“Would you tell me which way I should go from here?” asked Alice.

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.

“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.

“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.

--- from “ Alice in Wonderland ”

My name is David. And I have a brother called Mike. 

One day, my brother called me and asked me for some advice. He was trying to decide between two job offers:

Job 1 – The first job was your typical 40 hour a week “office” job.

Job 2 – The second job was more of a career in the insurance industry(保险业), where he would start at the bottom, and after many years and many long hours eventually rise to the top (if he was good). 

The second job did not pay as well as the first job (at the beginning), but the pay-off of the second job (in the future) was much greater than the first job. So which job should my brother take? Well the answer is…it depends.

Just like the Cat was trying to tell Alice, which road you take depends a great deal on where you want to end up.

Begin with the End in Mind

I asked my brother what was his life’s purpose. He said his purpose was to “teach,” but he wanted to make a lot of money first. I told my brother to forget about the money, and I advised him to focus on his purpose. I then asked him which job best supported his end result of “teaching.” He said the first job best supported his goal because he would only have to work 40 hours a week, which would give him spare time to teach. He continued on to say, “but if I take job number two, I can work hard and make more money, then I can retire early and “teach” later in life.” I again advised him to “focus” on his purpose, not money. Things don’t end wrong, they begin wrong!

You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well

It would be very difficult to have a successful teaching career while you’re working 70-80 hours a week in the insurance business; no one can ride two horses well. As they say, you can do anything, but not everything. I advised him to get started today by choosing the job that best supported that decision.

Tomorrow Never Comes

My brother was thinking that he could always start teaching later in life, but the reality is, tomorrow never comes. Unless you decide right now to follow your feelings, they will probably never be completed. You only live once, don’t go to the end of your life with one regret.

The Money Will Come

My brother seemed to be overly concerned with making money. I told him not to be anxious about making money. You will always have greater money when you’re doing what you love.

In a word, whenever you’re at a cross-road, be sure to make the decision that best supports the goal of your life. If you do, then you will be well on your way.

1. Mike ___________ David one day.

A. visited         B. met        C. made a telephone call to    D. found

2. Mike was trying to ____________.

A. look for a job            B. start a career   

C. wok in an office          D. decide between two job offers

3.As for the life’s purpose, Mike ______________.

A. wanted to teach first                    B. wanted to make a lot of money first 

C. wanted to work in the insurance industry    D. wanted to work 40 hours a day

4. You Can’t Ride Two Horses Well means _____________.

A. you’d better have two horses     

B. you can only ride one horse well

C. you can do everything well.      

D. you can’t do two things well at the same time

5. The best title of the passage is ______________.

A. How to choose a better job    

B. It is more important to begin than to end

C. How to make a better decision 

D. Make more money because tomorrow never comes

I have a big family. In my family,there are 6 people—my father,my mother,my two sisters,my brother and me. My mother is Linda. My father is Mike. And our family name is Hand. My sisters are Gina and Sonia. They like baseball very much. My brother,David,is a lovely boy. He likes computer games. My name is Bob. I love my family.

1.How many多少people are there in the family?

A. Six    B. Seven    C. Five    D. Four

2.What’s the writer’s作者的 full name全名？

A. Bob Hand  B. Bob Mike C. David Hand  D. Linda Hand

3.Linda has有      sons.

A. one       B. two    C. three    D. four

4.My brother likes     .

A. baseball  B. computer game  C. pictures  D. basketball

5.What does “love” mean意思是？

A. 感谢      B. 想起   C. 喜欢    D. 讨厌

句型转换（共10小题，每空0.5分，共10分）

1.Linda usually goes shopping with her mother.(对划线部分提问)

_______ _______ does Linda go shopping with her mother?

2.They usually play basketball on weekends.(对划线部分提问)

________ _______ they usually play basketball?

3.I’m not as strong as my brother.(改为同义句)??

My brother is__________ ________ me.

4.Mary is calm. Jane is wild. (用different改写句子)??

Mary is ____________ ________ Jane.

5.What do your parents think of talk shows?(同义句转换)

?????? do your parents ?????? talk shows?

6.Lucy likes flowers because she wants to be beautiful like flowers.(对划线部分提问)

?????? does Lucy ?????? flowers?

7.Tony did exercise with his classmates after school yesterday.(改为一般疑问句)

??????? Tony ??????? exercise with his classmates after school yesterday？

8.He is a clever boy.(改为感叹句)

??????? a clever boy he ???? !

9.There are over 50 children in the park.(同义句转换)

There are ?????? ??????? 50 children in the park.

10.The shopping mall is 30 minutes’walk from my home. (对划线部分提问)

?????? ?????? is the shopping mall from your home?

My mother was a housewife. She thought that successful people spent a lot more time reading than watching TV. So she asked my brother and me not to watch too much TV, but to read two books every week in our free time. She would check them with marks, though she couldn’t read the book at all.

When I went to high school, I was an A-student, but not for long. I wanted cool clothes and hung out with friends. I became a C-student, but I didn’t care. One night I complained about not having enough Italian shirts. Then my mother gave me all the money and said I could get the money left to buy shirts if I finished buying all the things the family needed. I was pleased with that, but after I bought those things, there was no money left. I got to know how difficult it was for my mother to do all these. I went back to my studies and became an A-student again. Finally, my dream came true and I became a doctor.

My story is really my mother’s story----a woman with little education greatly changed my life as a parent. So I believe there is no job more important than parenting.

1.What did the writer’s mother do?

A．A worker.         B．A housewife       C．A teacher         D．A writer

2.Why did the mother ask her children to read books in their free time?

A．Because she thought successful people spent more time reading.

B．Because she thought books were interesting.

C．Because she wanted her children to be happy.

D．Because she wanted her children to be doctors.

3.Which was NOT the reason for the writer’s falling behind(落后)?

A．He only cared about clothes and didn’t study.

B．He spent more time hanging out with friends than studying.

C．He didn’t care that he went from being an A-student to a C-student.

D．He spent much time reading storybooks.

4.What was the writer’s dream?

A．To be a doctor.                         B．To be a teacher.

C．To be an A-student                      D．To find a good job.

5.The writer mainly wants to tell us that ______.

A．mothers with little education change their children more.

B．his mother is cruel and unhelpful

C．there is a job more important than parenting.

D．his mother has an important influence（影响）on him.