(2013·南通模拟) “It is never too late and you are never too old to start something new！”says Englishtown _____ Ellen Rema.Ellen began to learn English at the age of 50，and in just a few years，she has made ____ progress!
Ellen chose to study at Englishtown because no evening classes were ____ in the German countryside where she lives.At Englishtown，she joins ____ classes online and speaks with live native Englishspeaking teachers.
“Englishtown is a wonderful place to ____，”she says.“My son always says，mom，you are a bit ___.He cannot understand why I spend so many hours studying，____ love it，I do it for myself.”
In 2001，Ellen began with the first level of Englishtown and quickly ____.“I spent hours and hours studying.”she said.“Maybe I wanted too much in a short time.I finished all my ___ after 2 years，but noticed I still had ____ difficulties.”
Instead of ____，she chose to press on.After four years at Englishtown，she"s still studying in the online classroom，but now to perfect her already ____ English，she has set new ____ for herself and ___ understanding grammar points.
“Studying online is never ____，but you need selfdiscipline，selfmotivation and staying power，”she says.“If you really want to learn，never quit even when you notice difficulties or when you think there is no____.Practice，practice，practice！”
Ellen says studying English isn"t all about hard work.It should also be ____！“I really like the online conversation classrooms，”she says.“I have learned so much about other cultures and traditions.I"m open for all____.”
Ellen has been able to ____ her English to use by visiting England five times！“I"m very thankful to Englishtown because most of the English I know now was learned here，”Ellen says.“My life has ____ with Englishtown.”
| 小题1: | | A．professor | B．friend | C．student | D．reporter |
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| 小题2: | | A．amazing | B．challenging | | C．discouraging | D．disturbing |
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| 小题3: | | A．satisfied | B．offered | | C．attended | D．represented |
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| 小题4: | | A．conversation | B．composition | | C．listening | D．reading |
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| 小题5: | | A．live | B．eat | C．entertain | D．study |
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| 小题6: | | A．crazy | B．tired | C．worried | D．attractive |
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| 小题7: | | A．though | B．but | C．while | D．when |
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| 小题8: | | A．dropped | B．brushed | | C．awarded | D．progressed |
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| 小题9: | | A．channels | B．schedules | C．courses | D．papers |
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| 小题10: | | A．comprehending | B．reading | | C．grammar | D．vocabulary |
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| 小题11: | | A．fighting back | B．giving up | | C．turning away | D．looking around |
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| 小题12: | | A．significant | B．shabby | C．broken | D．excellent |
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| 小题13: | | A．goals | B．decisions | | C．means | D．conclusions |
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| 小题14: | | A．turns off | B．gets off | | C．focuses on | D．puts up |
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| 小题15: | | A．interesting | B．boring | C．shocking | D．unwilling |
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| 小题16: | | A．vision | B．success | C．struggle | D．tendency |
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| 小题17: | | A．fun | B．waste | C．weakness | D．wonder |
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| 小题18: | | A．measures | B．topics | C．timetables | D．fashions |
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| 小题20: | | A．ruined | B．started | C．changed | D．turned |
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小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:A
小题5:D
小题6:A
小题7:B
小题8:D
小题9:C
小题10:C
小题11:B
小题12:D
小题13:A
小题14:C
小题15:B
小题16:B
小题17:A
小题18:B
小题19:D
小题20:C |
有志者，事竟成。一位50岁才开始学习英语的老人，凭借顽强的毅力，取得了可喜的成绩。
小题1:由第二段的第一句可知她是Englishtown的一名“学生”。
答案 C
小题2:她50岁开始学英语，仅仅几年后，就取得了“惊人的”进步。后三项分别表示“挑战性的”“令人气馁的”“烦扰的”，都不符合语境。
答案 A
小题3: 在她居住的德国乡村没有“提供”夜校课程，所以她选择了网络学习方式。
答案 B
小题4:根据本句后半句中的内容可知她参加的是在线“会话”课程。倒数第二段中的第三句也是答案提示。
答案 A
小题5: 根据第二段第一句中的内容可知Englishtown是一个极好的“学习”场所。
答案 D
小题6:下一句提到她的儿子难以理解她为什么花那么多的时间去学习，由此可知他认为妈妈有点儿“疯狂”。
答案 A
小题7: 他不能理解的是妈妈为什么花那么多时间学习，“却”乐在其中。
答案 B
小题8:她从第一级开始学习，并且很快“取得进步”。此处progress作动词，表示“进步，进展”。
答案 D
小题9:她在两年后学完了所有的“课程”。A项表示“渠道，频道”，B项表示“时间表”，D项表示“论文，报纸，试卷”，都不符合语境。
答案 C
小题10:根据下文第24空后面的内容可知她察觉到自己仍然有“语法”方面的困难。
答案 C
小题11: 她没有“放弃”，而是坚定地继续学习。A项表示“还击，抵抗”，C项表示“转过去，拒绝(进入)”，D项表示“寻找”，都不符合语境。
答案 B
小题12:为了使她本来已经很优秀的英语更出色……。
答案 D
小题13:虽然她的英语已经非常优秀，可是她又为自己制订了新的“目标”。
答案 A
小题14:她为自己制订了新的目标，并且“集中”理解语法要点。
答案 C
小题15: 本句的后半部分提到“但是你需要自律、自我激励以及保持动力”，由此可知她认为在线学习一点也不“乏味”。
答案 B
小题16:如果你真的想学习，即使当你意识到有困难或者认为不会有“成功”的时候，也决不要放弃。
答案 B
小题1: 结合本句前后两句中的内容可知学习英语也应该“很有趣”。
答案 A
小题17:她对所有的“话题”都感兴趣。A项表示“措施”，C项表示“时间表”，D项表示“时尚”，都与语境不符。
答案 B
小题18:通过五次参观英国，她已经能够使用英语。put...to use是固定搭配，表示“利用，使用”。
答案 D
小题19: Englishtown使她的生活发生了“改变”。
答案 C |
核心考点
试题【(2013·南通模拟) “It is never too late and you are never too old to start something n】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Some years ago, writing in my diary used to be a usual activity.I would return from school and spend the expected half hour recording the day"s events, feelings, and impressions in my little blue diary.I did not really need to express my emotions by way of words, but I gained a certain satisfaction from seeing my experiences forever recorded on paper.After all, isn"t accumulating memories a way of preserving the past?
When I was thirteen years old, I went on a long journey on foot in a great valley, well－equipped with pens, a diary, and a camera.During the trip, I was busy recording every incident, name and place I came across.I felt proud to be spending my time productively, dutifully preserving for future generations a detailed description of my travels.On my last night there, I wandered out of my tent, diary in hand.The sky was clear and lit by the glare of the moon, and the walls of the valley looked threatening behind their screen of shadows.I automatically took out my pen...
At that point, I understood that nothing I wrote could ever match or replace the few seconds I allowed myself to experience the dramatic beauty of the valley.All I remembered of the previous few days were the dull characterizations I had set down in my diary.
Now, I only write in my diary when I need to write down a special thought or feeling.I still love to record ideas and quotations that strike me in books, or observations that are particularly meaningful.I take pictures, but not very often—only of objects I find really beautiful.I"m no longer blindly satisfied with having something to remember when I grow old.I realize that life will simply pass me by if I stay behind the camera, busy preserving the present so as to live it in the future.
I don"t want to wake up one day and have nothing but a pile of pictures and notes.Maybe I won"t have as many exact representations of people and places; maybe I"ll forget certain facts, but at least the experiences will always remain inside me.I don"t live to make memories—I just live, and the memories form themselves.
小题1:Before the age of thirteen, the author regarded keeping a diary as a way of________.| A．observing her school routine | | B．expressing her satisfaction | | C．impressing her classmates | | D．preserving her history |
小题2:What caused a change in the author"s understanding of keeping a diary?| A．A dull night on the journey. | | B．The beauty of the great valley. | | C．A striking quotation from a book. | | D．Her concerns for future generations. |
小题3:What does the author put in her diary now?| A．Notes and beautiful pictures. | | B．Special thoughts and feelings. | | C．Detailed accounts of daily activities. | | D．Descriptions of unforgettable events. |
小题4:The author comes to realize that to live a meaningful life is________.| A．to experience it | | B．to live the present in the future | | C．to make memories | | D．to give accurate representations of it |
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My mother has been a true inspiration to me and changed the way I look at life. Since my birth she has made it evident that I would become ____ and that I would be one of the great ones. She has taught me that I can do anything if I put my ____ to it.
As a young boy, I struggled to achieve tasks that came ____ to others. I had problems with writing, reading and especially speaking. I didn"t talk the way ____ kids did and did not respond to questions or stay alert (警觉的) to my surroundings. My reading was poor ____ with teachers helping me, and my speech was hard to ___. My writing was not at the ____ it should have been. Even simple things like knowing my left from my right or being able to snap my fingers (弹手指) were ____.
My mother ____ all my challenges and as a professor with a PH. D. , decided to ____ the situation early in my development. She didn"t want me to ____. After a while, we did indeed get over all the problems that had ____ me. She spent hours every day ____ me everything I needed to know, determined to help me learn. ____ her I would not be anywhere close to the level I am now.
In addition, she gave ____ for my life. She told me what to do and what not to do. Her expectations have always been high ___ she knows that I can do it. For that, I thank her. She would not allow her son to be incapable. She never ____ on me, and to this day she tells me education is a must. I will be a ____ person if I continue to follow her lead. She encourages me to study hard for my ____ and attend college.
She used her gifts as a ____ to help a child—her child—and now I have the opportunity to become something.
| 小题1: | | A．everything | B．nothing | | C．anything | D．something |
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| 小题2: | | A．mind | B．brain | | C．feelings | D．work |
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| 小题3: | | A．smoothly | B．strongly | | C．frequently | D．easily |
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| 小题4: | | A．average | B．ordinary | | C．normal | D．common |
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| 小题6: | | A．hear | B．write | | C．read | D．understand |
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| 小题7: | | A．level | B．length | | C．speed | D．degree |
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| 小题8: | | A．problems | B．excuses | | C．worries | D．duties |
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| 小题9: | | A．suffered | B．observed | | C．removed | D．tolerated |
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| 小题10: | | A．study | B．find | | C．change | D．keep |
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| 小题11: | | A．fight | B．struggle | | C．strike | D．challenge |
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| 小题12: | | A．interrupted | B．disturbed | | C．terrified | D．troubled |
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| 小题13: | | A．teaching | B．giving | | C．supporting | D．reminding |
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| 小题14: | | A．Without | B．Except | | C．Besides | D．Beyond |
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| 小题15: | | A．information | B．advice | | C．promise | D．expectation |
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| 小题16: | | A．before | B．though | | C．because | D．unless |
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| 小题17: | | A．set up | B．gave up | | C．pushed up | D．looked up |
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| 小题18: | | A．rich | B．famous | | C．successful | D．powerful |
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| 小题19: | | A．training | B．grades | | C．experiments | D．abilities |
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| 小题20: | | A．woman | B．doctor | | C．sister | D．teacher |
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I am a journalist in America.When reporting a story，I sometimes need to find a ____ kind of person—someone who has recently switched banks，or who is ____ cancer，or who owns both a Chevy pickup and Toyota sedan.
At such moments，I ____ my brother Keith，a telecommunication worker in eastern Kansas.Usually he says，“I know just the guy.”
His contacts are so diverse in large part ____ he is offline.At age 52，he’s ____ sent an email，surfed the Web or bought anything online.Without any mobile email system to ____ his attention when he is shopping，he is ____ to make a friend or two before ____.Without Web pages to instruct him on his latest project—how to build a cow fence or how to fix a woodburning stove—he seeks out the help of neighbours who have done it and follows their ____，and during beerdrinking time afterwards he listens carefully to their ____ of health problems，banking habits and newcar ____.
“I like talking to people，” he says.“I do not ____ nowadays people send each other emails instead of talking while they’re in the ___ room.”
My older brother ____ considers himself as an oldfashioned man and the Internet ____ are making him more so，too.As a(n) ____ to the Web，my brother belongs to one of the nation’s fastestdecreasing ____.
During the first half decade of the 21st century，the proportion of Internet users ____ slowly，to 59% of adult Americans from just over 50%，according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.____ in the second half of the decade，that growth skyrocketed(猛升) and now nearly 80% of adult Americans use the Internet.At that pace，the offline Americans will no longer ____ in the coming decade.
| 小题1: | | A．rich | B．friendly | | C．brave | D．particular |
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| 小题2: | | A．battling | B．avoiding | | C．curing | D．developing |
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| 小题3: | | A．appoint | B．call | | C．miss | D．search |
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| 小题4: | | A．when | B．until | | C．unless | D．because |
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| 小题5: | | A．ever | B．frequently | | C．never | D．seldom |
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| 小题6: | | A．divide | B．receive | | C．pay | D．gain |
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| 小题7: | | A．willing | B．likely | | C．anxious | D．clever |
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| 小题8: | | A．settling down | B．using up | | C．setting off | D．checking out |
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| 小题9: | | A．advice | B．plan | | C．example | D．gesture |
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| 小题10: | | A．lesson | B．speech | | C．talk | D．lecture |
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| 小题11: | | A．displays | B．purchases | | C．exchanges | D．repairs |
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| 小题12: | | A．imagine | B．predict | | C．understand | D．recommend |
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| 小题13: | | A．big | B．new | | C．same | D．special |
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| 小题14: | | A．sometimes | B．recently | | C．once | D．always |
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| 小题15: | | A．values | B．trends | | C．techniques | D．benefits |
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| 小题16: | | A．stranger | B．user | | C．owner | D．beginner |
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| 小题17: | | A．workers | B．races | | C．minorities | D．teams |
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| 小题18: | | A．increased | B．developed | | C．varied | D．moved |
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| 小题20: | | A．change | B．exist | | C．last | D．work |
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It’s a great sunny day，so it’s time to get out and enjoy the weather.Many of us would like to，but we have projects due，tasks that need to be done，people that we need to see，and money that needs to be made.
What if your company gave you that time off as compensation for the great effort that you gave to the team to finish a project on time？See，when it comes to teamwork，the main focus is for the team to work together.In a “winning” team there is an equal balance of people who have unique strengths and weaknesses.
Take the example of the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s.Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player to play the game，but did they win a championship every year when Michael had played？No.It took a (Dtype) Michael Jordan to lead the team and control the outcome.It took a(n) (Itype) wild and energetic Dennis Rodman to keep the team fun and interesting.It took (Stypes) Scottie Pippin，Bill Cartwright，and John Paxson to support the team.And it took the (Ctype) analytical mind of Coach Phil Jackson to create a foundation for the players to play on.In the end they，the Chicago Bulls，were able to win six championships within eight years.
What is your team made up of？All Jordans？All Jacksons？All Rodmans？Or all Pippins，Cartwrights and Paxsons？It is you who can choose who’s on your team.Try finding the right people for the right job，and you will have a “winning” team every time!
小题1:We can infer from the first paragraph that________.| A．we need to finish the task | | B．we are eager to make more money | | C．we are all very busy every day | | D．we often go out and enjoy the fine weather |
小题2:The underlined word “compensation” in the second paragraph means “________”．| A．reward | B．present | | C．money | D．duty |
小题3:According to this passage，a winning team is made up of________.| A．a group of people who are tall and strong | | B．a group of people who don’t have weaknesses | | C．a group of people who don’t quarrel with each other | | D．a group of people whose strengths and weaknesses can get to balance |
小题4:What would be the best title for this passage?| A．Working Is Happy | | B．The Story of the Chicago Bulls | | C．Good Choice | | D．Working Together for a Team |
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The way people hold to the belief that a funfilled，painfree life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness.If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness，then pain must be equal to unhappiness.But in fact，the opposite is true.More often than not，things that lead to happiness involve some pain.
As a result，many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness.They fear the pain inevitably (不可避免地) brought by such things as marriage，raising children，professional achievement，religious commitment and selfimprovement.
Ask a bachelor (单身汉) why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying.If he is honest，he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment.Certainly，commitment is quite painful.The single life is filled with fun，adventure，and excitement.Marriage has such moments，but they are not its most distinguishing (显著的) features.
Couples with infant (婴儿) children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a threeday vacation.I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations.It liberates time：now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness.It liberates money：buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless.And it liberates us from envy：we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
小题1:According to the author，a bachelor doesn’t want to marry mainly because________.| A．he is unwilling to take family responsibilities | | B．he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single | | C．he finds more fun in dating than in marriage | | D．he fears it will put an end to all his fun adventure and excitement |
小题2:Raising children，in the author’s opinion，is________.| A．a moral duty | | B．a thankless job | | C．a rewarding task | | D．a source of inevitable pain |
小题3:To understand what true happiness is one must________.| A．have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime | | B．make every effort to liberate oneself from pain | | C．put up with pain under all circumstances | | D．be able to distinguish happiness from fun |
小题4:What is the main idea of the passage?| A．Happiness often goes hand in hand with pain. | | B．One must know how to attain happiness. | | C．It is important to make commitments. | | D．It is pain that leads to happiness. |
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