Some high officers were punished by law only because they were _______ what didn’t belong to them.

  Lifeguard, sportscaster, movie star, governor, president——there wasn’t much Ronald Reagan didn’t do in life.

    “The world was a vast opportunity for him,” Lou Cannon wrote in his biography（传记） of the former US president, who died on June 5，2004， aged 93.

    Reagan’s final years saw him fight a losing battle against Alzheimer’s disease（老年痴呆症）. But his positive attitude toward life has given hope to many people.

    Born in 1911 to a poor family in a small town in Illinois, his father was a failed salesman who drank too much. It was in these difficult times, though, that Reagan developed the powerful optimism（乐观） that would serve him so well. He always believed better times lying ahead, and this was reflected in his high school yearbook entry. “Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music,” he wrote.

    As a teenager, Reagan spent summers working as a lifeguard at a local beach, saving 77 lives in seven years. He graduated from college in 1932 with a degree in economics and sociology. But America was still in the middle of the Great Depression, and jobs were hard to find. Reagan finally found work as a radio sports announcer and this road led him to Hollywood in 1937.

    During the 20---year film career, he never became a leading star. As in his lifeguard days, Reagan loved to play the hero and only took the role of a bad guy once in more than 50 films.

    A talented speaker who was always able to connect with his audience, Reagan became involved in politics in the 1950s. This popular touch led to him being elected the governor of California in 1967.

    All the while Reagan was in California, he had his eye on the White House. In 1980, aged 69, he became the oldest man ever elected president.

    He held office from 1981 to 1989, the first president to serve two complete terms after World War Ⅱ. When he left, aged 77, he held the highest popularity rate of any retiring president in US history.

    He remained positive even when he discovered he had an illness that would destroy him. “I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal（永恒的optimism(乐观) for its future,”he wrote.

1.Reagan can be best described as a man with ______.

A. firmness  B. humour   C. optimism  D. talent

2.What didn’t Reagan do in his life time?

A. Playing the role of a bad guy.

B. Being a leading star of the film.

C. Saving people’s lives.

D. Working as a radio sports announcer.

3.Which is the correct order of events described in the passage?

a. Reagan fought a losing battle against Alzheimer’s disease.

b. Reagan became an actor.

c. Reagan worked as a lifeguard.

d. Reagan graduated from college.

e. Reagan was elected the governor of California.

A. a, c, d, e ,b           B. e, c, d, b, a

C. b, a, c, d, e           D. c, d, b, e, a

4.When the writer of Reagan’s biography says “The world was a vast opportunity for him,” he really means that _______.

A. Reagan achieved much in his whole life

B. Reagan could have done much better

C. Reagan did much for America and the world

D. Reagan was a very lucky man

Have you heard of the scandal that happened in one of Great Britain’s biggest supermarket chains called Tesco? The British love Tesco as it sells very cheap products and it can be found on almost every corner of a British city or town.

On January 15th 2013 food inspectors discovered 30 % horsemeat in a certain brand of frozen beefburgers that were mostly sold by Tesco in the UK and Ireland.

In times of social media like Facebook and Twitter the news has spread fast and customers have been very concerned about what the food they buy actually contains. Tesco said it had taken away the burgers from the shop shelves immediately, and apologized to their customers. They also promised that they would find out what exactly happened and that they would work harder than ever so this would never happen again. Customers are also able to return the beefburgers and get a refund, that is, their money back.

However, it will be hard for Tesco to get the people’s trust back. Just imagine buying lovely beefburgers that you fry at home and suddenly you find out that you have actually eaten horsemeat! In this case not only horse lovers will be upset!

By the way, why are British people so shocked about eating horsemeat? In history, horses have played great roles as working animals and as an important means of transport. When Britons of today think of horses, they think of majestic animals or cute pets rather than meat.

But this is not the only reason for the protest: Customers also want to be sure that the products they buy contain what it says on the label. Hopefully, supermarkets can avoid mistakes like that in the future. Maybe there should be stricter regulations and more controls of our food? Otherwise we will soon find ourselves eating panda meat instead of pork and parrot instead of chicken. So the next time you are in a supermarket maybe check the ingredients of your food before you buy it or you could get a nasty surprise …

1.What is the scandal?

A. Tesco’s products were much more expensive than they are supposed to be.

B. Tesco didn’t react immediately to a food quality issue.

C. Tesco sold expired food.

D. Horsemeat was found in burgers sold in Tesco.

2.What didn’t Tesco do in response to the scandal?

A. It withdrew the beefburgers.

B. It made an apology to the public.

C. It investigated and found out the cause and effect of the scandal.

D. It returned money to customers who bought the beefburgers.

3.Which statement isn’t among the reasons why customers are furious?

A. People trusted Tesco so much that they never expected a scandal like this.

B. Everyone can call himself or herself a horse lover in the UK.

C. Sellers shouldn’t cheat customers.

D. The horse is humans’ friend.

If practicing an attitude of gratitude(感激) during the storms of life is too much for you right now, that’s OK. When things are tough, most people have a hard time being thankful. They’re so caught up in what’s wrong in the present moment that they simply can’t see some things are still right.
If that’s true for you, then accept it. You’re going through a particularly difficult or unhappy period of time, and you don’t like it one bit. Very normal, very human. But remember this: there is always something to be grateful for. It maybe only a small comfort right now, but it is a start. Make a list of some of the terrible things that didn’t happen. For example:
●You’re in debt...but you’re not homeless.
●You lost your job...but you didn’t lose your health.
●You broke your leg...but you didn’t break your neck.
●Your mother has Alzheimer’s disease...but your father doesn’t.
No matter how bad things are, they could always be worse. Start finding gratitude for what might have happened, but didn’t. It does help a lot. Of course, you may not be thankful for everything— but you can always be thankful for something.
【小题1】The passage is intended for those who ________.

If practicing an attitude of gratitude(感激） during the storms of life is too much for you right now, that’s OK. When things are tough, most people have a hard time being thankful. They're so caught up in what's wrong in the present moment that they simply can't see some things are still right.
If that's true for you, then accept it. You're going through a particularly difficult or unhappy period of time, and don't like it one bit. Very normal, very human. But remember this: there is always something to be grateful for. It may be only a small comfort right no, but it is a start. Make a list of some of the terrible things that didn't happen. For example:
       You're in debt... but you're not homeless.
       You lost your job... but you didn't lose your health.
       You broke your leg... but you didn't break your neck.
        Your mother has Alzheimers disease... but your father doesn't.
No matter how bad things are, they could always be worse. Start finding gratitude for what might have happened, but didn't. It does help a lot. Of course, you may not be thankful for everything- but you can always be thankful for something.
【小题1】How many "terrible things that didn't happen" are listed in this passage?