In 1997, I found myself in a situation I never thought I'd be in: alone and begging for money in New York. My father had been separated from our family, and my mother had recently died from complications related to AIDS. What I remember most about such nights is lying on the cold marble floor and using my backpack for a pillow.
Even though I had lost my family, I made choices every single day to turn my life around. There was the haven for homeless teenagers called the Door, a non-profit organization that provided me with guidance, medical care and food, all of which kept me going while I completed my homework in train stations and under hallway lights. Perhaps the most surprising help though, I did not seek out it found me. The New York Times told my story. In the weeks that followed, dozens of strangers reached out to me from all across the United States. At my high school, I began receiving handwritten letters of encouragement. Strangers showed up bearing clothes, books, and even hugs. Since the article mentioned I was applying to Harvard, one woman knitted a blanket for me. She attached this note to the box it was posted in: "It gets cold in those dorms. May you warm yourself knowing that people care about you".
With the help of these people, my life today bears no resemblance at all to my life then. I graduated not only from high school but also from Harvard University.
Before these people — some of them nameless — I just didn't realize how good people could be. But now I do, and I can say that the people who helped me have forever changed me. They are the reason behind my decision to join the board at the Door so that I can be part of a small team of people opening a high school for homeless teenagers. They are the reason I dedicate my life to opening pathways for others. And they are the reason I travel around the world helping people transform their own lives.
1.According to the passage, the author ________.
A. tried to change her life
B. often slept in friends’ homes
C. felt lonely because of her illness
D. felt quite desperate for her father
2.What can we learn about the Door?
A. It is an organization helping homeless teenagers.
B. It is an organization seeking profits.
C. It provides entertainment for children.
D. It reports the stories about the homeless.
3.Which of the following is the correct order to describe the author's life?
a. The newspaper reported her story.
b. She graduated from Harvard University.
c. She slept on the cold floor at night.
d. She joined the committee at the Door.
e. Her mother died from the illness.
A. d→e→c→a→b B. e→c→d→a→b
C. e→c→a→b→d D. b→c→d→e→a
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. Patience is a virtue.
B. Love can be passed on.
C. Time waits for no man.
D. Honesty leads to success.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Fear can be a wonderful feeling in our lives, protecting us from dangerous situations and keeping us safe. But fear can also limit our lives significantly. While it may not be conscious, fear may make us think we are unacceptable or that what we have to offer isn’t valuable. Fear may make us feel that we are not safe being ourselves.
To avoid feeling fear, we may limit our lives greatly, living in tiny boxes. Living this way gives us the illusion(假象) of safety but leaves us with an unfulfilling life of no passion. If we shine a light on many of our fears, we see they have a very limited view of what is “safe” and how to “protect” us. Many of our fears are concerned only with protecting us from humiliation(羞辱) and failure. While these fears are doing their jobs incredibly well, they are doing so with faulty and outdated programming. Many fears we have as adults are trying to protect us as they protected us when we were children. Indeed, many of our current, automatic reactions to fear were actually formed when we were children.
Even so, it’s important not to judge ourselves for feeling these types of fears. If we judge ourselves, we will bury our fears or disguise them. By denying our fears, however, we also deny our energy, creativity and passion.
So what do we do with fear? We recognize the fear for what it is— a feeling we’ve experienced many times in the past and a feeling we will experience many times in the future. We become very familiar with our own particular brand of fears and how we allow them to control our lives. It is especially beneficial for each of us to become aware of the particular behavior patterns we’ve adopted when we feel fear, so we can look at our reactions with a sense of humor and compassion. Then, if we wish, we can choose a different response, which can be a scary yet very exciting experience.
1.According to the first paragraph, fear sometimes ________.
A. protect us when we’ve made mistakes
B. makes sure our feelings are not hurt
C. brings great change to our everyday life
D. makes us lose confidence in ourselves
2.According to the author, the ways we react to fear ________.
A. vary from person to person
B. have been formed since childhood
C. develop during our growth
D. will not change until we get old
3.The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.
A. what is the essence of fears
B. usual reactions we have when feeling fear
C. how to deal with fears reasonably
D. the importance of humor and compassion
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. Is fear managing your life?
B. Be calm when feeling fear
C. What do you fear most?
D. Passion, chance and fear
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?
But something is happening to their children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become lock into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.
They call it the “curse(诅咒) of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condition is autism(自闭症). It used to be thought that autism was a kind of mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a neurological disease transmitted genetically. It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all.
But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome is a mild version of autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or system but have no social skill. This very combination of symptoms makes Asperger’s sufferers into ideal computer professionals.
The Asperger’s sufferer has always been a well-known figure in popular culture. He or she was the eccentric but dedicated scholar or the strange uncle or auntie who never married. But the high numbers of such people in Silicon Valley mean that they can meet others who understand them and share their interests. And while they might not be personally attractive, they can earn truly attractive amounts of money. They can get married and have kids. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents seem to be developing serious autism.
There is little anyone can do. It takes hours of work just to make autistic child realize that anyone else exists. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found. “It may be that autistics are essentially different from normal people, but that these differences make them invaluable for the evolution of the human race,” says Dr. Kirk Whilhelmsen of the University of California. “To eliminate the genes for autism could be disastrous.
It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.
1.What does Dr Kirk Whilhelmsen think of autism?
A. It is disastrous to society.
B. It is not completely a bad thing.
C. It is a punishment to those working in Silicon Valley.
D. People with autism should never marry.
2.Why do people call autism “curse of Silicon Valley”？
A. Because autistic people live in Silicon Valley.
B. Because many people working in Silicon Valley have autism children.
C. Because people with autism will be driven out of Silicon Valley.
D. Because people with autism are not personally attractive and not liked by others.
3.What can we know about Asperger’s Syndrome according to the passage?
A. Asperger’s sufferers are ideal computer professionals.
B. Asperger’s sufferers never get married and have children.
C. Asperger’s sufferers are ashamed of themselves and locked into their own world.
D. Asperger’s sufferers can be beneficial to society if they are cured.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Life can be so difficult these days. It is the time that you all should admit need help in organizing your lives. Here are some tips that will help you.
Write everything down and do not rely on your memory. 1. If you want to remember things, put them in writing, or in a digital notebook. Keeping your to-do lists and other information written somewhere allows you to look back at them anytime, ever when you have hit your head and forgotten your own name.
2. Try this experiment before buying one thing, throw out something old or something you do not use. Or, if you are a really pack rat, just throw out one old thing a day until you can not find any more items to throw.
Recycle and donate. Is your closet full of unopened bags and clothes that still have their tags on? Is your bookshelf full of unread books? Chances are that if you have not read, worn, or used whatever they are, then you are probably not going to use them at all. 3.
Create daily, weekly and monthly timetables for cleaning. Organize your cleaning timetable.
4. Distribute tasks evenly, so for example, dish washing could be done daily; while vacuuming could be done weekly and cleaning the windows done monthly.
Whichever of these tasks you decide to do, remember that you can not completely organize your life in one go. 5. Just decide to get organized now, and then take baby steps. Soon enough, you will be making a habit out of it all.
A.Practice putting things away immediately
B.Throw one thing before buying something.
C.It is a long and never-ending process, so be patient.
D.Give them to a charity or sell on the internet.
E.It is extremely exhausting to clean everything all at once.
F.To keep up with tasks, you need to work with your family.
G.We all agree most of us have a tough time remembering things.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填人空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1--20各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳的选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
Some people are just born to be failures. That’s the way some adults look at _________ kids. Maybe you've heard the saying, “A bird with a _________ wing will never fly as high.” I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made to _________ this way almost every day. At high school, T. J. was the best-known troublemaker in his town. He was a silent boy, didn’t answer questions and often _________ .
I met T. J. for the first time at an activity aimed at getting students more involved in community charity. When I _________ , the community leaders _________ me that T.J. had the longest arrest(拘留) record in the history of town. Actually, I wasn’t the first to hear about T.J.’s darker side as the first words of _________ .
At the start of the activity, T. J. was just _________ outside the circle of students, against the back wall, with a(n) _________ look on his face. He didn’t readily join the discussion groups, and didn’t seem to have much to say. But gradually, the interactive games _________ him in. T. J. shared his great thoughts on _________ . The other students_________ his ideas and were impressed with his passion for helping those in need. _________ , they elected T. J. co-chairman of the group.
After the activity, T. J. started showing up at school and being active in class, which none of his teachers expected. More _________ , two weeks later, T. J. led a group of 70 students in a drive to collect _________. They collected a school _________ : 2,854 cans of food in just two hours, (the shortest time in the history of town) enough to take care of _________ families in the area for 75 days.
T. J. reminds us that a bird with a broken wing only needs _________. Once it has _________, it can fly higher than the rest. Now T. J. is _________ quite nicely as a chairman of a nationwide charity organization.
1.A. failed B. troublesome C. annoyed D. worried
2.A. single B. faulty C. burden D. broken
3.A. think B. walk C. feel D. struggle
4.A. fought B. drove C. challenged D. laughed
5.A. looked up B. stood up C. finished up D. turned up
6.A. warned B. suggested C. reminded D. reached
7.A. explanation B. communication C. introduction D. instruction
8.A. standing B. laughing C. hiding D. wandering
9.A. worried B. interested C. indifferent D. puzzled
10.A. allowed B. showed C. drew D. put
11.A. games B. concerns C. school D. charity
12.A. ignored B. welcomed C. doubted D. misunderstood
13.A. However B. Besides C. Anyway D. Therefore
14.A. importantly B. surprisingly C. luckily D. popularly
15.A. money B. rubbish C. cans D. food
16.A. restaurant B. record C. yard D. term
17.A. needy B. lonely C. friendly D. likely
18.A. persuading B. mending C. observing D. teaching
19.A. healed B. noticed C. appeared D. changed
20.A. behaving B. growing C. flying D. achieving
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空(不多于3个单词)，并将答案填写在答题卡的相应位置上。
After long hours of flying, we arrived at Beijing International Airport. I1. (impress) by its architecture. Then we took the bus to the hotel 2. (call) Golden Village.
Within the first two days of classes, I got 3. map of Beijing in English. That night, a couple of us sat down and 4. (combine) all the places that we wanted to visit including the ones that we researched about before we left the U.S. It would have been impossible for us to explore 5. the help of the local students. All the students were very 6. (help) in letting us ask questions and taking us around the city. Other than small 7. (difficult) in communication, the local students spoke English fairly well. In the beginning we were just classmates, 8. by the end of the trip, we were all friends.
After 9. (spend) three weeks there, I felt like I gained a great experience. I observed such a different perspective of China by 10. (actual) being in country rather just hearing about it through the media.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
单句语法填空
1.__________ (not know) anything about the accident, he went to work as usual.
2.The next morning she found the man __________ (lie) in bed, dead.
3.—Good morning. Can I help you?
—I’d like to have this package __________ (weigh)
4.Most of the artists __________ to the party were from that university.
5.__________(give) more attention, the trees could have grown better.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
用适当的连接词填空
1.Think about ________ you are good at and ________ you enjoy and build on those abilities.
2.Many of the creatures in Rowling's world are not real，and much of ________ happens is strange.
3.________ some teenagers don't realize is ________ difficult life can be after they get addicted to drugs.
4.There was a big argument among the children about ________ move to a new house.
5.________ sometimes keeps her awake at night ________ Tom is getting more and more quiet at home.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
短文改错
Last night I am getting ready for the coming examination when the noise from my neighbor interrupted (打扰) me. The noise went on and on. It was too loud that I could hardly pay attention to my study any longer. But I went to my neighbor’s house and say to him, “Excuse me, would you please turn down the TV? I’m preparing for tomorrow’s examination.” Hear these words, his face turned to red. And he said, “OK, I will. I’m very sorry to have made so much noise. Just now, the football game was very wonderfully. I was too exciting to control myself. I won’t do that again. Good lucky in your coming examination.” After that, I went on with his study.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
书面表达
假定你是李华，上个月你在某国外购物网站订购了一台新款电子阅读器，然而收到的产品并不是所订购的。请你给该网站的负责人写英语投诉信，要点如下：
1投诉内容，阅读器款式太旧，容量太小
2 解决办法，更换阅读器或退货
3 希望问题尽快解决。
注意
1字数：100左右
2可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
3开头语和结束语已给出，不计入总字数。
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am a customer from China. I am writing to you because
_______________________________________________________________________________
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Looking forward to your early reply.
Yours,
Li Hua
难度: 中等查看答案及解析