【推荐1】A call came into Jimmy Gilles’s bar this past March. A newly married woman who had spent the afternoon at the dive beach bar in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina couldn’t find her wallet. She didn’t care about her ID, credit cards, or $150— but her wedding ring was inside it.

Gilles, 42, the boss of the bar, didn’t like the idea that there was a thief at his place. So he set out to find the wallet. He spent hours looking for the footage from 16 different cameras, watching the woman’s every step in the bar until she went to sit on a bench outside and left when her ride arrived. Within minutes, a young man in a hoodie approached the bench, put something in his pocket in a hurry, and walked off.

Gilles posted the picture on the bar’s Facebook and asked if anybody knew who the guy was. Within hours, 17-year-old Rivers Prather came and said he had taken the wallet and told Gilles he’d done it because he hadn’t eaten for two days. He said he saw the ring but thought it was fake, so he took the money, and threw the wallet off the public docks into the ocean. Then he bought a sandwich.

Gilles, unsure whether he should believe Prather, told the teen to meet him at the docks. There Prather revealed that he wasn’t getting along with his family and lived in the woods for weeks. Gilles looked at Prather—his small stature, his ruddy cheeks—and saw him for what he was: more of a kid than a thief.

But the police were already on the case, and because of the missing ring, Prather could be facing severe charges. Gilles wanted to help him somehow.

Gilles recruited two local divers to search the waters where Prather had thrown the wallet. A crowd gathered to watch the two divers search in the strong current. More than an hour passed, with no sign of the ring. Gilles grew worried. Each passing minute increased the chances that the police would arrest the young man.

And then a diver came out from the water with the wallet in his hand, and inside was the ring. Cheers erupted from the spectators. When Gilles called the wallet’s owner, she burst into tears. She promptly dropped the felony charges against Prather for stealing the ring.

But it wasn’t over for Gilles. He’d been troubled about Prather sleeping in the cold woods. He told the teen he could stay with his family until the boy got on his feet again. He also gave the kid a job at his bar. “Most people would give the footage to police, but the boss chose to help me,” Prather told CBS News. “I say thank you to him every day.”

1. Why didn’t Prather take away the ring in the wallet?

A．Because he thought the ring was not genuine and worthless.

B．Because he was too anxious about the money to find the ring.

C．Because he knew nobody would be interested in buying the ring.

D．Because he knew he would be charged severely if he took the ring.

2. What can be inferred about Prather according to the passage?

A．He has been a thief ever since he left his family.

B．He was still a kid although he looked tall and strong.

C．His family didn’t get along with him and give him nothing to eat.

D．He left his family and was very hungry before he committed the theft.

3. Why did Gilles feel worried when the divers could not find the ring?

A．Because he had to pay for it as it was stolen at his bar.

B．Because the police were very likely to arrest Prather.

C．Because it would disappoint the crowd gathering around.

D．Because it was a wedding ring and very important to the woman.

4. Which words can be used to describe Mr. Gilles?

A．Careful and creative.	B．Reasonable but cruel.
C．Caring and merciful.	D．Brave but heartless.

【推荐3】My husband and I always wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it. By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise landed a three-month job in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about the Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches. However, for every photo album of a beautiful beach, there were 10 photos of trash. It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such primitive and remote beaches. So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick up on our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pollution. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free. We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going. We love connecting with like-minded people. It’s been amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

1. Why did the author do pet sitting?

A．To raise fund.	B．To protect the environment.
C．To cover travel expenses.	D．To shoot beautiful beaches.

2. What does the author intend to convey through her story?

A．Pet sitting is a new type of occupation.

B．The Caribbean is an ideal travel destination.

C．Travel blog is a superb way to gain popularity.

D．Action should be taken to fight plastic pollution.

3. How did the author find her experience in the Caribbean?

A．Challenging.	B．Significant.
C．Adventurous.	D．Romantic.

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

A．Changing Lifestyles by Doing Pet Sitting

B．Unexpected Gains from Pet Sitting Travel

C．Dealing with Global Environment Pollution

D．The Availability of Pet Sitting in the Caribbean

【推荐1】Amber has a degree in business management and economics. She put her skills to good use when she spent eleven months in Cambodia through World Hope International as a volunteer working with a local microfinance (小额信贷) company to help the poor get financial services.

Amber’s first few weeks in Cambodia were busy and difficult as she tried to learn the language, understand the culture, and get used to her new surroundings. Her volunteer service involved working with a local micro-finance company. In addition to writing plans, preparing international marketing materials, and building donor (捐赠人) relations, Amber met with company clients. During these visits she learned how the small loans they received transformed their lives. She learned first-hand the benefits of micro-finance, which by providing farmers and small-business owners with affordable working capital (such as money to buy a sewing machine) helped them to earn their way out of poverty.

“It never stopped amazing me when a client would show me a new home that was built because of a loan he received or the way a client’s business had improved and thus allowed his children to be sent to school,” Amber said.

Amber recalled that one client called Paul walked her all around his house, pointing to what he had done with each of the eight loans he’d received. He explained how every loan had improved his family’s quality of life. Amber said he was one of the hardest working men she had ever met. He had suffered greatly in the Cambodian Civil War and became disabled, but not once did he let it kill his dreams of realising a better life for his family. His latest purchaser sound system that he rented out for weddings and other parties doubled his income.

Amber said, “Living and working in Cambodia helped me see the world in new ways and made me aware of the hardship and suffering that many people around the world face every day. Those eleven months were some of the most meaningful months of my life.”

1. What’s the best title for this passage?

A．World Hope International

B．Benefits of Micro-finance

C．Amber’s Volunteer Experience in Cambodia

D．Poverty in Developing Countries

2. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A．Amber met with no difficulties after she arrived in Cambodia

B．Amber is the leader of World Hope International

C．few children go to school because there aren’t enough schools in Cambodia

D．many local people in Cambodia changed their lives with the loans

3. Which of the following statements about Paul is TRUE?

A．Each of the loans he had received helped him a lot.

B．He was poor because he didn’t work as hard as others.

C．He became disabled because of a car accident.

D．He bought a sound system for his wedding.

4. After living and working in Cambodia as a volunteer, Amber _____.

A．planned to travel to more countries

B．changed her view of the world

C．decided to be a lifelong volunteer

D．became aware of how happy her life was

【推荐3】John Smith was a writer, who wrote detective stories for magazines, though he never dealt with criminals. One evening he could not finish an end for a story. He sat in his study, but he had no ideas. So he decided to go to the cinema.
When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note. “I have read your story and I don’t think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I’m not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return.”
John read the thief’s suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his “visitor” to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study.
1. Detective stories are stories about________ .

A．the future	B．the police
C．children	D．science

2. John went to the cinema because_________ .

A．he could not finish his story and hoped to get some ideas

B．he wanted to enjoy himself in the cinema

C．he wanted to look for a thief

D．he was too tired

3. The visitor came to John’s house in order to_________ .

A．visit the writer	B．have a drink
C．steal something	D．read the story