阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从 1～20 各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。

From her lifeguard station at the shallow end of the swimming pool, Jessica noticed clouds gathering in the sky. By the time she took a break at 2:30, the wind was picking up and the sky was getting ________ . The pool manager ________ over the loudspeaker that the pool was closing

________ , due to a severe weather warning.

All of the ________ had left by 3:30 except for Jessica’s neighbor, eight-year-old Zack Hill. Zack’s mother had planned to ________ him up later, but the storm was approaching fast. Jessica decided that she would ________ Zack off on her way home.

The minute Jessica and Zack left the parking lot, it was ________ that this was no ________ storm. The rain hit just as Jessica turned onto her street, coming down in sheets and making it ________ to see clearly. Jessica said, “Zack, I’m going to take you to my house. We need to get inside right away, and your house is farther away than ________ .”

She pressed the garage-door opener, but nothing happened. The electricity was ________ . The front door was only a few feet away, ________ the wind was so strong that Jessica and Zack had to ________ their way out of the car and into the house.

Remembering everything she could from her ________ training, Jessica dragged Zack to the basement (地下室) . “We’ll be safe in here, Zack,” she said, trying to sound ________ . They had just gotten inside ________ everything went deadly quiet for a moment. Then they could hear the sound of glass breaking. A deafening roar, like the sound of a train, filled their ________ .

After a final crash, Jessica and Zack ________ drops of rain on their arms. They saw a flash of lightning through a crack in the ceiling. The sound of the storm grew ________ . Jessica began to breathe easier. She and Zack were safe, and what a ________ they would have to tell!

1.A. blue B. bright C. sunny D. dark

2.A. announced B. murmured C. wept D. whispered

3.A. slowly B. tightly C. immediately D. quietly

4.A. swimmers B. lifeguards C. managers D. parents

5.A. get B. pick C. dress D. cheer

6.A. put B. send C. lay D. drop

7.A. probable B. clear C. impossible D. unlikely

8.A. severe B. impressive C. ordinary D. violent

9.A. hard B. comfortable C. useless D. worthwhile

10.A. ours B. hers C. yours D. mine

11.A. back B. out C. on D. up

12.A. and B. thus C. but D. so

13.A. jump B. find C. fight D. thread

14.A. teacher B. character C. flight D. emergency

15.A. nervous B. calm C. humorous D. polite

16.A. when B. since C. after D. as

17.A. mouths B. eyes C. noses D. ears

18.A. heard B. tasted C. felt D. smelt

19.A. distant B. near C. sharp D. loud

20.A. joke B. story C. lie D. difference

What is funny? The short answer is: Who knows? The joke that causes a burst of laughter from one listener might be met with a puzzled look from another.

In general, you should avoid jokes at any business or social gathering where there are more than two people in your conversational group. If there are only two people — and they consist of you and your best friend — go ahead and tell it.

Admittedly, a few people possess a perfect sense of timing, appropriateness, and joke delivery. You are probably not one of them. You might be quite funny and have many great jokes. But there’s a place for jokes — over dinner with family, hiking with friends, but business or social affairs with colleagues and acquaintances (熟人) are not it. It takes a whole other level of joke-telling ability to put a joke into the more formal conversations.

The best jokes come into the conversation so that by the time listeners realize a joke is in progress, the punchline that produces humour is being delivered — to their surprise and delight.

Jokes don’t translate well when you’re in a group with mixed backgrounds: those whose first language is not English, those who might not understand a special term or an “in” expression, young people who wouldn’t catch a reference to some bit of culture familiar to older people — and vice versa (反之亦然).

Never joke about another person in the group — about their name, habits, hometown, profession, appearance, or past. It’s not a question of whether the joke is cheery or appropriate. No one enjoys being singled out this way. When you are the subject of the joke, the laughter doesn’t feel good no matter how hard you try to tell yourself they’re not laughing at you. Because that’s what it feels like.

What do you say if you realize your joke upset someone? Apologize as briefly and as sincerely as you can, and hope that someone changes the subject. Try saying: “I’m sorry. I should have known better” or “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

What do you do if people don’t get your joke or don’t appear to find it as funny as you do? First, do not retell it, only louder this time, hoping the point of the joke will be seen. Second, don’t try to push people to get it. People do not like people whose jokes they don’t understand. They feel stupid and need to blame someone. If you want to leave with the goodwill of your listeners, say something to make them feel less foolish. You could say: “I don’t know why I tell jokes when I’m so poor at it.”

The world needs laughter, and good humour is a success wherever it goes, so this caveat (告诫) about joke-telling is not meant to dampen high spirits or to advocate dull conversation. If you’re a gifted story-teller and you know people love your jokes, go for it. We need your kind. The rest of us will save our jokes for family and close friends.

1.According to the passage, it might be appropriate for you to tell a joke at a business or social gathering if ______.

A. the joke is well chosen

B. you have complete confidence in your listeners’ sense of humor

C. only you and your best friend are involved in the conversation

D. the audience consists of your colleagues and acquaintances

2.Why do some jokes fail to work?

A. Because the punchline is too long to catch.

B. Because the joke-teller uses wrong words and expressions.

C. Because the joke-teller and listeners don’t share the same background knowledge.

D. Because the jokes are not properly translated into the listeners’ native language.

3.How will people feel when they are joked about?

A. They will feel happy if the joke is a pleasant one.

B. They will be upset no matter what kind of joke it is.

C. They will enjoy the joke when realizing that people are not laughing at them.

D. They will panic because it makes them the center of attention.

4.When people do not understand a joke they hear, they tend to ______.

A. believe it’s the joke-teller’s fault B. get someone to retell the joke

C. ask for explanation D. say something foolish

5.Which of the following best describes the writer’s opinion on joke-telling?

A. Nobody knows what makes a joke funny.

B. We should not tell jokes unless we are asked to do so.

C. Joke-telling is a very complex thing.

D. Jokes should be told only to friends and family members.

“Men get all the breaks!” the veteran (老练的) teacher announced to me. A cold greeting. Her stare stabbed like an icicle (冰柱).

“Hello,” I countered, extending my hand. “I guess we’ll be teaching together this year.”

“I swear, all you have to do is wear pants and walk into an elementary school and they hire you! It makes me sick!” I would have responded, but she turned her back to me and stomped off down the hall.

Who would have imagined that the biggest challenge I would face during my first year on the job would not be students, but fellow teachers?

“You can’t put that there!” Another teacher burst into my classroom. “You can’t put the teacher’s desk at the back of the room!”

“Pardon?”

“If you put your desk way back there, you won’t be able to see them cheating!”

Next I was told I must not arrange student desks into abutting clusters because “the students might talk too much.”

At home my wife kept assuring me, “You’re there for the kids. When you meet your students, things will be different.” And she was right. One day the bell rang and there were thirty-five wonderful sixth graders sitting at their desks (still arranged in clusters) and it was different. I was happy.

“Welcome to sixth grade.” I began the year as I’d rehearsed for months. “You’ll notice,” I continued, “my desk is at the back of the room.” They chuckled. “I don’t want that desk between us. I want to be involved in your learning and involved in your lives.”

In the days that followed, I ate with my students at lunch (“Wilcox shouldn’t do that!”); I played with my students at recess (“That’s unheard of!”); I read with my students in the library (“He’s wasting time!”); I even stayed after school with some boys who got in trouble with the principal (“He’s undermining the school’s entire discipline program!”).

I went home to my wife. “Don’t worry,” she said. “They’re just threatened by you because you’re new and you’re good. Let the other teachers know you’re not a threat. Just keep being nice to them.”

Obediently, I pulled out the Golden Rule, dusted it off, and vowed to start again. As I did with the children, I started looking for specific, positive things I could build upon and reinforce sincerely in my colleagues: “Nice job on the announcements this morning!” “Wow! I like that worksheet you made up.” “Man, your kids walked down the hall so quietly.” “I heard your class singing great songs. You do a super job with music!”

“I like your bulletin board,” I said to Mrs. Icicle Eyes.

“Really?” she asked. “It’s just the same old thing I put up every year.” She reached out and straightened a sagging border. Then, not unlike one of my students, she added, “Do you really like it?”

“Yes,” I answered firmly. As sure as sun beams, the Golden Rule was shining, and things were finally warming up.

That very afternoon, a few parents went to the principal’s office asking if their sixth graders could be moved into my class. Of course the students were not transferred, but when the grapevine circulated the request, up went the old barbed wire fence. Complete with machine guns.

I continued to do the best job I could. I worked. I taught. I cared. I waited for a breakthrough moment.

Months passed. It was lunch recess. I asked a boy walking down the hall. “Have you seen Mrs. So-and-So?” I was, in fact, searching for Mrs. Icicle Eyes. I needed to consult with her.

Grinning, he came toward me as if sharing a secret. “She’s outside shooting baskets with the girls!”

“She’s playing basketball with the girls?” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” he nodded. I smiled. I didn’t say another word. But my smile inside was even bigger than the one on my face.

1.In the veteran teacher’s eyes, the writer got the teaching job because ______.

A. he was a man

B. he wore pants

C. he was experienced

D. he enjoyed teaching

2.The underlined sentences in Paragraph 11 are probably the comments from ______.

A. the principal

B. the writer’s wife

C. the writer’s colleagues

D. the students’ parents

3.The writer’s wife thought that his colleagues felt threatened because ______.

A. he hung around with students

B. he was a competitive newcomer

C. he ignored their advice

D. he was an impolite coworker

4. What was the Golden Rule the writer followed?

A. He should encourage the students as much as possible.

B. He should separate his colleagues into friends and enemies.

C. He should adopt a positive attitude toward his teaching career.

D. He should learn to appreciate the shining points in people around him.

5.What happened when a few parents asked the principal to move their children into the writer’s class?

A. The colleagues became defensive and were ready to attack him.

B. The school built fences to ensure the safety of the students.

C. The students were immediately moved into his class.

D. The school used weapons to protect the children.

6. Why did the writer smile inside when he heard of “Mrs. Icicle Eyes” playing basketball with students?

A. She became interested in sports to amuse him.

B. She got closer to students under his influence.

C. He could not put his feelings into words.

D. He discovered a secret of hers.

下面文章中有5个段落需要添加首句（第1～5题）。请从以下选项（A、B、C、D、E和F）中选出适合各段落的首句，并在答题纸上将相应选项的标号涂黑。选项中有一项是多余选项。

A. Be totally engaged.

B. Structure your free time.

C. Learn to enjoy your work.

D. Concentrate on one activity.

E. Avoid working with unhappy colleagues.

F. Look for a job where you have some control.

Five Simplification Steps to Experiencing Happiness

Happiness is never a permanent condition; it is made up of individual conditions that give rise to happiness. The Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this condition “flow”: becoming so absorbed in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. You cannot manufacture happiness — but you can prepare the soil for happiness to grow. Researchers have found the following five qualifications in their studies of happy people.

1.______ Your working environment has a major influence on your experience of happiness. If you are surrounded by staff who grumble and have a negative attitude, it will be much more difficult for you to experience flow than it would be on a harmonious team. Identify clearly which people in your working environment suffer from chronic unhappiness and might infect you with it on an unconscious level. Keep a greater distance from those people or ask for a transfer.

2.____ People who have to devote their attention to several activities at once are unable to get into the flow. You will be able to experience those moments of happiness only when you engage in an activity with your whole being.

3._____ People who experience flow have managed to turn the restrictions of their working environment into opportunities. They see themselves as the criterion (标准) for their quality. Recognition from others or money they earn recede into the background. Among the people who Csikszentmihalyi discovered to be experiencing the greatest degree of happiness, there was a very simple worker in a steel mill who was popular with everyone on account of his specialized knowledge and willingness to help.

4.______ People who feel like victims and don’t live but “are lived” lose their ability to enjoy themselves even if their work is exemplary. So change your job, even if the new one doesn’t pay as well or is less prestigious (有声望的) . People who find happiness in their work will work so well that sooner or later they will profit, even on the level of money and prestige.

5.______ Astonishingly, work is easier to enjoy than free time. Working life includes goals, rules, and challenges. On the other hand, free time is unstructured and it takes effort to organize it in such a way as to make it enjoyable. So don’t be reluctant to plan your free time and structure it deliberately. People who don’t waste their free time have a more positive awareness of life; they live longer and they are less often sick. However, people who spend their time at work looking forward eagerly to going home and to the weekend seldom experience flow. Only 18% of all those questioned by Csikszentmihalyi experienced flow in the context of free time, and in almost all cases where they did, it was in the context of an organized hobby.

— It is so crowded and the pollution is so serious here!

— You see, ______. I’m going to quit my job and move to the country.

A. I’ve had enough B. I like it here

C. That will be OK D. It’s not so bad

You ______ pay too much attention to your reading skills, as they are so important.

A. shouldn’t B. mustn’t C. can’t D. needn’t

Security devices at airports are ______ to spot weapons that could be used by terrorists.

A. pretended B. intended C. demanded D. declined

Minister Bill De Blasio ______ in office fewer than 48 hours when he came face to face with his biggest challenge in his life.

A. has been B. had been C. would be D. is

Take action today ______ you won’t miss your windows of opportunity.

A. as if B. now that C. so that D. even if

Nowadays, an increasing number of museums are open to visitors free. However, free ______ might lead to some social problems as well.

A. accommodation B. attraction

C. admission D. adjustment