Like many men at some point, I dream about opening a bar. I plan to call it Work Out. It will cater to married women in need of a little fun. On Friday nights, they will be able to come here and enjoy themselves.
See, I have a gift for business. I am, as my wife Zsa Zsa likes to note, “A man with a million ideas, none of them very good.” Speaking of Zsa Zsa, she is fed up with this plain little life I’ve made for us——too many kids, too many chores, mind – numbing debt. The other day, she said she thought we needed a new family car. “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?” I said, and saw my dear Zsa Zsa age about 20 years, and become her mother right before my eyes.
Yes, money is our madness. Last year, we thought we had found a little cushion when I published a book about the life here in suburban America. It sold 12 copies——six of them to my mother. Four other copies went to various aunts and uncles, who used them for martini coasters (杯垫), then sold them at yard sales. The two remaining copies went to perfect strangers. (I think I owe you dinner, whoever you are. Call me, OK? We’ll arrange something.)
When the book didn’t take off, I wrote a TV show. Then I penned a short novel based on the earlier TV idea that didn’t sell. Currently, I am at work on a set of encyclopedias(百科全书). In a month, I plan to sell them door – to – door.
Such is the life of a writer, sending off the most personal thoughts possible to his hard drive. I am a writer, but also the breadwinner in my family. I’m at the keyboard at 6 almost every morning, hoping to tap out one idea——just one——that will take us up the hill, to the mountain, to the top.
1.According to the passage, the author is leading a/an life.
A．enjoyable B．wealthy C．hard D．comfortable
2.By saying “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?”, the author .
A．promised it to his wife B．was showing off their fortune
C．thought his wife would like it D．was just joking
3.What was the result of the book the author mentioned in the 3rd paragraph?
A．It didn’t sell well at all.
B．He sold it door – to – door.
C．He made a lot of money from it.
D．It was really a cushion for his family.
4.What does the underlined word “cushion” mean ?
A．Comfortable seat.
B．Financial help.
C．Unexpected success.
D．Best-selling book.
5.From the account above, which of the following statements is true?
A．He has a real gift for business.
B．He isn’t serious enough about life.
C．He is a hard – working writer.
D．His wife is satisfied with their plain life.
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。
“At last, no more exams.” It’s a common feeling among high school graduates who have just completed the college entrance examination. What a relief! However, rather than fill the next three months with sleep, eating, and 1. (watch) TV, some students have started working on finding a good choice of foreign college.
Different from those who begin their 2. (apply) for foreign colleges in Senior 2, Li made a late decision on a US education. She began to think about it in Senior 3, but decided not 3. ( give ) up the college entrance exam.
Li’s classmate Mao Bingxin 4. (consider) studying in Canada after the top exam. She began a TOEFL course on June 11.
He Wei, 5. 18-year-old girl who studies at Shenzhen Bao’an High School, isn’t allowing 6. much freedom this summer vacation either, devoting her time to looking for a language school 7. she can study French and some overseas study consulting agencies.
He Wei considers 8. worthwhile spending the summer preparing for college rather than hanging out with friends. “ 9. we don’t really know what the future holds for us, we are sure that the better preparations we make 10. it, the more choices we will be given.” she said.
It was a lazy morning during the Christmas week. We were enjoying breakfast when the doorbell rang. It was a little girl, standing at the doorway with a piece of paper and a face that carried an expression of want, rather a common 1 during Christmas.
She murmured that the paper was her booklist and that she was going around 2 money to buy her schoolbooks. My children went inside and brought some 3 for her. This kind of incident happens very often in my hometown, 4 during Christmas.
From where I was seated, I could see her clearly. She looked about ten years old and she wore a dress too big for her. She spoke in a 5 voice and looked at me straight in the eye. Something made me get up and 6 her.
In answer to my questions, she said that her mother made hoppers and she 7 them before going to school. But the hopper money was not adequate to 8 the list; therefore, she was going from house to house asking for help.
Her voice told me the story; her eyes told me that it was 9 . I said I'd buy her what was on the list.
We drove to a nearby bookstore. She sat 10 , with a strange look on her face. When the clerk was taking all the things on the list, the little girl kept staring as if confused. Perhaps she had never 11 so many new things before. They were merely exercise books, pencils, pens and such things. She whispered her 12 to us. Strange, I hadn't been aware that giving such 13 things to one in need, could bring me such a lot of happiness.
As we drove back, I could see the little girl in the mirror. All the gifts I had given in my life never 14 up a face so much. She was grasping the parcel, smiling to herself. The total event made us all very 15 . Our Christmas became more meaningful.
1. A．problem B．sight C．moment D．experience
2. A．borrowing B．receiving C．begging D．lending
3. A．clothes B．books C．food D．coins
4. A．absolutely B．casually C．especially D．hardly
5. A．strange B．polite C．serious D．loud
6. A．care for B．speak to C．smile at D．hold to
7. A．sold B．needed C．collected D．used
8. A．buy B．make C．cover D．control
9. A．painful B．true C．moving D．interesting
10. A．happily B．eagerly C．anxiously D．silently
11. A．possessed B．bought C．seen D．accepted
12. A．surpr ise B．satisfaction C．thanks D．pleasure
13. A．simple B．wonderful C．expensive D．useful
14. A．lit B．made C．put D．shut
15. A．confused B．delighted C．amazed D．relieved
假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Jenny最近身体不舒服，来信向你询问如何保持健康。
请你给她回信并提出建议。内容如下：
1． 注意合理饮食：多吃鱼，豆类等有营养的食品及新鲜蔬菜和水果，不要吃太多的肉和甜食；
2． 多参加体育锻炼；
3． 保证充足睡眠，不要熬夜，每天至少睡8个小时。
注意：1。词数：120左右
2．信的开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。
3．参考词汇：有营养的：nutritious
Dear Jenny
____________________________________________________________________________
Yours
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（Ù），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。
修改：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1. 每处错误及修改均限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从11处起）不计分。
When I first learned to write in English, I run into many difficulty. The main problem was in that I always thought in Chinese and tried to translate everything into Chinese. My teacher advised me to keep diaries. I followed her advices. Happily it worked. Soon I began to enjoy talk to myself on paper as I was learning to express me in simple English. One day I wrote a short story showed it to my teacher. She liked it very much that she read it to the class. Everyone said the story was the good one. I was great encouraged by their words.
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ---Lao Tzu
If you are in a city where everyone rushes, realize that you don’t have to be like everyone else. You can be different. You can walk instead of driving in rush hour traffic. You can be on your iPhone or Blackberry less, and disconnected sometimes. Your environment doesn’t control your life---you do. I’m not going to tell you how to give you a step-by-step guide to moving slower. 1
1. Do less.
Cut back on your projects, on your task list, on how much you try to do each day. Focus not on quantity but on quality. 2 Save smaller, routine tasks for later in the day, but give yourself time to focus.
2. Have fewer meetings.
3 And they eat into your day, forcing you to squeeze the things you really need to do into small windows, and making you rush.
3. 4
When you do the important things with focus, without rush, there will be things that get pushed back, and that don’t get done. And you need to ask yourself: how necessary are these things? What would happen if I stopped doing them?
4. Practice mindfulness.
Simply learn to live in the present, rather than things so much about future or the past. When you eat, fully appreciate your food. When you are with someone, be with them fully. When you are walking, appreciate your surroundings, no matter where you are.
Try these things out. Life is better when unrushed.
5
A．Start to put off or cancel the unnecessary.
B．Meetings are usually a “big waste of time”.
C．The world likely won’t end if you don’t pass one of the examinations.
D．But here are some things to consider and perhaps adopt, if they work for your life.
E. Remember the quote: if nature can get everything done without rushing, so can you.
F. Pick 2—3 important things---or even just one important thing---and work on those first.
G. Give yourself more time to get ready and get there.
