Have you ever complained (抱怨) why life is so tiring? Does the sky sometimes seem dark to you?
Are your studies sometimes not successful? Well, friends, cheer up and smile all the time. If you see
the world with your warm heart, you'll find that the whole world smiles to you.
     While in school, sometimes you are tired of your lessons, but have you ever noticed the happy smile
on your teacher's face when you did a good job?
     One day it is fine. Just before you want to go out, it suddenly starts to rain. Maybe you would feel
very sad and start complaining about the weather. But dear friends, why don't you sit down and listen to
the free concert that the nature offers you? And with the timely (及时的) rain, crops in the fields will
grow better and better and farmers will have a better harvest.
     Although everyone wants to succeed in what he tries to do, sometimes failure (失败) can't be avoided.
I think failure is not terrible, and the terrible thing is that we are afraid of it and give up hope. When we face
failure, we must be confident (信心) of ourselves, draw a useful lesson from it and try our best to finish
what we have decided to do. As a popular saying goes, "Failure is the mother of success."
    Attitude (态度) decides everything. With an optimistic (乐观) attitude life is easy and pleasant. Let's
smile to whatever we meet and the whole world will smile to us.

1. People sometimes complain _____.

A. the sky is always dark
B. their studies are successful
C. they see the world with their heart
D. life is tiring

2. According to (根据) the passage, in school, _____.

A. the students don't like their lessons
B. the teachers will be happy if the students do good jobs
C. the teachers don't like their teaching
D. the teachers are tired of their work

3. If there is a timely rain, _____.

A. you want to go out
B. you can listen to a concert
C. crops in the fields will grow better
D. farmers can't have a good harvest

4. When we face failure, we _____.

A. must be confident of ourselves
B. shouldn't be afraid of it
C. shouldn't give up hope
D. all of the above

5. The best title (题目) of this passage is _____.

A. Smile and the World Smiles to You
B. Complaining About Life
C. Failure is the Mother of Success
D. It is Very Hard to Succeed

     Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my
house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons
from his experiences. He always told me,"You should have goals like climbing the mountain." Without the
mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father
was very busy. I really got a lot from the mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be
in deep thought as well as develop my patience.
     Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old.
During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds' singing. But as time
passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing, but my father said to me, "You can always
see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. Only there can you
see all of the nice things, which is just like your life."
     At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got to know the meaning of
hope in life. I found myself standing at the top of the mountain, and the sky was as clear as crystal.

1. The passage tells us that mountain-climbing was ______ for the father and the son.

A. hard
B. enjoyable
C. painful
D. comfortable

2. The underlined word "crystal" in the passage means _______.

A. 岩石
B. 火焰
C. 水晶
D. 寒冰

3. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the father's words in the second paragraph?

A. You will get all you need at the top of the mountain.
B. The sky is always as clear as crystal.
C. You can find life is full of nice things.
D. Never give up half-way.

4. We can infer(推断) from the last paragraph that ______.

 A. the writer was very successful in his life
B. the writer reached the top of the mountain
C. though the writer was young, he could understand his father
D. the writer used to stop half-way when he climbed the mountain

5. The best title for the passage is ______.

A. Reaching the Top of the Mountain
B. Standing at the Top of the Mountain
C. Conversations between Father and Son
D. How to Get to the Top of the Mountain

     My mother used to ask me what the most important part of the body is. Through the years I would guess
at what I thought was the correct answer.
     When I was younger, I thought sound was very important to us as humans, so I said, "My ears, Mommy."
      She said, "No. Many people are deaf. But you keep thinking about it and I will ask you again soon."
      Several years passed before she asked me again. Since making my first attempt, I had contemplated (仔细
考虑) the correct answer. So this time I told her, "Mommy, sight is very important to everybody, so it must be
our eyes." She looked at me and told me, "You are learning fast, but the answer is not correct because there are
many people who are blind."
     Over the years, Mother asked me a couple more times and always her answer was,"No, but you are getting
smarter every year, my child."
     Then last year, my Grandpa died. Everybody was hurt. Everybody was crying. My Mom looked at me
when it was our turn to say our final good-bye to Grandpa. She asked me, "Do you know the most important
body part yet, my dear?"
      I was surprised when she asked me this now. I always thought this was a game between her and me. She
saw the confusion (迷惑) on my face and told me, "This question is very important. It shows that you have
really lived your life." I saw her eyes well up with tears. She said, "My dear, the most important body part is
your shoulder."
     I asked, "Is it because it holds up your head?"
     She replied, "No, it is because it can hold the head of a friend or loved one when they cry. Everybody needs
a shoulder to cry on sometimes in life, my dear. I only hope that you have enough love and friends that you
will have a shoulder to cry on when you need it."
     Then and there I knew the most important body part is not a selfish one. It is care to the pain of others.

1. What did his mother use to ask him? 
   ____________________________________________________________
2. Did he think sound was very important to them when he was young?
   ____________________________________________________________
3. When did his grandpa die? 
   ____________________________________________________________
4. Why is shoulder the most important part of the body? 
    ____________________________________________________________
5. What did his mother want to tell him? 
    ____________________________________________________________

     Life is short. Are you doing what you love? Are you living your passion? If not, why? I am guessing
most people will answer that question with "I have a loan, a lover and three kids to support". In the real
world people have responsibilities. They have to make sacrifices (牺牲). You aren't supposed to be happy
with your job but you do it because you have to.
     With all due respect, they are wrong. You can take care of your responsibilities and be happy with your
job. We spend over 1/3 of our day, at least five days a week performing or jobs. This is a lot of time to be
wasted on something we don't enjoy, isn't it? Why not spend that time doing something you truly are
passionate about for 50 hours a week instead of something that lacks meaning?
      I think there is one main reason people don't follow their passion: Fear. Fear of how others will react,
fear of failure, and fear that they can't do it themselves. I think the first part is for people to realize that they
can conquer (战胜) their fear. You will fail at times and others will think you are crazy at times, but if you
believe that you will succeed then you finally will.
     I understand that it is not easy. I am in the middle of going through it right now. But understand that
there are other people out there who have been through what you are going through and can help you. They
have failed, been ridiculed, and come out on the other end extremely successful. They are living proof that
you can do what you love.

1. In the first paragraph, the writer tries to tell us ________.

A. people always live a happy life
B. all people can have a job in the real world
C. people have responsibilities to do their jobs and to be happy
D. people are usually unhappy with their jobs but do them because they have to

2. The underlined phrase "are passionate about" means ________.

A. are interested in
B. are proud of
C. find out
D. think about

3. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A. Responsibility
B. Enjoy Your Life
C. Love What You Do
D. Dreams Come True

     "Love your neighbor as yourself" is a saying familiar to most of us. It means that you must have the
ability to love and accept yourself in order to form and keep satisfying relationship with others. Self-esteem
means accepting yourself for who you really are, and believing that you are indeed a worthwhile person who
is deserving of love and respect from others.
     Self-esteem is our sense of how good we feel about ourselves. It is based on our judgment of ourselves,
not on other people's assessment, but simply on our own. Our self-esteem is not dependent on our talent.
Some very ordinary people feel very good about themselves, while other extraordinarily high achievers hold
low opinions of themselves.
     Self-esteem is the primary key to long-term stress management. Why? The first three sources of stress
are: predictable life event, unexpected changes and build-up of daily stresses. These are much easier to handle
when we believe in ourselves. A positive, healthy self-esteem gives us the "hardiness (强健)" to deal with the
difficulties of life, and to see them as challenges to be met, rather than threats to be feared. 
     The forth category of stress is entirely the result of a low self-esteem. It is the category of stress that is
most common and tiring over the long run. This kind of stress cannot be overcome, or even changed, until
the self-esteem problems that cause it are corrected.
     Learning to love yourself for who you are is the key to overcoming stress. Self-esteem comes from the
self, and cannot be promoted by others. A person who feels that his self-esteem comes from the approval
of those around him or her is bound to self-destruct (自毁). One cannot keep the level of "performance"
required to please everyone else, especially if that performance disagrees with who you are and is simply a
facade that makes you popular with the world. When the applause is gone, there is nothing left. Only those
who can feel the strength of knowing who they are and those who can feel good about that will survive the
stresses of life. Self-esteem is the basis of contentment and positive living.

1. According to the writer, what is self-esteem?

A. A kind of positive lifestyle.
B. The impression we have on other people.
C. The sense of how good we feel about ourselves.
D. Our understanding of how we are seen by others.

2. What can help people overcome difficulties according to the passage?

A. Getting help from friends.
B. A positive, healthy self-esteem.
C. Learning to love yourself for who you are.
D. Removing yourself from stressful situation.

3. Why do people need to learn to love themselves?

A. Because it can help them overcome stress.
B. Because they often meet difficulties.
C. Because they need to love their neighbors
D. Because it can make them popular with the world.

4. The writer wrote the article to ______.

A. tell people how to overcome stress
B. help people form good relationship with others
C. show the importance of feeling good about yourself
D. provide the different methods to get a clear view of yourself