1 . The first time I went hunting wild geese with my father, I couldn't catch them no matter how hard I tried. Every time I tried to approach them,
Hearing my trouble, my father
“That's
Not quite understanding why, I
I picked up a piece of stone from the ground and threw it at the slave. As
I followed my father's instructions to repeat this
"You can approach the geese now,"
So I got close to the wild geese again. The slave saw me, but it took no
The tragedy often occurs in this
A.somehow | B.anyway | C.somewhat | D.anyhow |
A.surprised | B.touched | C.annoyed | D.entertained |
A.aimed | B.laughed | C.stared | D.pointed |
A.father | B.soldier | C.slave | D.leader |
A.unlucky | B.unusual | C.informal | D.incorrect |
A.when | B.how | C.why | D.where |
A.start | B.beg | C.kill | D.watch |
A.refused | B.offered | C.pretended | D.decided |
A.suggested | B.expected | C.reported | D.whispered |
A.suddenly | B.immediately | C.carefully | D.angrily |
A.directions | B.forms | C.methods | D.shapes |
A.trick | B.word | C.plan | D.idea |
A.Actually | B.Finally | C.Obviously | D.Especially |
A.blaming | B.teasing | C.hatting | D.attacking |
A.meaning | B.shouting | C.warning | D.feeling |
A.answered | B.explained | C.repeated | D.reminded |
A.courage | B.notes | C.action | D.pictures |
A.busy with | B.tired of | C.angry at | D.used to |
A.Hopeless | B.Careless | C.Heartless | D.Speechless |
A.way | B.order | C.time | D.situation |
2 . I've come to the conclusion that I'm rubbish at saying “No”. For example, last Sunday I was sitting at my desk alone, totally
We are both windowshoppers and
We had better do what we think is right and what we are
A.experienced | B.absorbed | C.concerned | D.disappointed |
A.reading | B.discussion | C.shopping | D.travel |
A.displease | B.force | C.support | D.shock |
A.explained | B.announced | C.developed | D.ended |
A.thought | B.suggestion | C.idea | D.question |
A.lost | B.kept | C.enjoyed | D.wasted |
A.because of | B.regardless of | C.apart from | D.instead of |
A.visit | B.run | C.inspect | D.invent |
A.consider | B.fetch | C.catch | D.enlarge |
A.take in | B.work on | C.turn out | D.make up |
A.something | B.none | C.everything | D.either |
A.further | B.cooler | C.faster | D.better |
A.attracts | B.beats | C.upsets | D.puzzles |
A.after | B.because | C.if | D.although |
A.impressed | B.anxious | C.merciful | D.depressed |
A.likely | B.afraid | C.willing | D.proud |
A.join | B.refuse | C.invite | D.choose |
A.highly | B.hardly | C.suddenly | D.really |
A.patiently | B.well | C.seriously | D.accidentally |
A.situation | B.environment | C.appearance | D.spirit |
3 . Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat with tears threatening to ruin my already-trembling façade — but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a blubbering mess of anxiety.
I feel permanently scarred inside churches — no longer admiring their beauty because, over the years, I have received such terrible marks from examiners hiding behind the stained-glass partitions. Despite being 15 — too old, too cool to be frightened — I remember trembling inside the bathroom stalls before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.
But this time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here, a little practice there. And then it happened.
My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. Middle C started to sound like an F-sharp and all other keys sounded like they were a fourth above their natural tone. Thankfully, my precious, boredom-saving buttons still worked. I could still change my piano’s settings from “piano” to “harpsichord .” I admit, it was a lot of fun banging on my wacky keys. Each note bonged like the sound on children’s TV shows when a character repeatedly runs into a wall.
Goofiness aside, I had to get my act together. I hated practicing but I really wanted a good mark. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”
Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came upon a decision: I’d practice at school.
Going to a private school had to have its benefits, so I looked for a place to play. The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, my piano books, my artistic best friend and I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity.
I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and I laughed at the dusty old historic pianos. They really had character. I spent hours in those music rooms while my friend honed her art skills in sketching and drawing. She suffered through my annoying, repetitive scales while I looked over my shoulder once in a while and admired her work. Not only did I become a better musician, but I also managed to gain a few subpar skills as an art critic.
As my exam drew close, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms during recess, after school and late on Fridays. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.
Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually, maybe, kind of proud of my work. And over countless hours spent in my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed. It was like I had developed a sixth sense, one that only musicians could understand.
When I played, my worries about what others thought of me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent musings made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key. Sitting behind a piano and creating music combined the movement of my body and the inner workings of my heart.
Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. I loved the idea of being on a stage and creating something for others to enjoy and remember. Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a feeling that the audience would carry outside into a world where music wasn’t the only thing that people cared for.
When the time came to play in front of an examiner, instead of fearing my judge, I feared nothing but being unable to represent all my hard work. All the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and when the lights went on, all I could think about was the marvellous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of when I’d spent nearly two hours alone in a music room, more content than I had been anywhere else. Playing the melody reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years.
Many days later, I received my mark. Not only did I earn a rarely mentioned “well done” and an 82 per cent, I had rewritten what music meant to me.
Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.
1. What made the author so stressful inside churches these years?A.The religious atmosphere. | B.The artistic performance. |
C.The horrible surroundings. | D.Her colorful fantasy. |
A.The author’s family was too poor to afford a new piano. |
B.The father was quite angry about the author’s bad behavior. |
C.The author showed great dissatisfaction about her father. |
D.The father wanted the author to address the problem independently. |
A.mixed | B.separated | C.interacted | D.exploited |
A.Her good friend accompanied her to get through hard time. |
B.Her teachers treated her much better than before. |
C.Her family supported her quite well. |
D.Her own understanding of musical value. |
A.Nervous — disappointed — angry — calm |
B.Curious — frustrated — hopeful — grateful |
C.Frightened — indifferent — passionate — proud |
D.Depressed — satisfied — disappointed — peaceful |
A.An important Music Test |
B.A Hard but Enjoyable Life |
C.The Key to Happiness |
D.My Favourite Piano |
4 . I have the bad habit of skipping to the last pages of a book to see how it ends while I’m still in the middle of it. This habit
At times I didn’t
Life has often had to
A.concerned | B.annoyed | C.frightened | D.embarrassed |
A.impatience | B.difficulty | C.influence | D.effort |
A.demanding | B.carrying | C.writing | D.reading |
A.interest | B.excitement | C.anger | D.sadness |
A.extend | B.spread | C.limit | D.devote |
A.bring out | B.let out | C.try out | D.figure out |
A.fearing | B.enjoying | C.doubting | D.imagining |
A.pages | B.things | C.reports | D.novels |
A.Indeed | B.Still | C.Surely | D.Finally |
A.ending | B.plot | C.outline | D.passage |
A.happily | B.carefully | C.unwillingly | D.foolishly |
A.counted | B.left | C.happened | D.backed |
A.start | B.finish | C.work | D.change |
A.touch | B.amuse | C.worry | D.surprise |
A.allow | B.force | C.remind | D.encourage |
A.admitting | B.returning | C.responding | D.referring |
A.present | B.memory | C.dream | D.future |
A.right | B.first | C.new | D.blank |
A.more or less | B.line by line | C.one by one | D.now and then |
A.story | B.job | C.plan | D.hope |
5 . Children remain"bundles of joy" all over the world. We love their innocence and their need is our command. But have you ever been
A good lady friend of mine, a school teacher, had
No one was able to
This
A.exposed | B.devoted | C.committed | D.attracted |
A.saved | B.missed | C.lost | D.deserted |
A.typical | B.happy | C.simple | D.hard |
A.stop | B.encourage | C.comfort | D.support |
A.refused | B.preferred | C.tended | D.liked |
A.whispered | B.complained | C.sang | D.cried |
A.colleagues | B.family | C.leaders | D.friends |
A.pleasing | B.depressing | C.disappointing | D.puzzling |
A.noble-minded | B.open-minded | C.warm-hearted | D.white-haired |
A.advised | B.begged | C.forced | D.allowed |
A.nature | B.attraction | C.crowd | D.company |
A.appreciating | B.attending | C.joining | D.helping |
A.surprised | B.satisfied | C.moved | D.encouraged |
A.curiosity | B.stress | C.life | D.sense |
A.consequence | B.purpose | C.course | D.secret |
A.honor | B.victory | C.credit | D.blame |
A.incident | B.phenomenon | C.accident | D.tragedy |
A.description | B.theory | C.conclusion | D.progress |
A.expected | B.realized | C.confirmed | D.suggested |
A.actually | B.naturally | C.commonly | D.especially |
6 . The world we live in is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain. And with it, the conventional thinking of yesterday is no longer sufficient. Creating real breakthrough opportunities requires a fundamental change in our thinking. As Einstein said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
There's no better example of this than the myth of the four-minute mile.
For centuries, runners had been attempting to run a mile in under four minutes. In the 1950s, the attempt to break the barrier took on renewed importance, and a number of famous runners publicly and unsuccessfully attempted the challenge. Many of the newspapers of the day began to question whether humans would ever be able to run a sub-four-minute mile. Then, in 1954, a man named Roger Bannister did the unthinkable. He broke through the imaginary barrier, running the mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. It was an amazing achievement.
But here's what's really interesting: it was only forty-six days later that another runner broke Bannister's record. And the following year, two new runners broke the four-minute mark in the same race. Dozens followed, and as of this writing, more than 1,400 runners have accomplished the goal, including one runner who ran two miles in less than eight minutes.
Did something change with respect to human body, track conditions, weather patterns, running shoes, or the human diet between the start of Bannister's race and the few years that followed? No. So what explains the sudden and dramatic explosion of athletic achievement?
The myth's unimaginable power over runners had lifted. What Bunnister had done was not just break the four — minute — mile barrier; he shattered(粉碎)the myth that created the barrier in the first place. This paradigm (榜样)had offered a set of actions available for runners to take. Runners were really free to run through the invented boundary.
Creating breakthroughs requires shattering the myths that limit our imagination and lock us into conventional thinking. Think about your own situation. What myths are you stuck in? And what would be possible if you had the courage to challenge the myths?
1. What is needed to create breakthroughs?A.Conventional thinking. | B.Changes in our thinking. |
C.Complex situation. | D.Einstein's encouragement. |
A.The belief that it was unachievable. |
B.Lack of professional training. |
C.The poor track conditions. |
D.Lack of sufficient diet. |
A.list a new record in the race | B.prove newspapers are wrong |
C.show barrier can be broken | D.call on us to learn from him |
A.The power of the myth. |
B.The achievements of Bannister. |
C.The importance of running freely. |
D.The significance of breaking barriers. |
A.Creating Breakthroughs | B.Accepting the Myths |
C.Locking Your Imagination | D.Becoming the Best Athlete |
7 . A star athlete stopped by my office and she was eaten up by self-criticism after committing a few errors during a weekend match. “I’m at peak
I study and write about resilience (复原力), and I’m noticing a(n)
We talk often about young adults struggling with failure because their parents have protected them from
Psychologists have sourced this phenomenon to a misapplication of “mind-set” research, which has found that praising children for
One possible explanation comes from Nina Kumar, who argued in a research paper last year that for teens in wealthy, pressure-cooker communities, “It is not a
The cruel reality is that you can do everything in your power and still fail. This knowledge comes early to underrepresented minorities whose experience of discrimination (歧视) and inequality teaches them to
A.coolness | B.fitness | C.goodness | D.readiness |
A.control | B.change | C.adjust | D.celebrate |
A.amusing | B.inspiring | C.troubling | D.touching |
A.apply | B.approve | C.appreciate | D.accomplish |
A.disbelief | B.disagreement | C.discovery | D.discomfort |
A.bright | B.false | C.general | D.flexible |
A.virtue | B.ability | C.effort | D.status |
A.originally | B.obviously | C.necessarily | D.regularly |
A.choice | B.command | C.display | D.lack |
A.Instead | B.Otherwise | C.Therefore | D.However |
A.result from | B.apply for | C.associate with | D.lead to |
A.immoral | B.impersonal | C.impossible | D.impolite |
A.challenge | B.accept | C.assess | D.inquire |
A.plainly | B.probably | C.immediately | D.actually |
A.exhibit | B.expect | C.establish | D.recognize |
8 . The View from the Slow Lane
As we pulled into the driveway, I noticed that something seemed different about my mom. She was
“Okay, we’re home,” I said,
“Mom!” I whined (嘀咕着说), surprised by the tears running down her face. “Why are you crying?” I asked,
I had just got my
“My baby boy is growing up too fast,” she
My heart ached. I hated to see my mom cry, and I hated more that I had been so ignorant toward her
We hugged. Then she looked me in the eye and told me to drive carefully. “Of course I will,” I reassured her. She unbuckled her seatbelt, opened the door, and stepped out. I waved goodbye and pulled out of the driveway.
I had been so
Life had passed me by while I lived my days in fast
Moments like this.
1.A.facing | B.running | C.escaping | D.breaking |
A.fearing | B.implying | C.remembering | D.considering |
A.in case | B.now that | C.as though | D.even though |
A.car | B.offer | C.license | D.scholarship |
A.guilty | B.anxious | C.annoyed | D.disappointed |
A.crossing | B.spending | C.nearing | D.delaying |
A.tried | B.managed | C.intended | D.hesitated |
A.feelings | B.greetings | C.warning | D.waiting |
A.unwillingly | B.impatiently | C.nervously | D.thankfully |
A.so | B.and | C.for | D.while |
A.luck | B.honor | C.delight | D.gratitude |
A.afraid | B.confident | C.surprised | D.excited |
A.denied | B.realized | C.discovered | D.forgotten |
A.enjoying | B.following | C.imagining | D.recognizing |
A.easy | B.slow | C.wrong | D.personal |
A.upward | B.downward | C.forward | D.backward |
A.trying | B.failing | C.refusing | D.pretending |
A.fortune | B.scenery | C.past | D.future |
A.speed limit | B.fast track | C.comfort zone | D.daily routine |
A.wasting | B.losing | C.missing | D.deleting |
9 . I don’t know why I came to the decision to become a loser, but I know I made the
It wasn’t long after that I dropped out of school. Hard physical labor was the
It was September 21, 2002, when my son Blake was born. It’s funny that after a life of
It took me almost three years to learn how to read. I started with my son’s books.Over and over, I practised reading books to him until I remembered all the words in every one of them. I began to wonder if it was possible for me to go back to school. I knew I wanted to be a good role
It’s funny, growing up I always heard these great
A.determination | B.wish | C.choice | D.dream |
A.started | B.stopped | C.considered | D.fancied |
A.skeptical | B.defensive | C.sensitive | D.disrespectful |
A.consequence | B.compromise | C.compensation | D.competence |
A.fundamentally | B.hopelessly | C.blindly | D.casually |
A.deal with | B.go with | C.conflict with | D.meet with |
A.led | B.stuck | C.absorbed | D.taken |
A.However | B.Meanwhile | C.Furthermore | D.Therefore |
A.cost | B.corner | C.term | D.point |
A.motto | B.technique | C.conscience | D.motivation |
A.avoiding | B.preventing | C.undertaking | D.overcoming |
A.flexible | B.enterprising | C.authentic | D.fragile |
A.part | B.status | C.title | D.cause |
A.In a way | B.On the contrary | C.In addition | D.What’s worse |
A.model | B.leader | C.scholar | D.tutor |
A.received | B.adopted | C.attended | D.passed |
A.flame | B.praise | C.award | D.courage |
A.studying | B.waiting | C.beginning | D.demanding |
A.turn-around | B.take-off | C.pull-out | D.turn-off |
A.appealed | B.applied | C.attached | D.adapted |
生活本来不容易,当你觉得容易的时候,其实……
![](https://img.xkw.com/dksih/QBM/2019/11/21/2338466226782208/2341677766238209/STEM/15f332a2acc64b91ae7e33bf209b8141.png?resizew=452)
1. 请简要描述图片。
2. 谈谈由此引发的感想。
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