I’ve been having trouble concentrating on one thing. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.
In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.” She looked at me through her glasses, “You are not different from your classmates, young man.”
I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.
In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots (点), which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind. Wasn’t I the “blind” in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was not different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?
I didn’t expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day — with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep trying?”
Inspired and touched, I began to keep trying hard in my study and struggled against attention problems. I believe one can find his way out of difficulty with determination (决心) and efforts.
1. Why didn’t the author finish his reading in class?| A．He missed several classes before. | B．He was not interested in literature. |
| C．He always did his homework at home. | D．He was unable to concentrate on his task. |
| A．He was creative. | B．He was shallow. |
| C．He was tricky. | D．He was well-educated. |
| A．Impatient. | B．Careless. | C．Disappointing. | D．Encouraging. |
| A．You can never be too old to learn. | B．Do not judge a book by its cover. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. | D．Only study and no play makes Jack a dull boy. |
相似题推荐
But when she started her new job, she realized that it was just a job of answering calls and recording staff members’ starting and quitting times. It was unappreciated and was supposed to have no future. However, she didn’t feel sad about it. She learnt how to love the job. And she loved it when she was working. The names and phone numbers of the staff members were written down on the notebook so that she could remember them. When the phone calls came in, she picked it up as soon as possible. When someone asked her about who was not in the office, she would answer them the right name and the time when they left. Nobody could do that except her.
Her wonderful performance not only received the compliments from the embassy’s staff, but also the employees from the local government. And a leader of a famous company in Britain was also impressed by it and invited her to work for him. After that she became a personal translator of an important leader from Britain and appreciated by the foreigners.
We cannot choose our destiny(命运), but we can choose the attitude with which we face our life. Maybe the attitude could change our destiny. If we cry to life, life will be gray. If we smile to life, life will smile to us, too.
1. What was once the girl’s greatest happiness in her life?
| A．Being a translator for a leader. |
| B．Graduating from the university. |
| C．Working in the British embassy. |
| D．Continuing her study in the university. |
| A．excellent work | B．rich knowledge |
| C．friendly attitude | D．excellent English |
| A．The girl was once asked to leave the British company. |
| B．The foreigners were impressed by her good pronunciation. |
| C．People in the British embassy spoke highly of the girl. |
| D．The girl was famous for her remembering ability. |
| A．everybody has his or her own hard times in life |
| B．we should take a positive attitude towards life |
| C．we should be ready to lend a hand to our friends |
| D．it is important to listen to other’s problems carefully |
【推荐2】My family lives in Texas. I was born and brought up in Texas and I am a graduate of the University of Texas. However, around my second year in law school, I wanted to make a great change, which was almost unheard of for Texans: I wanted to leave!
I realized this after completing my first-year internship(实习期). I knew I wanted something different and my chance came during the 2011 Super Bowl(橄榄球超级大赛) in Dallas. A snowstorm blanketed the entire city in snow and thousands of people were gathered. I overheard(偶然听到) that StubHub, a big company from a great city, San Francisco, was throwing a party next door to my hotel. I thought if I could get an internship, I could leave for the summer and at least see what it was like. Yes, it was a huge leap. I told myself I was ready.
There was just one problem: I wasn’t invited to the StubHub party. But you know I’m the type of person who goes for something she wants. Needless to say, I crashed the party and found my way to the president. I kindly introduced myself and then asked if they had a legal internship program. Guess what? They accepted my request to be a legal intern, even though there was no such program.
The legal department didn’t have a long-lasting position for me. However, I got many other chances to be a legal intern in other companies. That experience has shaped my life. Working for a great company in San Francisco, I’m extremely happy for making my decision to leave Texas.
By leaving Texas, I learned that it is so much more rewarding to try the unfamiliar than to stay in the comfort zone. Exploring the unfamiliar is how you’ll understand what fits your life. I say, dive in head- first.
1. How did the writer know about StubHub’s party in Dallas?| A．The company invited her. | B．Her friends told her about it. |
| C．She heard it by chance. | D．She read it in the local newspaper. |
| A．she dropped out of the University of Texas |
| B．she watched the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas |
| C．a snowstorm blanketed the entire city in snow |
| D．she introduced herself to the president of StubHub |
| A．Patient and honest. | B．Smart and humorous. |
| C．Determined and positive. | D．helpful and energetic. |
| A．You must choose a career that you like. |
| B．Jumping out of your comfort zone is rewarding. |
| C．Accepting who you are makes you realize your strengths. |
| D．You should listen to your family to learn about your strengths. |
【推荐3】A miser (吝啬鬼) buried his gold in a secret place in his garden. Every day he went to the place, dug up the treasure and counted it piece by piece to make sure it was all there. He made so many trips that a thief, who saw him, guessed what the miser had hidden. So one night, he quietly dug up the treasure and left with it.
When the miser discovered his gold was lost, he was very sad and cried and tore his hair.
A passerby heard his cries and asked what had happened.
“My gold! Oh my gold!” cried the miser wildly. “Someone has robbed (抢劫) me!”
“Your gold! There in that hole? Why did you put it there? Why did not you keep it in the house where you could easily get it when you had to buy things?”
“Buy!” shouted the miser angrily. “Why? I never touched that gold. I couldn’t think of spending any of it?”
The stranger picked up a large stone and threw it into the hole.
“If that is the case (情况) ，” he said, “cover up that stone. It is worth just as much to you as the treasure you lost!”
A possession (所有，拥有) is worth nothing if you don’t use it.
1. Every day the miser went to his garden to ________.| A．take a walk | B．look for some gold and hide |
| C．meet a stranger | D．see if his gold was still there |
| A．found the thief | B．called the police |
| C．was sad and cried | D．put a large stone in the hole |
| A．the miser wouldn’t spend his gold buying things |
| B．the passerby stole the miser’s gold |
| C．someone often robbed the miser |
| D．the passerby spent the gold buying stones |
| A．廉价的 | B．等值的 | C．无形的 | D．无价的 |
| A．A possession should be kept in a safe place. |
| B．A miser should not have a possession. |
| C．If you don’t use a possession, it is worth nothing. |
| D．If you have a possession, you should spend it quickly. |
【推荐1】George Li was born in 1995 and now is a young pianist on the rise. At age 10，he gave his first public concert and in 2015, he won a silver medal at International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Li recently released his first album, performing with some of the world’s great orchestras.
The centerpiece of Li’s album is the passionate Piano Sonata No. 2 by Chopin—the one with the funeral march as its third movement. Chopin is close to Li’s heart, as it was Chopin’s music that earned him the top prize at the Cooper International Competition at Oberlin Conservatory when he was just 15.
Li’s album, Live at the Mariinsky, released last fall on Warner Classics, opens with the Piano Sonata in B minor by Haydn. Li’s gentle touch makes the music shine. “I think the main requirement is the touch. It has to be so sensitive,” he says about Haydn. Imagine the champagne bubbles, or just that sound when the champagne pours into glass. ”
Li was born in Boston. His parents came to the U. S. from China in the 1980s. he says they had few opportunities to hear classical music in the process of growing up. Li began playing the piano at age four and thought of it only as a hobby. But one day, when he was 11, playing Beethoven’ First Piano Concerto, everything changed.
“All of a sudden，in the middle of the performance I felt different,” he says. “I was kind of transported in some other reality. And I felt all these emotions within the piece and within myself.” And that’s when Li’s light bulb switched on. After that moment he wanted to do this for the rest of his life. Fortunately for George Li’s fans，that’s likely to be a very long time.
1. What can we learn about George Li from the passage?| A．He was born and grew up in an artistic family. |
| B．He won the top prize at International Tchaikovsky Competition. |
| C．He played Haydn’s Piano Sonata in B minor in a gentle manner. |
| D．He released his album with Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto in it. |
| A．He didn’t know what reality was any more. |
| B．He felt as if he were transported to another space. |
| C．The performance seemed too excellent to be real. |
| D．His emotions responded to what was expressed in the piece. |
| A．The Key to George Li’s Success |
| B．George Li’s Journey into the World of Piano |
| C．The Birth of a Talented Pianist George Li |
| D．George Li’s Extraordinary Piano Skills |
【推荐2】Xiong Linghao was born on May 29th, 2002 in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province. She lost her eyesight because of illness when she was only two months old. But her mother later found that Xiong had a talent for music. She could play children’s songs on a small electric (电子的) piano when she was 3 years old. At the age of 6, she started learning the piano.
Unlike most learners, Xiong could not see the piano keyboard (琴键), so she must remember where each key is through its sound. That was very hard for her. She practiced for six to eight hours every day so that she could find the right keys.
Xiong’s piano skill was getting better and better as she kept practicing. In 2020, she won the Special Jury Prize in an international youth piano competition in Shanghai. “The piano is my best friend,” said Xiong. It brings so much pleasure into my life and encourages me to face my life bravely.”
Xiong has a great dream. She wants to be a great musician like Beethoven. Beethoven lost his hearing in his 20s and later went completely deaf, but he didn’t give up his love for music. He wrote so many famous music works in his life. So for herself, Xiong still has a long way to go.
1. When did Xiong Linghao lose her eyesight?| A．When she was a baby. | B．When she was a child. |
| C．When she was a student. | D．When she was an adult. |
| A．She learned from Beethoven. |
| B．She could see the piano keyboard. |
| C．She practiced for six to eight hours every day. |
| D．She listened to each key carefully and remembered it. |
| A．Beethoven went completely deaf in his 20s. |
| B．Xiong wrote many famous music works in her life. |
| C．Most learners remember where each key is through its sound. |
| D．Xiong should work hard to achieve her dream to be a great musician. |
| A．Better late than never. |
| B．Strike while the iron (铁) is hot. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. |
| D．God helps those who help themselves. |
【推荐3】Geoff Banks and Celesta Byrne met as part of an educational project to put British and American students in contact and they still keep in touch with each other.
Centenarians (百岁老人), Geoff Banks from Devon, Britain, and Celesta Byrne, from the US, started writing to each other at the age of 16 in 1938. The former engineer Geoff even kept in touch with Celesta during WWII. They, now, can talk to each other on the Internet.
They recently had their first call giving Geoff a break from putting pen to paper that he said he found difficult at his age. Despite having chatted for decades, the pair have only ever met twice-first in 2002 while Geoff visited New York at the age of 80, and then again two years later. Celesta was living in New Jersey at that time, and then she moved to live near family in Texas.
Geoff said, “I had worked abroad for a number of years but had not been to the US for some time. Celesta was in New Jersey, so we decided to meet up in New York for a short Christmas trip. We just talked about daily lives and our families. In one of my early letters, I sent her a copy of a British paper in 1953 which had Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation (加冕) on the front of it.”
Despite having such a special relationship, the pair deny there was ever any romance there. Both have been married, with Geoff’s wife having passed away in 2011. Geoff is now a great grandfather, having sadly survived his daughter but still having three sons scattered across the world and many more grandchildren.
They felt grateful to the educational project, which gave them the chance of being friends. They are friends, like people who live next door. They value their friendship and think it’s nice to hear friends’ voices.
1. How did Geoff know Celesta?| A．By a friend. | B．By joining in a party. |
| C．By surfing the Internet. | D．By an educational program. |
| A．A teacher. | B．A mechanic. | C．An engineer. | D．A soldier. |
| A．In New York. | B．In New Jersey. | C．In Texas. | D．In Devon. |
| A．Lasting. | B．Odd. | C．Complex. | D．Ordinary. |
