All of us have read thrilling（惊险的）stories in which the hero had only a limited time to live．Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but we were always interested in discovering just how the hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours．

Such stories make us think and wonder what we should do under similar circumstances．What happiness and regrets should we find in thinking about the past?

Sometimes, I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow．Such an attitude would emphasize （强调）sharply the values of life．We should live each day with appreciation which is often lost when time stretches（延伸）before us with more days and months and years to come．

Most of us take life for granted．We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future．When we are in pleasant health, death is unimaginable．We seldom think of it．The days stretch out endlessly．So we go about our little task, hardly aware of our dull attitude towards life．

The same attitude, I am afraid, falls on the use of our abilities and senses．Only the deaf appreciate hearing; only the blind realize the importance of sight．But those who have never lost hearing and sight seldom make the fullest use of these abilities．Their ears take in sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation．People seldom realize how good it is being in good health until they have fallen ill．It is the same old story of not being grateful（感激的）without missing．

1．When reading the thrilling stories, we usually ________．

A．have curiosity about the hero’s limited life      

B．show great interest in our own lives

C．find many regrets in thinking about the past    

D．have pity on ourselves

2． From the passage, we can learn that ________．

A．if we want to live an excellent life we should die tomorrow

B．the disabled are eager to lose their abilities and senses

C．each of us should treasure what we have today

D．most of us are able to make full use of our time

3．The underlined word “hazily” in the last paragraph probably means ________．

A．happily              B．unclearly             C．freely             D．sadly

4．The best title for this passage may probably be ________．

A．Not Being Grateful without Missing         B．Giving a Hand to the Disabled

C．Making Use of Our Senses                            D．Learning from Thrilling Stories

As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to   36   down. But moderate relaxation is necessary for a healthy mind and body.

Stress is a   37  part of everyday life and there is no way to   38   it. In fact, it is not the bad thing that it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is important to provide motivation and give   39   to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.

The amount of stress a person can bear   40   very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such   41   are obviously chief material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at first   42  of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make a choice between   43  and fight. And in more ancient days the choices made the   44   between life and death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it requires the same response. It is when such a reaction   45   long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes _ 46 . Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart diseases have   47   links with stress. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives we need to find ways to deal with it. It would be unwise to do so even if we could.

So what do you think of stress? What is your way to deal with it?

Nick was tired of life，every day was exactly the same.

“What I need is a little adventure!”Nick thought as he waited at the bus stop one morning.Nick’s little adventure happened sooner than he had expected!

While he was on the bus，reading his newspaper，the man sitting next to him suddenly pushed a large brown envelope in his hands.“Here，take this!”he murmured.Then he stood up and got off the bus before Nick could say a word.

Nick sat there holding the envelope.It felt heavy.There were papers inside，or money perhaps.“I’d better hand it over to the police，”he thought.There was a police station close to his office.But as he got off the bus，a man came up to him.He was obviously waiting for something.“He wants the envelope.”Nick thought.Nick began to walk quickly and the man hurried after him.Nick started to run and the man began to run，too.But then，just before he got to the police station.Nick managed to lose the man in the crowds when he entered the police station，the man was no longer in sight.

Inside the police station，the envelope was full of money—false money.“Obviously the man made a mistake，”the inspector said，“He thought you were one of the gang! Well，congratulations!”

Nick felt like a hero.He could already see his name in all the papers.He could imagine an interview on television!

“However，”the inspector went on，interrupting Nick’s daydreams.“I’m afraid I must ask you to keep quiet about this.We’re trying to catch some very clever thieves and we don’t want them to know that we have some of the money.So you mustn’t say a word to anyone—even your boss! Sorry!”

“So that’s that!”Nick said to himself on his way to the office.He was over an hour late.“I’ve had my little adventure，but I can’t tell anyone about it.So what’s the point? I’ve even got to make up an excuse to the boss!”

46.Nick was bored because his life wasn’t ______.

A.very pleasant　　　　                                  B.very easy

C.full of amusement　　　　                           D.interesting

47.The man gave Nick an envelope while Nick was going______.

A.to his office　　　　                                    B.to get off the bus

C.to take the bus　　　　                                D.to get on the bus

48.Nick decided to take the envelope to the police because he thought it was______.

A.dangerous　　　　                                      B.heavy

C.important　　　　                                       D.funny

49.The man who wanted the envelope knew______.

A.Nick’s boss　　　　                                     B.Nick’s name

C.about the envelope　　　　                          D.about Nick’s adventure

50.After his adventure，Nick expected to be______.

A.rich　　　　                                               B.important

C.famous　　　　                                           D.an adventurer

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity(灾难) can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.
Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed (崩溃) and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance（确信） that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the simplest things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.
【小题1】We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

I lost my sight when I was four by falling off a box car in a freight（货物）yard in Atlantic City. Now I am thirty two. I can slightly remember what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a disaster can do strange things to people. I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.

         Life, I believe, asks constant adjustments to reality. The adjustment is never easy. I was totally confused and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me—a potential to live, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.

         The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would have become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself, I mean: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the intricate（错综复杂的） pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

         It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was making fun of me and I was hurt. “I can’t use this.” I said. “Take it with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words stuck in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a new kind of baseball. We called it ground ball.

         All my life I have set a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good trying for something that I knew at the start was out of reach. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.

1.We can learn from the beginning of the passage that _______

A. the author lost his sight because of a car crash.             

B. the author wouldn’t love life if the disaster didn’t happen.

C. the disaster made the author appreciate what he had.

D. the disaster strengthened the author’s desire to see.

2.What’s the most difficult thing for the author?

A. How to adjust himself to reality.

B. Building up assurance that he can find his place in life.

C. Learning to manage his life alone.

D. How to invent a new kind of baseball.

3.According to the context, “a chair rocker on the front porch” in paragraph 3 means that the author _________.

A. would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life.        

B. would be unable to move and stay in a rocking chair.

C. would lose his will to struggle against difficulties.

D. would sit in a chair and stay at home.

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A. A Miserable Life                           B. Struggle Against Difficulties

C. A Disaster Makes a Strong Person          D. An Unforgettable Experience