1 . Six months ago, Jack came to China to study. He has heard that Yangzhou is famous for its gardens. And he plans to visit some gardens in July, so he has collected information about them online as follows:
The Slender West Lake, named National AAAAA Tourist Area in 2010, includes the Great Rainbow Bridge, the White Pagoda, Five-pavilion Bridge, the Twenty-four Bridge, the Small Golden Hill and so on. The best time to tour the Slender West Lake is in March. During the visit to the park, the boat travels on the water and visitors travel in the picture. Ticket: Mar.—May. ￥150; Other months ￥90 Time: 8:30—17:00 Bus: No. 4, 5, 6, 17, 61 buses Tel: 0514-87357803; 0514-87370091 |
Ge Garden, one of the four top famous Chinese gardens, got its name from bamboo. The bamboo in the garden forms the green scenery. The centre of the garden is well-known for man-like hills. Four seasons can be experienced here at a time. Ticket: Mar. —May. ￥10; Other months ￥30 Time: Mar. —May. 7:15—18:00; Other months 7:15—17:30 Bus: No. 8, 30, 61 buses Tel: 0514-87935285 |
He Garden, the most famous garden in the late Qing Dynasty, is known for its long double-way corridor (走廊), which is regarded as the earliest footbridge. Ticket: Mar. —May. ￥40; Other months ￥30 Time: 7:30—17:15 Bus: No. 19, 61 buses Tel: 0514-87900345; 0514-87222353 |
1. How much will a ticket cost Jack if he visits the Slender West lake?
| A．30 yuan. | B．40 yuan. |
| C．90 yuan. | D．150 yuan. |
| A．The long corridor. | B．The green bamboo. |
| C．The man-made hills. | D．The boat travelling. |
| A．He can take a No. 19 bus to GeGarden. |
| B．He can visit the Slender West Lake at 8:00. |
| C．He can call 0514-87935285 for further information of HeGarden. |
| D．He can call 0514-87900345 to know more about HeGarden. |
2 . I attended a writer’s group to get feedback on my book. But there were so many people there that the discussion was limited. After getting home, my 13-year-old son asked me to read one chapter to him. So I read the chapter about spending my pocket money as a nine-year-old child.
The story took place at a lunch counter, where I dreamed of ordering a banana split. Colorful balloons were hung above the counter and a sign said “Pop a balloon and pay 1 cent to 63 cents for a banana split!” As I was given only 50 cents for cleaning the doghouse, I didn’t dare to ask my parents for any more pocket money without doing more work or risk asking anyone else. So I kept my wish to myself.
Frankie listened carefully, as I read the final sentences of the chapter, “I watched as others selected a balloon to pop and dreamed about the opportunity to take my chance. But it never happened.”
The next morning, Frankie led me to the kitchen. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The table was covered in a pile of balloons. Frankie handed me 50 cents and a fork. “Pop one!” he urged. With tears in my eyes, I broke one. A piece of paper fell out of the balloon.
“What does it say?” Frankie asked. “Fifty cents,” I whispered, too moved to speak loudly. Frankie asked, “Well, do you have 50 cents?” I handed him the money. “OK!” Then Frankie pulled out a banana split from the refrigerator.
I hugged Frankie hard. We took turns popping the other balloons until I finally got the 1-cent balloon. It was a long-time coming, but worth the wait.
It hit me that the first step in making any wish come true is giving it a voice.
1. The author read the chapter to Frankie because .| A．she wanted to get feedback from Frankie |
| B．Frankie asked the author to read it to him |
| C．she was used to telling a bedtime story to him |
| D．Frankie had a strong desire for knowledge |
| A．She spent money wisely when she was a kid. |
| B．She had enough money to do whatever she liked. |
| C．She earned her pocket money by doing housework. |
| D．She had no close friends to share her secret wish. |
| A．comfortable and happy | B．puzzled and excited |
| C．awkward and satisfied | D．surprised and grateful |
| A．it is important to express one’s wishes |
| B．it is comforting to have a kid around |
| C．experiences in childhood affect us later in life |
| D．wishes can come true by just voicing them |
3 . As a college student, I have planned my future career goals. I would like to work as a sales assistant in a computer company, then a sales manager and finally boss of my own company.
At the very beginning, I plan to find a job in a famous company producing computers, in which ail the staff are fully happy at work and I can experience job satisfaction most of the time. Only such kind of company can provide me with good working atmosphere and eagerness to learn more so as to get well prepared for my future profession.
At first I want to be a sales assistant and always keep myself busy working in and out of the company, such a, answering telephones, doing repair work, even cleaning the although the salary may be low, I will seize every chance to learn from other staff. In my spare time, I will take some courses so as to get more qualifications and experience in this field. In three or five years, I am determined to be-come a sales manager who is responsible for the selling of the computers. I will interview as many customers as possible and do market research and improve our products. Meanwhile I will take care of my staff to make them eager to work to the best of their abilities.
As is known to us, it is hard to manage a company, but I will make every effort to achieve my goal step by step, and I am sure “There is mothing difficult in the world if you put your heart into it.”
1. If the writer has a company, his company will provide his staff with ________.| A．high wages |
| B．dormitories |
| C．some computers made in his company |
| D．good working atmosphere and eagerness |
| A．The writer would like to be a sales assistant first. |
| B．The writer wants to set up a business of his own. |
| C．The writer makes his mind to be the president of a famous company producing computers. |
| D．The writer will take courses to get an MBA. |
| A．answering telephones | B．interviewing customers |
| C．cleaning the room | D．doing repair work |
| A．how to improve the writer’s abilities |
| B．how to achieve the writer’s future career goal |
| C．how to become a manager |
| D．how to become a sales manager |
4 . An eight-year-old girl heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money.
When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, “Only a miracle can save him now,” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully.
She hurried to a drugstore (药店) with the money in her hand.
“And what do you want?” asked the salesman.
“It’s for my little brother,” the girl answered. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.”
“Pardon?” said the salesman.
“My brother Andrew has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?”
“We don’t sell a miracle here, child. I’m sorry,” the salesman said with a smile.
“Listen, if it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.” said the girl.
A well-dressed man heard it and asked, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?”
“I don’t know,” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He’s really sick and mum says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought all my money.”
“How much do you have?” asked the man.
“$ 1.11, but I can try and get some more,” she answered.
“Well, what luck,” smiled the man. “$ 1.11, the price of a miracle for little brother.”
He took up the girl’s hand and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”
That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again.
How much did the miracle cost?
1. What was the trouble in the little girl’s family?| A．Miracle was hard to get in the drugstore. |
| B．They were poor and no one can lend them money. |
| C．Nothing could save her brother. |
| D．Her brother was badly ill and her family couldn’t afford the operation. |
| A．something interesting | B．something beautiful |
| C．some useful medicine | D．some good food |
| A．The girl’s love for her brother. | B．The girl’s money. |
| C．The medicine from the drugstore. | D．Nobody can tell. |
| A．the salesman didn’t sell miracle to the girl |
| B．a miracle is sure to happen if you keep on |
| C．the little girl is lovely but not so clever |
| D．Andrew was in fact not so sick as they had thought |
The biggest killer by far is the dreaded “ comfort zone ” where most people live in their entire life. And the funny thing is that people just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that people who have reached some success get tons of time to just relax, but only because they’ve earned it ! If you haven’t built a successful business, or in some way built a career that allow you so much freee time, then you are stuck in the grinding world of nine-to-five jobs everyone else. So how comfortable is that ?
So what can you do about it ? Well, find a way to make something happen in your life--- build a business around your favourite hobby, write a book and publish it, or take a course in stock trading and become an expert at that, working on making enough money to retire. If you don’t take massive action that puts your way of your comfort zone, you will never be successful at much of anything. I promise--- and I don’t make many promises !
Finding real happiness in life can be a mystery for many. That’s why I wrote The Road to Happiness for those who want real success and happiness in life, including spirituality and all the gifts life has to offer.
Don’t wander aimlessly through life. Get focused on your goals, start helping others in need, and live life to the fullest ! Life is too short to be anything but happy. Visit my website and find what you’ve been missing. Sign up for my newsletter and get seven free ebooks, too ! Read hundreds of articles while you’re there in the article section, which is updated daily.
1. This text must be taken from __________.
| A．a radio program | B．a website |
| C．a newspaper | D．a TV program |
| A．We should think what it really takes to be successful in our chosen field. |
| B．We should focus our full attention on the work in our chosen field. |
| C．We should live out of the “ comfort zone ” all through our life. |
| D．We should work together with other people to reach our goals in time. |
| A．Because they have enough money to do so. |
| B．Because they don’t want to be successful. |
| C．Because they have already earned it through hard work. |
| D．Because they only work nine to five every day. |
| A．do a lot of actual wotk | B．write a book and publish it |
| C．take a course in stock trading | D．make enough money to retire |
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.
Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1. What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Competition! Why friends turn into enemies. |
| B．Competition! What self-respect depends on. |
| C．New meaning found in competition. |
| D．Two mistaken beliefs about competition. |
| A．Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition. |
| B．Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others. |
| C．Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost. |
| D．Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others. |
| A．One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair. |
| B．One should make every endeavor to avoid competition. |
| C．One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition. |
| D．One should be given rewards after competing with others. |
| A．one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others |
| B．one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills |
| C．one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems |
| D．one’s success is based on how hard he has tried |
“We found that the knowledge gained from success was often fleeting while knowledge from failure stuck around for years,” said professor Desai, who led the study. “But companies often ignore failure. Managers may fire people or turn over the whole workforce while they should treat the failure as a learning opportunity.”
Prof Desai compared the flights of the space shuttle Atlantis and the Challenger. During the Atlantis flight last year, a piece of insulation (绝缘体) broke off and damaged the left solid rocket booster (助推火箭) but didn’t influence the program. There was little investigation. The Challenger was launched next and another piece of insulation broke off. This time the shuttle and its seven–person crew were destroyed. The disaster led to a major investigation resulting in 29 changes to prevent future disasters.
The difference in response in the two cases came down to this: Atlantis was considered a success and the Challenger a failure.
“Despite crowded skies, airlines are extremely reliable,” he said. “The number of failures is extremely small. And past researches have shown that older airlines, those with more experience in failure, have a lower number of accidents.”
Prof Desai doesn’t recommend finding out failure in order to learn. Instead, he advises organizations to analyze small failures to collect useful information rather than wait for major failures.
1. Why did experts pay little attention to the problem of Atlantis?
| A．Because it worked perfectly. |
| B．Because the right booster was still OK. |
| C．Because nothing serious happened then. |
| D．Because fewer people died in the flight. |
| A．their planes couldn’t fly high in the sky |
| B．they gained much from experience in failure |
| C．their planes were often checked by the experts |
| D．they were unpopular among passengers |
| A．show failure is a better teacher than success |
| B．explain why Challenger failed |
| C．introduce something about Prof Desai |
| D．tell managers how to achieve success |
| A．Giving definitions. |
| B．Making comparisons. |
| C．Analyzing causes. |
| D．Providing different examples. |
8 . Last year,around Labor Day,I read a “Happy Ad” in our local newspaper.There was a lady in a local nursing home,who was celebrating her 90th birthday and her family wanted everyone to know about it.It said that if you wanted to drop her a line,here was her address.So I did.I found a birthday card and dropped her a short note,wishing her a happy birthday.
A week or so later,someone knocked at my front door.I opened the door and found a middle-aged man standing on my doorstep.He introduced himself as the son of this woman to whom I had sent the card.He explained that he just wanted to drop by in person and thank me for sending such a nice card to his mom.Apparently,like many older folks,she did not receive much mail and was quite excited to receive mine.I just didn’t know what to say.I told him it was my pleasure and that I hoped his mom had enjoyed her birthday.
That year,I did not send out any Christmas cards,except to this lovely old lady in the nursing home.I just told her that I was thinking about her and hoped that she had a nice holiday.I sent her a Valentine and also a couple of notes in between.I just thought she might like to have someone write to her,to get some mail.
She passed away a couple of months ago.I never met this lady,but I did keep her and her family in my thoughts. I dropped them a line of sympathy.I hope that my few little notes were enough to brighten a couple of her days here on earth.
1. The old lady's address was given because .| A．her family wanted to make her well-known |
| B．the old lady wanted to receive a birthday card |
| C．the son of the old lady wanted to meet the author |
| D．her family wanted to give her a happy birthday |
| A．Brave. | B．Polite. |
| C．Caring. | D．Faithful. |
| A．A Kind Act | B．An Old Lady |
| C．A Happy Ad | D．A Considerate Son |
The boys' mother heard that a clergyman（牧师） in the town had been successful in educating children so she asked if he would speak with her boys．The clergyman agreed but asked to see them individually．So the mother sent her 8-year-old first in the morning with the elder boy to see the clergyman in the afternoon.
The clergyman, a huge man with a booming （嗡嗡） voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him strictly, "Where is God?"
The boy's mouth dropped open but he made no answer, sitting there with his mouth hanging open, wide-eyed．So the clergyman repeated the question in an even stricter tone "Where is God?" Again the boy made no attempt to answer．So the clergyman raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and shouted" Where is God?"
The boy screamed and escaped from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him．When his elder brother found him in the closet, he asked "What happened?"
The younger brother replied out of breath, "We are in big trouble this time．God is missing--and they think we did it．"
1. What were the two boys like?
| A．They always made trouble． | B．They were brave. |
| C．They were easygoing. | D．They were honest. |
| A．They gave up their children. |
| B．They liked their children very much. |
| C．They wanted the clergyman to persuade their children． |
| D．They helped their children to make trouble. |
| A．Happy． | B．Sad. |
| C．Afraid． | D．Surprised. |
| A．Open． | B．Shut． | C．Knock． | D．Pull. |
An old man and his wife used to live on the second floor. Bill’s mother and the old lady were good friends. Unfortunately the lady died last month. Her husband could not live alone, so he had his grandson move over and live with him.
The grandson has become a problem to all the neighbors, especially to Bill’s family. The walls of the building are thin and he is noisy. Bill is used to peace and quiet but the young man likes to listen to the radio late at night. Sometimes friends of his visit and they make a lot of noise. That is too much for Bill’s family.
Bill’s mother once asked the old man politely if he was able to sleep well at night, but obviously the man didn’t understand what she meant. If he did and spoke to his grandson, the young man obviously didn’t listen, since things haven’t changed any. Everyone in Bill’s family agrees that something must be done though they don’t want to hurt the kind old man.
1. Bill’s family got angry because ________.
| A．the old lady had died |
| B．a young man moved in |
| C．the old man could not live alone |
| D．the grandson made a lot of noise |
| A．The old man could not live without his wife’s help. |
| B．The old man and his wife were sometimes making trouble too. |
| C．Bill’s mother was kind to her neighbors. |
| D．Bill’s mother was the only one who likes the young man. |
| A．he never thinks other people might not be happy with so much noise around |
| B．the walls of the building are thin |
| C．he likes to listen to the radio at night |
| D．friends of his visit |
| A．anyone is able | B．only the grandfather is going |
| C．Bill’s mother is able | D．nobody is likely |
