Most people hate change, which is sad since we often go through intense changes in life. And for some of us, even the smallest changes can upset our day. So the question is: Why do most of us find making adjustments to our lives so hard?
Fear of change is nothing new. Over a century ago, the Parisians were unhappy over a particular addition to their city: the Eiffel Tower. In fact, the citizens were so angry about the plans for the tower that they protested its construction. As strange as it may seem, their anger was completely natural. They were given no choice about the huge change that was going to be made, so they became angry.
But we get upset over changes even when we do have a say in the matter and think about them carefully. Changes are brought about every day by the decisions we make: which school to attend, which job to take, whom to marry. Voluntary changes also make most of us uneasy because we don’t know how those changes will affect our future.
People have discovered that the key to overcoming the fear and anger associated with change is to be flexible. When they are flexible, people can adapt to new situations more easily. Being flexible is especially important in the 21st century as technology makes change occur faster than ever before. Those who oppose change, especially with technology in the workplace, may find themselves out of a job.
When change comes, and you have no choice but to face it, embrace it. A positive attitude helps a lot. In fact, the change may turn out to be the best thing for you. That new job you got may end up being much better than your old one. You may make the best friends of your life in the new city you moved to. Don’t merely focus on how you feel about change; instead decide to accept the change. The change is the reality, and it’s up to you whether the change will be a success or a failure. You never know – your next change may be your life’s Eiffel Tower!
1.Why did the building of the Eiffel Tower make the Parisians unhappy?
A. Because they didn’t like the design of the Eiffel Tower.
B. Because they couldn’t avoid accepting the Eiffel Tower.
C. Because it was no use building the Eiffel Tower.
D. Because the Eiffel Tower seemed strange.
2.According to the passage, it can be inferred that what won’t disturb us are _____________.
A. the changes that have agreement with one’s will
B. the small changes we meet in our daily life
C. the changes whose effect we can predict and control
D. the changes that we discuss or consider thoroughly
3.How should we overcome negative emotions that the changes bring?
A. We are not supposed to face the changes and let them alone.
B. We should actively accustom ourselves to the new circumstance.
C. We should not take the changes seriously and avoid them as much as possible.
D. We should know that the changes merely bring us bad influence.
4.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A. The change will probably make you fail like the Eiffel Tower.
B. The change is like the Eiffel Tower which is not good for our future life.
C. Your future life is never known just like the Eiffel Tower unknown to the Parisians.
D. Your future life is likely to be a great achievement due to the change.
5.What is the best title for the passage?
A. The Psychology of Change B. The ways to Overcome the Fear
C. Changes That Disturb Us D. The Bad Effect of Changes
The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy(谬误) of all is that colds caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(战壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter？Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms(症状).
1. The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.
A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 3
2. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
B. Colds are not caused by cold.
C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.
3. Arctic explorers may catch colds when _______.
A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
4.Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit ______.
A. suffered a lot B. never caught colds
C. often caught colds D. became very strong
5.The passage mainly discusses _______.
A. the experiments on the common cold
B. the cures about the common cold
C. the reason and the way people catch colds
D. the continued spread of common colds
What if you could fly like a bird just by thinking happy thoughts? Or you could disappear to a faraway land, never grow old and fight pirates every day? For Peter Pan and his friends, the Lost Boys, these dreams come true.
More than 100 years after this playful boy was “born”, Peter Pan and his friends are to continue their adventure in a sequel(续集)to J.M. Barrie’s original novel. “Peter Pan in Scarlet”(重返梦幻岛),written by British author Geraldine McCaughrean, was published earlier this month.
The sequel brings all the original characters back. Peter Pan’s friends, the Lost Boys, are now grown up and live in the real world. What’s more, at the end of the first book, Peter Pan thinks he has killed his enemy, Captain Hook. But ,new readers discover he is not so dead at all.
For those who are unfamiliar with the original story, Peter Pan lives in faraway Neverland with a group of orphans. But they are eager for a real mother and Peter Pan flies to London with a fairy(仙女), Tinkerbell, to find one. They visit a young girl, Wendy, who loves to read stories, and bring her and her two brothers back to Neverland to live with them. In Neverland, children never have to grow up, and there are no parents to tell them what to do.
Many teenagers dream of a world where they don’t have to grow old and take responsibility. But, the author explains such a world is not the paradise(乐园)when it first appears: adventures can be scary and often dangerous, and, though we all sometimes dream of running away, we all need someone to love and look after us too.
1.The passage is written to ________.
A. tell you about an unrealistic dream
B. introduce novels about Peter Pan
C. analyze the difficulties of growing up
D. explain why Peter Pan can’t grow old
2.“Peter Pan in Scarlet” is about _________.
A. how some children fought against the pirate–Captain Hook
B. the care–free life the children led in Neverland
C. how peter Pan looked for a real mother for the Lost Boys
D. how the Lost Boys return to Neverland for more adventures
3.The stories of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys reflect that those at their age ________.
A. are ready to shoulder responsibility
B. choose adventures in faraway places
C. long for independence but also need someone to love them
D. can’t wait to grow up
4. The place Peter Pan and his friend stay is named Neverland probably because .
A. they never have to grow up
B. they don’t have parents
C. they never have troubles
D. they never need to worry
5. Peter Pan flies to London _________.
A. to find a fairy B. to visit a young girl
C. to find a real mother D. to earn money
阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。
It was a winter morning, just before Christmas, while most people were warming up their cars, my husband, Trevor, had to ride his bike 4 kilometers away from home to work. On his 1. (arrive), he parked his bike outside the back door 2. usual. After 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone, 3. was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, and also the bike was used 4. (get) groceries, saving us from having to walk long distances from 5. we live.
I was so sad that I wrote to the newspaper and told6. our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, and then called my husband to fetch it. Once again my husband had a way to get to and 7. his job. It really is 8. honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can 9. (pass) from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it 10. (strong) our faith in humanity. And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways, we, too, can share with others.
One day, Miss Ellis gave her pupils a new kind of homework: homework on happiness. Her pupils would be “happiness 1 ”, and were to see what would happen when they tried to bring happiness to those around them. As part of their homework, all the students did really 2 , wonderful things, but what Carla Chalmers did left everyone 3 . Several days after the homework had been handed out, Carla turned up carrying a big bag.
“Here in this bag I have all the happiness I’ve collected so far,” she said 4 . On seeing this, everyone was filled with 5 , but Carla didn’t want to show anyone what was in the bag. Instead, she pulled out a small box and gave it to her teacher. When Miss Ellis had taken the box, Carla took a(n) 6 camera out of her own pocket and stood with it at the ready.
“Open it, Miss Ellis.”
The teacher slowly opened the box and looked inside. A big smile 7 on her face, and at that moment Carla took a photo, Carla’s photo came out of the camera immediately, and she 8
it to Miss Ellis along with a sheet of paper. The teacher read the paper in silence, and when she, had finished, she gestured at the 9 .
“Oh, so it’s…”
“Yes!” 10 Carla, opening the bag. “It’s a great big pile of smiles!”
She opened the bag and photos of different 11 fell out.
The rest of the class tried to 12 how Carla had managed to create such a great big chain of happiness. All there in the box was a photo of a big smile. But everyone who had seen it felt happiness being transmitted（传送）to them, and in return, without 13 , every person 14 with a smile of their own.
She managed to 15 understanding of the smile truth that every time you smile you are sending a gift to the world.
1.A. explorers B. instructors C. players D. collectors
2.A. regretful B. delightful C. stressful D. thankful
3.A. surprised B. satisfied C. annoyed D. depressed
4.A. disappointedly B. sadly C. amazedly D. smilingly
5.A. astonishment B. kindness C. expectation D. pride
6.A. expensive B. old–fashioned C. instant D. good-looking
7. A. disappeared B. froze C. faded D. shone
8. A. offered B. sold C. packed D. paid
9.A. box B. bag C. camera D. pocket
10.A. added B. questioned C. replied D. interrupted
11.A. smiles B. teachers C. ceremonies D. friends
12.A. try out B. focus on C. decide on D. figure out
13.A. imagination B. expression C. hesitation D. reason
14.A. responded B. refused C. demanded D. proved
15.A. hide B. correct C. appreciate D. spread
阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story’’ often told, Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13 th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six times without success. On the seventh time he made it and went to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English. Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one. Abraham Lincoln, the famous American president, lost elections more times than he won them! He never gave up in the face of failure but kept trying and was eventually elected to Congress and then the presidency.
So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?
Second, is the goal you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about this question. “If I do succeed this time, where will it get me?’’ This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.”
【写作内容】
1、概括短文的内容要点，该部分字数大约30词左右；
2、以“Is Failure a Bad Thing”为题写一篇文章，包含以下内容要点，该部分的字数大约120词左右。
⑴失败是生活中的常事
⑵人们对失败所持的不同态度
⑶你对失败的认识
【写作要求】
1、可以使用实例或其他论述方法支持你的观点，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不要抄袭阅读材料中的句子
2、作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
