There is an interesting story about how Pablo Picasso, the famous Spanish artist, developed the ability to produce an amazing work in just minutes.
As the story goes, Picasso was walking through the market one day when a woman 1 him. She stopped the artist, pulled out a piece of paper and said, "Mr. Picasso, I am a fan of your works. Could you do a little 2 for me, please?"
Picasso smiled and 3 drew a small, but beautiful piece of art on the paper. Then, he 4 the paper back to the woman, saying, "That will be one million dollars." "But Mr. Picasso, it only 5 you 30 seconds to draw this little masterpiece," said the woman" My good lady, I spend 30 years 6 to draw that masterpiece in thirty seconds." said Picasso.
Picasso isn't the only 7 man who worked for decades to master his craft. His 8 is typical of many creative geniuses. Even people of considerable talent 9 produce amazing work before decades of 10. A recent study11 the ages of Nobel Prize winners, great inventors, and scientists. The researchers found that most groundbreaking work 12 during the late thirties — at least a full decade into any personal career. Even in the fields of science and maths, creative 13 is often made after more than ten years' work.
These findings 14 the work done by previous researchers as well. For example, a study 15 at Carnegie Mellon University by professor John Hayes found that out of 500 famous musical pieces, nearly all of them were created after ten years of the composer's career. In later studies, Hayes found similar 16 with poets and painters. He began 17 this period hard work and little fame as the "ten years of 18."
Whether you are a composer or a scientist, creativity is not a 19 you are born with or without. It is something that is discovered, honed (磨练), and improved 20 real work.
1）简单介绍你最喜欢的歌手；
2）你对他/她的评价。
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯；
3）称呼和落款已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Tom,
I'm very glad to hear from you.
……
Look forward to your reply.
Yours,
Li hua
Ya Ting had taken me under her wing after hearing me speaking Chinese in a hotel in Lijiang. She had been hitchhiking(搭便车旅行) around China for months. She invited me to travel with her, which was how we ended up on the side of the road looking for a ride to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Within 20 minutes, we had our first ride. The driver couldn't take us all the way and ended up dropping us at a freeway crossroads. As a new hitchhiker, I thought that would be the end of our luck, but almost immediately we got another ride.
Our most forgettable ride was when a twenty-something kid picked us up. He couldn't take us the whole way so his uncle bought us lunch and a bus ticket for the rest of the journey. He felt it was his duty to help us find a way to complete our trip. It brought tears of joy and thankfulness to my eyes. This was the first time I understood how guests are respected in China.
A few weeks later, we said goodbye. I thought we had been so lucky because we had been a local(本地人) and a foreigner travelling together. But now Ya Ting was no longer around to do the talking, nor did I have someone to depend on if something went wrong. When I stood by a highway in Sichuan, I knew all about the difficulties before me. Now I was just a strange foreigner on her own who suddenly had to manage to talk with Chinese.
After about 30 minutes, a couple picked me up and took me the whole eight hours to Chengdu. We ate lunch on the way, and they refused to allow me to pay for any of it, which I had come to learn was typical(特有的) of Chinese culture. This made me believe the hospitality(好客)in Chinese culture that we don't often see in the west.
In the summer of my eleventh year, the home I had grown up in was1in the middle of the night. Thankfully, my mom, dad, brothers and I2through the smoke. However. we had only the night clothes we were3in.
I4the rest of that night with friends of our family 5trying to sleep in a bed in their basement. That's because I was too6to sleep. I didn't know what7things would lie ahead of us. The next day, my mom8me a few T-shirts and pairs of jeans given to her by another friend. One pair of jeans was too short and the other was too long but I didn't 9. At least I had some clothes again. Meanwhile my dad10 to the blackened ruins of our home to see what he could find. The only thing he could 11was my mom's wedding rings. The plastic case she had put them in that night had melted but protected the rings from the 12.
As the13 days went on, in spite of having little money, my dad was able to14us a dusty old house by the side of the road near where our old house had been. As we moved in, our friends and our community continued to15all they could to help us16our feet. There was more clothes, furniture, food, money and even some books for me to recover from the disaster.
Looking back now, I am 17for all we went through because it18me so much about life, love and people. It showed that love is enough for the first time, when you have nothing left but19. So here may you always have20love for all the days of your life.
Last weekend we celebrated Jacob turning ninehis friends with an art party. Instead of hosting it at our house, we（decide ）to try something new to celebrate it. It cost US $50,00 to rent a small restaurant. I worked with a store manager. And I bought(balloon) and a few other things from him.
On the day of the party, the tables in the restaurant(cover) and waiters and waitresses were ready to get to work when we arrived. We started with helping the children paint their own canvases(油画)then create their own T-shirts. I should have advised parents (take)some old clothes, (unlucky)we did not. When one child got paint all over(him), I felt bad about that.
Overall, Jacob hadwonderful time. We were able to do the art parity for minimal cost. The smile on his face at the end of the day was allmattered to me.
1）你的学校或所在社区( community)垃圾分类情况；
2）你是如何做的；
3）你的感受。参考词汇：
可循环垃圾recyclable waste不可循环垃圾unrecyclable waste有害垃圾 hazardous waste
注意:
1）词数不少于100；2）内容充实、行文连贯。
Trash Sorting Around Us
Antarctica，the coldest place on Earth，is the fifth largest 1.________in the world.The conditions there are quite 2.________with nearly no 3.________.98 percent of the surface is covered 4.________by ice and strong winds driven by 5.________blow from the pole to the coastline.However，it is full of 6.________like the famous penguins，which can 7.________its hard conditions.The ice there has become a window on the past with gases and minerals trapped in it.It was not until 1895 that the Norwegian explorer called Carstens Borchgrevink 8.________the Antarctic mainland.In 1961,12 countries signed a 9.______to make it the world's biggest nature reserve.Today scientists from all over the world go there to study its resources and to work together for progress and 10.________.
Large companies need a way to reach the savings of the public at large. The same problem, on a smaller scale, faces practically every company trying to develop new products and create new jobs. There can be little hope of raising the money needed from friends and people we know, and while banks may agree to provide money for short-term finance, they are generally unwilling to provide money for long-term projects. So companies turn to the public, inviting people to lend them money, or take a share in the business in exchange for a share in future interests. This they do by issuing stocks and shares in the business through the Stock Exchange. By doing so they can put into circulation(流通) the savings of single persons and institutions, both at home and abroad.
When the saver needs his money back, he does not have to go to the company with whom he originally placed it. Instead, he sells his shares through a stockbroker to some other saver who is seeking to invest his money.
Many of the services needed both by industry and by each of us are provided by the Government or by local organizations. Without hospitals, roads, electricity, telephones, railways, this country could not work. All these require continuous spending on new equipment and new development if they are to serve us properly, requiring more money than is raised through taxes alone. The Government, local organizations, and nationalized industries therefore frequently need to borrow money to finance major capital spending, and they, too, come to the Stock Exchange.
There is hardly a man or woman in this country whose standard of living does not depend on the ability of his or her employers to raise money to finance new development. In one way or another this new money must come from the savings of the country. The Stock Exchange exists to provide a channel through which these savings can reach those who need finance.
60. The money which enables these companies to go ahead with their projects is __.
A. exchanged for part ownership in the Stock Exchange
B. raised by the selling of shares in the companies
C. repaid to its original owners as soon as possible
D. invested in different companies on the Stock Exchange
61. All the basic services on which we depend are __.
A. unable to provide for the needs of the population
B. financed wholly by rates and taxes
C. in constant need of financial support
D. run by the Government or our local organizations
62. The Stock Exchange makes it possible for the Government, local organizations and nationalized industries __.
A. to make certain everybody saves money
B. to borrow as much as they wish
C. to make certain everybody lends money to them
D. to raise money to finance new development
63. The underlined word invest here probably means __.
A. give more money with B. provide less money with
C. borrow less money with D. make more money with
Everyone knows we must exercise regularly to maintain good health. Indeed, staying physically fit is a big part of our culture. We consider (and rightly so) that healthy people are attractive people. Since most of us want to be attractive，there is no shortage of exercise clubs , training videos, magazines , and books offering to help us stay physically fit. .
Unfortunately，however，our culture does not place the same emphasis （重视） on mental fitness. Although we admire and love men and women with strong and healthy-looking bodies, we don’t have the same degree of respect or attraction for smart, educated and mentally healthy people. This is a shame, because there are immense rewards for people who have developed the ability to think well.
If your mind is well trained and flexible（灵活的）, you will be able to understand a great deal of what happens around you. And if you are also well educated---that is，if you understand basic science, mathematics, music, art, literature, history and so on---you will find it much easier to make good decisions throughout your life. Over the long run, this leads to a sense of control over your destiny and a much better life than otherwise.
People who are poorly educated or who don't think well--- that is，people who are not mentally fit see things differently. Their world is controlled by mysterious, but often malevolent (有恶意的)forces. Such people live within a system they will never master, forced to follow the rules they will never understand. Although it may not be obvious , most people spend their lives being manipulated (控制)by others. They are told what to do , what to think, how to spend their money , and what they should and should not aspire(渴求)to in life.
In my opinion, if you want to live well, you must be able to use your mind wel1. For this reason, I want you to be able to concentrate, solve problem, understand complex ideas, and think clearly and quickly. Such skills will make it easier for you to make informed decisions，understand current events，choose good friends, manage your money well, make wise long-term decisions, and appreciate music , art and literature.
The key to developing such skills is to enjoy learning, and to have the ability and motivation to teach yourself.
60. The writer of the passage feels disappointed that _____.
A. some people don’t have the skill to make good decisions
B. the world of the physically healthy people is controlled by mysterious forces
C. mentally healthy people are not as popular as physically healthy people
D. too much has been done to help people stay physically fit
61. The underlined word "this" in paragraph 3 refers to ______.
A. the understanding of a great deal of what goes on around you
B. the understanding of basic science and mathematics
C. good training in body and mind
D. being able to make good decisions in life
62. The writer of the passage thinks that those who are not mentally fit _____.
A. live a poor and mysterious life B. can’t control over their life
C. often do what others do D. enjoy being fooled and ruled
63. The best title of the passage will most probably be ______.
A. Mind Helps You More B. Train Your Mind
C. Make Informed Decisions D. Learn More to Help Yourself
The Last Supper is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces in the whole field of pictorial art. Tradition has it that Leonardo Da Vinci worked for ten years upon the painting, the monks in the church annoyed at the delay. It was said that Leonardo often painted continuously from dawn to night without eating his meals. But at other times he spent hours before the picture, lost in contemplation, examining, comparing, and measuring his figures.
This inactivity aroused the anger of the fussy Prior, the head of the church, who belonged to the large group of those who believed that the busier a man seems, the more he accomplishes; and so he tried to find fault with the idle(空闲的) painter. Leonardo was slightly unhappy and explained to somebody else that there is a great difference between the work of the creative artist and the stonemason（石匠）. The creative artist needs time for contemplation; he may be busiest when his hands are idlest. Just now he needed two heads to complete the picture: that of Christ（耶稣）, for which no model on earth could be found, for where was the man to be found whose face would express the strength, and beauty, and tenderness, and deep sorrow of the Christ; then he also needed a head of Judas（犹大）, and that was hard to find as well, for where was the man whose face could express the meanness of that base traitor（叛徒）. But he would look no further; if none came his way, he would be satisfied to take Prior as a model for Judas. This threat silenced the angry Prior, who quite naturally had no desire to pass to descendants（后代） in such a fashion.
34. Why did the Prior complain about the delay?
A. Because he thought that the painter idled most of the hours.
B. Because he knew that genius might be busiest when seemingly idlest.
C. Because he liked the work of a stonemason
D. Because he was eager to be taken as a model for Judas.
35. What does the underlined “ contemplation ” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. possibility B. intention C. deep thought D. great expectation
36. Which of the following is true?
A. The painter was pleased with the Prior’s anger.
B. The Prior was angry because he thought the painter did not work hard.
C. The painter took one of the monks as a model for Christ.
D. The painter took one of the monks as a model for Judas.
37. Why did the Prior stop complaining?
A. He did not wish to be remembered like an evil traitor after he died.
B. He wanted to be painted as a tender Christ.
C. He disliked to be painted in fashionable clothes.
D. He was pleased to be a fashionable model.
Everyone has worries, but what do you do with your worries? Whether your worries are
big or small, you can take three steps to deal with them.
Try to find out the causes.
36. Sometimes you know it, but sometimes you might not. If you can’t make sure what your worries are, you will have more and more new problems in your life. So remember that you must try to find out the causes before you start to deal with them even though it might not be so easy.
37.
There is always something you can do to help you feel less worried. Sitting there worrying is no fun and it won’t solve your problem. 38. . If you’re worried about grades, ask yourself these questions:
l How do I get ready for class? Do I review my notes even when there isn’t a test?
l Do I have a good place to do my homework?
l 39.
If your worry is about a fight you had with a friend, you might write down all the things you could do—write a note to him or her, invite him or her to a basketball game, say sorry to him or her etc. . Once you have a list of things you could do, you can choose the one that gets your friend back.
Ask for help.
When you are worried, you need to find someone to communicate with.
40. They will help you analyze(分析)your problems carefully and solve them easily.
A. Have I tried different ways of studying?
B. Grades at school are often a top worry for students.
C. Think of the ways to improve grades.
D. You can ask your parents, friends, or teachers for help.
E. How can I improve my grades?
F. Think of the ways to make it better.
G. The first step is to find out what you’re worried about.
