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（一段时间）, 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（手稿）ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal（零碎的） 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 it in 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 in without delay.

1. 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

2. Which of the following statements is true?

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

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

C. The writer didn't take the teacher's words to heart at first.

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

3. The underlined part "counted on" can he replaced by____.

A. enriched                B. concentrated              C. valued                   D. expected

4. 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. makes mental preparations beforehand, so he’s devoted to work instantly

 

“Everybody loves a bargain.” Is a well-known saying. One person’s useless, ugly, or broken object can be another person’s bargain. That is why so many Americans do not throw things away.  They put them outside their house.  They put on a "For Sale" sign.  And, as simple as that, they have a yard sale.

The sellers put a paid announcement in a local newspaper.  It tells when and where the yard sale will take place. These sales are very popular during weekends in spring, summer, and autumn.

Early in the morning, all the things to be sold are carried out of the house. Then they sit all day in the sunlight -- like tired guests at a party -- waiting for someone to take them home.

Just about anything can be sold at a yard sale. Sometimes, there are more clothes than anything else. Cooking equipment is also popular. So are old toys, tools, books, tables, and chairs. Then there are objects called "white elephants."  A white elephant is something you think is extremely ugly or useless. It may be an electric light shaped like a fish. You feel a sharp pain whenever you look at it. To someone else, however, it might be a thing of beauty and joy.

Some people go to yard sales to find a special thing that they collect. It may be old toy trains, for example, or paintings of dogs. Experts say more Americans are collecting old things now than ever before. Most people who go to yard sales, however, are not looking for anything special.  They might buy an object simply because it costs so little.  They enjoy negotiating over prices, even if they really do not need the object.  Later, they may hold their own yard sale to sell all the things they have bought.

1.What kind of things will go to a yard sale?

    A．Cheap and ugly things．                            B．Things people no longer use．

    C．Things out of season．                             D．Things of great value．

2.A white elephant refers to ______ ．

    A．something that can cause n feeling of pain

    B．something disliked by the owners while appreciated by others

    C．something sold at the lowest price

    D．a toy shaped like a fish

3.Most people go to yard sales to ______ ．

    A．find Valuable paintings                            B．look for something special

    C．find a bargain                                     D．kill their time

4.Which of the following is NOT true about a yard sale?

    A．It may not be held when the weather is very cold．

    B．It can last for a whole day．

    C．It is usually held with a party．

    D．It is held outdoors．

5.We can infer from the last paragraph that ______ ．

    A．people may find something of great value on a yard sale

    B．yard sales only attract those who have a low income

    C．things on a yard sale can cost people a lot

    D．most people who go to yard sales want to make money

 

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的添加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1. 每处错误及修改均仅限一词；

2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

One day a child was play with a vase of great value. He careless put his hand into it. Hard as he tried, he

could not pull it out. His father tried his best, too, but their efforts were in a vain. They were thinking of breaking the vase whenever the father said, “Now, my son, why have one more try? Open your hand or hold your fingers out straight as you saw I doing, and then pull.” To his surprise, the child says, “I can’t hold my fingers straight like that, because I don’t want to drop my penny.” Thousand of us sometimes are so busy hold on to the world’s worthless penny that we cannot achieve liberation.

 

----What can I do for you?

        ----I’d like to buy a present for my teacher’s birthday, ___ at a proper price, but of great value.    

        A. that           B.one        C. it        D. everything

I’d like to buy a present for my girlfriend’s birthday，_______ at a reasonable price but of great value.?

A. which B. as?

C. that D. one?