An early morning winter storm had brought several inches of snow to my small town in the mountains. Schools were canceled, roads were dangerous and all I wanted to do was to stay in bed. Still, I knew I had to get the day started so I put on warm clothes and walked outside. The snow got all over my shoes. The cold wind dried my lips and my eyes. My 47-year-old back ached in anticipation (预想) of the shoveling (铲雪) I would have to do if the snow didn't stop soon.
Yet, when I looked out on the white blanket that covered the ground, I couldn't help but smile a bit. It was so beautiful. It softened the bare trees and hid the dead grass. In the distance I could hear the sound of the snowplow on the road, the barking of a happy dog and the laughter of children playing outside, enjoying their day off from school.
The sweet music of that laughter brought back a hundred memories of winters past. I remembered catching snowflakes (雪花) on my tongue, building snowmen, making snow angels, running down hills and always losing snowball fights with first my brothers and then my own children. Standing there in that warm coat of memories made the wind a little less cold and my back a little less sore. I turned up my head, stuck out my tongue and for the first time in years caught a snowflake on it. It tasted so fresh and clean. It tasted like youth, like joy and like love.
May you always feel young in spirit, no matter how old or achy your body may be. May you always delight in the simple joys of life. May you always share your happiness with the hearts of children. And may you always give your love, your light, your laughter and your warmth to others even on the coldest days.
1. What was the author's first reaction when he knew it snowed heavily?A.He felt worried. | B.He was upset. |
C.He was indifferent. | D.He felt in danger. |
A.felt too cold because the snow didn’t stop |
B.didn't want to start his day on such a snowy day |
C.ached in his back because of the cold weather |
D.would make greater efforts to clear up the snow |
A.Taste and smell. | B.Sight and smell. |
C.Sight, hearing and taste. | D.Smell, hearing and taste. |
A.We should always stay young at heart. |
B.Snow brings both fun and trouble to humans. |
C.Memories can change our opinion in all aspects. |
D.Appreciate every moment spent with your family. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Kids don’t have a voice. They have no way to share their ideas. TEDx Youth is a locally organized event, where live talks and recorded videos are shared with the community (社区). TEDx Youth is always held on Children’s Day every year. It brings together big ideas from, and for kids. More importantly, it encourages kids to share their ideas with the world.
“Age is but a number. You’re not too young to change the world. Planning an event alongside young people makes you realize that kids have ideas that an adult might usually not think of,” said one TEDx Youth speaker. Another speaker said, “What I have come to realize is that no matter where you live or how old you are, everyone is eager to be someone great.”
Organizing a TEDx Youth event shows that kids are able to do much more than what’s expected. They truly take this event and make it even more than what everyone hopes it will be. “The fact that youth, just like me, had planned and run the event shocked me most,” said one volunteer. “I thought the event was surprising. I couldn’t believe that kids of my age made the event happen.”
There are several ways to take part in TEDx Youth. The easiest way is to become a speaker, if you think your idea is worth spreading. Another way is to attend an event. And lastly, you can become a TEDx Youth Reporter. Reporters take pictures from the event and post them on line, and send news about what is happening at the event, interview some of the speakers, and write articles about the event. “It was wonderful to see how youth team members were with the whole event and how thankful they were (and still are!) to be given such an unbelievable chance as being part of a TEDx event.” said an organizer.
TEDx Youth is welcoming kids from every culture who want to have a deeper understanding of the world. Those who get involved with it believe in the power of ideas, which can change attitudes, lives and the world.
1. What is the main purpose of holding a TEDx Youth event?A.To give kids a chance to record videos. |
B.To spread kids’ ideas all over the world. |
C.To raise money for the local community. |
D.To help kids with their schoolwork. |
A.Quite typical. | B.Pretty crazy. |
C.Rather difficult. | D.Surprisingly good. |
A.give a talk | B.do some interviews |
C.plan an event | D.organize some activities |
A.When Is TEDx Youth Held? |
B.Why Can Kids Realize Their Dreams? |
C.How Can Kids Share Big Ideas? |
D.What Changes Can TEDx Youth Bring Us? |
【推荐2】Things successful people do before sleep
Read. Reading is the very last thing that most successful people do before going to sleep.
Reflect on the day.
Disconnect from work.
Plan out sleep.
Picture tomorrow's success. Many successful people take a few minutes before bed to imagine a positive outcome unfolding for the projects they're working on.
A.Truly successful people do anything but work right before bed. |
B.Remember to take some time to reflect on the positive moments. |
C.They look forward to the future. |
D.It's a great way to relax your body and quiet your mind. |
E.Successful people spare time just before bed for reading. |
F.Many successful people take the time just before bed to look back. |
G.Much has been written about the dangers facing those busy people who always lack sleep. |
【推荐3】That cold January night,I was growing sick of my life in San Francisco.There I was,walking home at one in the morning after a tiring practice at the theatre.With the opening night only a week away,I was still learning my lines.I was having trouble dealing with my part-time job at the bank and my acting at night at the same time.As I walked,I thought seriously about giving up both acting and San Francisco.City life had become too much for me.
As I walked down empty streets under tall buildings,I felt very small and cold.I began running,both to keep warm and to keep away from any possible robbers.Very few people were still out except a few sad-looking homeless people under blankets.
About a block from my apartment,I heard a sound behind me.I turned quickly,half expecting to see someone with a knife or a gun.The street was empty.All I saw was a shining streetlight.Still,the noise had made me nervous,so I started to run faster.Not until I reached my apartment building and unlocked the door did I realize what the noise had been.It had been my wallet falling to the sidewalk.
Suddenly I wasn’t cold or tired anymore.I ran out of the door and back to where I’d heard the noise.Although I searched the sidewalk anxiously for fifteen minutes,my wallet was nowhere to be found.
Just as I was about to give up the search,I heard the garbage truck pull up to the sidewalk next to me.When a voice called from the inside,"Alisa Camacho"I thought I was dreaming.How could this man know my name?The door opened,and out jumped a small red-haired man with an amused look in his eye."Is this what you’re looking for" he asked,holding up a small square shape.
It was nearly 3 a.m. by the time I got into bed.I wouldn’t get much sleep that night,but I had gotten my wallet back.I also had gotten back some enjoyment of city life.I realized that the city couldn’t be a bad place as long as people were willing to help each other.
1. From the first paragraph,we learn that the writer was busy______.A.solving her problem at the bank |
B.taking part in various city activities |
C.learning acting in an evening school |
D.preparing for the first night show |
A.Someone offered to take her back home. |
B.A red-haired man came to see her. |
C.She heard someone call her name. |
D.Her wallet was found in a garbage truck. |
A.would stop working at night |
B.would stay on in San Francisco |
C.would make friends with cleaners |
D.would give up her job at the bank |
【推荐1】When the Apollo astronauts landed on the Moon in 1969, millions of people were rather sad. The person to blame for this was an artist named Chesley Bonestell. For many years, Bonestell had been creating beautifully detailed paintings of the Moon and planets. Viewers of his artwork were unhappy because the real Moon did not look like Bonestell’s pictures of it.
As a space artist, Bonestell tried to make his drawings look exciting and as true as the Moon is. He worked closely with astronomers and scientists to get the most up-to-date scientific information available. But in the 1940s and 1950s, no one had ever seen another planet up close. Yet Bonestell’s paintings looked so real that some people thought they were photographs.
Even though Bonestell was interested in astronomy, he did not start out as a space artist. As a young man he studied architecture — the art and science of designing and making buildings. In 1938 Bonestell became a special effects artist in Hollywood. It was here that he learned he could improve his paintings by following the methods used in the movies.
In 1944, a popular magazine published a series of Bonestell’s paintings of the planet Saturn. He drew Saturn as if it were seen by someone standing on each of the planet’s moons. The results were dazzling. Within a few years, Bonestell’s artwork was appearing regularly in magazines and books on astronomy and space flight.
Many of Bonestell’s artworks had been right all along. But the biggest surprise was the Moon. Someone asked Bonestell what he was thinking when he saw the first pictures from the Moon. “I thought how wrong I was!” he said. “My mountains were sharp, and they aren’t on the Moon.”
But he shouldn’t have felt bad. No space artist had ever before taken so many people to so many faraway worlds. In the years just before the first manned space flights, Bonestell’s artworks prepared people for the amazing space adventure to come.
1. Bonestell made his space drawings ________.A.from a very early age | B.by copying photographs |
C.with the help of scientists | D.in order to make a living |
A.doubtful | B.worrying |
C.terrible | D.wonderful |
A.he created a new drawing skill | B.he helped finish the first space flight |
C.he made space travel more popular | D.he helped bring space closer to people |
【推荐2】In 2015, Chennai was destroyed by one of the worst floods in over a century, leaving thousands without food, water and supplies. During the flood, many heroes arose, one of whom was Santosh, a young man who owned a take-out restaurant in Chennai.
When the first flood hit in November, he got a call from a company called Naga Rava. The company asked him to prepare 5,000 packets of food and give them to the flood victims. He, with his partners, took the order, cooked for 14 hours and delivered them. But that night, as they sat together discussing the event of the day, they actually felt ashamed. “Here was a man not even from Chennai and he was going out of his way to help the affected people. We, while living here, had not really done anything ourselves for our own people,” said Santosh later.
He then began the groundwork for a collection to help cook more dishes. Little did he know that the November flood was just the beginning, and the real show was about to begin. The December flood affected them all. His own house got flooded and his family was trapped on the second floor. They lost phone connection and electricity. In spite of this, Santosh went back out into the flood, creating a kitchen and preparing food all by himself for the victims.
He did not sleep for four days, taking a one-hour break everyday as he kept on cooking. As word got out about this man’s effort, others stepped out to join him. From children to the elderly, strangers came to help him in cooking, packing and transporting food. Up to 300 volunteers worked together to make it all happen. By the time the fourth day finally came to an end, Santosh and his team had prepared 170,000 food boxes and delivered them to people in need.
1. What inspired Santosh to help the affected people?A.A call for help. | B.His cooking skills. |
C.An act of kindness of a stranger. | D.The encouragement from his partners. |
A.Santosh’s cooking more food. | B.The help and support. |
C.The severer flood. | D.Santosh’s family suffering. |
A.Humorous and helpful. | B.Selfless and caring. |
C.Determined and clever. | D.Kind and wise. |
A.A Man Cooked 170,000 Meals for the Affected |
B.Major Floods Brought Challenges to People |
C.Many Hands Make Light Work |
D.Kindness Is Its Own Reward |
【推荐3】On November18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio(小儿麻痹症)as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches(拐杖)now.
That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break---it broke with a loud noise.
People thought to themselves, “He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one.”
But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra(管弦乐队)began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.
Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing(重新作曲)the piece in his head.
When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone, “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left.”
His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.
1. Holding a concert is challenging for Perlman because ______.A.he is just a world famous violinist |
B.he has never performed on stage before |
C.he is physically disabled as a result of a disease |
D.he has difficulty in moving his body |
A.there was something wrong with the violin |
B.he fell ill suddenly |
C.an accident happened and caused a disturbance |
D.a very loud noise arose from the audience |
A.to show they are satisfied with Perlman’s performance |
B.to thank the orchestra for their passionate performance |
C.to ask Perlman for another performance |
D.to express their appreciation of Perlman’s creative mind |
A.we should make the best of what we have |
B.what we have is more important than what is lost |
C.we should not care about what is lost |
D.the way of life is to always live with music |