Work is a part of living —my grandparents understood that. They lived and worked on a farm that has been in my family for 150 years. They raised chickens for eggs , pigs and cattle for meat . Cows were kept for milk and the cream, from which Grandma made butter and cheese. What little yard they had became a garden.
The Depression, therefore, didn’t make much change in their lives. But it did bring an unending flow of men out of work, drifting from job to job, to the farm. The first to show up at the door of the kitchen was a man in rags. He took off his hat and quietly explained that he hadn’t eaten for a while. Grandpa stood watching him a bit , then said , “There’s a stack of firewood against the fence behind the barn (谷倉). I’ve been needing to get it moved to the other side of the fence . You have just about enough time to finish the job before lunch .”
Grandma said a surprising thing happened. The man got a shine in his eyes and he hurried to the barn at once. She set another place at the table and made an apple pie. During lunch, the stranger didn’t say much, but when he left, his shoulders had straightened. “Nothing ruins a man like losing his self-respect,” Grandpa later told me.
Soon after, another man showed up asking for a meal. This one was dressed in a suit and carried a small old suitcase. Grandpa came out when he heard voices. He looked at the man and then offered a handshake.” There is a stack of firewood along the fence down behind the barn I’ve been meaning to get it moved. It’d sure be a help to me . And we’d be pleased to have you stay for lunch.” The fellow set his suitcase aside and neatly laid his coat on top. Then he set off to work.
Grandma says she doesn’t remember how many strangers they shared a meal with during those Depression days-or how many times that stack of wood got moved.
【小題1】When he was asked to move a stack of firewood, the first man who asked for a meal got a shine in his eyes for he was glad that         .

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容，從下框A～F選項中選出能概括每段主題的最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該選項涂黑。選項中有一項為多余項。

A. How inner beliefs can help

B. Why are habits so important

C. How to develop positive habits

D. Improve your life

E. You can do it

F. Action plan

The single most important factor that contributes to success is what you do every single day. It is as simple as that. Your habits will determine whether you are successful or not. If you have strong and healthy positive habits, it does not matter whether or not you fail today because you are guaranteed to succeed in the long run.

1._________________________________

Because you repeat the same actions and the same behaviors every single day, a single positive action will not change your life, but the same action repeated 1,000 times will have a significant impact on your life. For example, if you go to the gym one time, you won’t see a big difference in your life. However, if you go to the gym 1,000 times over a five year period, you will see a big difference in your body. The same principle applies to finance, health, relationships, work, career, and school. Simple positive actions repeated every single day will have a great impact on your life in the long run.

2._________________________________

There’s nothing easier than developing positive habits. You simply have to do every single day the action you want to make a habit. If you want to develop the habit of running, run almost every day. If you want to develop the habit of eating healthy, eat healthy every day. If you want to develop the habit of reading, read every day. Habits are created by repetition. The more you do an action, the easier it becomes in the long run.

3.__________________________________ ??????????

If you want to be successful in changing your habits, you should think about changing your inner beliefs about your habits. For example, your old belief was: “I love cigarette because it makes me feel good and relaxed. I need cigarette to be happy and relaxed.” If you keep this belief, you won’t be able to keep your resolution to stop smoking for very long. Instead, you should adopt this new belief: “I love yoga because it makes me feel good and relaxed. Cigarette is poisonous and destroys my body. Yoga makes me happy.” You should analyze your beliefs and make sure they won’t stop you from changing your habits. The same is true when you try to form positive habits. If you want to start eating healthy food, here are some positive beliefs you should start thinking about: “Healthy food is very good for my health. It gives me a lot of energy and I feel very good.”

4.___________________________________??????????

It’s now time for you to develop positive habits in your life and avoid your negative habits. Write down 3 positive habits that you would like to develop and 3 negative habits that you would like to get rid of. For each positive habit, write down exactly what actions you’re going to take every single day in order to develop the new habit. For each negative habit, write down exactly what actions you’re not going to take in the next weeks. Here are some positive habits that will lead to success: exercise, healthy food, reading, saving, studying, healthy relationships, hard work, etc.. Here are some negative habits to get rid of: gambling, drug and alcohol abuse, overeating, shyness, etc..

5._____________________________________ ??????????

Everybody can change. All it takes is courage and commitment. Decide right now to improve your life by changing your habits. Take action right now! Don’t be afraid. Yes, you will probably make mistakes along the way. But never forget that success is guaranteed for you if you have positive habits in your life. If you refuse to quit, success will be yours.

Once in a village, the villagers built a new church building and people came from far and wide to see it. They admired its beauty! They said it was the most beautiful building in the world. Up on the roof, a little nail（釘子）heard the people praising everything about the lovely structure – except the nail! No one even knew he was there, and he became very angry and sad.
“If I am not important, nobody will miss me if I quit!” So the nail then released (松開) its hold, got down from the roof, and fell into the mud.
That night it rained and rained. Soon, the board that had no nail was blown away, and the roof began to leak (漏水). The water flowed down along the walls and over the beautiful pictures on the walls. The plaster (石膏) began to fall, the floor was ruined, and the Bible was also ruined by water. All this was because a little nail decided to quit!
But what of the nail? While holding the board, it was not known by others but it was useful. Buried in the mud now, it was useless and would soon be eaten up by rust!
What the story wants to say is that every member is important to a whole group!
You may, like the nail, feel not important at times, but just like the nail, your absence is felt. A big building might fall to pieces. You are important to a group even if you are small.
【小題1】Why did the nail decide to quit?

The drug store was closing for the night and Alfred Higgins was about to go home when his new boss approached him.
“Empty your pockets please, Alfred,” Sam Carr demanded in a firm voice.
Alfred pretended to be shocked but he knew he’d been caught. From his coat he withdrew a make-up kit, a lipstick and two tubes of toothpaste.
“I’m disappointed in you, Alfred!” said the little gray-haired man.
“Sorry, sir. Please forgive me. It’s the first time I’ve ever done such a thing,” Alfred lied, hoping to gain the old man’s sympathy.
Mr Carr’s brow furrowed as he reached for the phone, “Do you take me for a fool? Let’s see what the police have to say. But first I’ll call your mother and let her know her son is heading to jail.”
“Do whatever you want,” Alfred shot back, trying to sound big. But deep down he felt like a child. He imagined his mother rushing in, eyes burning with anger, maybe in tears. Yet he wanted her to come quickly before Mr. Carr called the police.
Mr. Carr was surprised when Mrs Higgins finally arrived. She was very calm, quiet and friendly. “Is Alfred in trouble?” she asked.
“He’s been stealing from the store,” the old man coolly replied.
Mrs. Higgins put out her hand and touched Mr. Carr’s arm with great gentleness as if she knew just how he felt. She spoke as if she did not want to cause him any more trouble. “What do you want to do, Mr. Carr?”
The woman’s calm and gentle manner disarmed the once-angry store-owner. “I was going to get a cop. But I don’t want to be cruel. Tell your son not to come back here again, and I’ll let it go.” Then he warmly shook Mrs. Higgins’s hand.
Mrs. Higgins thanked the old man for his kindness, then mother and son left. They walked along the street in silence. When they arrived home his mother simply said, “Go to bed, you fool.”
In his bedroom, Alfred heard his mother in the kitchen. He felt no shame, only pride in his mother’s actions. “She was smooth!” he thought. He went to the kitchen to tell her how great she was, but was shocked by what he saw.
His mother’s face looked frightened, broken. Not the cool, bright face he saw earlier. Her lips moved nervously. She looked very old. There were tears in her eyes.
This picture of his mother made him want to cry. He felt his youth ending. He saw all the troubles he brought her and the deep lines of worry in her grey face. It seemed to him that this was the first time he had ever really seen his mother.
【小題1】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

Empty Deserts
In the 19^th century Americans from the eastern states moved out west to settle in the rich new lands along the Pacific coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing the “Great American Desert in the western part of the United States by horse and wagon.
The western desert can be very dangerous. There is little water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times and appears in movies and in TV.
In Arizona, man made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country. At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake.
There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell’s shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old native American pictures, painted on the rocks.
In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130 degrees. There is less than two inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in America---- 925 meters below sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat.
Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is plenty of life if you look closely. Small insects, snakes and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live under ground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water.  When it does rain in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant colors.
【小題1】In the 19^th century, Americans moved from the east to the west because they ______.