Many people find themselves caught up in others’ problems, and then confused about how and when to help. In fact, all relationships need limits no matter whether they are friendships, sibling relations, mates/ lovers or business relations. On some level, all limit setting means saying no. However, it is usually a qualified “no” that says what, where, when, and under what conditions you will give or not give to another person. There are three points we should keep in mind about limit setting:
1.Decide where to set the limits. Think about the entire situation. Consider your time, emotions, and means. Then consider whether you are helping the other person. Aim to do something to help the other person without taking on the whole problem.
2.Express the limits clearly. For example, you say to your friend, “ I will lend you $20,000 no more than once every three months. And I expect you will pay me back within three months and certainly before you can borrow more.” You say to another friend, “you can stay here for three weeks but you must help me with expenses and cooking and make sure that you will find your own place before the three weeks is up”.
3.Stick to your limits. You are not responsible for making the other person obey the limits. You are only responsible for following the limits yourself. Your friend has repaid $12,500 of his/her $20,000 and asks for $20,000 more. You say no. He/She gets emotional and then says, “I need this money to cover a bad check. If you cared for our friendship, you would do it”.
Limit setting is often stressful and painful because people mistakes it for rejection. And limit setting certainly brings guilt. Bear in mind, it doesn’t mean you have given up or quit loving your friend, lovers, or sibling. It does mean you are expressing that love in a different and more helpful (to both of you) manner.
1.According to the passage, setting limits means___________________.
A. refusing always to say yes to your friend
B. saying no to your friend who turns to you
C. making different kinds of friends
D. breaking away from your friend
2.Once you decide to set limits, you should________________________.
A. announce it publicly to others
B. tell your friend about it clearly
C. be responsible for your friend
D. begin to help your friend
3.We can learn from the last paragraph that limit setting______________.
A. is often misunderstood
B. is actually a kind of rejection
C. does harm to your friendship
D.contains both love and hate
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. About friendship
B. How to make friends
C. Set limits with friends
D. Show your love in a new way
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.
Cowboy was without a doubt the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason. I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickers about Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.
When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.
One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.
The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena (赛马场). We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted. All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.
My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line. As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!
I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.
1.The underlined expression "shown the gate" (paragraph 3) most probably means ______.
A. told how to enter the arena
B. shown how to make the horse beautiful
C. removed from the competition early
D. told to enter the timed-speed events
2.When the final race finished, nobody cheered because .
A. the audience didn’t like Cowboy
B. people envied the writer
C. the win was unexpected
D. the writer bad run out of time
3.Why was the writer not confident of victory?
A. He was an inexperienced rider.
B. He had not practiced enough.
C. He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.
D. He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others.
4. What did the writer learn from his experience?
A. Life can sometimes be unfair.
B. Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.
C. A positive attitude will bring success.
D. One should not make judgments based on appearance.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Last week, while visiting my dad with my daughter, we went to a restaurant for dinner. When we were seated, my dad asked the waitress if there were any soldiers eating at the restaurant. Then waitress said there was a soldier having dinner with his friend. My dad told the waitress to tell the soldier and his friend that their dinner was paid for! He also said that he did not want to be known as the benefactor(施主).
Then waitress later commented on my dad’s thoughtful behavior saying that she had never seen anything like this before. At a local college, she had studied opera and so she used this to thank my dad by performing a piece from The Pearl Fisherman. Her voice brought me to tears because it sounded perfect!
After a while, the soldier appeared at our table (I don’t know how he knew my dad paid the bill for him.) and said that he would be sent to the front the next morning and that he could not leave this country without saying “thanks” to my dad. My dad replied that it was he who wanted to say “thanks”. They shook hands as the soldier left.
Before we left, the waitress came by again. She did a magic show as another way to show her “thanks” to my dad. Her show was really great. My dad left her a note with email address asking for her next performance time in addition to a $ 50 tip.
Everyone witnessed something exemplary(可作榜样的) in the human spirit that night. I can only hope to see more of this in the future.
1. What did the soldier do in response to the author’s father’s kindness?
A. He gave something to author’s dad.
B. He gave a big tip to the waitress.
C. He said thanks to the author’s dad in person.
D. He did a magic show for the author and her father.
2. The author considered her father’s action to be ____.
A. funny B. understandable
C. worthless D. honorable
3.Their passage mainly tells us that we should ____.
A. learn to be grateful to others
B. find ways to thank others
C. try to learn from each other
D. respect soldiers and waitresses
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
“It takes an entire village to raise a child.” That’s an old proverb(谚语) that is being quoted more and more often these days. And I’m pleased about that.
Today, more and more schools are reaching out to involve parents, community members and businesses to help shape a child’s future.
Parents need to be involved in their children’s education in many ways. Helping children with homework and studying, going on a field trip, teaching a craft or coaching a child’s sports team are all great ways to be involved with your child’s education. And don’t forget to communicate with teachers---they need and respect your input. Studies show that children learn more and schools function better when parents and schools work together. It’s important to stay in touch with your child’s education all through his or her school career.
Communities can help children create and achieve new goals. Help with homework, read to a child, coach a children’s team, or provide emotional support. Help solve problems and build self-esteem. Kids need role models and advisers can be role models by sharing their experiences and wisdom.
Businesses can also help shape our children’s future. Invite a class from your local school to visit your workplace. You may be providing a glimpse that opens a new world of possibilities. Show students what goes on during a typical day. Give a mini course for students: how to use a computer; how products are made; how machinery works. You may have a developing electrician, teacher, nurse, or even a newspaper reporter on your hands.
It really does take an entire village to raise a child. So share the responsibility---and the joy---of bringing a child to his or her full potential.
1.The implied advice in the proverb “It takes an entire village to raise a child.” is that ______.
A. All the people in a village should give food to a child.
B.Schools, parents, and other organizations should share the responsibility of shaping a child’s future.
C. Children’s should be brought up in the village where they were born.
D. Schools should be set up in the village where a child was raised.
2.The text was written mainly for _______________.
A. parents and members in organizations
B. teachers and students
C. newspaper reporters and developing electricians
D. education experts and government officials
3.Students can get developed in practical working skill through ______.
A. parental involvement B. community activities
C. business training D. school teaching
4.Which is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Parents play an important part in children’s education.
B. Communities have not a bit effect on the way to new and high ideal.
C. Educating a child well demands of the work not only from school but from other organizations.
D. Businesses may arrange some training courses for students.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
My mother is a diligent and kind woman. She is very busy from morning till night. As a teacher, she works hard. 1. Both my brother and I love her dearly as she loves us.
My mother has been teaching math at a middle school in my hometown. She goes to work early in the morning and does not return home until late in the afternoon. 2. She treats them with patience and teaches them well. For her excellent quality and very good teaching results, she has been elected as a model teacher several times.
3. Every day, when she comes back home from work, she sets about doing housework, sweeping the living room and bedrooms or cleaning the furniture, and putting everything in good order. She seems to be busy all the time. As she has been very busy working every day, she looks older than her age. But she looks as cheerful and happy as ever. Mother never buys expensive dresses for herself, but she often buys some inexpensive but high quality clothes for us. 4. She just eats a plain meal outside when she is too busy to cook herself. She lives a busy yet simple life, without any complaints.
Often she says to us, “work while you work, and play while you play. That is the way to be happy and gay. If you do not work, you will become lazy and be of no use to society”. What a piece of good advice this is! 5. This advice of hers will always serve as a guide to my behavior. My mother is great indeed, and I always feel proud of her.
A. She enjoys listening to classic music.
B. As a mother, she takes good care of us and gives us every comfort.
C. She loves her students and cares for them.
D. She never goes to expensive restaurants to enjoy meals.
E. My mother is hard-working and never wastes money.
F. I never forget it and always bear it in my mind.
G. Can you tell us something about your mother?
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Tony and I are good friends. We tried to walk across the United States of America. We’re not exactly sure why we were doing it. Part of 1. was to test ourselves; to see if we could face the challenges. When I was 2. teenager I often daydreamed that I was going to walk across the United States after I 3. (graduate) from high school. 4. , I didn’t do that.
Before I knew it I was 5. my thirties ,married , a job, yet still had this idea in my mind with each passing year. I figured I was too old and my opportunity 6. (pass). Then, a few years ago, I met Tony , 7. was in his thirties and quit his job as a civil engineer in New York City to walk across the United States.He wasn’t doing it for a cause as part of an organization. He was doing it 8. (simple) because he loved to walk and discover. The idea was back and I no longer had an excuse. We planned on averaging 20 miles a day and taking some days off 9. (rest), so we expected the walk to take about 6 months realizing it could take10. (long). We were in no hurry: The total distance would have been about 3,100 miles.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是新华中学的高三学生李华，你校打算邀请阿里巴巴首席执行官马云来学校做一次毕业典礼演讲，请你给马首席写一封邀请信。内容包括：
1.说明写信的目的；
2.说明演讲的具体安排-----时间：5月30日；地点：学校操场;
主题：怎样通过个人奋斗实现人生理想；
3.表达感谢与祝福。
注意：1.词数100左右，开头结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.参考词汇：毕业典礼演讲 commencement speech
Dear Mayun, CEO of Ali Baba,
My name is Li Hua. I’m a Senior 3 student from Xinhua Middle School.
Sincerely yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of .
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I sat down beside her. “Mom, I have a question to ask you. Is there between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice. She didn’t answer immediately. She her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was worried because I thought I had her. I was and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it , but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt . If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen , but it’s really there. Love is .”
I listened carefully but I her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked . It seemed both of them had had a serious illness. After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father on the country road.
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t me.” He said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom.” his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and . But from this experience, I understand that love is just in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.
1.A. keep fit B. rise early C. earn money D. collect money
2.A. magic B. romantic C. fantastic D. attractive
3.A. simple B. easy C. relaxing D. luxurious
4.A.control B. question C. reach D. the question
5.A. feeling B. love C. quarrel D. smile
6.A. raised B. Shook C. nodded D. bowed
7.A. hurt B. Injured C. wounded D. harmed
8.A. in great surprise B. in a great embarrassment C. with deep depression D. at extreme sorrow
9.A. happens B. comes about C. appears D. occurs
10.A. warm and soft B. hot and hard C. thin and cool D. strong and durable
11.A. somewhere and sometime B. anywhere or anytime C. more or less D. here and there
12.A. inside B. outside C. faraway D. nearby
13.A. could believe B. couldn’t understand C. wouldn’t recognize D. might know
14.A. got sick B. got stuck C. threw up D. became disabled
15.A. quite healthy B. very pale C. fairly red D. much surprised
16.A. jump high B. go hurriedly C. run fast D. walk slowly
17.A. think about B. talk with C. worry about D. laugh at
18.A. Reading B. Seeing C. Saying D. Writing
19.A. fresh roses B. gold ring C. sweet kisses D. beautiful jewelry
20.A. a thread B. a needle C. the cloth D. the cotton
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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，每句中最多两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、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：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Three years ago I failed a important exam in my life and became a student in an ordinary school. Disappointing as I felt at the shabby campus and the poorly-equipped classroom, we found the teachers patient and considerate. Besides, I enjoyed the friendly atmosphere on class. I decided to make best of it. I work hard and got along well with my teachers and classmates. Whenever I had difficulties, they were not helpful. Soon , I became one of the top student in my class, which greatly increased my confident and got me motivated.
My experience tells me that it is not what you are given but how you make use of it which determines who you are.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析