阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
When I was 14 years old, my best friend 1. (drag) me to an after-school dance class, 2. I enjoyed so much that I have been dancing ever since. After every dance class, however, I always have to stretch out my legs and back! It feels like as much exercise as 3. (go) to the gym—but dancing is not 4. (wide) considered to be a sport.
Many dancers would argue that dancing is a sport, as it requires strong muscles and impressive flexibility. No matter what style of dance you are participating in, you will always be using all of 5. (you) muscles while dancing and this can often be for several hours a day.
On 6. other hand, many people argue that dance is an art form. Dances often exhibit emotion (情感), tell 7. (story), etc. Dancing to music is creative and visually appealing to the eyes and ears, just like watching a play or a(n) 8. (profession) band. The shining costumes, the stage make-up and the big hairstyles are artistic and imaginative.
However, whether you consider dance to be an art 9. a sport, the important thing is to enjoy it! Dancing is a great way 10. (make) new friends and exercise!
To millions of readers, Jeff Zaslow was a bestselling author. But to me, Jeff was a(a) ______ mentor（导师）who gave countless hours of his time and energy to ______ authors.
When I was in middle school, Jeff and his family ______ near our house. At a neighborhood party, I was a ______ kid playing basketball alone. Jeff walked over, introduced himself to me. He took a true interest in getting to ______ me, asking about my hobbies. Although we had just met, I had the ______ that this new neighbor truly cared about me.
Looking back, Jeff was the first adult who ______ me like a peer（同龄人）, and it helped me find my confidence. At the time, I had no ______ that Jeff would become a mentor to me or that I would enter the writing ______.
Twenty years later, I decided to ______ my first book. In search of ______ on developing a plan, I ______ to Jeff. Less than three hours later, his ______ landed in my mailbox. He invited me to call him any time, day or night. He asked me ______ questions and listened to my responses.
When I started writing, I ______ Jeff’s work as a model and his personal example as a reminder of what it meant to put other people first.
In 2012, before I finished writing my book, Jeff lost his ______ in a car accident. I missed the ______ to tell him what an influence he had on me—not only as a writer, but as a role model for how to live a good life.
Jeff Zaslow never got the chance to give his last ______. I don’t know what he would have ______, but I know how he would have made you ______ during the talk. He would have amused you with humor and encouraged you to seek for the most meaningful moments in life.
1.A. devoted B. honest C. strict D. fair
2.A. help B. choose C. find D. train
3.A. camped B. traveled C. moved D. returned
4.A. curious B. shy C. stubborn D. clever
5.A. invite B. know C. please D. trick
6.A. fear B. concern C. suggestion D. sense
7.A. treated B. shaped C. served D. accepted
8.A. doubt B. idea C. plan D. impression
9.A. system B. school C. profession D. class
10.A. collect B. write C. publish D. sell
11.A. decisions B. judgments C. guidance D. influence
12.A. reached out B. explained C. gave in D. came
13.A. book B. name C. reply D. refusal
14.A. difficult B. personal C. embarrassing D. thoughtful
15.A. relied on B. figured out C. dealt with D. paid for
16.A. eye B. leg C. family D. life
17.A. opportunity B. ability C. deadline D. point
18.A. performance B. description C. lecture D. lesson
19.A. learned B. realized C. expected D. said
20.A. feel B. grow C. behave D. continue
How to improve your studies—scientifically
Our brain can possibly memorize 2. 5 petabytes（千兆）of information. In order to use some of that surprising capacity（能力）a little more effectively when you learn, here are some tips that are based on widely-accepted research by learning experts.
1.
Some enjoy watching videos over reading books, others study with friends, and some like sitting in silence among a million books. Everybody is different.
Hard things first
2. , so do the things that are difficult first. Once you are done with the hard things, you will feel better for the rest of the day, and probably more motivated to get other things done.
Space（分隔开）your studies
3. . Facts or vocabularies, for example, are best learned if you review them the first time one to two days after the study, and then again after one week, and after one month.
Instant self-test
After your study, finish up with a quick quiz. Immediate recall in the form of a test or a short summary on what you’ve just learned can increase retention（记忆力）by as much as 30%. 4., that extra effort creates deeper traces（痕迹）in your memory.
Don’t force it
Motivation is like hunger. You cannot force yourself to be motivated, just like you can’t tell someone else to be hungry. So, if you are not hungry right now, don’t worry. 5..
A. Take fun seriously
B. Find your own style
C. Take a break, and do something else
D. Good memory can grow your brain’s potential
E. Because it’s much harder for your brain to remember than to read
F. Like most people you have the strongest willpower in the morning.
G. to remember things for a longer time, repeat the material after taking several breaks
So often I hear people justify（为……辩解）their lack of family trips because their children are not old enough to remember them. This reason is so confusing to me. Who would travel based on another person’s memory?
Of course the kids aren’t going to remember anything in infancy（婴儿期）, but you will. You will remember all the sweet memories you had with them.
My parents would take me to Guatemala as a child. I don’t remember a lot about the trip, but I do know that when I went back as a young adult, I felt comfortable in my surroundings. I didn’t spend my time there discovering a new way of life. I spent the time having fun with my family. I love looking at pictures that we took together when I was my son’s age. I don’t remember them, but that’s not the point. The point is, I was there with my family, and I know I was happy.
Now that I’m a parent, I can’t help but do the same. Last year, we took our 2-year-old son to Disney alongside his great-grandmother. His great-grandmother had recently begun to suffer from Alzheimer’s. That trip was timed in the most magical way — right before my son was old enough to remember it and right before his great-grandmother began to forget. This makes me want to cry for them both. How did we get so lucky to have this moment to share with each other before big changes influenced our family forever?
Realistically speaking, many families do not have the opportunity to travel internationally or visit pricey theme parks. I understand this more than you know, but I’m talking beyond that. They are young but these forgettable moments are still changing them. They will shape your children into who they will be tomorrow. The memories we absorb as their parents are also as influential as we have not finished learning our truths either.
1.Why do some parents go on few family trips?
A. They have no time. B. They cannot afford them.
C. They are not interested in them. D. They think their kids won’t remember them.
2.What’s the author’s impression of her childhood trip to Guatemala?
A. Clear. B. Boring.
C. Pleasing. D. Hard.
3.Which influenced the author to plan the Disney trip?
A. Her son. B. Her parents.
C. Some old photos. D. Other parents’ ideas.
4.Why did the author want to cry when recalling the Disney trip?
A. She was sorry for her grandmother’s disease.
B. She was worried about big family changes.
C. She was moved by the timing of the trip.
D. She was surprised by her son’s growth.
My first term at MIT（麻省理工学院）was awesome—I got all A’s, and I declared math as my major. My parents were expecting me to become a doctor like them so I was trying to satisfy them. But I was desperately running away from them. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My third term, I ended up with a D in math. I didn’t do that well in my other classes, either. It seemed like all my friends were doing so well, getting opportunities over the summers.
My fifth term, I realized that I was awful at higher-level math. I had lost all confidence in myself. I went to a few classes at the beginning of the term, but after by midterm, I had totally stopped. My only relief was the dance team I was on. I would sleep all day, and then go to dance practice, and then go back to sleep. As expected, I failed in all of my classes and had to withdraw from MIT.
I had no choice but to tell my parents. Instead of yelling or hitting me, though, they just held me and cried. The next day, my dad took a day off from work and took me to a nearby, small arts college.
I had lost all confidence in myself. Before my first biology test, I didn’t think I could pass. I did pass. Since I had so much free time, I decided to join a biology lab. I realized that was what I wanted to do! I wanted to be a scientist!
This past May, I graduated with the highest honors, and now I have my PhD in biology. Though it ended up taking me 5 years to graduate from college, I can say now that dropping out of MIT was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I’ve realized that a person is not their grades. I’ve realized how much my parents loved me. I’ve finally discovered my passion（热情）in life!
1.How was the author’s first term at MIT?
A. He was busy with exams. B. He knew his goals clearly.
C. He did well in all subjects. D. He was fed up with math.
2.How did the author’s parents react to his failing at MIT?
A. They hit him. B. They yelled at him.
C. They quit their jobs to teach him. D. They forgave him for what he did.
3.In the arts college, the author _________.
A. rebuilt his confidence B. volunteered at many labs
C. found it hard to learn biology D. hated the learning environment
4.What do we know about the author from the last paragraph?
A. He felt sorry for his parents. B. He discovered his true interest.
C. He realized the importance of grades. D. He felt ashamed of his failing at MIT.
The man who walked into Dave Cutlip’s tattoo parlor（纹身店）in Brooklyn Park. Maryland, in January was tough to miss. His face bore a gang（帮派）tattoo. The man sought Cutlip’s help in covering up his violent past. He was determined to turn over a new leaf. “I could see the hurt in his eyes,” Cutlip, 49, told The Washington Post.
Cutlip couldn’t help the man—the tattoo were too close to the eyes. But it got him thinking. Many young people get tattoos that they come to regret. A few can mark them for the rest of their days. Then they’re “always going to be a victim. ” said Cutlip. “If I can help, that’s my ultimate（最终的）goal. ”
Inking over a tattoo costs hundreds of dollars, and getting one removed by laser（激光）is even pricier. So Cutlip decided he would help by hiding racist or gang-related tattoos for free. He put the word out via Facebook: “Sometimes people make bad choices and sometimes people change. We believe there is enough hate in this world, and we want to make a difference. ”
One man, Casey Schaffer, showed up with the word “white” on one forearm and “power” on the other. He’d served a year in prison on drug charges, he told The Washington Post, and had joined a white group there because "they took care of me. I thought of it as paying them back. " But employers would take one look at the tattoos and turn him down. So he had Cutlip obscure（使不分明）one of the words with a heat and roses and tattoo an eagle over the other.
Cutlip has done nine such jobs, each of which took several hours. He told People that a client（顾客）let him know that he quickly found a job once his tattoo was obscured. Such victories inspired Cutlip to found the Random Acts of Tattoo project with three like-minded（志同道合的）tattoo studios from around the country, and now hundreds of clients are on a wait list. As he told National Public Radio. “If we can just erase hate, then we’re doing something. ”
1.What do we know about the man who had a gang tattoo?
A. His eyes were badly hurt. B. He refused Cutlip’s help.
C. Tattoos covered all of his body. D. He decided to start all over again.
2.How did Cutlip help Casey?
A. By coloring the tattoos. B. By inking over the tattoos.
C. By changing the tattoos’ patterns. D. By removing the tattoos by laser.
3.Why did Casey ask Cutlip for help?
A. To get employed. B. To join another group.
C. To hide his anger at whites. D. To please his current employer.
4.What can be inferred about the Random Acts of Tattoo project?
A. It’s a worldwide project. B. It’s a co-founded project.
C. Its clients are like-minded. D. Its clients don’t have to wait long.
