In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity （繁荣）. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit（追求）of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.
Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1.What is the best title of this passage?
A. Competition! Why Friends Turn into Enemies
B. Competition! What Self-respect Depends on
C. New Meaning Found in Competition
D. Two Mistaken Beliefs about Competition
2.Why do some young people suffering from competitive pressures seek failure?
A. Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition.
B. Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others.
C. Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost.
D. Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others.
3.Which of the following will the author probably agree with?
A. One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair.
B. One should make every effort to avoid competition.
C. One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition.
D. One should be given rewards after competing with others.
4.The true competitors and those with a desire to fail both believe ________.
A. one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others
B. one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills
C. one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems
D. one’s success is based on how hard he has tried
Some people collect stamps. Other people collect works of art or musical instruments. But a man in the American state of Maryland collects secrets.
For the past 10 years, people have been sending Frank Warren postcards and other objects with secrets written on them. He now has a million secrets. “It’s a drawing of a lift. And the secret says: ‘I feel guilty when I take lifts for one floor, so I limp when I get out.’” Frank said.
Ten years ago, Mr. Warren created an art project called PostSecret. People then began to send him postcards, other objects and emails telling their secrets. Every Sunday, he chooses 10 secrets and puts them on the website.
Mr. Warren says he created PostSecret so people could share their secrets in a safe place. “I was struggling with secrets in my own life. And it was by creating this safe place where others could share their secrets with me, I think that space was something I needed just as much as they did.”
He has published six books full of the secrets people have shared with him. One secret in each book is his. Eric Perry delivers mail for the U.S. Postal Service. He has brought thousands of secrets to Frank’s home over the past three years. “I have a couple of the books that Frank’s given me and I’ve read them all and my family has read them all and it’s wild!”
The project itself was once one of Frank’s secrets. His wife Jan didn’t know exactly what he was doing until the first book was published. The publisher told him that the address was going to be on the book, and he refused. However, the address was there just because of the contract between them. Actually Warren wasn’t very happy about that.
Some people tell Frank of their secret desire to kill themselves. So he and the PostSecret community have raised more than $1 million to help prevent suicides（自杀）.
1.It is implied in Mr. Warren’s words in Paragraph 2 that ________.
A. the person was ashamed of using an elevator for one floor
B. Americans are not allowed to use an elevator for one floor
C. the person felt guilty when pretending to be a disabled one
D. he has received different secrets about using an elevator
2.Mr. Warren created PostSecret in order to ________.
A. satisfy his curiosity about others’ secrets
B. collect more materials for his series of books
C. offer a safe place for people to share their secrets
D. earn a lot of money by sharing others’ secrets online
3.What do we know about Eric Perry from the passage?
A. His family are eager to collect the books written by Frank.
B. His main job is to deliver mails and postcards for Frank.
C. He has been a postman who has a great many secrets.
D. He has developed a good relationship with Frank.
4.What was Mr. Warren’s secret according to the passage?
A. He once took the lift only for one floor.
B. He is interested in collecting others’ secrets.
C. He created an art project without telling his wife.
D. He helped prevent others from committing suicides.
Thanks to a young waiter, I recently found a friend of 20 years was once a yo-yo virtuoso（大师）.
“Oh, stop it!” Jackie said when I started laughing during our dinner. “I was, too. And I knew how to ‘Walk the Dog.’”
“Wow, really?” said our waiter, Jumario Simmons, flashing a big smile at us.
“Don’t encourage her,” I said.
“What else could you do?” he asked.
“I did ‘Round the World,’” Jackie said, now ignoring me completely. “That was cradle（婴儿时期的）thing, too.”
I’d asked Jumario what he did when he wasn’t waiting on tables. The 24-year-old waiter was so smart that I knew there had to be more to his story. It turns out that he won a regional yo-yo competition last year. He also gives free lessons to kids. “It gives them something to do,” Jumario said. “Keeps them off the streets.”
One of the great things about eating out is the table talk with strangers, which reminds us that everyone has a life and a name. But the other day I heard that some restaurants are ending this talk between diners and servers. I listened to the reporter describe how their improvements are allowing customers to text orders from their tables to speed up service.
The reporter got my attention with this sentence “Five minutes after typing ‘I’m at table 3’, a meal arrives at the table.” But there wasn’t a “please” with this order, which should have been a request. If you’ve ever waited on tables, you know that the last thing you need is yet another way for a customer to be unpleasant.
Most servers are often mediating（调解）between customers’ requests for substitutions and overworked cooks’ accusations of treason（背叛）. Except at high-end restaurants, servers also have to walk back and forth like mothers of preschoolers so that we might consider them worthy of a large enough tip to lift their pay to minimum wage.
Texting a server from a table a few feet away is equal to moving our fingers and shouting, “Hey, you!” It was rude in 1957, and it’s rude now. You won’t ever find me texting a waiter or waitress.
1.What do we know from the text?
A. The waiter knows Jackie well.
B. The waiter is good at playing yo-yo.
C. Jackie plays yo-yo in her spare time.
D. The author has a great interest in playing yo-yo.
2.Some restaurants allow diners to text a server from a table to ________.
A. improve their service
B. reduce the cost of service
C. show respect for diners
D. stop talks between diners and servers
3.What’s the last but one paragraph mainly about?
A. The pay of servers.
B. The work of servers.
C. The customers’ request.
D. The work of mothers of preschoolers.
4.From the passage, the author’s attitude towards texting a server from a table is ________.
A. indifferent B. positive
C. curious D. negative
With online courses, anyone can gain knowledge in any field of interest for free. All you need is a computer, laptop or Smartphone, internet connection and a self-made schedule. You can even get a certificate on completing the course.
Udemy
Its goal is to promote the world of education by enabling anyone to learn online. It seeks to dramatically change education by inviting millions of experts worldwide to teach and share what they know. Whether you want to learn excel, business, academics, the arts, health, music or technology, there is a comprehensive course for you. See more at https://udemy.com
iTunes U
If you’re a student who uses Apple devices, you will be happy to know that you have access to iTunes U, which gives you access to different educational courses from all leading universities for free! Did you dream of studying at MIT, Oxford, Yale, or Cambridge? This is your chance to learn various subjects from the best colleges and universities in the world. Learn more at https://iTunesU.com
Skillfeed
If you are looking to learning a new skill, or improving on your skills in Photoshop, or HTML, it offers unlimited access to high-quality video courses from a worldwide community of instructors. You have a month’s free trial, after which you will pay a monthly fee to gain unlimited access to all courses. See more at https://skillfeed.com
Academic Earth
It has linked to over 750 online courses and 8,500 individual online lectures, giving students of all ages access to college courses they may otherwise never experience. Whether learning existing coursework, or learning for the sake of learning, anyone has the freedom to learn at their own pace from world-famous experts, without being charged more. Learn more at http://academicearth.com
UC Berkeley
It offers courses in bioengineering, Japanese, legal studies and public health. Since they are recordings of actual lectures, they lack lecture notes and extra materials. However, each course has audio recordings of lectures via iTunes or video recordings of lectures via YouTube. Learn more at https://ucberkeley.com
1.Learners who choose Skillfeed need to ________.
A. equip themselves with the ability to use the computer
B. pay some fee if they want to continue after a month
C. have some knowledge of the design of website
D. learn to upload their own high-quality video
2.We can learn from the passage that Academic Earth ________.
A. charges learners nothing for any course
B. has many lectures given by 8,500 lecturers
C. provides college courses mainly to young men
D. offers college courses at the learners’ convenience
3.If you want to improve your skill of Japanese language, you can visit ________.
A. https://skillfeed.com
B. https://ucberkeley.com
C. https://udemy.com
D. https://iTunesU.com
某天你收到如下一封来自笔友的电子邮件，请根据邮件内容回复一封100字左右的邮件，表示对Tom的欢迎，并询问他来长沙的具体时间、住宿安排、课程时间并说明你需要了解这些的原因。
Dear Li Hua,
Surprise! I enrolled in a camp organized by Chinese Bridge in August and will spend about a week in Changsha. So, we can finally see each other. Learning the Chinese language and visiting some places of interest like Shaoshan Mountain will be part of the camp. I just can’t wait to see you.
Tom.
短文改错 (共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Everyone has a dream. We are on the way to achieve it whether the way is smooth or tough. As Senior 3 student, I have the same dream as my classmates that I can be admitted to an ideal university. In the past three year, I have done everything I can to equip myself with that I have learnt from my teachers. Not only had I enjoyed the pleasure of study but also I have got closer to my dream. Anxiety and pressure did discourage from me at times and with the encouragement of my teachers and classmates, I think I’ll make it.
I’m sure that there has still a long way to go to achieve my dream. No matter what challenging it is, I’ll make it come true. As the proverb said,“Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
