A voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea and only two of the men aboard were able to swim to a small, desert-like island. Not knowing what else to do, the two survivors agreed that they had no alternativethan to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayers were more powerful, they agreed to divide the territory between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a fruit-bearing tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its fruit. But the other man’s parcel of land remained barren.
After a week, the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was wrecked and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island. But on the other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon thereafter the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island, and in the morning he found a ship docked at his side of the island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island, considering the other man unworthy to receive God’s blessings since none of his prayers had been answered.
As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven booming, “Why are you leaving your companion on the island?”
“My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them,” the first man answered. “His prayers were all unanswered and so he doesn’t deserve anything.”
“You are mistaken!” the voice rebuked him. “He had only one prayer, which I answered. If not for that, you would not have received any of my blessings.”
“Tell me,” the first man asked the voice, “what did he pray for that I should owe him anything?”
“He prayed that all your prayers would be answered.”
For all we know, our blessings are not the fruits of our prayers alone, but those of another praying for us. So what you do for others is more important than what you do for yourself.
【小题1】The first man’s wife is _____.

A．a swimmer who got to the island by accident

B．an angel sent by God to keep him company

C．a survivor from another wrecked ship

D．a native person on the desert-like island

【小题2】The underlined word “barren” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____.

A．isolated

B．unproductive

C．fertile

D．dry

【小题3】Which of the following is true about the second man?

A．He didn’t deserve any blessing from God.

B．None of his prayers was answered by God.

C．He is not brave enough to tell God his needs.

D．His prayer helped his companion get out of trouble.

【小题4】What’s the moral of the story?

A．Never judge a person by appearance.

B．Don’t lose heart in trouble.

C．Helping others is helping ourselves.

D．Greed is the root of all evil.

In a world where comparisons happen non-stop, it is difficult to look outside yourself and to ever be content with who you are. There's always someone who's a bit better. The only solution is to reach inside and measure against what Warren Buffett calls your own inner yardstick. There is no more accurate measure for comparison than who you were yesterday, last week or last decade, when you were at your best.

Nothing useful ever comes from comparison to others. Either you see yourself as better than someone and you get lazy, or you see someone else as better than you and you feel like all your hard work is for nothing. It is a fool's game. None of us are inherently above or below the person next to us. We are who we are. Not one of us is exactly alike. The only direct and honest comparison is within yourself. Everything else is apples to oranges.

My opinion is that you are only allowed to compare yourself to someone else if their life situation is the same as your own. Good luck finding that match. And one thing is for sure. No matter how hard you work and how dedicated you are, there will always be someone who can run a little faster, jump a little higher, score a little better or look a little nicer in a swimsuit. And if there's not, you can bet someone is coming up fast behind you. So how can you always win in life? Become your best competitor.

The following are the reasons why you are your own best competitor.

1. You will always be motivated.

Having an image of your most recent past limits is the perfect thing to push you to the next level. If you ran 7 flights of stairs yesterday, then do 8 today. Who cares if the guy next to you did 15? It doesn't make a bit of difference. You are a more fit person today than you were yesterday. Your own progress is all you need.

2. You will continuously be your personal best.

If you commit to a slightly higher standard of yourself every day, you will always be at the top of your game. And that game will only get better. But if for some reason you fall off your mark, you will always have the past image of your best performance to show you what you're capable of. Once you've done it, you know what's possible and then it's just a matter of doing it again.

Through the passage the writer advises the readers to ________.

A. avoid comparison with others                 B. work much harder

C. pay attention to others’ progress                  D. make full use of motivation

If you want to be content with yourself, according to the author, you should ________.

A. see yourself better than others                B. measure accurately  

C. compare with yourself                           D. be honest with yourself

Which of the following is certain to happen according to the author?

A. Finding someone else who is in the same life situation as you are.

B. Finding someone who runs faster and jumps higher than you.

C. Finding someone who is hiding right behind you.

D. Finding someone who almost always wins in their life.

What can help you up to higher level in your life according to the passage?

A. Comparing yourself with the guy next to you.

B. Thinking about your own progress.

C. Promising to play a game every day.

D. Thinking of your most recent past limits.

In a world where comparisons happen non-stop, it is difficult to look outside yourself and to ever be content with who you are. There's always someone who's a bit better. The only solution is to reach inside and measure against what Warren Buffett calls your own inner yardstick. There is no more accurate measure for comparison than who you were yesterday, last week or last decade, when you were at your best.

Nothing useful ever comes from comparison to others. Either you see yourself as better than someone and you get lazy, or you see someone else as better than you and you feel like all your hard work is for nothing. It is a fool's game. None of us are inherently above or below the person next to us. We are who we are. Not one of us is exactly alike. The only direct and honest comparison is within yourself. Everything else is apples to oranges.

My opinion is that you are only allowed to compare yourself to someone else if their life situation is the same as your own. Good luck finding that match. And one thing is for sure. No matter how hard you work and how dedicated you are, there will always be someone who can run a little faster, jump a little higher, score a little better or look a little nicer in a swimsuit. And if there's not, you can bet someone is coming up fast behind you. So how can you always win in life? Become your best competitor.

The following are the reasons why you are your own best competitor.

1. You will always be motivated. Having an image of your most recent past limits is the perfect thing to push you to the next level. If you ran 7 flights of stairs yesterday, then do 8 today. Who cares if the guy next to you did 15? It doesn't make a bit of difference. You are a more fit person today than you were yesterday. Your own progress is all you need.

2. You will continuously be your personal best. If you commit to a slightly higher standard of yourself every day, you will always be at the top of your game. And that game will only get better. But if for some reason you fall off your mark, you will always have the past image of your best performance to show you what you're capable of. Once you've done it, you know what's possible and then it's just a matter of doing it again.

47. Through the passage the writer advises the readers to ________.

A. avoid comparison with others                 B. work much harder

C. pay attention to others’ progress                 D. make full use of motivation

48. If you want to be content with yourself, according to the author, you should ________.

A. see yourself better than others                B. measure accurately  

C. compare with yourself                           D. be honest with yourself

49. Which of the following is certain to happen according to the author?

A. Finding someone else who is in the same life situation as you are.

B. Finding someone who runs faster and jumps higher than you.

C. Finding someone who is hiding right behind you.

D. Finding someone who almost always wins in their life.

50. What can help you up to higher level in your life according to the passage?

A. Comparing yourself with the guy next to you.

B. Thinking about your own progress.

C. Promising to play a game every day.

D. Thinking of your most recent past limits.

Once upon a time, there was a group of forest deer．In this group was a wise and respected   36 , smart in the ways of deer．He taught the tricks of   37   to the fawn-the young deer．

One day, his younger sister   38  her son to him, to be taught   39  is so important for deer．The teacher said to the fawn, “Very well, you can come at this time tomorrow for your first   40 ．”

At first, the young deer came to the lessons as he was  41  to．But soon, he became more interested in   42  with the other young bucks（雄鹿）．He didn’t realize how   43  it could be for a deer who learned   44  but deer games．So he started 45 ．Soon he was escaping school all the time．

46 , one day the fawn who stayed away from school   47  a snare（陷阱）and was trapped．Since he was   48 , his mother got worried．She went to her brother the teacher, and    49   him if her son had learned something．The teacher   50  ,“My dear sister, your son was disobedient and   51 ．Out of respect for you, I   52   to teach him．But he did not want to learn the   53  of deer．He escaped school! How could I possibly teach him?”

Later they heard the sad news．The  54   fawn had been trapped and killed by a hunter．He skinned him and took the meat home to his family．

The moral is: Nothing can be learned from a teacher by one who   55  the class．

1.                A．student         B．mother         C．teacher   D．magician

 

2.                A．perform        B．survival         C．hunting   D．hiding

 

3.                A．brought        B．caught          C．arranged  D．referred

 

4.                A．that           B．which          C．how D．what

 

5.                A．arrival          B．punishment      C．prize D．lesson

 

6.                A．preserved      B．thought         C．supposed D．suspected

 

7.                A．learning        B．playing         C．talking    D．fighting

 

8.                A．interesting      B．boring          C．dangerous D．useful

 

9.                A．nothing         B．something       C．all   D．none

 

10.               A．working hard    B．cutting classes   C．playing games   D．teaching others

 

11.               A．Luckily         B．Unexpectedly    C．Definitely  D．Unfortunately

 

12.               A．found out       B．set up          C．stepped in D．got over

 

13.               A．dying          B．missing         C．unhappy   D．improving

 

14.               A．told           B．scolded        C．asked D．suspected

 

15.               A．replied         B．analyzed        C．advised   D．questioned

 

16.               A．unbelievable    B．unteachable     C．unflexible  D．unimportant

 

17.               A．made up my mind B．tried my best    C．gave up   D．would like

 

18.               A．stories         B．structures       C．games D．tricks

 

19.               A．proud          B．sick            C．stubborn  D．shy

 

20.               A．misses         B．loves          C．forms D．attends

 

 

       Once upon a time, there was a group of forest deer．In this group was a wise and respected  1 , smart in the ways of deer．He taught the tricks of   2   to the fawn-the young deer．

       One day, his younger sister   3   her son to him, to be taught   4   is so important for deer．The teacher said to the fawn, “Very well, you can come at this time tomorrow for your first   5  ．”

       At first, the young deer came to the lessons   6   he was supposed to．But soon, he became more interested in   7   with the other young bucks（雄鹿）．He didn’t realize how   8   it could be for a deer who learned   9   but deer games．So he started 10  ．Soon he was escaping school all the time．

  11  , one day the fawn who played hooky   12  a snare（陷阱）and was trapped．Since he was   13  , his mother got worried．She went to her brother the teacher, and  14   him if her son had learned something．The teacher   15  ,”My dear sister, your son was disobedient and   16  ．Out of respect for you, I   17   to teach him．But he did not want to learn the  18   of deer．He played hooky! How could I possibly teach him?”

       Later they heard the sad news．The   19   fawn had been trapped and killed by a hunter．He skinned him and took the meat home to his family．

       The moral is: Nothing can be learned from a teacher by one who   20   the class．

1．A．student           B．mother            C．teacher          D．magician

2．A．perform          B．survival             C．hunting        D．hiding

3．A．brought           B．caught           C．arranged       D．referred

4．A．that              B．which            C．how                 D．what

5．A．arrival             B．punishment        C．prize            D．lesson

6．A．as                    B．because            C．whether                                 D．where

7．A．learning           B．playing              C．talking           D．fighting

8．A．interesting          B．boring            C．dangerous      D．useful

9．A．nothing           B．something          C．all              D．none

10．A．working hard     B．cutting classes     C．playing games   D．teaching others

11．A．Luckily          B．Unexpectedly      C．Definitely         D．Unfortunately

12．A．found out        B．set up             C．stepped in        D．got over

13．A．dying                 B．missing             C．unhappy          D．improving

14．A．told           B．scolded             C．asked                                   D．suspected

15．A．replied           B．analyzed          C．advised        D．questioned

16．A．unbelievable       B．unteachable       C．unflexible         D．unimportant

17．A．made up my mind                              B．tried my best

      C．gave up                                         D．would like

18．A．stories              B．structures          C．games             D．tricks

19．A．proud              B．sick                C．stubborn       D．shy

20．A．misses         B．loves             C．forms             D．attends