to make it happen.”

I loved these words. It struck me that they might also _________ healing. We need to believe healing can happen and _________ it in our minds to see it in reality. _________ doesn’t assure us of the outcome we hope for. But it sets us in motion to move toward desired _________.

Last year I had surgery for a broken _________ and spent eight weeks in a wheelchair. I had __________ to be able to start walking again after the __________ days. However, that didn’t happen. I then started physical therapy which I believed could help. I __________ it day after day, seeing in my mind that I was walking quickly as before, which is __________ I do today.

When hope grows dim (暗淡的), belief __________ the way and makes all things possible. We need to believe __________ is possible. If we can see it in our minds, we can let go of the past, accept the present and move toward a better future.

1.

A．simple

B．emotional

C．hardest

D．reasonable

2.

A．practice

B．display

C．hold

D．score

3.

A．attempts

B．shots

C．choices

D．adjustments

4.

A．spot

B．beat

C．catch

D．release

5.

A．rely on

B．apply to

C．arise from

D．respond to

6.

A．picture

B．remember

C．wake

D．operate

7.

A．Imagination

B．Desire

C．Belief

D．Dream

8.

A．result

B．prize

C．career

D．option

9.

A．hand

B．ankle

C．wrist

D．arm

10.

A．promised

B．required

C．refused

D．expected

11.

A．exciting

B．confusing

C．appealing

D．struggling

12.

A．turned to

B．took in

C．kept at

D．commented on

13.

A．exactly

B．absolutely

C．generally

D．naturally

14.

A．feels

B．lights

C．forces

D．clears

15.

A．happiness

B．fortunate

C．healing

D．shooting