Ritch Addison was ashy kid. In elementary school, he didn’t speak up for himself, and he
“It turned out that I had gotten a hundred on the test and he didn’t do so well,” Addison recalled. “And I joked heartlessly about it.”
Then one day, his good friend, Holly, pulled him aside and said, “Ritch, sometimes you really hurt
Addison
“But I kept thinking about what Holly said. Finally, I realized that she was
It couldn’t happen overnight,
2 . As a child, I was proud of my southern origin. My own voice reflected my family’s past and present-part northern Mississippi, part Tennessee, all southern. There was no sound I loved more than my grandmother’s accent: thick, sweet, warm.
While growing up, I began to realize outside of our region, southerners were often dismissed as uncultured and ignorant. I was ready to leave behind my tiny town in West Tennessee, starting a new life and jumping at big chances in some far-off cities. In that embarrassing space between “teen” and “adult”, my accent was a symbol of everything I thought I hated about my life in the rural South. I feared it would disqualify me from being a noted magazine writer. I would have to talk less “country”. So I killed a piece of myself. I’m ashamed of it, but I’m more ashamed that I tried to kill that part of someone else-change Emily’s accent.
I met Emily in college. She was determined to work for the student newspaper, which was where I spent most of my waking hours, and we became friends. She, unlike me, accepted her roots. Early in our friendship, her mother asked where I was from, assuming it was somewhere up north. Then I felt my efforts paid off and even wanted to ignore the mistake.
Emily is two years younger and she cared about my opinion. I advised her to be more like me and hide her signature Manchester accent. I stressed that throughout our college years, often by making fun of her vowel (元音) sounds. I told myself I was helping her achieve her dream of working as a reporter. Now, I see that it was actually about justifying my hiding part of myself.
Grandma Carolyn used to tell me, “Girl, don’t forget where you come from.” Now I truly understand that. Many things have faded from memory, but this sticks in my mind with uncomfortable clarity. Now that I am grown and have left the South, it’s important to me.
1. What made the author want to leave her hometown?A.Appeal of convenience in cities. |
B.Her dream of becoming a writer. |
C.Outside prejudice against southerners. |
D.Her desire for the northern accent. |
A.Upset. | B.Pleased. | C.Ashamed. | D.Surprised. |
A.To prove herself right. | B.To help Emily be a reporter. |
C.To make herself influential. | D.To protect Emily’s self-dignity. |
A.Stay true to your roots. | B.Never do things by halves. |
C.Hold on to your dreams. | D.Never judge a person by his accent. |
3 . On sunny and warm days, I love to wander through high mountains. I also love it when fog goes down and
One day while I was visiting a mountaintop, the fog blew in. I was
As I sat there, I began to see things that I’d never
As I
The nature has used those times when everything around me seemed like
A.covers | B.surrounds | C.buries | D.floats |
A.surprised | B.worried | C.disappointed | D.frightened |
A.water | B.voyage | C.direction | D.distance |
A.filled with | B.caught in | C.robbed of | D.stopped from |
A.road | B.approach | C.way | D.trip |
A.clear up | B.take up | C.make up | D.give up |
A.noticed | B.believed | C.accepted | D.met |
A.dresses | B.shapes | C.functions | D.models |
A.ordered | B.showed | C.drew | D.urged |
A.studying | B.decorating | C.searching | D.exploring |
A.drove | B.passed | C.rode | D.walked |
A.concern | B.gratitude | C.regret | D.pride |
A.white | B.pink | C.black | D.gray |
A.otherwise | B.therefore | C.moreover | D.meanwhile |
A.danger | B.despair | C.loneliness | D.amazement |
4 . My career as a chef started at the age of 25, but my
From my youth, I have had this passion for food. Growing up in Morocco, I witnessed the most amazing hospitality and
I remember as a young kid coming home from school to the
Food is almost as
In my kitchen, I try to duplicate (复制) smells and flavors that make me think about more than what I’m actually smelling or
A.talent | B.passion | C.explanation | D.expectation |
A.changing | B.ordering | C.preparing | D.searching |
A.inspired | B.bothered | C.honored | D.amused |
A.ask about | B.experiment with | C.learn of | D.shop for |
A.biggest | B.cleanest | C.best | D.cheapest |
A.wisdom | B.honesty | C.success | D.generosity |
A.offices | B.houses | C.restaurant | D.hotel |
A.art | B.signs | C.creation | D.smells |
A.fruits | B.vegetables | C.ingredients | D.goods |
A.delicious | B.useful | C.organic | D.convenient |
A.nutritious | B.sufficient | C.emotional | D.suitable |
A.reason | B.purpose | C.cook | D.story |
A.kitchen | B.heart | C.source | D.point |
A.tasting | B.chewing | C.touching | D.seeing |
A.holds up | B.drives away | C.stirs up | D.depends on |
Rick, a ten-year-old boy, was constantly angry at everything around him. He always fought in school with the other kids. Once he had an outburst in school. Upset by something a classmate said to him, he pushed the boy, and a fight happened. When the teacher stepped in to break it up, Rick went crazy, throwing papers and books around the classroom and rushing out. His teachers couldn’t say anything that would comfort the kid. And the parents of his schoolmates were getting concerned. Rick was earning quite the reputation. After talking with school officials, Rick’s mom tried everything she could to calm Rick down.
She tried different methods until one day she came home with a canvas (画布) and paint. “What’s this?”, Rick asked. Rick’s mom handed over the painting equipment and said, “Whenever you feel angry, paint whatever you’re angry about instead of bursting out.” Rick wasn’t that happy about it but he gave it a try anyway. Over the next few weeks, the young boy created several artworks. They mostly showed disturbing images though. So his mom took all of the paintings and called Rick over so that they could talk about them. “Tell me, Rick. What are these paintings about?”
“Well, the first painting is about how some of the kids show off their new clothes and pencil cases. The next painting is about my teacher who keeps telling me about how I’m doing things wrong. And the last painting is about how one of my schoolmate’s father suggested that I change my attitude. All of them make me so angry.” Rick’s mom, in a calm voice, took Rick by her side and told him: “Don’t you see it, Rick?” “See what?” Rick asked. “You’re so angry at all of these things but not once did you try to understand why you’re getting so angry. What have all these people done to you, really?”
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Rick was lost in thought.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rick knew it was time to change.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I yawned (打哈欠)as I got off the last step of the bus. I had woken early that morning, and had not been able to sleep on the long ride from Riverside High, thinking about that day’s race, the Eye Opener. I had never raced in a state-wide race before. Over thirty high school teams ran, along with quite a few colleges. The rest of my team and I unloaded the bus, and we relaxed and waited for our race patiently.
“Start warming up,” our coach told us, roughly forty-five minutes after we arrived. After finishing our stretches, we headed over to the starting line, eager for the race to begin.
The starter walked to the middle of the field. “There will be two commands,” his voice boomed, ‘‘Runners set, then the gun. If you hear another shot, return to the starting line to start again. ” My heart raced as I got my legs ready to race.
“Runners set!” the starter shouted Bam! The gun fired, and he rushed out of our way. Adrenaline (肾上腺素)rushed through my body as I raced through the mass of runners. As I rounded the first turn, my schoolmates greeted me with heartening shouts. Then, in what felt like only one minute, I arrived at the one mile mark.
“6’10”, a man declared as I ran by. I tried to ignore him, but my legs began to burn as I realized I had run a mile and still had two to go. I slowed down my pace, for I knew the second mile was the worst of all three. Minutes later, I felt horrible. My legs ached, feeling like lead blocks. My vision was clouded as sweat dropped down into my eyes, and my arms felt as if they would fall off if I swung them one more time. Just as I almost reached my limit, a boy passed me. He also seemed to have lost strength but soon he was a little ahead of me.
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I gathered up my strength to speed up but suddenly fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the last mile, seeing the athletes passing us one by one, I asked the boy to run without me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Although Cuban built a tech company that would finally make him extremely rich, he never showed off that. “I never, ever thought about
At the beginning, when Cuban sold his first company for 6 million dollars, he never thought he’d have to
Five years later, the stock (股票) he had was highly
I couldn’t agree more with Cuban’s views. A person’s life is short. We should make the best use of time to do meaningful things, so that we won’t
A.money | B.relief | C.jobs | D.companies |
A.equally | B.completely | C.purposely | D.naturally |
A.narrowness | B.dirt | C.time | D.age |
A.live | B.share | C.travel | D.work |
A.wise | B.suitable | C.impressive | D.free |
A.symbols | B.strategies | C.earnings | D.rents |
A.party | B.spend | C.challenge | D.tour |
A.valuable | B.formal | C.major | D.obvious |
A.sold | B.packed | C.held | D.buried |
A.formed | B.improved | C.broke | D.changed |
A.personality | B.lesson | C.path | D.solution |
A.puts away | B.takes down | C.works out | D.gets over |
A.create | B.donate | C.buy | D.own |
A.save | B.apply | C.understand | D.limit |
A.feature | B.regret | C.start | D.deliver |
8 . “Dad, I need your help. Come here!” My 5-year-old girl pulled me towards the computer. “Dad, please buy everything I have in the Amazon shopping cart (购物车). Here, take this cash from my savings!” The shopping cart showed ten items for a total of about 130 dollars. “Wait!” I replied.“That’s too much money! Why do you need all these things?”“Please, Dad! These items will get here before Christmas. I have a surprise for everyone. No peeking(偷看)!” she explained, and I bought everything.
A couple of days later, she got everything. I saw her then wrapping (包装) all her gifts. “Can I help you?” I asked.“No, Dad. I told you these are special surprises. No peeking!” she replied. Her excitement was obvious.
The day came. She was all around her gifts, planning, protecting, arranging. Everything had to be perfect. As soon as dinner was over, she jumped from her chair and took her gifts. She went around giving each one of us her piece of love. These were small items, but it was the meaning of giving her heart that we were really feeling. As she gave the gift to each person, she watched the expression on our faces. Our smiles were her greatest reward. Her last gift was for my 2-year-old boy—a toy car. It was hard to describe my little boy’s delight at getting this gift! For several minutes, everyone’s attention was focused on watching him go all around the house happily.
Seeing these acts of my 5-year-old helped me understand the power of giving—giving from the heart. Later that day, my girl received some gifts, but she didn’t need them. She focused on others, not on herself. It was clear that she was the one feeling true joy.
1. Why did the girl ask her father for help?A.She didn’t have enough money. |
B.She needed him to keep the secret. |
C.She wanted to get his opinions on gifts. |
D.She couldn’t make the online payment. |
A.She felt proud. |
B.She felt delighted. |
C.She felt cautious. |
D.She felt satisfied. |
A.Pleasant. | B.Creative. |
C.Reasonable. | D.Surprising. |
A.To praise his daughter for her generosity. |
B.To share his experience of raising his kids. |
C.To discuss how to find happiness in daily life. |
D.To share the lesson learned from his daughter. |
9 . Regret is a very real reaction to a disappointing event in your life, a choice you made that can’t be changed, something you said that you can’t take back.
As with other negative emotions, it doesn’t work to avoid, deny or try to destroy regret.
You can help release these feelings of regret by practicing self-compassion (自我同情).This means reminding yourself that you are human, you are doing the best you can and you can learn from past decisions and grow.
Noticing, acknowledging and then forgiving your thoughts are a powerful step towards overcoming regret.
A.Dealing with regret is even more difficult. |
B.Regret is not only unpleasant, but also unhealthy. |
C.There are basically two ways to experience regret. |
D.But regret related to the inaction path is harder to fix. |
E.Seeing the situation in a different way may help reduce regret. |
F.In the long run, these strategies only increase negative feelings. |
G.Showing this compassion to yourself can help you accept and move past the regret. |
10 . For most of my life, I didn’t like being seen. I went bright red when it was my turn to speak in a group. I hated the teacher asking me something. I even didn’t like my family all looking at me! I often tried to hide away and avoid being seen by others! So, it’s not strange that I feared speaking in front of others.
Luckily, I’ve learned to overcome my problem. Now I love helping others who have the same problem that I once had but want to speak up because they have valuable things to share. I particularly love helping entrepreneurs (企业家) to become more confident. When you help a leader, the impact is so much greater.
Over the years I’ve discovered that there are three main problems that people have when it comes to speaking in public. The first is a lack of selfbelief. They doubt themselves and question whether what they have to say is valuable. The second is a fear of being seen as arrogant (傲慢的). The third is a fear of rejection or a fear of not being liked.
All of these problems are related to mindset, specifically, a fearbased mindset, which is common. These fears stop people from stepping up as the leader and influencer they were born to be.
If you want to become a more effective influencer, it is so important to work on any fears you have of judgment or rejection. They will be a ball and chain that will hold you back from success. We need to take action despite feeling fear. We can’t wait for the fear to go away as it won’t go away itself. We have to act while we still feel it. And to overcome fears, we should practice. Confidence is attached to progress, and we only progress if we practice. If you don’t feel you’re progressing, you’ll start to lose your confidence and stay stuck in fear.
1. What does the author like doing now?A.Giving speeches in front of people. |
B.Sharing experiences with her followers. |
C.Making friends with famous entrepreneurs. |
D.Helping others gain confidence in speaking in public. |
A.They are very difficult to overcome. |
B.They lead to a very uncommon mindset. |
C.They exist mainly because of people’s fears. |
D.They are no problem for leaders or influencers. |
A.Wait for the fear to disappear. |
B.Avoid failure to become more confident. |
C.Refuse judgment or rejection from others. |
D.Practice hard to make progress in spite of fears. |
A.Finding the Courage Inside You |
B.Becoming a more Influential Person |
C.Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking |
D.Expressing Your Ideas more Effectively |