I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with the

easy carelessness of  youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me years

later, and ever since have been of great value to me.

Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I was doing. I said three or four hours a day.

"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"

"I try to."

"Well, don't," he exclaimed. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches.    Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.

There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.

I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.

56．The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “        ”.

      A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles.

       B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.

       C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

       D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car.

57．Which of the following statements is true?

　　A．The writer didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

　　B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student.

　　C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.

　　D．Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.

58．We can infer that the writer             . 

       A．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is

      B．is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy

      C．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels

       D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work   instantly

59．What is the best title of this passage?

       A．Concentrate on Your Work           B．A Little at a Time

       C．How I Became a Writer           D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable

 

 

Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.

During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare’s play “The Comedy of Errors”, Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play “Macbeth”, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（强度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.

Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city’s tradesmen. Shakespeare’s knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people.

It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare’s works have influenced the world culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added. Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of “critic”, “mountaineer” and “eyeball”. Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including “pomp and circumstance（装腔作势）” from “Othello”, “full circle（绕圈子地）” from “King Lear”, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented. Shakespeare’s plays have been translated into every major language in the world.

Shakespeare became a well­known writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.

1. From the passage, we can see that ________.

A. Shakespeare was hard­working when he was a student

B. many of Shakespeare’s works were influenced by earlier writings

C. the experience of living in London had no effect on Shakespeare’s works

D. Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works

2. Why could Shakespeare’s works survive his time?

A. Because there were so few people writing plays in his time.

B. Because he produced too many works that nobody else could do.

C. Because his works were rich in imagination and language.

D. Because he was a rich and influential person of his time.

3.Shakespeare’s greatest influence should be on 　　　　.

A. paintings      B. television

C. the English language           D. music and dance

4.The passage is mainly about 　　　　.

A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works

B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare’s plays

C. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.

D. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.

 

By the third year of teaching I’d begun to expect Christmas break more for the school holiday and less for the excitement of the children. I was teaching fourth grade and my students had made me   36  . I just had to get through one of the hardest days of the school year.

  　　The morning bell rang. I walked   37   through the cold into the overly heated school building. Twenty-two smiling faces   38   me at the school bus stop. I forced myself to   39   their smiles. Back into the classroom, they   40  , comparing plans for the   41  . I had to remove one student from each arm   42   I could take a seat at my desk for my morning duties. Before I could find my roll book（点名册） my desk was covered with   43   and gifts followed by a   44   of “Merry Christmas” wishes.

  　“Oh, thank you,” I must have   45   a million times. Each gift was truly special to me, except my   46   mood（情绪）. It was kind of them to   47   me. After a while, I heard a small nervous   48   say my name. I looked up to see Brandon standing   49   by my desk, holding a small, round gift. “This is for you.”

  　 “Thank you, Sweetheart.” I laid it on my desk with the others.

  　“Um, could you   50   it now?”

  　I gently tore at the paper and tape. “  51  ,” he said, “it’s breakable.” Slowly I opened a small, green Christmas tree ornament（装饰物）, complete with a hook already   52  . It dawned on me what he had done. Then a nearby student said that he just pulled that off his own tree. I tried to keep my   53   back.

   　Later that day, I sat   54   the ornament in my hands. Was I really so important to this child that he had searched for something to give me? Now every year as I   55   pull a green Christmas ball from my ornament box, I remember the deep influence my students have on me.

A. excited           B. tired                           C. amazed             D. relaxed

A. eagerly         B. aimlessly                    C. gently              D. heavily

A. watched          B. greeted                       C. delighted           D. warned

A. return             B. forget                            C. ignore               D. refuse

A. calmed           B. settled                           C. chatted              D. argued

A. study              B. weekend                     C. vacation            D. lesson

A. before            B. when                          C. after                 D. because

A. letters             B. books                            C. chalks               D. cards

A. knowledge      B. collection                  C. series                D. bunch

A. confirmed       B. assessed                      C. responded          D. explained

A. pleased           B. low                            C. thrilled              D. angry

A. talk about           B. think of                      C. turn to                     D. connect with

A. call                B. sound                            C. shout                D. voice

A. shyly              B. bravely                       C. rudely               D. sadly

A. classify           B. collect                           C. open                 D. arrange

A. Careful           B. Dangerous                         C. Patient                     D. Hasty

A. exposed          B. adapted                      C. adjusted            D. attached

A. trees            B. hooks                            C. gifts                  D. tears

A. looking into    B. turning over                C. giving away       D. packing up

A. anxiously B. hurriedly                        C. delicately          D. casually

Today, we complete our story about the influential English writer William Shakespeare. He wrote plays and poems during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, which remain very popular today.

During earlier times, people would probably have learned several ancient Roman and Greek plays. It was not unusual for writers to produce more current versions of these works. For example, in Shakespeare's play "The Comedy of Errors"（《错误的喜剧》）Shakespeare borrowed certain details from the ancient Roman writer Plautus. For his play "Macbeth"（《麦克白》）, Shakespeare most likely used a work on Scottish history by Raphael Holinshed for information. Shakespeare might have borrowed from other writers, but the intensity（强度）of his imagination and language made the plays his own. While many plays by other writers of his time have been forgotten, Shakespeare and his art live on.

Shakespeare was also influenced by the world around him. He described the sights and sounds of London in his plays. His works include observations about political struggles, the fear of diseases, and the popular language of the city’s tradesmen. Shakespeare's knowledge of the English countryside is also clear. His works include descriptions of deep forests, local flowers, and the ancient popular traditions of rural people.

It would be impossible to list all of the ways in which Shakespeare’s works have influenced the world culture. But the first and greatest example would be his great influence on the English language. During his time, the English language was changing. Many new words from other languages were being added. Shakespeare used his sharp mind and poetic inventiveness to create hundreds of new words and rework old ones. For example, he created the noun forms of "critic", "mountaineer” and "eyeball". Many common expressions in English come from his plays, including "pomp and circumstance（装腔作势）"from "Othello"（《奥赛罗》）, "full circle（绕圈子地）" from "King Lear"（《李尔王》）, etc. The list of cultural creations influenced by Shakespeare is almost endless. From paintings to television to music and dance, Shakespeare was well represented. Shakespeare's plays have been translated into every major language in the world.

Shakespeare became a well-known writer during a golden age of theater. His years of hard work paid off.

1.What can we infer from the passage？

   A. Many of Shakespeare's works were influenced by earlier writings.

   B. Shakespeare was hard­working when he was a student.

   C. The experience of living in London helped a lot with Shakespeare's works.

   D. Shakespeare became rich later because of the popularity of his works.

2.Shakespeare might have learnt some information from ancient Roman works in 　　　　 .

   A."King Lear"     B."The Comedy of Errors"   C. "Macbeth"    D."Othello"

3.Shakespeare's greatest influence should be on　　　　.

A. the English language  B. paintings       C. television    D. music and dance

4.The passage is mainly about 　　　　.

   A. an introduction to Shakespeare’s life and his works

   B. the main features and styles of Shakespeare's plays

   C. how culture influenced Shakespeare and he influenced culture.

   D. Shakespeare’s greatest influence on the world culture.

 

ALBANY，New York—Students who rely on working at night to improve their

grades might want to sleep on that strategy: A new survey in the US says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.

A survey of 120 students at St.Lawrence University found that students who had never pulled an all??nighter on average had higher grades than those who had. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who did.

The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.

“It's not a big difference，but it's pretty striking, ” Thacher said, “I am primarily a sleep researcher and I know nobody thinks clearly at 4∶00 in the morning. You think you can do，but you can't.”

Many college students, of course, have inadequate or irregular sleep, for reasons ranging from excessive caffeine to poor time management.

“A lot of students were under the impression that all??nighters were a very useful tool for accomplishing work, and that caffeine intake was very useful in meeting deadlines and stuff like that, ”said Mr Chatani, who had a 3.4 grade point average last term.

Dr Howard Weiss, a physician at St.Peter's Sleep Center in Albany, said the study results made sense.

“Certainly that data is out there showing that short sleep duration absolutely interferes with concentration and performance on objective testing, ”he said.

“Some night owls do get good grades, of course，which may be explained by circadian (昼夜节律的，生理节奏的) rhythms, ”Weiss said, “Some people have different 24??hour body clocks from others, and may do better depending on classes and testing time.”

The purpose of the passage is to tell us 　　　　

  A. the bad effects of pulling an all??nighter

  B. pulling an all??nighter leads to sleep problems

  C. Thacher's doubt about all??nighters

  D. all??nighters influence students' grades

According to Thacher's study，around 4 o'clock in the morning is a time when 　　　　.

  A. one can think more clearly

  B. one has his/her best memory

  C. one can't learn efficiently

  D. one's brain falls into a period of deep sleep

What can we know from Dr Howard Weiss' words？

  A. Thacher's study is not convincing enough.

  B. He believes in Thacher's study.

  C. Thacher's study makes no sense.

  D. Thacher should take exceptions into consideration.