I stood outside New York’s Madison Square Garden and just stared, almost speechless. I was a farm boy from County Kilkenny, a child who some thought would never walk, let alone go as far as I had in the world.
From the day I was born, there was a problem. The doctors at the Dublin hospital told my parents I had phocomelia, a deformity that affected both legs below the knee, which were outward and shorter than normal and each foot had just three toes.
Life was tough. I couldn’t stand, much less walk. I rarely left the farmhouse—and then only in someone’s arms. Mom bundled me up whenever she took me to town, no matter the season.
“The world will see him when he can walk,” she told Dad. “And he will walk.”
Mom devoted herself to helping me. She tried everything to get me on my feet. When I was three, she and Dad took me to a clinic in Dublin.
A few weeks later we returned to Dublin with my artificial limbs (肢). Back home I practiced walking with my new limbs.
“There’s nothing anyone can do but you can’t,” Mom said. “You and I are going to walk through town.”
The next day Mom dressed me in my finest clothes. She wore a summer dress and fixed her hair and makeup. Dad drove us to the church. We stepped out of the car. Mom took my hand. “Hold your head up high, now, Ronan,” she said.
We walked 300 meters to the post office. It was the farthest I’d walked, and I was sweating from the effort. Then we left the post office and continued down the street, Mom's eyes shining with a mother's pride.
That night, back on our farm, I lay exhausted on my bed. It meant nothing, though, compared to what I’d done on my walk.
Then I began to pursue my dream of singing. And at every step Mom's words came back to me—Ronan, you can do anything anyone else can do—and the faith she had in God, who would help me do it.![]()
I’ve sung from the grandest stages in Europe, to music played by the world’s finest musicians. That night, I stood at the Madison Square Garden, with Mom’s words chiming in my ears. Then I began singing. I couldn't feel the pulse of the music in my feet, but I felt it deep in my heart, the same place where Mom’s promise lived. ![]()
【小题1】What was the problem with the author as a baby?
| A.He was expected unable to walk. |
| B.He was born outward in character. |
| C.He had a problem with listening. |
| D.He was shorter than a normal baby. |
| A.shortcoming | B.disadvantage |
| C.disability | D.delay |
| A.To hide their depressed feeling. |
| B.To indicate it an unusual day. |
| C.To show off their clothes. |
| D.To celebrate his successful operation. |
| A.determined | B.stubborn | C.generous | D.distinguished |
| A.His consistent effort. | B.His talent for music. |
| C.His countless failures. | D.His mother’s promise. |
As the economy begins to recover, salary increases should do the same.
In the past few years, employers have raised workers’ salaries by about 4 percent per year--except for 2009, when the figure dropped to a historically low 2.1 percent, according to a survey of World at Word. About one-third of companies froze raises altogether.
For 2010, World at Work’s survey projects an average salary increase budget of 2.7 percent, a figure that shows the situation has improved but the job market is still weak. Between 10 percent and 15 percent of companies said they would freeze raises--far fewer than in 2009, but still more than in most years.
How can you get a raise? Avalos and others offer the following tips:
* Do your job well. This means producing high-quality work, of course, but also keeping the big picture in mind.
“It really comes down to positioning yourself as a high performer, somebody who is aware of business goals and helps the company meet their goals as an organization”, Avalos said
* Be visible. When times are tough, some workers think. “I’m going to hunker down and hope that nobody notices me, because I don’t want to be on a layoff list,” said Richard Phillips, owner of Advantage Career Solutions. This is a mistake, because you’re unlikely to get a raise if no one knows what you have accomplished. “If anything, what you want to do is be more visible.”
* Make your boss’s life easier. This means everything from having a good attitude to taking on extra tasks. If you don’t know how you can help your boss, ask.
* Ask for a raise. Talk to your boss and present your case: Here’s what I’ve done, here’s how it fits with the company’s goals, and here is why I think it’s worth a salary increase. In some cases, even if your company has an official raise freeze, you can get a raise if you make good case.
If the answer is no -- or if you’re not ready to ask directly -- Phillips suggests asking, “What would you like to see from me that would put me in line for a raise?”
A question like this can improve your standing. “Just asking the question says to the boss, ‘I’m thinking about where I fit in here, what I can do,” Phillips said, “That in and of itself has value.”
【小题1】The passage is mostly from a\an________.
| A.novel | B.science fiction |
| C.magazine | D.biography |
| A.4 | B.2.1 | C.2.7 | D.10 |
| A.have your job done well | B.be visible everywhere as possible as you can |
| C.ask your boss for a raise directly | D.change your job |
| A.the situation has improved but the job market is still weak |
| B.salary increases should recover as the economy does |
| C.producing high-quality work will surely help you get a raise |
| D.that in and off an employee makes no difference |
请认真阅读下文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
注意:每空仅限1个单词。
Celebrating sleep
World Sleep Day, observed on 21 March, was created to bring attention to the growing number of sleep problems worldwide. Sleep is a natural part of human life, but many people in the modern world ignore its importance. As a result, sleep problems are increasingly common.
In 2002, scientists at the University of Athens in Greece conducted a survey of over 35,000 people in 10 countries around the world, including China, Belgium and South Africa. Of the people that responded to the survey, 24 percent said that they did not sleep well, and based on their responses, 31.6 percent were diagnosed(诊断) with insomnia(失眠) and another 17.5 percent were diagnosed with borderline (临界状态)insomnia. In addition, 30.7 percent of survey respondents reported visiting a doctor for help with sleep problems and 11.6 per cent said that they felt very sleepy during the day.
Overall, the survey found that many people suffer the effects of poor quality sleep, some examples of which are being unable to fall asleep and waking up in the middle of the night. The main factors causing these problems are pressure from school or work and a fast pace of life, but noise pollution and light pollution also relate to sleep and contribute to poor quality sleep. The survey’s findings are particularly troubling because large numbers of people were found to have difficulty sleeping at night. The short-term effects of this are tiredness and trouble concentrating. If this happens for a long time, the risk of gaining weight and having a heart attack may increase.
There are many things you can do to improve the quality of your sleep. First, you should have regular sleep habits. Try to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day. You also need to make your bedroom a cool, dark, quiet place to sleep so that heat, light and noise do not disturb you. At night, you should also avoid things that contain caffeine, such as chocolate, coffee, tea and many soft drinks, as caffeine may keep you from sleeping.
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for everyone. By following the advice above, you can rest better at night and work better during the day.
Title: Celebrating Sleep
| Topic | Context |
| World Sleep Day | Due to ignorance of sleep problems, people observed Mar. 21, World Sleep Day, ____73___attention to the importance of sleep. |
| Responses of the survey | Of 3, 5000 people in 10 countries in the world, there were 24 percent of the people saying they didn’t sleep well. 31.6 percent were diagnosed with insomnia and another 17.5 percent were on the __74____ of sleeplessness. The percentage of the people feeling ___75___ during the day is 11.6. In additio 30.7 percent reported__76___ to a doctor for sleep problems. |
| __71___causing sleep problems and their consequences | Under _77____ from school or work, people may have sleep problems. A fast pace of life causes sleep problem as well. Noise and light pollution also __78_____ to poor quality sleeps. Sleepless people are more __79___ to gain weight and have a heart attack. Feeling tired and sleepy, people find it hard to ___80______ |
| ___72__ to take to improve sleep quality | Have regular sleep habits Make your bedroom cool, dark and quiet Avoid things containing caffeine |