【推荐2】“I say, I’m pleased to see you,” said the little man standing by the letter-box.
“Oh, hello,” I said, remembering he was a new neighbor. “Simpson, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right.” He seemed quite pleased by my ready recognition.
“I wonder if you could lend me some money,” he continued. “My wife gave me a letter to post, and I’ve just noticed it isn’t stamped.”
“yes, they never are,” I said, sympathetically（同情地）.
“It must go tonight—it really must! I’d get stamps out of the machine,” explained Simpson,” Only I find I have no small change about me.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I haven’t either,” I said.
“Oh, dear, dear,” he said.
“Yes, well,” I said, intending to move off. But he looked so unhappy standing there with the blue unstamped envelope that I really hadn’t the heart to desert him.
So I took him to my house and found some pennies and gave them to him, who, in the most business like way, made a note of the loan in his pocket-book, and left. But soon he turned up again.
“I’m sorry I am a stranger round here and —well, I’m rather lost…”
It took me several minutes to explain to him where the post office was. In the end I felt as lost as Simpson and had to accompany him to the post office, but, only to find the automatic stamp-machine was empty!
“Oh!” Simpson was so desperate that he dropped the letter on the ground and when he picked it up there was a large black spot on its face.
“Dear me,” he said, “My wife told me to post it tonight. I’d better post it, if you know what I mean.”
I did know. Or, at least, I knew Mrs Simpson.
Then I got a good idea, “Post the letter unstamped—let the other man pay double postage on it in the morning. ” And he had to agree.
Finishing off our job, I took him home.
“I’m so grateful to you, really,” he said when we reached his home. “That letter—it’s only an invitation to dinner to Mr… Dear me!”
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just something I’ve remembered.”
“What?”
But he didn’t tell me. He just opened his eyes and his mouth at me like a wounded gold- fish, murmured（低声说话）a “Good-night”, and went inside.
All the way home I was wondering what it was that he had remembered.
But I stopped wondering the next morning, when I had to pay the postman double postage for a blue envelope with a large black spot on its face.
1. Simpson was very happy when the writer greeted him because ____.

A．they were good friends

B．he had a very important letter to post

C．he saw somebody he could turn to at last

D．he didn’t expect the writer to recognize him instantly

2. In the writer’s view,   ____.

A．the consequence would be very severe if Simpson didn’t obey his wife

B．wives never gave their husbands money to post a letter

C．it bothered him to lead Simpson to the post office

D．he was as foolish as Simpson

3. What did Simpson suddenly remember when they got his home?

A．His wife was waiting for him to return.

B．The letter was only an invitation to dinner.

C．The letter was just addressed to the writer.

D．It’s unfair for the other man to pay for the letter.

4. How would the writer describe Simpson?

A．Stupid and careless.	B．Careless but warm-hearted.
C．Optimistic and kind.	D．Cautious but stubborn.

【推荐3】It was freezing winter when Dad told me that he found a delicate small bag in the snow on his way out of a doctor’s appointment. “It was filled with seeds, so I planted them in pots in the living room window that gets such great light.” Dad was excited to have a planting project in the winter. He liked tending his garden plot , which was the size of a small farm.

I now lived far away from Dad, but he reported in his daily phone calls, “These plants seem to double in size overnight. It’s only been a few weeks, and they are almost touching the ceiling.” Since Dad had green fingers, I wasn’t surprised about that. I couldn’t imagine what plant would do so well. I knew photos would not come soon because Dad had to use up the film in his camera and then developed the pictures.

During one call, Dad said, “Today at work, one of my co-workers was wearing a T-shirt with a screen-printed picture of the same leaf as my mysterious houseplants. I told him that I had those same herbs, which were growing like weeds, and I had to get rid of them.” Dad continued, “He eagerly took them off my hands, and now I can see out the window again.”

This awakened my curiosity, and I decided to do some research. In those days, that meant going to the library’s reference section. I did some reading and photocopied some articles. I mailed them to my father.

Dad called, “I just couldn’t believe what I read in the papers you sent. Those pictures are exactly what my plants looked like. No wonder my co-worker was so willing to take them.”

We both laughed till we cried when we realized my father had just raised a harvest of precious Chinese herbs used to ease pain.

1. Why did Dad plant the seeds?

A．Because it was the doctor’s advice.

B．Because he had a small farm at home.

C．Because it satisfied his eagerness for gardening in winter.

D．Because the seeds would bring him rich rewards.

2. What does the underlined word “that” mean in paragraph 2?

A．The type of the plant.	B．The herbs’ growing quickly.
C．Dad’s efforts to tend the seeds.	D．A planting project in the winter.

3. What can be inferred about the co-worker?

A．He had little interest in the plants.	B．He recognized the value of the plants.
C．He desired to learn from the author’s dad.	D．He wanted to show his knowledge about plants.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．A precious Chinese herb	B．Window scenery
C．Helpful co-worker	D．An Innocent gardener

【推荐1】Lucio Arreola is 50 years old, the father of three daughters and a bank manager in Puerto Rico. He is going to have a surprising Father’s Day this year. He finds just about every day surprising now. Arreola has a new heart, or at least, new to him. On April 20, doctors transplanted (移植) the heart of a dead 25-year-old man into him. Although he may never know the man’s identity, he and his family will always be grateful to him.

Arreola was told he had a heart muscle disease 15 years ago that weakened his breathing and circulation, so he went on a lot of medications. His wife and daughters worried about his health, while he worried about their happiness.

Lucio Arreola has been recovering from his heart transplant surgery at Houston Methodist over the past two months. “One day up, one day down,” he said. “Some days dark, some light. But what happens is that when the sun is out, you really feel it. Every breath is sweet. You see the trees and people. You hear your daughters laugh, and it’s like birds singing. You tell yourself, ‘There is no time in life for anything but love.’”

Liz Laguaite, a hospital music therapist, told Arreola and his family, “Why don’t you try to write a song together about what you’ve been through and what you’ve learned?” They decided to try. Lucio Arreola worried that illness might make his daughters see him as a delicate man. But instead of frailty, they mostly saw his courage to go on. And he said their love was like his own powerful heart muscle that gave him faith, hope and courage.

“My weak heart,” he said, “helped make them strong.”

Lucio Arreola said he had learned that human hearts were delicate. But a family’s love was enduring. The Arreolas recorded the song they created while Lucio recovered. The song begins with the strong beat of a father’s loving heart.

1. Why does Arreola find every day surprising?

A．He has a new heart now.	B．He gets promoted at work.
C．He loses his 25-year-old son.	D．He has a new and lovable family.

2. What does Arreola realize at sunrise?

A．Life is full of ups and downs.	B．His daughters have a gift for music.
C．Love is the only thing for life.	D．Light can drive away darkness.

3. What does the underlined word “frailty” in paragraph 4 mean’?

A．Failure.

B．Weakness.

C．Caution.

D．Hesitation.

4. What did Arreola’s daughters see from their dad?

A．The courage to live on.	B．The suffering of a patient.
C．The importance of exercise.	D．The concern of a kind heart.

【推荐3】Michael Evans was standing in line at the Wayne County Treasurer's Office in Detroit last August, waiting to pay his taxes when he heard a disturbing sound ahead of him. The elderly woman at the window was crying and so was the cashier helping her. Then Evans learned why: He heard the cashier inform the woman that her house was headed for auction(拍卖). He also heard the woman tell the cashier that her daughter had recently died.

Evans, a businessman who had just buried his father, couldn't stomach the idea of this woman losing her home right after losing her child. He approached the window. "I don't mean to cut in," he said to the cashier, "but if you can get her house back, I'll pay for her taxes." The amount due: $ 5, 000.

The two women were shocked. Their despair turned to disbelief. The cashier left for a moment to confirm the amount and that it was all right for Evans to pay it. Evans went straight to the bank and came right back with the money. But when he returned to the treasurer's office, he asked someone else waiting in line to hand the $ 5, 000 check to the cashier. Evans was trying to slip away quietly. "I didn't want this attention." he explains.

He is the boss of M2E Investments. The firm owns a variety of businesses, from restaurants to a portable restroom company. His Premium Driving School gives driving lessons to teenagers, often for free. In 2015, when he saw a story on the news about a local boy with an incurable bone disease, Evans held a fund-raiser at his Detroit Shrimp & Fish restaurant to help pay for the boy's wheelchair and van. He also donated much money to the boy's family.

1. Why did the elderly woman cry?

A．Her daughter sold her house.	B．The cashier treated her rudely.
C．Her father passed away recently.	D．She was going to lose her house.

2. What is the meaning of the underlined word "stomach" in paragraph 2?

A．Remember.	B．Forget.
C．Tolerate.	D．Ignore.

3. Why did Evans let another man give the money to the cashier?

A．To free himself of standing in line.

B．To avoid being paid attention to.

C．To spare time for his own business.

D．To give others a chance to be praised.

4. Which of the words can be used to describe Evans?

A．Rich and generous.	B．Determined and creative.
C．Considerate and brave.	D．Kind and confident.