Two Candles
Tom was a middle﹣aged leather trader whose repeated failure in career made him a depressed man，often__ that he had been cheated by others．One day he told his wife he was so__ with the city that he had to leave．
So his family moved to another city．It was the evening of a weekend．When Tom and his wife were busily__ up their new home，the light__ went out．They had to stop work．Tom was regretful to have forgotten to bring along candles and had to wait__ in a low mood．Just then he heard slight，hesitant__ on his door that sounded clear in the__ night．
"Who's it？"he wondered，since Tom was a__ to this city．And this was the moment he especially hated to be__，so he went to the door and opened it __．At the door was a little girl，shyly asking，"Sir，do you have candles？I'm your neighbor．""No，"answered Tom in anger and shut the door __．"What a nuisance （讨厌鬼）!"He complained over it with his wife．"No sooner had we settled down than the neighbor came to __ things．"
After a while，the door was knocked again．He opened it and found the same girl outside．_____this time she was __ two candles，saying，"My grandma told me the new neighbor downstairs might need candles．She _____ me here to give you these．"Tom was very__ by what he saw．When he became fully aware，he said，"Thank you and your grandmother．God bless you!"
At that moment he suddenly realized what caused his __ in life．It was his __ and harshness （刻薄） with other people．The person who had cheated him in life was __ nobody else but himself，for his life had been darkened by his unsympathetic __．
1.A. complaining B. telling C. hoping D. pretending
2.A. inspired B. disappointed C. embarrassed D. impressed
3.A. building B. turning C. coming D. tidying
4.A. horribly B. accidentally C. suddenly D. slowly
5.A. anxiously B. doubtfully C. hopefully D. helplessly
6.A. steps B. words C. knocks D. noises
7.A. dark B. quiet C. cold D. sleepless
8.A. newcomer B. traveller C. guest D. settler
9.A. called B. disturbed C. watched D. offered
10.A. surprisingly B. delightedly C. impatiently D. willingly
11.A. gently B. kindly C. politely D. violently
12.A. lend B. sell C. fetch D. borrow
13.A. And B. But C. So D. For
14.A. holding B. hiding C. blowing D. lighting
15.A. advised B. encouraged C. sent D. forced
16.A. frightened B. pleased C. puzzled D. Surprised
17.A. failure B. dissatisfaction C. complaint D. determination
18.A. responsibility B. coldness C. apology D. concept
19.A. doubtfully B. hardly C. actually D. finally
20.A. mind B. opinion C. behavior D. look
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
You go to a store to buy food for a party. But when you get to the cash register, there are no plastic bags for the things you buy. If you live in San Francisco, this situation might not surprise you. 1. Many cities and towns around the United States may ban plastic bags. 2. Instead, they’d like people to use their own cloth bags when they shop. 3. They say they wouldn’t buy as much if they couldn’t get a free bag. Store owners don’t want to lose business. So they want to keep offering plastic bags.
Stores should be banned from using plastic bags. Here’s why:
All those plastic bags fill up garbage dumps (垃圾站). That hurts the environment.
People can use cloth bags instead. 4.
Stores should not be banned from using plastic bags. Here’s why:
People might buy less if stores don’t offer plastic shopping bags. Some stores might go out of business.
Some people reuse plastic shopping bags for things like garbage. If they don’t get them for free, they’ll have to buy some.
5. That could get expensive.
A. These bags don’t get thrown away until they’ve been used many times.
B. There should always be a choice.
C. If shoppers forgot a cloth bag, they would have to buy one.
D. But many people don’t want to buy their own cloth bags.
E. Many people throw them away after using them.
F. That city has banned most plastic shopping bags from stores.
G. They hope that shoppers won’t use paper bags either.
They may have text，email，Facebook and Twitter，but young people are still lonelier than any other age group．The Loneliness in New Zealand Report，published by Statistics New Zealand，shows under 30s are more likely to feel lonely than older people because loneliness decreases with age．Loneliness and poor mental health were strongly related across all ages．Young people were not as likely to feel lonely because of financial hardship，but among older people，lack of money was a significant influence on loneliness．Women were more likely to feel lonely than men．
Philip Walker，spokesman for the General Social Survey，said because it was relatively new it was hard to know whether loneliness among young people was a new trend．But overseas research has found that levels of loneliness in youth today are growing．
Mr．Walker said the finding needed more exploration，including looking at the role of technology and social media．"It could be that people's expectations of connection have gone up，so we expect increased levels of connection，"he said．"While technology like cell phones could help young people stay connected，on the other hand for those who do get bullied（欺辱），especially bullied online，it's quite isolating．A lot of the time potentially it is a big contributor to loneliness．"
Figures from online dating website FindSomeone also confirmed more young people were looking for love．Manager Rick Davies，said younger dating hopefuls were the fastest growing group on the site．
Mr．Davies noted that since the report data was collected in 2010there had been huge growth in smart phones，which meant people were online even more．He believed online tools，such as Skype，could help people stay connected．"People can keep in touch with a wide range of friends from all over the world much more easily now．It's like you're sitting in your living room having a chat with them．"
Bemardine Reid，operations committee chairwoman for Samaritans，which operates a free helpline，said many of their calls came from people who were lonely．"It might be that they've got some problem，just like all the things people would normally talk to a friend about，but people who are alone lack those normal contacts．"
The Statistics New Zealand report also showed people who didn't have face﹣to﹣face contact with family and friends were more likely to feel lonely，as were those who lived alone．
1.Which of the following may Mr．Walker agree with？
A. High technology may become a reason for loneliness．
B. People shouldn't use the Internet to get to know strangers．
C. It's hard for people to get enough connection online as expected．
D. Social media should play an important role in helping lonely people．
2.It can be inferred from the passage that ．
A. FindSomeone is a website where you can find old friends
B. without technology，young people would not feel lonely
C. high technology results in the older being lonely
D. those cheated or hurt online tend to feel lonely
3.From the last two paragraphs，we can conclude that ．
A. Internet can keep people free from loneliness
B. people chatting a lot online tend to be optimistic
C. people living alone tend to have more connection online
D. people communicating less in the real world risk loneliness
4.What is the best title of the passage？
A. Loneliness Around You
B. Young People Online
C. Young but Lonely
D. E﹣times and Young People．
If you’re ever reading a book or watching a movie and get the distinct feeling you’ve come across the story before — or even better, can predict exactly what's going to happen next — there could be a good reason for that.
Researchers from the Computational Story Laboratory at the University of Vermont studied the complete text of some 1,737 fiction works available on Project Gutenberg, an online collection of more than 50,000 digital books in the public area. They discovered that English literature consists of just six kinds of emotional arcs (情感弧线) that make up nearly all of the most well-known stories. By analysing the sentiment (情感) of language used in these texts, the researchers were able to show the emotional ups and downs for the stories as a whole. They discovered that negative words like “poverty”, “dead”, and “punishment” dragged the emotion down, while positive terms like “love”, “peace”, and “friend” brought it up.
According to the researchers, those six core (核心的) emotional arcs are:
“Rags to riches” (An ongoing emotional rise)
“Tragedy, or riches to rags” (An ongoing emotional fall)
“Man in a hole” (A fall followed by a rise)
“Icarus” (A rise followed by a fall)
“Cinderella” (Rise–fall–rise)
“Oedipus” (Fall–rise–fall)
Interestingly, based on download statistics from Project Gutenberg, the researchers say the most popular stories are ones that use more complex emotional arcs, with the “Cinderella” and “Oedipus” arcs registering the most downloads. Also popular are works that combine these core arcs together in new ways within one story, such as two “Man in a hole” arcs stuck together, or the “Cinderella” arc coupled with a tragic ending.
1.Readers often feel familiar when reading a new story because stories have similar ______.
A. beginnings B. endings
C. characters D. emotional arcs
2.How did researchers carry out their study?
A. By conducting surveys among readers.
B. By reading books borrowed from libraries.
C. By analysing works from an online collection.
D. By interviewing authors of the well-known stories.
3.Which set of works may drag emotion down?
A. Hope, fortune and riches.
B. Disease, murder and war.
C. Smile, health and beauty.
D. Cold, earthquake and spring.
4.According to the last paragraph, which kind of works are most popular among readers?
A. Works with an ongoing emotional rise.
B. Works with an ongoing emotional fall.
C. Works with a rise followed by a fall.
D. Works with more than one rise and fall.
Have you ever thought of quitting your job when you feel exhausted? Maybe most of you would say “yes”. After a particularly busy period at work, I decided to get away from it all by going on a hike in the mountains in southern France.
Before I left, I read an interesting story in a magazine. It read, “Once, while I was riding on a crowded bus, the man sitting next to me threw his cell phone out of the window when his phone rang. I was surprised. He looked at me, shrugged (耸耸肩) and looked away. I had no idea whether it was his or stolen or whether he even knew what a cell phone was or not, but he clearly wanted to be free of it, because it clearly troubled him.”
Billions of people across the world use cell phones. Though cell phones are a wonderful way for communication, they often do the exact opposite. Using cell phones can increase stress within families and friends.
So when I recently returned home, I got rid of my cell phone. Now I go outside without taking my phone with me. I’ve noticed things in my neighborhood I never noticed before, such as gardens. I’ve met new people, started conversations with neighbors I didn’t speak to before and talked with some of my friends face to face instead of chatting over the phone.
Instead of keeping me off from the world, stopping using my cell phone has helped me get even closer to my family and friends.
1.According to the story, the man on the bus threw away his cell phone because .
A. it didn’t work properly
B. it was stolen from someone else
C. he didn’t like the phone’s style
D. he didn’t want to be bothered by it
2.We can learn from the passage that cell phones .
A. are too expensive for many people
B. are of no use to the author
C. can also get people into trouble
D. can make life more interesting
3.What can we learn about the author?
A. He wants to own a garden now.
B. He always chatted with his neighbors.
C. He used to take his cell phone when going outside.
D. He once threw away his cell phone.
4.The main purpose of the passage is to .
A. tell us not to let cell phones control our lives
B. encourage others to hike with him in France
C. share his experiences in France with us
D. teach us how to get along with neighbors
Preparations are underway around the world for Chinese New Year (Feb 19) and celebrations in China will be mirrored across the planet wherever the Chinese Diaspora (华侨) calls home. Here are some Chinatowns for those outside of China wishing to mark the day.
London
Although it may not be as large or as long-built as others, having only become a center for the Chinese community during the 1950s, London's Chinatown is a perfectly formed little firework that knows how to see in the year with a bang. Decorated with red lanterns (灯笼), previous years have seen shows with acrobatics (杂技), martial arts (武术), dance and opera nearby.
San Francisco
San Francisco's Chinatown is perhaps the most famous in the United States. The city was the main entry-point for Chinese who had crossed the Pacific to the USA during the early 19th century. Between the Grant Avenue and the Stockton Street, this historic area is a local treasure, attracting more visitors per year than the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bangkok
With a more than 100-year-old history, the Thai capital's Chinatown contains complex streets offering all kinds of tasty treats, clothes, toys and antiques. Sunday market days are such a good time to get the full atmosphere of the neighborhood. The area is also known for its gold dealers, whose shops line the road.
Mauritius
Found in Port Louis, this Mauritian Chinatown shows the island nation's rich multicultural diversity. Established in the early years of the 20th century by settlers from China, its tiny shops and restaurants serve locals and visitors. During the Chinese Spring Festival, the most exciting sight is the Dragon Dances on Rue Royale when Chinese musicians and dancers perform the traditional Lion dances through the streets.
1.According to the text, which of the following has the longest history?
A. London's Chinatown.
B. Bangkok's Chinatown.
C. Mauritius's Chinatown.
D. San Francisco's Chinatown.
2.What's special about Bangkok's Chinatown?
A. It is crowded with Chinese restaurants.
B. It is well-known for its gold business.
C. It was the major entrance for the Chinese.
D. It is where you can enjoy fireworks.
3. If you want to enjoy the Dragon Dances, you can go to ____.
A. Rue Royale in Port Louis, Mauritius
B. the Sunday market in Bangkok
C. the Grant Avenue in San Francisco
D. the Chinese community in London
