A 29-year-old woman Chelsea Haley of Marietta, Georgia, who adopted (收养) a former student and his brother, is now celebrating being completely debt-free. She has paid off a total of $ 48,683.41 — the amount she owed in credit cards and student loans with interest. “It doesn’t feel real yet,” Haley, mom of Jerome, 17, and Jace, 6, told the press.
Haley was teaching in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2015, on a two-year commitment to Teach for America, which is an organization that finds recent college graduates to work in low-income schools. Her son, Jerome, was in her 4th-grade class at the time.
When Haley saw Jerome having difficulty in progressing academically, she started spending time with him — going to his football games, buying him school supplies and more. Soon, Haley adopted Jerome together with his brother. “Being their mom is the greatest blessing of my life,” Haley said.
Haley went to all the expense of adopting the two boys. She also borrowed money to afford taking care of them, which increased the difficulty for her to pay their student loans. Determined to rid herself of debt, Haley took on part-time jobs. On top of being a teacher, she was teaching an individual student or a small group in her spare time a couple of days a week. On Fridays, she was paid extra to stay late at the school and work as the building manager. Haley also delivered (送) groceries. She sold her home and moved back to live with her parents on Nov. 6. Her goal is to save money for a new house and prepare Jerome for college. Both boys are doing well in school.
“It allows me to focus on the boys’ future,’’ Haley said. “Earning and saving money for them, and not spending money saved in the past.”
Her advice for making a determined effort to free us of debt is never to ignore your spending and stick to a plan.
1. How did Chelsea Haley feel when she had just paid off the debt?| A．Unforgettable. | B．Unbelievable. |
| C．Unpredictable. | D．Unacceptable. |
| A．As soon as Jerome first became her student at school. |
| B．Immediately she came to the school Jerome studied in. |
| C．When she found Jerome had difficulty studying further. |
| D．After she had decided to adopt Jerome and his brother. |
| A．Why Haley returned to live with her parents. |
| B．Why Haley kept herself busy making a living. |
| C．What part-time jobs Haley did to earn money. |
| D．How Haley managed to pay off her debt finally. |
| A．Making a practical plan. | B．Relying on your savings. |
| C．Getting help from parents. | D．Borrowing friends’ money. |
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【推荐1】I never wanted to go to kindergarten, or leave home at all. I spent my first five years within the loving arms of my family, and when the time came for me to begin school at PS116 in Brooklyn, I was sure that no one would keep me safe. But I was so lucky to meet Mrs. Heyman. Not only did she make me feel safe, she let me know that I was special.
Kindergarten was a fearful experience for me. I was a shy child who hated being separated from my mommy. Mrs. Heyman was a kind and patient teacher who tried to get me to stop crying each morning after I asked for one last kiss.
She would distract me with pens and colorful paper and by playing beautiful music. It seemed the feeling of being an artist distracted me from my separation unhappiness, allowing me to attend class as the tears ran down my face. I also loved to sing and dance, and performed the Virginia reel-a kind of dance—when the principal. Mr. Barton, visited our class.
Mr. Barton was an old, serious man who liked to walk behind children who behaved badly and shout, “Behave!” I was afraid of being shouted at by him, and practiced the dance with my classmates until Mrs. Heyman told us we were perfect.
Unluckily, I was so nervous before Mr. Barton’s visit that I wet myself. Mrs. Heyman calmly took me to the bathroom and told me to change into new clothes, drying my tears all the while, never showing judgement.
As I performed, Mr. Barton cheered. Pleased, I bravely stepped up to the front of the classroom and threw kisses in Mrs. Heyman’s direction.
I was lucky to have her again for the first grade and learned to love school and learning. She was right about living my life without long-lasting attention from my mommy.
1. What was the author’s life like before he went to kindergarten?| A．Busy | B．Happy | C．Lonely | D．Unsafe |
| A．By letting him do art. | B．By giving him a kiss. |
| C．By dancing with him. | D．By inviting his mother to school. |
| A．He got himself in a mess. | B．He received ill-treatment. |
| C．He failed to find his new clothes. | D．He visited the bathroom many times. |
【推荐2】Teachers have the power to build, and to plant hope in young minds. I can prove the life- changing gift of quality (质量) teaching because I received just that in an American history class during my junior year of high school.
Mrs. Bailey, who taught the class, from the beginning assured (向……保证) all of us that we could take the A.P. test, pass it, and get college credit (大学学分). College credit as a high credit seemed impossible, and when I was worried that I didn’t have money to pay for (支付) the test, Mrs. Bailey helped locate (确定……的准确地点) the funding.
She held study lessons during lunch and after school, where we explored the glorious (光辉的) history of this country. The day I found out my result on the test felt like a changing point in my life. I had done well enough to receive college credit. Mrs. Bailey told me: “You can be whatever you want.”
Suddenly, my hazy (朦胧的) future was a little clearer and that class was the reason why I majored in history later.
Mrs. Bailey did more than tell us we could do it. She was not just encouragement and sunshine.
She encouraged us to have opinions and defend (捍卫) them. She was part of a group of teachers known for their sincere (真诚的) attempts to get us to engage with the material and ourselves.
Influenced by Mrs. Bailey, I taught high school for a few years, and now I’m a college professor (教授). The students who enter my classroom come from every walk of life. It is my job and the work of every teacher to form this group of individuals into a community (社区，社会) of exploration. I do not measure my success by the number of students who adopt (采纳) all my opinions. And I think the work of educators is to help this generation open up (开辟) new and better paths, some beyond our imagination (超出某人的想象).
1. What’s the writer’s problem before taking the A. P. test?| A．He couldn’t afford the exam. | B．He was poor in history class. |
| C．His college credits were not enough. | D．His family didn’t want him to enter college. |
| A．His favourite subject was history. | B．His friends encouraged him to choose it. |
| C．He got high marks in the exam. | D．He was influenced by his history teacher. |
| A．Help students broaden (开阔) their minds. | B．Let students adopt their opinions. |
| C．Teach students to make learning plans. | D．Attract more students to school. |
| A．To miss his high school life. | B．To encourage us to study hard. |
| C．To express gratitude to Mrs. Bailey. | D．To introduce his views on educators. |
【推荐3】“Do not get the idea that you’re anything special, because you’re not.” This is what English, teacher David McCullough told graduating seniors at Wellesley High School. Mothers and fathers present at the ceremony — and a whole lot of other parents across the internet — took issue with McCullough’s words. But lost in the anger and protest was something we really should be taking to heart: our young people actually have no idea whether they’re particularly talented or not. In our eagerness to raise their self-esteem, we forgot to teach them how to realistically assess their own abilities. In fact, it’s not just privileged high-school students: we all tend to view ourselves as above average. Therefore, it is of vital significance for us to learn and teach our kids how to evaluate ourselves (themselves) objectively.
Inflated (膨胀的) self-judgments have been found in study after study, and it’s often exactly when we’re least competent (有能力的) at a given task that we rate our performance most generously. In a 2020 study published in the journal Medical Education, for example, medical students who scored the lowest on an essay test were the most sympathetic in their self-evaluations, while high-scoring students judged themselves much more strictly. Poor learners, the authors note, “lack insight” into their own incapability. Why should this be? Another study, led, by Cornell University psychologist David Dunning, offers an explanation. People who are incapable, he writes, suffer from a “dual burden”: they’re not good at what they do, and their incapability prevents them from recognizing how bad they are.
In Dunning’s study, subjects scoring at the bottom on tests of logic, grammar and humor “extremely overestimated” their talents. Although their test scores put them in the 624 th, they guessed they were in the 12th. What these individuals lacked (in addition to clear logic, proper grammar and a sense of humor) was “meta cognitive skill” (元认知技巧): the ability to monitor how well (or badly) they’re performing. In the absence of that ability, the subjects arrived at an overly hopeful view of their own abilities.
Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to cope with this problem. First, we can learn to make honest comparisons with others. Train yourself to recognize excellence, even when you yourself don’t possess it, and compare what you can do against what truly excellent individuals are able to accomplish. Second, seek out feedback that is frequent, accurate and specific. Find a critic who will tell you not only how poorly you’re doing, but just what it is that you’re doing wrong. As Dunning notes, success indicates to us that everything went right, but failure is more ambiguous: any number of things could have gone wrong. Use this feedback to figure out exactly where and when you made a mistake.
If we adopt these strategies — and most importantly, teach them to our children — they won’t need parents, or a graduation ceremony speaker, to tell them whether they’re special or not. If they are, they’ll already know that they are. Or they’ll have a plan to get that way.
1. Which of the following best describes the parents’ attitude towards David McCullough’s words?| A．Critical. | B．Unknown. | C．Neutral. | D．Supportive. |
| A．we don’t know whether our young people are talented or not |
| B．young people can’t reasonably define themselves |
| C．no requirement is set up for young people to get better |
| D．we always tend to consider ourselves to be privileged |
| A．They lack the capacity to monitor how they are performing. |
| B．They usually give themselves high stores in self-evaluations. |
| C．They tend to be unable to know exactly how badly they perform. |
| D．They are intelligently incapable in tests and exams. |
| A．are not confident about their logic and grammar |
| B．tend to have overly hopeful view of their own abilities |
| C．don’t know how well they perform due to their strict self-judgment |
| D．are more strict in their self-evaluations because of their proper meta cognitive skills |
| A．the best way to recognize excellence is to study past success and failure |
| B．through comparison with others, one will know where and when he fails |
| C．we need internal honesty with ourselves and external honesty from others |
| D．neither parents nor a graduation ceremony speaker can tell whether one is special |
| A．Special or Not? Teach Kids To Figure It Out |
| B．Let’s Admit That, We Are Not That Special |
| C．Tips On Making Ourselves More Special |
| D．Tell The Truth: Kids Overestimate their Talents |
“You can go,” said the commander, “but I don’t think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your own life away.” The commander’s words didn’t matter, and the soldier went anyway.
To one’s surprise, he managed to reach his friend, raised him onto his shoulder, and brought him back to their company’s trench. As the two of them fell in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend. “I told you it wouldn’t be worth it,” he said. “Your friend is dead, and your wound is deadly.” “It was worth it, though, sir.” the soldier said. “How do you mean ‘worth it’?” responded the commander. “Your friend is dead!” “Yes sir.” the soldier answered. “But it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive, and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, ‘Jim, I knew you’d come.’”
Many a time in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not really depends on how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so that you may not regret not doing it later in life.
1. What’s the commander’s attitude towards the soldier’s saving his friend?
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Supportive. |
| A．the area where there is no man |
| B．a bare wasteland which can’t be used |
| C．an unoccupied area between opposing armies |
| D．the area on the court between the base line and the service line |
| A．Because the soldier saved his friend in time. |
| B．Because the soldier successfully brought his friend back. |
| C．Because what he did will bring him great honor and make him get promoted in his later life. |
| D．Because his friend was still alive when he reached him and he didn’t make his friend disappointed. |
【推荐2】When Byron Thanarayen and his wife Melissa returned to their home recently, their 13-year-old dog named Chucky was completely wet. The couple assumed the dog had splashed around in his water bowl and made a mess in the house. When no evidence could be found inside, they turned to their security footage (录像).
What they saw made the blood freeze in their veins. Chucky was walking near their backyard swimming pool when he stumbled (绊倒) and fell in. Since the dog is so tiny, he was unable to get a purchase on the slick sides of the pool. Instead, he paddled around, searching in vain for a way out. After a few desperate moments, the couple's other dog appeared on the scene. Jessie is a 7-year-old dog who became noticeably upset when she saw her friend struggling to keep his head above the water. She began circling the pool's edge, following Chucky as if she was encouraging him not to give up.
For 34 minutes, Jessie worked to rescue her friend. She repeatedly tried to grab hold of the smaller dog with her mouth, but Chucky kept slipping out of her grasp. Finally, after several failed attempts, Jessie succeeded in grasping Chucky's neck and dragging him out of the pool.
When Byron and Melissa realized Jessie was a hero, they were unspeakably grateful for their sweet girl! “We still struggle to watch that video today, just thinking of what could have happened if Jessie was not there,” Byron said. “I'm really proud of her, considering she is the youngest.” The family now plans to install a pool cover to keep their pets safe. Thankfully, they have a wonderful life-dog on duty just in case anything ever goes wrong!
1. What was the couple's first thought finding their messy house?| A．Someone had broken in. |
| B．The dogs had been too naughty. |
| C．They had forgotten to clean the house. |
| D．Chucky had swum again in the swimming pool. |
| A．Shocked. | B．Scared. |
| C．Excited. | D．Annoyed. |
| A．She encouraged him to stay above the water. |
| B．She circled the pool's edge to find a way out. |
| C．She used her mouth to pull him out of the pool. |
| D．She ran out immediately to ask others for help. |
| A．Clever and inspiring. | B．Wise and energetic. |
| C．Naughty and lazy. | D．Brave and loving. |
【推荐3】On March 25, 2010, Kate and David Ogg heard the words every parent dreads: Their newborn wasn’t going to make it. Their twins--a girl and a boy--were born 14 weeks premature, weighing just over two pounds each. Doctors had tried to save the boy for 20 minutes but saw no improvement. His heartbeat was nearly gone, and he’d stopped breathing. The baby had just moments to live.
“I saw him gasp, but the doctor said it was no use,” Kate said. “I know it sounds stupid, but if he was still gasping, that was a sign of life. I wasn’t going to give up easily.”
Still, the couple knew this was likely goodbye. In an effort to cherish her last minutes with the tiny boy, Kate asked to hold him.
“I wanted to meet him, and for him to know us,” Kate said. “We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments.”
Kate unwrapped the boy, whom the couple had already named Jamie, from his hospital blanket and ordered David to take his shirt off and join them in bed. The first-time parents wanted their son to be as warm as possible and hoped the skin-to-skin contact would improve his condition. They also talked to him.
“We were trying to have him,” Kate said. “We explained his name and that he had a twin and how hard we had tried to have him.”
Then something miraculous happened. Jamie gasped again—and then he started breathing. Finally, he reached for his father’s finger. The couple’s lost boy had made it.
Eight years later, Jamie and his sister, Emily, are happy and healthy.
1. From what can we tell that Jamie was still alive?| A．His heartbeat. | B．His pulse. | C．His gasp. | D．His underweight. |
| A．The family wanted to stay together and keep warm. |
| B．The family wanted to have their private space. |
| C．The parents were so tired and wanted to rest. |
| D．The parents wanted to spend the last minutes with Jamie. |
| A．Premature Twins | B．Life-giving Touch |
| C．First-time Parents | D．Last Precious Moments |
【推荐1】Bria Neff, at age 11, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was named a winner of the 2018 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Each year, the Barron Prize celebrates 25 outstanding young people from across North America who have made a huge positive difference to people and the environment.
Bria founded “Faces of the Endangered” to protect endangered species through the sale of her artwork. She has sold over 250 paintings of endangered animals and given away more than $33,000 to animal conservation (保护) groups. Bria has also published two educational coloring books; income helps support the zoo’s endangered species. She uses her website to present the challenges facing endangered animals, inspiring followers in 48 countries.
Bria began her work at the age of 8, when she won an art competition hosted by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. She was shocked to learn that there are over 3,000 endangered species and decided to combine her enthusiasm for painting with her love of animals to show species in danger of extinction (灭绝). She carefully researches each animal before painting it. “I hope I can inspire kids like me to believe they can do great things,” says Bria.
The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron and was named after his mother, Gloria Barron. Each year 25 Barron Prize winners show the great diversity of America. They are female and male, and from various backgrounds Many of them have focused on helping their communities and humans many others have focused on protecting the environment. “We need our heroes today more than ever. That is the purpose of the Barron Prize:to shine a spotlight (聚光灯) on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others,” says Barron.
1. Which of the following best describes Bria Neff?| A．Inspiring and responsible. | B．Honest and reliable. |
| C．Brave and hard-working. | D．Smart and patient. |
| A．To show her gift for painting. | B．To help endangered animals. |
| C．To honor extinct species. | D．To make herself a hero. |
| A．It is intended for all Americans. |
| B．It is named after a famous writer. |
| C．It concentrates on the education for young kids. |
| D．It encourages the young to make a difference to the world. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A public speech. |
| C．A news report. | D．A history book. |
【推荐2】Sydney Raley has been working at McDonald’s for about seven months and it’s been her typical after-school job. When she headed into her weekend shift on Saturday, December 18, she likely expected to do more of the same: Stand at the drive-through window, take orders over the headset, and hand each customer their meal with a smile.
In fact, that’s exactly how it started. But a few hours into her shift, things took a dramatic turn. After handing a customer some of their food, Sydney let them know that more would be coming as soon as it was ready. But just seconds later, she noticed a terrible look of panic spread across the woman’s face. Then came the coughing. She was coughing like crazy. Her daughter in the passenger seat looked terrified.
Sydney immediately knew she was choking. For an instant, Sydney remembered the first aid training she had received more than four years earlier. Most 15-year-olds might panic at the sight of this (even most adults might, too). But not Sydney. Instead, the teen remained calm and quickly shouted to both her manager and the woman’s daughter to call 911. Then, she drove through the drive-through window and came to the rescue.
The teen flung the driver’s side door open and got the choking woman to her feet. Then she began to use the Heimlich maneuver(海姆立克急救法). However, she had never actually had to use the life-saving technique before, and after a few tries, it wasn’t quite working. Luckily, another customer was just a few feet away in the parking lot. She shouted for help, hoping that another person’s strength combined with hers, would help force whatever was in the woman’s mouth to finally come out. Next, a man who heard the call for help ran over and started using Heimlich with the woman. Fortunately, it worked and the woman spat out the food stuck in her throat. Needless to say, the woman was very grateful. Just as she began to catch her breath, first responders arrived on the scene, and when officers asked what happened, she told them all about Sydney’s heroic act. “They said, ‘Congratulations, you’re a lifesaver; you’re a hero.’” Sydney recalled.
1. What can we learn about Sydney from the first two paragraphs?| A．She is patient and confident. | B．She is kind and knowledgeable. |
| C．She is hard-working and careful. | D．She is generous and warm-hearted. |
| A．She was in the car. | B．She was on the street. |
| C．She was in the parking lot. | D．She was in a restaurant. |
| A．Pulled violently. | B．Slipped gently. |
| C．Threw suddenly. | D．Rushed hurriedly. |
| A．What happened to the woman. |
| B．How to do the Heimlich maneuver. |
| C．How the chocked woman was rescued. |
| D．Why Sydney failed to use the Heimlich maneuver. |
【推荐3】The 36-year-old Jia Juntingxian was born in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, and was blind in both eyes due to congenital eye disease. She has shown athletic talent since childhood and was selected as a track and field athlete by Jiangxi Disabled Persons’ Federation.
Although she can’t see the world, Jia breaks through the “immediate” obstacles again and again while running, letting the world see her. In her sports career, Jia has won 43 national and world-class sports medals. Among them, in 2016, she broke the world record and stood on the podium (领奖台) of the women’s T11-T13 4×100-meter relay event at the Rio Paralympics.
In 2017, Jia retired and chose to become a teacher at a special education school. Just a year ago, she found out that two young brothers, with visual impairments (视觉障碍), wanted to be an athlete. They had never attended a special education school and never achieved their athletic dream. Jia could only help them attend a local special education school. The experience made her realize that these children living in remote areas may have little knowledge of special education. Even she didn’t know about such schools until late into her education. Therefore, she decided to become more involved with special education.
Changing from a Paralympic competitor to a special education teacher, Jia said that there is no discomfort, “Because I understand the students as well as myself and know the inconveniences and difficulties of the children. I hope that every child is like a different seed.Through hard study, they can bravely realize their own life.”
Jia also has paid close attention to the rights and interests of disabled people. In 2021, Jia proposed the construction of audible (听得见的) traffic signals for blind people. Her advice to local authorities on dog management has resulted in more indoor public places allowing the disabled to enter with their assistance dogs. Jia and her husband founded a massage (按摩) shop and currently employ 16 visually impaired people, with an average monthly salary of 3,500 yuan per person.
Jia always believes that the world is a circle, as long as the love of others is constantly passed on, the whole society will be full of love!
1. What can we learn about Jia from the passage?| A．She won 43 sports medals in her country. |
| B．She was strong-minded despite her disability. |
| C．She was good at sports at the age of 5 years old. |
| D．She never won national and world-class sports medals. |
| A．The high salary of special education. |
| B．Her wish to enrich her life after sports. |
| C．Local government’s need for special education. |
| D．Her experience of helping two disabled brothers. |
| A．Boring and dangerous. | B．Patient and generous. |
| C．Humorous and brave. | D．Devoted and selfless. |
| A．She constructed audible traffic signals. | B．She set up a massage shop on her own. |
| C．She advised increasing indoor public places. | D．She provided employment opportunity for the blind. |
