We all have our ways of marking time. As a photographer, my life is measured from one story to the next. My oldest son was born in the middle of a long story about the Endangered Species Act. My daughter came along with a pack of gray wolves.

Twenty stories later, though, it’s the story in Alaska that I’ll remember best. It was the story about the loss of wilderness — and the story during which my wife Kathy got cancer. That’s the one that made time stand still. I stopped taking pictures on the day when she found that tumor (腫瘤). Cruelly, it was Thanksgiving. By Christmas, she had become very weak. Some days she was so sick she couldn’t watch TV.

Early examination saves time. But ours was not early. By the time you can feel it yourself, it’s often bigger than the doctor want it to be.

Cancer is a thief. It steals time. Our days are already short with worry. Then comes this terrible disease, unfair as storm at harvest time. But cancer also has the power to change us, for good. We learn to simplify, enjoying what we have instead of feeling sorry for what we don’t. Cancer even made me a better father. My work had made me a stranger to my three kids. But now I pay attention to what really matters. This is not a race. This is a new way of life and new way of seeing, all from the cancer.

In the end each of us has so little time. We have less of it than we can possibly imagine. And even though it turns out that Kathy’s cancer has not spread, and her prognosis (診斷) is good, we try to make it all count now, enjoying every part of every day.

I’ve picked up my camera again. I watch the sky, searching for beautiful light. When winter storms come, Kathy and I gather our children and take the time to catch snowflakes (雪花) on our tongues. After all, this is good. This is what we’re living for.

1.As a photographer, the author used to ______

A. leave his daughter with a pack of gray wolves

B. devote much more to his career than his family

C. miss a great many important historical moments

D. express his love for his family in a special way

2.Why did the author decide to stop taking pictures?

A. To cure his own disease.

B. To leave the wilderness alone.

C. To seek a better position.

D. To spend more time with his wife.

3.What is the biggest change the cancer has brought to the author?

A. He takes his work more seriously

B. He has become a stranger to his children.

C. He treasured every bit of time with his family

D. He focuses more on medical care.

4.The author and his family catch snowflakes on their tongues probably because ______.

A. they regard that as a way to enjoy life

B. snowflakes are what they feed on

C. the snowflakes taste very good

D. there is beautiful light in the snowflakes

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You’re probably aware of the basic trends. The financial rewards to education have increased over the past few decades, but men fail to benefit.

In elementary and high school, male academic performance is lagging. Boys earn three-quarters of the D’s and F’s. By college, men are clearly behind. Only 40 percent of bachelor’s degree go to men, along with 40 percent of master’s degree.

Thanks to their lower skills, men are dropping out of the labor force. In 1954, 96 percent of the American men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked. Today, that number is down to 80 percent. In Friday's jobs report, male labor force participation reached an all-time low.

Millions of men are collecting disability benefits. Even many of those who do have a job are doing poorly. According to Michael Greenstone of the Hamilton Project, annual earnings for average prime-age males have dropped by 28 percent over the past 40 years.

Men still dominate (主宰) the top of the corporate ladder because many women take time off to raise children, but women lead or are gaining nearly everywhere else. Women in their 20s outearn men in their 20s. Twelve out of the 15 fastest-growing professions are dominated by women.

Over the years, many of us have employed a certain theory to explain men's economic decline. It is that the information-age economy rewards qualities that women are more likely to possess.

To succeed today, you have to be able to sit still and focus attention in school at an early age. You have to be emotionally sensitive and aware of context. You have to communicate smoothly. For genetic and cultural reasons, many men are not good at these.

But, in her fascinating new book, The End of Men, Hanna Rosin suggests a different theory. It has to do with adaptability. Women, Rosin argues, are like immigrants (移民) who have moved to a new country. They see a new social context, and they flexibly adapt to new circumstances. Men are like immigrants who have physically moved to a new country but who have kept their minds in the old one. They speak the old language. They follow the old customs. Men are more likely to be rigid; women are more fluid.

This theory has less to do with born qualities and more to do with social position. When there’s big social change, the people who were on the top of the old order are bound to stick to the old ways. The people who were on the bottom are bound to experience a burst of energy. They are going to explore their new surroundings more enthusiastically.

Rosin reports from working-class Alabama. The women she meets are flooding into new jobs and new opportunities — going back to college, pursuing new careers. The men are waiting around for the jobs left and are never coming back. They are strangely immune (免疫的）to new options. In the Auburn-Opelika region, the average female income is 140 percent of the average male income.

Rosin is not saying that women are winners in a global gender (性別) war or that they are doing super simply because men are doing worse. She's just saying women are adapting to today’s economy more flexibly than men. There’s a lot of evidence to support her case.

A study by the National Federation of Independent Business found that small businesses owned by women outperformed male-owned small business during the last recession (衰退). In finance, women who switch firms are more likely to see their performance improve, whereas men are likely to see theirs decline. There's even evidence that women are better able to adjust to divorce. Today, more women than men see their incomes rise by 25 percent after a marital breakup.

Forty years ago, men and women stuck to certain theory, what it meant to be a man or a woman. Young women today, Rosin argues, have abandoned both feminist (女權主義者）and prefeminist preconceptions. Men still stick to the masculinity (大男子主義的）rules, which limit their vision and their movement.

If she's right, then men will have to acknowledge that they are strangers in a strange land.

1.Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Male labor force participation has declined by 80% since 1954.

B. More men than women take time off to raise children now.

C. Good communication is one of the qualities that women possess.

D. Men are still taking most top and fastest-growing professions.

2.In Hanna Rosin’s opinion, male performance is falling behind because _______.

A. men are less likely to sit still and focus in school at early age

B. men are more rigid and less able to adapt to new circumstances

C. women are doing better for genetic and cultural reasons

D. it is more and more difficult for men to get bachelor’s degree

3.What is the passage intended to convey?

A. The differences between men and women.

B. The reasons why men do no better than women.

C. The social status of men and women.

D. The reasons why men fail compared with women.

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The world is not always ______ we wish it to be.

A. that B. which C. what D. where

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Country-dwellers(農(nóng)村居民) often say the constant noise, heavy traffic and crowds of the city would drive them mad. Well, they might be right, according to the latest research. City residents are more likely to develop mental illnesses than those who live in villages, a study has found.

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Dr Stanley Zammit, who led the research said that people living in towns and cities are more likely to develop other mental illnesses that result in personality changes — a condition known as non-affective psychosis(非情感性精神病).

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1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. City-dwellers are more likely to develop mental illnesses.

B. City-dwellers live longer than country-dwellers.

C. Country-dwellers are more likely to develop mental illnesses.

D. Country-dwellers live longer than city-dwellers.

2.It can be inferred that ___________.

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B. city-dwellers enjoy their peaceful city life

C. village-dwellers get along better with their neighbors than city-dwellers

D. village-dwellers are more likely to be looked down upon by others

3.Non-affective psychosis is a kind of mental illnesses that is linked to ________

A. energy weakening B. temperature rise

C. pressure increase D. character change

4.We can learn from the last paragraph that generally ________ .

A. men living in villages live the longest

B. women living in cities live the longest

C. women living in villages live the longest

D. men living in cities live the longest.

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完形填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項, 并在答題卡將該選項的標號涂黑。

Hope in my arms

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All the children that had gathered at one particular room could ___________ a square on a piece of cloth. Later the squares would be sewn(縫) together to ___________ a quilt. The quilt would be ___________ to a man who had devoted his life to the ___________ and would soon be ___________ .

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One boy was painting a heart, but it was dark and lifeless. It ___________ the bright colors that his fellow artists had used. I asked why. He told me that he was very ___________ and so was his mom. He said that his sickness was not ever going to get better and neither was his mom’s. He looked ___________into my eyes and said, “There is no hope in my life.”

I told him I was sorry and I could understand why he had made his heart a dark color. I told him that ___________ we couldn’t make him better, we can give ___________ , which can really help when you are feeling sad. I told him that if he would like, I would be ___________ to give him one so he could see ___________ I meant. he instantly crawled into my lap. I thought my own heart would burst for this sweet little boy.

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On my way home I felt my own heart. It too had changed to a brighter color.

1.A．convey B．draw C．a(chǎn)dapt D．paint

2.A．fold B．make C．spread D．a(chǎn)nnoy

3.A．a(chǎn)ttempt B．sold C．presented D．conduct

4.A．organization B．country C．education D．neighborhood

5.A．retiring B．a(chǎn)bolish C．predict D．dying

6.A．a(chǎn)mbitious B．suitable C．beautiful D．comfortable

7.A．ridiculous B．inspiring C．confusing D．puzzling

8.A．without B．besides C．beside D．except

9.A．lacked B．a(chǎn)ppeal C．contained D．favour

10.A．curious B．disappointed C．sick D．a(chǎn)dequate

11.A．straight B．flexible C．forward D．even

12.A．so that B．even though C．a(chǎn)s long as D．a(chǎn)s though

13.A．prizes B．smiles C．hugs D．necklace

14.A．grand B．relaxed C．eager D．happy

15.A．which B．where C． what D．that

16.A．witnessed B．jumped C．dragged D．fell

17.A．leave B．stay C．head D．a(chǎn)rrive

18.A．smiling B．crying C．glaring D．declaring

19.A．shape B．color C．weight D．form

20.A．a(chǎn)pprove B．desire C．fail D．work

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根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容,從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中的兩項為多余選項。

Of the many unpleasant emotions we can experience, fear may top the list. 1. . Fear can also keep us from pursuing the things in life that really matter—like following our dreams, and developing important relationships. I have some ideas, though, of how to be free from fear.

●Experience fear.

I used to be very afraid of speaking in front of people. I would get sweaty palms and my stomach would be so tied up that I wouldn’t be able to eat. However, each time I spoke, I noticed afterwards that it wasn’t that bad. Things I fear are never as bad in reality as I make them out in my mind. 2. .

●Create space.

The first and most important step to being fearless is to create some space between ourselves and the emotion of fear. This isn’t accomplished by ignoring the fear, or trying to talk ourselves out of it. 3. . In fact, a recent research shows that by simply admitting the emotion we actually begin to reverse the “fight or flight（逃避）” response in the body.

●Control the breath and feel the fear.

Once we acknowledge the presence of fear, the second step is to control the breathing so that it becomes slower and gentler. We try to make the breath just a little bit longer, and feel how fear manifests（展現(xiàn)）in the body. 4. .

With practice, we can create enough space between us and the emotion of fear so that we’re able to replace a fearful thought with a positive one. 5. . For instance, before I get up to speak in front of a group of people, I imagine that the audience is positively impressed by what I say and that I manage to complete the speech successfully.

A. We can imagine a positive outcome for whatever we’re about to do.

B. Space is created only when we can honestly acknowledge that fear exists.

C. Fear, if left uncontrolled, can even destroy our life.

D. As we pay attention to the physical symptoms of fear, we can see fear objectively.

E. When we can see a positive outcome in our mind, fear no longer holds us back.

F. But fear is more than just physically unpleasant.

G. So one way to get rid of fear is to simply push ourselves to do things that we fear

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There’s no doubt that our character has a profound effect on our future. What we must remember, however, is not merely how powerful character is in influencing our fate (命運), but how powerful we are in shaping our own character and, therefore, our own fate. Character may determine our fate, but character is not determined by fate.

It’s a common mistake to think of character as something that is fully formed and fixed very early in life. It calls to mind old proverbs like “A leopard can’t change its spots” and “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

This perspective that our character is “etched in stone” is supported by a great deal of modern psychology emphasizing self-acceptance. As Popeye says, “I am what I am.” The hidden message is:Don’t expect me to be more, better, or different.

Ultimately, these views of humanity totally undervalue the lifelong potential for growth that comes with the power of reflection and choice.

How depressing it would be to believe that we can’t choose to be better, more honest, more respectful, more responsible, and more caring. None of us should give up the personal seeking to improve our character. Not because we’re bad, we don’t have to be sick to get better , but because we’re not as good as we could be.

There are so many things in life we can’t control, whether we’re beautiful or smart, whether we had good parents or bad, whether we grew up with affirmation or negation. It’s inspiring to remember that nothing but moral will power is needed to make us better.

No, it isn’t easy. But if we make a great effort to become more aware of the habits of heart and mind that drive our behavior, we can begin to place new emphasis on our higher values so that we become what we want our children to think we are.

1.What is the best title of the passage?

A. We shape our own character.

B. Character determines our fate.

C. Character is fully formed and fixed.

D. We must meet what our children need.

2.The author agrees that _____________.

A. a leopard can't change its spots

B. in life we must attach importance to self-acceptance

C. we shouldn’t expect us to be more different

D. character is not fully formed and fixed very early

3.In the author’s opinion, which of the following is TRUE?

A. We can’t choose to be better.

B. We should seek to improve our character for we’re bad enough.

C. We should value our lifelong potential for growth.

D. We should make choices constantly.

4.What do we need to improve ourselves according to the author?

A. Our smartness. B. Our will power.

C. Our fate. D. Our character.

5.What can we infer from the passage?

A. It is not difficult to improve ourselves.

B. We must try our best to be as good as possible.

C. Our children should copy our behavior.

D. We should control as many things as possible in life.

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This winter, one of the largest ______ snowstorms hit many areas.

A. recordingB. recorded

C. being recordedD. to record

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______ the heart attack, Monica brought her doctor a bunch of flowers to express her thanks.

A. Surviving B. To survive

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