2 . A couple of weeks ago, my grandfather was explaining his favorite expression, “Nothing is ever easy.” The following day, as I tried to complete my work, I happened to _______ a big bee on the skylight (天窗). It was high up, but I thought _______ it would take no more than 5 minutes. An hour later, the bee still remained. All that had _______ was that the living room was a mess and that I was dizzy (头晕目眩) from _______ into the sunlight. I didn’t expect to waste an hour on an insect so _______ but by doing so, I understood what my grandfather meant.

In our daily lives,we often think that we can solve problems just by taking the time. Besides, we often imagine what can work in our favour but we _______ think of all the negative things that can affect us. However, it is important to remember that your day or week or year may not go as _______ and that is completely normal. It is _______ acceptable to feel challenged — even at a task you thought was simple — because that is part of life.

If you can _______ that nothing will ever be easy, then life may seem slightly more manageable. In middle school, I thought high school might be easier because I could choose the classes I wanted to ________. In high school, I thought ________ might be easier because I could have a schedule best suited for myself. Yet each time, I was both wrong and disappointed. After accepting that school wouldn’t be easy, I found myself with a more positive attitude and ________ results.

Of course, there should be preparations made to account for expenses or time. Doing so can help you ________ your goals in a better way. However, there is no need to beat ourselves up (过分自责) when something stands in our ________. Maybe we cannot see a(n) ________ coming our way, but we can always give ourselves the extra time to catch it.

1.

A．meet

B．catch

C．notice

D．attract

2.

A．exploring

B．moving

C．killing

D．removing

3.

A．cleared

B．failed

C．ended

D．changed

4.

A．cleaning up

B．looking up

C．turning up

D．making up

5.

A．anxious

B．tiny

C．annoyed

D．curious

6.

A．always

B．never

C．seldom

D．often

7.

A．registered

B．impressed

C．planned

D．promised

8.

A．actually

B．perfectly

C．obviously

D．partly

9.

A．accept

B．concentrate

C．design

D．challenge

10.

A．take

B．listen

C．keep

D．revise

11.

A．office

B．hospital

C．college

D．prison

12.

A．frightened

B．advanced

C．organized

D．improved

13.

A．forward

B．complete

C．achieve

D．quit

14.

A．age

B．path

C．plate

D．view

15.

A．bee

B．bird

C．adult

D．volunteer

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一个完整的短文。

When I was eleven years old, I had a big accident. I get scared even now when I think about that time. I went skating near my house. There were many people, and I saw some of them falling on the ice.

It was my first time to go ice skating, so I was nervous. I was wondering how to skate.

I went with a friend who was very skillful. He spent some time teaching me how to skate, but I didn't learn much. He left me and skated all around. As soon as he left, I fell down. I envied the other people because they could skate well.

I was bored because I kept falling so I took off my skates and just walked around on the ice in my shoes. It was cold and my hands were frozen.

Suddenly, I stepped on something that was not hard. What was it? It was a weak place in the ice. When I stepped there, I sank under the ice. I thought that I was going to die, but I did my best to grab something to get out from under the ice. I tried to grab the edge of the ice, but it was very difficult for an eleven-year' old child.

It seemed like a very long time, like a year. Then, fortunately, someone helped me. He grabbed my arms and pulled me up. So, I lived and I'm still alive today.

I thanked him. At that time, my friend came back. I was annoyed at him because he was supposed to take care of me, but he didn't. He was embarrassed. When I took a taxi home, the taxi driver was surprised and asked what had happened. I didn't want to say anything because I was tired and scared. Even now, whenever I think about that time, I feel uncomfortable. I don't want to go skating again even now.

注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为 150 个左右；
2）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1：

It was long before (过了很久) I went skating once again,

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：

However, ever since then I haven't found any time to go skating,

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . When high school started， Becky and I became best friends. We _______ many interests and quickly became inseparable （分不开的）. When high school ended， we both cried _______ we would attend different colleges in the fall.

Our first term of university life was ______. We had a huge telephone bill and our emails were incredibly long. In the second term， I found some new friends with whom I felt very_______. These， were friends with whom I could be myself and _______ out my feelings. I was eager to share my new friends with Becky.

When Becky finally visited me at my school， we were excited. She brought a toy bear to me as a present and told me about her college life. However， something unexpected happened when I _______ her to my new friends. Her eyes grew dark and I could see the _______ within them. My new friends tried to share their friendship， but Becky seemed _______ to accept it. I didn't understand why the people I loved most couldn't love each other.

Becky left. I knew she was not happy. I thought long about what had happened. After many unanswered questions， I understood that she was jealous. She saw me with my new friends and _______ that we no longer shared the same experiences. She saw all the fun I was having ______ her and wished she could be a part of it. She wished she could be in their position.

I wrote a letter to Becky explaining she's always my best friend. I told her everyone had friends from home and friends from school， and all the friends were indeed life's greatest _______ . Becky wrote me back soon. She was in _______ and felt sorry about what she had done.

I think Becky and I both learn an important lesson from it. _______ can influence our friendship and change the experiences we've shared. We are now walking on two different paths of _______ While new friends are special and exciting， old friends are always there， _______ to share their heart and soul， no matter how far apart.

1.

A．developed

B．protected

C．shared

D．showed

2.

A．although

B．because

C．while

D．unless

3.

A．hard

B．modern

C．normal

D．peaceful

4.

A．anxious

B．comfortable

C．familiar

D．strange

5.

A．find

B．hold

C．make

D．pour

6.

A．introduced

B．referred

C．mentioned

D．admitted

7.

A．concern

B．curiosity

C．doubt

D．hurt

8.

A．calm

B．dangerous

C．unwilling

D．ashamed

9.

A．advanced

B．regretted.

C．proved

D．promised

10.

A．without

B．from

C．for

D．across

11.

A．sign

B．spirit

C．achievement

D．gift

12.

A．sadness

B．surprise

C．agreement

D．confusion

13.

A．Everything

B．Something

C．Nothing

D．Anything

14.

A．life

B．happiness

C．research

D．success

15.

A．planning

B．waiting

C．choosing

D．demanding

5 . Sometimes life can seem challenging (挑战的) and we usually get the feeling of “the grass on the other side is always greener”! We usually feel upset with the troubles that life throws at us.

The best thing to do at that point of time is to close our eyes and start counting of all the blessings in life that God has given us.

If we think deeply, our life is full of blessings that we hardly recognize. Listening to the singing of birds early in the morning, we realize that there are many people who spend their life in a world that is silent while many others spend their lives in a world that is dark and may have never seen a rainbow or the setting sun.

When you go out for a drive, pull down the window and look at the poor beggar standing under the hot sun, begging for filling his hungry stomach. We get three meals a day without realizing its importance. Isn’t that a blessing?

Whenever you are sad, look at the eyes of your parents and family filled with love and concern for you. There are many people who have never experienced the love of a family. Isn’t that a blessing?

As Mother Teresa once said, “We don’t need to do great things. We need to do small things with great love”.

The key to a happy life is when we consider others problems to be our own and try to help them. When we love people without any expectations and help them, our heart is filled with a sense of happiness and peace seeing the smile on their face.

So the next time whenever life knocks you down, close your eyes and…start counting!

1. What does the author intend to tell us?

A．True happiness lies in achieving wealth.

B．Blessings should be treasured in our life.

C．The singing of birds can make us happy.

D．Love from our family gives us courage to face life.

2. The underlined part “the grass on the other side is always greener” in paragraph 1 probably means that__________.

A．however happy we are, we never seem to be satisfied

B．though we are rich, we are poor in mind

C．we can have a better life if we work harder

D．there exists a greener grass on the other side

3. What can be learned from the text?

A．We have already known that life is filled with blessings.

B．It is a blessing to have three meals a day.

C．It’s natural to see a rainbow or the setting sun in life.

D．Mother Teresa calls on us to do great things in life.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Troubles in Life	B．Secrets of Life
C．A Sense of Happiness	D．Count Your Blessings

6 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only(要是……就好了)”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.

My father is famous in our family for saying “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.

I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he was 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.

I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.

1. Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?

A．Start the car the moment everyone is seated.

B．Leave the room for a minute with the iron working.

C．Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better.

D．Move an object out of the way before it trips someone.

2. The underlined word “foregone” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to______.

A．take up	B．stay away
C．run out of	D．give up

3. The author decided to go to her office on Good Friday to _______.

A．keep her appointment with the eye doctor

B．meet her father who was already an old man

C．join in the holiday celebration of the company

D．finish her work before the deadline approached

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．The Peace of Mind	B．The Most Useful Rule
C．The Two Saddest Words	D．The Emotional Well-being