1 . How Laughing at Yourself Makes You Attractive

Have you ever embarrassed yourself in public and got laughed at for it?     1     And it’s okay — we should even have a laugh about them.

●Laughing at yourself means accepting who you really are. You may feel bad about yourself because of past misfortune. However, it’s normal to be imperfect. What’s important is that you should be honest with yourself about who you are.     2     You won’t be able to laugh at yourself without self-acceptance.

●Laughing at yourself helps increase your confidence. When you are able to stay optimistic and laugh at yourself, you are likely to be more successful in life.     3     More importantly, it helps you realize your own weaknesses so you know which areas to do better in.

●    4     Laughing at someone else may hurt their feelings even if you didn’t intend to, while laughing at yourself does not — you might even bring a smile to their faces. People will like it, because it shows that you have the courage to do so and you’re being real about your imperfections.

Just remember that humans all make mistakes. So instead of blaming yourself, try to think of your mistakes in a positive way and accept yourself just as you are.     5    

A．Laughing at yourself makes you popular.

B．Accept yourself despite your imperfections.

C．You don’t need to take yourself seriously all the time.

D．Chances are that we all have these kinds of experiences.

E．Learn to laugh at yourself and you will be more attractive.

F．Laughing at yourself changes an ideal image of yourself.

G．This is because laughing at yourself contributes to your mental health.

2 . When the host announced that my choir (合唱队) won the second place of the World Choir Game, I couldn’t believe what I heard. All the_________that we made was worthwhile. Through this unforgotten experience, I _________much.

In the semi-finals (半决赛), we were supposed to sing four songs. When we played the third song, I suddenly heard an unexpected _________— a girl in the alto (女低音) got quick. The other students in the alto were _________ by the girl and were getting quicker and quicker. Our choir’s leader, Mrs Li noticed it and_________used her hand to keep time, but she _________. After the song, the smile on Mrs Li’s face froze and some of our members turned and tried to find the person who first got_________. My mind was blank, but quickly I realized the only thing we could do was to _________the performance. Then with a smile, Mrs Li became a _________again, who seemed to have totally forgot what we had done. We sang the____________song as usual.

After the competition, I was disappointed. Just because of one person’s fault, the whole choir must afford the fact that we might lose the game. I cried, but then I found nothing would change no matter how hard we____________ the girl who played poorly.____________, I came to her, encouraged her, and practiced the whole melody with her. In the finals, we got the medal because of our____________performance.

Never blame a person when she makes a mistake, but help her to solve the problem when you are struggling____________the same goal. No matter what you will experience with others in the future, successes or failures,____________or tears, these will surely become your precious treasure and memory.

1.

A．promises

B．efforts

C．requirement

D．differences

2.

A．considered

B．forgot

C．learned

D．explained

3.

A．name

B．shout

C．voice

D．song

4.

A．driven away

B．led away

C．given out

D．turned down

5.

A．similarly

B．easily

C．happily

D．immediately

6.

A．failed

B．succeeded

C．arrived

D．agreed

7.

A．busy

B．wrong

C．warm

D．slow

8.

A．quit

B．stop

C．complete

D．end

9.

A．conductor

B．singer

C．dancer

D．worker

10.

A．late

B．only

C．first

D．last

11.

A．blamed

B．encouraged

C．called

D．asked

12.

A．Otherwise

B．Therefore

C．However

D．Besides

13.

A．bad

B．common

C．perfect

D．rude

14.

A．up

B．on to

C．for

D．in

15.

A．mistake

B．surprise

C．sadness

D．laughter

3 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

I can well remember that I was once asked to deliver a speech titled “A Real Test in My Life” before the whole class at the age of 9! You can imagine how     1     (terrible) shy I was with so many eyes       2       (fix) upon me. I had no     3     (choose) but to prepare for it, though. First of all, I was to draft the speech, which was just a piece of cake for me, a good writer. But the hardest part     4     (lie) in my oral presentation from my memory— for to read from the paper was not allowed. The real moment began     5         I stood on the platform with my legs trembling and my mind blank. But my listeners were waiting patiently without any signs of rushing me. Gradually I found myself back,     6     (deliver) my speech with difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, I found my audience applauding— I made     7    ! From then on, my fear of talking before an audience disappeared. Actually with my     8     (confident) building up, I now turn out to be a great speaker. Looking back, I know the greatest difficulty on our way         9     success is our fear. Overcome it     10     we will be able to achieve our goals.

4 . For years going home for the holidays has been bittersweet. I appreciate the opportunity to spend quality time with my mom but it is painful for me to see her house littered with stuff.Clothes bought but never worn, and new items in their original packaging carelessly purchased and never used. It’s evident that seeing the stuff on a daily basis reminds my mom of a time when shopping was her way of spending money.

I didn’t fully understand the extent to which my mom was suffering until this week, when I saw piles of clothes on her bed. “How do you manage to sleep every night with all that stuff, Mom?” I asked. To my horror, she replied, “I do it because I know I have to get rid of all this stuff eventually; I am punishing myself by sleeping with them until I do that. ”

Shocked and upset, I gently explained to her that punishing herself was only to make things worse,and that everybody deserves a place to sleep in peace, no matter what mistakes they’ve made. I suggested she move all the stuff upstairs, leaving her room comfortable to sleep in.

With patience and her slow but steady guidance, I helped her go through some of the piles and move them upstairs. For the rest of the week I stayed there, she was in a better mood and was excited about going through the rest of the house to finally get rid of her stuff—past mistakes and painful times. The items brought back painful memories as we inspected and moved them, but I kept reminding her that removing them would allow her to move on and heal. We finally sold so many things and took bag after bag to charity.

The stuff is just a sign of the destructive patterns of self-hatred on past mistakes. Only through the act of self-forgiveness can we bring about a chain reaction of reorganizing—both of the house and heart.

1. What made the author feel bitter?

A．She couldn’t understand her mom’s sorrows.

B．Her mom was stuck in the painful memories.

C．Her mom was always left alone at home.

D．Her mom wasted money on useless things.

2. The underlined word “that” in the second paragraph refers to _______.

A．getting rid of the stuff	B．buying the stuff
C．opening the stuff	D．moving the stuff

3. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．the author never bought her mom anything

B．the author’s mom has no money to purchase now

C．the author’s mom regrets buying so many things

D．the author knows her mom’s suffering only this week

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．How to do shopping wisely

B．Clearance helps reorganize the house

C．Keep an eye on the elderly’s behavior

D．Self-forgiveness makes a difference

5 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。

It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker said as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone would get really bored with listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.

Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.

Jenny picked it up and wanted to return it to Lee, but she couldn’t catch up with him. When she arrived home, Jenny put it on, thinking about the magic. She was surprised that it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water…” Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the minor, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really did have something magical.

The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker ask cd who was going to be brave and go first. Nobody moved, Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say something, there was a shout “She’s stolen in y watch!” Lee said angrily. “It went missing at school yesterday.”

注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段. 每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:

Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation,

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

Miss Walker smiled and asked the class lo listen lo Jenny’s speech first.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . A young woman went to her grandmother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how to deal with the problems. It seemed that one problem was solved and a new one would come up. She was tired of life and wanted to give up.

Her grandmother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and put each on a fire, and soon the water boiled. She put carrots in the first pot, eggs in the second one and some coffee beans (豆子) in the last one. About twenty minutes later, she turned off the burners. She took the carrots and eggs out and put them in different bowls. Then she poured the coffee into another bowl. And then she asked her granddaughter what she saw.

“Carrots, eggs and coffee,” she replied. Her grandmother asked her to feel the carrots. She did and said that they were soft. The grandmother then asked her to break an egg. After taking off the shell, she found the hard boiled egg. Finally, the grandmother asked her to taste the coffee. The granddaughter smiled as she tasted it, and then she asked, “What does it mean, grandmother?”

Her grandmother explained that each thing had faced the same boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot had been strong and hard. However, after twenty minutes in the boiling water, it became soft and weak. The egg had been fragile (易碎的). But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hard. The coffee beans were special, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her granddaughter.

1. What was wrong with the young woman?

A．She is poor in cook.	B．She could not solve a problem.
C．She found life too difficult for her.	D．She had a fight with her husband.

2. Her grandmother took her to the kitchen to ______.

A．help with the housework	B．teach her a lesson
C．wash the dishes	D．make some boiling water

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．One can decide what kind of person he will be.

B．The grandmother asked her granddaughter to take an egg.

C．The granddaughter loved the coffee most.

D．The granddaughter chose to be someone like the coffee beans.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Life is hard	B．Change the world
C．To be yourself	D．Carrots, Eggs, or Coffee Beans

8 . Fear Can Be Positive

A small village by the sea depended on _______ to survive. Each year the villagers had to go farther and farther from shore to catch enough fish to _______ the population.

But as the villagers went farther away, they _______ a problem. Their usual _______was to put the fish they caught in big tanks to keep them _______ until they returned home. But the fish grew inactive in the tanks, and many _______ before the boat could reach shore again.

After much _______, one villager _______ a solution. On their next fishing trip, they caught a _______ shark and placed it in the tank along with the fish. The shark ate only a few fish, but the rest swam ________ around the tank trying to keep away from the shark—and made it to shore fresh and healthy for the villages.

Sometimes a little fear is what we need to stay active and ________. People usually lose ________ and focus when they begin to coast and ________ best when they have a little anxiety or fear.

A little fear can be ________. Fear can hold a lot of people back and stop them from living life to the fullest. I understand that feeling of being afraid. ________, there is only one thing worse than ________, and that is being afraid to begin. There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown ________ about them.

Dale Carnegie once said, “Inaction ________ to doubt and fear. Action breeds ________and courage. If you want to ________ fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. ”

1.

A．hunting

B．fishing

C．farming

D．planting

2.

A．expand

B．protect

C．attract

D．feed

3.

A．encountered

B．designed

C．explained

D．answered

4.

A．route

B．idea

C．practice

D．reflection

5.

A．fresh

B．precious

C．nutritious

D．unique

6.

A．fled

B．jumped

C．died

D．recovered

7.

A．fight

B．thought

C．quarrel

D．consultation

8.

A．looked for

B．long for

C．make up

D．hit upon

9.

A．fierce

B．small

C．big

D．rare

10.

A．quietly

B．wildly

C．happily

D．slowly

11.

A．alive

B．cheerful

C．strong

D．normal

12.

A．strength

B．decision

C．consideration

D．concentration

13.

A．create

B．experiment

C．perform

D．respond

14.

A．healthy

B．desperate

C．horrible

D．ridiculous

15.

A．Lastly

B．Therefore

C．Instead

D．However

16.

A．starting

B．quitting

C．joining

D．continuing

17.

A．hopeless

B．sensitive

C．hopeful

D．optimistic

18.

A．appeals

B．sticks

C．objects

D．leads

19.

A．confusion

B．disappointment

C．confidence

D．cooperation

20.

A．acquire

B．limit

C．conquer

D．advocate

9 . Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about thinking is the key to critical thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others. Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.

The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen-beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the faulty reasoning.

Critical thinking is an attitude as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.

Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein, Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.”

1. Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, ________.

A．it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast	B．we might be controlled by other people’s ideas
C．we will follow the ideas of others naturally	D．we might be fooled by other people’s ideas

2. If you are a critical thinker, you will ________.

A．think deeply about different ideas	B．trust the reports in the newspapers
C．take one view against another view	D．criticize other people for their mistakes

3. In the last paragraph, “ something new” suggests that ________.

A．the smarter you are, the faster you do things	B．the faster you do things, the smarter you become
C．speed can improve intelligence	D．intelligence is not decided by speed

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Thinking and Critical Thinking	B．Understanding Critical Thinking
C．Thinking Is Natural and Human	D．Thinking Fast Means Intelligence

10 . Do you know the proverb “no pain, no gain”? It gives the impression that we ought to be suffering while we study. It seems that the only way to know if we’ re putting in enough work is how much hardship we bear. We are totally taken up with study, shutting ourselves away for a big exam. Is that necessarily true?

When we haven’t taken the time to come up with another idea, we just shut ourselves in a room with a book. It’s no surprise that we find revision boring and difficult. Just as children learn from playing, we can learn from doing, or at least from study techniques that interest us, rather than make us switch off. Shutting ourselves away can make us learn to hate studying, leading to a situation where, instead of being able to concentrate on our work, we are troubled by how unfair it is that we must study. This can be part of a vicious cycle (恶性循环) that traps us into ineffective revision, or poor progress fueling further annoyance.

Thankfully, working in the company of other people really helps fight against that. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions(使人分心的事). It’s not necessary to avoid all company, just lazy company. They constantly try to keep others in conversation, while studying in the same room with someone who is ironing or working out is perfectly possible. Of course, it’s also a good idea to avoid the company of people involved in activities where you would rather be playing than studying. Working while sitting next to someone playing video games is most likely to end with a new high score of games rather than productive revision.

If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can block out noises. They also act as a psychological barrier, so that people think twice before interrupting you. Besides, we should know friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation. And connecting with other people makes us happy, so it’s important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to socialize.

1. What is the author’s purpose of writing the text?

A．To introduce effective studying means.

B．To encourage us to work as hard as possible.

C．To remind us to balance activities and study.

D．To discuss the importance of family company.

2. What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．Good ideas are needed in terms of progress.

B．Ways that interest us can lead to effective revision.

C．Shutting ourselves away can help concentrate on work.

D．With study techniques, revision is interesting and easy for certain.

3. What does the last sentence in Paragraph 3 imply?

A．One should learn from certain activities that interest him.

B．Playing video games is helpful for effective study.

C．One shouldn’t study with the company of a video game player.

D．The more time one spends in playing games, the higher test scores one will get.

4. What should you do if you are studying in a noisy environment?

A．Give up others company at once.

B．Think twice before taking any action.

C．Give indication of not wanting to be interrupted.

D．Force yourself to be accustomed to the environment.