I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published ,
I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A．I was waiting for good fortune. |
| B．I was trying to find an admirable job. |
| C．I was being aimless about a suitable job. |
| D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time. |
| A．to finish the writing course |
| B．to realize her own dream |
| C．to satisfy readers’wish |
| D．to earn more money |
| A．Disturbed. | B．Ashamed. | C．Confident. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．It pays to stick to one’s goal. |
| B．Hard work can lead to success. |
| C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky. |
| D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something. |
2 . I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time, I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket.
I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth…?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!” Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control.” With that, she left the room.
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood(情绪) had changed. I was laughing. How would I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly.
1. Why did the author shout at the telephone?| A．He was mad at the telephone. |
| B．He was angry with his agent. |
| C．He was anxious about his wife |
| D．He was impatient with the secretary. |
| A．She said nothing | B．She shouted at him. |
| C．She called the agent | D．She threw the phone away |
| A．His own behavior. | B．His wife’s suggestion |
| C．His changeable feelings | D．His wife’s sweet kiss. |
| A．Smart words | B．Unusual actions |
| C．Surprising Looks | D．Anxious feelings |
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1--20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I often read of incidents of misunderstanding or conflict. I’m left
I was growing up in Kuala Lumpur in the early 1960s,
We were nine when we became friends. During the school holidays, we’d
When I was twelve, my family moved to Johor. Ismail’s family later returned to their village, and I
One spring afternoon in 1983, I stopped a taxi in Kuala Lumpur. I
If we can allow our children to be
| A．interested | B．pleased | C．puzzled | D．excited |
| A．parties | B．cities | C．villages | D．races |
| A．why | B．which | C．how | D．when |
| A．together | B．around | C．alone | D．apart |
| A．drop | B．throw | C．move | D．roll |
| A．refused | B．made | C．sought | D．accepted |
| A．paid | B．meant | C．preserved | D．treated |
| A．explore | B．search | C．discover | D．desert |
| A．get through | B．deal with | C．come across | D．take away |
| A．arrival | B．choice | C．effort | D．company |
| A．lost | B．gained | C．developed | D．missed |
| A．stated | B．ordered | C．decided | D．chose |
| A．attempts | B．instructions | C．opinions | D．arrangements |
| A．anxiously | B．carelessly | C．disappointedly | D．fixedly |
| A．familiarly | B．strangely | C．fully | D．coldly |
| A．departures | B．months | C．years | D．decades |
| A．possible | B．funny | C．hard | D．clear |
| A．them | B．themselves | C．us | D．ourselves |
| A．from | B．by | C．with | D．against |
| A．still | B．otherwise | C．then | D．instead |
4 . It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.
My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.
On the road to the harbor we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbor itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps (脊背) in the distance.
On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it — there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.
The little baby whale — actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe — and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.
In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.
1. The author says “I’m so glad I did.” (in Para.2) because __________.| A．he spent the weekend with his family |
| B．be witnessed the whole process of fishing |
| C．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea |
| D．he experienced the rescue of the whales |
| A．the long coast line | B．the shape of the harbor |
| C．the arms of the bay | D．the still water in the channel |
| A．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction |
| B．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long |
| C．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough |
| D．she had no other whales around to turn to for help |
| A．It’s vital to protect the environment |
| B．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness |
| C．Fishing provides excitement for children |
| D．It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals |
What makes a house a home? A home is a place of companionship with people in it who love each other, who are harmonious and closer with one another than with those in the workplace or with classmates at school. A home is a place that’s so magnetic that it’s difficult to leave. In a home there is love, sharing and appreciation, and the members help one another.
I have seen families on the street. But if they live, sleep, talk, and eat together, they are a family, even if they are poorly off. You don’t need a roof to make a home. The truly homeless are some of the rich people who build multi-million-dollar houses and are too busy to really live in them. The truly homeless are those who have turned their home into a hotel lobby. The parents work and the children misbehave. They don’t talk and eat together every day. They rarely see each other. The truly homeless people are those with babysitters, caretakers, gardeners and maids. However, people are unaware of this, as they are too busy making money outside the home that they don’t live in. This is another way of looking at the rich and the homeless. Who is to be pitied?
Control of the computer and the Internet is also important to make a house into a home. If the computer is on all the time, the house turns into an office, even if everyone is at home. Many homes these days are just offices. Human communication has stopped. The computer eats up all the time that one should be giving to others within the home. Using the computer moderately gives us time for play and communication, not with a screen, but with other people.
1. Which of the following may serve as the best title for this passage?| A．How to make a house a home? | B．What makes a house a home? |
| C．Who are truly homeless? | D．What is a home for? |
| A．that where there is home there is love | B．how to have a happy home |
| C．what people think a home is | D．the author’s concept of home |
| A．people who build multi-million-dollar houses |
| B．people who don’t spend time with the family |
| C．people who have lost their family members |
| D．homeless families living on the street in America |
| A．Computers and the Internet are important for a happy home. |
| B．A home is a place where you are willing to stay. |
| C．Sometimes it’s the rich that should be pitied. |
| D．Even the poorest people can have a happy home. |
| A．Communication. | B．Appreciation. |
| C．Kindness. | D．Companionship. |
Everybody gets unhappy. That’s why people eat a lot of
Giving
Imagine this: a boy has
Isn’t it true that the happiest people are typically those we consider foolish because they are
| A．junk food | B．meals | C．fruits | D．vegetables |
| A．unhappy | B．disappointed | C．happy | D．satisfied |
| A．Mostly | B．Actually | C．Finally | D．Naturally |
| A．winner | B．reminder | C．receiver | D．giver |
| A．time | B．money | C．clothes | D．food |
| A．positive | B．negative | C．rude | D．equal |
| A．communication | B．relationships | C．hobbies | D．topic |
| A．take | B．bring | C．devote | D．lead |
| A．believe | B．recognize | C．understand | D．dream |
| A．something | B．nothing | C．everything | D．anything |
| A．value | B．help | C．use | D．importance |
| A．wonder | B．need | C．doubt | D．good |
| A．view | B．person | C．day | D．moment |
| A．but | B．because | C．though | D．if |
| A．never | B．yet | C．seldom | D．always |
| A．clothes | B．hat | C．money | D．life |
| A．true | B．certain | C．sure | D．real |
| A．take in | B．pay for | C．care about | D．worry about |
| A．culture | B．custom | C．look | D．habit |
| A．healthy | B．unforgettable | C．successful | D．simple |
