I used to abandon(放弃）myself to despair（绝望）. Last year, my mother _______from a stroke(中风）and had an operation on her brain. I felt my whole life turn upside down and I had no _______what I could do to help her to relieve her _______. Tears welled up in my eyes whenever I was alone.
Last month I _______a precious watch, which was an 18-year-old birthday gift from my father. I could not fall asleep for a couple of nights because I felt _______about the loss.
There have been many _______like these in my life. I could never figure out how to deal with such tough things _______I read “ If You Have a Lemon, Make a Lemonade” by American writer Dale Carnegie.
“When the wise man is handed a lemon, he says, ‘What _______can I get from this? How can I_________my situation? How can I turn this lemon into a lemonade?’” He wrote.
I suddenly ________that life is full of ups and downs, so I need to stay________all the time. Now when I think of my past, I wish I could have handled things ________. When my mother was fighting for ________, I should have held her hands in mine, telling her things would get better instead of________and crying.
Several weeks ago, I took part in a campus singing competition. I didn’t ________a prize. If I had not ________the article, I would definitely have felt ________again. But instead, I smiled after the competition. I was happy that at least I had got some stage ________.
Life is not just a bed of roses. There are thorns(刺) as well, but these thorns help us become ________ and strong. When life ________us a lemon, let’s try to make a lemonade.
1.A. suffered B. defeated C. survived D. escaped
2.A. hope B. wonder C. idea D. doubt
3.A. anxiety B. pain C. fear D. pressure
4.A. received B. sold C. fixed D. lost
5.A. unbelievable B. shameful C. angry D. terrible
6.A. diseases B. memories C. incidents D. difficulties
7.A. when B. until C. though D. since
8.A. lesson B. lemonade C. decision D. possibility
9.A. control B. arrange C. improve D. reject
10.A. predicted B. thought C. discovered D. realized
11.A. healthy B. independent C. severe D. positive
12.A. exactly B. differently C. easily D. practically
13.A. recovery B. life C. freedom D. delight
14.A. shouting B. hiding C. quarreling D. regretting
15.A. expect B. miss C. win D. refuse
16.A. left out B. made sense C. come across D. broken down
17.A. embarrassed B. discouraged C. excited D. concerned
18.A. performance B. experience C. progress D. challenge
19.A. brave B. calm C. great D. clever
20.A. shows B. makes C. sends D. gives
If something that you’re doing doesn’t challenge you, then it doesn’t change you. We all need some normal stress in our lives, after all.1. So challenge the following limits:
1. Figure out what you're scared of and do it continuously.
If you're a salesman, and you're scared of talking to people personally or over the phone now, instead of being scared and thinking you'll fail, spend at least five minutes a day to pick up the phone and make a call. 2. But don't stop on the first try! Eventually, you can look at fear in the eye and say, “Go on. I'm not scared!”
2. 3.
Make sure this hobby is not linked to your career; you have to relax and relieve your stress while performing this. Some examples might be cooking, sewing, painting and so on. Apart from helping you challenge yourself, taking a class for your hobby may also give you extra income.
3. Set aside at least nine minutes a day for physical exercise.
4. A simple 9-minute run around your neighborhood can do wonders for yourself. Exercise can not only help you maintain your regular weight, but also make you feel better about yourself.
4. Travel and allow yourself to be interested in new people.
Don't just limit yourself to your fellow travelers----try to connect with the service staff. You never know what kind of people they're going to be. Get out of your house or go online right now to book your class. 5.
A. You should do it continuously.
B. Someone may hang up on you.
C. You don't need to go to the gym.
D. Running in the gym may be a better choice.
E. Start to travel now and learn to challenge yourself.
F. Take a class for a hobby you've been wanting to develop.
G. You can never see any improvement if you stick to your comfort zone.
In January, British actor Eddie Redmayne made headlines around the world as he became the latest member of smartphone refuser. “It was a reaction against being glued permanently to my iPhone during waking hours,” he explained, turning instead to an old-fashioned “dumb phone” handset that could only make and take calls.
He is not alone. There is a small but busy market for phones that are simple and cheap at a time when smartphones are becoming ever more complex and expensive. Basic phones — handsets with some basic functions such as playing music and accessing the Internet — are gradually being replaced by low cost smartphones, according to Francisco Jeronimo, research director for European mobile devices at IDC, the research group. But there is still a significant demand for older-style phones.
Strategy Analytics, a research group, estimates that 44,000,000 basic phones were sold in 2015, accounting for 2 percent of the global market. Some phonemakers, such as Sony and LG, have already turned their back on the market. But others like Microsoft and Samsung are still producing devices every year aimed at the basic phone market.
Many smartphone users beef about having to buy devices that are easily broken, require daily recharging and which will be replaced by a new, better version within a year. Even basic smartphones offer more functions that not many people need.
Some users buy phones with limited or no Internet connections in a conscious attempt to keep away from the modern digital world. Analysts say that there is a growing number of “second phoneys” who use an expensive smartphone during the day, but turn to cheaper, pocket-sized devices when they go out in the evening.
Light Phone founder Joe Hollier falls into this camp. He has developed a credit card-sized phone without a data connection and no extra functions other than to make calls. He describes a feeling of huge relief when the ability to check emails or status updates is removed. Light Phone functions as a companion device to a smartphone but Mr Hollier hopes it will also encourage people to unplug from the modern Internet world.
1.What is the function of paragraph 1?
A. To lead to the topic. B. To summarize the whole passage.
C. To analyze the situation of phone usage. D. To deepen the theme.
2.The expression “beef about” may be replaced by “________” in the passage.
A. care about B. approve of
C. complain of D. think over
3.Joe Hollier developed the new card-sized phone to ________.
A. save money B. relax the mind
C. save time D. keep healthy
4.What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Some people prefer basic phones to smart phones.
B. What are the functions of basic phones.
C. The old-fashioned phones have many advantages.
D. The future of smartphones is gloomy.
New research has shown that you might not just be feeling blue; you may also be seeing it differently. Your mood may affect how you see the world around you, according to a new study. A team of researchers has proved that sadness could have an effect on the way we see colors.
The team, led by psychology researcher Christopher Thorstenson of the University of Rochester, found that people who had a sad mood were less accurate in identifying colors on the blue-yellow axis (轴), compared to people who weren’t feeling sad.
“We were already deeply familiar with how often people use color terms to describe common phenomena, like mood, even when these concepts seem unrelated,” Thorstenson said in a statement. “We thought maybe a reason why these metaphors (比喻) appear was that there really was a connection between mood and identifying colors in a different way.”
Thorstenson and his team are not the first to identify a link between a depressed mood and a difference in recognition. In 2010, Emanuel Bubl and his team at Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg in Germany first proved a link between mood and identifying colors. This was supported by a 2013 paper by Johnson Fam of the University of Singapore.
The team conducted two studies. In the first, 127 participants were chosen randomly to watch one of two video clips, which had been proved in previous studies to feel either sadness or amusement. They didn’t do that in a specific order. The entire group was then tasked with identifying the colors in 48 continued color changes. The group that had been shown the sad clip was measurably worse at identifying colors along the blue-yellow axis.
For the second study, 130 participants were randomly assigned to watch either a sad clip or a neutral (中性的) one. The sadness group showed reduced ability to identify colors along the blue-yellow axis than the neutral group.
1.If one _______, the colors he sees might be different from those in others’ eyes.
A. is in a good mood B. has an eye illness
C. attends a speech D. doesn’t feel happy
2.Who were the first to find out the link between mood and identifying colours?
A. Thorstenson and Johnson. B. Thorstenson and his team.
C. Johnson and his team. D. Emaneuel and his team.
3.The sadness group in the second study _______.
A. felt happy when watching the video
B. performed better than the other
C. were less able to identify some colours
D. could only identify blue and yellow
I wish there would be a way to describe China in simple terms but that's impossible. For the most part Chinese people are friendly, easygoing and optimistic. They are curious and unusually patient and they are also the hardest-working people I have ever met.
In China, family is everything. In my English classes when the students were asked what they would do if they only had a few hours to live, most students told me how they would spend their last few hours with their families and parents. Many times the subjects in the classes center on families and friends. I teach many students a year, talking to them freely.
The cost of living here is very low compared with that of the US. The city of Xiang Fan I live in isn't large and I live better. Nonimported(非进口的)foods are very cheap, so are clothing and articles of everyday use. The cost of public transportation is very low, too. Chinese value education. However, it is reported that many children can't afford the expenses of schooling and are forced to leave school in some poor areas in China. But they organized Project Hope many years ago. It creates conditions for the poor children to go back to school. In my opinion, Project Hope is of great importance to the development of the rural education.
When we read news of China in the west, rarely, if ever, will we see anything mentioned of the positive changes China has gone through. While it is true that economic miracles have not reached many areas of China, but we also have the same problems.
When I am asked which country I consider better, China or the US, my answer has always been the same, “We are not worse or better than each other, we are only different.”
1.What does the author think of Chinese people?
A. He thinks most Chinese people hardly work.
B. He thinks most Chinese people are proud.
C. He dislikes most Chinese people.
D. He praises most Chinese people a lot.
2.What is the author doing in China?
A. He is teaching English in a school.
B. He is visiting the places of interest.
C. He is studying in a college.
D. He is on business.
3.What are NOT cheap in China in the author's opinion?
A. Clothes and shoes made in China.
B. Local foods.
C. Imported foods.
D. Public transportation tickets.
4.We can infer from the passage that the author thinks ________.
A. the westerners have got to know China well
B. the progress of China is seldom reported in the US.
C. China's economic miracles have appeared everywhere
D. the education in rural areas is never cared about in China
In 1997, Mary gave a present of $500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. She wanted to help poor students. It was a very generous thing to do. But her friends and neighbors were surprised. Mary was a good woman. She went to church. She was always friendly and helpful. But everyone in her town knew that Mary was not rich. In fact, she was poor.
How did a poor 89-year-old woman have so much money? Mary was born in 1908 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She had to leave school when she was eight years old to help her family. She took a job washing clothes. She earned only a few dollars a day. She washed the clothes by hand. Then she hung the clothes to dry. She did this for nearly 80 years. In the 1960s, she bought an automatic washer and dryer. But she gave them away. She did not think they got the clothes clean enough！At that time, many people started to buy their own washers and dryers. Mary did not have much work, so she started to iron clothes instead.
Mary never married nor had children. Her life was very simple. She went to work and to church. She read her Bible. She had a black-and-white television. But she did not watch it very much. It had only one channel.
Mary saved money all her life and eventually had about $800, 000. When she was 89, a lawyer helped her make a will. She left the money to the church, her relatives and the university. Mary wanted to help others. She did not think she was a special person. But then people found out about her present to the university. She received many honors. She even flew in an airplane for the first time！Mary died in 1999. She was a shy and ordinary woman who became famous.
1.Mary gave $500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi ________.
A. to surprise her friends and neighbors
B. to help the poor students
C. to prove she was a rich woman
D. to show her generosity
2.From the passage we can learn that ________.
A. Mary left school young to help support her family
B. Mary’s parents asked her to wash clothes for others
C. an automatic washer and dryer were too expensive for her
D. Mary started to iron clothes because she didn’t get other skills
3.Which of the following tells us Mary lived a very simple life?
A. She went to the church every day with friends.
B. She didn’t like others to buy an automatic washer.
C. She didn’t have much work to do.
D. She only had a black-and-white television with one channel.
4.What kind of person is Mary according to the passage?
A. Rich and friendly. B. Hard-working and helpful.
C. Well-educated and special. D. Poor and silly.
