There once was a king in a faraway country. One day, he decided to______a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of______. So many artists______. The king looked at all the pictures.______there were only two he really liked, and he had to______between them. One picture was of a______lake. The lake was a perfect mirror with peaceful huge mountains all around it. Above was a______sky with light white clouds. All who______this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had______, too. But these were not flat at all. Above was an______sky, from which rain fell heavily and in which lightning played______. Down the side of the mountain was a waterfall with loud sound. This did not look______at all.
But when the king looked ______ , he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush______in a crack（裂缝） in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had______her nest. There, with the current of angry water, the mother bird was______her hungry children in the nest, taking no attention to its______ surroundings — in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think______the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” said the king. “Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no_____, trouble or hard work. Peace means although you are surrounded by noisy things you______ keep calm in the heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
1.A. take B. offer C. send D. leave
2.A. peace B. silence C. beauty D. honesty
3.A. managed B. tried C. succeeded D. went
4.A. And B. Or C. For D. But
5.A. like B. choose C. give D. need
6.A. calm B. noisy C. beautiful D. dirty
7.A. black B. blue C. gray D. dark
8.A. saw B. liked C. painted D. had
9.A. sky B. mountains C. peace D. clouds
10.A. gentle B. angry C. calm D. sunny
11.A. wildly B. gently C. slowly D. happily
12.A. peaceful B. noisy C. happy D. beautiful
13.A. closely B. strictly C. quickly D. seriously
14.A. planting B. growing C. rising D. coming
15.A.bought B. built C. left D. lain
16.A. beating B. touching C. feeding D. speaking
17.A. silent B. beautiful C. noisy D. faraway
18.A. want B. lost C. won D. received
19.A. silence B. noise C. shock D. joy
20.A. still B. again C. even D. just
If you have ever been discouraged because of failure, please read on. Often achieving what you plan to do isn’t the important thing. ___1.___.
Two brothers decided to dig a deep hole behind their house. While they were working, a few older boys stopped by to watch. "What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors. "We plan to dig a hole all the way through the earth!" one of the brothers volunteered excitedly.
The older boys began to laugh, telling the younger ones that digging a hole all the way through the earth was impossible. After a long silence, one of the diggers picked up a jar full of spiders, worms and a wide variety of insects. ___2.___. Then he said quietly and confidently, "Even if we don't dig all the way through the earth, look at what we found along the way!"
____3.___. And that is what a goal is for — to cause us to move in the direction we have chosen, in other words, to have us digging!
But not every goal will be fully achieved. Not every job will end successfully. Not every relationship will endure. Not every hope will come to pass. Not every love will last. ___4.___.
So when you fail to reach your aim, perhaps you can say, "Yes, but look at what I found along the way! Look at the wonderful things which have come into my life because I tried to do something! "It is in the digging that life is lived. ___5.___.
A. And I believe in the end it is joy in the journey that truly matters.
B. He opened the jar and showed the wonderful things contained in it to the laughing visitors.
C. Not every dream will come true.
D. Let me explain.
E. Their goal was far too high, but it did cause them to dig.
Life is difficult.
But life is no longer difficult once we truly understand and accept it.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that their difficulties represent a special kind of suffering especially forced upon them or else upon their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is painful. Problems, depending on their nature, cause us sadness or loneliness or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole of solving problems that life has its meaning.
Problems are the serious test that tells success from failure. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit we encourage the human ability to solve problems just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurts, instruct.” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.
1.From the passage, it can be inferred that ______.
A. not everybody has problems
B. we become stronger by facing and solving the problems in life
C. life is difficult because our problems bring us pain
D. people like to complain about their problems
2.The writer uses just one short sentence in the first paragraph probably to ______.
A. save space B. persuade readers
C. make readers laugh D. get readers’ attention
3.According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
A. encourage them to learn
B. make them suffer
C. help them learn to deal with pain
D. help them understand life is difficult
4.“Those things that hurt, instruct.” From Benjamin Franklin suggests that ______.
A. we do not learn from experience
B. we do not learn when we are in pain
C. pain teaches us important lessons
D. pain cannot be forgotten
A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is remarkable first for what it contains: the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music.
A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it: never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and out glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraghs of the next. A good modern newspaper offers a variety to attract many different readers, but far from one reader is interested in what brings this variety together in. One place is its topicality(时事性), its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. But immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what appears in a newspaper has no more than transient(短暂的) value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and sequence, his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading.
1.A modern newspaper is remarkable for all the following EXCEPT its ______.
A. wide coverage B. uniform style
C. speed in reporting news D. popularity
2.According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the same newspaper is that ______.
A. people scan for the news they are interested in
B. different people prefer different newspapers
C. people are not interested in the same kind of news
D. people have different views about what a good newspaper is
3.It can be concluded from the passage that newspaper readers ______.
A. apply reading techniques skillfully
B. jump from one newspaper to another
C. appreciate the variety of a newspaper
D. usually read a newspaper selectively
4.A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because ______.
A. it tries to serve different readers
B. it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality
C. readers are difficult to please
D. readers like read different newspapers
Rain, who was born on June 2, 1982 in Seoul, South Korea, is a popular singer with a very deep and rich voice. Jung Ji Hoon is his real name, known as the “Michael Jackson of Korea” for his amazing dancing skills. Rain is very modest and friendly, even a little shy.
He released his first album Bad Guy in 2002, which caused a sensation. It took him to all the major award ceremonies, and many of them honored him with Best New Award. His following album How to Run from the Sun was successful, and his third album It’s Raining topped the charts for weeks.
Rain is not only a singer but also an actor, who has given impressive performances in two TV series, Sang Doo! Let’s go to school（《尚道，上学去》）in 2003 and Full House（《浪漫满屋》）in 2004. Rain’s leading role in Full House made him win Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards and also deeply touched the hearts of many Asian female fans. At the same time it made him become one of the most popular Korean actors in Asia.
Now Rain is very popular in China. It’s Raining has already sold more than 100,000 copies in China. Rain received the “Korean Artist of the Year” award at the MTV -- CCTV Mandarin Music Honors held on July 24, 2005 at the Workers Stadium in Beijing, China. His recent Beijing concert caused a great hit, creating “Korean Fever” in China.
1.The reason why Jung Ji Hoon is called “Michael Jackson of Korea” is that ______.
A. he is a popular singer with a rich voice
B. his dancing skills are amazing
C. he is very modest and friendly
D. he shares the same name with Michael Jackson
2.What would be the best title for this passage?
A. Michael Jackson of Korea --Rain
B. Jung Ji Hoon’s First Album – Bad Guy
C. Rain, a Singer and a Painter
D. Korea Fever in China
3.Which of the following is True about Rain?
A. His album “How to Run from the Sun” was so successful that it topped the charts for weeks.
B. Rain’s leading role in “Sang Doo! Let’s go to school” made him win Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards.
C. Rain won the “Korean Artist of the Year” award because of his music career.
D. Rain has suffered a fever since his recent Beijing concert caused a great hit.
4.Which of the following is the passage most likely from?
A. Textbooks for senior school students.
B. Entertainment newspapers.
C. Textbooks for music students.
D. A book written for Michael Jackson.
A man in a very splendid restaurant started to take off his jacket. Seeing this, the head waiter dashed to his table and said, “ I’m afraid I must ask you to keep your jacket on, sir, for it is not good manners to do it in such a smart restaurant.”
“Now listen,” said the man, “I’ll let you know that the Queen of England gave me permission to remove my jacket here.” “The Queen of England?” said the waiter in great surprise. “Sure,” replied the man, “ When I was in England last month, a friend of mine who had a very important position in high society took me to see the Queen. It was rather hot, so I started taking my coat off. The Queen looked over and said, “You may do that in the United States, but you may not do it here. ” So I got the Queen’s permission, right?
1.When the head waiter asked the man not to take off his jacket, the man ______.
A. took his advice immediately
B. obeyed him without any hesitation
C. apologized for his bad manners
D. refused to listen to him
2.What the Queen really meant was that ______.
A. people in the U.S. were stupid and less polite
B. she permitted him to take off his jacket in America
C. the English and the Americans enjoyed different ways of life
D. he shouldn’t take off his coat in such a formal occasion in England
3.It is certain that the story happened ______.
A. in England B. in the Queen’s party
C. in America D. in an ordinary restaurant
