The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:
“ I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”
“ I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”
But a younger musician said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”
I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.
Attitudes are important. Whether they are positive(积极的) or negative (消极的)，they are rubbing off on you. If you are around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame others, and you play the role of victim(受害者) , chances are you will start as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.
This is an easy exercise: make a list of the people who you hand out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.
Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career(职业) path.”
1.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A．A friend in need is a friend indeed
B．How to make friendship last for ever
C．You are who your friends are
D．Friends are the most important in one’s success
2.The underlined sentence “ rubbing off on you” means ________ .
A．They’ll push you ahead B．They will influence(影响) you
C．They’ll cover your shortcomings D．They will help you achieve your goal
3.The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show _______ .
A．the musician’s living conditions are quite poor
B．People have poor taste in music
C．People have different attitudes towards the same thing.
D．Young people have greater chances of succeeding
4.By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7 , you can _______ .
A．improve a lot in making more friends
B．come to the right way of making friends
C．develop a better friendship with your friends
D．arrange the time with your friends properly
5.The passage is mainly written for ________ .
A．musicians B．managers C．negative people D．people wanting to succeed
How do you get a man to do his share of the housework? If you are like most women, you’ve faced this question the hard way.
A man will enjoy a clean, orderly house, but he usually won’t make the effort to clean or organize it. This doesn’t mean that a woman has to do all the housework; she may have to manage many of the household duties, and request her partner’s joining. A woman can often say that men and women should take equal responsibility for housework.
Very few men are raised to be fully responsible for housework, and many men look on housework as women’s work. On the other hand, most men will readily work around the yard, make repairs and complete projects on weekends or evenings, and it’s important that you give your man appreciation(欣赏) for those things, too. Most men will take on a little housework around the house if asked politely. They are even more likely to do housework if they can choose what they want to do , and do it without being monitored(监视).
Here is the key: men want to feel that they are doing housework either because they want to do a task, or they simply want to please their women. Men are less likely to take on household tasks they consider uninteresting and unimportant. In other words, men are likely to do a housework task just for the good of the house.
1.The passage is mainly about how to ________.
A．get men to do some housework B．get men to serve their families
C．praise men’s housework D．get men to do all the housework
2.According to a passage, a man _______ .
A．is willing to do housework
B．likes to be told to do housework
C．is taught to be responsible for housework from childhood
D．likes a clean house but doesn’t make effort to clean it.
3.In order to get men to do housework, women should often ________ .
A．order them to do their share B．ask them to do some housework politely
C．blame men’s laziness D．monitor men’s work
4.According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that men won’t __________ .
A． work without any payment B．do unimportant housework tasks
C．do housework with women’s praises D．please their wives
5.According to the passage, which of the following would a husband most probably like to ?
A．Cleaning the table B．Doing some washing
C．Painting the fence D．Asking his wife to work on the yard.
More and more people think it necessary to study in an English-speaking country and it didn’t take long at all for me to decide to come and study in UK.
Having been in the school for 2 months, I’m getting used to school life, and I am starting to make the most of my time in here. School starts at 9 o’clock every morning, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have long days, in which we have 9 lessons and school finishes at 4 o’clock. Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays we have short days, in which we have only 6 lessons and finish at 1 o’clock. After lessons, we have two hours of activity time, when you can choose from a wide range of activities, including all the major sports, such as rugby and football, and also the minor sports such as basketball and tennis.
As a boarder( 寄宿者)，the quality of food is something I consider very important, and Merchiston has not let me down. The school kitchens are run by a professional food company, and the quality of food is very excellent and also they take the healthy diet very seriously: I remember once I was once asked to take more salad for my meal by a member of the kitchen staff(员工) for I didn’t have enough vegetables. This brings another point of being a boarder: you need to learn how to look after yourself and be responsible(负责) for yourself. One of the huge advantages of being a boarder is that we can have breakfast in the school, which means we don’t have to pull ourselves out of bed as early as the day pupils!
1.The passage mainly tells us about _______.
A．the author’s school life in the UK as a boarder.
B．the author’s opinion of the school life in the UK.
C．the differences in school life between China and UK.
D．the boarder life in a Britain middle school.
2.According to the second paragraph, we can learn that the author _________ .
A．has not enough time to study B．likes to play tennis and basketball
C．went to the school two months ago D．finishes school at 4 o’clock
3.How many lessons do the students have every week in this school?
A．15 B．45 C．27 D．18
4.The underlined words “let me down” in the last paragraph means _______.
A．made me disappointed B．made me pleased C．encouraged me D．amazed me
5.As a boarder in the school, the author ___________ .
A．is not used to the food there B．has learned to have healthy diets
C．is specially taken good care of D．sleep as much as the day pupils
It was a sunny day. A city man was driving along a country road with a new wagon(马车)and a beautiful pair of horses. He didn’t pay a lot of 1 to where he was going. Pretty soon he 2 that he was lost, but he 3 to drive, expecting to find his way or to 4 someone who could tell him how to get back to the 5 .
It was a long 6 road. For many hours he kept on driving. When it was almost 7 , he saw in a 8 a tall farmer ploughing the land. He stopped his 9 team of horses near the fence and called out, “Hello, farmer.”
“Hello, yourself,” the farmer replied, 10 ploughing.
“Where does the horse 11 ? He asked without knowing his languages mistakes.
“I haven’t seen it go anywhere. It 12 stays right where it is,” said the farmer, 13 stopping his work.
“How far is it to the next town?” said the city man, speaking a little 14 .
“Don’t know. I never 15 it,” replied the farmer. By this time the city man was getting 16 . “What do you know? You’re the biggest fool I 17 saw.”
18 stopping, the farmer turned and looked for a long time 19 at the city man. Then he said, “Maybe I don’t know much. 20 I am a fool. But at least I’m not lost!”
1. A．signs B．orders C．attention D．direction
2. A．realized B．recognized C．accepted D．received
3. A．stopped B．used C．wanted D．continued
4. A．miss B．meet C．look D．lose
5. A．town B．country C．capital D．village
6. A．lonely B．busy C．dirty D．crowded
7. A．at noon B．at night C．raining D．dark
8. A．truck B．pile C．field D．store
9. A．strong B．tired C．weak D．tiring
10. A．but B．went on C．stopped D．still
11. A．go B．lead up C．get D．show
12. A．always B．often C．sometimes D．seldom
13. A．began B．still C．without D．already
14. A．clearly B．lower C．more loudly D．more politely
15. A．judged B．measured C．saw D．studied
16. A．sad B．lovely C．friendly D．angry
17. A．ever B．often C．even D．never
18. A．Still B．Not C．With D．Finally
19. A．gladly B．immediately C．in silence D．excitedly
20. A．Really B．Perhaps C．Certainly D．Fortunately
If better use is _______ your free time, you’ll make greater progress in that.
A．spent B．taken C．made of D．used of
The old pianist wouldn’t listen to our repeated request that he _______ in public again.
A．played B．play C．would D．was going to play
