I am a good mother to three children.I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being
a good parent.
I no longer consider myself the center of the universe.I show up.I listen.I try to laugh.I am a good
friend to my husband.I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约) mean what they say.I am a good friend
to my friends, and they to me.Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.
So here"s what I want to tell you today:get a life.A real life, not a desire of the next promotion(提升),
the bigger paycheck and the larger house.
Get a life in which you are not alone.Find people you love, and who love you.And remember that love
is not leisure(休闲) but work.Pick up the phone.Send an email.Write a letter.And realize that life is the
best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.
It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, and our minutes.It is so easy to exist instead of
living.I learned to live many years ago.Something really, really bad happened to me, something that
changed my life.If I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all.And what I learned from it is
what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.
I learned to love the journey, not the destination.I learned to look at all the good in the world and tried
to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally.And I tried to do that, in part, by
telling others what I had learned.
By telling them this:read in the backyard with the sun on your face.Learn to be happy.And think of life
as a deadly illness, because if you do, you will live with joy and passion(激情) as it ought to be lived.
1. The best title of this passage probably is "________".
A. Love Your Friends
B. Live a Real Life
C. Don"t Waste Time
D. Be a Good Mother and Wife
2. How did the author form her view of life?
A. Through social experience.
B. By learning from her friends.
C. Through an unfortunate experience.
D. From her children and husband.
3. By the underlined sentence "It is so easy to exist instead of living." in the fifth paragraph, the author
really means that people tend to________.
A. make a living rather than live a real life
B. work rather than enjoy life
C. waste a lot in life
D. forget the most important lesson in life
4. It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A. the author is a success in personal life
B. the author doesn"t try her best to work well
C. the author spends all her time caring for her children
D. the author likes traveling very much
American author Mark Twain once noted that "life would be surely happier if we could only be born at the age of 80 and gradually approach 18." Twain"s words were only one of many complaints about aging. The ancient Greek poet Homer called old age "hateful", and William Shakespeare termed it "terrible
winter".
Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the known world before he died around 323 B.C., may
have been looking for a river that healed the ravages of age. During the 12th century A.D., a king called
Prester John ruled a land that had a river of gold and a fountain of youth.
But the name linked most closely to the search for a fountain of youth is 16th-century Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. He thought it would be found in Florida. In St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S., there"s a tourist attraction. It is said to be the fountain of youth that Ponce de Leon discovered soon after
he arrived in what is now Florida in 1513. However, elderly visitors who drink the spring"s water don"t
turn into teenagers.
But the tale of the search for a fountain of youth is so appealing(有吸引力的) that it survives anyway,
says Ryan K. Smith, a professor of history. "People are more attracted by the story of looking and not
finding than they are by the idea that the fountain might be out there somewhere."
Still, a few grains of truth have helped to support the story. Kathleen Deagan, a professor of
archaeology, says a graveyard and the remains of a Spanish mission dating back to St. Augustine"s
founding in 1565 have been discovered near the so-called fountain of youth. Michelle Reyna, a spokesperson for the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park in St. Augustine, says the fountain has been a tourist
attraction since at least 1901 and may have been attracting visitors since 1860.
1. According to the passage, who searched for a fountain of youth?
A. Ponce de Leon
B. William Shakespeare.
C. Kathleen Deagan
D. Michelle Reyna
2. What does the underlined word "ravages" in the second paragraph probably mean?
A. Growth.
B. Limits.
C. Damages.
D. Benefits.
3. What is the attitude of people towards the fountain of youth?
A. People find much pleasure in looking for it.
B. People believe the existence of it somewhere.
C. People have no interest in searching for it.
D. People consider the idea of the fountain of youth absurd(荒谬的).
4. The passage mainly tells us _____.
A. how the fountain of youth came into being
B. why some famous people hate becoming old
C. how to remain young forever
D. whether the fountain of youth exists
5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The underlined words "the story" refers to Alexander the Great ruling a land that had a river of gold
and a fountain of youth.
B. Augustine, which is the oldest city in the U.S, lies in Florida.
C. Some elderly visitors find themselves younger after drinking the water from the fountain of youth.
D. Kathleen Deagan is the spokesperson for the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park.
A. Smiling builds up confidence.
B. Smiling changes mood.
C. Smiling helps stay positive.
D. Smiling defeats diseases.
E. Smiling attracts people.
F. Smiling relieves stress.
1. _____
Like a flower with a pleasant scent, your smile can draw people close enough to see inside you.
That"s Smile Power. A smile has the power to radiate the qualities that make you beautiful on the
inside - kindness, friendship, honesty, respect, patience, and self-control. So please give smiles away
like flowers. Let your smile be an invitation for others to get to know the great person behind the smile.
Then let people see that your smile doesn"t stop at your mouth. It goes all the way to your heart. On the
other hand, we are drawn to people who smile and we want to know a smiling person and figure out
what is so good. Frowns, scowls and grimaces all push people away-but a smile draws them in.
2. _____
Next time you are feeling down, try putting on a smile. There"s a good chance you mood will change
for the better. Smiling can trick the body into helping you to have good feelings. So smile is a good state
of mind, you have a smile, then you will have better feelings. So when you are smiling you lighten up the
room, change the moods of others, and make things happier.
3._____
The muscles we use to smile lift the face, making a person appear younger. Don"t go for a face lift, just
try smiling your way through the day - you"ll look younger. Then you will feel better and have more
confidence, thus are more likely to be promoted, and more likely to be approached. Put on a smile at
meetings and appointments and people will react to you differently because of your confidence.
4. ____
Stress can really show up in our faces. Smiling helps to prevent us from looking tired, worn down, and
overwhelmed. When you are stressed, take time to put on a smile. This is because when you smile, there
is a measurable reduction in your blood pressure. You can sit for a few minutes, take a reading. Then
smile for a minute and take another reading while still smiling. You will be happy to see your stress
disappears quickly.
5. _____
Now try to think of something negative without losing the smile. It"s hard. When we smile our body
is sending the rest of us a message that "Life is Good!" Stay away from depression, stress and worry by
smiling. So smile is a positive state of mind, every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift
to that person, a beautiful thing and then other people will also answer your smile.
Please help! I live in Germany with my wife and three kids. My parents live in the UK. I want my kids
to have as much contact with their grandparents as possible. The kids all use e-mail, Skype and SMS but my parents won"t. I"ve bought them a laptop, paid for broadband, given them both mobile phones and a
digital camera, but they won"t use them. My parents say they hate computers and new technology. What
can I do with these "technophobes"?
Daniel, Buremburg, Germany
Actually, the original technophobes were the Luddites, a group of cloth workers in 19th century Britain during the Industrial Revolution. The Luddite cloth workers, who traditionally made cloth by hand, were
worried that machines were going to take away their jobs and way of life. These machines could make
cloth much faster and cheaper than humans. In 1811 and 1812 the Luddites destroyed the machines that
they hated so much, but the British government supported the factory owners. Many Luddites were
arrested. Charlotte Bronte"s novel Shirley will tell your parents all about it.
Laura, Valencia, Spain
Laura makes some interesting points, I think. Technophobes has been a common theme in science
fiction. Frankenstein, one of the first science fiction, is a warning of what could happen if humans began
to experiment with human life.
Freda, Copenhagen, Denmark
One thing you could try is to find hardware that is designed for older people to use. An example is the mobiles made by the US company, Jitterbug. Instead of icons and menus the Jitterbug phones ask users
simple "yes/no" questions and have larger keypads. The company realized that there are potentially 100
million older users in the US alone.
Graham, Patras, Greece
1. The underlined part "the technophobes" in the passage refers to ______.
A. those who are ready to try new technology
B. those who are addicted to the Internet
C. those who refuse to use modern technology
D. those who are devoted to inventing new things
2. Which of the following is TRUE of the Luddites?
A. They called themselves the technophobes.
B. They got full support from their factory owners.
C. They preferred to keep their traditional working methods.
D. They were killed by the government.
3. Who has put forward a practical and useful suggestions?
A. Laura.
B. Freda.
C. Daniel.
D. Graham.
4. The passage is probably taken from _____.
A. a personal blog
B. a letter between friends
C. a personal diary
D. a speech on new technology
5. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Daniel would buy her parents a novel written by Shirley.
B. Charlotte Bronte wrote about technophobes in her novel Shirley.
C. Daniel would buy her parents cell phones with icons and menus.
D. Daniel worried about her children using e-mails.
Driving cars, trucks and motorcycles is an important part of our lives. We do it every day to get to
work, to school or to friends" houses.
Driving can be very convenient, but can also cause many problems. Waiting in line at a red light, a
driver may get impatient and decide just to drive right through it. If another car is coming from the other
direction, there might be a terrible accident. Cutting another car off can make its driver angry, so that
driver cuts off someone else. Pretty soon everybody is angry, and impatient.
Traffic accidents declare millions of lives every year worldwide. In Taiwan alone, over seven people
are killed in accidents every day. The annual death rate from traffic accidents in Taiwan is twice that of
Japan.
To allow traffic to move smoothly and safely, everybody must follow the rules. Before you drive,
learn all the traffic laws. That way of driving is safe, convenient and even fun!
1. The underlined sentence "Traffic accidents declare millions of lives worldwide" in the
passage means "_______".
A. Traffic accidents make some people become millionaires
B. Many people die from traffic accidents
C. Millions of people say they themselves have had traffic accidents
D. Millions of people remain healthy after traffic accidents
2. According to the passage, driving can be safe if _______.
A. you are patient
B. you obey all the traffic rules
C. you don"t cut another car off
D. you wait in line at a red light
3. Which of the following may be the best title for this passage?
A. Traffic Safety
B. A Careful driver
C. How To Drive A Car
D. A Traffic Accident
Many have sought a variety of sources for their feelings of happiness. Some have put their heart and
effort into their work. Too many have turned to drugs and alcohol. Most of their efforts have a root in
one common fact: People are looking for a lasting source of happiness.
Unfortunately, I believe that happiness escapes mostly because they misunderstand the process and
journey of finding it. I have heard many people say that, "I"ll be happy when I get my new promotion."
or "I"ll be happy when I earn that extra 20 pounds." The list goes on and on. You probably have a few
of your own you could add if you want.
This thinking is dangerous because it presupposes that happiness is a "response" to having, being or
doing something. In life, we all experience stimulus and response. Stimulus is when a dog barks at you
and bares his teeth. Response is when your heart beats faster, your palms get sweaty and you prepare to
run. Today, some people think that an expensive car is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. A great
paying job is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. A loving relationship is a stimulus. Happiness is a
response. This belief leaves us thinking and feeling: "I"ll be happy when…
It has been my finding that actually the opposite is true. I believe that happiness is a stimulus and
response is what life brings to those who are truly happy. When we are happy, we tend to have more
success in our work. When we are happy, people want to be around us and enjoy loving relationships.
When we are happy, we more naturally take better care of our bodies and enjoy good health. Happiness
is NOT a response - rather, it is a stimulus.
Happiness is a conscious choice we make every day of our lives. For unknown reason to me, many
choose to be painful, unsuccessful and angry most of the time. Happiness is not something that happens
to us after we get something we want - we usually get things we want AFTER we choose to be happy.
I have made only one simple rule for my own happiness: Every day above ground is a GOOD day.
Therefore, I tend to have a lot of good (and happy) days continually.
1. The second paragraph mainly tells us that people seek happiness_______.
A. in the same way
B. in different ways
C. by working hard
D. by taking drugs
2. What does the underlined phrase "This thinking" refer to?
A. The thinking of being promoted.
B. The giving up of happiness.
C. The process and journey of finding happiness.
D. The misunderstanding of happiness.
3. The underlined word "stimulus" in para.4 probably means_______.
A. something causes an action
B. something helps to expand
C. attention
D. improvement
4. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to________.
A. tell people how to enjoy happiness
B. encourage people to seek happiness
C. express his attitude towards happiness
D. criticize the wrong ideas about happiness
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