1 . We all have found memories of taking a few lazy months off after the stress of A-levels. As we draw to the end of an academically and socially packed year, the idea of doing the same again is appealing.
But after graduation, there’ll be few occasions when we can enjoy such extended holidays, free to do as we wish. So now that summer has arrived, let’s take full advantage. It goes without saying that summer vacations are the perfect time to go traveling, especially if you avoid the pricey school holiday period.
Tickets go up greatly when you turn 26, so make the most of cheaper rates while you’re eligible. Finding a reliable company that won’t cheat you is extremely important, as is discovering a program that appeals to your own interests. There are plenty of websites where you can see other people’s recommendations.
Of course for most of us, money is tight—but to avoid overspending you can combine employment and adventure. Hannah Warn, a psychology student at the University of Winchester, is spending her summer at Camp America, an increasingly popular venture where British students enjoy a good time on a summer camp.
“Being thrown into something where I don’t really know what to expect is exciting.” she says.“It gives me a chance to experience being away from home in a different way.”
Those with a talent for languages might also consider working abroad as an au pair. The work may be challenging, but it’s a chance to involve yourself in a new culture while your employer pays most of the bill.
If you have an idea about the sort of career you’d like, getting work experience is wise. In many careers, graduating with only your degree to show for your three or four years just won’t make it. Send applications off early and to as many places as possible. Make sure you take a well-earned break this summer.
1. The passage implies that .A.students can enjoy beneficial price when traveling |
B.students who quit school should pay more for travel |
C.students will be offered part time jobs in the vacation |
D.students will have a longer summer vacation than ever |
A.relaxed | B.outstanding | C.qualified | D.standardized |
A.suggest Camp America offers jobs to students |
B.show psychology students are good at planning |
C.indicate Camp America serves English students |
D.imply students can travel around for nothing |
2 . Ever since I was old enough to dream,I have imagined myself flying with the eagles.My love of flying has shaped the way I live and the person I have become.Two years ago that passion rocketed to new heights when I visited Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona.For a whole week I lived in a college dorm,roomed with a total stranger,and best of all,I flew!
My group took part in activities from learning about the history of aviation(航空)to flying in pilot training simulators(模拟器).At least once a day,I was lost in one of the world's best training aircraft,the Cessna 182.I received thorough ground instruction,and also got to fly.In total,I flew five hours toward receiving my private pilot's license.In that joyous week,my passion for aviation grew even stronger.Now,whenever I see a plane flying overhead, I feel a sense of pride,thinking I've done that.
During my time above the Arizona desert,I learned not only about the mechanics and techniques of aviation,tout also about myself and how I see the world.Floating in that seemingly endless sea of air,I became aware of the variety and the complexity of the humanity below.On the ribbons of roadways,each tiny car carried people with hopes and ambitions.I wondered if any of them had ever wished to fly like an eagle.I realized they must have their own strong desire.That's what makes us unique.We always try to respond to something special inside us.I also realized that I was especially fortunate to be making my own dream come true.
Everywhere I go,I hear,"Do what makes you happy,and you will be happy."It sounds like standard advice,but I've really thought about it and taken it to heart.I couldn't care less about what benefits I receive.I know I am already in hot pursuit of my dreams.Even if they change,and even if they finally don't involve aviation,I'll always aim to fly with the eagles.
1. What made the author successful?A.His practice. | B.His love for flying. |
C.His imagination. | D.His roommate. |
A.Flying like an eagle. | B.Trying something special. |
C.Having a strong wish. | D.Learning unusual techniques. |
A.He dislikes changing his dreams. |
B.He will do what benefits him most. |
C.He always dreams of flying again in the future. |
D.He will still run after his dream whatever the situation. |
A.My Early Dream | B.Flying with Eagles |
C.Pleasing Yourself | D.My Stay in ERAU |
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. 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.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often 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.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. 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. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurts, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
1. From the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
A.not everybody has problems |
B.we become stronger by facing and solving the problems in life |
C.life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
D.people like to complain about their problems |
A.save space | B.persuade readers |
C.make readers laugh | D.get readers’ attention |
A.encourage them to learn |
B.make them suffer |
C.help them learn to deal with pain |
D.help them understand life is difficult |
A.we do not learn from experience |
B.we do not learn when we are in pain |
C.pain teaches us important lessons |
D.pain cannot be forgotten |
“I learned the language and am now fluent, but perhaps what’s more important was how much I learned about cultures, people, and myself. I learned this from the viewpoint of an active member of the community and my host family, not from the tourist’s point of view,” says Andrew, who studied in Poitiers, France.
Another reason for studying abroad is that you’ll gain self-confidence. Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10 million people and a huge change from her home town of 35,000! Christina says she learned how to better stand up for herself and her beliefs and to express herself in another language. What could make you more confident than that?
Living away from home can also help you adjust in the transition(过渡) to college and adulthood. Mathew says he returned from studying in Australia with confidence and a real interest in international affairs that made him different from his peers(同龄人). “After having gone abroad in high school, I found the transition to college to be
Most of all, it’s fun while you’re studying in a different learning environment.
1. The passage is mainly about .
A.the benefits of studying abroad |
B.living in a foreign country |
C.the excitement of travel |
D.learning a language |
A.Host families. | B.The foreign cultures. |
C.Places of interest. | D.Community problems. |
A.change our habits | B.offer us opportunities |
C.increase our knowledge | D.build our confidence |
A.something very important | B.something very interesting |
C.something very easy | D.something very soft |
Of course not! You don’t have to suffer needlessly. Your life depends on you, not on other factors.
I know a woman who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, and then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routine cycle follows.
Huh! Is this what she calls “doing her best”? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that has been intended for her and that her luck can only change if God wills it. She hasn’t realized that we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.
Remember that you harvest what you sow. You have to get off the sofa, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone (unless it’s helpful to your success), and get your mind and body to work! Don’t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don’t just regard it as a temporary(暂时的) problem; Instead, learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It’s not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively.
If someone’s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person. So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best. In other words, don’t just stand (or sit) there, do something to improve your life.
1. According to the woman mentioned in Para.3, her life________.
A.doesn’t need improving |
B.couldn’t be improved |
C.will be better some day |
D.will be worse in the future |
A.Positive. | B.Passive. |
C.Disturbing. | D.Colorful. |
A.positive action | B.positive thinking |
C.hope for the best | D.intention to succeed |
A.understand yourself | B.believe in yourself |
C.improve your life | D.change your normal way |
No one could get a normal spoken word out of him and no one knew how he made his living. As he lived quite simply, always wearing his same old second-hand suit, people often looked down on him.
William had been in Cheekyville for some years, when, one day, word spread round town like wildfire: William had played a role in a very important opera in the nation’s capital. Everyone in the capital went to see it, and it was a great success. Everyone in Cheekyville felt it was a surprise. But something more surprising was, when William was being interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking rather than singing. And he did it with great manners, and with a clear and pleasant voice.
From that day, William gave up singing at all hours. Now he did it only during his stage appearances and world tours. Some people suspected why he had changed, but others continued believing him to be somewhat mad. They wouldn’t have thought so if they had seen what William kept in his big suitcase. It was a large stone, with a hand-carved (手工雕刻的) message on it. The message said: “Practice, my boy. Practice every second, for you never know when your chance will come.”
Little did people realize that he only got the role in the opera because the director had heard William singing while out buying a newspaper.
1. Why did people in Cheekyville consider William strange?
A.He always carried a big suitcase. |
B.He always spoke by singing opera. |
C.He always greeted people gladly. |
D.He always wore an old suit. |
A.unbelievable | B.satisfying |
C.disappointing | D.interesting |
A.had no idea whether he should continue doing something mad |
B.was nervous and didn’t know how to sing when he was interviewed |
C.was selling newspapers when the opera director heard him singing |
D.practiced singing whenever possible before he became famous |
A.Live and learn. |
B.Better late than never. |
C.Practice makes the master. |
D.Experience is the best teacher. |
She took off her vest and leather boots, got into the icy water, and swam to the car, where she found Cameron Dorsey, five, trapped into his car as the swirling water rose around him.
Hawkinson tried to open the door, but it was locked. So she pushed and pulled hard on the partially open window until she could reach through and unlock the door. She pulled the boy free, swam to shore, and handed him off to onlookers who were only watching them on a dock. The driver, the boy’s suicidal father, swam back to land on his own. Afterward, Hawkinson sat on the shore wrapped in a blanket. “For ten or 15 minutes, I couldn’t stop shaking,” she said.
There’s nothing visibly extraordinary about Melissa Hawkinson, an energetic stay-at-home mom with brown hair and a sweet smile. Yet something made her different from the dockside onlookers that day. Why do some people act quickly, willing to take a risk for a stranger? What makes them run toward danger rather than away from it? Hawkinson, the Granite Mountain Hotshots (能手,高手)---19 of whom lost their life this past summer in Arizona--- every hero who puts his or her life on the line to save another: what makes them brave?
Moreover, can bravery be learned, or is it a quality with which you are born? The answer is complex. Bravery taps the mind, brain and heart. It comes from instinct, training and sympathy. Today, neurologists, psychologists and other researchers are studying bravery, trying to uncover the mystery.
1. It can be learned from the passage that _______.
A.Melissa Hawkinson was a 41-year-old nurse |
B.it was spring when the accident happened |
C.Melissa Hawkinson was picking up her five-year-old son |
D.Melissa Hawkinson was kind and courageous. |
A.Not everyone was ready to risk saving the five-year-old boy.. |
B.The father committed suicide because of the divorce. |
C.The father was saved in the end by Melissa Hawkinson. |
D.No one else was available except Melissa Hawkinson. |
A.Warm and ready to help | B.Thoughtful |
C.Kind of cold-blooded | D.Not skillful at swimming |
A.To set us thinking what makes people brave. |
B.To call on us to learn from such people as Hawkinson. |
C.To remind people of risk while saving others. |
D.To show people bravery can be learned. |
Dad---This poem came directly from my heart. I love you so much! It scares and amazes me that you go out every day and risk everything to provide us with all that we have. I wrote this to express how much I love you and how much lost I’d be without you-Laura. P.S.: Hey, let’s be careful out there.
Titled “The Ultimate Cop”, Laura’s poem was dedicated “To all the cops in the world who have daughters who love them with all their hearts. And especially to my dad.” It was about a police-officer’s daughter who sees on the night time news that her father has been shot. Part of poem: “Daddy, my Daddy, can you hear me cry? Oh, God, I need my Daddy, please don’t let him die.”
Ken Knapcik stood alone as he read the poem. “It took me several minutes,” he said. “I’d get through part of it and have to stop before I could go on. I was weeping. She had never told me she was scared.” He took the poem to work the next day and showed it to his fellow officers. “I’ve never seen so many grown men cry. Some couldn’t finish it.”
Knapcik keeps Laura’s poem in the pocket of his police jacket. He takes it with him every time he leaves the house for a new shift. “I don’t want to be out there without it.” he said, “I’ll probably carry it with me forever.”
1. Laura wrote the poem ______.
A.in memory of her father who was shot in the drug arrest |
B.to show her great sorrow in losing her father |
C.to show her respect to all the cops who lost their lives |
D.to tell Officer Ken Knapcik how much she loved him |
A.Jay Brunkella was shot and died |
B.they were greatly touched by the poem |
C.the poem was so sad that they couldn’t hold back their tears |
D.they thought of their dangerous life |
A.to treasure her daughter’s love and to value his own life |
B.to keep it from missing |
C.because he can’t go out without it |
D.to mourn over the death of officer Jay Brunkella |
A.Poem for a cop | B.An officer’s death |
C.Daughter’s love | D.Love my job, love my daughter |