It was the day after Halloween when my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with the worst headache she'd ever had. While posing in our costumes the night before, we knew something was wrong, just not how wrong.

Grandma's house was the central gathering place of my family, Sunday lunches, birthday dinners, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—all were our traditions, with her as hostess. While my parents were busy running their small business, there were many nights when Grandma fed me and put me to bed in her spare room, until they came to get me. I spent my summers at Grandma's and I went everywhere with her. I couldn't imagine a time when she wouldn't be around me.

Then November 1, 1991 began her month-long stay in the hospital—she suffered from a rare infection called nocardia asteroides. After being born in the year of the Great Depression, living through World War II, raising three kids, and being widowed at the age of 48, Grandma never expected to live into her seventies. The infection in her brain seemed to confirm that she wasn't long for this world. But that's not the end of her story. A team of doctors successfully removed the abscess（脓肿）, and Grandma even made it into a local medical journal. Her doctor called her "the brain lady".

Grandma celebrated her 85th birthday in March this year. In the almost 23 years since her recovery, she's seen two of her four grandchildren get married and welcomed three great-grandsons. Although they damage something in her house, she loves it when my two boys come over. And while I know they make her day, seeing her love blossom for another generation makes my day too. Happy Grandparents' Day to my amazing grandmother!

1. When celebrating Halloween, the author's family ________.

A．didn't know how serious Grandma's illness was

B．didn't realize that Grandma was feeling unwell

C．found that something was wrong with the costumes

D．knew Grandma would appear in a local medical journal

2. What is the tradition of the author's family?

A．Spending summers at Grandma's.

B．Running small businesses.

C．Gathering at Grandma's at special events.

D．Making Grandma hostess anywhere.

3. When did Grandma have the operation to remove the abscess?

A．After this year's Halloween.	B．Before November 1, 1991.
C．When she was about 62.	D．At the age of 60.

4. The author wrote this text ________.

A．in celebration of Grandma's recovery	B．to stress the importance of health
C．to promote Grandparents' Day	D．in honor of Grandma

You may know the Eiffel Tower as one of the most famous man-made monuments in the world, and you’d be absolutely right! Read on to learn about the history of the spectacular Eiffel Tower.
Travelers from around the world flock(蜂拥) to Paris, France, to visit the Eiffel Tower, making it the most visited paid monument in the entire world! In fact, in 2010, the Eiffel Tower welcomed its 250 millionth visitor!
The history of the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the famous monument. Construction began in January of 1887 and was completed in only two years. Their plan was to finish the tower in time to be the entrance arch for the World’s Fair in 1889. This fair celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the French Revolution, which took place from 1789 to 1799.
The height competition
Located on the Champs de Mars, the tower is the tallest structure in Paris. It was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York surpassed(超过) it. Then the spire(塔尖) atop the tower was added, raising its height to 17 feet taller than the Chrysler Building. It is now 1,063 feet tall! There are two replicas(复制品) of the Eiffel Tower in the world: a half scale model at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and a full-sized monument of a similar (but not exact) design in Tokyo, Japan.
Three shades of awesome
Some pictures make the Eiffel Tower look like a dark iron color. But it is, in fact, bronze. Not only that, but the tower is actually painted three different shades to make it appear even taller: darkest on the bottom and lightest on the top.
5. The Eiffel Tower was constructed to ________.

A．show great respect for Gustave Eiffel

B．make Paris the most visited city in the world

C．show the French people’s construction skill

D．celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution

6. Which of the following does the author mention in the passage?

A．The political meaning of the Eiffel Tower.

B．The disadvantages of the Eiffel Tower.

C．The location of the Eiffel Tower.

D．The cost of the Eiffel Tower.

7. Where can you find a structure similar to the Eiffel Tower according to the passage?

A．In New York.	B．In Las Vegas.
C．In Los Angeles.	D．In Florida.

8. The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A．tell visitors where to find the replicas of the Eiffel Tower

B．raise people’s awareness of protecting the Eiffel Tower

C．offer people some information about the Eiffel Tower

D．call on people to visit the Eiffel Tower

ADAPTIVE ACTION SPORTS
Adaptive Action Sports was founded in 2005 by Amy Purdy and Daniel Gale.
Amy Purdy was an active snowboarder, until she lost both her legs to bacterial meningitis(脑脊膜炎). She spent three months in the hospital fighting for her life, and doctors gave her a less than two percent chance of survival. Because of meningitis Amy lost circulation in both her legs, and when she came out of the hospital she had prosthetic legs(义肢). When she lost her legs, Amy knew she would be active again, but didn’t know how or when. She struggled to be active on her new legs, and a little over two years after her amputation(截肢) she entered the USASA (United States of America Snowboard Association) National Snowboarding Competition and won medals in three events.
Amy was at an adaptive snowboard workshop in 2002 when she met Daniel Gale. They immediately formed a connection through their enthusiasm for snowboarding, music, and art. Amy’s biggest struggle had been obtaining information on how to start snowboarding again with prosthetic legs, and she and Daniel both saw the need to help others like Amy. They “wanted to create something, a place, a forum, an organization that would enable individuals to find and participate in their enthusiasms without a struggle. Adaptive Action Sports was born.”
Their dream was to help athletes with permanent physical disabilities compete in action sports. Adaptive Action Sports holds camps, clinics, and events to create programs and opportunities for _________.
Since 2000, the USASA has provided opportunities for adaptive athletes to compete in snowboarding competitions. In 2007, the USASA Competition had 17 adaptive athletes compete, the largest number of adaptive athletes in adaptive athlete competition history. Although many competitors were still injured, they recovered quickly and showed how hard they are willing to push themselves.
9. We know from the text that Amy Purdy lost the ability to ______.

A．help others

B．walk

C．obtain information

D．sing

10. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How Adaptive Action Sports was founded.

B．Why Amy and Daniel want to help others.

C．How Amy and Daniel knew each other.

D．What Amy and Daniel’s hobbies are.

11. The underlined words “these individuals” in Paragraph 4 refer to ____.

A．people who love action sports

B．athletes whose bodies can’t work normally

C．people who want to take part in competitions

D．athletes who decide to help disabled people like Amy

What were you doing before you started reading this? Were you fully focused on another article? Or eating breakfast? Organizing your day? Or were you staring out of the window, feeling restless and bored?
It is likely to have been the latter. Brief moments of boredom are universal, and are frequently what drives us to stop what we are doing and move to something that we hope will be more exciting.
But although boredom is common, it is neither unimportant nor favorable, according to Dr John Eastwood, a psychologist at York University, Toronto. Eastwood is the joint author of The Unengaged Mind, a major new paper on the theory of boredom.
Boredom, he points out in the paper, has been connected with overeating, depression, anxiety, and an increased risk of making mistakes. Mistakes at work might not be a matter of life and death for most of us, but if you are an air traffic controller, pilot or nuclear power plant operator, they most certainly can be.
Commercial polo Sami Franks confirms that boredom can make pilots lose attention. “When you fly a lengthy distance, there are two pilots, one of whom is monitoring all the screens while the other does the paperwork, talks to air traffic control and so on. You need to be alert(警觉的) for landing and takeoff, but once you’re 500 ft above the runway, the plane’s on autopilot(自动驾驶仪) and it can be very quiet and boring. In a study I saw of pilots who woke up after a short sleep. 30% of them reported seeing the other pilot asleep too,” said Franks.
However, Dr Esther Priyadharshini, a senior lecturer in education at the university of East Anglia, has studied boredom and says it can be seen in a positive light. “We can’t prevent boredom—it’s an unavoidable human emotion. We have to accept it and find ways to control it. We all need downtime. There’s no need to be fully busy with work at all times.” she says.
Children who complain that they have nothing to do on rainy holidays may try to find other things to focus on. The artist Grayson Perry has reportedly spoken of how long periods of boredom in childhood may have improved his creativity.
“We all need vacant time to mull(深思熟虑) things over,” says Priyadharshini.
12. We can learn from Eastwood that _______.

A．boredom can be potentially (潜在地) dangerous

B．air traffic controllers usually feel bored

C．brief moments of boredom are not common

D．making mistakes is a major cause of boredom

13. The study mentioned by Franks shows that ______.

A．pilots need to be alert for landing and takeoff

B．pilots must work well together when flying

C．boredom can make pilots lose attention

D．flying a plane is generally quite fun

14. Which of the following might be Perry’s opinion on boredom?

A．It often leads to failure.

B．It has a beneficial effect.

C．It is more likely to happen to children.

D．It makes children lose interest in learning.

15. What is the best title for the text?

A．Why am I so bored?

B．Is boredom bad for you?

C．Can I have your attention?

D．How can I get rid of boredom?