Eat healthier. Exercise twice a week. Read more books. Lose weight. We make the same resolutions every year. But most of us fail, and quit after only a few days or weeks．Even the most successful among us, those who have climbed to the top of their fields, crash and burn when it comes to personal change. For example, President Barack Obama has struggled with his smoking habit．        

       So why is change so challenging? Are we wired in a way that keeps us from making changes? And do we need the support of others to reach our goals, or can we go it alone?

       Professionals who help people make-changes in their lives suggest that the change is determined not by one’s surroundings, but one's mind．Beginning with small goals or steps usually leads to a bigger pay-off later, they say．And trying to make a change is easier with support from a cheery group of friends, family, or co-workers with shared goals．But they caution that the experience is different for everyone．

       "People are more likely to make positive changes in their lives not only when their friends do, but when their friends of friends do, and when their friends of friends of friends do," said Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard University．"Social networks have this interesting property of magnifying (放大) everything, and so taking advantage of your social network ties can result in a magnification of your own efforts.

       Johnny Augustin understands that well．His goal was to reduce 30 pounds from his 237-pound frame．But the change didn’t come easily．He said "I'm a huge procrastinator．There is a desire but I just kept putting it off．I didn't get to do it until the summer．"However, Augustin got inspired when he saw his older brother working out．Today, Augustin weighs 190 pounds．        

       Having a positive attitude is one of the keys to making a successful change, according to Judy Zerafa, author of several books based on how people can improve their lives．She emphasized the importance of believing in yourself—and having positive habits, creative imagination, and persistence—to make change happen．"Success in overcoming any self-defeating behavior particularly those related to health, finances, relationships and weight loss is almost guaranteed if you learn to reprogram the subconscious images in that part of the mind,” Zerafa said in an article.

59. According to the passage, Nicholas Chirstakis means that _______.

       A．friendship plays an important role in our daily lives

       B．people are better able to make changes when they make changes with others

       C．friends can easily change our minds about something．

       D．friends' support plays a bigger role in one's success than one’s mind

60．The word "procrastinator" in Paragraph 5 refers to those who_____．

       A．have great determination to make a change 

       B．have no desire to do something great                                      

       C．put off work especially out of laziness    

       D．have habitual carelessness and laziness  

61．The passage is mainly about              .

       A．the reason why change is so hard       

       B．the difficulty we have in making a change

       C．the ways of making a change in your life

       D．the attitudes towards making a change 

62．What information will probably be provided following the last paragraph?

       A．Useful methods used to avoid negative thoughts．

       B．The side effects of self-defeating behavior．

       C．The ways Judy Zerafa advised to make a change．

       D．Examples about the importance of a positive attitude．

Recently, one of my best friends, whom I've shared just about everything with since the first day of kindergarten, spent the week end with me. Since I moved to a new town several years ago, we've both always ___1___ the few times a year when we can see each other.

.Over the ___2___, we spent hours and hours, staying up late into the night, talking about the people she was ___3__ around with. She started telling me stories about her new boyfriend, about how he experimented with ___4___ and was into other ___5___ behavior. I was blown away! She told me how she had been ___6___ to her parents about where she was going and even sneaking out to see this guy because they didn't want her ___7___ him. No matter how hard I tried to tell her that she ___8__ better, she didn't believe me. Her self-respect seemed to have disappeared.

I tried to ___9___ her that she was ruining her future and heading for big trouble. I felt like I was getting ___10___. I just couldn't believe that she really thought it was ___11__ to hang with a bunch of losers, especially her boyfriend. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m

By the time she left, I was really worried about her and ___12___ by the experience. It had been so frustrating, I had come ___13___ to telling her several times during the weekend that maybe we had just grown too far apart to ___14___ our friendship - but I didn't. I put the power of ___15___ to the ultimate test. We'd been friends for far too long. The chance was that she ___16___ me enough to know that I was trying to save her from hurting herself. I wanted to believe that our friendship could ___17___ anything.

A few days later, she called to say that she had thought long and hard about our ___18___, and then she told me that she had ___19___ with her boyfriend. I just listened on the other end of the phone with tears of joy running down my face. It was one of the truly ___20___ moments in my life. Never had I been so proud of a friend.

1. A. worried about              B. looked forward to C. paid attention to     D. think of

2. A. weekend               B. months    C. years                D. days

3. A. working               B. falling in love    C. hanging                 D. keeping in touch

4. A. books                   B. girls                  C. friends                     D. drugs

5. A. self-destructive      B. self-respecting  

C. self-confident           D. self-defensive

6. A. explaining            B. reasoning          C. declaring                  D. lying

7. A. on                        B. beside               C. around                     D. to

8. A. did                   B. deserved                C. had                        D. got

9. A. told                 B. convince               C. force            D. warn

10. A. somewhere   B. everywhere               C. nowhere     D. anywhere

11. A. acceptable    B. believable              C. reliable             D. admirable

12. A. exhausted     B. surprised                  C. satisfied            D. terrified

13. A. almost         B. nearly                      C. close          D. over

14. A. stop             B. continue                C. start           D. make

15. A. love            B. friendship   C. truth          D. justice

16. A. thought        B. remembered      C. valued             D. hated

17. A. mean           B. conquer             C. tell                  D. prove

18. A. friendship    B. relationship              C. quarrel              D. conversation

19. A. broken away       B. broken down     C. broken up   D. broken out

20. A. demanding   B. challenging   C. frustrating      D. rewarding

When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.
And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.
I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?
I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.
The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.
We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.
My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision.
【小题1】.The writer argued with her father because _________________.

When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.

And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.

I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?

I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.

The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.

We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.

My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision.

1..The writer argued with her father because _________________.

2..After getting married, the writer questioned if she had done the right thing to marry her husband because___________.

3..After their children were born, the writer_______________.

4.. Why didn’t the writer’s children think they were poor growing up?

5..What do you think is the theme(主题）of the story?

When I decided to get married, my father decided to share some wisdom. “Lori, it is just as easy to love a rich man as it is to love a poor man, “ he said. My boyfriend didn’t have much money, but I loved him. “What?” I cried. “ How can you say that? I want to marry for love, NOT for money.” “ But why not marry someone you love who has money?” he asked. “Rich men are materialistic（物质主义的）. I’d rather marry a poor man who loves me,” I said and he gave in.
And as we went on, with my family growing, I learned why my father put such importance on money. We had to cover the rent, car, electricity, food, and medical bills. We were under lot of pressure. The worries over whether we would be asked to move out or if we had the money to wash our clothes at the Laundromat this week made me question if I did the right thing by marrying a “poor” man.
I realized that I had entered the ranks of the poor. Not that I’d ever been rich. Most of my life, I considered us in the lower middle-class rank. We had a house of our own, food on the table, cars, clothes, and money for college. But now, as I listened to an apartment neighbour talk about her monthly “Mother’s Day” gift, I realized she was talking about her welfare check（政府发放的救济金）. And another young mother tried to “help” me out by connecting me with a friend who stole baby clothes from a department store. “ For a small cut,” she said, “ I could return my ‘purchase’(购买的东西）for cash.” It made me sick. How poor was I?
I had a college education but wasn’t using it. I insisted on not missing a minute of our children’s childhood and it came at a price. My husband was working as hard as he could and it wasn’t enough. But somehow we made it.
The kids grew. Today, we look back and see the great values gained by going through those hard years. My children are not materialistic. They never thought they were poor growing up because we always managed to give a little bit of food, money, or clothes to the “poor”. They were satisfied with the simple things in life that come free such as a beach day or a horse back ride from their dad.
We had our worries, but we still treasured our very favorite part of the day when we’d nest (栖息地）under the covers and talked about our future, the kids and how much we loved each other. Sure our financial(财政的) troubles caused a lot of fights, but we didn’t leave each other. We began to live a better life. We moved to a better community(社区）with good schools for the kids. And soon, we’ll face a new challenge with wealth. But we’ll never give up.
My father died three years ago. Before he died, he knew I made the right choice. I’m proud of my decision

1. 1.

   The writer argued with her father because _________________

   1. A.
      she thought her father didn’t love her at all
   2. B.
      her father thought her boyfriend was too materialistic
   3. C.
      her father wanted her to marry a rich man while she didn’t
   4. D.
      she thought her father loved her boyfriend’s money more than him
2. 2.

   After getting married, the writer questioned if she had done the right thing to marry her husband because___________

   1. A.
      she was often scolded(责骂)by her father
   2. B.
      she found her husband was irresponsible(不负责任的）
   3. C.
      he didn’t think her husband loved her deeply
   4. D.
      they lived a poor life with children to support
3. 3.

   After their children were born, the writer_______________

   1. A.
      often regretted not using her college education
   2. B.
      worked very hard in order to make more money
   3. C.
      had to steal baby clothes from a department store
   4. D.
      looked after her children as a professional (职业的,专业的）housewife
4. 4.

   Why didn’t the writer’s children think they were poor growing up?

   1. A.
      Because the writer always gave them whatever they wanted
   2. B.
      Because the writer and her children often helped other people
   3. C.
      Because the writer didn’t let her children play with their rich neighbours
   4. D.
      Because the writer let her children have a good life through receiving help from others
5. 5.

   What do you think is the theme(主题）of the story?

   1. A.
      Women should always make a decision by themselves
   2. B.
      Listening to the old is important when people get married
   3. C.
      Money doesn’t matter as much as love in marriage
   4. D.
      Children don’t mind whether they have a poor family or not