How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never found the time? Far too many.
This is life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal(排演)and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments.
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for real life to come along were in fact real life.
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English: “Have a nice day”. They speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day .
How often do we say to ourselves “I’ll take up horse-riding( or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position,” only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position.
When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be completely abnormal(反常的) mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area? I wanted to know.
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure. He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains.
1. The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ___________.
A. we always try to find some time to write a book
B. we always make plans but seldom fulfill them
C. we always enjoy many of life's best moments
D. we always do what we really want to do
2. The underlined phrase "turn his back on" most probably means________.
A. leave for B. return to C. give up D. rely on
3. The man left his first job partly because he was _________ .
A. in an abnormal mental state B. under too much pressure
C. not well paid D. not respected
4. What is probably the best title for the passage?
A. Provide Homes For Our Family B. Take Up Horse-riding
C. Value This Very Day D. Stay Alive
第四部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐) and toes trained to escape ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, passed quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.
1. According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
A. his special tricks and supernatural powers
B. his wisdom and magic tricks
C. his magic tricks and unhuman powers
D. his unusual ability and a skeleton key
2. In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
A. the year 1898 B. his first prison escape
C. the publicity D. Harry Houdini’s success
3. It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
A. in 1894 B. before he married
C. when he was about 24 D. at the age of 17
4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Man of Many Secrets B. A Skeleton Key
C. World-wild Fame D. Great Escape
第三节：完形填空（共20小题，每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
The climate will be warm and __21___ with prolonged droughts in most of the world’s grain growing ___22__. Because of the increase in temperature, the ice cap will begin to melt and sea level is predicted to __23___ about ten meters, causing flood in many areas.
In the atmosphere, a concentration of carbon dioxide acts like the _24__ in the roof of a greenhouse. It allows the sun’s rays to pass _25___ easily on the way to the earth’s _26__, but prevents heat _27__ by the earth from escaping back into space. __28__, as the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide rises,because of the industrial burning of fossil fuels, this greenhouse effect could __29__ the temperature of the earth. The burning of fossil fuels __30__ carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide accumulates(积聚) in the atmosphere, and __31_ the greenhouse effect, the temperature of the earth’s surface could rise. __32__ this warming up took place, the polar ice caps would begin to melt,__33__raising sea level. The __34__ influence that seems to be cooling the earth is the variable behavior of the sun. As the sun rotates(旋转) on its orbit, it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth, and this seems to have a considerable effect __35__ the distribution of the earth’s atmospheric pressure and on the wind circulation. The heat __36__ of the sun also varied, the latest trend being __37__, the heat output appears to be decreasing and the indications are that the earth’s __38_ is entering a cooler cycle. Scientific models that take __39__ account this __40__ behavior of the sun are also predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age.
21. A. wet B. rainy C. dry D. icy
22. A. farms B. regions C. towns D. villages
23. A. rise B. appear C. move D. raise
24. A. glass B. shylight(天窗) C. chimney D. attic(顶楼)
25. A. by B. over C. in D. through
26. A. ground B. bottom C. floor D. surface
27. A. taken in B. sent out C. admitted to D. taken out
28. A. However B. Yet C. Afterwards D. Therefore
29. A. benefit B. forbid C. raise D. effect
30. A. leads to B. gives off C. results from D. joins hands
31. A. as to B. as for C. without D. because of
32. A. Whether B. Before C. If D. After
33. A. so B. instead C. thus D. but
34. A. natural B. unusual C. former D. ordinary
35. A. in B. on C. over D. at
36. A. input B. activity C. output D. movement
37. A. downward B. upward C. forward D. onward
38. A. pressure B. surface C. climate D. appearance
39. A. from B. into C. in D. on
40. A. unbelievable B. dull C. variable D. hidden
“ ______ as often as you can,” our English teacher often tells us, “ you will make rapid progress.”
A. Practice B. To practice C. Having practised D. Practising
. For miles around us there was nothing but a desert, without a single plant or tree ______.
A. in the distance B. at a distance C. in sight D. out of sight
I go _____ to the stadium when there’s a game, but usually I watch it on TV.
A. forwards B. eventually C. frequently D. downtown
