Help others whenever you can ______ you will make the world a nicer place to live in.

1. A.
   and
2. B.
   or
3. C.
   unless
4. D.
   but

Imagine your body is like the house you live in．Every day, your family creates rubbish．The rubbish builds up until it is put out for the weekly garbage collection．

Now, say you put three bags of garbage out, but because one of the collectors was away sick, only two bags are collected．You take the leftover bag inside to be put out again next week．The following week you put on another three bags, plus the leftover bag from last week．But again, only two bags are collected．Imagine this cycle is repeated over the following weeks．

This is a simple description of what happens to your body when your kidneys （肾脏）don't work efficiently．Your body is not thoroughly emptied of waste products．Other areas of the body such as blood pressure and red blood cell production are affected and the insidious process that may lead to kidney failure begins．

It's not uncommon for people to lose up to 90% of their kidney function before developing any symptoms．There may be no warning signs. This makes early detection （诊查）difficult．

Kidney's main job is to remove toxins（毒素） and unwanted water from our blood．Every day our kidneys clean an average of 200 litres of blood．Kidney failure may be a gradual and silent process, going unnoticed because there is no obvious pain．

Research shows that more than 35% of the patients requiring dialysis（透析）do not see a kidney specialist before they have to do so．Some risk factors for kidney disease such as age and genetic make-up are out of our control; however, some changes in lifestyle may help prevent kidney damage．Two major risk factors for kidney disease, diabetes （糖尿病）and high blood pressure, have been on the rise over the last few decades．Both conditions are chiefly affected by being overweight and not getting enough exercises, which are the potential (潜在的) risk factors for the kidney disease．

1.The author gives the example of the house we live in to indicate that ______．

A．it doesn't matter much if the waste in our body is not emptied in time

B．our body will not produce any waste if our kidneys work efficiently

C．it's important for our body to empty the waste in time every day

D．it's safe and harmless for our body to keep some waste

2.The underlined word “insidious” in Paragraph 3 means         .

A．smooth and safe                        B．apparent and fast

C．gradual and unnoticed                   D．long and painful

3.We can infer that when we find some symptoms related to our kidneys,         .

A．the kidney failure begins

B．the kidneys can still work properly

C．we have lost about 10% of kidney function

D．the kidneys may have been seriously damaged

4.How many risk factors of kidney disease are mentioned in the passage?

A．Six.              B．Five.             C．Four.             D．Two.

5.Which of the following helps prevent kidney damage most effectively?

A．Go to see a kidney specialist shortly before dialysis starts.

B．Take enough exercise and make early detection of kidney disease.

C．Try to keep low blood pressure and a stable lifestyle.

D．Go to hospital whenever you find any warning signs.

 I must have been about fourteen then, and I put away the incident from my mind with

the easy carelessness of  youth. But the words, Carl Walter spoke that day, came back to me

years later, and ever since have been of great value to me.

Carl Walter was my piano teacher. During one of my lessons he asked how much practicing I

was doing. I said three or four hours a day.

"Do you practice in long stretches, an hour at a time?"

"I try to."

"Well, don't," he exclaimed. "When you grow up, time won't come in long stretches.    Practice in minutes, whenever you can find them five or ten before school, after lunch, between household tasks. Spread the practice through the day, and piano-playing will become a part of your life."

When I was teaching at Columbia, I wanted to write, but class periods, theme-reading, and committee meetings filled my days and evenings. For two years I got practically nothing down on paper, and my excuse was that I had no time. Then I remembered what Carl Walter had said. During the next week I conducted an experiment. Whenever I had five minutes unoccupied, I sat down and wrote a hundred words or so. To my astonishment, at the end of the week I had a rather large manuscript ready for revision, later on I wrote novels by the same piecemeal method. Though my teaching schedule had become heavier than ever, in every day there were idle moments which could be caught and put to use. I even took up piano--playing again, finding that the small intervals of the day provided sufficient time for both writing and piano practice.

There is an important trick in this time--using formula: you must get into your work quickly. If you have but five minutes for writing, you can't afford to waste four chewing your pencil. You must make your mental preparations beforehand, and concentrate on your task almost instantly when the time comes. Fortunately, rapid concentration is easier than most of us realize.

I admit I have never learnt how to let go easily at the end of the five or ten minutes. But life can be counted on to supply interruptions. Carl Walter has had a tremendous influence on my life. To him I owe the discovery that even very short periods of time add up to all useful hours I need, if I plunge（投入）in without delay.

1.The meaning of “stretch” in the underlined part is the same as that in sentence “        ”.

A．The forests in the north of the province stretch for hundreds of miles.

B．Bob worked as a government official for a stretch of over twenty years.

C．My family wasn’t wealthy by any stretch of the imagination.

D．During his senior year his earnings far enough to buy an old car.

2.Which of the following statements is true?

A．The writer didn’t completely take the teacher’s words to heart at first.

B．Carl Walter has had a great influence on the writer's life since he became a student.

C．The writer owes great thanks to his teacher for teaching him to work in long stretches.

D．Rapid concentration is actually more difficult than most people imagine.

3.We can infer that the writer             . 

A．has new books published each year however busy his teaching is

B．is always tired of interruptions in life because his teaching schedule is always heavy

C．has formed a bad habit of chewing a pencil while writing his novels

D．can find sufficient time for mental preparations beforehand, so he's devoted to work   instantly

4.What is the best title of this passage?

A．Concentrate on Your Work            B．A Little at a Time

C．How I Became a Writer              D．Good Advice Is Most Valuable

US president Barack Obama is probably 1.______ most powerful person in the world. But what was his high school life 2._______? You can find answers to the question in his “Back to School” speech 3.______ (give) on September 13, 2010.

“I know some of you may be nervous about starting a new school year and worried about 4._______ that’ll be like. Here is what I tell you: nobody 5._____ (get) to write your destiny (命运) but you. Your future is in your hands. Your life is what you make of it. And nothing is beyond your reach. So long as you’re willing to dream big. So long as you’re willing to work hard. So long as you’re willing to stay 6._____ (focus) on your education. An education has never been more important. I’m sure there will be times 7._____ you’re staying up late for a test, or dragging (费力地拉起) yourselves out of bed on a rainy morning, and wondering 8._____ it’s all worth it. Let me tell you: Nothing is as 9._____ in life as your education. In other 10.______ (word), the farther you go in school, the farther you’ll go in life.

An unforgettable experience I recently had made me 11.______ (see) how important friendships are and the need to have a better understanding of friends. A friend is a person 12.______ is always there to encourage and support you whenever you’re in trouble. A friend is a person who’ll try to do what he or she can13.______ you. A friend is a person who’s overjoyed seeing you win and who will share your sorrow when you’re 14.________ (disappoint).

    For my part, friendship is like a 15.______(price) gift: It can’t be bought for any amount. It’s also a shining light of hope. If you have friendship, you’ll never feel16._______(alone).

Exactly 10 years ago, 189 heads of state 17.______ (gather) in New York. They set a number of goals. These goals included helping poor people, educating children and protecting the environment. The leaders agreed to do their best to meet the goals 18._______ 2015.

    With only five years 19._______ (go), about 140 world leaders got together in New York on September 20. Their20.________ (三天的)meeting was to talk about their work on the goals.

It’s only 4 hours flying time from Sydney, but a world away. What better place to rest than a country where the only place people hurry is on the football field and things are done in “Fiji time”?
Viti Levu – Great Fiji – is the largest island. Here you’ll find the capital Suva and the international airport at Nadi. Vatoa, on the other hand, is a tiny island in the farthest part of Fiji. Then there are 331 other islands, many of them with places to stay.
Whit less than a million people living on islands, you’ll never feel crowded. And with a climate(气候) that changes only for five degrees between seasons, there’s never a bad time to come.
From cities to villages, from mountains to beaches, from water sports to wooden artworks, Fiji can give you more adventures and special experiences than you could find almost anywhere in the world.
Whenever you come, wherever you go, you’re sure to see some unforgettable events. From war dances to religious(宗教的) songs. From market days to religious days. It’s not just staged for tourists; it’s still a part of everyday life in Fiji. And any one of us can enjoy Fiji’s spirit by being part of the traditional(传统的) sharing of yaqona, a drink made from the root of a Fiji plant.
So why not join us for the experience of a life me?
【小题1】Where is the international airport of Fiji?