If you want to learn a new language, the very first thing to think about is why．Do you need it for a ____ reason, such as your job or your studies? ____ perhaps you are interested in the _____, films or the music of a different country and you know how much it will help to have a _____ of the language．
Most people learn best using a variety of ____, but traditional classes are an ideal（理想的）start for many people．They ___ an environment where you can practice under the ___ of someone who’s good at the language．We all lead ____ lives and learning a language takes ____．You will have more success if you study regularly, so try to develop a ____．It doesn’t matter if you haven’t got long．Becoming fluent in a language will take years, but learning to get by takes ___．
Many people start learning a language and soon give up．“I’m too ____,” they say．Yes, children do learn languages more ____ than adults, but research has shown that you can learn a language at any ____．And learning is good for the health of your brain, too．I’ve also heard people ____ about the mistakes they make when ____．Well, relax and laugh about your mistakes ____ you’re much less likely to make them again．
Learning a new language is never ____．But with some work and devotion, you’ll make progress．And you’ll be ____ by the positive reaction of some people when you say just a few words in ____ own language．Good luck!
1.A．technical B．political C．practical D．physical
2.A．After B．So C．Though D．Or
3.A．literature B．transport C．Agriculture D．medicine
4.A．view B．knowledge C．form D．database
5.A．protect B．change C．respect D．provide
6.A．control B．command C．guidance D．pressure
7.A．busy B．happy C．simple D．normal
8.A．courage B．time C．energy D．place
9.A．theory B．business C．routine D．project
10.A．some risks B．a lot less C．some notes D．a lot more
11.A．old B．nervous C．weak D．tired
12.A．closely B．quickly C．privately D．quietly
13.A．age B．speed C．distance D．school
14.A．worry B．hesitate C．think D．quarrel
15.A．singing B．working C．bargaining D．learning
16.A．if B．and C．but D．efore
17.A．tiresome B．hard C．interesting D．easy
18.A．blamed B．amazed C．interrupted D．informed
19.A．their B．his C．our D．your
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。有两项为多余选项。
There is an old Spanish Proverb which states, “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week”．1.I’d say, too many．Our dreams should not, and cannot wait．We have to go for them now! Here’s why．
1． 2.
Nobody likes to talk about death, but the reality is – everybody is going to die at one point．None of us know the day, or the hour．Therefore, today is all we have．Don’t go to your grave with unfulfilled dreams．Make the decision to go after every dream, big or small right now．
2．The world is waiting for your gift
I know this may be hard to believe, but the world is waiting for YOU! Yes, YOU! 3. Sure, other people may be able to sing．But they’ll never be able to sing exactly like you．Sure other people can write, but they’ll never be able to write from the same perspective in which you write．Don’t deprive the world of your gift．It’s the oxygen that we need to survive．Thus, it is your responsibility to figure out exactly what your gift is, and use it to better your life and the lives of those around you．
3．4.
You can dream about writing the great American play that you want, but it’s never going to happen unless you actually put pen to paper．You can dream about finding a cure for cancer, but it will never happen unless you actually go to school to become equipped with the necessary tools to find that cure．5.They require you to get your head out of the clouds, and actually do the work to make them happen．Get to it!
A．You can‘t let fear win．
B．Tomorrow is not promised．
C．In other words, dreams don’t work unless you do．
D．How many times have we put off our dreams until tomorrow?
E．You were born into the world with a unique gift, which nobody on this earth can copy．
F．Possibilities you never knew existed are waiting on you．
G．Unless you take the first step, your dreams will never come true．
Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature．Eighty-two-year-old Munro is only the 13th woman to win the 112-year-old prize．
Munro didn’t publish her first collection of short stories until she was 37 years old, but her stories have always been well-received．Lots of her stories share similar themes and characters, but each story has its own twists and turns．
Even though she’s won Canada’s most famous literary award, the Giller Prize twice, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is the peak of Munro’s career．“It brings her incredible recognition, both of her and her career, and of the dedication( 投身，奉献 ) to the short story,” said one person．
Along with the well-respected title comes 1．3 million dollars．Munro said everything was “so surprising and wonderful” and that she was “dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way．”
Munro knew she was in the list——she was named the second-most likely person to win this year’s prize, after Haruki Murakami (村上春树）of Japan——but she never thought that she would win．
Munro’s win also represents the long way Canadian writers have come．“When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world．Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe,” Munro said on Thursday．
She is technically not the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but many like to think that she is．In 1976 Saul Bellow, who was born in Quebec but moved to Chicago when he was still a child, won the prize．Even though he was born in Canada, he is mostly considered to be an American writer．
“This is a win for us all．Canadians, by our very nature, are not very nationalistic,” said Geoffrey Taylor．“But things like this suddenly make you want to find a flag．”
She wasn’t sure if she would keep writing if she won the prize, saying that it would be “nice to go out with a bang．But this may change my mind．”
1.What is the feature of Munro’s stories?
A．They have complicated (复杂的)contents．
B．They have similar story backgrounds．
C．They have specific themes for children．
D．They have the same characters in each book．
2.For Munro, the Nobel Prize is an award for______．
A．her love for Canadian culture
B．her devotion to the short story
C．her special form of writing
D．her career of editing short stories
3.What can you infer from the sixth paragraph?
A．Canadian writers paid little attention to the prize．
B．Canadian writers were respected across the globe．
C．Canadian writers have long been ignored
D．Canadians come a long way to win the prize．
4.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A．How Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize
B．An introduction to the Nobel Prize in Literature
C．Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
D．A world famous writer, Alice Munro
I was appreciating my family photos on my computer, admiring my two beautiful babies when I found a disturbing scene: my laptop was in almost all the pictures．There was my daughter, 8 months old, playing at my feet while I was typing on the couch．There was my son, with a big transformer, on my left arms．
I’d heard about the Internet addiction before, but I always thought it was something only limited to playing too much World of Warcraft (a computer game) day and night．Now, it seemed my Internet-habit is slowly but surely crossing the line．Sometimes I find myself up at midnight, surfing the Web while my family are sleeping．I read news, keep up with friends and write my blog … just for something to do．
It turns out that I’m not the only mama who is addicted to the computer．These moms are contributing to a growing global addiction．There’s a movement among psychiatrists (doctors who specialize in mental diseases) to recognize the Internet addiction as an official mental disorder．And a recent Stanford University national survey found that 14 percent of Internet users find it hard to stay away from it for several days at a time; 9 percent try to hide their —unnecessary Internet use from their loved ones; 8 percent admit they use the Web as a way to escape problems．
You’re likely not the kind of addict who doesn’t bathe and abuses drugs to help her stay up for more online time．You may have noticed, though, that going online has become a necessary part of your life, which, at least, means a box of clothes go unwashed．It may also mean you’re missing much time with you baby – something you probably do care about．
1.From Paragraph 1, we can conclude that _______．
A．the author was busy taking care of her babies
B．the author’s job had something to do with computers
C．the author was not good at taking photos of her babies
D．the author looked after her babies while using the computer．
2.The author used to think that the Internet addiction is ________．
A．using the web at midnight
B．keeping up with friends online
C．spending too much time online
D．being addicted to computer games
3.In medical terms, the Internet addiction is ________．
A．a personal life habit
B．a way to escape problems
C．an official mental disorder
D．the unnecessary use of the Internet
4.What does the author want to express in the last but one paragraph?
A．Many women still can control their online time．
B．The Internet addiction influences housewives’ lives a lot．
C．Going online has become a necessary part of women’s lives．
D．Many people don’t realize that they are addicted to the Internet．
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building．
She got trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill．“I would have liked to go back to it , but the shifts(工作班次)are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school．”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p．m．till 6 a．m．five nights a week for just ￡ 90, before tax and insurance．“It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra．”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband．However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship．
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either．“I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs．If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful．”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all．Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three．“Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself－and I usually do, together with the other girls．We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags．”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living．“They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret．“I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more．I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it．”
1.Margaret quit her job as a nurse because ______
A．she wanted to earn more money to support her family
B．she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C．she needed the right time to look after her children
D．she felt tired of taking care of patients
2.Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because ______
A．they never clean their offices
B．they look down upon cleaners
C．they never do their work carefully
D．they always make a mess in their offices
3.When at work, Margaret feels ______
A．light-hearted because of her fellow workers
B．happy because the building is fully lit
C．tired because of the heavy workload
D．bored because time passes slowly
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _____ ．
A．help care for her children
B．regret what they had said
C．show sympathy for her
D．feel disappointed with her
“If you want to see something well, reach out and touch it!”
That may seem a strange thing to say．But touching things can help you to see them better．
Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round．But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is．You can feel how heavy the glass is．When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it．
With your skin, you can feel better．For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pockets．You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too．
You can even feel sounds against your skin．Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music．
All children soon learn what “Don’t touch!” means．They hear it often．Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up．In shops, we often have to touch things before we buy them．
The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too．You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a hard floor．All feel different under your feet．
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling．One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin．Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin……
Most museums are just for looking．But today some museums have some things to touch．Their signs say, “Do touch!” There you can feel everything on show．
1.By touching things,___________．
A．you will have a strange feeling
B．you will learn how to reach out
C．you can see things better
D．you can tell what colors they are
2.Which of the following best serves as the best title of the story?
A．Touching by Feeling
B．To See or to Feel
C．Seeing by Feeling
D．Seeing Is Believing
3.When people buy things in shops, they often _________．
A．try them on first
B．put their right hand on them
C．just have a look
D．feel and touch them
