I told my friend Graham that I often cycle two miles from my house to the town centre but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, “You mean fortunately.” He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.
My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to complain as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally I comfort myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.
Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a university degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease. Only through experiences of suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”
One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity (逆境). From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents and difficulties. Some are of our making but many are no fault of our own. While we cannot choose the adversity, we can choose our attitude towards it.
Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs cut off following a flying accident．He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aviators in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans．He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches (拐杖) or a stick, and then have a go at everything. Go to school, and join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.”
The biographies (传记) of great people are full of examples of how they took steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won.
Nevertheless, there is still the problem of how you change your attitude towards adversity.
1. Which of the following is true according to the author of the passage?
A. Going to a gym is greatly beneficial to people’s health.
B. Climbing hills on bicycles is the best way to take exercise.
C. Those who want to achieve success can’t expect to live an easy life.
D. People’s attitude to adversity is the only factor of their success.
2. By quoting what Douglas Bader said, the author intends to tell us “ .”
A. Nothing is difficult to the man who will try.
B. A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
C. If you risk nothing, you will have nothing.
D. Failure is the mother of success．
3. Following this passage, the author will further talk about .
A. how his friend helped him to change his attitude towards the adversity he faced
B. why it is important to keep optimistic in face of adversity
C. what steps to take to change your attitude towards the adversity you face
D. what great people have in common
4. Which of the following can best function as the title of the passage?
A. Life is full of adversity
B. Different attitudes towards adversity
C. Nothing is impossible
D. Face adversity with a smile
Do you often feel lonely? What do you do when you feel that way? Hide yourself away and spend your time reading, watching TV or walking around?
You might think that feeling lonely is just like feeling happy, sad or scared — that it’s just one of your various moods. That is true. However, if you let yourself be lonely for too long without dealing with it, you could be making a serious mistake.
Doctors have known for some time that feeling lonely is bad for the mind. It can lead to mental health problems such as depression, stress and reduce confidence. “Being lonely means not feeling connected or cared for, but it’s not about being mentally alone,” Lisa Jaremka, scientist from Ohio State University, US, told Live Science in January. And there’s growing evidence that not having friends is connected with physical illness as well.
In 2006, for example, scientists studied 2,800 women who had cancer. They found that those who had few friends or family were five times more likely to die of their disease than women with many social contacts. Also, even healthy people had a better chance of falling ill if they felt left out by others, according to the BBC.
The results have scientists thinking that loneliness might hurt the immune system(免疫系统), which protects the body from diseases.
Hoping to prove this theory, Jaremka and her research team put volunteers(志愿者) through a stress test. During the test, volunteers were asked to make an unprepared speech in front of a group of stony-faced people. The researchers found that volunteers who said they were lonely in their daily lives felt more stress during the test. And their blood samples showed that all the stress had managed to cause harmful changes to their immune system.
“Loneliness has been thought of in many ways as a chronic stressor(慢性增压器) — a socially painful situation that can last for quite a long time, ” explained Jaremka, who led the study.
The number of people suffering from loneliness is increasing all over the world. However, solving the problem is easier said than done. It won’t work to just “tell anyone to go out and find someone to love you”, said Jaremka. “We need to create support networks.”
1.If people feel lonely for a long time, ________.
A. they won’t feel happy anymore
B. they are more mentally harmed than physically
C. they will find the feeling goes away by itself
D. they are more likely to fall ill
2.What was the purpose of the stress test carried out by Jaremka’s team?
A. To find out how people fight diseases.
B. To prove loneliness hurts people’s immune systems.
C. To find out the relationship between loneliness and stress.
D. To see how people’s emotions change when they give unprepared speeches.
3.We can conclude from the article that ________.
A. loneliness has become the No. 1 killer in the world
B. loneliness is increasing due to advanced technologies
C. websites must be set up to help people deal with loneliness
D. much more work needs to be done to fight loneliness
When my friend Lesa was diagnosed(诊断) with cancer, another friend and I went to the hospital to spend some time with her. We bought her a small toy and named him Lemon－Aide. We gave Lemon－Aide to Lesa and told her he was to go with her to all of her treatments to remind her that we were thinking of her and caring about her even though we could not always be with her. When the treatments were completed, she said when someone else needed him she would pass him along.
A few months later，much to my surprise, it was me that she passed him to. Lemon－Aide went with me to all of my treatments.
One day while waiting for my doctor I decided we could market the idea to fight cancer. Lesa thought it was a great idea so we founded the organization that came to be known as Lemon－Aide' s Friends, Inc. We designed our organization to remind people fighting cancer that there are people who love and care about them all the time. Today we have totally 5013 volunteers. The money raised is donated to cancer patients who do not have insurance. The physicians on our Board of Advisors determine how and where our money is donated.
Lemon－Aide is for men, women, and children of all ages and to date has been sent to 34 states and 33 countries to provide smiling support for people fighting cancer. When life gave us lemons we made Lemon－Aide, a soft smiling toy that represents love, support, and encouragement.
1.The author went to the hospital with her friend ________．
A．to operate on Lesa
B．to treat her disease
C．to accompany Lesa
D．to look after Lemon－Aide
2.Lesa was given a small toy because ________．
A．he represented her organization
B．he could help weaken her pain
C．she would think of her friends
D．her friends tried to comfort her
3.It can be inferred that ________．
A．the author had suffered from cancer
B．Lemon－Aide had suffered from cancer
C．Lesa had recovered from cancer
D．Lemon－Aide learned to look after the author
4.Lesa and the author formed an organization to ________．
A．cure cancer
B．raise money
C．help cancer patients
D．help their friend
假定你是武汉晨光中学的李华，你的澳大利亚笔友Mark最近给你发来邮件，说他准备参加武汉12月31日举办的冬季马拉松比赛(marathon race)，希望你帮助他预定好旅馆，并带他游览市内著名景点（如黄鹤楼 the Yellow Crane Tower, 东湖 East Lake）。请你给他写封回信，内容包括：
1.回复他的要求；
2.询问他到达的具体时间，呆多久，以便你作具体安排。
注意：
①词数100左右；
②可适当添加细节，使行文连贯；
③开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mark,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Yours
Li Hua
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：在错的词下面画一横线，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。
It was on a warm autumn day that my father and I walk into my new high school. After registered in the classroom, the volunteer took me to my dormitory. Altogether I had five roommates, two of which arrived later. I got to know my new roommate immediately. Although I was quite unwilling to say “Goodbye” to my father, but he had to leave to my hometown in the evening. I suddenly realized I had grown up and that I had to look after me and live independently. Not until then I know my senior high school life had real begun.
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。
I have recently returned from 1. extended 26-day trip to China. I made two earlier trips to China in 2012. On my previous visits my travel 2. (limit) to the three major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing. This time I, together with my family, was able to visit some of the more remote cities and holiday destinations 3. (miss) on the previous trips and revisit Beijing and Shanghai to observe the great changes there in just four short years.
The many contradictions and 4. (struggle) within China today are very impressive. No one can ignore the rich culture 5. (date) back to ancient times changing into the modern age at a speed and scale that has never been witnessed. 6. happens in China, the third 7.(large) country in the world with 20 percent of the world’s population, will 8. (certain) shape the immediate and distant futures of 9. (we) all.
On this blog(博客) I will be posting a travel journal 10. photographs and drawings. Marked on the map are the cities and villages I visited while in China.
