When I was young, I wanted to be a model, so when a national competition was nearby, I asked my parents to take me for an audition(试演) and they agreed, I was selected and told I had potential. They said that for only $900 I could attend a weekend event that a number of the most famous modeling agenies(中介) from around the world would attend. At 13, my hopes of fame and fortune(名利) clouded my judgment and I begged my parents to let me go. We have never been rich, but they saw my enthusiasm and at last they agreed.
I imagined being signed by some famous model companies. For .months, any boredom or disappointment that I faced disappeared because I knew I would soon have the chance to be a real model. I thought I would appear in the covers of famous magazines!
Of course, I wasn't signed, but what hurt the most was being told that if I grew to 5'9' (about 1.75 meters) I could be a success. I sprayed for a growth spurt(冲刺) because I could not imagine giving up my dream. I met with a local modeling agency and the agent required $500 for classes, $500 for a photo shoot(拍摄), and $300 for other fees. My parents only agreed after hours and hours of my begging.
The agency sent me out on a few auditions but with every day I did not receive a call, I grew more disappointed. The final chance came in July after I had decided to focus on commercial modeling. There was an open call(公开挑it) in New York City. We spent hours driving and spent another few hours waiting, only to be told that I was too short, I could hardly stand it.
Years later, I realize that the trip to New York was good as it made me notice I didn't actually love modeling, just the idea of it.1 wanted to be special and I naively(天真地)decided to reach an impossible goal. The experience has made me stronger and that will help me in the future.
1. The author wanted to be a model, because_______.
A. she won a national contest
B. she wanted to be famous and rich
C. she was urged by some modeling agencies
D. she had full potential to be a successful model
2. The author's parents' attitude toward her dream is_______.
A. encouraging B. doubtful
C. worried D. excited
3. The author finally stopped dreaming to become a model mainly because_______.
A. her parents were strongly against it
B. she realized that it was impossible for her.
C. even a local modeling agency turned her down
D. she realized that she didn't actually love the idea of modeling
4. From her experience of struggling to be a model, the author learned that
A. where there is a will there is a way
B. being a model is not so easy
C. we should have our own judgment and should not just follow others
D. we might set unpractical goals but the experiences can help us grow.
BEING an astronaut sounds cool, doesn't it? In space, they get to do some pretty amazing things, like floating in zero gravity(重力).
However, there are also plenty of things that astronauts can't do because of their weightless environment, and that's very sad. What's worse, they can't even let their sadness show, because it's impossible to cry in zero gravity.
Of course, astronauts can still produce tears. But crying is much more difficult in space, according to The Atlantic(大西洋月刊) in January. Without gravity, tears don't flow(流动) down out of the eyes like they do here on Earth. This means that when you cry in space, your tears have nowhere to go-they just stick(粘) to your eyes.
In May 2011, astronaut Andrew Feustel experienced this during one of his spacewalks. "Tears," he said, "don't fall off of your eyes...They just kind of stay there."
Besides making your vision(视线)unclear, this can also cause physical pain. Back on Earth, tears are supposed to bring comfort to the eyes. But that's not the case in space. The space environment dries out astronauts' eyes, and when tears suddenly wet the eyes, it can cause pain rather than comfort. "My right eye is stinging(刺痛) like crazy," Feustel told his teammate during the walk.
Since gravity doesn't work in space, astronauts need some extra help to get rid of（除去） the tears. Feustel chose to rub his eyes against his helmet to wipe(擦) the tears away. Another choice is to just wait-"When the tears get big enough they simply break free of the eyes and float around," astronaut Ron Parise told The Atlantic.
There are lots of small things-things like crying-that we are so used to on Earth. We usually take them for granted until they become a problem in a totally different environment, like space. There, astronauts can't talk to each other directly. They also can't eat or drink in normal ways. They can't even burp (打嗝), because there is no gravity to hold the food down in their stomach. If they do burp, they just end up throwing up（呕吐）everything in their stomach, according to the UK National Space Center.
Therefore, perhaps it's only space explorers who can honestly say: "Gravity, you're the best."
1.From Paragraphs 2 and 3 , we can know that_______.
A．astronauts are unable to feel sad in space
B．astronauts produce fewer tears in space
C．tears produced in space flow down more slowly
D．tears produced in space don't flow downward
2.What effect do tears have on astronauts?
A．They cause physical pain.
B．They bring comfort to them.
C．They make their vision clearer.
D．They float around and cause trouble.
3.The underlined phrase "take them for granted" in paragraph 7 means _______.
A．find them important
B．consider them useless
C．need them during an emergency
D．fail to notice their presence(存在)
4.The second-to-last paragraph (paragraph 7) is mainly about_______.
A．suggestions of how astronauts can stay comfortable in space
B．other basic things that are difficult to do in space
C．why burping is impossible in space
D．things human can't do without gravity
Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Not caring about the money, parents often send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the United States and Australia. They also want their children to take extra-course activities where they will either learn a musical instrument(乐器) or ballet, or other classes which will give them a head in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is. So parents will spend an unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples will buy a computer for their son or daughter. However, what most parents fail to see is that the best early education they can give their children is usually very cheap.
Parents can see that their children are very skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today's children are short of self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study well, but parents are not teaching them the most important skills that they need to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can achieve this by teaching practical skills like cooking, sewing and doing other housework. Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking requires patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and finish his job successfully step by step. His result, a well-cooked dinner, will give him much satisfaction and lots of self-confidence.
Some old machines, such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child to play with will make him curious and arouse(激发) his interest. He will spend hours looking at them, trying to fix them; your child might become an engineer when he grows up. These activities are not only teaching a child to read a book, but rather to think, to use his mind. And that is more important.
1.Most Chinese parents don't realize_______.
A. how much the best education is worth
B. when children should be educated
C. what children really need in later life
D. why school tests don't satisfy children
2. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. Fixing old machines is very important.
B. Interest is necessary for everything.
C. Broken things are useful for children.
D. Using hands helps improve thinking ability.
3. The writer's attitude（看法） to children's education is that
A. the cheaper an education is, the better it is
B. children today should learn different skills
C. practical skills are useful to children's growth
D. school education can't meet parents' expectation.
One day when some government officials were rebuilding a barn(谷仓), they found a mouse hole in a corner and they used smoke to force the mice inside the hole to come out. A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another. Then, everyone thought that all the mice had ran away. But just as they began to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing(挤)out at the mouth of the hole. With some efforts, the mice finally got out. However, it was strange that after they came out of the hole, they did not run away immediately. Instead, one ran after the other near the mouth of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled, so they stepped nearer to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and could not see anything, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so that he could pull the blind one with him to run away.
After seeing what happened, everyone was silent and lost in thought. During the meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.
One serious American official said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of king and guard." The others thought for a while and said: "That was why!"
A smart French said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of husband and wife." Again the others thought for a while, and all felt it meaningful.
A Japanese said: "I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son." Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable. So they expressed agreement another time.
At that moment, one Chinese asked: "Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?"
Suddenly, the group looked back at the Chinese and didn't say any words. The American official, the French and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shyness, and did not dare to answer.
In fact, the true love is not built on friendship, loyalty(忠诚) or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.
1.Neither of the two mice ran away immediately because_______.
A．one was trying to help the blind one
B．one was biting the other
C．the mouth of the hole was too small
D．they were not afraid of smoke
2.Why did they lower their heads in shyness according to the passage?
A. Because they did not dare to answer.
B. Because they regretted(后悔)driving a poor blind mouse away.
C. Because they had mistaken the relationship of the mice.
D, Because they did not express themselves much better.
3.It is clear that_______.
A．all the mice came out of the hole easily
B．each of the people understood the relationship differently
C．the people wanted to kill the mice with smoke
D．the people knew one of the mice was blind at the first sight
4.The best title for the passage is_______.
A．Two lovely mice B．Help produces love
C．Love is all D．Friends in need
The story tell us about the British writer, Richard Savage. He was once living in London with money in his pockets. In order to get some food and clothes, he wrote the story of his life and managed to have it published. But not many copies of his books were in the shops, and he was still living a hard life. Because of anxiety(忧虑)and malnutrition(营养不良)， he became very weak and before long he fell , and a doctor was sent for. The doctor was not rich enough, but was literature. He tried his best to cure Savage of his illness and a week later Savage was out of danger. When he finally recovered(重新获得) his , the doctor sent a bill to Savage for his , but poor Savage had no money to pay it. The doctor waited for a month and sent another bill. Receiving no money again, the doctor went to Savage himself.
"You know you owe(欠) your life to me," said the doctor, "and I should some thankfulness from you."
"I agree," said the writer, " you've done a great favour(恩惠) for me and if I'm not ungrateful for your kindness, I'll damage(损坏) my life to you."
With these words he handed the doctor two copies of The Life of Richard Savage.
The doctor took the books home and began to _ them carefully.
"I see I've the life of a great writer," the doctor said to himself with a sense of pride, Maybe this is the only thing I could be really of in my life."
Five years later Savage called on the doctor to pay his bill, only to find that the doctor had already passed away.
1.A．much B．a little C．little D．enough
2.A．bought B．sold C．printed D．showed
3.A．weak B．anxious C．frightened D．ill
4.A．interested in B．familiar with C．popular with D．worried about
5.A．walk B．health C．movementD．action
6.A．care B．help C．attention D．treatment
7.A．wish B．choose C．get D．master
8.A．write B．correct C．improve D．read
9.A．made B．saved C．trained D．taught
10.A．fond B．aware C．proud D．afraid
-Can you tell me _______?
- With Lucy's help.
A. when you did it so well B. when did you do it so well
C. how you did it so well D. how did you do it so well
