My sister, Lynn, taught me my first word: kira-kira. I pronounced it ka-a-ahhh, but she knew what I meant. Kira-kira means “glittering” in Japanese. Lynn told me that when I was a baby, she used to take me onto our empty road at night, where we would lie on our backs and look at the stars while she said over and over, “Katie, say ‘kira-kira, kira-kira!’” I loved that word! When I grew older, I used kira-kira to describe everything I liked: the beautiful blue sky, puppies, kittens, butterflies, colored tissues.
My mother said we were misusing the word; you could not call colored tissues kira-kira. She was dismayed over how un-Japanese we were and swore to send us to Japan one day. I didn’t care where she sent me, so long as Lynn came along.
When she wasn’t in school, she stayed with me constantly. Both our parents worked. Officially, I stayed all day with a lady from down the road, but unofficially, Lynn was the one who took care of me.
My sister used to keep a diary. Today I keep her diary in a drawer next to my bed. I like to see how her memories were the same as mine, but also different. For instance, one of my earliest memories is of the day Lynn saved my life. I was almost five, and she was almost nine. We were playing on the empty road near our house. Fields of tall corn stretched into the distance wherever you looked. A dirty gray dog ran out of the field near us, and then he ran back in. Lynn loved animals. Her long black hair disappeared into the corn as she chased the dog. The summer sky was clear and blue. I felt a brief fear as Lynn disappeared into the cornstalks. After Lynn ran into the field, I couldn’t see anything but corn. “Lynnie!” I shouted. We weren’t that far from our house, but I felt scared. I burst into tears.
Somehow or other, Lynn got behind me and said, “Boo!” and I cried some more. She just laughed and hugged me and said, “You’re the best little sister in the world!” I liked it when she said that, so I stopped crying.
1. What can be learned about Katie as a little child from the first paragraph?| A．She only listened to Lynn’s advice. |
| B．She didn’t like to learn the Japanese language. |
| C．She mispronounced kira-kira on purpose. |
| D．She associated kira-kira with nice things. |
| A．discouraged | B．amused | C．relieved | D．unconvinced |
| A．...I was sure that the dog would hurt Katie... |
| B．...My heart melted at the sight of the lovely dog... |
| C．...I kept chasing the dog until Katie appeared... |
| D．...I regretted taking Katie out when I saw the dog... |
| A．sing praise of her Japanese roots | B．share an adventurous experience |
| C．recall unique style of language learning | D．show the sisterly affection |
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【推荐1】My granddaughter entertains herself outside a closed shop. I have no idea what day it is—haven't known for 10 months.
I have moved to a different city to provide child care so my daughter can work.
Everything that I observe these days is from a toddler's(学步儿童的)eye view. I must be experiencing time and place in a way I haven't done since before I had memories. I am impressed by what matters to this child at any given moment.
My job is to wait and watch. Let her try things, soothe her when she falls down, keep her safe. Bring snacks, push her on a swing, but mostly let her be. Tell her the names of all the things she points to. Take her hand when she offers it because she is in slightly unfamiliar areas.
The two of us never hurry. This lifestyle change astonishes me every day. There are no play groups, no library story times, no swimming classes. No other children at all, except from a distance at the playground.
In March 2020, I lost my younger daughter. I can't say it was entirely unexpected. My younger daughter battled mental illness. She was only 27 years old. She put herself through long treatment programs and hours of therapy in pursuit of pain relief.
In March, it was as if the whole world went on leave with me. I had company for a few brief days after my younger daughter's death, and then I was alone. I had long phone conversations and watched my granddaughter play every day through a tablet. I signed up for the various things that might help my suffering.
It was the physical isolation(隔离)that was unbearable. I went 15 weeks without touching another person. Now a very small girl waits for me, watches me, soothes me, keeps me safe, and takes my hand.
1. What is the author's child care job?| A．Accompany her granddaughter to play groups. | B．Take her granddaughter to swimming classes. |
| C．Go to the library to read books with her granddaughter. | D．Let her granddaughter try things and keep her safe. |
| A．Gently calm. | B．Slightly shake. | C．Bitterly complain to. | D．Loudly shout at. |
| A．Days she spends with the child. | B．Places they visit together. |
| C．Things the child cares about. | D．Childhood memories they value. |
| A．It takes my attention away from life's painful moments. |
| B．It frees my daughter from housework and allows her to pursue her dream. |
| C．It makes me interested in children's education. |
| D．It bridges the generation gap between my granddaughter and me. |
【推荐2】It was just the three of us—my parents and me. My dad is a truck driver, and when I was a little kid, he was gone most of the time, delivering supplies around the Mid-west. Then we moved to a small house in Brighton. Colorado on my third birthday. There weren't any kids my age in the neighborhood, so I mostly played in the yard with the dogs. I had a lot of imaginary friends—a whole family, actually, with a husband, children, a best friend...no joke.
My first memory is our neighbor Arlene handing me strawberries from her garden. One day, my parents asked Arlene and her husband Bill whether they'd watch me when they went out. This worked well, so it became a weekly occurrence.
When I was about five, I had an idea: “What if I adopted(收养) Bill and Arlene as my grandparents?” I knocked on their door and said, “Will you guys be my grandparents?” They started crying and enthusiastically accepted it. Soon after, they printed out an adoption certificate and it hung on their living room wall from then on.
I remember being surprised that they took my offer so seriously. Thinking of that moment still brings tears to my eyes. There's something truly remarkable（不同寻常的）about a child offering her love and adults being so ecstatic（热情的） to accept it. From the day I adopted them, I called Bill and Arlene grandpa and grandma. Pretty soon, my parents were calling them Dad and Mom. Even our animals would often run out of our yard to visit them. Over the years, Bill and Arlene supported me in all my dreams. And when I got accepted to a university, they presented me with a fund. They told me they'd been putting away money since the day I adopted them.
After Arlene passed away, Bill gave me the ring he'd gifted to Arlene. It's a simple gold band that I wear on my ring finger as a reminder of the kind of love I wish to put into this world.
1. Before meeting Bill and Arlene, the author probably felt ________.| A．worried | B．scared |
| C．lonely | D．desperate |
| A．They were unfriendly to her animals. |
| B．Took her offer seriously and enthusiastically accepted it. |
| C．They ignored her offer to adopt them at first. |
| D．They gave all their savings to help her with study. |
| A．Parents should keep their kids company |
| B．Love goes beyond blood relationship |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed |
| D．There is no place like home |
| A．To recall her childhood. |
| B．To encourage herself to pursue dreams. |
| C．As a reminder of love . |
| D．To thank her“grandparents” for their instructions. |
【推荐3】Early when I was having my first go at being a father, our family lived in Philadelphia, and near our house there was a small playground where boys gathered for ball games. My son loved playing sports, but he was unprepared for what developed as his friends grew older.
After years together laughing and playing, several of the boys grew angry and unkind. Finally, they turned on my son, leaving him out of their games.
At first, I tried to encourage him so he would give the playground another go. But one Saturday morning I told him he could not come into the house. “You have to figure this out,” I said. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need, but I cannot let you just give up.” He cried. I kept saying: “You can do it.”
Did I do the right thing? Even now I’m not sure. He did go back to the playground. But while teaching him to stand up for himself, was I also passing along the prejudice that a boy should override his pain and never back down from a fight?
Research has found high school boys are more likely than girls to have been in a fight in the past year and boys are more likely to have been victims of violence.
When I was young, I went to an all-boys high school where the bigger and more violent guys ruled. One spring, after a school dance, a fight broke out. One of them, an older boy others said was “crazy,” was kicking another boy, who was seriously injured that night.
I have never forgotten that. As a psychologist, I have spoken with many young men who have had similarly sad experiences, and I have heard from many parents about the influence on their sons. When having stressful experiences like these, boys often pull away from their families.
The parents, understandably, feel anxious, but what they can do, must do, for their sons is never underestimate the power of listening to them, knowing them, and standing by them.
1. How did the author’s son feel during his first years on the playground?| A．Proud. | B．Happy. | C．Unprepared. | D．Unwelcome. |
| A．He comforted him. | B．He went there with him. |
| C．He pushed him forward. | D．He had a talk with the other boys. |
| A．To show the harm of violence. | B．To show violence is inborn in boys. |
| C．To show fighting is common in boys. | D．To show uncontrolled violence at school. |
| A．Leave them alone. | B．Set a good example for them. |
| C．Teach them never to give up. | D．Understand and support them. |
【推荐1】Life is a series of choices whose consequences we cannot always foresee. Harry Saleem, an obese man with too much money and power, faced a choice. Outside his office waited his personal doctor who has brought him significant news about the only medicine that could save his life. On the other side of the world, one of his engineers waited for his decision on an important matter of business.
His secretary urged him several times to bring the doctor in but received only an indifferent reply from the billionaire: “No, let the fool wait.” “Business comes first!” Growled Saleem who was still obsessed with making money, despite the health problems caused by his huge weight. He raised a fat finger, and one of his staff hurried to switch on a large television set whose screen flashed to life, and Saleem’s engineer appeared. The man talked by satellite directly to his master although they were thousands of miles apart: “It’s all ready to blow, Mr Saleem,” he said. “Just say the word.”
His engineer was standing above Pakan Valley in South America which had been a rain forest just a few months ago, but then Saleem’s men came, cutting down all the valuable trees and forcing the villagers to move out. Across the bottom of the valley, a dam had been built which would provide power for the planned factories which would bring Saleem vast profits. Therefore, he saw no reason to delay and ordered the engineer to press the button. The camera panned away into the distance, and then a cloud of dust rose up, followed shortly by a dull explosion. A roaring river changed its course, and water flooded into the doomed Pakan Valley.
”Good, that’s that. Turn it off. Now get that doctor in here,” he commanded. The doctor came in with a worried look and started to examine his wealthy patient. “You’re doing very well, Mr Saleem,” he said finally. “The new medicine is saving your life but the only difficulty is getting more of it.” “Can you get more? Money is no problem,” Saleem said. “Tell me what you need, and we’ll get it.”
”The main ingredient of this medicine came from a newly discovered plant—a small, green orchid,” the doctor explained. “We’ll need many of them to make enough medicine. They are very rare. There’s only one place in the world where they grow.”
“Where?” demanded the businessman, impatiently.
The doctor smiled. “Well, lucky the orchids come from some land which you own, sir, so there won’t be any difficulty finding them. They’re from a place in South America known as Pakan Valley.”
1. Why did Saleem postpone the appointment with the doctor?| A．He was busy planning the building of a dam. |
| B．He was about to interview an important engineer. |
| C．He was about to attend an important online meeting. |
| D．He didn’t care about the advice of his secretary. |
| A．Life is composed of unforeseeable consequences. |
| B．Saleem is an obese billionaire who cares a lot about money. |
| C．Saleem’s engineer was waiting for a final word about a project. |
| D．The construction of the dam took the local biodiversity and ecology into consideration. |
| A．fatal | B．declined | C．lucky | D．destined |
| A．Staying as calm as he used to be. |
| B．Getting angry by the doctor’s word. |
| C．Growing impatient by the doctor’s persuasion. |
| D．Getting shocked by the medical advice and what he had just done. |
【推荐2】From the heartland to urban parks, school kids were released onto the baseball diamond. There was a time when baseball was the only summer game. But with competition from soccer and lacrosse, the clap of leather gloves is not as omnipresent as it used to be. Still, America’s game is a place for young boys to prove themselves.
Some boys were born athletic but Tim seemed to be growing in the opposite way: thin shoulders and no meat on his bones. But he loved baseball. And game after game, strikeout after strikeout piled up in the stat sheet. The desire was there, but the body doesn’t respond to dreams and wishes. The strikes continued.
Tim practiced his swing every day. His teammates encouraged him. His coach worked with him. Even opposing teams wished for a hit, just one hit for a boy who seemed to deserve it more than any other kid in the world.
What teammates and even the coach never saw was a gray van that pulled up each game in the parking lot adjacent to left field. Inside was Tim’s father, too weak from cancer to get out of the van. It’s a tough to watch your kid strike out, even tougher when you don’t have the strength to pitch to him.
At the end of the season, Tim stood at the plate as determined as ever. On the first pitch, the bat fell from his shoulder in a downward swing and somehow made contact. The ball dribbled down the third-base line, and Tim galloped to first. He stood on the bag wearing a smile as big as the outfield. He didn’t have the chance to advance, and when the pitcher retired the final out, Tim ran straight into left field, climbed the fence and dove into the front seat of a gray van, into the arms of a frail father whose wish for his son had finally materialized.
Sometimes it is more than a game.
1. What does the underlined word “omnipresent” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Outstanding. | B．Exciting. | C．Replaceable. | D．Common. |
| A．Tim's efforts won others’ respect |
| B．everyone believed Tim deserved a strikeout |
| C．Tim's coach was very satisfied with his performance |
| D．Tim's teammates often complained about his performance |
| A．Nobody supported Tim playing baseball. |
| B．Tim and his father love each other deeply. |
| C．Tim won the game through constant efforts. |
| D．Tim played baseball only to satisfy his own vanity. |
| A．Easier said than done. | B．One good turn deserves another. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. | D．One false step makes a great difference. |
【推荐3】Mary Wilkins Ellis was a volunteer pilot for Britain's Air Transport Auxiliary( ATA) during World War II.
Mary Wilkins was born on Feb.2, 1917. When she was 8, her father bought her a ride in a plane. From there, she was hooked. As a teenager, she persuaded her father to pay for flying lessons, and she earned her pilot's license at 22 in 1939.
In 1940,she heard an ad for volunteer pilots to help the war effort. She signed up and joined the ATA, whose task was to deliver planes from factory to base or from base to factory for repairs.
At the height of World War II, 26-year-old Mary Wilkins climbed down a ladder from the cockpit (驾驶舱) of a bomber(轰炸机) at a Royal Air Force base in England.
“Where's the pilot?” someone on the ground asked.
“I am the pilot!” she responded. She had delivered the bomber alone-although built for a five-man crew-from its factory. People on the ground looked at her in surprise. One of them even decided to climb up the ladder to check the plane for the “missing” pilot.
She was one of the “Atagirls”, as they were nicknamed, who almost always flew without other crew members, compass or radio assistance. They guided themselves by using maps and following rives or railway lines. While they did not fly in combat(战斗), they faced the daily danger of attack by enemy planes. Mrs. Ellis was once shot at over Bournemouth, in southern England, by “friendly fire” from the ground. Another time, she had a near-miss when landing in thick fog at the same time a combat Spitfire landed on the same runway from the opposite direction. That experience won her the nickname “the fog flyer” .
In all, Mrs. Ellis flew more than 1,000 warplanes of 76 types-including 400 Spitfires-among more than 200 British airfields from 1942 to the end of the war in 1945.
1. What does the underlined word “hooked” mean in the second paragraph?| A．Touched. | B．Addicted. | C．Annoyed. | D．Confused. |
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a magazine. | C．On a poster. | D．On the radio. |
| A．He didn't believe women could fly these planes. |
| B．He was interested in what a bomber looked like. |
| C．He couldn't wait to experience a ride in a bomber. |
| D．He wanted to check if the plane was in good condition. |
| A．They often flew in combat. | B．They were often shot at by enemy. |
| C．They often flew on their own. | D．They guided themselves by radio when flying. |
When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note. “I have read your story and I don’t think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I’m not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return.”
John read the thief’s suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his “visitor” to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study.
1. Detective stories are stories about________ .
| A．the future | B．the police |
| C．children | D．science |
| A．he could not finish his story and hoped to get some ideas |
| B．he wanted to enjoy himself in the cinema |
| C．he wanted to look for a thief |
| D．he was too tired |
| A．visit the writer | B．have a drink |
| C．steal something | D．read the story |
【推荐2】Another person’s enthusiasm was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.
I was nine years old when she entered our home in the countryside of Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words, “I would like you to meet the fellow who is well known for being the worst boy in this town and will probably start throwing rocks at you no later than tomorrow morning.” My stepmother walked over to me, raised my head slightly upward, and looked at me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied ,“You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, but the smartest one who hasn’t yet found a way to give out his enthusiasm.”
That statement began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my mind as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that. She changed many things. She persuaded my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the city, where my father’s care er could be more successful and my brother and I could be better educated.
When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand typewriter and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her belief and began to write for local newspapers and finally reached the goal she set for me. I wasn’t the only beneficiary (受益人) . My father became the wealthiest man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
1. What can be learnt about the author from Paragraph 2?| A．He was the worst boy in the town. |
| B．He liked throwing rocks at people. |
| C．He left a bad impression on his stepmother. |
| D．He received a poor comment from his father. |
| A．The stepmother’s influence on the family. |
| B．Friendship between mother and son. |
| C．Changes in the family relationship. |
| D．Reasons for receiving education. |
| A．To congratulate on his success. | B．To encourage him to write. |
| C．To help him find a good job. | D．To teach him how to type. |
| A．Enthusiasm Changes Life | B．Success Lies in Education |
| C．A Stepmother’s Amazing Life | D．The Secret of a Good Writer |
I received a private message on Facebook. It began harmlessly enough “Hey, girl. Wanted to invite you to join my next challenge group—we’ll be focusing on fitting in 30 minutes of exercise and balanced nutrition.”
It was all becoming too much. Facebook was running my life, not me.
But what killed Facebook for me was when I posted a photo, and five minutes later my son asked me how many “likes” it had got. His question was a wake-up call “Likes” are signs of acceptance and approval. I had forgotten that acceptance and approval need to come from within and had unknowingly set him a bad example.
Before Facebook, surfing the Internet was an occasional distraction and I spent a lot more time reading books and magazines. I checked in with friends through texts, emails and phone calls.
To recreate the simplicity of those days and set a healthier example for my son, I deactivated my Facebook account. I’d been in the habit of checking Facebook many times a day, so I had to come up with some new habits. I carried a novel and a crossword puzzle book around with me. I rediscovered knitting (针织). I started taking yoga classes.
I started to remember a few things. My body is fine just the way it is. I have friends who will help me out when I’m in trouble, and I will help them out. I do my best to be a good mother, and our son is happy and healthy. We are very lucky to be able to afford two vacations a year. I stopped looking at the world through my cellphone. I felt pleased at the moment. The break left me feeling better about myself, my family, my home and my life.
After a few weeks, I returned to Facebook. Now I look at the photos of my friends, kids growing up and treasure how social media allows me to keep in touch with family far and wide. I look in on a daily basis, but no longer with the desire constantly to post updates.
It is not an addiction any more.
1. What caused the author deactivate her Facebook account?2. What did the author do to change her life?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underlined it and explain why.
After I found Facebook was running my life, I completely stopped using it.
4. What do you think is the best way to use social media? Please explain. (about 40 words)
