Simple living doesn’t mean that you give up your job and start living in the countryside, but it means that we spend our time, energy and efforts on important things in life. It can be good for us in some ways.
Firstly, simple living can keep your mind peaceful. It makes sure that unnecessary things are out of your life and you concentrate on the real factors that affect the quality of life. Through simple living you can see the positive side of life and won’t feel jealous and greedy.
Secondly, simple living can make you have time for your loved ones. Most of us become so busy in our lives that we forget to spend time with our dear ones. People who believe in simple living value the time spent with their loved ones.
Thirdly, simple living is helpful in the improvement of health. By choosing to be simple, you feel less stressed in daily life. Simple living gives you a new view on things and helps you join in creative activities. It allows you to devote some time to recreational activities（娱乐活动）, physical exercises, etc., which help you in leading a healthy lifestyle.
Fourthly, living simply allows you to have time to look back on the precious moments in your life. It makes you aware of your strengths and weaknesses. People who aimlessly pursue materialistic pleasure （物质享受）are often not sure what they exactly want from life. They never have time to analyze themselves. Simple living helps you stay happy with what life has offered you and helps in creating positives in your life.
Lastly, simple living can reduce your expenses. It can make sure that you’re doing your bit for the protection of the environment. If all of us reduce our daily expenses on electricity, fuels, etc, we’ll be able to stop the degradation (退化)of the environment.
Title: 1.__________ of Simple Living
● Keeping your mind2. __________:
Concentrating on the real factors that3.__________
Seeing the positive side of life and avoiding bad feelings like jealousy and greediness
● Making you have time for your loved ones
Making you4.__________ in your lives with your dear ones
Making you value the time spent with your loved ones
● Helping you5.__________
6.__________ your stress
Giving you a new view on things
Helping you in leading a healthy lifestyle
● Allowing you to look back on7.__________ in your life
Making you know your8.__________
Making you know what you exactly want from life
Giving you time to analyze yourself
Helping you9.__________with life offering you and helping in creating positives in your life
● Helping protect the environment
10.__________ the environment from becoming bad by reducing the use of electricity, fuels, etc.
What should you think about in trying to find your career? You are probably better at some school subjects than others. These may show strengths that you can use in your work. A boy who is good at mathematics can use that in an engineering career. A girl who spells well and likes English may be good at office work .So it is important to know the subjects you do well in at school. On the other hand, you may not have any specially strong or weak subjects but your records show a general satisfactory standard. Although not all subjects can be used directly in a job, they may have indirect value. Knowledge of history is not required for most jobs but if history is one of your good subjects you will have learned to remember facts and details. This is an ability that can be useful in many jobs.
If you have had a part-time job on Saturdays or in the summer, think what you gained from it. If nothing else, you may get to work on time, to follow instructions and to get on with older workers. You may have learned to give correct change in a shop, for example. Just as important, you may become interested in a particular industry or career you see from the inside in a part-time job.
Facing your weak points is also part of knowing yourself. You may be all thumbs when you handle tools; perhaps you are a poor speller or cannot add up a column of figures. It is bitter to face any weaknesses than to pretend they do not exist. Your school record, for instance, may not be too good, yet it is an important part of your background. You should not be apologetic about it but instead recognize that you will have a chance of a fresh start at work.
1.Which of the following best sums up the first paragraph?
A．The importance of doing well at school.
B．Using school performance to help to choose a career.
C．The importance of being good at all subjects.
D．The indirect value of school work.
2.The writer thinks that for a student to have a part-time job is probably .
A．a waste of time that could have been spent on study
B．useful for his future work
C．a good way to earn extra money
D．a good way to find out his weak points
3.According to the passage, if a students school record is not good, he ____.
A．will be a complete failure in his future work
B．will not be able to find a suitable job
C．will regret not having worked harder at school
D．may do well in his future work
4.Which subject is supposed to have no direct value for job hunting?
A．Mathematics. B．English. C．Technical Drawing. D．History.
5.The whole passage centers on ____.
A．choosing a career according to what one is skilled in
B．acquiring knowledge by working hard at school
C．developing ones personalities for the future.
D．finding ones strong and weak points
It was in the Victorian Era (维多利亚时期) that the novel became the leading form of literature in English. Most writers were more concerned to meet the tastes of the middle class. The best known works of the period included the works of Charles Dickens and the Bronté sisters and others.
Charles Dickens came on the literary scene in the 1830s. Dickens wrote vividly about London life and the struggles of the poor. Most of his works were written in a very humorous style, which was popular with readers of all classes.
The Bronté sisters were English writers of the 1840s and 1850s. They began to write from early childhood. In 1846 they published the first book at their own expense as poets; however, their book attracted little attention, selling only two copies. Then the sisters turned to writing novels, each producing a novel in the following year.
An interest in rural(田园的) matters and the changing social and economic situation of the countryside may be seen in the novels of Thomas Hardy and a number of others.
Literature for children developed as a single style. Some works became well-known, such as those of Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Adventure novels were written for adults but are now generally grouped in the list for children. Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author at the end of the Victorian Era, best known for her children’s books, which featured (以……为特色) animal characters. In her thirties, Potter published the highly successful children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit in 1902.
1.What can we know about Charles Dickens from the text?
A. He showed an interest in rural matters in his writing.
B. He focused on changing social and economic situation of the countryside
C. He wrote about the struggles of the poor in London?
D. He published the highly successful children’s book
2.Which is TRUE about the Bronté sisters?
A. They were English writers of the 1830s.
B. They paid to have their first book published.
C. They began their writing from the rural life.
D. Their first book was successful.
3.Who wrote the famous children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit according to the text?
A. Lewis Carroll. B. The Brontésisters.
C. Thomas Hardy. D. Helen Beatrix Potter.
4.The author states in the last paragraph that ________.
A. Edward Lear was famous for writing about animals
B. adventure novels were not written for children at first
C. Thomas Hardy was not as famous as Lewis Carroll
D. society changed rapidly in the Victorian Era
5.This text is mainly about ________.
A. literature in the Victorian Era
B. writing styles in the Victorian Era
C. famous works in the Victorian Era
D. the importance of literature in the Victorian Era
It is no surprise that more and more people like bicycling, because it is fun, healthy and good. Maybe that's why there are 1.4 billion bicycles and only 400 million cars on roads worldwide today, Bikes can take you almost anywhere, and there is no oil cost.
Get on a bicycle and ride around your neighborhood. You may discover something new all around you. Stopping and getting off a bike is easier than stopping and getting out of your car. You can bike to work and benefit from the enjoyable exercise without polluting the environment. You don't even have to ride all the way.
Folding bikes work well for people who ride the train. Just fold the bike and take it with you. You can do the same on an airplane. A folding bike can be packed in a suitcase. You can also take a common bike with you when you fly. But be sure to look for information by getting on airline websites. Not all airlines are bicycle-friendly to travelers.
Health Benefits of Bicycling:
It helps to prevent heart diseases and control your weight.
A 15-minute bike ride three times a week burns off five kilos of fat a year.
Bicycling can improve your mood.
Exercise like bicycling has been shown to make people feel better, more relaxed and self-confident.
Bicycling is healthier than driving.
1.From the passage, we know that bicycling is becoming very _______.
A. surprising B. exciting C. expensive D. popular
2.When you are riding your bicycle around your neighborhood, you may ______.
A. pollute the environment around B. find something you didn't notice
C. go everywhere and use a little oil D. get off your bike and begin to work
3.If you travel with a folding bike, you can fold it and _______.
A. get out of the car B. take it onto a train
C. put it in your purse D. go on airline websites
4.One of the benefits of bicycling is that ______.
A. you can fold the bicycle B. you will be friendly to others
C. you will be more relaxed D. you may get fatter and fatter
5.Which of the following is True according to the passage?
A. Bicycling is an enjoyable exercise for people.
B. Driving cars is healthier than riding bikes.
C. Riding a bike pollutes your neighborhood.
D. Common bikes are welcomed by all airlines.
Robert Burns was born 1. 1759 in a poor family with many debts. Encouraged by his first love, Nelly Kirkpatrick, he began to write poems. Soon he achieved great fame after his first book of poetry was published. Famous 2. he was, he had to earn 3. living by farming. Unfortunately, a hard life and weak health shortened his life. He died 4. the age of 37 in 1796. In memory of him, people built 5. statue of him in George Square in Glasgow, Scotland. Besides, his house in Alloway was opened as a museum of his life and work.
Burns was one of the Romantic poets. Influenced 6. the Romantic Movement, their poetry is full of imagination and strong feelings. Freedom 7. beauty are the frequent topics.
“A Red, Red Rose” is Burns’s popular poem. It was intended to be a song. He wrote in the same way 8. which Scottish people spoke back then and was divided into four sections. In the poem symbols like a red rose and a song are used to describe his love.
I break off a piece of candy and take pleasure in its sweet outside and the bitter, dark chocolate inside, thinking of my own life. Being raised by a single parent was a bitter-sweet 36 , which gave me motivation and ambition.
There were several years that have left a(n) 37 bitter taste in my mouth —those when my mother married a man and moved my sister, Emily, and me several states away from our hometown. The first few months were 38 : baseball games, family trips to the mall, dinners and movies together. Then things changed. Baseball became too expensive, and trips to the mall were 39 by days Emily and I spent isolated (孤立的) in our rooms under our stepfather’s 40 . Moreover, screaming matches between him and our mother always 41 dinner. We spent five years living in a family that had 42 a war zone. Emily and I almost grew used to this situation . Then one evening, after another argument had erupted , we left home. I was 14, my sister 11, and we were 43 .A friend of my mother let us stay with her.
Instead of focusing on our economic instability, my mother selflessly pushed me to struggle for success. She wanted me to lead a more 44 life than hers. She worked long hours every night to pay her bills. 45 , she would find time to read and play with Emily and me. Mom taught me the 46 of perseverance (坚持不懈) and education. We finally settled in Texas. And now, writing this essay with my favorite candy close at hand, I realize my family and I are at the best points of our lives. I haven’t let the trying times stop me from making 47 , both academically and personally. I know that a bitter environment can provide good learning experiences, and that success, even more than candy, is the sweetest treat of all.
1.A. behavior B. habit C. activity D. experience
2.A. hardly B. extremely C. potentially D. Gently
3.A. sweet B. bitter C. boring D. terrible
4.A. concerned B. associated C. accompanied D. replaced
5.A. sympathy B. reminder C. orders D. requests
6.A. separated B. interrupted C. harmed D. Adjusted
7.A. turned into B. turned up C. turned down D. turned on
8.A. homeless B. lucky C. educated D. wealthy
9.A. interesting B. comfortable C. simple D. typical
10.A. Instead B. Otherwise C. Meanwhile D. Therefore
11.A. value B. cost C. price D. theme
12.A. emotions B. expectations C. fortunes D. achievements
