2 . One of the most beneficial skills you can learn in life is how to consistently put yourself in a good position. But not everyone knows how we can create that foundation. The position you find yourself in today is the accumulation of the small choices that you’ve been making for years.

The ordinary choices that guarantee a strong future go unnoticed. There is no pat on the back for doing the right thing just as there is no slap on the wrist for doing the wrong thing. Reading a chapter of a great book today won’t solve your problems just as not reading it won’t make them worse. Not doing the obvious thing that positions you for future success — rarely hurts you right away. But as the days turn to weeks, weeks into years, and years into decades do the small choices create massively different results.

Whenever this idea is brought up, people are quick to interject. “I do these things and I don’t get the results.” Most of us make the right choices most of the time. But most of the time isn’t the same as all of the time.

For your choices to compound, you need to be consistent. A lack of consistency keeps ordinary people from extraordinary results. It’s like we’re Sisyphus rolling a boulder halfway up the hill, only to throw our hands in the air and go home. When we show up the next day, we see the boulder at the bottom of the hill. Not only did this undermine our progress but it makes getting started even harder.

Excelling at the small choices that compound over time perpetually (不断地) leaves you in favorable circumstances. If you want results you need to pay the price. The price is knowing that time is working on your side even when the results don’t show it yet.

When you look below the surface, giant leaps aren’t really giant leaps at all. If you look for the magic moment, you’ll miss how ordinary becomes extraordinary.

1. According to the passage, what causes most people to fail?

A．Selection difficulties.	B．Lack of perseverance.
C．Insufficient exterior support.	D．Shortage of social resources.

2. Sisyphus’s story is used to _____.

A．exhibit the way to get compound choices

B．prove that a good beginning is half success

C．emphasize the importance of being consistent

D．explain the difficulty of achieving extraordinary results

3. What’s the genre of the passage?

A．Narration.

B．Argumentation.

C．Practical writing.

D．Expository writing.

4. Which is the best title of this passage?

A．No Pains, No Gains.	B．Time Heals Everything.
C．Never Too Late to Mend.	D．Small Steps make Giant Leaps.

3 . Skeleton is one of the three sliding sports at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, alongside the luge(单雪橇)and bobsleigh(大雪橇). With only six medals up for grabs, skeleton has the fewest events at the Winter Games—which means competition will be fierce.

The sport of skeleton has its roots in the most popular winter pastime: sleighing. In the mid-19^th century, British and American holidaymakers built the first toboggan(平底雪橇)run in Davos in 1882, and thus the sport of sleighing began.

Two years later, in 1884, the famed Cresta Run—a natural ice skeleton racing toboggan track—was built in St. Moritz, Switzerland(the course has hosted the annual Grand National championships since 1885).

In 1892, a new sledge made entirely of steel was introduced, and some claim that its bony appearance gave the sledge and the sport the name ‘skeleton’.

Men’s skeleton was first introduced on the Olympic program in the 1928 Games in St. Moritz. But due to the sport only being available at the Cresta Run at the time, it fell into obscurity(默默无闻)while the luge and bobsleigh grew in popularity. However, in 2002, the skeleton was reintroduced as a men’s and women’s event at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and has remained a part of the Olympic program ever since.

While Great Britain has the most medals(nine)in skeleton competition at the Olympics, the top spot belongs to the United States(eight medals)by virtue of having four silvers to Great Britain’s one(both nations have three golds, while Britain has five bronze medals, and the United States one).

Great Britain is the only nation to have won a medal every time skeleton has featured at the Olympic Games, and has won at least one medal in each of the five contests of women’s skeleton since its introduction.

1. How many events does skeleton have in the Olympics?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Five.

D．Six.

2. When did skeleton first appear?

A．In 1882.

B．In1885.

C．In1892.

D．In 1928.

3. Why did skeleton fall into obscurity?

A．Because its material steel was rare.

B．Because there was only one run for it.

C．Because only men could take part in it.

D．Because it was not on the Olympic program.

4. What makes America top Great Britain in skeleton at the Olympics?

A．The number of medals.	B．The composition of medals.
C．The virtue of the athletes.	D．The times of hosting the Olympics.

4 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Here’s the story of my growth over the past year. It’s a story of how I found the strength to change myself for better and then how I get rid of my fears to be even better. If anyone is inspired by this, that’s wonderful.

I’d been stuck as this incredibly insecure, under-confident and just scared individual for years and years. Since childhood I’d been stuck like this. Kids I met for the first time looked at me rudely and unkindly. Even my friends—actually, I had very few friends because I just felt too ashamed and frightened to make some, though I was eager to and felt extremely lonely in the depth of my heart—laughed at me and gave me bad nicknames. I felt terrible, but I’d just resigned to a life where I’d be afraid of everything and be this “introvert” (内向的人) or whatever. I thought I would never be able to change, never, for my whole life.

But then it all started changing. Something clicked. I suddenly determined to go on a diet, and lost some weight. It was tough. I felt hungry all the time. I was always tempted by the smell of bread and hamburger, even when I didn’t see them. But the toughest thing was that even if I had just had my meals, I felt hunger mentally. However, I held on. In over a period of 6 months I finally managed to stick to one of my diets. I didn’t know how. But I did make it.

The loss of 90 lbs brought me from overweight straight down to underweight. This isn’t the best part. More importantly and inspiringly, I suddenly found strength in me. I realized I could be totally different. And maybe, I could even be whatever I wanted to be. This taught me that I could change myself.

Then I wondered, perhaps, I could also get rid of those of my fears, just like I succeeded in losing my extra pounds. It might not be easy, but it might not be that difficult.

注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右：
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Chance presented itself soon.

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It was from that point on that I started changing rapidly.

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5 . At a speed of roughly 20 miles a day, the Ardines experienced practically all the extremes the United States has to offer. The brothers kept a detailed record of their ________ on the blog. With the support of friends and family back at home, the brothers’ journey started to gain more ________ . By day 60, they were already 1/3 into their initial goal. News media started to ________ their story. In July, their news caught the attention of Verizon Wireless, who ________ the brothers new cell phones and donated to the cause.

Along their heroes’________, Aiden and Louis met their own everyday heroes. A driver in Nebraska ________ them on the road in the extremely hot weather and doubled back to give them ________ drinks. In Iowa, a couple invited them over for a hearty meal of steak and cheese. In Nevada, a woman who ran a campground let them stay ________. These actions made their hearts ________ with warmth.

Walking by 11 states, Aiden and Louis ________ the sandy beaches of San Francisco after 162 days.________ by their parents and other supporters, the brothers were not only delighted that they achieved their goal, but that they doubled it. Thanks to the Ardines, $70, 000 was ________ between the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and the COCO Fund, nonprofits created specifically to ________ food workers hit hard by the pandemic（疫情）.

Without the help of a huge community of people, they wouldn’t have been________. It was confirmed that people are kind in their ________ and ready to help others at all times.

1.

A．reputations

B．virtues

C．surveys

D．experiences

2.

A．requests

B．motivation

C．tracks

D．admission

3.

A．cover

B．enrich

C．replace

D．investigate

4.

A．saved

B．showed

C．offered

D．sold

5.

A．behaviour

B．speech

C．journey

D．advice

6.

A．adopted

B．spotted

C．defended

D．examined

7.

A．hot

B．cold

C．alcoholic

D．expensive

8.

A．free of charge

B．ahead of time

C．at random

D．by accident

9.

A．assessed

B．satisfied

C．stabbed

D．filled

10.

A．searched for

B．cleared up

C．arrived at

D．passed by

11.

A．Greeted

B．Blamed

C．Attracted

D．Identified

12.

A．arranged

B．discovered

C．shared

D．packed

13.

A．aid

B．hire

C．move

D．control

14.

A．grateful

B．excited

C．determined

D．successful

15.

A．quantity

B．nature

C．anxiety

D．ambition

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

One of my most memorable trips took place during the summer vacation about three years ago, when my sister, my aunt and I took a trip to Spain because we were moving. On the day of the trip, I lay in bed thinking about my friends whom I was going to leave behind and thoughts were flooding in.

When we arrived at the hire station, we seemed to have some problems with our luggage because it was too much for a taxi, so we had to book a van (厢式送货车) to take our luggage to the airport. We waited for a long period to find a perfect van that would fit our luggage.

Before leaving, I felt very bad because I was going to a different country and was going to miss all my friends and family. I was not comfortable and cried.

The journey was almost perfect at the beginning, but soon it began to rain. Because of the rain, the drivers could not see far away, which caused a huge traffic jam. I was sitting by the window with a can of Coke that I had bought in the store earlier. My aunt and sister fell asleep, and during this time. I felt bored and thought about other things that bothered me. My eyes turned to the mountain in front of us.

A bus suddenly appeared in the picture. It was very close to us. Cars sped past us without any speed limit. Beside me was a very deep lake: I wondered to myself what if something or someone fell inside it. Suddenly, a bus in front of our van stopped, and because it was raining heavily and the van was going fast, no one could see what was going to happen. Then, bang, we bumped into each other. Our van overturned, but luckily, it didn’t fall into the lake. People came to help us get out of the van because we were blocked and the driver was half-dead.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。

We struggled to get out of the van and everything we had was gone.

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I was losing a lot of blood and then the emergency aid came.

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7 . An 89-year-old man, Manfred Steiner, has reached a goal he spent 20 years working toward and nearly a lifetime thinking about: earning his Ph. D. And now he is a physicist

Steiner values this degree because it is what he always wanted and because he overcame health problems that could have affected his studies. “But I made it, and this was the most satisfactory point in my life, to finish it,” he said.

When he was young, Steiner wanted to become a physicist after reading about Albert Einstein. But his mother and uncle persuaded him that studying medicine would be a better choice. He earned his medical degree in 1955 and moved to the US soon after.

Steiner studied hematology（血液学）at Tufts University and biochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became a full professor and led the hematology department at Browns’ medical school from 1985 to 1994. Steiner helped establish a research program in hematology at the University of North Carolina. He directed that program until he retired from medicine in 2000.

Steiner found medical research pleasing, but it was not quite the same as his interest in physics. “It was something like a wish that was never fulfilled, that always stuck in the back of my head,” he said. At age 70, he started taking undergraduate classes.

Physics professor Brad Marston was surprised when Steiner entered his quantum mechanics class. But he became Steiner’s adviser for his dissertation（学位论文）after realizing how serious Steiner was about the subject and how hard he worked. “He has written many papers in medical science, more papers than I’ve written in physics,” Marston said. “One thing that’s really true about Manfred is that he perseveres.”

After the university published a story about Steiner on its website, people across the US contacted him to ask for advice on how to go after their dreams later in life. His advice is: Do what you love to do.

1. Why did Steiner value his degree in physics?

A．Because it solved his health problems.	B．Because it was his long-pursued dream.
C．Because it met his mother’s expectation.	D．Because it was inspired by Albert Einstein.

2. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．Steiner’s contributions to teaching.	B．Steiner’s researches after retirement.
C．Steiner’s achievements in hematology.	D．Steiner’s performances at Tufts University.

3. What impressed Professor Marston most about Steiner?

A．His taking undergraduate classes at 70.	B．His writing more papers in physics.
C．His sticking to becoming a physicist.	D．His being a role model for Americans.

4. Which of the following can best describe Steiner?

A．Active and open-minded.	B．Enthusiastic and easy-going.
C．Intelligent and warm-hearted.	D．Perseverant and hard-working.

8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

A New Addition to the Family

For the initial ten years of his life, Victor was the prince of the household. As he was an only child, his parents petted him and showered all their love and attention on him. Whatever toys his parents bought, they were always meant for him. Whatever food was in the refrigerator, there was no one to compete with him to polish it off first. Victor could leave his toys or books around the house with complete ease of mind, knowing that there was no one who would get their hands on his belongings and cause any damage.

However, all that was to change overnight when Victor’s parents brought back his new baby sister, Lina, from the hospital. With her rosy cheeks, wide open eyes and angelic smile, Lina caught the hearts of her parents, grandparents and relatives. Everyone focused their attention on the cute bunch of joy. Whenever she cried, her mother or father would rush to her bed. She simply cried because she wanted to be carried. There was little time left for Victor.

Now that Victor’s mother had his baby sister to take care of, she expected Victor himself to do most of the chores he can do. Victor was asked to clean his own room, iron his own school uniform and clean his own shoes. Before Lina’s arrival, he had never lifted a finger to help out with these tasks. The whole family also went out less because it was unhealthy to expose Lina to the bacteria(细菌) being in the outside world too often.

Victor felt neglected by his parents. He felt that they loved Lina more than him. As a result, he tried to attract his parents’ attention by becoming resistant. One evening, Victor’s parents were called up by his teacher because Victor had got into a fight at school. His teacher had noticed Victor’s behaviour and work attitude changing downwards in the past two months. Before that, he had been a model student.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。

Upon hearing the teacher’s feedback, Victor’s parents got lost in thought.

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Victor realized that his parents still cared for him.

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