It was Christmas Day and the previous month had been like a frightening dream. Just at that time, our father _______ us, which made me sad for quite a long time. What was _______, a fire broke out in our house then, destroying everything _______ within. We had nothing for a while, no clothes, no money and no place to stay, nothing.
After the fire, we went to _______ with my grandma in her one-bedroom apartment and _______ on her living room floor. Practically penniless, we had only the clothes on our _______. Immediately after remembering what day it was, I _______ that I didn’t have anything to give my mother for Christmas Day. We had _______ given each other something, _______ it was just a heart shaped cookie she baked or a paper card I made.
I stayed on the balcony of the apartment, feeling sad for I ________ not being able to give my mother anything, especially now. She needed _______; she was every bit as ________ as me. Then I saw it. The most beautiful ________ I could have ever imagined. The brightly colored sun ________ lightly on top of some clouds ________ unbelievable blues, browns and reds. The colors combined in pleasant ways. Something ________ in my head — that was the perfect ________ for my mother. I ran ________, too excited to talk, and pulled my mother out onto the balcony. The colors had filled the entire sky.
Mother was ________ but then happy. She told me in a breathless voice that no one had ever given her anything as ________, or as beautiful. She said she would take the light and colors of that sunset and keep them in her heart forever...
1.A.beat B.visited C.missed D.left
2.A.more B.worse C.wrong D.better
3.A.painted B.buried C.held D.designed
4.A.suffer B.cooperate C.live D.work
5.A.played B.slept C.bumped D.cried
6.A.backs B.suitcases C.tables D.cupboards
7.A.recognized B.expected C.thought D.realized
8.A.always B.seldom C.nearly D.only
9.A.as if B.after C.when D.even if
10.A.imagined B.resisted C.hated D.considered
11.A.cheering up B.putting up C.giving up D.showing up
12.A.ashamed B.disappointed C.lucky D.unhappy
13.A.clouds B.sunset C.sunrise D.smile
14.A.rested B.placed C.decorated D.entered
15.A.occupied with B.covered with C.made of D.divided into
16.A.wandered B.clicked C.broke D.jumped
17.A.plan B.gift C.excuse D.dream
18.A.downstairs B.upstairs C.inside D.away
19.A.satisfied B.amazed C.scared D.puzzled
20.A.expensive B.common C.special D.funny
Your mindset(思维模式) is as important as your best idea. Develop a good one, and you will make everything in your life better immediately. Here are several mindsets that will improve your life.
Self-trust mindset
To do anything great, you have to be able to trust yourself and believe in your abilities. Success is not something that just happens but something that you create. You have to have the confidence to drive away any negative voices in your head.1..
Goal-setting mindset
Knowing what you want and deciding to reach it are two different things. Your goals will motivate you.2..
So set high goals and don't stop until you reach them.
Patient mindset
There's a fine line between moving forward and standing still. The most successful people do all they can to move forward, but they also have the patience to wait and watch.3..sometimes you have to wait for the right thing.
Learning mindset
Just because you are struggling doesn't mean you're not learning.4.besides, everything you learn helps you grow. If you are unwilling to learn, no one can help you: if you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.
5.
Doing anything great requires courage, and fear always has a way of showing up. Courage does not mean being unafraid; having courage and showing courage mean facing your fears saving "I am scared but I am moving forward anyway.” Courage is like a muscle you can strengthen with use.
A. Courageous mindset
B. Discipline is the road to success
C. Every failure has something to teach you
D. Choosing to be positive will determine a lot about your life
E. Don't give up on the things you believe in and yourself
F. Those who are impatient tend to lose out on great opportunities
G. Remember, if they don't challenge you, they won't change you
Let me tell you about my relationship with the school desk. From my first day at elementary school in 1982, it was terrible. This was how it went down: five seconds into class, the foot started bouncing; 10 seconds in, both feet; 15 seconds, I burst out drumming! After a few minutes, it’s all over. That desk and I didn’t get along.
Sitting still was hard enough, but I also struggled with reading. Reading the words out loud in class was a special kind of hell (地狱). By the third grade I had progressed from being one of “those kids” to being the “special kid”. I was found to have multiple language based learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder (ADD) (多动症). I was turned into a “patient” who needed treatment rather than a human being with differences. I struggled with severe anxiety and depression at age 10.
I survived this time in my life because of my mom. She knew in her heart that her child wasn’t broken and didn’t need to be fixed. My mom was right. When I think back on my school experience, I realize it wasn’t the ADD that disabled me. What disabled me was limitations not in myself but in the environment. I’ve come to believe that I did not have a disability, as it is common to say, but experienced a disability in environments that could not accommodate and accept my differences.
In the fall of 1997, after two years at Loyola Marymount University, where my learning differences were fully accommodated, I transferred (转学) to Brown University, where I graduated with an honours degree in English literature. I still can’t spell or sit still, but I now use support and technology to relieve my weaknesses and build a life on my strengths. I don’t feel stupid anymore and I know that I and others like me can live good lives despite these challenges.
1.What does the author mainly want to tell us in the first paragraph?
A.He didn’t like studying.
B.He used to be active at school.
C.He suffered from a broken desk.
D.He had trouble sitting still in class.
2.How did the author probably feel in class in his early school years?
A.Excited. B.Uneasy.
C.Interested. D.Bored.
3.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A.The author is living a good life with his weakness.
B.The author’s disability has been cured by technology.
C.The author got his honours degree in English literature in the fall of 1997.
D.The author was transferred to Brown University because of his disability.
A new keyboard can tell whether you are its owner. The keyboard records information about the typing pattern（模式）and sends it to a computer program. The program then checks to see if the pattern matches the right user. If not, an alarm sounds, and the computer locks the typist out. It locks out everyone else, even if the person knows the password. What's more, this equipment needs no batteries. It collects all the energy it needs from your actions of typing. Besides, the keyboard is also self-cleaning and the keys are free of damage from water, oil and dirt.
The keys of the new keyboard are made of the same inexpensive plastic that might be found on any other standard keyboard. But instead of being smooth, the keys have millions of tiny plastic nanowires（纳米线）on their surface area, increasing the effective contact areas between the plastics and fingers. This guarantees that there's enough power to run the keyboard as someone types.
Liming Dai, a scientist, did not work on the new keyboard, but he thinks the design could be important in getting better performance from a variety of equipment. "It could also be applied to a touch screen, for example, "Dai says. " Then smart phones and notepads could collect energy from someone's actions of typing or drawing. "
"Future work might make the keyboard even more useful, "Dai adds. " A later design might build tiny capacitors onto the nanowires, "he suggests. Capacitors are little devices that temporarily store electric charge. Those might then be LEDs to light a keyboard in the dark.
Zhonglin Wang is a co-designer of the new keyboard. His team has built a working model of the keyboard. "If a company decides to fund（资助）its production, this keyboard could be in stores in as few as two years, "says Wang.
1.How does the new keyboard tell whether you are its owner？
A.By matching the typing pattern to the right user.
B.By sending alarms to a computer program.
C.By checking the right user's passwords.
D.By just recording information about the typing pattern.
2.Why are there many nanowires on the surfaces of the keys？
A.To keep the keyboard free of damage.
B.To improve the speed of typing.
C.To make the keys smooth.
D.To help produce power.
3.What's Dai's attitude to the new keyboard？
A.Unconcerned. B.Doubtful.
C.Positive. D.Critical.
4.What is the best title for the text？
A.A New Keyboard Made of Nanowires
B.A New Keyboard Entirely Owned by You
C.A New Keyboard's Future
D.A New Keyboard Powered by Typing
In my second-to-last semester of college. my favorite professor announced that he would be teaching a study abroad course over the winter break in Cambodia. The more he talked about the opportunity. the more interested I became. I left class thinking I might actually do it.
My immediate excitement gave in to excuses as the weeks passed. The trip would be expensive, I would have less time to spend with my family over the break, and I hadn't really traveled before. Most of all, I was terrified of taking the risk.
On the day when I made my decision, I suddenly felt as if I had finally opened my eyes and seen myself clearly. Why was I so scared to take this chance? I had moved away from home, had almost graduated from college, and had overcome plenty of small-scale fears. How could I let fear get in the way of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Besides, I had always dreamed of traveling around the world and studying abroad was a major point on my list.
So took the challenge. I was scared but excited on the plane, and my fears faded as soon as the wheels touched the runway. I soon found myself attracted by ancient mountaintop temples. I spent my days teaching poor orphans(孤儿) simple English, learned little Khmer myself, and became an expert at avoiding terrible traffic and bargaining with Cambodian store owners.
By the end of my stay, I had fallen in love with travel, exploration and life of daily wonders.
My experience in Cambodia was incredible and life-changing. I came back and became a different person, but a better one: a better friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend and student. I came back and became a grown woman instead of a young girl.
After Cambodia, my life clicked into place. Before the trip, I hadn't known what I wanted to do after graduation. Now am planning on teaching English abroad as a volunteer. I am still amazed by my experience and thankful for everything it taught me. I now have a passion for overcoming fears, big or small, and have new faith in myself.
1.The author's excitement to go to Cambodia faded mainly because .
A.she could not afford the expensive trip
B.she had no experience of traveling abroad
C.she was scared of the risk she would be taking
D.she preferred spending time with her family to traveling
2.What was it that made the author decide to go to Cambodia in the end?
A.She had a heart-to-heart talk with her family.
B.She thought about what might have made her scared.
C.She went through every item she had put on her list.
D.She remembered the challenges and fears she had overcome before.
3.What did the author do in Cambodia?
A.She had a pleasant tour to many places.
B.She helped the locals operate stores
C.She helped local children by teaching English.
D.She looked into the causes of traffic problems.
4.What did the author think of her stay in Cambodia?
A.It was relaxing and inspiring.
B.It made her a successful woman.
C.It improved her communication skills.
D.It led her to plan to do voluntary work.
Along with soccer, basketball is a global sport. As you read this. young people somewhere in the world are happily passing, dribbling(运球) and shooting. It’s enormous fun and a joyful way to spend time with others.
Basketball is a game for everyone. Unlike golf or tennis. it doesn't require great wealth or a lot of space to play. After all, not many people have a golf course-sized backyard. and tennis equipment is expensive. Basketball, by contrast, just needs a wall with a hoop and a ball.
So after its invention by Canadian-American physical educator James Naismith in 1891, the sport took off within US citizens, who quickly became attracted to the game because it suited their circumstances. Today, 127 years later, basketball remains one of the most popular sports in the US, and the National Basketball Association (NBA)has an increasing appeal for fans around the world.
The success of basketball as global phenomenon is undoubtedly related to the way African-Americans play the game.” The basketball court reflected some of the major cultural shifts in America, such as from forbidding African-Americans to play basketball to allowing them to play in the NBA, "the LIVESTRONG website noted.
From the 1950s onwards, segregation rules, which had prohibited African-Americans from playing basketball in NBA games, were no longer used in the US. In 1950, when Earl Lloyd started to play for the Washington Capitols, things began to change. Since then, most of the greats of the game have been African-Americans, like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
It's not difficult to see that there's a strong link between political liberation and basketball. Something of this is expressed in a quote from the US author John Edgar Wideman. He makes a connection between basketball and hope:" When it's' played the way it's supposed to be played. basketball happens in the air; flying, floating, raised above the floor, letting the oppressed(受压制的) people of this earth imagine themselves in their dreams.”
1.What advantage does basketball have over golf or tennis, according to the author?
A.It can be played everywhere.
B.It doesn't cost much.
C.It doesn't require too much skill.
D.It interests almost everyone.
2.What can we learn about basketball from Paragraph 3?
A.The sport was created by a PE teacher.
B.The sport was not popular with people at first.
C.Its rules have been changed a lot to suit new circumstances.
D.The NBA. with a history of 127 Years. attracts people worldwide
3.The main purpose of Paragraph 5 is to .
A.explain the origin and rules of NBA games in the 1950s
B.prove the popularity of basketball among African-Americans
C.stress the success African-Americans in basketball
D.show how racial integration took place in basketball
4.What do John Edgar Wideman's words mean?
A.Basketball is sometimes a useful tool for politicians.
B.American people usually have a basketball dream.
C.Basketball stands for the freedom and hopes of people.
D.Political oppression is a serious problem in the US.
