Stubbornness（固执，执着） can push a business to hold on but can also kill your business if it keeps stopping you.
Because I’m stubborn. I chased my dream of creating a pet-food company that sells what it claims to sell and not some unidentifiable substance in a dressed-up bag. Originally we packed our foods in transparent bags, which became our guiding philosophy.
To start the company in 2003, I visited every pet-food store in Manhattan and some outside the city. By 2006 Stella&Chewy’s was sold in 250 stores, mostly in New York City. In 2007 I moved the company to Wisconsin, with our earnings reaching almost $500,000 that year．But getting my product into stores was just the beginning. We were competing against much bigger pet-food companies whose monthly marketing budgets were more than our yearly sales. So we invested in advertisements and a website and even stood on sidewalks giving our samples.
With more customers came more feedback (反馈意见), much of which I ignored, I was also receiving complaints about ice crystals (冰晶) on the food, which form when the air temperature changes during transport. For this reason, most frozen foods are packaged in opaque (不透明的) bags or boxes. Studies have proved that ice crystals have little effect on either the quality or the taste of the food. So I ignored the complaints. After all, we were better than our competitors that wouldn’t even show their products. We didn’t hide anything.
In 2007 our sales kept growing, but not as fast as those of our competitors. We were told that new consumers were choosing products packaged in opaque bags. When I visited the stores and forced myself to consider my products objectively, I had to degree: The ice crystals reduced the look I wanted. The food looked as if a snowstorm had hit the inside of the bag.
We switched to opaque bags and tried to make ice crystals smaller. Customers responded: In 2009 Stella$Chewy’s was sold in 2,500 stores across the country.
1.At the beginning, the author’s company packaged their foods in transparent bags to ________.
A. make their foods seen clearly
B. make their foods look attractive
C. let customers know their guiding philosophy
D. show their foods are environmentally friendly
2.Why did the author have people stand on sidewalks giving out samples?
A. Because advertising and marketing on the website didn’t work.
B. Because no one knew his company’s products in Wisconsin.
C. Because he should use this way to save money due to the limited budget.
D. Because he attempted to use all means to compete with other companies.
3.According to the passage, ice crystals _________.
A. only appear on frozen food
B. may make pets feel uncomfortable
C. won’t form if the foods are transported well
D. almost don’t affect the quality of pet foods
4.The author’s experience mainly shows that ________.
A. stubborn people won’t simply give up
B. stubbornness can make people succeed or fail
C. the road leading to success is full of difficulties
D. meeting customers’ need is important to a company’s success
In any family with more than one child, children seem to naturally compete for their parents’ love and attention. Parents say they love every child equally. But is that true?
Susan, founder of a consulting firm in Chicago, interviewed 216 women and found that even though none of her questions asked directly about a parent favoring one child over another, about two-third of the women said there was a favored child. And they also remembered their experience when they were young. One of the women said, “My mother always liked my brother better, and he got to summer camp in 1968 and I didn’t.
Plumez, who interviewed parents with both biological children (亲生孩子 ) and adoptive children for an adoption book in 2008, found that what matters most is whether your temperaments (性情 ) are pleasing. “In some cases, parents would say they felt closer to their adopted children, ”she says. “Some parents like the children with characters similar to theirs. Two people who are shy and withdrawn (内向的) might get along well, unless the shy parent doesn’t like that aspect of themselves and they try to push the naturally withdrawn child to be more extroverted.”
It could be a result of gender, birth order or how easy or difficult a child’s temperament may be, but a parent’s different treatment has far-reaching effects. Studies have found that less-favored children may suffer emotionally, with decreased self-esteem and behavioral problems in children. Favoritism (偏爱) is a reason for the next generation not to like each other.
Experts say it’s not realistic to say everyone should be treated equally, because no two people are the same and they related differently to others.
“It does not mean the parent loves or likes one child more. It has to do with which one of them is independent,” says psychologist Lauriet Kramer of the University of Illinois.
1.The study carried out by Susan shows that ________.
A. showing favoritism is common in many families
B. most mothers like their sons better than their daughters
C. only two-thirds of the women interviewed have more than a child
D. it is favoritism that leads to absence of harmony in most families
2.The underlined word “ extroverted” in the third paragraph means ________.
A. independentB. outgoingC. easygoingD. awful
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A. Favoritism is not beneficial to the development of children
B. Parents’ favoritism to a certain child can’t be avoided in families.
C. Parents may be favorite one of their children and don’t realize it.
D. People are very much shaped by how they were treated by their parents.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. Parents’ favoritism can affect children deeply
B. Why do parents show favoritism to children?
C. Parents should give attention to all their children
D. Building a harmonious family is important to children
We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop（拖把）. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors."
"Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them, "the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下) of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.
After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."
Outside, Mum told me, "Grandma is fine. No fever."
"You saw her, Mum?"
"Of course. I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush."
1.When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to do was ________.
A. to clean the floor
B. to please the nurse
C. to see a patient
D. to surprise the story-teller
2.After reading the story, what can we infer about the hospital?
A. It is a children's hospital.
B. It has strict rules about visiting hours.
C. The conditions there aren't very good.
D. The nurses and doctors there don't work hard.
3.Which of the following words best describes Mum?
A. naughtyB. warm-heartedC. cleverD. hard-working
假如你是李华，你的美国朋友John 刚刚结束在中国的交流学习回到了美国。在交流学习期间你发现他有一些不太好的生活习惯。现在请你写一封信给他提出如下建议：
1. 应合理作息，避免熬夜；
2. 尽量少吃垃圾食品；
3. 不要长时间上网，以免影响视力；
4. 多参加户外活动。
注意：1. 词数100 左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；
3. 开头结尾已为你写好。
Dear John,
How have you been lately? _____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes and keep in touch.
Yours,
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请您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：把多余的词用斜钱（\）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. 只充许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last week, we had a class meeting, making a survey about the phenomenon of some students copying from others’ homeworks and cheating in exams. The survey shows that 98% of the students questioning think it is a matter of honesty. However, 25% of the students think they have too many homework, and their parents and teachers care too much for their scores. As result, some of them can’t help copy from others to avoid being punished. In my opinion, this is wrong to copy from others. We students should be honest but try to finish our homework all by ourselves. As for teachers, they had better to offer students different homework and tests depending on different levels. By doing such, every student can have a sense of accomplishment.
阅读下面对话，按照句子结构的语法和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或者括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡上。
On condition that you 1. (admit）to a university in China, regardless of whatever you choose as your major, there's one compulsory course that you can't avoid: English.
The fact is 2. you can probably miss 3. (attend) English class when other courses are taught, but you'd better take English seriously. 4. (fail) in the national College English Test, you may not be able to secure your Bachelor's degree, even 5. you have your own major 6. （do) well.
Each student learns a foreign language, and mostly English, from Day One of 7. (they) compulsory education. Such policy 8. (be) carried out since the nation's reform and opening up in the early 1980s.
China's total number of English language students and 9. (graduate）over the years can be equal to the entire population of Australia, thanks to ten national-level collegiate foreign language teaching institutes, of 10. the most important ones are Shanghai International Studies University and Beijing Foreign Studies University.
