There was once a boy called Mario who loved to have lots of friends at school. However, he wasn’t sure whether or not his schoolmates were his real friends, so he asked his grandpa for help. The old man told him, “I just have what you exactly need, and it’s in the attic (阁楼). Wait here a minute.” Grandpa left, soon returning as though carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there. “Take it. It’s a very special chair. It’s rather tricky to sit on because it’s invisible (无形的), but if you take it to school and you try to sit on it. you’ll be able to tell who your real friends are.” Grandpa said.
Mario was curious to know whether it was true or not, so he took the strange invisible chair and set off for school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. “Nobody move! You’re about to see something amazing.”
Then Mario tried to sit on the chair. But he missed and fell down onto his back. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. Mario wouldn’t be beaten. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair, and kept falling to the ground…until, suddenly, he tried again and didn’t fall. This time he sat, hovering (悬浮) in mid-air…
Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas and Diana—three of his best friends, holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall down. Meanwhile, many others he had thought of as friends had done nothing but make fun of him, enjoying his every fall.
Leaving with his three friends, he explained to them how his grandfather had so cleverly thought of a way to show him that true friends are those who care for us, and not just any acquaintance (熟人) who happens to be passing by. Even less would a friend be someone who takes joy in our misfortunes.
1. Why did Mario turn to his grandpa for help?| A．He couldn’t make any friends. | B．He didn’t get along with his schoolmates. |
| C．He didn’t like his school. | D．He couldn’t find out who his true friends were. |
| A．An invisible chair. | B．An old chair. |
| C．A real chair. | D．Nothing. |
| A．Because he managed to sit on the invisible chair finally. |
| B．Because his three friends held him up with their hands. |
| C．Because his classmates gave him a chair to sit on. |
| D．Because he could see the magic chair clearly. |
| A．Those who laugh with us. |
| B．Those who take joy in our misfortunes. |
| C．Those who care about us when we are in trouble. |
| D．Those who care for us when we are popular at school. |
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【推荐1】Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don’t give friendship back. That is why some friendships don’t last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules: be honest; be generous; be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you don’t tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven’t been honest you may lose your friend’s trust. Good friends always count on gne another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing and makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to friends. They tell your friends what is important to you. By sharing then you help your friend know you better.
Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with problems. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend’s place so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practice honesty, generosity and understanding.
1. Some friendships don’t last long because________.| A．there are too many people who want to make friends |
| B．those (who never give others friendships) receive no friendship from others |
| C．those who give others friendship receive friendship from others |
| D．they don’t know friendship is something serious. |
| A．something countable | B．the base of friendship |
| C．as important as money | D．more important than anything else |
| A．Always tell your friend the truth. |
| B．Sharing your mind with your friend is of great value. |
| C．Discussing your problems with your friend often helps to solve the problem. |
| D．A friend who gives you his lunch money is a true friend. |
| A．Honesty Is the Best Policy | B．A Friend In Need Is a Friend Indeed |
| C．How To Be a Friend | D．There Important points In Life |
【推荐2】In the summer of 1960. Greenberg was playing baseball at Columbia University, when his eyes "steamed up". He had to lie down until the clouds went away. Back at school that fall, Greenberg had more episodes (插曲), but he didn't take it seriously. Yet, Garfunkel, his roommate, saw that he was having trouble.
On the first morning of finals, Garfunkel accompanied (陪同) Greenberg to take exams. Greenberg started writing at 9 a.m. By 10:30, he couldn't see a thing. He handed his blue book to the teacher and said. "I can't see. sir."
The teacher laughed. "I've heard some terrific excuses, but that's the best."
That winter, doctors operated on Greenberg's eyes, but with no effect. Greenberg was going blind. he was so downhearted that he refused to see anyone from college.
"I don't want to talk," Greenberg said.
"You must talk," said Garfunkel.
Garfunkel offered to be his reader. In September 1961, Greenberg returned to campus. Garfunkel took his time out to read textbooks to Greenberg, and Greenberg ended up scoring straight A's. Still, he was afraid of getting around alone.
Then, one afternoon, Greenberg and Garfunkel went to Manhattan. When it was time for Greenberg to go back to campus, Garfunkel said he had a meeting and couldn't accompany him. Then he walked off, leaving Greenberg alone. Greenberg stumbled through the rush-hour crowd. Anyway, he managed to arrive at the Columbia University stop. At the university's gates, someone knocked into him.
"Oops, excuse me, sir."
Greenberg knew the voice. It was Garfunkel's. Greenberg's first reaction was anger, but in the next second, he realized the truth. "Garfunkel, of course, had been with me the whole way," says Greenberg.
After graduation, Greenberg got his MBA from Columbia and a PhD from Harvard. It's all because of Arthur that Greenberg sings every blessing. He's really the luckiest man in the world.
1. What did Greenberg think of his eyes in the beginning?| A．They needed to be tested. | B．They went seriously wrong. |
| C．They needed an operation. | D．They had no big problems. |
| A．He had serious eye problems. | B．He was inventing an excuse. |
| C．He wasn't satisfied with the teacher. | D．He hadn't prepared well for exams. |
| A．Ran with great speed. | B．Walked with anger. |
| C．Moved with difficulty. | D．Jumped with care. |
| A．Cold-hearted. | B．Kind-hearted. |
| C．Easy-going. | D．Out-going. |
【推荐3】When you think of friends，you tend to think of people who have been in your life for a long time.But there’s another kind of friend— one that appears at a particular moment.
The first such friend I remember is a Russian girl I met in London at the age four.That year, my mother had remarried and we'd be moving to the UK.Everything was changing to me. The Russian girl and I were the two oldest in our school.She spoke no English;I，no Russian. We communicated by trying to go beyond the other at drawing,at games, even at eating. Our contests gave me something I could control.And maybe I gave her the same.
In my eight，I grade, there was Jenny, who had a small horse named Red Wing. The eighth grade was a terrible year. We both knew it, but we didn’t talk about it. We spent most of our time with Red Wing. On cold winter days, we’d go out and take turns riding and walk. She left in the ninth grade and I missed her.
To Julie，I'll be forever grateful. We met on the beach in New Jersey one afternoon. She was there with her twin boys，the only other children there，and they were about the same age as my daughter. Gradually，the children approached each other and soon were digging holes together. And we began to talk. She lived in the little beach town. I lived alone with my daughter in a big apartment a block from the beach. My husband had taken off for North Da- kota,leaving me to think about what to do next. Suddenly，there was someone I could talk to. For the next couple of weeks，we met at the beach with the children，and I would go home with her. Meeting Julie filled my despairing heart.
Such friends as these often arrive when your own life is off—balance，and will support you till the world settles on its axis(轴线）once again.
1. How did the friendship between the author and the Russian girl develop?| A．They had many common interests. |
| B．They competed with each other. |
| C．They shared the same activities together. |
| D．They showed great concern for each other. |
| A．Great comfort. | B．Deep wisdom. |
| C．Financial support. | D．Patient care. |
| A．They appeared when the author was in trouble. |
| B．They stayed with the author for a long time. |
| C．They shared the same painful experience. |
| D．They were lifelong friends of the author. |
| A．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| B．He is rich enough who has true friends. |
| C．A friend is a present which you give yourself. |
| D．Some friends are arranged in our lives for good reason. |
【推荐1】I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling eyes at the memory.
Our flight left the Orlando Airport one Friday morning. But immediately upon take-off, it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping(颠簸) up and down. All the experienced travellers, including me, looked around with knowing smiles. If you fly much, you see these things and learn to act calmly about them. However, we did not remain calm for long.
Minutes after we were in the air, our plane began falling quickly. The pilot soon made a serious announcement. “We are having some difficulties,” he said. “Our indicators show that the control system has failed. We will be returning to the Orlando Airport. The flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy landing. Also, if you look out of the windows, you will see that we are dumping fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown.” In other words, we were about to crash. Many travellers looked visibly frightened now. No one faces death without fear, I thought.
Then a couple of rows to my left, I heard a still calm voice, a woman’s voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. I had to find the source of this voice. All around, people cried. Many screamed. Finally, I saw her. In this chaos, a mother was talking to her child. The woman, in her mid-30s, was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old. The child listened closely, sensing the importance of her mother’s words. The mother’s eye held the child so fixed that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.
Finally, I leaned over and by some miracle could hear this soft sure voice with the tone of comfort. Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Remember, no matter what happens, I love you always.” Fortunately, our landing gear held at last and our touchdown was not a tragedy.
However, the voice I heard that day never faded. That mom showed me what a real hero looks like.
1. What does the author imply by saying “some travellers’ knowing smiles” in Paragraph 2?| A．They were used to this kind of experience. |
| B．They were quite familiar with each other. |
| C．They were well-educated passengers. |
| D．They were pretending to be calm. |
| A．The plane met bad weather and had to return immediately. |
| B．The flight indicators showed the plane’s control system failed. |
| C．One of the passengers was badly ill and the plane had to turn back. |
| D．A flight attendant explained flight safety instructions to the passengers. |
| A．a state of urgency. |
| B．a state of danger. |
| C．a state of complete confusion and lack of order. |
| D．a state of calm. |
| A．The shape of love | B．The voice of courage |
| C．The wisdom of a pilot | D．The danger of a journey |
【推荐2】Poppy beamed at herself in the mirror. Her new dress was absolutely perfect. It was her favorite colour of blue and had a row of bows (蝴蝶结) down the front.
Poppy’s mother was making her famous fruit juice. “My goodness, sweetheart, why are you dressed up today?” she asked. “I’m trying on my dress for picture day tomorrow,” Poppy explained. “I want to make sure everything is perfect.”
“Well, I think you’re already perfect,” her mom said. “Be careful. Don’t spill it.” Poppy rolled her eyes, grabbing a cup of fruit and gulping it down.
Seconds later, her mom yelled, “Oh, sweetheart — you spilled your juice!” Poppy glanced down at the spots and gasped. She couldn’t go to school picture day like this! Her class picture would be in the yearbook forever. “It will be all right,” her mom said positively. “I’ll wash it tonight. It’ll be as good as new.”
The next morning, Poppy grabbed her blue dress out of the laundry basket. She pulled it over her head, but something wasn’t right. Poppy couldn’t lower her arms, and the bows pulled tightly. “Oh, no!” Poppy cried. “My dress shrank!” She ran to her closet to find something else she could wear. Finally, in the back of the closet, Poppy found an old yellow dress. Nevertheless, it would have to do.
While waiting for the class’s turn, she hoped it would never come. Maybe the camera couldn’t work or it happened to rain dogs and cats!
The class marched onstage. “All right,” the photographer called. “I guess we all have something we don’t like about our looks. None of us is perfect.”
Poppy glanced at her classmates. Rosa had a bandage taped across her nose. Tom was pulling at his pants, trying to hide his mismatched socks. Lei flashed a Jack-o’-lantern grin, showing several missing teeth. We’re all different, she thought. Maybe that’s what makes us special. Poppy breathed a sigh of relief.
“Cheese!” the photographer called out. The flash went off as the photographer snapped the picture of the yearbook. Poppy smiled her brightest. The picture day hadn’t gone the way she had planned. It had gone even better. “Perfect anyway!” she cried.
1. How did Poppy feel when she looked into the mirror?| A．Upset. | B．Relaxed. | C．Nervous. | D．Excited. |
| A．It was covered with spots. |
| B．It got less bright in color. |
| C．It became too small to wear. |
| D．It was broken when pulled down. |
| A．The photographer cheered her up and made her relieved. |
| B．She realized and accepted her difference and uniqueness. |
| C．The picture of the yearbook was satisfying as expected. |
| D．She found her classmates on stage all had their problems. |
| A．There are spots even on the sun. |
| B．Inner beauty is the real beauty. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
【推荐3】“I really want to, but I can’t because...”
It hurts every time I hear it. I see it for what it is—an excuse. Every one of us has hopes, dreams and goals. We talk about how we will achieve them, but when it’s time to do them, we use that sentence.
When I was a teen girl, I felt stuck. I wanted to learn so many things and achieve my wildest dreams, yet I couldn’t. Living in an underdeveloped country, we suffer from a lack of water, electricity and other resources (资源). And, we don’t have training courses, libraries or clubs, and the Internet is slow.
One day, I decided to create the future I dreamed of. I set my mind on getting the Japanese Monbusho Scholarship (奖学金). I found articles and books online to become fluent in Japanese. In a few months, I was able to hold a simple conversation in Japanese.
I realized that I would need money. I set out to build a hedgehog (刺猬) care website. Every day, after school, I would research hedgehogs and write detailed articles about them. I studied Japanese and wrote about hedgehogs for three years.
I’m sure you’re expecting a happy ending where I travel to Japan and live off my website. That’s not how this story ends. The fact is, I didn’t even get the chance to apply for the scholarship. I failed, Unwilling to accept the facts, I started an online university the next year. And the hedgehog website made me a total of $60.
I can tell you that I tried, but it didn’t work out. It did—just not the way I expected.
I’m not in Japan, but I know how to speak Japanese and have met many interesting people along the way. My hedgehog website didn’t succeed, but I created a new one that s even better with the experience I gained.
I didn’t let my difficulties stand in my way, and I created my own opportunities. Anyone can embrace (欣然接受) the cards they’ve been given and create their own way to make them into a winning hand.
1. Why does the author mention the underlined sentence at the beginning of the text?| A．To give an example. |
| B．To introduce the topic of the text. |
| C．To persuade readers to believe it is true. |
| D．To introduce the background information of the text. |
| A．Her lack of aim in life. |
| B．Her unrealistic dreams. |
| C．Her lack of interest in studying. |
| D．The lack of educational resources. |
| A．She won a scholarship to study in Japan. |
| B．She went to a university in Japan. |
| C．Her website earned her a lot of money. |
| D．She kept trying even though she failed. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Opportunity seldom knocks twice. |
| C．Embrace the difficulties and create opportunities. |
| D．The more you expect, the more disappointed you will be. |
