Tom walked into a shop. It had a sign outside: “Second-hand (旧的) clothes bought and sold.” He was carrying an old pair of trousers and asked the owner of the shop, “How much will you give me for these?” The man looked at them and then said: “Two dollars.” “What!” said Tom, “I had guessed they were worth at least five dollars.” “No,” said the man, “they aren’t worth a cent more than two dollars.” “Well,” said Tom, taking two dollars out of his pocket. “Here’s your money. These trousers were hanging outside your shop. The list price (标价) of them was six dollars and a half. But I thought that was too much money, so I wanted to find out how much they were really worth.”
Then he walked out of the shop with the pair of trousers and disappeared before the shop owner could think of anything to say.
1. At first the owner of the shop thought that Tom __________ .| A．wanted to steal the trousers | B．wanted to sell the trousers |
| C．wanted to fool him | D．wanted to buy the trousers |
| A．would give Tom two dollars | B．would pay three dollars |
| C．would pay five dollars | D．would give Tom six dollars and a half |
| A．he wanted to sell them cheaply | B．he wanted to buy them cheaply |
| C．he didn’t like the trousers | D．they were old and dirty |
| A．were hanging inside the shop | B．were stolen by Tom from the shop |
| C．had been the shop owner’s | D．had been Tom’s |
| A．the owner sold the trousers two dollars |
| B．Tom sold the trousers one dollar and a half |
| C．the owner bought the trousers three dollars |
| D．Tom bought the trousers four dollars and a half |
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The peak of his school career came not when he topped the school but when he was selected for the nationwide competition. Unlike everyone else, Nigel wanted to join the contest because he liked playing with the Lego sets and making something out of them. Nigel spent the next two months rebuilding the robot. It was during the time that Nigel found out about the prizes for the competition. Its well us auspices competitor. Alicia, from a neighboring school. His early intentions were forgotten. Getting the thousand-dollar prize was more important than anything else. Nigel decided to befriend Alicia. Unaware of his intentions, she told him all about the robot that she had been building for the competition. He even helped her to put the finishing branches to her robot. He was glad with the way things had progressed. His robot looked even better than Alicia’s and it was able to become a ball with its arms, something Alicia had failed to do.
On the day of the competition, he says Alicia. Everything dawned on her the minute she saw him among the competition. She stared at him, puzzled at first, then angry and finally a look of helplessness came over her.
The flashbulbs of the camera exploded in Nigel’s try. The robot bird performed actions so unique and different that the specialist judgments were the same. Nigel was so personal with himself that he did not even notice the girl standing a few feet away from him. Without her, he would never win the competition.
1. What reward did Nigel receive for doing well in his school work?
| A．He was offered a part-time job | B．He was honored with a scholarship |
| C．He helped his teacher construct a robot | D．He helped in the computer laboratories |
| A．be the top student of the school | B．being great honor to his school |
| C．constructs a robot with the Lego sets | D．wins the thousand-dollar prize |
| A．He tried to make friends with her | B．He was fond of building robots |
| C．He intended to help her | D．He didn’t want her to suspect him |
| A．He is mildly critical | B．He is strongly critical |
| C．He is in favor of them | D．His attitude is not clear |
【推荐2】Sitting in the garden for my friend’s birthday. I felt a buzz (振动) in my pocket. My heart raced when I saw the email sender’s name. The email started off: “Dear Mr Green, thank you for your interest” and “the review process took longer than expected.” It ended with “We are sorry to inform you…” and my vision blurred (模糊). The position—measuring soil quality in the Sahara Desert as part of an undergraduate research programme — had felt like the answer I had spent years looking for.
I had put so much time and emotional energy into applying, and I thought the rejection meant the end of the road for my science career.
So I was shocked when, not long after the email, Professor Mary Devon, who was running the programme, invited me to observe the work being done in her lab. I jumped at the chance, and a few weeks later I was equally shocked—and overjoyed—when she invited me to talk with her about potential projects I could pursue in her lab. What she proposed didn’t seem as exciting as the original project I had applied to, but I was going to give it my all.
I found myself working with a robotics professor on techniques for collecting data from the desert remotely. That project, which I could complete from my sofa instead of in the burning heat of the desert, not only survived the lockdown but worked where traditional methods didn’t. In the end, I had a new scientific interest to pursue.
When I applied to graduate school, I found three programmes promising to allow me to follow my desired research direction. And I applied with the same anxious excitement as before. When I was rejected from one that had seemed like a perfect fit, it was undoubtedly difficult. But this time I had the perspective (视角) to keep it from sending me into panic. It helped that in the end I was accepted into one of the other programmes I was also excited about.
Rather than setting plans in stone, I’ve learned that sometimes I need to take the opportunities that are offered, even if they don’t sound perfect at the time, and make the most of them.
1. How did the author feel upon seeing the email sender’s name?| A．Anxious. | B．Angry. | C．Surprised. | D．Settled. |
| A．demanding | B．inspiring | C．misleading | D．amusing |
| A．An invitation is a reputation. |
| B．An innovation is a resolution. |
| C．A rejection can be a redirection. |
| D．A reflection can be a restriction. |
【推荐3】I work as a waiter in a café and love the job most of the time. I spend the morning hours with all the coffee and see the friendly customers (顾客) every day. But there’re always those mornings when a few unwanted customers come in. Maybe they are late for work, or simply wake up on the wrong side of the bed. They often make a short loud request (要求) for coffee without looking at me directly. It is hard to stand. And some customers are just discourteous and they believe that customers are always right, even if they act like fools. Things like good manners (礼貌) are often unseen in such situations.
Just like me, Austin Simms of Cups Coffee and Tea has had enough of this. Taking matters into his own hand, to help some customers with their manners, he placed a sign outside showing their new pricing method.
His new sign shows the cost of a coffee as $5. If a customer walks up to the server and simply says, “Small coffee,” he/she will need to pay $5 for that small coffee. The price of a “small coffee, please” goes down to $3. In other words, a nice “please” with a request for a small coffee will drop the price by $2. The coffee only costs $1.75 if the customer says, “Hello. One small coffee, please.” So you can see that customers that show the most manners get the largest discounts (折扣).
The new strategy (策略) certainly has got some people to rethink their manners given that the news has spread across the world. We can be sure that at least some customers have changed their behavior, and that’s a good thing, even if they do it to get discounted coffee. The more you do something, the more you get used to it. So, this little strategy that the business owner used could actually end up causing many people to be more polite all the time.
1. What does the underlined word “discourteous” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Impolite. | B．Proud. | C．Confused. | D．Busy. |
| A．The size of the coffee customers request. |
| B．The way customers talk to servers. |
| C．Customers’ understanding of servers’ work. |
| D．Customers’ relationship with servers. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Creative. | C．Humorous. | D．Responsible. |
| A．To show he supports Austin’s method. |
| B．To explain the influence of discounts. |
| C．To show the importance of politeness. |
| D．To introduce the future of the café business. |
【推荐1】In the late 1990s, a family visited the public elementary school where I taught deaf students. They said they would be moving to the district and planned to enroll (报名) their deaf daughter as a first grader. They were upset that their child’s kindergarten teacher Jane cautioned them not to have high hopes for her academically. Based upon assessment results, the teacher painted a discouraging picture for their little girl’s future. Standing behind them was Fiona, a beautiful five-year -old with long shiny brown hair and dark flashing eyes. The whole time her parents were there she didn’t make a sound or use sign language, even when her parents encouraged her.
After a few weeks with Fiona, I discovered I was dealing with a very bright, very strong-willed child. Although I was able to engage her in a variety of learning activities, writing was a continual struggle. I tried all kinds of ways to interest her in writing. Every time the pencils came out, she would shut down and refuse to participate.
One day Fiona got off her bus and stood in front of the school, weeping. The staff members present did not know enough sign language to ask her why she was crying. Finally they took her into the office where they handed her a pen and notepad. Fiona wrote: “PACBAK”. Immediately the office staff realized she left her backpack on the bus. They asked the bus to come back to school and soon Fiona was reunited with her backpack.
That day Fiona discovered the power of the pen. From then on, she had a new appreciation for writing. She is a young woman now and has become an excellent writer, public speaker and student leader. During her senior year in high school, Fiona became the Douglas County Rodeo Queen and the following year she enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado, determined to become a teacher. In the summer of 2008, I traveled to the National Association of the Deaf Conference in New Orleans and watched her perform competitively as Miss Deaf Colorado. Fiona keeps in touch and I especially treasure her e-mails with term papers attached. This young lady has a very powerful pen!
1. What made Fiona’s parents upset?| A．Fiona’s being unable to hear anything at birth. |
| B．Fiona’s being refused by the elementary school. |
| C．Fiona failure to use the sign language properly. |
| D．Fiona’s possible unpromising future in Jane’s mind. |
| A．Fiona’s lack of determination in learning. |
| B．Fiona’s extreme unwillingness to write. |
| C．Fiona’s bad relationship with the teacher. |
| D．Fiona’s incompetence in handling pencils. |
| A．She treasured the e-mails from her teacher very much. |
| B．She travelled to New Orleans to give thanks to her teacher. |
| C．She succeeded as a result of her affection for writing. |
| D．She decided to be a writer at the University of Northern Colorado. |
| A．Power of the Pen | B．Ambition of a Deaf Girl |
| C．Appreciation of the Pen | D．Spelling of a Backpack |
【推荐2】A six-year-old girl has become an enthusiastic business helper in a “silent” foot spa where the owner and all of the employees are hearing-impaired (听力受损的), serving as a sign language translator for customers. Hu Yunjia, nicknamed Niu Niu, is the daughter of the foot spa owner Hu Yong. The father Hu, 34, lost his hearing and speech due to a severe fever in his childhood, making it difficult for him to get a permanent job. After finishing training in the foot spa and pedicure (修指甲术) abilities, Hu started the business in Chengdu, the capital city of Southwest China’s Sichuan province, in 2019．Peng Feng, the mother, who is also deaf, works together with her husband at the shop. Despite its modest size, the shop attracts a steady stream of customers due to the couple’s solid skills.
Evenings witness a peak in business at the foot spa, and this is when Niu Niu finishes school and plays a role as a sign language translator. “Madam, how is your day and what help do you need?” “Sir, my dad asked you to take this ointment (药膏) back home and apply it,” Niu Niu delivers her father’s messages to the customers in her sweet child voice and with rich body language, frequently amusing the guests. Besides translating, she enjoys introducing and promoting services to customers and answering phone calls.
Niu Niu started learning sign language from her parents at the age of two and began assisting at the shop at the age of four after kindergarten hours and on holidays.
“She is always cheerful, positive, enthusiastic and outgoing,” said the customers and the school teachers. “Dad taught me to be hardworking,” Niu Niu explained. In her view, her parents are like superheroes who look after the family and her although they’re unable to hear and speak. “Though my dad is different from other people, he is the best for me,” she added.
Hu also recruited two hearing-impaired persons in the hope of providing opportunities for people with disabilities like him. Niu Niu graduated from kindergarten and began attending a local primary school last summer. “She made me proud, and I am grateful to have such an ‘angel’ in my life. Now that she is a primary school student, I want her to focus more on her studies and less on my business. No matter what, I will give her my full support,” said the father.
1. What does Niu Niu do in the spa according to the second paragraph?①She washes towels and bed sheets.
②She does some cooking for her family.
③She answers phone calls from customers.
④She passes her father’s messages to the customers.
⑤She introduces and promotes services to customers.
| A．②④⑤ | B．①②④ | C．③④⑤ | D．②③④ |
| A．By learning from one of their relatives. |
| B．By learning from her parents. |
| C．By learning from a teacher in a kindergarten. |
| D．By learning from videos on the Internet. |
| A．Turned to. | B．Cared about. | C．Took on. | D．Referred to |
| A．Deaf couple runs foot spa business in Chengdu |
| B．Deaf couple’s solid skills attract steady stream of customers |
| C．Girl, 6, acts as translator for her deaf parents doing foot spa business |
| D．Girl, 6, treat her parents as superheroes who look after family and her |
【推荐3】There was once a captain who loved money so much that he cheated his sailors at the end of every voyage and took their wages.
On the last day of one voyage, the ship was in a small port. It was winter time, and the sea was very cold, so the captain said to his sailors, “If one of you stays in the water during the whole night, I will give him my ship. But if he comes out before the sun appears, I shall get his wages.”
The sailors had heard about the captain’s cheating, so they didn’t trust him. But then one of them, who thought that he was cleverer than the captain, said that he would do it. He got into the water, and, though it was very cold, he stayed in it. When it was nearly morning, some fishermen lit a fire on the shore about half a mile away.
“You are cheating”, the captain said to the sailor. “The fire’s warming you.”
“But it’s half a mile away!” said the sailor.
“A fire’s fire,” answered the captain. “I have won.”
The sailor came out of the water, and said, “Perhaps you think that you are clever because you have won my wages, but you can’t cook a chicken.”
“I can,” answered the captain.
“If you cook this chicken,” said the sailor, “I shall work for you without wages for seven years, but if you can’t, you will give me your ship.”
The captain agreed, took the chicken and said, “Where’s the fire?”
“There it is,” answered the sailor. “On the shore.”
“But it’s half a mile away,” said the captain angrily.
“A fire’s fire, you said,” answered the sailor. “If it is enough to warm me in the water, it is enough to cook your chicken.”
1. The captain got the sailors’ wages ________.| A．to buy a chicken for himself | B．and said he would return the money soon |
| C．and kept the money for future | D．by cheating him |
| A．wanted to keep his promise | B．didn’t believe the sailor’s success |
| C．didn’t want to lose the bet | D．wanted to show his cleverness |
| A．A Fire’s Fire | B．How a Sailor Got a Ship |
| C．A Brave Sailor | D．How a Captain Cheated His Sailor |
