Who's in control of your life? Who's pulling your strings? For the majority of us, it's other people-society, colleagues, friends, family or our community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young,of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it," Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. "
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug-we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix(成瘾物)we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But, just as with any drug. there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom-the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda, and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted (tired) and probably pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way-make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values- not values imposed from the outside by others. but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others. we will live a more authentic, effective, purposeful and happy life.
1.What Oscar Wilde says implies that .
A.most people have a variety of thoughts
B.we have thoughts similar to those of others
C.other people's thoughts are more important
D.most people's thoughts are affected by others
2.What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?
A.The price of taking the drug is freedom.
B.We may lose ourselves to win the approval of others.
C.We need to pay for what we want to get.
D.Changing opinions may cost us our freedom.
3.It can be concluded from the passage that .
A.it's better to follow others' opinions
B.it's important to accept others' comments
C.we shouldn't change our own decision
D.we shouldn't care too much what others think
4.The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by .
A.discussing questions B.making suggestions
C.analyzing causes and effects D.providing examples and facts
My wife Laura and I were on the beach, with three of our children, taking pictures of shore birds near our home in Alaska when we spotted a bear. The bear was thin and small, moving aimlessly.
Just a few minutes later, I heard my daughter shouting, “Dad! The bear is right behind us!” An aggressive bear will usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy but would suddenly stop at the last minute. This one was silent and its ears pinned back—the sign of an animal that is going in for the kill.And it was a cold April day.The bear behaved abnormally, probably because of hunger.
I held my camera tripod (三脚架) in both hands to form a barrier as the bear rushed into me. Its huge head was level with my chest and shoulders, and the tripod stuck across its mouth. It bit down and I found myself supporting its weight. I knew I would not be able to hold it for long.
Even so, this was a fight I had to win: I was all that stood between the bear and my family, who would stand little chance of running faster than a brown bear.
The bear hit at the camera, cutting it off the tripod. I raised my left arm to protect my face; the beast held tightly on the tripod and pressed it into my side. My arm could not move, and I sensed that my bones were going to break.
Drawing back my free hand, I struck the bear as hard as I could for five to six times. The bear opened its mouth and I grasped its fur, trying to push it away. I was actually wrestling (扭打) with the bear at this point. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended. The bear moved back toward the forest, before returning for another attack.The first time I felt panic. Apparently satisfied that we caused no further threat, the bear moved off, destroying a fence as it went. My arm was injured, but the outcome for us could hardly have been better. I’m proud that my family remained clear-headed when panic could have led to a very different outcome.
1.The whole text is mainly arranged in_________.
A.result and inference B.cause and effect
C.space order D.time order
2.The bear finally went away after it _________ .
A.felt safe B.got injured
C.found some food D.took away the camera
3.The writer and his family survived mainly due to their _________ .
A.calmness B.patience
C.pride D.cautiousness
4.When the bear moved back towards the forest, the family felt ________ .
A.excited B.threatened
C.relieved D.puzzled
Dangerous as they are, extreme sports remain appealing among many Australian young people! Camp Xtreme is the perfect test of your heart.
Kite Surfing
It’s the exciting mixture of kite, board and waves. The idea of using a kite to accelerate speed seems like a new challenge, yet the art of kite flying dates back to the 13th-century Chinese whenitwas used as a simple means of transport.
Catch a wind and you’re moving — up, down and across the surf. “It’s always exciting. You’d jump 5 feet or 35 feet. You never know if you’re going to go up in the air, and your heart is just going boom, boom, boom.”
Coasteering
It is by far the best activity and the event that everyone is still talking about. This is exploring the coastline without worrying about a coastal path or finding a rocky bay blocking your route. You climb, dive and swim from one place to another. With Coasteering, you don’t have to be able to swim as the wet suit and buoyancy(浮力) aid will keep you floating when you are in the water.
Sky Diving
Traditional parachuting(跳伞) doesn’t sound risky enough. So now sky diving is the name for jumping from a plane and listening to your heart beating heavily as you move fast towards earth before you open your parachute at the last moment.
Mountain Biking
It’s been around so long that bikers are no longer satisfied with just going up and down a mountain. Mountain biking is a sport which consists of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough land, using specially adapted mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes, but include features designed to improve strength and performance in rough areas.
For details, please call us on 1300-792-668 or click here: www.xtremecamp.com.au.
1.All the four extreme sports are mainly intended to test one’s _____.
A.heart beat B.physical health
C.potential strength D.courage
2.The underlined word in the second paragraph “it” refers to _____.
A.the kite B.kite surfing
C.kite flying D.the art of kites
3.Which of the following sports can be the most risky?
A.Kite surfing. B.Coasteering.
C.Sky diving. D.Mountain biking.
4.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A.kites were the main means of transport in China
B.swimming skills play a key role in Coasteering
C.parachuting is the least popular sports at present
D.mountain biking requires more than riding common bikes
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
All sorts of items become litter (垃圾) but two of the most common and most dangerous are cigarette buts(烟头)and plastic bags. Litter is a big problem for our environment but it is a problem that individuals can easily do something about. Not littering at all or cleaning up litter, such as cigarette buts and plastic bags, greatly improves the quality of our environment.
Although cigarette butts are small, they are bad for the environment. Over 1, 600 billion cigarettes are smoked each year in China and large quantities of the butts are thrown away. Worldwide, about 4.5 trillion butts are littered every year. Apart from the fact that butts spoil the beauty of the environment, they contain some very toxic (有毒的) chemicals. These find their way into the water supply where they decrease the quality of the water and endanger plants and animals that live there. So, if people have to smoke, they shouldn’t throw away the butts but put them in the rubbish bin instead.
Plastic bags are another common form of litter that is a danger to the environment. There are several reasons for this. They are made from oil and gas, which are non-renewable resources (资源). If they are not recycled (回收利用), these resources are lost to us. In China, 2 billion plastic bags are used every day. An enormous number of these become litter. This is a huge problem because they last from 20 to 1,000 years in the environment. They float easily in the air and water and travel long distances. They find their way to rivers, parks, beaches and oceans. Plastic bags kill up to one million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish each year worldwide. It is up to people not to let plastic bags become litter. It would be better if they used fewer and recycled them.
Cleaning up your cigarette butts and plastic bags would improve the environment. And we would know that we were doing something to look after our planet. However, I believe the best solution would be not to smoke or use plastic bags at all.
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寒假即将到来，你一定想去某个地方旅游。请以“我最想去的地方”为题，写一篇英语短文。
内容：1.谈谈你想去这个地方的理由；
2.你的计划和打算。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.题目和开头已给出，不计入总词数。
The place I want to visit most
The winter vacation is approaching, and it is the best part of the school year for me.
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Chinese kung fu, also known as wushu or Chinese martial arts, is an important part of traditional Chinese culture. It is probably one of the earliest and longest 1. (last) sports. The theory of kung fu is 2. (base) upon classical Chinese philosophy. Over its long history it has developed as 3. unique combination of exercise, practical self-defense, self-discipline and art. It is estimated that Chinese kung fu 4. (date) back to prehistoric society.
Bruce Lee (1940-1973) was a Chinese-American martial artist and actor, 5. is considered as the most 6. (influence) martial artist of the 20th century, and an important cultural icon. He used Wing Chun, a branch of Chinese kung fu, 7. his base, learned from the influences of other martial arts, and later created his own martial art philosophy — Jeet Kune Do.
Jackie Chan (born in 1954) is a Hong Kong martial 8. (art), actor, and singer. He 9. (begin) his film career as a stuntman(特技演员) in the Bruce Lee films. Now as a cultural icon, he is 10. (wide) known for combining comedy and stunts with his kung fu performances.
