When I decided to quit my job as a wedding photographer, I was in my late twenties, fresh from my divorce from Bob who had left me empty and confused. I decided to leave the US and travel. I had no savings, plus more than $5,000 in debt. What I did have were two sponsored tasks as a travel photographer- and with that along, I thought, it would be easy.

My first experience was a road trip from Toronto to Las Vegas, paid for by a car delivery service. Other trips followed and then I started a travel blog (博客). It was intended to be my calling card for assignment travel photography. Yet even with my blog and past experience, email after email I sent to publications, trying to get work, went unanswered. When they did get in touch, editors told me that I had no chance of making a career with travel photography. While I struggled to get on the path that I wanted, and as I expanded my blog to help get me there, I found myself wearing the hat of a full-time blogger.

Luckily, I got in at the right time. It was 2010,and the travel industry was just starting to turn its attention to bloggers. As I never could have predicted, my blogging-not my photography-did take me around the world successfully. At first,I thought it was for personal reasons, but I realized later that it was for free marketing for my blogging.

Within two years, I was being asked to speak at travel blogging conferences, which helped me to raise a network of friends around the world. Even more meaningful, however, was when I saw that my travels were also helping other people. My blog and social media followers saw that I chased my dreams and told me over and over again how they needed that kind of example, which was absent in their lives elsewhere.

1.After the author quit her job, she decided to ______.

A. divorce her husband

B. be a wedding photographer

C. pay off all her debt

D. go travelling abroad

2.What can we learn about the author from the 2nd paragraph?

A. She paid money to a car delivery agency for a road trip.

B. She realized her dream of becoming a travel photographer.

C. She got a job as an editor in a publishing house.

D. She finally became a professional blogger unintentionally.

3.The author believed her success mainly resulted from ______.

A. her personal reasons

B. her photographing skills

C. free marketing for blogging

D. booming of travel industry

On October 10, 2014, Malala, 17, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for struggling for the right of children to education. Malala is the youngest Nobel winner in history.

Malala Yousafzai has never been ordinary. When she was just 11, she started blogging (写博客) about the Taliban takeover of her hometown of Mingora, Pakistan. Taliban members follow an extreme belief of Islam and forbid girls to go to school. Classrooms were closed for several months. Malala spoke out about her desire to go back to school. “All I want is an education,” she told one television broadcaster.

Malala was later able to return to class. But she continued to blog and speak out about girls’ right to education. On October 9, 2012, the Taliban tried to silence her. A gunman boarded her school bus and shot her in the head. Malala survived and showed great courage and optimism during her long recovery. At that time she became a symbol of the struggle for girls’ rights all over the world. Nine months after she was shot, she gave a now-famous speech at the United Nations. “They thought that the bullets (子弹) would silence us. But they failed,” she said. “And then, out of that silence came thousands of voices. … Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power, and courage were born.”

Malala has also become an international symbol for peace. In 2011, she won Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize, which is now renamed the National Malala Peace Prize. Malala said the 2014 Nobel Prize was an “encouragement” to go forward to help kids. “I want to tell children all around the world that they should stand up for their rights,” she said. “This award is for all those children whose voices need to be heard.”

1.All the statements about Malala are true EXCEPT that _____.

A. she started blogging at the age of 11

B. it took her a long time to recover from the injury

C. Taliban tried to silence her but failed

D. she was born in1998 in Mingora, Pakistan.

2. How many peace prizes have gone to Malala so far according to the passage?

A.1. B. 2. C. 3. D. 4.

3. When did Malala become a symbol for girls’ rights?

A. When she began writing her blogs.

B. Before Taliban wanted to kill her.

C. During her long recovery after the shot.

D. When she gave a speech in the UN.

4.We can learn from the passage that Malala is _____.

A. creative and outgoing B. strict and stubborn

C. simple and warm-hearted D. brave and determined

According to a new US study, couples who expect their children to help care for them in old age should hope they have daughters because they are likely to be twice as attentive overall.

The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, a sociologist at Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can get away with and often leave it to female family members.

Her analysis of the family networks of 26,000 older Americans concluded that gender(性别) is the most important predictor(预示物) of whether or not people will actively care for elderly parents.

In a paper being presented at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco, she concludes that simply having a sister makes men statistically likely provide less care.

Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been tracking a cross-section of over-50s for the last decade, she calculated that women provide an average of 12.3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.

“Sons reduce their relative care-giving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother.”

“This suggests that sons pass on parent care-giving responsibilities to their sisters.”

In the UK, the 2011 census(人口普查) showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities, a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.

But many are doing so at the risk of their own health. The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full-time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts(相对应的人) who are not carers.

1.In the text, what’s the most important factor to predict if people will actively care for the elderly?

A. Career. B. Education.

C. Gender. D. Family networks.

2.The US study finds that _______.

A. sons are twice likely as daughters to care for parents in old age

B. having a sister makes men less likely to do their fair share

C. sons and daughters seem to give equal care to their parents

D. sons are unwilling to leave care-giving responsibilities to female family members

3.What does the author stress in the last paragraph?

A. People should give up their jobs to care for the elderly.

B. Many care providers work longer hours than others.

C. People shouldn’t pass on caring responsibilities to others.

D. Many care providers have potential health problems.

4.The author develops the text by _______.

A. analyzing various research and data

B. describing people’s experiences

C. explaining social networks of careers

D. comparing different gender behavior

完形填空

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

I always knew that I depended way too much on my phone. ____ I didn’t know how much, so I decided to do this ____to find out.

Every morning since I got a smartphone, I’ve used The Weather Channel App to find out what to ____. On the first morning I had to dress without guidance, but ____ I was able to guess that the day would be cold and foggy by looking out of my window.

I couldn’t tell what time it was. I haven’t worn a ____ for more than a year, because my phone ______ the time. So I was late for ____ friends who had been on the bus for two hours from Santa Monica to Palos Verdes. I was also ____for my part-time job. And ____, I couldn’t call people to tell them that I was running late.

Getting places was harder, too. I got ____ because I couldn’t use the GPS(汽车导航系统) on my phone. My driving, though, got a lot ____ because I no longer had my phone in one hand checking directions while ____ with the other.

But the number one trouble was not having my contact list(联络簿). I forgot to write down my friends’ and family members’ phone numbers before I ____ the challenge. It was sad to realize that I couldn’t ____ my brother’s and my mom’s cell phone numbers. Oh, how I ____ to turn on the phone for just a second to look up phone numbers!

Even with all the problems, however, I found ____ not worrying about missing a text message or an e-mail.

This challenge was a ____ learning experience. It surprised me how I’d taken no notice of even the ____ things like remembering phone numbers. We all should______some time to think about how we can depend ____ on our cell phones.

1.A. But B. And C. Then D. Still

2.A. task B. challenge C. duty D. job

3.A. carry B. take C. wear D. see

4.A. hopefully B. thankfully C. strangely D. surprisingly

5.A. ring B. hat C. suit D. watch

6.A. locked B. showed C. marked D. called

7.A. picking up B. bringing up C. calling out D. making out

8.A. quick B. easy C. late D. happy

9.A. even so B. after all C. in all D. even worse

10.A. caught B. lost C. changed D. hurt

11.A. happier B. slower C. safer D. quieter

12.A. moving B. chatting C. writing D. driving

13.A. started B. forgot C. supported D. reported

14.A. collect B. copy C. read D. remember

15.A. felt B. knew C. wished D. hated

16.A. silence B. peace C. patience D. confidence

17.A. lovable B. comfortable C. great D. common

18.A. happiest B. simplest C. nicest D. clearest

19.A. spend B. enjoy C. take D. waste

20.A. less B. more C. little D. much

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