Have you ever wanted to enjoy the world's wonderful gifts? This earth is a beautiful place. If you look at nature, and see just trees, and grass, do you realize what incredible things you are missing?

Go outside. If you want to feel more connected to the earth, the first step is to experience it for yourself. Choose a place that you think that you could thoroughly enjoy. A quiet place set away from civilization is best. One of the key things is that it must be calm and quiet. Any natural setting will do, whether it is a forest or grassland, lake or mountain.

  Sit down on a rock, some dry leaves, or simply on the ground. Get comfortable with your surroundings, and really take in the sounds and the feel of everything around you. Try not to focus on “the big picture”—stead, notice the little details of things; for example: how many ridges are there on a leaf? Do you see any animals around you? If so,  pay attention to kinds of things that happen lower to the ground.

Next, close your eyes, and picture in your mind the nature that surrounds you. The point is to sense that you are in a beautiful place.

  Do something peaceful, such as fishing or meditating in the woods. You will be amazed at how relaxing it is to just sit back and enjoy the natural sounds of the woods and birds.

  Go on a hike. Walking is great exercise and the pace of it will allow you to see and hear the little things. Don't let time or distance scare you. There are hikes of all lengths and difficulties.

  Go camping or backpacking. Don't forget to look at the stars, whether you know anything about them yet or not. Often, they will appear brighter and more numerous when you are away from the light and smog of cities.

Practice primitive skills while in the woods to share a connection with our ancestors, if you want to go further. See the external links for suggestions.

Doing these kinds of things will bring about an appreciation of nature, and make you realize how beautiful it is, and that we too, are creatures of this earth. 

64. What are the world’s wonderful gifts in the author’s eye？

A. Trees and grass               B. Incredible things from the nature

C. The whole world              D. Walking, fishing and camping

65. According to the second paragraph the writer advises readers to go to a place without _______.

A. a bridge         B. a river         C. a sea        D. a bird

66. In the third paragraph the writer advises us to _______.

A. look at the mountains in the distance     B. look into the sky

C. overlook the vast grasslands            D. watch ants climbing a tree

67. Which might be the title of the passage？

A. What the Nature is                  B. What Wonderful Natural Gifts are

C. How to Enjoy Nature                D. How to Get Incredible Things

Having searched for many years, a truth seeker was told to go to a cave, where he would find a well. “Ask the well what is    , ” he was advised, “and the well will reveal (揭露) it to you.” After finding the well, the seeker asked that most basic and important   . And from the depths came the answer: “Go to the village crossroads, and there you shall find what you are seeking.”

With his heart full of   , the man ran to the crossroads only to    three rather uninteresting shops. One shop was selling pieces of metal, another sold   , and thin wires were for sale in the third. Nothing and no one there seemed to    much to do with the revelation of truth.

Depressed and   , the seeker returned to the well to demand an    , but he was told only: “You will discover in the future.” With years     by, the memory of his experience at the well gradually    until one night. While he was walking, the sound of sitar (西塔琴) music   his attention. It was wonderful and it was played with great skill and   .

   and moved deeply, the truth seeker felt drawn towards the   . He looked at the fingers dancing over the strings. And then suddenly he let out a cry of joyful   : the sitar was made out of wires and pieces of metal and wood just like    he had once seen in the three stores.

Eventually he understood the   of the well: we have already been given everything we need; our    is to gather and use them in the proper way. Nothing is   so long as we recognize only fragments (碎片). But as soon as the pieces are put together, something new appears, whose nature we could not have     by considering the fragments alone.

1.A. life     B. dream   C. truth     D. success

2.A. cause          B. reason          C. problem                D. question

3.A. energy       B. hope     C. happiness             D. strength

4.A. find    B. observe         C. understand      D. feel

5.A. instruments        B. clothing         C. furniture                D. wood

6.A. have  B. link        C. connect         D. relate

7.A. surprised          B. shocked         C. disappointed      D. excited

8.A. excuse       B. explanation      C. advice              D. opportunity

9.A. gone  B. passed          C. pass       D. going

10.A. doubled   B. forgot   C. disappeared       D. recovered

11.A. paid B. caught          C. focused D. fixed

12.A. inspiration        B. courage         C. thought  D. wisdom

13.A. Annoyed B. Affected         C. Confused          D. Frightened

14.A. composer        B. director          C. adviser  D. player

15.A. imagination      B. appreciation      C. recognition         D.admiration

16.A. those        B. one       C. it   D. that

17.A. theory      B. message         C. secret   D. note

18.A. project                 B. difficulty           C. task                           D. shortcoming

19.A. available         B. successful          C. accessible               D.meaningful

20.A. foreseen        B. witnessed          C. judged                     D. formed

All of us have read thrilling（惊险的）stories in which the hero had only a limited time to live．Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but we were always interested in discovering just how the hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours．

Such stories make us think and wonder what we should do under similar circumstances．What happiness and regrets should we find in thinking about the past?

Sometimes, I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow．Such an attitude would emphasize （强调）sharply the values of life．We should live each day with appreciation which is often lost when time stretches（延伸）before us with more days and months and years to come．

Most of us take life for granted．We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future．When we are in pleasant health, death is unimaginable．We seldom think of it．The days stretch out endlessly．So we go about our little task, hardly aware of our dull attitude towards life．

The same attitude, I am afraid, falls on the use of our abilities and senses．Only the deaf appreciate hearing; only the blind realize the importance of sight．But those who have never lost hearing and sight seldom make the fullest use of these abilities．Their ears take in sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation．People seldom realize how good it is being in good health until they have fallen ill．It is the same old story of not being grateful（感激的）without missing．

1．When reading the thrilling stories, we usually ________．

A．have curiosity about the hero’s limited life      

B．show great interest in our own lives

C．find many regrets in thinking about the past    

D．have pity on ourselves

2． From the passage, we can learn that ________．

A．if we want to live an excellent life we should die tomorrow

B．the disabled are eager to lose their abilities and senses

C．each of us should treasure what we have today

D．most of us are able to make full use of our time

3．The underlined word “hazily” in the last paragraph probably means ________．

A．happily              B．unclearly             C．freely             D．sadly

4．The best title for this passage may probably be ________．

A．Not Being Grateful without Missing         B．Giving a Hand to the Disabled

C．Making Use of Our Senses                            D．Learning from Thrilling Stories

It is easier to start to learn a new language than to become good at it. I’ve started to learn many new languages, such as French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Afrikaans (南非荷兰语), and so on. I can’t speak them yet, but I’ve started picking up a few words and phrases that help me when I’m visiting. Most importantly, I’ve had fun doing this.
I’ve started to learn Italian, but I haven’t learned any Italian grammar, and when I visit Italy I’m not able to speak Italian correctly. My aim is just to communicate at a very basic level when I visit a country, to make an effort, and to show appreciation of the language and culture. I’m not trying to talk about politics or explain my views on life. I pick key or useful words and phrases that I want to learn. For example, as a visitor to another country, the key words in a foreign language are the words which will be of the most use to you and which you will use most often. These key words and phrases will vary from visitor to visitor, depending on the purpose of their trip.
It is worth remembering that it is easier to start a task than to finish it, and the same goes for learning a new language. The better you are at it, the slower your rate of progress will be, as you have to learn grammar, words and so on. If you are only trying to learn a few foreign words and phrases, you will make faster progress, have more fun, and won’t have to spend too much time on any given language.

1. 1.

   From the second paragraph, we can infer that ______.

   1. A.
      the writer is good at Italian, although it is rather difficult
   2. B.
      the writer doesn’t like learning Italian because it is no fun
   3. C.
      discussing politics or explaining one’s view requires an advanced language level
   4. D.
      it is great fun to communicate with the local people in another country
2. 2.

   Which of the following does the writer prefer to learn?

   1. A.
      Sentence structure.        
   2. B.
      Important words and phrases.
   3. C.
      Complicated sentences.       
   4. D.
      Grammar.
3. 3.

   You can make faster progress ______.

   1. A.
      if your language level is advanced 
   2. B.
      if you only try to learn some basic words
   3. C.
      once you speak the language well 
   4. D.
      once you have mastered several other languages
4. 4.

   Which of the following would be the best title of this passage?

   1. A.
      Starting Learning a New Language Is Easier than Becoming Good at It
   2. B.
      How to Visit a Foreign Country
   3. C.
      The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language
   4. D.
      Why You Should Learn Several Foreign Languages

When my daughter was five, we gave her a piano as her birthday gift, with great excitement; she began learning piano under the teacher’s guidance. However, when she was no longer curious about it, she became sick of it. After all, it is a tough job to learn piano, not to mention the daily routine of practice. Therefore, every time, I had to urge her again and again, either to force or offer her some profits for the practice. She always felt uncomfortable sitting on that stool, so she would either scratch her nose or ears, or hide in the bathroom for quite a long while.

Her first teacher left and moved somewhere else; my friend introduced me to an American teacher. The American teacher’s way of teaching was complete American style. After practicing, she would give my daughter some good comments on the excellent part (despite it being just a small one), and then point out what should be improved. What’s more, every time she came, instead of beginning the lesson right away, she would first play some music. She said, “To learn playing the piano, you should learn not only the skills of playing, but more importantly, to feel the music and love it.”

To my surprise, my daughter gradually became fond of piano lessons. Sometimes she even would like to show off a little bit in class after her skill had reached a certain level. Her confidence and sense of achievement were enhanced with the appreciation and acknowledgement from her teachers and classmates.

Surprisingly, my daughter said to me one day, “Mom, I was lucky because you didn’t give up my piano lessons.Learining piano is like climbing a mountain. You’ll feel tired when you are on the way. When you look down from where you are, you will realize that you have been making progress. But if you stop, you will never take one more step.” Hearing these inspiring words, I could not hold back my tears, thinking: that is the very thing I want to teach her, something that is more important than learning piano.                                     

56. My daughter __________ when she was not curious about piano.

  A. became sick         B. got tired of it        C. felt tired          D.felt relaxed

57. According to the passage, what is most important for the children to learn to play the piano _______

  A.praise            B.encourage           C.force             D.help

58. What made my daughter interested in piano again?

  A. Showing off in class.                        B. Her skillful performance.

C. Her confidence and sense of an achievement.     D. Her acknowledge from classmates.

59. What is best title of the passage?

  A.Piano is an useful instrument                  B. American teachers are excellent.

C.Playing the piano is very important             D. Be addicted, and you’ll succeed