An village had a _______tradition. At the beginning of every year, any boy who had reached the age of majority(the state of legally being an adult) was given land and money to build a home. The boy had to ______his home before winter. If this home failed to endure the cold weather in winter, the villagers could not ______him in any way.
On ______, Paul and Marc reached their majority. They ________theri land and money and decided to search nearby villages for ideas on building their homes. In each village, they found the nicest _______and talked to the owners. Each owner gladly offered _______.
After Marc saw several homes, he _______the best ideas and went back to his own land. Paul, ________, continued collecting more ideas. Soon he had so many great ideas that he began to _______some of them. And he always believed he could find even better ideas in the next village.
Marc began building his home. He had several _______starts, but his home gradually rose from his land. By fall, Marc had finished his home. It wasn’t perfect, but it was strong and he could _______it later. Paul enjoyed all the beautiful homes and ______with home owners. The first snow came and Paul, realizing he was running out of time. _______back to his land. He built the best home he could in the time he had, but it was ______. The first winter storm destroyed his home and he froze to _______. The villagers mourned for him.
Marc _______the winter. Each year, Marc searched for other good ideas he could use to make his own home look better. He became a leader in the village, _______a family, and lived a happy and content life.
We all build and improve our own mental homes. It’s _______and fun for us to search for ideas from other mental home owners ,but we only improve our own mental home if we actually _______the best ideas.
1.A. strange B. hopeful C. literary D. voluntary
2.A. find B. make C. complete D. buy
3.A. help B. encourage C. scold D. persuade
4.A. winter B. summer C. autumn D. spring
5.A. exchanged B. received C. recognized D. advised
6.A. girls B. jobs C. houses D. presents
7.A. rooms B. drinks C. attention D. advice
8.A. expected B. gathered C. created D. understood
9.A. similarly B. finally C. however D. furthermore
10.A. forget B. believe C. replace D. change
11.A. fine B. amazing C. false D. rapid
12.A. repair B. rebuild C. sell D. improve
13.A. conversations B. achievements C. struggles D. arguments
14.A. drove B. rushed C. flew D. moved
15.A. weak B. funny C. small D. excellent
16.A. blindness B. death C. sadness D. illness
17.A. experienced B. loved C. survived D. spent
18.A. brought B. earned C. contacted D. raised
19.A. slow B. easy C. dangerous D. special
20.A. welcome B. get C. collect D. apply
Every person wants to achieve the goals set at the beginning of a new school year. The following are some ways to help you achieve your goals.
●1.When it comes to choosing your goal, ensure that it states precisely what it is that you want to achieve. Don’t generalize. Your goal should involve both what you want to achieve and the effort that you will put in to achieve it.
●2.Having a copy of your goal makes it real. You can write you goal in a journal you’ll be keeping all year, or you can write it on a poster and stick it on your desk so that you can look at it each day. Every time you remind yourself of your goal, you’re training your brain to accept the effort needed to make the goal happen.
●Try various methods. One may not work while another may be just right for you. 3.Some people learn best through writing, some through listening and reading, and some through talking it through. Once you realize which way works for you, you can work better and achieve your goal easily.
●Think positive. 4.Negative thoughts are unhelpful and they became roadblocks. Stop telling yourself you can’t and start telling yourself you can, and talk about you are doing rather than hoping you can do something. Always believe that you’re capable, even if you have difficulty along the way.
●Reward yourself along the way. 5.Occasionally, when you’ve achieved certain “milestones” in your goal plan, take a break and reward yourself. Watch a movie, visit a friend who lives across town, go to the ice cream shop with your friends or buy yourself something new.
A. Write down your goal.
B. Choose specific and realistic gals
C. Be aware of the way you learn best
D. Remember that everyone makes mistakes
E. Set aside some time each week for exercise
F. All study and no reward can break your spirit
G. If you’re not in the right state of mind, you won’t be able to succeed.
True happiness is such a rare commodity(有价值之物)that the whole of the world is continuously seeking it and failing to find it. Why is happiness such an elusive(难捉摸的) thing? Is it that it cannot simply be achieved? Or is it that it is not where all of us have been looking for it?
What is it that we consider happiness? This is how I see it: Happiness is what you feel when what you want to happen happens. And the then we can conclude that unhappiness is what we feel when what we want to happen does not happen.
The main keyword in definition is "want". The whole trouble starts when we want something. Every moment of our lives we keep on wanting something or the other. Only a small percentage of all our wishes is fulfilled in spite of all our endeavors(努力). The frustration of failing to fulfill most of our wishes sets in. We start feeling weighed down. Desire is a seed which grows fruits of unhappiness. Actually the trouble is that we demand too much. The only solution to this problem is to break out of this cycle of desires and struggles.
Actually, happiness and unhappiness are two sides of the same coin. The desire for happiness is like asking only for the light and not for darkness. But there is not much difference between light and darkness. It is matter of degree only.
If we think deeper, we will realize that it is this pain of failure, pain of frustrated desires which is of greater significance to us. It is actually like good health. One can only define health as an absence of diseases. In order to have good health we strive to avoid diseases. You cannot purchase or achieve good health directly. You have to take steps which keep your body free of diseases. Then only the organs of body keep functioning properly and you experience good health. Similarly, when one destroys the root cause of unhappiness, the problems are over. And the root cause of all our unhappiness is DESIRE.
1.According to the author, happiness means that_______
A. you have much money B. you can experience everything
C. you’re living healthily D. your wishes come true
2.Which of the following can best replace the underlined words “weighed down” in Paragraph 3?
A. Crazy B. Worried
C. Interested D. Serious
3.By discussing how people keep healthy, the author tries to_______.
A. remind people to find the direct cause of their unhappiness
B. show what people really desire
C. stress physical health and mental health are both important
D. offer ways to find the root cause of unhappiness
4.What can be concluded from the passage?
A. In fact, it takes people much to feel happy
B. No people are willing to limit their desires
C. While seeking happiness, you have to accept unhappiness
D. To have good health, people should try to feel happy
Founded in 2010, Wall Street Daily is an independent, honest publisher of news and opinions regarding global financial markets. Its writing staff consists of gifted journalists and investment(投资) professionals. They provide original, practical ideas based on superior insights into value and where and how to find it. They learn facts others don’t, they see things differently, and they do a better job to earn money. The following experts are most outstanding of them.
| Robert Williams is the Publisher and Founder of Wall Street Daily. Before launching Wall Street Daily, he was the lead financial analyst for Forbes Top 50 private corporation and an analyst to one of the largest academic donations on Earth. Williams has worked alongside venture capitalists(风险投资商), bestselling authors, multi-million-dollar hedge fund(对冲基金)manager, and even billionaire owners of major professional sports merchants. Since launching Wall Street Daily, it’s estimated that Williams has helped unlock $26 million in new investor wealth. |
| Louis Basenese helped direct over $1 billion in institutional capital at Morgan Stanley before leaving Wall Street for Silicon Valley. Now, as the world’s premier venture capital analyst, Louis tracks early investment opportunities born from technological breakthroughs and new drug discoveries. Louis serves as the Investment Director for his wildly popular publications True Alpha, Extreme Alpha, and Venture Cap Strategist. |
| For 27 years, Martin Hutchinson was an international merchant banker in London, New York, and Zagreb. He ran trading platforms for two European banks before serving as director of a Spanish venture capital company, advisor to the Korean company Sunkyong, and chairman of a U.S. group building company company. In Zagreb, he established the Croation debt capital markets, set up the corporate finance operations of Privredna Banka Zagreb, and arranged for the management of 800,000 frozen Macedonian for eign currency savings accounts. |
1.According to the text, who made the greatest contribution to launching Wall Street Daily?
A. Martin Hutchinson B. Louis Basenese
C. Robert Williams D. Morgan Stanley
2.From the text, we can know that Louis Basenses is good at_______.
A. helping people to seize investment opportunities
B. choosing a better job to make money from world-famous firms
C. inventing new drugs and making technological breakthroughs
D. hosting programs on frontline media as a pop star.
3.Which of the following is true to Martin Hutchinson?
A. He used to be an international merchant banker in Tokyo.
B. He started two trading platforms in Canada.
C. He managed the frozen Croation foreign currency saving accounts.
D. He worked for the companies in Europe, America and Asia
4.From the text, we can infer that Wall Street Daily can ______
A. keep you informed of important news in the world
B. help you preserve and manage wealth effectively
C. help you contact many outstanding financial experts
D. let you know the political situation of the world
People with an impulsive(冲动的)personality refer to those who tend to do things without considering the possible dangers or problems first. According to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia, such people may be more likely to have food addiction. The study found that people exhibiting impulsive behavior weren’t necessarily overweight, but impulsiveness was related to a direct relationship with food, and therefore, less healthy weight.
Food addiction has been compared to addictive drug use. Studies have linked the dopamine (多巴胺)release that occurs after tasting delicious food to the dopamine release that happens when people consume other addictive substances.
Impulsive behavior involves several personality traits(特点). Two of these traits, known as negative urgency and lack of perseverance, were particularly associated with food addiction and high BMI(身体质量指数)during the study. Negative urgency is characterized by the tendency to behave impulsively when experiencing negative emotions. Some people might drink alcohol or take drugs. For others, it could mean eating to feel better. Lack of perseverance is when a person has a hard time finishing hard or boring tasks. People with a lack of perseverance might have difficulty attempting to change addictive eating behavior, which could also cause obesity(肥胖).
“Impulsiveness might be one reason why some people eat in an addictive way despite motivation to lose weight,” said Dr. Ashley Gearhardt, a clinical psychologist. He was involved in developing the Yale Food Addiction Scale in aid of those people. “We are theorizing that if food addiction is really a thing, then our measure, the Yale Food Addiction Scale, should be related to helping control impulsive action,” said Gearhardt.
Clinical psychologist Dr. James MacKillop, whose lab was conducting the study, believes that therapies used to treat addictive drug behavior could help people who suffer from addictive eating habits.
“Most of the programs for weight loss at this point focus on the most obvious things, which are clearly diet and exercise,” MacKillop said. “It seems that managing strong desires to eat would naturally fit in with the skills a person would need to eat healthily.”
1.How does the author introduce the two personality trains in paragraph 3?
A. By making comparisons and conclusions
B. By explaining causes and effects
C. By presenting questions and answers
D. By giving definitions and examples
2.What can be inferred about the Yale Food Addiction Scale from the text?
A. It has been successfully carried out among overweight people
B. It might help some impulsive people with food addiction to lose weight
C. It will prove whether food addiction is a problem to impulsive people
D. It is theoretically a proper treatment for addictive food and drug behavior
3.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Dopamine release Caused by Food Addiction
B. Food Addiction Compared to Drug Use
C. Impulsive Personality Linked to Food Addition
D. Food Addiction Contributing to Obesity
I go grocery shopping nearly every day. That day I was trying desperately to find a good tomato. I finally grabbed the best one I could find. Backing away from the counter with it in hand. I wasn’t paying attention. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” I said as I nearly fell over a woman in an electric cart. Many stores have started providing electric cars for those who have difficulty getting around. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m used to it. they need to put horns(喇叭)on these things,” she said with a smile. “We are positioned a bit lower and somewhat out of view. They are also so quiet that often people just don’t hear us coming. But I don’t know what I’d do without one. Oh, what a beautiful tomato it is ! I used to grow tomatoes. But this year I just couldn’t do it any more.”
“I’m sorry for your challenges. It must be frustrating.” I said.
“Well, it all requires a change in attitude, I could spend my time thinking about what I can’t do any more, or spend it on what new things I can do. I loved gardening. Besides my vegetable I also planted many flowers. All those years of love and attention kept them strong, so my work paid off,” the old woman replied.
“I love your attitude,” I added. “But tell me, what new things have you discovered? You said you needed to focus on new things you could do.” “Well, I can go to the grocery store and make new friends by running into perfect strangers with my cart,” she said. “What I’ve discovered is that I can’t grow flowers any more, but I can paint flowers. When I hang my flowers paintings on the wall, the fresh scent stays in my soul. Since I can’t get around as much and they are just there, we are a perfect match.”
“Just like meeting you, my friend. You added beauty to my day and will brighten the dark corners of my memory just when I need it most,” I told her.
1.The electric cars in the stores are used to _________.
A. give short people a good view B. help the disabled get around easily
C. carry goods out of the store D. warn people of danger
2.The woman gave up growing tomatoes probably because __________.
A. she didn’t like growing vegetables B. she liked planting flowers
C. she had difficulty in gardening D. she had no room to do so
3.According to the text, which of the following words can NOT be used to describe the old woman?
A. Hard-working B. Friendly
C. Optimistic D. Bored
4.The underlined part “a perfect match” in Paragraph 4 refers to the old woman and ________.
A. her electric cart B. the flower in her garden
C. her flower paintings D. the strangers she met in the stores
