Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers urged, “Barbara, be enthusiastic! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were! Enthusiastic people can turn a boring drive into an adventure, extra work into opportunity and strangers into friends.
“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste that helps you hang in there when the going gets tough. It is the inner voice that whispers, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the ea
rly work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist (遗传学家) who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t let up on her experiments. Work was such a deep pleasure for her that she never thought of stopping.
We are all born with wide – eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is this childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such a youthful air, whatever their age. At 90,cellist Pablo Casals would start his da
y by playing Bach (巴赫). As the music flowed through his fingers, his bent shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As author and poet Samuel once wrote, “Years wrinkle(使生皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrin
kles the soul.”
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money, title or power. Patricia Mcllrath, retired director of the Missouri Repertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, a lawyer, long ago told me, I never made a penny until I stopped working for money.”
If we cannot do what we love as a full-time career, we can do it as a hobby. Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan, was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended her depression that had troubled her for at least 30 years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, “I am persuaded to call Layton a genius.”
We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-beens”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be.” We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses-finding pleasure in the sweet smell of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow. The author mentions cellist Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that .
| A．music can arouse people’s enthusiasm |
| B．enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed |
| C．enthusiasm can make people feel young |
| D．enthusiasm can keep people healthy |
How many examples are given in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
The author holds the view that .
| A．enthusiastic people will never get old |
| B．enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life |
| C．enthusiasm is more important than experience |
| D．enthusiasm can give people more success and fame |
（D）
Read a whole book in English? Me?
Yes, you. Believe it or not, that may be easier than you think. Not all classics are too difficult or complicated. So you’re not limited to the simplified versions. And the easier books are not all for children.
Books in their original versions may send you to the dictionary. And you might not understand everything you read. But reading one from cover to cover will give you a real sense of accomplishment（成就）. The key is to find the right books. Let’s take a look at these.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
Stepping into an old wardrobe, four English schoolchildren find themselves in the magical world of Narnia. On this delightful land, they find friends among the many talking creatures. The children soon discover, however, that Narnia is ruled by the White Witch. Edmund, one of the children, falls under her power. Who can free Narnia? Only Aslan, the great and noble lion. He alone knows the Deeper Magic. But the children themselves must help fight the battle against the White Witch and those who serve her.
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman, hasn’t caught any fish in more than 80 days. Sailing far out from land, the old man hooks an enormous fish. That begins an agonizing three day battle. First he struggles against the great fish. Then he must fight off the sharks that circle the little boat and threaten to eat his fish. Exhausted and bleeding, the old man arrives back at shore. But his fish, his beautiful fish . . .
Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for this superb story of strength and courage, of victory and regret.
A Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine Lingle)
Meg’s father, a U.S. government scientist, has been missing for many months. He had been experimenting with time travel when he mysteriously disappeared.
Now Meg, her little brother Charles Wallace and her friend Calvin will try to rescue him. But first they must outwit the forces of evil they encounter（遇到） on their journey through time and space. Can they find Meg’s father before it’s too late?
This novel is more than just a science fiction adventure. It’s an exploration of the nature of our universe.
The Pearl (John Steinbeck)
One day Kino, a poor Mexican pearl diver, finds a magnificent pearl. With it he dreams of buying a better life, new clothes and schooling for his son. Instead, it brings only evil. His wife pleads with him to get rid of it. "No," says Kino. "I will have my chance. I am a man." But when he kills a man who is trying to steal the pearl, Kino and his wife must run for their lives.This tale of dreams, justice and the power of greed is told simply and beautifully.
The Long Winter (Laura Ingalls Wilder)
It’s winter, 1880—1881, on America’s northern prairies. Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls and their four girls stay near the kitchen stove to keep warm. Heavy snowstorms cut them off even from neighbors. With the trains stopped, no supplies can reach the town. Food and fuel are running out. Day after day the girls must grind wheat for bread and twist hay to burn. At times they nearly lose the battle to keep their spirits up.
This story provides a fascinating glimpse into the life of early American settlers.
63. In the passage, the author intends to _______.
A. recommend a few simplified versions of classics
B. recommend a few original versions of classics
C. tell us how to read an English book from beginning to end
D. tell us how to find proper English books to read
64. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the White Witch is probably _____.
A. an evil woman with magic power B. a friendly woman with magic power
C. a delightful talking creature D. a powerful lion
65. The underlined word "outwit" in the passage probably means ______.
A. get rid of B. take advantage of
C. beat by being cleverer D. make the most of
66. Which book deals with history?
A. The Pearl. B. The Old Man and the Sea.
C. A Wrinkle in Time. D. The Long Winter.
67. A Wrinkle in Time is different from other books mentioned in the passage in that _____.
A. it is not a science fiction B. it tells a true story
C. it provides some scientific knowledge D. it tells the battle between justice and evil
(C)
My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon.
I tried as hard as I could to remain calm, but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered, shaking hands.
I looked up again at the audience, realizing that these were real people. They were not just my mum and dad, who would say, “Good job!” even if I messed up the entire piece.
What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?
As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight (聚光灯) was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together, drying off the sweat.
Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys, which were waiting impatiently to be played. I swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump (隆起部分) in my throat and sat down. Slowly, I opened the music. Next, I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory (象牙色的) keys.
As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my years of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested.
Although at one point I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically (自动地).
My eyes burned holes into (were fixed on) the pages in front of me.
There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music.
When I came to the end of the page, a warning went off inside my head: DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE!
Needless to say, I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind. And, proud of my “page-turning” feat (技艺), I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake.
After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible.
59. The author was nervous before the performance because _______.
A. his or her mother and father weren’t present
B. the strong spotlight was shining onto the stage
C. he or she hadn’t mastered the entire piece
D. he or she had never performed in public before
60. The underlined phrase “mess up” in Paragraph 3 probably means ________.
A. put into disorder B. forget about C. stop halfway D. do well in
61. The author _________.
A. didn’t make any mistake in the performance
B. felt better at the beginning of the performance
C. paid all attention to nothing but his / her performance
D. lost his / her concentration sometimes during the performance
62. What did the author feel about his / her performance?
A. He / She thought it was comfortable and successful.
B. He / She thought it was very difficult but successful.
C. He / She thought he / she had never made a mistake during the performance.
D. He / She thought he / she played through the piece carefully but light-heartedly.
(B)
There is no doubt about it. The best way to learn new words is to do it unconsciously. I don’t mean while you’re unconscious. I mean while you are unconscious of the fact that it is sinking in.
That is how I learnt the 30,000 words in my vocabulary by living in an English-speaking world, mother tongue. I just pick them up. But some of them may be misunderstood. Now, to misunderstand does not mean not to understand. To misunderstand is to understand but incorrectly.
The 5 % mislearnt of all the words we “know” will be the least frequently used words, as the more frequently used words are less likely to be mislearnt. Some of the misunderstandings may live with all our lives, without knowing that we got them wrong.
Many English teachers think that this natural method of learning words in one’s own mother tongue can be used for a second language learning. They teach their students how to play the Guessing Game. “There is no time to look up in your dictionaries all the new words you come across,” they will say. “You have to practise guessing what the word means from the context.”
This method of guessing in a second language learning does not work. It may succeed in many cases, but results in hundreds or thousands of wrongly-guessed meanings of words.
And what’s more, there are more separate meanings than there are words themselves. Our learners’ dictionaries usually have many meanings. A good dictionary is what makes self-learning possible.
Don’t guess! Look it up!
55. It is certain that the best way to learn new words is _____________.
A. to learn them by oneself
B. to learn by living in an English-speaking world and using them frequently
C. to guess them from the context
D. to get more separate meanings of each word
56. The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refers to _________.
A. the 30,000 words B. English teachers
C. misunderstood words D. frequently used words
57. Which of the following is most likely NOT true?
A. Some of the words the writer knows must have been misunderstood.
B. Most of the 30,000 words the writer learned are frequently used ones.
C. How many words the writer got wrong are not known.
D. All the words the writer knows were learned by reading them.
58. It can be inferred that _________.
A. when somebody is conscious, he or she usually can’t learn new words by heart
B. we must use the words as often as possible in order to master them
C. it’s the best way to learn new words that one should only guess their meanings from the
context
D. only dictionaries can help us learn language well
E
Imagine growing a home from living trees instead of building a home from wood. Mitchell Joachim, at the MIT Media Lab's Smart Cities Group, along with ecological engineer Lara Greden and architect Javier Arbona, have proposed a system of homes that are actually a living ecosystem.
Joachim's vision is based on a gardening method known as pleaching, which involves weaving branches together to form living lattice(格子) walls. Since the growth patterns of trees are affected by wind and sunlight, it may be possible to manipulate the way a tree develops.
This idea is an extreme, yet simple and beautiful, form of green building. Not only does it not cause direct harm to the environment, but it is actually part of the environment. The house, which is a network of trees, would clean the air and also provide a home for animals and birds. "Not only does it do zero damage, but it will hopefully clean the air," says Joachim.
"A 100 percent treehouse would take years to create," Joachim said. Depending on the climate, a house could take anywhere from 5 to 30 years to grow. Fortunately, there's a way to speed up the process.
Ecological materials, Joachim suggests, should be included in the housing designs. For example, windows can be made from soy－based plastics that would flex (折曲) with the home as it grows.
So what happens when a home and the great outdoors are one and the same? A home would become an actual ecosystem, a community of plants, animals, and bacteria working together. The trees would also give off water vapor that would assist in cooling the homes. Solar panels and wind would help provide energy. Straw and clay could be used to insulate(使绝缘) the structures. The tree homes might even have soil pockets, where plants could grow from the structure itself.
Joachim's project is called MatScape, designing a house in California that will be constructed from 50% recycled and 50% living elements. He sees it as an experimental step toward the final living house.
57．The best title for this passage would be______.
A．Trees Find Its New Use B．Scientists Create New Houses
C．Grow Your Home Out of Trees D．People Begin Living in Trees
58．The underlined word "manipulate" in Paragraph Two can be best replaced by .
A．build B．influence C．weave D．provide
59．It can be inferred from this passage that__________.
A．treehouses will replace traditional buildings
B．pollution problem will be solved once for all
C．many Californians may be building their own treehouses
D．some ecological materials may move as the house grows
60．If this passage is continued, what would probably be discussed?
A．A final living house. B．Joachim's MatScape project.
C．More information about pleaehing. D．Some more ecological materials.
D
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect—but to have no tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in school or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.
Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them－a form of favoritism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill－respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well－ respected school. This defense of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and tile bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school's reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favored school.
The opponents(反对者) of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.
53．The underlined word "favoritism" in paragraph 3 is used to describe the phenomenon that_____.
A．bright children also need certificates to get satisfying jobs
B．children from well－respected schools tend to have good jobs
C．poor children with certificates are favored in job markets
D．children attending ordinary schools achieve great success
54．What would happen if examinations were taken away according to the author?
A．There would be more opportunities and excellence.
B．Schools for bright children would lose their reputation.
C．Children from poor families would be able to change their schools.
D．Children's job opportunity would be affected by their school reputation.
55．The opponents of the examination system will agree that ________.
A．jobs should not be assigned by systematic selection
B．computers should be selected to take over many jobs
C．special classes are necessary to keep the school standards
D．schools with academic subjects should be done away with
56．The passage mainly focuses on________.
A．schools and certificates B．examination and equality
C．opportunity and employment D．standards and reputation
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