When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate(照亮)me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend, He was in despair(失望)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist(心理学家),who will only fill up the healing(愈合的)silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.

A. become serious about her study

B. go to her friend’s house regularly

C. learn from her classmates at school

D. share poems and stories with her friend

In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means ______.

A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

C. our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared

D. we parted with each other in London

According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _______.

A. call each other regularly

B. have similar personalities

C. enjoy writing to each other

D. dream of meeting each other

In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to ______.

A. seek professional help   B. be left alone

C. stay with her best friend 

D. break the silence

What is the best title for the passage?

A. Unforgettable Experiences

B. Remarkable Imagination

C. Lifelong Friendship

D. Noble Companions

Across the planet there are millions of people who engage in some type of meditation, the practice of concentrating and clearing the mind to bring the body into a state of peace, at least a semi-regular basis. For some, particularly among practitioners of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, this is part and parcel of their religious practice.

For others, particularly in Western cultures, meditation tends to be a response to stress. With the world economy approaching meltdown and people worried about their job or their ability to keep their home, it’s a way for people to attain a state of peace of mind and well-being.

For those interested in taking up the practice, instruction in meditation for beginners can be found in literally thousands of sources.

One of the most popular styles of mediation in the West, with classes offered in most major cities, is called Transcendental Meditation. TM, as it is known among its practitioners, first came to worldwide attention when the Beatles began practicing it in 1967. For direct, guided, personal instruction in meditation for the beginner, TM may be the hallmark.

Part of the confusion about how to practice meditation effectively is due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of techniques championed by various groups and individuals. As a general principle, it might be said that all meditation techniques seek to have the practitioner attain a state of consciousness that is different to our ordinary state of awareness. They attempt to train people to clear their minds and achieve a sense of inner peace. It sounds simple enough, but of the huge number of people experiment with meditation, very few are able to maintain its practice over the long haul. In most cases, this is due to frustration over the inability to experience any dramatic, instantly recognizable effects.

This is quite a sad state of affairs, that so few these days are willing or equipped to persist in something that doesn’t provide immediate life-changing results. It reflects a culture in which demands for discipline and sustained effort are considered unnecessary or even unfair. It is no surprise therefore that many people abandon their efforts at meditation before they have a chance to bear fruit.

But for anyone who does decide to take up this worthwhile practice, please remember. You must clear your mind, relax and “take it as it comes”. Maintain the practice with a sense of discipline and devotion, and eventually benefits of inner peace and calm will be yours.

1.The underlined part “part and parcel of” in paragraph 1 is nearest in meaning to ________.

A. closely associated with                   B. an important element of

C. very different to                   D. usually sent from

2.The goal of meditation is ________.

A. to develop a technique             B. to practice a religion

C. to clear the mind                D. to carry out an experiment

3.What can we infer about meditation from the passage?

A. It has two main types.

B. Its benefits are not immediately obvious.

C. It is practiced by many famous artists.

D. Most people find it a very good way to relax.

4.According to the writer, what has attracted many Western people to meditation practices in recent years?

A. Their improved understanding of foreign culture.

B. The need to fill in their growing free time.

C. Migration from countries in which meditation is traditional.

D. Increasing employment instability.

5.Who is the probable audience for this article?

A. People interested in starting to learn meditation.

B. Experienced meditation practitioners.

C. Buddhists and Hindus.

D. People who are very religious.

 

12-year-old John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan. "I’ve liked trains probably from the day I was born," he told Good Morning America. "When I was very little," he said, "my grandpa got me a train model. I would just watch it go round for hours and hours."

When Robertson finally had the opportunity to ride on a train, he felt great. His journey was so mind-blowing that he couldn’t keep it to himself: he decided to take all his classmates to go on a ride with him. When he found that some of his classmates couldn’t pay the fare, he collected cans (罐子) and bottles and raised more than $1,000 for them.

That trip was such a happy one that he made it a yearly action. "It never gets boring for some reason; it’s just fun," he said. "It really lets people get away from their busy life and have fun.

Every October, Robertson takes a new group of children to ride on the train —but now, he has a problem. Several disabled children were refused because the train was not accessible (可用的) to disabled people. "He was angry to think that children of his own age couldn’t ride a train," his mother said.

But he wouldn’t say no: he recently sent a letter to the train office for help. To his surprise, the leader, Ty Pennington, accepted the letter in person. He said that he and his workers would work on making a train accessible to disabled people.

1.The first time John Thomas Robertson took a train, ________.

A.he was frightened by it

B.he acted as a driver

C.he watched it for hours

D.he fell in love with it

2.The author says John Thomas Robertson is a born train fan, because he ________.

A.was greatly attracted to trains since early childhood

B.said so in Good Morning America

C.took a group of disabled children to travel by train

D.was taken to a train the day he was born

3.The underlined words "mind-blowing" can be replaced by ________.

A.important         B.terrible           C.amazing           D.disappointing

4.The disabled children were refused to get on the train because _________.

A.the trains then weren’t accessible to the disabled

B.Robertson had not saved enough money for the tickets

C.they couldn’t afford the train tickets

D.the driver would not allow them to do so

5.According to the last paragraph, we can see that Robertson is a ________ child.

A.helpful and crazy                       B.kind and clever

C.kind but boring                         D.lazy but kind

 

When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate (照亮) me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: “Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend. He was in despair and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell...” We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist, who will only fill up the healing silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

1.In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to              .

A.share poems and stories with her friend

B.go to her friend’s house regularly

C.become serious about her study

D.learn from her classmates at school

2.In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means              .

A.our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared

B.we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

C.our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

D.we parted with each other in London

3.According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend              .

A.call each other regularly                  B.enjoy writing to each other

C.have similar personalities                 D.dream of meeting each other

4.In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to              .

A.seek professional help                   B.break the silence

C.stay with her best friend                  D.be left alone

5.What is the best title for the passage?

A.Noble Companions                      B.Remarkable Imagination

C.Lifelong Friendship                      D.Unforgettable Experiences

 

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