For every woman who feels like she's had to scale back her personal ambitions since becoming a mother, gold medal cyclist Kristin Armstrong has a message: Don't give up on your dreams.

She retired after winning gold in Beijing to start a family; son Lucas arrived in 2010, but then she decided to compete again in the London Olympics. She won a gold medal at last.

The decision to start training again wasn't easy. "I struggled with that a lot," she told a newspaper. “At the beginning I felt selfish, I felt like, ‘Well, I'm not supposed to be thinking of myself anymore. It's all supposed to be for my kid.’”

She faced physical challenges of getting back into competition shape after giving birth, as well. When she started racing in the spring of 2011, she was still breast-feeding; she would nurse her son, then race, then breast-feed again after the race. Her days revolved around Lucas and training.

"I feel like I'm able to do what I love to do and still manage a family and have that balance," Armstrong said. "That you have a family or a child doesn't mean that you have to stop going after what you dream of individually.”

Armstrong makes balance look easy, whether it's on her bike or as an athlete-mom. But she points out that you can't have it all without making some sacrifices. For example, don't expect a neat home—her husband, Joe Savola, who she describes as her support system and her "protector", says he's had to give up on trying to keep everything orderly at home and just accept that their living room has become Lucas's playroom. For Armstrong, she's sacrificed time with friends who had kids around the same age—there just wasn't time.

Now, she says, "That sounds like fun to me." As she heads home to Boise, Idaho, she's ready to do regular mom stuff.

1.After Kristin Armstrong retired, she ___.

A. lived an easy life

B. moved to a new house

C. still had a great interest in cycling

D. spent much time with her kid

2.It was difficult for Armstrong to make the decision to participate in the London Olympics because she_______ .

A. was too old to train racing

B. had to give her family much consideration

C. faced big physical challenges

D. could not get support from her family

3.In most days of 2011, Armstrong could be described as ____.

A. a housewife and a new mom

B. an athlete and a career woman

C. a parent and a sportswoman

D. a wife and a good mother

4.We can know from the passage that it ____ for Armstrong to keep a balance between her family and dream.

A. was quite easy B. made her feel tired

C. surprised herself D. was a hard job

完形填空

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,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I was born and raised in Minnesota, the USA, but as an adult I have mostly lived in Europe and Africa. I teach cross-cultural management at the International Business School near Paris. For the last 15 years, I’ve studied people in different parts of the world build trust, communicate and make decisions in the workplace.

While travelling in Tokyo recently with a Japanese , I gave a shorttalk to a group of 20 managers. , I asked whether there were any questions or comments. No went up, so I went to sit down. Mycolleague whispered to me, “I think there were some comments, Erin.Do you mind if I try?” I agreed, but I guessed it a waste of . He askedthe group again, “ Any comments or questions”.

Still, no one raised a hand, this time he looked very carefully at each person in the silent audience. Gesturing to one of them, he said, “ Do you have to add?” To my amazement, she “ Yes, thank you.” and asked me a very interesting question. My colleague repeated this several times the audience and asking for more questions or comments.

After the session, I asked my colleague, “ How did you that those people had questions?” He , not sure how to explain it, and then said, “ It has to do with how their eyes are.”

He continued, “In Japan, we don’t as much direct eye contact as you do in the west. So when you asked if there are any , most people were not looking directly at you. But a few people in the were looking right at you and their eyes were bright. That that they would be to have you call on them.

I thought to myself I would ever have learned from upbringing in Minnesota. Since then, I try to understanding behavior in other cultures I encounter, and keep finding the bright eyes in the room.

1.A. why B. when C. while D. how

2.A. specially B. especially C. silently D. secretly

3.A. student B. friend C. classmate D. colleague

4.A. At the end B. In details C. At all D. In a word

5.A. mouths B. legs C. hands D. heads

6.A. totally B. nearly C. actually D. frequently

7.A. breath B. money C. times D. talent

8.A. so B. but C. because D. and

9.A. nothing B. all C. something D. everything

10.A. refused B. agreed C. asked D. responded

11.A. thinking about B. looking up to C. looking at D. looking for

12.A. suspect B. convey C. respect D. know

13.A. nodded B. decided C. made D. hesitated

14.A. lovely B. beautiful C. bright D. fixed

15.A. let B. make C. take D. get

16.A. comments B. ideas C. decisions D. reports

17.A. classroom B. group C. school D. jury

18.A. tells B. indicates C. convinces D. informs

19.A. happy B. confident C. kind D. clever

20.A. focus on B. depend on C. live on D. move on

Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly produces it, and the business of trying it on goes forward at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone's satisfaction. For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have exactly what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else, he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute without least consideration; he does so with skill and polish(完美): “I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size. It happens to be the color you mentioned." Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: “This is the right color and may be the right size but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on.

Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only “having a look round". She is always open to persuasion: indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lookout for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a tiresome process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.

1.According to the passage, a man’s shopping is based on _______.

A. his money B. his hobbies

C. his need D. his friends

2.Why does a lady welcome suggestions from anyone while buying a dress?

A. Because she wants to buy a dress that every one thinks suits her.

B. Because she doesn’t know how to buy a dress.

C. Because she doesn’t know whether to buy it or not.

D. Because she wants to show herself off in public.

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Most men have patience with trying it on while buying a jacket.

B. Most women have a poor sense of value when buying a dress.

C. A woman’s shopping is based on her need.

D. A man doesn’t pay much attention to the price of the clothes he wants to buy.

4.The passage mainly talks about the ______ between men shoppers and women shoppers for clothes.

A. similarities B. differences

C. varieties D. intentions

完形填空

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Before I turned 29, my parents moved to Queensland, where I arrived for a visit six months later. I upon my mother with hugs, and for the first time in my life I said, “I love you, mom!” Then I gently , expecting some kind of reciprocation. But it never came. Instead, she appeared in horror.

When I was back at work, I overheard a workmate on a call to her mother and she concluded it with “I love you, Mum.” As as that. Why wasn’t it like that in mine? Something had to be done about this situation once and for all.

My came the next Sunday during my weekly phone call to my mother. After we had shared our usual pleasantries and , I took a deep breath and asked, “Do you love me, Mum?” After a short , she replied, “I love you. Don’t be silly. You know we never said things like that in my family.”

“Well, I want it to be said in ours. From now on I want to our conversations with ‘I love you.’”

In May 2000 my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was to hospital, and I phoned every day to her. One evening when I rang, a nurse answered the phone and regretfully informed me that my mother’s condition had rapidly worsened. She wasn’t expected to it through the night.

Knowing I couldn’t get a flight in time, I asked the nurse to put the phone next to my mother’s ear so I could talk to her. “She’s conscious,” the nurse replied. “It’s unlikely she’ll hear you.” But I didn’t care. I wanted to do it .

she’d placed the phone by my mother’s ear, I started and telling Mum over and over again that I loved her. At first, all I could hear was “Hmmmm”—but then, like a miracle, with a deep she said, “Love you … love you, darling.” It was the last thing she said before drifting into .

Although I was overwhelmed by her death, the surprising part was how well I . Of course, losing a parent is extremely painful and I shed many tears, but receiving those lovely last words made it much more . I had closure in the best possible way.

1.A. fell B. struck C. relied D. depended

2.A. pushed off B. turned up C. pulled away D. looked on

3.A. deserted B. frozen C. guilty D. clumsy

4.A. simple B. sacred C. apparent D. original

5.A. stress B. crisis C. emergency D. love

6.A. potential B. opportunity C. inspiration D. choice

7.A. interests B. secrets C. expectations D. updates

8.A. preparation B. friction C. hesitation D. identification

9.A. end B. start C. continue D. hold

10.A. permitted B. admitted C. allowed D. sentenced

11.A. check on B. attend to C. call on D. see to

12.A. take B. face C. make D. cool

13.A. entirely B. absolutely C. slightly D. barely

14.A. therefore B. otherwise C. anyway D. somehow

15.A. Before B. Once C. Unless D. Since

16.A. whispering B. yelling C. screaming D. sobbing

17.A. sigh B. conversation C. thought D. sleep

18.A. calmness B. unconsciousness C. hardness D. sickness

19.A. prayed B. clarified C. coped D. concluded

20.A. authentic B. arbitrary C. precise D. bearable

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