1 . Around the time I turned 40, I went to see a therapist, a man who knew me well. I tended to call him once or twice a year on an as-needed basis. I had reached the point of being able to sort through most problems on my own. But life had—as it occasionally does—grown suddenly complicated.

I had been trying with no success to have a second child. We had made an abrupt move from New York City to rural Connecticut in the wake of September 11. My mother had recently died. I was still shrinking from a difficult and frightening year. I found myself questioning everything entirely: “Does any of this make sense?”

“Everything about you makes sense,” said my therapist.

I found these words enormously comforting as they always are from him. I so badly wanted the narrative of my life to make sense. Two brief failed marriages—one at 18 the other at 28? Makes sense. My uneasy relationship to faith and doubt, having been raised in a strict, religious home? Makes sense. The emptiness I continued to feel at the early loss of my father? Makes sense. My impossibly anxious relationship with my mother? Make sense.

My husband, a screenwriter, is often asked to adapt biographies for film, and the struggle, he often says, is that lives have first acts, but they don’t have third acts(until they’re over) and second acts are just one damned thing after another. So how to understand the narratives of our lives? How to trust that everything about us makes sense?

Lately I’ve been wondering if perhaps the answer to this is not to even attempt to smooth things out. Sure, life’s road is nothing if not filled with unexpected surprises, both happy and not-so-happy ones.

1. What made the author begin to question everything?

A．Her old age.	B．The therapist’s intervention.
C．Complicated life.	D．Breakdowns in her life.

2. How does the author make her point convincing?

A．By giving examples.	B．By making a comparison.
C．By using data.	D．By presenting findings.

3. What of the following statements does the writer agree with?

A．Every dog has its day.	B．Enjoy your life while you can.
C．Life is made up of sobs and smiles.	D．One careless move may lose the whole game.

2 . After spending a weekend away with my adult son, I was so impressed by his generous（慷慨的）heart that I sent him this letter.

Dear son,

I want to thank you for teaching me a very _________ lesson in life by the great _________ you set. When we were eating at the cafe in Bondi and a person who had _________ his hamburger didn't have enough money to pay for it. Not _________ twice, you went over and put the _________ $2 into his hand.

When we were leaving, you _________ threw a five-cent coin onto the pavement（人行道）and said _________ like, “Some kids will really enjoy _________ this.”

Last week, a young man _________ me in the line at a petrol station didn't have __________ money to pay for his petrol. I asked the money collector, “How much __________ is he?” She told me he had meant to put $15 of petrol in his car __________ he had been looking at the wrong gauge（计量表）and put in 15 __________ , which came to just over __________. That is an easy mistake __________ both gauges run fast.

Something made me think of you and __________ you did that night at the cafe in Bondi. I handed the man $6. He was so __________ and said, “But why would you do this for me?” I just smiled as I thought of you.

Thank you again, son, for teaching me that “it's __________ to give than to receive”. Now when I see a five-cent coin on the __________ and want to pick it up, I think of you and leave it __________, just in case some kid will get a kick out of finding it.

Love always, Mum.

1.

A．humorous

B．private

C．reasonable

D．valuable

2.

A．story

B．book

C．example

D．organization

3.

A．ordered

B．booked

C．offered

D．bought

4.

A．thinking

B．laughing

C．permitting

D．allowing

5.

A．some

B．last

C．extra

D．rest

6.

A．again

B．already

C．only

D．also

7.

A．nothing

B．everything

C．anything

D．something

8.

A．finding

B．accepting

C．looking for

D．pointing at

9.

A．behind

B．beyond

C．ahead of

D．next to

10.

A．much

B．some

C．any

D．enough

11.

A．far

B．long

C．short

D．high

12.

A．and

B．but

C．so

D．while

13.

A．litres

B．kilograms

C．pounds

D．kilometers

14.

A．$15

B．$20

C．$25

D．$30

15.

A．until

B．as

C．although

D．unless

16.

A．what

B．which

C．whatever

D．whichever

17.

A．excited

B．surprised

C．interested

D．encouraged

18.

A．easier

B．better

C．faster

D．worse

19.

A．comer

B．way

C．ground

D．carpet

20.

A．there

B．here

C．out

D．around

3 . It differs greatly between wanting to become a great magician and actually doing it. In high school, I staged a show and my entire world came out to watch—friends and family members, everyone I want to impress. The audience all looked on in horror, fascination and pity, sitting there mute, enduring the spectacle and waiting for the show to end.

A few years later, I staged a Harry Houdini-style underwater escape in the river that flowed through the middle of the campus of the University of Iowa, where I went to school. I stood on a boat in the middle of the river wearing nothing but biking shorts and weights around my wrists and ankles. The sky was dead and gray, and the water was dead and gray, and a freezing breeze blew across its surface.

Technically, I succeeded. I jumped into the water, sank to the bottom, and escaped from the locks and the chains before swimming to the surface. But it didn't feel like a success. When Houdini did it, thousands of people turned up to watch, I had about a dozen who stopped on their way to class, and the police showed up because someone thought I was going to kill myself.

I am living proof, though, that if you throw enough time and effort at something—maybe even anything—you can become good at it. I found inspiration in Houdini's words: "The real secret to my success is simple: I work from seven in the morning to midnight and I like it." This quote lived on a piece of paper stuck to the wall by my bed for ten years. I had hit Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice by the time I turned 22, and he's right—I got pretty good.

The week after I finished school, I drove to Los Angeles to begin my career as a professional magician. I have never held another job.

1. What can you learn about the show the author staged in high school?

A．It was a total failure.

B．The audience loved it.

C．He was fully prepared for it.

D．He earned a good reputation.

2. Why did the author say that his water escape didn't feel like a success?

A．The police caught him.

B．He escaped being drowned.

C．Almost no one watched it.

D．It took him too long a time.

3. The author wanted to tell the readers through his story that ________.

A．doing is better than saying

B．a good beginning makes a good ending

C．all good things came to an end

D．nothing is impossible to a willing heart

4 . Some time ago, in my class I was about to fail a student for his answer to a physics question when the student claimed he deserved a better score. The examination question sounded “safe”.

“Show how it is possible to determine the height of a tall building with the aid of a barometer（压表）.” The student had answered: “Take the barometer to the top of the building, attach a long rope to it, lower the barometer to the street, and then bring it up, measuring the length of the rope. The length of the rope is the height of the building.”

I argued that a high grade should prove his competence in physics, but the answer did not confirm this. I suggested that the student have another try. Immediately, he worked out his answer: A second best way is to take the barometer to the top of the building. Drop the barometer, timing its fall with a stopwatch. Then, using the formula to calculate the height of the building.

I was shocked by his answer. His method gave me not only a broken barometer but a U-turn in my teaching philosophy. I gave him full marks.

On his leaving my office, I recalled that he suggested there could be a better answer. So I asked him what it was. “Oh, yes,” said the student, “There are many ways. Probably the best,” he said, “is to take the barometer to the basement and ask the superintendent （楼管）. You speak to him as follows: Mr.Superintendent, here I have a fine barometer. If you tell me the height of this building, I will give it to you.

At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but said that he was fed up with high school instructors’ trying to teach him how to think, and to use the so-called “scientific method”. He just wanted to solve the problem in a practical manner, not just answer the question in an expected way. Hearing this, I really had nothing to do but give the boy a firm handshake, feeling thankful that I hadn’t failed him in the first place and even more thankful, neither had he.

1. Why did the author want to fail the student in the first place?

A．The student challenged his authority.

B．The student’s answer was not practical.

C．The student didn’t show his academic ability.

D．The student had a poor performance in physics class.

2. Which of the following can best describe the author’s new teaching philosophy?

A．Without love, there is no education.

B．A man becomes learned by asking questions.

C．Teaching is to make two ideas grow where only one grew before.

D．You can lead your horse to the river, but you can’t make it drink.

3. What made the student abandon the conventional answer?

A．Lack of physics-related knowledge.

B．Ignorance of the teacher’s expectation.

C．Intention to deeply impress his teacher.

D．Disapproval of existing teaching concepts.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．The superintendent was a greedy person.

B．School education restricted this student’s thinking.

C．The teacher appreciated the student’s answers finally.

D．The examination question is a lough physics problem.