In 1997, a group of twenty British women made history. Working in five teams with four women in each team, they walked to the North Pole. Apart from one experienced female guide, the other women were all ordinary people who had never done anything like this in their lives before. They managed to survive in an environment which had defeated several very experienced men during the same period.
Once on the ice, each woman had to ski along while dragging a sledge(雪橇) weighing over 50 kilos. This would not have been too bad on a smooth surface, but for long stretches (一片地域), the Arctic ice is pushed up into huge piles two or three meters high and the sledges had to be pulled up on side and carefully let down the other so that they didn't crash. The temperature was always below freezing point and sometimes strong winds made walking while pulling so much weight almost impossible. It was also very difficult to put up their tents when they stopped each night.
In such conditions the women were making good progress if they covered fourteen or fifteen kilometers a day. But there was another problem. Part of the journey was across a frozen sea with moving water underneath the ice and at some points the team would drift (漂流) back more than five kilometers during the night. That meant that after walking in these very terrible conditions for ten hours on one day, they had to spend part of the next day covering the same ground again. Furthermore, each day it would take three hours from waking up to setting off and another three hours every evening to set up the camp and prepare the evening meal.
So, how did they manage to succeed? They realized that they were part of a team. If anyone of them didn't pull her sledge or get her job done, she would endanger the success of the whole expedition (远征探险).Any form of selfishness could result in the efforts of everyone else being completely wasted, so personal feelings had to be put to one side. At the end of their journey, the women agreed that it was mental effort far more than physical fitness that got them to the North Pole.
1. During the expedition, the women had to be careful to avoid ________.| A．being left behind | B．damaging the sledges |
| C．falling over on the ice | D．breaking the ice |
| A．they got too tired | B．they kept getting lost |
| C．the ice was moving backwards | D．the temperatures were very low |
| A．Strict but caring. | B．Proud but patient. |
| C．Honest and devoted. | D．Determined and strong-willed. |
| A．Experience must be bought. |
| B．Facts speak louder than words. |
| C．He who risks nothing gains nothing. |
| D．Motivation and teamwork achieve goals. |
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【推荐1】It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.
Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s(青蛙) legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.
This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was to catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.
The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.
The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀虫剂)and medicines. Soon there was no money left.
Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.
Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.
1. From Paragragh1 we learn that the villagers .| A．worked very hard for centuries |
| B．dreamed of having a better life |
| C．were poor but somewhat content |
| D．lived a different life from their forefathers |
| A．The frogs were easy money. |
| B．They needed money to buy medicine. |
| C．They wanted to please the visitors. |
| D．The frogs made too much noise. |
| A．The crops didn’t do well. |
| B．There were too many insects. |
| C．The visitors brought in diseases. |
| D．The pesticides were overused. |
| A．Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country. |
| B．Health is more important than money. |
| C．The harmony(和谐) between man and nature is important. |
| D．Good old days will never be forgotten. |
I am writing for the
Ever since you moved in three months ago, you have shown very little consideration for the other residents of this building, though many residents expressed their unhappiness with you. For the past six weekends, you have held very noisy parties, which have not finished until early the next morning. As you know, most of the people here are elderly or have very young children, and the noise keeps them awake all night. You don’t have to be so noisy, do you? Last weekend the situation deteriorated when two of your friends fought with each other on the first floor. The fighting was so bad that the police had to be called. What’s more, your friends left the stairs in a terrible state --- they even broke two windows on their way out! We feel that we can’t bear this type of act.
We strongly demand that you pay for this damage to the window soon. If you don’t and you carry on being a nuisance(令人讨厌的人或物). We will kick you out! Legal steps will be taken if necessary.
Yours sincerely
1. What does the writer feel?
| A．Excited | B．surprised | C．Angry | D．Happy |
| A．Changed | B．Improved | C．Moved | D．Worsened |
| A．To ask Mr. Barton to leave the building for the peace. |
| B．To inform Mr. Barton of the noise he made. |
| C．To talk about what Mr. Barton did. |
| D．To give a warning to Mr. Barton. |
| A．Because Mr. Barton broke two windows. |
| B．Because Mr. Barton made too much noise. |
| C．Because Mr. Barton’s friends fought. |
| D．Because Mr. Barton beat a child and an old man. |
| A．Mr. Barton paid no attention to the others’ unhappiness. |
| B．Mr. Barton never replied to the others’ unhappiness |
| C．Mr. Barton always said sorry to those unhappy with him. |
| D．Mr. Barton never apologized to the other residents. |
【推荐3】When my grandmother died at the age of 96, there were two things she left behind in abundance — nearly 100 photo albums documenting decades of travel and home life, and a dozen quilts, one of which my mother gave me.
Quilting is the process of sewing together fabric (布料) to make one large piece of fabric. In my family, quilting and sewing is a tradition that has been passed down through the generations. My mother says her great-grandmother would occasionally travel around New York State to sew clothing for other families.
In the United States, quilting was a craft (手艺) that started as a necessity and eventually became much more. In 1862, the U.S. government offered millions of acres of land to Americans who wanted to move west. This allowed families to settle on land that they could eventually own. They often built their own homes and lived off the vegetables in their gardens and the livestock they had. Sewing was very important for women because they were responsible for clothing their families and keeping them warm.
Quilting also became a chance for women to socialize with each other. They would gather for so-called “quilting bees”, where they would meet and work on one quilting project together. This provided a much-needed relief from the lonely life of living on a large piece of land.
Throughout history, the different patterns on American quilts have conveyed all kinds of information. From them, we can tell where a person lived, what region of the world they originated from, or sometimes a story is told in pictures on a quilt. Even today, women still gather to quilt together in a show of friendship and a love for the craft, just like the old days. My sister has tried quilting a few times, and hopefully, her two daughters may one day continue this family tradition.
1. What do we know about quilting?| A．It is a lost traditional craft. |
| B．It is a major means of making a living in the USA. |
| C．It is a craft that has become a cultural symbol. |
| D．It was a way to carry on the American history. |
| A．Introduce a new topic for discussion. |
| B．Summarize the previous paragraphs. |
| C．Add some background information. |
| D．Praise the U.S. government’s policy. |
| A．Working on the land. | B．Participating in “quilting bees”. |
| C．Clothing the family. | D．Designing a quilting project. |
| A．Quilting patterns can convey limited information. |
| B．Quilting can’t meet the need to socialize nowadays. |
| C．Quilting is not a tradition in the author’s family. |
| D．The author hopes quilting can be passed on to younger generations. |
【推荐1】Lillian Hanson, a college student, expects to graduate in about two years. What makes Mrs. Hanson different from her classmates is her age—73 years. She has been studying at college, a few courses at a time, for 27 years.
When Lillian Hanson graduated from high school, she went to the bank to borrow money for further education. The banker gave her no encouragement. He didn’t think that a country girl should borrow money to go to college. He thought she should be at home doing work in the house or around the farm. So Lillian Hanson went home and raised a family of nine children instead of going to college. Mrs. Hanson never forgot her dream of getting a higher education. When her children were grown, she tried again.
She finds that it is the hardest part of going back to school at her age to sit in class for long periods of time. Because she is not as quick as she used to be, Mrs. Hanson often gets up and walks around classes to keep from getting stiff. At the beginning of a course in using the computer, the other students all stood up to give her a warm welcome when she introduced herself and explained why she was there and what her aims were.
1. Mrs. Hanson couldn’t go to college immediately after she graduated from high school because _____.| A．she hadn’t got enough money |
| B．she was a country girl |
| C．the banker ordered her not to borrow any money |
| D．the banker thought she should raise a family of nine children |
| A．she had got an excellent result in the exam | B．she was good at telling funny stories |
| C．they wanted to get her help in their studies | D．they were deeply moved by her spirit |
| A．cares for study very much | B．likes to borrow money from the bank |
| C．never misses a chance to talk | D．tries to save any money for her family |
a. she began her studies at college. b. She finished high school.
c. She got married and gave birth of nine children. d. She had her 73rd birthday.
e. She went to the bank to borrow money.
| A．a c b e d | B．b e c a d | C．b c e d a | D．e d a c b |
【推荐2】Rollins College’s graduate, Elizabeth Bonker gave a powerful speech at the school’s graduation ceremony using text-to-speech technology. “You have a voice. Use it,” she advised graduates. It seems funny that a non-speaking autistic (孤独症患者) encourages you to use your voice. However, her moving speech touched not only her fellow classmates but also the worldwide audience with a powerful message of hope.
Throughout her academic career, Elizabeth has studied hard to reach her goals at school and in life. She wrote a book, I Am in Here, which highlights the abilities of people like her with non-speaking autism. She also founded a non-profit organization called Communication 4 All.
Elizabeth has a form of autism that resulted in her losing the ability to speak when she was 15 months old. After she lost her speech her family helped her learn to communicate by typing. She has become a supporter of assistive communication and typing instruction for those with non-speaking autism.
“I have typed this speech with one finger with a communication partner holding a keyboard,” shared Elizabeth. She gave her persuasive speech through text-to-speech technology.
Elizabeth majored in social service with the purpose of helping the 31 million people in the world who have non-speaking autism. She strongly believes that service to others gives meaning to each individual and to those they serve.
Throughout her life, Elizabeth has sought a platform where others would hear and accept her. She ignored negative comments and the low expectations others had for her life. Instead, she walked down her own path and set out to realize her dreams using intellect, talent and determination. She encouraged her fellow classmates to use their education and the power of their own minds to help make their dream a reality.
1. What effect does Elizabeth’s speech have on the audience?| A．It brings them hope. |
| B．It inspires them to use technology. |
| C．It informs them of more about autism. |
| D．It encourages them to make speeches. |
| A．They tried their best to teach her how to speak. |
| B．They started a non-profit organization for her. |
| C．They helped her find another way of communication. |
| D．They created the text-to-speech technology to help her. |
| A．To develop her potential and strengths. |
| B．To get better employment opportunities. |
| C．To make her childhood dream come true. |
| D．To help more people like her in the world. |
| A．Positive and creative. |
| B．Strong-minded and helpful. |
| C．Energetic and humorous. |
| D．Kind-hearted and imaginative. |
【推荐3】Jakson Follmann remembers the moment the plane’s engine died and everything went black. Then an intense pain, and cold rain falling on his body. Drifting in and out of consciousness, he called out for help, until he saw the beam of a flashlight shining through the wreckage of the fuselage.
It has been five years since the plane carrying Follmann and the rest of Brazilian soccer team Chapecoense Real ran out of fuel on the way to the final match of South American Cup, slamming into the mountains outside Medellin, Colombia. Seventy-one people were killed in the crash. Follmann, is one of six who survived — though he lost his right leg below the knee. “We were so excited to go play for the title. Then from one day to the next, I lost my friends and the source of my livelihood. After that, my biggest dream became something so simple: just to be able to walk again.” he said. In the half-decade since, the former goalkeeper has had to reinvent himself.
His soccer career was cut short by the crash, but he has found new life as a motivational speaker and Brazilian country singer. “As a kid, I had two big dreams. Becoming a soccer player came first. Then fate brought what it did, and now I’m living my second dream thanks to music. I had two options after the accident: sit around feeling sorry for myself, or lift my head up and face life.” he said. He chose the latter.
Follmann, who has released four country music singles, spent two months in hospital after the crash undergoing treatment for 13 fractures (骨折). By 2019, he had recovered so well that he was able to appear as a contestant on reality TV show Popstar. He didn’t just participate in the show: he won, with sertanejo songs that pulled at the audience’s heart-strings.
Follmann, for his part, says in some ways his new job is not so different from his old one. “As a soccer player, I practiced everyday. Music is no different. I want to reach people. Music can transform lives, like it transformed mine.” he said.
1. What was the reason for the air crash?| A．The fuel of the plane was used up. | B．It was raining and thundering heavily. |
| C．The pilot was out of consciousness. | D．The engine failed to work without warning. |
| A．Took part in a live show as a judge. |
| B．Delivered inspiring gifts to the disabled. |
| C．Released some albums of country music. |
| D．Won the final match of South American Cup. |
| A．The original dream in his heart. |
| B．The encouragement from his family. |
| C．The desire to win the title of the match. |
| D．The company of his teammates and friends. |
| A．Understanding Failure | B．Treat Disasters As Common Cases |
| C．A Crash Survivor’s Song of Hope | D．A Motivational Speaker Is Shining |
