“Confidence” is probably one of the most noticeable traits（品质）in the Americans．They show confidence in the way they talk，the way they smile，the way they dress and the way they walk．Living and competing with all these confidence American students，I find it extremely important to be confident as an international student and instructor．As a student，being confident means you should never hesitate to raise your hand whenever a question or a point comes to your mind．Don’t mind if it sounds simple or silly．Otherwise you will never get a chance to speak in class at all．What’s worse，the professors may th
ink you are not prepared for the discussion or you do not have your own opinion on the issue—this is the last comment any graduate would like to receive．
Being confidence for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it．Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace．But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their Speeches．（The course I’m teaching here is Public Speaking）．Modesty is a trait highly valued in China，but it won’t be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program
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1.To compete with American students it’s very important to ．
A．be quite confident
B．be polite and friendly
C．have more discussions with them
D．understand what they think about
2.A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who ．
A．gives a silly or simple answer
B．tries to seize any chance to speak in class
C．shows no interest in the course
D．is considered to have no opinion of his own
3.The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if ．
A．he asks a student to repeat what he has said
B．the students bargain with him
C．he pretends to know what he doesn’t
D．he has to give a speech
4.We learn from the second paragraph that ．
A．we should also remain modest in America
B．modesty doesn’t help you much in America
C．Americans also like modest people
D．modesty can help you through an American graduate program
5.The passage is mainly developed by ．
A．providing examples
B．making comparisons
C．giving different figures
D．telling personal experiences
A cancer-stricken British teenage girl said Thursday she had been moved by messages of support from around the world after writing an online “Bucket List” of things she wanted to do before dying．
Alice Pyne，l5，created an Internet blog in which she described her fight against a cancer of the white blood cells．“I’ve been fighting cancer for almost four years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn’t look like I
’m going to win this one，” she wrote ．
For her list，the teenager took inspiration from the 2007 film “The Bucket List” in which two men who were badly ill，draw up a list of things they wish to do before they die．
On her list，at the site www．alicepyne．blogspot．com，she has included making everyone sign up to be a bone marrow donor（骨髓捐赠者），swimming with sharks ，meeting boy band Take That and getting a purple iPad computer．
Messages of support and offers of help quickly flooded her webpage and it became one of the most talked about subjects on Twitter．
“Oh, dear and I thought that I was just doing a little blog for a few friends!” she wrote after her site attracted huge attention．“Thank you so much for all your lovely messages to me．”
Pyne，who lives with her family in the northwest English town of Ulverston，revealed（透露）the management of Take That had arranged for her to 
see the band after reading her blog．A group of local lawmakers have also joined forces with the Anthony blood cancer charity to encourage people to join its stem cell register．
1.What happened after Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List”?
A．People around the world sent messages to support her．
B．People sent gifts to her from all over the world．
C．A lot of people offered to donate bone marrow to her．
D．The media called on people to help her．
2.Alice Pyne wrote her “Bucket List” to ．
A．catch people’s attention
B．say goodbye to a few friends
C．give comfort to two terminally ill men
D．express her last few wishes
3.It can be inferred from the second paragraph that Alice Pyne ．
A．is unaware of her own conditions
B．is very sad to know that she will die
C．is calm to know that death is approaching
D．is still quite confident in fighting against cancer
4.Which of the following is NOT on Alice Pyne’s “Bucket List”?
A．To ask people to donate bone marrow．B．To get a cool computer．
C．To swim with shark．D．To meet a boy．
5.Take That will arrange to ．
A．meet Pyne in person
B．help Pyne in any possible way
C．donate money to Pyne
D．invite Pyne to join the band
In a cab, a woman seemed in such a hurry．She constantly rushed the cab driver to drive quickly．She was so absorbed in her own thoughts of getting to the airport as soon as possible that she was not aware they were going by a different route.
All of a sudden, a young man got inside the cab．He took her handbag in which she had put her visa, passport, and all the money for the trip.
The cab driver, who was in collusion with the robber, left her in the exactly middle of a dark street．She thought that she was rather unfortunate in the very situation.
During the very night, she was told a piece of shocking news．Tears came down her cheek．Flight 360, the plane that she should have got on board, had crashed．Had she not lost her important belongings, she could surely have lost the thing far more precious——her life.
Sometimes bad things really happen．There are times when nothing seems to go our way．So what should we do about it? We must get rid of all these frustrations and start all over again in the faith that we will get what we deserve．
Don’t waste your time and energy on things that can’t be changed．Continuous worrying will only affect your health and you’ll be doing much more damage than what was previously done.
What if it was the other way round? What if we never ran out of good luck?
There was a man who won the lottery．He became greedy and wasted all his money on everything he could get his hands on.
But when he one day made it to the front page of the newspaper again, it was a different story．He had been killed because of his riches．If you attain good luck, you can never be too secure about it．Life is so unpredictable．You never know what will happen next.
Live one day at a time．We sometimes subject ourselves to unnecessary emotional trouble．But please don’t forget: sometimes misfortune can be the source of happiness．Live for the moment．Do what must be done for the present and the future will turn out just fine．Believe me．And believe in yourself．As Captain Planet always says, “The power is yours！”
1.The underlined phrase “in collusion with” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________.”
A．was forced by B．was fighting bravely against
C．was doing one’s best to beg D．had cooperated with
2.From the passage, we learn that ________.
A．robbers are sure to get what they want
B．somebody never runs out of good luck
C．the woman was lucky to miss her flight
D．if one feels oneself lucky, he or she will continue to be so
3.The writer presents the second example 
in order to ________.
A．warn people of the danger of winning the lottery
B．tell people life is unpredictable
C．encourage people to buy lottery
D．persuade people not to be greedy
4.According to the author, which of the following choices is the correct attitude to adopt to life?
A．Never waste any time or energy because time is so limited.
B．One needn’t be worried or feel frustrated．Believe in yourself.
C．Even while everything appears to be going smoothly, we should keep fully alert.
D．Worrying about what you don’t have
5.The passage above is intended to tell us ________.
A．misfortune sometimes is a blessing
B．we should save up for a rainy day
C．fortune just goes with those prepared minds
D．both losses and gains go hand in hand
Years ago，there was a very wealthy man who，with his devoted young son，shared a passion for art collecting ．Together，they traveled around the world，adding only art treasures to their collection．
One year，as winter approached， engulfed（吞没） the nation，and the young man left to in the army．After only a few short weeks，his father received a telegram．His beloved son was in action．The art collector awaited more news， he would never see his son again．Within days，his fears were ．The young man had died while rushing a fellow soldier to a doctor．
Upset and ，the old man faced the coming Christmas holidays with sadness．On Christmas morning，a knock on the door awakened the old man．As he opened the door，he was greeted by a with a large package in his hands．
He introduced himself to the old man by saying，“I was a of your son .I was the one he was when he died．May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you．”
As the two began to ，the soldier told of how the man’s son had told everyone of his，not to mention his father’s， of fine art．“I am no ，”said the soldier，“but I want to give you this．”
As the old man unwrapped the package ，he saw a portrait （画像）of his son．Though the world would consider it the work of a genius，the painting featured the young man’s face detail．
Overcome with emotion，the man the soldier．After the soldier had left，the old man put the painting above the fireplace，pushing thousands of dollars worth of art．His task completed，the old man sat in his chair and spent Christmas gazing at the he had been given．
1.A．poorest B．richest C．finest D．cheapest
2.A．flood B．fire C．storm D．war
3.A．save B．protect C．serve D．build
4.A．missing B．acting C．fighting D．dying
5.A．calmly B．anxiously C．quietly D．secretly
6.A．fearing B．doubting C．wondering D．expecting
7.A．completed B．doubled C．removed D．confirmed
8.A．nervous B．tired C．lonely D．frightened
9.A．sad B．puzzled C．angry D．worried
10.A．farmer B．soldier 
C．painter D．seller
11.A．guard B．photographer C．partner D．friend
12.A．rescuing B．commanding C．guarding D．hiding
13.A．argue B．move C．talk D．eat
14.A．description B．love C．sense D．understanding
15.A．artist B．businessman C．hero D．reporter
16.A．sometimes B．never C．often D．still
17.A．for B．of C．in D．on
18.A．thanked B．questioned C．welcomed D．treated
19.A．down B．up C．aside D．off
20.A．treasure B．gift C．souvenir D．package
In a land far away, once upon a time there was great poverty, and only the rich could manage without great problems．It is said that one day three of those rich men and their servants were together on a road when they came to a very poor village．
The first could not stand seeing the , so he took all the gold and jewels from his wagons （四轮载重马车） and shared them out among the villagers．He wished them all the best of luck, and he left．
The second rich man, seeing the worrying situation, stopped for a short time and then decided to give the all his food and drink, since he could see that money would be of little to them．He made sure that they each their fair share and would have enough food to last for some time．Then, he left．
The third rich man, on seeing such poverty, and went straight through the poverty-stricken village without stopping．The two other rich men saw all this from a distance and commented heatedly with each other on how the third rich man lacked sympathy．It was that they themselves had been there to offer help．
However, to their great surprise, three days later, they the third rich man, who was coming in the direction．He was still traveling quickly, but his wagons, instead of the gold and valuables they had been carrying, were now completely full of farming tools and bags of ．He was rushing back to help them out of poverty．
1.A．standing B．traveling C．gathering D．running
2.A．land B．welfare C．richness D．poverty
3.A．villagers B．servants C．others D．rest
4.A．interest B．concern C．use D．attraction
5.A．returned B．possessed C．offered D．received
6.A．turned around B．certain C．true D．strange
7.A．welcomed B．met C．accepted D．persuaded
8.A．opposite B．same C．similar D．familiar
9.A．food B．jewels C．money D．seeds
This story, _____, is very fascinating: there are many interesting characters in it.
A．on the whole B．by no means
C．in no time D．out of the question
