【推荐1】Thirteen, for me, was a challenging year. My parents divorced and I moved to a new town with my father, far from my old family and friends. I was terribly lonely and would cry myself to sleep each night. To ease my sadness, my father purchased an old horse for me at a local auction. I named him Cowboy.

Cowboy was undoubtedly the ugliest horse in the world. But I didn’t care. I loved him beyond all reason.

I joined a riding club and suffered rude comments and mean snickersabout Cowboy’s looks. I never let on about how I felt, but deep inside, my heart was breaking. The other members rode beautiful, registered horses.

When Cowboy and I entered the events where the horse is judged on appearance, we were quickly shown the gate. No amount of preparation and love would turn Cowboy into a beauty. My only chance to compete would be in the speed events. I chose the jumping race.

One girl named Becky rode a big brown horse in the race events. She always won the blue ribbons. Needless to say, she didn’t feel threatened when I competed against her at the next show. She didn’t need to. I came in next to last.

The stinging memory of Becky’s smirks(得意的笑) made me determined to beat her. For the whole next month I woke up early every day and rode Cowboy five miles to the arena. We practiced running and jumping for hours in the hot sun and then I would walk Cowboy home totally exhausted.

All of our hard work didn’t make me feel confident by the time the show came. I sat at the gate and sweated it out while I watched Becky and her horse charge through the course and finish in first place.

My turn finally came. I put on my hat, rubbed Cowboy’s neck and entered the arena. At the signal, we dashed toward the first fence, jumped it without trouble and raced on to the next one. Cowboy then flew over the second, third and fourth fences like a bird and I turned him toward the finish line.

As we crossed the line the crowd was shocked into silence. Cowboy and I had beaten Becky and her fancy horse by two seconds!

I gained much more than a blue ribbon that day. At thirteen, I realized that no matter what the odds, I’d always come out a winner if I wanted something badly enough to work for it.

1. The underlined expression “shown the gate” (paragraph 4) most probably means “_________”.

A．told how to enter the arena	B．shown how to make the horse beautiful
C．removed from the competition early	D．told to enter the timed-speed events

2. Why was the writer not confident of victory?

A．He was an inexperienced rider.

B．He believed he was unpopular with the crowd.

C．He had not practiced enough.

D．He thought his horse wasn’t as good as the others.

3. What did the writer learn from his experience?

A．Life can sometimes be unfair.

B．Anything is possible if one tries hard enough.

C．A positive attitude will bring success.

D．One should not make judgments based on appearance.

4. The best title for the story is ________.

A．A Run to Remember	B．A Horse’s Tale
C．Neck and Neck	D．A Difficult Age

【推荐3】On a cold morning in May, I received a fascinating email from a high school friend. inviting me to a 10-day all-female surfing adventure in Portugal. The offer was irresistible, and I instantly knew my answer was yes.

The trip seemed simple enough. Ten women, ranging from 30 to 45 years old, all strangers, will gather on the Portuguese coast to embrace the challenge of surfing the Atlantic waves.

As a travel enthusiast, I quickly sought permission from my boss for this once-in-a- lifetime journey.

Through my 33 years, I’ve observed a common adult tendency: we often limit ourselves to refining skills we already possess. There’s a certain pride in improving our expertise, becoming increasingly knowledgeable in our chosen fields, yet unintentionally, this focus often leaves other skills undeveloped and leads to neglecting other areas of potential growth.

Two days later, I arrived in Ericeira, a charming surf town, where I met my surfing group. Despite our different personalities and backgrounds, we were all united in a persistent desire to challenge ourselves, learn, tackle and grow.

The shores at Ericeira, where the beginners learn to surf, are shallow and covered with slippery rocks. They make for softer waves but are difficult to navigate (驾驭).

Guided by our amazing coaches, together, we faced the waves. Sometimes, it poured with rain, and the waves crashed around us, but we were still out there. And with every slip and fall, words of encouragement filled the air.

Honestly, I probably spent most of my days frozen to the bone, but that didn’t matter because a new level of genuine joy and personal achievement had been unlocked.

Learning a new skill taught me the humbleness that can come from doing badly at something new, and the pride that develops when you finally manage to grasp something you’ve been working on.

While surfing might not be my calling, trying it out inspired me to take more risks in life, to step outside of my comfort zone and to never stop believing in myself. You never know what you’re capable of if you don’t go out there and try.

1. What motivated the author to join the surf trip to Portugal?

A．The opportunity to improve existing skills.

B．The need to reconnect with a high school friend.

C．The chance to undertake work duties in Portugal.

D．The desire to embrace a challenge and learn a new skill.

2. Which of the following words best describe the author’s surfing experience?

A．Tough but rewarding.	B．Boring and uneventful.
C．Difficult and frustrating.	D．Relaxing but unpredictable.

3. What can be inferred about the author?

A．She used to lack confidence in herself.

B．She became more willing to take risks.

C．She went on to become an expert surfer.

D．She discovered the surfing was her true calling.

4. What wisdom did the author gain from the experience with surfing?

A．The value of pushing your limits and trying new things.

B．The need to seek professional training in all new skills.

C．The benefit of traveling with unknown companions.

D．The importance of being an expert in one field.

【推荐2】I wanted to share the story of someone in my community. Alex and I have been pretty good friends for years. He was raised in a pretty abusive home, and grew up with major depression and anxiety. He talks about his story all the time to help other teens. Alex has truly changed his life around to help other people and we are all so glad for that.

He started an organization to help homeless people. He has teens from across the world mail him stories of hope or funny pictures that they drew and he goes around and gives homeless people those things along with food or something. They love receiving drawings and letters because they feel great knowing that someone took time to do that for them.

Alex also wrote a book to inspire teens. He wants other teenagers to see what he’s gone through so they feel inspired to make a change in their lives. Alex is an extremely inspirational person and this book will help teens in similar situations as Alex was in.

Alex has won three awards for everything he did. He won an inspirational people’s award through a local organization; he won the Youth Service America’s everyday hero award and he won a Canadian awesome award. He’s changing lives and he really deserves these awards. Alex’s latest accomplishment is the start of the National Youth Internet Safety and Cyber Bullying Task Force. I can’t believe how many families he’s affected. It’s so much work just to help people he doesn’t know but Alex loves it.

I believe that young stars are not just singers and actors. I believe they are also the youth changing our world. There are not many teens that choose to change the world around, but Alex is definitely one of them.

1. Which of the following best describes Alex?

A．Ambitious and successful.	B．Patient and amazing.
C．Encouraging and selfless.	D．Outgoing and generous.

2. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Your Voice.	B．Campus Life.
C．News Express.	D．Magic World.

【推荐3】The student arrived early, sat front and center, and stood out in my classroom in more ways than one. I’d say that he was about 40 years older than his classmates in my undergraduate communications class. He eagerly jumped into class discussions, with his humor and wisdom of experience. And he was always respectful of the other students’ perspectives, as if each of them were a teacher. Jerry Valencia walked in with a smile — and he left with one too.

“These students gave me the confidence that I didn’t need to feel bad about my age,” Valencia says.

One day, I spotted Valencia on campus. He said he would have to stop taking classes that semester and reapply for next year. By then, he hoped to have earned enough money from construction jobs and have his student-loan papers in order. But he said he was still coming to campus to attend events or see friends. He asked seriously whether he could still sit in on my communications class.

Sure, I said. But he wouldn’t get any credit.

No problem, he said.

Soon there he was again, back at his old desk, front and center, jumping into our discussions on how to find and tell stories in Los Angeles — a 63-year-old man with as much energy and curiosity as any of the youngsters in class. For an assignment on changing neighborhoods, Valencia wrote about a favorite local chain restaurant that was “unceremoniously closed.” He called it a theft of childhood. “It is almost as if someone has stolen that childhood and rudely replaced it with a slippery hill where everything they treasure will slide away,” he wrote.

A lot of Valencia’s classmates apparently knew he couldn’t afford that semester’s tuition but was still doing the homework. “Here he is, willingly taking a class for the delight of it and benefit of learning,” says Jessica Espinosa, a 25-year-old junior. Afterward, I overheard Valencia wanted to stay in school until he earned a master’s degree, but it had taken him 12 years to finish community college, so he had a long way to go. He had earned his associate of arts degree over the summer, then transferred to LA to start on his bachelor’s.

There is something splendidly unreasonable about Valencia’s determination to get a four-year degree and then a master’s. At his current pace, he’ll be 90 when he finally hangs all that paper on the wall. But that doesn’t seem especially relevant. He’s found all the youthful energy and academic opportunity stimulating. Valencia’s grade in my class this semester will not show up on his transcripts (成绩单). But I’m giving him an A — and in the most important ways, it counts.

1. What made Valencia different from his classmates according to Para. 1?

A．He was an early bird to attract other students’ attention.

B．He took pride in his age, for he often wore a smile on his face.

C．He was eager to draw his conclusion in the communications class.

D．He may often share his wise and humorous ideas in the discussion.

2. According to the author, Valencia continued to attend classes because ________.

A．he got enjoyment and treasured the chance of learning

B．he needed the credits to further study a bachelor’s degree

C．he desired to attend events and have an A on his transcripts

D．he wanted to keep up with his classmates by learning hard

3. Which of the following best describes Valencia?

A．Modest and independent.	B．Energetic and generous.
C．Considerate and intelligent.	D．Enthusiastic and motivated.

4. The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A．teachers like diligent and highly-motivated students

B．efforts will be paid off as long as we are determined

C．it is never too late to learn even though we start a little late

D．getting an A counts when it comes to learning at a higher level

【推荐2】Failure is likely the most tiring experience one ever has. There is nothing more exhausting than not succeeding.     1    

In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it was either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel. Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones.     2    

Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them alphabetically, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the most difficult task of essay-writing. The experience proved that the rule works.

    3     Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can   then let the unconsciousness (无意识) take over.

When planning Encyclopedia Britannica, I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Day after day, I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked.     4    One day, mentally exhausted, I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relieved, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.     5     In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.

Human beings, I believe must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.

A．My fatigue became almost unbearable.

B．I felt depressed and gave it up eventually.

C．Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle.

D．Use your unconsciousness and you can reduce your tiredness.

E．An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind.

F．The solution is not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.

G．Here are two ways of exhaustion ——start-up fatigue and performance fatigue.