【推荐1】【课本原文】

Three Days to See

I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.

Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently, I asked a friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods what she had observed. “Nothing in particular,” she replied.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. If I can get so much pleasure from touch, how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most like to see if I were given the use of my eyes, say for just three days.

On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living. I do not know what it is to see into the heart of a friend through that “window of the soul”, the eye. I can only “see” through my fingertips the outline of a face. I should like to see the books which have been read to me, and which have revealed to me the deepest channels of human life and the human spirit. In the afternoon I should take a long walk in the woods and intoxicate my eyes on the beauties of the world of nature. That night, I should not be able to sleep.

On my second day, I should like to see the pageant of man's progress, and I should go to the museums. I should try to probe into the soul of man through his art. The things I knew through touch I should now see. The evening of my second day I should spend at a theater or at the movies.   

The following morning, I should again greet the dawn, anxious to discover new delights, new revelations of beauty. Today I shall spend in the workaday world, amid the haunts of men going about the business of life.

At midnight permanent night would close in on me again. Only when darkness had again descended upon me should I realize how much I had left unseen.

I who am blind can give one hint to those who see: Use your eyes as if tomorrow you would be stricken blind. And the same method can be applied to the other senses. Hear the music of voices, the song of a bird, the mighty strains of an orchestra, as if you would be stricken deaf tomorrow. Touch each object you want to touch as if tomorrow your tactile sense would fail. Smell the perfume of flowers, taste with relish each morsel, as if tomorrow you could never smell and taste again. But of all the senses, I am sure that sight must be the most delightful.

(Excerpts from “Three Days to See” by Helen Keller)

1. How did Helen feel when her friend told her she observed nothing after a long walk?

A．Unbelievable.	B．Pleased.
C．Understanding.	D．Interested.

2. What did Helen most want to do if she had three days to see?

A．To stay up throughout the night.

B．To take a long walk in the woods.

C．To see the people who have helped her a lot.

D．To see books which have revealed much to her.

3. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Helen loves darkness and silence.

B．Helen is only stricken with blindness.

C．Helen wishes people to suffer from diseases.

D．Helen thinks healthy people ignore too much.

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．It turns out that people with disabilities are more imaginative.

B．The author looks forward to only three days of normal vision.

C．We should take what we have for granted, not cherish too much.

D．It is not lack of beauty in the world, just the eyes finding beauty.

【推荐2】“Let the world know China and let China know the world.” I can’t remember exactly where I have seen this slogan(口号) in Beijing. Considering the simple fact of the wish people have for learning foreign languages and the number of people going abroad each year, everyone can tell how hard China and Chinese people are trying to know the world. But I didn’t know how equally important and urgent(迫切的) it is for the world to know China until I came to the UK.
In the self-introduction during our first class in a PhD course, when I told them I wanted to finish the degree as soon as I could and then go back to China, the British students looked at me in both surprise and disbelief. Their idea is that everybody who comes to the UK, including the Chinese, will stay here to look for a better life and that this is the only place where one can find a better life.
When I asked my friend for advice about buying a new car, she looked at me, asking in surprise, “A new car?” Later I found out that her surprise was because of the popular image of Chinese students: either too poor or too economical.
When we Chinese students for the first time joined the monthly performance hour of the department and sang some traditional songs and gave a short humorous introduction, all the teachers and students were surprised. To them, Chinese students are so serious and shy. These ideas have been because of the fact that Chinese students are sometimes not seen among the students.
So “let the world know China” should no longer remain an empty slogan. It is something we all should do, home and abroad, and something we should do with confidence and openness.
1. In British students’ opinion, Chinese students come to the UK mainly because       .

A．they want to get a British degree

B．the education in UK is the best in the world

C．they want to know more about British

D．they want to look for a better life in Britain

2. The general image of Chinese students in British students’ mind is_____.

A．very rich	B．very common
C．very humorous	D．very poor or economical

3. The British students think Chinese students were serious and shy because Chinese students_____.

A．always spoke poor English

B．didn’t show themselves bravely in public

C．didn’t have much money

D．had problem communicating with them

4. By writing the passage, the writer wants the reader _____.

A．to be as humorous as possible

B．to take away the empty slogan

C．not to be too poor or too economical

D．to show ourselves with confidence

【推荐1】阅读下面短文，根据题目要求回答问题。

The Making of a Great Athlete

Not so long ago, most people didn’t know who Shelly-Ann-Francis-Pryce was going to become. She was just an average high school athlete. There was every indication that she was just another Jamaican teenager without much of a future. However, one person wanted to change this. Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann at a track meet and was sure that he had seen the beginnings of true greatness. Her times were not exactly impressive, but even so, he sensed there was something trying to get out, something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking. He decided to offer Shelly-Ann a place in his very strict training sessions. Their cooperation quickly produced results, and a few years later at Jamaica’s Olympic games in early 2008, Shelly-Ann, who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world, beat Jamaica’s unchallenged queen of the sprint.

“Where did she come from?” asked an astonished sprinting world, before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time, only to disappear again without signs. But Shelly-Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder. At the Beijing Olympic she swept away any doubts about her ability to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold. She did it again one year on at the World Championships in Berlin, becoming world champion with a time of 10.73--- the fourth fastest time ever.

Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile. She has a mental toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless. She grew up in one of Jamaica’s toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse, where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her mother and two brothers. Waterhouse, one of the poorest communities in Jamaica, is a really violent and overpopulated place. Several of Shelly-Ann's friends and family were caught up in the killings; one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived. Sometimes her family didn’t have enough to eat. She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldn’t afford shoes. Her mother Maxime, one of a family of fourteen, had been an athlete herself as a young girl but, like so many other girls in Waterhouse, had to stop after she had her first baby. Maxime’s early entry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouse's roundabout of poverty. One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track, and she was ready to sacrifice everything.

It didn't take long for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse. On a summer evening in Beijing in 2008, all those long, hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit. The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty, surrounded by criminals and violence, had written a new chapter in the history of sports.

But Shelly-Ann’s victory was far greater than that. The night she won Olympic gold in Beijing, the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped. The dark cloud above one of the world’s toughest criminal neighbourhoods simply disappeared for a few days. “I have so much fire burning for my country,” Shelly said. She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse. She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons. She intends to fight to make it a woman’s as well as a man’s world.

As Muhammad Ali puts it, “Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision.” One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.

1. What did Stephen Francis do after he observed Shelly-Ann at a track meet?
2. What is the significance of Shelly-Ann’s victory?
3. Please underline the inappropriate part in the following statement and explain why.
Shelly-Ann has become the fastest woman in the world because she not only works hard but also lives in a secure environment.
4. In your opinion, what contributes to the making of a great athlete? Besides Shelly-Ann, please use another example to illustrate your point. (No more than 40 words)

【推荐2】“I’m saying goodbye”：Maria Sharapova retires from tennis

“Tennis-I’m saying goodbye. ”    1    

“How do you leave behind the only life you’ve ever known?” she asked herself.     2    

Over the last couple of years，she’s dealt with an injury in her right shoulder and inflammation(炎症) in her forearms that may have prevented her from returning to top form. In more recent news，the death of her longtime friend，US basketball legend Kobe Bryant，also played a factor in her decision to retire.

“As I think you’ve seen throughout my career，my perseverance has been my greatest tool，my greatest strength. ”Sharapova said in an interview. “But I've started feeling like it was becoming a weakness.       3     ”Sharapova rose to stardom at age 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004. She won a total of four Grand Slam singles titles：the 2006 US Open，the 2008 Australian Open，and the 2012 and 2014 French Open. She also earned the Fed Cup title in Russia in 2008 and an Olympic silver medal in singles in 2012，among many other accomplishments.

For 16 straight years from 2004，Sharapova was the world’s highest-earning female athlete，according to Forbes. Off the court，she made millions of dollars from companies such as Evian and Nike，as well as starting her own candy company.

“    4    ”Sharapova wrote on Facebook on Feb 26，alongside a photo of herself as a young girl with a tennis racquet(球). “It’s how I tested myself and how I measured my growth.     5    I’11 still be pushing. I’11 still be climbing. I’11 still be growing. ”

A．Although I have left the tennis world where I achieved so much，

B．Maria Sharapova has left the tennis court for some reasons.

C．Tennis showed me the world—and it showed me what I was made of.

D．And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter，my next mountain

E．With these words，Russian tennis superstar Maria Sharapova，32，has announced her retirement.

F．because the stubbornness that was keeping me going was keeping me going for wrong reasons.

G．Several reasons played a role in Sharapova leaving the tennis court for good.