星火英语高二阅读

1、Test12Dr. Conwell was greatly inspired by a true story. The story was about a farmer who lived in Africa and through a visitor became greatly excited about looking for diamonds. Lots of diamonds were already discovered on the African continent and this farmer got so excited about the idea of million

2、s of dollars worth of diamonds that he sold his farm to head out to the diamond line. He wandered all over the continent, as the years went by, constantly searching for diamonds and wealth, which he never found. Eventually he went completely broke and threw himself into a river and drowned.Meanwhile

3、, the new owner of his farm picked up an unusual looking rock about the size of an egg and put it on his coat as a sort of curiosity. A visitor stopped by and looked at the rock in surprise. He told the new owner of the farm that the funny looking rock on his coat was about the biggest diamond that

4、had ever been found. The new owner of the farm said, "Oh, the whole farm is covered with them"and sure enough it was.The farm turned out to be the Kimberly Diamond Mine, the richest the world has ever known. The original farmer was literally standing on "Acres of Diamonds" until

5、he sold his farm.Dr. Conwell learned from the story of the farmer and continued to teach its moral(寓意). Each of us is right in the middle of our own "Acre of Diamonds", if only we would realize it and develop the ground we are standing on before charging off in search of greener pastures(牧

6、场). Dr. Conwell told this story many times and attracted enormous audiences. He told the story long enough to have raised the money to start the college for poor students. In fact, he raised nearly six million dollars and the university he founded, Temple University in Philadelphia, has at least ten

7、 degree-granting colleges and six other schools.When Dr. Conwell talked about each of us being right on our own "Acre of Diamonds", he meant it. This story does not get old. It will be true forever.29. Why did the farmer sell his farm?ABecause he wanted to buy a better one.BBecause he want

8、ed to search for diamonds.CBecause he could hardly make a living on it.DBecause the new owner offered him a good price for it.30. The farmer threw himself into a river .Abecause he lost his farmBbecause he found no diamonds on his farmCafter he made great efforts but failedDafter he heard the new ow

9、ner found diamonds31. What's Dr. Conwell's main purpose of telling the story?ATo raise money.BTo inspire people.CTo entertain people.DTo attract audiences.32. What can be inferred from the passage?AGreat regret led to the farmer's jumping into the river.BThe farmer was hopeless when he j

10、umped into the river.CThe visitor had been searching for diamonds for many years.DThe new owner knew he could find diamonds before he bought the farm.One of the newer forms of poor office etiquette(礼仪)paying more attention to a handheld device than to a conversation or business meetinghappens so fre

11、quently that businesses are complaining it upsets workplaces, wastes time and costs money.A third of more than 5,000 respondents said they often check their emails during meetings, according to a March poll by Yahoo! HotJobs, an online jobs board. "Such habits have their price," said Tom M

12、usbach, senior managing editor of Yahoo! HotJobs. "Things like BlackBerries break up our attention span, and lead to lost productivity and wasted dollars because people can't focus on their work absolutely," he said.In other Yahoo! HotJobs research, nearly a fifth of respondents said t

13、hey had been reprimanded(谴责) for showing bad manners with a wireless device. Yet even those who complain about such behavior admit their own weakness. "I catch myself driving in the car with my husband. He's talking to me and I'm downloading my emails," said Jane Wesman. "You

14、can't help yourself. There's need to know what's going on."But the constant interest of an email fix may be costly. Research shows such multitasking(同时执行多任务) can take more time and result in more errors than focusing on a single task at a time.Then there's the risk of making som

15、eone really mad. In the New York state political coup, billionaire businessman Tom Golisano said he grew angry after meeting this spring with state Democratic majority leader Malcolm Smith, who paid more attention to his BlackBerry than to issues at hand. "One should not play with one's Bla

16、ckBerry(or anything else) when billionaires who have helped elect you have traveled to your office to talk to you," Henry Stern, former head of New York City's Parks Department, wrote on a Yonkers Tribune blog.People who text message when they should be doing something else are busy with wh

17、at Tom Musbach called counterproductive(适得其反的) work behavior, which also includes harassment(骚扰), showing up late or playing endlessly on the Internet."Technology allows us to do counterproductive things that we weren't able to do 10, 20 or even 5 years ago," he said.33. Jane Wesman is

18、 mentioned in the passage to show that .Ait's convenient to check one's emails in the car nowBpeople just can't help checking their emails sometimesCit's dangerous to check one's emails while drivingDchecking one's emails can make people annoyed34. Tom Golisano got angry afte

19、r meeting Malcolm Smith because .ATom spent a lot of money supporting MalcolmBMalcolm was not quite polite to himCMalcolm proved to be a bad leaderDMalcolm's attention was not on issues at hand35. People with counterproductive work behavior probably .Awork with poor quality and waste of time, mo

20、ney, or energyBcan accomplish several tasks successfullyClike to work with high technologyDhave a bad attitude toward work36. The constant interest of an email fix may be costly because .Ait costs a lot to use emails these daysBit can hurt the relationship between peopleCit can lead to low productiv

21、ity or even errorsDpeople will be fined if found checking emails at workThousands of Britons emigrate(移居) to Australia every year in search of a better life, but now more and more are deciding down under is not for them and returning home. The same trend seems to be happening to Australians desertin

22、g the UK. Why?For many, it's a dream come true to visit and eventually settle in a country that's far away but also very familiar. Britons are attracted by the outdoor lifestyle, sunshine and sense of space, while Australians are drawn to the history, the adventure and the UK's nearness

23、to the European mainland.Many end up settling down in their new country but in recent years, for an increasing number, it's not the one-way trip they had intended.Despite Australia's booming(繁荣的) economy, more than 7,000 British people left the country for good in October 2009the largest emi

24、gration recorded in recent memoryaccording to figures from Australia's Immigration Department.Between 2005 and 2010, nearly 107,000 Britons settled in Australia but during the same period more than 30,000 decided to permanently(永久地) leave. And the feeling appears to be mutual, with fewer Austral

25、ians arriving in the UK.The difficult economic situation in the UK goes some way to explain why fewer Australians should be heading there, but it's more surprising that the British emigrants should be leaving a booming country in exchange for one still struggling to recover from a recession.Chie

26、f among the reasons why the British are leaving include missing friends and family, and lacking a real sense of belonging, says Professor Roger Burrows, a sociologist from the University of York who has studied the phenomenon."The people who don't settle have always lived close to their friends and family(in the UK) so any move comes as a shock. If they live in a bungalow(平房) in the suburbs of Adelaide, it gets lonely. There isn't a cultu