Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama’s “Back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt(摘录) from his speech.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots (投篮) during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures beat you — you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.
No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
And even when you are struggling, even when you are discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you — don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.
1.Why does Barack Obama mention JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth paragraph?
A. To compare these two famous persons.
B. To explain that writing and sports are difficult skills.
C. To show that the two persons were treated unfairly.
D. To prove that failure is the mother of success.
2.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. No one can be successful without working hard.
B. Failure can be good if you treat it in a right way.
C. Those who believe in themselves shouldn’t ask others for help.
D. One should try his best to make his dream come true.
3.Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
A. One should change his mind when others give honest advice to him.
B. One should believe in himself no matter what difficulty he is faced with.
C. One doesn’t have to work hard when he has failed several times.
D. One doesn’t have to take others’ advice when they get away from him.
When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy holiday presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.
I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a hand basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter (收银台) and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.
Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. “You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you,” said the woman. “It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, I know you will feel as good about it as I do now.”
Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.
I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.
1.When they got to the supermarket, Mark went in ________.
A. by himself B. with the writer
C. with the woman D. with his friends
2.What happened to Mark in the supermarket?
A. His gifts were stolen. B. He lost his money.
C. His basket was broken. D. He lost his way.
3.Why did the writer want to say “thank you” to the woman?
A. Because she bought Mark a nice present.
B. Because she always paid money for others.
C. Because she collected clothes for the homeless.
D. Because she taught Mark to help people in need.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Here’s the morning news. Yesterday afternoon a ten-year-old school boy swallowed (吞下) a pen cap!
The boy was daydreaming in class. Without knowing what he was doing, he put a pen cap into his mouth. A few minutes later, he was terrified to find that he had swallowed it! The teacher was shocked when the boy stood up and said, “I’ve just swallowed a pen cap.” He was quickly sent to the nearest hospital. There a doctor examined him and said the best treatment was to give him medicine so that the pen cap could pass naturally. Three hours later the boy successfully made it.
“The boy is really lucky,” said the doctor. “It’s not rare that small children put things into their mouths for fun. It’s very dangerous.” He added.
1.Where will we probably get this news?
A. In a newspaper. B. On the radio.
C. In a textbook. D. In a magazine.
2.What do the underlined words “made it” mean?
A. swallowed the pen cap
B. went to see the doctor
C. made the pen cap pass naturally
D. had the medicine
3.Which sentence is RIGHT according to the news?
A. The boy was 8 years old.
B. The boy was listening carefully in class.
C. The boy went to the hospital himself.
D. The boy was all right at last.
I should say I owe (归功于) my success to my mother. My belief began when I was just a kid. I becoming a doctor.
My mother was a servant. Through her work, she found that people spent a lot more time reading than they watching television. She told my brother and me to watch only two to three pre-selected TV programs during the week. In our free time, we had to read two books from the Detroit Public Library and written book reports to her. She would mark them up with check marks and highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a trick because my mother was uneducated.
When I entered high school I was an A-student, but not for . I wanted the brightly colored clothes and I wanted to hang out with the guys. I went from being an A-student to a B-student to a C-student. One night my mother came home from her various jobs and I complained about not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, “Okay, I’ll give you all the money I this week by scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can buy the family food and pay the bills. With everything paid off, you can have all the Italian shirts you want.” I was very with that arrangement but once I got through allocating (分配) money, there was left.
I realized my mother was a great woman to be able to keep a roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table, let alone buy clothes. I also realized that immediate satisfaction wasn’t going to get me anywhere. Success required intellectual preparation. I went back to my and became an A-student again, and at last I my dream and I became a doctor.
My mother is a woman with formal education or property who used her position as a parent to change the lives of her children. There is no job more important than parenting.
1.A. dreamed of B. depended on C. gave up D. thought of
2.A. strict B. easy-going C. successful D. careful
3.A. cost B. paid C. took D. did
4.A. read B. present C. teach D. explain
5.A. soon B. far C. long D. often
6.A. working B. shopping C. making D. getting
7.A. accept B. win C. spend D. make
8.A. excited B. pleased C. disappointed D. bored
9.A. anything B. everything C. something D. nothing
10.A. guys B. mother C. studies D. play
11.A. expected B. realized C. changed D. tried
12.A. little B. much C. few D. High
—Lucy, I hear the new TV tower is fantastic. Could you tell me ?
—Sure! Take No. 8 bus. It’s not far.
A. how far is it B. where is it
C. how I can get there D. which bus should I take
His grandparents don’t work anymore because they want their life.
A. enjoy B. enjoyed
C. enjoying D. to enjoy
