2 . There were eight children in my family, and we never had enough money. Meeting basic needs was a constant ________ for us. I got my first pair of ________ when I attended Senior High because I was awarded a scholarship since I performed well ________ in first grade. That enabled my parents to buy me shoes since we were ________ from the schooling fees (学费).

The first day when I walked in my new shoes, each step felt ________ beneath me. The shoes, simple and strong, protected me from the roughness of the path. To me, they were not just shoes but a symbol of ________ — through hard work and determination, I could ________ my situation.

The day I turned 18, I stood before my parents, my heart heavy with a(n) ________ that would shape my future. I told them I determined to leave home to ________ my dreams, which were bigger than what we had known here and that I wanted to change our ________. In my father’s eyes, I could see a ________ of sadness and understanding. After what seemed to be as long as a century, he nodded yes. My mother too blessed my journey. I stepped into the ________, carrying the dreams of generations with me. No matter how difficult things turned out to be, I never gave up. Years later, I started my own business and succeeded ________.

Although the first shoes are now ________, I keep them in my office as a witness of the long and hard journey from those barefoot days to now. They ________ me that hard work does pay off.

1.

A．struggle

B．promise

C．pleasure

D．comfort

2.

A．trousers

B．gloves

C．glasses

D．shoes

3.

A．physically

B．mentally

C．academically

D．socially

4.

A．protected

B．discouraged

C．freed

D．separated

5.

A．convenient

B．heavy

C．demanding

D．solid

6.

A．dignity

B．hope

C．challenge

D．harmony

7.

A．bear

B．understand

C．stress

D．transform

8.

A．decision

B．prediction

C．imagination

D．comment

9.

A．leave behind

B．go after

C．show off

D．figure out

10.

A．opinion

B．character

C．life

D．tradition

11.

A．balance

B．mix

C．competition

D．variety

12.

A．unknown

B．uneventful

C．unavoidable

D．unchanged

13.

A．with ease

B．at last

C．in return

D．on time

14.

A．perfect

B．valuable

C．gone

D．worn

15.

A．remind

B．guarantee

C．warn

D．cheat

3 . I’m an online columnist. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about my life, ending up receiving some _________ reviews on a regular basis. I have become _________ used to being criticized like that. In the following days, I was also surprised when more lovely words _________ in. They told me that my running adventures had _________ them to go out to work out. Yet more _________ me for giving tips on the mental health issues they had also experienced. I have been so touched by all these people.

As an online columnist for ages, I have constantly encountered _________ readers. A lady was _________ about my daughter when she was hospitalized and a gentleman offered to _________ me for my training when I was badly off. There was also a couple who sent me a jar of home-made marmalade when they read about my _________, in the hope of cheering me up. As I thought about __________ of these kind people, I wondered why our brains are programmed to focus on the bad things __________ all the lovely ones.

At that moment, I’ve realized we don’t have the luxury of negativity. Our life is too short to be __________ by it. To stop engaging in it, the key is our __________ to be dragged down by it. In that spirit, I’ve __________ that from now on, I’m only going to focus on the positive. I’ll keep a file on my cellphone containing all __________ for me, and look at them when times get tough.

1.

A．conventional

B．innovative

C．negative

D．thorough

2.

A．terribly

B．hardly

C．aimlessly

D．accidentally

3.

A．gave

B．flooded

C．dropped

D．cut

4.

A．permitted

B．required

C．banned

D．pushed

5.

A．appreciated

B．impressed

C．represented

D．criticized

6.

A．long-lasting

B．well-meaning

C．ever-changing

D．self-fulfilling

7.

A．cautious

B．anxious

C．concerned

D．astonished

8.

A．restrict

B．stimulate

C．release

D．sponsor

9.

A．depression

B．confusion

C．satisfaction

D．embarrassment

10.

A．expressions

B．purposes

C．gestures

D．desires

11.

A．at the bottom of

B．at the expense of

C．on account of

D．on behalf of

12.

A．held back

B．brought up

C．taken in

D．turned down

13.

A．acceptance

B．target

C．refusal

D．admission

14.

A．complained

B．resolved

C．explained

D．pretended

15.

A．comprehension

B．submission

C．direction

D．recognition

6 . At the beginning of graduate school, I knew that if I wanted to get tenure (长期聘用), I had to be productive. However, when my first three papers were rejected by major journals, a leading expert told me my projects were hopeless, and I wondered if I should drop out.

We all get rejected at work, whether it’s having our suggestions shot down or getting fired from a job. It causes pain. Neuroscientists (神经系统科学家) have scanned the brains of people who have cruelly been excluded from an online game. The physiological (生理学的) response looks fairly similar to processing physical pain.

Apparently, this was adaptive in our evolutionary past. If rejection didn’t hurt, you might have been perfectly comfortable leaving your tribe, which would not be good for your survival. But it’s left us nervous and likely to overreact to everyday rejections. If you’ve ever given a presentation and felt upset by the one unfriendly face in a room full of smiles, you know what I mean.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that we can learn to accept rejection calmly. “When you’re insecure in one, you rely on the other one that’s doing better at that time. Pliability (柔韧性) is the definition of strength,” said filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.

When my work got rejected early in my academic career, pliability became my source of strength. My identity as a researcher was under threat, but that wasn’t what had drawn me to graduate school in the first place. I had another, stronger identity: I wanted to be a teacher. However, I hadn’t had the chance: The first two years of my program were supposed to focus entirely on research.

I realized that if I wanted to bounce back from the research rejections, I had to find a way to teach. I convinced an adviser to sign off on independent study projects for a group of students, and I started meeting with them weekly to teach my own little class. The conversations with the students gave rise to my first two major papers, which gave me a head start toward tenure.

1. What was the author’s reaction to the leading expert’s words?

A．He took his advice.	B．He felt discouraged.
C．He paid no attention.	D．He consulted another expert.

2. What have neuroscientists found out?

A．Rejection really hurts.

B．Rejection is important to survival.

C．People tend to overreact to rejection.

D．Physical pain grows because of rejection.

3. What does the author advise us to do when facing rejection?

A．Find out the reasons behind it.

B．Forgive those who reject us.

C．Turn to our stronger identity.

D．Learn a lesson from past failures.

4. What happened to the author at last?

A．He left graduate school.

B．He turned into a middle school teacher.

C．He worked on practicing his physical pliability.

D．He accomplished some research work successfully.

7 . It has been five years since I left my staff job and became self-employed. I remember my terror as I walked out of the office for the last time and the excitement when I sold my first piece days later. Working for yourself, setting your own hours and being responsible for your success or failure are exciting. I left my job just as summer was starting, and my first few months were as blissful as the fair days.

When winter came, an office where someone else paid for the central heating and my salary was guaranteed seemed attractive. January is tough for freelancers (自由职业者), and it was no different for me — after masses of work, I earned none. I shared my fears with some businesswomen I knew — what if the reality would be more like what I was experiencing?

Whether through choice or circumstance, the number of freelancers is rising and, if you’re just starting out, it is scary. I’ve been lucky that these women making money their own way shared key lessons about what it takes.

You can’t feel half-hearted about what you do because, at some point, you’re going to have painful days. When that happens, you have to remember why you wanted this life in the first place. Don’t quit your job for something that you think might be more interesting, quit it for something you can’t stop thinking about.

Setting up a business is tough. Rather than waiting until all is perfect, go for the moment when it feels as if momentum (势头) is with you. Look after yourself. There is no sick pay when you are self-employed. You can’t do a bad day’s work and blame it on your boss. You are the backbone of your business and you need to prioritize your health and well-being. Rest regularly and find like-minded people to support you and lift you up when things get hard.

Finally, enjoy it. Freedom is yours and, if you can make it work, there is nothing better.

1. What does the underlined word “blissful” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Pleasant.

B．challenging.

C．Awful.

D．Boring.

2. What bothered the author when winter came?

A．The cold weather influenced her working performance.

B．She eventually realized freelancing wasn’t to her taste.

C．Masses of freelancing work brought her much anxiety.

D．She couldn’t even earn enough to meet daily basics.

3. According to the author, why should we quit for a new job?

A．To escape from the current pain.	B．To satisfy our temporary interests.
C．To explore where our strength lies.	D．To pursue what we really desire.

4. What’s author’s probable attitude towards becoming freelancers?

A．Critical.

B．Favorable.

C．Cautious.

D．Unclear.

8 . Do you love learning foreign languages? I love it so much that I like to learn a new language every two years, now working on my eighth one. As a successful language learner, people always ask me, “How do you speak so many languages like a polyglot?” They wanted to know why they are spending years trying to learn even one language, never making it.

To be honest, I really don’t know why. I’m curious to know what makes me speak several languages faster than other people. I decided to meet other people like me and find that out. I met Benny from Ireland, who told me that his way is to start speaking from day one. He learns a few phrases from a travel phrasebook and goes to meet native speakers and starts talking with them right away. He doesn’t mind making even 200 mistakes a day, because that’s how he learns, based on the practice.

I met some people who always start by learning sounds of the language, and others who always learn the 500 most used words of the language. And yet others who always start by reading about the grammar. As I was listening to these people telling me about their ways, it suddenly hit me that we simply found ways to enjoy the language learning. All of them use different ways, but they always make sure it is something that they personally enjoy. I realized that this is actually how I learn languages myself.

We are not geniuses (天才) and we have no shortcut to learning languages. It is really important to know how to turn language learning from a boring school subject into a pleasant activity which you don’t mind doing every day. In that way, you will love learning a language like me.

1. Which of the following best explains “polyglot” underlined in paragraph 1?

A．Successful English learners.	B．Experienced and trusted advisers.
C．People who can speak several languages.	D．Someone who can master one language quickly.

2. What do we know about Benny?

A．He learns languages by communicating in real life.

B．He reads words and grammar from a book every day.

C．He is afraid of making many mistakes while speaking.

D．He always talks with Irish people without mistakes.

3. Why did the author learn languages successfully?

A．She spent a lot of time on grammar.

B．She only learned 500 most used words.

C．She talked with native speakers at the beginning.

D．She found happiness on the way of learning languages.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Find shortcuts to learning languages.	B．Share ways of learning several languages.
C．When to choose a new language to learn.	D．Never give up when learning a foreign language.