Like many men at some point, I dream about opening a bar. I plan to call it Work Out. It will cater to married women in need of a little fun. On Friday nights, they will be able to come here and enjoy themselves.
See, I have a gift for business. I am, as my wife Zsa Zsa likes to note, “A man with a million ideas, none of them very good.” Speaking of Zsa Zsa, she is fed up with this plain little life I’ve made for us——too many kids, too many chores, mind – numbing debt. The other day, she said she thought we needed a new family car. “Sure. How about an 87 Lincoln?” I said, and saw my dear Zsa Zsa age about 20 years, and become her mother right before my eyes.
Yes, money is our madness. Last year, we thought we had found a little cushion when I published a book about the life here in suburban America. It sold 12 copies——six of them to my mother. Four other copies went to various aunts and uncles, who used them for martini coasters (杯垫), then sold them at yard sales. The two remaining copies went to perfect strangers. (I think I owe you dinner, whoever you are. Call me, OK? We’ll arrange something.)
When the book didn’t take off, I wrote a TV show. Then I penned a short novel based on the earlier TV idea that didn’t sell. Currently, I am at work on a set of encyclopedias(百科全书). In a month, I plan to sell them door-to-door.
Such is the life of a writer, sending off the most personal thoughts possible to his hard drive. I am a writer, but also the breadwinner in my family. I’m at the keyboard at 6 almost every morning, hoping to tap out one idea——just one——that will take us up the hill, to the mountain, to the top.
According to the passage, the author is leading a/an______ life.
A.enjoyable B.wealthy C.hard D.comfortable
A.promised it to his wife B.was showing off their fortune C.thought his wife would like it D.was just joking
A.It didn’t sell well at all B.He sold it door – to – door. C.He made a lot of money from it. D.It was really a cushion for his family.
A.Comfortable seat. B.Financial help. C.Unexpected success. D.Best-selling book.
A.He has a real gift for business. B.He isn’t serious enough about life. C.He is a hard – working writer. D.His wife is satisfied with their plain life.
“Who did this?” asked my teacher. Thirty children tried to what they had done. “Who did this?” asked my teacher once more. She wasn’t really asking, she was demanding a(n) . She seldom became , but she was this time. She held up a piece of glass and asked, “Who this window?” Unfortunately, I was the one who broke the window. I had not done it . It was caused by an errant (偏离的) throw of a baseball.
Why did it have to be me? If I admitted guilt, how would I be able to pay for a big like that? I didn’t want to confess (坦白) it, but something strong inside my body made me my hand. I told the . “I did it.” I said no more. My teacher went to one of our library shelves and took down a . She then began walking towards me. I knew my teacher had never a student, but I she was going to start with me and she was going to use a book for the swatting (重击). “I know how you like ,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face.
“Here is that book about birds that you constantly out. It is yours. It’s time we get a(n) one for the school anyway. The book is yours and you will not be as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, but I am rewarding you for your .” I couldn’t it! I wasn’t being punished, and I was getting my favorite book, the one that I had been saving up money to buy!
What happened that day has deeply rooted in my memory and the my teacher taught me that day will last .
A.look after B.look over C.get over D.think about
A.letter B.answer C.question D.problem
A.angry B.happy C.excited D.sorry
A.closed B.opened C.broke D.repaired
A.on purpose B.by accident C.in demand D.on time
A.door B.table C.plate D.window
A.give B.raise C.change D.hold
A.lie B.secret C.truth D.question
A.book B.picture C.map D.cartoon
A.fired B.warned C.helped D.beaten
A.wondered B.feared C.regarded D.explained
A.fish B.pets C.birds D.animals
A.check B.take C.put D.watch
A.old B.strange C.new D.beautiful
A.fined B.found C.taught D.punished
A.honesty B.dream C.progress D.study
A.accept B.believe C.guess D.refuse
A.nice B.little C.very D.big
A.lesson B.lecture C.art D.method
A.never B.still C.ever D.forever
完形填空(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
Sitienei, a 90-year-old Kenyan grandmother, has become the world’s oldest primary school student. She is studying at the local primary school to learn to read and write. She is from a small _____ in Kenyan. She has spent most of her life ____ as a midwife(接生婆), helping women to give birth to babies. She wants to pass on her midwife skills to the young. She said she didn’t have a chance to go to school when she was ___ . So she wants all the children in her village to ____ .
The head teacher at the school said, “I’m proud ___ her. She is loved by every pupil. They all want to learn and play with ___ .” He also said, “She is doing well considering her __ . I can say I have seen a big difference in this school ___ she came.”
Sitienei often said, “I want to tell children, __ girls in poor areas, that ___ will be your wealth.” She added, “With education, you can be whatever you want to be --- a doctor, a teacher, a scientist, and so on.”
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I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was rather organized. Each of her objects had its , but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. time, Kate got neater and I got . She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got of each other.
One evening war . Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her shouting, "Take your away! Why under my bed!" Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I to my feet and started shouting. She shouted back louder.
The room was filled with . We could not have stayed together for a single but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she , she quickly hid under her covers, sobbing(呜咽). , that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a feeling of sympathy(同情) rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, on her side. I was so buried in my work I even didn't notice Kate had sat up.
She was watching, her tears dried and her one of disbelief. Then, to my surprise, she out her hands to catch mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. "Thanks."
Kate and I stayed for the rest of the year. We didn't always agree, but we learned the key to together: giving in,cleaning up and holding on.
A.room B.place C.station D.seat
A.Over B.During C.With D.For
A.uglier B.cleaner C.messier D.lazier
A.angry B.tired C.sad D.mad
A.broke in B.took place C.set off D.broke out
A.socks B.clothes C.shoes D.trousers
A.ran B.jumped C.flew D.walked
A.angry B.concern C.sadness D.anger
A.hour B.week C.minute D.day
A.tell B.express C.forecast D.show
A.put up B.hung up C.held on D.went on
A.Surprisingly B.Clearly C.Happily D.Excitedly
A.warm B.strange C.cold D.funny
A.brought B.caught C.made D.changed
A.but B.and C.even D.so
A.that B.which C.what D.who
A.tongue B.expression C.sign D.position
A.took B.held C.reached D.threw
A.workmates B.classmates C.deskmates D.roommates
A.living B.studying C.study D.live
What a busy day! The three boys were fed, bathed and changed into their nightclothes. Mary had them a story and finally they were asleep. “Babysitting (照看) the three boys aged eight, six and four is extremely ,” she thought.
“Sleep,” she considered, “if only I could!” But she had difficult homework to complete. Leaning back, she her feet onto the sofa to get comfortable. Whoever said babysitting was a(n) way to make money obviously hadn’t met the three boys, she thought. The television was on, the room was warm, and the lights were dim. Mary’s felt heavier and heavier. I mustn’t sleep, she thought—which was what she did, of course.
Strangely enough, she soon that she was a world-famous chef(主厨). She made a and wore diamonds and designer clothes. Most days she relaxed by the pool, meeting the rich and famous or —her favorite hobby. She took the leading role in her own TV show.
That is, until she became too . “I am definitely the best in the world,” she thought, as she prepared a tasty chicken dish. But seemed to go right. She spilt the flour, she dropped an egg and she cut her finger. Despite all the troubles, she to get the chicken into the stove. Soon, smoke blanted the room. The children was on fire. set in, but Mary could not run—she was to the spot. She tired hard to move, but could not, a sharp sound awoke her.
She got shocked and confused— was pouring from the kitchen. Rushing to investigate, she was met by three little faces and some very burnt bread. “Sorry, we were hungry and you were , so we tried to make some bread.” explained a boy. Relieved, Mary de them a snack and sent them back to bed. She them never to fall asleep on the job again!
A.given B.written C.told D.taught
A.successful B.helpful C.tiring D.surprising
A.shook B.put C.bent D.kept
A.difficult B.boring C.important D.easy
A.eyes B.mind C.heart D.legs
A.nicely B.exactly C.curiously D.carelessly
A.realized B.reminded C.learned D.dreamt
A.decision B.fortune C.business D.plan
A.sleeping B.reading C.running D.babysitting
A.just B.ever C.even D.only
A.selfish B.proud C.stubborn D.sensitive
A.everything B.something C.anything D.nothing
A.tired B.arranged C.managed D.prepared
A.Panic B.Pain C.Noise D.Stress
A.frozen B.dragged C.pushed D.brought
A.because B.until C.as D.unless
A.smoke B.light C.water D.fire
A.cheerful B.strange C.guilty D.confident
A.busy B.hungry C.worried D.asleep
A.promised B.allowed C.expected D.persuaded
完形填空
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。
It was very late when I got out of the cinema. By the time the ________ ended, it was 1 a. m. I walked to my car which was ________ across the street. When I arrived, I noticed something ________ ── the doors were unlocked. I took a quick ________ round the car and to my great ________ , everything was undamaged, except that my ________ was gone. After a further search, I had to ________ the fact that it was gone, but I considered myself incredibly ________ that nothing valuable was taken.
The next day I got a ________ voice mail from a man. He said he had walked his dog in the morning and came across my ________ briefcase with my name on it. I called him back ________ . He promised to ________ it. At first I asked him to send it, but then I ________ . Though we were in the same city, I didn’t want to trouble him. I finally decided to go to collect it though it probably wouldn’t be ________ enough to go to a ________ house to pick something up.
I met the man and was greatly ________ to him. Words could not express my ________ of this stranger’s kindness. I think that there’s so much ________ in the world and there are so many people who ________ their inner goodness through acts of kindness. It feels good to give kindness and it also feels nice to ________ others want to give.
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阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A,B,C,D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂上。
I was 14 years old. I was angry and rebellious, with regard for anything my parents had to say, if it had nothing to do with me. Like so many , I struggled to escape from anything that didn’t my picture of the world. As a “ brilliant without need of guidance” kid, I rejected any obvious of love. In fact, I got angry at the of the word “love”.
One , after an extremely difficult day, I into my room, shut the door loudly and fell down onto my bed heavily. As I lay down in the privacy of my , my hands placed under my pillow. There was an envelope.I pulled it out and on the envelope it said, “To when you’re alone.”
I was alone, no one would know whether I read it or not.So I opened it. It said,“Mike, I know life is right now, I know you are frustrated and I know we don’t do everything right. I also know that I love you and nothing you do or say will ever change that.I am here for you if you ever need to talk. If you don’t, that’s also .Just know that no matter where you go or whatever you do in your life, I will always love you and be that you are my son. I’m here for you and I love you-that will never Love you, Mom.”
Every night as I went to bed, I would put my hands under my , and I remember the I felt every time I got a letter. During my teen years, the letters were the calm assurance that I still could be loved my anger and rudeness.Just before I fell I became grateful that my mom knew what I, an angry teenager, needed.
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完形填空
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。
When I was a kid, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night when she had made dinner after a long, hard day at .
On that evening so long ago, my mom a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember to see if anyone noticed! all my dad did was reach for his toast, at my mom and ask me how my day was at school… I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember him spread butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!
When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom to my dad for burning the toast. And I’II never what he said: “Honey, I love toast.”
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really his toast burned. He me in his arms and said, “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she’s really . And besides, a burned toast never anyone!”
is full of imperfect things... and imperfect people. I’m not the best at anything, and I forget and anniversaries just like everyone else. But what I’ve over the years is that learning to accept each other’s – and to celebrate each other’s differences – is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and relationship where a burned toast isn’t a deal-breaker!
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完形填空
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。
We have been driving in fog all morning, but the fog is lifting now. The little seaside villages are ________ , one by one. “There is my grandmother's house,” I say, ________ across the bay to a shabby old house.
I am in Nova Scotia on a pilgrimage (朝圣) with Lisa, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯) ________ memory for me. Lisa was one of the mobile children, ________ from house to house in childhood. She longs for a sense of ________ , and so we have come to Nova Scotia where my husband and I were born and where our ancestors ________ for 200 years.
We soon ________ by the house and I tell her what it was like here, the memories ________ back, swift as the tide (潮水).
Suddenly, I long to walk again in the ________ where I was once so gloriously a child. It still ________ a member of the family, but has not been lived in for a while. We cannot go into the house, but I can still walk ________ the rooms in memory. Here, my mother ________ in her bedroom window and wrote in her diary. I can still see the enthusiastic family ________ into and out of the house. I could never have enough of being ________ them. However, that was long after those childhood days. Lisa ________ attentively as I talk and then says, “So this is where I ________ ; where I belong.”
She has ________ her roots. To know where I come from is one of the great longings of the human ________ . To be rooted is “to have an origin”. We need ________ origin. Looking backward, we discover what is unique in us; learn the ________ of “I”. We must all go home again—in reality or memory.
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Money was a constant source of tension and stress when I was growing up. My parents were , well-educated and hard-working, but they lived from paycheck to paycheck. When I was 13, they split up. Then my mom to raise three kids, often relying on free lunch tickets and food stamps. As my mother retirement age, she was filled with over the fact that she hadn’t saved enough for her golden retirement years, she often sighed. My father had always been to work—we had always he’d work less and spend more time with us . But he is just a workaholic(工作狂).
My parents were trying so hard to make ends meet, so I couldn’t become a on them. As a result, I college and spent the next couple of years drifting from one minimum wage job to another. I my broken-down car, went to work on foot, reduced my by sharing a one-bedroom apartment with three other women, and got free food during Happy Hour at our local bar. I learned to do whatever it took to .
One night, while I was working at a donut shop and 34 coffee for a homeless customer, I . that I was one paycheck away from being homeless myself. That was my wake-up . Motivated by fear of an uncertain , I opened the Yellow Pages(电话黄页), . professional dog trainers and negotiated an unpaid apprenticeship(学徒工作). Less than a year later, I was by a dog trainer, and I loved the work. A couple of years later, I started my own dog-training school, which luckily turned out to be . My efforts paid off.
Though I didn’t have rich parents to rely on, I discovered the power of asking for what I want.
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请认真阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I’m Glad I got Sick
Twenty-seven years ago I got sick. The reason I can remember the date so well is that being sick is what ________ me to choose my future wife. She was just a good friend, but because she ________ to my apartment, brought me medicine, and made me breakfast, I thought for the first time “what a super wife she will ________ for someone.”
I took her out to eat for helping me ________ the flu. After that we became even better friends, but still ________ thought of marriage. A few months later I was going to ________ a new job in the Atlanta area, so Cathy helped me ________ boxes to get ready to leave. We ________ a great time that day and had lunch together. Near the end of that day I ________ a few tears in Cathy’s eyes, so I asked what was ________ .
She said, “I don’t know if I can live ________ you, you are my best friend.” I said, “I know, I’ve been thinking the ________ thing.” That day we decided to get married and we have been married ever since. We have had our ________ times, as many others have had, but we are still best friends!
________I get to the family unit in my Health class and we talk about________ …I always tell this story. My students seem to love it because they learn that ________ , sharing and caring about others is all that really ________ in life, and that looks, money and other things are not important.
38 the way, my wife is 12 years younger than me, and she is beautiful. We have 2 beautiful children, but we still have dates on ________ weekend.
Cathy is the greatest thing that has ever ________ me! She is a fantastic mother, and the best wife a coach could ever have. Thank God I got sick 27 years ago!
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阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It was a cold Saturday morning.An old man walked slowly into the ____.With shoulders bent forward,he leaned on his trusty stick with each ____step.
His shabby clothes and warm personality made him out from the usual breakfast crowd.Unforgettable were his eyes that shone like diamonds and thin lips _____in a steady smile.
A young waitress named Mary_____him drag toward a table by the window.She ran over to him,and said,“Here,sir.Let me give you a ____with that chair.”
Without saying a word,he smiled and ___.She pulled the chair away from the able.Steadying him with one arm,she helped him get comfortably_____.Then she moved the table up close to him,and leaned his ____against the table where he could reach it.
In a soft,clear voice,he said,“Thank you for your_____.”
“You’re welcome,sir.” She replied__.“And my name is Mary.I’ll be back in a moment,and ____you need anything at all in the meantime,just wave at me!”
After he had finished his breakfast,Mary brought him the change from his ticket.Then she ____him out from behind the table.She handed him his stick,and walked ____him to the front door.Holding the door open for him,she said,“Come back and see us,sir!”
He turned with his whole body and nodded with a ____smile.“You are very kind,” he said softly.
When Mary went to clean his table,she was to find that under his plate there was a business card and a note on a napkin(餐巾纸).Under the napkin was a one hundred dollar bill!
The note on the napkin _____,“Dear Mary,I respect you very much,and you respect yourself too.It shows by the way you ____others.You have found the secret of happiness.Your kind gestures will _____through those who meet you.”
The next day she was told that the man she had ____on was the owner of the restaurant where she was working.
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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。
There are no ocean waves in St. Louis. We have to drive a long way to get to the ocean. Every summer we put our stuff and ourselves into the car and drive 1,000 miles to reach Vero Beach, Florida.
Once we get there, it’s all about at the beach. I’ve wanted to be a for a long time. My mom used to surf when she lived in Florida during college. I my mom to let me surf, and she promised to find a surfing for me. He found me instead.
One day when my mom was taking an old surfboard to a surf shop for , a surfer the door open for her and helped her carry the board inside. They started and she learned he’s a surfing . My mom asked him if he had any working with people with disabilities. He did and told her he would love to work with me. That’s how I my friend, Coach Bill Bolton, in 2014.
First Coach Bill taught me the pop-up. I had so much fun surfing with Coach Bill in 2014, I didn’t make it to on the board.
When we went to Florida this summer, I had more surfing with Coach Bill. We worked hard on the sand and in the water. On our third day together we our surfboards out past a sand bar where small waves were . I came close to standing each time, and on the last of the day I got up on my feet and stayed up! I was so ! So was Coach Bill.
We went to the same surfing spot the next day. Guess what! I so many times and rode wave after wave. Coach Bill called me a “surf goddess”. It was one of the days ever! I hope my story you to go surfing or to try something new. I know you can do it.
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I was aged 9 the moment I discovered my father was seriously sick. It was 1994, but I can well remember my mother’s words as though it were yesterday: “Maggie, I don’t want you to take ______ from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very cautious when you are around him.”
AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family ______. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could attend to himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it ______ to me to look after him.
We couldn’t _____ all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t ______ buy food for dinner. I ______ sit in class feeling completely ______. The teacher’s words were ________ as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage.
I did not ______ my burden with anyone. I had seen how people ______ to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be _____. When my father was ______ to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too fragile to feed himself.
I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his ______ a secret, I was truly ______ when he reached his final days. ______ and down, I called a woman at the non-profit National AIDS Support. That day, she ______ me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who cared. She saved my life. I was 15 when my father ______ on. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call ______ to AIDS. I do.
A.trust B.joke C.food D.fun
A.disease B.project C.challenge D.secret
A.fell B.sent C.chose D.left
A.afford B.offer C.select D.prepare
A.only B.even C.yet D.still
A.might B.should C.could D.would
A.moved B.lost C.bored D.nervous
A.rolled B.eaten C.proved D.drowned
A.pack B.compare C.share D.affect
A.applied B.escaped C.reacted D.referred
A.cruel B.curious C.considerate D.confused
A.admitted B.concerned C.removed D.sentenced
A.dream B.promise C.instruction D.condition
A.calm B.religious C.unprepared D.devoted
A.Red B.Black C.Green D.Blue
A.kept B.talked C.reminded D.replied
A.died B.hid C.passed D.sighed
A.relief B.attention C.support D.Trouble
One day, my mother and I were in a shop to buy Christmas gifts. There, I saw a telephone and I liked it very much. ___________lovingly up at my mother, I asked, “Mama, can I have that telephone?” She replied, “Baby, not now.” “But Mama, I want it.” She was a little ___________ and said, “Nora, you can’t have that telephone today.” ___________ we were waiting to pay for the things we had bought, I ___________on the ground and began screaming, “I want it.” Other people looked but my mother calmly said, “Nora, you’d better get up by the ___________ of three or else. One … two … three … ”I didn’t stop. Then she lay down __________me on the floor, and began kicking and screaming, “I want a new car. I want a new house … I want …”___________, I stood up. “Mama, stop. Mama, get up,” I tearfully said. She stood up, and many people began to clap. Her face turned ___________ and she said ___________to others. People said to me, “Your mom got you ___________. Never try that again.” And I didn’t. I would never forget that experience.
A.Crying B.Speaking C.Looking D.Talking
A.disappointed B.angry C.hungry D.happy
A.When B.Before C.Until D.Unless
A.laid down B.lay down C.fell down D.put down
A.number B.figure C.sound D.count
A.besides B.beside C.over D.ahead
A.Excited B.Disappointed C.Shocked D.Puzzled
A.red B.blue C.gray D.yellow
A.thanks B.sorry C.hello D.ok
A.wrong B.good C.lesson D.reason