At the age of nine, I was taking swimming lessons at a pool. The day had arrived when I was to be tested to see if I could _____ to a higher level class.
Fifteen of us were to ______swimming from one side of the pool to the other and back. I watched as my ___ , one by one, tried and failed. Then it was my turn to ____ , I mean, my turn to attempt to pass the test. I was about halfway when I got ____ . I immediately stopped and _____ the side of the pool, ending my test. Our instructor, a college student, was standing ___ me. “Why did you stop?” he yelled, in a less-than ______voice. “I got water in my nose,” I _____ . That’s when this college student _____ me one of life’s great lessons, ____ he probably never realized that. Bending down, he shouted, “So?” “So?” The _____ shocked me. It had just seemed _____ to me that the answer to pain was to remove the thing causing the ____. My nine-year-old brain had not understood the fact that a valuable_____is worth achieving, however difficult to get there. Recognizing that, I was _____ nothing would keep me from completing the test. In fact, I did it rather ______on my next attempt. Seeing me _____ the test, almost all the others did so as well.
Life is a journal, and the road won’t _____ be easy. We have to focus on the final destination, not the ______ along the road.
1.A. skip B. refer C. advance D. add
2.A. take turns B. insist on C. take risks D. put off
3.A. competitors B. classmates C. students D. instructors
4.A. show B. leave C. fail D. observe
5.A. injured B. blamed C. trapped D. choked
6.A. pushed B. pressed C. grabbed D. controlled
7.A. above B. below C. beside D. beyond
8.A. surprised B. sympathetic C. annoyed D. cold
9.A. explained B. reacted C. declined D. urged
10.A. delivered B. owed C. taught D. promised
11.A. so that B. as if C. in case D. even if
12.A. problem B. excuse C. question D. voice
13.A. logical B. illegal C. ridiculous D. impossible
14.A. disaster B. discomfort C. damage D. fear
15.A. result B. advantage C. goal D. task
16.A. concerned B. sensitive C. embarrassed D. sure
17.A. slowly B. easily C. clumsily D. eagerly
18.A. attend B. take C. give D. pass
19.A. always B. sometimes C. ever D. seldom
20.A. sights B. barriers C. surprises D. harvests
A gratitude journal is a great way to keep yourself in a positive state of mind. This article will offer some tips for starting and keeping one.
1.Make it a rule to write down things you are thankful for per day. 1.This will make writing the journal more challenging as time goes on, but that's how your awareness and thankfulness will grow. You'll find new things to be thankful for what you never noticed before.
2.Write about extended material things in your life. 2.For example, if you love to paint, you may be grateful for the paint that you have. Or, if you like music ,you may be grateful for your CD connections.
3.3.. You can start by feeling grateful to be alive . Avoid the trap of being grateful for something that is better than what other people have. Instead, compare whatever you are grateful for with how you would feel if you didn't have it.
4.Think about your abilities. You may start with basic abilities like your abilities to see and hear., 4.Think about skilful things like singing and dancing ,and your character like your skills in cheering up people or your skills in being a good friend.
5. Consider the people in your life. Think about all the people you are grateful to and write down the reasons. It's also good to write about the people that you don't really like and find a reason to appreciate them, its also a test of your character.5.After all ,There is good in everyone.
A. Avoid repeating the same things,
B. Describe how you are grateful for what you have have.
C. This can be difficult but very uplifting.
D. Then progress to those that are unique to you.
E. Feel grateful for any advantage you may have.
F. These things vary greatly depending on your interests.
G. In this way,everything will become more heartwarming.
“No pains, no gains.” gives the impression that we ought to be suffering while we study. It seems that the only way to know if we’re putting in enough work is how much hardship we bear. We are totally taken up with study, shutting ourselves away for a big exam. Is that necessarily true?
When we haven’t taken the time to come up with another idea, we just shut ourselves in a room with a book. It’s no surprise that we find revision boring and difficult. Just as children learn from playing, we can learn from doing, or at least from study techniques that interest us, rather than make us switch off. Shutting ourselves away can make us learn to hate studying, leading to a situation where instead of being able to concentrate on our work, we are troubled by how unfair it is that we must study. This can be part of a vicious cycle(恶性循环) that traps us into ineffective revision, your poor progress fueling further annoyance.
Thankfully, working in the company of other people really helps fight against that. We just need to learn how to deal with distractions. It’s not necessary to avoid all company, just idle(懒散的)company. People, who are bored and looking to be distracted, are terrible to work around. They constantly try to keep others in conversation. While studying in the same room with someone who is ironing or working out is perfectly possible. Of course, it’s also a good idea to avoid the company of people involved in activities where you would rather be playing than study. Working while sitting next to someone playing video games is most likely to end with a new high score in games rather than productive revision.
If being around others means working in a noisy environment, a pair of headphones and some background music can block out noises. They also act as a psychological barrier, so that people think twice before interrupting you. Besides, we should know friends and family can lessen feelings of isolation(孤立). And connecting with other people makes us happy, so it’s important not to give that up and to make sure that we take the time to socialize.
1.The author’s purpose in writing the text is to ___________.
A. introduce an effective studying means
B. encourage us to work as hard as possible
C. remind us to balance activities and study
D. discuss the importance of family company
2.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A. Revision is interesting and easy with study techniques for certain.
B. Shutting ourselves away can help concentrate on work.
C. A favorable interest might lead to effective revision.
D. Good ideas are needed in terms of progress.
3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 implies that ___________.
A. playing video games is helpful for an effective study
B. one shouldn’t study with the company of a video player
C. one should study from certain activities that one is interested in
D. the more time one spends in playing games, the higher test scores one will get
4.If you are studying in a noisy environment, you’d better ___________.
A. think twice before taking any action
B. give up others’ company at once
C. give indication of not wanting to be interrupted
D. force yourself to be accustomed to the environment
In the story of “The Crow and the Pitcher”（乌鸦和水罐）from Aesop’s Fables（伊索寓言）, a thirsty crow drops stones into a narrow jar to raise the low level of water inside so he can take a drink.
Now scientists have evidence to back up that story. New Caledonian crows actually do understand how to make water displacement work to their advantage, experiments showed. The results suggests that the birds are, at least in some aspects, as smart as first-graders, according to the study.
Researchers, led by Sarah Jelbert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, presented six crows with tubes filled with water. Inside the tubes, a worm or pieces of meat on a piece of wood was floating, just out of reach of the crow. In front of the tubes, the researchers arranged a bunch of heavy rubber erasers that would sink, and light plastic objects that would float. The crows found out that they could drop the heavy objects into the tubes in order to raise the water level and get their snack.
However, the birds handled awkwardly in experiments in which they could choose to drop objects in either a wide tube or a narrow tube to get snack, the researchers said. Dropping objects into the narrow tube would lift the water level by a greater amount and put the treat within reach after just two drops. In contrast, it took around seven drops to raise the snack to the same level in the wide tube. The crows obviously didn’t realize this, and most of them went for the wide tube first.
Previous studies showed that chimps and human children can solve similar tasks. In a 2011 study, chimps and kids found out that they could put water into a tube to reach a peanut that was floating in a small amount of water at the bottom.
1.What does the text focus on?
A. Aesop’s prediction. B. Crows’ intelligence.
C. The development of crows. D. Human-animal communication.
2.How did the crows get the worm in a tube in Sarah’s experiment?
A. By dropping in the heavy erasers. B. By removing the plastic objects.
C. By standing on the wood. D. By breaking the tube.
3.What does the underlined part “the treat” in paragraph 4 refer to?
A. the tube. B. The object.
C. the snack. D. The water
4.What did the experiment with wide and narrow tubes show?
A. Crows are sensitive to surroundings.
B. Crows have the ability to recognize shapes.
C. Crows are cleverer than chimps and children.
D. Crows understand water displacement incompletely.
I dropped out of college after my freshman year. Three years later, I quit a dead-end job and returned college. I saw school as my way out. But I quickly found myself facing the same roadblocks that had caused me to quit before: I was confused with college-level algebra and a heavy workload of reading and writing assignment. Moreover, I was unsure of my career direction. I was ready to drop out again. Then a smartly-dressed woman walked confidently to the front of my English composition class. “Look at you! Look at each and every one of you,” she said. “You’re here to change your lives for the better. And you’re going to make it!” I can’t remember the rest of the speech, but it changed the course of my college career and my life.
Mrs. Smith didn’t know me from any of the other 40 faces in her classroom, but I felt she speaking directly to me. Having trouble keeping up with the workload? Break it down into small pieces, and set up a schedule that suits you. If college algebra is too difficult, drop back to introductory college math. As for English composition, she gave us writing assignments we could relate to. “Go for the best, kid. You’re worth it,” she’d say.
I graduated from that college and went on to get my bachelor’s degrees. Today, as a college instructor, each fall when I stand in front of a new class, I think of Mrs. Smith and how much teachers can affect their students. She couldn’t have known it when she gave that pep talk, but she made a huge difference in my life.
1.Why did the author want to quit school again?
A. He wanted to return to hid former job. B. He decided on his future career.
C. The academic pressure seemed unbearable. D. Many changes took place in his life.
2.How did Mrs. Smith help the author?
A. She made him feel relaxed. B. She helped him with algebra.
C. She talked to him directly. D. She brought him courage and faith.
3.What can we infer about the author?
A. He learnt to be a better teacher.
B. He didn’t finish his college education.
C. He became Mrs. Smith’s favorite student.
D. He didn’t understand the writing assignments.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Always believe in yourself.
B. Never quit before trying.
C. Experience is worth valuing.
D. A lady changed my life in time.
Welcome to our website. Here are some magazines to recommend this week.
Cover Price: $56.00 Sale Price: $25.00 Alarm celebrates independent thinking in music, art, film and fashion through in-depth writings. Each issue of Alarm features interviews, reviews and life stories of famous people in the artistic world. It also provides the latest news on famous bands, artists, film makers and fashion trends. |
Cover Price: $47.40 Sale Price: $12.00 Alternative Press celebrates music and youth culture. It features the latest music news and releases, and includes interviews with new bands as well as famous bands. The magazine is written for fans of electronic, industrial, punk, underground, rock, experimental and other musical types. It also offers columns about new technology, book reviews and film reviews. |
Cover Price: $39.92 Sale Price: $12.00 Sound ＆Vision is for people with a great interest in music and video. It is also for people who want to know how to reproduce video. The magazine tests new technology and explains how to buy and use music equipment. |
Cover Price: $23.70 Sale Price: $12.00 Complex is a lifestyle magazine. It covers everything with hip-hop culture. Articles cover music, fashion, film and sports. It also has a buyer's guide to the hottest gear, clothes and gadgets. Complex combines two magazines into one. It is not only a lifestyle magazine but also a product guide. |
1.Alarm would most probably attract people who love reading __________.
A. reviews of novels B. simple humorous stories
C. serious writings on music D. stories written by famous artists
2.What discount can you get if you buy Alternative Press on the website?
A. About 38% B. About 55%
C. About 70% D. About 75%
3.Which magazine will suit a hip-hop fan?
A. Complex. B. Alarm.
C. Alternative Press. D. Sound & Vision.
