【推荐1】Once, I was invited to see a performance by my friends. Little did I know that I was about to see something I would never forget.

After they introduced the young musician, Mr. Patrick Henry Hughes, he was rolled onto the stage in his wheelchair and began to play the piano. His fingers danced across the keys as he made beautiful music. He then began to sing as he played, and it was even more beautiful. For some reason, however, I knew that I was seeing something special. About ten minutes into Patrick’s performance, someone came on the stage and said, “I’d like to share a seven-minute video.” Then the lights went dim.

Patrick Henry Hughes was born with no eyes and a tightening of the joints, which left him disabled for life. However, as a child, he was fitted with artificial eyes and placed in a wheelchair. Before his first birthday, he discovered the piano. His mom said, “I could hit any note on the piano, and within one or two tries, he’d get it.” By his second birthday, he could play simple songs as requested. His father was excited. “We might not play baseball, but we can play music together.”

Today, Patrick is a junior. His father attends classes with him and he’s made nearly all A’s. He’s also a part of the marching band. He and his father do it together. They attend all the band practices and performances. His father rolls his son around the field to the cheers of Patrick’s fans.

But it was Patrick’s “attitude of gratitude” that touched my soul deeper. On stage, between songs, he talked to the audience about his life and about how blessed he was. He said, “God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability, the musical gifts I have… the great opportunity to meet new people.”

When his performance was over, Patrick and his father were on the stage together. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered for over five minutes.

1. What can we know from the text?

A．Patrick is now in charge of a marching band.

B．My friends told me the performance would be very special.

C．Patrick showed a gift of music at an early age.

D．Patrick played the piano much better than he sang.

2. According to the text, Patrick’s father ________.

A．taught Patrick to sing and play the piano

B．accompanied him to attend classes and practices

C．expected his son to be a great musician and singer

D．has become the leader of the marching band

3. What made the author most impressed?

A．His attitude of gratitude.	B．His working hard.
C．His wonderful performance.	D．His unlucky fate.

4. The underlined word “blessed” in Paragraph 5 might be replaced by “________”.

A．unfortunate

B．hopeful

C．talkative

D．lucky

5. The story of Patrick Henry Hughes teaches us to ________.

A．share our kindness with others	B．develop an interest in music
C．study hard and realize our dream	D．value what we have had

【推荐2】Marie Lantelme! The name struck me from somewhere in the back of my mind. Miss Lantelme, as I called her in my youth, worked as a librarian at the East Meadow Public Library when I was a pre-teen girl.

On one occasion, in search of a book to read, I walked slowly over to the desk taken up by a librarian-Miss Lantelme. Serious, polite, and speaking with the voice of a professional(专业的) librarian, she asked what kind of book I liked to read. I thought about it for a few seconds and replied, “Mysteries(悬疑小说).” When I first learned to read, my grandfather gave me a book called The Smugglers of Sandy Bay. It was written by Ruth Holberg and still takes a place in my book collection. I sometimes hold it in my hand to reconnect with its mystical power.

Miss Lantelme told me to follow her, and she led me into the mystery part and pointed me in the direction of books written by Agatha Christie. Miss Lantelme handed me a book called The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. I will not tell the ending to anyone who has never read that book, but I loved the surprise that I never saw coming. Every week I dug deep into the works of that uncommon writer whose stories still attract me now.

On one occasion, Miss Lantelme handed me a book written by John le Carre. The title of the book is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. For years, I waited for each new book by the recognized master of spy thrillers. Of course, I wished Miss Lantelme to hand the new mystery of John le Carre to me.

All these memories flashed through my mind while I sweated my way through my work—out of breath, giving thanks to the librarians of the world, like Miss Lantelme, who gave me a lifetime of joy, not only the stories.

1. What made the author interested in mysteries?

A．The book her grandfather gave to her.	B．The unknown feeling of a pre-teen girl.
C．The professional service of Lantelme.	D．The opinion her grandfather gave to her.

2. What can we infer about the author from paragraph 3?

A．She was interested in Agatha’s works	B．She took exercise around the library.
C．She bought a book from Lantelme.	D．She went to Lantelme’s home.

3. Which is the best title for the text?

A．An Impressive Book	B．Lifelong Joy from My Grandfather
C．A Happy Memory for the Books	D．Three Books the Author Wanted to Read

【推荐1】On the last day before Christmas, I hurried to a store to buy some gifts. While looking in the toys section,.   I noticed a small boy of about five years old, pressing a doll against his chest．Keeping on touching the hair of the doll, the boy murmured sadly, "I don't have enough money．What can I do?" I walked towards him and asked him curiously who he wanted to give the doll to．
" It is the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for this Christmas．She was so sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her．" I told him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all and not to worry．However, he replied sadly, " No, Santa Claus cannot take it to where she is now．I have to give the doll to my mother so that she can give it to her when she goes there．" His eyes looked so sad while saying this． " My sister has gone to be with God．Daddy says that Mommy will also join God very soon so I think that she can take the doll with her to give it to my sister．" My heart nearly stopped．
The boy looked up at me and said, " I told Daddy to tell Mommy not to go yet．I asked him to wait until I come back from the store．" Then, he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was laughing．He told me, " I also want Mommy to take this photo with her so that she will not forget me, I love my Mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me but Daddy says that she has to go and join my little sister．" Then he looked at the doll again quietly with sad eyes．
I quickly reached my hand into my pocket, saying, "What if we checked again, just in case, to see if you have enough money?"
1. We can safely say ________ ．

A．Santa Claus would bring the doll to the girl

B．the story happened in winter

C．the boy was with his father at the store

D．the author met the boy accidentally

2. What can be inferred from the story?

A．Something serious happened to the boy's mother and sister．

B．The boy's mother and sister were dying．

C．The boy's parents had to go to accompany his sister．

D．The boy's sister had asked him for his photo．

3. Which best describes the boy?

A．Sensitive and casual．	B．Considerate and sad．
C．Thankful and optimistic．	D．Determined and guilty．

4. What would happen at the end of the story?

A．The boy would gain sympathy by cheating．

B．The boy would persuade his mother not to go．

C．The author would give the boy some money．

D．The boy's father would express thanks to the author．

【推荐2】I decided a few months ago that l was going to treat myself to a 4-day getaway from Los Angeles and visit Chicago. I turned in some long-saved frequent flier miles(航空积分里程) for the airplane ticket, but had to shell out cash I really couldn’t afford for the hotel. I found a travel website where a discounted promotional 3-night stay was purchased from a recently opened hotel.
About three weeks before the trip, I had to regretfully cancel and only then realized the room, while transferable to another person, couldn’t be changed to a later date and wasn’t refundable(可退款的)．For the next two weeks, I tried selling it on Craig’s list with no success. Five days before the “big weekend” I gave up trying to spend any money and decided I’d contact some friends who live in Chicago and offer someone a free “staycation”. After trying a handful of people all of whom already had their own plans, I was determined to have the room not go to waste.
That’s when it suddenly occurred to me that I was looking at the rooms in the wrong way. Instead of viewing them for vacation purposes, surely there must be a way to put them to good use, and that was when the idea that some sort of shelter might be able to use it hit me. I finally found one whose focus is aiding victims of domestic violence. This particular one was willing to listen to my out-of-left-field story and facilitated the transfer of the rooms. The shelter was working with a desperate woman and her young daughter, who were fortunately able to make use of the room.
1. What did the author decide to treat himself to?

A．A big meal in Chicago.

B．A 4-day travel.

C．A holiday abroad.

D．A get-together with family.

2. The author purchased a 3-night stay from a newly-opened hotel       .

A．to act as a promoter

B．to experience e-business

C．to get a free air ticket

D．to save some money

3. The room the author booked could only be       .

A．cancelled within 24 hours

B．changed to a later date

C．transferred to another person

D．refunded half of the money

4. What did the author decide to do with the room at last?

A．Sell it online.

B．Let it go to waste.

C．Use it to help strangers in need.

D．Offer it to one of his friends.

【推荐3】Volunteering to take care of neighborhood pets is a great way for kids to learn responsibility.

Ideas for getting started

Have your kids make flyers(传单) to place around the neighborhood,showcasing their willingness to help out by caring for neighborhood pets.    1     Also encourage them to come up with their own ideas for flyers. 

Helping out

Your children can volunteer for small pet-sitting jobs that are easy for both you and them to manage.    2     You can accompany your children,while also allowing them to take the leash (牵狗绳) and lead the way. 

Learning opportunities

Offering activities,like animal caretaking,benefits little animals and your children at the same time.    3     For example,the tropical fish you are feeding for friends can offer a wonderful platform for researching their natural habitat. 

Emotional benefits of animals

The benefits of interaction between children and animals go beyond the physical aspect,as well.    4     Children learn to make emotional connections through the love that animals provide.Having children care for pets also provides an opportunity to discuss emotions children often struggle to understand. 

    5     Offer positive affirmations (肯定) to your children to underline the additional exercise they are also enjoying from this responsibility,so they will also recognise that there is a healthy connection.When you praise your children’s willingness to take on this kind of new responsibility,you can be assured that it will eventually be translated in a very positive way to the world around them.

A．Pets also meet many psychological needs.

B．Young children can benefit from the difficult actions.

C．Small tasks can allow parents to gain a sense of understanding.

D．Use these opportunities to teach your kids about a new creature.

E．Walking gentle dogs is both safe and rewarding for the young caretakers.

F．For the youngest child,a flyer may be as simple as a picture to which you add the words.

G．Speak words of appreciation and don’t forget to comment on the great job they are doing!

【推荐1】It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp(军营).It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.

Once Mr White was ill in bed. He couldn’t work and a young officer, Mr Hunt began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening to the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they drank wine. Of course they found the officer was angry.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the first soldier. “I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back.”

And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier’s turn. He said, “I’m sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but…”

Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, “If you say something was wrong with your bus, I’ll punish you at once!”

“No, no, sir,” said the young man. “My bus was all right, but the horse died!”

1. The military camp was built in the village to __________ .

A．stop the soldiers from going to towns

B．stop the soldiers from meeting their friends

C．train the new soldiers

D．make the young men live quietly

2. Mr Hunt let the nine soldiers have a holiday because __________ .

A．he was kind to them	B．they felt lonely
C．they had something important to do	D．they were the best of all

3. The young officer was worried because __________.

A．a traffic accident had happened

B．he was afraid something happened to the nine soldiers

C．the nine soldiers would come back

D．the nine soldiers drank too much in the town

4. The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because __________ .

A．something was wrong with their buses

B．their horses died on the return way

C．it took them much time to run back

D．they all drank much in the town

5. Which answer do you think is true?

A．You’ll believe only the last soldier.

B．The officer believed the nine soldiers.

C．You’ll believe none of the nine soldiers.

D．The officer won’t punish his soldiers.

【推荐3】Ida Nelson was relaxing herself in her sister’s sauna (桑拿室) when she heard the sound of a small airplane circling the nearby airport.

It was 11: 30 at night in a remote village with a population of 70, and, as she told the newspaper reporter, Any time a plane flies over that late, you know something is wrong. Nelson and her sister leaped out of the sauna, ran to the window, and saw the problem-the airport’s runway lights were out. Nelson threw on some clothes, jumped into her jeep, and floored it to the airport, where she found a local pilot trying to turn on the lights manually.

Normally, if you push the button 10 or 15 times, the lights will just light up, Nelson told the reporter. Not this time. Meanwhile, she and the pilot learned of the plane’s exigent mission - it was a helicopter there to transport a seriously ill local girl, to the nearest hospital, 280 miles away in another city.

Nelson had a plan. Driving her jeep to the end of the runway, she shone her headlights on the road for the plane to follow. Great idea, but it wasn’t enough. More light was needed so a neighbor called nearly every home in the village 32 of them.

Within 20 minutes, 20 vehicles arrived at the airport, many of the drivers still in pajamas. Following directions from the helicopter pilot, the cars lined up on one side of the runway. The helicopter made its final approach and, guided by the headlights, landed safely. The young patient was loaded onto the aircraft, and the plane immediately took off again Her illness was never publicly known, but she has since been recovered.

Without them, the girl might not have made it. However, for Nelson, it was only a small deed.

1. What problem did the helicopter encounter?

A．Its lights went out by accident

B．It made noise as it ran out of fuel

C．It could not land safely in darkness.

D．It didn’t arrive at the scheduled time

2. What does the underlined word exigent in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．impossible

B．unique

C．intense

D．urgent

3. What can we conclude from the passage?

A．The girl has been in the hospital since her illness was reported.

B．The creative thought and the sense of duty of Nelson led to the final landing.

C．The helicopter was to transport the girl from the local hospital to another one.

D．The villagers gathered so quickly because they were awake and ready to help.

4. What does this passage want to tell the readers?

A．No way is impossible to courage.

B．A friend in need is a friend indeed

C．A small act of kindness makes a big difference.

D．Where there is a wisdom. there is effectiveness.