Mark Twain was a very famous American writer. He was good at telling interesting stories to make other people happy. But once somebody played a joke on him.
One day, Mark Twain1. (invite) to give a lecture in a small town. After the lecture, he met a young man at lunch. The young man told Mark Twain he had an uncle who never smiled or laughed.
“Bring your uncle to my lecture this evening,” said Mark Twain, “I’ll tell some interesting stories and I’m sure I can make him laugh.”
That evening the young man as2.as his uncle came to Mark Twain’s lecture. They sat in the first row of the hall. Mark Twain looked at the old man and told some funny stories, which made people in the hall laugh. But there was still no smile on the old man’s face. Mark Twain told the3. (fun) stories he knew. But the old man still didn’t laugh. At last, Mark Twain stopped. He felt very4. (disappoint). He was very surprised at the old man.
Some days later, Mark Twain met a friend and told him about his bad experience in the small town.
“Oh,” said his friend, “I know what happened to that old man. He5. (be) deaf for years.”
My mother always says that I’m born to dance ballet（芭蕾）.But that September when I was in a ballet____and went to do a turn，something just happened. I heard it and I surely_____it.I went right to a doctor and got an MRI，which ____a lot of damage to my knee-a(n)______ injury for a dancer.I had to have a (n) _____.
Everything had been going so well and now I had this huge injury.Dance was my life，but_____，I wasn’t going to be able to do it for a year or possibly never again.
My dad was really a big inspiration for me. He was_____a battle against cancer at that time.He showed me how to make it through a_____situation.I thought that if he could do that，I could handle this，too. ______my operation，I had great difficulty walking，but I knew that if I really worked hard，my injury would_____.
Several months later, I definitely wasn't at my strongest，but I could _____ a class. The dancing I did was basic at first-_____ that my knee could handle.
Once we started practicing in the fall，I was beginning to feel like myself again.One day，I_____ the schedule and my name was next to Eliot Feld.I thought it must be a(n) _____because he is very famous in the ballet world.But it wasn’t.He_____ me and taught me a lot of things.At l8，I had a solo（单独） performance! It was a big _____.I was so excited and felt like a real ballerina.After the_____，Eliot said，“You know, you have a gift---and you are also made of_____."That，coming from him，was the _______compliment(赞美)I have ever received.I’d like to think that_____ my injury made me strong.
1.A. class B. school C. team D. play
2.A. touched B. accepted C. broke D. felt
3.A. showed B. said C. read D. pointed
4.A. necessary B. practical C. deadly D. important
5.A. holiday B. operation C. cry D. test
6.A. once in a while B. at present C. in time D. all of a sudden
7.A. leading B. losing C. fighting D. inventing
8.A. wonderful B. positive C. difficult D. heavy
9.A. Over B. During C. At D. After
10.A. move B. heal C. go D. die
11.A. set out B. take up C. break into D. get through
12.A. breathes B. activities C. damages D. moves
13.A. checked B. borrowed C. faced D. stole
14.A. task B. opportunity C. problem D. mistake
15.A. held B. encouraged C. obeyed D. received
16.A. surprise B. success C. secret D. position
17.A. speech B. competition C. performance D. match
18.A. steel（钢铁） B. wood C. gold D. mud
19.A. smartest B. deepest C. simplest D. greatest
20.A. setting up B. dealing with C. letting out D. turning to
How to Keep a Relationship Healthy and Strong
Are you new to experiencing relationships? Well, let me give you advice on having a healthy and possibly long-term relationship.
1.Do not hide things from them, do not lie. Don’t be afraid to say things that aren’t very flattering about yourself. Getting them to trust you is the most important element in any relationship. If there’s no trust, there’s nothing there. So please be honest and they'll learn to open up to you.
Make sure you give them respect. Now respect isn't just simply treating her or him nicely. There’s a lot more to it. You have to learn to adjust to their liking. 2.Don’t just think about yourself, think about what your partner needs out of it as well.
3. Always be willing to help them and give them honesty and positivity at the same time. Make them feel you are someone they can really count on and build a future with. This is an important step in a relationship. Your partner has to be able to count on you when needed.
Make sure you have a good sense of humor with them. Laughter is the key to happiness. Laugh a lot with them, joke with them. Laughter may seem silly, but it’s the secret to a lot in life. It will keep the sparks alive. 4.
Make sure the communication is good. This goes along with trust, but always communicate how you feel, even if it ' s something that upsets you. Instead of screaming, talk to them.5.It’s important to communicate this to them, not keep it bottled up.
A. If they did something that made you unhappy, tell them about it in a respectful manner
B. Show them your personality.
C. Be an honest person with them.
D. Make sure you are reliable to your partner.
E. Laughter keeps the relationship strong and lasting.
F. Don’t start to neglect them and make them feel unwanted.
G. Basically, learn to study your partners' moods, wants and needs.
In its early history，Chicago had floods frequently，especially in the spring，making the streets so muddy that people，horses，and carts got stuck.An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this：A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street.Asked if he needs help，he replies，"No，thanks.I've got a good horse under me."
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage （排水） system，but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level.The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt.This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12feet.
This of course created a new problem：dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago.Building owners were faced with a choice：either change the first floors of their buildings into basements，and the second stories into main floors，or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level.Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily.But what about large，heavy structures like Tremont Hotel，which was a six-story brick building？
That's where George Pullman came in.He had developed some house-moving skills successfully.To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel，Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews （螺旋千斤顶） beneath the building's foundation.One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10jackscrews.At Pullman's signal each man tured his jackscrew the same amount at the same time，thereby raising the building slowly and evenly.Astonishingly，the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation，and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.
Some people like to say that every problem has a solution.But in Chicago's early history，every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem.Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River，the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1.The author mentions the joke to show ______ .
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
2.The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means" ______ ".
A. change B. lift
C. repair D. decorate
3.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to ______ .
A. build the pipes above ground B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floods D. get rid of the street dirt
4.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ______ .
A. popular life styles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements.
Grandparents Answer a Call
As a third-generation native of Brownsville，Texas，Mildred Garza never planned to move away.Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children，she politely refused.Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms.Garza finally say yes.That was four years ago.Today all three generations regard the move as a success，giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren.Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing.Even Obama's mother-in-law，Marian Robinson，has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters.According to a study by grandparents.com，83percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson's decision will influence grandparents in the American family.Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama's family.
"In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough or fast enough to prove we could do it on our own，"says Christine Crosby，publisher of Grand，a magazine for grandparents."We now realize how important family is and how important it is to be near them，especially when you're raising children."
Moving is not for everyone.Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices，but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead.Having your grandchildren far away is hard，especially knowing your adult child is struggling，but giving up the life you know may be harder.
1.Why was Garza's move a success？ ______
A. It improved her living conditions.
B. It strengthened her family ties.
C. It enabled her make more friends.
D. It helped her know more new places.
2.What was the reaction of the public to Mrs.Robinson's decision？ ______
A. Most of them thought it was a trend.
B. Few people responded sympathetically.
C. 83% believed it had a bad influence.
D. 17% expressed their support for it.
3.What did Crosby say about people in the 1960s？ ______
A. They were unsure of themselves.
B. They were eager to raise more children.
C. They had little respect for their grandparents.
D. They wanted to live away from their parents.
4.What does the author suggest the grandparents do in the last paragraph？ ______
A. Sacrifice for their struggling children.
B. Ask their children to pay more visits to them.
C. Make decisions in the best interests of their own.
D. Get to know themselves better.
In the United States，it is important to be on time，or punctual，for an appointment，a class，a meeting，etc.However，this may not be true in all countries.An American professor discovered the difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian（巴西的） university.The two-hour class was scheduled to begin at 10A.M.and end at 12.On the first day，when the professor arrived on time，no one was in the classroom.Many students came after 10：30A.M.Two students came after 11A.M.Although all the students greeted the professor as they arrived，few apologized（道歉）for their lateness.Were these students being rude？He decided to study the students' behavior.
The professor talked to American and Brazilian students about lateness in both an informal and a formal situation：at a lunch with a friend and in a university class，respectively.He gave them an example and asked them how they would react，If they had a lunch appointment with a friend，the average American student defined lateness as 19minutes after the agreed time.On the other hand，the average Brazilian student felt the friend was late after 33minutes.
In an American university，students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour.In contrast，in Brazil，neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour.Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States，but also end at the scheduled time.In the Brazilian class，only a few students left the class at 12：00； many remained past 12：30 to discuss the class and ask more questions.While arriving late may not be very important in Brazil，neither is staying late.
1.What is the main idea of this passage？ ______
A. It is important to be on time for class in the United States.
B. The importance of being on time differs among cultures.
C. People learn the importance of time only from their own culture.
D. Students being late for class should explain the reason to their teacher.
2.The word ‘punctual' most probably means ______ .
A. 1eaving soon after class B. coming early
C. arriving a few minutes late D. being on time
3.Why did the professor study the Brazilian students' behavior？ ______
A. He felt puzzled at the students' being late.
B. He felt angry at the students' rudeness.
C. He wanted to make the students come on time later.
D. He wanted to collect data for one of his studies.
4.It can be inferred from the professor's study of lateness in the informal situation that ______ .
A. American students will become impatient if their friend is five minutes late
B. neither Brazilian nor American students like being late in social gatherings
C. being late in one culture may not be considered so rude in another culture
D. Brazilian students will not come thirty-three minutes after the agreed time
