1 . It’s often the simple things in life that make the most significant impact on us. It was late one afternoon in mid-September. My three-month-old son was napping in his
Down below
Not more than ten feet away stood his mother. She didn’t scold him.
The little boy probably will
Maybe we can all learn from the innocence of
A.desk | B.bed | C.toy | D.chair |
A.jump at | B.turn around | C.look out of | D.stare at |
A.formed | B.left | C.saved | D.collected |
A.waved | B.trembled | C.stood | D.slid |
A.birds | B.cars | C.ash | D.water |
A.by and by | B.up and down | C.now and then | D.over and over |
A.Instead | B.However | C.Therefore | D.Also |
A.still | B.hesitantly | C.anxiously | D.close |
A.embarrassing | B.confusing | C.touching | D.exhausting |
A.experience | B.remember | C.forget | D.recall |
A.grows up | B.loses heart | C.turns in | D.cries out |
A.visit | B.explore | C.find | D.understand |
A.loves | B.helps | C.scolds | D.kisses |
A.youth | B.childhood | C.adolescence | D.adulthood |
A.enjoy | B.share | C.stop | D.await |
2 . Kala has deep ties to her Hawaiian roots. Her ancestors navigated (航行) the oceans for centuries using their knowledge of the stars, the sun, the currents and the wind. It’s not that she does it in a canoe without technology, but rather uses the natural technology around her. It’s called Way finding, and was taught to her by her father.
“My father was my foundation, my rock.” she says of her first voyage with him from Oahu to Lahaina in a traditional canoe. He taught her how to read the stars, the ocean swells and how to use them to hold the course. “Over 200 stars have specific names and purposes when you are Way finding. You have to look at each and determine if they are rising or setting. You know this star and the direction it represents. If you can do that, you can use it as a tool to orient (确定方向).” Kala added.
Kala Tanaka sailed the canoe in the ocean for up to three weeks. During the day, Kala used the sun until it hit a certain height. When she got closer to land, she looked for certain species of land birds and clouds that indicated there was land below. When Kala sailed she felt “I feel very connected to the crew and the canoe. We’re a family.” The longer voyage required Kala to spend hours studying the day and the night skies. It was demanding physical work. But it also had its moments of awe. For Kala, the beauty was in tying together the past and the present to enjoy the moment. So when she was not sailing, she was teaching Way finding skills to school-aged children in hopes of preserving the skills her ancestors relied on.
It’s easy to be lost in the immediacy of the technology of our day, to be consumed by screens and miss the nature that unfolds around us. But if we will take the time to look up, to see the stars and the sun, the way the clouds move, the miracle of life beneath and above us, we will discover something deep inside us, something that will always lead to happiness.
1. How does Kala navigate the ocean in a canoe?A.By observing the natural elements around. |
B.By following the course of ocean currents. |
C.By using hi-technology navigation devices. |
D.By recalling the first voyage with her father. |
A.It was a heroic adventure. | B.It brought great joy to her life. |
C.It was school children’s favorite. | D.It represented a kind of innovation. |
A.Enjoy the screens. | B.Explore the universe. |
C.Get close to nature. | D.Keep the earth clean. |
A.Finding Our Way | B.Navigating the Ocean |
C.The Wisdom from Ancestors | D.An Unforgettable Journey |
3 . Although Cuban built a tech company that would finally make him extremely rich, he never showed off that. “I never, ever thought about
At the beginning, when Cuban sold his first company for 6 million dollars, he never thought he’d have to
Five years later, the stock (股票) he had was highly
I couldn’t agree more with Cuban’s views. A person’s life is short. We should make the best use of time to do meaningful things, so that we won’t
A.money | B.relief | C.jobs | D.companies |
A.equally | B.completely | C.purposely | D.naturally |
A.narrowness | B.dirt | C.time | D.age |
A.live | B.share | C.travel | D.work |
A.wise | B.suitable | C.impressive | D.free |
A.symbols | B.strategies | C.earnings | D.rents |
A.party | B.spend | C.challenge | D.tour |
A.valuable | B.formal | C.major | D.obvious |
A.sold | B.packed | C.held | D.buried |
A.formed | B.improved | C.broke | D.changed |
A.personality | B.lesson | C.path | D.solution |
A.puts away | B.takes down | C.works out | D.gets over |
A.create | B.donate | C.buy | D.own |
A.save | B.apply | C.understand | D.limit |
A.feature | B.regret | C.start | D.deliver |
4 . When Failure Is a Good Thing
Failure is an important process you can learn from.
Most people view failure as something that should be avoided at all costs.
Award-winning psychologist and author, Ron Friedman, tells the story of how Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, revolutionized the women's clothing industry and became a billionaire in his book, The Best Place To Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace.
When interviewed by CNN's Anderson Cooper, Sara said, “Instead of failure being the outcome, failure became not trying. It forced me at a young age to want to push myself so much further out of my comfort zone.”
If we view failure as weakness, we avoid stepping out of our comfort zone.
What has been the greatest lesson you have learned when taking a chance? Please share with us.
A.And, most importantly, it means you tried. |
B.Let's take a look at how Sara faced failures. |
C.In reality, Sara's father had re-defined failure. |
D.Early on, Sara overcame a series of difficulties. |
E.Instead, we must remind ourselves that failure is an action. |
F.It is important to reflect on what can be learnt from failure. |
G.We tend to connect failure with a bad experience we had as a child. |
No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts. I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program. The school took part in the league matches every year. However, it never ended well. We were more of the audience, watching and cheering instead of sweating out in the fields.
Fortunately, the school held the tradition that the school’s old team was to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. For lack of resources, the old team bad no coach, and they didn’t even practice to prepare for the game.
I was assigned (指派) as the coach of the new team, which was why I was excited. I believed that we were going to win, but to my disappointment, we were defeated. I couldn’t believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I tried to figure out the reason and what I should do next.
It didn’t take long before I came to realize that my team was depending on me. Without proper guidance or previous experience, my team was at a loss what to do. I had to change my attitude so that I could bring out the best in them about their ability and potential.
I would let my action do the talking. First, I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. I could see their spirits lifted, with their head held high in great confidence. Most importantly, I began to treat them like winners. Only when they regarded themselves as winners could they willingly invest time and energy.
This summer, the other teams enjoyed their vacations.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Six months later, football season started.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . I’m a mother of three and a psychologist. Recently, I come to understand what makes childhood valuable in its own right.
One day, when I went to get my 7-year-old son from soccer
The traditional view of such a moment is that it is
A.appointment | B.display | C.practice | D.experience |
A.served | B.greeted | C.witnessed | D.treated |
A.envied | B.criticized | C.promoted | D.forgiven |
A.hanging | B.settling | C.putting | D.turning |
A.shyness | B.weakness | C.loneliness | D.sadness |
A.pick up | B.look for | C.stare at | D.bring out |
A.ears | B.hands | C.mouth | D.face |
A.biggest | B.simplest | C.strangest | D.dullest |
A.eyes | B.arms | C.legs | D.feet |
A.entertainment | B.delight | C.satisfaction | D.confusion |
A.gather | B.play | C.sit | D.stay |
A.practical | B.impossible | C.accessible | D.unnecessary |
A.capacity | B.respect | C.effort | D.responsibility |
A.experienced | B.absorbed | C.rich | D.skillful |
A.seeking | B.studying | C.missing | D.denying |
7 . With new term approaching, as a new teacher, I needed to find a reference book in our school library. Therefore, I went in search of the
During the winter break, she had gone by herself to Death Valley, a rarely visited desert. She just rented a car and packed up some simple equipment. All the way, she
I asked her if she was
Actually, our brief talk inspired me to lead a more
A.tutor | B.clerk | C.assistant | D.librarian |
A.conversation | B.discussion | C.complaint | D.activity |
A.bothered | B.attracted | C.moved | D.confused |
A.voluntarily | B.definitely | C.occasionally | D.barely |
A.hiked | B.slept | C.behaved | D.dived |
A.banned | B.protected | C.transported | D.dragged |
A.scared | B.delighted | C.upset | D.amazed |
A.unable | B.unaffordable | C.appointed | D.desperate |
A.free | B.frightened | C.incapable | D.typical |
A.without excuse | B.without hesitation | C.with doubt | D.with caution |
A.books | B.fantasy | C.sands | D.beauty |
A.tough | B.smooth | C.unpredictable | D.changeable |
A.succeed | B.escape | C.survive | D.suffer |
A.colorful | B.meaningful | C.comfortable | D.recreational |
A.restriction | B.range | C.surface | D.reach |
Zu Ti of the Jin Dynasty was a man who had with great ambition. When he was young, he had a good friend
One day, when they were sleeping. Zu Ti heard the rooster crowing (鸡鸣) . He woke up Liu Kun and said, “How about
The idiom “to rise with the rooster” teaches us that with ambition and hard work,
9 . That morning, I got the train as always. I was a publishing director and was looking forward to embracing a new day of work, as usual. I would always turn to the crossword (纵横填字游戏), but that day it didn’t make sense. I’d been doing it for 30-old years, but trying to read this one was like walking through syrup (糖浆):
I said to my assistant. The
I was back at home a week later, and my goal was to get better and return to work in a couple of months. The way to
As the months passed, it became self-evident that I wasn’t going to be able to go back to my old job. For 25 years, I had
In the darkest months, I devoted myself to
A.temporarily | B.scarcely | C.unbelievably | D.mildly |
A.curious | B.reserved | C.casual | D.concerned |
A.messes | B.deals | C.identifies | D.cooperates |
A.practical | B.absurd | C.impossible | D.innocent |
A.gaining | B.rebuilding | C.revealing | D.improving |
A.slipped | B.doubted | C.wandered | D.fled |
A.informed | B.evaluated | C.reflected | D.defined |
A.angry | B.cautious | C.awesome | D.merciless |
A.speaking | B.trying | C.writing | D.managing |
A.since | B.until | C.so | D.as |
A.favor | B.patience | C.sympathy | D.comfort |
A.Gradually | B.Hopefully | C.Narrowly | D.Annually |
A.above | B.with | C.beyond | D.below |
A.arrange | B.compare | C.rank | D.declare |
A.genius | B.community | C.dignity | D.family |
10 . I was reading a book while my son watched an old comedy show on TV. Suddenly, I heard someone yell: “Go to your happy place!” These words made me put my book down and ponder all the happy places I have had over the years.
When I was a little boy, my happy place was my mom’s lap while we shared a freshly made bowl of popcorn. When I was in primary school, my happy place was a tree in the woods where I could sit and watch the leaves turn golden and red in the fall. When I was a teenager, my happy place was my bedroom where I could lie on my bed and listen for hours to my favorite songs on the radio. As a young man, my happy place was an old rocking chair where I could hold my 18 newborn babies in my arms and gently rock them to sleep.
As I got older, though, I realized that the very best happy place of all was deep down within my own soul. It was there that I realized just how much I was loved. It was there that I saw I could love too. It was there that I learned my happiness was in my own hands and that I could create it, one loving choice at a time.
When you have your own soul as your happy place, then your happy place is wherever you decide to go. When your happy place lives in your heart, then you get to give it to everyone you meet. When your happy place is a very life you live, then you make the world around you a happier place as well. Create your own happy place then. Fill your heart with love. Fill your soul with kindness. Fill your days with joy. Take this glorious gift of life you have been given and live it, one loving choice at a time.
1. What does the underlined word “ponder” in Paragraph 1 mean?A.Call at. | B.Leave for. | C.Think about. | D.Search for. |
A.It differed as he grew. |
B.It was in his own hands. |
C.It lay in the depth of his soul. |
D.It was shaped by his surroundings. |
A.Attitude. | B.Creativity. | C.Kindness. | D.Environment. |
A.To suggest ways to find happy places. |
B.To share his own growing experience. |
C.To stress the importance of happy places. |
D.To illustrate his understanding of happy places. |