I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself．And otherwise assigned a seat by the teacher, I always to sit at the back of the classroom．
All this after I joined a sports team．It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team．At first I thought it was a crazy because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me．But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “ for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give it a try．
Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the of it! When I first started the practice sessions, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much what I was doing．Sometimes I’d get and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid． , I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not to be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t “just yet”．
I practiced and practiced．Soon I knew the and the “moves”．Being part of a team was fun and motivating．Very soon the competitiv in me was winning over my lack of confidence．With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the friends who respected my efforts to work hard and be a team player．I never had so much fun!
With my self confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates．I have gone from “ “in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself, raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn’t 100 percent I had the right answer．Now I have more self confidence in myself．
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A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, everywhere. I tried to use a broom, with each swipe they just rolled across the kitchen．
For the next week, every time I was in the , I found a pea---in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and 12 frozen peas hidden underneath．
At the time I found those few remaining , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered（破碎）. My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble his new surroundings and the of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered．
When life gets you , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them you’ll start to feel whole again．
The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?
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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。
In 2014 I was 22 years old and had just come back to Brazil after 14 months in England, holding my Cambridge Proficiency certificate. After nervously a short training course, I began to give class to my 12 students, all of them older than I was. I hard to remain calm in class and they wouldn't find out how unconfident I felt a lot of the time. I was quite , actually, until the end of and the night of the final oral test.
The test was going to start at 7 pm, and at 6:50, I myself in the teachers' bathroom to all the test questions again. I really wanted to learn the by heart so no one would think I was an inexperienced tester. The 4 is, I actually locked myself in the bathroom. I couldn't get out! The bell rang at 7 pm and I could hear the noise in the halls the students went to their rooms. I tried hard to the bathroom door, but failed.
I heard the cleaning lady's voice and asked for help as as I could. However, she wasn't exactly a thoughtful person, and started ;"Diana's locked in the bathroom!"Shame had fallen upon me! the course director, the secretary and some teachers were outside the bathroom trying to get me out, and, ,my students gathered outside too, happily saying things like "Aren't we !No test today !” All I could do was , feeling miserable and utterly stupid. The door finally opened, and my entire was waiting for me outside, naughty smiles on their faces." ! Teacher.” they said," we know you are human too!"
They all passed their test. True to the Brazilian style, we all went out for a beer afterward, and laughed the whole thing off.
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Teenage years can be confusing for both teenagers and parents．At about 15, many teens start thinking about how they feel about themselves and out how this matches or mismatches what others think of them．Most teens work through this by the age of 16 or 17．
Often teenagers are treated like bigger children, but they will never become and responsible if they are not allowed to make some decisions for themselves．If parents forbid their children from doing something, chances are that they will do it without permission anyway．The role of a parent must, therefore, change from that of protector and keeper to that of friend and ．
Yet even the most caring parents misunderstand their children sometimes, and some think of teenagers as insecure, stubborn and ．As a result, teenagers always keep their from their parents．Teens often that their parents repeat the same things over and over again and never listen to them．Parents must understand that teens need to be allowed to their side of any problem and express their point of view．
Thus, more private and level-headed communication is needed for the parents．Every parent should try to schedule time to be with their child, like taking a short trip together．This time allows parents to talk and listen without from work or other family members．It might also be good to encourage teens to important issues at dinner．Discussion time shows teens that parents are interested in them and their lives．
A person’s teenage years are a key time for them to identify their own ,like distinguishing good from evil．Handling and improving communication with teenagers is not easy, but success will be for parents and teens alike．
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In the last 20 years of my life, I have been interested in self-improvement and applying it to myself in many ways. And of course all through that time I have learnt a lot and made it much .
So in the last 3 months I seem to have reached this high level. I feel a miracle has happened to me, in fact the other day I couldn’t stop staring at myself in the making sure all these wonderful things were happening to me! Then I cried a small , not because of what I looked like, but because I was so for the person I had become.
Several things have happened to make me ensure that my track in life has truly . I moved back to my hometown after being away a decade and was astonished that so many people my name in a nice way, greeted me and me back. And over the next 3 months they were excited for my growth. At the where I exhibit today, people come over and greet me, I see the on their faces when they talk to me frankly and . Thus I think they are my expression or style. I know I give them a good feeling at the fairs not just from keeping my expression open, understanding, kind but with a smile in all the right places. But now I do feel that what I have done for the people may bring them a bit of sympathy.
And most of all I believe in the mirror I have ever been doing the hard work, improving myself and now I feel it’s coming back to me in absolute roads and I am considered to be a man of great future.
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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。
It was in my high school science class. I was doing a task in front of the classroom with my favorite shirt on.
A came. "Nice shirt," I smiled from ear to ear. Then another voice said, "That shirt belonged to my dad. Greg's mother works for my family. We were going to that shirt away, but gave it to her ." I was speechless. I wanted to hide.
I my shirt in the back of the closet and told my mom what had happened. She then dialed her , "I will no longer work for your family," she told him. That night, Mom told my dad that she couldn’t clean anymore; she knew her life's was something greater.
The next morning she with the personnel manager at the Board of Education. He told her that without a proper education she could not teach. So Mom decided to a university.
After the first year in college, she went back to the personnel manager. He said, "You are , aren't you? I think I have a for you as a teacher's assistant. This opportunity deals with children who are mentally challenged with little or no chance of .” Mom accepted the opportunity very .
For almost five years, as a teacher's assistant, she saw teacher after teacher give up on the children and quit, feeling . Then one day, the personnel manager and the principal in her classroom. The principal said, "We have watched how you the children and how they communicate with you and admire your hard-working over the last five years. We are all in that you should be the teacher of this class."
My mom spent more than 20 years there. her career, she was voted Teacher of the Year. All of this came about because of the comment made in my classroom that day. Mom showed me how to handle __ situations and never give up.
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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。
An old woman had lost her eyesight completely, so she went to a to help her see again and made a bargain with him: if he could cure her, he would be paid well. But if he couldn’t, she would not pay him anything.
The doctor had a(an) ointment(药膏). When it was put on the eyes for a period of time, it restored the eyesight of anyone who was sightless.
The doctor began to his patient daily. But knowing that she couldn’t see, he started the valuables in her house. When there was nothing left, he decided to cure her and his payment.
When the woman recovered her eyesight, she saw that her valuables had gone and the doctor was the thief. So, saying that she was cured, she refused to pay him. The doctor was and he insisted on his fees. But the old woman refused and the two went to the .
The judge asked the old woman she refused to pay the doctor. She said, “I did to give him the money if I recovered my eyesight. However, if I remained blind, I was to give him 52 . Now he that he has cured me, but I am blind.”
Everyone there looked at her . “ How can you say that? Everyone can see that your eyesight has been restored,” said the judge .
The old woman replied, “ I can’t see. Before I my eyesight, I had seen many valuable things in my house. But now, I am not able to see a thing of in it.”
The judge that she was indeed blind and let her go.
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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。
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 Lise, my granddaughter, seeking roots for her, retracing (追溯) ____ memory for me. Lise 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 glorious 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. Lise ____ 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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The New York Times published an article recently that shows great regret for the "death of conversation"．It suggests that while technology such as cell phones, e-mails , and Internet posting makes us feel more than ever, they’re also driving us _ from people around us．
Users get final connectivity the price of face-to-face conversation． Sherry Turkle, author of the article in The New York Times says people are to a different way of being “alone together”．
Actually , text messages or writing micro-blogs allows us to thoughts.
bits and pieces of online cannot a “real conversation．” Lan Guo, 19, a freshman English major from Changsha University , said that she would like to hear people’s tone of voice and see their faces in a (n) ．“The give and take of ideas in a conversation sharpens our minds,” she said．She also mentions that ourselves in mobile technology reduces our chance of starting conversations with strangers and People．
Turkle mentioned the popular of “I share, therefore I am” among this generation. Liu Xuan, a young writer from Taiwan and psychology graduate from Harvard University, thinks it’s a mindset adopted by most young people． They are so busy creating or polishing their online persona (网络人格)that they forget how to live a (n) life． For example，They may more about blogging about attending a party rather than enjoying being ．
However，experts remind us that it’s unfair to mobile technology . Chen Chen, a sociology expert at China Youth &Children Research Center, points out that it is still owners of gadgets , such as cell phones and tablets , who’re avoiding personal .We take advantage of these devices to hide ourselves others ．Texting messages or calling may be a (n) to avoid contact with others, such as having eye contact． “Only by strengthening conversation can we understand each other. Simply throwing away the mobile gadgets is not a solution．”she said．
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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 is universally acknowledged that fresh food is beneficial to our health. As a small child, I didn’t know about the benefits of fresh food. , I considered canned fish and fruit, bottled soft drinks and snacks to be the most appetizing (令人垂涎的). As I learned to prefer fresh and foods to the artificial taste of chemically-enhanced snacks, I began to starting a vegetable garden in our backyard.
“What would it take?” I asked my mom. We had the space and were to take care of the plants every day. doing some research online, we to dig out a space of 16 square feet in our yard. It would have to be at least a foot deep with a raised vegetable bed, the vegetables would have two feet of depth to grow.
It was February of 2013. We knew that we had to work if we wanted to plant vegetables that spring. That month, every day after school, I pushed the tough clay (粘土) under our lawn with a large shovel (铲子). Luckily, the rain made the soil , and before we knew it, we had finished digging the bed. Next came my favorite part: shopping for and plants. By June, our plants, especially the tomatoes, were growing . We had never such fresh tomatoes; they were so sweet that you could almost taste the in them. To give our friends gifts, we packed jars of our little tomatoes. We also Italian pasta sauce with our tomatoes and basil (罗勒，一种香料). It reassured (使…放心) us to know that we were eating healthy and fresh produce.
The work we put into our vegetable garden was worthwhile. As long as we had the to start and maintain the garden, we a bountiful (大量的) harvest for the entire summer and fall in return. Thanks to the success of my vegetable garden, I can say that if the of life is to be happy, I’m one little step closer.
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This was an unforgettable and wonderful experience. It happened about three years ago and it has had a____effect on me. I would like to show respect here for the two men I do not know ____ but whose actions gave a new ___ to the words—kind and generous.
I was walking down a busy street on a cold，windy day in early ____.A homeless man，probably about 60 and without wearing any shoes，was ____ for change on a street corner.
A BMW car ___ on the other side of the street and an executive(主管)who was perfectly dressed stepped out of the car. He was probably about ____ years old. He was wearing a blue business suit with a deep red silk tie. He walked____ across the street and over to the homeless man. Without saying anything，he first gave him a lot of ____ and then he sat down and took off his leather gloves(手套)，beautiful black leather shoes and his black dress socks. Then he ____ them to the homeless man. The homeless man took them and stared with a/an ____ mouth.
As he drove off，I couldn't ____ thinking that it was probably the first time he had ____ the pedal(踏板)of that topbrand BMW car with a ____ foot！I stood there and the looks of ____ appeared on my face and the homeless man's.
Two men of about the same age ____ very different lives had met and the one who was ____ in materials had offered ___ than his shoes. He had left this BMW car and ____ down from his high position. He lifted up the other man when he offered respect，____and real generosity.
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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。
It would be my first Thanksgiving since my father moved to heaven, and it would also be my first Thanksgiving being away from my family. Holidays are when you can’t be with family, and I was mourning （哀悼）the of my dad and feeling sad about being from my family in Indiana. But, that sadness turned into when it hit me: I was going to have to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving myself!
That night at Dubya’s Restaurant, which was our favorite place to , I began discussing the dilemma (困境)with Jeff.“It’s too bad that this place won’t be on Thanksgiving, or we could just come here,”I said.
Dubya, the owner of the restaurant, happened to be by our table when I said those words.“You mean you expect me to for you on Thanksgiving, too?”he teased （取笑）“ Well, I guess you’ll just have to come to our since the restaurant will be closed then.”.
We’d become with Dubya and his wife, as we ate at Dubya’s twice a week; however, I didn’t think we were close enough to Thanksgiving dinner with his family. I was sure he was . But as we headed toward the door, Dubya handed Jeff a note with directions to their house and their phone number. “You’re ?” I asked “Of course,” he said.
And, two days later, we reached Dubya’s house. Everyone us. As expected, the food was marvelous but the company was even better. We truly felt that we there.
Of course, I wrote them a thank-you note the next week, but I couldn’t really into words what that Thanksgiving dinner had meant to us. I’ve never forgotten their kindness and that very Thanksgiving.
So, here’s my suggestion to you this year. If you know someone who will be dining alone on Thanksgiving, why not invite that person over to your family?
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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, 选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I was faced with a decision. While delivering laundry (洗好的衣服) into her bedroom, I stepped upon my thirteen-year-old sister’s , a modern-day Pandora’s Box, full of attraction.
What was I to do? I had always been jealous (嫉妒) of my little sister. Her charming smile, lovely personality and many gifts threatened my place as lady. I competed with her secretly and grew to hate her natural abilities. As a result, we spoke. I sought opportunities to find with her and expected to her in every way. Her diary lay at my feet, and I not her privacy, nor her possible pain. I enjoyed the possibility of digging up enough dirt to my competitor’s spotless record. I my evil as sisterly duty. It was my responsibility to keep a check on her activities. It would be of me not to.
I the book from the floor and opened it, turning the pages, searching for my name, that I would discover dirty and ill speaking of me. However, as I read, the blood ran from my face. It was worse than I . There was a brief description of herself, her goals and her dreams followed by a short portrayal (肖像) of the person who has her most. I started to cry. I was her . She admired me for my personality, my achievements and red-facedly, my .
I stopped reading, struck with the I had done. I had wasted so much energy pushing her away I had missed out on her. Those sincere words she wrote seemed to break an icy around my heart and I longed to know her again.
On that fateful afternoon, as I put aside the laundry and rose to my feet, I decided to go to her—this time to experience to judge, to hug rather than fight. After all, she was my sister.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从第21—40 各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C 和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。
Have you ever watched an artist paint a picture? He or she works close to the canvas(画布) ------________ small sections at a time in the process of completing the whole painting.
But every once in a while, the must step back from their work and look at the whole picture. Only by stepping away from what they’re working on can they the proper perspective(角度). The proper point of view is to the end result.
There is no difference for any other creation. it’s a business, a project or your life, you need to step back in order to get it right. From a , you can see things you can’t see when you’re close. The difference is in working on your project working in it. It’s all too easy to focus on something but the important parts needed to create a satisfying result.
Stephen Covey calls it “ the saw(锯)”. It would be to keep sawing away without stopping from time to time to make your sharper. But unfortunately, that’s what too many of us .
Just as in music --- we need spaces the notes(音符) in order to create the lovely melody(曲调). A continuous collection of notes with no spaces is not good --- it’s .
You may need to take a vacation --- to work or study. At other times, it’s best to take a course or attend a meeting to some new complete break, to go away and just do something totally --- do a voluntary work, build a house for Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy cause.
The important thing is to take the breaks. Without them, we are not and we don’t enjoy our work or our life as much. Our pressure and both our work and our health suffer.
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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、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, Margaret came home from school with a drawing in her hand and very big tears in her eyes. She had _ a picture of Tippity's garden with flowers and a boy__ of it.
“But it is good," said Margaret's Mother.” Let's _ it to Tippity and see what she thinks."
Tippity looked at the picture and__ ,"What a lovely drawing! You are a fine _ .”Margaret felt a little better. “It's a picture of your garden," she said. “But a boy at a school said it was _ ．”
“Nonsense!" said Tippitiy. "We all _ things in different ways and we all find our own 4_ to show people what we see. Everybody is _ _ and art is for everybody." "Let's go to see Uncle Dot and I'll show you what I mean."
Uncle Dot was _ a picture of two fishermen who were working on their boat.
“Well, this is__ ！”Uncle Dot studied the drawing and said,“I like the way you showed all the _ in Trippity's garden, and that's a very cheerful sun in the sky. Art is such great 53 ，isn't it?"
Everyone agreed that it was good fun.
“Why don't all of us sit down and _ with me for a while? I have lots of art supplies. Use _ you like."
When they were _ ,they hung their picture up and stepped back to look at them. Each piece was different. Everyone had seen the_ things: a boat, two freshmen, the sea, the sky and the sun, _ person drew those things in his or her own way.
"See? You are all artists!" said Uncle Dot.
From that day on, Margaret and her mother _ drawing and all kinds of art. They didn't _ whether others thought their work was "good" or not, because they knew that didn't matter at all.
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