One day a few years ago we had an uninvited guest—a sparrow. the little bird had flown into our open garage. Then I the bird before I saw it.
“What’s that?”I asked when I first heard the sound.
“It’s coming from the .”my wife, Anita, said. “Maybe it’s one of the little .”
I looked into the garage. No children at all. But there was that sound again, coming from right up there. And that’s I saw the sparrow. It was flying just inches below the ceiling. It was clearly to get out, but couldn’t see the way out was not up, but and and out through the garage door. So the bird continued flapping its wings and bumping its little head the ceiling.
I tried to terrify it out, but only succeeded in driving it into the open space between the door and the ceiling. Then I tried to show the bird how to fly down a few feet it could get outside, but that only seemed to it more.
“Why don’t we just leave for a few minutes,” Anita .“I’m sure he’ll figure it out eventually.”
We went back into the house, where we to hear the ongoing struggle between the sparrow and the ceiling. Then suddenly, it was and our uninvited guest was gone.
I’ve that little sparrow through the years, and I’ve decided that birds are not different much from people. We think we were to fly ever upward, and we don’t even consider the that something good might happen if we just fly down a little bit. Once we figure out that we can make without banging（碰）our heads against ceilings, we can usually save ourselves much .
A．Still B．Somehow C．Instead D．Perhaps
A．heard B．caught C．searched D．observed
A．house B．backyard C．garage D．basement
A．birds B．guests C．cats D．kids
A．when B．how C．why D．whether
A．quickly B．anxiously C．cautiously D．slowly
A．deciding B．hesitating C．trying D．choosing
A．up B．backward C．forward D．down
A．against B．off C．along D．into
A．free B．small C．wide D．dark
A．in case B．even if C．as though D．so that
A．puzzle B．confuse C．frighten D．disturb
A．suggested B．explained C．insisted D．demanded
A．attempted B．continued C．refused D．failed
A．fierce B．empty C．safe D．silent
A．looked after B．worried about C．thought about D．brought up
A．forced B．determined C．born D．urged
A．idea B．possibility C．challenge D．problem
A．progress B．peace C．decisions D．efforts
A．panic B．pressure C．loss D．trouble
A Welcome Gift
Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud filled the room and made them feel very happy.
The next morning, , their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a under their door during the night. One of their neighbor had written to complain(抱怨) about the sound of the piano. Dario’s mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all people and he couldn’t imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their and apologize for their playing.
“Maybe we could go and everyone in person.” his mother said.
“What if we invited them to come here for a instead? Dario asked.
They both loved the . Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.
Finally, the day of the party . Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to . One woman, Mrs. Gilbert, Dario’s mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.
“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don’t think I disliked the playing.”
Dario’s mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we you an apology.” she said. “I didn’t __ how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.
“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such __ music.”
“These songs are beautiful music.” Dario’s mother said. “We will be __ to play them in the evening.”
“And we won’t play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to __ the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother’s face. It gave him a feeling of __ and made him feel that they were home at last.
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Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford. I’ve watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives(高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms, established law firms, and major corporations, many are now on their way to impressive careers. By society’s , they seem to have it made.
On the surface, these people seem to be very lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a drink at their cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with Longtime roommates, and out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations at restaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine a college year’s monthly rent. They replaced their beloved old car with expensive new sports cars.
The thing is, a number of them have that despite their success, they aren’t happy. Some of unfriendly coworkers and feel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they . Some do not respect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and __ . However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselves working to support the __ to which they have so quickly become ____ .
People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and the end the idea of leaving, their jobs to work for something they or finding a position that would give them more time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion; it’ s . They have loans, bills, a mortgage（抵押贷款）to , retirement to save for. They recognize there’s something ___ in their lives, but it’s __ to step off the track.
In a society that tends to __ everything in terms of dollars and cents, we learn form a young age to consider the costs of our __ in financial terms. But what about the personal and social costs __ in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.
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I was required to read one of Bernie Siegel’s books in college and was hooked on his positivity from that moment on. The stories of his unconventional _____ and the exceptional patients he wrote about were so _____to me and had such a big _____ on how I saw life from then on. Who knew that so many years later I would look to Dr. Bernie and his CDs again to _____ my own cancer experience?
I’m an ambitious _____, and when I started going through chemo (化疗) , even though I’m a very _____ person, I lost my drive to write. I was just too tired and not in the _____ . One day, while waiting to go in for ____, I had one of Dr. Bernie’s books in my hand. Another patient _____what I was reading and struck up a conversation with me ____ he had one of his books with him as well. It ____that among other things, he was an eighty-year-old writer. He was____ a published author, and he was currently ____ on a new book.
We would see each other at various times and ____ friends. Sometimes he wore a duck hat, and I would tell myself, he was definitely a(n) ____of Dr. Bernie. He really put a ___on my face. He unfortunately ____ last year due to his cancer, ___he left a deep impression on me and gave me the ___to pick up my pen again. I ___ to myself, “If he can do it, then so can I.”
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完形填空(共20小题;每小题1分，满分20分)
War started in our house in late July with a month to go before my first day of college. It was a battle of wills over what college I was to attend. Mom wanted me to attend a famous school, and I wanted to go to a small writing college. Every night for two weeks, we argued, shouted and gave treatments until both sides went to bed with regrets.
It was mostly my . Since my junior year of high school, I had at being a nurse. I took all the science courses, and even worked as a in my town’s local hospital. My was to help the sick and be superwoman to the world.
Yet, graduation and college neared, it all changed. Treating the sick was , but not what I was meant to do for the of my life. I could picture myself in hospitals, making rounds, and taking , but I couldn’t picture myself happy. It wasn’t the I wanted.
Then, I realized I had been creating and writing stories for as long as I could . I loved it, and writing was what I had been doing as a . It was going to be my career. And it had to be.
On August 1st, Mom and I sat down at the dinner table and I told her that she had every to choose where to spend her money, just like I had every right to decide where I wanted to go to school. If it was her choice not to any of my college education, then I would take a year off to work and earn money so I could go to the college I wanted.
Standing by my decision to be a writer had my firm belief to my mom. Finally we were at , and she decided to support me, which the world to me.
Before that time, I had never stood up my parents on any major decision. Choosing which college to attend me to become a separate and complete adult. I am now finished with my first semester as a Professional Writing major and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
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Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Day, is a busy shopping day in the United States. Many people have a day off work on that day. Some use this to make trips; others use it to start for the Christmas season.
Many stores have special offers and their prices on some goods. Some their opening hours. There can also be traffic jams on roads to shopping destinations.
There are common theories as to why it is called Black Friday. One is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day left many black markings on the road surface, the term Black Friday. The other is from an old way of recording business accounts. were recorded in red ink and profits in black. Many businesses, small businesses, started making profits before Christmas, so they started to mark in black ink on the day after Thanksgiving.
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