They were going to Florida — three boys and three girls. They were dreaming of golden beaches and sea tides as the grey, cold spring of New York vanished behind them. Vingo was on the bus from the beginning.
As the bus passed through New Jersey, they began to notice that Vingo never moved. He sat in front of the young people, his dusty face masking his age, dressed in a plain brown suit that did not fit him. He sat in complete silence and seemed completely unaware of the existence of the others.
Deep into the night, the bus pulled into a Howard Johnson’s restaurant and everybody got off the bus except Vingo. The young people began to wonder about him: perhaps he was a sea captain; maybe he could be an old soldier going home.
In the morning they awoke outside another Howard Johnson’s and this time Vingo went in. A girl invited him to join them. He seemed very shy and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously, as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they got back on the bus, the girl sat with Vingo again.
“Are you married?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” she said.
‘‘Well, when I was in jail I wrote to my wife. I said, ‘Martha, I was going to be away a long time. If you couldn’t stand it, if the kids kept asking questions, you could just forget me. I told her she didn’t have to write to me or anything, and she didn’t. Not for three-and-a-half years.
“And you’re going home now, not knowing?”
“Yeah. Well, last week, when I was sure the parole (有条件释放) was coming through I wrote her again. I told her that if she had a new guy, I understood. But, if she didn’t, if she would take me back she should let me know. We used to live in Brunswick, and there’s a great oak tree just as you come into town. I told her if she would take me back, she should tie a yellow ribbon (丝带) to the tree, and I would get off and come home. If she didn’t want me, forget it, no ribbon and I’d understand and keep going on through.”
“Wow,” the girl said “Wow.”
She told the others, and soon all of them were caught up in the approach of Brunswick. Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took the window seats on the right side, waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face into the ex-criminal’s mask, and ________ . Then it was 10 miles, and then five, and the bus became very quiet.
Then suddenly all of the young people were up out of their seats, screaming and shouting and crying, doing small dances, shaking clenched fists in triumph and exaltation. All except Vingo.
Vingo sat there stunned, looking at the oak tree through his misty eyes. The tree was covered with yellow ribbons, 30 of them, 50 of them, maybe hundreds, a tree that stood like a flag of welcome, blowing and billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted, the old ex-criminal slowly rose from his seat, holding himself tightly, and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.
1. In the beginning, Vingo was sting in silence without interacting with others most probably because ________.| A．he was too shy and nervous to utter a word |
| B．he was lost in thought and uncertainty. |
| C．he did not want to ruin the joyful atmosphere among other passengers. |
| D．he felt inferior to others due to his criminal past |
| A．They embarrassed Vingo by breaking his silence. |
| B．They hid their great concern for Vingo’s past. |
| C．They showed trust and sympathy towards Vingo. |
| D．They hoped Vingo could make his own decision instead of waiting for his wife’s response. |
| A．preparing himself for still another disappointment. |
| B．wanting to get away from the other passengers’ noise. |
| C．not ready to accept whatever lies ahead for him. |
| D．hoping he did not inform the other passengers of his story. |
| A．a show of respect from Vingo’s family. |
| B．a last warning from Vingo’s wife. |
| C．a expression of sympathy from Vingo’s wife. |
| D．a display of forgiveness from Vingo’s wife. |
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【推荐1】The Book Lady
It was Jennifer Williams's mother who got her hooked on books. A librarian, she read to her three children every day. “Not until we went to kindergarten,” Williams told vadogwood.com, a local news site. “Until we went to college.”
When Williams, now 54, became an elementary school teacher and tutor in Danville, Virginia, she wanted her students to fall in love with reading just as she had. But early on, she realized that some kids had limited access to books.
“It’s very obvious to teachers of young children which kids are read to versus kids who are not,” she said. “It’s obvious at the end of the first day of school.” To Williams, the solution was simple: Give kids books. In 2017, as part of a civic event called Engage Danville, she gave away 900 used children’s books over three days. Most people would be satisfied with that.
“I was like, ‘Anybody could do that,’” she said. “I wanted to do something that’s going to stretch my faith, my work ethic, my everything.”
So she set a new goal for herself: Give away one million books. It sounds like an unreachable number, but as Williams posted on Facebook: “Don’t complain in the bleachers if you aren’t willing to work hard out on the field.”
So she got to work, first by roping in friends to donate books or money to buy books. Before long, as news of Williams’s project spread, strangers started leaving piles of books on her front porch. As quickly as the books come in, Williams gives them to local schools — free of charge — and also supplies books to little free libraries around the city of 41,000 just over the North Carolina border. She also hosts a book club for prisoners in the local prison.
In the four years she's been doing all this, the Book Lady, as Williams has come to be known, has given away more than 78,000 books — only 922,000 more to reach her goal! And she’s not slowing down. It’s too important for kids with few options.
“Reading can take you anywhere,” she told CNN. “You can travel in time and space. If you can read, you can learn almost anything.”
1. What made Willian interested in reading?| A．Her children’s hobby. | B．Her mother’s influence. |
| C．A stranger’s encouragement. | D．A teacher's impact. |
| A．To satisfy most people. | B．To celebrate the civic event. |
| C．To help students love reading. | D．To stretch her faith and work ethic. |
| A．By asking her friends to buy books. | B．By attaining books from the prison. |
| C．By getting donation from free libraries. | D．By receiving donated books from strangers. |
| A．helpful and ambitious. | B．respectable and innocent. |
| C．hardworking and adventurous. | D．determined and humorous. |
【推荐2】When Emanuel received an email from Professor Richard English at Queen’s University, who encouraged him to apply for a PhD in Politics in Belfast, it was a pinch-me moment Emanuel never thought would be possible. After all, just a few short years ago, he was living on the streets, couch-surfing at friends’ houses and weeding gardens to make ends meet. Now, one of the world’s leading political academics was preparing to welcome him to Queen’s University over 4,000 miles away.
Emanuel never knew who his father was and his mom was mentally ill when she gave birth to him, so the hospital took him off her and he was unofficially adopted for the first few years of his life. What followed was a childhood with uncertainty as Emanuel was passed between the adoption system and family members.
Through his high school and community college years, he moved from house to house, living with friends at times and living on the streets at others.
Determined to change all that despite his rocky start in life, Emanuel involved himself in school — doing everything he could to earn extra tuition (学费) money in his spare time. But getting accepted into university was scarcely possible because a person like him couldn’t get a regular student loan.
Fortunately, the government backed him, having created a policy allowing disadvantaged persons to access funding for higher education. He graduated from the University of the West Indies with a 1st Class Honors degree and went on to do his Masters.
Emanuel knows that his story could have been very different.
“I discovered Professor Richard English online and sent him an email honestly, not thinking he would reply and to my surprise, he did. I applied for the highly competitive Commonwealth Shared Scholarship Scheme in order to fund my research at Queen’s. When I was told I was successful, my whole world changed.”
1. What does the underlined word “pinch-me” in Paragraph I probably mean?| A．Imaginary. | B．Anticipated. |
| C．Unbelievable. | D．Embarrassing. |
| A．His father passed away early. |
| B．He received great parental care. |
| C．He was once adopted by his relatives. |
| D．He lived with his friends now and then. |
| A．Tough and strong-willed. |
| B．Determined and talented. |
| C．Enthusiastic and generous. |
| D．Hardworking and attractive. |
| A．Well begun is half done. |
| B．Never judge by appearances. |
| C．Many hands make light work. |
| D．You are the architect of your own life. |
【推荐3】When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and pestered (纠缠) his relatives, but they bad problems of their own. He answered advertisements until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris grew annoyed, then depressed, then a little hardened. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he bad no future at all.
“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him. “The world is a money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it.”
“But what can I do?”
“Get out and have a look round,” advised his uncle in a vague sort of way. “See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it.”
Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of a waste ground in the end, Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to build up his goodwill and profit. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other problems. But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop in a new area where there were plenty of customers but no competition.
Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair motorcycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.
1. How did Boris start his career?| A．By fixing cycles. | B．By buying empty shops. |
| C．By cycling around the town. | D．By developing a waste ground. |
| A．It was not so expensive. | B．He had a lot of old customers there. |
| C．There were good opportunities there. | D．He could make good use of his skills there. |
| A．Boris set off in a successful career. | B．Boris still couldn’t make good profits. |
| C．Boris found a lot of gold coins by accident. | D．Boris had great difficulty running his business. |
| A．No education, no future. | B．The world is a money-locker. |
| C．Goodwill is the key to success. | D．Difficulty of starting a small business. |
【推荐1】A trip to a bank's ATM machine is usually a common affair, but for Jose Nunez Romaniz, his visit on a Sunday is one that he will remember for the rest of his life. The 19-year-old was helping his grandfather buy a pair of socks online when he noticed his account balance was low. So he drove to the nearest Wells Fargo to put money into his bank account. Little did he know, he was about to make an incredible discovery.
When he arrived at the ATM machine, Jose noticed a clear plastic bag on the ground filled with cash. It turned out to be $135,000 worth of $50 and $20 bills. When he first saw it, he stared at it for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. He was very shocked. He had never seen so much money. After taking a moment to collect himself, Jose did what he knew was the right thing: he called the police. They soon discovered that the money had accidentally been left behind by a worker tasked with refilling the ATM.
Jose's childhood dream has been to work in law enforcement(执法机关)himself and currently studies criminal justice at Central New Mexico Community College. Local businesses have showered Jose with rewards. He has received gift cards from local restaurants, sports gear，and season tickets for University of New Mexico football offered by ESPN radio. He was also given a $500 scholarship from an electric company. And, perhaps best of all, the police chief invited Jose to apply for a job as a public service assistant for the department. “It was also the best gift for Mother’s Day. She called me and almost started crying… She told me she was proud of me,” Jose Nunez Romaniz said.
1. Why did Jose go to the Wells Fargo?| A．His grandfather was waiting there. |
| B．His bank balance was not enough to buy online. |
| C．He wanted to get extra cash for emergencies. |
| D．His grandfather asked him to withdraw money. |
| A．Delighted. | B．Worried. |
| C．Astonished. | D．Embarrassed. |
| A．He had found lots of money. |
| B．He had been admitted to college. |
| C．He received a large quantity of gifts and became famous. |
| D．He did the right thing and got closer to his dream. |
| A．A discovery helping a man famous | B．A man making change to others |
| C．A mother feeling proud of her son | D．A kindness making dream come true |
【推荐2】I remember my math teacher Mr. Young very well. He stood out because the kids made fun of him. He was missing one of his fingers, and always pointed at students with his middle finger.
I was not very good at English and math. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not figure out why I did not understand what all the other kids found so easy to learn. One day, I was told that if I got one more E on my report card, I would be taken to the “big prison for kids”.
I tried really hard for weeks. I just couldn’t understand how to make different parts of numbers into whole things. The day before report cards were to come out, I knew that Mr Young would give me an E, just like he always did. I went to Mr. Young and told him that the orphanage (孤儿院) was going to send me to the big prison if I got another E on my report card. He told me there was nothing he could do; it would be unfair to the other kids if he gave me a better grade than I had actually earned. I smiled at him and said, “Mr. Young, do you know how the kids make fun of you because you’re missing your finger?”
He looked at me, moved his mouth to one side and said nothing.
“They shouldn’t do that to you because you can’t help not having a finger, Mr Young. Just like I can’t help not being able to learn numbers and stuff like that,” I said.
The next day, when I got my report card, I tucked it into one of my books. While on the school bus, I opened it: Geography, B+; Mechanical Drawing, C-; English, D-; History, C-; Gym, B+; Art, C; Math, D-.
That math grade was the most favorite one I ever received. Because I knew that someone in the world finally understood what it was like for me to be missing a finger inside my head.
1. From the second paragraph we can infer that the boy is ______ in some subjects.| A．mind-blowing | B．slow-witted | C．fun-loving | D．badly-behaved |
| A．In an orphanage. | B．In a big prison. |
| C．In the school dormitory. | D．In his home. |
| A．D-. | B． C. | C．B+. | D． E. |
| A．stuck | B．listed | C．hid | D．copied |
| A．he missed one of his fingers | B．he treated his students very well |
| C．he understood the boy | D．he taught his students in a special way |
Dad’s Perfect Package
A few years ago, my father arranged to send me a mail-order fruitcake at Christmas time. Although I had a good job and owned an apartment in Manhattan, he feared my refrigerator might be empty.
He ordered me a particular brand of fruitcake made in Texas. “It reminds me of my mother’s,” he told me, which I later learned was a cake typical of the Great Depression (大萧条), made without milk, sugar, butter, or eggs. On most Christmases, he received two gifts from granny: a pair of homemade socks and a small bag of oranges.
Born in 1932, Dad grew up during the Great Depression, and he believed everyone was always hungry and needed to eat. Even when we visited him in the hospital, he would ask whether we had eaten and remind us the café would be closing soon. “At least get a cup of coffee,” he’d say. “Don’t worry about me.”
Ordering the fruitcake was his way of trying to take care of me from a long distance away. Although I was 44, I was still his son. A fruitcake, in his mind, was a perfect Christmas gift: the fruitcake can fill my belly (肚子) and has a long shelf life.
The first week of December passed with no sign of his fruitcake. Delayed (耽搁) by holiday mail, I guessed. My father remained hopeful the fruitcake would come by New Year’s Eve. Yet, January, February, and March came and went with no fruitcake.
Though my father kept asking about it, I never once considered lying and telling him the fruitcake had finally arrived and was delicious. Instead I said, “That cake is orbiting (沿轨道运行) earth, and sooner or later it will land and taste even better.”
Early last December, nearly a year after my father died, I got a call from the front desk of my apartment building., “You have a package.” I went downstairs to pick it up. The brown box had a FedEx label (标签) with a return address in Texas.
1. What gifts did Dad get on most Christmases?2. Why did Dad think the best Christmas present was a fruitcake?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
>When my father kept asking about the delayed fruitcake, I told him that the fruitcake had finally arrived and was delicious.
4. Among the gifts you’ve ever received, which is the most memorable one? Why? (In about 40 words)
