1 . I remember the day when I first learned to ride a bike. It was a frightening, yet fun experience. My granddad was the one who taught me and he helped me when I got hurt. The first time I got on a bike, I had no idea what I was doing, and just about everything went wrong. My granddad told me to just put my feet on the pedals and start pedaling (骑自行车). He also told me he would hold onto the back of the bike the whole time, yet he didn’t.
As soon as I started trying to balance myself, he let go. I happened to look back just then. I was scared, to death that I was going to fall and hurt myself. When I was scared, my mind went blank from pedaling, and I just wanted off. I forgot how to use the brakes (车闸) and fell right off the bike. My granddad kept encouraging me to get up and try again, and after about 15 minutes, 1 finally stopped crying, got up and tried again.
As soon as I started pedaling again, my pants got caught in the chain, and I fell flat on my face and hit my nose. Since that happened t my granddad decided to call it a day and try again the next morning. The next morning I woke up bright and early, and was very eager to try to ride my bike. My nose felt better, so I wasn’t that afraid of falling anymore.
Though I knew there were a lot of difficulties on the way to mastering the skills in riding a bike, I believed I could do well with my granddad’s help. After all, riding a bike was what I wanted to do eagerly.
1. How was the author when he was on the bike first?| A．He didn’t know where he would be going. |
| B．He thought balancing himself was easy. |
| C．He was nervous and didn’t know what to do next. |
| D．He put his feet on the pedals and started pedaling. |
| A．Remember what happened this day. |
| B．Make the author feel happy. |
| C．Stop practicing bicycling. |
| D．Go on to ride a bike. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Grateful. |
| C．Indifferent. | D．Negative. |
| A．The Experience of My First Riding a Bike |
| B．The Difficulty I Met with My Granddad |
| C．The First Time I Got My Own Bike |
| D．The Great Moment When I Stayed with My Granddad |
2 . It was our last class before summer break. I was finishing up the first year of an MFA program in poetry. I was tired and puzzled. "Was I good enough to be in the program?" When a professor asked about our summer plans, I panicked. I didn't want to appear idle(闲散的). "Gardening," I responded immediately. Actually I knew nothing about plants! My professor nodded, saying, "What a good idea, Mari! Emily Dickinson loved gardening." Emily Dickinson had lived in the countryside, studying plants as a child. I was in my late twenties, living in the city without gardening experience.
A few days later, I bought a jalapeño seedling(青辣椒秧苗). At least I could say I'd tried gardening. I watered and changed the dirt for my little plant. I even talked to it. And over the summer, it grew bigger and bigger. I was proud. Maybe I didn't have a black thumb after all.
I started the second year of my MFA, and then it was almost December and my jalapeño was suffering. It was brown in some places; many of its leaves had fallen off. Would my little guy make it? I prayed, "Please be okay." As if its survival were closely linked to mine.
I worked hard in school. Spring came. My jalapeño plant came back to life. It grew bigger, with new leaves. And then it flowered. I handed in my graduate paper--a book of poems--in May. "Your poems are strong," my professor said.
A huge weight lifted. I'd done it! At that time, I found the flowers on my jalapeño plant were gone. I watched closer. Where a flower had been, a tiny green fruit pushed through. I smiled. I had succeeded in my MFA program, and my jalapeño plant had grown right beside me, and I successfully did things I hadn't thought possible.
1. Why did the author begin gardening?| A．Just by accident. |
| B．For the love for gardening. |
| C．To express fancy for Emily Dickinson. |
| D．Because of the reminding of a professor. |
| A．In her childhood. | B．In one of her summer breaks. |
| C．In her teens. | D．In her first year of MFA program. |
| A．A talent to grow plants. | B．A dirty finger to touch plants. |
| C．A good fortune to do everything. | D．An inability to do gardening. |
| A．Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. |
| B．Easier said than done. |
| C．It's never too old to learn. |
| D．Do not teach fish to swim. |
3 . A quarter of the world's humans are at home right now. If you're reading this, chances are that you're one of them. Yes, it's important to stay safe indoors to protect ourselves and others, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time. We will create an endless list of things to do indoors. Stick with us and we promise you won't be bored for a second.
Catch up on literary classics
You know that pile of books that you haven't ever quite managed to get into? There'll never be a better time to conquer it. And if you've already exhausted your library, you can now access more than a million books for free online as part of the 'National Emergency Library'. Usually, you'd have to join a queue before being able to borrow anything. But now you can just dip into whatever you want, whenever.
Join a virtual choir
If the videos of cities in lockdown coming together to sing on their balconies left you with a lump in your throat, here's your chance to add your sound to one of several online choirs popping up around the world. The Sofa Singers is a free online singing event that aims to 'bring people together from around the world to promote joy and human connection'. It involves hundreds of singers joining a Zoom call and learning a new song together.
Form new bonds with your neighbours
In normal times, you might not be the type to actually talk to your neighbours. But let's be honest: your social life's a wreck right now, and you're going to make friends with the people next door, no matter what. So why not take inspiration from Balcony Parties In Miami, or the Londoner Hosting Athletic Classes On His Doorstep? Go on, get social - in a distant kind of way, of course.
1. What's the purpose of the writer? '| A．To enrich people's life. | B．To educate the uncivilized. |
| C．To train professional singers. | D．To build a harmonious society. |
| A．the state of being choked. | B．the state of singing aloud. |
| C．the state of wanting to sing. | D．the state of having a bad voice. |
| A．seldom communicate with one another. |
| B．usually form a community singing group. |
| C．often share literary books with each other. |
| D．hold parties on the balcony every weekend. |
4 . A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications(资历), he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.
A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things to see if all was safe from damage. They found that the doors of the farmhouse had been safely fastened, and a lot of wood had been set next to the fireplace.
The young man slept soundly.
The farmer and his wife then looked at their property (财产) carefully. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage room, safe from the bad weather. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.
The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words, “ I can sleep when the wind blows.”
The farmhand did his work loyally. When the sky was clear, he had prepared for the storm in case it broke. So when the wind blew, there was no need for him to be afraid. He could sleep in peace.
1. The underlined word “fastened” in Para. 2 can be replaced by ______.| A．closed | B．damaged |
| C．taken | D．moved |
| A．at first the farmer understood his words well |
| B．the young man was awakened in the night by a violent storm |
| C．the young man had prepared for the storm before it came |
| D．the young man was too sleepy to wake up in the night |
| A．Sleeping in peace through the storm | B．A violent storm |
| C．A young man and his dream | D．A clever farmer |
| A．Lookers-on see more than players |
| B．A stitch（针）in time saves nine |
| C．Two heads are better than one |
| D．No man can do two things at a time |
5 . I was drowned(淹没) in work. I was convinced that it was because my job was demanding, but as I changed my job and eventually became self-employed and I could call my own shots, I was still drowned in work and things were still out of control. Now I come to realize that I have a tendency to drown myself in work and the problem is not the job I’m in.
One of the reasons why work-life balance is hard is that we attribute (把……归咎于) the problem to our environment when we ourselves are the problem actually. I enjoy making my clients happy. “Dushka, your work is unbelievable.” “Dushka, we would not have survived without you.” This is my instinctive (本能的) desire. I, a good girl, should make someone I love proud. What can get in the way of work-life balance is that approval often matters more than the balance I claim I want.
I am ambitious and want to do great things and as soon as a project is done I’m hungry for the next one. I want hard work. I want to push myself and test myself. I want to learn. Sometimes work-life balance is hard because there is a difference between what I say I want and what I really want.
My life is constantly changing. If a friend visits me from out of town I want to work less, if I happen to be particularly inspired I want to work more, and if a family member needs me I don’t want to have to worry about work at all. Work-life balance is hard because my definition of it is a moving target. It means different things to me depending on different situations.
What is work-life balance, anyway? Does it mean I get to go home every day when the clock strikes 5:00 pm? Does it mean that I work hard for a few weeks and then take a long weekend off? Do I want daily balance, or do I want things to balance out over the course of a few weeks, even months?
On one side, work-life balance doesn’t mean that the only way to do something well is to do it yourself. Your ego (自我) gets in the way of your being free. On the other side, work-life balance can be hard if you are worried that someone else can do your job better than yourself. Then you live in a constant state of suspicion (怀疑) and never allow yourself to step away. Your fear is calling the shots, not your ambitions.
Work-life balance can be hard if you are more worried about looking good than doing good work. If you want to make sure everyone sees you are the first one to come and the last one to leave, what others think of you has more weight than your desire of getting home in time for dinner.
My boss assures me that employees come first and that people are the most important, yet I don’t see him telling me it’s time to go home because I worked really late the night before.
Wait a minute. Why should my work-life balance be the company’s problem, in particular when I’ve already identified that my needs are ever-changing? How can I expect someone else to stay on top of that? The only person responsible for that is me.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?| A．Demand less from myself. | B．Pay more attention to work. |
| C．Complete more excellent jobs. | D．Control a situation by myself. |
| A．she is afraid to lose her job | B．she always desires to be approved |
| C．she wants to gain work-life balance | D．she could make a profit in that way |
| A．Her ego gets in the way of her success. |
| B．She is always satisfied with the current situation. |
| C．The achievement of work-life balance is easy for her. |
| D．She doesn’t have an exact definition of work-life balance. |
| A．Work-life balance relies on our own selves. | B．It’s no use working hard for our boss. |
| C．Profits are more important than employees. | D．Some leaders don’t mean what they say. |
