阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
One day, Nick invited his friends to supper. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen.
Suddenly, he1. (find)that he had run out of salt. So Nick called to his son, “Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much 2. too little.”
His son looked surprised. “I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less, 3. not save a bit of money?”
“That would be a very 4. (reason)thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like 5. (we),” Nick said.
Nick’s guests, who 6. (hear) their conversation, asked why they should not buy sale more cheaply if they could. Nick replied, “The only reason a man would sell sale salt 7. a lower price would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect to the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard to produce it.”
“But such a small thing couldn’t8. (possible) destroy a village.”
“In the beginning, there was only a very small amount of9. (fair) in the world, but everyone added a little, always 10. (think) that it was only small and not very important ,and look where we have ended up today.”
完形填空
阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中, 选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It’s a blessing to do somebody a favor, but sometimes it’s a blessing to let another person do something for you.
The notice was posted next to the mailbox in the tenants’ apartment. “a Mitzvah(善行) for Mrs. Green, ” it ________ , “ Sign up to drive Mrs. G in #3B home from her chemotherapy treatment twice a month.” The word was always ________ in my thoughts after I went upstairs. But according to my grandmother, it had ________ meaning. She was always ________ to me because she noticed that I thought it a shame to ________ people do things for me.
One evening, snowflakes had been falling for several hours ________ it came time to leave for class. I ________ to the bus stop, reaching it just as a bus went by. For an hour, I prayed _______ that a bus would come. Then I gave up. But as I pushed the door of my ________ open, I found myself face to face a woman at the mailbox with ________ in her hand. Obviously she had a car and was going ________ . In that split second, I blurted(脱口而出)， “Could you give me a ________ ?” A strange look ________ her face and she agreed. She ________ me off where I had been heading. Back home as I walked up, I met her again. “Good night, Mrs Green. See you tomorrow,” said a neighbor inside. Shocked, I had asked a person who ________ with cancer to give me a lift in a snowstorm. ________ went down and I stammered(结结巴巴地说), “Please forgive me.”
She visited me later and said, “ I used to do thing for others but now ________ keeps doing things for me. It’s not that I don’t ________ it, but I don’t have chances. Tonight before I went out to get my ________ , I prayed to God to let me feel like ________ of the human race again. Then you came along…”
1.A. read B. wrote C. advised D. explained
2.A. squeezing B. repeating C. draining D. wandering
3.A. other B. another C. little D. no
4.A. holding on B. insisting on C. pointing out D. carrying out
5.A. help B. enjoy C. ask D. let
6.A. so B. after C. since D. when
7.A. rode B. labored C. flew D. drove
8.A. helplessly B. patiently C. desperately D. hopelessly
9.A. apartment B. room C. mailbox D. office
10.A. books B. letters C. keys D. combs
11.A. down B. back C. out D. upstairs
12.A. hand B. lift C. coffee D. break
13.A. crossed B. lightened C. boomed D. froze
14.A. threw B. took C. showed D. dropped
15.A. struggled B. coped C. met D. suffered
16.A. Tiredness B. Tears C. Anxiety D. Snow
17.A. someone B. everyone C. nobody D. none
18.A. know B. see C. appreciate D. get
19.A. trouble B. key C. box D. mail
20.A. part B. history C. role D. top
根据短文内容, 从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Could Organizing Your Home Change Your Life?
Marie Kondo is an expert on organizing and cleaning. She is considered an expert on clearing away unused or unnecessary things, better known as clutter. Actually, she did write a book on the issue, which is called “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”. 1. It has sold more than 2 million copies.
Marie Kondo says people can improve their lives by changing the way they think about all their stuff-- everything from books, documents and photographs to clothing and personal mementoes. “ 2. ” And this is pretty good.” Ms. Kondo writes.
This is not the first time an organizing expert has written a book on clutter. Other books suggest wonderful things will happen when you organize your home. One book says that if you throw out 50 things from your home, you will actually find your life 3. And still others promise a better job, more money and a perfect family if you simply organize the things that fill your life. 4. She told the Business Insider website that some of her clients have lost weight. “Your self-perception is improved by living in a clean and neat room,” she said. “This can change lifestyles and, in turn, appearances.”
Marie Kondo teaches a method of organizing she calls KonMari. It is more of an event or ceremony. This is the part that followers say makes it more lasting. Ms. Kondo says KonMari creates a different relationship between you and your possessions. If the object meant something to you or served you well, you thank it for its service before throwing or giving it away. In her book, Ms. Kondo suggests that you touch the item and ask one simple question: "Does it bring me joy?" 5.
If it doesn’t, you give it away so that it may give joy to someone else.
A. Her book is a best-seller around the world
B. Marie Kondo makes some of the same claims
C. On the contrary, Marie Kondo disagrees with it.
D. Unnecessary things just take up too much space in your home.
E. If it doesn’t, you give it away so that it may give joy to someone else.
F. Another book says that if you make clutter disappear, you will also lose weight.
G. When you put your house in order, you put your affairs and your past in order too.
One in five people carry a ‘smart gene’ variant(变体)linked to long lifespan, bigger forebrains and enhanced mental ability, researchers have found.
'We've known for a long time that people lose cognitive(认知) abilities as they age, but now we're beginning to understand that factors like KLOTHO can give people a boost in aging. Genetic variation in KLOTHO could help us predict brain health and find ways to protect people from the diseases that happen to us as we grow old, like Alzheimer’s disease(老年痴呆症),” said senior author, Dena Dubal of University of California.
The KLOTHO gene affects a protein found in the kidneys and the brain that regulates many different body processes. About one in five people carry a single copy of the varian, known as KL-VS,which boosts levels of the protein and is associated with a longer lifespan and improved heart and kidney function. A small minority, 3% of the population, has two copies, which is linked to a shorter lifespan.
In the new study scientists scanned the brains of 422 men and women aged 53 and over who were also tested for the KLOTHO gene. They found that participants with a single copy of the gene variant also had a larger brain region known as RDLPFC, which is especially likely to shrink with age. Loss of neurons in this area may be one reason why older people are sometimes easily distracted and find it difficult to do more than one task at the same time.
Researcher Dr Jennifer Yokoyama said, “ The brain region enhanced by genetic variation in KLOTHO is vulnerable(脆弱的)in aging and some mental disease. In this case, bigger size means better function. It will be important to determine whether the structure increase associated with carrying one copy of KL-VS can offset the cognitive shortage caused by disease.”
People who have one copy of a variant KL-VS tend to live longer and have lower chances of suffering a stroke (中风),whereas people who have two copies may live shorter lives and have a higher risk of stroke.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A. People’s cognitive abilities do not decline if people have KLOTHO
B. With the clear understanding of KLOTHO, Alzheimer’s disease can be cured now.
C. Genetic variation in KLOTHO could be helpful in treating mental disease in elderly people
D. Genetic variation in KLOTHO could lead people to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease
2.If a person carries two copies of the gene variant, he/she may _______
A. have better kidney funtciton
B. have a shorter lifespan
C. have a higher level of the protein in his/her body
D. suffer from some cognitive disease
3.The reason why older people’s attention is easily distracted may be that _______.
A. they have fewer neurons in the RDLPEC
B. their brain region is too large
C. they have two copies of the gene variant
D. they have more neurons in the RDLPEC
4.What does the underlined word “offset” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A. Prevent
B. Balance
C. Keep
D. Promote
The United States does not require business to pay workers who are sick or caring for a new baby. President Obama and some other U.S. lawmakers want to change time-off policies. Supporters say paid leave is the right thing to do. Opponents say it will kill economic growth.
In 2014, the United Nations reported that Papua New Guinea(巴布亚新几内亚) and the U.S. are the only two -- out of 185 -- countries in the world that do not offer workers paid time off to care for newborns. However, several state governments and some private businesses in the U.S. have provided the benefits for their workers.
Not every American agrees that requiring businesses to pay workers for leave is a good idea.
Tricia Baldwin is a business woman. She is secretary and treasurer for her family's company. Her company employs 400 workers. She says giving all of them paid leave would ruin her company. Instead, Reliable Contracting gives paid leave to employees who have stayed with the company for at least five years. She says paid leave is simply another government order that adds more costs to doing business.
President Obama supports paid leave for workers. Recently, he proposed a measure called the Healthy Family Act. It would allow workers to earn up to seven paid days of sick leave a year to care for themselves or family members.
Mr. Obama also wants Congress to approve a measure giving all workers six weeks of paid leave to have and care for a new baby.
U.S. lawmakers who support the proposed measure say paid leave is good for the families and for businesses. Representative Don Beyer says paid leave is an encouragement to parents to return to the job. Mr. Beyer says training a new employee can cost a company a year's worth of income. But U.S. lawmakers who oppose the bill say they do not want to restrict businesses by requiring them to provide paid leave. They are offering a different measure. The Working Families Flexibility Act would allow employees to work extra hours and earn either time off or more pay.
1.If a woman in the U.S left to care for her newborn baby, she _________.
A. wouldn’t get extra time off
B. would get lower pay
C. would pay for her leave or she will be fired
D. wouldn’t get paid leave
2.Tricia Baldwin opposes paid leave because it will ________.
A. kill the national economic growth
B. not be enough to relieve the workers’ burden
C. add more costs to doing business
D. ruin companies rules
3.Some of the lawmakers are opposed to the proposed measure to require paid leave because they think ______.
A. it encourages parents to return to the jobs
B. it will add companies’ cost of training new employees
C. it gives workers more economic guarantees
D. it reduces employees’ working time
4. What is the best title for the passage?
A. How to reform the Rules of Paid Leave in the U.S.
B. Will the U.S Pay Workers for Family Leave?
C.Is it Good for the U.S to Pay Workers for Family Leave?
D. Why Doesn’t the U.S Pay Workers for Family Leave?
On a cold winter day in Denver, I waited in line to see my hero, Jack Canfield, the co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series and the author of The Success Principles. What Jack had become was a version of what I wanted to be.
During his talk, Jack 1 his wallet, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, and said, "Who wants this?"
Hnads shot up in the audience; people leaned forward to see whom Jack would choose. But I
ran up the stairs to the stage and grabbed the bill from his hand. He turned to me and said, “Yes, that’s it! Instead of waiting around for opportunities, simply take the initiative and create what we want!”
After this week, I asked for his personal e-mail address and sent him e-mail sharing my views and dreams. He kindly e-mailed back simple encouragement such as “Keep thinking and playing bigger; it’s much more fun that way. Love, Jack.” Then I got occupied with other things in life and I stopped e-mail Jack.
A year later, my dream gradually faded. I had this idea if I got back in touch with Jack. I e-mailed him again and again but got no response. As I sat down at my computer to check my e-mail for the fifth time in 15 minutes, an inspiration came like lighting: What was I doing? Was I waiting for the prize of life? I knew I needed to do something about all this waiting. I was going to write a book, which I would call “Waiting for Jack”!
It all sounded good, but then reality hit. Some nights I cried and wanted to give up. I wrote and rewrote. Even though I could feel the fear, I did it anyway. Fortunately, three years later, Waiting for Jack turns out a best-seller on Amazon!
We all have a “Jack” for whom we wait—whether it’s a person, a place or a thing. Now I would like to ask you: what are you waiting for?
1.From the first paragraph we can learn that the author _________.
A. wanted Jack to autograph her book
B. wanted to be as successful as Jack
C. wanted to make friends with Jack
D. wanted to get help from Jack
2.It can be inferred from the passage that Jack Canfield is probably a person who ________.
A. enjoys playing a lot
B. likes showing off his wealth
C. seldom takes risks
D. welcomes challenges in life
3.How did the author lose contact with Jack?
A. She and Jack had an argument
B. She had no time to contact Jack
C. Jack was too proud to get along with
D. She was too upset with her broken dream
4. What might be the theme of the book Waiting for Jack?
A. The disappointment of waiting for her hero Jack
B. The need to keep waiting for the prize of our life
C. The importance of taking action to achieve a goal
D. The harm of blindly worshipping others as heroes
