My mom takes pride in the fact that I was talking in three and four word sentences before I was ten months old. Some say it’s a gift while others simply think I talk too much.
As my thirties came to a close, I found myself reflecting on my life. I’m very happy and have no significant regrets. However, when I looked back on those times of difficulty, I saw a clear common denominator(特征); I didn’t seem to know when to stop talking. Whether it was hurting someone’s feelings, or having carelessly told a secret, the incident could have been avoided had I closed my mouth sooner. So I decided to practice the power of quiet.
To take this step, I needed to understand how people could sit comfortably in a group and not talk. Why does my husband feel completely content to say nothing in a conversation? He’s highly intelligent and has wonderful opinions but he’ll sit quietly and just listen. Even when he’s asked a pointed question, he’ll answer with few words while still communicating effectively. What a talent!
Can you imagine being happy just listening? In surveying those I know who talk less than I do, I got two answers—they either didn’t feel confident enough to speak up, or they just didn’t feel the need to participate in the conversation. Of course there were other reasons for not talking, but these were the two most popular answers.
The first one didn’t work for me. I’m just fine letting people know what I think about them, and hopefully it will make the conversation much more interesting. The second one didn’t work either. I do feel the need to participate. I feel it physically like an electrical pulse through my body; sometimes it’s so strong that it causes me to behave badly in the form of interrupting or speaking in an unusually loud voice. I had to look further.
An interesting thing happened on this journey to the power of quiet. During my weekly yoga class, it came to me like an answer so clear that the words rang in my head like soft, heavenly bells.
I talked too much so people would know I cared about them. It was my way of taking care of those I love. I decided before my fortieth birthday, that from that day forward, those around me would know I loved them, and cared what they thought and felt, but I was going to practice the power of quiet.
As my forty-second birthday approaches, I can say that deciding to talk less has been more about focusing on quality rather than quantity. I’ve found that listening more shows those who I care about that I really do care how they feel. Now when I break in, it means more to them. Oh, sure, I still have my short periods of talking too much, but for the most part this has been one resolution that I can call a success.
1.In Paragraph 3 the writer mentions her husband mainly ________.
A. to show how one communicates effectively
B. to explain the reason for his silence in a conversation
C. to give an example of those who have the power of quiet
D. to give her high opinion of his communication skills
2.By “I had to look further”, the writer means she had to ________.
A. look into the future in order to succeed in practicing the power of quiet
B. try harder to prevent herself from talking too much
C. survey people in other areas who talk little
D. find out other reasons why she should talk less
3.Which of the following best describe the writer’s character?
A. Kind but pessimistic.
B. Loving and active.
C. Selfless but proud.
D. Stubborn and sensitive.
Great Yarmouth is an English seaside town situated at the mouth of the River Yare, about 120 miles to the northeast of London. Around 5 million people visit Great Yarmouth every year, making it one of Britain’s most popular seaside resorts.
Formerly the home of one of the most profitable fishing industries, Great Yarmouth is a busy and very popular seaside resort. Undoubtedly, one of the most popular attractions is Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, a historic free entry pleasure park, which draws annually 1.5 million visitors. The two piers(码头), Britannia Pier and Wellington Pier, both contain family-orientated entertainment. As well as the usual thrills one would expect on a classic British seafront, Great Yarmouth also has a quieter side, with a fascinating heritage quarter to explore. Not many people know that Great Yarmouth has the most complete city walls after York, with heritage walks to help you discover this medieval (中世纪的) attraction along with several museums and houses dating back to many centuries. If ghost walks are more your cup of tea, Eerie Tales and Yarmouth Yarns is the tour for you.
Great Yarmouth is also a centre for the North Sea oil and gas industry and increasingly for offshore wind power. The Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour is a huge development currently taking place which can see larger ships coming to the town. The Great Yarmouth Maritime(海上的) Festival in September each year celebrates Great Yarmouth’s maritime heritage.
Over the past few years, Great Yarmouth has seen significant construction spending to improve and modernize the popular seafront area and to ensure it is linked to the town centre. Regent Road has a brilliant ceiling of light which is lit up in the evenings and is now a lovely street leading from the town centre to the seafront area.
1.What can we infer about the tour of the heritage area?
A. It must be thrilling.
B. It is family-orientated.
C. You are advised to keep calm.
D. The visitors must love peace.
2.Which of the following is making rapid progress?
A. The fishing industry.
B. The oil and gas industry.
C. The wind power industry.
D. The tourist industry.
3.What can we know about Great Yarmouth from the last paragraph?
A. Money is spent handling the traffic jams.
B. Efforts are made to make it more convenient.
C. The housing conditions are greatly improved.
D. The service quality is being considered.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. A dreaming tourist place — Great Yarmouth
B. A fishing town into a modern city
C. Main industries of Great Yarmouth
D. The rise of Great Yarmouth
I was driving from Harrisburg to Lewisburg last night, a distance of about eighty miles. It was late. Several times I got stuck behind a slow-moving truck on a narrow road with a solid white line on my left, and I was clinching (紧握）my fists with impatience.
At one point along an open highway, I came to a crossroads with the traffic light. I was alone on the road by now, but as I approached the light, it turned red and I braked to stop. I looked left, right and behind me. Nothing. Not a car, no suggestion of headlights, but there I sat, waiting for the light to change, the only human being for at least a mile in any direction.
I started wondering why I refused to run the light. I was not afraid of being arrested，because there were obviously no police around, and there certainly would have been no danger in going through it.
Much later that night, the question of why I'd stopped for that light came back to me. I think I stopped because it's part of an agreement we all have with each other. It's not only the law, but it's an agreement we have, and we trust each other to honor it: we don't go through red lights.
It's amazing that we ever trust each other to do the right thing, isn't it? And we do, too. Trust is our first tendency. We have to make a deliberate decision to mistrust someone or to be suspicious or skeptical. Those attitudes don't come naturally to us.
It's a very good thing too，because the whole structure of our society depends on mutual trust, not distrust. This whole thing around us would fall apart if we didn't trust each other most of the time. We do what we say we'll do; we show up when we say we'11 show up;we deliver when we say we'll deliver;and we pay when we say we'11 pay. We trust each other in these matters, and when we don't do what we've promised, it's far from the normal. It happens often that we don't act in good faith and in a trustworthy manner, but we still consider it unusual, and we're angry or disappointed with those badly-behaved people. Anyway I was so proud of myself for stopping for the red light that night.
1.Why did the author feel impatient while driving?
A. Because he had already driven for a long time.
B. Because it was too far away from his destination.
C. Because he could not overpass a truck on a narrow road.
D. Because something urgent happened in his family.
2.The author stopped at the traffic light because ________.
A. there were passers-by crossing the road
B. some policemen were on duty just at that point
C. there was potential danger
D. the trust between people influenced the author
3.What would happen if people didn't trust each other in most cases?
A. The social system would be thrown into disorder.
B. All the things would run normally.
C. The social traditions would be abandoned.
D. Strict rules and laws would be made.
4.What is the theme of the passage?
A. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
B. Mutual Trust is the best policy.
C. Actions speak louder than words.
D. Among the blind the one-eyed is the king.
假如你叫张华，你们的英文校报“English Garden”向你约稿。请结合下列提示，就图书馆的情况给校长写一封信，说明新建的图书馆很漂亮，但存在一些问题。问题包括：1）阅览室的座位少；2）星期六、日不开放；3）无法知道有什么新书可看。最后对反映的问题提出自己的建议。
注意： 1. 词数 120-150； 2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯，内容充实。
Dear schoolmaster,
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That’s all. Thank you!
第一节 短文改错（共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分）
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：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），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
I felt sadly yesterday when our teacher told us something about Project Hope. It has set up to help the children in the countryside which can’t afford to go to school. After school I went home. I was wondering if I could do something for the Project then I caught a sight of my money-collecting box on the table. Then I made up my minds to send my pocket money which I had saved for nearly one year for the children who want to go to school. I wrote a letter to him and hurried to the post office. Together with a letter I posted the money and send my best wishes to them.
Macao, 1. lies to the south of Guangdong, is a small city with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Hong Kong as its neighbors. It has 2. population of 550,000, 96% of which 3. (be) Chinese. It is a clean and 4. (beauty) city with trees, flowers, and green grass everywhere. There are lots of cars 5. (run) in the narrow streets. 6. all people obey the traffic rules. Macao is also famous 7. its gambling, and several million 8. (visit) come to tour every year.
Macao, which used to belong to China but 9. (take) away by the Portuguese in 1887 from the Qing Dynasty, returned to our motherland 10. December 20th, 1999.
