In movies and books, people often describe a decisive moment when they figure out who they are. However, I never thought it actually happened in real life. I never expected to have a “moment” of my own. When it arrived, mine was much more powerful than I could have ever imagined.
During the spring of my junior year, my class watched a documentary called “The Invisible Children.” It was about three college students who take a trip to Africa and document their experience. At first the film was slightly humorous. However, once the group arrived in northern Uganda, the mood changed. They learned what the consequences of a 23-year war had been for thousands of children. Some had lost family and friends, while others were caught by the opposing force and became child soldiers.
Before long, I was sobbing. I couldn’t believe these things were happening, yet at the same time I knew they were. I just hadn’t been paying attention, for in the past 17 years, I was blessedly protected. When the movie ended, I couldn’t get it out of my head. For the next week, I was not myself. Every bite of food I took I thought of Grace, the 15-year-old who had little to eat. When I went to bed, I pictured Sunday, the 14-year-old boy sleeping on a straw mat on the ground in a camp. My whole world shifted.
Since that day, I haven’t been able to picture my future in a way that doesn’t involve going to Africa and doing what I can to help. Ultimately, this is why I decided to major in engineering. With an engineering degree, my potential for change will be limitless. I will build wells and schools, and design irrigation systems. Engineering is tough, but I know—in what Yeats called “my deep heart’s call”—that this is what I’m supposed to do with my life.
1. How did the author think of a decisive moment at first?| A．It was impossible. | B．It was unforgettable. |
| C．It was common. | D．It was powerful. |
| A．It amused him. | B．It changed his perspectives of life. |
| C．It made him unsure of himself. | D．It made him lose the desire to eat or sleep. |
| A．To achieve his goal. | B．To be well acknowledged. |
| C．To challenge himself. | D．To realize his childhood dream. |
| A．Celebrity. | B．Health. | C．Education. | D．Science. |
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【推荐1】For the brave in the armed forces, being sent away from home for months at a time is just part of the duty. However, it's never an easy one to perform especially for those with children. So when I found out I was going to be stationed in South Korea for a year, I was nervous about how my five children, particularly my eldest daughter Abigail, would take the news since it meant I wouldn't be home to see her graduate from high school.
Incredibly, Abigail told me not to worry and even suggested we live stream the event among family members when I leaked the news. “We've been lucky you haven't had to be sent abroad yet. Anyway we can get connected through the Internet. See me on your phone on my spot,” Abigail said. She stepped into many of my roles when I was gone. I wanted to find a way to thank her and show her how proud I was of her. I started planning the special surprise when my request to return home a few weeks early to attend Abigail's graduation ceremony was approved.
When my time in South Korea finally came to an end, I flew home, rented a car, and stayed in a hotel. And on Abigail's graduation day, I hid in an office behind the stage waiting until I heard my daughter's name called. I just kept thinking “Don't cry. Don't trip in your heels. Don't fall over.” At last！Abigail was up on stage. I slipped up behind her, whispered in her ear, and around she turned! “I was just thinking, like, ‘You aren't supposed to be here. What? What? How？’ It was the biggest shock...I'm pretty sure my dad made people he didn't even know cry. Emotional for everyone,” Abigail cried.
You know what followed: Embraces, kisses, tears, laughs, flowers, wishes...Aren't they what a family has in store?
1. What worried the author most?| A．His duty in South Korea. | B．His five children's safety. |
| C．His eldest daughter's study. | D．His absence from a big event. |
| A．Plan. | B．Celebrate. | C．Prepare. | D．Broadcast. |
| A．Embarrassed. | B．Overjoyed. | C．Nervous. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．A soldier's personal sacrifice. | B．A father's love for his family. |
| C．The meaning of family bond. | D．The way to plan a big surprise. |
【推荐2】When Mary Moore began her high school in 1951, her mother told her, “Be sure and take a typing course so when this show business thing doesn’t work out, you’ll have something to rely on.” Mary responded in typical teenage fashion. From that moment on, “the very last thing I ever thought about doing was taking a typing course,” she recalls.
The show business thing worked out, of course. In her career, Mary won many awards. Only recently, when she began to write Growing Up Again, did she regret ignoring her mom, “I don’t know how to use a computer,” she admits.
Unlike her 1995 autobiography, after all, her second book is less about life as an award-winning actress and more about living with diabetes (糖尿病). All the money from the book is intended for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), an organization she serves as international chairman. “I felt there was a need for a book like this,” she says. “I didn’t want to lecture, but I wanted other diabetics to know that things get better when we’re self-controlled and do our part in managing the disease.”
But she hasn’t always practiced what she teaches. In her book, she describes that awful day, almost 40 years ago, when she received two pieces of life-changing news. First, she had lost the baby she was carrying, and second, tests showed that she had diabetes. In a childlike act, she left the hospital and treated herself to a box of doughnuts (甜甜圈). Years would pass before she realized she had to grow up-again-and take control of her diabetes, not let it control her. Only then did she kick her three-pack-a-day cigarette habit, overcome her addiction to alcohol, and begin to follow a balanced diet.
Although her disease has affected her eyesight and forced her to the sidelines of the dance floor, she refuses to fall into self-pity. “Everybody on earth can ask, ‘why me?’ about something or other,” she insists. “It doesn’t do any good. No one is immune (免疫的) to heartache, pain, and disappointments. Sometimes we can make things better by helping others. I’ve come to realize the importance of that as I’ve grown up this second time. I want to speak out and be as helpful as I can be. ”
1. Why did Mary feel regretful?| A．She didn’t complete her high school. | B．She didn’t follow her mother’s advice. |
| C．She didn’t take care of her mother. | D．She didn’t achieve her ambition. |
| A．She had two books published. | B．She knew how to use a computer. |
| C．She supported the JDRF by writing. | D．She received many career awards. |
| A．Her remembrance of her mother. | B．Her successful show business. |
| C．Her living with diabetes. | D．Her service for an organization. |
| A．She began a balanced diet. | B．She behaved in an adult way. |
| C．She med to get a treatment. | D．She lost control of herself. |
| A．Mary wants to help others as much as possible. |
| B．Mary determines to go back to the dance floor. |
| C．Mary has recovered from her disease. |
| D．Mary feels pity for herself. |
【推荐3】Julia Butterfly Hill worked at a restaurant. For many years, she was only interested in making money. Then one day she had a serious car accident, which changed her life. Hill said: “I realized I wanted to find a more powerful purpose for being here on this planet.”
As soon as she recovered, Hill traveled to California and she wanted to do something meaningful. There she saw ancient redwood trees, which are the largest trees in the whole world. The wood from redwood trunks is very hard. So the Pacific Lumber Company cut down many of the huge redwoods to use for construction. There are not many forests of these trees left. Many environmental activists want to protect the remaining trees. The redwoods are very important to the environment.
In 2012, Hill learned a group called Earth First was working to protect a particular group of trees. They decided to send someone up into a redwood tree, hoping this would stop the company from cutting the trees down. Julia Butterfly Hill volunteered.
Hill lived in the tree for over two years without ever coming down. Her home was a 6-by-8-foot tree house, 180 feet up. It is always cold and wet in a redwood tree. There were even very serious winter storms while Hill was in the tree. The wind and cold almost knocked Hill out of the tree. But she did not fall — she survived.
Finally, after years of arguing, the company decided to protect Luna, the tree Hill lived in. They signed an agreement to never cut down this huge redwood tree or the trees around it. When Hill put her feet on the earth again, she began to cry. But from that moment on Hill hasn’t stopped working to protect the environment.
1. What problem did Hill find in California?| A．The Pacific Lumber Company lost much money. |
| B．People could only use the redwoods for construction. |
| C．Environmental activists didn’t work together. |
| D．The redwoods were disappearing quickly. |
| A．Comfortable. | B．Tough. | C．Cool. | D．Satisfying. |
| A．She once lived in a redwood tree for over two years. |
| B．She had a sense of social responsibility. |
| C．She finally gave in to the Pacific Lumber Company. |
| D．She continued working to protect the environment. |
【推荐1】Tony Newton and his wife Marie have spent about 40 years turning their modest (简朴的) yard in the Black Country into what is now named the “four seasons’ garden”.
Grandmother-of-four Marie, 72, started looking after the garden in 1982 while working as a transport planner and a nurse while Tony, 70, joined her after he retired (退休) from medicine.
Marie said, “Tony and I usually spend two hours a day in the garden but obviously since lockdown and the fact that we are over 70 means we have even more time to spare. We are sometimes in the garden all day and only come in when it gets dark.”
“One addition this year was that we put up three bird feeding stations, which we haven’t normally had, and that has given us a huge amount of pleasure,” she added. “We’ve got so many different types of birds coming out.”
“We really miss the grandchildren because they used to love playing here,” she said, though they keep in contact through the Internet. “We’ve got fairy (精灵) houses and the streams they played in. We used to look after them a few nights a week but that’s all stopped.”
“I always look forward to spring and this year has been especially rewarding. I have never seen the garden look so beautiful,” Marie added. “We haven’t been able to count every flower and tree but there are over 3,000 plants in the garden. It has been very satisfying to use so many skills, and to have done everything ourselves.”
The couple have won several awards, including being named the winner of Britain’s Best Garden. The garden has become so popular that it even features in unofficial tourist trails (路线) of the Black Country.
Tony said, “There has been a lot of trial and error (反复试验) to get the garden the way it is now — and over the last few weeks we’ve really been able to explore even more ideas. We’re already planning what to grow for the next season.”
1. What do we know about Marie?| A．She has five grandchildren. | B．She worked as a nurse until 1982. |
| C．She started tending the garden in her 30s. | D．She is two years younger than Tony. |
| A．Bird feeding stations. | B．Fairy houses. |
| C．Streams. | D．Grandchildren’s birds. |
| A．Surprised | B．Proud. | C．Scientific. | D．Professional. |
| A．Grow more plants. | B．Open their garden. |
| C．Explore the Black Country. | D．Enter a garden competition. |
【推荐2】One well-below-freezing morning last December, I walked through the grounds of Ontario Place. Trees were frosted sculptures, and large pieces of ice floated in the lake. I stopped to take a photo, and that’s when I saw them: a group of people jumping up and down in the water.
I didn’t quite believe my eyes. The ice fighters came out from the lake, their skin steaming. They were laughing and hugging each other so free. Watching them, I felt a rush of excitement. I called out: “You guys are awesome!” One woman smiled back and said, “Come and join us! We’re here every Monday at 7 am. You can sign up online.” When I got home, I signed up and received a confirmation email telling me what to bring.
The next morning, a young man first led us through introductions and breathing exercises. Together we jumped up and down, and then charged into the lake. We swam down until just our heads and hands were above water, and called out into the sky. Teeth chattering(打颤),fingers and toes going numb(麻木),we stayed there for a few minutes.Knowing it was my first time, people cheered me on.When we swam back out of the water, my skin was bright red. It felt amazing. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so happy. I went from swimming once a week to almost every day, and I’ve come to expect that moment when the cold becomes a second skin. Apart from the thrill, what have drawn me are the people.
It won’t fix everything in our lives, or the world at large - but for some reason, it helps. At the end of each session, I returned home feeling stronger and lighter. As another winter sets in, I’m more than ready to embrace the cold again.
1. What do we learn about the writer’s mood from paragraph 2?| A．Ashamed. | B．Thrilled. | C．Concerned. | D．Confused. |
| A．She hesitated to jump into the lake. |
| B．She expected it to be so interesting. |
| C．She suffered from cold and hunger. |
| D．She was encouraged by her fellow swimmers. |
| A．Her hands got frozen. | B．Her head went numb. |
| C．Her body was trembling badly. | D．Her skin turned bright red. |
| A．She obtains much strength. |
| B．She realizes her full potential. |
| C．She can fix everything confidently. |
| D．She finds a new purpose in life. |
【推荐3】Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.
We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.
I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.
I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.
I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity(囚禁) my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.
The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.
Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”
Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.
1. Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?| A．He had just got a new cage. | B．He liked its beautiful feather. |
| C．He wanted it to sing for him. | D．He wanted a pet for a companion. |
| A．was frightened to death | B．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it |
| C．refused to eat anything | D．drank the poisonous water by mistake |
| A．a religious person | B．a kind person |
| C．a schoolmaster | D．an expert in birds |
| A．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures. |
| B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long. |
| C．You should keep the birds from their mother. |
| D．Be careful about food you give to baby birds. |
