As anyone who freelances(做自由職業(yè)) knows, there are lots of advantages of working at home alone. But there are drawbacks too, like the potential loneliness. No wonder co-working spaces are becoming so popular: they permit self-employed individuals to feel like they are part of all office environment, while making them get some work done too. But renting a co-working space does cost money.

Now a Swedish project is aiming to change that by turning people’s under-used homes into temporary co-working spaces, available to freelancers for free. Hoffice was started by freelancers Christofer Gradin Franzen and Johline Zandra about a year ago in Stockholm when they invited a few people into their home office to work together. It was a great success, and the project has since spread to a number of cities in Europe, North and South America, Australia, India and Japan. Anyone can sign up and offer their home space as a free co-working space, or go find a Hoffice near them.

On a Hoffice day, everyone arrives and starts work at a certain hour. After 45 minutes, everyone gets up to take a break, stretch, do qigong or yoga for 10 to 15 minutes. Afterwards, people can gather around again, and re-state their intentions and goals for the rest of the work day, as a way to motivate each other. Meals can be eaten together at a certain hour, potluck-style(家常飯)or by bringing your own lunch.

This process creates an encouraging and supportive work environment. As some freelancers describe, “By working at Hoffice, we give ourselves and each other the gift to spend our days in a social working environment, where we are extremely productive without ignoring our other human needs. We also make sure to give us and each other what we need to feel calm, happy, inspired and creative during the working day.”

So Hoffice is not just about sharing space; it's also about a free exchange of ideas. And perhaps the best thing is that Hoffices are free to use.

1.Hoffice was started to ________.

A. change people’s attitude to work

B. provide a co-working space for free

C. improve people’s working conditions

D. encourage people to be more social

2.What’s the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A. How people respond to Hoffice.

B. What Hoffice means to people.

C. What people share at Hoffice.

D. How a Hoffice day works.

3.Some freelancers’ descriptions of Hoffice suggest that they ________.

A. work longer than before

B. can’t be separated from each other

C. benefit a lot from the working style

D. expect more people to join them

4.What do we know about Hoffice according to the text?

A. It has been popular in many countries for many years.

B. It has created many new job opportunities.

C. It focus on not only environment but also human needs.

D. It is suitable for people from all walks of life.

To many web-building spiders, most of whom are nearly blind, the web is their essential window on the world: their means of communicating, capturing prey（獵物）, meeting mates and protecting themselves. A web-building spider without its web is like a man cast away on an island of solid rock, totally out of touch and destined to starve to death.

So important is the web to an orb-web spider's survival that the animal will continue to construct new webs daily even if it is being starved. For 16 days the starving spider builds completely normal webs. Then, as the animal gets scrawnier（憔悴的）, it constructs a wider-meshed web using fewer strands（線）. Such webs would only trap larger prey, which is more economical from the perspective of a starving spider.

The spider stores energy by recycling web protein. It simply eats its own web each evening and reuses it to produce new silk. In studies with radioactively, labeled materials, it was found that 95 percent of web protein reappears in the next day' web. Most of the energy needed for web-building is used in walking over the strands as they are laid down．

Scientists are impressed by the adaptability of the spider's highly preprogrammed brain, which is larger for its size than the brain of any other invertebrate（無脊推動物）. If web-building is interrupted, or if some of the existing strands are destroyed, the spider simply goes back to see where the web is left off and then finishes building a normal web. One spider will finish building the incomplete web of another.

1.What is probably the best title for the passage?

A. Secrets of Spiders' Adaptability

B. Secrets of the Spiders' Life

C. Importance of Webs to Spiders

D. Spiders' Highly Preprogrammed Brain

2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Web-building spiders will probably die without their webs.

B. One Web-building spider usually conducts one web.

C. Most spiders will stop conducting webs when hungry.

D. Web-building spiders have good eyesight.

3.A spider conducts a wider-meshed web when ________.

A. it is 16 days old

B. it is getting weaker

C. it has fewer wends

D. it hunts for food

4.A spider's ability to finish an incomplete web proves that ________.

A. it reuses its web protein to reproduce new silk

B. it is able to rebuild a destroyed web

C. the incomplete web is much more important

D. it has a highly preprogrammed brain

I would always remember that day. When I was 14，all I wanted was a unique necklace with my name carved. It was the “in” thing and it seemed every girl except me had one. On my 15th birthday, my Mum gave me a beautiful necklace with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it. I was in heaven.

What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”. We’d been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new” stuff(東西) we got was really just to replace what we’d lost. But not my necklace. My necklace was new.

Then, only one month later, I lost it. I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning. I was sad and searched everywhere for it. But it seemed to have disappeared. Eventually, I gave up and stopped looking for it. And two years later, we sold the house and moved away.

Years passed, and a couple of moves later, I was visiting my parents’ when Mum told me that she had something for me. It wasn’t my birthday, nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other gift?giving occasion. Mum noticed my questioning look. “You’ll recognize this one,” she said, smiling.

Then she handed me a small ring box. I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful necklace inside.

The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations, which included replacing the carpets. When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the necklace. As it had my initials carved into it, they realized who owned the necklace. They’d had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother. And it still fits me.

1.The underlined word “in” in the first paragraph probably means “________”．

A. available

B. fashionable

C. practical

D. renewable

2.When she got the necklace back, the writer was about ________.

A. 30 years old

B. 28 years old

C. 15 years old

D. 14 years old

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The writer lost her necklace in the morning when she took it off.

B. The writer never stopped looking for her necklace.

C. The writer’s ring was cleaned up by the new house owner.

D. The writer’s family moved several times during her growth.

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. My New Necklace

B. Lost and Replaced

C. Lost and Found

D. A Beautiful Necklace

How to Strengthen Your Willpower

Researchers find willpower is like a muscle—it may get tired from over use. So, if it acts like a muscle, can it also be strengthened? The answer is YES. 1.

1. Ten minutes of reflection

Reflection will give you the fater results. 2. Researchers show that after just 2—3 days of practicing thinking for 10 minutes, your brain will be able to focus better, you will have more energy, and you aill be less stressed.

2. Work on your posture

Work on your posture for a 2-week period. Every time you catch yourself slouching(懶散), correct it by sitting up straight. This simple practice can vastly improve your perseverance.

3. Use your opposite hand

Select a chunk(塊) of the day to use your opposite hand. 3. And from personal experience, if you aim for more than an hour, you will unnecessarily tire out your willpower muscle.

4. Correct your speech

Change your natural speech. 4. Again, it takes willpower to consciously go against your instincts. It doesn’t matter how you correct your speech, as long as you change natural speech habits.

To get started, select a chunk of the day to practice and choose the words you will change. Personally, I tried not using contractions during work hours and it worked very well.

Above are some effective ways to strengthen your perseverance. Do not try to do all at once. 5. You should start small and gradually build up as your muscles get stronger.

A. Training your willpower muscle is like training for a marathon.

B. This even includes resisting the urge to say “hello” instead of “hey”.

C. You will be more mentally strong.

D. With the right practice willpower can be strengthened.

E. It can make your brain focus and resist the urge to wander.

F. Be more conscious of your automic decisions.

G. It doesn’t need to be more than an hour in order to get results.

John was 20 years old. He was a handsome and gifted _______. But he stopped talking as much as he usually did after he graduated from high school. This year, his _______reduced to nothing. His parents knew he was _______, and continually told him that they loved him. Everyone was _______about his well-being and wondered what they could say or do to help him, since saying “I love you” _______wasn’t enough to improve his situation.

John finally made a(an) _______. He locked himself in the cellar(地下室) and stayed there for three days without food. _______he continued to acknowledge his parents’ love for him and his love for them, his depression _______. His loved ones were _______that he would even kill himself one day. Healthcare professionals were ________, but the advice, care and kindness did not ________. On the fourth day of John’s isolation(隔離), the local high school football ________, who didn’t know John’s situation, happened to call him. John’s mother told him John was not ________and took a message at the coach’s ________. Then she went to the cellar door and called down the stairs, “John, Coach Ivers just phoned. He said that his players ________last night on who they wanted as their assistant coach. They said you were the greatest football athlete they had ever had and they thought they could ________the state championship if you helped to coach them. Coach Ivers said they need you! He said if you are interested, you should be at the football practice________at 14:45 this afternoon.” Hearing the message, John eventually came out of the cellar. He accepted the coaching job. ________the time he came home from his first ________, he had walked out of his depression. He once again found the great feeling of being ________, and he was back to his old self.

1.A. judge B. captain C. athlete D. professor

2.A. promise B. complaint C. motivation D. conversation

3.A. depressed B. awkward C. innocent D. unconscious

4.A. curious B. positive C. frightened D. concerned

5.A. directly B. obviously C. properly D. specially

6.A. apology B. move C. difference D. deal

7.A. Because B. When C. Unless D. Although

8.A. acquired B. recovered C. deepened D. withdrew

9.A. amazed B. convinced C. bored D. confused

10.A. brought in B. taken in C. turned in D. put in

11.A. solve B. produce C. work D. develop

12.A. coach B. manager C. assistant D. guider

13.A. occupied B. suitable C. flexible D. available

14.A. invitation B. recommendation C. request D. compromise

15.A. competed B. voted C. connected D. responded

16.A. obtain B. recognize C. approve D. admit

17.A. in person B. with delight C. by chance D. on purpose

18.A. During B. Before C. By D. After

19.A. appointment B. practice C. experience D. preparation

20.A. demanded B. respected C. protected D. needed

In my living room, there is a plaque(匾) that advises me to “Bloom 1.you are planted.” It reminds me of Dorothy. I got to know Dorothy in the early 1980s, when I was teaching Early Childhood Development through a program with Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. The job 2. (responsible) required occasional visits to the classroom of each teacher in the program. Dorothy stands out in my memory as the one 3.“bloomed” in her remote area.

Dorothy taught in a school in Harlan County, Kentucky, Appalachian Mountain area. To get to her school from the town of Harlan, I followed a road 4. (wind) around the mountain. In the eight-mile journey, I crossed the same railroad track five times, giving the possibility of 5. (catch) by the same train five times. Rather than feeling excited by this drive through the mountains, I found it depressing. The poverty level was shocking and the small shabby houses gave me the greatest feeling of6.(hope).

From the moment of my arrival at the little school, all gloom(憂郁) disappeared. Upon arriving at Dorothy’s classroom, I was greeted with smiling faces and treated like a queen. The children 7. (prepare) to show me their 8. (late) projects. Dorothy told me with a big smile that they were serving poke greens salad and cornbread for “dinner” (lunch).

Lonely 9. she was far away from the modern civilization and convenience, she never ran out of reports of exciting activities of her students. Her enthusiasm never cooled down. She passed all the tests 10.(excellent) and I found that Dorothy was really blooming where life had planted her.

1.Water is __________(有益) to both plants and animals.

2.To their __________（惱怒，生氣）, he decided not to come back for the Spring Festival.

3.Our new school library is __________(可使用的，可進(jìn)入的) to every student in our school for free.

4.We look at the child with __________(同情).

5.Children under 14 must be __________（陪伴）by an adult.

6.The broken blue bike was found __________(拋棄，遺棄) by the river side.

7.As I was sorting out my __________(住處), a door bell rang.

8.These facts are __________(與…有關(guān)) to the case.

9.You should encourage the young __________(參與者) to run the company.

10.This paper is __________(分配) free.

11.The boss gave her the job on the headmaster’s __________(推薦).

12.She __________（致謝）his help in her book.

13.They are busy making __________（準(zhǔn)備） for the wedding.

14.She felt her home wasn’t __________（講究的，高雅的）enough.

15.He made a __________(捐贈) to the stricken area.

As is often the case, when people are attending to meetings, having meals or waiting for buses, you can always find them addicting to their phones, completely ignoring others.

This is really a common phenomena in our life. The reason is why smart phones nowadays can be used for people to play mobile games and kept in touch with friends through QQ and WeChat. Therefore, too much exposure to phones are bad for people in terms of health. Moreover, people involved in phones fail to communicate well with these around them.

As far as I am concerned, people should wisely make use of their phones to help their work and study. Meanwhile, care much about their family and friends rather than mobile phones.

寫作內(nèi)容

假設(shè)你是李華，你上個星期天去市圖書館看書時發(fā)現(xiàn)以下問題，你寫信向館長Mr Li 反映：

1. 新書太少

2. 書架上的書比較混亂

3. 閱覽室的一盞燈壞了

4. 管理員工作時彼此閑聊，讀者無法安心看書

注意：

1. 詞數(shù)100-120左右

2. 可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫

3. 信的開頭和結(jié)尾已經(jīng)為你寫好，不計入總詞數(shù)

Dear Mr Li,

Last Sunday, I went to do some reading in your library.__________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

So, for the sake of readers, I suggest that you change all these as soon as possible.

Yours,

LiHua

I know you are very _______ ice cream, but you will be too fat if you eat too much.

A. tired of B. fond of

C. full of D. afraid of