For a long time I saw happiness as a huge banner (旗帜) across the finish line of a long race. I felt that only when I____ certain things could I finally be happy in my life. Most of the time I felt like a tortoise believing that being slow and____ __would win the race. At other times I would______ _like a rabbit trying different side roads at a dangerous ____ __hoping to reach that banner a little faster._ ____ _,I began to see that no matter how long I raced towards it,the banner was never any______ _. I finally decided to_____ __and take a break. It was then that I saw my_____ _sitting beside me.

It had been with me as I_____ _hard to support my family, as I played with my children and heard their______ and even when I was _____ with my wife at my side looking after me. It had been with me as I raced towards that stupid banner. I just didn’t have the______ _to see it.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says,“Tension is who you think you should be. _____ __is who you are.” Perhaps we all should stop our race towards the______ life we think we should have and ______ __the life we have now. Happiness will never be found under some banner far away. It will be found_____ _your own heart,soul and mind. It will be found when you_____ _that others love you just as you do.

Don’t be a tortoise or a rabbit when it comes to your happiness. Be a playful puppy and carry your stick of______ __with you everywhere you go. ______ _yourself out of the race and realize that when it comes to love and happiness, you are____ _there.

1.A. forgot B. missed C. overcame D. accomplished

2.A. safe B. steady C. calm D. quiet

3.A. act B. run C. jump D. walk

4.A. place B. height C. speed D. time

5.A. Generally B. Gradually C. Fortunately D. Firstly

6.A. clearer B. lower C. closer D. smaller

7.A. settle in B. start off C. stop by D. sit down

8.A. happiness B. goal C. success D. friendship

9.A. studied B. fought C. exercised D. worked

10.A. laughter B. complaints C. stories D. breathing

11.A. lonely B. tired C. sick D. hungry

12.A. courage B. chance C. wisdom D. strength

13.A. Stress B. Relaxation C. Failure D. Pain

14.A. real B. perfect C. common D. ordinary

15.A. enjoy B. change C. improve D. create

16.A. from B. on C. over D. in

17.A. realize B. believe C. hope D. admit

18.A. sorrow B. responsibility C. fortune D. joy

19.A. Carry B. Make C. Push D. Take

20.A. never B. still C. already D. ever

For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love, and skill for writing poetry.

Back in elementary school, I love to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick (五行打油诗)for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.

Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I choose to respond to Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I become really excited when writing the poem.

Two years later, I started writing poetry, as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit (优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.

Now, I love writing poetry, but I don’t hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.

1.When the author was a pupil, he ____.

A. liked writing stories

B. was good at writing poetry

C. could understand poetry well

D. was often praised by his teacher

2.When given the poetry project in high school, the author was ______.

A. excited B. annoyed

C. confident D. worried

3. The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he ____.

A. was in Grade Three in high school

B. worked as a storekeeper

C. was in Grade One in high school

D. was at college

4. How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?

A. He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher

B. He published three collections of poetry by himself

C. He submitted his poems to magazines contests

D. He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry

Once upon a time when there was a famine (饥荒), a rich baker sent for twenty of the poorest children in the town, and said to them, ''In this basket there is a loaf for each of you. it, and come back to me every at this hour till better times come. ''

The hungry children eagerly around the basket, and quarreled for the bread, each wished to have the largest loaf. At last they went away without even the good gentleman. But Gretchen, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not or struggle with the rest, but remained modestly in the distance. When the ill-behaved children had left, she took the loaf, which alone was left in the basket, the gentleman's hand, and went home.

The next day the children were as as before, and poor, shy Gretchen received a loaf only nearly half the of the one she got the first day. When she came home, her mother cut the open, many new, shining pieces of silver fell out of it. Her mother was very much , and said, ''Take the money back to the good _ at once, for it must have got into the loaf _. Be quick, Gretchen! Be quick! ''

But when the little girl gave the rich man her mother's , he said, ''No, no, my child, it was no . I had the silver pieces put into the smallest loaf to you. Always be as contented, peaceable, and _ as you now are. Go home now, and the is your own. ''

1.A. Take B. Buy C. Order D. Smell

2.A. month B. week C. day D. year

3.A. stood B. sat C. gathered D. looked

4.A. but B. so C. since D. because

5.A. hearing B. thanking C. thinking D. looking

6.A. play B. laugh C. quarrel D. speak

7.A. crying B. standing C. quarreling D. singing

8.A. best B. oldest C. largest D. smallest

9.A. kissed B. took C. seized D. waved

10.A. hungry B. angry C. eager D. rude

11.A. size B. number C. length D. amount

12.A. letter B. bread C. basket D. bag

13.A. surprised B. pleased C. terrified D. excited

14.A. policeman B. teacher C. gentleman D. child

15.A. by accident B. by heart C. by hand D. by itself

16.A. letter B. apology C. money D. message

17.A. luck B. use C. good D. mistake

18.A. test B. reward C. thank D. attract

19.A. careful B. grateful C. beautiful D. enthusiastic

20.A. loaf B. basket C. world D. money

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