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1.They looked disappointed, for they were d_________ in the football match.
2.The writer was so a_________in his writing that he forgot to flick the ashes from his cigar.
3.To my d_______, the teacher announced that I ranked first in the mid-term examination.
4.Unlike his pessimistic friends, he is o____________ about the future and believes everything will get better and better.
5.The United Kingdom c__________ of four countries, that is, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
6.We can forecast what the weather will be like tomorrow, but it’s impossible to p________ what will happen to our life in the future.
7.Effective measures must be taken to prevent the river from being p______________.
8.English speakers also enjoy other forms of Asian poetry---Tang poems from China in p_____.
Dear Guys,
I’d like to talk to you about the shame you subjected to me last night. Let me first refresh your memory: You, a group of fit, young men, were playing soccer on the field across from my apartment building. I, a better - than - average looking young woman, was walking along the sidewalk with my groceries. That’s when your ball came flying over the fence and landed in front of me.
One of you approached and asked politely if I would throw the ball back to you. Fighting the strong desire to drop my bags and run screaming down the street, I unwillingly agreed.
Before I continue, let me explain something that I didn’t have a chance to mention last night: I hate sports. More specifically, I hate sports involving balls. This results from my lack of natural ability when it comes to throwing, catching and hitting. I’m bad at aiming too. So you can understand why I’d be nervous at what I’m sure seemed to you like a laughably（可笑的） simple request. However, wanting to appear agreeable, I put my bags down, picked up the ball and, eyes half-shut, and threw it as hard as I could.
It hit the middle of the fence and bounced（弹跳，反弹）back to me.
Trying to act casually, I said something about being out of practice, then picked up the ball again. If you’ll remember, at your command, I agreed to try throwing underhand. While outwardly I was smiling, in my head, I was praying, Oh God, oh please oh please oh please. I threw the ball upward with all my strength, terrified by what happened next.
The ball hit slightly higher up on the fence and bounced back to me.
This is the point where I start to take issue（争论，不同意见） with you. Wouldn’t it have been a better use of your time, and mine, if you had just walked around the fence and took the ball then? I was clearly struggling; my smiles were more and more forced. And yet, you all just stood there, still.
Seeing that you weren’t going to let me out of the trouble, I became desperate(绝望的). Memories of middle school softball came flooding back. I tried hard to throw the ball but it only went about eight feet, then I decided to pick it up and dash with ball in hand towards the baseline, while annoyed thirteen-year-old boys screamed at me that I was ruining their lives. Children are cruel.Being a big girl now, I pushed those memories aside and picked up the soccer ball for the third time. I forced a good-natured laugh while crying inside as you patiently shouted words of support over the fence at me.
“Throw it granny-style!” one of you said.
“Just back up a little and give it all you’ve got!” another offered.
And, most embarrassing of all, “You can do it!”
I know you thought you were being encouraging, but it only served to deepen the shame.
Anyway, I accepted your ball-throwing advice, backed up, rocked back and forth a little, took a deep breath and let it fly.
It hit the edge of the fence and bounced back to me.
I surprised myself --- and I’m sure you as well --- by letting out a cry, “DAMN IT!!!” I then willed myself to have a heart attack and pass out in front of you just so I’d be put out of my misery. Alas, the heart attack didn’t happen, and you continued to look at me expectantly, like you were content to do this all night. I had become a sort of exhibition for you. I could feel your collective thoughts drifting through the chain-link: “Can she really not do it? But I mean, really?”
Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t really game to continue your experiment. Three failed attempts at a simple task in front of a group of people in a two-minute period was just enough blow for me for one night. I picked up the ball one last time, approached the fence and grumbled, “Please just come get the damn ball.”
And you did. And thanks to you, I decided at that very moment never to throw anything ever again, except disrespectful glances at people who play sports.
Sincerely, Jen Cordery
1.The writer agreed to throw the ball because _______.
A. she needed to have a relax carrying the heavy groceries
B. she wanted to refresh her childhood memories
C. she could not refuse the polite request from the young man
D. she had fallen in love with the young man at first sight
2.Why did the writer mention her middle school memory?
A. To explain why she failed the attempts to throw the ball back.
B. To complain that she had not mastered the ball throwing skills.
C. To show how cruel those 13-year-old boys were.
D. To express her dislike towards softball.
3.What the boys said before the writer’s third attempt actually made the writer ________.
A. inspired B. encouraged
C. embarrassed D. depressed
4.What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this open letter?
A. To express her regret over what she did the day before.
B. To announce that she would never play ball games again.
C. To joke on her own inability to throw the ball over the fence.
D. To criticize the young men for their cruelty to her pride.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The researchers considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
1.What is the best title of the passage?
A. The older a person is, the more stressed he feels.
B. The more lighthearted a person is, the happier he is.
C. The older a person is, the more clever he grows.
D. The older a person is, the happier he grows.
2.According to the researchers, what is probably the reason why people grow happier when they get older?
A. When people get older, they can’t remember bad experiences.
B. When people get older, they have no young children to care about.
C. When people get older, they learn to adjust their feelings.
D. When people get older, they don’t care about their feelings.
3.What do you think the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is?
A. A Gallup organization. B. A popular science magazine.
C. A university in New York. D. A research institution
4.What would the writer probably deal with in next paragraph?
A. Advice to the young people on how to keep happy.
B. Advice to the old people on how to live longer.
C. Why women at all ages are more sad, stressed and worried.
D. Why people will grow happier with their ages.
Which tablet computer should YOU be buying: They are this year's must have... and there's a style to suit everyone？
Best for young children LeapPad Explorer 2, ￡68
Pros: The education games are well-designed, the built-in video camera is a fun way to play at being a film director. Cons: Some of the games are shockingly expensive. And the power adaptor is not included. | Best for teenagers iPad 4th generation, ￡399-￡659
Pros: No other tablet can compete with the near one million ‘apps’ (the name Apple created for specially-designed downloadable programs) available for the iPad. Simple to use, even for those who usually struggle with technology. Cons: Considerably more expensive than most competitors.
|
Best for working parents Microsoft Surface, ￡399-￡559
Pros: The Surface is good for watching movies — a bonus when stuck in the airport on a business trip — and surfing the internet. Con: The keyboard is an expensive add-on — costing up to ￡109. It might be cheaper to buy a laptop (though a tablet is much smaller and lighter). | Best for bookworms Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, ￡109
But most tablets have a shiny screen — which can be very distracting (分心) when you're trying to read. The Paperwhite is different: its matt screen and crisp black lettering imitate the look of words on paper brilliantly. And yet you can still read the words in the dark. Pros: Easy on the eye, excellent battery life, 180,000 free books (if you subscribe to the Amazon Prime customer loyalty service) plus hundreds of thousands more to buy. Cons: No TV, films, games, internet or camera. |
60.1.With iPad 4th generation, you can ____.
A. become a film director and have fun
B. download more “apps” than any other tablet
C. compete with a full-size laptop computer
D. read the words clearly in the dark
2.Which of the following about LeapPad Explorer 2 is TRUE?
A. It is designed only for children in the kindergarten.
B. The power adaptor I not free of charge.
C. You have to pay extra to install Microsoft Word.
D. You can surf the internet to find anything interesting.
3.You enjoy reading and want to protect your eyesight. You would like to buy_____.
A. Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
B. iPad 4th generation
C. Microsoft Surface
D. LeapPad Explorer 2
4.If you want to ____, the tablet Microsoft Surface is your best choice.
A. choose a tablet for your young child
B. operate a tablet without any difficulty
C. concentrate on what you read without distraction
D. add something to your prepared PPT for a presentation
With his strong interest in national affairs, 37-year-old Song Zhigang was glued to the TV news during the 2014 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. He not only learned all the latest information about the event, he was also inspired to write a song for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan. Titled Xi Dada Loves Peng Mama, the song tells of the love between the couple, which goes "Xi Dada loves Peng Mama. Their love is like a myth. Peng Mama loves Xi Dada. A nation with love is the strongest".
When the song was released in an online video on Nov 18, it became an instant viral hit, which has been viewed over 40 million times and stirred hot discussion. Many netizens said it's sweet to listen to the song while seeing such photos, and some believe that the couple sets a good example for China's young couples.
Born in Zhengzhou, Henan province, Song works as an independent songwriter along with his team there, including singer-songwriters Yu Runze, Xu An and Wu Bai. Song says that he finished the lyrics within an hour and sent it to his team via cellphone. The team finished composing(作曲) that night. They also made the music video by themselves, which was the first time that they had ever produced a music video and uploaded it online. The video of the song contains 33 photos and 2 cartoon illustrations of the couple, displaying small interactive moments, including tacit eye contact between the couple and hand touching when the couple played a swing. Nine children between 4 and 12 years old were invited to rap and sing along with the team. "When I watched the couple appearing on TV, they seemed just like any other ordinary couple and I felt close to them. With some small sweet moments, I could feel the love between the couple," says Song.
"Xi Dada" and "Peng Mama" have both become Internet buzz words, referring to the Chinese president and his popular wife. Song notes that the couple has attracted worldwide attention and even what Peng wears becomes headlines.
Yu Runze, 32, is one of the singers and also comes from Zhengzhou. She says the team started to release songs online around four years ago, mostly pop love ballads(歌曲，歌谣). Though they could make ends meet by making music, they remained unknown before this song. "We didn't expect that the song would gain so much popularity online. People share the same feeling we have about the couple, which is warm and sincere," says Yu, who is a graduate of the Qilu Conservatory of Music, Shandong province, and has released five albums since 2006.
"We want to sing the song at 2015's CCTV Spring Festival Gala."
1.What does the underlined word “hit” mean?
A. something that is successful but confusing.
B. something that is popular but complicated.
C. something that is popular and successful.
D. something that is popular and instructive.
2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. The video “Xi Dada loves Peng Mama” has been watched 4 million times.
B. It took Song just an hour to finish the lyrics and the composition of the song.
C. Song and his team started to release songs online around four years ago, mostly folk songs.
D. Many netizens think that President Xi Jingping and his wife are the model couple.
3.What might be the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
A. To introduce something about the song and its writer.
B. To show the influence of the couple on young people.
C. To introduce the team that produced the song.
D. To show the importance of true love.
4.Which section of the newspaper is the passage taken from?
A. Politics B. Health
C. Entertainment D. Economy
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1～20各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该项选项的标号涂黑。
Every day on the way to work I drive down a street lined with pine trees. One tree in particular ____ my attention. It must have suffered some severe ____. Part of its trunk grew nearly parallel(平行) to the ground, and then in an effort to ____ its own course of life, the trunk took a 90 degree turn ____ to stand tall and stretch（伸展） toward the sun.
This tree became a ____ for me. Each day as I drove by, I saw this bent but determined tree and I would be ____. It was a reminder to me that ____ I may not have had the best start in life, I could change ____ in the paths of my life at any time.
I was planning to stop one day to get a perfect ____ of my kindred-spirit(志趣相同的) tree. But that week I was ____. After that busy week, I still didn’t take any action. Every time I drove by the tree I ____ tell myself, “Tomorrow, I’ll stop tomorrow to take one.” Then one day, as I drove by, I glanced over and, much to my ____, I found a lonely sawed-off stump(树桩) ____ the symbolic tree had stood. It was gone! I had ____ my plan until “tomorrow” and tomorrow proved to be too ____.
A picture of a tree is not of great ____. But my lesson rang through clearly ____ I found out one of my colleagues had been diagnosed with stage-four cancer. He may no longer have many ____.
What have you been putting off? What would you do if you knew you would ____ have the opportunity to do it again? Why not do those things ____ that you have been putting off until tomorrow?
1.A. paid B. fixed C. caught D. escaped
2.A. damage B. influence C. experience D. defeat
3.A. follow B. change C. design D. imagine
4.A. applying B. attempting C. happening D. learning
5.A. shelter B. signal C. symbol D. sign
6.A. interested B. satisfied C. encouraged D. educated
7.A. even if B. as if C. in case D. if only
8.A. purpose B. plan C. mind D. direction
9.A. glance B. picture C. view D. knowledge
10.A. spared B. occupied C. worried D. bored
11.A. could B. would C. should D. might
12.A. pleasure B. surprise C. delight D. relief
13.A. where B. which C. what D. when
14.A. taken off B. cut off C. put off D. called off
15.A. far B. busy C. empty D. late
16.A. benefit B. achievement C. value D. disappointment
17.A. when B. before C. because D. unless
18.A. lives B. opportunities C. lessons D. tomorrows
19.A. surely B. never C. ever D. almost
20.A. at times B. from time to time C. at one time D. in time
