【推荐1】Sarah got a sudden sinking feeling, and she could sense approaching danger. Without thinking she stood up, and faced toward the direction of the sound. That's when she saw a gray tail through the bushes. Desperately Sarah climbed up a tall pine tree. She knew its smell would be of some help. The merciless creature stepped in, sniffing around.

The branch cracking slightly, the wolf looked around, then up and made direct eye contact with Sarah. It gave a short howl, and then two more large wolves came running. Sarah grabbed a branch and threw it far behind them, who dashed after it, but weren't gone for long. They had realized they were tricked. They started jumping at her legs, and the worst happened. The branch, her lifeline, gave out on her and she landed onto the ground, nearly on top of the lead wolf. They immediately surrounded her, glaring at her in the eyes. She raised her head, thinking to herself, "If this is the way I am going to die, I might as well die with dignity." Grabbing the branch that betrayed her, she stood up, smacking it around, and the wolves began backing up.

Finally she was able to get out of the circle, and ran over to a spot with a bunch of empty bottles. She tied one to each fist, and then smashed them on a rock so that if she hit one of the wolves, the broken glass would cause a lot more damage. Meanwhile, Sarah grabbed a branch and was able to reach out and smack the lead wolf in the face. He fell down and the other wolves began sniffing at him, then she rushed as fast as possible. "I will never be able to outrun them, but I have to try", she thought to herself. She ran as if she never ran before. Finally the wolves were out of sight.

1. Why did Sarah climb up the pine tree?

A．She was warned by the sound.	B．She wanted to touch the tail there.
C．Its smell could prevent her being discovered	D．She was playing hide-and-seek with a creature

2. The moment Sarah threw a branch behind the wolves,       .

A．it attracted their attention for the moment	B．they realized they were tricked
C．they started jumping at her legs crazily	D．they were frightened away at once

3. What can we learn from the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?

A．Sarah was too frightened to behave crazily.	B．Sarah thought she was sure to die.
C．Sarah was thinking how to end her life.	D．Sarah was determined to fight for survival.

4. Which of the following can best describe Sarah's escape from the wolves?

A．In time of danger, one's mind works fast.	B．Where there is life, there is hope.
C．Where there is a will, there is a way.	D．No pains, no gains.

【推荐2】A
I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published ,
I put it aside.
Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．I was waiting for good fortune.

B．I was trying to find an admirable job.

C．I was being aimless about a suitable job.

D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

2. The author decided to write a novel ______ .

A．to finish the writing course

B．to realize her own dream

C．to satisfy readers’wish

D．to earn more money

3. How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A．Disturbed.

B．Ashamed.

C．Confident.

D．Uncertain.

4. What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A．It pays to stick to one’s goal.

B．Hard work can lead to success.

C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

【推荐3】You’ve flown halfway around the world; you’ve sniffed out this place that nobody in Falongland or Thailand seems to have ever heard of; so what on earth is there to do here? You consider this question as you sink into an old wooden beach chair that holds you above the sand.

It was a long journey from Bangkok to Huaplee. By the time you found the bus station and got yourself sorted out, it took almost as long as the flight from Falongland.

Huaplee is located just south of Hua Hin, about two hundred kilometres from Bangkok, down the west side of the Gulf of Thailand. Not many tourists find this place, and the ones that do wonder if finding it has been their purpose all along.

There’s an apparent laziness that surrounds you here. It’s what this place offers, and it’s free of charge. The small waves that tap the shoreline seem to slow everything down. You settle into your beach chair in preparation for a long rest. You sit there and watch the sea.

It’s early afternoon, so the cook comes out and asks what you’d like to eat this evening. Before long he’s rushed off to the market to buy the ingredients for whatever it was that you ordered—every meal fresh and to order. No menu here.

There is no poolside noise here but just that wonderfully warm, clear blue sea. There’s no street noise. The only sounds are the murmurs of nature. For now you just count your blessings (福祉), listing them in the sand with your toe (脚趾). You don’t have to worry about being late for work. You don’t have to do anything.

The beach to your right stretches off to the horizon (地平线), slowly narrowing to nothingness only to re-emerge again on your left, now steadily widening until it covers the chair beneath you. Sand to your left and sand to your right; it’s unbroken, endless. No start, no end, just sand, sun, and peace. Step off it, and you re-enter the world of traffic, stress, work, and hurry.

Normally you’re the type who can’t sit still for more than ten minutes, but you’re on Huaplee Lazy Beach now and, in the right frame of mind, it stretches all the way around theworld.

“How could it take me so long to find it?” you wonder.

1. When the author first went to Huaplee Beach,____

A．he found it unworthwhile

B．he failed to sort himself out

C．he became sensitive to smell

D．he had difficulty in finding it

2. What is special about the food service at Huaplee Beach?

A．No menu.

B．Free food.

C．Self service.

D．Quick delivery.

3. In the author’s opinion, a tourist can enjoy Huaplee Beach most when he____     .

A．sits in a beach chair

B．forgets his daily routine

C．plans a detailed schedule

D．draws pictures in the sand

4. What does the author imply by his question at the end of the passage?

A．He shouldn’t have counted his blessings.

B．He should have understood the wonder of nature.

C．He shouldn’t have spent so much time on the trip.

D．He should have come to the place earlier.

【推荐1】Alexander Tsao, a keen rock climber for several years, was climbing the walls at a gym near his home in Redmond, Washington, when he noticed that the ropes were frequently being replaced with new ones. Just 16 at the time, Tsao wondered what happened to the old ropes. He asked the gym owners and found out the ropes had to be discarded regularly due to safety regulations. He was surprised to find that so many ropes were sent to landfills (废物填埋地).

This discovery inspired him to find a solution to the environmental issue of climbing rope waste. He considered possible ideas and ways to upcycle the discarded ropes, deciding to turn them into leashes (拴狗带) for dogs.

Once he had made his plan, Tsao contacted all the climbing gyms in Washington State, introducing his idea of recycling old ropes. Some were doubtful at first but many gyms agreed to donate their used ropes. Tsao spent months testing and designing his products and filing documents to become a nonprofit organization which he called Rocks2Dogs.

To make the leashes, Tsao and volunteers first wash and dry the ropes. They cut them into different lengths, ranging from 4 to 10 feet, and then burn the ends to prevent them from fraying (磨损). They add a clip and handle to each end, and cover the leash’s hardware with shrink tape.

Because making the leashes now is a full-time job, Tsao has asked his friends, family and neighbors for help. “We have made and sold over a thousand leashes, which add up to over 10,000 feet of rope being saved from landfills,” says Tsao. The leashes come in various colors. There are also half price leashes made from ropes with slight imperfections. These start at $7.49 while most other leashes start at $14.99. To date, the nonprofit has raised more than $35,000. Much of this money has been donated to animal shelters.

1. The underlined word in paragraph one can be replaced by________.

A．cut off

B．checked up

C．got rid of

D．taken care of

2. What was Tsao’s plan?

A．To set up an environmental organization.

B．To call on climbing gyms to donate ropes.

C．To transform retired ropes into dog leashes.

D．To upcycle old leashes saved from landfills.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．Efforts to promote the ropes.	B．Steps for making the leashes.
C．Ways to reuse discarded waste.	D．Reasons for starting Rocks2Dogs.

4. What is the last paragraph intended to tell us?

A．Tsao succeeds in the leash business.

B．More people volunteered to help Tsao.

C．Animal protection gains more attention.

D．Leashes are not very popular with pet owners.

【推荐2】Seminole was far too accustomed to the business. Everyone sympathized with him depending an long hours minimum wage, and ill-mannered customers. Although struggling to pay his rent he still went all out to make those lucky enough to sit at his tables laugh. The day was going quick.

He was exhausted when he arrived to work the next day, but he went about his daily duties, putting on a brave face as customers complained about the food or questioned the bill. Usually as he prepared to close for the night, a couple of customers would sit down and order drinks. Most of the crew had left by closing time, but Seminole stayed to serve. Eventually, the last round was ordered and he gave them the bill. The minimum tip was suggested on the receipt. “Tomorrow will be better,” murmured he.

But luck wasn’t on his side. Evening approaching, a group of teenagers stepped in. Thankfully, they were polite and respectful. Their cheerful behavior began to rub off on him. As always, he did his best to make their dining experience a pleasant one.

Once they finished their dishes, he placed the bill on the table, accompanied with some candies. They placed their notes on the receipt and left smiling. When he returned to clear the table, he was shocked. The teenagers only left a tip of $3, but their total bill was more than $100. He'd gone above and beyond serving the tasty dishes. Ho would they be so rude?

Later that week, he struggled to let go of the awkward memories. He arrived at work and expected it to like any other, but there was something left behind the desk for him--a two-page handwritten letter from the teenagers with $18 attached, in which they explained they were unaware of the tipping practice due to it being their first time out alone. Everything suddenly made sense.

Seminole was so touched by their gesture that he uploaded a picture of the letter sharing their admirable efforts. Web visitors voiced their opinions, and the reaction was more than positive.

1. Why did Seminole wear a brave face?

A．To serve better.

B．To relax himself.

C．To sell more drinks.

D．To gain a reputation.

2. What made the teenagers only leave a tip of $3?

A．Ignorance of tipping culture.	B．Dissatisfaction with the meal.
C．Gratitude for Seminole’s service.	D．Misunderstanding of tipping practice.

3. What can we learn from the teenagers in the text?

A．One good turn deserves another.	B．Actions speak louder than words.
C．Honesty can turn into an opportunity.	D．It is better to make things right than not.

【推荐3】Watching the young, 21-year-old Jordan Spieth win the US Masters today, I could not help but think of the great qualities he showed to win the most famous golf event on the calendar against the greatest players in the world.

Jordan Spieth has learned to keep himself in check. There is a great proverb: A fool shares all his or her feelings while a wise man keeps them in check. As I watched Spieth playing, I noticed a constant calm around him. Whether he hit the shot he wanted or not, he was the same and kept his emotions steady and strong. He never blamed the crowd, clubs (球棍) or wind.

He knows which club he is going to drive with on every hole; he knows which side of the fairway (高尔夫球道) to land and exactly where he wants to be standing on every green when he is putting: he has played it through his minds for months. He is the person who makes things happen by planning in advance because he knows winning is a product of months and years of planning.

If there is an event that every golfer dreams of winning, it’s the US Masters. Spieth failed in 2014, getting so close to winning but coming second. As good as second was, he only wanted to be first. As a great person once said, "While you’re green, you’re growing, when you’re brown, you’re dying." He stays green. He is always reading, learning, and he understands that the greatest teacher of all is failure.

1. What can we know about the US Masters?

A．The US Masters attracts every American.

B．Jordan Spieth won the first in 2014 US Masters.

C．Not all the golf players want to win the US Masters.

D．Jordan Spieth meets many strong competitors in the US Masters.

2. Which of the following is NOT a quality Jordan Spieth has?

A．He is constantly calm	B．He is good at planning.
C．He is well informed	D．He is skillful in learning.

3. How does the author convey his ideas in Paragraph 3?

A．By offering examples.	B．By explaining cause and effect.
C．By making contrasts.	D．By making predictions.

4. Where is the text probably from?

A．An English textbook.	B．A fan’s blog.
C．An athlete’s autobiography.	D．A sports magazine.

【推荐1】When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she pick up one chopstick, taking it as one person. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, taking them as a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, “Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business.”

With three generations of Ans working together, now the Ans' business makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Run a Corporation Well	B．Strength Comes from Peace
C．How to Achieve a Big Dream	D．Family Unity Builds Success

2. What can we infer about the An’s daughters?

A．They went out to work for themselves before graduation.

B．They all would not like to work in their family business.

C．They were deeply influenced by what Helene taught them.

D．There always were disagreements among family members

3. Helene once used chopsticks to show ______.

A．the quality of the chopsticks	B．the difficulty of being united
C．the strength of family unity	D．how to be a strong person

4. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the An’s family ______.

A．began to run a restaurant in 1975	B．left Vietnam without much money
C．bought a restaurant in Los Angeles	D．opened a sandwich shop in San Francisco

【推荐2】‘Well,’ began Enfield, ‘I was coming home about three o'clock on a black winter morning, when suddenly I saw two people. The first was a short man who was walking along the street, and the second was a little girl who was running as fast as she could. Well, the two bumped into each other and the child fell down. Then a terrible thing happened. The man calmly walked all over the child’s body with his heavy boots, and left her screaming on the ground. It was an inhuman thing to do. I ran after the man, caught him and fetched him back. There was already a small crowd around the screaming child. The man was perfectly cool, but he gave me a very evil look, which made me feel sick in my stomach. The child’s family then arrived, and also a doctor. The child had been sent to fetch the doctor for a sick neighbor, and was on her way home again.
‘“The child is more frightened than hurt,” said the doctor — and that, you would think, was the end of the story. But, you see, I had taken a violent dislike to the short man. So had the child’s family — that was only natural. But the doctor, who seemed a quiet, kind man, was also looking at our prisoner with murder in his eyes.
‘The doctor and I understood each other perfectly. Together we shouted at the man, and told him we would tell this story all over London so that his name would be hated.
‘He looked back at us with a proud, black look. “Name your price,” he said.
‘We made him agree to a hundred pounds for the child’s family. With another black look, the man led us to that door over there. He took out a key and let himself into the building. Presently he came out and handed us ten pounds in gold and a cheque for ninety pounds from Coutts’s Bank. The name on the cheque was a well-known one.
‘“See here,” said the doctor doubtfully, “it isn’t usual for a man to walk into an empty house at four in the morning and come out with another man’s cheque for nearly a hundred pounds.”
‘“Don’t worry,” said the man with an ugly look, “I’ll stay with you until the banks open, and change the cheque myself.”
‘So we all went off, the doctor and the prisoner and myself, and spent the rest of the night at my house. In the morning we went together to the bank. Sure enough, the cheque was good, and the money was passed to the child’s family.’
1. Which of the following is true according to the passage above?

A．The little girl was frightened as well as seriously hurt.

B．The doctor did not trust the short man and disliked him.

C．The short man willingly paid the little girl’s family a hundred pounds.

D．The doctor was present at the spot to see what was wrong with the little girl.

2. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “Presently” in the fifth paragraph?

A．Instantly.	B．Constantly.
C．Consequently.	D．Merely.

3. Which of the following makes Enfield, the narrator of the story, puzzled most?

A．The doctor’s attitude towards the short man.

B．The validity of the cheque accepted by the bank.

C．The name on the cheque the short man produced.

D．The short man’s attitude towards what he had done.

4. The cheque was written by ________.

A．Mr. Utterson, an upright lawyer

B．Mr. Jekyll, a well-known doctor

C．Doctor Lanyon, Mr. Jekyll’s friend

D．Mr. Hyde, the short man mentioned in the passage above

【推荐3】Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.

And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin’s chicken house in exchange for manure(料理). The smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example,just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.

As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew (炖菜) Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots.For about half an hour, the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad’s pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.

Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!

Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around. It didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, either. I took a taste. It would never win a prize in a cooking competition, but it was surprisingly edible, and we drank up every last drop of soup!

1. Why did Dad clean Old Man Mocolgin’ s chicken house regularly?

A．To earn some money for the family.	B．To collect manure for his crops.
C．To get rid of the terrible smell.	D．To set a good example to us.

2. What can we infer about Dad’s stew?

A．It is popular among the neighbors.	B．It contains honey and vegetables.
C．It looks very wonderful.	D．It tastes quite delicious.

3. What can we learn about Dad from the text?

A．He is an experienced cook.	B．He is a troublesome father.
C．He has a positive attitude to life.	D．He suffers a lot from his disability.