My wife Hannah, and I don’t usually keep houseplants. Anything in pots gets either over watered or under watered. But after my diagnosis (诊断) with a brain cancer, I loved the idea of having something new and green around.
My friend Mitch gave me what he said was a lucky bamboo plant in a deep-green pot. I told Hannah I wanted to care for the plant myself. The cancer limited my ability to walk, and the treatment made it hard for me to accomplish everyday tasks. Tending to the plant gave me a sense of accomplishment at a time when I sometimes felt useless. Over the next few months, I recovered from an operation. Even after I returned to work, I continued to care for the plant. Soon, it had nearly doubled in height and its leaves were shiny and lush (茂盛). Both the tree and I were thriving.
Then, surprisingly, it began to show signs of stress. I increased my watering, then decreased it. I fed it commercial plant food. No matter what I did, the leaves kept browning and dropping to the floor. I grew more and more frustrated. “I can’t even care for a simple plant!” I yelled. “I’m failing!” Hannah reminded me that we’d seen houseplants die before. She asked me why I was getting so worked up about this particular one. “If my lucky bamboo dies,” I blurted out (脱口而出), “I might die too!” Now that the tree was struggling, I felt increasingly fearful. Its browning leaves, I worried, might signal the recurrence of my brain cancer.
Sunk in thought, I realized I had wrongly connected my careful nurturing of the plant—something over which I had at least some control—with my own survival—something over which I had no control. As my anxiety lessened, I began to learn online guides to help me figure out how to care for my plant. Following the instructions, I transplanted the tree to a larger pot, untangling its roots to give it room to grow. When it was back in the sunny window, we both began to thrive again.
1. What can we learn about the bamboo plant?| A．It was Hannah that cared for the bamboo. |
| B．The writer showed no interest in the bamboo. |
| C．The bamboo gave the writer a sense of accomplishment. |
| D．The leaves of bamboo kept dropping to the floor because of lack of water. |
| A．harmful | B．fast-growing | C．scared | D．deadly |
| A．The plant was a gift from his best friend. |
| B．He didn’t want to see the plant die like before. |
| C．The plant had become a symbol of his own threatening health. |
| D．His wife did not understand his special feelings for this plant. |
| A．My lucky bamboo | B．My wife and bamboo |
| C．The benefits of keeping bamboo | D．The way to keep bamboo |
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【推荐1】Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were working in their New Zealand garden in late August. They were removing unwanted plants when they found something strange. After a little digging, Colin discovered there was a very large potato growing in his garden. And they never planted potatoes!
“We couldn’t believe it, ” Donna said. “It was just huge.” The couple worked the potato out of the soil and brought it to a scale. It weighed almost 8 kilograms.
The potato may be the largest ever recorded. In 2011, a large potato from Great Britain weighed just under 5 kilograms. The New Zealand potato, now named Doug, could break the record. The Craig-Browns asked Guinness (吉尼斯) to recognize their potato as the largest ever. They are waiting to hear from the organization.
The potato has become famous in the town of Hamilton, Colin took Doug on walks round the neighborhood, “We put a hat on him. We put him on Facebook, taking him for a walk, giving him some sunshine,” Colin said. “It’s all a bit of fun.”
Colin said he does not have any special gardening methods to pass on. Normally, he and his wife fertilize (施肥) their garden with waste from cows and dried grasses. The Craig-Browns were growing cucumbers (黄瓜) in that part of the garden, so they didn’t expect there was a potato. It may have been growing for two years or more.
The potato is getting a little old now, two months after it was taken from the ground.
Right now, it is in the freezer.
1. How did the couple feel when they found the potato?| A．Satisfied. | B．Surprised. | C．Thankful. | D．Hopeful. |
| A．A tool. | B．A plant. | C．An animal. | D．A person. |
| A．Because it won’t go bad easily. |
| B．Because it is an unexpected visitor. |
| C．Because it may be two years old at least. |
| D．Because it may break the Guinness record. |
| A．Two skilful gardeners. | B．A potato on Facebook. |
| C．The possible largest potato. | D．A special gardening method. |
【推荐2】The Legend (传说) of Kung Fu
According to a legend, in the fifth century, an Indian master taught some monks at the Shaolin Temple a series of exercises, or forms, inspired by the movement of animals. These forms became the basis of the style of fighting known as Kung Fu. Over 16 centuries, the monks have used Kung Fu for self-defense and in war. With it, they have won many battles against their enemies.
In Dengfeng today, ten kilometers from the Shaolin Temple, there are over 60 martial arts (武术) schools with more than 50,000 students. Students come to the schools for a variety of reasons. Some hope to become movie stars. Others come to learn skills that will ensure good jobs in the military or police force. A few are sent by their parents to learn self-control and hard work.
Master Hu Zhengsheng teaches at a small school in Dengfeng. Recently, he was offered an important role in a Kung Fu movie. It could have been good publicity for his school. However, he did not accept. He doesn't agree with how Kung Fu is often shown in movies. He feels they show too much violence.
Unlike many large schools, which teach acrobatics (特技) and kickboxing, Hu teaches his students traditional Kung Fu forms. He teaches them the way his master — a Shaolin legend taught him. But attracting new students to this style of Kung Fu has become a problem. Hu is afraid his art will soon die out. He has to remind his students that Kung Fu was designed for fighting, not to entertain.
Hu’s students have little. They sleep in unheated rooms and train outside no matter what the temperature. They hit trees with their bare hands and take turns sitting on each other’s shoulders to build leg strength. Why such hardship? To master Kung Fu, they must learn respect, and how to “eat bitterness”, a Mandarin (普通话) expression meaning “to endure suffering”. The life of a Shaolin master, Hu teaches, is not easy or attractive.
Master Hu is in a difficult position. For old traditions to survive, the young must learn. Gradually, he had begun offering a few courses in kickboxing and the acrobatic Kung Fu forms, hoping to attract new students. Then, maybe, he’ll be able to convince them to learn Shaolin Kung Fu the traditional way.
1. What is true about Kung Fu?| A．It’s over 17 centuries old. |
| B．It was traditionally used for fighting. |
| C．It was introduced to China from Thailand. |
| D．It was originally designed to entertain people. |
| A．To show why Hu teaches acrobatics and kickboxing. |
| B．To convince people that they can be rich and famous. |
| C．To explain the challenges traditional Kung Fu schools face. |
| D．To show how Hu’s ideas about Kung Fu are different from other teachers. |
| A．stop the suffering | B．make someone suffer |
| C．survive the suffering | D．make the suffering worse |
| A．He is a Kung Fu student learning kickboxing. |
| B．He is a Kung Fu master preserving old traditions. |
| C．He is the man who introduced Kung Fu to China. |
| D．He is a famous actor in an exciting Kung Fu movie. |
【推荐3】Dawn Loggins of Lawndale, N.C. is on her way to Harvard, one of the eight worldfamous universities in the eastern US.Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes.This girl created her own future.
The teen was abandoned by her family last summer, when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee.She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend’s sofas.
The school bus driver learned about Dawn’s situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family. Soon, Dawn had a job at Burns High School.She worked from 6 a. m.to 7：40 a. m.before the first school bell rang.She swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons, before diving into her studies in the evenings.
Dawn’s hard work paid off.She finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2, 110 on the SAT.
“There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up, ”the 18yearold said. “But it was never in me to give up, because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education.”
Even before Dawn’s family left her, she led a difficult life.Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food. Dawn “studied by candlelight” because her parents couldn’t afford to pay the electricity bill(电费).
Dawn has now reconnected with her family.They are proud of her accomplishments(成就)and are attending her high school graduation.
1. Why didn’t Dawn give up her studies?| A．To reconnect with her family. |
| B．To thank those who had helped her. |
| C．To get an education to be successful. |
| D．To realize her dream of going to Harvard. |
| A．Her teachers. | B．Her neighbors. |
| C．A Tiger Mom. | D．A school bus driver. |
| A．Open-minded. | B．Good-natured. |
| C．Strong-willed. | D．Warm-hearted |
| A．Another Harvard girl |
| B．A girl in candlelight |
| C．From homeless to Harvard |
| D．The role of Tiger Moms |
【推荐1】My family first moved to Colorado 22 years ago. Los Angeles was too expensive and it was difficult to find well-paying jobs and affordable housing. Colorado became our next dream place. Settling into a small town in the Front Range, my parents found hard jobs.
Growing up in this small town, I remember my parents working hard to get past the language barrier. My mom, especially, tried her best to ensure she knew all that she needed to know about like my parent-teacher meetings and extracurricular (课外的) activities. One of those extracurricular activities that I signed up for was football. At that age, football was cool and all, but I was more into playing Pokémon and other video games. Football didn’t draw me in.
Big football tournaments (联赛) would come around like the World Cup, the Copa América and the Gold Cup, and the Mexican National Team would play in these tournaments. I would sit there in our living room and unmindfully watch the games while my parents would go crazy with enthusiasm ( 热情). I would sit there and play my game. My dad would look over and tell me that I should be paying attention carefully to the game and that I should care more about whether Mexico would win the match than my video games.
Both of my parents’ workspaces were crowded (占满的) with other workers. My mom worked with people from all over Latin America. Everyone’s topic of choice at work would always turn to how their national football team was doing. It was a way to show pride in the countries where they had grown up.
I grew up loving football more and more. The more I learned about my Mexican roots (根), the more I tried to find ways to express pride in them in the United States.1. Why did the author’s family move to Colorado?
| A．To make a better life. |
| B．To attend more activities. |
| C．To follow their football dream. |
| D．To receive a better education. |
| A．It was amazing. | B．It was important. |
| C．It was uninteresting. | D．It was difficult. |
| A．Remind the author to watch them carefully. |
| B．Play video games with the author. |
| C．Learn English in their living room. |
| D．Guess who would be the winner. |
| A．build a closer friendship |
| B．express their homesickness |
| C．share a common topic |
| D．show their pride in their motherlands |
【推荐2】I had only swum in open water a few times, and always in gentle lakes, so I wasn’t prepared for how rough Lake Windermere appeared on a cold day.
Most of the people taking part were doing a one-mile race, and 10 races were planned over the weekend. There seemed to be a mix of open-water enthusiasts (爱好者) alongside complete beginners. The aim of the swims is to get as many people as possible completing their own challenge.
I had chosen the third one-mile race of the day. There were over 600 people in my race. We were taken through a children’s padding (戏水) pool-sized part of the lake, where we moved in to feel how cold the water was. “Not too bad” was everyone’s thought! Then we headed out towards the middle of the lake.
We’d been warned that the first 100 meters would be really rough. However, somewhere near the 750m mark I was still waiting for the calm; it felt more like swimming in the sea than a lake. I tried to focus on my breathing and technique, and just keep going. As I was near the 400m-to-go mark, my lower right leg became painful. I kept swimming, trying to get through the pain, but it didn’t work. I began to feel the entire leg tight and painful. I didn’t want to stop, so I bent my right knee and just kicked with the left leg.
Finally I saw the finishing post (杆), and just concentrated on getting there — still one-legged. My finishing time was 38 minutes 25 seconds but that didn’t matter — everyone felt a sense of achievement (成就感), whatever their time. I’m hooked, and want to give it another go. I’ve already signed up for my next open-water swim.
1. We can learn that before the race, the writer_________________.| A．was scared of the low temperature of the day. |
| B．had determined to finish his/her own challenge |
| C．was upset that so many people were in his/her race |
| D．had known little about how to swim in gentle water |
| A．the race would cause breathing problems |
| B．it was really necessary to prepare for tough swims |
| C．the race became harder than the writer had expected |
| D．it would have been easier if he/she had taken others’ advice |
| A．Her confidence in her own ability. |
| B．Her pride in having swum so quickly. |
| C．Her eagerness to repeat the experience. |
| D．Her surprise at having managed to finish. |
Things were very bad that particular winter. Then a letter came from where her sewing machine was bought, saying that they would have to pick up her machine the next day unless payments were brought up to date. I remember when she read the letter I became frightened; I could picture us starving to death and all sorts of things that could come to a child‘s mind. My mother did not appear to be worried, however, and seemed to be quite calm about the matter. I, on the other hand, cried myself to sleep, wondering what would become of our family. Mother said God would not disappoint her, that he never had. I couldn‘t see how God was going to help us keep this old sewing machine.
The day when the men came for our machine arrived. There was a knock at the kitchen door. I was frightened as a child would be, for I was sure it was those men who would take away our sewing machine. Instead, a nicely dressed man stood at our door with a darling baby in his arms.
He asked my mother if she was Mrs. Hill. When she said she was, he said, "I‘m in trouble this morning and you have been recommended by the druggist and grocer down the street as an honest and wonderful woman. My wife was rushed to the hospital this morning, and since we have no relatives here, and I must open my dentist office, I have nowhere to leave my baby. Could you possibly take care of her for a few days?" He continued, "I will pay you in advance." With this he took out ten dollars and gave it to my mother.
Mother said, "Yes, yes, I will be glad to do so," and took the baby from his arms. When the man left, my mother turned to me with tears streaming down a face that looked as though a light was shining on it. She said, "I knew God would never let them take away my machine."
1. The turning point in the story may refer to ______.
| A．a letter to the family |
| B．the man’s coming for help |
| C．the man’s wife being rushed to the hospital |
| D．the nicely dressed man’s trouble |
| A．The people around him recommended the mother to him. |
| B．He was familiar with the mother. |
| C．The mother had sewn for him. |
| D．The mother was hired by the man. |
| A．his wife stayed in hospital |
| B．he was confused when in trouble |
| C．he had few men to turn to for help |
| D．he was a dentist |
| A．God can solve all the problem. |
| B．The sewing machine is my only support. |
| C．Never give up when in trouble. |
| D．Everybody should believe in God. |
