A concert violinist was performing a difficult piece in front of a large audience. Suddenly there is a loud snap( 断裂声 ) and the__31___could be heard throughout the auditorium( 礼堂 ).The audience ___32___knew that a string( 弦)had broken. They all __33____the concert to stop for a short time ___34___another instrument was brought to the musician.

But instead, the __35___composed( 使镇定 ) herself and then signaled the conductor to start again.The orchestra( 管弦乐团 ) continued where they had __36___and the musician played the music on three strings. In her __37____she worked out new fingering to make up for the missing string. A work that few people could play __38___on four strings, the violinist played on three.

When she __39____and bowed to the audience,there was a silence in the hall. And then the crowd rose to their feet and cheered wildly. The violinist ___40___and wiped sweat from her forehead. When __41____returned to the hall, she ___42___why she had continued to play although there was a __43___string. "You know," she said, "sometimes it is the artist's __44___to find out how much music you can still ___45___with what has been left."

Maybe we've lived most of our lives and we have only a little time left. Maybe disease has ___46___us of our capacity( 能力 ) to work. Or perhaps a financial(财政的) loss has left us very__47___. Can we still make "music"?

There will come a time when we all __48___loss. Can we find the __49___to discover how much "music" we can still make with what has been left, just like the violinist? And if it takes extra courage to make the "music", others will __50___ your effort. Some people have lost more than others, but they are brave enough to face it. They inspire the rest of us to reach greater heights.

31. A. voice           B. sound         C.music        D. screamw

32. A.immediately      B. gradually       C. hardly       D.eventually

33. A. hoped          B. advised         C.urged        D.expected

34. A.when           B.until            C.after         D. since

35. A.audience        B.conductor        C.violinist      D.pianist

36. A.left             B. stopped         C.remained     D.arrived

37. A.hands           B. eyes            C.opinion      D.mind

38. A.fast             B.badly           C.well         D.gently

39. A.started          B.performed        C.finished      D.paused

40. A.worried         B.smiled          C.apologized    D.escapedw

41. A.thought         B.happiness        C.excitement    D.silence

42. A.asked          B. wondered        C.explained     D.introduced

43. A.broken         B.lost              C.bad          D.difficult

44. A.dream         B. plan              C. suggestion    D. task

45. A.take           B.get               C.make         D.carry

46. A.warned        B.reminded          C. required      D.robbed

47. A.poor          B.brave              C.guilty        D.rich

48. A.appreciate      B.avoid             C.experience     D.improve

49. A. assistance     B. hope              C. support       D.courage

50. A. comment      B.applaud            C. accept        D.blame

A job is more than just a job，especially to the older generation.“It’s not the money that matters，but the sense of self?worth，” 56?year?old Cheng Wonlan said.So，every day Ms Cheng carries a bag of parcels，letters and documents of all shapes and sizes and does her rounds in North Point.She’s a courier(快递人员)．

Five years ago，Ms Cheng was a nurse at a private clinic.She had worked there for almost 30 years but was made jobless when the doctor migrated(移居)．It was extremely difficult for her to find another job.“People do not trust my ability when they learn how old I am，” she said.After two years of searching，the mother of two eventually found another nursing job.But then after two years，she quit.Why?

“My colleagues were young and they didn’t understand me because of my age.They often asked me，‘You are so old；what are you working for？’ I was very unhappy.” she said.So while the rest of her family left for work，she was left to lonely boredom at home.The urge to work drove her to suffering.Then，one of Ms Cheng’s neighbours told her about Employee’s Retraining Board (ERB) offering retraining courses for older people on specific occupations，such as convenience store assistants，junior clerks and so on.

“I was interested in courier work.I didn’t think my age was a barrier because I was fit and healthy.So I thought why not give it a try.” she said.Upon graduation from the ERB，Ms Cheng was offered a job by the Speeding Shuttle Courier Service Company Limited.But then Ms Cheng was faced with a conflict：she was caught between honour and employment.It took Ms Cheng 24 hours to make up her mind and eventually came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong or embarrassing about doing the job.So she took heart and went off to work as a courier.

Ms Cheng’s employer is delighted with her，“Ms Cheng has been working with us for two months and has shown a good responsible attitude to work.”Anthony Chong，who runs the company，said.Currently，Mr Chong has 60 couriers working for his company：five of them are over fifty，four of whom have been through the ERB plan.Mr Chong said he hired older people because they were able and reliable.“Age is not an important factor but attitude is.Many old people are more capable than the youngsters.They will not run from difficulties but the young ones will，” he said.“It is not easy to recruit (招募) young people since they shy away from hardship and challenges.”

1.Why was it difficult for Ms Cheng to find another nursing job?

A．Nursing clinics were hard to find.

B．People thought that old people couldn’t be trusted.

C．People thought she was too old to take on a new job.

D．People didn’t think she had enough working experience.

2.Ms Cheng left her second nursing job because ________.

A．she was bored

B．it was too difficult

C．she was too old to do the job

D．the other staff made her feel uncomfortable

3.Employee’s Retraining Board is a plan for ________.

A．finding jobs for older people

B．teaching new skills to older people

C．training older people to be couriers

D．giving older people something to do in their spare time

4.When Ms Cheng was offered the courier job she ________.

A．took it straight away

B．thought it over and then accepted it

C．thought about it and then refused it

D．refused it straight away but then changed her mind

They say that the real marathon begins at 35 kilometers — the rest is just a warm up. And sure enough, in 2009, at around the 36 kilometer point of the Beijing Marathon I experienced what runners call “hitting the wall”. I had been doing well until that point, but suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my leg. My pace slowed down dramatically and every brain cell in my head seemed to be screaming “stop!!!”

The last 5 kilometers were not fun; in fact, they were really hard work. Keeping motivated to run those last few kilometers was one of the hardest things I had ever done. But that is what makes running a marathon such a rewarding experience — if it were easy everyone would do it.

????????????? I have to admit it is sometimes not even easy to find the motivation to get out of bed, pull on your running shoes and head out into the morning to go for another run. These last two weeks of training for the Muztagata climb have been a little tough. I have been following my training plan for about three months but now I find that my original enthusiasm (热情) has all been used up. Day after day of going to the gym is beginning to wear me down and there still seems so much longer to keep this up. I have begun to doubt that I am actually making any progress or getting any fitter and even thought that I might be going backwards!

These are all very common experiences for people who are working towards challenging, longer term goals and I have learned to recognize these “highs” and “lows” in my energy and enthusiasm. Over the years I have learned a number of tricks that help me to deal with the days when my early motivation seems to have abandoned me for good.

1.Many runners say that the real marathon begins at 35 kilometers because it is at this point that __________.

A. runners begin to enjoy running the marathon race

B. runners are worn out as if they are breaking down

C. the rest part is just the preparation for the race

D. the race is a rewarding experience for runners

2.When people are working extremely hard towards challenging, _________.

A. they can keep themselves motivated all the time

B. they will never hesitate to continue carrying out their plan

C. they sometimes feel as if they stop making progress

D. they will fail to keep their spirits up

3.What is the author going to talk about in the following passage?

A. How to get trained.????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ?????????????

B. Tips for becoming a marathon runner.

C. How to meet challenges. ????????????? ????????????? ???????

D. Tips for keeping motivation high.

A man and his girlfriend just got married. The husband didn’t talk much but he was a steady man. The wife was pretty and dreamy.  Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.

     A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a proposal, “I read in a magazine about how we can  36   our marriage. Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit   37    with the other. Then, we can place them on the table to discuss how we    38    them together and make our life even happier.”

     “Are you sure you are about to do this?” the husband sighed and    39   . So each of them went to a(n)   40    room and thought about the things that annoyed them about the other for the rest of the day.

     The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their    41    .

     “I’ll start,” offered his wife eagerly. She    42    her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill 3 pages. She read all three pages to her husband and seemed to be quite pleased with her hard “work”. After hearing that, the husband stated   43   , “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect the   44   that you are. I don’t want you to   45   anything for me.”

     The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for and his   46   of her without any conditions, turned her head and wept. At that moment, she came to understand the saying: “Beauty lies in the lover's eyes”.

     In life, there are enough time when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go  47   for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time seeking the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us, and see the wonderful things before us? If you are accustomed to judging people, you have no time to love them.

1.A. enrich                   B. strengthen              C. lengthen                D. deepen

2.A. annoying                B. surprising                C. satisfying                 D. inspiring

3.A. fix               B. do                C. find             D. set

4.A. smiled         B. refused                C. agreed                   D. hesitated

5.A. spare          B. separate           C. empty                D. special

6.A. dishes                  B. magazines         C. lives                    D. lists

7.A. put away                B. handed in          C. took out             D. wrote down

8.A. disappointedly          B. unluckily                C. bitterly                   D. quietly

9.A. appearance            B. way               C. situation                 D. position

10.A. change               B. accept                  C. decide                  D. drop

11.A. advice                 B. warning                 C. acceptance              D. pride

12.A. leaving         B. waiting               C. asking                   D. looking

After winning a big game，athletes are often asked how they feel．Usually athletes say how  1  it is to win this big game．On the contrary，the fact is that losing a big game，or in my case，all the games，can be even harder．

       From the spectators’ point of view，last year’s basketball  2  for my high school team was nothing  3  of an embarrassment．And  4  0 and 20 is certainly nothing to be proud of，that season had a bigger impact on me than any other．As a team captain，I knew it probably wouldn’t be the  5  year，but did I ever think we would lose every game？Of course not．Since six of our top players had graduated，it was clear that we were a （n）  6  team who would struggle．The struggle began earlier than expected，  7  ，as our team center was suspended （禁赛） for the season，and two key members decided to  8  for some reason．At this point，dropping out probably passed through every player’s mind，but in the end，we all stuck if out，  9  to work still harder．

       Then there came a time when even our  10  and given up on us．Personally，I felt like it was  11  worthwhile giving my all．I thought，if even the coach doesn’t believe in us，why should I？But just as my hope began to  12  ，a teammate called a meeting．He said，“Nobody thinks we are going to win，but，as teammates and friends，we  13  it to each other to go all out every game．”

       It was that moment that  14  me how to be a leader．It hit me that I certainly didn’t  15  the role．As a leader you can never quit  16  the team who looks up to you．It is one  17  to be named captain，feel great and go through the motions，but it is quite another to be a real captain and make sure everyone realizes their full  18  all the time．

       I am sure it is great to go through without losing and bringing home awards．But in all honesty，I  19  the fact that my team lost every game last year．It may not help me to become a better basketball player，but it already has made me a better leader，and  20  ．

1．A．exciting                 B．pleasant               C．tough                  D．significant

2．A．game                    B．event                   C．league                 D．season

3．A．short                    B．full                      C．lacking                D．sufficient

4．A．as                         B．while                   C．since                   D．now that

5．A．most interesting     B．dullest                 C．most difficult       D．easiest

6．A．unique                  B．adventurous         C．young                 D．untrained

7．A．meanwhile             B．though                C．instead                D．somehow

8．A．quit                      B．stay                    C．resign                 D．rest

9．A．hoping                  B．swearing             C．claiming              D．wishing

10．A．fans                    B．classmates           C．sponsor               D．coach

11．A．only too               B．more than            C．not a little            D．no longer

12．A．fade                    B．gain                    C．destroy               D．grow

13．A．owe                    B．think                   C．demand               D．recommend

14．A．reminded             B．told                     C．taught                 D．guided

15．A．act                      B．deserve               C．play                    D．take

16．A．with                    B．alongside             C．on                      D．for

17．A．matter                 B．aspect                 C．issue                   D．thing

18．A．potential              B．goal                    C．enthusiasm          D．confidence

19．A．hate                    B．treasure               C．admit                  D．recognize

20．A．character           B．captain          C．person            D．figure