Adults understand what it feels like to be flooded with objects. Why do we often assume that more is more when it comes to kids and their belongings? The good news is that I can help my own kids learn earlier than I did how to live more with less.
I found the pre-holidays a good time to encourage young children to donate less-used things, and it worked. Because of our efforts, our daughter Georgia did decide to donate a large bag of toys to a little girl whose mother was unable to pay for her holiday due to illness. She chose to sell a few larger objects that were less often used when we promised to put the money into her school fund(基金)(our kindergarten daughter is serious about becoming a doctor)
For weeks, I've been thinking of bigger, deeper questions: How do we make it a habit for them? And how do we train ourselves to help them live with, need, and use less? Yesterday, I sat with my son, Shepherd, determined to test my own theory on this. I decided to play with him with only one toy for as long as it would keep his interest. I expected that one toy would keep his attention for about five minutes, ten minutes, max. I chose a red rubber ball-simple, universally available. We passed it, he tried to put it in his mouth, he tried bouncing it, rolling it, sitting on it, throwing it. It was totally, completely enough for him. Before I knew it an hour had passed and it was time to move on to lunch.
We both became absorbed in the simplicity of playing together. He had my full attention and I had his. My little experiment to find joy in a single object worked for both of us.
1.What do the words “more is more” in paragraph 1 probably mean?
A.The more, the better. B.Enough is enough.
C.More money, more worries. D.Earn more and spend more.
2.What made Georgia agree to sell some of her objects?
A.Saving up for her holiday B.Raising money for a poor girl
C.Adding the money to her fund D.Giving the money to a sick mother
3.Why did the author play the ball with Shepherd?
A.To try out an idea
B.To show a parent’s love
C.To train his attention
D.To help him start a hobby
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Take It or Leave It B.A Lesson from Kids
C.Live More with Less D.The Pleasure of Giving
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
My First Marathon（马拉松）
A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.
I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P. E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn't do either well. He later informed me that I was “not athletic".
The idea that I was “not athletic" stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!
The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn't even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.
Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces（鞋带）became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!
At mile 3, I passed a sign： "GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!”
By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.
By mile 21, I was starving!
As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a. m. or questioned my expenses on running.
I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.
Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels（世俗标签），I can now call myself a “marathon winner".
1.A month before the marathon, the author .
A.was well trained B.felt scared
C.made up his mind to run D.lost hope
2.Why did the author mention the P. E.class in his 7th year?
A.To acknowledge the support of his teacher.
B.To amuse the readers with a funny story.
C.To show he was not talented in sports.
D.To share a precious memory.
3.What does the story mainly tell us?
A.A man owes his success to his family support.
B.A winner is one with a great effort of will.
C.Failure is the mother of success.
D.One is never too old to learn.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid is used to grilling guests on the sofa every morning, but she is cooking up a storm in her latest role—showing families how to prepare delicious and nutritious meals on a tight budget.
In Save Money: Good Food, she visits a different home each week and with the help of chef Matt Tebbutt offers top tips on how to reduce food waste, while preparing recipes for under £ 5 per family a day. And the Good Morning Britain presenter says she's been able to put a lot of what she's learned into practice in her own home, preparing meals for sons, Sam, 14, Finn, 13, and Jack, 11.
“We love Mexican churros, so I buy them on my phone from my local Mexican takeaway restaurant, she explains. “I pay £ 5 for a portion（(—份）,but Matt makes them for 26p a portion, because they are flour, water, sugar and oil. Everybody can buy takeaway food, but sometimes we're not aware how cheaply we can make this food ourselves. ”
The eight-part series（系列节目），Save Money: Good Food , follows in the footsteps of ITV's Save Money: Good Health, which gave viewers advice on how to get value from the vast range of health products on the market.
With food our biggest weekly household expense, Susanna and Matt spend time with a different family each week. In tonight's Easter special they come to the aid of a family in need of some delicious inspiration on a budget. The team transforms the family's long weekend of celebration with less expensive but still tasty recipes.
1.What do we know about Susanna Reid?
A.She enjoys embarrassing her guests.
B.She has started a new programme.
C.She dislikes working early in the morning.
D.She has had a light budget for her family.
2.How does Matt Tebbutt help Susanna?
A.He buys cooking materials for her.
B.He prepares food for her kids.
C.He assists her in cooking matters.
D.He invites guest families for her.
3.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.Keeping Fit by Eating Smart
B.Balancing Our Daily Diet
C.Making Yourself a Perfect Chef
D.Cooking Well for Less
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。
She looks like any other schoolgirl, fresh-faced and full of life. Sarah Thomas is looking forward to the challenge of her new A-level course. But unlike her school friends, 16-year-old Sarah is not spending half-term1.(rest). Instead, she is earning £6500 a day as 2.model in New York.
Sarah3. (tell) that she could be Britain’s new supermodel earning a million dollars in the next year. Her father Peter, 44, wants her to give up school to model full-time. But Sarah, 4.has taken part in shows along with top models, wants5.(prove) that she has brains as well as beauty. She is determined to carry on with her6. (educate).
She has turned down several 7.(invitation) to star at shows in order to concentrate on her studies. After school she plans to take a year off to model full-time before going to university to get a degree8.engineering or architecture.
Sarah says, ＂My dad thinks I should take the offer now. But at the moment, school 9. (come) first. I don’t want to put too much in modeling. It is10. (certain) fun but the lifestyle is a little unreal. I don’t want to have nothing else to fall back on when I can’t model any more.”
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Recently, I’ve been following a simple rule that is helping me crush procrastination(拖延症) and making it easier for me to stick to good habits at the same time．1. There are two parts to the 2-Minute Rule.
Part 1—If it takes less than two minutes，then do it now．
2. For example，washing your dishes immediately after your meal，tossing the laundry in the washing machine，taking out the garbage，sending that email，and so on．
If a task takes less than two minutes to complete，then follow the rule and do it right now．
Part 2—When you start a new habit，it should take less than two minutes to do．
Can all of your goals be accomplished in less than two minutes? Obviously not．But，every goal can be started in 2 minutes or less．3.
It might sound like this strategy is too basic for grand life goals，but I beg to differ．The 2-Minute Rule works for big goals as well as small goals because of the inertia(惯性)of life．4. I love the 2-Minute Rule because it embraces the idea that all sorts of good things happen once you get started．
The most important part of any new habit is getting started—not just the first time，but each time．It’s not about performance，it’s about consistently taking action．
I can’t guarantee whether or not the 2-Minute Rule will work for you．5. Anyone can spare the next 120 seconds．Use this time to get one thing done．Go．
A. I call this little strategy the “2-Minute Rule”．
B. And that’s the purpose behind this little rule．
C. Here’s what you need to know to stop procrastinating．
D. Once you start doing something，it’s easier to continue doing it．
E. But，I can guarantee that it will never work if you never try it．
F. The goal is to make it easier for you to get started on the things you should be doing．
G. It’s surprising how many things we put off that we could get done in two minutes or less．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
We have all heard how time is more valuable than money, but is it possible to have too much time?
I __ back in high school I spent most of my day at school since I also _____ a team sport. By the time I got home, I only had a few hours to do my homework, and I had to do it __________.
When I got into college, things _______.I suddenly found myself out of class before noon time. Because of all this ____ time, there was no sense of ____ to do my school work immediately. I was performing this action of waiting until it later became a _______. Once that happened, I just kept ______ my studying further and further back in my day. Then I got to the point where I was ______ really late at night to get my work done.
One day I ____ a former classmate of mine who was _____ a lot of money running a sideline(副业).Since his regular job was _____ , I asked him why he just didn't do his sideline full-time. He said _____ the job, he would _____ have too much time and would just do what I did back in ______. He said that if he _____ the job, he
would lose his _____ to work and succeed.
So, try _____ your time with other work. This is why there is a _____ that if you want something done, ask a (n)_______ person to do it.
1.A.remember B.admit C.understand D.expect
2.A.watched B.loved C.coached D.played
3.A.in person B.right away C.up close D.in case
4.A.occurred B.existed C.changed D.mattered
5.A.extra B.difficult C.valuable D.limited
6.A.safety B.achievement C.emergency D.direction
7.A.burden B.relief C.risk D.habit
8.A.pushing B.dismissing C.setting D.calling
9.A.hanging out B.staying up C.stepping up D.showing off
10.A.met B.helped C.viewed D.hired
11.A.raising B.wasting C.demanding D.making
12.A.safe B.important C.boring D.rewarding
13.A.with B.without C.for D.within
14.A.luckily B.hardly C.hopefully D.simply
15.A.childhood B.college C.town D.business
16.A.quit B.found C.accepted D.kept
17.A.ability B.chance C.drive D.way
18.A.coming across B.filling up C.giving up D.belonging to
19.A.message B.story C.saying D.fact
20.A.brilliant B.busy C.optimistic D.curious
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假设你是红星中学高三学生李华，你的英国朋友Jim在给你的邮件中提到他对中国文化感兴趣，计划明年来北京上大学。他向你咨询相关信息。请给他回邮件，内容包括：
1.表示欢迎；
2.推荐他上哪所大学；
3.建议他做哪些准备工作。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计人总词数。
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数为150左右。
Long ago, there was a big apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He climbed to the top of the tree, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree also enjoyed playing with him.
As time went by, the little boy grew up and he no longer played around the tree.
One day, the boy came back to the tree, appearing sad. “Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy gently.
“I am no longer a kid； I won't play around trees anymore," the boy replied, “I want toys. I need money to buy them. ”
Sorry, but I don't have money. However, you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then, you will have money." They boy was so excited that he picked all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy didn't come back after that.
The tree was upset.
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so joyful. “Come and play with me," the tree said.
“I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" “Sorry, I don't have a house. But you can cut off my branches to build your house. ” So the boy cut all the branches of the tree and left with delight.
The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy didn't appear since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. “Come and play with me!” the tree requested.
“I am sad and becoming old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" “Use my trunk to build the boat and you can sail and be happy. ” So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not show up for a long time.
Paragraph 1:
Many years later, the boy finally returned.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The apple tree is our mother.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
难度: 困难查看答案及解析