In our life, we have rarely expressed our gratitude to the one who’d lived those years with us.In fact, we don’t have to wait for anniversaries to thank the ones close to us—the ones so easily overlooked. If I have learned anything about giving thanks, it is this: give it now！While your feeling of appreciation is alive and sincere, act on it. Saying thanks is such an easy way to add to the world’s happiness.

Saying thanks not only brightens someone else’s world, but it also brightens yours. If you’re feeling left out, unloved or unappreciated, try reaching out to others. It may be just the medicine you need.

Of course, there are times when you can’t express gratitude immediately. In that case don’t let embarrassment sink you into silence—speak up the first time you have the chance.

Once a young minister, Mark Brian, was sent to a remote parish of Kwakiutl Indians in British Columbia. He had been told that the Indians did not have a word for thank you. But Brian soon found that these people had exceptional generosity. Instead of saying thanks, it is their custom to return every favor with a favor of their own, and every kindness with an equal or superior kindness. They do their thanks.

I wonder if we had no words in our vocabulary for thank you, would we do a better job of communicating our gratitude? Would we be more responsive, more sensitive and more caring?

Thankfulness sets in motion a chain of reaction that transforms people all around us—including ourselves, for no one ever misunderstands the melody of a grateful heart.

1.When we say something for what others do for us, it ______.

A．is good for both us and people who help us

B．benefits the people who do something for us

C．wastes our and our friends' time at the same time

D．does harm to both us and people who help us

2.According to the writer,        could be the best way to prevent ourselves from being left out.

A．seeing a doctor to find the right medicine we need

B．expressing our gratitude in an easy way

C．speaking up the moment we have the chance

D．showing others actively we are willing to help them

3.Mark Brain’s story is mentioned in the passage in order to show the fact that       .

A．the Indians didn’t have any words for appreciation

B．the Indians were particularly generous to others

C．some people may express their gratitude through different approaches

D．Mark Brain set the Indians an example to show saying thanks is very important

 

 

第三部分  阅读理解（共20小题;每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Christopher Thomas, 27, was a writer by night and a teacher by day when he noticed he was always tired and was losing weight fast. Diagnosed with diabetes(糖尿病), Thomas would need to inject himself with insulin(胰岛素) three times a day for the rest of his life or risk nerve damage, blindness, and even death. And if that weren't bad enough, he had no health insurance.

After a month of feeling upset, Thomas decided he'd better find a way to fight back. He left Canton, Michigan for New York, got a job waiting tables, nicknamed himself the Diabetic Rockstar , and created diabeticrockstar.com, a free online community for diabetics and their loved ones—a place where over 1,100 people share personal stories, information, and resources.

    Jason Swencki’s son, Kody, was diagnosed with type diabetes at six. Father and son visit the online children's forums(论坛) together most evenings. "Kody gets so excited, writing to kids from all over," says Swencki, one of the site's volunteers. "They know what he's going through, so he doesn't feel alone."

Kody is anything but alone: Diabetes is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, with 24 million diagnosed cases. And more people are being diagnosed at younger ages.

    These days, Thomas's main focus is his charity（慈善机构）, Fight It, which provides medicines and supplies to people—225 to date—who can't afford a diabetic's huge expenses. Fight-it.org has raised about $23,000—in products and in cash. In May, Thomas will hold the first annual Diabetic Rockstar Festival in the Caribbean.

    Even with a staff of 22 volunteers, Thomas often devotes up to 50 hours a week to his cause, while still doing his full-time job waiting tables. "Of the diabetes charities out there, most are putting money into finding a cure," says Bentley Gubar,  one of Rockstar's original members. "But Christopher is the only person I know saying people need help now."

1. Which of the following is true of Christopher Thomas?

A.  He needs to go to the doctor every day.

B.  He studies the leading cause of diabetes

C.  He has a positive attitude to this disease.

D.  He encourages diabetics by writing articles.

2. Diabeitcrockstar.com was created for _________.

   A. diabetics to communicate          B. volunteers to find jobs

   C. children to amuse themselves       D. rock stars to share resources.

3. According to the text, Kody ______.

A. feel lonely because of his illness

B. benefits from diabeticrockstar.com

C. helps create the online kid’s forums

D. writes children’s stories online

4. What can we learn about Fight It?

A. It helps the diabetics in financial difficulties.

B. It organizes parties for volunteer once a year.

C. It offers less expensive medicine to diabetics.

D. It owns a well-known medical website.

5. The last paragraph suggests that Thomas ______.

A. works full-time in a diabetes charity      B. employs 22 people for his website

C. helps diabetics in his own way           D. ties to find a cure for diabetes

 

Most people know that a wedding ring is symbolic of the bond(连结物) of love and commitment（承诺） between two people. But not everyone knows about the history behind this small yet powerful symbol. The history of the wedding ring goes back not just hundreds but thousands of years. No other currently practiced wedding tradition has been around as long. 

The Egyptians were the first recorded civilization to use the wedding ring. In Egyptian hieroglyphics（象形文字） a circle represented eternity. Once a woman accepted the ring she became the “property” of the person who gave it to her and she was in a sense “his.” The first wedding ring could have been made of braided grass or hay （which would have been changed often）, ivory, bone, or leather.  Eventually, metal was used, but the first wedding bands were crude（未加工的） and rough. However, the sentiment（情感） remained the same-eternal commitment and love. 

The Egyptians wore the wedding ring on the left hand because it was believed that a vein（静脉） in the left hand went straight to the heart. This tradition is still commonly practiced today in most parts of the world largely for practical purposes （most people are right handed.）It is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. But there are some countries and groups which do not follow this tradition.  In the Jewish faith, the wedding ring is put on the index finger. Roman Catholics traditionally wore their wedding band on the right hand, and in many countries and regions in Europe some people still follow this tradition. 

It is interesting to note that in the long history of the wedding ring that it is only in the last century that men have begun to wear them. However, now both men and women show their love and commitment by exchanging rings on their wedding day. 

Once you begin shopping for rings you may be amazed by the choices that await you. There are several different types of metals: traditional gold, white gold, platinum, and titanium. You can have an inscription（刻字） put on the inside of the band（镶边） if you like. Some people are even choosing a tattoo（刺花） band. The styles vary from a simple, yet elegant（优雅的） band to an elaborate（精致的） ring covered with jewels. If you do not buy the wedding and engagement rings as a set you will want to be sure the styles are compatible（一致的）. Choose carefully because this choice will need to stand the test of eternity. 

1.What would be the best title for this passage?

A. History of rings                     B. Interesting facts about rings 

C. Different beliefs about rings        D. The meaning of the rings.

2.What may the word “eternity” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. Elegance        B. Marriage             C. Wedding          D. Foreverness

3.Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A. The meaning of the rings remained unchanged. 

B. One should be careful of choosing a ring in a shop from different kinds. 

C. Jewish are so faithful to their beliefs to wear rings on the fourth finger. 

D. Now most people in the world still follow Roman Catholics traditionally. 

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A. Men were looked upon by women for thousands years. 

B. Only women have the right to make themselves beautiful. 

C. women wore rings thousands of years earlier than men. 

D. You can have an inscription put on the inside the band.

 

There’s only ten minutes to go. We can’t wait any more---- ______, we should start at once.

  A. what’s more            B. in a word  C. in other words           D. in the end

 

Throughout history, people have been interested in knowing how languages first began, but no one knows exactly where or how this happened. However, we do know a lot about languages, the languages of today and also the languages of earlier times. There are probably about 3,000 languages in the world today. Chinese is the language with the most speakers. English, Russian and Spanish are also spoken by many millions of people. On the other hand, some languages in the world have less than one hundred speakers.

There are several important families of languages in the world. For example, most of the languages of Europe are in one large family called Indo-European. The original (最初的) language of this family was spoken about 4,500 years ago. Many of the present day languages of Europe and India are modern forms of the language of 4,500 yeas ago.

Languages are always changing. The English of today is very different from the English of 500 years ago. In time some even died out completely. About 1,000 years ago, English was a little-known relative of German spoken on one of the borders of Europe.

If a language has a large number of speakers or if it is very old, there may be differences in the way it is spoken in different areas. That is, the language may have several dialects. Chinese is a good example of dialect differences. Chinese has been spoken for thousands of years by many millions of speakers. The differences between the dialects of Chinese are so great that speakers of Chinese from some parts of China can’t understand speakers from other parts.

1. The first paragraph mainly tells us that ____ .

      A. most people in the world speak Chinese

      B. there are thousands of languages in the world today

      C. man has much knowledge about languages

      D. some people know several languages

2.According to the passage, most European and Indian languages ____ .

      A. will soon die out completely        B. were once a relative of English

      C. are no longer spoken                    D. come from the same family

3. According to the passage, ____ has the most speakers.

      A. Chinese             B. English              C. Spanish              D. German

4.According to the passage, ____ seems to have changed a lot.

      A. German            B. English              C. Spanish            D. Chinese

5.The underlined word dialect in the last paragraph probably means ____ .

      A. a special language spoken by Chinese

      B. the sign used by the Chinese people in a special area

      C. the difference between the old and today’s Chinese

     D. the form of a language used in one part of the country