I got up and dressed, stuck my violin under my jacket, and went out into the street. I wandered about for an hour, looking for a likely place, feeling as if I were about to commit a crime. Then I stopped at last under a bridge near the station and decided to have a go.
I felt tense and shaking. I drew my violin from under my coat like a gun. It was here, in Southampton, with trains passing overhead, that I was about to prove myself.
The first notes I played were loud and raw, and then they settled down and began to run more smoothly and to stay more or less in tune. To my surprise I was neither arrested nor told to shut up. Indeed, nobody took any notice at all.
I walked the streets of Southampton for several days, gradually knowing how to try and get money by being a street artist. It was not a good thing, for instance, to let the hat fill up with money — the sight could discourage the people; nor was it wise to empty it completely, which could also confuse them, giving them no hint as to where to drop his money. Placing a couple of pennies in the hat to start the thing going soon became a good idea. Before I played another tune, I took off the big money, but always left two pennies behind.
Old ladies were most generous, and so were women with children, shop girls, and typists. As for the men: Heavy drinkers were always generous too and so were big young with muscles. But never a man with a hat, briefcase or dog; respectable types were the meanest of all, except retired army officers, who would bark “Why aren’t you working, young man?” and then threw much money into the hat to hide their confusion.The underlined phrase “have a go” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
| A．have a try | B．run away |
| C．change a place | D．commit a crime |
When the writer began to play the violin, he thought that ________.
| A．he could make a lot of money | B．he had chosen the wrong place |
| C．he would get into trouble | D．people would stop and listen to him |
According to the passage, the writer thought the best way of encouraging people to give a street-violinist money was to ________.
| A．let the hat fill up with money first |
| B．leave a small amount of money in the hat |
| C．make sure that the hat was always empty |
| D．choose the best place to play more smooth tunes |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Most of the ladies were willing to give him money. |
| B．Retired army officers seldom gave him money. |
| C．Drinkers were generous with their money. |
| D．Not all the people would feel pity for street-violinists. |
Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong. This is what happened to Harry.
He got up one morning very late because he had forgotten to wind up his alarm clock（闹钟）. He tried to shave（刮脸）quickly and cut himself. When he got dressed he got blood all over his clean shirt, so he had to find another one. The only other shirt that was clean needed ironing（熨）, so he ironed it. While he was ironing it, there was a knock at the door. It was the man to read the electricity meter（表）. He showed him where the meter was, said good-bye and found that the iron had burnt a hole in his shirt. So he had to wear the one with the blood on it after all. By this time it was very late, so he decided he couldn’t go to work by bus. He telephoned for a taxi to take him to work. The taxi arrived and Harry got in and began to read the newspaper.
In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen to run away in a taxi. When Harry’s taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman happened to be standing there. He saw the blood on Harry’s shirt, and took him to the police station. He was kept till 3 o’clock in the afternoon before the police were sure that he was not the man they wanted. When he finally arrived at the office at about four, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job.Harry had __________.
| A．a lucky day | B．an unlucky day | C．a busy day | D．a good day |
Put the following sentences into correct order according to the passage.
a. The man who read the electricity meter came.
b. Harry ironed his shirt.
c. Harry got blood all over his clean shirt.
d. There was a knock at the door.
e. Harry wore the shirt with blood on it.
| A．a, b, c, d, e | B．b, a, d, c, e | C．b, a, c, d, e | D．c, b, d, a, e |
Why did Harry wear the shirt with blood on it?
| A．The iron had burnt a hole in his clean shirt. |
| B．The only other needed ironing. |
| C．He had only one shirt. |
| D．He cut himself and got blood all over his shirt. |
Harry was taken to the police station because __________.
| A．his taxi stopped outside his office and a policeman happened to be there |
| B．there was blood on his shirt and he was in a taxi |
| C．a man killed a woman with a knife |
| D．the murderer（杀人犯）was seen to run a away in a taxi |
His boss told him to go away and find another job because __________.
| A．he had been kept by the police | B．there was blood on his shirt |
| C．he was late for work | D．he had killed a woman |
Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized(把…归类) as "honor" help you create this life of good feelings.
Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky(卑鄙的) excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate(演示) that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility(高尚).
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our_______.
| A．self-respect | B．financial rewards | C．advertising ability | D．friendly relationship |
The author thinks that keeping silent about the uncharged item is equal to_______.
| A．lying | B．stealing | C．cheating | D．advertising |
The underlined phrase "bringing the error to the clerk's attention" means_______.
| A．telling the truth to the clerk | B．offering advice to the clerk |
| C．asking the clerk to be more attentive | D．reminding the clerk of the charged item |
How will we feel if we let the clerk know her mistake?
| A．We'll be very excited. | B．We'll feel unfortunate. |
| C．We'll have a sense of honor. | D．We'll feel sorry for the clerk. |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．How to Live Truthfully | B．Importance of Peacefulness |
| C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect | D．Happiness through Honorable Actions |
Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for kindergarten．
There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school
, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to prison．
There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．
Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．
| A．to develop the children’s communication |
| B．to give orphaned children good care and education |
| C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten |
| D．to train the children formally and regularly |
According to the studies, which of the following is True?
| A．Children with good early education may have a rich life． |
| B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life． |
| C．Children without early education can do well at school． |
| D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children． |
The underlined part suggests that _________．
| A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade |
| B．it is good for the young children to receive early education |
| C．the early education can help the children follow the grade |
| D．the younger the children are, the cleverer they will be |
The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．
| A．puzzling | B．negative | C．indifferent | D．approving |
The main idea of the last passage is that __________．
| A．the early childhood education is very necessary |
| B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot |
| C．environment is the most important to life’s success |
| D．better ways should be found to help the poor children |
Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you’ve got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we’re the apple of our parents’ eyes, and that our Grandmas think we’re great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics. But sometimes it’s a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you build a positive self-image and learn to love yourself.
Self-image is your own mind’s picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.
The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don’t allow doubts to occur in it.
It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can’t move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you’re silly because you aren’t good at math, find a tutor. If you think you’re weak because you can’t run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you’re dull because you don’t wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn’t mean it’s true.
The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat(拍) yourself on the back, you’ll know you’re well on your way. Good luck!You need to build a positive self-image when you _________.
| A．dare to challenge yourself | B．feel it hard to change yourself |
| C．are unconfident about yourself | D．have a high opinion of yourself |
According to the passage, our self-images _________.
| A．have positive effects | B．are probably untrue |
| C．are often changeable | D．have different functions |
How should you change your self-image according to the passage?
| A．To keep a different image of others. | B．To make your life successful. |
| C．To understand your own world. | D．To change the way you think. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to prepare for your success. | B．How to face challenges in your life. |
| C．How to build a positive self-image. | D．How to develop your good qualities. |
Who are the intended readers of the passage?
| A．Parents. | B．Adolescents. | C．Educators. | D．People in general. |
I used to watch her from my kitchen window. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break. I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could. I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.
One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college. She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she truly wanted a scholarship and that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude.
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was offered a scholarship and on the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of.The author was probably the girl’s .
| A．brother or sister | B．friend | C．mother | D．teacher |
Why was the girl heartbroken ?
| A．She was considered too short to be a top player. |
| B．Her coach stopped her training because of her height. |
| C．She couldn’t be on a college basketball team. |
| D．She wouldn’t be admitted by an ideal college. |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．her family wouldn’t like to pay her college fee |
| B．her father forced her to play basketball in collage |
| C．being a top basketball player can win you a scholarship for college |
| D．she wouldn’t like to turn to his father for help when in difficulty |
Which word can best describe her father ?
| A．Encouraging. | B．Optimistic. | C．Stubborn. | D．Cruel. |
Which proverb best matches the story ?
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. | D．Pride comes before a fall. |
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