I was studying theater at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and feeling anxious and uncertain about my future. Will I be able to support myself? I __1__. That summer, I decided to see if I could __2__ it on my own.

       Two girlfriends and I got into a car and __3__ to Aspen, Colo, where I found a job as a servant at a hotel. I don’t remember what I __4__, but the money was so little that I lived on noodles, brown rice and hamburgers.

       I was at the hotel by six o’clock every morning to __5__ with breakfast. When breakfast was finished, I cleaned the room __6__ it was served and then the conference rooms and restrooms. I had never been in a men’s room before, and I was always terrified of someone walking in while I was on my knees ____7___ the floors and toilets.

       I came from an upper-middle-class background, and my parents’ friends always treated me __8__. But now that I was a servant, I found that many of the guests of the same background were not so nice. That was a __9__.Guests were supposed to(应该/理应) serve themselves at the breakfast; it was my __10__ to walk around the room and refill coffee and juice. But some people wanted me to do __11__ for them. I remember one man who kept __12__ me to get his food and demanding things we did not __13__. He was also very critical(吹毛求疵). Even though I wanted to say, “Go and get it yourself.” I knew it was my job to be __14__ and do in a nice way whatever I was told. So I’d take a deep __15__ and somehow get what he wanted.

       Still, I’ve never forgotten how it felt to be spoken to so __16__. Today, whenever I am in a cab or a restaurant, I always try to be as __17__as possible. Service-industry jobs are not easy, and they’re even __18__ when people treat you like dirt.

       My first job also helped me gain confidence. After that summer I realized that what I had been afraid of in acting was failure. I now knew that it would be worse if I failed at it without__19__ trying. I decided to give it all my energy. If I __20__, at least I would always know that I had done my best.

1．A．knew                    B．guessed               C．wondered            D．understood

2．A．make                    B．give                    C．work                  D．take

4．A．did                       B．found                  C．learned                D．earned

5．A．cook                     B．deal                     C．help                    D．come

6．A．what                     B．that                     C．when                  D．where

7．A．cleaning                B．repairing              C．destroying           D．marking

8．A．badly                    B．well                    C．friendly               D．hard

9．A．danger                  B．chance                C．shock                 D．pleasure

10．A．turn                    B．honor                  C．chance                D．job

11．A．anything              B．everything           C．nothing               D．something

12．A．ordering              B．wanting               C．begging               D．persuading

13．A．give                    B．get                      C．serve                  D．like

14．A．busy                   B．ready                  C．fast                     D．quiet

15．A．walk                   B．note                    C．breath                 D．rest

16．A．rudely                 B．nicely                  C．nervously            D．angrily

17．A．cold               B．thoughtful        C．rude               D．doubtful

18．A．nicer                   B．harder                 C．ruder                  D．worse

19．A．really                  B．hardly                 C．suddenly             D．kindly

20．A．succeeded          B．achieved              C．failed               D．worked

When a friend is sad about a tragedy(悲剧)，it’s hard to know how to comfort(安慰) him/ her. But the worst thing you can do is say nothing. It could mean that you don’t care. You don’t have to say much.. A single supportive phrase doesn’t require absolutely perfect words to break the ice. Here are some conversation starters when life difficult situations have your tongue tied.
1. A friend loses his baby.
Don’t say: “Don’t worry. You’re so young. You’ll have another baby.” Do say: “ I’m so sorry. I can’t begin to imagine what you are going through, but if you want to talk about it, call me anytime.”
2. A guy deserts（抛弃）your friend.
Don’t say: “I never liked that rat bastard (坏蛋) anyway!” ( If the couple winds up reconciling (和解)， you could end up losing your friend.) Do say: “Breaking up is always hard to deal with, but I’m here for you, whatever you need.”
3. A friend has a death in the family.
Don’t say: “It’s God’s will.” or “I know exactly how you feel.” Do say: “I’m sorry about your loss. What can I do to help?”
4. A friend loses a job suddenly.
Don’t say: “Work is always boring. Those bosses didn’t suit you!” Do say: “I’m sorry for that, but I know there’s an even better job waiting for you there. Let’s think about possibilities.”
5. Someone’s pet dies.
Don’t say: “Gee! It was only a cat!” or “My roommate doesn’t like her dog and she is getting rid of her dog. Do you want it?” Do say: “I’m sorry, she was such a great cat. How long did you have it?”
【小题1】Which of the following has the same meaning as the underlined part “have your tongue tied”?

Goals are the guides all through our life. We all have goals that we are moving towards and making a great effort to achieve. This is a good thing. Or can it be bad? How many of us never reach our goals and yet we have tried so hard and really thought about nothing else? I believe the mistake most of us make is that we do not focus on our present situation.
Let me explain. Most of us see our present situation as a stepping stone that we use simply as a means of reaching our final destination. We don’t take time to truly appreciate where we are today and all the great things we already have in our lives. We should focus our attention on the journey and not on the destination, or we will miss the beautiful scenery along the way.
Let’s use our job as an example. Now most of us want a promotion. We have plans to become the manager or general manager in our companies. Unfortunately, most of us will never reach the goal, but will watch others achieve our goal instead.
What we should be doing is focusing on the job we are currently in now. Forget where we want to get to and just focus on the present. You see, what we can control is our performance in our current job. We can decide to be the best we possibly can in our current job. Now this may mean further education to have the skills we currently do not have. It may mean working harder to produce better results than our colleagues. It could simply be a change of attitude, such as stopping complaining and becoming a more devoted and supportive employee. By doing our current job to the best of our abilities, we in fact give ourselves the best chance of promotion.
So the best thing for all of us to do to achieve our goals is to just focus on what we have and where we are now. Do the best and be the best we possibly can in our current situations, and we will give ourselves the very best chance of reaching our goals in the future. We have heard the old sayings and they are true: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”, “Patience is a virtue”, and so on.
Have patience, have appreciation of what we already have, and take time to help ourselves be the very best we can. Do these things and we will all reach our goals, but more importantly, we will enjoy our life every day.

Goals are the guides all through our life. We all have goals that we are moving towards and making a great effort to achieve. This is a good thing. Or can it be bad? How many of us never reach our goals and yet we have tried so hard and really thought about nothing else? I believe the mistake most of us make is that we do not focus on our present situation.

Let me explain. Most of us see our present situation as a stepping stone that we use simply as a means of reaching our final destination. We don’t take time to truly appreciate where we are today and all the great things we already have in our lives. We should focus our attention on the journey and not on the destination, or we will miss the beautiful scenery along the way.

Let’s use our job as an example. Now most of us want a promotion. We have plans to become the manager or general manager in our companies. Unfortunately, most of us will never reach the goal, but will watch others achieve our goal instead.

What we should be doing is focusing on the job we are currently in now. Forget where we want to get to and just focus on the present. You see, what we can control is our performance in our current job. We can decide to be the best we possibly can in our current job. Now this may mean further education to have the skills we currently do not have. It may mean working harder to produce better results than our colleagues. It could simply be a change of attitude, such as stopping complaining and becoming a more devoted and supportive employee. By doing our current job to the best of our abilities, we in fact give ourselves the best chance of promotion.

So the best thing for all of us to do to achieve our goals is to just focus on what we have and where we are now. Do the best and be the best we possibly can in our current situations, and we will give ourselves the very best chance of reaching our goals in the future. We have heard the old sayings and they are true: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”, “Patience is a virtue”, and so on.

Have patience, have appreciation of what we already have, and take time to help ourselves be the very best we can. Do these things and we will all reach our goals, but more importantly, we will enjoy our life every day.

任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)

We all have goals that we are moving towards and making a great effort to achieve. This is a good thing. Or can it be bad? How many of us never reach our goals and yet we have tried so hard and really thought about nothing else? I believe the mistake most of us make is that we do not focus on our present situation.

Let me explain. Most of us see our present situation as a stepping stone that we use simply as a means of reaching our final destination. We don’t take time to truly appreciate where we are today and all the great things we already have in our lives. We should focus our attention on the journey and not on the destination, or we will miss the beautiful scenery along the way.

Let’s use our job as an example. Now most of us want a promotion. We have plans to become the manager or general manager in our companies. Unfortunately, most of us will never reach the goal, but will watch others achieve our goal instead.

What we should be doing is focusing on the job we are currently in now. Forget where we want to get to and just focus on the present. You see, what we can control is our performance in our current job. We can decide to be the best we possibly can in our current job. Now this may mean further education to have the skills we currently do not have. It may mean working harder to produce better results than our colleagues. It could simply be a change of attitude, such as stopping complaining and becoming a more devoted and supportive employee. By doing our current job to the best of our abilities, we in fact give ourselves the best chance of promotion.

So the best thing for all of us to do to achieve our goals is to just focus on what we have and where we are now. Do the best and be the best we possibly can in our current situations, and we will give ourselves the very best chance of reaching our goals in the future. We have heard the old sayings and they are true: “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”, “Patience is a virtue”, and so on.

Have patience, have appreciation of what we already have, and take time to help ourselves be the very best we can. Do these things and we will all reach our goals, but more importantly, we will enjoy our life every day.