When my friends went to college in great delight, I restarted my senior high school life．My spirit sank．Surrounded by strange classmates, I felt like I was in a maze and was sorry about myself．There were some complex feelings in my minds．I was frightened, nervous and lonely．
To make matters worse, I recalled my failure again and again, which put more pressure on me than I could bear．As a result, I was always feeling down during class time．
My teacher found me spiritless．One day he asked me to come to his office and told me about his attitude towards life: we might suffer from mistakes, but it’s important to learn lessons from them．All the pains and the embarrassing things we experience are part of the process．So keep up your spirit! At last, he added, “If you are optimistic, things you want may happen to you!”
Warmth rushed through my soul．I suddenly found the sun shining again when I stepped out of his office．
With the teacher’s help, I eventually got over my depression．From then on, I no longer bowed my head and began smiling to my classmates．I would put up my hand confidently in class and play with my new friends in my spare time．Meanwhile, I was graduallyembracedby my classmates．
Now faced with fierce competition, we all study hard because we know that every second counts．Moreover, there is an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect between us．I love my class; I love my classmates!
To be frank, I still have a thirst for my dream university, but I’m not afraid of failure because I can profit by it．With parents and teachers’ encouragement, I’m quite certain of my success and I’m sure I can fly high．
1.Why was the writer in low spirits at the beginning? （No more than 10 words）
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2.What did the teacher expect the writer to do? （No more than 10 words）
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3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 5? （No more than 15 words）
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4.The underlined word “embraced” in paragraph 5 means ______．（No more than 5 words）
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5.What does the writer think of failure now? （No more than 10 words）
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Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized（分类）as “honor” helps you create this life of good feelings.
Here’s an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge（收费）us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk’s mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don’t tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate（证明；表明）that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk’s attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility（崇高，高贵）.
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it’s easy to think and act honorably again when we’re happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it’s started, it’s easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.
1.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our .
A.self-respect B.financial rewards
C.advertising ability D.friendly relationship
2.The author thinks that keeping silent about the unchanged item is equal to .
A.lying B.stealing C.cheating D.advertising
3.The phrase “bringing the error to the clerk’s attention” in Paragraph 5 means .
A.telling the truth to the clerk B.offering advice to the clerk
C.asking the clerk to be attentive D.reminding the clerk of the prices
4.How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake?
A.We’ll be very excited.
B.We’ll feel unfortunate.
C.We’ll have a sense of honor.
D.We’ll feel sorry for the clerk.
5.Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A.How We Can Live Truthfully
B.The Importance of Peacefulness
C.Ways of Gaining Self-respect
D.Happiness through Honorable Actions
I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes（请假条） I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day.
The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn't realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note---the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study.”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you.”
1.What did the author do with the students found dishonest?
A.He reported them to the headmaster.
B.He lectured（训诫）them hard on honesty.
C.He had them take notes before lunch.
D.He helped improve their writing skills.
2.The underlined word “forged” in the third paragraph means .
A.former B.copied
C.false D.honest
3.The author found that compared with the true excuse notes, the produced ones by the students were usually .
A.less imaginative B.more impressive
C.loss lively D.more serious
4.The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that students could learn .
A.the importance of being honest B.how to write excuse notes skillfully
C.the value of creative writing D.how to be creative in writing
5.What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?
A.Effective. B.Difficult
C.Misleading. D.Reasonable.
Homestay provides English language students with the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home.
What to Expect
The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.
Accommodation Zones
Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4 of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town centre as much of central London is commercial and not residential (居住的). Zones 3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowded area. It is very convenient to travel in London by underground.
Meal Plans Available
♢ Continental Breakfast
♢ Breakfast and Dinner
♢ Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal (谷物类食品), bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by desert, fruit and coffee.
Friends
If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host’s permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
Self-Catering Accommodation in Private Homes
Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practice English at home quite as much.
1.The passage is probably written for ______.
A.hosts willing to receive foreign students
B.foreigners hoping to know British culture
C.travelers planning to visit families in London
D.English learners applying to live in English homes
2.Which of the following will the host provide?
A.Room cleaning. B.Medical care.
C.Free transport. D.Physical training.
3.According to the passage, what does Continental Breakfast include?
A.Dessert and coffee. B.Fruit and vegetables.
C.Bread and fruit juice. D.Cereal and cold meat.
4.Why do some people choose self-catering accommodation?
A.To experience a warmer family atmosphere.
B.To enrich their knowledge of English.
C.To entertain friends as they like.
D.To enjoy much more freedom.
Nick was not the kind of boy I had expected to spend my summer with. I was hoping to have some ________ the summer before my busy senior year, but my mother asked me to do her a ________. One of her colleagues needed a full-time ________. “You planned to volunteer at the local hospital, why not volunteer to ________ Nick instead?” Then she told me that this six-year-old boy was not a ________ child.
Nick was a lovely little boy who suffered from many disorders. Normal day-care centers would not ________ him. As a baby, he had serious ear infections which left him with equilibrium（平衡）problems.
He couldn’t ________ or run properly. I was ________ if I was to take the job when my mother ________, “Don’t you want to be a nurse in the future? I doubt if you even have the ________.”
Then I told her I was ________ for the job.
The day started at 7:00 a.m. Nick was my wake-up call! With so much energy and very little ________, he was quite a mix.
At the park, when he saw all the other children play on the jungle gym and swings, the boy’s face ________up—How he wished he belonged to the group of his age! You would think it would be ________ to get a child to go down a slide. Believe me, it wasn’t! It took time, a lot of time. But with patience and support, Nick took one step up the slide each day. We worked together to face his ________ and gradually he got closer to taking the slide of his life.
Halfway through the summer, he ________ it to the top of the slide. With my arms holding him tightly, we flew down the slide! I waited for his ________. After realizing that he was safe and sound, he gave me a big ________ and asked, “May I go down again, alone?”
I had never been happier in my life when I saw this little child climb the ladder and enjoy what other children ________ for granted.
This ________ child taught me that being a nurse means respect, kindness and patience.
1.A.grade B.course C.project D.relaxation
2.A.service B.favour C.business D.trade
3.A.nurse B.waitress C.guard D.guide
4.A.protect B.assist C.attend D.comfort
5.A.normal B.naughty C.clever D.happy
6.A.admit B.receive C.accept D.adopt
7.A.speak B.play C.stand D.walk
8.A.hesitating B.wondering C.questioning D.asking
9.A.suggested B.argued C.challenged D.commented
10.A.energy B.courage C.faith D.time
11.A.eager B.sorry C.grateful D.ready
12.A.awareness B.balance C.knowledge D.appeal
13.A.delighted B.turned C.lighted D.shuts
14.A.demanding B.simple C.interesting D.flexible
15.A.fears B.worries C.chances D.happiness
16.A.climbed B.got C.managed D.made
17.A.laughter B.reaction C.answer D.greeting
18.A.kiss B.clap C.welcome D.surprise
19.A.play B.do C.take D.enjoy
20.A.miserable B.smart C.lucky D.special
—Guess what, we've got our visas for a short-term visit to the UK this summer.
—How nice! You ________ a different culture then.
A. will be experiencing B. have experienced
C. have been experiencing D. will have experienced
