【推荐1】Mark Smith and Jarryd Haines are good friends. The two boys from Sydney have known each other for most of their lives. Both of them enjoy playing Australian football.

A few years ago, when Mark was nine, he developed brain cancer. The disease robbed the boy of his sight, part of his hearing and his ability to play his favorite sport. However, throughout the years, Jarryd remained his closest friend. They still share their love of Australian football. And they still enjoy talking about the Sydney Swans, their favorite team.

Two weeks ago, I took my seat at Sydney Cricket Ground to watch the Swans. The old stadium was crowded with fans. Shortly into the second quarter, heard some great commentary(实况报道） from a boy. Play by play, Jarryd was bringing the game to life. I turned and saw him. Mark was sitting next to him.

Although he cannot see anymore, Mark still loves the Swans very much. Usually, he goes to the stadium and listens to the commentary on the radio. However, in the second quarter of that match, the radio system broke down. That was when his friend Jarryd stepped in.

I hardly looked at the Swans and Buddy, the team’s star player. Instead, I was focusing on Jarryd and Mark. “What’s happening now, mate?” Mark asked. “Don’t worry. Mark,” Jarryd replied. “Okay. Buddy’s got it. Will he go for it? He’s going for it! It’s his tenth goal! Buddy is on fire!” Mark listened carefully. He was lost in the magic of Australian football brought to life by his friend.

Sports can be competitive. However, they can also allow us to share wonderful moments with others, may they be close friends or perfect strangers. Here, Jarryd and Mark have moved me, and perhaps some other spectators（观众）, with the best commentary.

1. Why didn’t Mark play Australian football any longer?

A．He took up new hobby.

B．He lost his sight .

C．He was unable to play it because of his disease.

D．His favorite team-the Sydney Swans lost the game.

2. What did Jarryd do for Mark at the stadium?

A．He helped him step into the stadium.

B．He made Buddy score his tenth goal.

C．He was lost in the magic of Australian football.

D．He provided commentary for him when the radio system failed.

3. Which of following words best describe Jarryd?

A．Generous and active.	B．Considerate and patient.
C．Diligent and ambitious.	D．Competitive and smart

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．A lively commentary.	B．The Swans and Buddy.
C．An Australian football match.	D．The precious friendship between two boys.

【推荐2】Friendship can last long if friends trust each other. To avoid problems and misunderstandings in a friendship, it's necessary to have get-togethers to meet each other often and to share thoughts and experiences. Here are some fun things to do with friends.

    1    These games can include volleyball, football, basketball and adventure sports like horse riding. Form teams with an equal number of players to have an interesting competition.

Besides outdoor activities, there are many indoor activities to do with friends. You can celebrate a friend's birthday     2    And, you can organize a singing competition and give a prize to the winner.

There are also many fun things to do at night with friends.     3    You can also attend a party at a nightclub or go for a night show to watch your favorite movie.

Going for a holiday to a place that is loved by all your friends is one of the interesting and unforgettable experiences.     4    Visit places with good beaches, like California and Miami to have the best time of your life. Try fishing, if you know its basics and rules.

The fun things to do with your friends mentioned above will give you a break from your busy life.     5     As a result, they can help you in the long run.

A．You can watch the stars and skies together.

B．Try your hand at cooking delicious dishes.

C．Since summer vacations are long, you can visit a far place

D．Moreover, they will improve your relationships with your friends.

E．Nothing is as joyful as playing the games you all like very much

F．A friend is someone we trust and turn to in times of need and difficulty.

G．Go to a nice restaurant with all your friends to have the dishes that you like most.

【推荐3】High-Wire Act

Mickey Wilson had been on the mountain only a few seconds when he heard the scream. Wilson, 28 years old, had just gotten off the cable car (索道缆车) at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area in Keystone, Colorado, along with his friends Billy Simmons and Hans Mueller. Their friend Richard had been on the cable car ahead of them, but when the men reached the top of the lift, he had disappeared. The men walked toward the source of the scream and found skiers stopped on the slope, pointing to the cable car. And then the friends screamed too.

“Oh, Richard!” yelled Mueller.

When Richard had tried to jump off the cable car, his backpack had been caught in the chair, which then dragged him back down the hill. In the process, the backpack belt twisted around his neck, making him breathless. Now Richard’s body was swinging four feet above the snow. The cable car operator had quickly stopped it, and the friends kicked off their skis and ran toward the scene. They made a human pyramid to try to reach Richard, but the unconscious man was too far off the ground. With the clock ticking, Wilson ran to the ladder of a nearby lift tower. Scared skiers watched as he struggled the 25 feet. After he reached the top, Wilson’s first challenge was to climb onto the two-inch steel cable that held the chairs. He handled the balance and height bravely, but he knew he could not walk on the cable. Therefore, he calmed down and sat over it and then used his hands to pull himself to Richard quickly. Wilson’s greatest fear wasn’t that he’d fall, but that he wouldn’t reach Richard. “This was life or death,” he said.

When he reached Richard’s chair, Wilson swung a leg over the cable and attempted to drop down onto it. But as he did that, his jacket caught on the movable footrest, which was in the up position. The footrest began to slide down, with Wilson attached. But before that could happen, he managed to free himself and reached Richard.

Fortunately, the ski patrol (巡查) had gathered below and performed emergency treatment on Richard, who had been hanging for about five minutes, then skied him down to an ambulance.

That night, Richard called from the hospital to express his thanks to Wilson, his other friends and the workers at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

1. What happened to Richard when he tried to jump off the cable car?

A．He was sick and became unconscious.

B．He left his skis which stopped the cable car.

C．He was too afraid to move forward in the cable car.

D．He was caught by the neck, hanging down the cable.

2. How did Richard survive?

A．People worked together and saved him.

B．Wilson climbed on the cable and saved him.

C．The ski patrol got him down and treated him.

D．Skiers treated him and carried him to the hospital.

3. The author wrote the fourth paragraph to show that _______.

A．the rescue process was dangerous

B．something was wrong with the cable car

C．Wilson could manage the process very well

D．the operator of the cable car ignored his duty

4. The story at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area mainly tells us ______.

A．it is very dangerous to go skiing

B．he that climbs high often falls heavily

C．bravery and calm can help you make a difference

D．a person with a great talent always has great will-power

【推荐1】It’s a classic story: Kids are forced to learn an instrument from a young age, they play it throughout their childhood, and they develop a bittersweet relationship with it. Is the constant battle between the love for the music and the hate for the constant challenge worth the fight? For me, it was.

I started playing the piano when I was four—that was 15 years ago! This was huge commitment, so there must have been something worth holding on to, right?

The easy guess is that I was purely in love with music and piano. Although that’s the sweeter tale, it’s a bit more complicated. I struggled a lot with piano. Family and peers were, at least in my own head, constantly placed beside me in competition. I felt stressful to be the best in order to prove something to others—and more devastatingly (破坏性地) to prove something to myself. The seed of my musical interest was grown in the sunlight of competition and doubt. Hate sprouted (滋生) when my self-criticism hit too hard.

It’s difficult to learn to love something that didn’t originate from love. For a while, piano was more of an annoyance than a hobby. But somehow, love grew. It was deeply buried. But it was there, and by high school, it was strong enough that when I was truly on the edge of quitting any kind of formal training. I found the strength to hold on tighter, and dig further. I switched teachers, and got incredibly lucky with one who helped me tunnel into what I loved. I learned pieces for myself, I composed for myself, and I found confidence not because I got “good enough,” but because I learned that anything I had was good enough.

The love and hate I’ve had for the piano were both planted and grown. If you too have learned to hate something, remember that with commitment, it can be uprooted, and love can make a home in its place. There is always time. There is always room.

1. What does the author want to show by telling a classic story?

A．Being forced counts in learning.

B．Kids’ struggle in learning instruments.

C．Kids’ bittersweet childhood.

D．The passion for learning instruments.

2. What can we know about the author’s experience of playing the piano?

A．She finally quit formal training.

B．She broke something to prove her hate.

C．She was in pure love with music and piano.

D．She once experienced great pressure from herself.

3. What helped the author find confidence?

A．Her attitude.

B．Her teacher’s training.

C．Her strength.

D．Her own achievement.

4. What message is mainly delivered in the passage?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Love is a thing that grows.

C．Interest is the best teacher.

D．Hardship makes a man.

【推荐2】A few years ago, a friend sent me a restaurant gift card for Christmas, and I picked a pretty, sunny Sunday afternoon to use it. It felt good taking my two grown sons and daughter to a nice sit-down restaurant instead of the fast food places we usually ate at. The meal was delicious, and we all had a good time just being together. The gift card covered almost all of the check. I reached into my wallet to get enough cash to cover the rest. I saw two bills (钞票) in the front of it. The first would cover the rest of the check. The second would cover the check and give the waitress a nice tip. I reached down to pick out the first one.

At that moment, my mind flashed back to 30 years ago. I was working as a busboy (餐厅勤杂工) in a restaurant much like the one we were in. It was long hours of hard work for low pay. I went home just barely making enough to feed my young family. I also remembered how more than once I saw the waitresses counting their small tips while worrying about how they were going to pay the rent and buy their kids the things they needed. I remembered the pain in their eyes and saw the sadness in their faces at the end of the day.

I blinked (眨眼睛) and was back in the present again, with my fingers touching the smaller bill in my wallet. I smiled, pushed it back down and picked out the larger bill. I folded it around the gift card and covered both of them with the check. As we all got up from the table, I handed them to the hard-working waitress. “You keep the change,” I said with a smile and a happy heart.

We are all one family in this world. We live together, rejoice (高兴) together and suffer together. Do your best to be kind. Do your best to be a good person and replace the suffering with joy.

1. What do we know from the first paragraph?

A．The author's family had a hard life.	B．The gift card was enough to pay the check.
C．The author seldom ate together with his family.	D．The author valued the time he spent with his children.

2. The author mentioned his working experience as a busboy to ________.

A．describe struggles he faced in the past	B．complain about his job at the restaurant
C．explain why he chose the larger bill	D．show how hard waiters work

3. How did the author feel after giving the tip to the waitress?

A．Moved.

B．Pleased.

C．Puzzled.

D．Concerned.

4. What is the author's main purpose in writing this article?

A．To tell people to be kind.	B．To remind us not to forget our hard days.
C．To stress the importance of tipping servers.	D．To show that we should thank friends and family.

【推荐2】Following My Dream

I grew up in a poor family with six brothers, three sisters, my father and mother. We had little money and few goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was happy and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still afford a dream.

My dream was athletics. By the time I was sixteen, I could throw a ninety-mile-per-hour fastball and hit anything moving on the football field. And I was so lucky that my high-school coach was Ollie Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but often told me “The dream is priceless.” However, when I was about to get off the ground, one particular thing happened, which almost ruined (毁坏) my long-held dream.

It was the summer holiday in Senior Two and a friend recommended me for a summer job. I was offered $12.25 per hour. Compared with the average $3.5, that was a big sum. I was so excited, because this meant a chance for money in my pocket, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the start of savings for a house for my mother. The prospect (前景) of the job was inviting, and I wanted to jump at the opportunity.

Then I realized I would have to give up summer baseball training to handle the work schedule. I didn’t dare to tell my coach. I thought of the advice my mother often gave me when I lacked courage, “If you make your bed, you have to lie in it.” I decided to talk to my coach by myself. After all, my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his disappointment to me. I gathered my courage and knocked at his door…

1. 根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中，每词限用一次，有两词为多余选项

continue             realize       upset       advise             fortunate             priceless throw             excite       have             disappoint       happy             recommend
Following My Dream
I grew up in a poor family and we ______ little money and few goods.		I felt ______ and energetic. I ______ that each person should build his dream even though he was poor.
By the time I was 16, I could ______ a fast ball and hit anything moving on the football field.		I was so ______ that my coach was Ollie Jarvis, who often told me “The dream is ______.”
In the summer holiday I was ______ for a summer job. I was offered $12.25 per hour.		I was so ______ about the big sum, because this meant a chance for money in my pocket, money for a new bike and so on.
If I wanted to ______ to work, I would have to give up summer baseball training.		I didn’t dare to tell my coach, but my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his   ______ to me.

根据文本内容回答下列问题
2. What should one do even if he was poor in the author’s opinion?
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3. Why did the author want to give up summer baseball training?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What would happen when the author knocked at his coach’s door?
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