Stop wasting your time thinking of reasons for your failures and shortcomings. Instead, realize that the seeds of success were planted within you when you were born. Only you have the power to make those seeds grow.
The seeds, and the power to grow them, are contained in the most awesome machine ever created: the human mind. Success is a choice and not a chance. You were born a winner. You were born rich. You can be a success if only you make the right choice.
You cannot be successful without first developing your self-esteem (自信心). Your level of self-esteem is always based on the degree of control that you are able to exercise over yourself, and thus over your life. People with low self-esteem are people who do not believe that they have any power, or responsibility for their lives. They are always victims. They are leaves tossed (摇摆) by the winds of chance blown about with any sudden change in the weather.
You can exercise control over your life only to the degree that you believe you are responsible for everything that happens in your life. Failures think that everything happens by accident and chance. Successful people realize that they are responsible.
Everything happens as a result of something. If we can identify the cause, we can control the effect. We are responsible for what we choose to think and believe. One generally rises to the level that one expects. We are responsible for setting our expectations. Our success is dependent upon our level of confidence.
If you associate with positive-thinking people, you are definitely going to achieve success. On the contrary, the opposite happens. We are responsible for finding, planting, and nurturing (培育) the seeds that contain future victory, born from setbacks (挫折).
In short, in all areas of your life, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or spiritual, you are responsible. Once you recognize this, accept it, and firmly believe it. You are on the road to success.
1.People with low self-esteem are compared to leaves because they ________.
A. can’t exercise control over themselves
B. are easily affected by windy weather
C. don’t have the power to face their fate
D. are ready to change their minds
2.Losers would think that ________.
A. success is the result of hard work
B. working hard will lead to success
C. they fail only because of bad luck
D. they don’t make efforts to succeed
3.It can be inferred from the fifth paragraph that ________.
A. setting our expectations is essential before taking action
B. knowing cause and effect is the key to future success
C. thoughts and beliefs are the result of creative mind
D. whether we will succeed depends on our attitudes
4.The last paragraph serves as ________.
A. the proof of the author’s points
B. the conclusion of the argument
C. an introduction to another topic
D. a comparison between two views
Deborah Cohen is a senior natural scientist at the Rand Corp and the author of the book A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Forces Behind the Obesity Epidemic and How We Can End It. According to the book, there are lots of misunderstandings of obesity.
1.If you’re obese, blame your genes.
Obesity rates have increased. Yet, between 1980 and 2000, the number of Americans who are obese has doubled—too quickly for genetic factors to be responsible.
At restaurants, a dollar puts more calories on our plates than ever before, because restaurant meals usually have more calories than what we prepare at home, so people who eat out more frequently have higher rates of obesity than those who eat out less.
2.If you’re obese, you lack self-control.
Research shows that if we are faced with too much information, we have a tendency to make poor dietary choices. Our world has become so rich in temptation that we can be led to consume too much in ways we can’t understand. Even the most vigilant (警觉的) people may not be up to the task of controlling themselves.
3.Lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is responsible for obesity.
Although the US Department of Agriculture estimates that fewer than 5 percent of Americans live in the “food deserts”, about 65 percent of the nation’s population is overweight or obese. For most of us, obesity is not related to access to more fresh fruits and vegetables, but to the choices we make in supermarkets.
4.The problem is not that we eat too much, but that we don’t exercise.
Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign is based on the idea that if kids exercise more, childhood obesity rates will decrease. But there was no significant decrease in physical activity levels as obesity rates climbed in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, although a drop in work-related physical activity may account for up to 100 fewer calories burned, leisure physical activity appears to have increased. The problem is that we eat too much.
1.The author mentioned Deborah Cohen’s book in Paragraph 1 to _______.
A. introduce the topic
B. advise readers to buy books
C. introduce the author of the book
D. advertise the book
2.What is the relationship between obesity and the place where you eat?
A. The less you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have.
B. The less you eat at home, the lower rates of obesity you have.
C. The more you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have.
D. The more you eat at home, the higher rates of obesity you have.
3.What’s the best title of this passage?
A. Four misunderstandings of obesity
B. Four rules to help you avoid obesity
C. Obesity leads to a big fat crisis
D. Lacking self-control leads to obesity
书面表达
假如你是李华，你校的联谊学校——美国乔治中学要招聘一名学生外联部长，主要负责与其联系和接待等工作。条件是英语水平高，能熟练操作计算机，热心为两校服务。请你据此写一封自荐信。
参考词汇：外联部长director of foreign liaison department
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
California has the distinction of being the most multicultural state in the USA. The customs and languages of the immigrants live up in their new home. Scientists believe these settlers arrived in America by mean of a land bridge. Of the first Spanish to going to California, the majority was religious men. After the war, some returned home, and most remained in California to make life for themselves despite great hardship. In 1911 a great much immigrants from Denmark established a town of their own, which today still kept up their Danish culture. From 1882 to 1940 Angel Island was a famous immigration station that some Chinese people were applied for right to live in America.
根据下面句子中的汉语提示写出单词的正确形式。
1.Research findings have shown that about 20 percent of people only 10 percent can be __________(分类) as “early birds”.
2.The company never __________(妥协) on the quality of its products.
3.It was this exploring around problems and his __________(充满活力的) spirit that led to his most famous invention—the telephone in 1876.
4.The __________(标准) are so strict that it is difficult to get new ideas accepted unless they are truly novel.
5.The __________(最初的) requirement is that you need perfect DNA which gives information for how cells are to grow.
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。
George Bernard Shaw was interested in the way people spoke. He argued that he was never 1. (mistake) about a person’s status. However, Professor Higgins thought a superior social position was more dependent on grammar and pronunciation. Actually, his view was only accepted by a 2. (hand) of his followers. Eliza, a flower girl, was ambitious to improve herself. 3. (force)to earn money herself because her family was poor, she dreamed of working in a proper flower shop. George Bernard Shaw teamed 4. with Professor Higgins to help her. An English teacher 5. (hire) to give her lessons. But after her first lesson, she was 6. (apparent) disappointed because the teacher was so impatient with her. Actually, Eliza didn’t give it up easily. 7. (look) ahead, she decided to work hard. Knowing it was impossible 8. (accept) in that profession if she did not speak correct English, she asked Professor Higgins to give her lessons. Trained for several months, she set out to speak in 9. more attractive accent. Shortly, she became known as “the London songbird” 10. her spoken English became so pleasant.
