I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.

I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows (誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.

So here’s what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not a desire of the next promotion (提升)， the bigger paycheck, the larger house.

Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure (空闲), it is work. Pick up the phone. Send an e-mail. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.

It is so easy to waste our lives, our days, our hours, our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of to live. I learned to live many years ago. Something really, really bad happened to me, something that changed my life in ways that, if I had my choice, it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what, today, seems to be the hardest lesson of all.

I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and try to give some of it back because I believed in it, completely and totally. And I tried to do that, in part, by telling others what I had learned. By telling them this: Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness, because if you do, you will live it with joy and passion as it ought to be lived.

1.The best title of this passage probably is ________.

A．Love your friends                       B．Live a real life

C．Don’t waste time                      D．Be a good mother and wife

2.How did the author form her view of life?

A．By working and social experience

B．Learning from her friends.

C．Through an unfortunate experience.

D．Because of her children and husband.

3.The underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of to live” in the fifth paragraph probably means ______.

A．it is so easy to keep alive but not to live a real life

B．it is very hard to live a real life

C．it is more difficult to exist than to live a happy life

D．it is so easy to make a living

4.What is the author’s attitude toward work?

A．Do it well to serve others.

B．To earn enough money to make life better.

C．Try your best to get higher position and pay.

D．Don’t let it affect your real life.

5.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.

A．the author is a success in personal life

B．the author didn’t try her best to work well

C．the author spent all her time caring for her children

D．the author likes traveling very much

Producing money requires both artistic and technological skills. Dollar bills are made so that they are interesting to look at but very hard to copy. In total, there are sixty-five separate steps required to make a dollar bill．

The money making process begins when a yearly order is sent by the Federal Reserve Board. That order will then be divided in half. Half will be done here in Washington, D.C. and the other half will be done in Fort Worth, Texas. Next, the Bureau orders special paper which is actually cloth since it is 75% cotton and 25% linen．

This paper is made so that it can last a long time. And, it is made with details that make it hard to copy. For example, bills contain security threads. These narrow pieces of plastic are inside the paper and run along the width of the bill. This special paper is also made with very small blue and red fibers．

Once the money is printed, guillotine cutters (切纸机) separate the sheets into two notes, then into individual notes．The notes are organized in "bricks," each of which contains forty one-hundred-note packages. The bricks then go to one of twelve Federal Reserve Districts, which then give the money to local banks. Ninety-five percent of the bills printed each year are used to replace money that is in circulation, or that has already been removed from circulation．

You may know that America's first president, George Washington, is pictured on the one- dollar bill. But do you know whose face is on the two, five, ten, twenty, fifty and one hundred-dollar bills? They are, in order. President Thomas Jefferson, President Abraham Lincoln, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, President Andrew Jackson, President Ulysses Grant and statesman Benjamin Franklin．

The average life span of a one-dollar bill is twenty-one months. But a ten-dollar bill lasts only about eighteen months．The one hundred-dollar bill lasts the longest, eighty-nine months．One popular question is about the two-dollar bill. This bill is not printed very often. This is because many Americans believe two-dollar bills are lucky, so they keep them． 

1.During money production, we must consider all EXCEPT that it must                    .

A. last a long time                       B. be hard to copy

C. be done by the president's order D. be interesting to look at

2.We can learn from the passage that the security threads                    .

A. are narrow pieces of plastic

B. are pressed outside the bills

C. are longer than the width of the bills

D. are actually made of cotton and linen

3. How many presidents are printed on the American money?

A. Four                     B. Five                     C. Six                  D. Seven

4.Why are the two-dollar bills not made often?

A. Because no one wants them．

B. Because they aren't damaged quickly like other bills．

C. Because they aren't used in America any more．

D. Because their material is a bit more expensive．

Once a man came to a wise man’s house and said, “ I have many bad habits. Which one of them should I   36  first?” The wise man said, “Never tell lies   37  always speak the truth.” The man   38  to do so and went home.

At night the man was about to go out to steal. Before setting out, he   39  for a moment about the promise he made to the wise man. “If he asks me where I have been, what shall I say? Shall I say I went out   40 ? No, I cannot say that. But nor can I   41 . If I tell the truth, everyone will start   42  me and call me a thief. I would be   43  for stealing.” So the man   44  not to steal that night, and gave up this   45  habit.

Next day, he   46  to drink wine. When he was about to do so, he said to himself. “What shall I say to the wise man   47  he asks me what I did during the day? I cannot tell a lie.” And so he gave up the   48  of drinking wine.

In this   49 , whenever the man thought of doing something bad, he   50  his promise to tell the truth at all times.   51 , he gave up all his bad habits and became a very   52  person.

Telling the truth is a very good   53 . If you always speak the truth, you can save yourself from a lot of   54  and become a person whom everyone   55  and favors.

Make a promise: I shall always speak the truth.

Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you’ve got to love yourself first and this can be tricky(棘手的). Sure we all know that we’re the apple of our parents’ eyes, and that our Grandmas think we’re great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics, but sometimes it’s a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you build a positive self-image and learn to love yourself.

Self-image is your own mind’s picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.

The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don’t allow doubts to occur in it.

It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can’t move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves（袖子） and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you’re silly because you aren’t good at math, find a tutor. If you think you’re weak because you can’t run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you’re dull because you don’t wear the latest trends（潮流）, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn’t mean it’s true.

The best way to get rid of a negative self-image is to realize that your image is far from objective（客观的）, and to actively convince（使确信） yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting（促进，晋升） a positive self-image. When you can pat (拍) yourself on the back, you’ll know you’re well on your way. Good luck!

1.You need to build a positive self-image when you _________.

A．dare to challenge yourself

B．feel it hard to change yourself

C．are unconfident about yourself

D．have a high opinion of yourself

2.According to the passage, our self-images _________.

A．have positive effects

B．are probably untrue

C．are often changeable

D．have different functions

3.How should you change your self-image according to the passage?

A．To keep a different image of others.

B．To make your life successful.

C．To understand your own world.

D．To change the way you think.

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．How to prepare for your success.

B．How to face challenges in your life.

C．How to build a positive self-image.

D．How to develop your good qualities.

5.Who are the intended readers of the passage?

A．Parents.                              B．Adolescents（青少年）.

C．Educators.                             D．People in general.

Once a man came to a wise man’s house and said, “ I have many bad habits. Which one of them should I   36   first?” The wise man said, “Never tell lies   37   always speak the truth.” The man   38   to do so and went home.

At night the man was about to go out to steal. Before setting out, he   39   for a moment about the promise he made to the wise man. “If he asks me where I have been, what shall I say? Shall I say I went out   40  ? No, I cannot say that. But nor can I   41  . If I tell the truth, everyone will start   42   me and call me a thief. I would be   43   for stealing.” So the man   44   not to steal that night, and gave up this   45   habit.

Next day, he   46   to drink wine. When he was about to do so, he said to himself. “What shall I say to the wise man   47   he asks me what I did during the day? I cannot tell a lie.” And so he gave up the   48   of drinking wine.

In this   49  , whenever the man thought of doing something bad, he   50   his promise to tell the truth at all times.   51  , he gave up all his bad habits and became a very   52   person.

   Telling the truth is a very good   53  . If you always speak the truth, you can save yourself from a lot of   54  and become a person whom everyone   55  and favors.

  Make a promise: I shall always speak the truth.

1.A. give in               B. join in                   C. give up             D. set up

2.A. so                         B. but                         C. however      D. and

3.A. persuaded       B. promised              C. preferred         D. began

4.A. played                 B. drank                C. thought             D. recognized

5.A. stealing                B. walking                  C. studying       D. climbing

6.A. move               B. say               C. help                         D. lie

7.A. catching      B. hating            C. killing               D. believing

8.A. expected            B. hurt              C. punished      D. ignored

9.A. asked               B. forgot                    C. pretended             D. decided

10.A. bad                      B. special                      C. unfair                     D. funny

11.A. wanted                 B. went              C. learnt                    D. stopped

12.A. before                     B. since                     C. as                            D. if

13.A. word               B. idea                       C. power                   D. use

14.A. base               B. block                        C. way                    D. place

15.A. recognized   B. planned               C. broke                D. remembered

16.A. At present             B. Face to face        C. One by one     D. On purpose

17.A. good                   B. strong                       C. rich        D. calm

18.A. custom            B. habit             C. game                D. hobby

19.A. tests               B. hopes                   C. pleasure             D. trouble

20.A. serves                      B. cheats                  C. likes                     D. dislikes