Not being the best but touching the limits of your ability. This belief came from my third grade teacher, the most trusted and loved person in my life.
Mr. Myrus was always perfectly dressed and spoke with the conviction（确信）that talking to small kids didn’t mean that he had to sacrifice（牺牲）proper pronunciation or grammar. And he was demanding. Oh, he wasn’t unreasonable or cruel; he simply felt that no matter what your best was, you should achieve it.
As luck would have it, I met him again as my eighth grade math teacher. I was not, nor ever will be, gifted in math. And thirteen-year-old girls do not have the energy to devote to something like square roots（平方根）. I remember our struggles, “I don’t know the answer. I can’t do it!” “Perhaps you don’t know the answer,” he would say quietly. “Do you think we might figure it out together? How do you know what you can do until you try?”
Mr. Myrus lived around the corner, and I would often stop by to talk while he worked in his wood shop. In this room of sawdust, wood chips, and the smoke from the wood-burning stove, I felt respected and valued as a person. I knew there was someone who liked me for who I was, someone who, while he always wanted me to do my best, let me know that if I had really tried, that was enough.
Mr. Myrus was my teacher and my friend. He taught me to be kind. He taught me my own value. He taught me about honor, about truth, and about doing my best—and that all feelings and beliefs have dignity and deserve respect. And of all the things I know, this I believe: We can’t all be “the” best, but we can, each of us, be our best, and I know that’s true because Mr. Myrus told me.
1.When did Mr. Myrus first become the author’s teacher?
A. When she was eight years old. B. When she was in the fifth grade.
C. When she was thirteen years old. D. When she was in the eighth grade.
2.How did the author feel when she began studying math at thirteen?
A. She was devoted to math. B. Math was difficult to learn.
C. She could improve her math soon. D. The math teacher was unreasonable.
3.Why did the author often visit Mr. Myrus’ wood shop?
A. She could reach the limits of her ability.
B. She could help Mr. Myrus with his work.
C. She could get a sense of self-respect there.
D. She could get help for her study problems.
4.Which of the following may Mr. Myrus agree with?
A. Result always matters most. B. Everyone is equally talented.
C. Whatever you do, spare no effort. D. When talking to kids, speak in their way.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
Most good interviewers will make an effort to establish and keep eye contact. Make sure that you do not find yourself looking down or away. If you wear glasses, be sure to buy the non-glare lenses. Do not stare.
Rapidly nodding your head can leave the impression that you are impatient and too eager to add something to the conversation – if only the interviewer would let you. Slower nodding, on the other hand, emphasizes interest, shows that you are validating（确认）the comments of your interwar, and encourages him to continue. Tilting（倾斜）the head slightly, when combined with eye contact and a natural smile, shows friendliness and approachability.
Your smile is one of the most powerful positive body signals. Everybody looks better when they smile. Offer an unforced, confident smile. Avoid at all costs the technique that some applicants use: grinning idiotically（白痴般地裂口笑）for the length of the interview, no matter what. This will only communicate that you are insincere.
It’s worth remembering that the mouth provides a seemingly limitless supply of opportunities to convey weakness. This may be done by touching the month frequently; “faking” a cough when confused with a difficult question: gnawing（咬）on one’s lips absentmindedly. Employing any of these “insincerity signs” when you are asked bout why you lost your last job, will confirm or still（慢慢灌输）suspicions about your honesty.
1.The mouth may make your weakness known by ________ according to the passage.
A. pretending to be coughing B. having an unforced smile
C. blowing a kiss D. showing your teeth
2.The main purpose of this text is to ________.
A. tell you how to communicate with others effectively.
B. show you how to make yourself more understandable.
C. remind you of respecting the interviewer.
D. give you some advice on facial signals for job interviews.
3.What does the underlined word “suspicion” in the last paragraph mean?
A. understanding B. uncertainly
C. expression D. agreement
4.Which facial signal can cause you to lose an opportunity of being employed?
A. Gnawing on one’s lips. B. A natural smile.
C. A natural eye contact. D. Touching the mouth occasionally.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Thousand of students, from all around the world, have helped their international careers by taking EIS English studies at South Thames College London – STCL.
You too can take our first-class EIS courses to learn, and live English in London @ STCL.
1. Our experience
We have provided English for International Students EIS courses to people from around the world for 40 years.
More than 1,000 students take our EIS courses each year, often after are commendation from a friend or relative.
Our teachers have worked in many countries; their experience will help you to develop international English communication skills.
2. A world in one college
The college has students from more than 100 countries.
When you study English with us, you will have the opportunity to meet not only UK students, but also people from all over the world.
3. More than an English school
The college’s main purpose is to provide education and training for our local community.
We have more than 20,000 students, on a range of academic, technical and vocational courses in addition to English language courses.
All students can also use the facilities available at the college—library services, free Internet access, sports & more.
You can join arrange of leisure and social activities.
4. Our range of courses
We have a wide range of courses designed to meet the needs of global citizens in an international environment.
Our courses prepare you both for life in London – perhaps as a student – and for your future career, anywhere in the world.
We help you improve your English so you can communicate more effectively—for study, work or socializing.
Intensive courses meet UK immigration regulations for students.
For information about out intensive English courses, click here.
1.What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To attract students from around the world.
B. To make South Thames College London known.
C. To stress the importance of EIS courses.
D. To compete against other language schools in London.
2.From the passage we learn that ________.
A. the College’s history goes back over a century
B. the teachers there come from all over the world
C. the College has a good reputation among its EIS students
D. the courses there just focus on language learning
3.Which key information is NOT given in this passage?
A. Experience of teacher. B. Main purpose of the College.
C. Range of Courses. D. Approved quality from authorities.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
As more and more books become movie adaptations, I can’t help but think how this will affect English classes in America. Thinking back to my years in middle and high school—ten years ago, I would be rewarded if I had read a number of classics. Today, a majority of those books are now also movies: Life of Pi, The Great Gatsby, Much Ado About Nothing and Anna Karenina, to name a few.
Even modern books such as The Hunger Games and Harry Potter have been adapted for the big screen. In discussion with my students, I often hear them say they are not going to read books because movies will come out soon, which makes me wonder what effect movie adaptations have on modern-day students. Will the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) encourage them to read books more carefully or to use movies to improve their understanding of the text?
The CCSS requires students to provide text-based evidence when reading and discussing a book. By focusing on such evidence, teachers can pull specific details from a book that may have not made the final cut when the book was adapted for the big screen. For instance, after reading and watching The Hunger Games, there were a number of details from the book that were missing from the film-many people were disappointed with Rue’s meek（温顺的）movie role. A student who failed to read The Hunger Games would not quite understand Rue’s impact on the games in the same way as someone who had read the book and remembered all the details that went into her death.
I am not saying the CCSS will stop students from cutting corners, but I believe if teachers use the support the CCSS provides, it can be a great roadway to ensure all students are digging deep into texts and not just hitting the play button.
1.Ten year ago, students in America were ____.
A. fond a reading all kinds of novels
B. forbidden to discuss movies in class
C. not allowed to watch movies in the cinema
D. encouraged to read many literature works
2.Which of the following might be the effect that movie adaptations have on modern-day student? ____
A. They spend less time in studying.
B. They can’t understand English texts.
C. They spend less time in reading.
D. They discuss movies more frequently.
3.What can we learn from the third paragraph? ____
A. The Hunger Games is the worst movie adaptation.
B. It is a waste of time reading and discussing a book in class.
C. Movie adaptations may bring trouble in understanding the books.
D. Rue’s impact on the games is perfectly presented in the movie.
4.According to the text, it seems that the CCSS ____.
A. prevents students watching movies
B. provides students with well-known movies
C. encourages students to write novels
D. provides guidance on teaching and learning.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Studies are showing that losing your temper（脾气）is as unhealthy as controlling anger. Here are four tips to manage your temper.
*Question yourself. Experts recommend asking yourself these questions whenever you feel angry:
What made me angry?
Why do I feel this way?
Is it really worth blowing up?
1. If you think your anger is appropriate, decide what result you want. Then make a plan and follow it. But in most cases, you need to calm yourself down.
*Change the way you think. 2. ----- You think your boss gave you a negative look, and your blood begins to boil. The best action you can take is to find alternative ways of looking at the situation. Say to yourself, “Maybe he’s in pain, or maybe he’s having a bad day”. 3. And it takes the focus off your anger and gives you a new standpoint.
*4. Writing forces you to organize your thoughts and to think clearly, to use your head rather than lose it. It also gives you the chance to express your feelings and develop a plan on how to deal with the issue.
*Weight prod and cons（利弊）. Experts advise you to ask yourself, “Will getting angry help me achieve my goals or will it do more harm than good?” 5. In fact, you’re taking the time to think carefully about what you want to say.
A. Put pen to paper.
B. Exchange anger from heart to heart.
C. Letting it go doesn’t mean you’re controlling the anger.
D. Angry feelings are often the result of how we look at things.
E. Reflecting on those different interpretations calms you down.
F. You always put yourself in other’s shoes to change your attitude.
G. Such evaluation helps you think reasonably and control your feelings
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
For much of the earliest history of our species, home may have been nothing more than a small fire and the light it cast on a few familiar faces. But whatever else ________ is and however it entered our consciousness – it’s a way of organizing ________ in our minds. Home is home, and everything else is not-home.
Not that you can’t feel “at home” in ________ places. But there’s a big psychological ________ between feeling at home and being home. Feeling at home in other places is simply a way of saying that the not-home-ness of those places has ________ since you first arrived. Some people, as they ________ through their lives, rediscover home again and again. Some people never find another after once ________ home. And, of course, some people ________ leave the only home they’ve always known.
Homesick children know how ________ the boundary between home and not-home can be be-cause they ________ the difference. I know the ________ because I was one of them. I felt a strong connection between people ________ in the small town I grew up in. But spending the ________ away from home, such as sleeping at my friend’s houses, made everything seem alien. And yet when I got back home in the morning, home was as usual. That was the ________ --home is a place so ________ that you don’t even have to notice it.
And there’s something more. ________ my father died, my brothers and sisters and I went back to his ________, where he’d lived alone. It wasn’t only his ________ we felt. It was as though something had ________ from every object in the house. They had, in fact, become ________ objects. The person whose heart and mind could combine them into a single thing – a home—had gone.
1.A. history B. home C. fire D. light
2.A. space B. time C. work D. concept
3.A. enough B. all C. such D. other
4.A. connection B. balance C. relationship D. difference
5.A. changed B. remained C. reduced D. increased
6.A. move B. develop C. search D. choose
7.A. returning B. leaving C. finding D. forgetting
8.A. also B. again C. never D. ever
9.A. limited B. close C. sharp D. common
10.A. learn from B. suffer from C. think about D. speak about
11.A. feeling B. illness C. impression D. sense
12.A. nowhere B. everywhere C. somewhere D. anywhere
13.A. morning B. noon C. afternoon D. night
14.A. result B. view C. problem D. point
15.A. familiar B. safe C. similar D. warm
16.A. Before B. Until C. Though D. After
17.A. office B. hometown C. house D. laboratory
18.A. kindness B. brightness C. absence D. appearance
19.A. escaped B. disappeared C. hidden D. fallen
20.A. merely B. really C. valuable D. delicate
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Hongbao, a red envelope with small amounts of money in, is a gift that is guaranteed to be 1. (warm) received, not just because of the cash, but also because of its 2. (tradition) symbolism and best wishes for the future. This is true throughout China, especially in the south where people view receiving hongbao 3. an auspicious（吉祥的）beginning of the New Year.
Legend in the south goes that a devil（恶魔）used to appear to harm children and the elderly. 4. loud noise would frighten the devil away, as did 5. color red.
Fireworks took care of the noise and during the Spring Festival couplets（对联）also helped keep the devil away. But fireworks couldn’t go off day so children and the elderly also got hongboa, red envelopes 6. (contain) money. The tradition 7. (survive) for millennia and giving hongbao to children and the elderly remains popular among Chinese people all over the world. It has also made its way into workplace where bosses often give 8. (employ) hongbao and most recently, companies have adopted online marketing strategies 9. hongbao are distributed, hoping 10. companies and staff members have a good start.
Giving hongbao at the beginning of the Lunar New Year indicates best wishes for the future.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除和修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），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. 每处错误及其修改仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dear editor,
I am writing to you to talk about the heavy traffic. Nowadays people in many big cities are complaining the heavy traffic. It has serious influenced people’s daily life and economic development. To solve the problem I’d like to put forward some advices.
For one thing, more streets and roads should be built. In this way we can speed up the flow of buses and cars. For other, the number of bikes and cars should be limited, that can decrease the traffic flow. But the most important thing is what the number of private cars should be out under the control. Meanwhile, buses should have its own special routes which cannot be using by other vehicles. Therefore, underground trains and city trains should be developed quickly.
I do hope my suggestions will be taken.
Yours
Li Hua
难度: 简单查看答案及解析