It’s not easy growing up. Growing up can be a real “pain” for some of us. Sometimes we feel trapped, sometimes we feel sad, sometimes we are fearful, and sometimes we just don’t understand why we can’t stay young forever. But we should take a look back on all the hardships in life with a positive attitude and learn from them. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. We should realize that all of our growing pains actually turn into growing gains! Throughout our lives we are going to face many challenges and pains, but we should never let these obstacles keep us from following our dreams. We must overcome every obstacle one small step at a time. As a young girl, my parents forced me to do so many things that I didn’t like. They made me learn to play the violin and then the piano. At that time I hated music and I also hated them. But looking back now, I am so glad that my parents encouraged me to take music lessons. Music has enriched(豐富) my life in so many ways. I now realize that my parents and teachers wanted me to have a better life than they did themselves. We are all going to experience growing pains, but they are just part of our life. They might seem so huge at the time, but we must be strong. Think about how we would feel if we had no challenges and lived a life like that. Life would be really boring and meaningless. The future is ours! A little hard work and sweat never hurt anyone! If we realize that these pains are just small bumps(碰撞) on our road to success, we will realize that our growing pains are actually growing gains!
1.
The underlined word “obstacles” (in Paragraph 2) roughly means things that ______.
A.
are related to your studies
B.
you easily achieve
C.
make you happy
D.
make it difficult for you to do something
2.
How does the author now feel when remembering what her parents did for her in the past?
A.
She is fearful
B.
She is grateful
C.
She feels trapped
D.
She feels hateful
3.
We can know from the last paragraph that _____________.
A.
life without challenges is dull
B.
life needs no pains but sunshine and happiness
C.
we should give up faced with challenges as the future is ours
D.
we shouldn’t easily pay a little hard work in growing up
4.
The purpose of the passage is to tell readers____________.
A.
life is full of hardships
B.
growing pains can turn into growing gains in a positive way
C.
everyone is painful in growing up
D.
everyone should do what they don’t like when young
Being confident for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it. Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace. But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their speeches. (The course I'm teaching here is Public speaking). Modesty is a trait highly valued in China, but it won't be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program.
1.
To compete with American students it's very important to.
A.
be quite confident
B.
be polite and friendly
C.
have more discussions with them
D.
understand what they think about
2.
A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who.
A.
gives a silly or simple answer
B.
tries to seize any chance to speak in class
C.
shows no interest in the course
D.
is considered to have no opinion of his own
3.
The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if .
A.
he asks a student to repeat what he has said
B.
the students bargain with him
C.
he pretends to know what he doesn't
D.
he has to give a speech
4.
We learn from the second paragraph that .
A.
we should also remain modest in America
B.
modesty doesn't help you much in America
C.
Americans also like modest people
D.
modesty can help you through an American graduate program
5.
What can we infer from the passage?
A.
American students are ready to accept the grades from the teacher.
B.
The writer teaches in Europe for a living.
C.
Students are encouraged to present simple questions.
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people．We meet them every day A few days ago, my car was not running well．I pulled it in to a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes．He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine．I was amazed．The sad truth is that great talent is not enough． I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in1 the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth．” There is an old saying that goes, "Job means 'just over broke（破產(chǎn)）’"．And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people．Because schools do not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers "live within their means"．They work and they pay the bills．Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn． When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger
1.
The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that．
A.
he is just one of the talented people
B.
he is ready to help others
C.
he has a sharp sense of hearing
D.
he knows little about car repairing
2.
The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by____．
A.
spend more than they can afford
B.
do in their own way
C.
1ive in their own circle
D.
1ive within what they earn
3.
Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?
It was Saturday when the entire summer world was bright and fresh. Tom looked at the fence, which was long and high, feeling all enthusiasm leaving him. He dipped his brush into the whitewash before moving it along the top board of the fence. He knew other boys would arrive soon with all minds of interesting plans for this day. As walking past him, they would tease him for having to work on a beautiful Saturday—which burnt him like fire. He, putting his hands into his pockets and taking out all he owned with the expectation of letting someone paint, found nothing that could buy half an hour of freedom. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea occurred to him, pouring a great bright light into his mind. He took up his brush and continued to work pleasantly with calm and quietness. Presently, Ben Rogers came in sight—munching an apple and making joyful noises like the sound of a riverboat as he walked along. Tom went on whitewashing, paying no attention to the steamboat. “Hello!” Ben said, “I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?” No answer. Tom moved his brush gently along the fence and surveyed the result. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for Ben’s apple while he kept painting the fence. Ben said, “That’s a lot of work, isn’t it?” Tom turned suddenly saying “Here you are! Ben! I didn’t notice you.” “I’m going swimming,” Ben said. “Don’t you wish you could go? Or would you rather work?” Tom said, “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?” “Isn’t that work?” Tom continued painting and answered carelessly, “Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is it suits Tom Sawyer.” “Do you mean that you enjoy it?” “I don’t see why I oughtn’t to enjoy it.” “Does a boy have a chance to paint a fence frequently” said Tom. Ben stopped munching his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a little paint here and there. Ben watched every move, getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed1. After a short time, he said, “Tom, let me whitewash a little.” Tom seemed to be thinking for a moment before he said, “No, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. If it was the back fence, maybe you could do it. But this fence beside the street is where everybody can see it. It has to be done right.” “Oh, come on, let me try. I’ll be careful. Listen, Tom. I’ll give you part of my apple if you let me paint.” “No, Ben, I’m afraid—” “I’ll give you all the apple!” Tom handed the brush to Ben with unwillingness on his face but alacrity in his heart. While the riverboat worked and sweated in the hot sun, Tom, an artist sat in the shade close by, munching his apple, and planning how he could trick more of the boys. Before long there were enough boys each of whom came along the street; stopped to laugh but soon begged to be allowed to paint. By the middle of the afternoon, Tom had got many treasures while the fence had had three layers of whitewash on it. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, he would have owned everything belonging to the boys in the village. Tom said to himself that the world was not so depressing after all. He had discovered a great law of human action: in order to make a man cover a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.
1.
By using “Tom continued painting and answered carelessly”, the author shows Tom ______ when he was talking to Ben.
A.
made mistakes
B.
damaged things
C.
was natural
D.
wasn’t concentrating
2.
The underlined word “alacrity” in the last but two paragraph most probable means “______”.
A.
kindness
B.
discouragement
C.
sympathy
D.
eagerness
3.
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? ________
A.
Tom did not want to go swimming at all
B.
Tom was asked to help Aunt Polly paint the fence
C.
Tom did not get along well with his friends
D.
Tom was very busy that Saturday afternoon.
4.
We can draw a conclusion from the last paragraph that _______.
