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I break off a piece of candy and take pleasure in its sweet outside and the bitter, dark chocolate inside, thinking of my own life. Being raised by a single parent was a bitter-sweet , which gave me motivation and ambition.
There were several years that have left an extremely bitter taste in my mouth .The first few months after my mother’s remarriage were sweet: baseball games, family trips to the mall, dinners and movies together. Then things . Baseball became too expensive, and trips to the mall were by days Emily and I spent lonely in our rooms under our stepfather’s . Moreover, screaming matches between him and our mother always dinner. We spent five years living in a family that had a war field. Emily and I almost grew used to this situation. Then one evening, after another argument had , we were left homeless . And later a friend of my mother let us stay with her. Instead of focusing on our economic problem, my mother pushed me to struggle for success. She wanted me to lead a life. She worked long hours every night to pay her bills. , she would find time to read and play with Emily and me. Mom taught me the of perseverance (坚持不懈) and education.
And now, writing this essay with my favorite candy close at hand, I realize my family and I are at the best points of our lives. I haven’t let the trying times stop me from making , both academically and personally. I know that a bitter environment can provide good learning experiences, and that success, even more than candy, is the sweetest treat of all.
1.A. behavior B. adventure C. activity D. experience
2.A. continued B. changed C. ruined D. disappeared
3.A. concerned B. associated C. provided D. replaced
4.A. sympathy B. offers C. orders D. efforts
5.A. separated B. interrupted C. harmed D. prepared
6.A. turned into B. turned up C. turned down D. turned on
7.A. broke B. caused C. erupted D. delayed
8.A. mistakenly B. obviously C. selflessly D. unwillingly
9.A. important B. difficult C. dangerous D. comfortable
10.A. Instead B. Otherwise C. Me
anwhile D. Therefore
11.A. value B. cost C. price D. theme
12.A. mistakes B. appointments C. arrangements D. achievements
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We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it is an ingredient in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say “Ugh!” and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word “chocolate” comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and of course an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
1. It was ______that discovered sugar could remove the bitter taste of cacao.
A. the workers in the chocolate factory B. the Spaniards
C. the people in England D. the owner of a chocolate factory.
2. According to the passage which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Nobody had the idea of adding sugar until the sixteenth century.
B. The word “chocolate” comes from a Mexican word.
C. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys like them.
D. Workers must dry and roast the beans to remove the bitter taste.
3. It can be inferred from the passage that___________.
A. chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar
B. Mexicans like chocolate very much C. chocolate is a product of the cacao tree
D. people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk
4. Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?
a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
A. a-b-c-d-e B. c-d-e-b-a C. c-d-a-b-e D. c-d-b-e-a
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We now think of chocolate as sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it's an ingredient (配料) in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices (香料) like chili peppers.
Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say "Ugh!" and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.
The word "chocolate" comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.
When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.
In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.
Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.
1.The main topic of the passage is _________.
A. the different tastes of chocolate
B. the origin of the word “chocolate”
C. the medical effects of chocolate
D. the production and development of chocolate
2.The Spaniards think that cacao was a medicine because_____
A. it was strong and bitter.
B. it was good for digestion.
C. it cured man's diseases.
D. it was a kind of drink for good health.
3.Which is the right time order of the events regarding chocolate?_______
a. Chocolate became a cheap and popular drink in England.
b. A factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate.
c. The Spaniards started drinking cacao.
d. It was found that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao.
e. A factory mixed milk and chocolate together.
A. a-b-c-d-e B. c-d-e-b-a C. c-d-a-b-e D. c-d-b-e-a
4.It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
A. Mexicans like chocolate very much
B. chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or a candy bar
C. chocolate is a product of the cacao tree
D. people liked the taste of chocolate mixed with milk
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I work in a nursing home and my job is to take care of the elderly．
This year, a very sweet old lady that I cared for，Alice, had gone through a difficult time .She got dementia and so she had been in the hospital twice .In November I was finally able to get her back to her“home”．
Alice had thought her daughter was coming to visit her on Christmas day and that they were going to have the whole family together like the old days. When she finally realized that that happy moment was not going to happen，she was very sad．Knowing that her daughter was coming after Christmas was not enough to make her feel happy，I hated the idea of her being alone on the holiday!
On Christmas Eve，I gave her a surprise by asking if she could like to go to a candlelight service at church that night
Instead of taking her to my church，I took her to her old neighborhood church where all her friends were. We got there early and I got her a seat where her friends could see her as they came in．Then soon some of her friends came to the church and they rushed over to greet her and sit with her．
The candlelight service was beautiful and Alice got a lot of love from her old and new friends there.
The truth of the story is that I am the one who got the best gift: the smile on Alice’s face
1.The underlined word“dementia”in Paragraph 2 probably is_______
A．a house B．a letter C．an illness D．a plan
2. Where did Alice spend her Christmas Eve according to the story?
A. In her old house
B. In her old neighborhood church．
C．In the nursing home．
D. In the hospital．
3. What was the best gift that the author got on Christmas Eve?
A．The candlelight service．
B．Praise from Alice’s friends．
C．Alice’s happiness
D．Thanks from Alice’ s daughter．
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A．A special candlelight Christmas Eve
B．The dream of all old lonely lady
C．My special job
D. The true love
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Taking breaks while studying contributes to better learning in a number of ways, and creates a major impact on the process of learning. Find out why a study break is essential, and how it helps you score the best.
Scientists conclude that the brain stops registering a constant stimulation over a gradual period of time, and declares it to be unimportant. The brain decodes（译）a monotonous（单调的）activity and gets habituated to it, no longer stimulating the brain to act in any way. Once this happens, you find yourself unable to concentrate, there by destroying the purpose of a study session-learning. A “break” does just that, it breaks the monotony for the brain. A change in place, a walk around the block, a cup of coffee; these little things can be limited in your study sessions to relax the mind, break the monotony, improve concentration levels, and finally assist the learning process.
The purpose of a study session is to study as much as possible and remember most of what has been learned in it. To be able to achieve this, it is absolutely necessary to continuously stay focused. It is highly likely that long hours of studying can become monotonous and cause you to believe that you are “learning”, when you are only just “reading”. A short rest eases out your stressed mind, brings you back on track, and allows you to start studying with new-found focus levels.
With a relaxed mind, improved concentration and focus levels, and a better capacity to retain information, it is obvious that your study session with breaks will turn out to be more productive, and you will get more benefits than you previously did. Put more such better-yielding study sessions together, and what do you get? perfect grades and a winner of the “race”.
1.What can the underlined word “habituated” in the second paragraph be replaced by?
A.Accustomed. B.Absorbed.
C.Attached. D.Related.
2.What should students do to study as much as possible?
A.Help each other. B.Remain concentrated.
C.Improve ways of learning. D.Give up the learning process.
3.If you have a good attitude to study, how your study will be?
A.Efficient. B.Improved. C.Interesting. D.Easy.
4.What can be concluded from the passage?
A.Students should concentrate on their study.
B.Students should take breaks after learning for long hours.
C.Teachers had better have a good rest before their lessons.
D.Teachers had better be strict with their students in learning ways.
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Tom asked the candy makers if they could make the chocolate easier________into small pieces.
A. break B. breaking C. broken D. to break
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A couple of weeks ago,my 12-year-old daughter Ella,threatened to take my phone and break it."At night you'll always have your phone out and you'll just type,"Ella says,"I'm ready to go to bed,and try to get you to read stories for me and you're just standing there reading your texts and texting other people,"she adds.I came to realize that I was ignoring her as a father.
Ella isn't the only kid who feels this way about her parent's relationship with devices.Catherine Steiner-Adair,a psychologist at Harvard,wrote The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age.For her book,Steiner-Adair interviewed more than 1,000 kids from the ages of 4 to 18.She talked to hundreds of teachers and parents.
"One of the many things that knocked my socks off,"she says,"was the consistency（一致性）with which children—whether they were 4 or 8 or 18—talked about feeling exhausted and frustrated or mad trying to get their parents’ attention,competing with computer screens or iPhone screens or any kind of technology."
A couple of years ago,my daughter got a laptop for school.And because she was becoming more independent, we got her a phone.We set up rules for when she could use the device and when she'd need to put it away.We created a charging station,outside her bedroom,where she had to plug in these devices every night.Basically,except for homework,she has to put it all away when she comes home.
Steiner-Adair says most adults don't set up similar limits in their own lives."We've lost the boundaries that protect work and family life,"she says."So it is very hard to manage yourself and be present in the moments your children need you."
After my daughter's little intervention（介入）,I made myself a promise to create my own charging station.To plug my phone in—somewhere far away—when I am done working for the day.I've been trying to leave it there untouched for most of the weekend.
1.Why did Ella threaten to break her father's phone?
A. Her father spent a lot of money on his phone.
B. Her father did not do any housework at home.
C. Her father made a lot of noise by talking on the phone.
D. Her father gave his attention to his phone instead of her.
2.The underlined phrase "knocked my socks off" is closest in meaning to “_____”.
A. made fun of me
B. surprised me a lot
C. took my socks off
D. made me exhausted
3.In Steiner-Adair's opinion,parents______.
A. should control their use of phones
B. have a lot of things to learn from kids
C. don't have to focus more on their kids
D. should not buy phones for their kids
4.We can infer from the text that the writer______.
A. will not use his phone from now on
B. plans to create more charging stations at home
C. is a man who learns from his mistakes
D. doesn't think a laptop is helpful to his daughter
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Radar enables the pilot of an airliner to take off, fly and land in _____.
| A．danger | B．comfort | C．continuity | D．safety |
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—I’m tired . I’m taking next week off.
—______, honey. You do need a break.
A．Not so sure B．Forgot it C．Great idea D．No way
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It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor(光标) had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked (用力猛拉) the battery out.
Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial（紧要关头） undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.
I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon(季风) at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.
"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."
"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.
It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.
To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.
When my voice hit a certain decibel (分贝), I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.
"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.
"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"
"But I do need it."
"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty (产品保证书)!" The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his.
1.Why did the author shut down her computer abruptly?
A．She had saved what she had written.
B．She couldn't move the cursor.
C．The computer refused to work.
D．The computer offered to repair itself.
2.Which of the following is the author's opinion about the woman at the Global Support Centre?
A．She sounded helpful and knowledgeable.
B．She was there to make callers frustrated.
C．She was able to solve her computer problem.
D．She was quick to pass her along to a technician.
3.According to the passage, the solution offered by the technician was_________________.
A．effective B．economical C．unpractical D．unsatisfied
4. "It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache" in the last but one paragraph means that_____________________.
A．the technician's proposal would make things even worse
B．the technician's proposal could eventually solve the problem
C．files stored on her computer were like a safe
D．erasing the entire system was like curing a headache
5.It can be inferred from the passage that the differences between the Global Support Centre and the local repair shop lie in all the followings except ________________.
A．efficiency B．location C．setup CDs D．attitude
anwhile D. Therefore