I used to believe in the American dream that meant a job, credit, success．I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all of us separately chasing the same thing．
One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell apart．I found myself homeless and alone．I had my truck and $56．I searched the countryside for some place I could rent for the cheapest possible amount．I came upon a deserted cottage in a small remote valley．I hadn't been alone for 25 years．I was scared, but I hoped the hard work would distract and heal me．
I found the owner and rented the place for $50 a month．The locals knew nothing about me．But slowly they started teaching me the art of being a neighbor．They dropped off blankets, tools and canned deer meat and began sticking around to chat．They would ask if I wanted to meet cousin Albie or go fishing．They started to teach me a belief in a different American dream, not the one of individual achievement but of neighborliness．Men would stop by with wild berries, ice cream, truck parts to see if I was up for courting．I wasn't, but they were civil anyway．The women on that mountain worked harder than any I'd ever met．They taught me how to store food in the stream and keep it cold and safe．I learned to keep enough for an extra plate for company．
What I had believed in, all those things I thought were necessary for a civilized life, were non-existent in this place．Up on the mountain, my most valuable possessions were my relationships with my neighbors．
After four years in that valley, I moved back into town．I saw a lot of people were having a really hard time, losing their jobs and homes．With the help of a real estate broker （房地产经纪人） I chatted up at the grocery store, I managed to rent a big enough house to take in a handful of people．It's four of us now, but over time I've had nine come in and move on to other places from here．We'd all be in shelters if we hadn't banded together．
The American dream I believe in now is a shared one．It's not so much about what I can get for myself; it's about how we can all get by together．Before a series of unhappy events happened, the writer ____．
| A．had a well-paid job |
| B．worked hard for his American dream |
| C．worked hard and liked to share |
| D．felt hopeless about his American dream |
What does the underlined sentence "I learned to．．．" in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
| A．The writer learned to run a company． |
| B．The writer learned to share with others． |
| C．The writer learned to keep enough plates． |
| D．The writer learned to save money for his company． |
Why did the writer rent a big house?
| A．To make some money． | B．To show off his wealth． |
| C．To share with those people in need． | D．To make friends with his neighbors． |
The writer mainly tells us about ____．
| A．his unhappy experiences | B．the friendly people in the valley |
| C．the change of his living conditions | D．his new idea of the American dream |
What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world?
That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."
Because Americans believe time is a limited resource, they try to conserve and manage it. People in the U.S. often attend seminars or read books on time management. It seems they all want to organize their time better. Professionals carry around pocket planners -- some in electronic form -- to keep track of appointments and deadlines. People do all they can to squeeze more time out of their time. The early American hero Benjamin Franklin expressed this view best: "Do you love life? Then do not waste time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology and an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation is, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time.
To outsiders, Americans seem tied to the clock. People in other cultures value relationships more than schedules. In these societies, people don't try to control time, but to experience it. Even Americans would admit that no one can master time. Time -- like money -- slips all too easily through our fingers. And time -- like the weather-- is very hard to predict. Nevertheless, time is one of life's most precious gifts. And unwrapping it is half the fun.What’s the main topic of this passage?
| A．What is time? |
| B．How to control time? |
| C．Make good use of time. |
| D．Time among Americans. |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “conserve”?
| A．protect | B．develop | C．produce | D．assist |
The sentence “Americans seem tied to the clock” probably means __________.
| A．Americans often carry a clock with them. |
| B．Americans can not predict the time. |
| C．Americans can take control over time. |
| D．Americans often make full use of time. |
We can safely draw a conclusion from this passage that _________________.
| A．Americans have more time than others. |
| B．by using pocket planners, people can have more time. |
| C．for informal meeting, Americans often arrive 30 minutes earlier. |
| D．Americans often attend seminars, because they want to use time better. |
A 17-year-old boy, caught sending text messages in class, was recently sent to the vice principal's office at Millwood High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The vice principal, Steve Gallagher, told the boy he needed to focus on the teacher, not his cellphone. The boy listened politely and nodded, and that's when Mr. Gallagher noticed the student's fingers moving on his lap. He was texting while being scolded for texting!
"It was a subconscious act," said Mr. Gallagher, who took the phone away. "Yong people today are connected socially from the moment they open their eyes in the morning until they close their eyes at night. It's addictive. They can’t simply stop doing that."
Because so many people in their teens and early 20s are in this constant whir of socializing -- accessible to each other every minute of the day via cellphone, instant messaging and social-networking Web sites -- there are a host of new questions that need to be addressed in schools, in the workplace and at home. Chief among them: How much work can "hyper-socializing" students or employees really accomplish if they are holding multiple conversations with friends via text-messaging, or are obsessively checking Facebook? Almost a quarter of today's teens check Facebook more than 10 times a day, according to a 2009 survey by Common Sense Media, a non-profit group that monitors media's impact on families.
Will these young people get rid of this habit once they enter the work force, or will employers come to see texting and "social-network checking" as accepted parts of the workday?
"In past generations, students got in trouble for passing notes in class. Now students are adept at texting with their phones still in their pockets," said 40-year-old Mr. Gallagher, "and they're able to communicate with someone one floor down and three rows over. Students are just fundamentally different today. They will take suspensions rather than give up their phones."When the boy was scolded for texting, _________________.
| A．he was polite and regretful |
| B．he was trying sending another message |
| C．his fingers shouldn’t be put on his lap |
| D．he listened carefully and nodded |
What does the underlined word “subconscious” mean?
| A．dangerous | B．purposeless | C．popular | D．impolite |
What can we learn about the students in their teens and early 20s?
| A．All of them are addicted to using cellphones. |
| B．They will get rid of the habit once they go to work. |
| C．They are greatly different from the past generations. |
| D．Most of them check Facebook more than 10 times a day. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The employers will accept texting at workday. |
| B．The students will give up their phones one day. |
| C．It’s convenient for students to communicate with others with cellphones. |
| D．Facebook is a kind of book students need to read at school. |
I don't want to upset you, but nobody can ever find out what day is going to be the last. And so it’s better to live each day of your life as if it is the last. I'm not telling you to quit your job and spend all your money on traveling. But you can live your life to its fullest by adding some simple things to each day. It doesn't matter what is going on, but it does matter how you feel about it. Here is my recipe for the best day on Earth!
A Handful of Happiness
Where can you find it? Take a look inside of yourself! Happiness doesn't come from the outside, it is within you. Each moment your life gives you a lot of opportunities to be happy. If you want to see them, you will. If you don’t, it's up to you.
A Handful of Love
Love is the harmony of your soul. A little love can make a big difference to the whole world. We are one. Everyone and everything deserve your love as well as you do.
A Handful of Dreams
Feel free to dream big dreams and make small steps towards them. You are the creator of your life. Every time you are doing something to achieve your goals you are growing.
A Handful of Creativity
Try to be creative in everything you do. Try to do your best every time you are doing something. Do not be afraid to use your imagination. It's such a pleasure to do something new. Feel the joy of creation!
A Handful of Magic
Do you believe in magic? Well, you should. Life is full of miracles. In fact, life itself is a big miracle. There are so many things that are beyond our understanding. "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle." — Albert Einstein
Celebrate every day of your life! Let the spirit of holiday fill each corner of your heart. Why not? You live your life to its fullest and move towards your dreams! What does the author advise people to do?
| A．Spend all your money on traveling. |
| B．Find happiness inside yourself. |
| C．Love others more than yourself. |
| D．Do not use much imagination. |
It can be concluded that to realize your big dreams, you need ____________.
| A．to keep trying step by step | B．to grow up |
| C．to feel free | D．to create your life |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence?
| A．There are two ways to live a happy life. |
| B．Nothing is a miracle in your life. |
| C．Not everything is a miracle. |
| D．It’s up to you to choose the way to live. |
Which can be the best title of the passage?
| A．How to know your last day? |
| B．How to live a best day? |
| C．How to make your life miracle? |
| D．How to realize your dreams? |
After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves and ask me questions about how I was liking Forks. I tried to be diplomatic, so mostly I just lied a lot to appear to be skilled at dealing with people. At least I never needed the map.
One girl sat next to me in both Trig and Spanish, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was tiny, several inches shorter than my five feet four inches, but her wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I smiled and nodded as she gossiped about teachers and classes. I didn't try to keep up.
We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I forgot all their names as soon as she spoke them. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Eric, waved at me from across the room.
It was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.
They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were five of them. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of untouched food in front of them. They weren't staring at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an over interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught and held my attention.
I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all extremely, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine, or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful -- maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired boy.What does the underlined word “diplomatic” mean?
| A．smooth | B．clever | C．honest | D．delight |
From the passage, we can infer that _______________.
| A．“I” was really liking the new place. |
| B．“I” was not interested in what the girl said. |
| C．“I” had a bad memory, so it’s hard to remember names. |
| D．“I” was good at making friends. |
According to the last two paragraphs, why did “they” catch “my” attention?
| A．Because “they” weren’t talking. |
| B．Because “they” sat in the corner. |
| C．Because “they” didn’t eat the food. |
| D．Because “they” looked incredibly beautiful. |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT true?
| A．The girl walked with “me” was a little short. |
| B．“I” saw the five students for the first time. |
| C．Those students sitting in the corner had finished their food. |
| D．“I” probably wanted to know more about those five students. |
Dogs can be worried and pessimistic just like people, researchers report in a new study in Current Biology. And they aren’t talking about basset hounds (短脚猎狗): those dogs just look as if they expect the worst.
What the scientists say is that dogs that exhibit anxiety when left home alone by their owners may have bigger problems — they may be in a permanent bad mood.
This pessimistic outlook may not otherwise be easily apparent in a dog’s other characteristics, like running speed or learning ability, the study reports.
Dogs are similar to humans in the role that emotional state plays in decision making, said Michael Mendel, a veterinary scientist at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author. The study’s researchers looked at 24 dogs in shelters in Britain.
They placed the dogs in isolated settings and observed their reactions — many barked, jumped on furniture and scratched at the door.
Then they placed bowls in two rooms. One bowl contained food, while another was empty. After training the dogs to understand that bowls can sometimes be empty, and sometimes full, they began to place bowls in ambiguous locations.
Dogs that quickly raced to the locations were more optimistic, and in search of food. Those that did not were deemed pessimistic.
The more separation anxiety a dog expressed while in isolation, the more likely the dog was to have a pessimistic reaction, the researchers found.
The study carries an important message for dog owners, Dr. Mendel said.
Dogs that express serious anxiety when alone may need treatment, as it could be a sign of unhappiness and instability.This passage can be classified as _________.
| A．an advertisement | B．a feature story |
| C．a news report | D．a book review |
In the study, many dogs barked, jumped and scratched because __________.
| A．they couldn’t find the bowl with food in it |
| B．they were left alone |
| C．they needed to be treated |
| D．they wanted to be active and optimistic |
According to Dr. Mendel, which statement is true?
| A．Like humans, dogs are good at decision making. |
| B．Dog owners should train dogs to find food. |
| C．Emotional state works sometimes when humans make decision. |
| D．Dogs can always find the bowl with food quickly. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Dogs will be optimistic as long as they are left alone. |
| B．Dogs must be in a permanent bad mood when their owners left. |
| C．Dogs that express anxiety don’t need treatment. |
| D．Dogs may easily show their pessimistic outlook in learning ability. |
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