题目内容
【题目】Mum, it’s me. Hopefully, this Mothering Sunday you will get to hear those three words. I will, of course, try to phone you. I hope we will be able to speak for the allowed 10 minutes. But I suspect many inmates will be using the phone, so if I don’t call and if we don’t speak, then this is what I would have said:
It’s not your fault that I am here. I know that deep in your heart you have questioned whether my current circumstance is somehow your fault, if the reckless stupidity of my past is somehow a failure on your part. It is not. Only one person is to blame, only one person should hurt — me. You have always taught me that when the room goes dark, you can wait for the lights to be switched back on or you can search in the dark and turn the light on yourself. You are my light. You always have been and always will be. There is nobody I admire more, nobody I have strived harder to please in my life, which is why my current failure hurts me so much.
I am so sorry that I will not be there to see you, but I want you to know that now, as always, you are here with me. In my darkest hours, and in the coldest loneliness of my past few months, my mind has so often wandered to the past, to when it was you and me — and I have been able to smile. Yours is the strength that I draw upon.
A parent’s job is to make sure that they pass on the best of themselves to their children. You have done that. It is the inner you in me that will get me throughthis.
I have failed you so epically, but you have never failed me. If I think back to the tears I shed when Dad left, all those years ago, I see you through their misty glaze. You holding me and you telling me we’d be OK, and we will be. We are and always will be the best team.
Childhood heroes such as footballers, actors and rock stars areclichéd. If the job’s done right, a child’s heroes should be their parents — you are mine. The strength you showed after the divorce from Dad to find your biological parents, to go to university and get your teaching qualifications, to begin your life again, is the strength that I draw on now. It is the belief in myself, it is the belief you have in me, that tells me that once I am released I can and will rebuild my life. I will make you proud again. I will make you happy to have me as your son. Yours is the will that gets me through every day.
I don’t believe you can judge a person for the mistakes they make, as we all make them, but you can judge them for what they do afterwards. And after this, when it is all over, you will still have a son with the same hopes and dreams. They have not diminished. If you can dream it, then you have to believe it can happen — right?
So this Mothering Sunday, please think back to that morning in the 80s, the first Mother’s Day without Dad, when a six-year-old me got up early and made breakfast for you. Do you remember it? Could you ever forget? A slice of bread a doorstep thick and a wedge of cheese equally dense. You didn’t have to eat it, but you did, chewing every dry mouthful. I know now why you forced yourself — because it had been made with love. Well, things don’t change this year — this letter is that bread and cheese (it sure has plenty of the cheese!).
I love you so much. I am sorry I have let you down, but you have taught me that we will always pick ourselves up and become better than we were before. Thank you for everything and this year, more than ever:
Happy Mothering Sunday.
Love, your son
【1】According to the passage, what made the author most upset at present?
A. Losing his freedom temporarily.
B. Being unable to phone his mother.
C. Failing to live up to his mother’s expectations.
D. Having no chance to spend the weekend with mother.
【2】What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Mothering Sunday. B. Dark time.
C. His mistake. D. Near future.
【3】What did the author do in the loneliness of his past months?
A. He summed up the causes of the failure in his life.
B. He planned to help his mother find her birth parents.
C. He recalled the fond memories of being with his mother.
D. He prepared himself to go to university for further studies.
【4】Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “clichéd” in Paragraph 6?
A. Ridiculous. B. Liberal.
C. Explicit. D. Common.
【5】Which of the following can best describe the author’s mother?
A. Selfless but stubborn. B. Guilty but determined.
C. Selfish but responsible. D. Caring but envious.
【答案】
【1】C
【2】B
【3】C
【4】D
【5】B
【解析】
【1】细节理解题。文章处处可见儿子对自己辜负母亲的忏悔表达,比如第四段开头I have failed you so epically,but you have never failed me.句意:我已负您至深,您却未曾负我。Failing to live up to his mother’s expectations.辜负了母亲的期待才是儿子最难过的,most upset。故选C
【2】词义猜测题。由第三段第二句In my darkest hours,and in the coldest loneliness of my past few months句意:在我最黑暗的日子里,在我过去几个月最冰冷的孤独中。get me through this,this指代是,黑暗时期Dark time.故选B
【3】细节理解题。由第三段第二句my mind has so often wandered to the past,to when it was you and me — and I have been able to smile.句意:我的思绪常常游荡到过去,回到您与我一起生活的时光中――我就能够露出笑容了。由此得知儿子回忆过去,故选C
【4】词义猜测题。单词所在句Childhood heroes such as footballers,actors and rock stars are clichéd,句意:童年时的英雄,例如足球员、演员以及摇滚明星,那都是陈词滥调。Common相似的,年少谁不被光鲜亮丽的偶像吸引呢?故选D
【5】分析推理题。第二段第二句I know that deep in your heart you have questioned whether my current circumstance is somehow your fault,if the reckless stupidity of my past is somehow a failure on your part.得知儿子坐了牢,母亲将错归于自己,十分内疚。有第六段第二句话The strength you showed after the divorce from Dad to find your biological parents,to go to university and get your teaching qualifications,to begin your life again得知在与父亲离婚后,母亲寻找亲生父母,上大学,获得教师资格,开始新生活。由此得知母亲做事十分坚定。Guilty but determined。故选B
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Simon Sinek is naturally shy and doesn’t like speaking to crowds. At parties, he says he hides alone in the corner or doesn’t even show up in the first place. He prefers the latter. Yet, with some 22 million video views under his belt, the optimistic ethnographer also happens to be the third most-watched TED Talks presenter of all time.
Sinek’s unlikely success as both an inspirational speaker and a bestselling author isn’t just dumb luck. It’s the result of fears faced and erased, trial and error and tireless practice, on and off stage. Here are his secrets for delivering speeches that inspire, inform and entertain.
Don’t talk right away.
Sinek says you should never talk as you walk out on stage. “A lot of people start talking right away, and it’s out of nerves,” Sinek says. “That communicates a little bit of insecurity and fear.”
Instead, quietly walk out on stage. Then take a deep breath, find your place, wait a few seconds and begin. “I know it sounds long and tedious and it feels excruciatingly awkward when you do it,” Sinek says, “but it shows the audience you’re totally confident and in charge of the situation.”
Show up to give, not to take.
Often people give presentations to sell products or ideas, to get people to follow them on social media, buy their books or even just to like them. Sinek calls these kinds of speakers “takers,” and he says audiences can see through these people right away. And, when they do, they disengage.
“We are highly social animals,” says Sinek. “Even at a distance on stage, we can tell if you’re a giver or a taker, and people are more likely to trust a giver — a speaker that gives them value, that teaches them something new, that inspires them — than a taker.”
Speak unusually slowly.
When you get nervous, it’s not just your heart beat that quickens. Your words also tend to speed up. Luckily Sinek says audiences are more patient and forgiving than we know.
“They want you to succeed up there, but the more you rush, the more you turn them off,” he says. “If you just go quiet for a moment and take a long, deep breath, they’ll wait for you. It’s kind of amazing.”
Turn nervousness into excitement.
Sinek learned this trick from watching the Olympics. A few years ago he noticed that reporters interviewing Olympic athletes before and after competing were all asking the same question. “Were you nervous?” And all of the athletes gave the same answer: “No, I was excited.” These competitors were taking the body’s signs of nervousness — clammy hands, pounding heart and tense nerves — and reinterpreting them as side effects of excitement and exhilaration.
When you’re up on stage you will likely go through the same thing. That’s when Sinek says you should say to yourself out loud, “I’m not nervous, I’m excited!”
Say thank you when you’re done.
Applause is a gift, and when you receive a gift, it’s only right to express how grateful you are for it. This is why Sinek always closes out his presentations with these two simple yet powerful words: thank you.
“They gave you their time, and they’re giving you their applause.” Says Sinek. “That’s a gift, and you have to be grateful.”
Passage outline | Supporting details |
【1】to Simon Sinek | ●He is by【2】shy and dislikes making speeches in public. |
Tips on delivering speeches | ●Avoid talking【4】for it indicates you’re nervous. |
●Try to be a giver rather than a taker because in【6】with a taker, a giver can get more popular and accepted. | |
●Speak a bit slowly just to help you stay calm. | |
●Switch nervousness to excitement by【9】the example of Olympic athletes. | |
●Express your【10】to the audience for their time and applause to conclude your speech. |