As a senior, my future is always on my mind. To be exact, thoughts of the future have kept me up countless nights and made me worry enough to do poorly on more than one test. Because of this, words of wisdom are a source of comfort. Steve Jobs gave a speech to Stanford’s graduating class in 2005 and his words resound repeatedly in my mind whenever I think about my future.
It wasn’t always like that, though. It started when I became a junior, when college came into view. It’s the first big step to making your life your own. So when Jobs discussed his life as a student, some fears were eased. He, too, felt the need to attend college to make something of himself. He faced what many are extremely afraid of: uncertainty. His lack of understanding caused him to stop attending college and focus on what he felt was important. His story had a happy ending, of course, since he certainly turned out well.
This doesn’t mean that students shouldn’t attend college, but rather that they shouldn’t worry so much. You’ll get where you need to go, even if your path is a bit more winding（蜿蜒的）than you’d like.
Jobs talked about the hardships in his work. His love of his work helped him carry on and he got where he was meant to be, which restates the point: don’t panic.
One particular part of his speech stayed with me. Steve Jobs quoted（引用）the saying “Stay hungry, stay foolish” and it has become my motto. Staying foolish is realizing that you are still a fool, no matter how much you’ve learned or experienced. There is always more to explore. Staying hungry is wanting to find those things about which you are still uneducated.
Steve Jobs’s level of success is attainable, and I aim to prove that. With the will power to go into the world living every day like it’s my last and allowing the future to take care of itself, I will do great things. In the last moments of my life, I’ll be proud of what I have done and hope to have all the wisdom a person could wish for.
【小题1】The author felt worried when _________.

Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

One-quarter of today’s student population are suffering from symptoms of depression. Of that group, almost half will experience depression intense enough to call for __43___ help. But many reject that idea, because they don’t want people to think there is something wrong with them.

There are three reasons why today’s college students are suffering more than in earlier ____44___. First is a weaker family support structure. Today, with high divorce rates and many parents __45___ their own psychological difficulties, the traditional family is not always available for help.

Another problem is __46_____ pressure. In the past ten years education costs have risen about 66 percent at public colleges and 90 percent at private schools. __47_____, most students must work part-time.

A final cause of students’ depression is the large __48_____ of majors available. Because of the difficulty of ___49___ a major, college can prove a time of great indecision. Many students ___50____ majors. As a result, it is becoming common for them to take five or six years to get a degree. It can be disappointing to students to be faced with the __51____ costs.

IF and WHEN often had lunch together．Their conversation always focused  36  the things they hoped to achieve and they loved to talk about them．

This particular Saturaday when they met for lunch, WHEN  37  IF wasn’t in a great mood （心情）. After they sat at the usual table_  38 _ for them, WHEN asked IF, "You don't seem your usual  39 _self（样子）?" IF replied, "Yesterday I saw a course I wanted to take．If only I   40  the time．"

WHEN knew exactly how IF felt and said, "I too saw a  41 _and I' m going to register when I get   42 money．" WHEN then questioned IF, "What about the new job you were going to apply for?" IF answered, "I would have applied, but my   43   broke down．I couldn't type my resume（简历）．"

"Don't worry．I've been thinking about looking for another job also,  44 _I'll wait and when the weather gets   45 _．I will look then．I hate this awful weather．"

The man sitting nearby heard them talking about when this and if that．When he couldn't  46 __it any more, he went to them and said, "I think I know   47 _ you could solve your problems．"

IF smiled and thought that even if he knew the  48 __they faced, there was no way he could help!  49 _, IF asked the man for advice．The man said, "Your conversation reminds me of an old   50 _ .IF and WHEN were planted, and nothing   51 _．"

IF and WHEN both looked surprised and began to feel 52 of living their life for the "ifs" and "whens"．Finally, they came to a（n）_  53 _: next time they met, there would be no "ifs" or "whens"; they would   54 _ talk about what they had   55 _ !

1.A．in                 B．on               C．at               D．against

2.A．sensed             B．insisted         C．declared        D．promised

3.A．cleaned            B．made             C．used             D．reserved

4.A．sensitive         B．honest           C．cheerful        D．clumsy

5.A．had                B．spent            C．seized          D．valued

6.A．notice             B．job              C．course          D．chance

7.A．lucky              B．pocket           C．enough           D．paper

8.A．computer           B．fridge           C．camera           D．recorder

9.A．or                 B．but             C．for             D．after

10.A．drier             B．colder           C．wilder          D．nicer

11.A．take             B．decline          C．support         D．watch

12.A．if                B．where            C．why              D．how

13.A．changes          B．expenses         C．challenges      D．possibilities

14.A．Sadly                           B．Curiously              C．Calmly           D．Stubbornly

15.A．saying           B．story            C．habit            D．fiction

16.A．rose             B．grew            C．removed          D．remained

17.A．tired            B．proud            C．ashamed          D．aware

18.A．ambition         B．conclusion      C．description      D．agreement

19.A．even                           B．only                    C．still                D．thus

20.A．discussed                    B．promised        C．arranged        D．achieved

I told my friend Graham that I often cycle the two miles from my house to the town center but unfortunately there is a big hill on the route. He replied, ‘You mean fortunately.’ He explained that I should be glad of the extra exercise that the hill provided.

My attitude to the hill has now changed. I used to grumble as I approached it but now I tell myself the following. This hill will exercise my heart and lungs. It will help me to lose weight and get fit. It will mean that I live longer. This hill is my friend. Finally as I wend my way up the incline I console myself with the thought of all those silly people who pay money to go to a gym and sit on stationery exercise bicycles when I can get the same value for free. I have a smug smile of satisfaction as I reach the top of the hill.

Problems are there to be faced and overcome. We cannot achieve anything with an easy life. Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to gain a University degree. Her activism and writing proved inspirational. She wrote, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.”

One of the main determinants of success in life is our attitude towards adversity. From time to time we all face hardships, problems, accidents, afflictions and difficulties. Some are of our making but many confront us through no fault of our own. Whilst we cannot choose the adversity we can choose our attitude towards it.

Douglas Bader was 21 when in 1931 he had both legs amputated following a flying accident. He was determined to fly again and went on to become one of the leading flying aces in the Battle of Britain with 22 aerial victories over the Germans. He was an inspiration to others during the war. He said, “Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you can’t do this or that. That’s nonsense. Make up your mind, you’ll never use crutches or a stick, then have a go at everything. Go to school, join in all the games you can. Go anywhere you want to. But never, never let them persuade you that things are too difficult or impossible.”

The biographies of great people are littered with examples of how they took these kinds of steps to overcome the difficulties they faced. The common thread is that they did not become defeatist or depressed. They chose their attitude. They chose to be positive. They took on the challenge. They won.

1.The writer has a smug smile of satisfaction as he reaches the top of the hill because        .

2.The writer quoted Helen Keller and her saying as an example to demonstrate        .

3.From this passage we know that Douglas Bader was a person of         .

4.In writing style, the last paragraph serves as      .

In today’s throwaway society，dealing with the city’s growing mountain of waste is an increasing challenge for the city council (市议会)．

Recently，Edinburgh is faced with the problem of disposing of (处理) about 250,000 million tons of waste a year.Despite different ways to dispose of much of it in a green manner—largely through encouraging recycling—its aging facilities such as the Powderhall landfill do not have the ability to deal with it.

The European Union (EU) has issued a new policy，regulating how such mountains of waste are to be disposed of.The five councils (Edinburgh，East Lothian，West Lothian，Midlothian and Borders) face fines around ￡18 million a year from 2013 if they don’t increase recycling levels and rely less on landfill.With this in mind，the councils got together with the idea of building a large incinerator plant (垃圾焚烧厂) to burn half of the waste produced in their districts.But this plan fell apart after the change of target levels by a new UK government waste policy which required that no more than 25% of the city’s waste should be disposed of in this way by 2025.

After the plan was abandoned，a private company which already transported millions of tons of the city’s waste by train to a landfill site near Dunbar，offered an

alternative solution when it suggested opening a huge waste site near Portobello.

Since Powderhall is supposed to close in 2015，it seemed necessary for the members of the Edinburgh Council to accept the suggestion.But soon they turned it down—after 700 local objections reached them—because it would have meant hundreds of lorries a day making loud noise through heavily populated areas.

That still leaves the council with a problem.By 2013，only 50% of 1995 levels of waste will be allowed to be sent to landfill.Even if recycling targets are met，there will still be a large amount of rubbish to be burnt up.Due to this，Edinburgh and Midlothian councils have now decided to work together to build an incinerator plant as time to find a solution is fast running out.(2011·湖北，C)

1.The main way of handling waste in a green manner in Edinburgh is ________.

A．recycling? B．restoring

C．burying? D．burning

2.The five councils worked out a plan to build an incinerator plant to ________.

A．reduce the cost of burying waste

B．meet the EU requirements

C．speed up waste recycling

D．replace landfill sites

3.The city council of Edinburgh rejected the suggestion to open a huge landfill site near Portobello because ________.

A．it came from a private company

B．the council was not interested in it

C．it was not supported by EU

D．the local people were against it

4.What is the final decision of Edinburgh and Midlothian councils?

A．To open a new landfill nearby.

B．To close the Powderhall landfill in 2015.

C．To set up a plant for burning waste.

D．To persuade people to reduce their waste.