The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:
"I hate all the pianos in this town and I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They cannot even understand rhythm (韵律)."
"Nobody wants to pay musicians anything. I’m sick of all the people who want you to play without paying you."
One younger musician said, "There are several clubs who want me to play for a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also planning to join in several summer festivals this year."
I really liked what the younger musician said so I made friends with him.
Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive (积极的) or negative (消极的), they’re all rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who are always complaining or blaming (责备) others, it is possible that you will start doing the same as well. If you spend lots of time with people who don’t support (支持) your dreams, it is time to take a look at the people you call "friends".
There is an easy exercise you can try. Make a list of the people who you often stay with, and simply stop spending time with the negative ones on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Of course, this exercise is entirely different from making friends only for the good of oneself. We really should try to help and spend time with those who are working towards a goal or dream.
1.The musicians’ conversation at the beginning is there to show that ______.
A. musicians’ living conditions are not good
B. people in that town have poor taste in music
C. young people are more likely to succeed
D. different people have different attitudes
2.The underlined part "they’re all rubbing off on you" in Paragraph 6 means ______.
A. they’ll push you ahead
B. they’ll help you realize your dreams
C. they’ll keep you from moving on
D. they’ll have an influence (影响) on you
3.By doing the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.
A. improve your ability to make friends
B. make the right kind of friends
C. develop a better relationship with your friends
D. make some new friends with the same interests as you
4. We can get the following information from the passage EXCEPT ______.
A. the younger musician is a positive person and would be a good friend
B. one should avoid (避免) making friends with people who have lots of
difficulties
C. the exercise can help you keep close to really helpful friends
D. one will start complaining if one spends too much time with negative people
Until late in the 20th century most Americans spent time with people of different generations. Now middle-aged Americans may not keep in touch with old people until they are old themselves.
That's because we group people by age. We put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sport activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior citizen homes. Why?
We live far away from the old for many reasons. Young people sometimes avoid the old to get rid of fears of becoming old and dying. It is much harder to watch someone we love disappear before our eyes. Sometimes it’s got hard that we stay away from the people who need us the most.
Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young.
A reporter moved her family into a block filled with old people. At first her children were disappointed. But the reporter made banana bread for the neighbors and had her children send it and visit them. Soon the children had many new friends, with whom they shared food, stories and projects. "My children have never been lonely, "the reporter said.
The young, in turn, save the old. Once I was in a rest home (an organization where old people are cared for) when a visitor showed up with a baby, she was immediately surrounded. People who hadn't gotten out of bed in a week suddenly were ringing for a wheelchair. Even those who had seemed asleep woke up to watch the child. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.
Grandparents are a special case. They give their grandchildren a feeling of security and continuity. As my husband put it "My grandparents gave me a deep sense that things would turn out right in the end." Grandchildren speak of attention they don't get from worried parents. "My parents were always telling me to hurry up, and my grandparents told me to slow down," one friend said. A teacher told me she can tell which pupils have relationships with grandparents: they are quieter, calmer and more trusting.
1.Now in an American family, people can find that___________.
A. children never live with their parents
B. not all working people live with their parents
C. old people are supported by their grandchildren
D. grandchildren are supported by their grandparents
2. Seeing a baby, the old people got excited because _______.
A. they had never seen a baby before
B. the baby was clever and beautiful
C. the baby brought them the image of life
D. the baby's mother would take care of them
3. Why are some children quieter, calmer and more trusting ?
A. Because they have relationships with their grandparents.
B. Because their worried parents ask them to act like that.
C . Because they have nothing to worry about.
D. Because their teachers ask them to act like that.
4. Which of the following can show the fact that the old often save the young?
A. The old can become friends of the children and the children may not feel lonely.
B. The old get excited when they see a baby.
C. The old can cure the young when they are sick.
D. Babies have an astonishing power to comfort and cure.
Mexico City is truly one of the most amazing cities in the world with a mixture of both the old and new world. From the moment your plane starts to land in this vast city, you know that your trip will be quite an adventure.
Once in your taxi and the moment you leave the airport, you are amazed at the large amount of slow traffic. The volume of the traffic can be stressful to some.
The "Paseo de la Reforma (改革大道)", running southwest across the city, is one of the major tourist and business areas in Mexico City with many high quality hotels only walking distance from great restaurants and other tourist attractions. The only problem you will have is trying to see all of these sites during your vacation time.
One of the most popular attractions in this area is the National Museum of Anthropology along the northwest part of the street. There are thousands of artifacts on display showing the history of the area and numerous items found from the many Aztec sites in the area. Walking southwest from the museum, you will soon reach the Mexico City Zoo, which is a great place to spend an afternoon.
Across the street from the museum is the Chapultepec Castle, once an important site in the Mexican-American war. It's also a good idea to take the train up the hill to where the castle is located as the hill is steep (陡峭的). It's important to keep in mind that Mexico City is over 7,000 feet above sea level and some feel it difficult to breathe when walking.
You can take a taxi to the Coyoacan market during the evening on a weekend. It's a great place to get some cheap souvenirs （纪念品）to bring back home and to enjoy some traditional Mexican cuisine. However, you must be careful where you eat and that the meat is well cooked.
1. The tourists in Mexico City may not be satisfied with______.
A. the high speed of the traffic B. the heavy traffic of the city
C. the polluted air in the city D. their safety in the city
2. Which of the following shows the correct positions of the following places?
P = Paseo de la Reforma M = the National Museum of Anthropology
C = the Chapultepec Castle Z = the Mexico City Zoo
3.Which of the following attractions may interest those who want to study the military (of the army) history of Mexico City?
A. The National Museum of Anthropology. B. The Coyoacan market.
C. The Chapultepec Castle. D. The Aztec sites.
My father was a foreman of a sugar-cane plantation in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. My first job was to drive the oxen（牛） that ploughed the cane fields. I would walk behind an ox, guiding him with a broomstick. For $ 1 a day, I worked eight hours straight, with no food breaks.
It was very tedious work, but it prepared me for life and taught me many lasting lessons. Because the plantation owners were always watching us, I had to be on time every day and work as hard as I could. I’ve never been late for any job since. I also learned about being respectful and faithful to the people you work for. More important, I earned my pay; it never entered my mind to say I was sick just because I didn’t want to work.
I was only six years old, but I was doing a man’s job. Our family needed every dollar we could make because my father never earned more than $ 18 a week. Our home was a three-room wood shack with a dirty floor and no toilet. Nothing made me prouder than bringing home money to help my mother, father, two brothers and three sisters. This gave me self-esteem(自尊心), one of the most important things a person can have.
When I was seven, I got work at a golf course near our house. My job was to stand down the fairway and spot the balls as they landed, so the golfers could find them. Losing a ball meant you were fired, so I never missed one. Some nights I would lie in bed and dreamt of making thousands of dollars by playing golf and being able to buy a bicycle.
The more I dreamed, the more I thought. Why not? I made my first golf club out of guava limb(番石榴树枝) and a piece of pipe. Then I hammered an empty tin can into the shape of a ball. And finally I dug two small holes in the ground and hit the ball back and forth. I practiced with the same devotion and intensity. I learned working in the field — except now I was driving golf balls with club, not oxen with a broomstick.
1.The word “tedious” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
A. difficult B. boring C. interesting D. unusual
2.The writer learned that_______ from his first job.
A. he should work for those who he liked most
B. he should work longer than what he was expected
C. he should never fail to say hello to his owner
D. he should be respectful and faithful to the people he worked for
3._______ gave the writer self-esteem.
A. Having a family of eight people
B. Owning his own golf course
C. Bringing money back home to help the family
D. Helping his father with the work on the plantation
4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. He wanted to be a successful golfer.
B. He wanted to run a golf course near his house.
C. He was satisfied with the job he got on a plantation.
D. He wanted to make money by guiding oxen with a broomstick.
完形填空 (共15小题；每小题1分，共15分)
On a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the lake behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out of the 36 door, leaving behind his shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.
He 37 into the water, not realizing that as he swam to the middle of the lake, a(n) 38 was swimming toward the 39 . His mother in the house saw the two. Full of 40 , she ran toward the water, screaming at her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became 41 and made a U-turn to swim hurriedly to his mother. But it was too late. Just as he reached her, the crocodile 42 him. The mother grabbed her little boy by the 43 just as the crocodile seized his legs.
The crocodile was 44 stronger than the mother; but the mother was much too 45 to pull her son back. A farmer heard the 46 , raced from his truck, took aim and shot the crocodile.
Remarkably, a few weeks later, the little boy 47 . His legs were extremely scarred by the attack of the animal. 48 , on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh(肉体) in her 49 to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter, who 50 the boy after the accident, asked if he would show him his scars（疤痕）: The boy, with obvious 51 , said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom would not let go.”
You and I can 52 with that little boy. We have scars, too. Not from a crocodile, but the scars of a painful 53 . some of those scars are ugly and have 54 us deep regret. But , some wounds, my friend, are because our relatives have 55 to let go. In the course of your struggle, they have been there holding on to you.
1.A. back B. front C. open D. closed
2.A. swam B. flew C. went D. drived
3. A. child B. fish C. animal D. crocodile
4. A. shore B. centre C. middle D. lake
5. A. shock B. surprise C. fear D. joy
6.A. realized B. alarmed C. cleared D. pleased
7. A. hold B. arrived C. closed D. reached
8.A. body B. head C. arms D. hands
9. A. less B. much C. little D. few
10. A. hurried B. worried C. eager D. anxious
11. A. screams B. shouts C. voices D. sound
12.A. lived B. saved C. rescued D. survived
13. A. And B. Therefore C. But D. However
14.A. force B. power C. effort D. strength
15.A. asked B. interviewed C. questioned D. reported
16.A. regret B. pride C. joy D. worry
17.A. agree B. disagree C. admire D. respect
18.A. past B. future C. memory D. reminder
19. A. kept B. made C. left D. led
20.A. accepted B. delayed C. denied D. refused
The competition between the 2 restaurants was______.
A. in B. on C. away D. out
