Last summer, I travelled to Meixian County with my friends. It is a small county at the foot of Taibai Mountain in Shanxi Province. We stayed there for one week and I__1__ my vacation because of the beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain.

I will__2__ forget the day when we climbed the main peak(山顶). The __3__in that area changes very quickly: it was sunny in the early morning when we set out, __4__ it began to rain heavily when we were only halfway up.

Soon，we were all__5__ and some of us wanted to go home. They said, “There is nothing__6__ here. We came to see the scenery，__7__the pouring rain！” However, the guide__8__， “Since we have got wet already, why not just go on with our journey？”

So we carried on up the mountain and，__9__we even noticed, the rain stopped and the sun was smiling again. When we reached the top of the peak, the view was unique (独特的)．

Up there, it was bright and clear. The sky was__10__and the air was fresh. The gentle wind made us feel cool. All the clouds were just like waves in the ocean, __11__ and falling under our feet. We could only see the peaks of mountains, as if they were __12__ floating sparsely (稀疏的) in the ocean. It was a really magical experience.

While we were enjoying the scene, the guide said __13__，“You see, I knew that there would be no rain above the clouds.”

It is __14__. While it may rain below the clouds, the sun is still there above them.

You will never see the sun __15__ you don't try your best to climb to the top of the mountain. If we had stopped and gone home when the rain was very heavy, we would never have seen the beautiful scenery __16__ the clouds. I think this is also true in __17__.

As the song says, “You won't see the rainbow unless you have gone through the thunder and storm.” I think in the__18__， whenever I have any difficulties in my life, I will remember the__19__from the top of Taibai Mountain and the __20__ which touched my heart deeply: There is no rain above the clouds.

1．A.spent　　　B．killed　　　C．had　　　D．enjoyed

2．A.ever       B．never      C．certainly  D．perhaps

3．A.scenery    B．cloud      C．sky       D．weather

4．A.so        B．while      C．but        D．instead

5．A.tired      B．hungry     C．angry      D．wet

6．A.necessary  B．fun       C．important    D．instructive

7．A.not       B．no         C．never      D．hardly

8．A.suggested  B．ordered     C．asked     D．demanded

9．A.when            B．before  C．while         D．then

10．A.dark          B．green      C．black         D．blue

11．A.jumping   B．dropping  C．going      D．rising

12．A.islands   B．fish       C．animals     D．waves

13．A.excited   B．proudly    C．angrily     D．happily

14．A.false     B．a lie        C．a guess     D．true

15．A.when     B．unless      C．if         D．while

16．A.over     B．on         C．above      D．under

17．A.study      B．rest       C．real world  D．life

18．A.past      B．present      C．future   D．life

19．A.weather   B．change     C．view      D．time

20．A.word    B．phrase       C．speech     D．sentence

I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people      I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a       person.

I think my      started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my       and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever      to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really     . It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So tried a(n)      . I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I could      to help. That was really a big      for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of      are still my best friends today.

A bigger cause of my new     , however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer’s disease became my     . Every time I came into her room, she was      because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never      her, so I took her place. She let me     that making others feel good make me feel good, too, when she died, I was     , but I was very grateful to her.

I think I am a much      person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not      these experiences. They have      me to care about other people more than about myself. I      who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

1.A. since              B. before            C. or                     D. unless

2.A. famous            B. simple          C. different                       D. skilled

3.A. education          B. career  C. tour       D. change

4.A. balance      B. homework    C. degree D. interest

5.A. talked        B. wrote   C. lied       D. reported

6.A. careful       B. lonely   C. curious D. guilty

7.A. argument B. game    C. experiment D. defence

8.A. dare           B. offer    C. hesitate        D. happen

9.A. dream       B. problem        C. duty     D. step

10.A. us    B. which   C. them    D. whom

11.A. attitude   B. hobby   C. hope    D. luck

12.A. friend       B. partner C. guide   D. guest

13.A. polite       B. happy C. strange         D. confident

14.A. bothered         B. answered     C. visited D. trusted

15.A. explain     B. guess    C. declare D. see

16.A. homeless B. heartbroken C. bad-tempered      D. hopeless

17.A. quieter    B. busier C. better D. richer

18.A. forget      B. face       C. improve        D. analyze

19.A. forced     B. preferred     C. ordered        D. taught

20.A. miss B. like       C. wonder         D. expect

Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older.
Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five.
The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five.
The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
【小题1】 What is the report about?

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
Maybe you are an average student. You probably think you will never be a top student. This is not necessarily so, however. __1___. Here’s how:
1）. Plan your time carefully. When you plan your week, you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list, you should make a schedule of your time. First your time for eating, sleeping, dressing, etc. then decide a good, regular time for studying. __2___. A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you to be aware of what is happening to your time.
2）. __3___. Look around the house for a good study area. Keep this space, which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room, free of everything but study materials. No games, radios, or television! When you sit down to study, concentrate on the subject.
3）. Make good use of your time in class. Take advantage of class time to listen to everything the teachers say. Really listening in class means less work later. Take notes if necessary, because the notes will help you remember what the teacher says and study better.
4）. Study regularly. When you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points that your teacher mentioned in class. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss the next day, reading that material. This will help you understand the next class.__4___.
5）. Develop a good attitude towards tests. __5____. They help you remember your new knowledge. The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test, so don’t be overly worried.
There are other methods that might help you with your study. You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.