Babies are born yogis. Once we were all able to pull our toes up by our ears and laugh about it. Then we aged, got injured, and began carrying stress in our shoulders and back. In short, we lost our balance.

Yoga(瑜伽)is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. I was seriously out of balance when I started practicing yoga in 1999. I had plantar fascitis(足底筋膜炎) in both feet, and my doctor had warned me against all the things I loved to do: walking, hiking, and playing tennis. I was desperate for exercise. Yoga became my salvation(拯救) and even enhanced my other fitness activities. I practice yoga at least twice a week, but I consider yoga to be part of my daily life because after a while you no longer just practice yoga—you love it.

Yoga becomes part of your physical life. Your body grows stronger, more toned, and more flexible as you move from one pose to the other. I spent a week in Mexico at a yoga retreat(静修), and it was the first vacation on which I lost weight. “Rather than building muscle, yoga builds muscle tone,” says Shakta Kaur Khalsa, author of the K.I.S.S. Guide to Yoga. “Because yoga helps maintain a balanced metabolism (新陈代谢), it also helps to regulate weight. Additionally, yoga stretches muscles lengthwise, causing fat to be removed around the cells.” I do yoga poses throughout the day. After hours at my computer, I stretch my stiff shoulders and arms. When I need a boost of energy, I do energizing poses. When I am feeling exhausted at the end of the day, I do restorative poses.

Yoga becomes part of your mental life. Yoga teaches you to focus on breathing while you hold the poses. This attention to breath is calming; it dissolves stress and anxiety. I use yogic breathing on the tennis courts, in the dentist’s chair, and in traffic jams. You should always leave a yoga practice feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time “fighting” yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you “surrender” to the pose by letting go of the tension.

Yoga becomes part of your spiritual life. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is not restricted to any religious group. Yoga teaches “right” living in how we deal with ourselves and others. As I work on a difficult pose, I learn patience, forgiveness, and the value of gentleness. Yoga advocates proper eating, but you don’t have to be a vegetarian to practice yoga.

What would be the best title for this passage?

A. What’s Yoga?                              B. How I Do Yoga Poses 

C. The Benefits of Yoga                     D. The Varieties of Yoga

According to the third paragraph, yoga can help people __________.

A. grow taller                                          B. lose weight             

C. become flexible in thinking             D. make more friends

People feel tired after yoga because __________.

A. they consume energy in practicing yoga    

B. they respond well to yoga poses

C. they spend too much time on yoga            

D. they force themselves into yoga poses

If this passage continues, what will the writer most probably write about in the next paragraph?

A. Yoga as a means to keep fit.                       B. Different yoga poses.

C. Popularity of yoga all over the world.         D. Encouraging people to do yoga.

完形填空(共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从16-35各题所给的k^s5*uA.B.C.D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
How did you do it, Dad? How have you managed not to take a drink for almost 20 years? It took me almost 20 years to have the 16 to even ask my father this very personal question. When Dad first 17 drinking, the whole family was on pins and needles every time he got into a 18 that, in the past, would have started him 19 again. For a few years we were 20 to bring it up for fear that the drinking would begin again.
"I had this little poem that I would recite to myself at least four to five times a day," was Dad's 21 to my 18-year-old unasked question. "The words were a constant (经常的) 22 to me that things were 23 so hard that I could not deal with them," Dad said. Then he 24 the poem with me. The poem's 25, yet profound (深刻的) words immediately became 26 of my daily routine as well.
About a month after this 27 with my father, I received a gift in the mail from a friend of mine. It was a book of daily sayings of wisdom with one 28 for each day of the year.
It has been my 29 that when you get something with days of the year on it, you naturally turn to the page that lists your own 30.
I 31 opened the book to November 10 to see 32 words of wisdom this book had in store for me. I was 33 when I looked at the page, and then tears of disbelief and appreciation 34 down my face. There, on my birthday, was the exact same poem that had 35 my father for all these years! It is called the Serenity (平静) Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.
16. A. chance      B. courage    ability        D. right
17. A. gave up     B. took up      C. went on      D. carried on
18. A. way        B. habit        C. situation      D. house
19. A. reciting     B. asking       C. smoking      D. drinking
20. A. sure        B. uncertain     C. afraid        D. eager
21. A. reply       B. words        C. excuse       D. explanation
22. A. fear        B. imagination   C. thought       D. reminder
23. A. never       B. seldom       C. always       D. ever
24. A. discussed    B. shared       C. offered       D. talked
25. A. wonderful   B. long         C. simple        D. boring
26. A. all       B. that          C. any          D. part
27. A. talk        B. quarrel        C. trip          D. lesson
28. A. listed       B. included      C. read         D. said
29. A. method     B. experience     C. wealth       D. message
30. A. character    B. birthday       C. qualities     D. favorites
31. A. doubtfully   B. carefully      happily      D. hurriedly
32. A. where      B. whether       C. what        D. how
33. A. excited      B. astonished     C. disappointed  D. frightened
34. A. hung        B. pulled        C. rolled        D. pushed
35. A. troubled     B. disturbed      C. pleased       D. helped

The poor are very wonderful people. One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition-and I told the sisters: You take care of the other three. I take care of this one who looked worse. So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand as she said just the words “Thank you” and she died.
I could not help but examine my conscience before her and I asked what I would say if I was in her place. And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said I am hungry, that I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain, or something, but she gave me much more-she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face. So did that man whom we picked up from the drain, half eaten with worms, and we brought him to the home. “I have lived like an animal in the street, but I am going to die like an angel, loved and cared for”,he said at the end . And it was so wonderful to see the greatness of that man who could speak like that, who could die like that without blaming anybody, without cursing anybody, without comparing anything. Like an angel-this is the greatness of our people. And that is why we believe what Jesus has said: I was hungry, I was naked, I was homeless, I was unwanted, unloved, uncared for, and you did it to me.
And with this prize that I received as a Prize of Peace, I am going to try to make the home for many people who have no home. Because I believe that love begins at home and if we can create a home for the poor I think that more and more love will spread. And we will be able through this understanding love to bring peace, be the good k*s#5^unews to the poor, the poor in our own family first, in our country and in the world. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But to a person who is shut out, who feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person who has been thrown out from society, that poverty is so full of hurt and so unbearable… And so let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something.
56. What can be learned from the second paragraph?
A. The woman should have paid more attention to herself.
B. The man couldn’t blame anyone.
C. The author is religious.
D. The man died in the street.
57. The purpose of this passage is      .   
A. To appeal for more donation for the poor.
B. To call on the public to love each other.
C. To tell the readers the poor are wonderful.
D. To express how moved the author is to receive the prize.
58.       is NOT inferred from the passage?
A. The author has few supporters.
B. The author was somewhat surprised at what the man said.
C. The author is delighted to help others in trouble.
D. The author may agree to solve social problems in soft ways.
59. What’s the best title of this passage?
A. Have Sympathy for the Poor
B. The Poor are Wonderful
C. Smile and Love
D. Relieve Poverty

My mind went blank when I saw the gun pointing against the car window as we pulled out of the garage. This can’t be happening to me. Then I felt the gun, cold, against my head, and I heard my friend Jeremy saying, “What do you want? Take my wallet,” but at the time I thought of nothing.

I remember being a little annoyed when the gunman pulled me from the car by the hair. I remember the walk to the house --- Jeremy, me, the two men with two guns. I remember the fear and anger in the gunmen’s voices because Jeremy was being slow, and I remember wondering why he was being slow. I did not realize that Jeremy had thrown the keys into the bush. But I remember that sound of the gun hitting Jeremy’s head and the feeling as the man who had hold of my hair released me. And I remember the split second when I realized he was looking at Jeremy, and I remember wondering how far I could run before he pulled the trigger. But I was already running, and upon reaching the car across the street, I didn’t crouch(蹲伏) behind it but screamed instead.

I remember thinking there was something ridiculous and illogical about screaming “Help, help!” at eight o’clock on a Tuesday evening in December and changing my plea(恳求) to the more specific “Help, let me in, please let me in!” But the houses were cold, closed, unfriendly, and I ran on until I heard Jeremy’s screams behind me announcing that our attackers had fled.

The neighbors who had not opened their doors to us came out with baseball bats and helped Jeremy find his glasses and keys. In a group they were very brave. We waited for the police to come until someone said to someone else that the noodles were getting cold, and I said politely, “Please go and eat. We’re O.K.”

I was happy to see them go. They had been talking of stricter sentences for criminals, of bringing back the death penalty(处罚) and how the President is going to clean up the country. I was thinking, they could be saying all of this over my dead body, and I still feel that stiffer sentences wouldn’t change a thing. In a rush all the anger I should have felt for my attackers was directed against these contented people standing in front of their warm, comfortable homes talking about all the guns they were going to buy. What good would guns have been to Jeremy and me?

People all over the neighborhood had called to report our screams, and the police turned out in force twenty minutes later. They were ill-tempered about what was, to them, much trouble about nothing. After all, Jeremy was hardly hurt, and we were hopeless when it came to describing the gunmen. “Typical,” said one policeman when we couldn’t even agree on how tall the men were. Both of us were able to describe the guns in horrifying detail, but the two policemen who stayed to make the report didn’t think that would be much help.

The policemen were matter-of-fact about the whole thing. The thin one said, “That was a stupid thing to do, throwing away the keys. When a man has a gun against your head you do what you’re told.” Jeremy looked properly embarrassed.

Then the fat policeman came up and the thin one went to look around the outside of the house. “That was the best thing you could have done, throwing away the keys,” he said. “If you had gone into the house with them…” His voice became weaker. “They would have hurt her” --- he twisted his head toward me – “and killed you both.” Jeremy looked happier. “Look,” said the fat policeman kindly, “there’s no right or wrong in the situation. There’s just luck.”

All that sleepless night I replayed the moment those black gloves came up to the car window. How long did the whole thing last? Three minutes, five, eight? No matter how many hours of my life I may spend reliving it, I know there is no way to prepare for the next time --- no intelligent response to a gun. The fat cop was right. There’s only luck. The next time I might end up dead.

And I’m sure there will be a next time. It can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone. Security is an illusion(幻觉); there is no safety in locks or in guns. Guns make some people feel safe and some people feel strong, but they’re fooling themselves.

1. When the writer saw the gun pointing against the car window, ______.

A. she felt very annoyed              B. she lost consciousness

C. she felt very much nervous          D. she lost the power of thinking

2.What most possibly drove the two gunmen away?

A. Jeremy’s fighting                B. The author’s screaming

C. Their neighbour’s brave action      D. The police’s arrival

3.When the author called for help, the neighbors didn’t come out immediately because ______

A. they were much too frightened

B. they were busy preparing dinners

C. they needed time to find baseball bats

D. they thought someone was playing a trick

4.The author was happy to see the neighbors go because ______.

A. she hated to listen to their empty talk

B. she did not want to become an object of pity

C. she was angered by their being late to come to her help

D. she wanted to be left alone with Jeremy to get over the shock

5.The police were rather angry because ______.

A. the author was not hurt and gave a false alarm

B. they thought it was a case of little importance

C. the author and Jeremy could not tell the police anything

D. the gunmen had already fled when they arrived on the scene

6.What the author wants to tell us is that______.

A. neighbors are not helpful in moments of difficulty

B. the police are not reliable when one is in trouble

C. security is impossible as long as people can have guns

D. preventing robbers entering your house is the best choice

 

Social networking isn't only for the under 40s. More than 25 percent of Americans 50 years and older stay connected using sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, according to new research.

"The latest data tells us that more and more social networking is becoming a part of everyday life for Americans 50 plus," said Kevin Donnellan, the chief communications officer at AARP, which released the report.

Nearly a quarter of older Americans are on Facebook and 73 percent said they use it to stay in touch with relatives, but not just their children and grandchildren. "They are using the Internet to keep up with the world and the people who are important to them," said Jean Koppen, the author of the report. She added that older adults are also on Facebook to stay connected, not only with their family, but with their friends and peers. Almost 50 percent of older adults were introduced to the social networking sites by a family member, mainly a child or grandchild. "Just under one-fifth of adults aged 50 and older say they do not use the Internet," according to the report.

The findings are based on a telephone survey of 1,863 adults. In addition to keeping up on Facebook and Twitter older adults are also aware of the latest technology. Eighty-three percent had heard about the Apple iPad and 11 percent intended to buy one.

1.What’s the main idea of the passage?             

A.        Social networking isn’t for the under 40s in the U.S.A.

B.        American old people’s way of life is quite fashionable.

C.        The Internet is also popular among the American over 50s.

D.        Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are hot websites in America.

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

A.                   Nearly 2000 adults took part in the survey on line.

B.                    The over 50s were introduced to the Internet by the young.

C.                    About 20% of adults aged 50 and older don’t like the Internet.

D.                   Many Americans 50 plus stay connected using the Internet.

3.What’s the underlined sentence used for?    

E.                    It’s used as a reason for the popularity of the Apple iPad in America.

F.                    It’s used as an example of the older adults’ awareness of the latest technology.

G.                   It’s used as a suggestion to the readers who are interested in the IT products.

H.                   It’s used as a choice for the Americans intending to use Social networking.

4.Where can we most probably read this passage?    

I.                      In an experiment introduction.

J.                     In a computer magazine.

K.                   In a product advertisement.

In a news report

 

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