If you rent an apartment in Beijing, you also rent the landlord or landlady for at least a year. It's important you find a good match because you have to deal with them in the long term. For me, it was love at first sight with the elderly couple who owns my apartment.
It was quite a tough trying to find the right apartment when I first arrived in Beijing. The apartments were either unsuitable or I find fault with the owners who looked indifferent at best and unfriendly at worst. But that all changed when the renting agent's car stopped in front of a hutong house in the heart of the capital.
I saw an elderly couple, in their 70s perhaps, waving to me. They were warm and welcoming at first glance, and when I saw them attentively hanging up the curtains in what would become my bedroom, I was just sold on the place and the owners!
Chinese people talk about yuanfen, meaning fate that brings people together. Before I met my current landlords, I thought the concept of yuanfen was overrated. A generous landlady who liked me and wanted me to move into her apartment had used the term in reference to me. But it was this lovely couple that changed my mind about the concept.
We have become accustomed to visiting each other at home. The couple's apartment is lovingly decorated, boasting a recent wedding photo of themselves taken in bridal wear. The landlord likes to smoke and sip tea, while the landlady takes great pride in her appearance.
After three years, I dare say they treat me a bit like a "daughter", despite having two grown sons, one of them close by. They give me gifts of tea or clothes, and I bring them souvenirs from my trips. A match made in heaven, indeed!
1.How did the author feel about renting an apartment in Beijing?
A.It was a piece of cake.
B.There were lots of unfriendly owners.
C.It was worth trying different apartments.
D.It was not so easy to find a suitable apartment.
2.What did the elderly couple do when they first met the author?
A.They looked indifferent and find fault with the author.
B.They gave a warm welcome and took good care of the house.
C.They liked the author and wanted her to move into their apartment.
D.They were nice and gave her gifts of tea or clothes.
3.Which one is correct about the elderly couple?
A.They are newly married. B.They are nice and easy to get along with.
C.They love drinking tea. D.They live together with their two sons.
Finland is the happiest place on Earth, according to the 2018 World Happiness Report of 156 nations.
The report, released Wednesday by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranks the countries of the world based on six different categories of well-being: income, freedom, trust, life expectancy, generosity and social support. This year's report also pays special attention to the happiness of each country's immigrants.
The U.S. dropped four spots from 2017 and landed in the 18th place, and last year's winner, Norway, came in second place — followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.
'' The top five countries all have almost equally high values for the six factors found to support happiness, and four of these countries—Denmark, Switzerland, Norway and now Finland — have been in first place in the six World Happiness Report rankings since the first report" in 2012, '' co-editor John Helliwell told CNN. '' In a division with such excellent teams, changes in the top spot are to be expected."
Rounding out the top 10 happiest countries was Canada in sixth place, then New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. The order of the top 10 nations changed from the 2017 list but the countries did not, according to the report. They were also 10 of the 11 top spots in the immigrant happiness category (including Mexico — 24th overall, but 10th in immigration).
'' The most striking finding of the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally born, '' Helliwell said in a statement. '' Although immigrants come from countries with very different levels of happiness, their reported life evaluations resemble those of other residents in their new countries. Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less happy countries lose. ''
Other major world powers placed in significantly low spots on the list. Germany came in 15th, the UK was 19th — followed by Japan in 54th place, Russia in 59th and China in 86th.
The report, based on surveys completed by citizen volunteers, came just under a week before World Happiness Day on March 20, when the UN declared to recognize '' the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations inthe lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives''
1.What is the most significant finding of the report?
A.That immigrants are different from residents in the country.
B.That immigrants and locals feel the similar level of happiness.
C.That immigrants become happy when they leave the country.
D.That immigrants come from countries with different levels of happiness.
2.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.Happiness is no less important than any other aspect in life.
B.People’s happiness and well-being should be considered when it comes to policy-making.
C.The happiness report came under a week before World Happiness Day.
D.What the UN declared was beneficial to all human beings.
3.What is the best title of the passage?
A.World Happiness Day. B.Happiness — forever pursuit.
C.The 2018 World Happiness Report. D.What's your happiness index?
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
On the tenth anniversary of my father's death, I awoke to loud fire alarms at 3:30 a.m. Alexis, my older daughter, was standing in the hallway with her cell phone and a blanket wrapped around her younger sister, Sierra. We ran down the stairs to the main floor. The girls stood by the front door while I checked for the cause of the alarms. When I opened the door to my living room, I could see the carpets were smoking heavily. My house was really on fire.
I shouted to the girls, “Get out! The house is on fire!” They turned and ran out the front door, followed by me. Then we ran through the woods to our neighbor's house. I knocked on my neighbor's front door as a police cars passed by.
Later, I was told that it took the firemen a long time to put out the fire. Standing outside my burned house the next day, I got caught up in lots of questions. I had no cash or bank cards. How was going to pay for anything? Where would we live? What would happen to my house now? I didn't even know where to start. Luckily, our community helped us a lot.
The fire burned almost everything, but I still decided to visit our burned house to search through the ruins. It's interesting how you learn what really matters to you in those conditions. I found myself primarily searching for my father's watch. I also found other treasures as I searched for his watch, including the ring my mom gave me when I left for college, a watch my grandmother gave me for high school graduation, and my daughter's unworn dress, which was ruined. I found the last shirt my father had worm before his hospital stay. We had taken a trip after his second course of chemo (化疗). It was the last vacation we would take before his death. At that moment, I felt differently about the fire.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1
I realized the fire gave us more than it took away._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
My dad's watch is on my bedside table now, which is a reminder that anyone or anything can be lost without warning._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定你是李华，你的留学生朋友Jack寒假要回美国，打算为他的妈妈准备几件富有中国特色的礼物，特来向你咨询。请你给他回复一封邮件。内容包括：
1.建议的礼物：旗袍（cheongsam）和中国结（Chinese knot）；
2.说明礼物的意义；
3.表达祝福。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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。
The number of international students 1. search of higher education in China has been increasing in the past ten years. For many foreign students they think highly of Wuhan University in Hubei province because of 2. (it) learning and social environment.
Goh Qian Xuan from Singapore 3. (select) to be the president of the Wuhan University Singaporean Students Association and the Chinese Language and Literature Student Union during her four years of studying in Wuhan, 4. gave her the chance to work 5. (close) with students from other countries. “I didn't come to Wuhan just 6. (get) good grades,” Goh says. “being part of the local student communities and seeing 7. things are done have really helped me to better understand Chinese people and China.”
The university also offers various activities to them. Goh says she felt 8. (little) like a foreign student only after a year in the student union. “The environment is truly good for Chinese studies,” she says. “The four 9. (amaze) years I spent in Wuhan has helped to build a strong foundation for my life and career. This experience has proved many of my former ideas wrong as I now understand the main reasons behind the Chinese ways to deal with certain 10. (matter).”
My grandmother lived alone, far away from us. My father would ________ her on Sunday nights and ask me to speak on the phone with her. I was a horrible student but she would always ask me about ________. I felt terrible. Her inability to understand me was never more ________ than at gift-giving time.
Each year, on Christmas morning, I would run down the stairs and ________ into the pile of gifts with great ________. Each year, grandmother would send me a book. As the years passed, it strengthened my ________ that she really didn't care. Although I also used to read the books and sometimes memorize one text, I still couldn't ________ it as playing, or having fun.
Although I was not interested in school, I had ________ patience with younger children. Our neighbor asked me to help her daughter with her homework. I ________ songs and stories to help her memorize facts and we played games to ________ what she had learned. Her mom remarked, “You should become a teacher when you grow up.” At first, the idea seemed ________ to me. But slowly the idea ________ and I decided to give college a ________. I began to ________ myself to it. A course named “Children's literature” was my favorite class and I was always eager to participate in each discussion. One day, the professor flashed a list of books on a projector (投影仪) that had been awarded a Newbery Medal. I felt a lump in my throat. ________ with a copy of my teacher's list of classics, I ________ home and ran to the basement. There in the corner on a dusty ________ most amazing collection of children's books any teacher could hope to have. As I ran my fingers across these books, ________ came flooding back.
It was then that I realized all of those presents would not make it to my ________ except these books. Love was ________ what my grandmother had been giving me all of my years.
1.A.call B.employ C.doubt D.interview
2.A.family B.school C.job D.income
3.A.energetic B.endless C.evident D.lovely
4.A.burst B.break C.fall D.dive
5.A.delight B.alarm C.ambition D.weight
6.A.problem B.purpose C.belief D.practice
7.A.count B.inspire C.explore D.offer
8.A.lucky B.right C.similar D.enormous
9.A.got up B.made up C.picked up D.took up
10.A.influence B.imagine C.test D.remove
11.A.ridiculous B.ordinary C.fragile D.fresh
12.A.took aim B.took action C.took root D.took risks
13.A.chance B.experiment C.fire D.try
14.A.fetch B.devote C.approve D.assist
15.A.Impressed B.Covered C.Armed D.Faced
16.A.danced B.flew C.jumped D.raced
17.A.swing B.shelf C.stove D.suitcase
18.A.sheets B.memories C.challenges D.contents
19.A.parenthood B.neighborhood C.childhood D.adulthood
20.A.exactly B.finally C.hardly D.traditionally
