In a world where comparisons happen non-stop, it is difficult to look outside yourself and to ever be   36   with who you are. There’s always someone who’s a bit   37  . The only solution is to reach   38   and measure against what Warren Buffett calls your own inner yardstick. There is no more   39   measure for comparison than who your were yesterday, last week or last decade, when you were at your   40  .

Nothing useful ever comes from comparison to others. Either you see yourself as better than someone and you get   41  , or you see someone else as better than you and you feel like all your hard work is for   42  . It is a fool’s game. Not one of us is exactly   43  . The only direct and honest comparison is   44   yourself. Everything else is apples to oranges.

My opinion is that you are only   45   to compare yourself to someone else if their life   46   is the same as your own. Good luck finding that   47  . And one thing is for sure. No matter how hard you work and how dedicated you are, there will always be someone who can run a little faster, jump a little higher, score a little better or look a little nicer in a swimsuit. And if there’s not, you can   48   someone is coming up fast   49   you. So how can you always win in life? Become your best   50  .

Having an image of your most recent past limits is the perfect thing to   51   you to the next level. If you ran 7 flights of stairs yesterday, then do 8 today. Who   52   if the guy next to you did 15? It doesn’t make a bit of   53  . You are a more   54   person today than you were yesterday. Your own   55   is all you need.

1.A. patient                                   B. strict                                 C. content                   D. concerned

2.A. stronger                                 B. better                               C. lazier                       D. wiser

3.A. inside                                     B. out                                    C. for                            D. up

4.A. accurate                       B. useful                               C. careful                    D. powerful

5.A. end                                B. best                                   C. convenience          D. side

6.A. satisfied                        B. busy                                  C. inspired                  D. lazy

7.A. nothing                                  B. fun                                    C. sure                         D. success

8.A. equal                             B. unique                              C. alike                         D. common

9.A. within                                     B. by                             C. for                            D. of

10.A. instructed                           B. allowed                            C. directed                  D. suggested

11.A. situation                     B. position                            C. occasion                 D. accommodation

12.A. game                                    B. match                               C. friend                      D. enemy

13.A. conclude                    B. bet                                    C. announce               D. declare

14.A. before                                 B. beside                              C. below                      D. behind

15.A. assistant                     B. competitor                      C. coach                      D. teacher

16.A. contribute                           B. expose                             C. push                        D. devote

17.A. cares                                    B. says                                   C. wonders                 D. asks

18.A. effort                                   B. sense                           C. difference               D. change

19.A. successful                           B. happy                               C. lucky                        D. fit

20.A. benefit                     B. progress                           C. habit                        D. result

Happy April Fool’s Day．In celebration of the day, we have put together a list of some of the greatest hoaxes in history．They are the lies that have been designed for innocent people who are ready to believe them．
INSTANT COLOUR TV
In 1962 there was only one TV channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white．The station’s technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that thanks to a newly developed technology, all viewers could now quickly and easily transform their existing sets to display colour reception．All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their TV screen, and they would begin to see their favorite shows in color．Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of people were taken in．Actual color TV transmission only started to appear in Sweden on April 1, 1970．
SAN ERRIFFE
In 1977 the British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement （增刊）in honor of the tenth anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean．A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this unknown nation．The Guardian’s phones rang all day as readers asked for more information about the beautiful holiday spot．Few noticed that everything about the island was made up．
NIXON FOR PRESIDENT
In 1992 American National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again．His new campaign slogan was, “I didn’t do anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.” Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his election speech．Listeners responded immediately to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and anger．Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke, Nixon’s voice was copied by comedian Rich Little．
【小题1】The underlined phrase “taken in” in the 2nd paragraph means ________.

I was working as a consultant(顾问) in a beer company, helping the president and senior vice-presidents with something important. It was a big   16   . At the same time, my mother was in the  17  stages of cancer. .

   I worked during the day and  18  40 miles home to be with her every night. It was 19  and stressful, but it was what I wanted to do. My promise was to continue to do excellent consulting during the day, 20   my evenings were very hard. I didn’t want to 21  the president with my situation.  22   I felt someone at the company wanted to 23  what was going on. So I told the vice-president of Hunan Resources, asking him not to 24  the information with anyone.

   A few days  25  , the president called me into his office. I  26  he wanted to talk to me about one of the many issues we were  27  on. When I entered, he asked me to sit down. He faced me from across his large  28  , looked me in the eye and said, “I   29   your mother is very ill.”

   I was totally  30  by surprise and burst into tears. He just looked at me, let my 31   subside(平息)，and then he  32  said a sentence I will never forget: “Whatever you need.” That was it. His  33  and willingness to both let me be in my pain and to offer me  34    were qualities of compassion(同情) that I   35  with me to this day.

1.A.honour                          B. success                   C. challenge                         D. task

2.A.previous                        B. final                                   C. fine                                   D. developing

3.A. walked                          B. rode                                  C. ran                                    D. drove

4.A.tiring                     B. exciting                            C. boring                               D. frightening

5.A.as if                                 B. after all                   C. even though          D. now that

6.A. help                               B. puzzle                               C. cheat                                D. bother

7.A.or                                    B. yet                                     C. and                                    D. so

8.A.know                     B. realize                              C. hear                                  D. announce

9.A.enjoy                    B. learn                                 C. share                                D. hide

10.A.after                   B. ago                                    C. before                              D. later

11.A.knew                            B. figured                    C. doubted                           D. found

12.A.working                       B. getting                              C. living                                 D. going

13.A.room                            B. office                                C. desk                                  D. computer

14.A.guess                           B. hear                                  C. believe                    D. think

15.A.hit                                 B. got                                     C. made                                D. caught

16.A.crying                          B. explaining                        C. talking                               D. worrying

17.A.suddenly                     B. sadly                                 C. gently                               D. carefully

18.A.happiness          B. understanding                C. excitement                      D. sadness

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

20.A.take                              B. bring                                 C. help                                  D. carry

Once upon a time a man became a great archer(射手)．He asked the king to declare

him as the greatest archer of the country．The king was about to do so when an old

servant of the king said，“Wait，sir．I know an old man who lives in the forest．He is a

much greater archer．Let this young man go to him and learn from him for at least three

years．”

The man could not believe that there could be a greater archer than him，but he

went and found the old man and he was! For three years he learned from him．Then one

day, when he thought he had learned everything，the thought arose in him：“If I kill this

old man，then 1 will be the greatest archer．”

The old man had gone to cut wood and he was coming back carrying wood On his

shoulder．The young man hid behind a tree，waiting to kill him．He shot an arrow．The

old man took a small piece of wood and threw it．It struck the arrow and the arrow

turned back and wounded the young man very deeply．The old man came，took Out the

arrow and said。“I knew that some day or other you were going to do this．That’s  why

I have not taught you this secret．There is no need to kill me．My Master is still alive，

and I’m nothing before him．You must be with him for at least thirty years．And he is

very old, so go fast! Find the old man!”

1.The underlined word in the 1st paragraph is closest in meaning to“       ”

2.The young archer wanted to kill the old man in the

3.The following pictures show what happened between the young archer and his

master．Which is the right order of the events?

4.What do you think would most probably happen next?

5.What lesson can you learn from the story?