A habit is any action that we have performed so often that it becomes something we do almost without thinking. Some of them are thought to be bad habits. People spend countless hours and dollars each year trying to drop these bad habits but often fail. Why? Change is hard work and there is no shortcut to achieve it. However, there is still some advice for you to follow.

First, look at why you do it. In other words, what’s the result of doing this thing? If your bad habit is shouting at people when you are unhappy or under pressure, what do you get from it? It may make you feel a little better for the moment. Or maybe you have a bad habit of leaving your homework undone. The result could be that you get more time to spend on the Internet!

Next, take a look on the other hand. What are you losing because of your habit? Shouting at other people is a bad habit because it makes people around you feel bad and unhappy. Leaving your homework undone is a bad habit because you may be punished by your teacher. Having more Internet time means that you are losing the chance to learn the things that you need to learn. When you think that way, you’ll find that it’s not wise to keep your bad habit! Now it is time to make a decision. What will you choose? I’m sure you will choose to do what you think is more important.

1.From the first paragraph we know that      .

A. people always fail to break bad habits

B. we must change all the habits we have

C. a habit is a terrible thing we can never change

D. it’s difficult, but we should do something about bad habits

2.The underlined sentence “there is no shortcut to achieve it” means that      .

A. it is not easy to give up bad habits         B. there is a long way and a short way

C. something dangerous may happen       D. we must cut bad habits in a short time

3.According to the passage, if you want to drop your habits, you have to      .

A. talk to others when you are in low spirits  B. know why you do what you do

C. finish your homework first           D. spend less time on the Internet

4.The main purpose of this passage is to ask us       .

A. not to shout at people when we are sad    B. not to spend much time on the Internet  

C. to give up our bad habits                D. to decide what to choose

 

As prices and building costs keep rising , the “do-it-yourself”(DIY) trend(趋势)in the USA continues to grow .
“We needed furniture for our living rooms ,” says John Ross , “and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it . So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs .” John got married six months ago , and like many young people these days , they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high .The Rosses took a 2-week course for $280 at a night school .Now they make all their furniture and repairs around the house .
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife has died .He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory .Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420 . “I was deeply upset about it .Now I’ve finished a car repair course .I should be able to fix the car by myself .”
John and Jim are not unusual people .Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes .And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell them how they can do things themselves.
【小题1】We can learn from the passage that many newly married people ______ .

A．take DIY courses run by the government

B．have to learn to make their own furniture

C．find it hard to pay for what they need

D．seldom go to a supermarket to buy things

【小题2】John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _______ .

A．run a DIY shop	B．save time and money
C．make or repair things	D．improve their life

【小题3】 When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home ,he means Jim___ .

A．makes shoes in his home	B．does extra work at night
C．repairs his own car at home	D．keeps house and looks after his children

【小题4】 Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourself when he found _____ .

A．his car repairs cost too much

B．the car repair class was not helpful

C．he could not possibly do two jobs

D．he had to raise the children all by himself

In order to know a foreign language thoroughly, four things are necessary. Firstly, we must be able to understand the language when we hear it spoken. Secondly, we must be able to speak it ourselves, correctly, with confidence and without hesitation. Thirdly, we must be able to read the language and fourthly, we must be able to write it. We must be able to compose（组成）sentences that are grammatically correct. We must know how to arrange sentences in paragraphs, so as to write a good letter or composition.
There is no easy way to succeed in language learning. A good memory is of great help, but it is not enough simply to memorize rules from a grammar book. It is not much use learning by heart long lists of words and their meaning. We learn words not by ourselves, but in sentences. We must learn by using the language. “Learn through use” is a good piece of advice for those who are studying a new language. Practice is very important. We must practice speaking and writing the language whenever we can.
【小题1】The word “confidence” here probably means _____.

A．use

B．eyes

C．need

D．feeling sure of ourselves

【小题2】The writer advises us to _______.

A．speak more and write more

B．read more

C．speak more

D．use a dictionary

【小题3】The first step in learning a language is ______.

A．reading

B．speaking

C．writing

D．listening

【小题4】Words should be learned _____.

A．from a dictionary	B．from a textbook
C．in sentences	D．from a good grammar book

【小题5】“Learn through use “is to say that ______.

A．we must practise speaking and writing

B．we must learn by using the language

C．we must learn everything by language

D．we must remember grammar rules as many as possible

One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said, “It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries.

    The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on, At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it.

After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.

And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you had bent down earlier to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things,

1.The farmer bought _______with the money after he sold the horseshoe.

     A. some food       B. some water       C. some cherries    D. some pennies

2.The father dropped the cherries one by one, because _______.

     A. he wanted his son to eat them all        B. he wanted his son to do more exercise

     C. he wanted to teach his son a lesson      D. he wanted his son to pick them up

3.From the story, we can learn that _______.

     A. cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them

     B. a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money

     C. if the boy wants to eat cherries, he must pick up the horseshoe

     D. if we want to do some great things, we should start with some small ones

 

The water tap was leaking(漏水) again, and the noise was driving Cassie crazy. Cassie looked at her watch. It was nearly nine o’clock. She climbed out of bed and stood on a chair by the shelf. Her mother’s Mr. Fix-It Book was on the top shelf. Cassie stepped down quietly. She read the book quickly until she found the page she was looking for, and then began to read carefully.
Next, Cassie opened a box in the kitchen and picked out the tools she needed--- a hammer, a wrench, and several small things. It was so easy job for her to do the repair, and she tried several times. Finally, the water tap was in pieces. One by one, she carefully laid them out on the table. That way she would know how they went back. While this was going on, her cat walked over to watch what she was doing.
Cassie worked late into the night. At one point, she thought she was done. Oops! A small piece that she had forgotten still lay on the table. Slowly Cassie took the water tap apart(分开) one more time. This time she made sure everything was in place. She turned the water tap on and then off. One…two…three… She waited a full minute. There was no leak! Cassie smiled and put the tools back into the box. Then she went back into bed.
The next morning, Dad was in the kitchen when Cassie got up.
“Notice anything, Dad?” she asked.
He looked around and listened. “Hmm, something’s missing… I can’t find out what it is… Wait, it’s too quiet in here!”
“That’s right,” Cassie said. ‘Something is missing. I fixed the water tap. It doesn’t leak any more.”
“That’s my girl,” Dad said.“It’s a good thing you are really like your mother.”
【小题1】Mr. Fix-It Book is probably a book on how to ________.

A．train pets

B．fall asleep

C．fix things

D．cook food

【小题2】Cassie took the water tap apart again because_______.

A．she had forgotten one piece	B．the tap was still leaking
C．the cat had taken one piece away	D．she hadn’t understood the book

【小题3】The water tap wasn’t fixed until_______.

A．nine o’clock

B．late that night

C．the next morning

D．the next afternoon

【小题4】We can learn from the last sentence of the passage that ________.

A．Cassie’s mother is good-looking	B．Cassie likes her mother very much
C．Cassie’s mother is good at fixing things	D．Cassie looks quite like her mother