Chances

I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job. I also think my work is important. There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career(职业)．

I wasn't an excellent student because I didn't do much schoolwork. In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn't have much to offer. I just accepted that I wasn't the type to have a career.

I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls. It wasn't too bad at first. But the problems began when I agreed to live in, so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening. We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week, she'd give me time off the next. But unfortunately, it didn't often work out. I was getting extremely tired and fed up, because I had too many late nights and early morning with the children.

One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Megan who used to go to school with me. I told her about my situation. She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification(资格证书)if I wanted to work with children. I didn't think I would be accepted because I didn't take many exams in school. She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful. My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part­time course. I had to leave my job with the family, and got work helping out at a kindergarten.

Now I've got a full­time job there. I shall always be thankful to Megan. I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career, even if you aren't top of the class at school.

1.What is the author's present job?

A．Working part­time in a college.

B．Helping children with their schoolwork.

C．Looking after children at a kindergarten.

D．Taking care of children for a family.

2.When staying with the two girls' family, the author________.

A．was paid for extra work

B．got much help from her boss

C．took a day off every other week

D．often worked long hours

3.Why did the author leave her first job?

A．She decided to attend a part­time course.

B．She found a full­time job.

C．She was fed up with children.

D．She needed a rest after working extra hours.

4.What has the author learned from her own experiences?

A．Qualifications are necessary for a career.

B．Hard work makes an excellent student.

C．One must choose the job she likes.

D．Less successful students can still have a career.

阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

         I’d been proud that I’d never lost my cellphone until my husband Jack got a call one evening.

         We went to visit a friend in hospital last year. When Jack’s     rang, it was my mother calling from my    . She asked if I had   my mobile. I checked my purse. It was    ! I used Jack’s phone to call my number. Then a boy, whom I’ll call Rhys,     it. “I found your phone!” he said, excitedly. “I have been trying to find you, but     it was getting late, I decided to leave.” He gave me the address of a     near his home.

         Later that evening, I went to     him there. I didn’t dare to go      , worrying this was some cheater. So Jack came along. After       10 km, we got to the coffee shop which Rhys      .

         My       were gone. Rhys was just a young boy. “How did you      my mum?” I asked. He      that when he found my mobile by the roadside, he started calling people in my list of contacts (联系人). But all they      was my mobile phone number — which didn’t     . He’d called many names, starting with the letter A. Finally he got Adam, one of my friends, who      my house.

         I was      to get my phone back with all the contacts, messages and photos I could have lost forever. I was so      to Rhys and offered him some money, but he     .

         As we drove back, we praised Rhys for his honesty.

1.A. electric car                  B. mobile phone                 C. radio                     D. doorbell

2.A. hospital                         B. company                        C. school                   D. home

3.A. found                        B. changed                C. lost               D. bought

4.A. gone                        B. new                                    C. busy                 D. broken

5.A. accepted                 B. returned                     C. got                D. answered

6.A. before                       B. because                           C. after                 D. if

7.A. coffee shop                 B. post office                       C. hotel                  D. supermarket

8.A. follow                            B. meet                                 C. catch                      D. punish

9.A. slowly                            B. back                                  C. alone                       D. finally

10.A. driving                        B. running                            C. walking          D. riding

11.A. talked about              B. looked for                     C. heard of                  D. knew about

12.A. difficulties               B. fears                           C. diseases                D. hopes

13.A. remember               B. know                           C. tell                           D. understand

14.A. realized                      B. repeated                   C. explained             D. believed

15.A. had                        B. noticed                 C. expected                D. finished

16.A. happen                       B. matter                              C. help                       D. fit

17.A. called                          B. visited                               C. shared                  D. sold

18.A. sorry                           B. glad                                   C. sad                         D. proud

19.A. useful                         B. strange                    C. grateful                   D. polite

20.A. missed                      B. appeared                  C. agreed                  D. refused

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从36—55各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

Learning experiences happen to us throughout our lives. Not long ago, I had one that I would like to   36  .

I was going to Marblehead with my sailboat team. The team was racing down the highway at 85 mph   37   we realized we were   38   . Luckily, we saw a rest area ahead. I had a brand new $20 bill. I was so   39    because I had never had that kind of cash before. But spending it on   40   seemed like throwing it away. We all rushed into the pizza line.  41   I got a pizza and a drink, and walked to my table. About halfway through the meal, I   42   I had not actually handed any money to the cashier. I had just   43   out, and nobody had noticed. I felt terrible.

My conscience（良心） opened its mouth and swallowed me in one big bite. I couldn’t   44    over it. I just couldn’t go back to the cashier and   45  for my stolen pizza. I was so upset that I    46   to give myself the pleasure of an ice cream in   57   that someone would say,“ Hey, Jeff, why don’t you use the change   48   the pizza instead of that nice, new $20 bill?” I was not so   49___ of my cash now.

For the next two years, whenever I was 　50　 of the “pizza incident”, I would say to myself, “Don’t think about it....”

I have learned two things from this  51  .Maybe I was a fool for   52  in to my conscience, and being too stupid to appreciate a   53   pizza. But the real lesson is that even if you get away from what you have done, your conscience will  54   up with you.

This reflects the saying, “A coward（懦夫） dies a thousand deaths; a hero dies once.” I was a coward and have felt terrible about that incident at least a thousand times. If I had been a “  55  ” and gone back to pay for the pizza, I would have felt a little uncomfortable about it only once, or maybe twice.

A. say          B. talk          C. share              D. explain

A. as                B. while         C. then                D. when

A. lost                    B. tired          C. hungry            D. anxious

A. excited         B. eager         C. satisfied           D. encouraged

A. rest                    B. food          C. travel                     D. drink

A. Luckily         B. Finally        C. Immediately      D. Actually

A. thought        B. recognized     C. noticed           D. realized

A. walked       B. left             C. worked              D. found

A. look              B. get             C. turn                  D. think

A. ask                B. pay           C. apologize          D. send

A. refused        B. wanted        C. hoped                D. meant

A. hope               B. surprise        C. anger               D. fear

A. into              B. with           C. for                         D. from

A. sure            B. upset          C. proud               D. pleased

A. warned        B. reminded       C. thought         D. told

A. experience     B. experiment      C. story               D. mistake

A. turning             B. taking          C. handing              D. giving

A. free                B. cheap          C. plain             D. delicious

A. make          B. wake          C. catch           D. put

A. coward        B. fool            C. loser            D. hero

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 show up. 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.The underlined sentence "It is so easy to exist instead of to live" in the fifth paragraph probably has the same meaning as________.

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 so easy to make a living

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

3.What's 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.

4.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

I first went to hear a live rock concert when I was eight years old. My brother

and his friends were all  36  of a heavy metal group called Black Wednesday. When they  37  that Black Wednesday were going to perform at our local theatre, they all bought  38  for performance. However, at the last minute, one of the friends couldn’t go, so my brother  39  me the ticket. I was really  40 !

I remember the buzz (嘈杂声) of excitement inside the theatre as we all found our  41 . After a few minutes, the lights went down and everybody became  42 . I could barely make out the stage in the  43 . We waited. Then there was a roar from the crowd, like an explosion, as the first members of the band  44  the stage. My brother leaned over and shouted something in my ear, but I couldn’t  45  what he was saying. The first song was already starting and the music was as  46  as a jet engine. I could  47  the drum beats and bass notes in my stomach.

I can’t recall any of the songs that the band played. I just  48  that I really enjoyed the show and didn’t want it to  49 . But in the end, after three encores (加演), the show finished. We left the  50  and walked unsteadily out onto the pavement. I felt a little dizzy, as if I had just  51  from a long sleep. My ears were still  52  with the beat of the last song.

After the  53  , I became a Black Wednesday fan too for a few years before getting into other kinds of music. Once in a while,  54 , I listen to one of their songs and  55  I’m back at that first show.

1.                A．members       B．fans            C．friends   D．volunteers

2.                A．guessed        B．thought         C．discovered    D．predicted

3.                A．flowers         B．drinks          C．clothes   D．tickets

4.                A．offered         B．booked         C．returned  D．found

5.                A．relaxed         B．excited         C．embarrassed   D．encouraged

6.                A．seats           B．entrance        C．spots D．space

7.                A．comfortable     B．serious         C．nervous  D．quiet

8.                A．silence         B．darkness        C．noise D．smoke

9.                A．fell upon        B．got through      C．stepped onto  D．broke into

10.               A．forget          B．bear           C．repeat    D．hear

11.               A．loud           B．hard           C．sweet D．fast

12.               A．enjoy          B．touch          C．feel  D．digest

13.               A．realize         B．understand      C．believe    D．remember

14.               A．continue       B．finish          C．delay D．change

15.               A．theatre         B．party          C．opera D．stage

16.               A．escaped        B．traveled        C．woken    D．benefited

17.               A．aching         B．burning        C．rolling D．ringing

18.               A．competition     B．performance    C．interview  D．celebration

19.               A．besides        B．otherwise       C．instead    D．though

20.               A．decide         B．regret          C．imagine   D．conclude