1 . 语法填空

People are like potatoes.

After potatoes have been harvested, they have to be spread out and sorted     1     (get) the maximum market dollar. They     2     (divide) according to size—big, medium, and small. After the potatoes have been sorted     3     (careful) and bagged, they are loaded onto trucks. All Idaho potato     4     (farm) use this method—all but one.

One farmer never bothered to sort the potatoes at all. Yet he made     5     most money. A     6     (puzzle) neihbor finally asked him, “ What is your secret?” He said, “It’s simple. I just load up the wagon with potatoes and take the     7     (rough) road to town. During the eight-mile trip, the little potatoes always fall to the bottom. The medium potatoes land in the middle, while the big     8     (one) rise to the top.”

That’s not only true     9     potatoes. It’s a law of life. Big potatoes rise to the top on rough road,     10     tough people rise to the top in rough times.

2 . How Running Helped Me Turn My Life Around

I've never been an athlete. Aside from excelling at all academic disciplines at school, my main goal was to _______ PE at all costs. In my twenties, I went for an occasional yoga or Zumba class, but that was really the summary of all my athletic accomplishments.

That was until the end of 2016, when I was unexpectedly laid off. The _______ of getting a new job soon were not in my favor and _______ thoughts of not being good enough started to kick in. I was feeling quite depressed but pushed myself to go and _______ for the TCS NYC Marathon runners as the course was going through our neighborhood.

However, while being there, I got phenomenal _______ from all the runners, smiling, applauding and high-fiving constantly. Not a runner myself, I thought maybe I could give running a _______, just to try, to use my neglected gym membership and see where it _______ me. And so I tried. I went to my local gym the next morning and got on a treadmill （跑步机）.I was out of breath by minute five, but I _______ down, walked for a bit and then restarted. I came back the next day, hoping to _______ a few minutes longer. By the end of two weeks, I could run for 30 minutes, which was a huge ________.

While I saw my body starting to look more toned, I also noticed my negative thoughts didn't occur that ________ And it sparked a thought—what if I could set a running ________ and sign up for my first- ever race? I did and races sort of became a new hobby.

In the meantime, I was able to ________ a few freelance （自由职业的）projects. They offered me a good ________, and, most importantly, the time to work out for the big race. Also, when I was going for interviews, I started to feel very ________ in my abilities, experience and skills.

I got my full-time job ________ at my dream company just a couple of weeks before the halfmarathon. Although I got an ________ from overtraining right before the race, I still went for it and still finished within my ________ time.

I still have a long running ________ ahead of me—I'd love to work on my speed, my technique and I dream of running a marathon outside of the US. Running gives me ________ that I can do anything I set my mind to.

1.

A．attend

B．avoid

C．pursue

D．postpone

2.

A．options

B．plans

C．hopes

D．odds

3.

A．dark

B．deep

C．critical

D．random

4.

A．call

B．look

C．cheer

D．stand

5.

A．sympathy

B．pleasure

C．luck

D．energy

6.

A．lift

B．shot

C．break

D．choice

7.

A．meets

B．leaves

C．takes

D．drops

8.

A．came

B．fell

C．went

D．slowed

9.

A．last

B．walk

C．rest

D．function

10.

A．credit

B．impact

C．success

D．opportunity

11.

A．readily

B．frequently

C．normally

D．occasionally

12.

A．goal

B．limit

C．record

D．standard

13.

A．create

B．secure

C．approve

D．continue

14.

A．service

B．position

C．future

D．income

15.

A．absorbed

B．interested

C．confident

D．confused

16.

A．offer

B．permit

C．schedule

D．application

17.

A．award

B．honor

C．injury

D．issue

18.

A．appointed

B．expected

C．original

D．spare

19.

A．show

B．route

C．distance

D．journey

20.

A．faith

B．consideration

C．evidence

D．guidance

3 . Ray Tokuda,a 54-year-old Japanese American,takes pride in the title his school has already given him.He is a Shifu,a Chinese word literally meaning a master,mentor or senior practioner of martial arts.

Surely, he has reason to be proud.He has been involved with Chinese martial arts for almost 40 years.After learning them at the martial arts school in New Mexico State,he is among the most experienced kung fu teachers of the school today.

Practicing martial arts two to three hours and helping students improve their skills have become Tokuda’s daily routine.He expects to practice and teach martial arts for the rest of his life.“I’m still learning.It’s worth more than a lifetime to learn Chinese martial arts,”he said.“Once I started,I just couldn’t stop.I think it’s also the magic of Chinese culture.”

Tokuda was sent to the martial arts school when he was 10.He still remembers how unwilling he was when starting out.“I remember my father had always wanted to learn Chinese martial arts but never got the chance,so he put his kid in,”he said.“I was so afraid at that time because I thought kung fu was all about fighting.”

But things changed after he learned that martial arts were more than punching and kicking.

“One of the things martial arts teach me is to overcome adversity,”Tokuda said.“As a little kid,my first lesson was like,oh,look,this is a thing that I can get through by diligence,perseverance（毅力）and dedication,and that was priceless for my life.”

Learning Chinese martial arts opened a gateway for him to better understand the culture of China.

Meanwhile,Tokuda has also been invited to various events in his home state to showcase traditional Chinese culture,including the dragon dance and lion dance,which he also learnt at the martial arts school.Because of this,he is now considered a cultural envoy(使者)in the eyes of the public.

1. At first,Tokuda weren’t willing to learn kung fu because he had thought it was______.

A．practical

B．magical

C．violent

D．difficult

2. From the passage,what can we learn about Tokuda?

A．He learnt martial arts from his mother.

B．He is the founder of the kung fu school.

C．He learnt from martial arts how to solve difficulties.

D．He is the most experienced kung fu teacher of his state.

3. Which of the following words can best describe Tokuda?

A．Modest and friendly.

B．Persevering and devoted.

C．Talented and humorous.

D．Motivated and considerate.

4 .

The Pillow

At the age of sixteen, I joined a volunteer group with my dad. I went on my first volunteer project in West Virginia. On the night we arrived, we discovered that “our family” was living in a trailer(拖车) that was in poor condition. A crew had been working on it for two weeks, but every time they finished one problem, another surfaced.

We decided the only reasonable solution was to build a new house — something unusual but necessary under these circumstances. The family was overjoyed with their new house that was twenty by thirty feet with three bedrooms, a bath and a kitchen.

On Tuesday of that week, while we ate lunch together, I asked the family’s three boys, Josh, Eric and Ryan, “What do you want for your new room?” Expecting toys and other gadgets that children usually ask for, we were surprised when Josh responded, “I just want a bed.”

The boys had never slept in a bed! They were accustomed to plastic mats. That night we had a meeting and decided that beds would be the perfect gift. On Thursday night, a few adults in our group drove to the nearest city and bought beds and new bedding.

When we saw the delivery truck coming, we told the family about the surprise. We could hardly contain ourselves. It was like watching excited children on Christmas morning.

That afternoon, as we fitted the frames of the beds together, Eric ran into the house to watch us. Too dirty to enter his room, he observed with wide-eyed enthusiasm from the doorway.

As my father slipped a pillowcase onto one of the pillows, Eric asked, “What is that?”

“A pillow,” he replied.

“What do you do with it?” Eric continued to ask.

“When you go to sleep, you put your head on it,” I answered softly. Tears came to our eyes as she handed Eric the pillow.

“Oh . . . that’s soft,” he said, hugging it tightly.

Now, when my sister or I start to ask for something that seems urgent, my Dad gently asks, “Do you have a pillow?”

We know exactly what he means.

1. The writer’s first volunteer project was ________.

A．working on a poor trailer	B．helping a poor family
C．donating beds and bedding	D．dealing with a housing problem

2. On bearing Josh’s answer, the writer was shocked because ________.

A．the family lived in a trailer	B．he expected to get some toys
C．he didn’t know what a bed was	D．the boys had no bed to sleep in

3. From the passage, we can learn that Eric had never seen before ________.

A．a trailer

B．a truck

C．a pillow

D．a house

4. By sayg “Do you have a pillow?”, the writer’s father means that ________.

A．what they want to get may be unnecessary

B．they should not waste money on small things

C．they should do more volunteer work for the poor

D．what he will buy is not what they want but a pillow