I stepped into my hotel room which was surrounded by a(n)   26  king-size bed, flanked（兩側(cè)有）by overstuffed armchairs. “Wow,” I thought to myself. “Nice place.”

I  27  hotels. I love to enter a clean room, look out the window, or walk out in the morning  28   that each afternoon when I return, someone else will have made the bed.

The  29  is that unless Alison travels with me, I never sleep well in hotels. I miss my family. Even though Linus and Camille, aged 4 and almost 2, find a way to interrupt even the  30  night’s sleep at home, still, I’d rather be with them.

I’m deeply  31  by the parents who wake up too late with the realization: “My children grew up too  32  . In the busy and noisy career and life, I  33  their childhood.”

A hundred years from now, nobody will remember the car you drove or the large house you lived. The world might  34  greatly however, based on your  35  on the life of a small child. Your life will most certainly improve, if you pay attention to your important  36  , and make the choice to put her or him first. What could you do today to let your loved ones know how much they  37  to you? What will you do tomorrow? And the next day?

Think of one specific  38  that you can take, and take it. Challenge yourself to find new ways to  39  your appreciation and love on a daily basis.

Room service will never kiss you goodnight! Nothing  40  family.

1.A. empty                B. comfortable                  C. ordinary               D. innocent

2.A. book                 B. visit                               C. love                      D. hate

3.A. knowing            B. noticing                         C. expecting                      D. forgetting

4.A. surprise                     B. situation               C. problem                        D. condition

5.A. worst                B. longest                           C. shortest                         D. best

6.A. troubled                    B. moved                           C. amused                         D. impressed

7.A. slow                  B. early                              C. fast                        D. late

8.A. recorded                   B. understood                  C. valued                           D. missed

9.A. end                             B. differ                             C. boom                             D. stable

10.A. attraction  B. benefit                       C. influence             D. education

11.A. ability   B. family                             C. career                           D. future

12.A. mean              B. do                                    C. pay                        D. work

13.A. word   B. suggestion             C. thought                         D. action

14.A. express                    B. suggest                          C. explain                          D. introduce

15.A. represents   B. fights           C. satisfies                         D. beats

Once there was a very brilliant, creative and learned man. He gained much ____36_____while traveling throughout the world. Unfortunately he lost his legs and left arm in a traffic accident, leaving only a finger and thumb on his right hand. He became so ____37_____ that he was afraid he would spend his life _____38_____ and would no longer be able to use his life in a(n) ____39_____way.

One day, he remembered how he had always loved getting ____40_____. He realized that he still had partial ____41_____ of his right hand and could write with  ____42_____. Then, he had an idea. “Why not write to other people who need encouragement?”

He ___43___ where he could find those who could be encouraged if they read his letters. He thought of people in ____44___. Many of them had hope of regaining their ____45___ . Others would keep feeling depressed and remain put away for the rest of their lives. He decided that he must try to __46____ them. So he wrote to a prison ministry about sending letters to the prisoners. The prison minister replied that writing to the prisoners would be  ____47____. However, it would be against prison rules for the prisoners to write back.

____48_____with the intention, the man began sending   49   messages of God’s love, hope, strength, and encouragement. He wrote twice a week, testing his strength and ability to the ___50____. He poured his heart and soul into his words,  ___51_____ his experience, sense of humor, optimism, and faith.

It was difficult to write those letters, especially without hope of any ___52___. Frequently, he felt discouraged, wondering if anyone  ___53____read his letters. However, this was his ___54____chance，so he determined to continue.

At last, he received a letter from the prison officer, which said, “Please write on the best paper you can afford. Your letters are passed from cell (牢房) to cell until they almost fall to ____55___!”

We all have unique experiences, abilities and talents. We can discover ways to reach others in need of encouragement and strength.

 A new book about Chinese-style tough parenting has caused debate in the US．Amy Chua, the author of Battle Hymn （頌歌）of the Tiger Mother, is a Chinese-American professor at Yale Law School, also a mother of two．

The  36   methods she used with her daughters would seem   37   to Westerners．In school her daughters weren't allowed to have grades   38   than As．They had to   39  playing the piano or violin even for hours a day．

There has been wide criticism (批評(píng)) of Chua's book in the US．"It's a(n)   40   way of parenting," said a professor at New York University, "standards of parenting need to be  41  ．Children need parents to   42   them, not to force them to do things they're probably not interested in．”

Now the criticism seems to have   43   to China．Sun Yunxiao, an expert from the China Youth and Children Research Center spoke to The Beijing News about his   44   .  He argued Chua's method of   45   would limit children from developing their full   46   ．"Some Chinese parents do focus too much on test scores and good degrees," Sun said, "What gets sacrificed (放棄) along the way is their kids’  47  to develop fully and to enjoy life．"

48   critics(批評(píng)家)might have sympathy for kids who experience this parenting style, some teenagers quite   49   it．"I think anyone can do well if they work hard enough,” said a 17-year-old boy, "A   50   mother is there to help her kids work hard．"

Others think that Chua has a（n）  51  in setting challenging goals for kids．"It's important for children,” said an American professor, "  52  speaking , kids need to be   53   sometimes．If you urge kids to do well, they are good at it, and they   54   from it．It's good to have high   55  ．”

1.A．rough          B．reasonable        C．vivid          D．strict

2.A．unnecessary  B．uncomfortable  C．uninteresting  D．unimaginable

3.A．higher             B．fewer                C．less      D．lower

4.A．drill         B．practise         C．exercise    D．experience

5.A．skilful            B．extreme          C．excellent  D．merciful

6.A．practical          B．high             C．convenient      D．low

7.A．replace            B．love                 C．force     D．guide

8.A．spread             B．belonged         C．turned        D．referred

9.A．concern            B．delight          C．caution     D.regulation

10.A．caring            B．fond         C．supporting   D．parenting

11.A．goal              B．potential  C．a(chǎn)chievement   D．possibility

12.A．strength          B．power            C．force       D．a(chǎn)bility

13.A．Why               B．Because          C．While        D．What

14.A．resist            B． state               C．object   D．a(chǎn)ppreciate

15.A．lion             B．monkey          C．tiger         D．sheep

16.A．a(chǎn)ngle             B．point           C．opinion          D．view

17.A．Honestly         B．Positively     C．Hopefully   D．Finally

18.A．pushed            B．picked           C．lifted         D．dragged

19.A．count             B．work             C．help       D．benefit

20.A．levels            B．expectations    C.marks       D．results

I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes people who show up and love you when no one else will.
In May 1977, I was living in a Howard Johnson’s motel off Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I  1  a room with two double beds and the bathroom was too 2  for a 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was   3   and my stepmother had   4  us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no  5_   of what to do with me. And that’s when my other family   6  .
Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home   7   their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I   8  with them for the next seven years.
Barb washed my skirts the same as Su’s. She   9   I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I were being cheerleaders. As far as I could tell, for the Beaches there was no 10 between Su and me; I was their daughter, too.
When Su and I 11  college they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance they _12_ when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.
The Beaches knew 13  about me when they took me in – they had heard the whole story from Su.        When I was seven, my mother died and from then on my father relied on other people to _14  his kids. Before I went to live with the Beaches I had believed that life was entirely   15__ and that love was shaky and untrustworthy. I had believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.
   16  the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, cynical (憤世嫉俗的) woman. They gave me a(n) 17  that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed(麻痹的) by my _18 , and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.
Now I   19 family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was 20  , but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate

Almost everyone wants to get smarter. We struggle to improve our 16_ , intelligence and attention. We drink cup after cup of coffee to help us  17_  the day.

 18 __, a new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science warns that there are 19___ to how smart humans can get.

Each of our body parts develops in a certain way for a reason.  20  _, we are not 3 meters tall  21 _ most people’s hearts are not strong enough to send  22 _  up that high. Scientists say that our thinking ability works in the same way. A baby’s brain size is limited by a series of __23  , such as the size of the mother’s pelvis (骨盆). If our brains developed to be bigger, there could be more  24  during childbirth.

The study of Jews, who have an average IQ much _ 25_  than other Europeans, showed they were more  _26_  to develop diseases of the  _27_  system. This might be because of their increased brainpower.

If intelligence cannot be improved, can we at least get better at _ 28 _ ? Not really, say scientists. They studied  _29_  like caffeine (咖啡因)that improve attention. They found the drugs only helped people with serious  30 _ problems. For those who did not have trouble paying attention, the drugs could have the  31 _ effect. Scientists say that this suggests there is a(n)  32 limit to how much people can or should concentrate.

Our memory is also a “double-edged sword”. People with extremely good memories could  33__ having a difficult life because they cannot  _34 bad things that happen to them.

Thomas Hills, one of the authors of the paper, said that   35  all the problems in trying to get smarter, it’s unlikely that there will ever be a “super mind”.

1.                A．memory        B．character       C．.ability    D．emotion

2.                A．go through      B．get through      C．put through    D．carry through

3.                A．Though         B．Therefore       C．Meanwhile    D．However

4.                A．standards       B．measures       C．ranges   D．limits

5.                A．For example     B．In addition       C．At first   D．Above all

6.                A．until           B．before         C．because  D．so that

7.A. blood      B information        C. breath            D. strength

8.                A．reasons        B．factors         C．a(chǎn)spects   D．effects

9.                A．chances        B．lives           C．choices   D．deaths

10.               A．smarter        B．better          C．higher D．lower

11.               A．likely          B．possible        C．probable  D．sure

12.               A．nervous        B．bodily          C．personal   D．physical

13.               A．exercising      B．concentrating    C．memorizing D．thinking

14.               A．poisons        B．drinks          C．plants     D．drugs

15.               A．health         B．family          C．a(chǎn)ttention  D．living

16.               A．same          B．different        C．opposite   D．similar

17.               A．lower          B．smaller         C．higher D．upper

18.               A．end up         B．make up        C．start up   D．come up

19.               A．remember      B．forget          C．perform   D．share

20.               A．supposing       B．considering     C．concerning D．regarding