Any day we wish；we can discipline ourselves to change it a11．Any day we wish；we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge．Any day we wish；we can start a new activity．Any day we wish；we can start the process of life change．We can do it immediately，or next week，or next month，or next year．
We can also do nothing．We can pretend rather than perform．And if the idea of having to change ourselves makes us uncomfortable，we can remain as we are．We can choose rest over labor，entertainment over education，delusion(幻想)over truth，and doubt over confidence．The choices are ours to make．But while we complain about the effect，we continue to nourish(助长)the cause．
As Shakespeare uniquely observed，“The fault is not in the stars，but in ourselves．’’We created our circumstances by our past choices．We have both the ability and the responsibility to make better choices beginning today．
Those who are in search of the good life do not need more answers or more time to think things over to reach better conclusions. They need the truth .They need the whole truth .And the responsibility to nothing but the truth．
We cannot allow our errors in judgment，repeated every day，to lead us down the wrong path．
We must keep coming back to those basics that make the biggest difference in how our life works out．And then we must make the very choices that will bring life，happiness and joy into our daily lives .
And if I may be so bold to offer my last piece of advice for someone seeking and needing to make changes in their life—If you don’t like how things are，change it !You’re not a tree．You have the ability to totally transform every area in your life — and it all begins with your very own power of choice．The first paragraph tells us that_________.
| A．no one wants to be disciplined |
| B．we often need some new knowledge |
| C．taking activities does good to our health |
| D．we want to change all the time |
We may conclude from the second paragraph that
| A．whatever happens, we have to change ourselves |
| B．people tend to nourish the cause of bad results |
| C．whether we change or not depends on ourselves |
| D．most choices we made are not good enough |
From Shakespeare’s words，we know________.
| A．it is our duty to change for the better |
| B．we complain a lot about our past choices |
| C．sometimes we have to face the fate |
| D．we should believe in ourselves in life |
In the author’s opinion，if。you want a good life，what you need most is_______.
| A．self confidence | B．good choices | C．strong wills | D．the truth |
Chinese tradition says a different animal represents each new year of the 12-year Chinese Zodiac(黄道十
二宫) cycle. According to the Chinese calendar, the year you were born may determine your personality. Every year of this cycle is represented by an animal, and legend has it that people born under that animal have certain personality traits. Here are some of them:
Dragon
The Real Thing: The mythical dragon is a symbol of power and good fortune in Chinese culture. One of the most popular figures in Chinese art, the dragon is believed to be a combination of nine animals, including a frog, a tiger, an eagle, and a fish.
Born a Dragon: You go out of your way to help your friends, who often seek you out for advice. Your outgoing personality helps you get along with many types of people.
Snake
The Real Thing: Snakes have great instincts. Some “play dead” to fool predators（捕食者）, and most sense prey by detecting ground vibration（震动）. They can take more than an hour to swallow a meal, and they become inactive for up to two weeks before they shed their skin.
Born a Snake: You rely on yourself before asking others their opinions. At times you want to take a break from the action. It’s not that you are lazy---sometimes you just like to think.
Pig
The Real Thing: Domesticated（驯养）pigs have been helping human for about 9,000 years. Incredibly intelligent, a pig shows its smarts by rolling in mud and sticking its snout in dirt. Why? The mud keeps it cool, and rooting in the dirt provides important vitamins.
Born a Pig: Smart and caring, you live to
help other people. You have great taste and love to wallow in the nicer things in life.
Rat
The Real Thing: Most rats are highly adaptable. They can live just about anywhere and eat about anything. Before brown rats leave their underground burrows, these clever creatures send one rat ahead to make sure danger doesn’t exist outside.
Born a Rat: You welcome challenges and enjoy learning about new things. Funny and smart, you are generous and will protect your pack of friends.
______
The Real Thing: The largest of the big cats, they hunt alone. They secretly move tow
ards prey, then leap and attack when the time seems right. Dinner still escapes most of the time.
Born a _____: You are a natural leader but often like to do things by yourself. (That’s how you stay in charge!) You believe in fighting for what’s right, even if
you’ll lose in the end. According to the description of the last animal, we can choose _____ to fill in the blanks.
| A．Tiger | B．Lion  |
C．Ox | D．Monkey |
The underlined word “snout” probably means _____.
| A．back | B．nose | C．head | D．tail |
There are some very good things about open education. This way of teaching allows the students to grow as people, and to develop their own interests in many subjects. Open education allows students to be responsible for their own education, as they are responsible for what they do in life. Some students do badly in a traditional classroom. The open classroom may allow them to enjoy learning. Some students will be happier in an open education school. They will not have to worry about grades or rules. For students who worry about these things a lot, it is a good idea to be in an open classroom.
But many students will not do well in an open classroom. For some students, there are too few rules. These students will do little in school. They will not ma
ke good use of open education. Because open education is so different from traditional education, these students may have a problem getting used to making so many choices. For many students it is important to have some rules in the classroom. They worry about the rules even when there are no rules. Even a few rules will help this kind of students. The last point about open education is th
at some traditional teachers do not like it. Many teachers do not believe in open education. Teachers who want to have an open classroom may have many problems at their schools.
You now know what open education is. Some of its good points and bad points have been explained. You may have your own opinion about open education. The writer thinks that open education is a good idea, but only in theory. In actual fact, it may not work very well in a real class or school. The writer believes that most students, but of course not all students, want some structure in their classes. They want and need to have rules. In some cases, they must be made to study some subjects. Many students are pleased to find subjects they have to study interesting. They would not study those subjects if they did not have to.Open education allows the students to __________.
| A．grow as the educated | B．be responsible for their futur e |
| C．develop their own interests | D．discover subjects outside class |
Open education may be a good idea for the students who __________.
| A．enjoy learning | B．worry about grades |
| C．do well in a traditional classroom | D．are responsible for what they do in life. |
Some students will do little in an open classroom because __________.
| A．there are too few rules | B．they hate activities |
| C．open education is similar to the traditional education | D．they worry about the rules |
Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
| A．Open education is a really complex idea. | B．Open education is better than traditional education. |
| C．Teachers dislike open education. | D．The writer thinks that open education is a good idea in practice. |
A green house is a building made of glass which is used for keeping warm when the outside temperature is low. In a similar way there are several gases in the atmosphere (mixture of gases that surround the earth) which trap the heat produced by the sun and prevent it from escaping. These gases are known as “greenhouse gases”. and the way in which they trap heat in the atmosphere is called the “greenhouse effect”. This is not simply air pollution. Most of the main greenhouse gases exist naturally in small amounts in our atmosphere, and without them the earth would be 30 degrees colder and human life would not exist. In other words, the greenhouse effect is a natural course which is to some degree helpful to us.
The problem is that in the last century and a half, we have been putting too many of these gases into the earth’s atmosphere by burning large quantities of coal and oil and by cutting down forest. The rapid increase in greenhouse gases is making the world warmer. The world’s temperature has already gone up by half a degree this century, and the sea level has risen by 10 centimetres. If the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere doubles, there will probably be a rise in the earth’s temperature of between I and 4℃;. This may seem a small increase, but it would be enough to cause major changes in geography and agriculture. Large areas of the world would be flooded, and some areas would become dry and unable to produce crops. It is important, too, to consider that there may be a delay of about 30 years in the greenhouse effect. This means that we are probably experiencing only now the effect of the gases put into the atmosphere before the 1960s. Since then, our use of these gases has greatly increased. According to the passage, we can know “greenhouse effect” means_______.
| A．the way in which gases are used for keeping plants warm |
| B．a natural course that is to a certain degree useful to us |
| C．the way “greenhouse gases” trap heat on the earth |
| D．the whole course in which greenhouse gases prevent heat |
If there were no greenhouse effect,_______.
| A．all plants would not grow on our planet | B．soil would reduce the temperature by 30 degrees |
| C．man would breathe the cleaner air | D．people couldn’t live in the earth |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．Burning too much coal and oil produces lots of greenhouse gases. |
B．It has become warm on the eart h now than in the past. |
| C．Gases put into the atmosphere now will affect the earth years later. |
| D．The temperature in a greenhouse is as high as that in the atmosphere. |
Suppose the earth’s temperature rose by 3 degrees, _______.
| A．great harm will be done to mankind | B．the sea level would go up by 10 centimeters |
| C．all the land in the world would be flooded | D．crops would be unable to grow on the earth |
This passage mainly deals with ________.
| A．the concept (概念) and the harm of the greenhouse | B．the relation between greenhouse gases and man |
| C．the concept and change of greenhouse effect | D．the effect of the rise of the earth’s temperature |
A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After mom dried her hands on apron, she read it, and this is what it said:
For cutting the grass: $5.00
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00
For going to the store for you: $0.50
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $0.25
Taking out the garbage: $1.00
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00
Total owed: $14.75
Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he'd written on, and this is what she wrote:
For the nine months I carried while you were growing inside me: No Charge
For all the nights that I've sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No Charge
For all the trying times, and all the tears that you've caused through the years: No Charge
For the toys, food ,clothes, and even wiping your nose: No Charge
Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge.
When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, "Mom, I sure do love you." And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote:" PAID IN FULL". The underlined sentence “the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind.” means _______.
| A．the boy found something in his mother’s body burning |
| B．the boy thought his mother was considering how much she should pay him |
| C．the boy didn’t thought his mother would give him money |
| D．the boy thought that his mother recalled something of the past |
When the mother wrote “No charge” on the paper, she really meant that_____.
| A．the boy needn’t pay the money |
| B．the boy should pay the money |
| C．what she has done for the boy is uncountable |
| D．she didn’t know how much she should pay the boy |
Why did the boy cry?
| A．Because he couldn’t get money from his mother. |
| B．Because he felt shameful to ask his mother for money. |
| C．Because his mother beat him up. |
| D．Because he also loved his mother. |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Mother’s love for her children is invaluable. |
| B．The boy shouldn’t have asked his mother for money. |
| C．The boy’s mother should have given him money. |
| D．The writer mainly told us a story that a boy asked his mother for money.. |
TAIBEI － Increasing numbers of Taiwanese st
udents are joining the island’s “China rush”, seeking education on the Chinese mainland．
According to official Chinese figures, the number of Taiwanese students admitted into college and postgraduate（研究生）programs on the mainland totaled 461 in 1996, 928 in 1997 and 839 in 1998．Although no latest official numbers were available,” Netbig. Com Said this number had risen between 30 to 50 percent annually in the past two years with well over 1000 entering mainland campuses last year.
The Internet site, based in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, provides education service and information on Chinese mainland college and universities. “Many Taiwanese believe a Chinese education giving more knowledge about the people and culture in the mainland will increase their chances in the Chinese job market, Net. Com vice-president Ingrid Huang said．“I believe it will give me hands-on experience in the business field in the Chinese mainland and a better understanding of the Chinese mainland people,” said Lydia Chang, a 19-year-old majoring in journalism at Shih Shin University. Chang plans to go on to get a master’s degree in business administration in Shanghai, which she says offers the best environment for such studies.
A journalism graduate student, surnamed Lin, at the National Taiwan University said he would like to study law on the Chinese mainland since “there will be better career prospects now that more Taiwanese companies are going there”. “They hope the children could build up connections which could later become useful in their business op
erations,” said Yang Ching-yao, professor of the Chinese mainland studies. A Netbig. Com survey showed the campuses favored by Taiwan students included Beijing, Qinghua and Renmin universities in Beijing, and Jinan an
d Zhongshan universities in Guangzhou. The most popular studies were law, business and Chinese medicine.
At present, Chinese Taibei doesn’t recognize diplomas earned in the Chinese mainland nor help with any inquiries about studying there. But recognizing the trend, education authorities are giving a final form to a policy accepting certificates（证书）from selected universities.More Taiwanese students study on the Chinese mainland because ___________.
A．Taiwan will reunite with the mainland sooner or later |
| B．the fees asked for are lower than those of Taiwan |
| C．what they have learned on the mainland will bring them a bright future |
| D．there are many famous universities for them to choose |
Some business executives were sending their children to study in the Chinese mainland so that their children ___________.
| A．could receive better education | B．could learn more about the policy there |
| C．could do well in the business operations | D．could make more friends there |
The underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refers to __________.
| A．Netbig. Com | B．a Chinese education on the mainland |
| C．the Chinese job market | D．the university |
The author wrote the article to tell us ______________.
| A．more Taiwanese students are studying on the mainland |
| B．the number of Taiwanese students going to universities on the mainland had been increasing year after year |
| C．education on the mainland is more attractive compared with that of Taiwan |
| D．Taiwan and the mainland should cooperate with each other in every field. |
Which is true according to the passage?
| A．Chinese Taibei recognizes diplomas earned on the Chinese mainland |
| B．The number of Taiwanese students going to study on the mainland will surely be increasing in the next few years. |
| C．Chinese Taibei doesn’t help with any inquiries about Taiwanese studying in the mainland |
| D．Education of Taiwan is far behind the mainland. |
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