【推荐1】The sun was setting and the farm would be closing. I dressed our three daughters quickly as my husband started the van. Cutting down our own Christmas tree had been a family tradition. As our family grew, so did our excitement for going out to find the perfect tree.

As we walked through the rows of trees, my youngest daughter Kimberly shouted excitedly, “There it is, the perfect tree!” The other two agreed. My husband and I looked at each other puzzled. We were surprised the girls thought that straggly (凌乱的) little tree was perfect. Its branches were misshapen (畸形的) and the trunk was visible through the spots where there were no pine needles.

We tried to persuade our daughters into changing their minds, but in vain. We had to tie the sad little tree to the roof of our van and headed home. As we reached our house, Heather jumped out first. Suddenly she shouted, “The tree isn’t there!” We thought she was kidding. However, it wasn’t there.

The girls were so disappointed. “We’ll get another tree tomorrow, ” I said, secretly hoping the new tree would be prettier. But the girls gave us the look that no parent can resist. We had no choice but to go back and find that tree.

About five minutes into our drive, we saw it on the side of the road. As we got closer, we found it had been run over by a truck. As we lifted the tree, we saw that a big part was ripped off, but we took it home anyway.

That night, as we decorated our tree, something magical happened. We didn’t realize it at the time but we were making a very special family memory. By the time we were done, I had to admit, it didn’t look sad after all. “This is the best tree we ever had. It’s perfect!” my second daughter Samantha said excitedly. My husband and I couldn’t have agreed more!

Now we always recall that little broken tree! Year by year, we tell the story of that very special Christmas almost twenty­five years ago.

1. How did the author feel when hearing the tree was missing?

A．Pleased.	B．Depressed.
C．Disappointed.	D．Worried.

2. What do we know about the family from the passage?

A．They took turns telling stories at Christmas.

B．They spent a whole night decorating the tree.

C．They all felt satisfied with the tree at first sight.

D．They turned the tree into an unforgettable one.

3. Which is the best title of this text?

A．A Perfect Christmas Day	B．The Sad Little Tree
C．A Magical Christmas Tale	D．Our Family Tradition at Christmas

【推荐2】It’s not possible to stay together with loved ones all the time. Sometimes family members have to be far away from each other. During that time, they might face something terrible. Although we know what they are suffering, being far away makes it harder to help and comfort loved ones. There is no use worrying a lot about them. Instead, keeping a positive attitude of support is more helpful than getting into worrying about the person. I think it is what I can do to help my loved ones.

My daughter has been working full-time during summer about 10 hours a day. She has to study hard for a big entrance exam. At first, like most people, I wanted to try to solve the problems and try to explain the situation. Was there a better way of time management? Was there a better way of studying for this test? However, that was not always helpful. Sometimes, it even gave more pressure to her. Sometimes it might sound like there was something wrong to improve However, it was just tiring at the end of the day. What would be the kind thing to do in this situation? It was hard to read someone’s mind. I decided to just chat with her online and to send a hug emoji (表情符号) this time. It seemed more suitable than talking about solutions. Giving space can also be an act of help, comfort and kindness

It is fun and meaningful experiment to actively think about kind things to do rather than let it happen naturally. I’ve realized it and I’m grateful for this chance to share online. Give it a try too and you’ll enjoy sweetness.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Worry is the best comfort to a loved one.

B．It is impossible to love someone around us.

C．The distance helps you do more to loved ones.

D．It’s no use worrying a lot about loved ones not around us.

2. How did the author comfort her daughter at last?

A．By talking about solutions.	B．By explaining all problems.
C．By buying a gift for her.	D．By giving simple emojis online

3. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To advise people to comfort loved ones as he did.

B．To tell us the ways to get along with others.

C．To discuss the rebuilding of personal relationships.

D．To show distance makes it hard to comfort loved ones.

【推荐3】Parenting styles have changed over the years in response to the rapid changes in the world. Whether it is tapping technology or applying the best parenting practices to meet a parenting need, parents nowadays generally invest more time in finding out how best to raise their children.

Modern parents often look to the Internet and social media for parenting advice. A parent can post questions from how to manage the constant cries of an infant to how to talk to a moody teenager, and chances are, the parent will be flooded instantly with advice and relevant articles. The availability of resources has helped modern parents engage more in their children’s development, both academically and emotionally.

A modern parenting style that has emerged is helicopter parenting, where parents are much too focused on their children. They help children with tasks they’re capable of doing on their own, like selecting activities and friends for them. Such a parenting style can hold back the development of the children’s ability to handle responsibilities independently. Children might be ill-equipped with life skills such as doing laundry, clearing their plates or coping with their schoolwork. Always protecting children from failures may also prevent them developing adaptability and acquiring skills like problem-solving.

On the other hand, parents in the past tended to monitor less. Children weren’t given more control over how to manage their schoolwork and choose their friends. They were often expected to shoulder the responsibilities of caring for younger brothers and sisters and managing housework. Living in the pre-Internet age, parents were less informed about different parenting methods and personalities.

There is no one right way to raise a child. Each child is unique and should be raised differently by parents who are present but not wandering, who are supportive but not controlling, and who protect but not care too much.

1. What does the author explain by mentioning “an infant” and “a moody teenager” in Paragraph 2?

A．Devotion to kids.

B．Tricky parenting problems.

C．Effective parenting.

D．Easy access to guidance.

2. What is the distinctive characteristic of helicopter parenting?

A．Flexible.	B．Efficient.
C．Overinvolved.	D．Conventional.

3. What do we know about parents in the past?

A．They educated kids in a rigid way.

B．They afforded kids more space for self-growth.

C．They overestimated their kids’ independence.

D．They tended to stay away from social activities.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the two parenting modes?

A．Doubtful.	B．Indifferent.
C．Favorable.	D．Objective.

【推荐1】The older I get, the more I understand how my teachers have transformed my life.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I went to see Mr. C at Roxbury Park in Beverly Hills. His love of life has not faded despite the fact that his legs no longer work like they used to. He visited some of his former students while he was in town. At Beverly Hills High School, Mr. C taught ancient history, coached football and golf, and risked his life teaching driver’s training on Saturday mornings from 1964 to 1988. The now gray students lined up one after another to thank their favorite teacher. One called him a rock star. Another thanked him for knowing he needed help when he couldn’t say so. It was a beautiful tribute (致敬), especially in these times of severe teacher shortages.

Mr. C deserves our love. To say that Mr. C changed my life is an understatement. And by that, I mean he changed who I thought I could be. Rather than seeing myself as a loser cheerleader who couldn’t compete with the smart kids, I realized how much I loved learning. His history class was so interesting. In his classes about the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, extra credits can be earned for creativity. During earthquake drills, we counted on Mr. C to scream his head off in pretended terror.

It should come as little surprise that I’d value the role of teachers in my life. Both of my parents taught; so did my brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins. I, too, have become a teacher and I try to follow in Mr. C’s footsteps. Some days, I fantasize what it would be like to go on a teacher tour, reaching out to my mentors to express my deep gratitude for all they’ve given me. Seeing Mr. C sparked that fantasy again. When I finally worked up my courage to thank him, knowing a floodgate of tears would open, he said to me with his typical modesty, “You were doing me more good than I was doing you.”

1. Why was the tribute to Mr. C particularly touching?

A．Mr. C’s passion for life dimmed due to injuries.

B．Mr. C worked hard when school was short-handed.

C．Mr. C was treated as a rock star by his colleagues.

D．Mr. C risked his life in teaching football and golf.

2. Which is not the reason why Mr. C became a beloved teacher?

A．His history class was engaging.	B．He coached students in earthquake drills.
C．He encouraged innovative ideas.	D．He sparked students’ interest in learning.

3. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．Teaching runs in the author’s big family.

B．Mr. C has paved the way for the author in teaching.

C．Keeping in touch with former mentors is crucial.

D．The author appreciates Mr. C’s profound effect.

4. Which words can best describe Mr. C according to this passage?

A．Generous and humorous.	B．Decisive and considerate.
C．Humble and committed.	D．Honest and optimistic.

【推荐2】One spring morning many years ago, I had been prospecting for gold along Coho Creek in southeastern Alaska. Suddenly, no more than 20 paces away was a huge Alaskan timber wolf-caught in a trap.

From her appearance, I guessed she had been trapped for several days. She needed my help, I thought. But if I tried to release her, she would turn aggressive to me. The wolf was clearly suffering. The trap's steel jaws had imprisoned two toes. They were swollen and lacerated, but she wouldn't lose the paw (爪子) — if freed. Yet each time I moved closer, she would make a frightening growl. If I could only win her confidence, I thought. It was her only hope.

Over the next few days, I divided my time between prospecting and trying to win the wolf's trust. I talked gently with her, throwing her some meat. Gradually, I kept edging closer — though I was careful to remain beyond the length of her trap chain.

At dusk on the fifth day, I delivered her dinner. Suddenly, I saw a slight wagging of her tail. I moved within the length of her chain. She remained sill. As a towering man, my heart was in my mouth, though. Within her reach, I wrapped my blanket around myself and slowly settled onto the cold ground. It was long before I fell asleep.

The next morning, I slowly placed my hand on the wolf's injured leg. Unexpectedly; she made no threatening move. Then I applied pressure, the trap sprang open, and the wolf pulled free.

My experience told me the wolf would vanish into the woods quickly. But cautiously, she crept toward me and sniffed my hands and arms. This went against everything I'd ever heard about timber wolves. Yet, strangely, it all seemed so natural.

1. What happened to the timber wolf?

A．She was stuck in a trap.	B．Her food ran out.
C．Her legs were swollen.	D．She was caught in the author's trap.

2. What was the only hope for the wolf to be saved?

A．Some food.	B．The author's care.
C．Her trust in the author.	D．Winning the author's confidence.

3. Why was falling asleep difficult for the author?

A．He was too close to the wolf.	B．The ground was too cold.
C．The wolf remained still.	D．The wolf wagged her tail.

4. How did the author feel about the outcome of the event?

A．It was frightening and surprising.	B．It was unexpected but natural.
C．It was humorous and natural.	D．It was terrifying but encouraging.

【推荐1】The strand bookstore is a New York Institution, and Fred Bass was a part of it almost from the moment he was born until the day he died. Every day, dozens of sellers arrive armed with piles of books, and every day thousands of buyers browse through the 18 miles of shelving, squeezing through narrow, dark aisles towered over by high, cramped shelves.

Film studios wanting a line of books for a backdrop rent them from the Strand by the foot; interior designers looking for books with the same color spine will order a job lot; and hosts wishing to impress dinner guests will order the latest tomes(巨著) to replace on their coffee tables. Some even might be read.

“You never know what someone is going to walk in with，” Bass told The Villager magazine in 2010, adding that there was nothing he loved more than the “treasure hunt”. Many books came from critics keen to add to their income by offloading review copies. Others came from large estates, fellow bookshops and even publishers quietly offloading surplus(过剩的) stock. One visitor spoke of Bass as a character who could have come from a book. “I remember sensing in Bass, beyond a slightly gruff look, a man of great passion, a man who knew the innumerable and shifting current of the book trade the way that an old sailor knows the changeable sea，” wrote Tom Vanderbilt in the New York Review of Books.

Bass himself took a kind, almost paternalistic(家长式的) approach to the business. Some employees remained with him for decades. When Greg Farr, a dissatisfied member of staff, published a novel that was critical of the store's management and the unions he still had his job, furthermore, the Strand sold his book.

Fred Bass was born in Manhattan in 1928, the year after his father, Benjamin, a Lithuanian immigrant, founded the Strand bookstore on Fourth Avenue, which was then known as “Book Row”. His mother, Shirley, a Polish immigrant, died from cancer when Fred was six. His father remarried, to Esther, a bookkeeper who was involved in various civil rights causes.

As a child young Fred swept the floors and by 13 he was working behind the counter on Saturdays. He recalled going on buying trips with his father and hauling back bundles of books on the subway, all tied with rope that cut into his hands. The family lived in the Bronx and young Fred studied English at Brooklyn College in the mornings and worked in the shop in the afternoons. His only extended period of time away was two year' service with the US armed forces, but even then he used his leave from the Korean War to work at the shop. In 1957, a year after taking over the business, Bass moved the store from Fourth Avenue to the corner of 12th Street and Broadway, where it stands to this day.

In 1952, Bass, who could eventually afford to purchase an apartment in Trump Tower, married Patricia Miller. They had a son, Stephen, who died in 2001, and a daughter, Nancy, who married Ron Wyden, a senator from Oregon. Since her teens she has worked with her father, developing the store, remodeling the space and adding air conditioning (“I hated it，”said Bass). Since 1986 the Strand has run a “Books by the Foot” department, which creates custom book collections based on readers' literary tastes or preferred colors.

In 1996, after seven decades as tenants(房客), the Bass family bought their building for $8.2 million. Until then they had negotiated the lease with their landlord at the nearby Knickerbock Bar and Grill; now Bass had to deal with himself. “ When I want to negotiate my own lease I have go to the bar myself”， he joked. Even in his late eighties Bass was making buying trips, though no longer by subway.

Time and the Internet have not been kind to booksellers. “Book Row” is now only the Strand, which itself has been redesigned to be more “user­friendly”. T­shirts, postcards, fridge magnets and other gifts now account for about 15 per cent of the Strand's turnover. Satellite stores have been set up and new books have joined the traditional second­hand commodities. “ I make less money，” Bass said，“ but it's a little bit more scientific”.

Perhaps the most unusual part of management at the Strand book store was the book quiz—matching authors and title—that job applicants since the 1970 have been required to take.

1. From the first two paragraphs we learn that the Strand Store ________．

A．is rented to different users by the foot

B．sells thousands of books to buyers every day

C．enjoys popularity with people from different walks of life

D．serves regularly as background for a large number of films

2. What does “treasure hunt” mean to Fred Bass?

A．Secondhand books may come from valuable sources.

B．Fellow bookshops may make way for the Strand Store.

C．He may find fun from characters in different books.

D．He knows the changing current of the book trade well enough.

3. Which of the following is true about Fred Bass's family?

A．His mother devoted herself to various civil rights causes.

B．His father remarried when he was 13 years old.

C．Bass didn't get married until he bought an apartment.

D．His daughter Nancy is a senator from Oregon.

4. The underlined word “haul” in Para 6 probably means ________.

A．transport	B．bargain
C．howl	D．drag

5. Why did Bass make less money?

A．He had to spend money adopting more scientific management.

B．People spend more time on the Internet than visiting his bookstore.

C．His daughter remodeled the space and added such goods as T­shirts.

D．He had fewer job applicants who passed the book quiz.

6. The pattern of the passage is ________．

A．a news report	B．an advertisement
C．a short story	D．a biography

【推荐2】Grandpa Nybakken loved life — especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, “Oh, forevermore!” But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn’t laughing.
Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless.
Suddenly, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!
The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning.
“It’s not fair,” he told God as he drove home in frustration. “I’ve been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this.”
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States．He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather’s small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation (教堂会众).
“But most of all,” he said, “I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year.”
“Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses．Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your boxes arrived．When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top.” After a long pause, he continued, “Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!”
The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses. But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.
But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized   the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.
1. Which of the following is NOT true about Grandpa Nybakken according to the passage?

A．He was an outgoing man and held an active attitude towards life.

B．He had a large family to support.

C．He was a carpenter working in the church.

D．He was a loyal Christian.

2. The people in the church but Grandpa felt confused at what the director said because ________.

A．Grandpa didn’t tell the director that he was the owner of the glasses

B．the director wanted to return the glasses even though he liked it

C．the director could not get such glasses in their own country

D．the glasses were not included in the donation list

3. Who does “the Master Carpenter” in the last paragraph probably refer to?

A．Grandpa’s master.	B．One of Grandpa’s friends.
C．God.	D．Grandpa’s co-worker.

4. Which can be the best title of the passage?

A．Grandfather’s life.	B．The Helpful Donation.
C．The Perfect Mistake.	D．An Impressive Speech.

【推荐3】Some people were eating and drinking in a coffee house. A young woman was sitting alone at a table. She was wearing a beautiful diamond necklace. There was an ugly man at a table not far from her. He was looking at her necklace all the time.

Suddenly the lights went out. The coffee house was in darkness. The woman started to shout. She was very frightened. A few minutes later the lights came on again. The woman was crying. Her necklace was missing.

The manager quickly closed all the doors. He telephoned the police. No one could get out of the coffee house. The policemen soon came. The police inspector told his men to search everyone. The necklace was not on anyone. They then searched the whole coffee house. The necklace couldn’t be found.

The police inspector then looked at the faces of all the people in the coffee house. He saw the ugly man and looked at the man carefully. He went up to the man and picked up the bowl of soup that was on his table. He then poured the soup into a glass. The necklace fell out. The policemen caught hold of the man and took him away. The young woman was happy to get back her necklace.

1. A young woman lost her necklace in _____.

A．a coffee house

B．a shop

C．a hospital

D．a restaurant

2. The manager closed all the doors and _____.

A．searched everyone in the coffee house

B．searched the whole coffee house

C．looked at all the people in the coffee house

D．telephoned the police

3. The police inspector found the necklace in _____.

A．a bowl of soup

B．a bowl of rice

C．a glass of milk

D．a cup of coffee

4. The necklace was stolen by _____.

A．a beautiful girl

B．an old woman

C．a young student

D．an ugly man