3 . If you are feeling that life just cannot be any worse for you, it can be challenging to think positive thoughts. When we are stressed, depressed, upset, or otherwise in a negative state of mind because we perceive (认为) that “bad things” keep happening to us, it is important to shift (转换) those negative thoughts to something positive.     1    

It is often very hard to think positive when so many things are negative.     2     We can choose to think differently by beginning with the smallest of steps.

If you start with one small, positive thing and repeat it during the course of your day, you will begin to move into a more positive situation: positive thoughts, feelings, opportunities and people will start showing up in your life.     3    

You can begin and end each day with a “Thank you for this wonderful day!” When you see the gas prices hiking, say “I am so glad that I have a vehicle in which to get around.” When you are late for work, say “    4    ” If you are having health problems, be grateful for what does work :“I really do appreciate my eyes that see, my ears that hear, my mouth that tastes, and…”

    5     In moments when you’re feeling really down, read what you wrote previously. This will help uplift your spirits. If you practice this regularly, you will find that your list will get longer and longer.

A．Therefore, we don’t need to turn to others.

B．If we don’t, more “bad things” will come up.

C．Write down what you’re grateful for each day.

D．But I am sure someone, somewhere is worse off than you.

E．The possibilities here are endless: feel good about what does work for you!

F．I am so happy and grateful for my job as I know that many don’t have one.

G．With practice, you will find you will change your outlook (看法) and choose to be happy.

5 . My fifteen-year-old son has just returned from abroad with rolls of exposed film and a hundred dollars in uncashed traveler's cheques（支票）, and is asleep at the moment. His blue duffel bag lies on the floor where he dropped it. Obviously，he postponed as much sleep as he could: when he walked in and we hugged his electrical system suddenly turned off, and he headed directly for the bed, where I imagine he beat his old record of sixteen hours.

It was his first trip overseas, so weeks before it, I pressed travel books on him, and a tape of useful French phrases; drew up a list of people to visit; advised him on clothing and other things. At the luggage store where we went to buy him a suitcase, he headed for the duffels, saying that suitcases were more for old people.

During the trip, he called home three times: from London, Paris, and a village named Ullapool. Near Ullapool, he climbed a mountain in a rainstorm that almost blew him off. In the village, a man spoke to him in Gaelic（盖尔语）, and, too polite to stop him, my son listened to him for ten or fifteen minutes, trying to nod in the right places. The French he learned from the tape didn't hold water in Paris. The French he talked to shrugged and walked on.

When my son called, I sat down at the kitchen table and hung on every word. His voice came through clearly, though two of the calls were like ship-to-shore communication. When I broke in with a “Great!” or a “Really?”, I knocked a little hole in his communication. So I just sat and listened. I have never listened to telephone so attentively and with so much pleasure. It was wonderful to hear news from him that was so new to me. In my book，he was the first man to land on the moon, and I knew that I had no advice to give him and that what I had already given was probably not much help.

The unused cheques are certainly proof of that. Youth travels light. No suitcase, not much luggage and a slim expense account, and yet he went to the scene, and came back safely. I sit here amazed. The night when your child returns with dust on his shoes from a country you've never seen is a night you would gladly turn into a week.

1. During the trip, the author's son ______.

A．ran out of money	B．didn't get enough sleep
C．forgot to call his mother	D．failed to take his suitcase

2. According to the passage, the author's son can BEST be described as ______.

A．adventurous	B．independent
C．creative	D．polite

3. What does the underlined word “that” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．It is important to listen to your child's story.

B．It's easy to break in on the chat with your child.

C．The author is proud of her son landing on the moon.

D．The son no longer needs much help from his mother.

4. We can infer from the passage that _______.

A．good parents should protect their children from potential dangers

B．the world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page

C．it's a win-win choice to give a child space to experience and explore

D．communication between parents and children is extremely important

6 . This morning, I started very late in my car to office, I was in a _______to reach my office as my clients (客户)were waiting for me there. Unfortunately, I got_______in a traffic jam. All the vehicles stood up in a long line, and drivers were _______blowing horns to get rid of their _______. I got down from my car and moved forward in search of the _______of the traffic jam. At a turning a young man was struggling hard to move forward his car, which might_______.

Everyone there was just_______the man without coming to offer_______to him. Meanwhile, they were_______the man for the traffic jam. The number of vehicles was gradually increasing. The man looked __________as everyone put him to the scorn (奚落) for creating this public__________.Nobody was in the mood of __________the man for his error.

Seeing this, I __________rushed to help the man, followed by other four drivers. We __________ to push the car. Very soon it started with a loud sound. The man smiled in__________the moment his car worked again. Then he thanked us and__________to everyone there and moved off.

After that I went into deep thinking over the human__________ in the times of crisis. Every human on this earth unavoidably makes errors. When other people do that we blame, but when we are in the same condition, we desire to gain__________. In the times of crisis we should try to __________ them together instead of blaming others. Forgiving is a__________ choice，as it not only avoids conflicts further, but also spreads universal love.

1.

A．fashion

B．mess

C．hurry

D．way

2.

A．injured

B．stuck

C．lost

D．removed

3.

A．properly

B．awkwardly

C．considerately

D．constantly

4.

A．anxiety

B．concern

C．anger

D．sadness

5.

A．cause

B．evidence

C．influence

D．effort

6.

A．break down

B．turn off

C．set off

D．pull up

7.

A．comforting

B．directing

C．watching

D．checking

8.

A．admission

B．opportunities

C．trust

D．assistance

9.

A．observing

B．blaming

C．inspiring

D．punishing

10.

A．satisfied

B．impatient

C．frightened

D．embarrassed

11.

A．progress

B．focus

C．practice

D．inconvenience

12.

A．forgiving

B．criticizing

C．persuading

D．encouraging

13.

A．tiredly

B．immediately

C．purposely

D．steadily

14.

A．pretended

B．cooperated

C．hesitated

D．promised

15.

A．vain

B．secret

C．relief

D．private

16.

A．apologized

B．shouted

C．explained

D．complained

17.

A．intelligence

B．relationship

C．attitude

D．practice

18.

A．satisfaction

B．sympathy

C．benefit

D．trust

19.

A．neglect

B．estimate

C．simplify

D．overcome

20.

A．wise

B．similar

C．painful

D．common

7 . Life is filled with challenges. As we get older, we come to realize that those challenges are the very things that shape us and make us who we are. It is the same with the challenges that come with friendship. When we are faced with a challenge, we usually have two choices. We can try to challenge it, or we can decide that the thing isn’t worth the trouble and call it quits. Although there are certainly times when calling it quits is the right thing to do, in most case what we needed is commitment (投入) and communication.

When we are committed to something, it means that no matter how painful or how uncomfortable something is, we will always choose to face it instead of running away from it. Communication is making space for discussion and talking about how you feel instead of just saying what the other person did wrong. If you can say to a friend, “I got my feelings hurt.” rather than “You hurt my feelings.” you are going to be able to solve the problem much faster.

In dealing with many challenges that friendship will bring to you, try to see them for what they are: small hurdles (栏杆) you need to jump or get through on your way through life. Nothing is so big that it is impossible to get over, and hurt only serves to make us stronger. It’s all part of growing up. It happens to everyone, and some day you will look back on all of this and say, “Hard as it was, it made me who I am today. And that is a good thing,”

1. What can we infer from the text?

A．Friendship needs challenges.

B．Challenges shape our challenges.

C．Small hurdles aren’t worth the trouble.

D．Commitment can form friendship.

2. What did the writer suggest when faced with a challenge?

A．One should call it quits.

B．One should temporarily run away from it.

C．One should be committed and communicable.

D．One should lay jt aside for a while and ask for others’ help.

3. What does the underlined phrase “call it quits” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Let go of it.	B．Get over it,
C．Forget about it.	D．Put it aside.

4. The whole passage is centered on the relationship between ________.

A．friendship and challenges	B．communication and friendship
C．commitment and communication	D．challenges and the ways to get through

8 . Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives, writes David Sturt, Executive Vice President of the O.C. Tanner Institute, in his book Great Work: How to Make a Difference People Love. Sturt insists, however, that great work is not just for surgeons or special-needs educators or the founders of organizations trying to eliminate poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. The central theme of Great Work, according to Sturt, is that anyone can make a difference in any job. It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do with the job that counts. As proof, Sturt tells the story of a remarkable hospital cleaner named Moses.

In a building filled with doctors and nurses doing great life-saving work, Moses the cleaner makes a difference. Whenever he enters a room, especially a room with a sick child, he engages both patients and parents with his optimism and calm, introducing himself to the child and, Sturt writes, speaking “little comments about light and sunshine and making things clean.” He comments on any progress he sees day by day (“you’re sitting up today, that’s good.”) Moses is no doctor and doesn’t pretend to be, but he has witnessed hundreds of sick children recovering from painful surgery, and parents take comfort from his encouraging words. For Matt and Mindi, whose son McKay was born with only half of a heart, Moses became a close friend. As Sturt explains, “Moses took his innate (与生俱来的) talents (his sensitivity) and his practical wisdom (from years of hospital experience) and combined them into a powerful form of patient and family support that changed the critical-care experience for Mindi, Matt and little McKay.”

How do people like Moses do great work when so many people just work? That was the central question raised by Sturt and his team at the O.C. Tanner Institute, a consulting company specialized in employee recognition and rewards system.

O.C. Tanner launched an exhaustive Great Work study that included surveys to 200 senior executives, a further set of surveys to 1,000 managers and employees working on projects, an in-depth qualitative study of 1.7 million accounts of award-winning work (in the form of nominations (提名) for awards from corporations around the world), and one-on-one interviews with 200 difference makers. The results of the study revealed that those who do great work refuse to be defeated by the constraints of their jobs and are especially able to reframe their jobs: they don’t view their jobs as a list of tasks and responsibilities but see their jobs as opportunities to make a difference. No matter, as Moses so ably exemplifies (例证), what that job may be.

1. According to Sturt, which of the following is TRUE?

A．It’s not the nature of the job, but what you do that makes a difference.

B．Anyone in the world is responsible to delete poverty and change the world.

C．Anyone can make a difference in people’s lives no matter what kind of job he does.

D．Surgeons, special-needs educators and founders of organizations can succeed more easily.

2. According to this passage, how does Moses, a common hospital cleaner, make a difference in people’s lives?

A．By keeping optimistic and calm when facing patients and their parents at hospital.

B．By showing his special gift and working experience when working at hospital.

C．By showing his sympathy and kindness to patients when entering their rooms.

D．By pretending to be a doctor or nurse when entering a room with a sick child.

3. The word “constraints” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.

A．demands

B．advantages

C．disadvantages

D．limitations

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Great work is work that makes a difference in people’s lives no matter what you do.

B．If a boss has trouble recognizing his employees, he can ask O. C. Tanner for advice.

C．Moses makes a difference through his sensitivity and his practical wisdom.

D．Those who do great work are never defeated by others or their jobs themselves.

9 . To learn to think is to learn to question. Those who don't question never truly think for themselves. These are simple rules that have governed the advancement of science and human thought since the beginning of time. Advancements are made when thinkers question theories and introduce new ones. Unfortunately, it is often the great and respected thinkers who end up slowing the progress of human thought. Aristotle was a brilliant philosopher whose theories explained much of the natural world, often incorrectly. He was so esteemed by the scientific community that even 1，200 years after his death, scientists were still trying to build upon his mistakes rather than correct them!

Brilliant minds can intimidate up­and­coming thinkers who are not confident of their abilities. They often believe they are inferior to the minds of giants such as Aristotle, leading many to accept current paradigms instead of questioning them.

I, like many thinkers of the past, once believed in my mental inferiority. I was certain that my parents, my teachers-adults in general-were always right. They were like a textbook to me; I didn't question what was written on those pages. I respected them, and accepted whatever they told me. But that attitude soon changed. My mind's independence was first stimulated in the classroom.

A stern, 65­year­old elementary­school science teacher once told me that light is a type of wave. I confidently went through years of school believing that light is a wave. One day，however I heard the German exchange student mention that light could be made up of particles. As the others laughed at his statement, I started to question my beliefs.

Maybe the teachers and textbooks hadn't given me the whole story. I went to the library, did some research and learned of the light­as­a­wave versus light­as­a­particle debate. I read about Einstein's discovery of the dual nature of light and learned the facts of a paradox(悖论) that puzzles the world's greatest thinkers to this day. Light behaves as both a particle and a wave, it is both at once. I realized I had gone through life accepting only half of the story as the whole truth.

Each new year brought more new facts, and I formulated even more questions. I found myself in the library after school, trying to find my own answers to gain a more complete understanding of what I thought I already knew. I discovered that my parents and teachers are incredible tools in my quest for knowledge, but they are never the final word. Even textbooks can be challenged. I learned to question my sources, I learned to be a thinker. I once believed that everything I learned at home and at school was certain, but I have now discovered to re­examine when necessary.

Questions are said to be the path to knowledge and truth, and I plan to continue questioning. How many things do we know for sure today that we will question in the future? At this moment, I know that our sun will burn for another five billion years, and I know nothing can escape the gravity of a black hole. This knowledge, however, may change in the next 20 years-maybe even in the next two. The one thing we can control now is our openness to discovery. Questions are the tools of open minds, and open minds are the key to intellectual advancement.

1. In the first paragraph, Aristotle is taken as an example to show that ______.

A．he is the greatest and respected philosopher of all time

B．huge influence of great thinkers may block human thought

C．advancements are made when thinkers question theories

D．great thinkers often make mistakes and then correct them

2. What does the underlined word “intimidate” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Frighten.

B．Encourage.

C．Strength.

D．Persuade.

3. The author began to question his previous beliefs because ______.

A．what he learned from textbooks before turned out to be wrong

B．he was inspired by the different ideas from an exchange student

C．he was laughed at by other students for his unacceptable statement

D．he was not satisfied with his life and desperate to achieve success

4. According to the passage, the author ______.

A．looks down upon great thinkers all the time

B．never doubts what he has learned in the textbook

C．always throws himself into the laboratory

D．determines to be a thinker and questioner

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

A．the author is not quite sure about his future

B．we human beings don't dare to predict future

C．theory of black holes will change in two years

D．questioning is necessary to promote advancement

6. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Following rules.	B．Challenging yourself.
C．Questioning giants.	D．Predicting future.

10 . Being good at something and having a passion for it are not enough. Success _______ fundamentally on our view of ourselves and of the _________ in our lives.

When twelve-year-old John Wilson walked into his chemistry class on a rainy day in 1931, he had no _______ of knowing that his life was to change _________. The class experiment that day was to _________ how heating a container of water would bring air bubbling (冒泡) to the surface. _________, the container the teacher gave Wilson to heat _________ held something more volatile (易挥发的) than water. When Wilson heated it, the container _______, leaving Wilson blinded in both eyes.

When Wilson returned home from hospital two months later, his parents _________ to find a way to deal with the catastrophe that had ____________ their lives. But Wilson did not regard the accident as ____________. He learned braille (盲文) quickly and continued his education at Worcester College for the Blind. There, he not only did well as a student but also became a(n)____________ public speaker.

Later, he worked in Africa, where many people suffered from ____________ for lack of proper treatment. For him, it was one thing to __________ his own fate of being blind and quite another to allow something to continue __________ it could be fixed so easily. This moved him to action. And tens of millions in Africa and Asia can see because of the ____________ Wilson made to preventing the ____________.

Wilson received several international ____________ for his great contributions. He lost his sight but found a __________. He proved that it’s not what happens to us that ____________ our lives-it’s what we make of what happens.

1.

A．depends

B．holds

C．keeps

D．reflects

2.

A．dilemmas

B．accidents

C．events

D．steps

3.

A．way

B．hope

C．plan

D．measure

4.

A．continually

B．gradually

C．gracefully

D．completely

5.

A．direct

B．show

C．advocate

D．declare

6.

A．Anyway

B．Moreover

C．Somehow

D．Thus

7.

A．mistakenly

B．casually

C．amazingly

D．clumsily

8.

A．erupted

B．exploded

C．emptied

D．exposed

9.

A．deserved

B．attempted

C．cared

D．agreed

10.

A．submitted to

B．catered for

C．impressed on

D．happened to

11.

A．fantastic

B．extraordinary

C．impressive

D．catastrophic

12.

A．accomplished

B．crucial

C．specific

D．innocent

13.

A．deafness

B．depression

C．blindness

D．speechlessness

14.

A．decide

B．abandon

C．control

D．accept

15.

A．until

B．when

C．unless

D．before

16.

A．opposition

B．adjustments

C．commitment

D．limitations

17.

A．preventable

B．potential

C．spreadable

D．influential

18.

A．scholarships

B．rewards

C．awards

D．bonuses

19.

A．fortune

B．recipe

C．dream

D．vision

20.

A．distinguishes

B．determines

C．claims

D．limits