I made a pledge (誓言) to myself on the way down to the vacation seaside cottage(别墅). For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical（圣经的）passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed.” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk along the seaside. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked along the seaside while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our seaside cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with sadness, “do you know something I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup（体检）I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me？Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, hugging her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.” In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means “_________.”
| A．unconditionally | B．by chance |
| C．unfortunately | D．in advance |
During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because __________.
| A．she looked lovely in her new clothes |
| B．he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm |
| C．he was determined to be a good husband |
| D．she was seriously ill |
The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What was the one thing that went wrong?
| A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her. |
| B．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated. |
| C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her. |
| D．He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying. |
By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that __________.
| A．he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life. |
| B．he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband. |
| C．he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change. |
| D．he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before |
There is a saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” What one person considers beautiful may not be beautiful to another. When we talk about beauty in people, we often refer to their physical attractiveness. Of course, a beautiful or handsome face is pleasant to look at. But to me beauty is not only something that pleases the eyes. but also pleases the other senses and the mind. I think true beauty makes you see beyond the lovely sight. It will give you insight (深刻的了解) or realization of something interesting beyond just the outward appearance.
The most memorable “beautiful people” are those who have attractive personalities behind the pretty faces. In one of my previous classes, there were two beautiful girls. Sue and Lin. Both had almost perfect faces and slender(纤细的) figures. But Lin was used to getting her own way. She felt that her looks could help her get anything she wanted, especially among the boys. Sue, on the other hand, treated her beauty in a matter of-fact way and she was nice to everyone. She was also a member of the debating team. Her personality was mostly accepted by others and it made her a more outstanding beauty than Lin.
Inner beauty is another kind of beauty that attracts people greatly. People who have this kind of beauty have attained(获得) inner peace. They care about their fellowmen, and try to right the injustices in this world, Two well-known personalities who exemplify this are Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa. Mandela is willing to sacrifice his life and freedom to obtain equal rights for the blacks in South Africa. Mother Theresa’s mission is to help the poorest of the world’s poor. This inner beauty makes the world a better place.
60. When we talk about beauty in people, we often refer to ________.
A. the beauty of eyes B. something beyond the lovely sight
C. something that pleases our eyes D. inner beauty
61. What does the underlined sentence “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” mean?
A. Beauty is a matter of a person’s taste and judgement.
B. Beautiful people are very popular.
C. Everybody hopes for beauty.
D. Beauty attracts people’ s eyes.
62. According to the passage, why did the author think Sue was more beautiful than Lin?
A. Sue had a perfect face B. Sue had a good character.
C. Sue became more and more slender. D. Lin treated her beauty in a matter-of-fact way.
63. What’s the author’s opinion on beauty?
A. Beauty is a perfect face and a slender figure.
B. Beauty is something that pleases the eyes.
C. Beauty is an attractive personality behind the pretty faces.
D. Inner beauty doesn’t attract people.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Sometimes you make a wish, but when it comes. you decide you don’t want it. That’s what happened with Micky’s “birthday wish”.
Our family tradition is that you make a wish before you blow out the birthday candle. After he blew out the candle. Micky told us that his wish was to win a prize in the Pine Ridge-match. We quickly told Micky, “If you tell people your wish. your wish won’t come true.” So we lit the candle again, and he made another wish.
Micky and Paul were both supposed to start playing at 5:30.
When Micky reported to the check-in table, the game organizers told him his opponent (对手) had phoned and said he was coming late. The officials told Micky he could choose not to play and be declared the victor of the first round of competition.
But Micky said he didn’t want to win by not playing. He wanted the experience of playing a great player.
Finally, the beast showed up. He was tall, smiling and relaxed. His serve (发球) was like lightning.
Micky had some good returns, but he lost quickly, 6-1, 6-0.
We congratulated Micky on having some good returns and a few great serves. And we noted that he had won the first game.
“I didn’t win that game,” Micky said. “I think he just gave it to me at the beginning because he arrived late.”
“It was a birthday present.” I said, smiling.
“No, I refused my birthday present,” Micky said. In his eyes, his “birthday present” had been the chance to win by his opponent’s being late.
Micky ended up winning the “consolation prize(鼓励奖)” a small prize that we didn’t know existed until Micky earned it by being undefeated in the consolation bracket (档次).
We’ll’ never know what Micky’s second wish was - the wish he didn’t share with us.
It seems to me that no matter how many birthdays you celebrate, as long as you enjoy challenges, you will never be “old”.
56. What kind of person is Micky?
A. A person who always gives up. B. A person who is afraid of challenges.
C. One who enjoys challenges. D. One who is selfish.
57. Why did Micky lose the match?
A. Because he gave up a good chance. B. Because he let the others know his birthday wish.
C. Because he was proud of himself. D. Because his opponent played much better than him
58. The prize Micky won was ______.
A. one he had expected B. not a well-known one
C. a famous one D. one he thought meaningless
59. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
A. enjoying challenges is helpful for one to keep “young”
B. one will become old as he celebrates his birthdays
C. one will stay young by continuously celebrating his birthdays
D. challenges can make one never get old
Who’s in control of your life? Who is pulling your string? For the majority of us, it’s other people – society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course．We were brainwashed．We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us．As Oscar Wilde puts it，“Most people are other people．Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions，their lives a mimicry(模仿)，their passions a quotation．”
So when people tell us how wonderful we are，it makes us feel good．We long for this good feeling like a drug—we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can．Therefore，we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives，failing to do the things we really want to．Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting theirfix(一剂毒品)，we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval．
But just as with any drug，there is a price to pay．The price of the approval drug is freedom--the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think．People have their own agenda，and they come with their own baggage and，in the end，they’re more interested in themselves than in you．Furthermore，if we try to live by the opinions of others，we will build our life on sinking sand．Everyone has a different way of thinking，and people change their opinions all the time．The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process．
So how can we take back control? I think there’s only one way--make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think．We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values—not values imposed from the outside by others，but innate values which come from within．If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others，we will live a more authentic，effective，purposeful and happy life．
67．What Oscar Wilde says implies that________．
A．we have thoughts similar to those of others
B．most people have a variety of thoughts
C．other people’s thoughts are more important
D．most people’s thoughts are controlled by others
68．What does the author try to argue in the third paragraph?
A．Changing opinions may cost us our freedom．
B．We may lose ourselves to please others．
C．We need to pay for what we want to get．
D．The price of taking the drug is freedom．
69．It can be concluded from the passage that________．
A. it’s better to do what we like
B．we shouldn’t care what others think
C．we shouldn’t change our own opinions
D．it's important to accept others’ opinions
70．The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his arguments mainly by________.
A．analyzing causes and effects
B．providing examples and facts
C．discussing questions
D．making suggestions
An Australian company, Smart Car Technologies, has developed a system that lets drivers know when they're speeding. When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives. The company that developed the product hopes to convince Australian government agencies to put the technology into use in their automobile fleets.
The product, called Speed Alert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of GPS to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver's PDA or programmable mobile phone. The setup of the product does not need to be hooked up to a car's speedometer. In fact, it is entirely portable. It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers. If a driver exceeds the speed limit, the speed is shown and an alert sounds.
Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic safety consultant, was hired to analyze the product. He told Live Science that his colleagues in the road safety field are “very enthusiastic” about what they're now calling “intelligent speed alert.” Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic deaths involve speeding. There is also a potentially controversial future use: “Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed alert device when driving,” Paine said. “The system even has the capability to record speeding violations, so parents can monitor their teenage drivers.”The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.
63．What's the purpose of the new product?
A．To introduce some improvement in cars.
B．To inform us of the new car system.
C．To popularize the built-in car system.
D．To limit certain drivers to safe driving.
64．“Lead-footed” in the first paragraph probably refer to the ones ________.
A．who drive too carelessly B．that drive too slowly
C．who are partly disabled D．that drive extremely fast
65．The second paragraph mainly talks about ________.
A．how the product is programmed B．why the system becomes popular
C．the functions of GPS in cars D．the project of the built-in product
66．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A．Future Speed Alert B．New In – Car Device Against Speeding
C．Warning for Adventurous Drivers D．Progress in Car – making Science
In February 2010, Lydia Angyiou and her two sons were walking through their village in northern Canada. The sound of children shouting made her turn around. To her horror, Lydia saw a 700 – pound polar bear behind her eyeing her seven-year-old son．Getting between the bear and her child, Lydia yelled at the children to run away．She then began hitting and kicking the animal as hard as she could．A neighbor who heard all the noise came and shot the bear．But everyone agreed it was Lydia who had saved her children's lives．A local policeman described it this way: "I guess when your back is up against the wall, we come up with super-human strength."
Where does this "super-human strength" , courage and quick thinking come from? Experts say it comes from stress! In stressful situations, the body releases chemicals that prepare it to take action．These chemicals give people the speed and strength they need to fight danger or run away from it．
When we think of stress, we usually think of its negative effects．Studies, though, show that moderate levels of stress are actually helpful．In fact, the way we perform is usually affected by the amount of stress we feel．Stress causes the brain to release adrenaline （肾上腺素）which in turn increases our energy and excitement．The chemical gives us clearer minds and helps us to do more．This is why some people say they work better under a deadline．Adrenaline that is not released for long periods of time can cause us to be bored and lazy. So some stress actually increases and strengthens our abilities instead of weakening them. We sometimes turn out our very best work when we push ourselves to the limit．Stress can also make us more confident．Handling small amounts of stress now prepares us for handling serious situations in the future．Who knows? Today's stress may even prepare us for the next polar bear that comes along!
60．The author mentions the story of the mother and her children mainly to ___________.
A．tell people females also have enough strength to fight with a bear
B．show us how much the mother loves her children
C．set an example to us about how to deal with danger
D．illustrate to us stressful situations can make us stronger
61．What does the word “it” underlined in the second paragraph refer to?
A．released chemical B．the body C．stress D．strength
62．What will the author probably continue to write in the paragraph that follows?
A．How to deal with a bear when you meet with it unfortunately.
B．Why we need small stress in life.
C．Tips for a person to develop his ability of dealing with stress.
D．When the brain releases adrenaline.
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