I can remember the day my father came home from the war. As he walked up the front path of our home, he saw Mum and me and he dropped the suitcase.

I was only five years old so Dad made a fuss of me, then began making an even bigger fuss of my mother. This left me free to examine all the stuff lying around the broken suitcase, and I was quick to notice a newspaper advertisement displaying a new piano. When Dad saw me holding up the newspaper cutting, he smiled.

“Yes, that’s right,” he said. “I bought your mum a piano for ten pounds down and two pounds a week.”

A few moments later, a horse pulled a cart with a piano on top. Soon we all stared at it in our small lounger room. Mum had never been close to a piano before, except at the kindergarten I attended, and she used to say how wonderful it would be if the teachers could teach her to play.

After tea that night, Mum began to teach herself to play. She plinked the keys for about two hours and drove everybody in the street mad, until Dad gently said, “Enough is enough.”

From that day on, she would plink between doing the cooking and housework. Three months went by and Mum was now a skilled pianist, holding parties with all the neighbors gathering around to sing.

Although we were poor, Mum felt like a princess and was delighted at all the attention she was receiving.

At the height of Mum’s happiness, I began to notice that Dad was looking increasingly worried. It turned out that since returning from the war, he’d been unable to find a job. Then, a few weeks later, I observed two men taking Mum’s piano away. Mum sobbed in the kitchen. Suddenly, it all became clear to me: no job, no money, no piano.

Dad finally got a job. Mum was happy again as if he’d just win the lottery(彩票). Dad had to study to qualify as an account. Every night after dinner he’d place a stack of books on the kitchen table and study late into the night. Mum didn’t say much but I could tell she was proud of Dad.

Two years later, Dad bought Mum another piano. This time he paid cash for it.

1.How did the author’s Dad buy the piano for his mum?

A．He paid part of the bill regularly.

B．He earned it by winning a bet.

C．He paid cash for it.

D．He bought it as a big bargain.

2.By saying “Enough is enough”, the author’s dad meant_______.

A．practice makes perfect

B．it was time to stop practicing

C．he couldn’t bear being troubled

D．his wife played the piano well enough

3.What made the author’s mum proud of his dad?

A．His dad’s willingness to help cook.

B．His dad’s winning the lottery luckily.

C．His dad’s loyalty to his motherland.

D．His dad’s determination to rebuild his life.

 

根据短文内容,从下框的A～F选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑.选项中有一项为多余项.

A. Argue with your boss about everything you want.

B. Make the issues clear.

C. Communicate at the right time

D. Don’t go in when you are angry.

E. Propose your solution

F. Put yourself in the boss’s position

1.Before you argue with your boss, check with the boss’s secretary to determine his mood. If he ate nails for breakfast, it is not a good idea to ask him for something. Even without the boss’s secretary, there are keys to timing: don’t approach the boss when he’s on deadline; don’t go in right before lunch, when he is apt to be distracted and rushed; don’t go in just before or after he has taken a vacation.

2.If you are mad, that will only make your boss mad. Calm down first. And don’t let a particular concern open the floodgates for all your accumulated frustration. The boss will feel that you think negatively about the company and it is hopeless trying to change your mind. Then, maybe he will dismiss you.

3.Terrible disputes can result when neither the employer nor the employee knows what is the problem the other wants to discuss. Sometimes the fight will go away when the issues are made clear. The employee has to get his point across clearly in order to make the boss understands it.

4.Your boss has enough on his mind without your adding more. If you can’t put forward an immediate solution, at least suggest how to approach the problem. People who frequently present problems without solutions to their bosses may soon find they can’t get past the secretary.

5.To deal effectively with a boss, it’s important to consider his goals and pressure. If you can put yourself in the position of being a partner to the boss, then he will be naturally more inclined to work with you to achieve your goals.

 

The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful, says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.

A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad. Keep cool, says George Herbert, for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.

To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. Anger, says Pythagoras, brings with folly ( 愚蠢 ) and ends with regret. You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.

Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.

If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.

1.What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?

A．The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself.

B．One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself.

C．To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life.

D．If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful.

2.What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad ” in paragraph 2 ?

A．If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first.

B．If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished.

C．If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy.

D．If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods.

3. If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.

A．the very backbone and nerve of character

B．the patience and power to control himself

C．strong feelings

D．self-confidence

4.The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.

A．explain that self-control is the key to success

B．teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success

C．distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it

D．advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends

5.The passage is mainly developed by _____.

A．analyzing causes	B．making comparisons
C．examining differences	D．listing quotations

 

One day my math teacher asked me to help him save back-up copies of his work in the computer. I then realized I was able to   1  the grades for all of his classes. I showed him how to copy files from one disk to another and he   2  me.

A few days later he asked me to help him again, because he   3  how to do it. When I began to show this to him, some students in my class   4  and began to talk among themselves   6 . Later that day, at lunch time, I was   5  by several of them.

“Hey, could you help us change our grades in math? We’ll   7  you…”

I could not believe what I was hearing．I could get paid for something very   8 ．" All right．I'll do it．" The next day my math teacher   9  me to help him out．When he was not paying attention, I began to change their grades from F’s to A’s．

I soon became very   10  among my friends. They began to treat me like a god with a magical   11 . I began to change the grades of students．Word    12  quickly and I became very rich．

Everything was going fine    13  I was called into the headmaster's office．When I got there, my teacher was mad, and the headmaster had an angry   14   in his eyes．  "I have known you for three years now．I don't want to   15   what your teacher said, but I'm afraid that I must．He has too much   16  , " he said．" Do you have anything to say   17  yourself?" he asked．

"No．" I said finally．I did not realize how serious my actions had been．I had violated the   18  of my teacher, and the headmaster．And there was no way   19 ．I was forced to leave my school．

That was a good   20   for me．

1.                A．assess          B． access         C．mark D．change

 

2.                A．accepted       B．supported       C．guided   D．thanked

 

3.                A．doubted        B．reminded       C．forgot    D．remembered

 

4.                A．noticed         B．hid            C．agreed   D．complained

 

5.                A．disappointedly   B．quietly         C．angrily   D．freely

 

6.                A．appointed       B．appreciated     C．approved D．approached

 

7.                A．follow          B．pay            C．inspire   D．praise

 

8.                A．simple         B．interesting      C．familiar   D．pleasant

 

9.                A．encouraged     B．got            C．forced   D．advised

 

10.               A．optimistic       B．grateful        C．popular   D．sensitive

 

11.               A．power         B．strength        C．energy    D．right

 

12.               A．slipped         B．spread         C．escaped   D．fled

 

13.               A．after           B．since          C．until  D．as

 

14.               A．look           B．light           C．sight  D．feeling

 

15.               A．influence       B．ignore         C．oppose    D．believe

 

16.               A．experience     B．confidence      C．evidence  D．pressure

 

17.               A．to             B．by             C．of    D．for

 

18.               A．trust           B．intention       C．promise   D．honor

 

19.               A．in             B．on            C．down D．back

 

20.               A．story          B．skill            C．lesson D．example

 

 

阅读下列应用文及相关信息，并按照要求匹配信息。

首先，请阅读以下专家的解答：

A.First, let' s talk about your boyfriend.If he' s laughing at you about it and won' t stop (even after you've talked to him about the fact that it hurts and annoys you) then you might need to stop being friends with him. If he really doesn't care about how he is hurting you, then he's not good enough to be your boyfriend. Second, if that girl is bothering you and threatening to beat you up you really need to turn to an adult for help. If you can't feel safe at school, you can't concentrate and will get poor grades, which will affect your future.

B.It' s true that your first year in high school is important. It's a fresh start with your grades and it affects the rest of your high school years, but if you just stay calm, optimistic, and focused, you'll do fine. There's really no need to worry about grades as long as you work hard. Try to stay happy and confident. I think a good way to get an extra confidence boost is to wear your favorite clothes.

C.You' re already on the right track by knowing what you want to change about yourself and why you feel the way you do. Understanding yourself is a big step! One good thing to do is to hang out with people a lot like you. If you have more in common with someone, then it is much easier to talk to them. Usually when you feel comfortable around a group of people, your confidence increases a lot.

D.What I've discovered from my years of school changing is that confidence is the key to a good first day. Make sure you're not too threatening to your new classmates in any way, and it usually helps to be twice as nice as usual. Just smile and try to have fun. Also, about the clothes, wear something cute with bright colors. Then you'll look good, but you won' t have too many eyes on you all at once. Good luck and have fun!

E.Usually it helps your grades if your family life is less of a challenge. If you get better grades and quit running up high phone bills, you would get along better with your parents. Getting along with your parents is pretty important.They've been through a lot and are usually good people to go to for help. So try your best to get along with your family.

F.If you don't feel pretty, remember that everyone looks different. There are different kinds of "pretty”, believe it or not. Some people have great smiles, some have great hair, and some have nice eyes. Pay more attention to the parts of you that you like and pay less attention to what you don't like.

阅读下列人物的困惑，然后匹配相应的专家解答：

1.I am in eighth grade and am about to start high school.I am super nervous about going to high school and afraid that I won' t fit in and get good grades. It is all I think about nowadays and it is ruining my life. What should I do? Please help me!

2.I had a fight with a girl at school and ended up almost getting forced to leave school. Everybody makes fun of me and now my boyfriend is joining in with them. I have told him that it hurts my feelings, but he says that it is just a joke and that he may do it again. I feel scared to go to school, because I knocked her down at school and she'll get all her friends to beat me up the next time she sees me. I run as fast as I can to attend classes. Please help me!

3.My dad and mom always get me mad. I have bad grades.My cell phone's bill is quite high. I think it' s because of my anger at my dad and mom. What should I do to get along well with my family?

4.My family will move to a new city and I will have to start a new school. I'm really nervous about being a new kid. I don' t know what kids wear in a completely new school, how they act, or anything else. I don't want to make a bad impression on my first day. Oh, I will be in 10th grade and I've never changed schools before.

5.When I was eight my parents divorced(离婚).I used to be willing to do something and talk to someone I didn't know without being nervous. After the divorce I switched(转变) to many different schools and got really shy.My problem is that I'm shy around boys. I have to get to know them a lot to open up more and I think I might have ruined it a couple of times. I want my old self back. How do I open up even more without feeling scared?