Lily was a young French Canadian girl who grew up in the farming community. At the age of 16, her father thought that she had enough schooling and forced her to drop out of school to contribute to the family income. In 1922, with limited education and skills, the future didn't look bright for Lily. Her father demanded that Lily find a job as soon as possible, but she didn't have the confidence to ask for a job.
One day, Lily gathered her courage and knocked on her very first door. She was met by Margaret Costello, the office manager. In her broken English, Lily told her she was interested in the secretarial position. Margaret decided to give her a chance.
Margaret sat her down at a typewriter and said, “Lily, let's see how good you really are.” She directed Lily to type a single letter, and then left. Lily looked at the clock and saw that it was 11:40 a.m. Everyone would be leaving for lunch at noon. She thought she should at least attempt the letter.
On her first try, she got through one line but made four mistakes. She pulled the paper out and threw it away. The clock now read 11:45. “At noon,” she said to herself, “I'll move out with the crowd, and they will never see me again.”
On her second attempt, things didn't get any better. Again the started over and finally completed the letter, full of mistakes, though. She looked at the clock: 11:55 —five minutes to freedom.
Just then, Margaret walked in. She came directly over to Lily, and put one hand on the desk and the other on the girl's shoulder. She read the letter and paused. Then she said, “Lily, you're doing good work!”
Lily was surprised. She looked at the letter, then up at Margaret. With those simple words of encouragement, her desire to escape disappeared and her confidence began to grow. She thought, “Well, if she thinks it's good, then it must be good. I think I'll stay!”
Lily did stay at Carhartt Overall Company…for 51 years, through two world wars and 11 presidents—all because someone had the insight to give a shy and uncertain young girl the gift of self-confidence when she knocked on the door.Why did Lily leave school at an early age?
| A．To learn English well. |
| B．To get self-confidence. |
| C．To become a typist. |
| D．To earn money for her family |
When Lily applied for(申请) the job, she ________.
| A．didn't know much about typing |
| B．could speak good English |
| C．knew Margaret very well |
| D．never wrote any letter |
Who does the underlined word “someone” in the last paragraph refer to?
| A．Margaret | B．Lily's father. |
| C．Lily herself | D．A president. . |
What can we learn from Lily's story?
| A．Honesty is the best policy. |
| B．Money is not everything. |
| C．Encouragement makes a difference |
| D．Time waits for no man. |
B
He is a lesson to every boy who ever picked up a basketball and dreamed that it would change his life.
The lights were never brighter and the crowds were never bigger for a homegrown sports hero than they were a quarter-century ago for Ray Hall. But his athletic achievements, as impressive as they are, are to my mind not what is most admirable about the man.
Known as “Sugar Ray” in his teens, Hall was rated among the country’s top 25 high school basketball players. An inner-city kid from a solid family, Hall took on the challenge of lifting Canisius College — still recovering from its failure — back to respectability, rejecting more favorable offers. His status of a savior (救世主) brought more pressure than any 18-year-old should have to handle. However, I watched him mature into the player who led Canisius back to daylight.
After college Hall played professionally in Italy and Greece for over 10 years until a car accident at 32 ended his basketball career. The news that he would never play again shocked Hall but unlike so many others he was ready for life after basketball. When I met Hall — still fit at 46 — for lunch Monday, he wore a cut-sharp gray suit, designer tie and blazing white shirt that screamed Success. “That was always the question — when the cheers end, where do you go? Who do you turn to?” he said. “It starts and ends with that person in the mirror.”
Hall got the concept of academics-first from his parents. He graduated from Canisius a semester early. “No matter how good of an athlete you are, you are just one injury away from losing it all,” he said. “But if you take care of things academically, you are prepared until you leave this earth.”
For the past 14 years, he has been in a computer sales job at Ingram Micro. He married his college sweetheart. They have three kids and a nice house in the suburbs. He figured out early what others learn too late: Athletics is part of a journey, not the destination.
Congratulations, Ray, you made it. In more ways than one. Ray was regarded as a savior because ________.
| A．he liked to take on challenges |
| B．he helped his team to regain its glory |
| C．he was faithful to his hometown city |
| D．he fought hard against failure at a young age |
According to the writer, which of the following best describes Ray’s success?
| A．Unlike other athletes, he was academically superior. |
| B．He defeated his injury and returned to the playground. |
| C．He enjoys a successful job and a happy family. |
| D．He has gained impressive athletic achievements. |
What’s the right order of the events related to Ray?
a. He was rated among the best high school basketball players.
b. He was in a car accident.
c. He graduated from Canisius College.
d. He started his computer sales job.
e. He gave up his athletic career.
| A．a, c, b, e, d | B．a, c, e, b, d | C．c, a, b, d, e | D．c, a, e, b, d |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Ray was from an academic family |
| B．Ray was very mature in his teens |
| C．Ray was once desperate facing the cruel reality |
| D．athletics was not Ray’s final goal in life |
What was the writer’s intention in writing this passage?
| A．To describe the difficulties of being a professional athlete. |
| B．To explain the importance of choosing the right college. |
| C．To emphasize the need for a good education. |
| D．To warn against playing professional basketball. |
A
For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part, this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents’ point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents’ complete unreasonableness. And of course, the teens see it in exactly the same way, except oppositely.
In this article, I’ll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the dilemma. The first no-win situation is quarrels over unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen’s hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child’s failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn’t matter what the topic is — politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg — the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an authority — someone who actually knows something — and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they’ll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress.Why does the author compare the parent-teen war to a border conflict?
| A．Both can continue for generations. |
| B．Both are about where to draw the line. |
| C．Neither has any clear winner. |
| D．Neither can be put to an end. |
What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict. |
| B．The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict. |
| C．The teens accuse their parents of misleading them. |
| D．The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents. |
Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.
| A．give orders to the other | B．know more than the other |
| C．gain respect from the other | D．get the other to behave properly |
What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
| A．Causes for the parent-teen conflicts. |
| B．Examples of the parent-teen war. |
| C．Solutions for the parent-teen problems. |
| D．Future of the parent-teen relationship. |
Where do you think this passage can be found?
| A．In a report. | B．In a letter. |
| C．In a novel. | D．In a textbook. |
首先请阅读下列William J. Bennett家庭教育系列读物的封面及基本信息：
A .Bennett gives this thrilling account of the virtues of America
and the many brave men and women who have made
it the powerful nation it is today. The tale of human struggle
and victory captures what is unique about America.
B．Filled with stories of the heroes and virtues, this book presents stories and poems that show children what it means to be an American, so this book is a national popular one and the best seller of the year.
C．The book intends to inspire children to find heroes in their lives,
such as Jackie Robinson, Abraham Lincoln and this book also includes tales about everyday people, such as a young boy who goes in search of an angel to watch over him, only to find that he has one—his mother.
D．This collection of stories will help children develop their most important quality, character and includes stories from the Bible, and from sources
as diverse as well-known fairy tales, the philosophy of Plato,
the poetry of Robert Frost and Aesop’s fables.
E．This book is a treasury of timeless stories which teach young
people the importance of showing virtues in one’s daily life.
It is a perfect gift for graduation or other special occasions.
Well-known works from Aesop, Dickens and Shakespeare are
presented to teach virtues.
F.This inspiring book offers examples of good and bad, right
and wrong in great works from literature and in stories from
history. Organized by stages along life journey, these stories
serve as reference on moral compass, guiding the readers
through challenges in their life.
以下是购书者对这些书籍的简要评论。请将简要评论与封面及基本信息匹配起来。This great book by Bennett guides the kids to find heroes in their lives through a collection of stories. Also it just tells us stories about common people as heroes, which is very instructive. So it is very popular among the kids.
Drawn from familiar western history as well as a wide selection of tales from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, the stories are great, designed to inspire as well as instructive. This book is a good guide that will help family members meet the challenges of life at any age.
Bennett will make you feel terrific about America. The big topic of politics and war reclaim the place they used to enjoy in the old histories. He never misses the chance to tell a good story. He has an eye for the strange and the surprising about America.
This book is well-received for children in America, because it is full of stories and poems to tell our kids how to be a hero and what virtues they should have, which can be their moral compass to their life and that will mean a lot to be American kids.
Bennett selected stories and poems to teach young people the importance of virtues in their daily life, which is really a perfect gift for graduation or other special occasions. This book belongs on every young person’s bookshelf.
D
Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.
Most do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties stand for a special kind of suffering especially forced on them or else on their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause sadness, or loneliness or regret or anger or fear.
These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes a lot of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we want to encourage the growth of human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct(指导).” It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems.Which sentence best express the central point of the passage?
| A．Problems and difficulties represent a special kind of suffering. |
| B．We become stronger by facing and solving problems of life. |
| C．Life is difficult because our problems bring us pain. |
| D．People like to complain about their problems. |
The writer probably used just one short sentence in the first paragraph to ___.
| A．save space | B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh | D．get readers’ attention |
The main idea of paragraph 3 is that _________.
| A．most people feel life is easy |
| B．the writer feel life is easy |
| C．the writer likes to complain about his problems |
| D．most people complain about how hard their lives are |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．teach them to fear the pain of solving the problems |
| C．help them learn to deal with pain |
| D．teach them how to respect problems |
The saying from Benjamin Franklin “Those things that hurt, instruct” suggests that ______.
| A．we do not learn from experience |
| B．we do not learn when we are in pain |
| C．pain teaches us important lessons |
| D．pain cannot be avoided |
C
If you have to miss a meal a day, which meal will cause you fewest health problems if you don’t eat it? If you have to make a decision of this type, most people (especially very busy people) will choose to skip breakfast.
However, many experts in the field of health consider breakfast ( the meal which “break” you “fast” ) to be the most important meal of the day. If we eat a good breakfast, they say, we will have the energy and nutrients (营养) we need to begin our working day with vigor(活力) and stay hopeful with good honor. However, many people skip breakfast or substitute a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal. What happens if we ignore the importance of breakfast?
One recent study conducted in the United States tested a large number of people. Participants(参加者) included both males and females who ranged in age from 12 to 83. The results showed that if a person eats an adequate(丰富的) breakfast, he or she will work more efficiently(效率高地) and more productively than if he or she skips breakfast or eats a very poor breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person’s work involves mental(脑力的) activities. The study showed that if school-children eat fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, they will learn more quickly and will be able to concentrate on their lessons for a longer period of time than if their breakfast is inadequate(不丰富).
The study also showed that contrary to what people believe, if you skip breakfast, you will not lose weight. This is because people become so hungry if they skip breakfast that they eat too much for lunch and end up gaining weight instead of losing. So remember, if you want to lose weight, skipping breakfast will not help you. You will likely lose more weight if you decrease your other meals. According to experts, breakfast is the most important meal of the day because _____.
| A．a good breakfast breaks you down fast |
| B．you’ll lose weight quickly if you skip breakfast |
| C．breakfast provides what a person needs to work |
| D．after a long night, you’ll feel very hungry |
The underlined part “substitute a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal”(Para. 2) probably means _______.
| A．to exchange a cup of coffee for a well balanced meal. |
| B．To drink a cup of coffee instead of a well balanced meal. |
| C．To change a cup of coffee into a well balanced meal. |
| D．To regard a cup of coffee as a well balanced meal. |
The example of school-children in para.3 shows that _______.
| A．school-children will be quick and attentive all day if they eat breakfast |
| B．a proper breakfast will make mental workers more efficient |
| C．fruit, eggs, bread and milk are the best breakfast for mental workers |
| D．school-children who have breakfast are much brighter than those who don’t |
Which of the following is NOT true according to Para. 4?
| A．Some people skip breakfast because they want to be slimmer. |
| B．Most people who skip breakfast actually eat more for lunch. |
| C．People put on weight because they eat too much breakfast. |
| D．Skipping breakfast won’t help people who want to lose weight. |
The best title of the passage is _______.
| A．How to Lose Weight | B．What’s a Healthy Diet |
| C．Surprising Results of a Study | D．Breakfast – A Meal That Breaks You Fast |
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