Facebook means never having to say goodbye. The social media website has earned a reputation for reconnecting old friends. Last week, a guy whom I hadn’t seen since my bachelor party five years ago sent me a friend request. I accepted and waited for “Easy E” to send me a greeting of some kind. He had sought me out, after all.
I learned from his profile that he was in a relationship and had a son. However, I’m pretty sure we won’t ever write wall-to-wall, let alone e-mail each other. But he’ll remain a friend of online until one of us makes a point of removing the other from his official list.
My pool of friends consists of family members, college buddies, co-workers from past and present, and friends of friends. There are 35 in all. If I spent some time uploading old e-mail addresses, I’m confident that I could increase my friend count actually.
A person could make a mission out of reconnecting with childhood friends, former classmates, distant cousins, and those one would like to get to know better. And some people can even handle hundreds of on-screen relationships, keeping up with the daily happenings of their small army of companions. After all, there are worse fates than having too many friends.
Thanks to e-mail, the inability to schedule face-to-face meetings no longer means a friendship must come to a close. But even with e-mail, people will lose touch if one or both parties stop writing back. That’s normal. People move from school to school, job to job, city to city. You never have to feel guilty for breaking away.
Every day, the masterminds of Web 2.0 find new ways of making human communication easier. However, convenience can be a walking stick. Some things shouldn’t be simplified. When it comes to friendship, there can be no shortcuts.
1.According to Paragraph 1, the website is famous because .
A．it has an interesting name of “Facebook”
B．it can send people a greeting of some kind
C．it helps people get in touch with old friends
D．it reminds people of events in the past
2.From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer .
A．would write to the friend quite often
B．did get some information about the friend
C．asked the friend to e-mail him
D．would keep in touch with the friend forever
3.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A．The author communicates with all the 35 friends by e-mails.
B．There are 35 people in the author’s list of friends right now.
C．The list of 35 friends doesn’t include the old e-mail addresses.
D．It is not difficult for the author to increase his friend count.
4.What does the writer mean by saying “However, convenience can be a walking stick”？
A．The masterminds of Web 2.0 also sell walking sticks online.
B．Taking a walking stick is a new way of making friends online.
C．Convenience is dangerous for human communication.
D．Convenience is not really good for human communication.
Over the past decade, cheating—an act of academic dishonesty—has become more and more common.
The latest statistics shows more than two thirds of high school students admitted cheating on an exam last year, and—even more surprising—often the best students cheat to get to the top of their class—and they don’t think it is wrong. It’s not a big deal. Everybody is doing it.
It is a big deal! Cheating is basically wrong and must be punished.
If students easily get away with it, they might be encouraged to do it again. They won’t realize that this—in the broadest sense—is an attack on our society, which is based on values like honesty and fairness. The present spreading of cheating indicates a loss of those values and cannot be tolerated. An appropriate punishment for cheating incidents would make students aware of their misbehavior.
If no one were punished for cheating, who would ever study for an exam? Tons of papers would be lifted from websites, writing crib sheets would be more important than reviewing the subjects, and highly sophisticated cheating arts would be invented. Knowledge would only exist on the Internet and on cleverly created cheat sheets, but not in the minds of the students—a rather bad precondition to enrich our society wisely and intelligently.
Students have to learn that they have to learn. Only doing what’s right will bring them a feeling of pride and accomplishment and create self-confidence—the building blocks for a successful and satisfying life and a society that keeps its values.
1.What is more surprising is that .
A．cheating is very common in schools
B．over 2/3 of the students cheat last year
C．even the best students cheat on exams
D．teachers are not aware of the problems
2.How do they make the students realize their misbehavior?
A．By letting them getting away with it.
B．By telling them what is right.
C．By catching them on the spot.
D．By giving them some punishment.
3.How can students create self-confidence?
A．By knowing they have to learn.
B．By doing what is right.
C．By learning the right things.
D．By being punished when cheating.
4.What does the underlined word “lifted” mean?
A．taken B．removed C．copied D．written
Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Consequently, we take weekly trips to COSTCO to procure fuel and supplies. About a month ago, we’d finished loading up the SUV and prepared to leave. As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the roadside, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully. Instantly, I was grateful I did.
The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ payment of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and figured: no one would throw this out, especially if it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed impractical. Although the form had been born on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the names of the owners and pocketed the receipt. Recalling the parable of the Good Samaritan, I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and send it to them by post. Further, I imagined how crazy I’d be if I had misplaced my receipt. Much easier to attempt returning it than to leave them angry, upset, etc. over the loss.
By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy couple containing a hand written message and a gift card to use at any Starbuck’s. In her note, the wife explained how a gust of wind snatched their receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. They had panicked and searched crazily for quite some time before giving up. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major loss by doing something that at first glance seemed minor or even unimportant.
1.What did the author really mean when he said “Instantly, I was grateful I did.”?
A．He was lucky to notice the paper on the roadside.
B．He was happy to do shopping in the district for it was convenient.
C．He was right to pick the paper up because it was important.
D．He was thankful to pick up the paper because he found it for a long time.
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the short passage?
A．I rode my car to COSTCO to buy supplies a month ago.
B．The receipt was out of date, so the owner threw it away.
C．I waited on the roadside for the receipt owner for half a day.
D．I called up the owner to take back the receipt.
3.The author decided to give the paper back to the owner because ______.
A．it was useless for him
B．he knew the owner was upset about losing it
C．the owner asked him to do so
D．he knew the owner would reward him for it
4.Which would be the best title for this passage?
A．How I helped the couple B．The loss of an important receipt
C．The owner of the receipt D．Little things still mean a lot
When I was in college twenty-five years ago, I spent four summers working in 36 at a luxury hotel in downtown Chicago. 37 , I was a maid.
I did not enter the world of housekeeping enthusiastically. My friends had 38 jobs such as making ice cream, selling goods at the mall, or life guarding at the outdoor pool. I had been hoping to get a job as an office lady for a famous company: 39 pay, air-conditioned office, the gold standard for summer jobs, as most of us dreamed of. When that 40 , the only option left was to take a train ride downtown each morning to work as a maid.
It was tiring work, cleaning up to eighteen rooms a day. My 41 attitude reflected my disdain(鄙视) for cleaning toilets, 42 bed sheets, dusting, eight hours a day for the comfort of total strangers who 43 left a tip. I thought it was beneathme. My maid work was average 44 the day I was assigned to the eighteenth floor.
That was Lorena’s regular floor. The only time another maid set foot on it was on Lorena’s day off. If you left any water 45 on the mirror, or a hair on the bed, Lorena would hunt you down when she 46 , as I found out firsthand. She’d ended her lecture to me with “ 47 some pride in your work.”
She did. And so did Rosalie, Helen, Annette, and all the other experienced maids. Their devotion to doing a good job and their belief that their work was a 48 of their character stuck with me throughout my 49 career after graduation. I learned a lot from them during those four summers.
Not a week would go without one of them 50 some firm but friendly advice: “Where’s your commode brush? You don’t have one? How do you expect to get that bowl clean?”
Their pride in a job well done was reflected in how they treated 51 . They left the building at the end of the day in nice dresses and 52 makeup. They looked like they could have been attending an afternoon tea. And, 53 often, they were smiling and laughing, cheerfully greeting their co-workers a good evening. When you work with happiness and 54 , a job will be well done. I believe there is 55 in any job if you work hard and try your best.
1. A．cleaning B．housekeeping C．serving D．managing
2. A．In short B．In brief C．In other words D．On the other hand
3. A．winter B．summer C．awful D．permanent
4. A．extra B．poor C．average D．good
5. A．fell over B．fell through C．fell down D．fell off
6. A．negative B．right C．excellent D．casual
7. A．making B．spreading C．changing D．doing
8. A．frequently B．rarely C．occasionally D．willingly
9. A．when B．after C．until D．before
10. A．drops B．signs C．tracks D．marks
11. A．visited B．arrived C．left D．returned
12. A．take B．obtain C．reject D．make
13. A．reflection B．truth C．gratitude D．award
14. A．special B．general C．different D．professional
15. A．taking B．following C．offering D．refusing
16. A．others B．themselves C．customers D．co-workers
17. A．expensive B．cautious C．cheap D．careful
18. A．more B．least C．most D．less
19. A．frustration B．regret C．prejudice D．satisfaction
20. A．respect B．aspect C．challenge D．failure
-- I’m in preparationforthe examination and only sleep four hours a day for a fortnight.
-- _______. It is not preparation and worse still it will be bad for your health and study.
A．You needn’t have that B．That’s taking it a bit far
C．I wouldn’t say no D．I can’t agree more
_____your poor record in school , we think you should study harder.
A．In charge of B．In case of C．In spite of D．In view of
