I lost my elderly mother a few weeks ago．Actually，my mother had fallen over during the night and had not been able to again．She had woken up the neighbors by banging on the wall．The called an ambulance，which took her to the hospital.
My mother has thought that hospitals are a real horror．She believes that doctors and hospitals give you diseases．My father went to hospital a year ago，and after a few weeks，he ．The fact that he was also in the final________of lung cancer was certainly related，but by my mother's logic，my father's death was with the hospital.
When a neighbor me up and told me that my mother had been taken off in an ambulance，the first thing I did was similar，which was to ring Queen Elizabeth Hospital．The paramedics(护理人员) had told my neighbor that my mother would ________be taken there， I was told that no one by that name had been ，so they gave me the numbers of two other West Midland hospitals．Both of them also ________ that they were holding my mother．I rang the and asked them to find her，but the nice officer said he could only do that if she had been reported as a(n) person.
It took six calls to my mother．She had been in Queen Elizabeth Hospital all along，but because their computer system hadn't been updated overnight，there was no record of her ．My mother had spent more than a in the hospital when it turned out there was nothing with her．I managed to get her out within 10 days，but only by agreeing that in the future，she would live downstairs．In return，the hospital said they would for a social worker to visit the house three or four rimes a day.
Luckily，my mother is safe．Thank all the people who have given their help to us.
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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳答案填入文中空白处。
I used to live selfishly, I should admit. But one moment changed me.
I was on my lunch break and had the office to get something to eat. On the way, I a busker(街头艺人), with a hat in front of him. I had some in my pocket, but I would not give them to him, thinking to myself he would use the money to feed his addiction(嗜好) to drugs or alcohol. He like that type-young and ragged. what was I going to spend the money on? Only to feed my addiction to Coca-Cola or chocolate! I then I had no right to place myself above just because he was busking.
I and dropped all the coins into his , and he smiled at me. I watched for a while. As as it sounds, I expected something more to come from that moment—a feeling of or satisfaction, for example. But nothing happened.
, I walked off. “It proved to be a waste of ,” I thought.
On my way home at the end of the , I saw the busker again and he was . I watched him pick up the hat and walk a cafe counter. There he poured the contents(内容) into a tin collecting an earthquake fund-raising(募捐) event. He was busking for charity(慈善)！
Now I donate(捐献) any I have to charity tins and enjoy the feeling of giving.
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阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
I used to abandon myself to despair. Last year my mother from stroke（中风）and had an operation on her brain. I felt my whole world turn upside down and I had no what I could do to help her to relieve her . Tears welled up in my eyes whenever I was alone.
Last month I precious watch，which was an 18-year-old birthday gift from my father. I could not fall asleep for a couple of nights because I felt about the loss.
There have been many like these in my life. I could never figure out how to deal with such tough things I read “If You Have a Lemon，Make a Lemonade" by American writer Dale Carnegie.
“When the wise man is handed a lemon，he says，‘What can I get from this? How can I my situation? How can I turn this lemon into a lemonade？’”he wrote.
I suddenly that life is full of ups and downs，so I need to stay all the time.
Now when I think of my past，I wish I could have handled things ．When my mother was fighting for ，I should have held her hands in mine，telling her things would get better instead of and crying.
Several weeks ago，I took part in a campus singing competition. I didn't a prize. If I had not this article，I would definitely have felt again. But instead，I smiled after the competition. I was happy that at least I had got some stage ．
Life is not just a bed of roses. There are thorns（刺）as well，but these thorns help us become________and strong. When life us a lemon, let's try to make a lemonade.
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阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
I often recall those good old days. At that time life was relatively simpler, and people were much more ______and gentler. Recently, to my surprise, I got the opportunity to experience that same warmth that I thought had_____ from the fast-moving world.
I was out shopping the other day with my husband, two daughters and one ______. It was a burning hot day, and we were all visibly tired and hungry. We entered a restaurant, looking for some______and comfort. To our disappointment, all the tables were_____and no one seemed in a hurry to______ . We waited, tired and ______. After quite some time, one table was vacated, but that could ______only two of us. My daughter made me sit along with her father, while she and my other daughter _____alongside. My granddaughter sat on my______ as we looked all around us, waiting for another table to be ______soon.
At the next table, two young girls were sitting at a table for four and enjoying their meal. We decided to move to their table, ______they were finished with their lunch. Since the girls had just got their ______, I knew it would be a ______wait. As we were deciding on what to eat, one of the girls got up and ______their table to us. She said they would move to our table so that my family could sit together.
We were very appreciative of their kind ______. We thanked them ______and moved to their table. The girls quickly ______their plates and glasses and went to sit at our table.
That day, I ______to myself there still were some kind, civil and helpful youngsters in this non-caring world, and my faith in humanity was______ .
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完形填空,阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
That Christmas Eve, the streets of Boston were crowded with tourists and locals in various clothes. It seemed that everyone was accompanied by someone else laughing. ________ , I was alone.
My ________ was in Puerto Rico. My family and friends had gone home during their holiday break. Dusk was falling, and the inevitable (不可避免的) ________ to my empty apartment brought tears to my eyes. I ________ someone would come out of their homes to ask me inside to a ________ room with a Christmas tree decorated with presents.
I stopped at the local market, feeling even more ________ as people filled their baskets with goodies, which ________me of the gifts we received as children in Puerto Rico on Christmas Day. I ________ my family parties: the dancing. Thinking of this, I wanted to ________ for being alone.
In front of the church down the ________, a manger (马槽) had been set up, with Mary, Joseph, and the barn (畜棚) animals in expectation of the ________ of baby Jesus in the midnight. I stood with my neighbors watching the ________. As I walked home, I realized that the ________ of Joseph and Mary wandering from door to door seeking shelter was much like my own history. ________ Puerto Rico was still a wound in my heart as I ________ with what I had become in 15 years in the United States. I’d regretted the losses, but I ________ for the first time and recognized what I’d gained. I was independent, educated, healthy, and adventurous. My life was ________ before me, full of possibility.
Sometimes the best gift is the one you ________yourself. That Christmas, I gave myself credit for what I’d ________ so far and permission to go forward, unafraid. It is the best ________ I’ve ever received, the one that I most treasure.
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Even people who don’t have much talent for acting or singing still dream of being discovered by a talent scout (星探). It seems just like the lottery(彩票), but better you get fame and money.
For me, the dream seemed likely to stay a dream. But everything last week in Beijing. I was eating dinner with some friends. As I was getting ready to pay, a young Chinese woman came running up to me. I was that I must have done something horrible to offend(冒犯) her without it.
“You are a white man,” she said when she got to our table.
“Yes, I am a white man,” I replied.
“Can you speak ?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Oh good. Come with me now, please.”
I walked outside and saw that a movie was being shot in front of one of the street’s largest _ .
The woman, a talent agent (经纪人), had a foreigner for this movie, but he had forgotten to . She needed to find a white guy who spoke English, and I was the only one . My part was to walk from one end of the street to the other, and then the club. When I got to the club, I was supposed to to my friend and say, “Forget about the girl, man. We are here to party!” It took me three tries to say the line or walk without tripping(绊倒), but I got it right.
The talent scout ran to me afterward. “You are so . I would like you to join my agency.” I know I am not going to be the next Jay Chou. , it seems that my “star” talents are being white and being able to speak English. , next time you are watching a Chinese movie, look in the . If you see a white guy stumbling (蹒跚) on his way into a nightclub, it might just be me on my way to stardom (星途)!
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A few weeks after my first wife, Georgia, was called to heaven, I was cooking dinner for my son and myself. For a , I had decided on frozen peas. As I was cutting open the bag, it from my hand and crashed to the floor. The peas, like marbles, everywhere. I tried to use a broom, with each swipe they just rolled across the kitchen．
For the next week, every time I was in the , I found a pea---in a corner, or behind a table leg. They kept . Eight months later I pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind it, and 12 frozen peas hidden underneath．
At the time I found those few remaining , I was in a new relationship with a wonderful I’d met in a support group. After we married, I was reminded those peas under the refrigerator, and realized that my had been like that bag of frozen peas. It had shattered（破碎）. My wife had died; I was in a new city with a busy job, and with a son having trouble his new surroundings and the of his mother. I was a bag of spilled frozen peas; my life had come apart and scattered．
When life gets you , when everything you know comes apart, and when you think you’ll never , remember that it’s just a bag of scattered frozen peas. The peas can be , and life will move on. You’ll find all the peas , including the ones that are hardest to find. And when you’ve got them you’ll start to feel whole again．
The life you know can break apart at any time. But you’ll have to , and how fast you collect your peas depends on you. Will you keep scattering them around with a broom, will you pick them up one by one and put your life back together?
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One of my fondest Christmas memories was also one of our family’s bleakest（最令人沮丧的）．We were just little kids，and on Christmas Day my mom ______ us all around her to tell us, ______, that there would be no presents because all we really wanted was to _____ for our daddy．He was very sick．I don’t remember anything else except four little girls surrounding my mother，crying _____ a miracle（奇迹）．
At that very moment，someone ______ loudly on the door．______ behind him was a merry group of soldiers from the Army base where my father ____ as a minister．News had ___ that we were in trouble，and his colleagues knew we needed some _____．
With all the excitement，even my dad，_____ in a blanket to keep warm，came down and sat in front of a roaring fire in our room to watch his children be _____ by good Samaritans（乐善好施的人）．The presents were unwrapped，and we girls ____ packages and found a doll each and four board games．
What is _____ to me is that I don’t even remember what sickness my father was suffering from．I _____ remember an evening of laughter and _____．There were no expensive toys but ______ moments of friendship and fun given by young men who knew that a family was having a(n）______ time．They gave their time and their _____ to little children who needed to laugh．
The most important things in life aren’t things．And what about the true ______ of holidays? I hope we all are able to remember a thing about the holidays that stirs（搅动）our hearts，that isn’t really a thing at all，but the smile on a child’s face because we take a moment to hug or ______ a tear．
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完形填空,阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
When I was growing up my dad would often give me small tasks to finish to help out around the house. Some were easy but the three I remember the most were the three of all. The first was helping to weed the four we had. It was work. I would rather ride my bike than crawl（爬行）in the dirt on my hands and knees the thousands of weeds in our gardens. The second was piling firewood for . It was tough work and I got more than my of pieces. I would rather walk in the woods than piling it in rows. The third was water from a mountain spring to our house. our well water had too much iron in it to .
Over the years, though, I learned to see the in all the things my dad had made me do. Having fresh vegetables for dinner was a delight. a cold glass of iced ten made from the mountain spring water was a pure . Standing by the wood stove on a snowy December day was a wonderful way to . I saw as well that all this work my dad had given me had
made me a better, stronger and more caring man. Most of all, I that when I did my work with a(n) heart, it didn’t fell like work at all.
Over the years I have learned something else too. When we do the work for our Heavenly Father with a spirit, it doesn’t feel like work, either. It feels like. Every act of kindness, word of encouragement, and gift of love we share will only make our lives better, make our hearts happier, and bring out souls to Heaven.
I am so to both my dad and my Father in Heaven. They showed me the of work and more importantly they showed me the pricelessness of love.
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阅读下面短文, 从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
One Sunday, a mother took her son and little daughter to watch a circus． In the of the circus, the little girl, Jenny, fell in her mother’s lap(大腿)．The brother, Jack, who was six, stayed awake, and the latter half with his mother． When it was over, the mother Jenny in her arms and carried her to the bus station． It was that night, so she took off her scarf and gently Jenny’s head with it．
When they arrived home, the mother carried Jenny into the bedroom and her to sleep． After Jack had changed his clothes, his mother lay down next to him to talk about the evening together． , when the mother asked what he liked most, there was no on his part． She was a little ．He used to speak non-stop whenever something exciting happened．
She was that something was wrong: he had been so on the way home and while getting ready for bed． She hearing nothing from him．
Suddenly Jack on his side, facing the wall．She why and got up to see his eyes welling up with tears．
“What is , honey? ”
He turned back．She could sense he was feeling some for the tears although he wiped away the tears right away．
“Mom, if I were cold, would you put your scarf around me, too?”
Of all the of that special evening out together, the most important for Jack was a little of affection—a momentary, unconscious showing of her love to his little sister．
In relationships, little things matter the most.a
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阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A.B.C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Relationships are hard. It doesn't matter whether it is a relationship two workmates, a doctor and a patient, a mother and her child or a couple. The fact is, it is a relationship involving people, there will always be conflicts once in a while because human beings are complicated（复杂的）．
I guess even in the animal kingdom there are complications, too. For instance, just last weekend l thought my neighbor's cows were .They like standing outside our gate where there is a huge tree they use to themselves from the burning sun. Anyway, it was quite that the grey cow was angry about something and since I didn't “cows", I couldn't tell what she was complaining about. My guess was that one of the other cows had done/said something to . her because there was one cow she kept ”addressing".
I guess this goes to tat as long as one is breathing (man or animal), misunderstandings and .will always happen, regardless of whether it is at home or at the office, until one is finally ．
The is how you handle your displeasure. How do you conduct your arguments? What words do you use7 After the argument, do you ever sit back and probably anything that you might have said in anger? I ask this I know for a fact that when you are angry, the likelihood of having the best you'll ever regret is very high. The words you speak to someone can either build them up, or break them down, or start
a in their heart or put it out completely. That is how words are. Words have the power to or destroy.
If you do not want to hurt those you come into with, remember to be careful with your words because once they are ,they can only be forgiven, not forgotten。
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完形填空，阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项中（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项， 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Remembering My Father’s Vest
People get into trouble because they don’t know enough to keep cool. As a child, I had a lot of ________ that had been held back and not released. Worse still, I was not good at ________ constructively.
Once as I was getting ready for school, my mother ________ me my father’s vest instead of mine. This was around the time when I was going to be larger in ________ than my father, so as I put on the vest, I felt like I was being choked in it! I ________ that it was a small oversight(疏忽) on my mother’s part, but ________the feeling of being choked drowned me and I got very angry.
I took my anger out on my mother ________ thinking much. I was so upset when she had handed me the wrong vest, and I ________by violently tearing it apart from my chest!
Later, my mother shared her own ________ with my father: “ See what your son has done.”
Instead of scolding or abusing me, my father________ responded by asking my mother to ________ the vest. He then worn it to work the next day.
When my mother told me about my father’s response much later, when I had________from my fit, I immediately felt a great sense of ________ for my violent behavior, just ________ that he was spending the entire day wearing a(n)________ vest. At the same time, I was filled with great ________ for my father, whose gentle kindness taught me a life lesson I would treasure forever.
On that day, I made a ________ never to let anger get the better of me. I learn to ________ other when I think that they behave in an unfair, cruel, or unacceptable way, ________ forgiveness is a tool to turn anger off. And whenever I have difficulty ________ my strong emotion, I try to remember my father’s vest.
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完形填空
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Dear Laura,
I just heard you told an old story of gift giving and unselfish love in your program. You doubted that such unselfish love would happen in today’s world. Well, I’m here to give you ________ .
I wanted to do something very ________ for my fifteen – year – old son, who has always been the perfect child. He ________ all summer to earn enough money to buy a used motorcycle. Then, he spent hours and hours on it ________ it looked almost new. I was so ________ of him that I bought him the shiniest helmet(头盔) and a riding outfit.
I could ________ wait for him to open up his gift. In fact, I barely slept the night before. Upon awakening. I went to the kitchen to ________ the coffee, tea, and morning goodies. In the living room was a beautiful keyboard with a ________ : “To my wonderful mother, all my love, your son.”
I was so ________ . It had been a long – standing joke in our family that I wanted a piano so that I could ________ lessons. “Learn to play the piano, and I’ll get you one” was my husband’s ________.
I stood there shocked, crying a river, asking myself how my son could ________ this expensive gift.
Of course, the ________ awoke, and my son was thrilled（激动的）with my reaction. Many kisses were ________, and I immediately wanted him to ________ my gift.
As he saw the helmet and outfit, the look on his face was not ________ what I was expecting. Then I ________ that he had sold the motorcycle to get me the keyboard.
Of course I was the proudest mother ________ on that day, and my feet never hit the ground for a month.
So I wanted you to know, that kind of love still ________ and lives even in the ever–changing world of me, me, me!
I thought you’d love to ________ this story.
Yours,
Hilary
P.S. The next day, my husband and I bought him a new “used” already shiny motorcycle.
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My friend BJ Gallagher once worked as a training manager for a large newspaper, which was more than a hundred years old．The company’s past had blinded the authorities to the need for change, and they new ideas and would say “This is the way we’ve always done it.”．As the years went by, BJ grew more and more with their short-sightedness．Finally, she left the company．But she found that she hadn’t left her behind when she resigned．She carried it with her, like “rocks in the stomach”.
“I finally decided to about my experiences and my feelings．I it would be a good mental health ．I wanted to be rid of that company and those people, once and for all．So I wrote and wrote．It wasn’t just a story that poured out — it was a whole ! My resentment (怨恨) my writing．The whole world would know how they were!”
“What when the book came out?” I asked BJ.
“Not much,” she replied, “The newspaper kept doing what it had done．My feelings didn’t them one bit, but it took me several more years to finally my negative emotions．Finally, the time came when I decided to make amends (修正) for the angry things I had said about the company．I my former boss to dinner and made my ．I told him I was sorry for being so resentful．It was a great healing process for me.”
“What was the outcome?” I asked her.
“Gratitude,” she replied, “Not only wasn’t I resentful any more, but I was grateful to the company．If I hadn’t had those experiences, I never would have written a book．And the book became hugely successful — now in 21 languages．In short, my resentment gave way to gratitude.”
She smiled, “I owe them a debt of thanks for giving me such a great tale to tell.”
Trading resentments for gratitude isn’t always easy．But it’s worth it, gratitude is a far happier feeling than resentment.
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Everyone in business has been told that success is all about attracting and retaining (留住) customers. It sounds simple and achievable. But, , words of wisdom are soon forgotten. Once companies have attracted customers they often the second half of the story. In the excitement of beating off the competition, negotiating prices, securing orders, and delivering the product, managers tend to become carried away. They forget what they regard as the boring side of business— that the customer remains a customer.
to concentrate on retaining as well as attracting customers costs business huge amounts of money annually. It has been estimated that the average company loses between 10 and 30 per cent of its customers every years. In constantly changing , this is not surprising. What is surprising is the fact that few companies have any idea how many customers they have lost.
Only now are organizations beginning to wake up to those lost opportunities and calculate the implications. Cutting down the number of customers a company loses can make a big in its performance. Research in the US found that a five per cent decrease in the number of defecting (流失的) customers led to increases of between 25 and 85 per cent.
In the US, Domino’s Pizza estimates that a regular customer is worth more than $5,000 over ten years. A customer who receives a poor quality product or service on their first visit and never returns, is losing the company thousands of dollars in profits (more if you consider how many people they are likely to tell about their bad experience).
The logic behind cultivating customer is impossible to deny. “In practice most companies’ marketing effort is focused on getting customers, with little attention paid to them”, says Adrian Payne of Cornfield University’ School of Management. “Research suggests that there is a close relationship between retaining customers and making profits. customers tend to buy more, are predictable and usually cost less to service than new customers. Furthermore, they tend to be less price , and may provide free word-of-mouth advertising. Retaining customers also makes it for competitors to enter a market or increase their share of a market.
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