In 1939, seven-year-old Mariam Schreiber should have started first grade. Instead, she spent that year — and the following five — trying to survive. She was living in Poland when World War II broke out. “My entire life was ruined within minutes,” she says. “I was looking forward to starting school.” She never made it. And not having a degree has always been a thorn in her side.
Decades later, though, the now-89-year-old Holocaust survivor finally got something she had always longed for. Kapiloff Brander, director of community programs at Jewish Family Services, reached out to the New England Jewish Academy, a Jewish high school, to ask whether the school could help Mariam fulfill her wish. Richard Nabel, the principal of the school, brought a few senior students to Mariam’s home to hear her story before they came up with the idea of presenting her an honorary diploma at the school’s 2020 graduation ceremony.
Mariam suffered a lot in a slave labor camp in Siberia before she got liberated in 1946. She and her remaining family members went to a refugee camp in Germany, where she got married and had her first child at the age of 16. Having spent years in refugee camps in different countries, she finally immigrated to America in 1960. Getting a formal education was never an option for her but she learned seven languages over the years. “I educated myself,” she says. “I read books day and night. I still do.”
On August 16, during a socially distanced ceremony in the school gym, Mariam was presented with a high school diploma from the New England Jewish Academy. “There weren’t too many dry eyes among the 30 of us there,” says Nabel. Mariam’s family was especially moved. “I’m not sure she even realizes the importance of that moment to me,” says Bernie, her eldest son. “I am so proud of her.”
1. What can be learned about Mariam from paragraph 1?| A．She regretted not being educated at school. |
| B．She started first grade at the age of seven. |
| C．She felt lucky to have survived World War II. |
| D．She spent five years in Poland during the war. |
| A．She made it through her own efforts. |
| B．She turned to Kapiloff Brander for help. |
| C．The senior students themselves presented a diploma to her. |
| D．Richard Nabel learned about her story and decided to help. |
| A．Educated. | B．Intelligent. |
| C．Determined. | D．Patient. |
| A．Mariam’s story was ordinary but inspiring. |
| B．Most of those present were deeply touched. |
| C．He was impressed by Mariam and was proud of her. |
| D．He felt honored to present Mariam with a diploma. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】You know you really want to do well in your study. Your parents have put the pressure on you, or you have promised yourself you will do better.
Find a place that makes you want to study. If the books and seriousness of the library put you in the mood for focusing on study, go for it. If the comfortable chairs and coffee at your local café are what you need to get through your reading for English, go there.
Set a study schedule. When you have many subjects to study, it can seem hard to get through everything. Give yourself a schedule where you set specific times to study particular subjects.
Turn off the electronic devices. Texting, social media, calls and other distractions that come from your electronic devices are some of the biggest barriers to staying focused when you are studying.
| A．Give yourself a brief study break. |
| B．Get yourself clear about the study task. |
| C．But you keep getting distracted! |
| D．Luckily, the fix is easy and totally within your control. |
| E．There’s no doubt that a library is the best place for studying well. |
| F．This makes studying seem less difficult, helping you stay on task. |
| G．The most important thing is that the location motivates you to study. |
Congratulations! Your application to study Bachelor of Information Technology at Victoria University (VU) has been successful. I’m pleased to offer you the opportunity to study at VU as an international student.
VU has a long history of providing high-quality education, through predecessor (前身) institutions, including the Footscray Technical School which was founded in 1916. In 2016, we proudly celebrated 100 years of history and our 25th anniversary (周年庆) as a university.
Today we have 48,900 students, including over 9,400 students studying a VU course at one of our partner institutions in China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore.
By selecting VU you will study at one of the top 4% of universities in the world. With more than 24,000 alumni (校友) working or residing outside Australia, a qualification from VU will prepare you for an international career.
This document contains important information about your courses including costs and your rights and obligations. If you have any questions about your offer, please email intapps@vu.edu.au.
To accept your offer to study at VU, you must:
1.Read the terms and conditions of this Letter of Offer very carefully,
2.Sign this Letter of Offer in Section 14,
3.Pay the fees in Section 8,
4.Return this whole document to VU.
Please note that if this offer includes one or more conditions for entry into a course, you will not be able to accept it until these conditions have been met. Any conditions are specified in Section 5 of this letter. We look forward to welcoming you to Victoria University.
Yours sincerely,
Dimi Christou
Senior Manager, International Admissions Victoria University
1. What is this text?| A．A university offer. | B．A course advertisement. |
| C．An application for a university. | D．An invitation to an alumni event. |
| A．It has a 100-year history as a university. | B．It is among the world’s top universities. |
| C．It will take in 24,000 international students. | D．It has 48,900 students at its partner institutions. |
| A．By emailing intapps@vu.edu.au. |
| B．By reading the terms and writing a new letter to Dimi. |
| C．By paying the fees and returning the signed document to VU. |
| D．By providing evidence of his meeting all conditions in Section 8. |
【推荐3】What is a good excuse to ask for some time off? At your school, sickness may be the only one. But in British schools, family events are also well-accepted ones. The National Association of Head Teachers in the UK has written new guidelines about students asking for leave. They will allow parents to take their children out of school for family weddings or funerals (葬礼) or visiting an ill relative.
This is a change from the 2013 guidelines that stopped parents taking children out of school without permission. Otherwise, they could have got a fine of 60 pounds (about 600 yuan) or faced court. Family events were not proper excuses to get permission.
Many parents complained about this rule.
“Taking family events is very important for children’s growth and that is a lesson the schools cannot ever teach our children.” John Hemming, chairman of Parents Want a Say Organization, told The Independent.
The new change supports this idea and gives permission to students taking time off for family events. It’s now OK for British students to take time off for family events.
In China, however, many students rarely have time off for family events.
“That’s part of the reason for the generation gap (代沟) between parents and children,” Guo Hongxia, a researcher at National Institute of Education Sciences, wrote in China Education Daily.
1. In Chinese schools ________ is a good excuse to ask for time off.| A．any excuse | B．only sickness |
| C．school sport | D．family events |
| A．family weddings | B．family funerals |
| C．fishing organization | D．visiting an ill relative |
| A．Parents Want a Say | B．the head teachers of the school |
| C．children’s teachers | D．children’s parents |
| A．in the UK, there’s a big generation gap between parents and children |
| B．in China, many students seldom have time off for family events |
| C．there’s no difference between the rules of taking time off in the world |
| D．all the students aren’t allowed to take time off for family events |
【推荐1】In a post shared on Twitter last Monday, the woman, Amy Clukey, explained that her dad, Rick, a beekeeper, died of lung cancer about nine years ago. But, before passing away, he wrote a note that he hoped one of his children would later find, and finally after so long, her little brother, who is now 16 years old, found it in his father’s beekeeping clothes.
The note said, “I hope one of my children is curious about beekeeping. Beekeeping is actually pretty easy and you can learn everything online. Bees make more products than just honey; it can be a source of extra income. So don’t be afraid, have courage. Good luck. Love Dad.”
The bee population in 2019 consisted primarily of wild bees, and North Dakota has the highest honey production with over 38 million pounds.
Clukey explained that her father bought a farm when he was in his 40s, and it was then that he took up beekeeping and other hobbies like raising cattle and horses. She added, “When he was diagnosed (诊断) with stage 4 lung cancer, the doctors told him that he had 18 months to live. He was a fighter: He lived 5 years and a week after his diagnosis.”
The post has attracted a lot of readers on the platform and has received over 42,800 likes, 2,333 comments, and 749,000 re-shares in less than 24 hours, and in the comments, the woman added that while she doesn’t do beekeeping herself, two of her brothers are interested in it.
One user commented, “I lost my dad in 2018. This post makes me cry.” And another user said, “My dad is in the last few weeks of his life battling cancer. I’ll come back to the post in a couple of months when I need it again.” And one also shared the story of her personal loss, writing, “I lost my husband half a year ago. He used to leave little notes all over the house. I can’t bring myself to move anything.”
1. What did the father wish according to the text?| A．His children could make big money. |
| B．One of his children could find the hidden note. |
| C．One of his children could be interested in keeping bees. |
| D．His children could make great contribution to the honey production. |
| A．Hard-working and brave. | B．Wealthy and healthy. |
| C．Easy-going and intelligent. | D．Generous and wise. |
| A．They are all beekeepers. | B．They are all moved by the note. |
| C．They all lost their loved ones. | D．They all found the family member’s notes. |
| A．A father’s death touched people’s hearts. |
| B．People made comments on a father’s death. |
| C．A father’s note posted online attracted attention. |
| D．Beekeeping is important for many families. |
【推荐2】The country’s first national park, Yellowstone, is renaming one of its largest mountains to honor indigenous people after research revealed the man it had been named after helped lead a massacre (屠杀) against local tribes. As part of the park’s 150th anniversary, officials announced the 10,551-foot high peak formerly called Mount Doane is now First Peoples Mountain.
“It is a victory, yes. Is history being rewritten and retold truthfully? I hope so,” William Snell, executive director of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, told NPR. His group helped advise federal officials on the name change. In an email, Snell said the change to First Peoples Mountain couldn't have come at a better time as Yellowstone officials prepare for the park’s anniversary in August.
The peak—along a range on the eastern side of Yellowstone Lake—had been named after Gustavus Doane, who helped lead the Washburn-Langford-Doane exploration in 1870 that eventually led to the park getting federal protection.
But recently, historians uncovered Doane’s role in an attack that left at least 173 Native Americans dead. Known as the Marias Massacre, Doane carried out the attack over the killing of a white fur trader. In writings, Doane cast a favorable light on the attack and even showed off about it for the rest of his life, the National Park Service said last week.
The renaming to First Peoples Mountain is part of a trend to better recognize the roles and contributions of Native Americans. It has also become a priority of the nation’s first indigenous cabinet secretary—the Interior Department’s Deb Haaland, who oversees the National Park Service—and Charles SamsⅢ, the first Native American to serve as that agency’s director.
Across the American West, many iconic representative mountains and other environmental places were named after early white settlers, mostly men and some with terrible pasts.
In Yellowstone, park officials say they may consider further changes to derogatory (贬损的) or inappropriate geographical names in the months ahead.
1. Why does Yellowstone decide to rename one of its largest mountains?| A．To gain more profits. | B．To uncover the history of 1870s. |
| C．To be in honour of Native Americans. | D．To change people's attitude towards the park. |
| A．The terrible pasts of Doane. | B．The effort historians made. |
| C．The contributions Doane made. | D．The conclusion National Park Service drew. |
| A．Improve the service qualities. | B．Learn from history events and characters. |
| C．Protect the environment of Yellowstone Park. | D．Consider renaming improper geographical names. |
| A．Doane regarded his deeds as a shame. | B．Doane was once mistaken for a hero. |
| C．Americans reacted to the renaming negatively. | D．The government thought little of the renaming work. |
【推荐3】A volcano has erupted in Iceland near the capital Reykjavik after thousands of small earthquakes in the area in recent weeks, the Icelandic meteorological office has said.
A red cloud lit up the night sky after the eruption began in Fagradalsfjall on Friday about 40km from the capital Reykjavik. A no-fly zone has been established in the area but the eruption appeared to be calmer as of Saturday evening.
Streams of red lava could be seen flowing out of a crack in the ground which is estimated to be about 200 meters long.
Police and coastguard officials raced to the scene late on Friday and the public has been advised to stay away from the area.
More than 40,000 earthquakes have occurred in the area in the past four weeks, a huge jump from the 1,000-3,000 earthquakes registered each year since 2014.
The Krysuvik volcanic system does not have a central volcano. While the country’s largest airport and a small fishing port are only a few kilometers away, the area is uninhabited and the eruption is not expected to present any danger.
Volcanic eruptions in the region are known as effusive eruptions, where lava flows steadily out of the ground, as opposed to explosive ones such as that of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 which shot ash clouds high into the sky and paralyzed air traffic in Europe for weeks. However, all flights in and out of the airport have been stopped.
The Krysuvik volcanic system has been inactive for the past 900 years, according to the meteorological office, while the last eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula (半岛) dates back almost 800 years to 1240.
But the region has been closely watched for several weeks after an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 was registered on 24 February on the outskirts of Reykjavik, followed by an unusual number of smaller quakes — more than 50,000, the highest number since digital recordings began in 1991.
1. What happened before the volcano erupted?| A．Streams of lava flew out. |
| B．A red cloud lip up the sky. |
| C．No symptom was observed by scientist. |
| D．Huge numbers of small quakes happened. |
| A．The central volcano erupted first. | B．It shot ash clouds high into the sky. |
| C．The lava flew out continuously. | D．It has been active for 900 years. |
| A．There are no residents near it. |
| B．The airplanes fly high enough. |
| C．The small fishing port has enough water. |
| D．People have taken protective measures. |
| A．Thousands of small earthquakes. | B．The eruption of a volcano. |
| C．A research on a special volcano. | D．The history of a volcano. |
【推荐1】Five-year-old Willard Wigan didn’t like school because he suffered from dyslexia, a learning disability that can
make letters and numbers confusing. Usually, his mind drifted(漂泊)--- to playing outside, to his dog Maxie, or to the ants that lived near his family’s garden shed. Willard was especially curious about those ants.
Willard noticed that the ants were coming and going from a hole in the dirt. One ant was carrying a piece of grass, and Willard thought, “He’s trying to build a house, so I am going to help him!” Willard constructed a little building by using small sharp pieces of wood. Then he put some sugar inside to encourage the ants to move in. when they did, Willard built more houses.
At school, Willard still struggled, but now he know could do something special. He went home and created tiny furniture for the ant houses. He even built an ant school.
At age nine, Willard began carving(雕刻)faces on toothpicks. He discovered that his ability improved when he held his breath as he worked. When he showed his mother the carved faces, she said, “This is what you do well. You should work hard and can be the best in the world.”
When he quit school at age 15 to help support his family, Willard still spent his spare time carving. His confidence grew as more people appreciated his talent.
Finally, he quit his factory job to let his dream of becoming one of the best artists in the world come true. Willard’s mother advised him, “The smaller you carve, the bigger your name will become.” So he began to carve even smaller.
Now, years later, Willard carves the tiniest artwork in the world! Using a powerful microscope, Willard caves sand, gold, fiber, and even dust. Willard sculpts everything from famous people to fictional characters.
Because of their beauty and rarity, his sculptures have made Willard a wealthy man. But he says, “Success isn’t about material things like an expensive watch or a costly ring; it’s about persevering(坚持不懈)and achieving your dreams.”
1. What do we know about young Willard Wigan?| A．He had a gift for gardening. |
| B．He had difficulty with his studies. |
| C．He dreamed of being an architect. |
| D．He had a good memory for numbers. |
| A．By working in a factory. |
| B．By making toothpick carvings. |
| C．By building houses for animals. |
| D．By selling his handmade furniture. |
| A．She acted as an art model for him. |
| B．She gave him lots of encouragement. |
| C．She provided financial support for him. |
| D．She shared her sculpture techniques with him. |
【推荐2】“I didn’t hear them call my name,” explained Shelley Hennig to Active Teens (AT) when she talked about that exciting moment on national television when she won the honor of Miss Teen USA 2004.“Are you ready?” is what she heard. Then she said, “I shook my head no, and then they said ‘yes’ and it was announced again.”
It was four days after that lifechanging moment for the seventeenyearold high school student from Destrehan, Louisiana — she was still on cloud nine.
“I was so shocked! I never believed that it could actually really happen.” Present in the audience that day were: her mother and father, older brother, her friends, and her dance teacher.
AT asked why her dance teacher had traveled so far to see her compete. “She’s always been my role model. I’ve danced with her since I was six. She’s been through so many difficulties and came through them all. I’ve learned to get over bad life’s experiences and learned how to move on because of her.” One of those bad life’s experiences for Shelley happened three years ago when her brother Brad was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was 18.
As Miss Teen USA, she traveled around the state speaking to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. In her role as Miss Teen USA, Shelley will continue to speak to youth about safe driving, together with many other things to help the teenagers.
When AT asked Shelley if she had any advice for our readers, she said, “Don’t let anyone change you. Hang out with people that make you feel good about yourself. That way, it is easy to be yourself.”
1. The underlined phrase “on cloud nine” in Paragraph 2 probably means “very ”.| A．frightened | B．happy |
| C．troubled | D．angry |
| A．determined | B．friendly |
| C．strict | D．experienced |
| A．Have a good role model for themselves. |
| B．Meet their friends whenever it’s possible. |
| C．Always be nice to themselves and others. |
| D．Be themselves with the support of others. |
【推荐3】The J in “juice” was the first letter-sound, according to my mother, which I repeated in staccato(不连贯地). This was when I was three, before my stutter(口吃)was considered as shameful. In those earliest years my relationship to language was uncomplicated: I assumed my voice was more like a bird’s or a squirrel’s than my playmates’. I imagined, unlike fluent children, I might be able to converse with wild creatures, learn their secrets, tell them mine and establish friendships with them.
School put an end to this fantasy. Throughout elementary school I stuttered every time a teacher called on me and whenever I was asked to read out loud. Flash forward 25 years. After a lot of speech therapy, my stutter was less noticeable. One night I found myself at a party in Brooklyn surrounded by people freely and proudly stuttering. I realized as I listened to one after another tell their stories that they were not impressed with my fluency. No. They felt sorry for me.
This experience blew my mind. It had never occurred to me to tell myself the way I spoke was OK; it’s the fluent world that needed to practice acceptance. When I watched “The King’s Speech,” a film about King George VI’s stutter, I didn’t buy the happy ending, when, with the help of his speech therapist Lionel Logue, the king delivers with fluency his announcement that Britain will enter World War II. The actual meaning and glory in the film, I realized, occurs between the king and Logue inside their sessions. The king exposes his vulnerability(脆弱)and Logue reacts not with judgment or disgust but sympathy. For the first time the king is seen.
The central irony of my life remains that my stutter, which at times caused so much suffering, is also responsible for my obsession with language. Without it I would not have been driven to write, to create rhythmic sentences easier to speak and to read. As a little girl, I hoped my stutter would let me into the secret world of animals. As an adult, given a kind listener, I am privileged to find a direct pathway to the human heart.
1. How did the writer regard her stutter when she was three?| A．Cautiously. | B．Positively. | C．Skeptically. | D．Critically. |
| A．Stuttering is anything but shameful. |
| B．Stuttering makes a humorous speaker. |
| C．Socializing helps one overcome stuttering. |
| D．Fluent people should feel sorry for themselves. |
| A．Doubt. | B．Judge. | C．Experience. | D．Accept. |
| A．Her stutter made her a writer. |
| B．How she finally stopped stuttering. |
| C．A party shaped her into who she is today. |
| D．What she learned from “The King’s Speech” |
