1 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，有两项为多余选项。
●Does failure really exist? If you believe you have failed, then you have. If you believe you don’t have the ability to succeed, then you don’t.    1    The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born.
●    2    Most people give themselves an out without even realizing it. They are willing to work hard on reaching their goals, but only until the going gets too rough or their energy dies down. Don’t do that!    3    Never quit, never admit failure, and never lose heart.
●Don’t believe in a clear finish line for goals.It’s a good idea to set a general timeline, but remember that something will be beyond your control.    4    If you lock yourself into a given timeline, you might make yourself feel like a failure! Instead, get a general idea of when you’d like your goal to be completed. Then take it one day at a time and focus on making progress instead of reaching the finish line in as little time as possible.
●Be sure that you don’t see difficulties as failures.Difficulties mean only one thing: it’s not time for your goal to be completed yet. That’s it! It doesn’t mean you failed; it doesn’t mean you’re weak; it doesn’t mean you’ll never achieve your goals.    5    You’ve got to keep moving forward and find a way over, around, or through the difficulties.

A．Never give up on yourself.

B．Failure only exists in your own mind!

C．That’s exactly how failure makes us feel.

D．It simply means you have not done enough yet.

E．You can never say exactly when your goal will be reached.

F．Instead, make up your mind to make your goal happen, no matter what!

G．Work hard towards your goal, and you will be likely to get good results.

2 . I always wanted to be extraordinarily good at something. Not just as in, “Great job, Jimbo!” No, I wanted to be best-in-class, awe-inspiring, tiptop: a world-famous genius, like Michael Phelps, or Mark Zuckerberg.

Unfortunately, my version of reality did not quite line up with this delusional vision. I was a good swimmer, but I peaked at the collegiate State Championships level. My academic record was pretty solid, but I never would have made it into one of those ivy-league schools.

Though I rose to above-average status in a couple of areas, the disappointing truth was that I would never amount to anything more than a mid-sized fish in a small pond. God apparently had other plans.

What drove me crazy, though, was the superstar talent thrown in my face at every turn. Some folks just seemed to get an unfair intensive dose (剂量) of it. Why couldn’t I be like Bernie Williams, the famed New York Yankees player who also happens to be a world-class jazz guitar virtuoso (艺术大师)?

Some say greatness is simply a function of putting in the practice time. Around ten thousand hours, to be precise, according to author Malcolm Gladwell. I don’t question the theory of devoting extraordinary efforts to developing one’s expertise, but it seems that raw talent is equally important. You either have it or you don’t.

I’ve heard that as people approach middle age, their life satisfaction increases because they begin to accept the gap between the expectations for themselves and the reality. After a few decades of frustration without the desired results, we eventually come to terms with how our lives turned out, even if it falls far short of our idealized youthful expectations.

Hope bends, it seems.

1. What does the word “delusional” in Para. 2 most probably mean?

A．Imaginary.

B．Realistic.

C．Psychological.

D．Theoretical.

2. In the passage, the writer thinks of himself as ________.

A．a world-famous genius	B．a mid-sized fish in a small pond
C．a world-class virtuoso	D．a student in an ivy-league school

3. According to the writer, what makes “greatness”?

A．Extraordinary efforts	B．Talent and time
C．Raw talent	D．Ten thousand hours of practice

4. Which of the following might be the best title?

A．Hope Bends	B．Frustrating Decades
C．Practice Works	D．Youthful Expectations

3 . On a cold November afternoon, my mother and I were walking home from a pizza store. We were dressed ____ and equipped with the rented video we had been ____ to watch. I was feeling a little ____ as I was carrying our shopping, and decided to throw away something. So I was starting to walk towards the garbage can ____ I noticed a poor man walking out of the restaurant in front of us. He ____ over to another nearby garbage can and started _____it.

I suddenly felt very guilty because I was about to throw away a new drink just because it was ____. I walked up to him and handed the ____ and some snacks over to him. The man looked up ____ and took what I gave him.

A huge smile ____ across his face and this ____ me to feel indescribable satisfaction. I felt I couldn’t be happier ____ myself, but then he said, “Wow, this is my son’s lucky day!”

With that, he thanked me happily and started off on his bike, I ____ heard him whistling a song as he rode away.

I got a warm ____ inside. I now understand what is ____ by the saying “giving is getting”.

Although it only ____ a little action and a few words, I gained and learned more in those two minutes than I did in the rest of the month. Everyone in the world needs help, everyone can ____ help and everyone will be helped by ____ kindness.

The image of that man’s happiness caused by my small gift appears in my mind every ____ I have the chance to do something nice.

This is the ____ of charity.

1.

A．poorly

B．coldly

C．warmly

D．expensively

2.

A．dying

B．exciting

C．amazing

D．satisfying

3.

A．worried

B．interested

C．bored

D．tired

4.

A．and

B．but

C．as

D．when

5.

A．headed

B．passed

C．crossed

D．pulled

6.

A．looking around

B．looking at

C．looking through

D．looking for

7.

A．cheap

B．heavy

C．tasteless

D．full

8.

A．money

B．toys

C．drink

D．clothes

9.

A．in silence

B．in surprise

C．in secret

D．in panic

10.

A．appeared

B．spread

C．went

D．ran

11.

A．forced

B．helped

C．persuaded

D．caused

12.

A．with

B．to

C．at

D．for

13.

A．still

B．once

C．even

D．ever

14.

A．sense

B．mind

C．thinking

D．feeling

15.

A．aimed

B．meant

C．considered

D．intended

16.

A．cost

B．took

C．called

D．asked

17.

A．appreciate

B．send

C．give

D．have

18.

A．showing

B．expressing

C．lending

D．setting

19.

A．moment

B．day

C．minute

D．time

20.

A．power

B．meaning

C．strength

D．goal

4 . One day,I was taking a nap in my office when I woke up to the sound of a car crash.I sat up and looked out of the window.In the parking lot,a car had just crashed into a fence.The car must have been moving fast,because it was in bad shape.

Then I watched as the driver got out of the car.He wore loose trousers and a crumpled(褶皱的）shirt unbuttoned to show his chest hair.Immediately,I disliked him.

Then,he opened the passenger door,from which a very small child ran out.A kid in the front seat!My dislike for the man increased greatly.

As the child ran around in the parking lot,the man tried to repair the damage.He tried to pull the ruined fence back into place,but it wouldn't move.I looked out of the window,silently cheering.The man tried harder.However,suddenly,the man fell hard onto the ground with one of his shoes landing 10 feet away on the sidewalk.I think I laughed out loudly.That almost brightened my whole morning.He stood up and walked slowly to a nearby apartment.That,I thought,would be the end of it.The man was going to leave the mess behind for someone else to clean up.

However,a few minutes later the man appeared with some tools and for the next hour, I watched out of my window as he stubbornly fixed the fence.Now the fence would be extra secure,stronger than before.That man was actually a hero.My ugly assumptions(设想），I realized,were all about myself.I would never have fixed that fence and run away.

Years later I still look out of my window at the fence almost every day.It makes me wonder what else that man has improved and how I can make myself more like him.

1. In paragraph 2,the author thought of the man as______

A．irresponsible	B．impatient.
C．thoughtful	D．loving

2. The underlined word"That"in paragraph 3 probably refers to.

A．the man's trying to fix the fence

B．the man's falling onto the ground

C．the man's car crashing into the fence

D．the man's kid running around cheerfully

3. What helped change the author's attitude towards the man?

A．The man left his shoes on the sidewalk.

B．The man protected his child from the car crash.

C．The man tried to put the damaged fence in place.

D．The man came back to fix and improve the fence.

4. What lesson can we learn from the author's experience?

A．No pains,no gains.

B．You can never be too careful.

C．Don't judge a book by its cover.

D．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.

5 . 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。

There once was a very wealthy and     1     (curiosity) king. This king had a huge stone     2     (place) in the middle of a road. Then he hid nearby to see if anyone would try to remove the large stone from the road.

The first people to pass by were some of the king’s     3     (wealthy) merchants and richest courtiers(朝臣). Rather than moving it, they simply walked around it. A few loudly blamed the king     4     not maintaining(保养) the roads. Not one of them tried to move the stone. Finally, a peasant came along. His arms were full of various     5     (vegetable). When he got near the rock, rather than merely walking around it as the others had, the peasant put down his load and tried to move the stone to the side of the road.

The peasant gathered up his load and was ready     6     (go) on his way when he saw a purse lying in the road     7     the stone had been. The peasant opened the purse. The purse     8     (fill) with gold coins and a note from the king. The king’s note said the purse’s gold was     9    reward for moving the stone from the road.

The king showed the peasant what many of us never understand: every obstacle     10    (present) an opportunity to improve our condition.

6 . For years, I thought a present and a gift as the same thing.

I grew up in a household where presents marked special ________ There was always a box for each of us under the tree at Christmas. _________, Dad always gave Mom something each Valentine’s Day and anniversary. He would carefully plan his shopping trips to find just the _______ thing. His joy in the hunt was proof of the _______of giving and of his love for her. I saw these presents as the _______ of a husband's devotion.

So when I married a man who did not give presents on a regular basis, it was an _______

I wrestled with my expectation. Gary did hot _______ avoid gift-giving. Gary would return from sea armed with a brown paper bag inside of which was something that _______ him of me. But mostly, he ignored holidays, _______ to shop for a thing to present to me as a sign of love.

I tried to change him ________. I prepared gifts for Christmas and for his birthdays ________. He appreciated the caring, but refused to do the same thing for me. I dropped hints, they ________ deaf ears.

I began to tell him what I wanted, giving ________ instructions. When Gary left for the market one Saturday, I asked him to find me diamond earrings as a birthday present. Yet he came home with a road scraper （刮路机）.

________when the snowstorm stopped later that year and he was at sea, I used the road scraper to plow （犁）out both our driveway and our neighbor's, thinking how ________ earrings would have been and it was then that I realized he had been giving me gifts all along. The gestures, large and small, born of his caring and concern were the ________that he gave daily.

We ________ to teach others how to love us. In that struggle, we often forget how to ________ the love they already give us as only they can give it.

I finally began to understand the ________ between a present and a gift. A present is a thing. But a gift is a small act of kindness, the willingness to ________ another's needs, the sacrifice of time and effort.

1.

A．locations

B．situations

C．occasions

D．conditions

2.

A．Additionally

B．Originally

C．Fortunately

D．Consequently

3.

A．cheap

B．astonishing

C．splendid

D．right

4.

A．pleasure

B．ambition

C．intention,

D．addiction

5.

A．example

B．emphasis

C．experiment

D．expression

6.

A．improvement

B．adjustment

C．excitement

D．enjoyment

7.

A．actively

B．willingly

C．patiently

D．wholly

8.

A．warned

B．reminded

C．convinced

D．informed

9.

A．refusing

B．announcing

C．demanding

D．rushing

10.

A．by tradition

B．by force

C．by example

D．by accident

11.

A．on purpose

B．in order

C．at random

D．on time

12.

A．absorbed in

B．cared for

C．fell on

D．broke down

13.

A．some

B．specific

C．brief

D．unusual

14.

A．And

B．So

C．Though

D．But

15.

A．precious

B．practical

C．useless

D．ugly

16.

A．promises

B．gifts

C．blessings

D．instructions

17.

A．struggle

B．fail

C．attempt

D．decide

18.

A．express

B．appreciate

C．return

D．share

19.

A．distance

B．similarity

C．difference

D．conflict

20.

A．fight against

B．laugh at

C．turn down

D．bend to

7 . I entered a cabinetmaking(家具制造)program. I didn’t think I would be good at making furniture. I’m not handy. Nobody in my family is.

I had great teachers, but making furniture is hard. There are so many steps and something can go wrong at each one. I couldn’t even get organized. My toolbox always looked as if a hurricane had gone through it.

I didn’t fully know what I was committed to in the beginning, but I kept attending class. I tried to be wrapped up in math. The projects forced me to solve new kinds of problems. My brain started to build new connections. Working in this new physical manner and giving it 100 percent of my effort had huge benefits for my mental health. I got over my fear of embarrassment and asked for help at every opportunity.

I spent that year truly learning. True learning is the most challenging experience, especially for those of us who are learning a new set of skills. I could understand exactly what was wrong with the furniture I made, but I couldn’t fix those problems. And yet, I kept trying. I failed again and again, until I learned to fail better.

In the end, I finished the program—with honors, no less! My grades were helped by my good written work. I also learned how to use tools. Having to constantly push myself to step outside my comfort zone has made me a more well-rounded person.

Maybe most importantly, the school gave me a more realistic idea of my strengths and limitations. I’m stronger than I thought!

1. What can we know about the author from the first two paragraphs?

A．She had a gift for making furniture.	B．She lacked practical skills.
C．She disliked making everything in a mess.	D．She went to the program to surprise her family.

2. What was the biggest challenge the author encountered?

A．Physical condition.	B．Psychological preparation.
C．To know how to correct mistakes.	D．Not being good at math.

3. What do you think of the author?

A．Hard-working and determined.	B．Confident and efficient.
C．Cooperative and creative.	D．Modest and talented.

4. What did the author benefit most from the project?

A．She won an award for good writing.	B．She became stronger both mentally and physically.
C．She became skillful at making furniture.	D．She had a better understanding of herself.

8 . Once I had a student called Jamal. He would squirm (扭来扭去)in his chair during independent work, and he would never stay still for more than three or four minutes. Students like Jamal can confuse brand new teachers because they’re not quite sure how to support young people like him. I took a direct approach. I negotiated with Jamal. If he could give me focused work, then he could do it from anywhere in the classroom: from our classroom rug, from behind my desk, or from inside his classroom locker, which turned out to be his favorite place.

Jamal’s least favorite subject was writing, and he never wanted to read what he had written out loud in class, but we were still making progress. One day, I decided to host a mock (模拟的)2008 presidential election in my classroom. My third graders had to research and write a speech for their chosen candidate: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain. The favorite candidates were obvious, but one student chose John McCain. It was Jamal. Jamal finally decided to read something that he had written out loud in class, and sure enough, Jamal stunned all of us with his brilliance. Just like Jamal’s dad, John McCain was a veteran, and just like Jamal’s dad protected him, Jamal believed that John McCain would protect the entire country. He wasn’t my candidate of choice, but it didn’t matter, because the entire class erupted into applause for our brave friend Jamal who finally showed up as his most confident self for the first time that year.

A lack of confidence pulls us down from the bottom and weighs us down from the top, crushing us between a flurry of can’ts and won’ts. Without confidence, we get stuck, and when we get stuck, we can’t even get started. Instead of getting mired in what can get in our way, confidence invites us to perform with certainty.

1. Which of the following best describes Jamal?

A．Naughty and stubborn	B．Determined but shy
C．Smart but unfocused	D．Confident and generous

2. Why did Jamal choose John McCain in the mock 2008 presidential election?

A．Because John was the least popular among the three choices.

B．Because John had written something about him before.

C．Because John shared some similarities with Jamal’s father.

D．Because John was a soldier who could protect the country.

3. What does the underlined word “stun” mean?

A．Amaze.

B．Cheer.

C．Awake.

D．Entertain.

4. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To introduce the change of the authors student.

B．To show how to deal with problem students.

C．To stress the importance of encouragement.

D．To encourage us to be confident.

9 . 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。

“Mommy ,don't go,”my three-year-old son screamed as I walked to the door. My fifteen-year-old leaned against the kitchen counter with his arms folded across his chest ,not screaming,but glaring at me as I pulled his little brother off my leg.

“Are you mad at me too?”

“You spend all your time taking care of other people's kids,but what about us?”Dylan left angrily.

I was shocked and a little hurt. How could my own child not understand that the work I was doing was saving live? Then the answer hit me. He didn't know bemuse he had never seen what Healing the Children actually did. Dylan had heard the sores of sick children, but had never once looked into the eyes of a   child and understood the hard truth-that without our help, the child would likely die.

“Get dressed. You are going with me.”I said.

I spend the drive explaining the case of Hector to my son, who pretended to ignore me the entire time.“He's seven, only weighs thirty pounds and is very sick. He has a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, which could kill him. It is a miracle(奇迹) that he is still alive. ”

I went on to explain that it took a team of volunteer medical staff to get Hector to the hospital from his remote village and care for him while he was there. Still, Dylan seemed unimpressed.

We stopped at a convenience store for water and snacks. Dylan had one large and one small Slurpee (思乐冰饮料). He said the small one was for Hector. I doubted whether the little guy would be able to drink it, but remained silent. This was the first interest Dylan had shown in being there. I wasn't about to ruin it.

I stopped at the nurse's station to check on Hector's progress while Dylan went to his room. Our patient was recovering physically，but the nurse was concerned that Hector was struggling emotionally. She said “Kids usually bounce back fast, but he hardly speaks and never smiles.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . I had reached the age of twenty-eight. Still, I _______ whether the letter from my past would make it to me, all these years later. It was a（n） _______writing task from when I was eighteen. The teacher collected our letters to our _______ selves in self-addressed envelope with stamps and _______ to mail them ten years later. But since so much time had passed, would he _______ remember?

_________ the letter, I recalled giving my future self some advice. When you're eighteen Years old, twenty-eight seems like a _______age, but I wasn't feeling as mature as I believed my younger self had _______me to be.

When the letter finally reached me, I opened it _______. It began, “How much do you bet this letter will never get to you? ” It continued to greet me casually ________we were having an IM (instant messaging) chat. As a senior in high school, facing the________SATS and college application, my eighteen-year-old self was so stressed! She was ________ not quite happy and hoped I wouldn't worry so much in the future, and that I wouldn't forget to be present and________my life!

________to my belief, my eighteen-year-old self did not have any demands of me, or expectations I might have ________ meet. Instead, she wrote, “I'll ________whatever you do. Even if you are not the one I'm imagining now, I'll ________ you, because maybe who I'm imagining is someone else, but you're not someone else, you're me.

I was touched, and tears welled up in my eyes at this________ through time. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best ________ of myself that I could be. However, I came to realize what I would have ________ in ten years would pale in comparison to how I'd feel and who I'd be.

1.

A．believed

B．bet

C．considered

D．doubted

2.

A．easy

B．tough

C．urgent

D．creative

3.

A．inner

B．happy

C．future

D．young

4.

A．promised

B．agreed

C．permitted

D．acknowledged

5.

A．just

B．still

C．never

D．always

6.

A．Making comment on

B．Thinking back on

C．Making up for

D．Giving a view of

7.

A．grown-up

B．happy

C．made-up

D．promising

8.

A．allowed

B．convince

C．encouraged

D．expected

9.

A．calmly

B．cautiously

C．eagerly

D．naturally

10.

A．even if

B．so that

C．now that

D．as if

11.

A．appearing

B．arriving

C．approaching

D．approving

12.

A．apparently

B．severely

C．desperately

D．slightly

13.

A．value

B．enjoy

C．start

D．earn

14.

A．Contrary

B．Natural

C．Surprised

D．Strange

15.

A．tried to

B．failed to

C．managed to

D．determined to

16.

A．pass by

B．drop by

C．stand by

D．come by

17.

A．suspect

B．support

C．praise

D．follow

18.

A．self-acceptance

B．self-service

C．self-defense

D．self-concern

19.

A．identity

B．image

C．status

D．version

20.

A．finished

B．treasured

C．accomplished

D．consumed