More Than I Had Dreamed Of

From the time I was seven, I had a dream of becoming a member of the Students Union．I always   36  my school leaders for taking responsibility for all of us．So I dreamed of being a leader．

Years flew by, and soon I was able to participate in the elections,   37  I would win．But the reality struck that I hadn't had a chance．I wasn't pretty．Girls across the school hardly knew me．I just did not have what it   38  to win a school election．I was    39 ．

As I cried in my room that evening, I   40  took a deep breath and decided I wouldn't stop dreaming．I decided that I would   41  for elections again in my final year at school—and I would win．

I recognized that my  42 had a lot of things in their favor．What were the   43  that would work in my favor? I had good grades, and I was friendly and helpful．And my biggest  44  was the faith I had．I would not allow my   45  appearance to hold me back from putting my best foot forward．That evening, I   46  my election plans a whole year in advance．

I realized that girls would have to get to know me and recognize that I had the ability to   47  them．I loved making friends and I liked being helpful,   48  I decided that perhaps I could use these qualities to work to my advantage．In order to learn how to present a great election   49 , I also attended a course on effective public speaking．

The day after the election, when the principal announced I won the second highest number of votes, the students   50   That joy on the faces of all my friends showed me that my victory was   51  theirs．

Suddenly, I realized that I had   52  much more than I had dreamed of．I had made many new friends and had helped people   53  the way．I had won the   54  and love of my school-mates and they knew me as somebody who would stand by them．I was able to put a smile on their faces and  55  their day．

1.                A．admired        B．remembered    C．praised   D．believed

2.                A．praying         B．planning        C．calculating D．judging

3.                A．assessed        B．provided        C．meant    D．took

4.                A．concerned      B．depressed       C．surprised D．confused

5.                A．gradually       B．immediately     C．suddenly  D．impatiently

6.                A．pay            B．enter          C．speak    D．wait

7.                A．competitors     B．companions     C．enemies  D．schoolmates

8.                A．cases          B．methods        C．examples D．points

9.                A．problem        B．strength        C．worry    D．dream

10.               A．young          B．personal        C．special    D．plain

11.               A．began          B．discussed       C．announced D．cancelled

12.               A．recommend     B．accompany      C．represent  D．support

13.               A．but            B．and            C．so    D．or

14.               A．campaign       B．speech         C．ceremony D．promise

15.               A．nodded        B．gathered       C．cheered   D．cried

16.               A．only           B．still            C．almost D．also

17.               A．accomplished    B．accumulated     C．devoted   D．developed

18.               A．by            B．to             C．in    D．along

19.               A．appointment    B．acceptance      C．election   D．reputation

20.               A．enrich         B．bless           C．brighten   D．expand

D

At the railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is a large movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.

At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them (“Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon”), but more likely I didn’t let them know, and just turned up or didn’t turn up, not understanding that my parents’ hopes of seeing me were a greater disappointment of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.

And in all this I suspect I was typical (有代表性的), at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of “empty-nest syndrome (综合症)”, even though its possible effect that the main human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feeling of loss went without a name. Today, it’s a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life, The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through “visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats”. If you feel unhappy, lean on (depend on … for support) loved ones or your mental health providers. Above all, stay positive: “Thinking about the extra time and energy that you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home, it might help you adapt to this major life change.”

What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.

1.The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that _______.

A．young students will travel home for Christmas.

B．young people will travel in every direction.

C．it is a large movement of human beings

D．the traffic flows will be more contradictory

2.From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer _______.

A．went home every week to wash dirty clothes

B．understood his parents’ desire of seeing him

C．didn’t understand his parents’ feelings

D．went home to see his parents regularly

3.The underlined word “remedies” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.

A．reasons           B．excuses           C．habits            D．solutions

4.From the last paragraph we know that _______.

A．in modern society, children should leave home

B．Christmas is likely a time for family reunion

C．the significance of Christmas is celebration

D．Christmas is not a comfort for the non-religious

5.From the passage we can infer that by writing the article the writer is to _______.

A．persuade the young to show concern for their parents

B．ask the young to go home regularly

C．make the young understand their parents’ interest

D．enable the young to be more independent

Write a winning story!

         You could win ￡1,000 in this year’s Fiction Prize and have your story printed in Keep Writing magazine. Ten other lucky people will win a cheque for ￡100.

         Once again, we need people who can write good stories. The judges, who include Mary Littlejohn, the novelist, Michael Brown, the television reporter, and Susan Hitchins, the editor of Keep Writing, are looking for interesting and original stories. Detective fiction was extremely popular last year, although the competition winner produced a love story. You can write down about whatever you want but here’s some advice to start your thinking:

         Write about what you know

         This is the advice which every writer should pay attention to and, last year, nearly everyone who wrote for us did exactly that. Love, family, problems with friends ---- these were the main subjects of the stories. However, you need to turn ordinary situations into something interesting that people will want to read about. Make the reader want to continue reading by writing about ordinary things in a new and surprising way.

         Get your facts right

         It’s no good giving a description of a town or explaining how a jet engine works if you get it wrong. So avoid writing anything unless you’re certain about it.

         Hold the reader’s attention

         Make the beginning interesting and the ending a surprise. There is nothing worse than a poor ending. Develop the story carefully and try to think of something unusual happening at the end.

         Think about the characters

         Try to bring the people in your story alive for the reader by using well-chosen words to make them seem real.

         Your story must be your own work, between 2,000 and 2,5000 words and typed, double-spaced, on one side only of each sheet of paper.

         Even if you’re in danger of missing the closing date, we are unable to accept stories by fax or email. You must include the application form with your story. Unfortunately your story cannot be returned, nor can we discuss our decisions.

         You should not have had any fiction printed in any magazine or book in this country ---- a change in the rules by popular request ---- and the story must not have happened in print or in recorded form, for example on radio or TV, anywhere in the world.

         Your fee of ￡5 will go to the Writers’ Association. Make your cheque payable to Keep Writing and send it with the application form and your story to:

         Keep Writing

         75 Broad Street Birmingham

         B12 4TG

         The closing date is 30 July and we will inform the winner within one month of this date. Please note that if you win, you must agree to have your story printed in our magazine.

1.How should writers deal with ordinary situations while writing?

A. They should make them appealing to readers.

B. They should copy others’ ideas.

C. They should change some facts to make them interesting.

D. They should describe them as they are.

2.What shouldn’t a writer do?

A. Making the contents interesting.                     B. Getting the facts right.

C. Meeting the deadline.                                        D. Making the end ordinary.

3.Writers should present their works in the following ways except that ____________.

A. they should write originally

B. they can type their stories as they like

C. they should follow some rules

D. they should hand in their stories in time

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

A. Late stories can be faxed if necessary.

B. Entry needs no fee.

C. Winners can have their stories printed in other magazines.

D. All stories should be presented by mail.

 Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can’t you be bothered to do?

    A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so idle（闲散的）they’d catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.

    Just over 2,000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain’s largest health charity. The results were shocking. About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control (遥控器)was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.  More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 questioned people with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them.  This led the report to conclude that it’s no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classifted as obese（肥胖）before they start school.

Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: “People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families， too. If we don’t start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the simplest tasks.”

    And Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the laziest city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.

The results pose serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.

1. According to the researchers at Nuffield Health, about ________ people who were surveyed would not run to catch a bus.

A. 10            B. 150             C. 330              D. 660

2. One in six children in the UK are classified as obese before they start school because ________.

A. they stay too long a time with their pets  

B. they spend too much time watching TV

C. their parents don’t play with them much  

D. they suffer from obesity-related illnesses

3. ________ is the second laziest city in the UK.

    A. Scotland       B. Glasgow         C. Birmingham       D. Nuffield

4. What’s the writer trying to tell us?

    A. Parents have much to do with their children’s obesity-related illnesses.

    B. British people are getting lazier, which can cause serious social problems.

    C. The National Health Service has to face a lot of serious challenges every year.

    D. A study into how lazy British people are has been carried out at Nuffield Health.

People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves．One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event．Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered（聚集） to watch skilled athletes（运动员）．

　　Over 2000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days．These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves．They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill．

　　The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia．It was held in honor of the Greek god Zeus（Zus）．For five days，athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games．At the Olympic Games，people could watch them box，run，jump and so on．There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch（火矩）was passed from runner to runner．The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting．People were allowed to travel to the games safely．Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies（殖民地）in Africa，Asia and Italy．They met as friends to cheer their favorite athletes and to enjoy themselves．

1.What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago？

　　A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves．

　　B．The cities there were often against one another．

　　C．People watched baseball games．

　　D．People didn’t go to any games at all．

2.What were those countries in Africa？

　　A．Friends．     B．Enemies．

　　C．Colonies．    D．Other cities．

3.What did people do at the games？

　　A．They fought．                 B．They just talked to friends．

　　C．They cheered for good athletes．  D．They tried to find friends．

4.The best title for the story is“_____”．

　　A．Greece at War            B．Together for the Games

C．Stop Fighting             D．Sport