1 . We spent the summer of 2001 in Nice with Ruth Ginsburg, an old family friend who was fond of (喜欢) _________. One day we were standing in our hotel lobby _________ Ruth said, “That looks like fun.” Parasailors (滑翔伞运动者) were flying _________ the sea. “I’d like to try it.”

Though I had no real _________ to parasail, I did feel _________ for my friend’s safety, so I offered to join her. We both had a feeling of fear as we _________, tied to a fast motorboat and flying with the strong wind. With a little dark _________, Ruth said, “Remember me to my grandchildren.” Fortunately, we landed safely and were _________ by the crowds.

Over the years when we met, rarely was the parasailing story not mentioned. At one point, I was _________ by Ruth’s official biographers, who had heard about it and wanted to interview me. In 2015, another friend of us—Scalia mentioned the story again in an interview. I was __________ that he told it as if he had been there. “Ruth, flying behind a fast motorboat, still joked with me.” I could see in his eyes that he took great __________ in his friend’s courage.

A few months after the interview, I __________ to have dinner with Scalia and mentioned, “You know you weren’t there when Ruth was parasailing?” He looked quite shocked but at last accepted his memories declining with age.

Age may __________ our misremembering things. But all is fair when friends exaggerate (夸大) each other’s attractive __________ and I believe it was Scalia’s __________ and love for his old friend Ruth that took him to Nice that day.

1.

A．thinking

B．biology

C．adventure

D．calligraphy

2.

A．that

B．when

C．while

D．as

3.

A．beside

B．above

C．below

D．through

4.

A．potential

B．ability

C．desire

D．goal

5.

A．responsible

B．sorry

C．fit

D．eager

6.

A．took on

B．took in

C．took up

D．took off

7.

A．tension

B．trick

C．concern

D．humour

8.

A．ignored

B．greeted

C．attracted

D．attacked

9.

A．contacted

B．recognized

C．respected

D．comforted

10.

A．disappointed

B．surprised

C．frightened

D．satisfied

11.

A．pleasure

B．interest

C．pride

D．pity

12.

A．failed

B．happened

C．meant

D．proved

13.

A．stick to

B．end up

C．back down

D．contribute to

14.

A．moment

B．behaviour

C．performance

D．quality

15.

A．admiration

B．confidence

C．attitude

D．reflection

2 . As my husband and I were watering some plants in the yard, a (an) ________ man walking by sopped to talk with us. He asked us to ________ his age and the best answer I could think of was 75 years. That was ________ wrong because he was 93 years old!

He mentioned about the ________ he was facing which was that he could not find people to talk to. I ________ him to sit on our bench and offered to be his friend. I asked him the ________ to his longevity (长寿) and here was what he replied. His father was very rich but it seemed that he had no peace of mind. He then met someone who gave this ________. “If you want peace of mind, then be of ________ to others.”

This new friend of mine ________ all his pensions (退休金) to charity. He said he ________ with his son and that he didn’t need the money. He enjoyed talking and politely ________ my offer of some desserts.I also ________ some for his son as he left.

Only a couple of hours later he came back and gave me a silk scarf as a ________. I am grateful for this chance of acquaintance (相识) and ________, which teaches me that if you want peace of mind, then be of service to others. A very valuable lesson to practise and experience a(an) ________ mind and a healthy body too!

1.

A．young

B．elderly

C．tall

D．fat

2.

A．guess

B．praise

C．imagine

D．predict

3.

A．normally

B．clearly

C．mostly

D．simply

4.

A．danger

B．case

C．problem

D．behavior

5.

A．thanked

B．promised

C．ordered

D．welcomed

6.

A．approach

B．solution

C．secret

D．attitude

7.

A．tip

B．angle

C．option

D．opportunity

8.

A．importance

B．wisdom

C．service

D．interest

9.

A．gave off

B．gave in

C．gave back

D．gave away

10.

A．worked

B．chatted

C．travelled

D．lived

11.

A．accepted

B．ignored

C．refused

D．preferred

12.

A．gathered

B．packaged

C．placed

D．exchanged

13.

A．gift

B．note

C．symbol

D．comfort

14.

A．assistance

B．friendship

C．existence

D．fantasy

15.

A．absent

B．empty

C．peaceful

D．clear

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

I was returning to my home and stuck in the traffic. Among the busy     1     (vehicle) was an ambulance,     2     driver was trying to get out of traffic jams and the patient was fighting with his illness. Some people were giving space to the ambulance but others wore not,     3     shows that there are good people in the world and there are     4     (self) people as well. If the ambulance could not find the way, the patient had to risk     5     (lose) his life on the way.

Each life on the earth is important, whether it is a human being or an animal. What will be the difference if we think     6     (much) of others than of ourselves? Maybe it is only for 15 minutes every day, then many mistakes can     7     (avoid). When people notice our kindness, they will return it one day. So learn to show our kindness. Trust me, I have tried and     8     works wonder honestly.

The true value of life is not in what we get     9     what we give. If we can give more than receive, we’ll     10     (strength) the harmony among people and live in a better world.

4 . I have trouble focusing on one thing at a time. I get excited about something and I’ll devote all my ________ to it for a couple of weeks. Then I’ll find something else that I’ll get even more excited about and focus on that ________. Many tasks get halfway finished and abandoned (放弃). It’s hard for me to fully ________ anything without setting a goal for myself. My head works better with a plan than without it.

I find this to be ________ for a lot of people: self- imposed (自我强加的) plans get things done more ________ than simply taking uninformed actions.

If your goal is to lose weight, the actions you take (what you eat, how much you exercise,   the amount of sleep you get) should all be ________ by the desire to lose weight. If you go out there ________ and do what you like, you may find yourself eating a whole box of cookies, saying, “Damn, I love Oreos (奥利奥)!”

Bringing yourself back to your ________ is a great way to stay grounded and motivated. Whenever I’ve lost sight of my goals, I feel the difference. I feel ________ and bad about myself, like I’m letting myself ________. When I’m aiming for a goal and taking ________ toward it, I feel inspired.

People against goals would tell me that it’s because I set the goals in the ________ place that I feel guilty and bad about myself. I wonder if feeling bad about myself because I’m ________to live up to my full potential is such a bad thing, I think we should always ________ to achieve more in our lives and be ________ for what we have.

1.

A．life

B．space

C．efforts

D．actions

2.

A．instead

B．again

C．indeed

D．anyway

3.

A．complete

B．understand

C．remember

D．explain

4.

A．necessary

B．ready

C．true

D．fair

5.

A．normally

B．certainly

C．regularly

D．quickly

6.

A．informed

B．tricked

C．battled

D．acquired

7.

A．frequently

B．specially

C．blindly

D．directly

8.

A．lessons

B．goals

C．tasks

D．desires

9.

A．guilty

B．strange

C．serious

D．particular

10.

A．around

B．down

C．out

D．off

11.

A．attitudes

B．risks

C．steps

D．notes

12.

A．first

B．same

C．right

D．familiar

13.

A．affording

B．expecting

C．refusing

D．failing

14.

A．promise

B．try

C．offer

D．pretend

15.

A．careful

B．famous

C．eager

D．grateful

5 . Americans spend almost four hours a day on their phones.     1     Instagram is now a breeding ground (温床) for photo sharing, thanks especially to its story feature. Now people aren't just posting their best pictures, they’re sharing every step of their journey.

Take me for example — I blog about travel for a living. I’m pretty much done with trip reports, but I still share my travels on Instagram Stories. During a trip to Turkey last summer, I realized quickly that I wasn't seeing and experiencing things first-hand.     2     I had my phone in hand almost the entire time to record and share the “experience.”

There was one day on my trip when I decided to walk from the Bomonti area to Taksim Square. At first, I had my eyes glued to the phone to navigate(导航) my way. Then I began taking pictures of interesting things and distractedly moving along. Then it hit me: This isn't safe. Also, I'm not taking in all the sights and passing by great shops without looking at anything.     3    

My arms were free to swing(摆动) at my sides and I made eye contact with people who smiled and said hello. I smelled the delicious wet burgers and stopped to grab one.     4     More importantly, I felt the energy of the city and took in all the sights and sounds. I don't have recordings of most of it, but it lives in my memory. It was one of my favorite days of the trip — just walking through Istanbul on my own and feeling the city with all my senses.

Keeping our eyes glued to our screens, we’re missing out on the true beauty around us.     5     It has to be experienced through all five senses and spending too much of it looking at our phones, trying to share it with the world, ruins that.

A．Vacations are no exception.

B．We’re too absorbed in our journey.

C．Travel isn’t just experienced through the eyes.

D．So I put my phone away for the rest of the way.

E．I found a lovely scarf and bought it at a nice price

F．I was viewing everything through my phone’s camera.

G．People travel to destinations just because they're “Instafamous.”

6 . A few years ago, I stood in a small classroom, watching a high schooler named Serena Stevenson answer math questions. An instructor read out numbers-7447, 7089, 9842-and Stevenson added them in her head. For each question, she closed her eyes, and then the fingers of her right hand began to move. She answered most of the problems correctly.

The key to her success was an ancient technology called the abacus (算盘). For much of that evening, Stevenson used a practice called "mental abacus", imagining the abacus in her mind and then using her fingers to work through the problem.

From watching Stevenson, I knew that gaining skills on the abacus was more than a matter of counting beads (珠子), so I decided to sign up for an abacus course with my two daughters to see if we could also improve our math skills. I was one of the many who held some math doubts and I felt a touch of fear of math. My typical solution was simple-just escape, and if I had to calculate something like percentage change, I would go online.

Then after a few abacus classes-and a lot of practice-math seemed a little less frightening. I hadn't become Euclid. But the practice brought my numerical fears down a level. This is long-demonstrated power of the abacus. Confidence grows easily on the device, and abacus students are less likely to be nervous about an upcoming math test, according to one study. Part of the reason, it seems, is practice and results appear to move in step, with hard work about performance.

My kids had gained some math confidence as well. My youngest daughter would smile broadly after getting math problem correct, while my older child brought her abacus to school to show to her classmates and teachers. These were small successes. But that's how they eventually develop confidence.

1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To prove the difficulty of math.	B．To introduce the topic of the abacus.
C．To suggest teaching abacus in schools.	D．To tell an interesting story of Stevenson.

2. What can we infer about the writer from paragraph 3?

A．He was not good at math.	B．He had no interest in the abacus.
C．He considered math really useful.	D．He learned mental abacus from Stevenson.

3. What does the writer realize from his learning experience?

A．All roads lead to Rome.	B．Practice makes perfect.
C．Many hands make light work.	D．He who laughs last laughs best.

4. What does the underlined word "eventually" in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Finally.

B．Thoroughly.

C．Flexibly.

D．Slightly.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

We tend to think about success in terms of wealth and accomplishments. That’s a fair measurement, but the problem is that when we addict into the     1     (victory), we tend to overlook the sacrifices required in order to get there. In fact,     2     (neglect) to account for the existing sacrifices is one reason why so many of us have a hard time sticking to     3     (health) habits and following up on goals.

Time is a factor when it comes to making sacrifices. As Warren Buffett famously     4     (say), “It’s the only thing you can’t buy. I mean, I can buy anything I want, basically, but I can’t buy time.” He’s     5     (absolute) right. Should you watch another section of your favorite Netflix show     6     give up TV for two months so you can plant that garden you always dreamed about?

Making the decision isn’t easy, but the good news is     7     we already do this naturally. A 2009 study found that people are “far    8     (little) willing to keep many choices open” when some have bigger rewards than others. If the payoffs are unknown, however, we have a harder time giving them up. That’s why doing an activity check is so important. You have to actually take the time     9     (figure) out the opportunity costs, gains of each and what to pursue over the     10    .

8 . Charles Revson, founder of a successful cosmetic（化妆品） firm, once said, “In our factory we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope.”

We could use a little more hope. I think that is why people buy lottery tickets（彩票）. One poor mother, who was raising her children on a small salary earned from long hours of hard work, was asked, “Why do you waste your money on a lottery ticket when you can hardly make ends meet?”

“Yeah, I buy a ticket every day,” the woman admitted. “But a dollar is not too much to pay for 24 hours of hope.”

There are probably better uses for her money than buying lottery tickets. But she would rather hang onto a little hope that onto her dollar.

We need hope in life. Without it, far too many people come to the conclusion that they are powerless in the face of difficulties. “It can’t be helped.” is their motto. Without hope, they won’t make needed changes. They are powerless.

I’ve found that I can either be a prisoner of circumstances or a practioner hope. I can feel sorry for myself and helpless to do anything about my problems, or I can believe there is a realistic chance for something better.

Norman Cousins, in his book Head First: the Biology of Hope, explains the power of hope. He tells of two doctors who were to deliver a paper at a national meeting of caner specialists. One was truly puzzled. “I don’t understand it, Bob,” he said. “We use the same drugs of the same dosage（量）, and the same schedule of treatment. Yet I get a 22 percent recovery rate and you get a 74 percent recovery rate. How do you explain that?”

The other responded, “We both use Etoposide（依托泊苷）, Platinol（顺铂）, Oncovin（长春新碱）, and Hydroxyurea（羟基脲）. You put those letters together and tell people that you are giving them E-P-O-H. I put them together and explain to them that they are receiving H-O-P-E.”

1. Why did the poor mother buy lottery tickets?

A．She put her hope on them.

B．She won much money through them.

C．She did it just for fun.

D．She wanted to make ends meet.

2. What does Norman Cousins mainly tell us in Head First: the Biology of Hope?

A．The wisdom of doctors.

B．The cure for cancer.

C．The power of hope.

D．Experiences of doctors.

3. How did Bob raise his recovery rate?

A．He used different kinds of medicine.

B．He used the medicine in different order.

C．He made the patients hopeful.

D．He gave the patients larger dosage.

4. How does the author make his viewpoint convincing?

A．By studying essays.

B．By explaining cause and effect.

C．By telling his own experience.

D．By giving examples.

9 . 课文填空

The second fruit of friendship is the better understanding and judgement that may be achieved through conversations with     1     and wise friends. We often find it easier to recognize other people's     2     than our own. As a result, if we are guided only by our own feelings, our judgement might be one-sided. On the other hand, our friends are better able to offer advice on important decisions     3     we all have to make. Also, when we want to talk our problems over with a friend, we have to put our thoughts     4     words first. This alone helps make our thoughts clearer and brings us a more     5     understanding of our problems.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Although sometimes being left alone may lead to reflection and personal    1    (improve), we can’t live without friendship.

Close friendships may comfort the heart, advise the head and help us    2    (achieve)the goals we set for ourselves.Firstly,we can get peace by sharing with friends our joy, sadness and failure.Sharing makes happiness take    3    a greater meaning and a trouble shared become a trouble    4    (half).Secondly, through conversations with friends    5    are wise and well-meaning, a better understanding and judgement may be achieved.Also    6    (prepare)to talk with a friend makes our thoughts clearer and our understandings    7    (thorough).Moreover,friends with different skills and ideas can provide us with help in many different ways during our life and,perhaps,     8    after death.

However,     9    must be pointed that friends should be carefully chosen and relationships carefully developed.With    10    comfort, advice and help from our trusted friends, we can live a better life.