Once a wise man and his student traveled to a remote, mountainous place. They were well _______ at a cottage by a family of five. The wise man asked: “How do you _______ in such a poor place?”
“That’s what keeps us going,” said the host, _______ to a thin, tired cow. “She gives us milk, some of which we drink and some we make into _______. When there is extra, we _______ the milk and cheese for other types of food.”
The wise man thanked them and left. When he reached the first _______ in the road, he said to his student: “Get the cow, take it to the _______, and push it off.”_______ and angry though the student was, he obeyed.
As years passed by, the _______ became too much to bear and the student returned to that cottage to find out what he could do. Upon rounding the bend, he could not believe his eyes. In place of the __________ there was a beautiful house with trees all around, several cars in the __________, a satellite dish, and on and on. He __________ the man from several years before, strong and confident. He went __________ to the man and asked: “What happened?”
The man __________ with a smile: “Our cow fell off the cliff and died. To survive, we had to __________ new ways of doing things and __________ new skills. And so, we are now much __________.”
Sometimes our __________ on something small and limited is the biggest obstacle(障碍) to our growth. Once you __________ yourself of the thought “it’s little but it’s certain,” then your life will really change. May you have the __________ to recognize your “cow” this new year, and the courage to push it off the cliff.
1.A. received B. accepted C. educated D. behaved
2.A. succeed B. survive C. accommodate D. communicate
3.A. referring B. pointing C. sticking D. attending
4.A. cream B. yogurt C. cheese D. butter
5.A. replace B. place C. exchange D. change
6.A. bend B. village C. tree D. bridge
7.A. valley B. river C. cliff D. cave
8.A. Puzzled B. Bored C. Excited D. Ashamed
9.A. depression B. confusion C. anger D. guilt
10.A. fence B. cottage C. road D. hill
11.A. house B. passage C. balcony D. garage
12.A. congratulated B. recognized C. acknowledged D. greeted
13.A. by B. back C. over D. about
14.A. replied B. responded C. reflected D. reacted
15.A. come up with B. put up with C. keep up with D. catch up with
16.A. evolve B. extend C. develop D. polish
17.A. well off B. badly off C. better off D. worse off
18.A. dependence B. attention C. focus D. faith
19.A. remind B. inform C. warn D. free
20.A. perseverance B. fortune C. wisdom D. distinction
A lot of students around the world have to wear uniforms every day, but dress codes are not the same in every country.1.
Not all children like to wear uniforms in their everyday life. When I was a school girl, I had to wear a uniform. It was a dark brown dress with a black apron. I couldn’t wear anything else. All the girls in my country had to wear this uniform.2.
I remember how I hated to put on my uniform every morning. I couldn’t even use colorful hairpins because colorful things were prohibited. All the pupils looked the same, and nobody liked that uniform.
My friends and I talked about it very often. 3. All we wanted was to feel comfortable and to be different from other children.
Nowadays, the dress code in my country has changed. There are no more uniforms. 4. For example, my younger brother, who is a high school student, now likes to wear jeans because they are comfortable, and he doesn’t want to change back to a uniform.
However, the government now wants to make a new dress for schools and require uniforms again. Fortunately, the new uniform is supposed to be less formal than the old one.
5. If children prefer to wear colorful clothes, adults should permit them to do so. Kids have to enjoy going to school. That is why everything has to be done to make pupils feel comfortable at school.
A. For boys, it was a dark blue suit.
B. Wearing a uniform has a special meaning for students.
C. They depend on the culture and traditions of each country.
D. Caring too much about how they dress shouldn’t be a big concern for students.
E. We imagined how we would dress if there were no uniforms.
F. Children can dress whatever they like.
G. In my opinion, it is good idea to have a freestyle dress code.
Google’s data centres and the offices for its 60,000 staff will be powered entirely by renewable energy from next year,in what the company has called a “landmark moment”.The internet giant is already the world’s biggest corporate buyer of renewable electricity,last year buying 44% of its power from wind and solar farms.Now it will be 100%,and an executive said it would no longer refuse to invest in nuclear power in the future.
Oman said it had taken Google five years to reach the 100% target,set in 2012,because of the complexity involved with negotiating power purchase agreements.The company’s biggest demand for energy is its data centres and it admits their overall thirst for power is growing.
Google was now looking to sign 10-year agreements for low-carbon power that was constant,such as hydro,biomass and nuclear.“We want to do contracts on renewable power,it could be biomass if the fuel source is steady and enough,it could be nuclear.We’re looking at all forms of low-carbon generation.”
But he said new nuclear power was “controversial”,the possible safety consequences were much more “dramatic” than with renewable sources,and the price was “much more difficult to guarantee” than when funding solar panels and wind turbines.“We don’t want to refuse to sign a nuclear agreement if it meets our goals of low price,safety,and other factors.We don’t want to rule that out,but today we can’t positively say there are nuclear projects out there that meet this standard,”he said.
The company’s 100% renewable energy does not mean Google is getting all its energy directly from wind and solar power,but that on an annual basis the amount it purchases from renewable sources matches the electricity its operations consume.
1.A “landmark moment” for Google refers to .
A. its efforts in saving energy
B. its growing demand for employees
C. its progress in using renewable energy
D. its becoming the world’s biggest company
2.What made Google slow in achieving its target?
A. Negotiations of agreements. B. High consumption of energy.
C. Shortage of energy. D. Tight budgets.
3.What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
A. Nuclear power is an ideal choice.
B. Solar and wind power is not safe enough.
C. It’s unwise to invest solar and wind power.
D. Google is unlikely to use nuclear energy soon.
4.What is the purpose in writing this text?
A. To show Google’s profit goal in global market.
B. To talk about Google’s new move to use energy.
C. To recommend a new kind of renewable energy.
D. To urge the public to use renewable energy.
Jim suffered heart problems. In conversation he expressed little joy and it seemed that his life was drawing to a close.
When his heart problems led to operation, Jim went through it successfully, and a full recovery was expected. Within days, however, his heart was not beating properly. Jim was rushed back to operation, but nothing was found to explain the cause of his illness. He died on the operating table on the day before his 48th birthday.
Dr. Bruce Smoller, a psychologist (心理学家), had had many conversations with him, and the more he learned, the stranger he realized Jim’s case was. When Jim was a child, his father, a teacher, suffered a heart attack and stayed home to recover. One morning Jim asked his father to look over his homework, promising to come home from school at noon to pick it up. His father agreed, but when Jim returned his father had died. Jim’s father was 48.
“I think all his life Jim believed he killed his father,” Dr. Smoller says. “He felt that if he had not asked him to look at his homework, his father would have lived. Jim had been troubled by the idea. The operation was the trial (判决) he had expected for forty years. “Smoller believes that Jim willed himself not to live to the age of 48.
Jim’s case shows the powerful role that attitude plays in physical health, and that childhood experiences produce far-reaching effect on the health of grown-ups. Although most cases are less direct than Jim’s, studies show that childhood events, besides genes, may well cause such midlife diseases as cancer, heart disease and mental illness.
1.Jim was sent back to operation because ________.
A. his heart didn’t work well B. he expected a full recovery
C. his life was drawing to a close D. the first one wasn’t well performed
2.What made Dr. Smoller feel strange about Jim’s case?
A. Jim died at a young age.
B. Jim died on the operating table.
C. Both Jim and his father died of the same disease.
D. Jim’s death is closely connected with his father’s.
3.From Smoller’s words, we can infer that ________.
A. Jim’s father cared little about his study
B. Smoller agreed that Jim did kill his father
C. Jim thought he would be punished some day
D. Smoller believed Jim wouldn’t live to the age of 48
4.Which of the following could have strong effect on one’s physical health according to the text?
a. One’s genes. b. One’s life in childhood. c. One’s physical education.
d. The date of one’s birthday. e. The opinions one has about something.
A. a, b, d B. a, b, e C. a, c, e D. b, c, d
As an adult, I like nothing better than to sit on the beach reading. Give me a satisfying “beach read” and I’m happy for days. However, I’m sad to say it isn’t really a thing for kids. Most kids would rather take their boards out beyond their parents’ comfort zone than read. And who can blame them?
But the truth is that even when kids are on vacation, they need the same sort of relax, and reading time that we adults look forward to. The trick is getting them to sit for 5 or 10 minutes to refresh their bodies and to enjoy the pleasure of reading.
Books tend to be kind of heavy and they can get wet or filled with sand and are then pretty much ruined. Book chapters tend to be kind of long. Your child may refuse to read. And if your kids are anything like my daughter, they may hate to close a book in the middle of the chapter.
You know what I’m going to say, right? Magazines won’t weigh you down. They can be thrown away if they get wet, and will provide just the right amount of reading for the times when my daughter is ready to sit under the umbrella and cool down for a few minutes. Literary magazines will allow your child to read wonderful fiction paired with beautiful illustrations(插图). Discovery magazines deliver articles on all sorts of topics that will excite and interest your nonfiction lover.
So don’t leave the beach read behind when you pack the beach bags. Slip a magazine or two in the pocket of the bag and when your child needs a few minutes of downtime(休息), pull it out and get them to sit for 10 minutes or so.
1.Who is the text most likely intended for?
A. Parents. B. Kids. C. Travelers. D. Teachers.
2.What does the author really want to say in Paragraph 3?
A. Books become a burden for kids on holiday.
B. Books are not the best choice for “beach read”.
C. Kids don’t spend time reading books on holiday.
D. It’s a pity to throw away the books ruined on holiday.
3.What can we infer about the author’s daughter from the text?
A. She reads thick books during her holiday.
B. She prefers to read some literary magazines.
C. She takes some magazines with her on holiday.
D. She doesn’t want her magazines to weigh her down.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. Enjoying Magazines on the Beach
B. Making “Beach Read” a Thing for Kids
C. Making Good Use of Kids’ Time on the Beach
D. Packing Your Beach Bags with Literary Magazines
MALE Participants Needed for Social Communication Study
The Neuropragmatics and Emotion Lab is looking for healthy male volunteers to participate in an EEG experiment on social communication. You will hear stimuli and make decisions about stimuli that appear on a screen. With the EEG set-up, the entire participation will take about 4.5 hours and is conducted at 2001 McGill College Avenue. The compensation will be $10 per hour for your time and inconvenience. You are expected to be a MALE native Canadian English speaker, between 18-30 years old, right-handed and have normal hearing. If interested, please contact pell.lab.study@gmail.com.
Pell Lab: 514-398-4400
MALE Undergraduate Participants Needed
The CASC Lab in the Department of Psychology at McGill University (supervisor: Dr. Melanie Dirks) is looking for male McGill undergraduate students between the ages of 18-25 who are willing to complete an interview and a questionnaire about challenging friendship experiences. The interview will last approximately 2 hours. Participants will also be asked to complete a brief online questionnaire and to reach out to three of their friends who might also be willing to complete the same questionnaire. Participants will be compensated for their time ($ 20). If you are interested, please contact thomas__khullar@mail__mcgill.ca.
Thomas. Khullar: 514-398-3725
Participants Needed for Social Communication Study
The Pell Lab is seeking North American English speakers for a study on social communication. You will judge audio and video clips(片段) showing social interactions while wearing an EEG cap measuring brain activity. The session is about 2 hours and compensation is $ 30 for the experiment. If you are interested and meet ALL the following criteria, please email pellabtest.eeg@gmail.com. Please provide your name, email and telephone number.
Age between 18-35 years old
Native North American English speakers 
Normal hearing and no history of mental and neurological disorder
Right-handedness
Kelly Hennegan: 514-398-4400 Ext.: 00010
1.To meet the requirements for the EEG experiment, you should be _________.
A. between the ages of 18-25
B. left-handed with normal hearing
C. healthy and able to work about 4--5 hours
D. a female native Canadian English speaker
2.What will the CASC Lab expect participants to do?
A. To complete a detailed online questionnaire.
B. To do an interview about social communication.
C. To ask some friends to do an online questionnaire.
D. To judge audio and video clips showing social interactions.
3.If you want to be paid best per hour, you should contact _____________.
A. 514-398-3725 B. 514-398-4400 Ext:00010
C. Thomas. khullar@mail.megill.ca D. pell.lab.study@gmail.com
