Steve Nash enjoys team success far more than personal success, and always wants to share the glory and the joy with teammates.

?? He is a self-effacing (不爱出风头的) Canadian, who grew up in hockey country. Today Steve Nash has to stand alone even if he doesn’t enjoy it. The Phoenix Sun’s point guard has to take ownership of a set of skills that sets him apart from every bigger, faster basketball player. He is considered the best basketball player in the game.

?? 31-year old Nash was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the NBA on May 8, 2005. “It’s unbelievable,” he said. “It’s been a long road for me and I really enjoy playing as a team, just trying to be a good teammate. That is the only way for me to highlight what I do as a basketball player.”

?? It is the first time a Canadian has won any individual NBA honor. Of the 50 winners of the MVP award, only six have been guards: Steve Nash, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, and Bob Cousy. “I’m happy for him getting the MVP, which makes us feel like we all got the MVP,” said Phoenix forward Shawn Marion.

?? He may be the only one who truly believes he can reach this level. “I always try to set goals for myself and have my own time frame to accomplish them and I never give up on anything,” he said. It is not as if Nash arrived at this point without countless hours of hard work.

?? His interests go far beyond sports and the NBA. His social conscience is such that he wore a T-shirt bearing an anti-war slogan at the NBA all-star weekend festivities in Philadelphia in 2002.

?? “A lot of great moments are when you win games with your teammates. There’s nothing like sharing something with someone else,” he said. “There is a pinnacle (顶点) of a player’s career individually. In many ways, the pinnacle of a player’s career really is defined by team wins.”

1.What does Steve Nash mean by saying the last two sentences?

A. A player’s success is decided by his / her individual efforts.

B. A player won’t succeed without a team’s support.

C. A player will succeed sooner or later.

D. A team always decides a player’s success.

2.Steve Nash feels happiest _______.

A. when he is named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA

B. when he is 30 years old

C. when he plays at the NBA all-star weekend festivities

D. when his team wins a game

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Nash is an American basketball player.

B. Nash is better at basketball than Magic Johnson.

C. Nash is the first Canadian winner of the MVP award.

D. Michael Jordan is the best of the six guards.

4. Which of the following is the main message that the passage wants to express?

A. Nash prefers team honor to personal honor.

B. Hard work will lead to the honor of the MVP of the NBA.

C. A Canadian can be an MVP of the NBA.

D. Setting goals is of importance to success.

Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.

? People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.

? The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.

? Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.

1.Piobbico is rather special in that????? .

A. it is a very small town?????? B. it is home to ugly people

C. it receives no visitors?????? D. it is the capital of Italy

2.Why is Lacobelli elected the president of the Ugly Club every year?

A. Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world.

B. Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable.

C. Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere.

D. Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration.

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Ugly people are most respected in Italy.

B. The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years.

C. Ugly people are unfairly treated in society.

D. The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives.

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Ugly Capital of the World????? B. The Ugliest Person of the World

C. Festival of the Ugly????? D. Beauty Contests Should be Banned

A friend of mine, in response to a conversation we were having about the injustices of life ,asked me the question,“Who said life was going to be fair, or that it was even meant to be fair?” Her question was a good one. It reminded me of something I was taught as a youngster :life isn’t fair. It’s a disappointment, but it’s absolutely true .One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others ,thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be .It’s not and it won’t be .

One of the nice things about surrendering (屈从)to the fact that life isn’t fair is that it keeps us from feeling sorry for ourselves by encouraging us to do the very best we can with what we have . We know it’s not “life’s job ”to make everything perfect :it’s our own challenge .Surrendering to this fact also keeps us from feeling sorry for others because we are reminded that everyone is dealt a different hand ; everyone has unique strengths and problems in the process of growing up, facing the reality and making decisions; and everyone has those times that they feel unfairly treated.

The fact that life isn’t fair doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to improve our own lives or the world as a whole. To the contrary , it suggests that we should .When we don’t recognize or admit that life isn’t fair ,we tend to feel pity for others and for ourselves .Pity ,of course ,is a self –defeating emotion that does nothing for anyone ,except to make everyone feel worse than they already do .When we do recognize that life isn’t fair, however ,we feel compassion (热情)for others and for ourselves. And compassion is a heartfelt emotion that delivers loving-kindness to everyone it touches .The next time you find yourself thinking about the injustices of the world, try reminding yourself of this very basic fact .You may be surprised that it can make you out of self-pity and into helpful action.

The writer thought of his friend’s question as a good one because          .

A. he also wanted to know who held such an opinion

B. it made him recall something during his childhood

C. like his friend , he also thought life was unfair

D. he learned something from the question as a youngster

The second paragraph of the passage mainly tells us that          .

A. it’s nice to accept the injustice of life     B. it’s nice to surrender to life

C. we should not feel sorry for everything    D. we should not surrender to life

From the passage, we can learn that the author’s attitude to life is           .

   A. negative             B. positive        C. self-pity      D. indifferent

Which of the following could be the best title of the text ?

A. A Helpful Action: Try to Feel Compassion     B. A Good Question: Why Life Isn’t Fair

C. Do Our Best to Improve Ourselves           D. Surrender to the Fact That Life Isn’t Fair

Joey is loyal, encouraging and self-sacrificing, always putting others’ interests ahead of his own. He is a hard worker, who also loves to run and play. In short, he’s an ideal friend and a heroic character.

Here is the thing: Joey is a horse, who appears as the main character in Steven Spielberg’s new film War Horse.

It is based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel, which also caused the same-titled Tony Awards winning play.

The film follows the saga of Joey, a racehorse that’s trained for farm work under the loving care of Albert (Jeremy Irvine )after Albert’s drunk father Ted(Peter Mullan ) overpays for the animal at auction(拍卖会).

Then the World War I tears Albert and Joey apart. Joey is sold into the war effort for the British and starts his episodic adventures in Europe.

Splendidly staged, the battle plots in the film are visually astounding and impressive.

And with Spielberg’s unique, top-notch direction and storytelling skills, War Horse cannot escape its episodic nature, calling to mind another Spielberg film about the horrors of war and its effects upon soldiers and civilians—Saving Private Ryan.

While that film shocked with horrific scenes of bleeding, it relied on a company of easily-described characters and a focused storyline to present heroic themes.

Like Saving Private Ryan, War Horse clings to a series of characters, not only Albert, but also British officers, French civilians and German soldiers, who display courage in the face of danger. Everyone who comes in contact with Joey is either already in touch with their inner angel or is quickly moved to become more humane.

Although none of this covers the fact that we’ve seen this stuff elsewhere before, the lovely sentiment will steal your heart.

And the emotional signature of Spielberg can be felt as he establishes the relationship between the boy and the horse and the mood of the piece – there will be tears.

Therefore, calling this beautiful, dramatically incomplete film “ Saving Private Joey”, is entirely justifiable.

1.In common with “ Saving Private Ryan”, the film War Horse _________ .

2.Which statement is true according to the passage?

3.According to the passage, what does the underlined word astounding mean?

4.What is the best title for the passage?