Keeping a diary in English is one of the1._____ (effect) ways to improve our English writing ability.
2.______ (compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes3.______ time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English. 4. ______ we persist in this practice, gradually we’ll learn how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many5.____（difficult）. In the first place, 6.______ often happens that we have trouble 7._____(find) appropriate words and phrases to give expression to our mind. Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is extremely hard for us to put them into English properly.
As far as I 8.___(concern), my suggestion is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach. Whenever something beats us, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is9.______ great use to keep a diary in English for 10.______ development of our writing skills.
After years of experience, Brenda was faced with a challenge in Sunday School. However, she just didn’t know how to it in a good way. She had never been asked to teach a child quite like Cindy!
Cindy, you see, was . She came from a broken home. And although she was really
, she thought she was so bad that she could not be successful. , Cindy needed care, and most of all, Cindy needed love! There just had to be a way of her. Day after day, Brenda would pray for Cindy, yet Sunday would come and go and she saw , if any, change.
Then one day Brenda asked Cindy if she could a role in a Christmas programme the children were to do. Cindy’s answer was, “Don’t you think you can find someone better than me?”
“Better than you?” came Brenda’s . “What makes you think there is 50 better than you?”
“Well, I’ve been asked to do anything before because I’m not good. I won’t get the part and then everyone will be mad at me for messing up（弄糟）their ,” came Cindy’s answer.
“Oh, Cindy,” said Brenda in a voice. “I am so that you think that, but you are so wrong. Don’t you realize how you are?”
“No,” a reply in a low voice because Cindy was now in .
“But Cindy, in my eyes, you are special and you can also do somethin g well like others,” Brenda said.
“Really? Do you think so really? Thank you, Miss Brenda! Nobody has believed in me like you. I’ll have a try,” said Cindy as she a hug from her teacher for the first time!
1.A. share with B. deal with C. do with D. go with
2.A. average B. naughty C. different D. ordinary
3.A. clever B. foolish C. lovely D. friendly
4.A. In return B. In turn C. In all D. In fact
5.A. stopping B. keeping C. helping D. knowing
6.A. much B. little C. some D. few
7.A. study B. like C. replace D. play
8.A. asking B. beginning C. planning D. learning
9.A. reply B. noise C. sound D. problem
10.A. no one B. anyone C. none D. everyone
11.A. ever B. often C. always D. never
12.A. good B. bad C. right D. poor
13.A. environment B. programme C. invention D. homework
14.A. gentle B. high C. loud D. clear
15.A. glad B. lucky C. proud D. sorry
16.A. happy B. sad C. valuable D. beautiful
17.A. said B. came C. received D. went
18.A. silence B. troubles C. public D. tears
19.A. Then B. But C. As D. Because
20.A. refused B. expected C. received D. separated
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白出的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Choosing to Study Overseas
Every year, thousands of students choose to study in another country for a semester, the summer, or a year. Studying overseas can be an exciting experience for many people.
1.
Living in another country can help you to learn a language, and about another culture.
2. _ Overseas study may also look good on your future resume. Many companies today want employees who speak a second language, or have experienced living or working in another country.
Making the right choice
Once you decide to study overseas, you have to make some choices. To choose the right country or school. Ask yourself: Where do I want to go and why? How much do I want to pay?
3. _Do I want to live with a host family, with roommates, or alone?
Getting ready to go
Get your passport and visa early! 4. __ Learn about the money. Bring some of it, and a credit card, with you.
Once you are there
After the first few weeks overseas, many students will feel a little homesick. They may miss their family, friends, and familiar ways of doing things. 5.__ When you feel sad or homesick, try to talk to others, or write about your feelings in a notebook.
A. You should improve your mother tongue before you go.
B. Why do it?
C. large number of students can’t afford to study overseas.
D. How long do I want to study overseas?
E. Remember that it takes time to get used to a new place, school, and culture.
F. You will see the world in a new way, and learn more about yourself.
G. Before you go, learn some of the language, and read about some common customs in your host country.
The Diet Zone: A Dangerous Place
Diet Coke, diet Pepsi, diet pills, no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically（身体上）.
Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing our brain to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale（秤）instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.
On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.
The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients(营养成分). Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemical that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.
Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological harm that comes from using them.
1.From Paragraph 1, we learn that ________.
A. diet products fail to bring out people’s potential
B. people are fed up with diet products
C. people have difficulty in choosing diet products
D. diet products are misleading people
2.One psychological effect of diet products is that people tend to _____.
A. hesitate before they enjoy diet foods
B. pay attention to their own eating habits
C. watch their weight rather than their diet
D. try out a variety of diet foods
3.In Paragraph 3, “gain comes without pain” probably means ______.
A. losing weight is effortless
B. diet products bring no pain
C. it costs a lot to lose weight
D. diet products are free from calories
4.Diet products indirectly harm people physically because such products ______.
A. lack basic nutrients B. are over-consumed
C. are short of chemicals D. provide too much energy
I wished I had known earlier the fact that I was a low achiever because there was a reason beyond my control. Then I needn’t have worked so hard in my late twenties and early thirties. But I just didn’t know that. I was writing and writing. I was working for no other reason than to hear people praise me.
Most people who go through university read at least twice as fast as I do. I can never tell my left from my right. I avoid dialing a telephone if I can help it, because I sometimes have to try three times before getting the number right. I hear that recording “The number you have reached is not in service” more than any man on earth.
Despite my weaknesses I view my dyslexia(difficulty in reading) as a gift, not a curse(诅咒). Many dyslexics are good at right brain, namely abstract thought, and that is what my king of creative writing is. I’m starting with nothing and coming up with something that didn’t exist before. That’s my strong point. I owe my career to Ralph, Salisbury, my writing instructor at the University of Oregon, who looked past my misspellings and gave me encouragement and hope. I just carried on and never looked back. I’m also very “visual”. This means nothing in school, but when I write books or scripts, I’m seeing everything in my imagination. I write quickly. I go like the wind and can get up to 15 pages a day. Writing is not the problem. I have no problem downloading; it is inputting where things get messed up.
The real fear I have for dyslexics is not that they have to struggle with messy input, but that they will quit on themselves before they finish school. Parents have to create victories whenever they can, whether it is music, sports or the arts. You want your dyslexic child to be able to say, “Yeah, reading is hard. But I have these other things I can do.”
1.According to the passage we know that________.
A. The author had known he was a low achiever since he was a little child
B. The author didn’t work very hard on writing in his late twenties
C. The author owed his dyslexia to his laziness in the childhood
D. The author worked hard for people’s praise
2.From Paragraph 3 we can know that ______
A. The author was grateful to his writing instructor
B. The author often complained about his dyslexia
C. The author had trouble with both inputting and outputting.
D. Having problem in inputting, the author wrote slowly.
3.Which of the following proverbs can best summarize the main idea of the passage?
A. He who laughs last laughs best.
B. Where there is a will, there is a way.
C. Reading enriches the mind.
D. When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.
4.What kind of man is the writer?
A. Open-minded and optimistic
B. diligent and generous
C. clever but selfish
D. kind but useless
I was a freshman in college when I met the Whites. They were completely different from my own family, yet I felt at home with them immediately. Jane White and I became friends at school, and her family welcomed me like a long-lost cousin.
In my family, it was always important to place blame when anything bad happened.
“Who did this? ”my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen.
“This is all your fault, Katharine, ”my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher broke.
From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told on each other. We set a place for blame at the dinner table.
But the Whites didn’t worry about who had done what. They picked up the pieces and moved on with their lives. The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died.
In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car trip from their home in Florida to New York. The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently turned sixteen. Proud of having a new driver’s license（驾照），Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip. She showed off her license to everyone she met.
The big sisters shared the driving of Sarah’s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached less crowded areas, they let Amy take over. Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat. After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel. She came to a crossroads with a stop sign. Whether she was nervous or just didn’t see the sign no one would ever know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping. The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car.
Jane was killed immediately.
I was slightly injured. The most difficult thing that I’ve ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died. Painful as it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child.
When Mr. and Mrs. White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room. Sarah had a few cuts on the head; Amy’s leg was broken. They hugged（拥抱）us all and cried tears of sadness and of joy at seeing their daughters. They wiped away the girls’ tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches（拐杖）.
To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, “We’re so glad that you’re alive. ”
I was astonished. No blame. No accusations.
Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.
Mrs. White said, “Jane’s gone, and we miss her terribly. Nothing we say or do will ever bring her back. But Amy has her whole life ahead of her. How can she lead a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister’s death? ”
They were right. Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago. She works as a teacher of learning-disabled students. She’s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.
1.How did the accident occur?
A. Amy didn’t know what to do when she saw the stop sign.
B. Amy didn’t slow down so their car ran into a truck.
C. Amy didn’t stop at a crossroads and a truck hit their car.
D. Amy didn’t get off the highway at a crossroads.
2.The Whites did not blame Amy for Jane’s death because _____.
A. Amy was badly injured herself and they didn’t want to add to her pain
B. they didn’t want to blame their children in front of others
C. they didn’t want Amy to feel ashamed and sorry for the rest of her life
D. Amy was their youngest daughter and they loved her best
3. From the passage we can learn that _____.
A. Amy has lived quite a normal life
B. Amy has never recovered from the shock
C. Amy changed her job after the accident
D. Amy lost her memory after the accident
