Cleverness is a gift while kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy – they’re given after all. Choices can be hard.
I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I came across the fact that the Internet usage was growing at 2,300 percent per year. I’d never seen or heard of anything that grew that fast, and the idea of building an online bookstore with millions of titles was very exciting to me. I had just turned 30 years old, and I’d been married for a year. I told my wife MacKenzie that I wanted to quit my job and go to do this crazy thing that probably wouldn’t work since most start-ups don’t, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. MacKenzie told me I should go for it. As a young boy, I’d been a garage inventor. I’d always wanted to be an inventor, and she wanted me to follow my passion.
I was working at a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss that I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I wanted to start a company selling books on the Internet. He took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making a final decision. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice, but finally, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision not to try at all.
After much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice. For all of us, in the end, we are our choices.
1.What inspired the author with the idea of building an online bookstore?
A. His dream of being an inventor.
B. The support of his wife.
C. The greatly increasing usage of the Internet.
D. Millions of exciting titles.
2.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
A. The idea of not trying would keep coming to his mind and disturb him.
B. He would be very excited if he tried it out.
C. He would be always having a doubt if he didn’t try.
D. The decision not to try the online bookstore would terrify him.
3.We can know from the passage that _______.
A. the boss thought the idea was suitable for the author
B. the author wanted someone else to try the idea
C. the author might not regret if he failed the idea
D. the author might go back to his boss if he failed
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Cleverness and Kindness B. The Starting of Amazon
C. Following My Passion D. We Are What We Choose
Eating at a slow speed may help reduce hunger, the U.S. researchers said on Monday. Previous research suggests that the ability to control energy intake may be affected by the speed at which we eat, and a high eating rate may damage the relationship between the sensory signals and processes that control how much we eat.
In order to learn more about the link between eating speed and energy intake, researchers examined how eating speed affects calories consumed during a meal in both normal-weight subjects as well as overweight or obese subjects.
In the new study, a group of normal-weight subjects and a group of overweight or obese subjects were asked to consume two meals in a controlled environment. All subjects ate one meal slowly, took small bites, chewed thoroughly, and paused and put the spoon down between bites, and ate a second meal quickly, took large bites, chewed quickly, and did not pause and put the spoon down.
At the conclusion of the study, the researchers found only normal-weight subjects had a statistically significant reduction in caloric consumption by eating slowly. “A lack of statistical significance in the overweight and obese group may be partly due to the fact that they consumed less food during both eating conditions compared to the normal-weight subjects,” Professor Meena Shah said, “it is possible that the overweight and obese subjects felt more self-conscious, and thus ate less during the study.”
Despite the differences in caloric consumption between the normal-weight and overweight and obese subjects, the study found some similarities. Both groups felt less hungry later on after the slow meal than after the fast meal, which indicates that greater hunger suppression（抑制）among both groups could be expected from a meal consumed more slowly. Also, both the normal-weight and overweight or obese groups consumed more water during the slow meal. “The higher water intake during the slow eating condition may have affected food consumption,” said Shah. According to Shah, slowing the speed of eating may help suppress hunger levels and “may even improve the enjoyment of a meal”.
The findings were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
1.What does the previous study have in common with the new one?
A. There is a link between eating speed and energy intake.
B. Eating at a slow speed may help feel hungry.
C. Eating too fast may damage your stomach.
D. Eating rate may affect processes controlling how much we eat.
2. What should the subjects do during the research?
A. Both groups could totally eat the meals at any speed as they liked.
B. Both groups had to consume one meal in controlled eating conditions.
C. Both groups were asked to eat one meal slowly while the other quickly.
D. One group should eat slowly while the other one quickly.
3. What caused the lack of statistically significant reduction in the overweight and obese group?
A. They were told not to eat a lot.
B. In the study they had no appetite to eat.
C. They lost consciousness in the study.
D. They ate less food on purpose.
4. What is the passage mainly about?
A. New research findings about how to control eating rate.
B. A study about the link between eating speed and energy intake.
C. One may feel less hungry later on after the slow meal than after the fast meal.
D. Water intake may have affected food consumption.
书面表达
假如你是济南一中的李华，今年即将高中毕业。请根据以下要点给某英文报写一篇英语短文，谈谈你对高三生活的看法。
(1)对获得的帮助表示感谢；
(2)消除与同学之间的误会；
(3)努力学习，实现人生梦想；
(4)对学弟、学妹的建议。
注意：
(1)可适当加入细节，以使行文连贯：
(2)词数：100左右(开头已给出，不计入总词数)。
High school is regarded as the best time in a person’s life．As a senior 3 student，it won’t take long before I graduate．___________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
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短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间变换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有l0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。
3．改错格式错误不得分。
In the past，my hometown was very sma11．People there lived poor life and the houses were very old and shabby，even some of them were shaking in the wind．As for the traffic，it was very inconvenient that almost no tourists came．
However，there has been many changes in my hometown until now．Life has become better. The houses become larger and brighter, but more people get their own cars．Everywhere is decorated with green trees and beautiful flowers and grass．What’s more，thousands of tourist from the world came here every year，which is really splendid．I believe my hometown will become more and more developed and beautifully．Everything in it will represent the advancing science，and technology．At the same time，I will always keep it in my mind that my hometown must be greater in the future．
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。
Forgiveness is really a gift we give to ourselves．A 1. (power)way of forgiving is to see past the adult behavior to the little innocent child within the person we would like to forgive．
Betty was having a particularly hard time because her father had acted wrongly．Yet 2. (continue)to hate him was causing much unhappiness in Betty’s life．
I asked her to find a picture of her father as a young child and put it in a place3. she could see it often．She found a photo of him 4. (take)at the age of six．As she more and more studied the photo，she began to see the sadness and loneliness in his eyes．A month 5. (late)，Betty found a photo of her father at ten years old．His eyes were still full 6. sadness and loneliness．Through studying these 7. (photo)，Betty was able to feel compassion(同情)for her father’s childhood．This compassion did not make her father’s actions right， 8. Betty could now understand the pain in her father．Betty’s heart was free of the bitterness and hatred(憎恨)she 9. (carry)for most of her life．Forgiveness for her father was a gift she gave to herself.
Perhaps there are similar gifts you could give yourself. You should 10. (full)feel your love and not have it covered by past hatred．
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，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Three boys and three girls boarded the bus to Fort Lauderdale, dreaming of golden beaches as the gray cold of New York disappeared behind them. They noticed an old man, who sat in front of them, dressed in a plain, ill-fitting suit, never ________ , and his dusty face ________ his age.
He was ________ in his seat like a stone, and the young people began to ________about him, trying to ________ his life and his age. Deep into the night, outside Washington, one of the girls went up to him and introduced herself. “Want some wine?” He took ________ the glass and drank.
Slowly and ________ he told his story. His name was Vingo, he had been in ________ in New York for the past four years, and now he was going home. “When I was in prison I wrote to my wife,” he said. “I told her that I was going to be away for a long time, and that if she couldn't ________ it, if the kids kept asking questions, if it ________ too much, she could just forget me, I'd understand.”
“Last week, knowing I would be ________, I wrote her again. We used to live in Brunswick and there's a big oak tree just as you come into town. I told her that if she would ________ me back, she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree, and I'd ________ and come home with her. If she didn't ________ me, forget it, no handkerchief, and I'd go on through.”
“Wow,” the girl exclaimed. She told the others, and soon all of them put their faces against the window, waiting for the ________ of Brunswick.
Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then, suddenly, all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming ________ , all except Vingo. Vingo sat there ________ , looking at the oak tree. It was almost ________ with yellow handkerchiefs, 20 of them, 30 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a huge flag of ________ , blowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old man rose and ________ his way to the front of the bus to go home.
1.A. moving B. leaning C. stopping D. heading
2.A. proved B. masked C. betrayed D. abandoned
3.A. rooted B. annoyed C. relaxed D. alarmed
4.A. hear B. care C. wonder D. speak
5.A. bother B. describe C. imagine D. know
6.A. away B. in C. out D. over
7.A. terribly B. eagerly C. painfully D. casually
8.A. hospital B. prison C. company D. work
9.A. support B. believe C. stand D. ignore
10.A. lasted B. influenced C. cost D. hurt
11.A. hopeless B. convenient C. successful D. free
12.A. take B. refuse C. call D. write
13.A. get out B. get off C. get on D. get in
14.A. remember B. believe C. miss D. accept
15.A. entrance B. beauty C. existence D. approach
16.A. amazingly B. joyfully C. definitely D. desperately
17.A. shocked B. puzzled C. terrified D. depressed
18.A. covered B. surrounded C. spotted D. dotted
19.A. wishes B. welcome C. victory D. success
20.A. felt B. forced C. made D. pushed
