A great many people are disappointed because of unrealistic expectations.

Walking up to a department store’s  1   counter, an attractive young woman said, “I want to buy this material for a new dress. How much does it cost?”

“Only one  2   per yard,” replied the smirking (自鸣得意的) male clerk.

Not to be taken back by the funny words, the woman said, “That’s fine! I’ll take ten yards.”

With  3  written all over his face, the clerk hurriedly  4  out and wrapped the cloth, and then held it out teasingly, leaning forward to receive his “   5   ”.

The woman got the package quickly from the clerk and pointed to a little old  6  standing beside her. “Grandpa will pay the bill instead of me,” she  7 .

He was no doubt disappointed. But in the course of living, many people are  8 when others do not  9  their expectations. In order to be happy, some expectations must be dropped. These three particular  10  and unhealthy expectations are some of the main causes:

       1. Expect too much  11 .When others say, “Thank you,” or in any way to show their gratitude, be happy. It is a gift!

       2. Expect others to make you happy. They simply cannot do that. Make yourself happy and  12   your joy with others.

       3. Expect not to be  13 . At times, people will simply not come through for you in the way you need.  14   them and move on.

Get rid of these three unrealistic expectations and you can begin to expect more  15   right away!

A bar manager was so sure that he himself was the strongest man. Thus he made a bet and declared he would offer $1000 if    1   could beat him.

     The    2   was that the landlord would squeeze（压榨）a lemon until all the    3   ran out into a beer glass, then hand the lemon to the customer. Anyone who could squeeze even one more   __ 4   out of the lemon would win the money.

     Over the years many people had tried this, truck drivers, weightlifters, karate masters, and    __ 5   had failed. Then one day a geeky little fellow with heavy black rimmed glasses    6   the bar and asked if he could try the challenge.

     After the laughter had quieted down the landlord said that it was only fair that the man should be given a    7   at the bet, so he picked up a lemon and started squeezing. Once he had done, he handed the    8   to the little man. Immediately, the little man promptly squeezed out 4 more drops of juice onto the bar!

     Everyone looked at the little man in    9   as the landlord handed over the prize and asked

"What do you do for a living that has given you such   10  ? Are you a lumberjack, weightlifter?"

"No." the man replied, "I work for the IRS.( 美国国税局)"

A. anyone        B. someone        C. every one       D. no one

A. fact           B. trap            C. challenge       D. match

A. flesh           B. juice           C. seeds         D. peel

A. water       B. lemon           C. beer glass     D. drop

A. none          B. neither          C. either           D. all

A. rushed into     B. came into     C. put into       D. looked into

A. then        B. likely         C. fair            D. chance

A. container    B. money        C. remains        D. other

A. tears           B. amazement      C. trouble         D. time

A. strength    B. bravery         C. skill           D. bet

A chemical important of brain development may play a role in explaining why some people are genetically (由基因决定地) likely to suffer from anxiety and could lead to new treatments, U．S. researchers said.

They said highly anxious rats which were kept had very low levels of a brain chemical called fibroblast growth factor 2 or FGF2, compared with rats that were more relaxed. But when they improved the anxious rats' living conditions—giving them new toys to explore and a bigger cage to live in—levels of this brain chemical increased and they became less anxious.

“The levels of this brain chemical increased in response to the experiences that the rats were exposed to. It also decreased their anxiety.”Javier Perez of the University o f Michigan said in a telephone interview. “It made them behave the same way as the rats that were relaxed，”he said.

In a former study of people who were severely depressed before they died, the team found the gene that makes FGF2 was producing very low levels of the growth factor, which is known primarily for organizing the brain during development and repairing it after injury.

Perez thinks the brain chemical may be a marker for genetic vulnerability (脆弱性) to anxiety and depression. But it can also respond to changes in the environment in a positive way, possibly by preserving new brain cells.

While both the calm and anxious rats produced the same number of new brain cells, these cells were less likely to survive in the high－anxiety rats, the team found. Giving the rats better living conditions or injecting them with FGF2 helped improve cell survival.

“This discovery may pave the way for new, more specific treatments for anxiety that will not be based on sedation(药物镇静), but will instead fight the real cause of the disease，” Dr. Pier Vincenzo Piazza from France said in a statement.

6. We know from the passage that with the levels of FGF2 decreasing, the rats will ________.

A. die of anxiety soon          B. suffer from a headache

C. become more relaxed        D. become more anxious

7. What's the better way to increase the levels of FGF2?

A. Introducing more companions to the anxious rats.

B. Improving the living conditions of the anxious rats.

C. Injecting the anxious rats with some special medicine.

D. Giving the anxious rats more time to relax.

8. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

A. the team                 B. the gene

C. the growth factor          D. the brain

9. What's the main influence of the new discovery?

A. Doctors won't use any medicine to cure anxiety.

B. Doctors may treat anxiety more efficiently.

C. Doctors will find the real cause of anxiety.

D. Doctors may find new medicine for anxiety.

10. Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

A. Anxious rats and relaxed rats

B. Anxiety—a serious mental disease

C. Scientific research into the brain is important

D. Brain chemical may play key role in anxiety

A vuvuzela is a horn，about a meter long，usually made of a colourful cheap plastic.________ When it's blown by thousands of supporters at the same time，it's loud，very loud. It sounds a bit like an air horn and you can hear it a lot during the 2010 World Cup.

 The vuvuzela was originally made from a kudu horn and was traditionally used to summon people to gatherings. But the horn you see at soccer matches in South Africa today originated from a tin horn that became popular with South African soccer fans around 15 years ago. A sports company began to mass－produce a plastic version in the South Africa colours，and this is what you see (and hear)at every soccer match. Now it's become an official symbol of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and more popular around the world.

 The vuvuzela will be ubiquitous during the 2010 World Cup. There was a call for FIFA to ban the vuvizela during the Confederations Cup that took place in South Africa in June 2009，European journalists got into a tizzy(紧张)about the noise. The Guardian reported: “It sounds like extremely terrible.” But FIFA stood its ground，as Mr. Blatter，FIFA's president says “Vuvuzelas，drums and singing are part of Africa football culture. It is part of their celebration，it is part of their culture，so let them blow the vuvuzelas.”

Adam Carnegie，a graphic artist from Cape Town，founded the Kelp Environmental Learning Project. The project employs local men and women to collect kelp，dry it and then hand paint colourful designs on it. The mission is simple. “We want to create jobs，make a noise，make people laugh，remind people to be in the moment.”

Like most trumpets，getting any noise from a vuvuzela requires significant pursing of the lips and the ability to blow with force. Your cheeks will be zinging afterward. You can personalize your vuvuzela blowing, with a lot of practice，but generally it produces one big sound.

6. Which of the following sentences can be used to fill in the blank in the first paragraph?

A. It was chosen by FIFA as the unique musical instrument.

B. It has been used at soccer matches for thousands of years.

C. It is the choice of noise－maker for South African football fans.

D. It is a traditional instrument South African soccer fans use to celebrate victory.

7. The vuvuzela ________.

A. is usually made of metal

B. has a length of two and a half feet

C. was first used in a local sports game

D. is one of the official symbols of the 2010 World Cup

8. The underlined word “ubiquitous” in the 3rd paragraph probably means “________”．

A. banned               B. heard everywhere

C. extremely expensive     D. strictly limited

9. Why did FIFA stand its ground on the issue of the vuvuzela? 

A. Because the vuvuzela is typical of African football culture. 

B. Because it is the host country's right to make their choice. 

C. Because the vuvuzela will make the 2010 World Cup special. 

D. Because more member countries support the use of the vuvuzela.

10. What can we learn from the passage?

A. It requires effort to get noise from vuvuzela.

B. Vuvuzela will be banned after the 2010 World Cup because it is too noisy. 

C. The Kelp Environmental Learning Project employs many people to sell vuvuzela. 

D. Vuvuzela is too noisy for both the players and the audience.

 A friend of mine was sitting in the living room one day when his cat dragged in a little “gift” in its mouth—a dead animal of some sort. Taking a closer look, he was surprised to  36 it as the bunny(小兔子) that  37 Mary, the young daughter of the family next door. My friend felt  38 , believing his cat had killed Mary’s bunny.
My quick-thinking friend came up with a plan.  39  from the cat’s mouth the dead animal, which by now was a     40 mess, he put it in the kitchen sink. With a little warm water and some shampoo, he tried to  41 the dead bunny as best he could. Then he took a hair dryer and blowdried the bunny  42 it looked pretty good.
Finally, under the cover of darkness, he crept into the next-door garden and placed it  43 in the cage. He managed to make the bunny look very  44 there in his little box.
The next morning, my friend looked out of the window and noticed a crowd of people  45 around the rabbit hutch(笼). Everyone seemed to be talking and pointing. My friend  46 to go over and act like any normal  47 neighbor and find out what was going on.
When he got there, Mary’s mother said to my friend, “You won’t believe this! It’s a(n)   48 thing! Mary’s bunny  49 a few days ago, and we buried that little bunny right over there…”
Have you ever tried to cover up one wrongdoing with another? Covering up only makes matters  50 .
When we get caught doing something  51 , for example, we may  52 to cover it up with a lie. But just like Mary’s bunny, the result is  53 what we expected. We  54 looking foolish. We would have been better off admitting we were wrong and accepting the  55 . What do you think of it?