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Decades ago, I was one of the unhappiest men in New York. I was selling motor-trucks for a living. I didn't know what made a motor-truck run. That wasn't all: I didn't want to know. I despised (看不起）my job, I despised living in a _______furnished room filled with cockroaches (蟑螂). When I _______out for a fresh necktie, they scattered in all directions. I despised eating in dirty restaurants _______filled with cockroaches.
I came back to my lonely room each night with a sick headache _______by disappointment and bitterness. Was this life? Was this the adventure I had _______? Was this all life would ever_______to me —working at a job I despised, living with cockroaches, and eating bad food? I _______for leisure to read and to write the books I had dreamed of writing back in my college days.
I knew I had everything to gain and _______to lose by giving up the job I despised. So I quitted the work I hated and_________I had studied in the Teachers’ College, preparing to teach, I would make my living teaching adult classes in night schools. Then I would have my __________ free to read books, prepare lectures, and write novels.
What subject should I teach? As I looked back and__________my own college training, I saw that public speaking was of more __________value to me than everything else I had studied in college because it had__________out my lack of confidence and given me the courage to deal with people. It had also made__________that leadership usually favors the man who can get up and speak his mind.
Then I started teaching in night schools, where I had to show__________ results quickly. These __________didn't come for college credits. They came for one reason only: to solve problems. They wanted to stand up on their own feet and say a few words at a business meeting without fainting from__________. They wanted to call on a(n)__________custome
r without, having to walk around the block three times to get up__________. They wanted to develop self-confidence, I had to__________my students--I had to help them. By doing this, I found my true calling and happiness.
1.A. well B. cheap C. fully D. partly
2.A. sought B. reached C. stood D. set
3.A. abruptly B. barely C. probably D. properly
4.A. fed B. raised C. aroused D. followed
5.A. stepped out for B. looked forward to C. worked up to D. gone in for
6.A. happen B. cater C. mean D. see
7.A. asked B. longed C. searched D. went
8.A. everything B. anything C. something D. nothing
9.A. once B. while C. since D. after
10.A. moments B. days C. months D. years
11.A. checked B. took C. recalled D. evaluated
12.A. practical B. economical C. inner D. technical
13.A. given B. wiped C. carried D. got
14.A. essential B. solid C. clear D. simple
15.A. concrete B. accurate C. absolute D. various
16.A. salesmen B. customers C. children D. adults
17.A. disappointment B. fright C. bitterness D. depression
18.A. unique B. earnest C. regular D. tough
19.A. Interest B. hope C. courage D. expectation
20.A. assist B. organize C. lead D. motivate
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Some thirty years ago, I was studying in a public school in New York city. One day, Mrs Nanette O’Neill gave an arithmetic test to our class. When the papers were ______ she discovered that twelve boys had made exactly the same mistakes throughout the test.
There is nothing really new about ______ in exams. Perhaps that was why Mrs O’Neill ______ even say a word about it. She only asked the twelve boys to______ after class. I was one of the twelve.
Mrs O’Neill asked______ questions, and she didn’t______ us either. Instead she wrote on the blackboard the______ words by Thomas Macaulay. “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out. ” She then ordered us to ______ these words one hundred times.
I don’t______ about the other eleven boys. Speaking for ______ I can say: it was the most important single______ of my life. Thirty years after being ______ to Macaulay’s words, they ______ seem to me the best yardstick( 准 绳 ), because they gave us a ______ to measure ourselves rather than others.
______ of us are asked to make ______ decisions about nations going to war or armies going to battle. But all of us are called ______ daily to make a great many personal decisions.
______ the wallet, found in the street, be put into a pocket or turned over to the policeman? Should the______ change received at the store be forgotten or returned? Nobody will know except you. But you have to live with yourself, and it is always ______ to live with someone you respect.
1.A.examined B.completed C.marked D.answered
2.A.lying B.cheating C.guessing D.discussing
3.A.didn’t B.did C.would D.wouldn’t
4.A.come B.leave C.remain D.apologize
5.A.many B.certain C.more D.no
6.A.excuse B.reject C.help D.scold
7.A.above B.common C.following D.unusual
8.A.repeat B.get C.copy D.put
9.A.worry B.know C.hear D.talk
10.A.myself B.ourselves C.themselves D.herself
11.A.chance B.incident C.lesson D.memory
12.A.referred B.showed C.brought D.introduced
13.A.even B.still C.always D.almost
14.A.way B.sentence C.choice D.reason
15.A.All B.None C.Few D.Some
16.A.quick B.wise C.great D.personal
17.A.out B.for C.up D.upon
18.A.Should B.Must C.Would D.Need
19.A.extra B.small C.some D.necessary
20.A.easier B.more natural C.better D.more peaceful
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A few years ago, Adina Lichtman was handing out sandwiches on the streets of New York City to help people experiencing homelessness. One man, _______ for the sandwich, approached her and _________ some surprising insight（见识）.
“It's great that you're _________ sandwiches,” he said, “but one thing we really _______ is socks, especially as winter approaches.”
“Here I was, sandwiches in _________, assuming I knew the best way to help people, when in reality, helping is about _________, and hearing the needs of different communities,” Lichtman said. “It was a powerful _________, and I wanted to put it into _________.”
She began that night, with a _________ step: going door-to-door on the floor of her __________ at New York University, asking ________ classmates if they could each just donate just one pair of their own socks to someone ________ home.
She got 40 pairs of socks in a single __________, from a single floor. The next morning she opened her door to find a huge __________ of socks that other people had donated.
“College students love to do __________, but sometimes they need a literal（实实在在的）knock on their __________ to do so. And almost everyone has a(n) __________ pair of socks they can donate,” Lichtman said.
That morning Lichtman ________ kicked off Knock Knock, Give a Sock, a new nonprofit organization that has now __________ over 350,000 pairs of socks for the homeless in cities and states across America. It is also now Lichtman's full-time job.
When it gets cold out, __________ about what you use to bundle up—scarves, hats, gloves—that includes socks and shoes, too.
1.A. searching B. wishing C. preparing D. reaching
2.A. offered B. shared C. claimed D. declared
3.A. taking out B. finding out C. picking out D. giving out
4.A. buy B. need C. donate D. supply
5.A. bag B. hand C. box D. mouth
6.A. serving B. asking C. assisting D. listening
7.A. lesson B. shock C. hit D. struggle
8.A. use B. practice C. action D. consideration
9.A. simple B. meaningful C. dangerous D. brave
10.A. campus B. building C. street D. dormitory
11.A. kind B. fellow C. rich D. friendly
12.A. with B. from C. at D. without
13.A. week B. day C. night D. year
14.A. pile B. pair C. car D. step
15.A. wrong B. harm C. good D. well
16.A. wall B. face C. door D. back
17.A. expensive B. extra C. cheap D. valuable
18.A. carefully B. rudely C. officially D. happily
19.A. made B. created C. bought D. provided
20.A. think B. tell C. figure D. care
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Two years ago， Kiirsat Ceylan was in New York to give a talk about disability rights at the U． N． Blind since birth， the Turkish man was struggling to find his hotel， holding a cane in one hand and pulling his luggage with the other．
"Not surprisingly， suddenly I bumped into a pole, and he says, "It was a bit bloody．"
The problem with a cane is that， while it can tell you what's on the grounds it doesn't help with objects at the body or head level． It wasn't the first time Ceylan had run into something， injuring himself．
"" I have no problem with my scars， which make me more handsome I guess，" Ceylan says， laughing． "But I don't need hew ones．"
With WeWalk， a new smart cane， Ceylan hopes to help other blind people navigate their environments more easily.The cane uses an ultrasonic（超声波）sensor which detects objects at body or head level and gives a warning vibration． WeWalk users pair the cane with their smartphones and then use the cane's touchpad to access features like voice assistant or navigation*Before leaving home， they can plug their destination into Google Maps and get spoken directions as they walk In the future， Ceylan hopes to connect WeWalk with public transportation and ridesharing services．
Assistive technology is often expensive for blind people， says Eelke Folmer， a computer science professor at the University of Nevada! Reno． "But developers fail to realize their devices are out of reach for many blind people， To Folmer， the price point-﹩ 500-- sets the WeWalk cane apart from other technologies．
Ceylan sees WeWalk as part of an attempt to help blind people achieve greater freedom of movement， which he believes will give them greater access to education and jobs． The canes are already having an impact on users， Ceylan says． He recently received an email from a teacher in Ireland who had become blind as an adult． He'd been depressed and housebound． But since getting a WeWalk cane， your device forced me to go out． It became my anti- depressant． " he wrote．
1.Why is a story about Kursat Ceylan given at the beginning of the text？ ______
A.To stress the difficulty caused by blindness．
B.To show his reason for developing his cane．
C.To indicate the problems with present canes．
D.To show his positive and humorous character．
2.What can WeWalk do at present according to the text？ ______
A.Provide fast Internet access．
B.Start conversations with users．
C.Tell users what is around them．
D.Connect with ridesharing services．
3.What does Folmer think is the advantage of WeWalk over other assistive technologies？ ______
A.It is easily affordable， B.It is easily controllable．
C.It works better for users. D.It looks more attractive．
4.What is the text mainly about？ ______
A.The increasing demand for smart canes．
B.A blind man’s devotion to smart canes．
C.A smart cane's effects on blind people.
D.An assistive technology for the blind．
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I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Mikey himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my students. If I were to deal with them, I’d be busy 24 hours a day.
The forged excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The writers of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.”
Isn’t it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they produced excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and gave them to my classes. I said, “They’re supposed to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Mikey?” The students looked at me nervously.
“Now, this will be the first class to study the art of the excuse note --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so lucky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your imaginations. So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam to God’ or ‘An Excuse Note from Eve to God’.” Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. For the first time ever I saw students so careful in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. Heated discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked up and down, looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.”
When I stepped into his office, he came to shake my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was great. Those kids were writing on the college level. Thank you. ”
1.What did the author do with the students found dishonest?
A．He reported them to the headmaster. B．He lectured them hard on honesty.
C．He had them take notes before lunch. D．He helped improve their writing skills.
2.The author found that compared with the true excuse notes, the produced ones by the students were usually__________.
A．less impressive B．more imaginative C．worse written D．less convincing
3.The author had the students practice writing excuse notes so that the students could learn_________.
A．the importance of being honest B．how to write excuse notes skillfully
C．the pleasure of creative writing D．how to be creative in writing
4.The underlined word “forged” in the second paragraph means “______”.
A．former B．copied C．false D．honest
5.What did the headmaster think of the author’s way of teaching?
A．Effective. B．Difficult C．Misleading. D．Reasonable
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完形填空
I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Micky, gave me a note from his mother. It his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Micky himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my . The forged(伪造的) excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually : “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.” The students always said that it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject, but when they excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I gave the excuse notes to my classes, saying, “They’re to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Micky ? ” The students looked at me .“Now, this will be the first class to study the of the excuse notes --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your . So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam/Eve to God’.” went down. Pens raced paper. For the first time ever I saw students so in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked , looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.” My heart .
When I stepped into his office, he came to my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was . Those kids were writing on the college . Thank you. ”
1.A. explained B. described C. introduced D. announced
2.A. parents B. students C. teachers D. partners
3.A. editors B. readers C. writers D. speakers
4.A. true B. right C. easy D. dull
5.A. produced B. hunted C. discovered D. delivered
6.A. started B. raised C. supposed D. improved
7.A. eagerly B. nervously C. excitedly D. coldly
8.A. form B. difficulty C. meaning D. art
9.A. lucky B. helpful C. lovely D. active
10.A. talent B. habit C. product D. subject
11.A. devotion B. imagination C. concentration D. information
12.A. hands B. eyes C. heads D. ears
13. A. across B. with C. against D. behind
14.A. curious B. careful C. careless D. calm
15.A. Separated B. Surprising C. Heated D. Lasting
16.A. day and night B. in and out C. now and then D. up and down
17.A. sank B. rose C. flew D. hurt
18.A. watch B. touch C. shake D. catch
19.A. sure B. bad C. tough D. great
20.A. base B. level C. paper D. theme
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完形填空
I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at a high school in New York, when one of my students, 15-year-old Micky, gave me a note from his mother. It his absence from class the day before.
I had seen Micky himself writing the note at his desk. Most parental-excuse notes I received were penned by my . The forged(伪造的) excuse notes made a large pile, with writing that ranged from imaginative to crazy. The of those notes didn’t realize that honest excuse notes were usually : “Peter was late because the alarm clock didn’t go off.” The students always said that it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject, but when they excuse notes, they were brilliant.
So one day I gave the excuse notes to my classes, saying, “They’re to be written by parents, but actually they are not. True, Micky ? ” The students looked at me .“Now, this will be the first class to study the of the excuse notes --- the first class, ever, to practice writing them. You’re so to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a worthy of study. ”
Everyone smiled as I went on, “You used your . So try more now. Today I’d like you to write ‘An Excuse Note from Adam/Eve to God’.” went down. Pens raced paper. For the first time ever I saw students so in their writing that they had to be asked to go to lunch by their friends.
The next day everyone had excuse notes. discussions followed. The headmaster entered the classroom and walked , looking at papers, and then said, “I’d like you to see me in my office.” My heart .
When I stepped into his office, he came to my hand and said, “I just want to tell you that that lesson, that task, whatever the hell you were doing, was . Those kids were writing on the college . Thank you. ”
1.A. explained B. described C. introduced D. announced
2.A. parents B. students C. teachers D. partners
3.A. editors B. readers C. writers D. speakers
4.A. true B. right C. easy D. dull
5.A. produced B. hunted C. discovered D. delivered
6.A. started B. raised C. supposed D. improved
7.A. eagerly B. nervously C. excitedly D. coldly
8.A. form B. difficulty C. meaning D. art
9.A. lucky B. helpful C. lovely D. active
10.A. talent B. habit C. product D. subject
11.A. devotion B. imagination C. concentration D. information
12.A. hands B. eyes C. heads D. ears
13.A. across B. with C. against D. behind
14.A. curious B. careful C. careless D. calm
15.A. Separated B. Surprising C. Heated D. Lasting
16.A. day and night B. in and out C. now and then D. up and down
17.A. sank B. rose C. flew D. hurt
18.A. watch B. touch C. shake D. catch
19.A. sure B. bad C. tough D. great
20.A. base B. level C. paper D. theme
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Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!
The driver of the other car, who almost caused a big accident, started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call “The Law of the Garbage Truck. ”
Many people are like garbage （rubbish） trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy with what you did.
I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets? It was that day I said, “I’m not going to do anymore.”
Successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their day. What about you? If you let more garbage trucks pass you by, you’ll be happier. Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, Love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don’t.
1.What happened one day when the author was taking a taxi?
A. The taxi almost hit another car.
B. The taxi driver was injured.
C. The author scolded the driver of the other car.
D. The author learned a lesson from the driver of the garbage truck.
2.How did the taxi driver respond to the behavior of the driver of the black car?
A. He yelled back at the driver.
B. He sent the driver to the hospital.
C. He was friendly towards the driver.
D. He dumped some garbage in front of his car.
3.What does the taxi driver think of people according to Paragraph 3?
A. Many people like to drive garbage trucks.
B. Many people dump garbage wherever they like.
C. Many people are warm-hearted to make others happy.
D. Many people tend to be very much depressed.
4.What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A. The author used to have a lot of garbage trucks.
B. The author used to complain a lot.
C. The author used to have a lot of money.
D. The author used to be a good manager.
5.According to the passage, what should you do if people “dump garbage” on you?
A. Ignore them and go on with our own work.
B. Try our best to persuade them not to do that again.
C. Tell them to dump the garbage in the right place.
D. Take over their work and carry the garbage to somewhere else.
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On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Side cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.
“Hey, aren’t you from Mississippi?” the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. “I’m from Mississippi too.”
Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.
“They began telling me all the news of Mississippi,” Welty said. “I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking.”
Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi.
“My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,’” Welty added. “And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.’”
Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.
“I don’t make them up,” she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. “I don’t have to.”
Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.
1.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?
A.Two strangers joined her.
B.Her childhood friends came in.
C.A heavy rain ruined the dinner.
D.Some people held a party there.
2.The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s ________.
A.readers B.parties
C.friends D.stories
3.What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?
A.They live in big cities.
B.They are mostly women.
C.They come from real life.
D.They are pleasure seekers.
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On one of her trips to New York several years ago, Eudora Welty decided to take a couple of New York friends out to dinner. They settled in at a comfortable East Slide cafe and within minutes, another customer was approaching their table.
＂Hey, aren’t you from Mississippi?＂ the elegant, white-haired writer remembered being asked by the stranger. ＂I’m from Mississippi too.＂
Without a second thought, the woman joined the Welty party. When her dinner partner showed up, she also pulled up a chair.
＂They began telling me all the news of Mississippi,＂ Welty said. ＂I didn’t know what my New York friends were thinking.＂
Taxis on a rainy New York night are rarer than sunshine. By the time the group got up to leave, it was pouring outside. Welty’s new friends immediately sent a waiter to find a cab. Heading back downtown toward her hotel, her big-city friends were amazed at the turn of events that had changed their Big Apple dinner into a Mississippi state reunion(团聚).
＂My friends said: ‘Now we believe your stories,’＂ Welty added. ＂And I said: ‘Now you know. These are the people that make me write them.’＂
Sitting on a sofa in her room, Welty, a slim figure in a simple gray dress, looked pleased with this explanation.
＂I don’t make them up,＂ she said of the characters in her fiction these last 50 or so years. ＂I don’t have to.＂
Beauticians, bartenders, piano players and people with purple hats, Welty’s people come from afternoons spent visiting with old friends, from walks through the streets of her native Jackson, Miss., from conversations overheard on a bus. It annoys Welty that, at 78, her left ear has now given out. Sometimes, sitting on a bus or a train, she hears only a fragment(片段) of a particularly interesting story.
1.What happened when Welty was with her friends at the cafe?
A. Two strangers joined her．
B. Her childhood friends came in
C. A heavy rain ruined the dinner．
D. Some people held a party there.
2.The underlined word ＂them＂ in Paragraph 6 refers to Welty’s _______.
A. readers B. parties
C. friends D. stories
3. What can we learn about the characters in Welty’s fiction?
A. They live in big cities.
B. They are mostly women.
C. They come from real life.
D. They are pleasure seekers.
r without, having to walk around the block three times to get up__________. They wanted to develop self-confidence, I had to__________my students--I had to help them. By doing this, I found my true calling and happiness.