Round table
The most affectionate memory of my childhood is about
When I was still little, my entire family would reunite on almost every traditional festival to have dinner. While the grown-ups were discussing about something
When I got a bit older, my aunt brought back her boyfriend, a tall and shy man, and my grandma joyfully added another seat to the round table. It seemed a little bit
When I was 12, my grandpa passed away because of cancer, but when the entire family reunite once again, his chair, his bowl and his chopsticks remain the same.
We all have a table like this in our homes, which is a symbol of the reunion of our families,
The food on the table may change with time; the people sitting beside it may come and go; the reasons why we come together may be various, but the sensation behind it remains, year after year, the same.
Every year, an annual epic migration takes place in China. Hundreds of people, men and women, young and old, the rich and the poor, the dead and the alive, will find a way to go back home and go to the round table
The power that drives him to do so has been a power that has been sustaining Chinese civilization for thousands of years. And the lives of us, or even the history of our nation have been the stories of looking for a running to the round table
| A. referring B. refresh C. pin D. occurred E. acknowledging F. identify G. drain H. discouraged I. specific J. negative K. specifically |
Make a Wish List
Most of us know of New Year’s Resolutions, where one sets intentions for the year ahead. But too often, people make their resolutions
So instead, try a wish list. This involves writing down 100 things you would like to do in the year ahead. The items can be enormous or tiny, ranging from “Climb Everest” to “buy a new pencil sharper”. The main thing is that at some point it has
The key here is — write it down.
Do you feel any resistance to the ideas? If so, ask yourself why. What is wrong with
It helps to be
Finally, you have your list. And what a work of beauty it is. Here are all the things that you would like to do. Remember to
3 . On Jan. 3, a netizen (网民) nicknamed “Programmer Humor” published a short story on his micro-blog. It said that there was an old lady who swept nearly every inch of his Internet company. When she passed by a programmer, she took a look at the codes on the programmer’s computer and kindly reminded him, “Be careful, the stack is overfilled!”
Certainly, it is a casual and fictitious (虚构的) story made up by the micro-blogger. However, no one would have guessed that the short blog would eventually cause the first great Internet meme (网络快速爆红现象) of 2011 in China. Suddenly, the mysterious “Sweeping Old Lady” is showing up nearly everywhere and reminding professionals of their mistakes. From 8 a. m. on Jan. 5, some netizens collected stories of the “Sweeping Old Lady” and found she had appeared to give advice in 150 kinds of careers. A netizen even said he had met with a similar situation in real life.
Actually, the “Sweeping Old Lady” is not new figure, but is based on the “sweeping monk (和尚)”in Louis Cha’s famous Kung fu novel of “Tian Long Ba Bu”. The “sweeping monk” is an old monk and does the lowest class of work in Shaolin Temple, but he is actually the No. 1 master in the noel both in Kung fu and in the study of Buddhism.
The “Sweeping Old Lady” is also a great modest master. Lots of netizens wish that they could have such a lady beside them to give them precious suggestions at a key time.
Although there may be 1,000 “Sweeping Old Ladies” in 1,000 people’s minds, it cannot prevent the “Sweeping Old Lady” from becoming the most popular figure on the Internet.
“Programmer Humor” said he is just a programmer in the real world and once he saw the story about the “Sweeping Old Lady,” he wrote it down in his micro-blog because it was funny. He never knew who the original writer of the story was and never thought the story could be so popular.
1. What quality does the “Sweeping Old Lady” have?| A．Honest and knowledgeable. | B．Modest and patient. |
| C．Modest and knowledgeable. | D．Honest and patient. |
| A．She is an old lady good at sweeping the Internet. |
| B．She is just an imaginary figure created by a netizen. |
| C．She is well-know as the old “sweeping monk.” |
| D．She likes to give instructions everywhere. |
| A．The sweeping old lady is always looking down on the people around her. |
| B．We should ask sweeping old lady for advice when meeting with difficulties. |
| C．People want to have a “Sweeping Old Lady” nearby to do the cleaning. |
| D．We shouldn’t judge a person by his or her appearance and we’d better respect everyone. |
| A．She should be praised and respected. |
| B．She shouldn’t mind others’ business. |
| C．She should go in for network. |
| D．She shouldn’t show off before professionals. |
4 . For nearly ten years, I have spent my Monday evenings attending rehearsals for my amateur choir (合唱队). Mondays are not my favourite day, and I often arrive in a bad mood but by the end of the rehearsal, I usually feel
There is no choir practice now, and won’t be for a long time. I miss it. In lockdown, I do not feel
In 1973, Mark Granovetter, a sociology professor at Stanford University, published a paper entitled “The Strength of Weak Ties.” Until then, scholars had assumed that an individual’s well-being depended mainly on the
This was the idea behind the Pixer building, the design of which was
Encounters with weak ties can be good for our
| A．amazed | B．tired | C．frustrated | D．energized |
| A．honest | B．brief | C．impressive | D．unforgettable |
| A．short of | B．tired of | C．satisfied with | D．interested in |
| A．In short | B．In other words | C．On the contrary | D．After all |
| A．quality | B．impact | C．variety | D．source |
| A．inner | B．ideal | C．social | D．material |
| A．pool | B．exchange | C．analysis | D．organization |
| A．typically | B．constantly | C．specially | D．infrequently |
| A．funded | B．proven | C．overseen | D．preferred |
| A．learn from | B．come across | C．rely on | D．look after |
| A．kill | B．reflect | C．fuel | D．convert |
| A．mentality | B．intelligence | C．career | D．interactions |
| A．superiority | B．responsibility | C．accomplishment | D．belonging |
| A．However | B．Therefore | C．Somehow | D．Besides |
| A．engage in | B．believe in | C．reflect on | D．set aside |
请结合生活实际，谈一下你对乔布斯过说的这句话“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”的理解。
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The first time I invited a good friend not just over to but into my house, post-vaccination, without masks, I couldn’t even wait until she walked up to my door —I ran outside to greet her, and we hugged each other in the driveway. We both held on tight, as we took turns exclaiming how good it was to see each other. We
I’ve been a huger since middle school, when my friends and I
7 . I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he’s honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out ever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
1. Which of the following is true?| A．Fun creates long-lasting satisfaction. |
| B．Fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness. |
| C．Happiness is enduring whereas fun is short-lived. |
| D．Fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness. |
| A．write memoir after memoir about their happiness |
| B．tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun |
| C．teach people how to enjoy their lives |
| D．bring happiness to the public instead of going to glamorous parties |
| A．are lucky since they can have a whole night’s sleep |
| B．find fun in tucking them into bed at night |
| C．find more time to play and joke with them |
| D．derive happiness from their endeavor |
| A．stop playing games and joking with others |
| B．make the best use of his time increasing happiness |
| C．give a free hand to money |
| D．keep himself with his family |
8 . Criticism is judgment. A critic is a judge. A judge must study and think about the material presented to him, accept it, correct it or reject it after thinking over what he has read, watched or heard.
Another word for criticism is appreciation. When I criticize or appreciate some object or another, I look for its good points and bad points. In reading any printed or written matter, I always have a pencil in hand and put any comments in the book or on a separate paper. In other words, I always talk back to the writer.
That sort of critical reading might well be called creative reading because I am thinking along with the author, asking him questions, seeing whether he answers the questions and how well he answers them. I mark the good passages to store them in my memory and ask myself about every other part and about the complete piece of writing; where, how and why could or should I improve upon it?
You might think that doing what I suggested is work. Yes, it is, but the work is a pleasure because I can feel my brain expanding, my emotion reacting and my way of living change.
Reading exercises is a great influence on a person. If pictures, still or moving, accompany the reading, the memory will retain the material for a long time.
Just as evil books can corrupt, so also can good books gradually work a change on a corrupt person.
Let's get back to the beneficial effects of thinking while reading. It helps us to enlarge our minds. We understand more about the universe, its people and many of its wonders. We learn to think and observe in new ways. We certainly do get a feeling for the language we are reading. All good writers in any language have been readers who read critically and continuously.
1. According to the writer, creative reading is ________.| A．raising questions and answering them for the author |
| B．reading and giving comments on the materials one has read |
| C．thinking in the same line with the author |
| D．storing up facts in one's memory |
| A．asks what he does not understand |
| B．talks back to the author |
| C．understand the background on which the works are based |
| D．looks for the good and bad points of the material he has read |
| A．following one's thought closely | B．accepting |
| C．considering | D．agreeing |
| A．understand more about their surrounding than others. |
| B．have a thorough insight to the problem in life. |
| C．have the feeling of the language they read. |
| D．have read extensively(广泛地) and critically |
“It’s more important to keep your old friends than it is to make new friends.”
对这个观点，你是同意还是不同意？请结合实际，写一篇短文阐述你的看法。
内容可包括：
•你在这个问题上的立场；
•你选择这个立场的原因；
•通过具体事例或实际生活经历分析或证明你的观点。
10 . When I was four, I lost my sight by falling off a box car and landing on my head. Now I’m thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It’d be wonderful to see again, but a disaster can do strange things to people.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this belief. It had to start with the most trivial things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. “I can’t use this,” I was hurt, thinking he was teasing me. “Take it with you,” he insisted, “and roll it around.” The words stuck in my head. By rolling the ball I could feel where it went.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. Had I not done that, I’d have broken down and become a chair rocker for the rest of my life. And the path to the belief is never smooth.
| A．I’d fail sometimes, but on average, I made progress |
| B．This gave me an idea on something I had thought impossible to achieve |
| C．As people always say, it takes steel and temper to make a difference |
| D．It came into my mind all of a sudden |
| E．It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do now if I hadn’t been blind |
| F．Life asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality |
