Asking for help is a sign of strength rather than weakness. In American culture, the independent individual is seen as their ideal. As the University of Missouri at St. Louis states on its website under the heading Key American Values, “Americans have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies.” The value also makes them think they can do everything themselves, and makes them feel badly about asking for help when they need it.
And when it comes to work situations, when they think about asking for help there, sometimes they fear that a request for help would make them look inept. While this has always been true for men, many women in the workplace have felt the need to try twice as hard as their male colleagues and do twice as much to get just as far and to prove their worth. Sometimes when we think about asking for help, our inner voices tell us, “See, if you admit you can’t do this on your own, they’ll see you for the imposter(骗子) you really are.”
But the fact is, even though individualism is on the rise, we can’t do everything by ourselves and we shouldn’t try.
Apple founder Steve Jobs once told the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association about the power of asking for help, and how he “never found anybody who didn’t want to help me when I asked them for help”. He said, at the age of 12, he called Bill Hewlett, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, on the phone after getting his number from the phone book and asking him for spare parts so he could build a frequency counter(计频器). And Hewlett agreed and offered young Jobs a summer job assembling frequency counters.
“If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far,” Jobs said.
1.What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. What key American values are.
B. Why Americans refuse to ask for help.
C. Asking for help is a sign of strength.
D. Americans are responsible for their life.
2.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “inept” in Paragraph 2?
A. impolite B. identical
C. incompetent D. inappropriate
3.What can be learned from this US cultural phenomenon?
A. Americans suffer a lot from mutual distrust.
B. Americans see weakness as a sign of strength.
C. Americans should learn to build up confidence.
D. Americans lay emphasis on individual values.
4.What can we learn from Jobs’ words in the last paragraph?
A. Don’t hesitate to ask for assistance.
B. Be brave to try whatever you want.
C. Failure is the mother of success.
D. Learn to cooperate with others.
假定你是李华，你的外国好友Eric将作为交换生到你市的一所高中学习。因担心自己不能快速适应这里的学校生活，特写信向你求助，请就此给他写封回信。要点如下：
1．乐意提供帮助； 2．提出具体建议； 3．希望能够帮到对方。
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．信的开头及结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Eric，
I feel delighted to learn that you are coming to study in our city as an exchange student.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely，
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改仅限一词。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
On my way home from school last Friday，I saw a little dog on the sidewalk looking hopelessly. I was held it firmly up in my arms，took it home and feed some milk to it. However，my mom was unwilling to keep them，saying there was enough pets for us，two cats and a dog. I begged my mom not to let it go. Finally，we agreed that it would be deciding by my dad，whom didn’t return home from work. Just then the girl and her father drove near，searching for their lost pets. When they thanked us taking care of the dog，I felt very happy.
语法填空
Just now, I entered the website “Topic for Today” . I feel 1. (interest) in the report on middle school students’ using cell-phones on campus. In fact，more students now come to school 2. cell-phones. My schoolmates have different opinions. Some think 3.is convenient to get in touch with others with the cell-phone, 4.also makes them feel safe especially in time of trouble. Besides，it is nice to enjoy 5.(variety) functions of different cell-phones.
Others think differently. First，the cell-phone is not 6.must in school，as there are some IC phones there, 7.(make) it easy to call others. Second, many students often play e-games and send8. (message) with their cell-phones, even in class, which will surely have bad effects on their study. What’s more, a large amount of time and money will9.(waste).In my opinion, the cell-phone is a useful tool in our daily life. But it doesn’t mean we can use it 10.free) in school.
A few months after returning the US from Germany, I took part in a college course in French. Since I had learned to speak German good in Germany, I thought that it might be interested to begin studying another language.
My first job was at a local restaurant, where I worked for seven years and learned so many lessons, especially from a fellow______.
Helen was in her 30s and had extraordinary self-confidence, something I was really _____. I looked up to Helen ____ she was doing what she loved— _____people better. She always made everyone, customers and co-workers,_______and feel good.
Being a waitress changed my life. One of my________customers was Fred Hasbrook. He always ate an omelet（炒蛋）, and when I saw him_______, I tried to have it on his table as soon as he sat down.
Thanks to the newfound confidence I ______from Helen, I dreamed of having my own_______. But when I called my parents to ask for a loan（贷款）, they said, “We just don’t have the money.”
The next day, Fred saw me and asked, “What’s _______? You’re not smiling today.” I ______my dream with him and said, “Fred, I know I can do more if somebody________just have faith in me.”
Before long he handed me checks_______$50,000—along with a note that I have to this day. It reads, “The only collateral（抵押品）on this loan is my trust in your_______as a person. Good people with a dream should have ______to make that dream come true.”
I took the checks to Merrill Lynch, where the money was provided for me. I______working at the restaurant, making_____ for the restaurant I would open. My plans soured, though, and I lost the _______.
Later I decided to apply for a job at Merill Lynch. Even though I had no experience, I was _____and ended up becoming a pretty good agent. ______. I paid back Fred the $50,000, plus 14-percent annual interest. Five years later, I was able to open my own firm.
1.A. friend B. waitress C. citizen D. customer
2.A. losing B. earning C. sharing D. lacking
3.A. while B. though C. because D. unless
4.A. helping B. respecting C. serving D. praising
5.A. work B. eat C. smile D. speak
6.A. regular B. favorite C. respected D. fresh
7.A. eating B. greeting C. smiling D. coming
8.A. found out B. picked up C. got back D. took away
9.A. restaurant B. work C. house D. money
10.A. ahead B. that C. there D. up
11.A. exchanged B. discussed C. shared D. explained
12.A. should B. would C. might D. must
13.A. counting B. totaling C. adding D. valuing
14.A. ability B. honesty C. responsibility D. identity
15.A. patience B. confidence C. choice D. chance
16.A. loved B. practiced C. continued D. enjoyed
17.A. tables B. plans C. decisions D. suggestions
18.A. faith B. honesty C. money D. friend
19.A. hired B. rejected C. encouraged D. determined
20.A. Fortunately B. Excitedly C. Personally D. Eventually
Wings of Angel
I used to hate myself because I wasn’t “normal”. Everyone else could play on the monkey bars and ride on a bicycle, but not _____ . I had a severe spinal cord disorder(脊髓病) and I knew I would always be much ______than others.
I hated going to school and I hated _______at me. I hated seeing others smiling broadly and standing ______and tall. And most of all, I hated looking in the_______and seeing an ugly and hunchback(驼背).
My friends found me _______because I didn’t let other get close to me. I thought I was going to go on like this for the rest of my life ______Angela appeared.
That afternoon, I was sitting by myself in a corner of the school—a spot where no one would ____ me. That’s when I first heard your voice.
“Hi. Can I sit down?”
I raised my head and there she was, with an irresistible smile on her round face.
“What are you looking at?” you asked.
“Ants.”
“What are they doing?”
“No ______.”
“I bet they’re playing games and make friends. Don’t you think so?”
That was how our ______started and it didn’t stop. We talked about everything under the sun—the ants, the clouds, my little niche(处境)—until it was sunset.
Then suddenly, you saw my _______ She just stared.
My heart ______. What I feared most had happened and I knew for sure she would_______ me now.
She stood up, pointed at my back and said, “I know________your back is hunched.”
I closed my eyes like a criminal waiting to be_______. I begged in my heart for her to_______, but you just kept on going. “I know what you’ve got in there. Do you?”
“No,” I answered ______.
She bent and whispered in my ears.
“Your back is bunched because you’ve got a pair of wings from the angels.”
I was_______. I looked into your eyes and her______ touched my heart. From that day on, I started to learn to_______myself because I have the wings of an angel and a kind – hearted friend.
1.A. them B. it C. me D. her
2.A. sadder B. shorter C. weaker D. slower
3.A. looking B. smiling C. aiming D. glaring
4.A. still B. alone C. straight D. together
5.A. street B. sun C. corner D. mirror
6.A. distant B. stubborn C. hopeless D. unfortunate
7.A. after B. before C. since D. until
8.A. disturb B. seek C. interrupt D. ignore
9.A. wonder B. idea C. sign D. action
10.A. connection B. competition C. conversation D. comprehension
11.A. face B. back C. eyes D. shoulders
12.A. sank B. beat C. broke D. ached
13.A. care for B. rely on C. look down upon D. put up with
14.A. that B. how C. whether D. why
15.A. accused B. arrested C. punished D. sentenced(宣判)
16.A. relax B. leave C. stop D. pause
17.A. shyly B. weakly C. proudly D. firmly
18.A. astonished B. ashamed C. annoyed D. amused
19.A. wisdom B. generosity C. honesty D. kindness
20.A. control B. like C. comfort D. enjoy
