【推荐1】When I was a little child, my parents divorced, making my mother a single parent.We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life,“Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”

At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to do it badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school—walking on my own!

When the Great Depression（大萧条）occurred, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the family. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.

My real change occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was angry that the second-class hotel charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I decided to open a motel（汽车旅馆）for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Not surprisingly, mother was one of my strongest supporters. We experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.

You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.

1. When Kemmons was a little child, what his mother usually told him was       ___.

A．funny	B．touching
C．fighting	D．encouraging

2. From the author’s view, who played the most important part in making him walk back to school again?

A．Mother.	B．Teachers.
C．Friends	D．Relatives.

3. According to the passage, what made Kemmons start a motel by himself?

A．His previous business success of various levels.

B．His terrible experience in the hotel.

C．His mom’s support.

D．His wife’s suggestion.

4. In your opinion, which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?

A．Modest, helpful, and hard-working.

B．Careful, helpful and beautiful.

C．Loving, supportive and strong-willed.

D．Strict, sensitive and supportive.

【推荐2】A jobless man wanted very much to have the position of “office boy” at Microsoft. The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test. “You have passed the test,” he said. “Give me your e­mail address and I’ll send you the form to fill in and the date when you may start.” The man replied, “But I don’t have a computer, neither an e­mail.” “I’m sorry,” said the HR manager. “If you don’t have an e­mail, that means you are not living. And anyone who isn’t living cannot have the job.”

The man left with no hope at all. He didn’t know what to do with only $10 in his pocket. He thought and thought. Then he went to the supermarket and bought 10 kilos of tomatoes. He sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he had 20 dollars. He repeated the operation three times, and started to go early every day, and returned home late. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers (零售商) in the US.

One day, one of his friends asked him for his e­mail. He said, “I haven’t got one.” His friend couldn’t believe his ears. “Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e­mail?” The man thought for a while and replied, “Yes, I’d be an office boy at Microsoft!”

1. What did the man do for the test?

A．He sent e­mails.	B．He did the cleaning.
C．He sold computers.	D．He filled in forms.

2. Why could the man become one of the biggest food retailers in the US?

A．Because he had many friends to help him.

B．Because he was smart and worked very hard.

C．Because he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.

D．Because he wanted to show Microsoft he was living.

3. What does the story want to tell us?

A．Computers are very important in our daily life.

B．Everyone can make a lot of money with only $10.

C．The HR manager didn’t find the ability of the man.

D．Nothing in the world is impossible if we work hard.

【推荐1】Being prepared and knowing the right things you have to do during the flood will give you a greater chance to be safe and survive. You should keep something like the following in mind.

    1    

Finding out how long the flood is expected to last will help you take proper measures. So do listen to the weather report. Don’t pay attention to rumors (谣言).

Prepare and keep necessary supplies that will be usable and will last you long enough.

Make sure that necessary items during the flood are ready.     2     They are candles, the radio, extra batteries, cash, phones, medicines, extra food, emergency cooking equipment, and bottled water.

Know the emergency numbers in your place.

In case of emergency conditions where you need further help, you will be able to ask for help.     3    

Stay in a safe place.

    4     If your house is well-built and won’t be affected by flood, then it may be the best place to be in during a storm. Be aware of the flood signal in your place to help you decide on where to stay and react to the condition.     5     Do check everything that might be blown away or turn loose.

A．Know about the latest weather conditions in your area.

B．We’ll keep the weather information updated all day.

C．Important items prepared for that will help you survive.

D．You can dial 911 or communicate with the right department.

E．The flood often comes with the strong wind.

F．Stay away from low-lying places which may be swept away by storm waves.

G．Run down to the sea as quickly as possible even if further flooding is likely to occur.

【推荐3】In the aftermath of the deadliest fire California history last fall, it was difficult for anyone in the town of Paradise to find hope.

Shane Grammer paid close attention to the news of the fire’s deadly path. He felt quite powerless to help when seeing the picture shared by his childhood friend Shane Edwards in the town, in which Edwards photographed a white chimney, the only part of his house left after the fire.

“I’ve got to paint that chimney,” he said. “I’m not trying to say anything. It’s just that I’m an artist. And it was an opportunity for me to express myself and be an artist, wasn’t it?”

Grammer spent three hours spray-painting the image of a woman on the chimney in black and white, which was strikingly mysterious. Perhaps it served as a reminder of the hope of life or just life itself.

Then Grammer put its picture on social media. On seeing it, the victims of the fire could not contain themselves. “Beautiful and impressive,” one of them remarked. And another said, “You bring wonder and hope.”

At this time, Grammer became aware that something deeper had been transformed by a purely artistic expression. “When the first mural (壁画) moved so many people, I knew I had to come back,” he told the journalist. Grammer returned to Paradise eight times in three months, during which he completed 17 murals of victims and other figures, including the original one, on walls, pickups, and shards of buildings.

Today, Grammer’s efforts have developed into a movement. He has also painted murals in dark places around the world that seriously need some light.

Ironically, the first painting, on the chimney in Paradise, existed for just several months, since the bulldozer (推土机) was a merciless art critic. But Grammer couldn’t be more pleased about it, which means the spirit of Paradise is rising again.

1. Why did Grammer say he wasn’t trying to say anything?

A．Because he felt quite helpless.

B．Because he didn’t want to show his feelings.

C．Because he had his way to express himself.

D．Because he felt it difficult to say something.

2. What does the underlined part “something deeper” in Paragraph 6 refer to?

A．People’s inner feelings.

B．People’s remarks.

C．The meaning of the murals.

D．The artistic expression.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．The bulldozer was so cruel that it destroyed Grammer’s mural.

B．The people in Paradise are in high spirits now.

C．Grammer is not happy with the destruction of his mural.

D．Paradise is recovering from the disaster in a short time.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Painting: A Way of Bringing Light

B．Artistic Murals Brought Victims Hope

C．Creativity: A Chimney Left after the Wildfire

D．Achievements May Come after A Disaster

【推荐1】Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.

The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen?” “Why did you not watch out for the cow? The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem.” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

1. The younger angel was very angry because ________.

A．he thought the older angel treated the two families unfairly.

B．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow.

C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live.

D．the angel of death took the cow away.

2. Which is true about the first family?

A．They didn’t let the angels in.

B．They had a lot of wealth but a cold heart.

C．They gave the angels a nice treat.

D．There was a big hole in the wall of their guest room.

3. Why did the older angel let the farmer’s cow die?

A．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife.

B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson.

C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich.

D．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow.

4. The story tries to tell the reader that ________.

A．the young should always learn from the old

B．angels are always ready to help the poor.

C．angels are always ready to help the rich.

D．sometimes things are not what they seem.

【推荐2】When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can’t take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We’d take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the tram, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn’t like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom’s friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just light-rail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestnut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where’s the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I’m writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn’t try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.
1. Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?

A．Having a car ride.

B．Taking the train twice.

C．Buying more than one toy.

D．Touring the historic district.

2. According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?

A．Building confidence in herself.

B．Reducing her use of private cars.

C．Developing her sense of direction.

D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles.

3. The underlined word “paralyzed” (in Para. 5) is closest in meaning to “_______”.

A．displayed

B．justified

C．ignored

D．ruined

4. Which means of transportation does the writer probably disapprove of?

A．Airplane.

B．Subway.

C．Tram.

D．Car.

【推荐1】Kong Zhenlan, a 71-year-old woman from China’s Shanxi Province, has devoted the last four decades of her life to adopting orphans（孤儿）, making sure that they had food on the table and got access to education.

Even though she could only afford to support herself on a modest income, Kong Zhenlan couldn’t bear to walk by the orphanage in Jixian County every day and see so many children struggling in poverty. One day, she stopped by and picked one of the orphans in her arms. That’s when she knew she had to do something to make their life better. The modest woman started adopting these abandoned children and nurturing them as her own. Over the last 47 years, she has adopted 45 orphans, some of whom grew up to become doctors and lawyers.

Kong’s oldest adopted child is 45-years-old, while her youngest is 9-months-old. Today, her adult children donate some of their monthly salaries to help bring up their younger siblings（兄弟姐妹）, but in the beginning, the woman had to make due with what she had. And it wasn’t much. She would spend all her money making sure the children had milk to drink, and if there was none left for her, she would look for leftovers in local garbage cans.

The modest woman recently told Pear Video that over the last 40 years she has only been getting 2 hours of sleep per night. She goes to sleep at around midnight, after putting the children to sleep and finishing up her chores（家务）, and gets up around 2 am to check if they’re all still covered with blankets. She has gotten used to it and said that a short sleep was a small price to pay for making sure the children grow up healthy and happy.

1. What does the underlined word“nurturing”in paragraph 2 probably mean？

A．Examining.	B．Observing.
C．Raising.	D．Preferring.

2. How do Kong Zhenlan’s adult children help her？

A．Support her financially.	B．Raise money every month.
C．Sell milk in the midnight.	D．Pick up leftovers when free.

3. What makes Kong Zhenlan spare no effort to raise the orphans？

A．Her desire to get rid of loneliness.	B．Her eagerness to get fame and wealth.
C．Her wish to find a better job in this way.	D．Her hope for the children to have a happy life.

4. Which of the following best describes Kong Zhenlan？

A．Easy-going.	B．Kind.
C．Creative.	D．Reasonable.

【推荐2】Vote for the 2019 TIME for Kids Person of the Year!

Time flies! Before we know it, we’ll be ringing in 2020. The TFK team is taking a look back at 2019. Who was the most important person of the year? Read on to learn about all the nominees （被提名的人）, and then cast your vote. We’ll announce the winner in mid⁃December. Now get to it! Every vote counts.

Since 2016, Chef JOSE ANDRES and the team at his nonprofit group, World Central Kitchen, have provided meals to survivors of hurricanes, wildfires, and other emergencies. In 2019, Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas. Andrés and his team sprang into action. At press time, they had served more than 1.75 million meals there.

Swedish climate activist GRETA THUNBERG, 16, is the face of the youth movement for climate awareness. In August, Greta set out on a zero⁃emissions sail across the Atlantic Ocean to speak to world leaders at the 2019 United Nations Climate Action Summit. She was nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize and continues to inspire people of all ages to fight for the health of Planet Earth.

Dutch inventor BOYAN SLAT founded The Ocean Cleanup in 2013. His goal:   To   get   rid   of   plastics   polluting   the   world’s   oceans.   This   fall,   Slat announced that the system was finally working. The device is being used in an area of the Pacific Ocean. Nearly 2 trillion pieces of trash have collected there. Slat hopes to get half of the trash removed by 2025.

Author JASON REYNOLDS has written more than a dozen books for kids. He’s a 2019 National Book Awards finalist for Young People’s Literature. In his books and in real life, Reynolds is concerned with the voices of black children and teenagers. In 2019, he made some 50 visits to classrooms and conferences. His mission: to show readers that he values their stories as much as they value his.

1. Why is Greta nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize?

A．She is a Swedish climate activist.

B．She fights for the health of the Earth.

C．She sailed across the Atlantic Ocean alone.

D．She tries to get rid of plastics in the oceans.

2. Who is concerned with black children and teenagers?

A．Jose Andes.	B．Boyan Slat.
C．Jason Reynolds.	D．Greta Thunberg.

3. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To issue an official report.	B．To call on readers to vote.
C．To introduce some great works.	D．To carry out a regular review.

【推荐3】American cities are similar to other cities around the world. In every country, cities reflect the values of the culture. American cities are changing, just as American society is changing.
After World War II, the population of most large American cities decreased; however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increased. Los Angeles and Houston are cities where population shifts(转移) to and from the city reflect the changing values of American society. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, city residents(居民) became wealthier. They had more children so they needed more space. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the suburbs(郊区)。
Now things are changing. The children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults. Many, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. They continue to move to Sun Belt cities and older ones of the Northeast and Midwest. Many young professionals are moving back into the city. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; or they just enjoy the excitement and possibilities that the city offers.
This population shift is bringing problems as well as benefits. Countless poor people must leave their apartments in the city because the owners want to sell the buildings or make apartments for sale instead of for rent. In the 1950s, many poor people did not have enough money to move to the suburbs; now many of these same people do not have enough money to stay in the cities.
Only a few years ago, people thought that the older American cities were dying. Some city residents now see a bright, new future. Others see only problems and conflicts. One thing is sure: many dying cities are alive again.
1. What does the author think of cities all over the world?

A．They are alive.	B．They are hopeless.
C．They are similar.	D．They are different.

2. Why did American city residents want to live in the suburbs after World War II?

A．Because older American cities were dying.

B．Because they were richer and needed more space.

C．Because cities contained the worst parts of society.

D．Because they could hardly afford to live in the city.

3. According to the 4th paragraph, a great many poor people in American cities ________.

A．are faced with housing problems	B．are forced to move to the suburbs
C．want to sell their buildings	D．need more money for daily expenses

4. We can conclude from the text that ________.

A．American cities are changing for the worse

B．people have different views on American cities

C．many people are now moving from American cities

D．the population is decreasing in older American cities