I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. On arriving at the beach cottage, I kissed Evelyn meeting me at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.?
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
【小題1】From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A．with his family

B．with Evelyn

C．a(chǎn)lone

D．with his children

【小題2】During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A．he was determined to be a good husband

B．he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C．she looked lovely in her new clothes

D．the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

【小題3】The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D．He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.?

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “ I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”

It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means ______.

A. Unintentionally                               B. Independently

C. Impressively                                  D. Unconditionally

From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A. with his family                               B. with Evelyn

C. alone                                            D. with his children

During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A. he was determined to be a good husband

B. he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C. she looked lovely in her new clothes

D. the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A. He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B. She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C. He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D. He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ______.

A. he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B. he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

C. he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D. he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before

The power of humor and laugher is numerous. They entertain us and make us feel good. But, above all, we have discovered that humor and laughter are the best medicine. They relieve pain, reduce stress and anxiety, and are anti-aging and longevity facilitators（促進(jìn)者）.

They are extremely necessary for helping us to find and maintain a balance between life and work. However, they are slipping away from us. We have become far too serious. The only ones who still enjoy humor, laughter, fun and play to the fullest are young children. Children tend to laugh an average of 200 times a day. For adults, however, it is a totally different story.

In the 1950s people laughed on average 18 times a day. Today, we are lucky if we average between 4-6 times a day.

As a matter of fact, a recent study found that people laugh 6 more times in the presence of one person but 30 more times in a group of people. You can get a chuckle(咯咯笑) from jokes you get on the Internet, but it is not the same as belly jiggling laughter (a deep laugh) you get when you interact with others.

Socializing(交際) with friends and relatives was much looked forward to. However, this is no longer the case. In fact, the majority of people can hardly find time, nor do they have the inclination towards socializing outside home. They turn to electronic media such as television, computers, the Internet, videos, CDs, and audio equipment, which can provide them with instant self-entertainment at the push of a button.

The workplace does not fare(進(jìn)展) much better. Due to the pressures to produce more in the same or fewer hours available and to compete, for example, in a manufacturing field with cheaper labor elsewhere in the world, humor and laughter in the workplace have gradually eroded（逐漸毀壞） away.

I have developed a real appreciation, perhaps closer to a strong desire for the power of humor and laughter. This encouraged me to write my first book titled “The Power of Humor” and subsequently my second book titled “Kids Say the Goggonest Things” based on the natural humor, laughter, play and fun that kids experience and they freely share with parents, grandparents and teachers.

From writing about humor and laughter, people start to ask me to speak up for them. To date, I have developed a number of humor-laughter topics that I use in my keynote presentations. You are invited to subscribe to my free monthly e-magazine “The Humormeister’s Forum” by clicking on the Free Humor E-zine navigation button on the website.

1.According to the author, laughter is leaving us partly because ________.

A. the pace of change in our lives is becoming faster

B. we fail to reflect on fun times in our lives

C. we treat everything in a serious way

D. humor of situations lies beneath

2.The fourth paragraph mainly tells us that ________.

A. researchers have made a new discovery about the effect of laughter

B. people laugh more heartily when spending time with others

C. we can entertain ourselves with the help of the Internet

D. getting a deep laugh nowadays is difficult

3.The underlined word “inclination” in Paragraph 5 most probably means “________”.

A. destination     B. tendency      C. attitude             D. approach

4.Which of the following articles can we most probably find in “The Humormeister’s Forum”?

A. The power of honesty.                                      

B. Don’t be your own worst enemy.

C. Live life purposefully: The relationship within.

D. Funny Christmas stories to share with your loved ones.

 

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意．然后從1—15各題所給的A、B、C和D項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

I can still remember when I met my best friend．She had just moved into the neighborhood and her grandmother brought her down to  1     me．I hid behind my motherland she hid behind her grandmother，  3       to look at each other．Soon we lost the 2       and started playing with each other．

In the 7^th grade，I first lost touch with her．She was  4     family problems and I deserted her to be with the because they knew she had  5        people．None of my new friends liked her as much as I did because they knew she had  6       ．However，every summer we could always sit at each other’s house and watch soap operas，and talk about all the boys we liked．

It was last year when I noticed the problem．I guess I was too devoted in high school to  7       she needed someone there for her．Anyway，she made a new best friend and so did I．Then 1 didn’t know why，but she started cutting herself!

She then was diagnosed（診斷）with clinical depression．At first，1 was very 8 ，but we still stayed in  9 ．I wanted to be there for her since her new best friend basically  10  her and people were calling her  11  ．

Yesterday she came to me and said：“I never knew what a best friend was until you were the only person that would stop me cutting．I  12  you so much，and you didn’t even know you were  13  me．”

We both cried．And I guess a kind of  14  from my life so far is never to give up on your friends．Even if they aren’t as cool as others，or people think they are crazy，they need someone there．If you desert them，you will only be  15  yourself.

A．follow   B．meet         C．join         D．support

A．scared        B．a(chǎn)nnoyed       C．worried      D．delighted

A．temper       B．interest        C．confidence  D．shyness

A．taking up      B．getting through C．going throughD．making up

A．happier      B．cooler          C．stronger      D．cleverer

A．problems       B．shortcomings C．partners       D．disabilities

A．a(chǎn)dmit         B．a(chǎn)ccept          C．consider     D．realize

A．calm          B．considerate   C．upset      D．helpful

A．place         B．touch        C．control           D．mood

A．confused     B．bothered      C．reminded    D．deserted

A．crazy       B．stubborn      C．clumsy       D．stupid

A．expect      B．influence     C．a(chǎn)ppreciate   D．demand

A．urging      B．blaming       C．helping       D．hurting

A．honour      B．favour         C．pleasure      D．lesson

A．innocent      B．successful    C．guilty      D．reliable

I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical passage about husbands and their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed”, she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new promise to keep on remembering to choose love.?
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “ I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to be understood. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
【小題1】In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means ______.

A．Unintentionally	B．Independently
C．Impressively	D．Unconditionally

【小題2】From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ______.

A．with his family	B．with Evelyn
C．a(chǎn)lone	D．with his children

【小題3】During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ______.

A．he was determined to be a good husband

B．he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C．she looked lovely in her new clothes

D．the doctor said his wife was seriously ill

【小題4】The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What does “one thing” refer to?

A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D．He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

【小題5】By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ______.

A．he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B．he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

C．he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D．he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before