Recently I spoke to some of my students about what they wanted to do after they graduated, and what kind of job prospects they thought they had.

Given that I teach students who are training to be doctors, I was surprised to find that most thought that they would not be able to get the jobs they wanted without “outside help”. “What kind of help is that?” I asked, expecting them to tell me that they would need a relative or family friend to help them out.

“Surgery(外科手术)”, one replied.

I was pretty alarmed by that response. It seems that the graduates of today are increasingly willing to go under the knife to get ahead of others when it comes to getting a job.

One girl told me that she was considering surgery to increase her height. “They break your legs, put in special extending screws, and slowly expand the gap between the two ends of the bone as it regrows, you can get at least 5cm taller!”

At that point, I was shocked. I am short, I can’t deny that, but I don’t think I would put myself through months of agony(痛苦) just to be a few centimeters taller. I don’t even bother to wear shoes with thick soles, as I’m not trying to hide the fact that I am just not tall!

It seems to me that there is a trend toward wanting “perfection”, and that is an ideal that just does not exist in reality.

No one is born perfect, yet magazines, TV shows and movies present images of thin, tall, beautiful people as being the norm. Advertisements for slimming aids, beauty treatments and cosmetic surgery clinics fill the pages of newspapers, further creating an idea that “perfection” is a requirement, and that it must be purchased, no matter what the cost.

In my opinion, skills, rather than appearance, should determine how successful a person is in his chosen career.

1.We can know from the passage that the author works as ________.

  A. a doctor         B. a model       C. a teacher        D. a reporter

2.Many graduates today turn to cosmetic surgery to ________.

A. marry a better man\woman            B. become a model

C. get an advantage over others in job-hunt  D. attract more admirers

3.According to the passage, the author believes that ________.

A. everyone should purchase perfection, whatever the cost

B. it’s right for graduates to ask for others to help them out in hunting for jobs

C. it is one’s appearance instead of skills that really matters in one’s career

D. media are to blame for misleading young people in their seeking for surgery

4.What does the author think of his height?

A. He hates to be called a short man.

B. He tries to increase his height through surgery.

C. He just accepts it as it is.

D. He always wears shoes with thick soles to hide the fact.

5.The best title for the passage should be “________”.

A. Young Graduates Have Higher Expectation

B. Young Graduates Look to Surgery for Better Jobs

C. Young Graduates’ Opinion About Cosmetic Surgery

D. Young Graduates Face a Different Situation in Job-hunt

When I was nine years old I lived in a small town. I found an ad for selling greeting cards in the back of a children’s magazine. I thought to myself I could do this. I begged my mother to let me send for the kit (配件). Two weeks later the kit arrived. The next three hours later, I returned home with no card and a pocket full of money shouting, “Mama, all the people couldn’t wait to buy my cards!” A salesperson was born.

When I was twelve years old, my father took me to see Zig Ziegler. I remember sitting in the dark hall listening to Mr. Ziegler raise everyone’s spirits up to ceiling. I left there feeling like I could do anything. When we got to the car, I turned to my father and said, “Dad, I want to make people feel like that.” My father asked me what I meant. “I want to be a motivational speaker just like Mr. Ziegler,” I replied. A dream was born.

Recently, I began pursuing（追求） my dream of motivating others. I realized that everything I had accomplished — the graduate degree, the successful sales career, speaking appointments, training and managing for a major fortune 100 company as a senior manager— had prepared me for this moment. I told my boss who was a great leader I would leave the company though I might not reach such a height in career. He told me to proceed（进行） and he believed I would succeed.

Having made that decision, I was immediately tested. One week after I gave notice, my husband was laid off from his job. We had recently bought a new home and needed both incomes to make the monthly mortgage (抵押) payment and now we were done to no income. I even planned to turn back to my former company, knowing they wanted me to stay but I was certain that if I went back, I would never leave. I decided I still wanted to move forward rather than end up with a mouth full of “if onlys” later on. A motivational speaker was born.

When I held fast to my dream, even during the tough times, the miracles（奇迹） really began to happen. In a short time period my husband found a better job. We didn’t miss a mortgage payment. And I was able to book several speaking appointments with new clients (客户). I discovered the incredible power of dreams. I loved my old job, my workmates and the company I left, but it was time to get on with my dream. To celebrate my success I had a local artist paint my new office as a garden. At the top of one wall she marked, “The world always makes way for the dreamer.”

1.Why was the kit sent for?

A. Selling greeting cards.                  B. Collecting greeting cards.

C. Buying greeting cards.                   D. Sending greeting cards.

2. When did the author decide to become a motivational speaker?

A. After buying a new home by mortgage.

B. After giving notice to leave her safe position in the company.

C. After finding a job in a major fortune 100 company.

D. After listening to Mr. Ziegler’s inspiring speech.

3. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. She was once an excellent manager.

B. She left her post at the height of her career.

C. She was not sure whether the former company could accept her.

D. She didn’t miss paying the monthly mortgage payment.

4. What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph?

A. Carry on with your dreams and you will be successful.

B. Risk everything you have for a dream and you will succeed.

C. The world belongs to dreamers.

D. Everyone will find their dreams.

Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My home is on the Big Island of Hawaii. About a month ago, when I   36  my car and was about to drive off, I
  37  at the roadside. A piece of paper   38  my eye. I picked it up and read it   39 . Instantly, I was grateful that I had done that.
The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’   40  of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and  __41 : no one would throw this away, especially   42  it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal   43 , perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed __44 . The form had been blown by the wind, so   45  would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date and   46  the names of the owners , who must  47  in our town. I believed that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in a（n）  48  addressed to the couple and mail it by post. Further, I imagined that if I had posted the receipt to a wrong   49  , how frantic（慌乱的）I’d be. But it was much   __50_  to attempt to return it than to leave them angry, upset , etc. over the   51  , so I did as I thought. My hunch（预感） was right. On the weekend, a happy couple   52  my house and brought me a big gift. They said they had panicked（恐慌）and   53  the receipt madly everywhere before giving up. Without it they would have to   54  another 8,000. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major trouble by doing   55  that at first glance seemed minor.

假如你叫李平。最近，你就使用电子词典的问题收集了各方面的意见(见下表)。请根据下列信息写封信。词数100左右。开头已给出。

生词提示: electronic 电子的   explanation(s) 解释，说明 convenient 方便的

Dear Editor,

Recently, I made a survey about the use of the electronic dictionary....

Yours sincerely,

Li Ping

To hitch-hike successfully in any country you must be able to do two things: attract attention and at the same time convince the driver at a glance that you do not intend to rob or murder him. To fulfill the first requirement you must have some mark to distinguish you at once from all other hikers. A serviceman, for instance, should wear his uniform, a student his scarf. In a foreign country an unmistakable indication of your own nationality will also arrest a driver’s attention.

When I hitch-hiked 9,500 miles across the United States and back recently I wore a well-tailored suit, a bowler hat and a trench coat, and carried a pencil-thin rolled black umbrella. My suitcase was decorated with British flags. Having plenty of luggage, moreover, I was not likely to be suspected of being a dangerous lunatic(精神病患者). I then had to get across to the driver the idea that I was a real traveler, and needed to get somewhere cheaply.

But even with careful preparation, you must not assume that the task will be easy. You should be prepared to wait a little, for there are drivers who confess to a fierce prejudice against, （not to say hatred of）, hitch-hikers, and would no more pick up a hiker than march from Aldermaston to London. In America, my average wait was half-an-hour, and my longest two hours, but I have heard of people waiting all day; they probably took less pains to make themselves easy to notice.

Nor must you assume that all the drivers who stop for you are nice, normal people. On one occasion I found myself driving with two boys of about nineteen who turned out to be on the run from the police, and were hoping to use me as an alibi. There are also lesser(较小的) risks: you may find yourself in the car of a Fascist fanatic, a Mormon missionary(传教士), or just a bad driver. You cannot tell, of course until you are in the car. But you soon learn the art of the quick excuse that gets you out again.w(w w.ks&5 u.c*o m

If the hitch-hiker in the U.S. will remember that he is seeking the willingness of drivers to give him a free ride, and is prepared to give in exchange entertainment and company, and not go to sleep, he will come across the remarkable, almost legendary, hospitality of American of the West. It will also help if he can drive—I think that I drove myself about 4,500 of those 9,500 miles I hitch-hiked in the States.

A hitch-hiking serviceman should wear his uniform       .

    A. so as not to look too unusual

    B. to attract attention

    C. to show he is on duty

    D. to put the driver at ease

In paragraph 3, we learn that the writer      .

A. has sometimes failed to hitch a ride

B. has marched from Aldermaston to London

C. has always been successful in hitching a ride

D. has had to wait for long hours for a ridew(w w.ks&5 u.c*o m

The main idea of Paragraph 4 is that       .

A. it is dangerous to be in a car with strangers

B. hitch-hiking may turn out to be risky sometimes

C. a hitch-hiker must also learn the art of quick excuse

D hitch-hikers might come across bad drivers

In the last paragraph, the writer mainly wants to tell us that a hitchhiker should      .

A. not talk to the driver too much

B. fall asleep to make it a peaceful ride

C. try to make himself pleasant and entertaining

D. seek the willingness of drivers

A suitable title for the passage would be      .

A. “The Art of Hitch-hiking”

B. “An Englishman’s View of the U.S.”

C. “An English Hitch-hiker”

     D. “The joys and Dangers of hitch-hiking