In the fall of 1985, I was a bright­ eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty­ one years later I am still a bright­ eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.

My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65.She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to withdraw from college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.

Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic—and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No.3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.

You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo—a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full­time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.

The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.

In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!

Everything you want won't arrive in your life in one day. It's a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams.

21. What is the meaning of the underlined word “withdraw” in Paragraph 2?

  A. Continue.        B. Drop.         C. Graduate.         D. Learn.

22. How did the author feel when she had to leave home to study?

  A. Excited.    B. Happy.      C. Guilty.           D. Disappointed.

23. How did the writer develop the passage?

  A. By giving examples.      B. By comparison.      

  C. By giving explanations.   D. By time order.

24. What can we learn from this story?

 A. Well begun is half done.     B. God helps those who help themselves.       

 C. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.  D. Pride hurts, modesty benefits.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg spoke Chinese for about 30 minutes in a talk at Tsinghua University, which surprised Chinese students.

  Clayton Dube, head of the U.S.-China Institute, praises Zuckerberg's effort. "To speak Chinese means you begin to think as Chinese people do, which is vital if you're to be culturally competent."

Zuckerberg's talk raises a larger question: is Chinese the language of the future? Could it replace English as the world's international language? Chinese already has the most native speakers. And China may soon pass the US as the world's largest economy.

  The study of Chinese is increasing around the world. In 2009, about 60,000 American college students were studying Chinese.

"As China rises you can expect more people will adopt the language. But I don't think Chinese is going to replace English.” says Clayton Dube. "American movies, music, television, video games have wide audiences. So far China's success in this field has been very limited. It doesn't have a huge following outside China."

  Andres Martinez, a famous professor, says English, with its association with freedom, will remain the global language." In many languages, the "you" form is different depending on the person you're talking to .But in English if I'm talking to President Obama or if I'm talking to my closest friend or my son, it’s ‘you.'"

  Chinese is also a more difficult language to learn, which would take a native English speaker 2,200 hours to reach professional fluency. Chinese grammar is much simpler, but Chinese has a tone and writing system that is more difficult for adult learners to master.

  A survey by Gallup showed for most Americans, Brits, and Australians, learning a foreign language is a choice, not a necessity. China Daily estimates that 400 million Chinese are studying English. That means China has more English learners than the U.S. has English speakers.

25. The main idea of the passage is _______.

A. why Chinese is becoming popular   

  B. whether Chinese will take the place of English

C. what makes English a global language   

D. the great importance of the Chinese language

26. Which factor may prevent the development of the Chinese language?

A. The population of speaking Chinese.      B. Its complicated grammar.

C. China's limited success in films or music overseas. D.Its diverse dialects.

27. More foreigners begin to learn Chinese because_____.

A. Chinese is going to replace English

B. Chinese is easy to learn

C. Mark Zukerberg’s speech influences them

D. people are aware of the importance of Chinese

28. From Andres Martinez’ words, we know that he thinks English ______.

A. can show the idea of equality          B. is superior to other languages

C. can be easy to learn                  D. has many forms of ' you'

Robots industry is developing so rapidly that there is no denying that we may one day find ourselves surrounded by robots.

The humanoid (human like) robots with two legs such as Honda Motor Co. Ltd’s ASIMO would likely have an easier time climbing up stairs inside homes than a robot that moves on wheels, developers say. But it will be some time before such devices make their way into people’s homes. [“They may look smart, but they are still quite stupid,” Shimoyama said. “I don’t think they will ever be as smart as humans.”

While safety is an obvious concern, robots also need to be sensitive to people’s needs. Researchers at Fujitsu Frontech Ltd and Fujitsu Laboratories responsible for developing “Enon”, a guide and patrol (巡逻) robot designed for use in shopping malls and corporate facilities (公共场所), are working on this.

Enon, which has a humanoid upper body but no legs, is equipped with a touch screen on its chest and space in its stomach to carry loads weighting up to 10 kg.

In guide mode, it will check a newcomer and approach the person with a nod and a greeting: “Are you a visitor? Hello.”

Visitors requiring directions can point to icons (图标) displayed on Enon’s chest screen. If the restroom icon is pressed, the screen will display a map that shows the way.

The robot will then face and point in the direction of the restroom, although it won’t actually walk the visitor there.

Enon is now in use at four locations in Japan, including a shopping mall near Tokyo. The main goal is to make it more helpful for the elderly.

“People who work in the transportation sector often ask whether we can build a robot that will find elderly people who look lost in train stations, and ask them if they are all right,” said Toshihido Marita, director of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd’s autonomous system laboratory. “Actually that is hard to do, very hard,” he said.

29. What can we know about robots according to the text?

 A. They will replace human one day.    

 B. They are difficult to control.     

 C. They can do whatever humans do.         

 D. They will be widely used in our life.

30. What does Shimoyama think of robots?

  A. Safe.      B. Friendly.      C. Stupid.      D. Kind-hearted.

31. What is people’s concern about robots?

  A. Safety.    B. Appearance.    C. Weight.     D. Size.

32. What can be the best title of the passage?

  A. The disadvantages of robots.    B. The development and use of robots.           

  C. The benefits that robots bring.   D. The history of robots.

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium

The all-new Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, situated in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, is one of

Victoria’s leading visitor attractions and an unforgettable outing for the whole family. Having 12 amazing zones of discovery, Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is the very place that you cannot miss when you visit the city.

* Opening Times

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is open from 9:30 am until 6:00 pm every day of the year, including public holidays. Last admission is at 5:00 pm, one hour before closing.

* Location

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is located on the corner of Flinders Street and King Street, Melbourne. It is situated on the Yarra River, opposite Crown Entertainment Complex.

* Getting to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium

Train

The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium train stop is located on the free City Circle Tram route (公交线路) and also routes 70 and 75. City Circle trams run every 10 minutes in both directions.

Shuttle Bus

The Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a free bus service, stopping at key tourist attractions in and around the City. Running daily, every 15 minutes from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Car Parking

While there is no public car parking at Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium, there are several public car parking lots available only a short walk away.

* Wheelchair Access

Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium provides people in wheelchairs with full access to all 12 zones. Each floor also has wheelchair accessible toilets.

* Terms

Tickets will be emailed to you immediately after purchase or you can download and print your ticket once payment has been accepted. Please print out all tickets purchased and present at the front entrance of Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium. No ticket, no entry!

33. At what time can visitors enter Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium?

  A. Before 9 am.  B. After 6:00 pm.  C. Around 4:00 pm.  D. At 5:30 pm.[来34. What does Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium offer?

  A. Free Wi-Fi.                   B. Cheap lunch. 

  C. Convenient wheelchair access.    D. Free tickets for children.

35. What can we know about Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium from the text?

 A. Tickets can be bought online.   B. It can only be reached by boat.

 C. It has several free car parking lots.

 D. It is beside Crown Entertainment Complex.

Everyone wants to be happy, but do you know the secret about it? Here I’d like to share with you some tips on happiness from the kind bear Winnie the Pooh.

1._______36______

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.” It’s easy to get locked into a reactive mindset. You just follow along with whatever is happening. ____37_____.You react to whatever is going on. You tend to feel powerless and like you are just drifting along in life. So in order not to get lost in your circumstances, you should be the one who takes action first and takes the lead.

2. Keep conversations simple and positive.

“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn’t use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like “What about lunch?”___38___ Of course, everyone wants positive, focused talks where it is interesting to listen, communicate and exchange ideas.

3 Appreciate the little things.

“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.”   39   . If you just allow yourself to be happy when accomplishing a big goal or when you have some great luck, you will make life harder than it needs to be. Instead, focus on appreciating things that you may take for granted. ___40______ .It might not sound like much. But this simple two-- minute exercise can help you to uncover a lot of the happiness that is already in your daily life.

A .What do people want in a conversations and relationships?

B. You do the same as people around you do.

C. Listen to all the things you can’t hear, and don’t bother

D. Take two minutes and find things in your life you can appreciate right now.

E. Learn to be active. Take the lead.

F. Daily happiness is to a large part about appreciating the small things.

G. Send others balloons whenever possible