Writer Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago, when he was in high school, as a result of a progressive eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa (色素性视网膜炎). His first experience of loss of sight happened temporarily at night, in which he was confused that everyone else seemed to see in the dark so much better than he did. Over the years, his disease has progressed gradually. He’s now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully sighted person sees.
Leland analogized his vision to the view you might get by looking through a toilet paper tube or a keyhole. He said, “Imagine having that toilet paper tube tied to your head and trying to walk down the street; there’s a whole bunch of things you don’t see but that you really ought to, like dogs.”
In his new book, The Country of the Blind, Leland writes about losing his vision and preparing for blindness, how his condition impacts his identity, how the world sees him and his marriage, and something valuable he has learned.
He said he was not going to try to tell people that having vision was not an unbelievably useful thing for a human being for many reasons. When talking about the experience of being alive and being conscious, he referred to James Joyce — Joyce believed that he was only losing one world among many, and that vision was only a tiny part of experiences when he was going blind.
He thought if you looked at the things that blind people were capable of imagining, like John Milton writing Paradise Lost as a blind person, there was this unbelievable richness in humans’ consciousness that vision had nothing to do with. Other realms (领域) such as the mental and emotional realms were all so rich that they could also help unfold things on earth before you.
1. What do we know about Leland?| A．He went totally blind in high school. |
| B．He experienced night blindness at first. |
| C．He was born with a narrow field of vision. |
| D．He was aware of his condition throughout. |
| A．Connected. | B．Reduced. | C．Compared. | D．Exposed. |
| A．To help explain an opinion. |
| B．To stress the value of good vision. |
| C．To state his considerable influence. |
| D．To show the inconvenience of blindness. |
| A．Practice is the best teacher. |
| B．The blind have more vivid imagination. |
| C．Things are not set in concrete. |
| D．Vision is not the only window in the world. |
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【推荐1】After a terrible electrical accident, which caused him to become both blind and deaf, the whole world became completely dark and quiet for Robert Edwards for almost ten years. The loss of sight and hearing threw him into such sorrow that he tried a few times to put an end to his life. His family, especially his wife, did their best to tend and comfort him and finally he regained the will to live.
One hot summer afternoon, he was taking a walk with a stick near his house when a thunderstorm started all at once. He stood under a large tree to avoid getting wet, but he was hit by the lightning. Passers-by thought he was dead but he woke up some 20 minutes later lying face down in muddy water at the base of the tree. He was trembling badly, but when he opened his eyes, he could hardly believe what he saw: a plough and a wall. When Mrs. Edwards came running up to him, shouting to their neighbors to call for help, he could see her and hear her voice for the first time in nearly ten years.
The news of Robert regaining his sight and hearing quickly spread, and many doctors came to examine him. Most of them said that he regained his sight and hearing from the shock he got from the lightning. However, none of them could give a convincing answer as to why this should have happened. The only reasonable explanation given by one doctor was that, since Robert lost his sight and hearing as a result of a sudden shock, perhaps, the only way for him to regain them was by another sudden shock.
1. The reason for Robert’s attempts to kill himself was that ________.| A．a terrible traffic accident happened to him |
| B．he had to live in a dark and silent world |
| C．he was hit by the lightning once more |
| D．nobody in the world cared about him |
| A．there was no accurate explanation for Robert’s recovery |
| B．many doctors came because Robert was badly injured |
| C．Robert’s wife sent for doctors immediately after the shock |
| D．a sudden injury in the head led to Robert’s recovery |
| A．A Terrible Electrical Accident |
| B．Robert Edwards and His Wife |
| C．What a Sudden Shock |
| D．An Unforgettable Experience |
【推荐2】Two travelling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family were rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied: “Things aren’t always what they seem.”
The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable(好客的)farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had，the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning，the angels found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their only income, lay dead in the field.The younger angel was very angry and asked the older angel, “How could this happen？” “Why did you not watch out for the cow？ The first man had everything, yet you watched over his house,” she accused. “The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you did not help.”“Things aren’t always what they seem.” the older angel replied. “When we stayed in the basement，I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so greedy and unwilling to share his good fortune, I asked God if I could seal(封口) the wall so he wouldn’t find it. Then last night as we slept in the farmer’s bed, the angel of death came for his wife. I asked God if the angel could take the cow instead. Things aren’t always what they seem.”
1. The younger angel was very angry because .| A．the older angel treated the two families unfairly. |
| B．the older angel killed the farmer’s cow. |
| C．the wealthy man gave them a bad place to live. |
| D．the angel of death took the cow away. |
| A．Because she wanted to save the farmer’s wife. |
| B．Because she wanted to teach the younger angel a lesson. |
| C．Because she was sympathetic to the rich. |
| D．Because God wanted the older angel to take the cow. |
| A．the young should always learn from the old |
| B．angels are always ready to help the poor. |
| C．angels are always ready to help the rich. |
| D．sometimes things are not what they seem. |
【推荐3】Evenings With Dad
Some of my earliest memories involve sitting with my dad in his study every night when he came home from the office. I’d watch as he put his personal items away: his watch, wallet, comb and car keys would always occupy the same spot on the table every time.
Dad’s comb was jade green. I heard he bought it when he married Mum. Every night, he would smile, hand me the comb and say: “Be a good girl and help Daddy clean it, OK?”
I was more than happy to do it. At age five, this kind of task brought me such joy. I would excitedly turn the tap on, then brush the comb with a used toothbrush as hard as I could. Satisfied that I’d done a good job, I would proudly return the comb to Dad. He would smile at me, and place the comb on top of his wallet.
About two years later, Dad left his sales job and started his own wholesale business. I started primary school. That was when things started to change. Dad’s business wasn’t doing so well, and our stable life started getting shaky. He didn’t come home as much as he used to. And when he did come home, it was always late and I’d already be in bed. I started to get mad. Why didn’t he listen to Mum and just stick to his old job? Why take the risk and place the whole family in trouble? Over the years, I stopped waiting for him to come home, and stopped going downstairs to check on him.
Now 28, I’ve graduated from college and got a job. Dad’s business has also started to get back on track. Yet the uncomfortable silence between Dad and me went on.
Two days before my birthday last year, Dad came home early. As usual, I helped him carry his bags into his study. When I turned to leave, he asked me to clean his comb. I looked at him for a while, then took the comb and headed to the sink.
It was a new comb. This one was brown. I hadn’t noticed that he’d changed it. After cleaning it, I passed it back to Dad. He looked at it and smiled. But this time, I noticed something different. My dad had aged. He had wrinkles next to his eyes when he smiled, yet his smile was still as heartwarming as before.
1. How did the author feel about her earliest memories with her Dad?| A．Moved. | B．Cheerful. | C．Challenging. | D．Tired. |
| A．he lost his job and had to make a living |
| B．he was eager to get a sense of achievement |
| C．he hoped to earn a better life for the family |
| D．he wanted to protect his life from getting shaky |
| A．kind to the colleagues | B．confident in his work |
| C．strict with his daughter | D．responsible for his family |
| A．she intended to remember their happy time |
| B．she took pride in helping her father clean the combs |
| C．she was grateful for what her father had done for the family |
| D．she wanted others to draw a lesson from her personal experience |
【推荐1】Anyone interested in easy ways to make a positive impact on their communities need look no further than 12-year-old Danykah Muck, a Michigan middle-schooler whose simple learning project is an inspiration to positive thinkers of any age. It all started with her way to school every school day. Every morning she would greet an old man in her neighborhood, who she still doesn’t know his name, smiling or even simply offering a friendly word “hello”. And he would always nod and smile back. “It seems to considerably change the emotional energy around me in the community,” She noticed this in both directions, “That simple act can both change our entire day with how they greet me.”
Last spring, Muck brought an idea to her teachers. She provided them with a pile of sticky notes she had filled with brief—sometimes one-word—positive messages. She then asked the teachers to place the notes on students’ desks before they arrived at school the next day. She also gave pre-filled sticky notes to the lunch staff and to school administrators including the principal. The idea was to make it easy for teachers, staff and students to regularly encounter reminders that they matter and are valued. “You are enough just being you,” reads one favorite note. Muck’s idea could be just the thing in an office, assisted living facility or even at home for a small family.
“Low-cost” positive interactions, like a friendly word offered to the postal worker or coffee shop servant, are shown by psychology researchers to build sympathy and abate loneliness. An anonymous note sent into someone’s inbox or stuck to their front door is perhaps the lowest-cost connection there is, with potential benefits beyond our imagination. Sometimes the smallest encouragements have the biggest impact. What would you say on a sticky note to share with someone in your community?
1. What message does paragraph 1 convey?| A．Middle-schoolers are friendly to the elderly. |
| B．A simple act of kindness makes a difference. |
| C．A community can be easily shaped by interest. |
| D．Learning projects can inspire positive thinkers. |
| A．By writing thank-you letters. | B．By means of sticking notices. |
| C．By talking with school leaders. | D．By writing encouraging words. |
| A．Measure. | B．Monitor. | C．Ease. | D．Stand. |
| A．What a friendly word means to a stranger | B．Never be bothered by negative thoughts |
| C．Brighten the community with positivity | D．How to build a harmonious community |
【推荐2】I was born in the city of York, in England, in 1632. My father was a man of some wealth, able to give the me a good home and send me to school. It was his wish that I should be a lawyer but my head began to be filled very early with thoughts of travel, and I would be satisfied with nothing but going to sea. One day, being at Hull, met one of my friends who was about to sail for London in his father’s ship, and he invited me to go with him. Without telling my father, I went on board.
On the way to London, our ship was destroyed by a storm, and we almost lost our lives. I went on foot to London, where I met with the master of a large ship which did business with countries on the coast of Africa. He offered me a chance to go with him, which I gladly accepted.
A great storm came up, and the ship was tossed (颠簸) about for many days, until we did not know where we were. Suddenly we hit a bank of sand, and the sea broke over the ship in such a way that we could not hope to have her hold many moments without breaking into pieces. So we used a boat instead. After we had been driven four or five miles,a mountainous wave (波浪) hit us so hard that it overturned the boat at once. I swam well but the waves were so strong that I was pushed against a rock with such force, and left unconscious. But I recovered a little before the waves returned, and, running forward, got to the mainland safely. I never regretted my decisions.
1. What the author want to do most when he was young?| A．To visit Africa. | B．To sail the seas. |
| C．To practice law. | D．To move to London. |
| A．alone | B．hungry |
| C．sleepy | D．senseless |
| A．what he did on the ship | B．what he went through at sea |
| C．how he became a man of wealth | D．how he got to know a ship owner |
| A．He could not swim at all. | B．He made his father very proud. |
| C．He was not afraid of taking risks. | D．He did business with African countries. |
【推荐3】When I was growing up, I had an old neighbour named Doctor Gibbs. He didn't look like any other 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. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He believed in the principle: “No pain, no gain”. 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 and strong.
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 Gibbs' 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 pray for deep roots, so when the rain falls and the winds blow, we won't be torn apart.
1. With the trees planted, Doctor Gibbs often ________.| A．kept watering them every morning | B．beat them to make them grow deep roots |
| C．talked to them to get their attention | D．paid little attention to them |
| A．Have an easy life, without too much to worry about. |
| B．Be able to stand the rain and winds in their lives. |
| C．Have good luck, encountering less hardship in their life. |
| D．Meet people like Dr Gibbs in the future. |
| A．A Nice Doctor | B．Adversity and Suffering |
| C．The Deep Roots | D．My Childhood Memory |
【推荐1】Not only kids of Tiger Moms go to Harvard.
Dawn Loggins of Lawndale，N.C.is on her way to Harvard，one of the eight worldfamous universities in the eastern US.Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes.This girl created her own future.
The teen was abandoned by her family last summer，when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee.She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend's sofas.
The school bus driver learned about Dawn's situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family.Soon，Dawn had a job at Burns High School.She worked from 6 a．m.to 7：40 a．m.before the first school bell rang.She swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons，before diving into her studies in the evenings.
Dawn's hard work paid off.She finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2，110 on the SAT.
“There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up，”the 18yearold said.“But it was never in me to give up，because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education.”
Even before Dawn's family left her，she led a difficult life.Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food.Dawn“studied by candlelight”because her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill(电费)．
Dawn has now reconnected with her family.They are proud of her accomplishments(成就)and are attending her high school graduation.
1. Why didn't Dawn give up her studies?| A．To reconnect with her family. |
| B．To thank those who had helped her. |
| C．To get an education to be successful. |
| D．To realize her dream of going to Harvard. |
| A．Her teachers. | B．Her neighbors. |
| C．A Tiger Mom. | D．A school bus driver. |
| A．宠爱 | B．抛弃 |
| C．鼓励 | D．虐待 |
| A．Open-minded. | B．Good-natured. |
| C．Strong-willed. | D．Warm-hearted |
| A．Another Harvard girl |
| B．A girl in candlelight |
| C．From homeless to Harvard |
| D．The role of Tiger Moms |
【推荐2】Sneha Sharma got her flying and racing licenses before she was licensed to drive. It wasn’t easy as Sneha had to battle with her family and societal set ideas to walk on what was seen as an unconventional career path.
Sneha was 16 when she realized that winning in racing was not just fun, but her dream. The same year, after performance in city-level races, she was selected by the national racing team. But she soon ran into a huge roadblock: her parents didn’t approve of her passion. They wanted her to focus on academics because they considered racing dangerous. However, that did not block the young girl. "I would hide my helmet into my bag. I also carried my books everywhere as I told myself that studies were also a preference along with racing. I would study on the tracks, bus, and anytime possible,” she says.
Sneha went on to do well in her exams, and came out with flying colors at the national-level racing. But getting to this point wasn't easy. A normal day involved a lot of hustle (忙碌喧嚣). After attending class, she would catch a train at 3 p. m. for her pilot training. Time permitting, she would then，to the racing track which would often be open till 9 p. m. All this hustle was at the age of 16, and prepared her to get up to speed for a busy life. In 2007, she went to San Francisco for flying classes. A year later, she joined Indigo Airlines to fly Airbus 320. That very year, she emerged as one of the drivers in the top five at the Mercedes Young Star driver programme.
At the end of 2019, Sneha, 29, a brand ambassador, has her 2020 calendar charted out. Clearly, her hard work has put her career at the top speed!
1. What did Sneha’s parents think of her dream?| A．Distinctive. | B．Independent. |
| C．Rewarding. | D．Nontraditional. |
| A．Academics was as important as racing. |
| B．Academics ranked the first in her mind. |
| C．Academics was less valuable than racing. |
| D．Academics could be abandoned for racing. |
| A．In 2007. | B．In her twenties. |
| C．At the age of 16. | D．When she was 18. |
| A．Stubborn. | B．Fortunate. |
| C．Struggling. | D．Uncontrollable. |
【推荐3】You’re never too old to achieve your dreams — or even break records. A 104-year-old woman named Dorothy Hoffner is such an example. She has just become the oldest person to skydive (跳伞), and she had the time of her life doing it. After touching ground following her jump with a US instructor, she proudly said, “Age is just a number.”
Hoffner took to the skies of Northern Illinois with the help of Skydive Chicago, making her way to the town of Ottawa for the jump. For all the excitement, this wasn’t her first time jumping out of the plane. Hoffner’s first skydiving took place a few years ago, when she was 100. Although back then the instructor helped push them out together, this time she insisted on leading the jump from 13,500 feet up in the air.
A video shared by Skydive Chicago shows Hoffner determinedly advancing towards the plane on her red walker (助行架) before being helped on board. Sitting among her fellow skydivers, she is all smiles as she waits for her turn. Once the door opens, the woman confidently jumps out of the plane head first.
Before Hoffner’s jump, the record for the oldest person to skydive belonged-to 103-year-old Linnea Ingegard Larsson from Sweden, who set it in May 2022. Now, Skydive Chicago is requesting Guinness World Records to certify Hoffner’s jump as the new record.
As for Hoffner, she seems happy with having achieved this, describing the jump as an amazing experience. “It was wonderful up there. The whole thing was wonderful, and couldn’t have been better,” she says. Now that she has completed this achievement, she is now thinking of her next adventure. Since she is turning 105 in December, she is thinking of celebrating by riding a hot air balloon, saying, “I’ve never been in one of those.”
1. What do we know about Hoffner?| A．She set a world record in 2022. |
| B．She took up skydiving from an early age. |
| C．She loved to meet new challenges in life. |
| D．She improved her physical fitness through sports. |
| A．To compare different types of walkers. |
| B．To explore the reason why she took to skydiving. |
| C．To encourage people struggling in life to be brave. |
| D．To show her determination despite physical difficulties. |
| A．Thoughtful. | B．Courageous. | C．Responsible. | D．Calm. |
| A．Woman braves difficulties to achieve success. |
| B．104-year-old woman takes the world by storm. |
| C．Woman with disability stands out with hard work. |
| D．The oldest person breaks world record for skydiving. |
