1 . When I began to study flower arranging, I was slowly developing a deeper understanding of the_________ between all life.

In our first class, my teacher said that flowers can_________ talk and that they each have their own_________ of being beautiful. They have “prana” life force, so you have to pay full attention to them, rather than_________ your own ideas of beauty on them. So I began to ask the flowers how they wanted to be_________ and what positioning would make them _________ most beautiful. I waited and listened.

Even after the flowers had been_________ in the vase, I would discover sometimes that in the morning they had rearranged themselves during the night. Even if they were secured in the_________，they always seemed to be silently straining(尽力)to find their_________ place. At the same time, they were not__________ independent; they needed loving care. They were dependent on me, or whomever their__________ wasfor the day, to water them. Watching other people spraying water on the arrangements sometimes, I would feel so__________ by the scene. Small drops of water on the flowers touched the source of life and nourished the heart of beauty.

This experience made me feel how__________ it could be, if our minds are set in the right way to water not only plants, but__________,to treat all living creatures in a way that__________ them their right to be beautiful, in their own__________ and time.

What we came to notice was that flowers could also__________. Our teacher urged us to always__________ the flowers when we passed how beautiful they were and to thank them for sharing that__________ with us.

When we made our arrangements with this kind of__________,we found that the flowers remained beautiful and fresh for many more days than expected.

1.

A．difference

B．conflict

C．barrier

D．connection

2.

A．actually

B．hardly

C．briefly

D．mildly

3.

A．ways

B．goals

C．levels

D．measures

4.

A．pouring

B．focusing

C．relying

D．forcing

5.

A．covered

B．arranged

C．delivered

D．wrapped

6.

A．prove

B．grow

C．feel

D．smell

7.

A．put

B．cut

C．brought

D．handed

8.

A．garden

B．vase

C．cave

D．wall

9.

A．first

B．right

C．former

D．equal

10.

A．fully

B．apparently

C．mentally

D．firmly

11.

A．performer

B．babysitter

C．neighbor

D．caretaker

12.

A．amazed

B．moved

C．anxious

D．curious

13.

A．simple

B．funny

C．complex

D．foolish

14.

A．flowers

B．animals

C．grasses

D．humans

15.

A．allows

B．conveys

C．promtises

D．passes

16.

A．direction

B．space

C．energy

D．shape

17.

A．shake

B．listen

C．breathe

D．inform

18.

A．prove

B．select

C．imagine

D．rémind

19.

A．beauty

B．secret

C．message

D．treasure

20.

A．talent

B．policy

C．devotion

D．technique

2 . American author Gary Hopkins tells us, “A suitable apology can be a wonderful thing, so long as it is from the heart.” However, an apology is ______ to make.

A few years ago, I was a guest ______ at a conference for professional trainers. I was well ______, knowledgeable about the topic, and I felt confident as I ______ my speech. But afterwards, an experienced female delegate ______ me. We exchanged a few greetings, and then she dropped something unexpected on me. She said, “Do you know how many times you ______, from the moment you ______ to the microphone until the moment you left the stage?” “Sorry, I don’t know,” I replied. “Nine times,” she said. “And all of them were unnecessary.” I was ______. It was the first time someone had ever made me ______ my “sorry habit.” So what was the first word out of my mouth ______? “Sorry!” We both burst out laughing.

Of course, apologies shouldn’t be ______ that way. This incident raised my awareness of how we routinely use apologies. I know ______ to apologize is a big mistake as we’ve made a mistake or wronged someone else. How to do it? First and foremost, we need to understand real apologies or wholeheartedly saying “sorry” is ______. It’s like a big ______ into a relationship account and there’s no alternative for it. Actually, there are ______ apologies, which are tools of dodges (搪塞). They are awful and we should stop them. ______, habitual apologies are an unnecessary automatic response, as I ever made at the conference.

Generally, over apologizing ______ to happen when there’s a lack of ______ in your position, which will make others ______ you or even get unhappy. So we need to use apologies ______ and our attitude must be sincere. Refusing to apologize is a big mistake, and so is over apologizing.

1.

A．essential

B．impossible

C．reasonable

D．difficult

2.

A．editor

B．speaker

C．worker

D．member

3.

A．dressed

B．prepared

C．known

D．equipped

4.

A．formed

B．recalled

C．delivered

D．appreciated

5.

A．blamed

B．praised

C．discovered

D．approached

6.

A．interrupted

B．apologized

C．stopped

D．coughed

7.

A．caught on

B．brought out

C．stepped on

D．broke down

8.

A．speechless

B．hopeless

C．confused

D．frightened

9.

A．ready for

B．nervous about

C．careful about

D．aware of

10.

A．in reply

B．in vain

C．in return

D．in place

11.

A．ignored

B．mentioned

C．used

D．accepted

12.

A．regretting

B．failing

C．pretending

D．promising

13.

A．ridiculous

B．impressive

C．accessible

D．crucial

14.

A．sale

B．income

C．deposit

D．loss

15.

A．private

B．false

C．inadequate

D．illegal

16.

A．Besides

B．Therefore

C．Nevertheless

D．Instead

17.

A．expects

B．continues

C．deserves

D．tends

18.

A．motivation

B．confidence

C．energy

D．experience

19.

A．embarrass

B．challenge

C．misunderstand

D．tolerate

20.

A．suitably

B．normally

C．directly

D．frequently

3 . Courage is a highly admired virtue. When asked to describe courage, most people conjure up (脑中浮现) the image of an individual running into a burning building, or maybe a hero saving the world. But there's another form of bravery that's much more important because it comes up more often. It's called moral courage.

Moral courage is the ability that allows us to face our fears and to conquer our darkest fears. It’s the ability to face the future without knowing what is certain. It’s the ability to stand tall and confront those who oppose us, those who prevent us from realizing who we are and what we are. But most importantly, it’s the ability to stand up for what’s right, even though there are risks that stand in your way. Sara Anderson once said that "It takes great courage to faithfully follow what we know to be true."

The potential of showing moral courage has the power of changing the world. It was because of the moral courage that Mahatma Gandhi was able to make India free from British rule. He fought bravely against them without the use of any weapon by presenting great moral courage. In this way, he also became a great example for the people of the whole world. It is not that we remember Gandhi because of his body or beauty. We remember him because of the great ideas and principles of his life.

Moral courage is essential not only for a noble life, but a happy one. Without moral courage, we have no control over our lives. Our fears destroy our spirit and make us trapped in depression. Mark Twain said, “Courage is not the absence of fear but the resistance of fear, the mastery of fear.” If our fears cause us to lose confidence in the power of virtue, we will lose something very precious.

People with moral courage rarely get medals, but it is the best marker of true character and a virtue others can be proud of. We must try to develop the power of moral courage that will surely help in ending injustice and wrong and grant us a better world.

1. What is the main function of Paragraph 1?

A．To make a comparison.

B．To propose a definition.

C．To introduce the subject.

D．To provide the background.

2. In the author’s view, moral courage is not _________.

A．the willingness to face and conquer fears

B．the capacity to stick to what is right

C．the ability to confront opponents

D．the desire to control whoever opposes you

3. What does the example of Mahatma Gandhi tell us?

A．Moral courage can make a difference to the world.

B．Moral courage makes people faithfully follow the truth.

C．Moral courage is essential for leading a happy life.

D．Moral courage restricts great ideas and principles.

4. What can be inferred from Mark Twain’s words?

A．Courage is being brave without any fear.

B．Courage is a spirit to overcome the fear.

C．Having a fear can limit our future lives.

D．Fear can stop us from achieving our goals.

5. What does the author advise us to do in the last paragraph?

A．To end injustice and wrong.

B．To pursue excellent virtues.

C．To strengthen moral courage.

D．To create a better world.

4 . We had a painter in our home recently. Unlike many, he was _________ and completed the work in a timely way. And he went above and beyond the call of _________, like filling in little nail holes in the hallways.

The painter was always friendly and his prices were _________. I happily handed him a bottle of wine as an extra reward of our _________. As a famous writer puts, “Kindness _________ another; the painter’s friendliness makes me be friendly to others and so it goes.” Unfortunately the _________ is also true. Sometimes, people are rude to us and we tend to _________ in a kind way. My daughter recently moved across the country. The movers couldn’t have been more unpleasant. First they _________ to put the boxes in certain rooms. They threw them around and _________ many things including an expensive dining room table, but they were ____________ to take responsibility. I give my kid credit for reacting to the company with ____________ instead of rudeness.

I recently ordered some avocados (牛油果) online. Every single one was bad. Although I ____________ got a refund, I was troubled by the seller’s complete indifference to doing his job well and to the impact on the ____________. I was about to ____________ about his lack of service awareness. But I stopped myself. I was ____________ by the negative behavior and I had to work not to react.

We have to stop greeting rudeness with ____________ behaviors or performance. What ____________ is that, instead of waiting for others to be kind to us, we should make a positive ____________ to be kind to others. It doesn’t take a lot — a smile, a kind word and an offer to help or to ____________ another person. What a great deal — low ____________ and high reward!

1.

A．sensitive

B．stubborn

C．punctual

D．ridiculous

2.

A．conscience

B．emergency

C．moral

D．duty

3.

A．reasonable

B．absurd

C．unfair

D．changeable

4.

A．allowance

B．appreciation

C．celebration

D．evaluation

5.

A．leads to

B．makes up

C．builds up

D．consists of

6.

A．misunderstanding

B．concept

C．statement

D．opposite

7.

A．interrupt

B．decline

C．respond

D．ignore

8.

A．promised

B．refused

C．chose

D．pretended

9.

A．damaged

B．stole

C．abandoned

D．exchanged

10.

A．afraid

B．sorry

C．unwilling

D．ready

11.

A．aggression

B．doubt

C．politeness

D．criticism

12.

A．easily

B．accidentally

C．basically

D．illegally

13.

A．partners

B．customers

C．monitors

D．deliverymen

14.

A．worry

B．think

C．discuss

D．complain

15.

A．affected

B．defeated

C．threatened

D．surrounded

16.

A．personal

B．violent

C．cautious

D．similar

17.

A．counts

B．appears

C．differs

D．disagrees

18.

A．influence

B．choice

C．contribution

D．appointment

19.

A．call up

B．come across

C．light up

D．hear about

20.

A．cost

B．standard

C．price

D．risk

5 . Many of us seem to have lives that follow a certain way. From kindergarten all the way to when we get married, every stage of our lives seems to be preset. And although this works well for a lot of people, according to British scholar Jay Shetty, there is no “right” schedule to live our lives by.

A few months ago, a video of Shetty’s speech “Before You Feel Pressure” became popular on the Internet across the world. In the video, he sends an important message that we should think “outside of the way” and have the courage to follow our hearts. As Shetty says in the video, we don’t have to get stressed and put ourselves in a race with our peers or judge our lives based on others’. “Everything in life happens according to our time, our clocks,” he says.

In his inspiring speech, Shetty points out that UK author J. K. Rowling got her famous “Harry Potter” series published at age 32, after being turned down by 12 publishers. Shetty also mentions that US actor Morgan Freeman didn’t get his big break until he was 52 years old. So we shouldn’t let anyone rush us.

As physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that’s counted truly counts. The key to staying on our own tracks is to be patient and keep our own interest. ” In Australian nurse Bronnie Ware’s best-selling book “The Top Five Regrets of the Dying”, she recorded the dying regrets of her patients, and the top one on the list was: “I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me. ”

Indeed, we are all unique in our personalities and gifts, and there’s no perfect fit for all. We should listen to our inner voices and ignore what the world has taught us, and what we’ve picked up from people around us. “It is important to allow people to go back to being self-aware of their own interests, needs and concerns,” Shetty told the magazine. “It’s disconnecting from what ‘makes sense’ to what actually moves you and what makes sense internally (内在地). ”

1. What does Jay Shetty agree to?

A．The stages of our lives should be preset.

B．Few people have lives that follow a certain way.

C．All people live their lives according to schedules.

D．We can live our lives not according to the given way.

2. According to Jay Shetty’s video, people should _________.

A．put more pressure on themselves

B．adjust their lives based on others’

C．decide their lives in terms of actual cases

D．compete with those who are better than themselves

3. Shetty lists the famous people in his speech to show ________.

A．everyone can be a winner	B．hard work is the key to success
C．great new life can begin anytime	D．success does not happen in one’s youth

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 4?

A．Everything that’s counted truly counts.

B．One should live a life as expected by others.

C．We should count and analyze everything in life.

D．The top dying regret was not living in the way one wanted.

5. We can conclude from the last paragraph that _______.

A．people should never listen to others’ advice

B．we should follow the heart and do what we want to do

C．what makes sense should not be about what people care internally

D．being self-aware of interests, needs and concerns is not acceptable

6 . 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 _________ most of us do at one time or another — and some of us do it pretty _________.

It’s surely a _________ for a drop in self-confidence and for unhappiness. Let’s say I take a look at someone who creates amazing artwork on their website and I look at my art, and realize I don’t come close to being _________ with him. In fact, I look pretty _________. But it’s not a fair _________. If I looked at my strengths — writing useful and honest posts — I can see that I have a lot to _________, a lot to be happy about.

That’s so important-being able to look at your own strengths, and see your true _________. It’s actually one of the keys to success and happiness.

I want to talk about this issue _________ an email from a reader recently: I have some teammates from very rich families, I can’t stop myself comparing my __________ with theirs. I must say that my financial planning is sound enough to take care of my __________ family; and I can take care of new family members also, at least for some time __________ I lose my current job. But __________ I see or hear them spending so much money after possessions, I start comparing again. How can I stop this habit, without changing jobs?

This is an excellent but tough __________. I think it’s __________ to compare ourselves to others, but it often makes us unhappy even if we have enough and should be __________ what we have. My quick __________: try to be aware of when you start comparing yourself to others. . . once you’ve developed this __________, stop yourself and tell yourself, “Stop that!” And then __________ thinking about all the things you do have, the things you love, the people you have and the blessings that __________ has given you. Make this a regular practice, and you’ ll start to be happier with your life.

1.

A．why

B．what

C．that

D．how

2.

A．often

B．hard

C．soon

D．well

3.

A．theory

B．option

C．practice

D．idea

4.

A．blessed

B．connected

C．weighed

D．matched

5.

A．grateful

B．pitiful

C．shocked

D．confident

6.

A．comparison

B．communication

C．competition

D．combination

7.

A．regret

B．correct

C．offer

D．afford

8.

A．thoughts

B．values

C．alternatives

D．weaknesses

9.

A．because of

B．according to

C．apart from

D．in spite of

10.

A．concept

B．health

C．profession

D．lifestyle

11.

A．developing

B．working

C．existing

D．coming

12.

A．as if

B．even if

C．in case

D．now that

13.

A．however

B．whatever

C．wherever

D．whenever

14.

A．programme

B．fantasy

C．question

D．reality

15.

A．strange

B．natural

C．difficult

D．important

16.

A．sorry for

B．curious about

C．guilty at

D．happy with

17.

A．judgement

B．conclusion

C．formula

D．advice

18.

A．awareness

B．hobby

C．tradition

D．custom

19.

A．require

B．risk

C．fancy

D．start

20.

A．happiness

B．life

C．success

D．confidence

7 . Passion, like life, is about the journey, not the destination.

Kimberly and I have been planning a trip to Europe for a year. This was a/an _________ of ours. We took our friends Frantoise and Stein Eriksen with us.

The most _________ part of the journey started with a train ride that had some curveballs (不顺利). When we were trying to get on a _________ from Zurich to Croatia at first, we had gotten the departure time wrong and had to _________ to the station. Unfortunately, It was late. So we turn to a ship journey. To _________ it to the ship, we finally found a taxi and arrived an hour late. _________, they waited for us.

Once we got onto the ship, we _________ it was not like a large hotel with great service. It was a tight room. The bathroom was very _________. The shower was a spout (喷头) connected to the bathroom sink. You _________ it on and sprayed (喷洒) yourself, along with the rest of the room.

The week-long ship ride was full of __________. There were people from different nationalities speaking different languages. We stopped on island of all sizes. We bicycled 30-40 kilometers. Then there were high winds — so high that the buses couldn’t __________ because they might blow over. So we took an expensive taxi. And __________ back to make our flight home.

While we loved the more predictable parts of the trip, our real passion was in the __________—the missed rides, the __________ ship. The mixture of cultures, and even the __________.

Sometimes people are so __________ that it scares them to do something different. __________ when they do get out of their comfort zone, the different experiences they once thought were __________ are what stand out. Mixing things up, trying new things, seeing something through another person’s eyes, being __________ to adventure — this is how you create __________.

1.

A．business

B．goal

C．secret

D．chance

2.

A．meaningless

B．helpless

C．exciting

D．calming

3.

A．taxi

B．ship

C．train

D．plane

4.

A．rush

B．hang

C．look

D．walk

5.

A．get

B．make

C．reach

D．enter

6.

A．Luckily

B．Clearly

C．Eventually

D．Hopefully

7.

A．admitted

B．heard

C．understood

D．realized

8.

A．clean

B．small

C．modern

D．well-quipped

9.

A．set

B．put

C．carried

D．turned

10.

A．risks

B．fun

C．conflicts

D．adventures

11.

A．run

B．pass

C．slow down

D．pull off

12.

A．headed

B．came

C．moved

D．drew

13.

A．peaceful

B．unsettled

C．dangerous

D．unexpected

14.

A．empty

B．large

C．overcrowded

D．expensive

15.

A．rain

B．delay

C．accident

D．winds

16.

A．confident

B．comfortable

C．uneasy

D．busy

17.

A．So

B．Because

C．Yet

D．Moreover

18.

A．interesting

B．scary

C．boring

D．enjoyable

19.

A．open

B．alert

C．blind

D．close

20.

A．hope

B．passion

C．opportunities

D．changes