He is __________ honest a man __________ a lie.

　 A. so, to tell　 B. too, to tell　　　　 C. very, to tell　　　　 D. such, that tell

 

It's  _______ far  _______ walk home from here. Let's take a bus.

  A. so, that     B. too, to       C. enough, to         D. such, that

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

It takes confidence to make a new start—there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

Then I met an agent(代理商) who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal—that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck—of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合同)of the publisher—to be a published writer—is unbelievably rewarding(有回报的).

1.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．I was waiting for good fortune.

B．I was trying to find an admirable job.

C．I was being aimless about a suitable job.

D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

2.The author decided to write a novel              .

A．to finish the writing course                B．to realize her own dream

C．to satisfy readers’ wish                 D．to earn more money

3.How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A．Disturbed.         B．Ashamed.         C．Confident.         D．Uncertain.

4.What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A．It pays to stick to one’s goal.

B．Hard work can lead to success.

C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

 

 

All her life,my mother wanted busy children.It was very important that her house should remain at all times clean and tidy.

You could turn your back for a moment in my mother’s house,leave a half-written letter on the dining room table,a magazine open on the chair,and turn around to find that my mother had “put it back where it belonged,”as she explained.

My wife,one of her first visits to my mother’s house,placed a packet of biscuits on an end table and went to the kitchen to fetch a drink.When she returned,she found the packet had been removed.Confused(疑惑的),she set down her drink and went back to the kitchen for more biscuits,only to return to find that her drink had disappeared.Up to then she had guessed that everyone in my family held onto their drinks,so as not to make water rings on the end tables.Now she knows better.

These disappearances had a confusing effect on our family.We were all inclined to(有……的倾向) forgetfulness,and it was common for one of us,upon returning from the bathroom,to find that every sign of his work in progress had disappeared suddenly.“Do you remember what I was doing?”was a question frequently asked,but rarely answered.

Now my sister has developed a second-hand love of clean windows,and my brother does the cleaning in his house,perhaps to avoid having to be the one to lift his feet.I try not to think about it too much,but I have at this later time started to dust the furniture once a week.

We have all become busy persons.

1.Which of the following is TRUE about my mother?

A.She enjoyed removing others’ drinks.

B.She became more and more forgetful.

C.She preferred to do everything by herself.

D.She wanted to keep her house in good order.

2.My wife could not find her biscuits and drink in my mother’s house because _______.

A.she had already finished them

B.my mother had taken them away

C.she forgot where she had left them

D.someone in my family was holding them

3.The underlined part in the fifth paragraph suggests that my sister _______.

A.is happy to clean windows

B.loves to clean used windows

C.is fond of clean used windows

D.likes clean windows as my mother did

4.This passage mainly tells us that _______.

A.my mother often made us confused

B.my family members had a poor memory

C.my mother helped us to form a good habit

D.my wife was surprised when she visited my mother

 

You might say that one reason why Barack Obama is president of the US is that he knows how to give a good speech.

Since 2004, Obama has written and delivered thousands of speeches. These are usually praised for two reasons: he treats the audiences like intelligent（有智慧的） adults, and he is able to express complicated ideas in an easy, natural way.

Before becoming president, Obama was a lawyer, a college professor, and a successful writer---his two memories have become best-sellers.

What’s more, he has some secret weapons.

Teleprompter: Obama doesn’t go anywhere without his Teleprompter. The textbook-sized panes of glass holding the president’s prepared remarks follow him wherever he goes to speak.

Writing team: Obama has a team of people who write his speeches. The writers chat with Obama for hours about what he wants to say. They listen to recordings of past presidential speeches and seek advice from advisers. Obama usually edits(编辑)and rewrites the drafts(草稿)several times.

Tricks for lighthearted speeches:

Make fun of the guests: Obama starts his speech by gently teasing his guests. His opening lines draw the audience’s attention while giving them an opportunity to relax and laugh at themselves and each other.

Make fun of yourself: A good rule for speechmakers: If you’re going to make a joke about someone else, be sure to make one about yourself, too. Obama mocks(嘲弄) his own poor choices for filling the position of Commerce Secretary, saying, “No president in history has ever named three Commerce Secretaries this quickly.” In fact, his first two nominees（被提名人）for the position withdrew(撤出) their names for different reasons. In a process that had otherwise gone smoothly, the Obama Administration found it hard to deal with the problem of filling the Commerce seat.

1.Obama made the poetic and inspiring speech in 2004 as________.

A. president                     B. a nominee for the presidency

C. a senator                     D. a secretary

2.What’s the meaning of the underlined word in paragraph 2?

A. Difficult to understand.           B. Easy to understand.

C. Different from others.             D. Interesting to say.

3.From the passage, we know that Obama’s secret weapons are all these EXCEPT ____.

A. a writing team                 B. a teleprompter             C. humor                   D. motivation

4.What’s the best title of the passage？

A. Secrets of Obama’s successful speeches.  

B. Obama’s successful speeches.

C. Obama’s way of making speeches. 

D. Problems of Obama’s speeches.