My aunt Edith was a widow of 50，working as a secretary，when doctors discovered she had got what was then thought to be a very serious heart illness.?

Aunt Edith didn’t accept defeat easily. She began studying medical reports in library and found an article in a magazine about a well-known heart doctor，Dr.Michael Debakey，of Houston，Texas. He had saved the life of someone with the same illness. The article said Dr Debakey’s fees were very high；Aunt Edith couldn’t possibly pay them. But could he tell her of someone whose fee she could pay??

So Aunt Edith wrote to him. She simply listed her reasons for wanting to live：her three children，who would be on their own in three or four years and among them a little girl who always dreamed of traveling and seeing the world. There wasn’t a word of self-pity-only warmth and humor and the joy of living. She mailed the letter，not really expecting an answer.

A few days later，my doorbell rang. Aunt Edith didn’t wait to come in；she stood in the hall and read aloud:?

Your beautiful letter moved me very deeply. If you can come to Houston，there will be no charge for either the hospital or the operation.?

Signed：Michael Debakey?

That was seven years ago. Since then，Aunt Edith has been around the world. Her three children are happily married. For her age，she is one of the youngest，most alive people I know.?

1. “Aunt Edith didn’t accept defeat easily” means that 　　　　.

A. she was very beautiful

B. she was very strong?

C. she was very brave

D. she was very warm hearted?

2. Why did Aunt Edith write to Dr. Debakey? Because 　　　　 .

A. she had no time to visit him?

B. she didn’t know the way to Houston?

C. she didn’t believe in him?

D. she wanted to get some help from him?

3.In fact，Aunt Edith’s letter to Dr.Debakey was full of 　　　　.?

A. courage　　　　　　　 B .illness

C. pity　　　　　　　　　　 D. sadness?

4.After reading Dr.Debakey’s letter，Aunt Edith felt 　　　　 .?

A. discouraged　　　　　　 B. frightened

C. disappointed　　　　　　 D. encouraged?

A religious person will have a different thought from one who is not．And a Democrat usually doesn’t view issues the same way as a Republican．

Take the shoes for example．It has the same principle．Some like custom shoes for personalization．But some don’t．Someone will buy a shoes printer only for one desired image．That all depends on different conceptions．So when you have a negative thought about yourself, don’t consider it a fact until you also reflect on the opposite view．And if the alternative is more positive, accept that to be your truth．

An anorexic （厌食症患者） looks in the mirror and thinks she’s fat．As a result she starves herself and rids her body of vital nutrition．But society thinks she’s too skinny．Unless she can change her perception, she’ll never agree with society．And she’ll never get better．What are you seeing in you that is preventing you from realizing how beautiful you are? Or how smart you are? Or how lovable? If you take the positive view, that is how other people will see you too．

More often than not the critical statements that damage your self-esteem come from your own mind．Now you know how you can silence them．A bad comment is usually not about you; it’s about something that is going on with the commenter．Don’t believe anything that is said to you that isn’t in your best interest．And don’t waste any time or brainpower on anyone who doesn’t think you are amazing．

It’s what you think that creates how you feel．Design your own custom shoes, despite other one’s critical eyes．If you like it, it will be the top one．If someone tells you you’re fat, or stupid or otherwise unappealing, the only person you should think badly about is them!

1．What is the passage mainly about?

        A．Try to be different．     B．Different beliefs make different views．

         C．You are actually amazing．       D．Trust what people say to you．

2．Which of the following sentences contains a metaphor （暗喻）?

         A．A Democrat usually doesn’t view issues the same way as a Republican．

         B．Some like custom shoes for personalization．

         C．An anorexic looks in the mirror and thinks she is fat．

         D．Design your own custom shoes, despite others’ critical eyes．

3．The reason why the writer wrote this passage is to         ．

         A．confuse people as how to think

         B．help people learn how to do self – reflection

         C．tell people different ways of thinking

         D．show he is smarter than most of the people

Edith Cavell was born on December 4, 1865, in England. When she left school, she became a teacher. Edith soon found that she had a  36  for nursing(护理), so she completed her training  37  any problem. In 1907, a doctor invited Edith to open a  38  school for nurses in Belgium(比利时).

In August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium. By then, the training school had become a Red Cross hospital. It required its nurses to care for injured soldiers from every country---even  39  soldiers.   .

German forces (军队) went through Belgium to France. British soldiers were  40  with the French, trying to  41  the Germans out of France. But they didn’t  42 . As a result, many British and French soldiers would be caught. But some of them found their  43 to Edith’s training school. There, she took care of them and  44  them from the German forces. Then she heard some  45  people were willing to help the soldiers escape. Together they organized travels for the soldiers out of Belgium to Holland, which was a safe country during the whole war.

In august 1915, the German government discovered  46  was happening at Edith’s training school. Edith was  47  for helping about two hundred British and French  48 escape. Early on October 12, 1915, Edith Cavell was  49  . She died for her country, but she believed that she had only been a nurse trying to do her 50 . History will remember her for ever.

A. story      B. talent       C. hope         D. taste

A .without    B. for         C. except        D. over

A. singing    B. teaching     C. learning      D. training

A. nation     B .child        C. street        D. enemy

A .meeting    B .fighting      C. competing   D. arguing

A. refuse     B. talk          C. keep       D. task

A. succeed    B. remember    C. miss        D. join

A. cause      B. reply        C. key        D. way

A. hid        B. knew        C. stopped     D. prevent

A. famous     B. honest       C. brave      D. poor

A. that        B. What        C. whom     D. which

A. driven      B. thanked      C. beaten     D. caught

A. soldiers     B. nurses       C. teachers    D. travelers

A. killed       B. punished     C. educated   D. shocked

A. homework   B. business      C. dream     D. duty

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement gained more support on Wednesday as unions and students joined in. With the protests developing from a group of young people's camping out near the New York Stock Exchange on September 17 to large-scale (大规模的) movements across the country and around the world, people can't help asking: What has led to "Occupy Wall Street?"
Three years after the severe economic crisis, the U.S. economy now is stuck again. Protesters are not satisfied with the present economic situation since unemployment rate is above 9 percent and economic growth has slowed. The housing market is still struggling for a recovery three years after the bubble (泡沫) burst. People are losing their houses even after they have paid a large amount of mortgage(抵押). It is getting difficult for young people to find jobs. People feared that a similar crisis like the one in 2008 may be already on its way.
It is Wall Street that possessed the most riches. It is Wall Street greed that, at least partly, led to the financial crisis in 2008. It was Wall Street's "fat cats" who take taxpayers' aid money as their own big bonus (奖金). With the growing economic crisis around the world, people realize that Wall Street is responsible for it. So they try to target people who created the crisis.
The majority of the protesters are young people under 30. Many of them are unemployed. Some are students with mountains of loans (贷款). Some are hard-working people about to lose their houses even if they have paid a large amount of mortgage. They are complaining that the hard-working middle class is getting poor, yet Wall Street stays wealthy.
William Cohan, author of Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the world, wrote recently that Wall Street not only learned nothing from the 2008 crisis, they are also trying to kill all reforms that might "break this dangerous cycle in which bankers get very rich while the rest of working people suffer from their mistakes."
【小题1】. What is the main idea of the passage?

A religious person will have a different thought from one who is not．And a Democrat usually doesn’t view issues the same way as a Republican．
Take the shoes for example．It has the same principle．Some like custom shoes for personalization．But some don’t．Someone will buy a shoes printer only for one desired image．That all depends on different conceptions．So when you have a negative thought about yourself, don’t consider it a fact until you also reflect on the opposite view．And if the alternative is more positive, accept that to be your truth．
An anorexic （厌食症患者） looks in the mirror and thinks she’s fat．As a result she starves herself and rids her body of vital nutrition．But society thinks she’s too skinny．Unless she can change her perception, she’ll never agree with society．And she’ll never get better．What are you seeing in you that is preventing you from realizing how beautiful you are? Or how smart you are? Or how lovable? If you take the positive view, that is how other people will see you too．
More often than not the critical statements that damage your self-esteem come from your own mind．Now you know how you can silence them．A bad comment is usually not about you; it’s about something that is going on with the commenter．Don’t believe anything that is said to you that isn’t in your best interest．And don’t waste any time or brainpower on anyone who doesn’t think you are amazing．
It’s what you think that creates how you feel．Design your own custom shoes, despite other one’s critical eyes．If you like it, it will be the top one．If someone tells you you’re fat, or stupid or otherwise unappealing, the only person you should think badly about is them!
1．What is the passage mainly about?
A．Try to be different．         B．Different beliefs make different views．
C．You are actually amazing．    D．Trust what people say to you．
2．Which of the following sentences contains a metaphor （暗喻）?
A．A Democrat usually doesn’t view issues the same way as a Republican．
B．Some like custom shoes for personalization．
C．An anorexic looks in the mirror and thinks she is fat．
D．Design your own custom shoes, despite others’ critical eyes．
3．The reason why the writer wrote this passage is to        ．
A．confuse people as how to think
B．help people learn how to do self – reflection
C．tell people different ways of thinking
D．show he is smarter than most of the people