1 . For the past year or so, my family and I have been enjoying the meal at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Consistently ranking among the top burger places by fans and publications alike, 5 Guys is growing like mad by offering delicious, affordable handmade patties (小馅饼) and a very generous part of fries.
While everything is delicious, it’s the fries that I want to talk about for a moment. Customers appreciate getting extra value for the same price. 5 Guys does such an amazing thing, such a cool little business trick, that I didn’t catch on until I really thought about it recently.
Here’s what they do: When you order some fries from the counter, the server takes their little paper fries bucket, fills it up, and then puts it in a paper bag. Then they take an even bigger scoop (勺) of fries and put it into the bag, on top of the regular order. I always think, and my kids always say, “I can’t believe how many extra fries we get!”
And then it finally dawned on me. We don’t really get any extra fries at all, do we? The genius of this little show is that for all purposes, it looks and feels like we get extra fries, but the truth is that they planned on giving that amount of fries out anyway, and budget for that. But they package it in such a clever way that you think you’re getting this great deal, this something for nothing.
People love getting a deal. We love saving money. And we like to think we’re that special customer worthy of the extra fries. Does it cost 5 Guys anything extra? No way. Does it build goodwill? You bet.
1. According to Paragraph 1, the author likes 5 Guys because ______.| A．it grows very fast | B．it offers excellent food |
| C．it ranks among the top | D．it is popular among publications |
| A．5 Guys’s delicious fries. | B．5 Guys’s attractive price. |
| C．5 Guys’s way of doing business. | D．5 Guys’s large number of customers. |
| A．The fries outside the fries bucket. | B．The little paper fries bucket. |
| C．The even bigger scoop. | D．The good design of the bag. |
| A．psychology | B．chemistry | C．biology | D．physics |
When I was a little girl, I spent memorable holidays with my grandmother, who lived in a small village. She was a farmer with a stooped (弯曲的) back that made it seem like she was always leaning forward to examine something. Early in the morning, she would tie a cloth around her waist and set out to the farm. I would skip breathlessly alongside, trying to keep up. On our way, she would greet everyone we passed.
There was the standard greeting, “Did you wake up on the right foot this morning?” Then, the more personalized greetings. To Patriarch Kosi who sat under the mango tree, she would ask, “Are the grandchildren in good health?” To the Bean Stew Seller who was preparing to serve breakfast, she would inquire, “Are your boys well?”
Sometimes, the greetings were spoken soothingly (安慰地). When we walked past the widow, Dada Mawusi, many months after her husband’s death, Grandmother would say directly, “How is your grieving?” She didn’t like to beat around the bush. The greeting made more sense to her to acknowledge the woman’s suffering, and in doing so, empathize (理解) with her.
The people that Grandmother greeted would respond similarly. “I see you have your granddaughter with you today. How is her father?” or “I see you have woken up before the cock’s crow today. May it be a fruitful day at the farm.” As a young girl, I thought these greetings were unnecessarily time-consuming. What I now realize is that the greetings increased a sense of belonging. My grandmother taught me that there is always time to greet someone before getting down to business. You can always take a few extra seconds to say a greeting to a person. We enrich our society when we acknowledge the unique presence of one another.
1. Where did the writer spend holidays when she was young? (no more than 6 words)2. What made the writer feel breathless? (no more than 8 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
4. What did the writer think about greetings when she was young? (no more than 10 words)
5. Why do you think greeting neighbors is important? Give your reasons, (no more than 20 words)
For years, I played around with writing. I wrote when I felt like it. Then one day, a friend asked what my dream was. When I said it was to be a writer, he said these words that changed my life, “You don’t have to want to be a writer. You are a writer; you just need to write.” So I started calling myself a writer. Everywhere I went, I introduced myself as “Jeff Goins, Writer,” and even put it in email signatures and on my Facebook page. And you know what? I started acting like it. Eventually, I even began to believe it. It turns out that sometimes you do have to fake it before you make it.
The lesson here is simple: If you wait for someone to give you permission to start pursuing your dream, you’ll be waiting for a long time. You have to begin before you think you’re ready.
After I decided to pursue my dream, I still had to find the time to do it. Working a full-time job and having a wife and other things to do, I didn’t have unlimited free time. I had to find time to write. For me, that meant getting up early. Like, 5:00 a. m. early. Every morning, I would wake up, get my coffee, and write for two hours. At first, this was difficult;I had to force myself out of bed and downstairs before the sun rose. But eventually, it became habitual. I did it without even thinking about it. And soon, what started as a discipline became a daily joy.
By doing this, I learned the excuse I had given myself — “I don’t have enough time” — wasn’t true. I did have enough time; it was just hiding in “inconvenient” places.
These days, most people I meet are talking about their dreams. For example, they want to bravely pursue a successful career. However, they’re doing it all wrong. They think they need to take a huge leap out into the unknown when, in fact, the opposite is true. So if you have a dream, just take action. And don’t say you don’t have time for it.
1. How did the friend’s words change his attitude towards writing? (no more than 10 words)2. What does the underlined word “fake” mean in the first paragraph? (no more than 1 word)
3. How did the author find time for writing? (no more than 15 words)
4. What does the author advise us to do to pursue a successful career? (no more than 10 words)
5. Suppose you’re crazy about playing basketball, but you have no time for it. How will you deal with it?
4 . If you took the strengths of others, and compared them to your weaknesses, do you think this would make you feel good? The funny thing is, this is
It’s surely a
That’s so important-being able to look at your own strengths, and see your true
I want to talk about this issue
This is an excellent but tough
| A．why | B．what | C．that | D．how |
| A．often | B．hard | C．soon | D．well |
| A．theory | B．option | C．practice | D．idea |
| A．blessed | B．connected | C．weighed | D．matched |
| A．grateful | B．pitiful | C．shocked | D．confident |
| A．comparison | B．communication | C．competition | D．combination |
| A．regret | B．correct | C．offer | D．afford |
| A．thoughts | B．values | C．alternatives | D．weaknesses |
| A．because of | B．according to | C．apart from | D．in spite of |
| A．concept | B．health | C．profession | D．lifestyle |
| A．developing | B．working | C．existing | D．coming |
| A．as if | B．even if | C．in case | D．now that |
| A．however | B．whatever | C．wherever | D．whenever |
| A．programme | B．fantasy | C．question | D．reality |
| A．strange | B．natural | C．difficult | D．important |
| A．sorry for | B．curious about | C．guilty at | D．happy with |
| A．judgement | B．conclusion | C．formula | D．advice |
| A．awareness | B．hobby | C．tradition | D．custom |
| A．require | B．risk | C．fancy | D．start |
| A．happiness | B．life | C．success | D．confidence |
5 . One morning I noticed a woman sitting alone at the bus stop. She seemed not to go to work hurriedly. She wasn't going anywhere as well. Was she waiting for the bus? Did mall(商场)buses come this early when the stores wouldn't be open for hours? As I drove by.l heard a voice saying, “Give her a bottle of water”.
“She looks like she is sleeping. Why would I wake her? What is wrong with me? What is so hard about doing the right thing? It's just a bottle of water! ”
So I drove by her again and again. Finally, I pulled my car into a parking zone, stepping out with a bottle of water in one hand and a twenty-dollar bill in the other. Each step seemed to fill me with purpose and focus. No words can describe what happened between us at that moment. I thought I was bringing her a cold drink, but instead I was bringing her a hope she needed. We sat together for a while as she talked. She had a sad story to tell, but she was no longer sad. Before we parted, I grabbed all the cash I had in my purse and found more water in my car along with some snacks. We stood at the bus stop hugging and said our goodbyes.
I still have a thousand questions as to why I struggled to act. Why did it take me many circles around the mall and an argument with myself? I once wavered between helping her and ignoring her. All I know for sure is that while walking toward that woman at the bus stop, a miracle happened.
There are opportunities for us to love every day. Maybe our doubts keep us from acting. Maybe we don't want to take the risk or be uncomfortable. That day, I learned how love answers when asked and how love both gives and receives.
1. What did the author think of the woman sitting alone at the beginning?| A．She was short of sleep. | B．She was full of curiosity |
| C．She was a little strange. | D．She was out of work. |
| A．To improve the terribly poor driving skills. | B．To evaluate whether to help her. |
| C．To search for a parking space. | D．To observe the poor woman |
| A．Hesitated. | B．Disagreed. | C．Balanced. | D．Objected. |
| A．Love breaks down racial barriers. | B．The wealth of life is action. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. | D．The best act to love is taking action. |
6 . When you travel, it’s inevitable (不可避免的) that things will go wrong. It doesn’t matter how
During a recent long international trip, my youngest daughter’s airsickness struck again. We were
When we stood in the middle of the terminal (航站楼), not only
He quietly asked me if my 4-year-old was the passenger who had gotten
Instead, he
As the captain walked away, she
It’s often the
| A．lucky | B．old | C．energetic | D．prepared |
| A．also | B．even | C．yet | D．still |
| A．includes | B．values | C．matters | D．offers |
| A．wrong | B．timely | C．sudden | D．quick |
| A．doubting | B．making | C．quitting | D．changing |
| A．pointing out | B．learning about | C．figuring out | D．quarrelling about |
| A．approached | B．examined | C．appreciated | D．discovered |
| A．hungry | B．thirsty | C．sick | D．lost |
| A．led | B．allowed | C．advised | D．expected |
| A．bent | B．looked | C．broke | D．fell |
| A．taking | B．handing | C．opening | D．flying |
| A．concerned | B．confused | C．shy | D．curious |
| A．fighted | B．hesitated | C．waited | D．chatted |
| A．refusing | B．deciding | C．hoping | D．pretending |
| A．cried | B．smiled | C．nodded | D．froze |
| A．awkward | B．funny | C．upset | D．special |
| A．ruined | B．saved | C．displayed | D．affected |
| A．love | B．news | C．horror | D．comedy |
| A．attracted | B．grateful | C．opposed | D．mean |
| A．misfortune | B．mess | C．wonder | D．difference |
I was traveling with my husband and three teenage sons, in the United States. We ordered our food at a fast-food place, and with my meal I also wanted a blueberry pie. My husband is the chatty one in the family and likes to socialize, so he started to a conversation about the place where blueberries grow with the girl. She answered, with some anxiety, “They grow on trees.”
The whole family’s jaws dropped! How could this girl not know where blueberries grow? We tried not to embarrass her, and just took the opportunity to teach her a little about how blueberries grow, on small shrubs on the ground. She seemed to appreciate learning something new. We can’t know all the same things, as you’ll see from the next thing I’m going to tell you.
In 2002 our family made a short trip to a coffee plantation. The road to the plantation was narrow filled with hairpin bends. I worried about hitting another car. We didn’t, lucky us! When we finally got to our destination, we learned a lot about the plantation and coffee production, but we didn’t see any coffee plants. Where were they? We decided to ask one of the people working there. “So where are the coffee plants? We can’t see them anywhere.”
She reached out her arm and caught a twig right next to us and explained, “This is the coffee plant and these little things will be coffee beans.” I looked around in embarrassment, as we were surrounded by coffee plants! She explained that coffee plants aren’t big and that they have to grow in the shade of other bigger plants. I appreciated her lesson.
We love our coffee, but I’m sure most of my countrymen would not be able to recognize a coffee plant among other tropical plants if asked. Our jaws can drop at different things, depending on geographical locations, at what we know and don’t know. Never take anything for granted!
1. What topic did the author’s husband discuss with the girl? (no more than 5 words)2. How do you understand the underlined part in Paragraph 2? (no more than 10 words)
3. How was the way to the coffee plantation ? (1 word)
4. What did the author learn from the worker? (no more than 15 words)
5. What inspiration do you get from the story? Please express it in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
8 . It had been a long, hard, wonderful day. The two of us had walked from the sea’s edge through the length of a beautiful valley, climbed a superb mountain, travelled its narrow, rocky ridge, and now stood on its final peak, tired, happy and looking for the perfect campsite.
The experienced backpacker has a natural feeling for such things, and our eyes were drawn to a small blue circle on the map. We could not see it from where we were, but we followed our judgement and went down steeply until it came into view.
We were right. It was a calm pool, with flat grass beside it. Gently taking our packs off, we made the first of many cups of tea before putting up our tent. Later that evening, over another cup of tea and after a good meal, we sat outside the tent watching the sun set over a sea dotted with islands, towards one of which a ferry was slowly moving. It is not always so perfect, of course. On another trip, with a different companion, a thoroughly wet day had ended at a lonely farm. Depressed at the thought of camping, we had knocked and asked if we could use a barn as a shelter.
Backpacking could be defined us the art of comfortable, self-sufficient travel on foot. Everything you need is in the pack on your back, and you become emotionally as well as physically attached to it. I once left my pack hidden in some rocks while I made a long trip to a peak I particularly wanted to climb. I was away for nearly three hours and ended up running the last stretch in fear that my precious pack would not be there. It was, of course.
The speed at which the backpacker travels makes this the perfect way to see any country. You experience the landscape as a slow unfolding scene, almost in the way it was made；and you find time to stop and talk to people you meet. I’ve learned much local history from simply chatting to people I met while walking through an area. At the end of a trip, whether three days or three weeks, there’s a feeling of achievement, of having got somewhere under your own power.
1. The author and his companion knew there was a pool because ________| A．they had been told about it | B．they could see it on the map |
| C．they had seen it earlier in the day | D．they could see it from the top of the mountain |
| A．The map. | B．The mountain. | C．The pool. | D．Rocky ridge. |
| A．They were too tired to put up their tent. |
| B．They wished they could have found a farm. |
| C．They were anxious about the coming weather. |
| D．They were delighted with the spot they had found. |
| A．It is more than just a practical aid. | B．He walks better when he is wearing it. |
| C．It is not a good idea to leave it anywhere. | D．He might die on the mountains without it. |
| A．get fitter as you walk | B．make new friends while walking |
| C．find out how the landscape was made | D．gain an understanding of the area you walk through |
9 . I ask every student I interview for admission to my institution, Pitzer College, the same question, “What do you look forward to the most in college?” I was surprised and delighted recently when a student called David replied. “I look forward to the possibility of failure.” Of course, this is not how most students respond to the question when siting before the person who can make decisions about their academic future. “You see, my parents have never let me fail,” he said. “When I want to take a chance at something, they remind me it’s not a safe route to take. Taking a more challenging course or trying an activity I may not succeed in, they tell me, will ruin my chances at college admission.”
I wish I could tell you this is an uncommon story. Students are usually in shock when I tell them I never expect perfection. But these days finding imperfections in a college application is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Students only tell us things they believe we will find impressive. And this is supported by a secondary school culture where teachers are under pressure to give students nothing less than an A, and counselors are told not to report disciplinary infractions to colleges.
Admission officers are digging deeper to find out who students really are outside of their medals or test scores. We get most excited when we read an application that seems real. It’s so rare to hear stories of defeat and win that when we do, we cheer. If their perspectives are of lessons learned or challenges overcome, these applicants tend to jump to the top of the heap at highly selective colleges. We believe an error in high school should not define the rest of your life, but how you respond could shape you forever.
During my weekend of interviews, another student Jefferson told me, “I’m ashamed to admit I failed calculus, but I decided to take it again and got a B-plus. I will still take calculus, even though I don’t like it.” I asked him what he had learned from the experience. “I learned to let go of shame,” he said. “I realized that I can’t let a grade define my success. I also learned that if you want anything bad enough, you can achieve it.”
I smiled as I wrote his words down on the application-review form. Apparently, he has the coping skills he needs to adjust to college life. Failure is about growth, learning, overcoming and moving on. Let’s allow young people to fail. Not only will they learn something, it might even get them into college!
1. What can we learn from David’s reply?| A．He wanted to show he had never failed before. |
| B．He wanted to prove he was an independent thinker. |
| C．He wanted to set himself apart from other applicants. |
| D．He wanted to try something new, even though he might fail. |
| A．Students lie about what they have achieved. |
| B．Students list everything in their applications. |
| C．Students just show their best in their applications. |
| D．Students show good writing skills in their applications. |
| A．The one that shows a balance between life and study. |
| B．The one that proves a student focuses on test scores less. |
| C．The one that proves a student understands what college life is. |
| D．The one that shows a student has struggled and overcome a barrier. |
| A．He didn’t care that Jefferson failed calculus. |
| B．He appreciated Jefferson’s attitude to failure. |
| C．He found Jefferson’s self-awareness impressive. |
| D．He appreciated that Jefferson was open about college life. |
| A．Teachers should be responsible for helping students succeed. |
| B．Students would benefit from the positive attitude to failure. |
| C．Parents should try to keep their kids from suffering failure. |
| D．Experiences of enough failure could shape students’ future. |
10 . I cannot stop thinking about the video of a 10-year-old girl facing her fears at the top of a ski jump. Her fear, her courage, her joy, her pride — the whole thing has really touched me. Of course, the video makes me reflect on the times when I experienced the similar feeling. I remember how in those moments every cell in my body vibrated (颤动) with life. But it also reminded me of the times I didn’t choose the more risky options.
I’ve always been a little bit of a chicken when it comes to my physical safety but I definitely pushed myself more when I was younger. Now that I’m a mom, I feel like I have to stay safe. I worry about what my kids would do without me and that leads me to make safe choices.
But as I watch this fourth grade overcome her fears, I think about how much this experience will mean to her in the future; she’ll always have this as a reference point when she comes up against something scary or difficult. She’ll be able to look back on this and say, “Well, I did that and the worst part was the bad feeling at the beginning.”
I know I want that view for my 8-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son. I know I want them to take risks. Maybe not every day, maybe not ski-jumping, definitely not extreme sports, but I deeply hope that they will push themselves to their limits, facing down fear with whatever tools they can use and enjoying the great rush that comes from attempting scary things and getting to the other side of them.
So if I want that for my kids, I have to honestly look at my own relationship with risk and say that yes... I play it safe. And I have to ask myself another question: Am I doing enough? Or do I need to make some changes in my life so that my daughter and son can be inspired to make their own brave decisions?
1. How did the author react when watching that video?| A．She felt ashamed of herself. |
| B．She realized that sport was dangerous. |
| C．She thought of her own past experiences. |
| D．She regretted taking part in some risky activities. |
| A．be careful of her safety |
| B．push herself to her limits |
| C．be overprotective of her kids |
| D．pick up the risky activities again |
| A．having safe choices is important |
| B．taking a risk isn’t as scary as it seems |
| C．overcoming fears requires a long time |
| D．making preparations for future is necessary |
| A．let her kids play with the girl in the video |
| B．certainly allow her kids to try ski-jumping |
| C．use some tools to practice her kids’ courage |
| D．participate in more risk activities to set an example |
| A．Pushing Ourselves to Our Limits |
| B．Paying Attention to Kids’ Activities |
| C．Learning a Kind of Risky Activities |
| D．Encouraging Kids to Choose What They Like |
