I don’t think Maria will be disappointed at the news, but I will see her      she is.

    A. as if                B. so that              C. in case          D. even though

 —How did you find your visit to the Olympic Park, Tom?

—      .

A. By taking a No 3 bus.                    B. I want there alone

C. Oh, wonderful indeed                 D. A boy showed me the way

Nearly thirty years ago, I went rock climbing for the first time with a group in New Mexico. It sounded exciting and  1! Anyone who has ever climbed knows that you can easily  2where there is no place to go, or so. It seems you’re stuck. But    3is not an option. You cannot just stand there and feel  4for yourself. You cannot go back down, so you are  5to become solution minded.

I held on for dear life that day, on my first climb,   6about three quarters of the way to the top. It seemed that there was no place to go, and  7to put my hands or feet so that I could  8upward. But after a few minutes had passed I realized that I had to do  9. I began to look again for a(n)  10. I then noticed a   11sticking out, which I might be able to grab with my hands and  12myself up to where I could have a small foothold. I called to the instructor at the top and asked him if that rock would hold my  13if I pulled myself up. I can  14remember his answer, “I don’t know. Why don’t you try it and see?”

In life we many times feel “stuck”. We wonder how we got into the  15that we are presently in. It is in those times that we need to be careful about how we define(定义)it. Have we failed,   16is it just a setback?

Setbacks, adversity(逆境), or being stuck is never an indication that you are a   17unless you decide that those things define your life as a failure. For people looking for a(n)  18to be a failure, there are always plenty to choose from. But if you want your life to be successful, setbacks, adversity and being stuck are   19stepping-stones to your success. Success minded people  20those kinds of things for what they really are. They know that for them, they are only temporary.

1.A. amusing        B. challenging          C. boring           D. surprising

2.A. put away       B. take up          C. end up           D. lead to

3.A. searching      B. regretting           C. refusing     D. quitting

4.A. sorry          B. free             C. amazed       D. surprised

5.A. unlikely       B. forced               C. asked            D. bound

6.A. shocked        B. stuck                C. suffered     D. struck

7.A. nowhere        B. somewhere            C. anywhere     D. wherever

8.A. continue       B. improve          C. promote      D. enjoy

9.A. everything     B. something            C. anything     D. nothing

10.A. attention     B. appreciation     C. solution     D. expectation

11.A. track         B. sign             C. tree         D. rock

12.A. turn          B. push             C. pull         D. build

13.A. quantity      B. feet             C. weight           D. burden

14.A. still         B. never                C. hardly           D. ever

15.A. destination       B. situation            C. location     D. occasion

16.A. however       B. otherwise            C. or           D. yet

17.A. learner           B. failure              C. thinker      D. winner

18.A. signal            B. excuse               C. comment      D. imagine

19.A. easily            B. hardly               C. simply           D. nearly

20.A. develop           B. deserve          C. promise      D. accept

Struggling in the US? Move to China!

I graduated from the university with a degree of civil engineer. It is a good field but my heart was not in it. I wanted to be an actor or work in the entertainment industry…living a creative life. My choice of civil engineering was really a mistake but I realized too late. As soon as I graduated, I move straight to Los Angeles----the home of the film and television industry!

For three years, I tried to get a job in that field. I often worked as an extra in movies and TV shows----standing in the background while actors are in the foreground. This was fun for a while, but I wanted a real acting job, where I was speaking! Sadly, in Los Angeles, there is too much competition. Every race and age is represented: old, young, black, white, Asian, and thousands of blondish-red haired Midwestern types like me. Being an extra couldn’t make enough money for me to live in LA. I had to do something else for money.

After three years of trying, I gave up my dream of being an actor and started a different career. I then tried network-marketing, but in the end, that failed. Seven years after graduating from college, I was still in debt, still searching for a satisfactory life. I decided to go back to civil engineering.

However, I was starting to get very disappointed with my life. Why is life not like what I expected?

I expected to have made a lot of money, gotten married, with a house and nice cars, kids, time freedom, etc. Millions of people lead lives with their dreams shelved, existing but not really living. I want my life to be different, more satisfactory, more alive. America was not providing that for me…

In addition, America was too expensive----always worrying about money was a headache. I wanted a life filled with adventure, romance, friendships, successes, and dreams realized.

…

I decided to move to China.

1.How can we describe the writer’s attitude toward life?

    A. Practical.           B. Passive.         C. Disappointed.        D. Positive.

2.What does the underlined sentence mean?

    A. A lot of people are living but they are not enjoying their life.

    B. A lot of people are living with dreams though their life is not that enjoyable.

    C. A lot of people give up their dreams and yet are living a good life.

    D. A lot of people don’t have dreams, nor do they want to live either.

3.What did the writer do before he finally decided to move to China?

    A. Engineerextramarketingengineer.     B. Extramarketingengineer.

    C. Engineerextramarketing .               D. Extraengineermarketing.

True love and kindness is needed in this world. It comes from appreciating the object, and rejoicing in the object, wanting the object to be happy and well, but holding it lightly, not tightly. And this goes for possessions too. You are in an extremely materialistic society in which the possession of more and bigger and better is held up as the total criteria(标准) for being happy.

What we own is not the problem; it’s our attitude towards our possessions. If we have something and we enjoy it, that’s fine. If we lose it, then that’s OK. But if we lose it and we are very attached to it in our heart, then that’s not fine. It doesn’t matter what the object is, because it’s not the object which is the problem. The problem is our own inner grasping mind that keeps us bound to the wheel, and keeps us suffering. If our mind was open and could just let thing flow naturally, there would be no pain. Do you understand? We need our everyday life to work on this, to really begin to see the greed of attachment in the mind and gradually begin to lessen and lessen it.

There is a famous story of a coconut, which is said to be used in India to catch monkeys. People take a coconut and make a little hole just big enough for a monkey to put its paw through. And inside the coconut, which is nailed to a tree, they have put something sweet. So the monkey comes along, sees the coconut, smells something nice inside, and he puts his hand in. he catches hold of the sweet inside, so now he has a fist. But the hole is too small for the fist to get out. When the hunters come back, the monkey is caught. But of course, all the monkey has to do is let go. Nobody’s holding the monkey except the monkey’s grasping greedy mind. Nobody is holding us on the wheel; we are clinging to it ourselves. There are no chains.

1.Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

    A. Clinging Causes the Pain             B. Don’t Learn from the Monkey

    C. Giving Up is Holding             D. Possessions are Pains

2.According to the first paragraph, which of the following statements is true?

    A. The world now is lacking in true love.

    B. Owning more means being happier in today’s society.

    C. Today’s society is very realistic.         

D. The society needs better criteria.

3.According to the passage, the monkey is caught because      .

    A. the hunter is cleverer than the monkey  

B. the monkey wants to eat the sweet

    C. the hole is too small for the monkey’s fist

    D. the monkey doesn’t know giving up

4.Why did the author tell the story of the monkey?

   A. Because he liked monkeys very much.

   B. Because the story is very interesting.

   C. Because he wants to explain the idea further.

   D. Because he wants to make the passage attractive.

Even as Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda wrapped up a tired appearance before Congress，the head of the world’s largest automaker wasn’t leaving his problems behind．

 Toyota faces a criminal investigation by federal lawyers in New York．The company is now being investigated．Its US dealerships in difficulty now are facing repairs to potentially millions of customer cars that have been recalled．The company is offering customers money back for rental cars and other expenses．

 Its lawyers are busy preparing to cope with lawsuits．A new hearing will be conducted. And the cost to Toyota’s reputation is only now starting．

Despite back-to-back hearings this week，left to be said were a better explanation for slow actions to deal with the faults and believable promises that the problems that led to sudden，unintended accelerations will be fixed．

Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock，but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems．

Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车)．Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.

    House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda，the grandson of the company’s founder．

    The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults．NHTSA also continues to look into steering complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model．

    Toyota has recalled 8．5 million cars，more than 6 million of them in the United States．

    It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars．

    Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results．Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales，due out next week，to be down 30 percent to 40．Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that． 

    It will take some time to feel the full effect of this，he said．

1.The best title for this passage is            ．

    A．Toyota is in trouble             B．Toyota is under hearing

    C．Toyota is finished               D．Toyota is still running

2.What is the purpose of the hearing?

    A．America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers．

    B．America wants to get Toyota out of the US market．

    C．America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty．

    D．America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem．

3.Why does Toyota recall cars and offer customers money back for rental cars and other expenses?

    A．It tries to avoid the maximum damages to the company．

    B．It is big company and has means to fix every problem．

    C．It’s part of post service．

    D．It’s a way to compete in auto market．

4.The last sentence of this passage indicates            .

    A．Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota

    B．Toyota could meet a worse situation

    C．Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later

    D．Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers

SINGAPORE—It seems the financial crisis isn’t all hopeless: one in four people are glad the world’s economy turned down like it did, because it helped them realize more in life, according to a global survey.

Market research firm Synovate surveyed around 11400 people across the world and found more than half had permanently changed their attitudes toward money over the last 12 months. Another 47 percent, however, said they were looking forward to being able to spend freely again.

“The psychology of global depression has changed the way many people do things,” Jenny Chang, managing director in Taiwan (China), said in a statement. “They are making life-changing decisions based on the current global depression, such as postponing marriage, having children, moving house, changing jobs or pursuing higher education. Even in a relatively effect-free economy like Taiwan’s.”

A quarter of all respondents led by Malaysians said they were glad the world had an economic crisis as it has helped them realize what’s really important in their lives.

Nearly 60 percent said they would try their best to control their spending so that it doesn’t go back to what it used to be before the downturn, and over two-thirds are more interested in increasing their savings than reducing their debt.

The majority of respondents—over 80 percent—believed their generation had a responsibility to leave their country better off for the younger generation, even if it involved dramatically changing their lifestyles.

With the relatively high unemployment in the US, Synovate’s US-based Claire Peerson Braverman said, Americans who had lost one or more incomes in the family, had to make some of the most difficult decisions concerning money each day.

1.What information did Market research firm Synovate want to get by making the survey?

    A. The effects of global depression on people’s money and life attitudes.

    B. The loss people suffered in the global depression.

C. The number of people who like global depression.

D. The influence of economical crisis on the US.

2.What can be inferred from the article?

   A. The global depression had no effects on economy in Taiwan of China at all.

   B. Global depression led some people to give up their higher education.

   C. More people will spend their money more carefully after the global depression.

   D. Some people felt glad about the global depression for the benefits it brought them.

3.What does the underlined world “it” in the fifth paragraph refer to?

    A. Habit of spending money.         B. Global depression.

    C. Responsibility for the country.      D. Attitude towards life.

4.What is the theme of this article?

    A. The economic crisis made more people try to save more money.

    B. The situation of unemployment in the US became more serious.

    C. Lots of people put off some important events in their life for the economic crisis.

    D. Economic crisis helped people change their ideas about money and life.

  阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

In a society, such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism-the difference among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students don't memorize information. Instead, they work individually and find answers themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.

In most Asian societies, by contrast, people have the same language, history, and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the Orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan, and Korea often work together and help one another in assignments. In the classroom, the teaching methods are often very formal. The teacher lectures, and the students listen. There is not much discussion. Instead, the students recite rules of information that they have memorized.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems of education. For example, one advantage to the system in Japan is that there much more math and science than American students learn by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.

The advantage of the educational system in North American, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from high school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.

Title：  1.of Educational System between North America and Asia

    据报道，几位慈善人士最近几年一直在资助五名贫困大学生，但是，这些学生从来没有表达过他们的感激之情，所以几位慈善人士决定停止资助。此事在社会上引起了广泛的争论，某英文报为此在读者中展开了调查。请你以“Do They Have to Say Thanks?”为题，根据下列表格所列信息及要求用英语写一篇短文，投到该报的“Readers’ Letters”栏目。

注意：1、词数100左右；           2、参考词汇  捐赠donate

 We can never expect    bluer sky unless we create     less polluted world.  

A. a; a         B. a; the       C. the; a         D. the; the