A shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world．The boy walked a long way, and finally came upon the beautiful castle where the wise man lived.
On entering the main room of the castle, the boy was quite surprised: tradesmen coming and going, people chatting in the corners, and a small orchestra playing soft music．The wise man talked with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn.
The wise man listened carefully to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have time just then to explain the secret of happiness．He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.
“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something,” said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil．“As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”
The boy began to walk up and down stairs of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon．After two hours, he returned to the wise man.
“Well,” asked the wise man, “Did you see the Persian tapestries（挂毯）in the hall? Did you see the garden that took the master gardener ten years to create?” The boy was embarrassed, and replied that he had observed nothing．His only concern had been not to spill the oil.
“Then go back and observe the wonders of my world,” said the wise man．The boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace．This time he observed all of the works of art on the ceilings and the walls．When he returned, he described in detail everything he had seen．
“But where are the drops of oil?” asked the wise man．Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.
“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,” said the wise man．“The secret of happiness is to see all the wonders of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon.”
When the boy arrived at the castle, he .
| A．received a warm welcome from the wise man |
| B．had already missed his chance to talk to the wise man |
| C．was shown around the palace by the local people |
| D．didn’t expect to see so many people around |
The wise man gave the boy two tasks in order to .
| A．show him how to observe the wonders in the world |
| B．teach him the secret of happiness |
| C．make him learn from his mistakes |
| D．let the boy enjoy his palace and garden |
We can infer from the article that “the drops of the oil on the spoon” probably refer to .
| A．the beauty of one’s nature |
| B．the fortune a person possesses |
| C．the responsibilities one has to take on |
| D．the great opportunities in life |
What would be the best title for the article?
| A．Lesson about Happiness |
| B．The Secret of Happiness |
| C．Learning about Happiness |
| D．Searching for Happiness |
Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftop. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it is that most city people — myself included — usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.
My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.
I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.
Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fiber-glass. We have television, cell phones, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.
Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought, “Before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains. And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touched the moon.”The best title for the passage would be _________.
| A．Break away from the Reality |
| B．A Bottomless well of Silence |
| C．Touched by the Moon |
| D．The Pleasures of Modern Life |
The writer felt sorry for himself because __________.
| A．he failed to see the fullest moon. |
| B．there were too many accidents on the road. |
| C．he didn’t adapt to modern inventions |
| D．there was too much pollution. |
Modern things are mentioned mainly to ___________.
| A．show that the writer likes city life very much. |
| B．show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them. |
| C．tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life. |
| D．explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature. |
For many years, I was convinced that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts and rejections with it.
Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved, being special, and being cherished. We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.
But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self-worth, and, of course, love.
It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes.What does the underlined word “everything” in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．All the problems. | B．All the properties. |
| C．The whole world. | D．The absolute truth. |
What can be inferred about the author?
| A．The author has been troubled by her weight. |
| B．The author succeeded losing weight. |
| C．The author is a Samoan. |
| D．The author probably got wounded in an accident. |
According to the text, those who have lost weight first and gained it back later feel _______.
| A．angry about the regained weight |
| B．indifferent to the regained weight |
| C．they should give up their future plans on weight control |
| D．optimistic about future plans on weight control |
The text tries to stress the importance of ____________.
| A．body size | B．attitudes toward life |
| C．culture difference | D．different beauty standards |
Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a home was undoubtedly good. Our political leaders hammered home the point. Franklin Roosevelt held that a country of homeowners was “unconquerable.” Homeownership could even save babies, save children, save families and save America. A house with a lawn and a fence wasn’t just a nice place to live in or a risk-free investment; it was a way to transform a nation. No wonder leaders of all political types wanted to spend more than $100 billion a year on subsidies and tax breaks to encourage people to buy.
But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated by the cult（热潮）of homeownership may have caused the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the prior month, worsening fears of a double-drop. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.
For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.
Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust(破产) since the Great Depression, it is time to rethink how realistic our expectations of homeownership are—and how much money we want to spend chasing them. Many argue that homeownership should not be a goal pursued at all costs.Political leaders wanted to spend money encouraging people to buy houses because _______.
| A．owning a home was undoubtedly good | B．homeownership was unconquerable |
| C．houses could save families and America | D．homeownership could shape a country |
The underlined sentence in Para. 2 means _______.
| A．homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects |
| B．the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears |
| C．the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S |
| D．there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S |
It can be inferred from Para. 3 that _______.
| A．it is hard for Americans to get a home loan |
| B．it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house |
| C．homeownership has made many people out of work |
| D．many Americans choose to live out of urban areas |
What is the author’s attitude towards homeownership?
| A．Cautious. | B．Puzzled. | C．Favorable. | D．Optimistic. |
They like using the Internet．They have lots of pocket money to spend．And they spend a higher proportion of it online than the rest of us．Teenagers are just the sort of people an online seller is interested in, and the things they want to buy－games, CDs and clothing－are easily sold on the Web.
But paying online is a tricky business for consumers who are too young to own credit cards．Most have to use a parent’s card．They want a facility that allows them to spend money.
That may come sooner than they think: new ways to take pocket money into cyber (网络的) space are coming out rapidly on both sides of the Atlantic．If successful, these products can stimulate online sales.
In general, teenagers spend huge amounts: $153bn (billion) in the US last year and ￡20bn annually in the UK．Most teenagers have access to the Internet at home or at school－88 percent in the US, 69 percent in the UK．According to the Jupiter Research, one in eight of those with Internet access has bought something online－mainly CDs and books.
In most cases, parents pay for these purchases with credit cards, an arrangement that is often unsatisfactory for them and their children．Pressing parents to spend online is less productive than pressing on the high street．They are more likely to ask “Why?” if you ask to spend some money online.
One way to help teenagers change notes and coins into cybercash is through prepaid cards such as Internetcash in the US and Smart cards in the UK．Similar to those for pay-as-you-go mobile telephones, they are sold in amounts such as￡20 or $50 with a concealed 14-digit number that can be used to load the cash into an online account.What does the word “They” in paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Sellers. | B．Parents. | C．Buyers. | D．Teenagers. |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Teenagers pay for goods online with their own credit cards. |
| B．More than half of the teenagers in the US and the UK have Internet access． |
| C．Most teenagers in the US and the UK have bought something online. |
| D．Teenagers found it easier to persuade parents to buy online than in a shop. |
A new way to help teenagers shop online is to use ______.
| A．a new machine | B．special coins and notes |
| C．prepaid cards | D．pay-as-you-go mobile phones |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Online shopping traps. | B．The arrival of cyber pocket money. |
| C．New credit cards for parents. | D．Internet users in the US and the UK. |
Volunteers Wanted!
We conduct studies to evaluate new medications for sleep disorder．Both healthy adults and patients suffering from sleep disorder are sought to participate in these studies．
You may be qualified to take part as a healthy adult volunteer if you are aged 18 or over and are willing to have your sleep patterns recorded．Further, if you meet these standards and also suffer from a little sleep disorder you may be able to sign our register of patients．
Sports Tickets
| Mon., Nov. 1st, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles |
$20~$850 |
| Mon., Nov. 1st, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets |
$35~$1000 |
| Mon., Nov. 8th, 2011 4:15 P.M. |
Sam Diego Chargers vs. New York Giants |
$40~$1500 |
| Mon., Nov. 15th, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
Jacksonville Kaguars vs. New York Jets |
$21~$6100 |
| Mon., Nov. 22nd, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
Atlanta Falcons vs. New York Giants |
$40~$19500 |
| Mon., Nov. 29th, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets |
$10~$12000 |
| Mon., Dec. 3rd, 2011 8:20 P.M. |
New York Jets vs. Buffalo Bills |
$97~$800 |
Warnings:
☆ Always control your child when he is first learning to skateboard．To best assist a beginner, hold one of the child’s hands and guide him along a smooth and level surface．
☆ A safety helmet and elbow, wrist and knee pads must always be worn while your child is skateboarding．
☆ Sneakers must always be worn while your child is skateboarding．Don’t let your child skate in bare feet, sandals or any other open-toed shoes．
☆ Never let your child skateboard in the street．
☆ Never tow skateboarders with a bicycle or a car．
☆ Skateboard only in daylight．
Parents, there is a Tropical Paradise for kids too!
The Pacific Islands Club knows something others don’t．Kids are on holiday and they want to be pampered（纵容）, too．Our kids’ Club of PIC Guam is free of charge and has both indoor and outdoor activities ensuring a really great time to children aged 4 to 12．Open daily from 09: 00 a．m．Club mates will accompany children to all of the exciting play areas．They will also love to join the other children for the special meals we have prepared just for them．If you want to watch a play by New York Jets but pay the least money, you should go ______．
| A．Mon., Nov.15th, 2011 1:00 P.M. | B．Mon., Nov.1st, 2011 1:00 P.M. |
| C．Mon., Nov.29th, 2011 1:00 P.M. | D．Fri., Dec.3rd, 2011 8:20 P.M. |
While your child is skateboarding, you should_______．
| A．lead him by the hand all the time | B．forbid him to skateboard at night |
| C．require him to skateboard at night | D．let him put on open-toed shoes |
We know from the text that PIC Guam_______．
| A．charges children the least money | B．gets children alone to go to all the play areas |
| C．only has indoor activities | D．offers meals especially to children |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．New York Giants participates in four matches in November, 2011． |
| B．Skateboarding without helmet and knee pads is unwise． |
| C．You can be a volunteer if you suffer diet disorder． |
| D．There are no meals provided in Pacific Islands Club． |
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