I applied to be a first-grade teacher’s assistant. The job paid the lowest wage, and I could hardly afford to pay my rent. I had no desire to go into education, so I didn’t know why I was attracted to this position. Working with children was not my motivation at that time. But later I found that it was all I wanted to do.
There was a student, Ashley, in my class who was very creative and interested in writ-ing. I helped Ashley write her first short story. Ashley and her mother Shirin walked into our classroom every morning. Shirin often volunteered to work in our classroom and would always give me a hug. She asked me questions about her daughter and my writing. At that time, I was working on a new romantic comedy script, and Shirin gave positive comments when I told her the plot.“I can’t wait to see this in the theater!” My confidence increased. I would also exchange some ideas with her. We became very good friends. Shirin also showered me with gifts. For holidays or my birthday, she’d get me some nice gifts. She was always finding ways to wrap me in love and encouragement.
I had worked as a teacher’s assistant for three years. Then I decided to start teaching cre-ative writing. Shirin and I had stayed close, and she kept encouraging me. I was forever grateful that I became a teacher’s assistant and met Shirin. She appeared in my life at just the right time.
1. What did the author think of her job at first?| A．Amazing. | B．Educational. | C．Unsatisfied. | D．Ordinary. |
| A．Shirin was very good at writing plays. |
| B．The author was always ready to help others in life. |
| C．The author’s play was successfully adapted into a film. |
| D．The encouragement from Shirin made the author move on. |
| A．Responsible. | B．Kind. | C．Ambitious. | D．Humorous. |
| A．Ups and downs make one strong. | B．Family relationship influences children. |
| C．Writing comes from life and enriches heart. | D．Encouragement can change one’s attitude to life. |
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【推荐1】Isaac Newton is one of the greatest geniuses in history, though in his younger years, nobody would have guessed that he would grow up to become one of the world’s most brilliant minds.
He was born prematurely (早产) and quite small. He hated his step family. He went to a school that did not teach mathematics, and then later he was removed. His mother was widowed twice. She urged him to become a farmer, and he hated that too. He was a working student in college, doing odd jobs to pay for his education. And he graduated from Cambridge without honors.
He didn’t look outstanding at all, and neither was his story. But his mind saw more complex, and fascinating stories in the concepts of mathematics and physics. His plain life did not bother him at all.
Though he went through his Cambridge years with barely any honors, the inside of his study was found to have some of the most groundbreaking discoveries in physics and mathematics. He went on to discover many of his famous theories, including the generalized binomial theorem, power series, and infinite sums. He also observed the way light is refracted ( 折 射 ) by lenses and developed his own Newtonian telescope. Through his discovery of the Laws of Universal Gravitation and Laws of Motion, the field of physics was forever transformed.
If there was anything constant about the life of Isaac Newton, it wasn’t merely that his brain was large，but that it was continuously filled with wonder. Isaac Newton’s life was brilliant, not because of his wondrous adventures, but because he saw wonder in everything- from the minute details of mathematical philosophy, to how the world works. Truly, there is nothing boring or ordinary about a mind that seeks adventure in all things.
1. Which word can describe Issac Newton as a young man?| A．Ordinary. | B．Diligent. | C．Happy. | D．Intelligent. |
| A．His life experience was extraordinary. | B．He had a gift for math and physics. |
| C．He was good at making up stories. | D．He didn’t care about his grades at school. |
| A．Newton’s life was full of adventures. |
| B．Nothing Is impossible to a willing heart. |
| C．A brain good at discovery is never boring. |
| D．Newton had a brain larger than any other’s. |
| A．The Achievements of Isaac Newton |
| B．The Brilliant Life of Isaac Newton |
| C．Interest Is the Best Secret of Success |
| D．Hard Work Makes up for Lack of Intelligence |
A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.
I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was “not athletic”.
The idea that I was “not athletic” stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind.A test of wills!
The night before my marathon, I dreamed that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.
Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces (鞋带) became untied.So I stopped to readjust.Not the start I wanted!
At mile 3, I passed a sign: “GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!”
By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly.Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.
By mile 21, I was starving!
As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign.She is my biggest fan.She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m.or questioned my expenses on running.
I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished!And I got a medal.In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.
Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels (标签), I can now call myself a “marathon winner”.
1. How was the author’s first marathon?| A．He made it. |
| B．He quit halfway. |
| C．He got the first prize. |
| D．He walked to the end. |
| A．A man owes his success to his family support. |
| B．A winner is one with a great effort of will. |
| C．Failure is the mother of success. |
| D．One is never too old to learn. |
【推荐3】A short Chinese man seems to be the tallest in the world right now. Jack Ma (Ma Yun), 50, is executive chairman of a business — to — business online platform. On September 19, his company went public on the New York Stock Exchange, raising $ 25 billion through an IPO, the biggest in history. Ma, a former English teacher, has become the richest man in China.
Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Ma grew up as a happy kid. In 1976, at the age of 12, he wanted to learn English. Every morning, he awoke at 5 am, cycled 40 minutes to a hotel near the West Lake where he could chat to foreign tourists. He did it for nine years, rain or shine. The experience made him a fluent English speaker and also opened his eyes to the wider world.
In a 1995 trip to the US, Ma was showed the Internet for the first time. He searched the word “Beer", and found that there was nothing in there about China. Seeing the chance, Ma returned to China and set up a website without even knowing much about computers.
Four years later, Ma and his friends founded a company in Hangzhou, He believed in the Internet business potential when few other Chinese did. People called him “Crazy Jack Ma". But 15 years later, his company has developed into the world's largest e-commerce company, owning two popular shopping websites. It makes more profit online than two biggest foreign shopping websites combined.
No one thinks he's mad now. Ma's favorite line has been printed on the souvenir T-shirts. It reads: "Everybody should have a dream. What if that dream comes true? ”
1. What does the first sentence in Paragraph I mean?| A．Ma is the richest man in China now. |
| B．Ma has grown taller than ever before. |
| C．Ma's company IPO is the biggest in history. |
| D．Ma is executive chairman of an online platform. |
| A．He cycled to learn from his teacher. |
| B．He chatted with foreigners every day. |
| C．He got up early to read English. |
| D．He worked in a hotel near West Lake. |
| A．12. | B．19. |
| C．23. | D．31. |
| A．Few Chinese did Internet Business then. |
| B．Ma was crazy about the Internet. |
| C．He made his company a great one. |
| D．He was ever a crazy shopper. |
【推荐1】My son just turned 14 and does not have a smartphone. When he graduated from Grade 8, he was the only kid in his class without one. He asks for a phone now that he’s going to high school. I say no, he asks why, I explain, but he pushes back.
“You can choose to do things differently when you’re a parent,” I told him. But sometimes, I wonder if I’m being too stubborn or unfair.
The more I research, the more confident I feel in my decision. Many studies link the current mental health crisis among adolescents to fundamental changes in how they socialize, namely, the shift from in-person to online interaction.
But other mothers challenge my view. “He must feel so left out!” Then there are the parents who tell me sadly that they wish they had delayed their teenager’s phone ownership longer than they did. They urge me to hold out.
If teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 are truly spending an average of 8 hours 39 minutes per day on their devices, as stated in a survey conducted by Common Sense Media, then what are they not doing? Kids absorbed in their devices are missing out on real life, and that strikes me as really sad.
I want my son to have a childhood he feels satisfied with and proud of. I want it to be full of adventures, imaginative play and physical challenges which he must sort out himself without asking me for help. The easiest and simplest way to achieve these goals is to delay giving him a smartphone.
Some think my son is missing out or falling behind, but he is not. He does well in school and extra-curricular activities, hangs out with his friends in person, and moves independently around our small town. He promises he’ll give his own 14-year-old a phone someday, and I tell him that’s fine. But recently, he admitted that he missed the beautiful scenery on a drive to a nearby mountain because he had been so absorbed in his friend’s iPad. If that is his version of admitting I’m right, I’ll take it.
1. What is the son’s reaction to his mother’s practice?| A．Understanding. | B．Indifferent. | C．Resistant. | D．Concerned. |
| A．Her son’s online safety. | B．Her son’s mental growth. |
| C．Her son’s reduced physical activities. | D．Her son’s poor academic performance. |
| A．Team spirit. | B．Leadership. | C．Independence. | D．Critical thinking. |
| A．He is falling behind academically. |
| B．He is easily influenced by his friends. |
| C．He has given up his desire for a smartphone. |
| D．He has realized the problems of much screen time. |
【推荐2】The scars that Pat Pribble carried through life were formed nearly 50 years ago, caused by fellow students, who picked on him because he was different.
Pat’s parents had held him back in the fourth grade, so he ended up in the same class as his younger brother, Leo. Forever the oldest kid in the class, Pat tried to fit in. But he was always just not good enough for this; just not smart enough for that. Pat Pribble was a target. Now 65, he lives in a studio apartment with his dog, getting by on Social Security. From a distance, with his long gray hair and beard, Pat appears tough, the kind of man you might cross the street to avoid.
Last November, as Carey, one of the classmates, planned for the 45th reunion-postponed a year because of the pandemic-he decided to personally invite Pat, who had never been there before. “Even after all these years,” Carey says, “the mind remembers a voice. It was Pat.” With a bit of research, he called Pat and learned that Pat had been putting money aside each week to buy a bus ticket to visit Leo since he had terminal brain cancer with only months to live.
“Never underestimate people,” said Leo in his last moment of life. “We’re all different now than when we were kids.” His former classmates have kept their promise that after he was gone, they wouldn’t lose track of Pat. And they just did. Every week, one or more of them call Pat to see how he’s doing and even send him some “walking around money”.
Healing wounds from the past has allowed Pat to look to the future. “I’ll be at the next reunion,” he says. “These guys . . .” He pauses, stifling tears. “Let’s just say that everyone needs people like these guys in their lives.”
1. What do we know about Pat Pribble from the first two paragraphs?| A．A man who wore scars both mentally and physically. |
| B．A boy who was unique and welcomed in school. |
| C．A person who had no awareness of cleanness. |
| D．A student who felt lower and unconfident. |
| A．To show off his present happy life. |
| B．To let more people participate in the reunion. |
| C．To relieve his guilt towards Pat in school days. |
| D．To call on his classmates to donate money to Pat. |
| A．Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. | B．Life is a process of personal growth. |
| C．Never judge a person by his appearance. | D．Scars can eventually be cured completely. |
| A．With Open Arms, at Last | B．In Different Ways, in Fact |
| C．Being Unforgettable, School Life | D．Looking to the Future, These Guys |
【推荐3】A ten-year-old boy from Howell Michigan is being praised as a hero thanks to his persistence(坚持) that led to saving the life of an elderly neighbor. The event happened late in an evening when Danny DiPietro was being driven home from football practice by his mom.
That’s when the young boy noticed an open garage(车库) and a figure(身影) that he believed was a dog outside an apartment building near his house. Given the freezing cold weather, the young boy got a feeling that something was not right. But instead of dismissing it like most kids his age would have, he insisted that his mother, Dawn, find out what was going on. Dawn tried to make Danny believe that no one would leave a dog out in such cold weather, but he refused to take no for an answer.
Dawn finally gave in and decided to drive to the area with the family dog and see if there was any truth to Danny’s hunch(直觉). Sure enough, as she got closer to the apartment building, she noticed a garage that was wide open and someone waving madly for help. Upon getting there, she realized that it was not a dog the young boy had seen, but Kathleen St. Onge. The 80-year-old had fallen down on some ice in her garage and had been lying there for two hours, unable to get up.
Dawn rushed home to get her husband to help and called 911. The two then returned with some blankets to cover Ms. St. Onge, while they waited for the ambulance(救护车) to arrive. Though still in hospital, the elderly woman is recovering well and forever grateful to Danny, for following up on his hunch!
1. When seeing a figure in an open garage, Danny ________.| A．recognized it was an old man | B．thought it was a homeless cat |
| C．realized something was wrong | D．believed it was nothing important |
| A．Brave and patient. | B．Friendly and honest. |
| C．Considerate and optimistic. | D．Persistent and warm-hearted. |
| A．The importance of age |
| B．Be ready to help save the elderly |
| C．Unknown hero brings love and hope |
| D．10-year-old saves elderly neighbor’s life |
