It’s no secret that college is expensive. I received financial aid, and I was able to cover the cost of enrollment, books, supplies, course materials, and additional school-related fees. But I could not afford housing, transportation, food, healthcare, or other basic necessities. The longer each semester went on, the harder the choices became.
When spring semester ended that first year at college, I had good grades, but I did not have two quarters to my name. I decided that if I could afford to be a full-time student, I would need to work a full-time job. Soon, I started working at the airport as a cleaner of aircraft cabins. My first shift at the airport was a graveyard shift, where I detailed aircraft of varying sizes. During this total night shift, I have to do “deep cleaning”, which meant cleaning everything and even I had to check every safety compartment and replace any missing items. This could be disgusting work.
Another fact upset me a lot that working at the airport and going to school did not fit easily together. Some days 1 was too exhausted after a night shift to get to class. Other days I didn’t have time to complete school assignments owing to a busy workday. At the end of the fall semester, I received a final warning for my attendance at my job. Once again, I was between a rock and a hard place and had to make a decision. I wanted to go to school and excel, but I also had grown accustomed to financially supporting myself.
Ultimately, I chose to temporarily stop going to school and to continue working, a decision. I would later regret. The airline closed for various reasons. I felt stupid. I had put a lot into this job, even sacrificing my education, and now I would have neither job nor education. I’d finally learned what my grandmother meant when she once said that your job is temporary, and your education is forever.
1. What can we infer about the author from paragraph 1?| A．He met with a long boring semester. | B．Food accounted for his biggest expense. |
| C．He left himself financially embarrassed. | D．His financial aid could cover his necessities. |
| A．Cleaned. | B．Listed. | C．Repaired. | D．Replaced. |
| A．Confused. | B．Critical. | C．Decisive. | D．Diligent. |
| A．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing. |
| B．Nothing is difficult to the man who will try. |
| C．One should be financially supported by himself. |
| D．The significance of schooling should be recognized. |
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【推荐1】One part of the oath (誓言) taken by physicians requires us to “remember that there is art to medicine, and that warmth, sympathy and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.” When I, along with my medical school class, recited that oath at my white coat ceremony a year ago, I admit that I was more focused on the biomedical aspects than the “art”.
Actually, medical professionals can get too easily caught up in treating to remember there is still space for healing. As doctors learn to communicate with patients beyond the restricted language of physical indicators, drug protocols and surgical interventions that may go against healing, they are reaching for new tools — poetry.
One clinical trial studied the effect of music or poetry on the pain, depression, and hope scores of 65 adult patients under cancer treatment. They found that both types of art therapy (疗法) produced similar improvements in pain and depression scores. Only poetry, however, increased hope scores. Researchers assumed that poetry can break the so-called law of silence, according to which talking about one’s perception of illness is taboo. After listening to poetry, one participant said, “I feel calmer when I hear those words. They show me that I’m not alone.”
Insights like these are already making their way into the clinic. Sarah Friebert runs a care center where children are visited by a writer who helps them create poems and stories for publication. Eric Elshtain uses poetry on the wards to teach children the power of self-expression. He’s found that many of his patients write haikus about things like sports or their favorite stuffed animal, rather than their experience in a hospital bed. Poetry, as he said, is a way to both accept the hospital encounter and escape from it.
While a poem a day won’t cure, it might help relieve. I’ve decided that I’ll learn how to meet my patients beyond the chart documents; that I’ll encourage them to write their own stories; that I will heal as well as treat. In other words, I’ll honor each and every word in the oath I took last year.
1. According to the text, the author is probably________.| A．a young poet | B．a clinical expert |
| C．a medical student | D．an experienced physician |
| A．Music works better in reducing depression. |
| B．Poetry makes people open about their illness. |
| C．Patients are likely to lose hope without poems. |
| D．Art therapy is the key to cancer treatment. |
| A．He will change his career path. | B．He will well remember the oath. |
| C．He begins to take his work seriously. | D．He has better understood his job. |
| A．A news report. | B．A research paper. |
| C．A public speech. | D．An application letter. |
【推荐2】We’ve heard about several “poor students” in the past year. Cui Qingtao, a student from Yunnan, working with his parents on a building site when he got an admission letter (录取通知书) from Peking University.
Whatever kind of values you hold, such personalities are necessary for growth.
For them, few can choose their lifestyles.
| A．Life is full of ups and downs. |
| B．A girl named Wang Xinyi is another example. |
| C．“Poor students” are usually hard-working and caring. |
| D．And these experiences make me grow and become better. |
| E．Born in poor families, these students have a lot in common. |
| F．However, all of them can choose their attitudes towards life . |
| G．We can learn a lot from these “poor students”. |
【推荐3】Upon reflection of the ideal social moral code, within one sentence, it would be: be constructive, not destructive. Though “be constructive, not destructive” sounds sensible, there are many nuances (slight differences). Sometimes it is difficult to determine if an act is exactly constructive or destructive.
We can decide if something is constructive or destructive based on degree, for instance. Say your preschool son is acting up and broke a glass vase, even after you told him to stop grabbing and playing with it several times. You get a thought in your mind to spank him to give a punishment for his naughty action. However, you start to feel confused about whether this would be constructive or destructive. It might show him that not listening to you and breaking things is not welcome, but on the other hand, spanking him is an act of aggression that will hurt him physically and perhaps teach him to use force in situations later in life. There is no exact wrong or right in these moments. However, through your own reasoning, you can decide to what degree it would be beneficial or harmful to him and the situation at hand. Personally, I would not spank my son, as I think it does more destruction than construction. But, that is just me.
Another nuance to consider is the definition we give to construction and destruction. For example, for some people, construction can never involve violence, while for others, it could even be an essential part. Take the example of going back in time and killing Hitler. Killing someone is definitely termed a destructive act. However, in light of the circumstances, I would assume that the majority of people would agree that killing Hitler at the height of his power if they had the chance would be seen as a constructive, thus positive act. Therefore, our definitions often determine our values and how we behave upon those principles.
Additionally, construction and destruction can be filtered through a sociopolitical lens. Construction can be seen as good to some, and bad to others. Take for instance creating new homes in a forested area. Yes, homes for humans are made, but also the habitat for countless animals is being destroyed, or at least altered to an extreme. Construction, if it is true, it should be beneficial to all parties included. That is a tall order, though. Every step we take kills bacteria and other microorganisms—and perhaps plants, insects, and who knows what else. Destruction can be seen as a part of each moment. Plus, what a majority might regard as a constructive might be seen as destructive to a minority. Is there a way to determine which side is correct? It is almost impossible. Being in the majority in terms of a moral outlook does not mean it is correct, or more appropriate. There have been many instances in history when acts were regarded as constructive, but were later seen as destructive with a modern lens.
Though I consider “Be constructive, not destructive” the most solid one-sentence social moral code, it is not without its nuances and problems. For instance, the degree to which we consider something constructive or destructive, definitions of being constructive and destructive, and construction and destruction seen through a sociopolitical lens are all nuances. These differences consist of the confusion that this ideal social moral code causes. However, I cannot imagine a better code than the one stated in this essay in terms of living one’s life in a social context.
1. From the author’s view whether to punish a kid’s wrong doing or not depends on what extent .| A．A. it would bring him benefits or harms |
| B．he would modify his destructive behavior |
| C．his act is constructive or destructive |
| D．his destructive result might bring about |
| A．A. killing someone is definitely termed a destructive act |
| B．the majority of people would agree to kill Hitler |
| C．killing Hitler is seen as a constructive and positive act |
| D．definitions of social code decide our values and principles |
| A．Construction and destruction can advance social developments. |
| B．Construction can be seen as good to some, and bad to others. |
| C．What a majority might regard as a constructive might be seen as destructive. |
| D．Being in the majority in terms of a moral outlook does not mean it is correct. |
| A．A. Wrong or Right of Social Moral Code |
| B．Judgment of Construction or Destruction |
| C．Ideal Social Moral Code |
| D．How to Live One’s Life in a Social Context |
【推荐1】I met Luis, an exchange student from Mexico, and soon we became friends. Language was no barrier as he could speak English. If his three sisters, who spoke little English, hadn’t visited us, we might have been the best friends.
At that time, I got along well with him and determined to pay a visit to his home and make a good impression on his family. The only problem was that I was too busy with my classes to take a Spanish class. Instead, I decided to take the Spanish-English cognate (同根词) shortcut. I thought to myself, “They are interrelated, and Spanish is not so difficult.” I discovered I could add a vowel(元音)to the end of many English words. Instantly, it became Spanish. Thus “active” was “activo”; “habit” was “habito”; “abrupt” was “abrupto”.
On a Saturday night, I was invited to dinner at Luis’s apartment when his sisters arrived. I thought the dinner went well since the three girls kept giving me friendly smiles. However, we kept silent, and no one seemed to break the ice. Then Luis excused himself from the table.
With three pairs of eyes focused on me, I was forced to speak. Since I didn’t know much about Spanish, I had to be careful to say anything. I chose to play it safe by simply praising the fine meal they’d made. “Me gusta el dinero,” I said, smiling at each girl in return. They unhappily stared at me as Luis re-entered the room. Confusedly, he asked, “What did you do?” I just praised your sisters for this delicious dinner,” I replied weakly, suddenly questioning my limited Spanish vocabulary. Finally, the three girls told me that “gusta el dinero” means “like money”.
That night really left me in an awkward state. I couldn’t say that ended my friendship with Luis, but things were never quite the same between us after the fateful night. I learned a valuable lesson—it was always the shortcuts that got me into trouble.
1. What does the author think of Spanish and English?| A．They are equally difficult. | B．Their spellings are the same. |
| C．There is a link between them. | D．They have nothing in common. |
| A．Have fun. | B．Avoid running a risk. |
| C．Play a trick. | D．Turn to somebody for help. |
| A．Embarrassing. | B．Dangerous. | C．Harmonious. | D．Pleasant. |
| A．A Decision On Fate | B．A Common Mistake |
| C．A Chance Encounter | D．A Shortcut To Disaster |
【推荐2】It was late, about 10:15 p.m. Janice Esposito got off the train at Bellport, New York, went to her car and started driving home. She was so familiar with the route that she almost drove automatically: turned left to the Station Road, then another left onto Montauk Highway, and then — bam! When Esposito’s car had just crossed the railroad tracks, it hit another vehicle and was plashed back onto the tracks. Injured but mostly shocked by the crash and by the airbags that popped up, she was stuck in the vehicle.
As it happened, Pete Dipinto was just about to go to sleep when he heard a sharp noise and saw the accident not far outside his bedroom window. As a volunteer firefighter and retired teacher, Dipinto who was 65, fetched a flashlight and rushed out without hesitation. “Any firefighter would have done what I did. We're always on duty.” he said.
At first, he spoiled the other car in the accident. After making sure that the driver was all right, Dipinto looked around and discovered Esposito’s car straddling (跨立于) the railway tracks. And then he heard die bell ring, which signaled a train’s arrival.
Dipinto rushed to Esposito’s car and broke the window on the driver’s side. Esposito looked up at him, with her eyes glazing over, “I don't know where I am.” she said.
“You’re on the railroad tracks,” Dipinto yelled. “I have to get you off right now!” The train was running toward them at a speed of some 105, kilometers per hour. The driver’s door cannot be opened due to the collision, so Dipinto quickly ran to the other side and managed to open the door. He put the airbags aside, seized her arms, pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until finally got her out and walked her to safety as swiftly as possible. Several seconds later, the train crashed into the vehicle. It was like a Hollywood movie, Dipinto told reporters the next day.
“Last night?” said Gregory Miglino Jr. Chief of the Department in South Country Ambulance, the hero arrived in pajamas (睡衣), not in a fire truck.”
1. What can we know about the accident from Paragraph 1?| A．Esposito’s car hit another vehicle. |
| B．Esposito drove too fast. |
| C．Esposito didn’t know the route well. |
| D．A running train crashed into Esposito’s car. |
| A．She felt all right. |
| B．She was badly hurt. |
| C．She got stuck in the car. |
| D．She completely lost her consciousness. |
| A．Moving object crashes into something. |
| B．To be moving slowly in the same direction. |
| C．A strong disagreement between two groups. |
| D．An idea occurs when two different cultures conflict. |
| A．Through the window on the driver’s side. |
| B．Through the door on the driver’s side. |
| C．Through the window on the passenger’s side. |
| D．Through the door on the passenger’s side. |
| A．Dipinto was not a professional firefighter. |
| B．Dipinto rushed to save life without thinking about himself. |
| C．Dipinto was a special firefighter who liked wearing pajamas. |
| D．Dipinto was unable to find a fire truck when the accident happened. |
【推荐3】Attention to detail is something everyone can and should do — especially in tight job market.
Bob Crossley, a human-resources expert notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day. “It’s amazing how many candidates eliminate (淘汰) themselves,” he says. “Resumes (简历) arrive with faults. Some candidates don’t bother to spell the company’s name correctly. Once I see a mistake, I refuse the candidates,” Crossley concludes,” If they cannot take care of these details, why should we trust them with a job?”
Can we pay too much attention to details? Absolutely not.
Perfectionists(完美主义者) struggle over little things instead of something larger they work toward. “To keep from losing the forest for the trees,” says Charles Garfield, the professor at the University of California, San Francisco, “We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we’re working will influence the larger picture. If they don’t, we should drop them and move to something else.”
Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA. “The Apollo II moon launch was slightly off-course 90 percent of the time,” says Garfield. “But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact position of our goal. This allowed us to make adjustments as necessary.” Knowing where to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake.
Again and again, we see that by doing little things within our grasp well, large rewards follow.
1. According to the passage, some job applicants were refused because they are ________.| A．too limitedly educated to write a perfect resume |
| B．so careless that they make some spelling mistakes in their resume |
| C．so careless that they forget the company’s name |
| D．too foolish to spell the company’s name correctly |
| A．change their goals as the situations change |
| B．lose their jobs by paying too much attention to details |
| C．pay attention to details as much as to their major goals |
| D．pay attention to details more than their major goals |
| A．giving ideas of experts |
| B．offering examples of resumes |
| C．providing an example of his work. |
| D．showing the results of experiments |
I: Introduction P:Point Sp: Sub-point （次要点）C: Conclusion
A． | B． | C． | D． |
【推荐1】New York girl Anastasia Pagonis was 14 when she lost her sight within 2 months. After fighting anxiety and depression from losing her eyesight, Anastasia Pagonis found joy in competitive swimming again with a little help from man’s best friend.
“Being a teenage girl is hard, so having that on top of it was just such a struggle for me,” Pagonis said. “It took me about eight months to return to the normal state, and then I got it in my head, ‘Okay, I’m blind. Now what am I going to do with my life?’”
Swimming was the answer. Pagonis had taken lip swimming just 6 months before losing her eyesight but knew it was her “happy place”.
The mid-distance freestyler, now 16, has got impressive wins, including two gold medals at the World Para Swimming World Series in Australia earlier this year.
Then she got a call about partnering her with a guide dog. The Guide Dog Foundation paired her up with a Labrador named “Radar”. Pagonis and Radar trained together for several hours for about 10 days. Then, on Aug. 19, they officially teamed up.
“Having Radar has just given me so much independence and Fm really in love with him. He’s the best thing ever,” she said. “We’re a match made in heaven. ”
Pagonis and Radar recently travelled to Colorado where the teen is training with other top athletes for the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo.
“This week I am officially moving with Radar to become a resident athlete at the Olympic Paralympic Training Center in Colorado,” she wrote on Instagram. “This was a huge decision for me. But sometimes you need to take a leap of faith because if you don’t try, you don’t know. Always follow your dreams. ”
1. How did Pagonis feel at first after losing her sight?| A．Worried. | B．Confident. | C．Shy. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Her eyes were cured after 8 months. |
| B．She accepted herself as soon as she lost her sight. |
| C．She didn’t return to the normal state until she got a guide dog. |
| D．She decided to continue swimming in spite of her blindness. |
| A．He is a dog donated to the Guide Dog Foundation. | B．He has helped many athletes win gold medals. |
| C．He is a perfect partner for Pagonis. | D．He has made Pagonis famous in the world. |
| A．Guide dogs help blind teens swim at the Paralympics |
| B．Blind teen swimmer trains for Paralympics with a guide dog |
| C．Blind teen swimmer struggles against her hard life |
| D．Blind teens take part in the 2021 Paralympics in Tokyo |
【推荐2】Just about 50 years ago, needing money to support my family—my novels weren’t bestsellers—I had the idea of taking the longest train trip imaginable and writing a travel book about it. The trip was improvisational (即兴的). I didn’t have a credit card. I had no idea where I’d be staying nor how long this trip would take. And I’d never written a travel book before. I hoped my trip wouldn’t suffer a lot, though it was obviously a leap in the dark.
I set off with one small bag containing clothes, a map of Asia, a travel guidebook and some travelers’ cheques. I was often inconvenienced, sometimes threatened, now and then disturbed for bribes, occasionally laid up with food poisoning—all this vivid detail for my narrative.
What I repeated in the more than four-month trip was the pleasure of the sleeping car. Writing on board the Khyber Mail to Lahore in Pakistan, “The romance associated with the sleeping car comes from the fact that it is extremely private, combining the best features of a cupboard with forward movement. Whatever drama is being shown in this moving bedroom is heightened by the landscape passing the window...” A train is a carrier that allows residence.
I wrote The Great Railway Bazaar on my return in 1974, and it appeared to good reviews and quick sales. That’s the past. Nothing is the same. All travel is time-related. All such trips are singular and unrepeatable. It’s not just that the steam trains of Asia are gone, but much of the peace and order is gone. Who’d risk an Iranian train now or take a bus through Afghanistan?
But I’ve been surprised by some of the more recent developments in travel. I rode on Chinese trains for a year and wrote Riding the Iron Rooster, but now China has much cleaner and swifter trains and modernized destinations. A traveler today could take the same trip I took in 1986—1987 and produce a completely different book.
All travel books are dated. That’s their fault that they’re outdated, and it’s their virtue that they preserve something of the past that would otherwise be lost.
1. What happened at the beginning of the author’s trip to Asia?| A．He made full preparations for the trip. |
| B．He had expected the journey to be rough. |
| C．He organized the trip with his family’s support. |
| D．He started the trip out of his passion for traveling. |
| A．For its romantic scenery. | B．For its reassuring privacy. |
| C．For its full equipment. | D．For its long distance. |
| A．The landscape in Asia was gone. | B．Train trip was no longer popular. |
| C．He couldn’t write another bestseller. | D．Transportation and travel had changed a lot. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Sharp tools make good work. |
| C．Travel, truth is not the arrival card. | D．The journey, not the arrival matters. |
【推荐3】Every time I reach for a book at Rydal Mount, I feel I should ask William Wordsworth’s permission. It’s 9 pm on a Friday night in March, and I’m about to spend a night in the former home of the poet—the first journalist to do so. I’ve said goodnight to the young curator(馆长) Leo Finighan. And now it’s just me and one of the most influential writers, alone together in his library.
On and off from 1813 to 1850, he was here, receiving visitors and editing his work. I can’t help feeling his spirit is still around.
“This is still, in part, a family house and we’re probably not as precious about it as we should be,” Chris Andrew had told me. He is Wordsworth’s great-great-great-great-grandson and the main promoter of a plan to open Rydal Mount to overnight guests for the first time. “But we prefer it this way,” he added. “It preserves the closeness to the poet. We can offer a more personal connection as a result.”
As I take a copy of his complete works back to my chair, they all seem to be gathering round. Here comes the poet. He’s back from the garden, where he would pace the path, composing lines. Upstairs Dorothy, his sister, is unwell. It’s an extraordinary feeling, as though at any moment I’m going to hear someone’s voice. By 9:30 pm, I’m in bed. I have a sound sleep in the best bedroom in the house. It’s the one that Wordsworth and his wife Mary used.
Before I have to go the next morning, there’s still time for a poem and I choose The Tables Turned from Lyrical Ballads. It begins with “Up! up! my friend, and quit your books” and I can’t help smiling at the volumes in front of me. It feels like he’s talking directly to me. Not surprising, really, given the fact I’m sitting in his bedroom.
1. Why does the author head for Rydal Mount?| A．To visit his friend Leo Finighan. |
| B．To report an annual event as a journalist. |
| C．To show admiration for Wordsworth. |
| D．To attend a conference for influential writers. |
| A．Objective. | B．Favourable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．He paces the path in Wordsworth’s garden. |
| B．He sleeps in Wordsworth and Mary’s bedroom. |
| C．He chats with Wordsworth’s sister upstairs. |
| D．He copies Wordsworth’s poems. |
| A．Sounds. | B．His works. | C．Guests. | D．His family. |
| A．He feels as if Wordsworth were on the scene. |
| B．He feels surprised at Wordsworth’s humour. |
| C．He feels as if Wordsworth were enthusiastic about talking. |
| D．He feels Wordsworth might have been too particular about words. |
