Dear editor,

Mary is my friend and she is a very good-hearted girl. She’s always the first to help out others. But her habits make me mad sometimes and she just won’t change her ways. For most situations, that’s just fine with me, as I know it’s what make her who she is. However, sometimes it’s just so hard for me to bear her behavior. She has recently got a cellphone, but she often borrows mine to make calls. My phone has a chain with it. She always tries to open it like her own phone. I usually open it for her, but not always, as sometimes I’m driving my car, so she needs to get it out of my purse and open it herself.

This weekend we were at a party in a faraway village. She borrowed my cellphone. As it was cold outside, I let her take it outside without opening it. Now it’s broken because she didn’t open it properly. I wouldn’t be so mad, but over the weekend she also borrowed my car and never offered to pay for the gas, which made me very angry. She should have offered to pay for the gas. As I have mentioned, she’s the type to help out others when and where she can. Perhaps because of that, she thinks others should also do the same for her. Sometimes I just think she is very childish. I don’t want to hurt her, but I do want to let her know that not everyone can accept that. What should I do to let her know that?

Yours,

Lily

1.What is Lily’s purpose in writing this letter?

A．to advise us to be careful when making friends.

B．To tell others what kind of person Mary is.

C．To tell Mary what she thinks of her.

D．To ask for advice from an editor.

2.We can learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.

A．Mary doesn’t have a cellphone

B．Mary doesn’t have any good habits

C．Lily is sometimes not pleased with Mary’s behavior

D．Lily has asked Mary to change her ways.

3.What happened at the weekend party?

A．Mary lost Lily’s chain.

B．Mary left before the party was over.

C．Lily’s cellphone was broken.

D．Lily had a quarrel with Mary.

4.What kind of person is Mary?

A．Friendly and beautiful.

B．Kind and careful.

C．Careful and childish.

D．Warm-hearted but childish

 

Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts（工作班次）are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just ￡90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself—— and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret, “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”
【小题1】Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______.

A．she wanted to earn more money to support her family

B．she had suffered a lot of mental pressure

C．she needed the right time to look after her children

D．she felt tired of taking care of patients

【小题2】Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because _______.

A．they never clean their offices

B．they look down upon cleaners

C．they never do their work carefully

D．they always make a mess in their offices

【小题3】When at work, Margaret feels _______.

A．light-hearted because of her fellow workers

B．happy because the building is fully lit

C．tired because of the heavy workload

D．bored because time passes slowly

【小题4】The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _______.

A．help care for her children

B．regret what they had said

C．show sympathy for her

D．feel disappointed in her

I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving .  No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting (引用) a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being thoughtful（体贴的） of their wives. Then he went on to say," Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love." To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well , for  two weeks that would change.

And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said," That new yellow sweater looks great on you."

"Oh, Tom, you noticed," she said, surprised and pleased, maybe a little puzzled.

After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, "Evelyn's been alone here with the kids all the week and now she wants to stay with me. " We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that's how the whole vacation passed, I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. Last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“ Tom ,” se said in a voice filled with distress, “ do you know something I don’t?”

"What do you mean?"

"Well...that checkup(体检) I had several weeks ago...our doctor...did he tell you something about me? Tom , you've been so good to me... am I dying?"

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

"No, honey," I said, wrapping her in my arms. "You're not dying; I'm just staring to live."

1.In the first paragraph, "No ifs, ands or buts" probably means___.

A. unnecessarily     B. unexpectedly    C.   impossibly    D. unconditionally

2.From the story we may infer that Tom went to the beach cottage___.

A. with his family    B. with Evelyn     C. alone            D. with his children

3.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because___.

A. she looked lovely in her new clothes

B. he had made a lot of money in Wall Street

C. he was determined to be a good husband

D. she was seriously ill

4.The underlined words "one thing" in the passage refer to the fact that___.

A. he praised her sweater, which puzzled her

B. she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated

C. he knew something about her illness but didn't tell her

D. he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying

5.By saying "I'm just starting to live", Tom means that___.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B. he is just beginning to enjoy his life as a loving husband

C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D. he is beginning to feel regretful for what he did to his wife

 

Health is the most important thing in the world. Nothing is more important than health. If we take away our money, houses, or even our clothes, we can still survive.___1.__    That is why we always try to eat in a healthy way and exercise regularly.

How can we keep healthy? In order to eat healthily, I usually avoid eating food high in fat, like French fries or cookies, which are junk food .2._ I eat a lot of vegetables and fresh fruit which are full of vitamins.

3._ Taking exercise every day helps us build a strong body. Regular exercise is an important part of keeping me healthy.

What’s more, I think friends are an important part of one’s health. _4._I always feel better when I am with friends than I am alone. When I am with friends, I always laugh .Laughing is also an important part of health. It's good to stay with my friends.

By eating properly and exercising regularly, I can keep my mind as well as my body happy. These things sound easy to do, but not many people can manage them. ___5._

A．On the other hand , doing exercise is very important

B．There are some people who like staying alone, but they keep healthy.

C．Many students show that people with a wide range of social contacts don’t get sick

D．But if our health was taken away , it is certain that we would surely die

E. I only eat little meat

F. I think a strong will is necessary if want to keep healthy

G. Some people appear fat because they often eat too much

 

My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork.
My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.
【小题1】We can infer from the 2^nd paragraph that we students still _____ .

A．have enough time	B．can meet the president
C．get everything done well	D．should accept the explanation

【小题2】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework.

B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job.

C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time.

D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student.

【小题3】What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Students don’t have enough time.	B．Don’t work harder; work smarter.
C．No one can get more time.	D．Read better and write better.