【推荐1】I am astonished at the way God knows when to send a special gift of encouragement at just the right time! It might be in a dream, a lost letter, a memory, or something found that we’d forgotten about.

My grandmother was from a town in Michigan. And summer after summer I enjoyed staying with my grandparents as a young child. I was from the city and loved the small town where they lived. People knew everyone, their children, their pets, their ancestors.

Grandma was always using her hands for something exciting …She would make sandwiches and we’d have tea parties, plant flowers and carefully tend them. She loved knitting sweaters as well as making beautiful quilts　for her grandchildren. I remember the small thimble ( 顶 针 ) she would place on her finger while doing her needlework.

A few years ago, when Grandma left this earth for her new residence in Heaven, I bid farewell to my loving grandmother. How quickly our lives can change! We had just had tea together a couple of months earlier, on her 91st birthday. I missed her very much, but I noticed it mostly on my birthdays, because there was no card from Grandma. She’d never forgotten my birthday!

On one particular birthday when I was feeling a little low, something happened and made me feel as if she was sharing that special day with me. I was arranging some colorful pillows that she had made, and suddenly I felt something inside one pillow；it was small and hard. I moved the object to a seam (缝) that I carefully opened, and, to my delight, out came a tiny silver thimble!

How happy I was to find something that had been a part of her! Not realizing it had fallen off her finger, I pictured her sewing h into that little pillow that I just happened to fluff (抖松), to place on my bedspread (床罩) that day. I carefully laid the thimble alongside the others Id collected over the years. What a precious memory of a very special lady who, somehow, I knew, was laughing in delight at sewing her thimble into my pillow. I heated the kettle and made some tea, using my best china, as Grandma always did, and then enjoyed my tea and Grandma’s thimble. What a wonderful birthday that was!

1. In the author’s memory, what would her grandmother do?

A．She would make sandwiches and hamburgers for her family.

B．She would wear a thimble for needlework every day.

C．She would make beautiful quilts for money.

D．She would look after the flowers in the garden.

2. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．The modern world’s fast-changing life.

B．The fact that the grandmother had passed away.

C．The author’s missing her grandmother.

D．The love the author got from her grandmother.

3. How did the author feel when she found the thimble?

A．Surprised.	B．Regretful.
C．Guilty.	D．Lonely.

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Grandma’s Thimble

B．Grandma’s Life Story

C．The Joy of Finding Something Lost

D．The Importance of Putting Things Away

【推荐2】The morning after an evening struggle to care for my three-year-old daughter, I couldn’t wait to set her to school. I, as a mother, was tired from the anger and her inability to communicate because of her slowed language development.

As I accompanied her into the car, I felt desperate. Nothing was right with our world. She’d been born around the same time when the nation was witnessing the birth of another Great Recession. My job and my house had been victims(牺牲品). Then this happened. My child’s language delay(语言发育迟缓)was identified, but doctors struggled to properly help her. I felt like we both needed to be rescued.

I returned that afternoon as disenchanted with my little girl as when I left. Walking slowly toward the school’s playground gate, I found her preschool teacher racing to greet me. “You should have seen her today!” His breathy words were supported by excitement. I didn’t interrupt. “See that climber.” He pointed to a wooden piece of playground equipment that looked like a rock wall. I nodded. “Well, every day since she started school, she’s tried and failed to make it to the top.” He took a breath. “And today she did it!”

He expressed his joy just as he’d witnessed her conquering Mount Everest! “She cheered and celebrated! I wish I’d recorded it!” His words comforted me. My daughter had conquered her mountain.

As she ran toward me. I recognized something I hadn’t before. I saw her perseverance(毅力). I saw her strength. I saw a Hero.

Everyday greatness celebrates ordinary people who do unusual things in big and small ways, showing courage, kindness, love and selflessness. We encourage you to click these brief accounts and invite you to share your own story.

1. Why couldn’t the author wait to rush her daughter to school?

A．She was tired out when dealing with her daughter.

B．She had a fight with her daughter last night.

C．She was busy with her work as a doctor.

D．She had to sell their house due to Great Recession.

2. What can we know about the author from paragraph 2?

A．She was hopeless.	B．She pretended to be happy.
C．She looked frightend.	D．She felt comfortable.

3. Why did the little girl’s preschool teacher feel excited?

A．She succeeded in standing on Mount Everest.

B．She began to communicate with others normally.

C．She got the first place in the school sports meet.

D．She managed to climb up the wooden equipment.

4. From which is the text most probably taken?

A．The radio.

B．The Internet.

C．A newspaper.

D．A magazine.

【推荐3】“I don’t like my parents. They always tell me I should do this and should not do that. It sometimes makes me angry,” said Zhang Hua, a middle school student in Guangzhou.     1    

Perhaps your parents had the same problem when they were at your age long ago. Why does it seem that some parents are not so friendly in their children’s eyes?

One of the biggest things is when someone becomes a parent, he or she likes worrying about things. Parents do a lot for you, though something will make you angry. They worry about your choice of friends, the food you eat, your work at school, how much sleep you get…     2     They want you to grow up healthily and happily.

So how can you make things easier by yourself?       3     Just make sure your parents know what you’re doing. Let them know your friends.     4     Take responsibility for what you have done. Talk about your ideas with them. They may talk about theirs with you.

And you should think about why your parents do this or that. They still practice being parents and need help that you can give them.     5     they may be able to help you get on well with your children.

A．Some day, when you become a parent,

B．All these things are part of your life.

C．Say sorry to them when you make mistakes.

D．It’s harder than you think.

E．It’s easier than you think.

F．Do you have the same problem?

G．You can make all these things by yourself,

【推荐1】When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek minds whose qualities illuminate(照亮) me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: “Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changed into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend.He was in despair(失望) and 1 was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind.In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell…’’We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist, who will only fill up the healing(愈合的) silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

1. In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means _________.

A．our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

B．we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

C．our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared

D．we parted with each other in London

2. In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to _________.

A．seek professional help

B．be left alone

C．stay with her best friend

D．break the silence

3. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Unforgettable Experiences

B．Remarkable Imagination

C．Lifelong Friendship

D．Noble Companions

【推荐2】I have learned something about myself since I moved from Long Island to Florida three years ago. Even though I own a home in Port St. Lucie just minutes from the ocean, an uncontrollable urge wells up to return to Long Island even as others make their way south. I guess I am a snowbird stuck in reverse. Instead of enjoying Florida’s mild winters, I willingly endure the severe weather on Long Island, the place I called home for 65 years.

I’m like a migratory bird (候鸟) that has lost its sense of timing and direction, my wings flapping against season.

So what makes me fly against the tide of snowbirds? The answer has a lot to do with my reluctance to give up the things that define who I am. Once I hear that the temperature on Long Island has dipped into the range of 40 to 50 degrees, I begin to long for the sight and crackling sound of a wood fire. I also long for the bright display of colors -- first in the fall trees, and then in the lights around homes and at Rockefeller Center. Floridians decorate too, but can’t create the special feel of a New England winter.

I suppose the biggest reason why I return is to celebrate the holidays with people I haven’t seen in months. What could be better than sitting with family and friends for a Thanksgiving turkey dinner, or watching neighbors children excitedly open gifts on Christmas? Even the first snowfall seems special. I especially enjoy seeing a bright red bird settling on a snow-covered branch. (My wife and I spend winters at a retirement community in Ridge, and I’m grateful that I don’t have to shovel.)

While these simple pleasures are not unique to Long Island, they are some of the reasons why I come back. Who says you can’t go home?

1. What does the underlined word “reluctance” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Coincidence.

B．Expectation.

C．Unwillingness.

D．Motivation.

2. Which of the following words can best describe the author?

A．Imaginative and outspoken.	B．Hard-working and serious.
C．Homesick and easy-going.	D．Anxious and painful.

3. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To describe his dream to be a free bird.

B．To explain the reasons for moving from his hometown.

C．To praise the beauty and warmth of his hometown.

D．To express his feeling of missing his hometown.

【推荐3】After I entered high school, I attended advanced classes and I had a teacher who made me think I was stupid.

In my freshman year, I had trouble writing essays for that teacher. She was strict. She made fun of me, sometimes in front of the class. It didn’t help that my friend was a genius (天才) who would text me the night before our essay was due (到期) and ask, “What is the essay about again?” She would receive a 97 and I would receive an 80 even though 1 had revised (修正) and edited that piece for two weeks. Once I got a 97 on a project that took me two and a half weeks to complete, and I was asked how much help my mom had given to me. In the second grade, I had trouble with my essay writing once again. Besides, I had problems in Maths even though I understood the concepts.

Now I am in a new school and taking many subjects and I am doing well. Actually in the beginning, I was nervous. I thought I would fail all of my classes because my previous teachers had failed me and made me ashamed to try. I thought 1 was just going to get another 80 on an essay. It is hard indeed. They are fast-paced courses and it isn’t easy to keep up with all the readings and when my next lab will be. But with so much adjustment (调整) to the stress, I have become confident. Now I know how much time I need to perfect that essay, and when to set aside time to meet with my tutor (老师) before my next biology exam.

I am writing this blog to the kids that have gotten lost in the mix—any adjusting freshmen, any lost kids in advanced classes, and the hidden genius in everyone. I went through two years in high school, thinking I was a little slower than the other kids in advanced classes. But in this new environment, with the experience I have received and my new-found confidence, I can say, “I’m Anne Hilker and I am smart!” We are all smart.

1. What did the author want to show by mentioning her friend?

A．She faced a lot of competition.	B．Her friend was a great help to her.
C．Her friend made her feel even worse.	D．Her teachers loved students like her friend.

2. How did the teacher react when the author got a 97 on a project?

A．She felt very happy for the author.

B．She praised the author in front of the class.

C．She wasn’t pleased with the author’s mother.

D．She didn’t believe it was finished by the author alone.

3. What does the author probably realize after going to a new school?

A．Hard work doesn’t pay off.	B．She isn’t as stupid as she feared.
C．Fast-paced courses don’t benefit her.	D．Advanced classes aren’t suitable for her.

4. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To show students should study very hard.

B．To tell teachers to believe in their students.

C．To show teachers should be kind to their students.

D．To tell students to learn to face stress and have confidence.