II.

Tina was not like many of her classmates. She didn’t listen to popular music or watch many movies, and she wasn’t interested in nice clothes. When she got together with her friends, they wanted to listen to rock and pop music. When Tina asked  if  they would  like  to  try classical  (古典的) music, they all looked at her strangely.“Classical music  is  for old people, ” one of  her friends said. Tina was worried that something was wrong with her. She decided to talk to her father. As she entered his study (书房), her father could feel something was wrong.

“Dad, am I strange?” she asked her father.“Of course not, ” he answered. “Why do you ask that?” “Because I don’t like the same things as my classmates do. They want to listen to Mariah Carey’s music. I like Yo Yo Ma’s.” “I can understand, Tina,  it’s all  right  to be your own person. You don’t have to copy (模仿) what other people do. Everybody has different tastes. Some of them are popular, and others aren’t. ”After talking with her father, Tina felt better. She realized (意识到)  that being different made her special.  It was an important lesson for her to learn.

One of the secrets of successful people is that they have good habits. The good habits help them to be successful.

What are good habits? How can you get into good habits? Here is some advice for you.

First, everyone has his merits (优点). You should always look for the good in people and learn from them.

Second, you should try to learn new things and skills every day. Reading a few pages of a book or a newspaper every day may help you.

Third, start the day the right way. When you get up in the morning, look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself today you must keep your good habits.

I think the last one is the most important. No matter what good habits you decide to develop, you should try to keep them. Then you can have a life with success and happiness.

When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelon was expensive. One of my father's friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.

    Every summer, when the first watermelon arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie's place. We'd sit on the edge of the dock (码头), feet dangling (摇晃), and got ready for a big meal.

    Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we'd bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart—the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, most seed-free part—and throw away the rest.

    Bernie was my father's ideal of a rich man. I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie's wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eatonly the heart of the watermelon.

    What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don't take the time to dangle(悬荡) your feet over the dock and enjoy life's small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

    For many years, I forgot that lesson I'd learned as a kid on the loading dock. I was too busy making all the money I could.

    Well, I've relearned it. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That's the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

People like to give gifts to others on big days. Do you know how to choose(挑选) gifts? You should choose gifts that your family or friends like. Different gifts are for different people. For example, boys often like to play with robots(机器人),toy guns(枪)and balls. And girls may like something lovely, like flowers, dolls and beautiful clothes. Of course, you don’t need to choose something expensive. Your feeling is much more important than money. There is a Chinese saying, “A small gift means far much. ”

What will the weather be like in the future? Some people say they can forecast the weather from some animals.

If birds are flying high in the sky, there will be a nice day. When they sit in trees or stay close together, bad weather is on the way. Ants(蚂蚁) often build their homes on the steep(陡峭的) side just before the rain comes. Cats like to clean their ears before the rain. Chickens make a loud noise and run here and there when the rain is coming. Frogs will stay in the water and make a lot of noise, too. But on a nice day, they are quiet and jump out of the water. Turtles(海龟) often look for higher places and cows like to lie down when the rain is on the way。

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

New York is 3 hours ahead of California, but it does not make California slow, or that New York is fast. Both are working based on their own “ Time Zone”（时区）.

Someone graduated at the age of 22, yet waited 5 years before finding a good job! And there is another who graduated at 27 and got hired immediately!

Someone became a CEO at 25, and died at 50.While another became a CEO at 50, and lived to 90 years.

Someone is still single, while someone else got married and waited 10 years having a child. There is another who had a baby within a year of marriage.

Obama retires(退休) at 55, but Trump starts at 70.

Absolutely everyone in this world works based on their Time Zone. People can have things worked out only according to their pace. (步调)

People around you might seem to go ahead of you; some might seem to be behind you. But everyone is running their own race, in their own time.

Don’t envy them or laugh at them. They are in their TIME ZONE, and you are in yours!

Life is about waiting for the right moment to act. Hold on, be strong, and stay true to yourself .Fight in your time zone.

So, RELAX. You’re not LATE. You’re not EARLY. You are very much ON TIME , and in your time zone destiny set up for you.

Believe it or not,oceans and seas are easy to be harmed by the development of human society．They are also influenced by man-made pollution easily．It is human beings that do great harm to the ocean ecosystem(生态系统)．

The coral reefs（珊瑚）that provide food and protection for many ocean creatures（生物）is important toecosystems．However, the coral reefs in almost all the oceansare in dangerof pollution.Chemicals from factories end up in the oceans and destroycoral reefs.If the coral system die,some ocean creatures will be sure to die out．

Protecting the ocean also has something to do with the protection of ocean wildlife like dolphins.The fishing industry depends on modern ways to catch many fish in order to earn more money.But net for fishing also catch other sea animals.The fishing boat workers are advised to check their nets and set other ocean animals free.But the boats are in a hurry to make money and often other ocean animals are caught with fish．

Oil spills(溢出) can destroy the ocean environment because oilcankill all ocean life．The world depends on oil and there is plenty of oil off the shore in many countries.The need foroil is more important than the risk of the oil spill.However,the fact is that one ocean mistake can lead to an ocean environment accident. Itwill cause years ofdamageto the financial ecosystems andkill all the creatures in the area of the spill.The oil will be washed up on the shore and destroy ecosystems along the shore，including birds．

Everyone who cares about the environment should pay more attention to protecting the ocean,and all of us should do something for the protection of the ocean．

Australia is nearly 7.7 million square kilometres.Itˈs the sixth largest country in area after Russia，Canada，China，the United States and Brazil.

There are rainforests and large plains in the north，snowfields in the southeast，desert(沙漠) in the centre and croplands in the east，south and southwest.About one third of the country lies in the tropics(热带地区)．Australia has a coastline of 36，735 km if it were possible to drive non－stop along the whole coast at 60 km/h，it would take about 24 days to complete the trip.

Australia is the worldˈs smallest continent(洲) and the sixth largest country being equal(相等的) in area to the USA without Alaska.The continent is one of the oldest lands.It is more than 3，000 million years old，and it is the flattest of the continents.

The population of Australia is more than 20 million.It is one of the worldˈs most urbanized countries，with about 70% of the population living in the ten largest cities.Most of the population is concentrated(集中) along the eastern seaboard and the southeastern corner of the continent.

(B)

    This happened in London. It was November and the weather was very wet and cold. A Frenchman had caught a very bad cold. He coughed day and night, so he decided to go and get some medicine for his cough. As he did not know much English, he took out his dictionary and looked up the word “cough”. But the dictionary did not tell him how to pronounce(发音) the word. He thought it over and remembered that he had learned the word “plough”. He remembered that it was pronounced[plau]. So he thought that c-o-u-g-h must be pronounced [kau].

    Then he put on his coat and hat and went to a chemist's shop(药店).When the man in the shop asked him what he wanted, the Frenchman said, “I want something for my‘cow’ , please.” The man in the shop looked at him. Had he heard him correctly?

    “I beg your pardon, sir?” he asked.

    The Frenchman repeated, “I want some medicine for my‘cow’.”

    “For your cow?” asked the man, “are you a farmer?”

   “A farmer?” said the Frenchman in surprise, “What makes you think I'm a farmer? I come from Paris. I'm not a farmer.”

    “But where is your cow?”

    “It's here!” answered the Frenchman. He put his hand on his chest(胸口) and began to cough. “Here it is,”  he said, “I've a very bad ‘cow’ here.”

    Then the man in the shop understood what the Frenchman meant. He wanted some medicine for his cough.
 

  Thousands of years ago, the ancient people of Babylon and Egypt studied the stars in the sky and created the zodiac（黄道十二宫图）. It was first used to count time. Later, many people used the stars to describe a person’s character and to foretell（预言）what would happen in the future.

  A person’s zodiacal sign is connected to his or her birth date. Some believe this sign can tell us about a person’s character. For example, some think that a person born under the sign of Cancer (between June 22 and July 23) is kind and home-loving.

  In many countries in Asia, people believe the Chinese horoscope can describe character and foretell future events. In the Chinese horoscope, there are future events. In the Chinese horoscope, there are twelve animals. A person’s animal sign is connected to his or her birth year. Each animal has a different type of character. People born in the Year of the Rat are friendly, but careful. Those born in the Year of the Monkey are smart and good at making money.

  In Asia, a person’s blood type is also used to describe character. People with the blood type A are calm and serious, but they may be selfish. People with the blood B are independent but may be lazy. People with the blood type AB are honest, and people with the blood type O are talkative.（健谈的）

  Not everyone believes that star signs or blood types can be describe character. But reading the horoscope can still be a lot of fun.