Audrey Hepburn was born in Belgium in 1929. She liked to spend time with her father. Perhaps he was not a warm father, but he was joyous and joked a lot. He had his horses, spoke 13 languages, and would take her gliding. And then everything changed. When she was six, Audrey’s father walked out.
It was the first major blow in her life. From then on, Audrey’s childhood was unsettled. Her mother decided that it might be a good idea for her to learn English, so she sent her to a boarding school. But it was difficult for Audrey to fit in. She felt like an outsider, but she learned English.
Very soon the war broke out. Audrey’s mother sent for Audrey to join her in Holland. They were taken in by Audrey’s wealthy grandfather. Then there was no heating, no school and no food. Yet, Audrey’s spirit shone through. She showed remarkable resilience during the war.
Audrey made her performance debut by dancing in wartime Holland. She didn’t know how long the war was going to last, so she went to a ballet school and learned to dance. About a year before the end of the war, she became quite an excellent performer. After the war ended, Audrey carried on with her ballet training. In 1951, a famous French writer was looking for a leading lady for her best-loved novel. When she saw Audrey, she famously said, “I’ve found my Gigi!” Audrey was to take America by storm.
Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film turned out to be a splendid success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum roles. One of the reasons for her popularity was the fact that she was self-like, unlike the sex-goddesses of the time. Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic Funny Face.
1. What was Audrey’s first major blow in her life?| A．She was born in Belgium in 1929. | B．Her father walked out when she’s six. |
| C．She was sent to a boarding school. | D．The war broke out and she left for Holland. |
| A．By making comparisons. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By time order. | D．By listing figures. |
| A．Audrey’s early life and learning. | B．Audrey’s father and mother. |
| C．Audrey’s learning English and ballet. | D．Audrey’s family and a French writer. |
| A．Audrey’s father didn’t love her at all. | B．Audrey’s mother was good at speaking English. |
| C．Audrey had a strong ability to adapt. | D．Attending ballet school made Audrey’s career start. |
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【推荐1】I was sitting in my high school classroom, nervously tapping my pencil against the desk as I awaited the start of the English exam.
As the clock struck, signaling the beginning of the exam, my heart began to race. I opened the exam booklet and scanned the questions, and I felt a wave of panic over me. The questions seemed foreign, and the topics unfamiliar. In a state of panic, I hurriedly wrote down my answers, hoping that somehow, by some stroke of luck, they would be correct. But as the minutes went by, I realized I couldn’t seem to make sense of the questions before me. As the final bell rang, I handed in my paper with a heavy heart.
In the days that followed, I couldn’t shake the feeling of failure that hung over me like a dark cloud. I replayed the exam over and over in my mind, analyzing every question, every answer, searching for clues as to where I had gone wrong.
But in the depression, a realization began to dawn on me — I had failed, yes, but I had also learned valuable lessons along the way. Armed with this newfound wisdom, I ensured that I would do better next time. I threw myself into my studies with renewed determination, devouring books and practicing past exams with an eagerness I had never known before.
When the time came to retake the exam, I was ready. I approached each question with confidence and clarity, drawing upon the lessons I had learned from my previous missteps.
When the results were announced, I held my breath as I scanned the list of names. And there it was — my name, shining brightly among the list of successful candidates. At that moment, all the hard work, all the late nights and early mornings, were worth it.
And as I look back on that sunny afternoon in the high school classroom, I am grateful for the lessons it taught me, and the person it helped me become.
1. Why did the author panic when he first took the exam?| A．He sat with a pounding heart. |
| B．He found the questions too difficult. |
| C．He was not familiar with the foreign language. |
| D．He was in a hurry when answering the questions. |
| A．He attended valuable lessons in school. |
| B．He retook the exam over and over again. |
| C．He promised to arm himself with eagerness. |
| D．He determined to engage himself in learning. |
| A．being targeted at | B．being obliged for |
| C．being absorbed in | D．being credited to |
| A．cheerful and considerate | B．objective and demanding |
| C．tough and persevering | D．proud and tolerant |
【推荐2】Derek Rabclo is not the only surfer to conquer Hawaii’s famous Pipeline big wave break, but while all others use their sight to do it, this young professional surfer must rely only on his other senses. That's because he is completely blind.
When Derek was born, over 24 years ago, he got his name from Derek Ho, the first Hawaiian surfing world champion. A surfing enthusiast himself, Ernesto dreamed that his son would share the talent of his uncle, a professional surfer. Unfortunately, Derek was born completely blind, but this didn't stop his family from believing that he could do anything he wanted, even if that meant becoming a surfer.
At age 2, Derek received a bodyboard and the beaches of Guajarati, Brazil, became his backyard. He was always comfortable in the water and surfing was in his blood, but he didn’t actually try riding a wave until he turned 17, when his father bought him a surfboard. His father taught Kira the basics and encouraged him to keep practicing, but after successfully standing up on the surfboard, Derek knew he needed to become much better if he was going to achieve Ernesto's dream and become a professional surfer. So he joined the Praia do Morro surf school, where he studied under coach Fabio Maru.
Standing up on a surfboard and conquering small waves is one thing, while gathering the courage to take on Hawaii's board-breaking Pipeline is another. But that was exactly what Derek Rabclo set out to do just months after learning how to surf. Everyone told him it was too dangerous, but he felt he could do it. And he did, earning the praise of famous professional surfers like Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning. Now 24, Rabelo has been surfing the Pipeline every winter since.
1. What does the first paragraph tell us?| A．Good eyesight is necessary for becoming good suffers. |
| B．Nobody has ever conquered Hawaii’s big wave break. |
| C．Derek Rabelo dreams to conquer Hawaii’s big wave break. |
| D．Derek Rabelo is the only blind professional surfer to conquer Hawaii’s big wave break. |
| A．He never lost confidence in him. | B．He named him after his uncle. |
| C．He sent him to a surfing champion. | D．He started his own interest in surfing. |
| A．Skillful but proud. | B．Brave and confident. |
| C．Courageous but stubborn. | D．Thoughtful and modest. |
【推荐3】The spot of red was what first caught Randy Heiss’s attention on December 16, 2018. He was hiking the remote expanse of land behind his ranch in Patagonia, Arizona, a town near the US-Mexico border, when he spotted a balloon on the grass. Heiss walked towards and that’s when he noticed the balloon’s string was attached to a piece of paper.
Heiss flipped the paper over. It was a numbered list, all in Spanish. “My Spanish isn’t very good, but I could see it was a Christmas list,” he said. Heiss was charmed. He suspected that a little child had tried to send Santa Claus a Christmas wish list by balloon, something he used to do himself when he was a kid. Nobody had ever returned the letters Heiss had sent aloft, but he wondered whether he could find the girl who had sent this one.
It would be difficult, but he had a few clues. About 32 kilometres to the southwest, just across the border, was the city of Nogales, Mexico. Heiss brought the note home to his wife, who is fluent in Spanish and helped him translate the list. They determined that it was probably a girl who had asked for a doll and dollhouse.
Heiss then posted on Facebook about his quest, attaching photos, hoping some of his friends in Nogales might know the girl’s family. A few days passed with no leads; Heiss worried that time was running out before Christmas. On December 19, 2018, he decided to send a private Facebook message to Radio XENY, an AM radio station based in Nogales. The Radio XENY host Cesar Barron talked on the air about the quest to find the girl and posted about it on the station’s Facebook page.
The next morning, Heiss awoke to another message from Radio XENY. They had located the eight-year-old girl, Dayami, and her family. Heiss went shopping with his wife. They bought just about everything on Dayami’s list except for the dollhouse (it was sold out). Then the Heisses arrived at the Radio XENY offices with presents by the armload – and finally met the very excited little girl.
“Her eyes were wide open with wonder,” Heiss said of the girl’s reaction. “We now have friends for life,” Heiss said. “And, for a day, that border fence with its concertina wire melted away.”
1. Which of the following is not correct according to the passage?| A．The balloon was spotted near the US-Mexico border. |
| B．On the balloon was a numbered list in French. |
| C．When Heiss was a kid he did the same thing as the little girl did. |
| D．He had a few clues on how to find the girl. |
| A．His wife can’t wait to go shopping. |
| B．A private Facebook message to Radio XENY was difficult to send. |
| C．Considerable time and effort were needed to melt away the border fence. |
| D．He was afraid to fail to present the girl with what she wanted in time. |
| A．Funny and honest | B．Brave and Persistent |
| C．Determined and caring | D．Outgoing and experienced |
| A．Heiss’ Christmas Experience |
| B．Dayami’s Christmas Adventure |
| C．Border Fence Melting Away |
| D．A Christmas Wish List Attached To A Balloon |
【推荐1】Do you think cookies can tell stories? Jasmine Cho, 35, does.
A baker, artist, entrepreneur and activist, Cho tries to spread knowledge about social justice issues and diversity through the delicious medium of cookies.
It was in high school that she discovered her love of baking. At a sleepover a friend taught her how to make a dessert, “sort of demystifying baking and that whole process”.
Later, Cho realized her second passion: learning more about her Asian, American culture. An elective in college that taught Asian-American immigrant experiences brought an emotional moment for her. “So many emotions came up that I just couldn’t articulate. It was like this mix of anger, of relief, empowerment, sadness...” Cho said.
Cho realized she could combine these two passions to educate others about influential Asian American people and showcase matters that were important to her. With her online bakery, she designed cookie portraits about people she admired and posted the images on Instagram. “I don’t think I ever really knew how to communicate these stories until I found cookies,” Cho said. “Cookies are just so disarming. Who doesn’t like cookies?”
One cookie that Cho has identified with deeply is one she made of George Helm, a Hawaiian activist in the 1970s.
“It’s insane the amount of injustice that the native Hawaiian population has faced as well through the whole annexation (吞并) of the kingdom. There were so many horrific stories that I heard about nuclear testing and the fallout( 核爆炸后的沉降物)impacting native Hawaiian populations in all of this,” Cho said, “George Helm was one of those activists who really represented the spirituality of the native Hawaiians and the connection to their land, to nature.”
Among her amazing cookie art are other political figures such as Larry Itliong, a Filipino-American labor organizer, and pop culture figures such as Keanu Reeves, a Canadian actor.
Cho hopes her cookie art continues to inspire people to be creative and think positively.
“Instead of trying to think of something new and original, just look inward and see, maybe there’s already a passion or a love that you have,” Cho said. “Use that for something that will serve the world in a better way.”
1. What inspired Cho to take an interest in Asian-American culture?| A．One of her sleepover experiences. |
| B．One elective she took at college. |
| C．The process of learning baking from her friend. |
| D．A book she read about Asian-American immigrant experiences. |
| A．get rid of | B．put up with |
| C．express in words | D．stay focused |
| A．Cookies don’t cost much. | B．Cookies are easier to make. |
| C．Cookies have different images. | D．Cookies are liked by many people. |
| A．To inform the reader of Helm’s contributions to Hawaii. |
| B．To show what knowledge Cho focuses on with her cookies. |
| C．To introduce the spirituality of native Hawaiians. |
| D．To explain why Cho is interested in political activists. |
| A．Making use of your passion. |
| B．Turning to political figures for help. |
| C．Trying to do something creative and special. |
| D．Asking people around to work along with you. |
| A．Think outside the box to break new ground. |
| B．Spread something original to one’s heart content. |
| C．Hold your horses for a better self. |
| D．Throw yourself into your inner world for a better one. |
【推荐2】Frequent goodbyes to her family come hand-in-hand with Wang Yaping's tough training. This time, however, her goodbye sparked joy in her 5-year-old daughter's eyes as she was “shooting for the stars” even if this was her longest separation from her mother. Wang took part in the Shenzhou-13 crewed task on Oct. 16. She became the first woman to enter China's space station.
Born in 1980 to a farmer family in Shandong Province, Wang loved jogging and was a high-scoring forward on the basketball court in school. In 1997, Wang was encouraged to register for the pilot recruitment program by her classmates because she was good at sports. In fact, she had been considering applying to teaching college.
Given her strong build and ability to stay calm under pressure, Wang passed all tests. After four years of systemic education and tough training, Wang eventually learned to fly four different types of aircraft before graduation.
Wang Yaping's dream of becoming an astronaut was inspired by Yang Liwei's 2003 space flight. She desired to become a female going into space. In May 2010, Wang was elected as one of China's female astronauts, The joy of being selected did not last long as the even tougher training quickly sank in.
She had to stand eight times the force of gravity in a spinning centrifuge. Blood can't flow to the brain properly, causing a temporary lack of oxygen and even blindness. Wang ever volunteered to be held to the same standards as her male trainees.
Her efforts were not in vain. Wang became a crew member of the Shenzhou-10 space task in 2013. She earned the title of China's first space teacher after giving a space lecture to students from n orbit above the Earth's surface.
A team of Chinese university students specializing in aerospace, art, architecture and music translated universe rays into music. They said the project was inspired by Wang's live space lecture, when they were teenagers.
1. Why was Wang's daughter happy this time?| A．Wang promised to play games with her. |
| B．Wang would come back sooner than usual. |
| C．Wang's training would be less hard than before. |
| D．Wang would fly into space for an honourable task. |
| A．A teacher. | B．An astronaut. | C．An athlete. | D．A soldier. |
| A．Sociable and intelligent. | B．Determined and ambitious. |
| C．Generous and strong-willed. | D．Confident and warm-hearted |
| A．Space knowledge has been popularized in universities. |
| B．Most teenagers will choose astronauts as future occupation. |
| C．The flame for space interest has been lit in young generation. |
| D．The young project team will be successors of next space flight. |
【推荐3】In 1931, Francis Chichester tried to fly round the world but failed. Then he gave up flying and began sailing. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo（单人的）transatlantic sailing race.
After that, his old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan, In August, 1966, at the age of nearly sixty-five, he began the greatest voyage of his life. Soon, he was away in his new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.
After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to discourage him. The second half of his voyage was by far the most dangerous part. On 30 January, he experienced the blackest night he had ever known. The sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over. Food, clothes, and broken glass were all mixed together. Fortunately, the damage to the boat was not too serious, Chichester calmly got bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, the sea had become calm again.
Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived back in England, where more than 250,000 people were waiting to welcome him. He was knighted（授爵）by Queen Elizabeth II. The whole voyage had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to achieve.
Like many other adventurers, Chichester had experienced fear and conquered it. In doing so, he had undoubtedly learnt something about himself. Moreover, in the modern age when human beings depend so much on machines, he had given men throughout the world new pride.
1. What do we know about Chichester?| A．He sailed round the world to fight against cancer. |
| B．He was not defeated by the violent night of 30 January. |
| C．He sailed across the Atlantic alone in 1958. |
| D．He had been sailing nonstop for 365 days in the Pacific Ocean. |
| A．The contributions machines made to the modern age. |
| B．The lesson Chichester learned from the journey. |
| C．The fears Chichester experienced in the adventure. |
| D．The great meaning of Chichester's adventure. |
| A．supported | B．overlooked |
| C．overcame | D．seized |
| A．Energetic and gentle. | B．Independent and generous. |
| C．Enthusiastic and kind | D．Adventurous and determined. |
