1 . You wake up in the morning, the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time. Then the telephone rings,you say hello,and the drama starts.The person on the other end has a depressing tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to.You are still in a wonderful mood?Impossible!

Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness. It may not change what you think, but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time.

Life brings ups and downs,but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer. They only feel glad when they make others feel bad. No wonder they can hardly win others' pity or respect.

When you communicate with positive people, your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted. When the dagger（匕首）of a negative person is put in you, you feel the heavy feeling that all in all, brings you down.

Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people. This could be a coworker, or a relative. In this case, say what needs to be said as little as possible. Sometimes it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person, but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that.

Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized. The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to（附着）you throughout the rest of your day, which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness. Life is too short to feel negative. Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible.

1. The purpose of the first paragraph is to______.

A．make a comparison

B．offer an evidence

C．introduce a topic

D．describe a daily scene

2. How can negative people have effect on us?

A．By influencing our emotion.

B．By telling us the nature of life.

C．By changing our way of thinking.

D．By comparing their attitude to life with ours.

3. Some negative people base their happiness on________.

A．other people's pity for them

B．making other people unhappy

C．building up a positive attitude

D．other people’s respect for them

4. According to the passage, to reduce negative people’s influence on us,we are advised______.

A．to change negative people’s attitude to life

B．to show our dissatisfaction to negative people

C．to make negative people feel ashamed of themselves

D．to communicate with negative people as little as possible

2 . It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.

Most do not fully see this truth.    1    . It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.

    2    . Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.    3    .

    4    . When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve.    5    As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.

A．Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure.

B．Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn (责难) us for failing.

C．It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn.

D．Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning.

E．Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy.

F．We can register to make money and participate in problem solving collaboration (合作、协作) groups.

G．What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one.

3 . How can you make a million dollars in one month? I’m sure I am going to get the _______ of many readers with the question. The _______ news is that you are not going to make a million dollars in one month _______ you win the lottery (彩票) or some other prize.

We all want to be millionaires. However, if you try to _______ how they became that rich, you will learn that they worked very _______for the money. That is what most ___________have had to do, including Bill Gates and Andrew Carnegie, and they often went _______ hardships before they succeeded _______.

There are many reasons why the millionaires have made it _______ for themselves. In this article, I am going to ________passion (热情) which I think is the most ________ quality to have in order to succeed. I am sure that if one were to ____________ the people who made millions in their lifetime, this would be found in all of them.

Take J.K. Rowling for ________. Her first Harry Potter book was sent to twelve publishing houses, all of which ________ to publish it. A year later, she was finally given the chance by a small ________, which paid ￡1,500. And the ________from that company was that she should get herself a job since she had little ________ of making a living by writing children’s books.

If you want to make a million dollars, find something that________ you really passionate and work hard at it. It doesn’t ________ what it is. Let me know how you ________.

1.

A．attention

B．discussion

C．consideration

D．excitement

2.

A．common

B．funny

C．disappointing

D．surprising

3.

A．if

B．unless

C．since

D．though

4.

A．find out

B．think up

C．bring up

D．care about

5.

A．long

B．wisely

C．hard

D．happily

6.

A．millionaires

B．people

C．leaders

D．businessmen

7.

A．around

B．under

C．through

D．near

8.

A．as well

B．at last

C．on purpose

D．by chance

9.

A．appear

B．complete

C．change

D．happen

10.

A．talk about

B．show off

C．pick out

D．carry out

11.

A．interesting

B．important

C．unforgettable

D．beautiful

12.

A．serve

B．visit

C．marry

D．study

13.

A．agreement

B．experience

C．example

D．experiment

14.

A．promised

B．struggled

C．refused

D．tried

15.

A．office

B．publisher

C．factory

D．school

16.

A．advice

B．praise

C．comment

D．celebration

17.

A．interest

B．energy

C．time

D．chance

18.

A．reminds

B．drives

C．forces

D．makes

19.

A．matter

B．say

C．mean

D．care

20.

A．understand

B．plan

C．go

D．behave

4 . On a hill 600 feet above the surrounding land, we watch the lines of rain move across the scene, the moon rise over the hills, and the stars appear in the sky. The views invite a long look from a comfortable chair in front of the wooden house.

Every window in our wooden house has a view, and the forest and lakes seldom look the same as the hour before. Each look reminds us where we are.

There is space for our three boys to play outside, to shoot arrows, collect tree seeds, build earth houses and climb trees.

Our kids have learned the names of the trees, and with the names have come familiarity and appreciation. As they tell all who show even a passing interest, maple（枫树）makes the best fighting sticks and white pines are the best climbing trees.

The air is clean and fresh. The water from the well has a pleasant taste, and it is perhaps the healthiest water our kids will ever drink. Though they have one glass a day of juice and the rest is water, they never say anything against that.

The seasons change just outside the door. We watch the maples turn every shade of yellow and red in the fall and note the poplars’（杨树）putting out the first green leaves of spring. The rainbow smelt fills the local steam as the ice gradually disappears, and the wood frogs start to sing in pools after being frozen for the winter. A family of birds rules our skies and flies over the lake.

1. What can be learned from Paragraph 2?

A．The scenes are colorful and changeable.

B．There are many windows in the wooden house.

C．The views remind us that we are in a wooden house.

D．The lakes outside the windows are quite different in color.

2. By mentioning the names of the trees, the author aims to show that ______ .

A．the kids like playing in trees

B．the kids are very familiar with trees

C．the kids have learned much knowledge

D．the kids find trees useful learning tools

3. What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?

A．The change of seasons is easily felt.

B．The seasons make the scenes change.

C．The weather often changes in the forest.

D．The door is a good position to enjoy changing seasons.

4. What is the main purpose of the author writing the text?

A．To describe the beauty of the scene around the house.

B．To introduce her children’s happy life in the forest.

C．To show that living in the forest is healthful.

D．To share the joy of living in the nature.

5 . Every object tells a story. Even the most ordinary objects can present to us powerful images. Sometimes it is the ordinary nature of these objects that actually makes them so extraordinary. Such is the case with an old leather shoe in a museum in Alaska. At first glance it does not look like much. It is a woman’s shoe of a style popular in the 1890s. But what is unique(独特的) about this shoe is where it was found. It was discovered on the Checkout Pass, the famous trail used by the people seeking gold in Alaska. Who it belonged to or why it was left there is not known. Was it perhaps dropped by accident as the woman climbed up the 1500 stairs carved outface? Or did she throw away goods that she didn’t need in order to travel lighter?
Over 100, 000 people with “gold fever” made this trip hoping to become millionaires. Few of them understood that on their way they would have to cross a harsh wildness. Unprepared for such a dangerous journey, many died of starvation and exposure to the cold weather.
The Canadian government finally started requiring the gold seekers to bring one ton of supplies with them. This was thought to be enough for a person to survive for one year. They would carry their supplies in backpacks(背包) each weighing up to fifty pounds; it usually took at least 40 trips to get everything to the top and over the pass. Whoever dropped the shoe must have been a brave and determined woman. Perhaps she was successful and made it to Alaska. Perhaps she had to turn back in defeat. No one will ever know for sure, but what we do know is that she took part in one of the greatest adventures in the 19th century.
1. The ordinary woman’s leather shoe is considered unusual because ______.

A．it was an important clue to life in the past

B．it was found on a famous trail

C．it at one time belonged to a VIP

D．it was a fashionable shoe at that time

2. According to this passage, many people who went to Alaska ______.

A．eventually became millionaires

B．brought with them many shoes

C．had conflicts with the Eskimos

D．were not properly equipped

3. The Canadian government made gold seekers bring one year’s supplies with them so that ______.

A．they would not die of hunger and cold

B．the army would have enough food for fighting a war

C．they would change these goods with the Eskimos

D．the supplies would make Alaska rich

4. No matter what happened to the woman who owned the shoe, ______.

A．she must have lived a happy life

B．she certainly dropped the shoe on purpose

C．her adventurous spirit is definitely admired

D．her other shoes were equally fashionable

6 . My father was 44 and knew he wasn't going to make it to 45. He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.
Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. “Right now, you are pretending to be a time­killer . But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best.” Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. “You will do something great.” He didn't know what that would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I've felt proud of myself, I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, “Is this what you were talking about, Dad? Should I keep going？”
A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I've come to believe he'd want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of, and believe in, somebody else. It's time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don't hold back because they're afraid to fail. They're only afraid of failing us. They don't worry about being disappointed. Their fear－as mine was until my father's letter－is of being a disappointment.
Give your children permission to succeed. They're waiting for you to believe in them.
I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me: That belief will be more complete, that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts：“Don't worry; you'll do something great.” Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back.
1. We learn from the text that the author ________.

A．lost his father when he was young

B．worked hard before he read his father's letter

C．asked his father's permission to believe in himself

D．knew exactly what great thing his father wanted him to do

2. What does the author tell us in the 3rd paragraph?

A．Children need their parents' letters.

B．Children are afraid to be disappointed.

C．His children's fear of failure held them back.

D．His father's letter removed his fear of failing his parents.

3. Which of the following is TRUE of the author?

A．He got no access to success.

B．He wrote back to his father at 12.

C．He was sure his parents loved him.

D．He once asked his father about the letter.

4. The main purpose of the text is to ________.

A．describe children's thinking

B．answer some questions children have

C．stress the importance of communication

D．advise parents to encourage their children

7 . Do you feel sad? Happy? Angry? You may think that the way you show these emotions is unique. Well, think again. Even the expression of the most personal feelings can be classified, according to Mind Reading, a DVD exhibiting every possible human emotion．    1    
In the mid 1800s, Darwin divided the emotions into six types—anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise and enjoyment．More complex expressions of emotion were probably learned and therefore more specific to each culture．But now it is believed that many more facial expressions are shared worldwide．    2    The Mind Reading DVD is a systematic visual record of these expressions．
The project was designed by a Cambridge professor．His research team first had to define an "emotion"．    3    Using this definition, 412 emotion terms were identified and discussed, from "afraid" to "wanting"．
Then each expression is acted out by six different actors．"It was really clear when the actors had got it right," says Cathy Collis, who directed the DVD．"Although they were given some direction, the actors were not told which facial muscles they should move．    4    
Someone who has tried to set such rules is the American, Professor Paul Ekman, who built database of how the face moves for every emotion．The face can make 43 distinct muscle movements．Ekman has also found that it may not be possible for people to reproduce them artificially．The most difficult expression to reproduce is the smile．It isn't only about stretching the lips, but tightening the tiny muscles around the eyes．    5    If we learnt to recognize whether someone was using their eye muscle when they smiled, we would be able to distinguish true enjoyment from false.

A．It shows 412 distinct ways we feel．

B．These can be combined into more than 10,000 facial shapes．

C．These particular muscles are difficult to control, and few people can do it．

D．They decided that it was a mental state that could be introduced by "I feel" or "he looks "or "she sounds"．

E．He said the expression of these feelings was universal and recognizable by anyone, from any culture．

F．It is as if they are programmed into the brains of "normal humans" wherever they are and whatever their races．

G．We thought of trying to describe each emotion, but it would have been almost impossible to make clear rules for this．