A quick-thinking Facebook post has made this grandfathers upcoming 98th birthday one he’ll remember forever.
Ever since Alfred Birch’s wife passed away over a decade ago, he’s lived with his daughter and granddaughter. The incredibly close family, who come from Manchester-by the-Sea in Massachusetts, were shocked when their beloved Alfred was admitted to hospital with heart failure earlier this month.
Fearful he might not make it to his 98th birthday on March 28, his family decided to post a photo of Alfred in his hospital bed holding a sign which read: “My daughter does not think I can get 98 likes for being 98 years old. Can we prove her wrong?”
Well, the Internet took on the challenge with enthusiasm and the inspiring image has well and truly exceeded the family’s expectations. At present, the photo has 27,000 likes and has been shared over 30,000 times.
“It just blew my mind. I told my grandfather and I told him he made it all around the world and he goes,’Are you kidding me!?’” Alfred’s granddaughter Julia Geswell explained to The Huffington Post.
“We kind of did it to give him something to look forward to, put a smile on his face and get him out of that dull hospital feel. ”
And it looks like the exciting turn of events is just what the doctor ordered! Alfred has since left hospital and is back in the comfort of his own home.
“It’s really boosted his spirits. He’s getting a kick out of it,” Julia added.
Since the photo went viral, Alfred has left hospital and is looking forward to celebrating his 98th birthday at the end of this month.
1. Why did the family post the photo on the Internet ?| A．To pray for their beloved Alfred. |
| B．To inspire Alfred to survive his 98th birthday. |
| C．To show they were an incredibly close family. |
| D．To prove Alfred could make it to his 98th birthday. |
| A．They totally ignored it. | B．They figured it was amusing. |
| C．They showed great passion. | D．They thought it was challenging. |
| A．Confused. | B．Ashamed. | C．Disappointed. | D．Surprised. |
| A．A sick grandfather creates a cure wonder. |
| B．A sick grandfather settles a family conflict. |
| C．Sweet birthday post for a sick grandfather goes viral. |
| D．Sweet birthday post turns out to be what the doctor ordered. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house chatting with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window edge.
The father asked his son, “What is that?”
The son replied, “That is a crow.”
After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”
The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It’s a crow.”
After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?”
This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow, a crow.”
After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”
This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘IT IS A CROW.’ Are you unable to understand this?”
A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.
“Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t feel angry at all, but instead felt affection for my son”.
If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will respect and take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they behave.”
1. In what tone did the son said to his father “It’s a crow, a crow, a crow.”?| A．Impatient. | B．Excited. | C．Hurried. | D．Surprised. |
| A．eighty | B．three | C．thirty-eight | D．forty-five |
| A．A crow | B．Father’s love | C．An old dairy | D．An old man |
Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a "boy". Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males send them off to bed at night.
Boys are found everywhere--on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocolate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.
When you are busy, a boy is a trouble-maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature destroying the world and himself with it.
A boy is a mixture--he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker (鞭炮), but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs on each hand.
He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.
Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half-eaten apple, a three-foot rope, six cents and some unknown things.
A boy is a magical creature--he is your headache but when you come home at night with only destroyed pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, "Hi, Dad!"
1. The whole passage is in a tone of ________.| A．humor and affection | B．anger and disappointment |
| C．hope and expectation | D．confidence and imagination |
| A．He has altogether five fingers. | B．He is slow, foolish and clumsy. |
| C．He becomes clever and smart. | D．He cuts his hand with a knife. |
| A．ice cream | B．comic books |
| C．Saturday mornings | D．Sunday schools |
| A．He feels curious about their noise. |
| B．He is tired of these creatures. |
| C．He is amazed by their naughtiness. |
| D．He feels unsafe staying with them. |
I remember the moment — it truly hit me that your autism (自闭症) lasted forever. I had already mentally planned our trips up north with the boys. I was going to spend endless hours playing baseball with you — like Grandpa did with me.
When we said goodbye to kindergarten I knew it was real. I spent some time being sad. Now you are 8. You still have no words. We have never had one of those father-son moments I pictured when you were a baby. But I’m learning that’s OK. I still have unbelievable things to offer as your dad, even if they weren’t the things I originally expected.
You have taught me to be patient. You have taught me that it’s OK to be different and to be sad when life doesn’t go as planned. You have taught me that it is OK to talk about those feelings and fight for what is right. Stand up and say this is wrong, and encourage others to stand up for you and say the same.
My job on this earth is to create a world for you and other kids like you. Be the voice you don’t have, and build the kind of community which I want to see you grow up in. I used to shy a way from contacting people with disabilities or just not consider them. Before you were born, I was so caught up in my own world that I probably wouldn’t have even noticed. Now, I see things differently. I notice. You did that for me. And hope my example will do that for others.
Your mom and I have spent 8 years trying to find your voice. And honestly, we don’t know if we ever will. I promise you I will spend my life keeping you safe and making this world better for you.
1. To whom is the text written?| A．The author’s son. | B．The author’s wife. |
| C．The author’s father. | D．The author’s friend. |
| A．He is at a loss what to do to help Jack. | B．He is to blame for Jack’s present condition. |
| C．He has changed his attitude to the disabled. | D．He hasn’t accepted the reality up to now. |
| A．Ashamed. | B．Caring. |
| C．Regretful. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Science. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Sports. | D．Relationship. |
【推荐1】In any given week, about four dozen kids visit Dr. David Abramson’s preschool-like clinic at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. And while most of them are barely old enough to speak, because of Dr. Abramson and the groundbreaking medical procedure he has created for a rare and potentially deadly eye cancer called retinoblastoma, they can see.
In the past, if the cancer didn’t respond well to then-available treatments, survival required removing the cancerous eye. The parents, however, will often choose to let their children die with their eyes intact rather than live without them.
“This was a transformational change in our field,” says Dr. Abramson, who began using the technique in 2006. “Overnight, we went from taking out children’s eyes to not taking out children’s eyes.”
But there’s an aspect of the technique that Dr. Abramson doesn’t talk about much, even though it is as inspirational as the technique itself. He refused to patent it. Pursuing a patent, he feared, would have meant the technique would be kept secret for a long period of time while the paperwork was approved by the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office. In the meantime, untold numbers of children would have suffered and perhaps died.
Patent experts wouldn’t make a guess on exactly how much money Dr. Abramson left on the Table by not patenting his procedure. But the purpose of a medical procedure patent is that it allows a doctor to profit by teaching others to perform the procedure.
“I want people to know that when I do something, it’s from my scientific heart, not because I have any financial benefit,” he says. “And ultimately, our goal is to help children. Our driving force in this is not to make money. ”
1. What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Eyes. | B．Parents. |
| C．Children. | D．Treatments. |
| A．He feared that the technique might be kept secret forever. |
| B．He didn’t like the idea of teaching others about the technique. |
| C．The application process meant many sufferings and even deaths. |
| D．The application process would require too much money and time. |
| A．To introduce an eye cancer. |
| B．To give credit to Dr. Abramson. |
| C．To recommend an evolutionary cure. |
| D．To show the difficulty of a patent application. |
【推荐2】CHANGSHA-Drones (无人机) for agriculture have proved popular with farmers in China. "Drones are over 10 times more efficient (有效率的) than skilled manpower (人力) and they are cost-effective and environmentally friendly," said Li Liping, a major grain grower in the county-level city of Xiangxiang in Central China's Hunan province.
The 51-year-old farmer, who learned to fly the machine three years ago, said he no longer needed to walk through the mud and water in the fields to spray and fertilize since drones have replaced manual work. "It was so exciting to see the drone taking off," said Li as he recalled the first time he used the machine in the summer of 2018.
As the COVID-19 epidemic (流行病) wanes across China, farmers are encouraged by local governments to expand their planting areas and increase their production input (投入). The city of Xiangxiang, for example, is ready to see a rich summer harvest of early rice. Li has grown some 20 more hectares of early rice this year and expects to see a major rise in grain output with drones being a great help.
Xiao Jianliang, an owner of another major farmland in Xiangxiang, has also benefited greatly from the use of drones in agriculture. Xiao said he acquired his drone license in late 2017 after a 15-day intensive training program, and the skill of flying drones has brought him additional income as the machine improves the efficiency of sowing and crop-dusting (喷杀农药). Farmers like Li and Xiao are among a growing number of Chinese farmers who are introducing smarter and innovative ideas to increase their agricultural production.
They are skilled drone pilots, capable of designing the most efficient flight routes and heights, analyzing the flight path to fill the gap and calculating the precise amount of fertilizer and pesticide for the land.
“A revolution in agricultural production is taking place because of mechanization and intelligent intensive farming, especially in pioneering areas like Xiangxiang," said Li Xiangping, an agricultural expert in Hunan with over two decades of experience in farm management.
As the demand for the machine is predicted to rise in the coming years, farmers including Li and Xiao also expect more intelligent and economical drones equipped with longer battery life.
1. Why did Xiao Jianliang receive the training program?| A．To know the functions of flying drones. |
| B．To increase the agricultural production. |
| C．To get the skill of flying drones and a drone license. |
| D．To reduce the efficiency of sowing and crop-dusting. |
| A．Turn greater in size, number or importance. |
| B．Having finished and not going to continue. |
| C．Come near to somebody/something in distance or time. |
| D．Become gradually weaker, often so that it finally disappears. |
| A．The demand for the drone is uncertain. |
| B．The drone has some room for improvement. |
| C．It costs much to use the drone in agriculture. |
| D．Li and Xiao are rather satisfied with the drone. |
| A．Drones have replaced manual work |
| B．Drones give helping hand to farmers |
| C．Drones are more efficient than skilled manpower |
| D．Drones are cost-effective and environmentally friendly |
【推荐3】In India, the country with the world’s second-highest number of Covid-19 cases, some hospitals have started to use robots to connect patients with their loved ones, and assist healthcare workers.
Bangalore-based Invento Robotics has designed three robots to carry out tasks including cleaning surfaces, answering patients questions and enabling video consultations (咨询) with doctors.
Of the eight the company has so far used? the most popular model is Mitra. Using facial-recognition (面部识别) technology, the robot can remember the names and faces of patients it has contacted. Mitra can travel around a hospital independently, helping patients connect with family and doctors via its cameras and a video screen.
“Mitra can be the nurse’s or doctor’s assistant, take readings and vitals, remind them of medicines,” says Balaji Viswanathan, CEO of Invento Robotics.
He says the human-like robot interacts with patients and gains their trust. “It may sound funny but we are using robots to bring humanity (Aft) to hospitals,” he tells CNN Business.
Yatharth Hospital in the city of Noida, northern India? has deployed two Mitra robots --one at its entrance to screen patients and the other in the ICU (intensive care unit).
“Inside our ICU, Mitra helps patients connect with their families through video and gives the patient’s family a look inside,” hospital director Kapil Tyagi tells CNN Business.
“Patients get happy and positive whenever the robot visits them. They are often taking photos with Mitra,” he says.
Viswanathan says Invento uses “best in class security“ for video feeds between doctors, patients and their families. For in-depth telemedicine consultations? a booth is built around the robot to give patients privacy.
1. What does the underlined phrase “carry out” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Change. | B．Judge. | C．Perform. | D．Design. |
| A．Mitra is very funny. |
| B．Mitra is quite helpful. |
| C．Mitra can act like humans. |
| D．Mitra has the latest technology. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Lost. | C．Proud. | D．Worried. |
| A．How Can Robots Help Patients in India |
| B．Robots Are Welcomed by Hospitals in India |
| C．Robots Have Brought About Changes in India |
| D．Robots Join in the Fight Against Covid-19 in India |
