Some people have a very poor sense of direction. Unlucky , I am one of them. I have visited a place many times but I may still get lost there the next time.
When I was a little girl, I never dared ask strangers the way. And so I used to walk round in circle and hope that by chance I would get to the place I was going to.
Now , I am no longer too shy to ask people for directions, but I often receive helpless or even wrong information. So I try to avoid giving people wrong directions. If anyone asks me the way somewhere, I would say,"sorry, I am a stranger here."
Once on my way to work I was stopped by a man. He asked me if I could tell him the way to the Friendship Building. I gave him my usual reply. But just as I walked on only a few steps. I realized that he had asked the way to my office building. However, I had no time to turn back and look for him. I was rushing to meet with someone at my office and I didn't want to keep him waiting.
When I just got to my office, the secretary showed in the man who had asked me for directions. Imagine how embarrassed I was and how surprised he was when we saw each other at the first sight!
| A．she's a stranger to the city |
| B．she doesn't know the people |
| C．she has no time to help others |
| D．she's afraid of giving wrong directions. |
| A．sell her something | B．ask for the time |
| C．make friends with her | D．ask for the directions. |
| A．lives | B．studies | C．works | D．teaches |
| A．尴尬 | B．困惑 | C．激动 | D．拮据 |
| A．The writer is too shy to give others directions |
| B．The writer has a very poor sense of direction |
| C．The writer never got lost when she was young. |
| D．The man was quite nervous when he saw the writer. |
Tired of bad handwriting, Richie decided to perfect his penmanship (书法) last January. Though the year progressed, his writing didn’t. “My penmanship just got worse,” he says. “I get tired of trying to write neatly.”
Like Richie, many teenagers make resolutions in the New Year. More than half of Americans say they make a New Year’s resolution – but only one-third of them keep to it, reports the University of North Carolina, US.
Demanding (追求) perfection stops people working on their resolutions, says Chicago life coach Alison Miller.
Resolutions sometimes can be unrealistic (不现实).. Going for a goal that’s too hard to achieve can leave a person feeling sad. “Saying ‘I’m going to look like a super-model’ is going to make you unhappy,” she says.
Sure, it’s a great idea to aim for improvement, but not all resolutions are helpful. The difference between good and bad resolutions is whether you expect too much from yourself, Miller says. For example, it’s OK to say, “I’m going to eat fewer French fries,” but striving (力争) for a perfect body isn’t reasonable.
Timing can also damage a resolution. Kevin M., 16, says he doesn't set resolutions because 12 months is unrealistic. “It’s too long and you start putting off keeping your resolution during summer,” he says.
He’s considering a career in music, but says school is his main focus. Knowing how hard he has to work, he says he’ll “be lucky to get 30 minutes a day” of practice. But a bit is better than nothing, and making reminders can help you make progress. Miller says teenagers should write down their goals and say to themselves, “What can I do today to make my goal a reality?”
“It’s just small steps along the way. It’s not about doing it all at once,” Miller says.What’s the writer’s purpose by talking Richie in the first paragraph?
| A．To advise people to keep their New Year’s resolutions. |
| B．To show that some people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions. |
| C．To tell readers why Richie isn’t a good hand writer. |
| D．To show why New Year’s resolutions are important. |
Many Americans stop working on their New Year’s resolutions because ______.
| A．they think it is silly to make resolutions |
| B．they find keeping resolutions is boring |
| C．the time of keeping resolutions is too short |
| D．their choice of resolution turns out to be unrealistic |
Which of the following statements would Miller probably agree with?
| A．Teenagers should set themselves perfect goals. |
| B．To achieve your goals, you needn’t write them down. |
| C．People should try to realize their goals step by step. |
| D．A good resolution helps people realize their possibility. |
Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn’t make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous.
In fact, he thrives in the kitchen. He’s in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes.
By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove, North Carolina, US, he had become vice president of his school’s cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion.
Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering (饮食业) business herself. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to a spaghetti dish.
At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish of shrimp and broccoli. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school’s microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches.
“I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave,” he said.
Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients into common dishes. “It started with a passion (热情) and I wanted to know more,” he said. He began to watch the Food Network and read chef blogs.
Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater his uncle’s wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add new to the expected flavors (风味).
Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers. Kenny’s dishes are always a hit.
Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny’s success comes from his ability to multitask in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a passionate chef to the students in his cooking classes.
“He’s so vigorous (精神饱满的) about cooking that he doesn’t let anything stop him,” Hicks said. “I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special.”How is Kenny different from other students?
| A．He opened a cooking club in his high school. |
| B．He is famous on the Food Network. |
| C．He owned a food company at 16. |
| D．He loves to multi-task. |
What does the underlined word “thrives” probably mean?
| A．works energetic | B．grows fast |
| C．learns quickly | D．makes progress |
Which of the following best describes Kenny’s cooking?
| A．Traditional. | B．Creative. |
| C．Simple. | D．Strange. |
We can conclude from the article that ______.
| A．Kenny proved himself by catering his uncle’s wedding alone |
| B．Kenny likes to follow his mother’s recipe when cooking |
| C．Kenny was able to cook his first dish in primary school |
| D．Kenny’s success in cooking has a lot to do with his family |
After graduating from school, I didn’t go directly to university. Instead, I spent a year travelling round the world.
I started my trip in London, the UK. I saw theBig Ben and visited the amazing churches.From there, I flew to Paris, and went down to the south of France, which is famous for its lovely beaches.
Next, I flew to India, and traveled round the country for about three months. Although the cities were crowded, the countryside was the beautiful. I stayed in a small fishing village by the sea and it was the happiest time of my life.
I then came to China, a country I had always wanted to visit. I saw Beijing, of course, and climbed up the Great Wall. I also took a trip to see some villages where I learned a lot about Chinese local customs.
Then, at last, I flew all the way home. It had been a great experience, but, yes, it was good to be home again!The writer travelled round the world ____________.
| A．after he graduated from school |
| B．when he was in university |
| C．before he graduated from school |
| D．After graduated from university |
The right order of the writer’s trip is _____________.
a. He went to Paris.
b.He saw the Big Ben.
c. He visited China.
d. He stayed in India for 3 months.
| A．c-d-a-b | B．a-b-c-d | C．b-a-d-c | D．d-c -b-a |
Which part of the trip did the writer enjoy most?
| A．Climbing up the Great Wall in China. |
| B．Staying in the fishing village in India. |
| C．Visiting the amazing churches in the UK. |
| D．Walking on the lovely beaches in the south of France. |
Who is this postcard sent to?
| A．Peter. | B．Gemma. | C．Kim. | D．Tom. |
Which place does this postcard come from?
| A．Holiday Cove. | B．Rest Harbour. |
| C．Mill Hill. | D．Crocodile Farm. |
What is Tom’s feeling to the crocodile farm?
| A．He is so excited. | B．He is afraid of it. |
| C．He felt so boring. | D．He nearly fell asleep. |
阅读短文, 根据短文内容回答问题。(共10分，每小题2分)
It's March, 2050.
Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and switch on the bedroom computer to get the latest news. They used to read the Times, but changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.
There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet. Then they turn to business news: the US dollar has risen greatly in Shanghai, one of the world's leading business centers. Mary tells the computer to buy 5,000 dollars, and there is a quick response that it has been done.
As they watch the screen, Mary orders one of the household robots to make coffee for them. Frank disappears into the study to join a video conference with his partners around the world. He is a computer engineer, working for several companies. This is his third job: he used to be in marketing and then television.
Mary has a quick look at the shopping channels - the usual selection of electric cars, household robots and cheap travel offers - before picking up the video phone to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical research. Both she and Frank used to have an office desk in London, but in 2014 they decided to move to the seaside and work from home.
Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own workstation at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Classrooms disappeared in 2030 because there was no longer any need for them: communications systems have made it much easier to learn at home.
Louise, now thirteen, is studying Chinese at present, which has become a world language as
important as English. Louise has many Chinese friends. They communicate by computer.
According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130. Her wish is to work for a
few decades (十年) and then spend her time on music and painting.Do Frank and Mary get the latest news on the computer in the morning?
Who makes coffee for Mary and Frank?
What does Frank do?
What are the two world languages in 2050?
What do you think of Louise's life in 2050? Why?
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