Discouraged by reading bad news daily and with his marriage failing, Canadian Neil Pasricha  decided to try to focus on the positive and come up with 1,000 simple, free, awesome things, posting one each day on a blog.

       Pasricha said his blog aimed to highlight life's simple pleasures, which were often taken for granted, such as finding forgotten money in a pocket, or fixing a TV set with a heavy blow.

       Little did he realize his blog would strike a nerve and attract 40,000 people a day to join his discussions on how to enjoy the last triangle of a potato crisp, or the pleasure of laughing so hard that you cry.

       Pasricha, aged 30, was amazed to win two Webby awards, known as "the Oscars of the Internet," something positive at a time when his marriage broke up and one of his closest friends committed suicide.

       "I turned the worst year of my life into my best year by focusing on the positive. " Pasricha told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Every day I try to find something that is happy, free and universal to share, like the smell of a bakery or when a cashier opens up a new line at a store. "

       Pasricha said when he began his blog in June 2008 he thought he might have trouble coming up with 1,000 simple, happy moments in life but now he is more than halfway through and ideas keep flooding in, from himself and from followers of his blog.

       "These moments can start a huge conversation. Most of our life is really about hitting green lights on the way home from, or waking up before your alarm goes off and realizing you have more time in bed. But it is those small moments we forget about."

       Despite the success of his blog, Pasricha does not want to change his daily life. “I travel regularly for an hour a day to work in the suburb. I like work because I like the people in my office. I’m not a writer and I don’t know how to use punctuations correctly. I just like observing the world and putting it down,” he said.

1.Neil Pasricha determined to post positive feelings or things on his blog because          .

       A．daily bad news and broken marriage saddened him

       B．1,000 simple, free, happy things excited him

       C．he wanted to forget his marriage life

       D．he wanted to make his blog successful

2.Which of the following will Pasricha probably NOT post onto his blog?

       A．Coming across an old schoolmate.

       B．Finding his lost dog come back home.

       C．Falling off his bike and getting injured.

       D．Buying his favourite book at a special price.

3.According to the passage, Pasricha         .

       A．gets ideas for 1,000 simple, free, happy things with trouble

       B．gets ideas for 1,000 simple, free, happy things on his own

       C．is on his way to collecting 1,000 simple, free, happy things

       D．has finished collecting 1,000 simple, free, happy things

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the poassage?

       A．Hard life for a Canadian blogger           B．Busy life for a Canadian blogger

       C．Great awards for a Canadian blogger     D．Great success for a Canadian blogger

When I was learning calligraphy my teacher told me a story.

A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practised handwriting with old sheets of newspapers complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you’ll write better. ”

　The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered, “When you used old newspapers to practice handwriting，you would think you were writing a draft（草稿）.  It didn’t matter if you wrote badly as old newspapers were plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn’t pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper you’ll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity (稀少) of chances and you’ll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you’ll do the handwriting much more attentively than otherwise practising it. Of course you’ve made rapid progress.”

Indeed，we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspapers”. We don’t care if we scrawl and waste them, thinking that they will come endlessly --- those “old newspapers” are inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.

Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there’s no chance for us to draw a draft. That’s because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed. Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of best paper.

1.The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought _______.

A．the student would practice more carefully on the best paper

B．it was comfortable to write on the bet paper

C．the student had enough money to buy the best paper.

D．the student could write more on the best paper.

2.The student didn’t make much progress at first because _________.

A．he regarded his writing on old newspaper just as a draft

B．he was too poor to buy better paper to write

C．he didn’t follow his teacher’s advice

D．he was not used to the calligrapher’s teaching manner

3.We learn from the passage that _________.

A．the student finally gave up

B．the student made rapid progress by persisting more carefully

C．the calligrapher was strict with his students

D．old newspaper is not useful

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．What teachers say is always true.

B．Success calls for attentiveness.

C．Handwriting is easy to practice.

D．New things are always better than old ones.

5.The writer wants to tell us that _________.

A．there are some good ways to practice handwriting

B．life is like old newspaper

C．we should learn from the student in the story

D．life will not give us a chance to draw a draft

When I was learning calligraphy (书法), my teacher told me a story.
A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practiced handwriting with old sheets of newspaper complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you'll write better.”
The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered，“When you used old newspaper to practice handwriting, you would think you were writing a draft. It didn't matter if you wrote badly as old newspaper was plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn't pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper and you'll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity of chances and you'll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you'll do the handwriting much more attentively than practicing. Of course you've made rapid progress.”
Indeed, we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspaper”．We don't care if we scrawl and waste it, thinking that it will come endlessly—the “old newspaper” is inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.
Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there's no chance for us to draft. That's because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed.
Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of the best paper.
【小题1】The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought ________.

When I was learning calligraphy my teacher told me a story.
A calligrapher taught handwriting. One of his students who often practised handwriting with old sheets of newspapers complained that he made very little progress though he had learned it with the calligrapher for a long time. His teacher said to him, “Try to use the best paper. Maybe you’ll write better. ”
　The student did as he was told. It really worked. He made headway not long afterwards and felt curious. He asked his teacher about the reason. The calligrapher answered, “When you used old newspapers to practice handwriting，you would think you were writing a draft（草稿）.  It didn’t matter if you wrote badly as old newspapers were plenty in supply. In that case you wouldn’t pay much attention to it. Now you use the best paper you’ll treasure it. Each time you write you feel strongly about the rarity (稀少) of chances and you’ll devote to it with all your heart and soul; you’ll do the handwriting much more attentively than otherwise practising it. Of course you’ve made rapid progress.”
Indeed，we spend our ordinary days just as they are worthless “old newspapers”. We don’t care if we scrawl and waste them, thinking that they will come endlessly --- those “old newspapers” are inexhaustible. In such a mood we may each day pass by opportunities but fail to catch any of them.
Life is not a military exercise but an actual war in which real weapons are used. In everyday life there’s no chance for us to draw a draft. That’s because what we call “draft” actually is the answer sheet we write that cannot be changed. Every day of our life is something new. Let us take every day as a sheet of best paper.
【小题1】The calligrapher in the story told the student to write on the best paper because he thought _______.

A boy and his father were walking in the mountains. Suddenly the boy fell, hurt himself, and cried, “AAAhhhhhhhh!!!” To his surprise, he heard the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain, “AAAhhhhhhhh!!!” Then the boy cried again, “Who are you?” He received the answer “Who are you?” He thought someone else in the mountain was making fun of him, so he got angry and shouted “Foolish!” He received the answer “Foolish!”
He looked at his father and asked, “What’s going on?” The father smiled and said, “My son, listen.” And then he shouted to the mountain, “I love you!” The voice answered, “I love you!” Again the man cried, “You’re the best!” The voice answered, “You’re the best!”
The boy was surprised, but did not understand. Then the father explained, “People call this ‘Echo’, but really this is life. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is just a reflection（反映）of what we have done. If you want more love in the world, have more love in your heart. If you want to be successful, work hard. This can be used in everything in life. Life will give you back everything you have given to it.”
1. At first the boy cried because __________.
A. he fell and hurt himself              B. he wanted to give himself a surprise
C. he got angry with his father          D. he hoped his father would help him
2. When the boy heard the voice repeating, he thought __________.
A. it was foolish to hear other’s voice   
B. someone else in the mountain liked his voice
C. he was laughed at by someone else in the mountain
D. there were many people in the mountain
3. The word “Echo” means __________.
A. life itself       B. repeating voice   C. love in the world      D. everything in life
4. We can infer from the story that __________.
A. the boy didn’t like his father at all        B. the boy did not understand what his father said
C. people will get everything back         D. the father had his own way to teach his son