I was the only kid in college with a reason to go to the mail box, because my mother never believed in email, or cell phones in general. I was literally waiting to get a letter to see how the weekend had gone, which was usually the warmest comfort for me.
So when I moved to New York and got sucker-punched in the face by depression, I did the only thing I could think of — writing letters like my mother for strangers. I blogged about those letters and crazily promised I would write a hand-written letter to whoever asked me to.
Overnight, my inbox became this harbor of heartbreak-a single mother in Sacramento, a girl being bullied (恐吓) in rural Kansas. . , all asking me to write them a letter and give them a reason to wait by the mailbox. And this is how the act The World Needs More Love Letters was born, fueled by those trips to the mailbox. But the thing about these letters is that most of them have been written by people, who have grown up into a paperless world where some best conversations happen swiftly on a screen.
I’ve been carrying this mail crate (大木箱) with me these days, which is a magical icebreaker. So I get to tell total strangers about a woman whose husband was traumatized (受精神创伤) from war in Afghanistan, and how she left love letters throughout the house as a way to say, “Come back to me. ” And the man, who had decided to take his life, tonight slept safely with letters just beneath his pillow, handwritten by strangers who were there for him.
These are the kinds of stories that convince me that letter-writing will always be needed, even in these days, because it is an art now, all of it: the signing, the scripting, and the mailing.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The author didn’t believe in e-mail. |
| B．Mom had been cheated by letters from strangers. |
| C．Communicating by writing letters was Mom’s favorite. |
| D．The author was attached to receiving letters from Mom. |
| A．The letters’ comforting effect on people. | B．Her intention of providing professional aid. |
| C．The positive influence of modern technology. | D．Her mother’s fear of modern communication. |
| A．It melts ice easily on a cold day. | B．It serves as a tool for magic tricks. |
| C．It encourages people to recover from traumas. | D．It helps to start a conversation with passers-by. |
| A．Passion for Writing. | B．Priceless Family Letters. |
| C．Love Letters to Strangers. | D．The Art of Writing Letters. |
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【推荐1】When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.
When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. His house sat on ten acres, and his life’s goal was to make it a forest. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He hardly watered his new trees, which flew in the face of conventional wisdom. Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said you had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water. So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he’d beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the tree’s attention.
Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d watched him plant some twenty five years ago. They were all tall, big and robust since they have deep roots now.
I planted a couple of trees myself a few years ago. Two years of attending these trees meant they grew up weak. Whenever a cold wind blew, their branches trembled. Adversity(逆境) seemed to benefit Doctor Gibb’s trees in ways comfort and ease never could.
Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to meet with hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be torn apart.
1. With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs __________.| A．kept watering them every morning | B．paid little attention to them |
| C．talked to them to get their attention | D．beat them to make them grow deep roots |
| A．strange | B．deep | C．strong | D．old |
| A．Have an easy life, without too much to worry about. |
| B．Meet people like Dr. Gibbs in the future. |
| C．Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life. |
| D．Be able to stand the rain and wind in their lives. |
| A．Growing roots | B．Doctor Gibbs and his trees |
| C．Prayers for my sons | D．Watering trees |
【推荐2】The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington,” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. ‘It’ can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.
1. The best title for the article is _______.| A．When the Computer Is Down |
| B．The Most Frightening Words |
| C．The Computer of the Airport |
| D．Asking the Computer |
| A．She could sell a ticket. |
| B．She could write out a ticket. |
| C．She could answer the passengers’ questions. |
| D．She could do nothing. |
| A．Because it was easy down |
| B．Because it was very expensive. |
| C．Because it was not advanced enough. |
| D．Because it was not as big as the main computer. |
| A．a modern computer won’t be down. |
| B．computers can take the place of humans |
| C．sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people |
| D．there will be great changes in computers |
【推荐3】Blake Mycoske set up his first business, EZ Laundry, a door-to-door laundry service for students, when he was still in college. Having grown the company to service seven colleges in the southwestern US, he sold his share to his business partner and moved on to a media advertising business in Nashville. This he sold to Clear Channel, one of the industry’s leading companies.
Three more businesses later, still only 29 years old, and feeling somewhat burned out, Mycoskie decided to give it a break for a while and head down to Argentina. But resting wasn’t really in his nature, and it wasn’t long before Mycoskie had hit upon an idea that would come to define him as a social entrepreneur (企业家).
On a visit to a village outside Buenos Aires, he was shocked to see that many of the children didn’t have any shoes or, if they did, the shoes were worn out and didn’t fit. Since shoes, particularly the local farmers’ canvas (帆布) shoe, the alpargata, can be bought relatively cheaply in Argentina, Mycoskie’s first instinct was to set up a charity to donate shoes to the children. But after giving it some thought, he realized that this was not a model that would work. One pair of shoes per child would not make that much difference because they wear out. And if he asked people to donate repeatedly, sympathy for the cause might also wear out pretty quickly.
Instead he came up with the idea of TOMS One for One Shoes. He would take the alpargata to America, manufacture it and sell it as a high-end fashion item at around $50 a pair. For each pair he sold, he would donate another to shoeless children, guaranteeing a continual supply. Also, rather than running a charity, something he had no real experience in, he could run the project as a business. Several years later, the business is booming, supplying shoes not only to children in Argentina but also other parts of the world where foot diseases are a problem.
Mycoskie had no manufacturing experience and understood that he had to learn fast. For the first eighteen months, by his own admission, he made “a poor job of making shoes,” but since then he has brought in help from experienced industry people. The vital element that Mycoskie added was his passion—a passion he wants others to share. One criticism of initiatives like TOMS is that the money spent by customers might otherwise have gone directly to charities. So Mycoskie encourages his customers to become more involved with TOMS by volunteering to hand-deliver the shoes to children in need. It’s a giving experience and he hopes it might inspire some of the volunteers to develop similar projects.
1. Why did Blake Mycoske go to Argentina?| A．To look for ideas. |
| B．To be close to nature. |
| C．To relax himself. |
| D．To start his new business. |
| A．he found it wasn’t a long-term solution |
| B．he found the shoes weren’t good in quality |
| C．he found people didn’t show enough sympathy |
| D．he found the kids didn’t like the traditional shoes |
| A．He inspired other similar projects. |
| B．He donated more money to charity. |
| C．He turned his customers into volunteers. |
| D．He hand-delivered shoes to the kids by himself. |
| A．The Future of Shoe Making | B．A New Business Model |
| C．An Experienced Entrepreneur | D．The Shoe Giver |
【推荐1】Early one morning in 1948, a phone call woke up the police chief in the small town of Clearwater, Florida. The caller said he'd seen something strange at the beach. Residents woke up that morning to find an odd set of footprints in the sand, and a rumor (谣言) began circulating that Clearwater Beach had a sea monster.
It turned out to be a local prankster (恶作剧者) who wore 30-pound, three-toed iron shoes and walked around the beach at night. Soon the mysterious tracks appeared on other beaches, from Honeymoon Island to St. Pete Beach. The local papers ran photos of police bending over a big footprint, looking puzzled. The footprints led people to believe there was a giant, 15-foot penguin wandering around their lands.
The tracks of the giant penguin continued for 10 years. 1958 marked the last time when anyone saw them. It wasn't until April 11, 1988, that a St. Petersburg Times reporter revealed that the giant penguin was actually Tony Signorini, a locally known prankster. Signorini kept the prank a secret for 40 years.
Signorini stated he had been inspired by a photograph of fossilized dinosaur tracks, and showed the reporter the huge penguin feet made of iron used in creating the tracks. "To create the false impression of a long step, Signorini would stand on one leg, swing the other one back and forth to take a leap." the Tampa Bay Times reported.
When Signorini died at age 91 in 2013, his family made sure to mention in his obituary(讣告) hat, along with being a World War II flight engineer, "Tony was famous for being ‘The Clearwater Monster,’ a hoax that made national news.”
1. What do we know about the footprints on Clearwater beach?| A．They were about 15 feet long each. | B．They were made by a big penguin. |
| C．They were marks left by a monster. | D．They looked like a huge penguin's tracks. |
| A．26 years old | B．30 years old. | C．36 years old | D．40 years old |
| A．A trick | B．A report. | C．A soldier. | D．A fiction. |
| A．The Unsolved Mystery | B．The Clearwater Monster |
| C．The Life of a Prankster | D．The Legend of a Giant |
【推荐2】Dillon Doeden is not an athlete—and yet, he’s undertaking one of the toughest physical sports, climbing Mount Qomolangma. The dad from Omaha, Nebraska, is motivated (激励) by someone special: his 5-year-old son, Connor, who has a disease of muscular dystrophy (肌营养不良) called Duchenne.
Connor was said to have Duchenne when he was 2 years old. Duchenne is a disorder that causes muscle wasting of every muscle in the human body. And it finally leads to death. There is no cure. But people like Doeden are trying to change that.
The disease is rare, but Connor is not alone. Doeden met a fellow dad, Jim Raffone, on the Internet, who has a son with Duchenne. Jim Raffone also runs JAR of Hope, a charity to bring awareness and raise money for Duchenne research. Raffone said they were going to do a big fundraiser by climbing Qomolangma to help try and fund a clinical trial for Duchenne and asked whether Doeden would go. Doeden said he absolutely would go.
“I am so grateful another dad in the Duchenne community is coming on the Climb For The Cure,” Raffone said. “We need to work together to make Duchenne a household name.” That’s why they’re planning to climb Qomolangma—the world’s tallest mountain. “Why is it the Qomolangma? Well, I would do anything for my son and we chose Qomolangma because, well, quite frankly, it deserves some attention,” Doeden said.
Doeden said he’s been training for the climb—which is 80 miles round trip—and he feels confident that he can do it. For Doeden, the difficulty is worth it because of his son. “This isn’t necessarily something I would’ve done on my own. But because we’re doing it to help my son and others dealing with Duchenne, it’s easy to stay motivated in my book. Like, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do,” he said.
1. What made Doeden choose to climb Mount Qomolangma?| A．His love for his son. | B．His son’s encouragement. |
| C．His role as an athlete. | D．A wish to conquer Qomolangma. |
| A．It causes loss of blood. | B．It has no treatment. |
| C．It is a common disease. | D．It is deadly at early stage. |
| A．To call on more people to join charities. |
| B．To raise money for climbing Mount Qomolangma. |
| C．To raise the awareness of environmental protection. |
| D．To make Duchenne known to the public. |
| A．Attractive and responsible. | B．Courageous and determined. |
| C．Experienced and confident. | D．Athletic and professional. |
【推荐3】A four-year-old boy who was crazy about collecting rubbish has finally fulfilled his dream of being a cleaner. Riley McCourt has admired the local rubbish collectors for ages, spending his days picking up waste on his street and wheeling bins (垃圾桶) to the side of the road to help out his neighbors. He loves cleaning and binning waste. His favorite chore is to empty the rubbish from the chip shop his mum runs. Two weeks ago, however, a disaster struck: Riley accidentally knocked over one of the bins and was accused of causing trouble.
Someone posted in the local Facebook group that Riley had put rubbish in the street, clearly unaware of his love for keeping the streets clean. Thankfully his innocence (清白) was quickly proven, and his local council decided to make his dreams come true by allowing him to work alongside the cleaners for a day.
Riley joined the waste collection crew on Wednesday, chatting with the team, helping with the recycling, and riding in the waste collection vehicles. He even got his own jacket. Riley’s mum, Toni McCourt, said, “He loves the bins and trucks. “Riley’s favorite day is definitely bin day. He goes round collecting the rubbish up on the street. The cleaners all know him when they spot him. He goes outside as soon as he sees the cleaners collecting rubbish in the community. He helps his neighbors put their bins out for collection.
Riley clearly made a good impression during his first day on the job, as community services manager Jane Carrol said she was very pleased with his enthusiasm for the role. Jane said, “Riley is clearly a keen recycler and who knows, when he is older I’m sure he would make an excellent member of the team here. It was a pleasure for the team to show him around the vehicles.”
1. What is Riley’s dream?| A．To prove his innocence. | B．To collect much rubbish. |
| C．To work as a real cleaner. | D．To work in his mother’s shop. |
| A．He was wronged by someone. | B．He was knocked over by a bin. |
| C．He had an accident in the shop. | D．He forgot to empty the rubbish. |
| A．They go out to celebrate it. | B．They only collect bins at their own homes. |
| C．They help Riley collect rubbish. | D．They collect rubbish in the community. |
| A．It is dangerous to do so on the street. | B．It is good for the community to follow him. |
| C．It is worthwhile to give Riley high remarks. | D．It is unnecessary for such a little boy to do so. |
