1 . When I was a boy I loved walking in the woods around my home. My mom ______ me not to travel so far that I would ______ the house. Being a naughty boy, ______ , I soon found myself hiking further, ______ just how far I could go into the woods. But after losing my way once for two hours, I ______ I’d better leave a track the next time I went for a walk.

One day when I ______ into the woods, I broke a small branch on a young tree to ______ my place. I wandered further in and broke one branch and then another. In a few ______ where there were no branches, I ______ the heads of flowers that were growing. When I decided to ______ , turning around I ______ found my tracks, but instead of being proud I felt ______ . I could see the track of damage I had ______ in the woods. Looking at the broken branches and dead flowers I was ______ , so I determined never to do that again. ______ , I’d sit by the streams listening to them sing, watch the birds and ______ down to smell the flowers.

As an old saying goes, “We will be ______ forever by the tracks we leave.” As I grow older and ______ , I have done my best to never leave a track of ______ in my life as I did in the woods that day. I have instead ______ to leave tracks of love and goodness.

1.

A．persuaded

B．warned

C．allowed

D．forced

2.

A．keep track of

B．take care of

C．lose sight of

D．have control of

3.

A．besides

B．therefore

C．otherwise

D．however

4.

A．testing

B．describing

C．stressing

D．explaining

5.

A．regretted

B．predicted

C．decided

D．proved

6.

A．dived

B．knocked

C．jumped

D．escaped

7.

A．check

B．mark

C．report

D．search

8.

A．cycles

B．processes

C．spots

D．backgrounds

9.

A．picked

B．counted

C．touched

D．lifted

10.

A．move on

B．give up

C．run away

D．head back

11.

A．abruptly

B．easily

C．randomly

D．strangely

12.

A．nervous

B．shy

C．impatient

D．sad

13.

A．left

B．designed

C．found

D．followed

14.

A．annoyed

B．confused

C．ashamed

D．scared

15.

A．Still

B．Meanwhile

C．Somehow

D．Instead

16.

A．lie

B．bend

C．look

D．fall

17.

A．known

B．respected

C．led

D．inspired

18.

A．happier

B．braver

C．calmer

D．wiser

19.

A．doubt

B．harm

C．worry

D．terror

20.

A．afforded

B．happened

C．attempted

D．continued

2 . Do you know what makes you happy? Write a list of all the things that make you happy. How many of them are fun? Most of them? So, if you spend your time doing all these fun things, you’ll be really happy, won’t you?

Well, maybe not. For most people, fun isn’t enough for real happiness. Paul Dolan wrote a book called Happiness by Design.     1     If most of the things on your list are about pleasure, that is what you think makes you happy. But you also need activities with purpose.

    2     It’s easy to do well in subjects you like, but subjects you don’t like are less motivating. They’re not fun for you, but you have to study them so you need to find purpose. An “A” in a subject you hate won’t help the world.     3     Each person can study one part until they understand it and then teach it to the rest of the group. The purpose becomes helping the team.

Go back to your list of things that make you happy.     4     Can you add any? Remember, some activities might bring both pleasure and purpose.

Now you need to design a happy life. Paul Dolan believes people should “decide, design, do”. First decide what brings you pleasure and/or purpose -that means your two lists.     5     For example, you might love riding a bike but never have time to do it. So, ride to school or the library or the shops. Some parts of our lives are good or bad luck, but we can still design the rest to make more happiness.

A．But can you be part of a study team with friends?

B．How many of them are activities that bring purpose?

C．There are different ways we can find pleasure in things.

D．He thinks happiness comes from both pleasure and purpose.

E．If you’re a student, your “job” is studying and passing exams.

F．If you think something makes you happy, then it makes you happy.

G．Then, don’t just think about these activities, fill your life with them.

3 . The letter arrives from a school that your son told you is his dream school. You dare not open it，instead，you hand it to him when he arrives home from school. You watch as his eyes light up and you know this is the beginning of something. You are just not sure what. Your son insists that the coach must really want him since he took the time to write him a letter. Is this in fact true？Did he write other kids and if so how many？How would you know？

The simple fact of the matter is that you can read very little into that first letter. Coaches cast a wide net in the first few stages of the recruiting(录取)cycle. That letter may in fact，be the first and last time your son ever hears from that particular coach. Think about it：if he has not seen your sons transcripts or his standardized test scores，if you have not visited the school，if he has no knowledge of your financial needs，can it be anything significant？

So how do you treat these letters or emails？Is there some format you can apply？Say tor instance，three letters mean real interest…or three letters and a call means a greater degree of interest？

My experience in deal with cases of various applications is that answers will not come automatically. Call the coach and find out how real the interest in fact is. "Is my son a top recruit in your mind？" "How many players at his position will you be recruiting this year?" By asking these simple and direct questions，you as a parent，will have established a dialogue and hopefully figured out how much interest，if any really exists. However，here comes the challenge. Applicants and parents are vague with coaches about their intention and level of interest all the time. In fact，the coach's situation is no less confusing than yours. He is fighting a similar battle on multiple choices. There is little clarity on either end.

Enjoy that first letter. Let's hope it is one of many and let's hope you apply a bit of realism with a bit of wishful thinking about how happy your son should be when this is all over.

1. How did the parent feel about the letter that his son got from his dreamed school？ ______

A．expectant	B．hesitant
C．doubtful	D．hopeful

2. According to the passage，by calling the coach，parents can______ .

A．determine the level of interest from coach

B．build up a communication with the coach

C．identify the real intention of the coach

D．understand more about the situation of the coach

3. The author of the passage is most likely to be ______ .

A．a consultant to help students with their application

B．a parent with similar experiences

C．a school authority that supervises the application

D．a coach in charge of the application

4. The purpose of the passage is to ______ .

A．remind parents of the importance of the first letter from coaches

B．tell parents how to react to the first letter from coaches

C．advise parents to ignore the first letter from coaches

D．warn parents to be realistic towards the first letter from coaches

4 . In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet,despite the competition,my -year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest,a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests,and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent.

So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

A revelation(启示)came last week when I asked her, " Don't you want to win again？" No," she replied," I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade. "

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously(自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall,I offered suggestions for characters,conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade,I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting(借用)my daughter's experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me,it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps,putting myself far enough a way to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment， grow and find their own voices.

1. What do we learn from the first paragraph？

A．A lot of distractions compete for children's time nowadays.

B．Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C．Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.

D．Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

2. What did the author say about her own writing experience？

A．She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

3. Why did Rebecca want to enter this year's writing contest？

A．She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B．She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C．She was sure of winning with her mother's help.

D．She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

5 . I was going to see my grandma Ruthy.

Approaching her apartment, I was suddenly seized with the_______ that I was going to die one day. I walked in to see my grandmother sitting on the sofa,_______ and pale. Once she would have ______ me in her huge bear hug, but now it seemed like the sofa was going to have her ______ alive.

I knew I was supposed to hug her but I wanted to ______. I didn’t want to even make eye contact with this woman that I had loved so_______ , because if I did, maybe death would ________ from over her shoulder and touch me too.

My grandmother, dying of cancer, ________ pulled herself to the edge of the sofa and ______ herself up and said, “So where are we going for dinner?” I turned to my mom _______ I didn’t know what food went with dying.

The next minute, we ended up ________ her off the sofa, down the steps, into the car, and driving to the closest ________. She hadn’t managed solid food in weeks, and could ______ do a sip of water due to the pain. But she ordered a large cup of beer. We ate and she drank. ________ , there was no death. There was no cancer. There was a moment like that in every________ .

Then we said _______. I was waiting for the icy cold hand of ______ on my heart. But I didn’t feel it, because she had _______a shield（防护物）around me-the meal.

The last ______ my grandma Ruthy taught me is that one day, I’m supposed to look over my shoulder and say, “Hello, Death. Before we go, I’m going to have one more ______ .”

1.

A．depression

B．terror

C．surprise

D．anger

2.

A．clumsy

B．hungry

C．tired

D．weak

3.

A．wrapped

B．packed

C．contacted

D．comforted

4.

A．locked

B．split

C．bitten

D．swallowed

5.

A．check

B．scream

C．run

D．stand

6.

A．slightly

B．deliberately

C．secretly

D．dearly

7.

A．reach out

B．run away

C．look away

D．set out

8.

A．smoothly

B．unwillingly

C．slowly

D．casually

9.

A．dressed

B．straightened

C．gave

D．fastened

10.

A．when

B．although

C．because

D．unless

11.

A．dragging

B．rushing

C．carrying

D．inviting

12.

A．restaurant

B．park

C．supermarket

D．clinic

13.

A．carefully

B．barely

C．freely

D．easily

14.

A．From time to time

B．From then on

C．For a long while

D．For a moment

15.

A．meal

B．conversation

C．party

D．celebration

16.

A．sorry

B．goodbye

C．hello

D．thanks

17.

A．fate

B．God

C．death

D．life

18.

A．built

B．removed

C．bought

D．refused

19.

A．skill

B．concept

C．story

D．lesson

20.

A．hug

B．beer

C．talk

D．trip

6 . I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. A taxi driver lived in a house with a large _________across the road. He’s a single parent with two school-age children. At the end of the day, he would_________his taxi on the road. ＂why not in the garage?＂ I asked myself.

Then one day I learned that he had another _________.In the afternoon he would come home from work, leave his taxi and go out _________ his personal business in his other car, not in his taxi. I felt it was_________.

I really want to see his personal car but did not make it. Two weeks later, I_________to be outside one evening, when the garage door was _________and he drove out in his "own" car: a Rolls-Royce(劳斯莱斯)! It_________me completely when I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. _________ deep inside, he saw himself as something else：a Rolls-Royce owner and a（n）__________. He drove others in his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. The world looked at his taxi and considered him as a taxi driver. But for him, a taxi was __________ something he drove for a living. Rolls-Royce was something he drove for a（n）__________.

We go to bed every night and__________every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a party as close friends or go for a vacation as a family. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our happiness and __________ on how high we climb the social ladder(阶梯)-how much bigger and better a taxi we have. And we fail to notice Rolls-Royce, keeping it dusty in our garage. We should pay more attention to__________we are than what we do! Isn’t it the true meaning of life?

1.

A．window

B．garage

C．yard

D．door

2.

A．park

B．drive

C．check

D．repair

3.

A．house

B．car

C．garage

D．job

4.

A．of

B．from

C．for

D．without

5.

A．useful

B．meaningful

C．wasteful

D．painful

6.

A．appeared

B．happened

C．refused

D．expected

7.

A．broken

B．shut

C．painted

D．open

8.

A．frightened

B．encouraged

C．shocked

D．hurt

9.

A．But

B．Because

C．So

D．Through

10.

A．father

B．son

C．driver

D．engineer

11.

A．yet

B．never

C．just

D．still

12.

A．experience

B．life

C．position

D．fame

13.

A．stay up

B．wake up

C．stay home

D．go home

14.

A．success

B．plan

C．beauty

D．wishes

15.

A．who

B．what

C．how

D．where

7 . As a dropout myself, I often feel it is my duty to defend my fellow non-scholars. Common wisdom would have you believe we are the “bad kids", the future criminals, the worst sort of people. But not all dropouts are likely to deal drugs,steal goods from a shop, or shoot pool all day.

My own favorite place to go when skipping school was always the public library. My early retirement meant that at last I had the time to read everything I wanted to. I found reading Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow a lot more interesting than reading about Sir Isaac Newton and the falling apple.

Best of all was the time I finally had to myself. I felt liberated. I had been in school nearly my whole life. I wanted to find out for myself who I was,and until I did,everything else felt like a waste of time.

However, after nearly three years, a series of strange thoughts began to make me anxious and unsure. Images of myself at the age of 35 began to haunt(缠扰）me in my sleep. And a voice in my head began asking over and over,"Who is paying the hot water bills? Who buys the microwave pizza?"The answer, of course, was my poor old parents. Sure,I was having an enjoyable time doing plenty of nothing, discovering myself and all, but that's unfair to them. What parents long to see their child drop out of school,with no plans for the future? Could they be expected to support me forever? Certainly not. I immediately moved out of the house and out of town, in search of a future for myself.

And it is here, in my new home of San Francisco, that I have decided to do what was once unthinkable: go back to school. I plan to take adult education classes and then apply for City College. On the one hand, I can hardly believe I'm doing it: a return to desks, chalkboards, and clocks that tell you when to stop thinking about one thing and start thinking about another. But at City College, I'll be able to take film production, semiotics, and sociology—just because I want to know about them.

So next time you see a dropout, be sympathetic. And please don't push him to do something he doesn't want to do. It never works. He'll come around when he's ready.

1. It is commonly believed that dropouts are_____.

A．bad kids from birth

B．interested in studying drugs

C．very likely to commit crimes

D．responsible for defending non-scholars

2. What did the author find most enjoyable after dropping out of school?

A．Living in comfort with his parents.

B．Reading in the public library.

C．Escaping the pressure from school.

D．Having time for self-discovery.

3. Why did the author move to San Francisco?

A．To fight for his own future.

B．To apply for City College.

C．To break away from his parents.

D．To live up to his parents' expectations.

4. What does the author suggest people do to deal with dropouts?

A．Push them to the limit.

B．Open their hearts to them.

C．Try to be understanding.

D．Encourage them to be friendly.

8 . I woke up without much enthusiasm, rolled out of bed and _______ there not wanting to believe I had to go to work again. This must just be a bad dream that never seemed to _______ with the same old being done over and over again. I picked myself up to a standing position and _______slowly around back towards my comfortable and warm bed and had to_______the very last ounce of strength not to head back into its hug. What a _______it was to get dressed and head out of the door!

Off I went to_______arriving just in time. Then, _______, my boss said there was a(n)_______job to do right now. I_______that anybody could do this job and that____________else would have to do it if I waited long enough. But, nobody else____________up to the job and this left me with a sinking feeling.

That’s the same problem with your____________. Many people use up a lifetime trying to ____________somebody else to do all the hard work to improve their life. There is a lot of discomfort with actually____________ your very own life while it is much ____________to let others do it. The real problem, however, is that it takes a lot of ____________ to find somebody who will do anything for you. Your life won’t change ____________ you are willing to grab hold of your life and ____________that nobody else will ever create the life you want. So, stop ____________anybody to do something for you. ____________, get your own body going and get it done now.

1.

A．sat

B．stood

C．lay

D．went

2.

A．begin

B．end

C．make

D．share

3.

A．glared

B．talked

C．glanced

D．walked

4.

A．lack

B．lose

C．test

D．use

5.

A．struggle

B．surprise

C．shock

D．mess

6.

A．school

B．work

C．bed

D．hospital

7.

A．as a result

B．in either case

C．what was worse

D．in the end

8.

A．good

B．first

C．special

D．urgent

9.

A．knew

B．explained

C．regretted

D．promised

10.

A．everybody

B．anybody

C．somebody

D．nobody

11.

A．lived

B．stayed

C．looked

D．stepped

12.

A．life

B．job

C．goal

D．belief

13.

A．refuse

B．trust

C．search

D．find

14.

A．getting rid of

B．taking charge of

C．looking forward to

D．thinking much of

15.

A．harder

B．longer

C．earlier

D．easier

16.

A．effort

B．courage

C．advantage

D．action

17.

A．if

B．unless

C．because

D．while

18.

A．forget

B．explain

C．accept

D．wonder

19.

A．staring at

B．looking for

C．attending to

D．caring about

20.

A．However

B．Therefore

C．Instead

D．Otherwise

9 . Like every other Sunday morning, my best friend, Patty, dropped my godchildren, Jeremiah, off at my apartment ______ she went on her way to work. Then we hurried and got ourselves out the door for ______. It wasn’t until I saw the girl standing there ______ flowers that I remembered it was ______.

Before I could ______ him, Jeremiah went up to the girl and was allowed to picked ______ a flower for Patty. Then, Jeremiah turned towards me, ______ holding a pink carnation (康乃馨). I smiled and asked him to come with me to take our seats in church. Instead, he turned back towards Linda. “Can I have a flower for Aunt Kimmie too?”

I felt my breath catch ______ in my chest. It was one of the sweetest things I had ever heard him say. But neither of us was ______ for what happened next.

“Oh, no, Jeremiah. She can’t have ______. She isn’t a mother.” I watched as all the ______ left his face. My heart broke in about a million pieces, but not for myself, for Jeremiah. But my heart was also ______ because I found out how much I _______ to him.

I ______ Linda a look as I took Jeremiah ______ the hand and hurried in. The rest of that morning Jeremiah was quiet and ______. After getting back home, I got out my prettiest _______ so he could keep that pink carnation in it and give it to Patty when she came for him. But his ________ had been crushed; the joy he had felt had been robbed from him.

That afternoon after nap time, Jeremiah went outside to play. When I heard the front door open, Jeremiah ______ came to the doorway, his hands behind his back.

“Aunt Kimmie,” he said softly, “You ______ something for Mother’s day.” He pulled out a handful of fresh picked dandelions (蒲公英) and gave them to me. I felt tears on my cheeks as I gathered him in my arms. “I love you, Aunt Kimmie.”

1.

A．until

B．before

C．when

D．after

2.

A．school

B．hospital

C．church

D．courtyard

3.

A．giving out

B．giving off

C．taking out

D．taking up

4.

A．Women’s Day

B．Father’s Day

C．Mother’s Day

D．Teachers’ Day

5.

A．spot

B．stop

C．seek

D．scold

6.

A．up

B．at

C．off

D．out

7.

A．proudly

B．curiously

C．readily

D．hopefully

8.

A．something

B．anything

C．somewhere

D．anywhere

9.

A．grateful

B．eager

C．responsible

D．ready

10.

A．it

B．that

C．those

D．one

11.

A．comfort

B．silence

C．joy

D．sadness

12.

A．safe

B．free

C．anxious

D．full

13.

A．felt

B．meant

C．considered

D．claimed

14.

A．formed

B．led

C．shot

D．showed

15.

A．in

B．by

C．with

D．over

16.

A．withdrawn

B．worn

C．relaxed

D．relieved

17.

A．stuff

B．wax

C．vase

D．hook

18.

A．enthusiasm

B．disappointment

C．depression

D．curiosity

19.

A．intentionally

B．reluctantly

C．slowly

D．patiently

20.

A．desire

B．deserve

C．realize

D．receive

10 . It’s both a strength and weakness of human nature that we’re never satisfied for long. Whatever we have, wherever we are, most of us want more and better things. When we ___ money or power, our ___ can turn into the greed that crush our happiness and ambition.

But in many other areas of our life, our ___ for more and better things can be a very ___ thing. For example, in business we should ___ struggle for improvement and innovation. Similarly, when we ___ the quality of our educational or health care systems, government honesty or efficiency, or the general state of social justice, we should never be ___.

Even in our personal lives, we should ___ for better relationships by improving communication skills and organizing our lives better. And there’s nothing wrong with ___ a better job, one that’s more intellectually challenging, emotionally ____, financially worthwhile, and socially significant.

To live and enjoy a good life, we need to find a healthy ____ between wanting more things and ____ what we have. You see, what we have is worthy of ____ and appreciation, even ____ we try hard for more.

Not being satisfied doesn’t have to be the same as being dissatisfied. ____ is a negative state of mind. It’s a ____ of unhappiness. Thus it’s important to find a ____ place between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. That place can be the state of pleasure ____ by true appreciation of what one has and the ability to ____ it.

In the development of good, better, and best, better and best are superior ____ good. But good is still good. Enough can be good.

1.

A．responded to

B．reminded of

C．focused on

D．won back

2.

A．anxiety

B．greed

C．shyness

D．aim

3.

A．satisfaction

B．preference

C．regret

D．desire

4.

A．funny

B．terrible

C．strange

D．good

5.

A．continually

B．wisely

C．slightly

D．roughly

6.

A．assess

B．maintain

C．reduce

D．affect

7.

A．embarrassed

B．confused

C．satisfied

D．discouraged

8.

A．prepare

B．strive

C．apply

D．wait

9.

A．giving

B．quitting

C．doing

D．wanting

10.

A．rewarding

B．frightening

C．disturbing

D．disgusting

11.

A．connection

B．difference

C．balance

D．comparison

12.

A．contributing

B．appreciating

C．rejecting

D．gathering

13.

A．consideration

B．protection

C．collection

D．gratitude

14.

A．as

B．if

C．because

D．until

15.

A．Complaint

B．Anger

C．Dissatisfaction

D．Selfishness

16.

A．variety

B．shape

C．definition

D．form

17.

A．comfortable

B．quiet

C．beautiful

D．distant

18.

A．marked

B．signed

C．approved

D．displayed

19.

A．protect

B．set

C．store

D．enjoy

20.

A．with

B．at

C．to

D．for