Christmas is a time when everyone is expected to be joyful. Most pe
ople try to put on their best smiles to give the impression that they are really happy, when they have little children who believe in the magic of Christmas. They believe that Santa will come down the chimney with gifts for them.
But Christmas or not, life goes on. Good things happen not-so-good ones. It on Christmas of 2009. I woke up early and gathered my children and husband to sit down by the Christmas tree to open the gifts. The kids were .
After the ceremony, I decided to my emails to see if I had mail from my overseas. The only email I had was from my sister, but I was not for the news I was about to receive. She said that she had been diagnosed with a terminal and that she had little time to live. I tried to speak, but 
failed me. I was terribly.
My husband realized something was wrong. After to find the right words, I said to him: “How do you deal with grief on Christmas morning?” The in my heart was so great, and the memory of that Christmas morning remains in my mind. And five months later she .
After that, every Christmas morning me of her death. In the following years I didn’t want to Christmas because it reminded me that I couldn’t call her to her a merry Christmas. Now, I hav
e tried to turn Christmas morning into a memorial of the good we had together, and every Christmas morning I set aside a moment to honor her.
A．especially B．frequently C．fortunately D．finally
A．familiar B．funny C．generous D．boring
A．as well as B．other than C．instead of D．except for
A．applied B．meant C．continued D．happened
A．disappointed B．excited C．angry D．frightened
A．check B．change C．receive D．cover
A．class B．community C．school D．family
A．grateful B．prepared C．celebrated D．eager
A．trouble B．fear C．burden D．disease
A．words B．messages C．expressions D．ideas
A．falling B．shaking C．standing D．striking
A．whispering B．struggling C．battling D．requiring
A．confidently B．honestly C．politely D．softly
A．pain B．shame C．emotion D．doubt
A．cautious B．limited C．vivid D．cruel
A．passed away B．gave away C．turned away D．carried away
A．informed B．convinced C．reminded D．accused
A．report B．celebrate C．describe D．imagine
A．bother B．demand C．wish D．declare
A．lessons B．discussions C．manners D．times
Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.
Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.
E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.
The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun, see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story.
With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address (="tell)" it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.
E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.
We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.
We can infer that passage is to ________.
A．explain how to use the Internet B．describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology C．tell the merits(价值) and usefulness of the Internet D．introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet
A．spend less time working B．have more free time with his child C．work at home on weekends D．work at a speed comfortable to him
A．reach a group of people at one time conveniently B．keep one’s communication as personal as possible C．pass on much more information than the latter D．get in touch with one’s friends faster than the latter
A．Computer: New Technological Advances B．Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship C．Computers Have Made Life Easier D．Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication
Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later. I am one of those unfortunate people who have sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get on my way there. When I was young I was so that I never dared ask strangers the way and so I used to round in circles and hope that I would happen to get to the place I was heading for. I am too shy to ask people for directions, but I often replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit that they didn’t know their hometown and will on telling you the way, even if they do not know it ; others who are to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long of directions which you cannot possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the direction. If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong but even this can have embarrassing (尴尬的) results. Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decided it was too late to turn back and him in the crowd behind me I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting. Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the man who had asked for directions to my office and his when he recognized me as the person he had asked.
A．good B．instant C．poor D．fine
A．lost B．disappeared C．stuck D．missing
A．brave B．nervous C．afraid D．shy
A．come B．show C．look D．wander
A．still B．no longer C．any more D．often
A．receive B．accept C．give D．import
A．advise B．suggest C．insist D．persuade
A．glad B．anxious C．interested D．angry
A．line B．list C．page D．paragraph
A．say B．know C．divide D．tell
A．right B．same C．other D．opposite
A．friend B．policeman C．stranger D．foreigner
A．direction B．advice C．answer D．road
A．direct B．tell C．take D．point
A．similar B．common C．usual D．general
A．noticed B．realized C．believed D．considered
A．look B．find C．discover D．search
A．when B．then C．while D．as
A．only B．certain C．very D．just
A．astonishment B．excitement C．judgment D．Embarrassment
When I was in primary school, I got into a major argument with a boy in my class. I can’t what it was about, but I have never forgotten the I learned that day.
I was that I was right and he was wrong--and he was sure that I was wrong and he was right. The decided to teach us a very important lesson. She both of us up to the of the class and him on one side of her desk and me on . In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could see that it was black. She asked the boy what the object was. “White,” he answered.
I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, it was obviously black! Another started between my classmate and me, this about the color of the object.
The teacher told me to go and stand where the boy was standing and told him to come and stand where I had been. We changed , and now she asked me what the color of the object was. I
answer, “White.” It was an object with two colored sides, and from his side it was white. from my side was it black.
My teacher taught me a very important lesson that day: You must in the other person’s shoes and look at the through their eyes in order to understand their view.
A．think B．suppose C．remind D．remember
A．lesson B．lecture C．class D．text
A．told B．wished C．convinced D．allowed
A．officer B．teacher C．doctor D．parent
A．told B．came C．brought D．woke
A．back B．front C．middle D．side
A．planted B．placed C．had D．fixed
A．the other B．another C．other D．others
A．happily B．fortunately C．clearly D．nearly
A．width B．shape C．color D．size
A．when B．unless C．until D．if
A．fight B．argument C．conversation D．game
A．time B．year C．month D．day
A．places B．seats C．attitudes D．glasses
A．needed to B．was able to C．hoped to D．had to
A．similarly B．differently C．beautifully D．surprisingly
A．Still B．Since C．Only D．Also
A．seat B．stand C．lie D．put
A．situation B．movement C．condition D．behavior
A．unexpectedly B．suddenly C．quietly D．truly
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Once upon a time there lived a poor man named Malcolm who hunted for his food. One warm spring day, Malcolm had been for many hours, and he was hot and tired and hungry. He hadn’t even a mouse. When he came upon a big tree, he sat down under its to rest. Suddenly he found a big ostrich (鸵鸟) egg beside the tree. He the egg and carried it back to his hut (小屋).
The egg was so white and round, pure and beautiful that he couldn’t eating it. So he put the egg on the table and went to sleep.
The next morning when he woke up, he was to find bread and soup on his table. He was so hungry, so he tore off a piece and ate it. “I’ve never anything so delicious,” he said aloud. Then he heard a voice answer, “It’s bread and soup I’ve made for you.”
He turned to find a beautiful woman standing beside the ostrich egg, was cracked wide open. “Malcolm, you are a kind and generous man, and I will make you for the rest of your life. me and I will always make delicious food for you.”
“How can this be? An ostrich egg’s cannot speak or cook or marry me,” he said.
“I will make you happy, Malcolm,” she said, “You must only this: you will never call me the daughter of an ostrich egg.”
“I promise,” Malcolm said.
And so they got married. For many years they lived great happiness. His wife brought him , goats and made him a chief. But one day, Malcolm got so that he was not with what he had. He quarreled with his . He said his wife was the daughter of an ostrich egg… And he was alone again, living in his hut, his old clothes. There were no cattle, no goats and no wife.
He understood that he had been to let greed (贪婪) and anger get the better of him and to break his promise to his wife.
A．boating B．fishing C．hunting D．swimming
A．caught B．removed C．bitten D．held
A．way B．fur C．poster D．shade
A．took up B．picked up C．put up D．added up
A．wait B．help C．imagine D．expect
A．exciting B．secure C．amazed D．lively
A．smelt B．looked C．sounded D．tasted
A．which B．whose C．who D．that
A．intelligent B．happy C．attractive D．popular
A．Follow B．Accept C．Admit D．Marry
A．sister B．daughter C．mother D．son
A．doubt B．respond C．select D．promise
A．in B．at C．under D．beyond
A．sheep B．pigs C．cattle D．chicken
A．puzzled B．greedy C．magical D．upset
A．satisfied B．surprised C．popular D．certain
A．daughter B．mother C．wife D．grandfather
A．in peace B．in a flash C．in danger D．in a way
A．wearing B．having C．preparing D．replacing
A．informal B．artificial C．severe D．mistaken
Some years ago when I was in my first year in college, I heard Salome Bey sing for the first time. The moment was exciting. Salome’s filled the room and brought the theater to life. I was so that I decided to write an article about her.
I Salome Bey, telling her I was from Essence magazine, and that I wanted to meet her to talk about her career. She and told me to come to her studio next Tuesday. When I hung up, I was scared out of my mind. I I was lying. I was not a writer at all and hadn’t even written a grocery list.
I interviewed Salome Bey the next Tuesday. I sat there , taking notes and asking questions that all began with, “Can you tell me…” I soon realized that Salome Bey was one thing, but writing a story for a national magazine was just impossible. The was almost unbearable. I struggled for days with draft after draft. I put my manuscript (手稿) into a large envelope and dropped it into a mailbox.
It didn’t take long. My manuscript . How stupid of me! I thought. How could I in a world of professional writers? Knowing I couldn’t the rejection letter, I threw the unopened envelope into a drawer.
Five years later, I was moving to California. While my apartment, I came across the unopened envelope. This time I opened it and read the editor’s letter in :
Ms Profit,
Your story on Salome Bey is fantastic. Yet we need some materials. Please add those and return the article immediately. We would like to your story soon.Shocked, it took me a long time to . Fear of rejection cost me dearly. I lost at least five hundred dollars and having my article appear in a major magazine. More importantly, I lost years of writing. Today, I have become a full – time writer. Looking back on this , I learned a very important lesson: You can’t to doubt yourself.
A．joy B．voice C．speech D．smile
A．proud B．active C．satisfied D．moved
A．visited B．emailed C．phoned D．interviewed
A．agreed B．refused C．hesitated D．paused
A．replied B．discovered C．explained D．knew
A．seriously B．patiently C．nervously D．quietly
A．blaming B．fooling C．inviting D．urging
A．pressure B．failure C．comment D．hardship
A．Finally B．Luckily C．Publicly D．Gradually
A．disappeared B．returned C．spread D．improved
A．compare B．struggle C．promote D．compete
A．ignore B．deliver C．face D．receive
A．decorating B．repairing C．cleaning D．leaving
A．disbelief B．anxiety C．horror D．trouble
A．secure B．related C．private D．reliable
A．broadcast B．create C．publish D．assess
A．recover B．prepare C．escape D．forget
A．energetic B．endless C．typical D．enjoyable
A．experience B．success C．benefit D．accident
A．attempt B．afford C．expect D．pretend
粤公网安备 44130202000953号