2 . Everyone has heard the phrase, “giving up is not an option”. Many disregard it and do not believe in it. But this small yet effective phrase gives a strong message. There will always be something that interrupts or causes inconvenience in the journey to achieve the dreams. But that should not drive one away from the path that they are on. Fitting the context perfectly is the story of Ian William.

Popularly known as the “Social Golfer”, Ian William is an accountant, lecturer, author, and a former golf player. He dreamed of playing golf at childhood. He would often observe players playing from a distance. He worked hard and changed his financial(财政的) difficulties. Then he began practicing various golf matches. Due to his devotion and love for the sport, he picked up the techniques quickly and soon began playing as a professional. He also dreamed of participating in the Senior Golf Tour in the coming year.

However, in 1996, Ian was diagnosed with a tumor (肿瘤) in the left part of his brain, which affected his hearing from the right side and damaged his balance nerve. He experienced two surgeries in 1997 with a smile and a hope to be cured. Although the surgeries were successful, Ian caught meningitis (脑膜炎) while recovering from it. Apart from being hopeful and optimistic, there was no other way Ian could cope with the situation.

Just as things had begun to normalize, in 2006, Ian’s body was affected by a major stroke. This stroke numbed (使麻木) the left side of his body. His life-long dream of participating a golf tournament could not be realized anymore.

Ian took his time to recover and came back even stronger. He wanted to encourage millions with his journey and decided to share his experiences through a book. Ian has now published his 3rd book Still Crazy After All These Years, in 2020.

1. What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．The option.

B．The message.

C．The challenge.

D．The dream.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．William showed talent in golf as a child.

B．The lack of money prevented him practicing golf at an early age.

C．William’s road to becoming a professional golfer was smooth.

D．Talent and effort made William learn quickly.

3. Which of the following helps William face the illnesses according to the passage?

A．Doctors’ comfort.

B．Family’s support.

C．Advice from the books.

D．Hope and optimism.

4. What can we learn from William’s story?

A．Move forward whatever happens.	B．Love wins over illness.
C．Seize every opportunity to learn.	D．Luck favors ready minds.

3 . If there is one thing in life that we could choose not to experience, it is the death of someone we love. Losing a friend or family member is heartbreaking and hard to accept, but how we deal with it, and how we “move on”, varies from person to person.

Death is inevitable, but sometimes we feel the passing of a loved one has come too soon. Our first reaction is to grieve, and even though we may soon be encouraged to let go, the grieving can last a while. But grief is a very natural, human response to loss and can take the form of many unexpected emotions, from shock to guilt, anger and disbelief.

When someone dies, we may be tempted to put on a brave face and hide our feelings. But experts say that this doesn’t help. Instead it is better to talk about feelings – even cry and sob and show people you are suffering. There’s nothing wrong with trying to keep the memory of the deceased alive. You can talk to them in your head, write them a letter or share memories with other people who knew them.

Some people have chosen to make a more permanent reminder of someone by getting a memorial tattoo. In this way they believe they can have a continuing bond with the dead. So this is also a very important way for people to come to terms that someone’s left.

Whatever approach you take to grieving and to keeping someone’s memory alive, eventually the physical aching and pain caused by the loss of a loved one will subside. But the memories of that person and the times we shared can stay with us forever, and talking about them and expressing your feelings is all part of the healing process.

1. What does the underlined word “subside” in Para5 mean?

A．Decrease.

B．Appear.

C．Calm.

D．Promise.

2. What is our first and natural reaction to the loss of a loved one according to the text?

A．We hide ourselves.

B．We are heartbroken.

C．We become encouraged.

D．We feel it is normal and unavoidable.

3. Which is a better way to relieve grief according to the experts?

A．Talking about our sufferings with friends.

B．Pretending to be brave and hiding our grief.

C．Keeping calm and stay indoors for several days.

D．Taking physical exercises and exhausting ourselves.

4. In the fourth paragraph tattoo is mentioned to ______.

A．compare different ways of relieving grief

B．introduce a latest trend popular with the young

C．present different attitudes towards getting a tattoo

D．show readers an approach to keeping the memory of the dead

5 . I watch documentaries, not movies. I read history books, not fiction. I use every free moment to accomplish one of the tasks on my never-ending checklist, and I am completely filled with thoughts of productivity. An hour sleeping is an hour wasted. And like the rest of 21st century America, I like it. But this fixation on productivity is increasingly destroying character and transforming men into robots.

New York Times columnist David Brooks warned American University students of this cultural decline in a speech. “We cut off all things spiritual and emotional in a competitive urge to stand out”, he said, “The pressure to succeed professionally, to acquire skills, to do the things you need to do to succeed in an information age economy really became the overwhelming(难以应付的)pressures, and it sort of weakens the thinking about character and morality.”

Many students happily go to college, viewing it as a next step on their rise to professional achievement. Forcing as many success-building activities into their schedules as they can, they enjoy keeping busy with little sleep. “Today’s outstanding kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-improving activity to the next,” Brooks wrote in an article, “We fear failure more than we desire success.”

A century ago, college was about character building. Today, our characters are in decline. We are experts on economics, material things and professional skills. We fail to discuss and understand relationships, emotions and all things spiritual.

Philosopher Karl Popper divided the world into two categories: Clocks and Clouds. Clock problems are those that can be taken apart, examined and solved through deductive reasoning(演绎推理). Clouds cannot be taken apart. Cloud problems represent whole systems that need to be understood in a different way.

“When we have a Cloud problem, we try to turn it into a Clock problem,” Brooks said. And in a reason-centered culture, adding titles to one’s resume becomes a trend. At American University, 85 percent of seniors (and 89 percent of business majors) graduate with at least one practical experience which is often helpful to a student’s future career, but can sometimes draw focus away from academics.

To prevent the death of man’s character, Brooks urges rediscovering our human natures through falling in love. And by love he means love for a task, job, or another person. “Synchronicity is key to happiness,” he said. Rather than crazily increasing our long lists of accomplishments, we need to lose ourselves in what we do, and success will come on its own.

1. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that people ________.

A．are controlled by time	B．are eager to achieve
C．are changing their characters	D．are keen on reading books more

2. What is the author’s attitude towards colleges that existed a century ago?

A．Tolerant.

B．Uncertain.

C．Approving.

D．Curious.

3. The last paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

A．success comes from devotion to work

B．the focus on human natures counts

C．more work contributes to happiness

D．love is more important than focus

4. The purpose of this passage is to ________.

A．criticize students’ desire for achievements

B．stress the importance of productivity

C．warn about the pressure to seek success

D．bring awareness to character building

6 . One day I took an orange — and — white cat home, which I called Splash. However, I had one concern with introducing her to my dog, Bee, which had a distinct ________ for cats. My own cats were wise enough to hide themselves in the barn (谷仓)and fields. I was________that Splash didn't understand this and would be a victim.

I took Splash to the barn, but soon she noticed the house and was curious about it. She made a straight line for the door. Bee enjoyed the ________at the door, so when Splash showed up, Bee came up in________ . But Splash faced her threatener fearlessly and swiped at (猛击)the approaching dog. Then something ________ happened： Bee pulled to a sudden stop. He turned and went back to the back door slowly.

Every day for the next few weeks, Splash would walk to the________in the morning, and Bee would come and try to drive her away, only to find a stubborn enemy. Over the next few months, I watched an aggressive dislike turn into a playful ________between the two. They began to share the back-door space and sometimes the treats especially for the faithful dog.

One day, seeing the two companions playing together, I________this dog and cat were almost the same as the nations of this world. Actually, some of us are like Bee, who started a fight with the intention of dealing with an unwanted invasion (入侵)， and some of us are like Splash, just wanting someone to________life with. Bee and Splash are two different animals with the natural tendency that should put them in conflict .Yet they've come to a place where all the________are set aside, and they enjoy each other fully. Why can't we?

1.

A．dislike

B．sympathy

C．preference

D．wish

2.

A．grateful

B．glad

C．worried

D．relieved

3.

A．celebration

B．freedom

C．darkness

D．noise

4.

A．horror

B．sadness

C．anger

D．excitement

5.

A．attractive

B．thrilling

C．dangerous

D．unexpected

6.

A．cage

B．door

C．field

D．zoo

7.

A．graduation

B．friendship

C．discussion

D．examination

8.

A．heard

B．announced

C．realized

D．doubted

9.

A．share

B．change

C．improve

D．abandon

10.

A．connections

B．conversations

C．comments

D．differences

7 . The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

----Thomas Macaulay.

About thirty years ago, I was studying in a public school in New York. One day, Mrs Nanette O’Neill gave a maths test to our class. When the papers were _________ she discovered that twelve boys had made exactly the same mistakes throughout the test.

There is nothing really new about_________ in exams. Perhaps that was why Mrs O’Neill didn’t even say a word about it. She only asked the twelve boys to _________ after class. I was one of the twelve.

Mrs O’Neill asked no questions, and she didn’t scold us either. Instead, she wrote on the blackboard the_________ words by Thomas Macaulay. She then ordered us to copy these words into our exercise-books one hundred times.

I don’t know about the other eleven boys. Speaking for myself I can say it was the most important single_________ of my life. Thirty years after being introduced to Macaulay’s words, they_________ seem to me the best yardstick (准绳), because they give us a way to measure ourselves rather than others.

_________ of us are asked to make great decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are called_________ daily to make a great many personal decisions. Should the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or_________ to the policeman? Should the __________ change received at the store be forgotten or returned ? Nobody will know except you. But you have to live with yourself, and it is always better to live with someone you respect.

1.

A．completed

B．examined

C．marked

D．answered

2.

A．lying

B．cheating

C．discussing

D．guessing

3.

A．leave

B．apologize

C．come

D．remain

4.

A．above

B．common

C．following

D．unusual

5.

A．lesson

B．incident

C．chance

D．memory

6.

A．still

B．even

C．always

D．almost

7.

A．All

B．Few

C．Some

D．None

8.

A．up

B．out

C．for

D．upon

9.

A．turned up

B．turned on

C．turned back

D．turned over

10.

A．extra

B．small

C．some

D．necessary

8 . She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. “We're moving house.” “No space for her any more with the baby coming.” “We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present.” People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.

I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen, I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner’s. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.

That’s why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn’t hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.

By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking （舔) the four puppies I started to feel sympathy towards them. “We didn't know what had happened to her,” said the woman at the door. “I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared.” “She must have tried to come back to them and got lost,” added a boy from behind her.

I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I’ve got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I’ve learnt a good lesson: not to judge people.

1. How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?

A．Shocked.

B．Sympathetic.

C．Annoyed.

D．Upset.

2. In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie________.

A．felt worried	B．was angry
C．ate a little	D．sat by the fire

3. Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she________.

A．saw her puppies	B．heard familiar barkings
C．wanted to leave the author	D．found her way to her old home

9 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写 1 个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Halfway through his lecture, Eric gave each person a balloon and asked everyone to write their name on it. Later all the balloons were collected. He then asked them to find the balloons that they had their names written     1     within five minutes. Everyone was pushing and bumping into each other. It was chaos. At the end of the five minutes, no one could find their own balloon. Now they were asked to randomly collect a balloon and give it to the person     2     name was on it. Within two minutes everyone got his own balloon. Psychologists argue our happiness sometimes     3     (lie) in the happiness of others. You will get your own by giving them theirs.

10 . I learned how to accept life as it is from my father. ________ , he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was weak and ill.

My father was ________ a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness took all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is difficult. One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started talking about life, and I told them about one of my ________. I said that we must very often give things up as we grow — our youth, our beauty, our friends — but it always________ that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father ________ up. He said, “But, Peter, I gave up ________! What did I gain?” I thought and thought, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. Surprisingly, he answered his own question: “I ________ the love of my family,” I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness.

I was also touched by his words. After that, when I began to feel irritated (愤怒的) at someone, I would remember his words and become ________. If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be able to give up my small irritations. In this way, I learned the power of acceptance from my father.

Sometimes I ________ what other things I could have learned from him if I had listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am grateful for this one ________.

1.

A．Afterwards

B．Therefore

C．However

D．Meanwhile

2.

A．already

B．still

C．only

D．once

3.

A．decisions

B．experiences

C．ambitions

D．beliefs

4.

A．suggests

B．promises

C．seems

D．requires

5.

A．spoke

B．turned

C．summed

D．opened

6.

A．something

B．anything

C．nothing

D．everything

7.

A．had

B．accepted

C．gained

D．enjoyed

8.

A．quiet

B．calm

C．relaxed

D．happy

9.

A．doubt

B．wonder

C．know

D．guess

10.

A．award

B．gift

C．lesson

D．word