The CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs’ story about death

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered（遇到）to help me make the big choice in life.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I would live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is my doctors’ code for preparing yourself to die.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. I was completely in despair. Later that evening, I had another biopsy（活组织检查）and my wife told me that tumor turned to be curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death. To tell the truth, no one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. It clears out the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.

Your time is so limited that you shouldn’t waste it repeating someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma（教条）----which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

The doctor advised the author to go home and get his affairs in order because_________.

   A. he had to rest at home

B. his disease was not serious at all

   C. his disease couldn’t be cured

D. he had to wait for the result of the test

How did the author feel after the diagnosis?

   A. Angry       B. Excited       C. Optimistic   D. Hopeless 

What does the author think of death?

A. He thinks it is nothing to be scared of.

B. He thinks it is not the end of life.

C. He thinks it is impossible to avoid.

D. He thinks it is the beginning of a new life

In the author’s opinion, we should ____________.

   A. follow others’ advice

B. take no notice of diseases

   C. take exercise and keep healthy

D have the courage to follow our heart

"Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?" How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admit the one-eyed monster into our homes,  we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theaters, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talk occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the "goggle-box". We rush home or gulp down（吞咽）our meals to be in time for this or that program. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do-anything providing it doesn't interfere with the program. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a program, he is quickly silenced.
The whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly (television). Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost. The telly is universal pacifier（抚慰者）．It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.It doesn’t matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or violence－so long as they are quiet.
There is little limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of programs are bad:  it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programs,  the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate（无文字的）communities. We become completely dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with secondhand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We got so lazy; we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be a splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountain, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the repetitive oppression of King Telly.
【小题1】According to this passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

People believes that climbing can do good to health. Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb, you’re wrong. Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms(体育馆). Here, people are learning on  climbing. The climbing wall goes straight up and small holding places for hands and feet.

How do people climb the wall? To climb, you need special shoes and harness(保护带) around your chest to hold you. There are ropes(绳索)tied to your harness. The ropes hold you in place so that you don’t fall. A beginner’s wall is usually about 15 feet high, and you climb straight up. There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to. Sometimes it’s easy to see the new piece of metal. Sometimes, it’s not. The most difficult is your fear. It’s normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it’s difficult not to feel fear. But when you move away from the wall, the harness and the ropes hold you, and you begin to feel safe. You move slowly until you reach the top.

Climbing attracts people because it’s good exercise for almost everyone. You use your whole body, especially your arms and legs. This sport gives your body a complete workout. When you climb, both your mind and your body can become stronger.

1.What can we infer from the passage?

2.The most difficult thing to do in wall climbing is _______.

3.The word “workout” underlined in the last paragraph most probably means _________.

4.Why does the author write this passage?

Botany, the study of plants, occupies a special position in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was the one field of awareness about which humans had anything more than the vaguest (含糊的) of insight. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of pre-industrial societies that still exist, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must extremely ancient. This is logical. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been enormously important to the welfare of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, eyes, medicines, shelter, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the jungles of the Amazon recognized accurately hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them, botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.

Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants, and the less distinct our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose, an apple, or an orchid. When our Neolithic ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10,000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer productions the next season, the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the wonder of agriculture; cultivated crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the built up knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relationship with plants in the wild would begin fade away.

1. Which of the following statements about early humans is expressed in the passage?

A. They probably had extensive knowledge of plants.    

B. They thought there was no need to cultivate crops.     

C. They did not enjoy the study of botany.      

D. They placed great importance on the ownership of property.

2. What does the comment “This is logical.” In the first paragraph mean?

A. There is no clear way to determine the extent of our ancestor’s knowledge of plants.           

B. It is not surprising that early humans had a detailed knowledge of plants.

C. It is reasonable to assume that our ancestors behaved very much like people in pre-industrial societies.       

D. Human knowledge of plants is well organized and very detailed.

3. According to the passage, why has general knowledge of botany begun to fade?

A. People no longer value plants as a useful resource.       

B. Botany is not recognized as a special branch of science.

C. Research is unable to keep up with the increasing numbers of plants.

D. Direct contact with a variety of plants has decreased.

4. In the second paragraph, what is the author’s purpose in mentioning “ a rose, an apple, or an orchid”?

A. To make the passage more poetic.

B. To give an example of plant that are attractive.

C. To give botanical examples that all readers will recognize.

D. To explain the variety of botanical life.

5. According to the passage, what was the first great step toward the practice of agriculture?

A. The invention of agricultural tools and machinery.       

B. The development of a system of names for plants.

C. The discovery of grasses that could be harvested and replanted.         

D. The changing diets of early humans.   

第三节完形填空（20×1.5分）
A mining（采矿的）engineer enjoyed flying very much. One day, he was flying his own plane over a lonely island when a 36_____ storm came, so he was 37___ to make a forced landing. The plane was in good 38____ but his legs and shoulder got 39_____ hurt. After getting out of the plane with great 40_____, he found nothing but high green hills 41_____ the place. He lay there expecting to die.
Soon, however, some men appeared from out of the forest. Though curious, they were not 42______of him. He was then gently 43______ to their village, where he was well treated. His 44_____ improved little by little and he became their 45_____. The place was 46_____ and pleasant and he was in 47_____ hurry to leave.
Several months later, he learned some of their language and 48_____ them some of his own.
One day, he discovered some sings of 49_____ mineral deposits（矿藏）in the soil. He decided to 50_____ to his country and set up a firm（公司）to mine the land.
It was not long 51____ the peaceful land was taken over by strange men and machines. When there was 52_____left to mine, the firm 53______ away. They had made a great deal of 54_____ for themselves, but the villagers’ land was 55_____. Now it is impossible to grow crops there.
36. A. quick        B. wonderful         C. heavy         D. sudden
37. A. ordered      B. forbidden         C. permitted     D. obliged
38. A. condition     B. relation          C. action        D. speed
39. A. slightly      B. seriously         C. hardly        D. luckily
40. A. pleasure     B. attention         C. difficulty    D. achievement
41. A. covering     B. wrapping          C. holding       D. surrounding
42. A. tired        B. afraid            C. sure          D. kind
43. A. carried      B. forced            C. pushed        D. pulled
44. A. health       B. leg               C. shoulder      D. heart
45.A. enemy        B. visitor           C. friend       D. slave
46.A. pure         B. proper            C. dangerous     D. quiet
47.A. a            B. such              C. no            D. great
48.A. told          B. taught            C. showed        D. offered
49 A. poor         B. little            C. much          D. rich
50 A. return        B. drive             C. ride          D. walk
51.A. after         B. before            C. when          D. since
52 A. something    B. anything          C. everything    D. nothing
53 A. gave         B. got              C. put           D. passed
54.A. iron         B. dollars           C. gold          D. money
55.A. ploughed     B. protected         C. destroyed     D. sold