【推荐1】What makes a gift special? Is it the price you see on the gift receipt？Or is it the look on the recipient's face when they receive it that determines the true value? What gift is worth the most?

This Christmas I was debating what to give my father. My dad is a hard person to buy for because he never wants anything. I pulled out my phone to read a text message from my mom saying that we were leaving for Christmas shopping for him when I came across a message on my phone that I had locked. The message was from my father. My eyes fell on a photo of a flower taken in Wyoming, and underneath a poem by William Blake. The flower, a lone dandelion (蒲公英) standing against the bright blue sky, inspired me. My dad had been reciting those words to me since I was a kid. That may even be the reason why I love writing. I decided that those words would be my gift to my father.

I called back. I told my mom to go without me and that I already created my gift. I sent the photo of the cream-colored flower to my computer and typed the poem on top of it. As I was arranging the details another poem came to mind. The poem was written by Edgar Allan Poe; my dad recited it as much as he did the other. I typed that out as well and searched online for a background to the words of it. The poem was focused around dreaming, and after searching I found the perfect picture. The image was painted with blues and greens and purples, twisting together to create the theme and wonder of a dream. As I watched both poems passing through the printer, the white paper coloring with words that shaped my childhood, I felt that this was a gift that my father would truly appreciate.

Christmas soon arrived. The minute I saw the look on my dad’s face as he unwrapped those black letters carefully placed in a cheap frame, I knew I had given the perfect gift.

1. The author’s inspiration for the gift came from _________.

A．a photo of a flower	B．a story about a kid
C．a call from the mother	D．a text about Christmas

2. The author made the gift by ________.

A．searching for the poems online	B．drawing the background by hand
C．painting the letters in three colors	D．matching the words with pictures

3. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To show how to design images for gifts	B．To suggest making gifts from one’s heart
C．To explain how computers help create gifts	D．To describe the gifts the author has received

【推荐2】Our house has always been full of plant life. My mom has a green thumb. Every summer, she transforms our backyard into a fruit and vegetable farm. For two months, our dinner plates are filled with snow peas, sweet green tomatoes and spicy peppers.

Mom puts the same care and attention into her family as she does into the houseplants and garden. I grew under the sunshine of her smile. I loved spending summer afternoons digging up worms in the backyard with my mom. I listened to stories about her childhood in remote northern China.

This November will mark 21 years since my parents left their comfortable life in China for Canada’s cold weather and difficult language. Their first years were hard. They got by in a rented basement apartment. My mom held me in her lap while she sewed wedding dresses. Compared with my mom, I’ve had an easy life.

But I don't have a green thumb. The bean plant I brought home after using it for a biology project was eaten by my dog. The strawberry seeds I got for Christmas knocked the pot over. Only my mom remembers to water the yellowing plant in my bedroom.

I’ve been thinking lot about my identity and how it was shaped by my mom’s influence. I might have never discovered a love for reading if she hadn’t read me a bedtime story every night or a love of music if she hadn’t taught me to play the piano. I have so much to learn, so much still to do. But thanks to my mom, I’ve got solid roots that I can draw on as I grow into my future.

1. What does the underlined phrase “a green thumb” in the first paragraph probably mean?

A．A preference for wearing green gloves.	B．A very busy schedule.
C．A talent for growing plants.	D．A desire to protect the environment.

2. Which word best describes the author's mom according to Paragraph 3?

A．Honest.	B．Optimistic.
C．Kind-hearted.	D．Strong-minded.

3. How has the author's mother helped shape her identity?

A．By leading her to discover her own interests.

B．By telling the author her own stories of past struggles.

C．By helping her take care of the plants.

D．By providing her with a comfortable life.

4. What is the author's purpose in writing the article?

A．To describe her mother's hobbies.

B．To share her funny childhood stories with us.

C．To explain how hard her mom's life was in Canada.

D．To express her gratitude to her loving mother.

【推荐3】Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.

My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. When I was growing up, we lived a hard life. 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 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 ) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment I was determined never to be poor again.

Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.

Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and designed the room style. As in any business, 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 income of $1 billion a year.

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

1. what Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was ___________.

A．caring	B．moving
C．encouraging	D．interesting

2. Which of the following describes Kemmons’ mother ?

A．Modest, helpful and hardworking.

B．Loving, supportive and strong-willed.

C．Careful, helpful and beautiful.

D．Strict, sensitive and supportive.

3. Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?

A．Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family.

B．Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work.

C．Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and high education.

D．Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities.

【推荐1】It can be really hard to learn a new language. I had always enjoyed learning languages in school, but only recently did I start learning German. I found that I could understand and learn individual words easily, but when it came to literature, I really struggled. That was when my tutor at university suggested reading some children’s books printed in the target language.

At first, I felt a bit silly going on a hunt for a book designed for someone half my age, but then I realised that everyone has to start somewhere. As children, we are given these basic texts to familiarise our brains with certain vocabulary and writing structure, and from there, we can learn and develop. I started with books which are taught to us as children in the UK. I managed to find Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl.

The beauty of reading books that were introduced to you as a child is that you are already familiar with the plot. Therefore you can work out some words with your knowledge of the story. At first, I used to read with the book in one hand and a dictionary in the other, but this did not work well. The method I would recommend is to read a chapter first and at the end of that chapter, highlight the new words and then look up the definitions. If you can wait a bit before using a dictionary, you may be surprised what you can understand merely from the context. Additionally, a lot of children’s books pictures which may give you a clue as to what or to whom the passage is referring.

If you can find a translation of the books you have read as a child. I would strongly advise reading those if you are a complete beginner. However, if you feel a bit more confident reading in English, I would personally recommend the series of books by J.K. Rowling or any of the Road Dahl children’s books.

1. What makes it hard for the author to learn German?

A．The author had a poor memory.	B．the author had no interest in it.
C．The author had no one to ask for help	D．The author couldn’t read books fluently

2. What did the author think of reading children’s books in the target language at first?

A．Interesting

B．Stupid.

C．Helpful

D．Boring

3. What does the author try to express mainly in Paragraph 3?

A．How to choose a proper book to match your level.

B．why it is helpful to read children’s books at first

C．How to deal with new words while reading

D．How to form the habit of reading in the target language.

4. Why does the author write this text?

A．To give tips on how to learn a new language

B．To persuade the readers to learn a new language

C．To stress the importance of reading in language learning

D．To share the author’s suffering of learning a new language

【推荐1】One devoted man is helping to make sure that children with poor living conditions won't go hungry during the school day.

Mary’s Meals, an organization founded in 2002 by Scottish farmer Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, provides needy kids in 12 countries with free meals at school each weekday. The group's aim is to ensure that students have food in their stomachs so they can better fix their attention on the study in class.

Macfarlane-Barrow, who runs Mary’s Meals on his father's farm, told CNN that the entire operation started with a conversation he had with a teen living in a poor state. He said, ''In 2002, I was in Malawi during a year of terribly short of food, and I met this family — the father had died, and the mother was dying with her six children around her. I began talking to her oldest child, Edward, who was about 14, and asked him, 'What are your hopes? 'And he said, 'I'd like to have enough food to eat, and I'd like to go to school one day. ''' And that was it.

In its first year, the group fed 200 children in need. Since that time, it has made rapid progress. Last month, Mary's Meals fed more than one million children every school day. That was 5 million meals every week. ''The million is amazingly important, but we are far from satisfied. Our work's just beginning. We’ve proved that this works, and now we've just thinking about the next child, '' said Macfarlane-Barrow.

He and the group recently celebrated the achievement in Malawi, where the program began. So far, the program has had very good results. In Malawi, schools that carried out the Mary's Meals program saw a 24 percent increase in the number of new students within the first six months.

1. Why did Macfarlane-Barrow found Mary's Meals?

A．He hoped to provide free food for poor families.

B．He expected to teach children how to help others.

C．He wished to become well-known by helping others.

D．He wanted to make children free of hunger in class.

2. What made Macfarlane-Barrow have the idea to start Mary's Meals?

A．The conversation with a poor child.	B．The success of helping a needy kid.
C．The terribly short of food in Malawi.	D．The poor living conditions of schools

3. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A．Schools in Malawi are popular.

B．No children suffer from hunger now.

C．Macfarlane-Barrow is satisfied with the result.

D．Mary's Meals program has been very successful.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Edward's dream has come true.

B．A farmer feeds one million kids every school day.

C．Malawi gets away from being short of food.

D．Mary's Meals program has shocked the world.

【推荐2】Alexander Tsao, a keen rock climber for several years, was climbing the walls at a gym near his home in Redmond, Washington, when he noticed that the ropes were frequently being replaced with new ones. Just 16 at the time, Tsao wondered what happened to the old ropes. He asked the gym owners and found out the ropes had to be discarded regularly due to safety regulations. He was surprised to find that so many ropes were sent to landfills.

This discovery inspired him to find a solution to the environmental issue of climbing rope waste. He considered possible ideas and ways to upcycle the discarded ropes, deciding to turn them into leashes (拴狗带) for dogs.

Once he had made his plan, Tsao contacted all the climbing gyms in Washington State, introducing his idea of recycling old ropes. Some were doubtful at first but many gyms agreed to donate their used ropes. Tsao spent months testing and designing his products and filing documents to become a nonprofit organization which he called Rocks2Dogs.

To make the leashes, Tsao and volunteers first wash and dry the ropes. They cut them into different lengths, ranging from 4 to 10 feet, and then burn the ends to prevent them from fraying (磨损). They add a clip and handle to each end, and cover the leash’s hardware with shrink tape.

Because making the leashes now is a full-time job, Tsao has asked his friends, family and neighbors for help. “We have made and sold over a thousand leashes, which add up to over 10,000 feet of rope being saved from landfills,” says Tsao. The leashes come in various colors. There are also half price leashes made from ropes with slight imperfections. These start at $7.49 while most other leashes start at $14.99. To date, the nonprofit has raised more than $35,000. Much of this money has been donated to animal shelters.

1. What did Tsao discover?

A．Landfills caused damage to the environment.	B．The gym didn’t obey safety regulations.
C．Rock climbing might do harm to health.	D．Many old climbing ropes went to waste.

2. What was Tsao’s plan?

A．To set up an environmental organization.	B．To call on climbing gyms to donate ropes.
C．To transform retired ropes into dog leashes.	D．To upcycle old leashes saved from landfills.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．Efforts to promote the ropes.	B．Steps for making the leashes.
C．Ways to reuse discarded waste.	D．Reasons for starting Rocks2Dogs.

4. What is the last paragraph intended to tell us?

A．Tsao succeeds in the leash business.	B．More people volunteered to help Tsao.
C．Animal protection gains more attention.	D．Leashes are not very popular with pet owners.

【推荐3】What will you do when one of the few bookstores in your neighborhood shuts down? If you’re Latanya DeVaughn, you will make a new and improved one! The Bronx mom and writer has always dreamed of opening her own bookstore, so after watching another close its doors for good , she saw her chance.

While Latanya said every neigihborhood deserved a bookstore, opening physical stores on every block simply wasn’t an option. So she decided to bring the books to her neighbors, instead, by turning a bus into a bookmobile! With the help of her community, she raised money for her dream and, at the end of 2021, it came true! Bronx Bound Books rolled out in style as a bus with orange cube bookshelves. “People love the way it smells,” Latanya added. “One woman said the wood smell makes her feel like she’s at home.”

Although the bookstore on wheels carries around 3,0000 new and used books, it has more room than you might expect! Latanya also makes sure to stock books with a variety of characters so all readers can see themselves in the pages. Of course, her collection also features works of noted Black authors like James Baldwin and Alice Walker. “It’s meant to be that way,” she explained, “because I remember going to bookstores and having to look through books just to find someone that I felt I could resonate with (引起共鸣).”

Setting up her bookstore in a new spot each day, Latanya is doing her part to make sure that everyone in the Bronx has books to read. That’s what Bronx Bound Books is open for. “I can’t open up a bookstore on every corner, but I can probably pop up on a lot of different corners,” she said.

Thanks to Latanya and Bronx Bound Books, the Bronx is becoming a heaven for book lovers day by day. I’m sure that the little bookstore will continue to develop quickly!

1. How did Latanga DeVoughn respond to the shutdown of bookstores?

A．She purchased and reopened them soon.

B．She set up her own special bookstore.

C．She opened common stores on every block.

D．She asked her neighbors to open a new one.

2. James Baldwin and Alice Walker are mentioned in paragraph 3 to show that      .

A．it’s hard to stock books with diverse characters

B．the collection of Bronx Bound Books is diverse

C．all readers can see themselves in Black authors

D．finding someone with common interest isn’t easy

3. Why is Bronx Bound Books open?

A．To recycle old books around the neighborhood.

B．To raise money for Latanya DeVaughn’s dream.

C．To make reading accessible to everyone in the Bronx.

D．To open up a bookstore on every corner across the world.

4. What does the author think of Bronx Bound Books?

A．Conservative.	B．Unaffordable.
C．Controversial.	D．Promising.