The other day I heard a few local musicians talking, "I hate all the pianos in this town and I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They cannot even understand rhythm (韵律).""Nobody wants to pay musicians anything. I’m sick of all the people who want you to play without paying you.” One younger musician said, "There are a couple of clubs who want me to play for a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also planning to join in several summer festivals this year." I really liked what the younger musician said so I made friends with him.

Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative (消极的), they’re all rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who are always complaining(抱怨) or blaming (责备) others, it is possible that you will start doing the same as well. If you spend lots of time with people who don’t support your dreams, it is time to take a look at the people you call "friends".

There is an easy exercise you can try. Make a list of the people who you often stay with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard. The choice is always yours to make. Of course, this exercise is entirely different from making friends only for the good of oneself. We really should try to help and spend time with those who are working towards a goal or dream.

1.The musicians’ conversation at the beginning is to show that ______.

A．musicians’ living conditions are not good

B．people in that town have poor taste in music

C．different people have different attitudes

D．young people are more likely to succeed

2. The underlined part "they’re rubbing off on you" in Paragraph 2 means ______.

A．they’ll push you ahead	B．they’ll have an influence on you
C．they’ll keep you from moving on	D．they’ll help you realize your dreams

3.Why did the author want to make friends with the younger musician?

A．He is more active than the others.

B．He can earn more than the others.

C．He has more things to do than the others.

D．His attitude is more positive than the others.

4.By doing the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 3, you can ______.

A．make the right kind of friends

B．improve your ability to make friends

C．develop a better relationship with your friends

D．make some new friends with the same interests as you

5.We can get the following information from the passage EXCEPT ______.

A．the younger musician is a positive person and would be a good friend

B．one will start complaining if one spends too much time with negative people

C．the exercise can help you keep close to really helpful friends

D．one should avoid making friends with people who have lots of difficulties

 

We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. but most

mistakes are about people. "Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?" "When I got

that great job, did Jim, as a friend, really feel good about it? Or did he envy my luck?" "And was Paul friendly just because I had a car? " When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad.

   But when we look back, it is too late.

   Why do we go wrong about our friends, or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meanings. And if we do not really listen, we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, "You're a lucky dog!"(你真幸运!) Is he really on your side? If he says, "You're a lucky guy!", that is being friendly. But "a lucky dog?" There is a bit of envy in those words. What he may be saying is that he does not think you deserve your luck.

   "Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for" is another phrase that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem. But this phrase contains the thought that your problem is not at all important.

   How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Is what he says shown by the tone of voice? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save your another mistake.

1.When the writer recalls(回想) some of the things that happened between him and his

  friends, he _______.

A. feels happy, thinking how nice his friends were to him

B. feels he might not have understood his friends' true feelings

C. think it a mistake to have broken up with his girl friend

D. is sorry that his friends let him down

2..When the writer talks about someone saying, "You're a lucky dog!", he is saying that

_____.    

A. the speaker is just friendly

B. this sentence suggests the same as "You're a lucky guy!"

C. the word "dog" should not be used to apply to people

D. sometimes the words show that the speaker is a bit envious

3.This passage tries to tell you how to ______.

A. avoid mistakes about money and friends

B. get an idea of friendly people

C. avoid mistakes in understanding what people tell you

D. keep people friendly without trusting them

4.The writer suggests that ______ be trusted.

A. everybody   B. nobody    C. all the people  D. all the people not

 

Goldie's Secret

She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. "We're moving house. "No space for her any more with the baby coming. " "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present. " People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.

I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.

That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.

By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. "We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door. "I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared. " "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her. 

I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I've learnt a good lesson: not to judge people.

1.How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?

A．Shocked          B．Sympathetic        C．Annoyed          D．Upset.

2.In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie _______.

A．felt worried        B．was angry          C．ate a little         D．sat by the fire

3.Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she ________.

A．saw her puppies                        B．heard familiar barkings

C．wanted to leave the author                D．found her way to her old home

4.The passage is organized in order of ________ .

A．time             B．effectiveness       C．importance        D．complexity

 

So you're between the ages of 13 and 24. What makes you happy? Spending time with family was the top answer to that open-ended question, according to an extensive survey--more than 100 questions asked of 1,280 people aged 13-24 -- conducted by The Associated Press on the nature of happiness among America's young people.

Next was spending time with friends. And good news for parents: Nearly three quarters of young people say their relationship __________ makes them happy.

"They're my foundation," says Kristiana St. John, 17, a high-school student from Queens in New York. "My mom tells me that even if I do something stupid, she's still going to love me no matter what. Just knowing that makes me feel very happy and blessed."

Other results are more disconcerting. While most young people are happy overall with the way their lives are going, there are racial differences: the poll shows whites to be happier than blacks and Hispanics. A lot of young people feel stress, particularly those from the middle class, and females more than males.    

You might think money would be clearly tied to a general sense of happiness. But almost no one said "money" when asked what makes them happy, though people with the highest family incomes are generally happier with life. However, having highly educated parents is a stronger predictor of happiness than income.

Overwhelmingly, young people think marriage would make them happy and want to be married some day. Most also want to have kids.

Finally, when asked to name their heroes, nearly half of respondents mentioned one or both of their parents. The winner, by a nose: Mom.

1. What is the best title of the passage? (Please answer within 10 words)

                                                                         

2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

Although most youths are generally happy with their present life. There are differences between different races.  

                                                                         

3. Please fill in the blank in the second paragraph with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words)

                                                                         

4. What do you think is the most important factor that makes you happy? Why? (Please answer within 30 words)

                                                                         

5. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.

                                                                           

In 1977, a dead author of detective stories saved the life of a 19-month-old baby in a most unusual way. The author was Agatha Christie, one of the most successful writers of detective stories in the world.

In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Qatar, near Saudi Arabia. Doctors were unable to find out the cause of her illness with confidence, so she was sent to Hammersmith Hospital in London. She was then only semi-conscious (半清醒状态) and on the "Dangerously Ill" list. A team of doctors hurried to examine the baby only to discover that they, too, were confused by the very unusual symptoms (症状). While they were discussing the baby's case, a nurse asked to speak to them.

"Excuse me," said Nurse Marsha Maitlan, "but I think the baby is suffering from thallium poisoning. (铊中毒)"

"What makes you think that?" Dr. Brown asked. "Thallium poisoning is extremely rare."

"A few days ago, I was reading a novel called A Pale Horse by Agatha Christie," Nurse Maitlan explained. "In the book, somebody uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms are described. They're exactly the same as the baby's."

"You're very thoughtful and you may be right," another doctor said. "We'll carry out some tests and find out whether it's thallium or not."

Tests showed that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium, a rare metallic substance used in making special glass. Once they knew the cause of the illness, the doctors were able to give the baby the correct treatment. She soon recovered and was sent back to Qatar. Later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (杀虫剂) used in Qatar.

1.The one who first suggested the correct cause of the baby's illness was _____.

A．a doctor in Qatar	B．Nurse Maitlan
C．Dr. Brown	D．Agatha Christie

2.The baby was sent to London because _____.

A．she was born there

B．the hospitals in Qatar were full at that time

C．she was the daughter of a doctor in London

D．the Qatar doctors were not sure whether they could cure her

3.As far as we can tell from the passage, Agatha Christie _____.

A．had never met this baby

B．had spent a long time studying the baby's case

C．visited the baby in the hospital at Hammersmith

D．gave Nurse Maitlan some advice on the phone

4.It seems likely from the passage that the baby's illness had something to do with _____.

A．a dangerous pair of glasses

B．the water in Qatar

C．a harmful substance used to kill insects

D．a dead writer

5.When the baby was sent to the hospital in London, her case was considered to be _____.

A．an urgent one	B．quite a simple one
C．a usual one	D．the result of thallium poisoning