This fourth of July I moved into a new house with my wife, Nicole. Nicole and I met through a series of coincidences that would be unlikely without some unbelievable force causing them to happen.

The day Nicole and I met, we talked about the Yankees. In the restaurant where we sat, the first game between the Yanks and Tampa Bay was being shown on television. Nicole was happy I was a baseball fan, and she told me that was an important reason when she considered dating (约会) me. “My dad wouldn’t like me dating anyone who isn’t,” she said.

Nicole’s dad, Ira, used to be a coach for the Yankees. Many years ago, a colleague (同事) of his was leaving and packing up his office. The only thing left unpacked was a photo on the wall. It was a picture of Sparky Lyle, a famous baseball player. Sparky had signed the photo on the bottom.

“You’re not taking that?” Ira asked. “You want it?” his colleague offered. “Sure!” Ira said. He jumped at the chance to have a signed photo from a great player who had helped the team win two World Series.

Ira told me the story after the movers had gone. He then said to me, “Adam, when I first learned who was dating my daughter, that photo came into my mind,” he said. “But by now, I know for sure you’re meant to have it.” He then presented me with a box. I tore it open. Inside was the signed photo of Sparky Lyle which I had lost years ago.

“To Adam, Best Wishes, Sparky Lyle”. It was picked up by Nicole’s dad years before I’d even met her. The perfect gift — a sign only making me believe what I already knew ... I was meant for Nicole and her family all along.

1.What does the underlined word “coincidences” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. New things.

B. Important things.

C. Things that happened long ago.

D. Things that happened by chance.

2.A big reason why Nicole agreed to be Adam’s girlfriend was that _____.

A. he was able

B. he was a baseball fan

C. he got a new house

D. they had much in common

3.Ira got the photo of Sparky Lyle from _____.

A. Sparky Lyle B. Nicole

C. his colleague D. Adam

4.We can infer from the text that _____.

A. Adam did not like the gift

B. Nicole found the lost picture

C. Adam and Nicole will love each other forever

D. the picture of Sparky Lyle was first owned by Adam

It’s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas. He didn’t hate the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects. Knowing this, one year I to reach for something special just for Mike. The came in an unusual way.

Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, attended a wrestling match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church shortly Christmas. These youngsters’ sneakers were in and the shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them , compared to our boys’ gold uniforms and shoes. I was even shocked to find they had no helmets.

Mike, seated beside me, his head sadly, “I wish just one of them could have won,” he said. “They have a lot of potential, but losing could take their dreams away.” That’s when the idea for his came.

That afternoon, I went to a local sports store and bought some wrestling helmets and and sent them anonymously(匿名地) to the inner-city . On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year.

For each Christmas, I the tradition. The envelope became the most exciting part of our Christmas. It was always the thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their unwrapped (打开的) new toys, would stand with wide-eyed as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to exhibit its .

As the children grew, the toys more practical presents, but the envelope lost its temptation. The story doesn’t end there.

We lost Mike due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was in . But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning, three more it. Each of our , had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand further with our grandchildren standing around the tree as their fathers take down the envelope with expectation. Mike’s spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us.

1.A. decidedB. urgedC. struggledD. declared

2.A. storyB. ChristmasC. inspirationD. affection

3.A. afterB. beforeC. duringD. on

4.A. ruinsB. stylesC. chainsD. rags

5.A. apartB. foreverC. togetherD. around

6.A. noddedB. shookC. wavedD. turned

7.A. wordB. noteC. envelopD. present

8.A. shoesB. shoestringsC. giftsD. sports

9.A. houseB. schoolC. churchD. store

10.A. insideB. outsideC. betweenD. nearby

11.A. refusedB. imaginedC. followedD. missed

12.A. bestB. firstC. worstD. last

13.A. comfortB. patienceC. satisfactionD. expectation

14.A. conceptsB. contentsC. shadowsD. shapes

15.A. gave way toB. keep up withC. get away withD. fit in with

16.A. onceB. neverC. everD. seldom

17.A. angerB. shockC. sadnessD. annoyance

18.A. attendedB. enteredC. placedD. joined

19.A. grandchildrenB. childrenC. friendsD. relatives

20.A. watchingB. singingC. smilingD. crying

What would life be like without television?Would you spend more time __ _,reading,or studying?Well,now it's your chance to turn off your TV and ___ __!TVTurnoff Week is here.

The goal of TVTurnoff Week is to let people leave their TV sets ____ ___ and participate in activities ___ __ drawing to biking.The event was founded by TVTurnoff Network,a nonprofit organization which started the event in 1995.In the ____ __,only a few thousand people took part. Last year more than 7.6 million people participated,__ ___ people in every state in America and in more than 12 other countries!This is the 14th year in which ___ ___are asking people to “turn off the TV and turn on ___ __.”

According to the TVTurnoff Network,the average ____ _ in the US spend ___ __ time in front of the TV (about 1,023 hours per year) than they do in school (about 900 hours per year).Too much TV ___ ___ has made many kids grow fat.___ __,in 2001's TVTurnoff Week, US Surgeon General David Satcher said,“We are raising the most __ ___ generation of youngsters in American history. This week is about saving lives.”

Over the years,studies have shown that watching a lot of TV ____ ___ poor eating habits,too little exercise,and violence. Frank Vespe of the TVTurnoff Network said that turning off the TV “is or ____ __,part of a healthy lifestyle”.

“One of the great lessons of ____ ___TVTurnoff Week is the realization that ___ __ I turn on the TV,I'm deciding not to do something else,”Vespe said.

TVTurnoff Week seems to be making a ____ ___.Recent US Census(人口普查) data____ ___ that about 72 percent of kids under 12 have a limit on their TV time. That's ____ ___ about 63 percent ten years ago.

1.A.drinking B.sleeping C.washing D.playing outside

2.A.find out B.go out C.look out D.keep out

3.A.away B.off C.on D.beside

4.A.like B.as C.from D.such as

5.A.end B.event C.beginning D.total

6.A.besides B.except for C.including D.except

7.A.governments B.parents C.organizers D.businessmen

8.A.the light B.the radio C.life D.the Internet

9.A.grownups B.kids C.clerks D.parents

10.A.less B.enough C.little D.more

11.A.programs B.screen C.hours D.watching

12.A.However B.On the contrary C.In fact D.As a result

13.A.overweight B.overeaten C.overgrown D.overseen

14.A.leads to B.results from C.develops D.keeps away

15.A.will be B.should be C.may be D.could be

16.A.organizing B.taking part in C.participating D.asking for

17.A.wherever B.every day C.every time D.this time

18.A.living B.choice C.difference D.sense

19.A.shows B.says C.reads D.writes

20.A.rising B.down from C.up to D.up from

Consumers everywhere are faced with the same dilemma: given limited resources, what sorts of purchases are most likely to produce lasting happiness and satisfaction? Recent research has confirmed that experiential purchases tend to produce greater hedonic (享乐的)gains than material purchases.

The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. For example, if you think back to a fantastic summer from your youth, you might easily remember an abstract sense of warm sunshine and youthful exuberant (生气勃勃), but you're less likely to remember exactly what you did day-by-day.

Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. The car you bought is still a car, that great new jacket you picked up cheap is still just a jacket. It’s more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.

Purchasing may have a negative impact on happiness because consumers often buy “joyless” material possessions, resulting in comfort but not pleasure. In general, people adapt to experiences more slowly than to material purchase. This can be seen in both negative and positive purchases: hedonic adaptation would result in a positive experience causing more happiness but a negative experience causing less happiness than the comparable material purchase with the same initial happiness level.

Experience, however, seems to be more resistant to these sorts of unfavourable comparisons. It is because of the unique nature of experience. It’s more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable. After all, each of our youthful summers is different.

It’s well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. One striking example is the finding that people prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earns $25,000, instead of earning $100,000 themselves and having other people earn $200,000.

A similar effect is seen for possessions. When there are so many flat-screen HD TVs to choose from, it's easy to make unfavourable comparisons between our choice and the others available.

1.An abstract sense in the passage refers to awareness of something __________.

A. you cannot think about

B. you can’ t remember well

C. you cannot understand

D. you cannot see or touch

2.If you make an experiential purchase before a material purchase, you may go to__________.

A. a theatre before going to a store

B. an exhibition before going to a park

C. a mall before going to a grocer's

D. a market before going to a restaurant

3.The example of earnings is given to actually indicate__________.

A. how ridiculous people are B. how people feel content

C. how nearsighted people are D. how people hold prejudice

4. It is implied in the passage that, after their material purchases, people might__________.

A. enjoy their ownership of what they have bought

B. pick every fault in the products they have got

C. regret making a wrong decision to buy the items

D. leave what they’ve purchased untouched at home

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