My first shopping in a general store was in Miss Bee’s when I spent the summer with my grandmother in New York.
“Go get them yourself” Miss Bee said, ignoring the shopping list held up before her nose. “I’m not your servant, so just get yourself a basket from that pile over there and start filing.”
It took me three wall-to-wall searches before I found the first item on my list — a pork can be placed between boxes of cereal and bread. Next up was toilet paper, found under the daily newspaper, and Band-Ads, found next to the face cream. The store was a puzzle, but it held some surprises too. I found a new Superman comic behind the peanut butter.
I visited Miss Bee a couple of times a week that summer. Sometimes she short-charged me. Other times she overcharged or sold me an old newspaper instead of a current one. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I left my Grandma’s house armed with my list — memorized to the letter — and marched into Miss Bee’s like General Patton (巴顿将军) marching into North Africa.
All summer long she found ways to trip me up. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda (小苏打) and memorized its location on the shelf than Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for it all over again. By summer’s end, however, the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes.
The morning I was to return to Brooklyn, I stopped in to tell her that she was mean. To my amazement, she laughed and said. “Well, I don’t care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet some life lessons to help them. Think what you will, but when you get older you’ll be glad our paths crossed!”
1. Why did the writer spend a long time doing her first shopping in the general store?| A．She was too young to remember all the items on the list. |
| B．Miss Bee didn’t treat her kindly. |
| C．Her grandmother asked her to buy too many things. |
| D．The store was in disorder and she was not familiar with the shop. |
| A．She was well prepared and full of confidence. |
| B．Going shopping in the store was a challenge to her. |
| C．She was very aggressive, taking Miss Bee as the enemy. |
| D．Going shopping was so fun that it was like playing a war game. |
| A．The writer would benefit from the experience of shopping in Miss Bee’s. |
| B．The writer would find shopping in Miss Bee’s store very interesting. |
| C．The writer would be happy to meet Miss Bee again later in life. |
| D．The writer would realize that Miss Bee could become her friend. |
| A．Mean. | B．Careless. | C．Helpful. | D．Humorous. |
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【推荐1】I waited half an hour, set the board, and sat in the studio, reviewing my questions until the telephone lines flashed.
“Hello ?”
“This is Connie Chung. I’m so sorry I’m late.”
Connie Chung was one of the only four women anchors （主播） to make it into the club of major evening network television news. For almost an hour we talked about the industry. When I asked if she ever had an instructor throughout her trials, she turned around and offered to instruct me. When I asked why she decided to do it, she simply replied, “Because you’re good.”
That afternoon I rushed home and told my mother what had happened. Without looking up, she just said “Good for you.” Hearing this, I felt a sense of loss. Her consistent response always made me feel under-appreciated.
Until then I had been searching for something that I would never get—that sense of love and acceptance in a house full of negativity （消极）.
I knew I needed to get rid of all the negativity in my life first, so I packed my bags and walked out of the house, thinking a risk would allow me to open myself to the world again and receive all the positive energy that I needed.
Then radio became my way of connecting with others. My ability to book high-level guests and celebrities（名人）was gradually recognized and eventually all the words of encouragement from past guests and colleagues helped me to re-build my confidence levels. “I can do this,” I kept telling myself, and pushed even harder to find my next aim.
People had faith in me, so I developed faith in myself. Their positive attitudes towards themselves and towards me helped me develop my own positive attitude, leading to productive interactions with celebrities and adding to my list of instructors.
I may not have started life surrounded by positivity but I surely feel that I am surrounded by it now. It’ s amazing how positivity builds on itself.
1. What was the author probably doing at the beginning of the text?| A．He was preparing for a show. | B．He was looking for an instructor. |
| C．He was waiting to be interviewed. | D．He was broadcasting news in the studio. |
| A．She felt excited. | B．She didn’t believe it. |
| C．She was very grateful. | D．She didn’t take it seriously. |
| A．To broaden his view. | B．To escape punishment. |
| C．To keep away from negativity. | D．To set up a home of his own. |
| A．The Strength of Positivity | B．My Goal in Career |
| C．My Ability in Management | D．The Friendship Between Anchors |
【推荐2】When I was a boy, I lived across the road from a camp. For nine months out of a year, the camp was mostly empty, so it was my own personal playground. I would ride my bike up and down the quiet road. I would shoot basketballs alone at the court no matter how many times I missed. I would even explore the woodlands near the camp to look for buried treasures in my imagination.
In summer when the camp opened, I would swim every day at the pool. Then I would sneak into (溜进去) the camp’s kitchen to get a treasure of my own. My smiling grandma worked there and would hand me a hot roll and some coins from her pocket. I would take my treasure down to the vending (售卖) machine and buy myself a sweet can of Coca Cola to quench my thirst and lighten my heart.
Those memories are over 40 years old now, yet they still live in my mind like it was yesterday. Sometimes I wish I could go back to the old days and talk to that little boy. I would tell him to enjoy and cherish each day he had there. I would tell him that every moment is a gift of life. I would tell him to be here now and try not to blink (眨眼睛) because the years were flying silently. Most of all, I would tell him to stop and hug his grandma every chance he got.
Life seems so short at times. The longest life still seems too brief to learn all we have to learn, to do all we want to do, and to share the love we need to share. What we should do properly is to see the preciousness of each and every second, and live it like it was our last. May we all do so.
1. Why does the author mention the camp?| A．To recall his childhood. | B．To remember a friend. |
| C．To introduce the woods. | D．To make a comparison. |
| A．Find. | B．Ignore. | C．Cause. | D．Satisfy. |
| A．They are filled with sorrows. | B．They are still fresh in his mind. |
| C．They have been lost forever. | D．They have fallen into pieces. |
| A．Live and learn. | B．Believe ourselves. |
| C．Treasure every day. | D．Remain focused. |
【推荐3】One day, a strong tall man broke into Eric’s home, shot and killed her mother in her presence. Nearly scared to death, she screamed and escaped. Then the child hadn't talked about her mother ever since. She just went into silence.
The first time she was introduced to my class, I decided to help the silent girl, who apparently had the pain of living without her mother.
However hard I tried, day by day, week by week, my efforts seemed to be in vain, as I didn’t seem to get any closer to Eric. Admittedly, my faith was fading away with the cold，boring March days dragging．I felt my heart was broken and ached desperately. I doubted whether this girl was able to come alive. I wondered when it was that she was able to respond to me actively and be aware of the fun, the beauty and the fantastic world around her.
Then on a late March day，Judy, one of the school children excitedly claimed that she had seen a beautiful bird in the schoolyard, sign of spring. "Spring's here!"all the children cried delightedly when they flocked to the window to see the bird．"Let's make a flower border for the room to welcome spring!"
Why not? Anything to lift our spirits is good．We selected colourful papers with brown strips for our baskets．Showing the children how to weave the baskets and how to decorate all the flowers to welcome early spring, I carefully put the beautifully colored papers on Eric’s desk and encouraged her to have a go．Then I spent the next hour sorting out strips of paper at the back of the room while the children were doing their own creating busily.
Suddenly Judy came hurrying to me，her face red．“Come and see Eric’s basket. It looks extremely charming!”
I held my breath at its beauty, “Eric, it is so fascinating! Tell me how you ever managed it.” She looked up at me with a warm smile, her eyes shining like any normal kid．“My mother was fond of flowers,” she said clearly．“Mother had all kinds of beautiful flowers growing in our garden．”
Eric’s basket was placed in the very center of the border at the front of the classroom and remained there until late in June when school was to end．On the last day，Eric was carrying it out of the door carefully when she came running back towards me. She pulled a flower made of red paper from her basket and presented it to me, hugging me gently．
I've kept this special gift in my room ever since then. I cherish it because it always reminds me of the power of love and faith．
1. What is the main purpose of the first two paragraphs?| A．Describe a frightening crime. |
| B．Give a brief introduction of Eric. |
| C．Analyze the cause for Eric’s silence. |
| D．Explain how Eric came to the writer’s class. |
a. Lilly was introduced to my class.
b. Lilly’s mother was shot and killed.
c. I received a paper flower from Lilly.
d. I had my children weave baskets.
e. Emma spotted a bird in the school yard.
f. Emma invited me to see Lilly’s basket.
| A．a-e-b-f-c-d | B．b-e-a-f-d-c |
| C．a-b-f-c-b-d | D．b-a-e-d-f-c |
| A．Judy was excited. | B．Judy was annoyed. |
| C．Judy was frightened. | D．Judy was depressed. |
| A．A patient teacher in relief |
| B．Love creates miracle |
| C．Spring brings about love |
| D．A silent girl in panic |
【推荐1】In the depths of my memory, many things I did with my father still live. These things come to represent, in fact, what I call joy and love.
I don’t remember my father ever getting into a swimming pool. But he did love the water. Any kind of boat ride seemed to give him pleasure. And he loved to fish; sometimes he took me along.
But I never really liked being on the water, the way my father did. I liked being in the water, moving through it, having it all around me. I was not a strong swimmer, or one who learned to swim early, for I had my fears. But I loved being in the swimming pool close to my father’s office and spending those summer days with my father, who would come by on a break. I needed him to see what I could do. My father would stand there in his suit, the only person not in swimsuit.
After swimming, I would go inside his office and sit on the wooden chair in front of his big desk, where he let me play with anything I found in his top desk drawer. Sometimes, if I was left alone at his desk while he worked in the lab, an assistant or a student might come in and tell me perhaps I shouldn’t be playing with his office things. But my father always showed up and said easily, “Oh, no, it’s fine.” Sometimes he handed me coins and told me to get myself an ice cream.
A poet once said, “We look at life once, in childhood; the rest is memory.” And I think it is not only what we “look at once, in childhood” that decides our memories, but who, in that childhood, looks at us.
1. What was probably the author’s father?| A．A poet. | B．A professor. | C．A fisherman. | D．An ice-cream man. |
| A．she was interested in her father’s office things |
| B．she wanted her father to buy her some ice-cream |
| C．she loved showing her progress in swimming to her father |
| D．she wanted others to know how much her father loved her |
| A．The author loved her father deeply. |
| B．The author’s father was quite fond of fishing. |
| C．The author didn’t start to swim very young. |
| D．The author’s father was very strict with her. |
| A．Swimming, my favourite sport | B．Father, source of joy and love |
| C．Memories of past days | D．Interesting summer activities |
【推荐2】I have well travelled in Spain and visited a good number of Spanish cities. However, no city will ever quite match Cadiz, where I spent six months studying as a student.
Before that, I knew very little about Cadiz but I decided to take a risk and explore it. Well, the risk certainly paid off.
Cadiz, Europe’s oldest city, hangs off Spain’s southern coast on a peninsula (半岛), surrounded almost entirely by water. As you leave the shady streets of the historical old city and explore more of it, you are met with vast areas of the blue Atlantic Ocean and white sandy beaches, which in my opinion are some of the best in Spain!
One of the great things about Cadiz is the wonderful, rich culture of food and drink. There are little tapas (小吃) bars lining every street and most will serve tapas for around 1.50~2 euros, meaning you can try a whole variety of Andalusian dishes.
Cadiz has also come to be known as “The Singing City”. It comes from the annual carnival (狂欢节), one of the biggest in Europe. A very large number of people go to Cadiz to see it. During those ten days, Cadiz’s narrow streets are filed with the sound of singing as musical groups fight for a place in the contest, which takes place on the last Saturday of carnival. The songs perfectly show the sense of humor of the Gaditanos, who, besides being so warm and welcoming, are said to have the best sense of humor in Spain!
That is my experience of Cadiz: a wonderful, typically Andalusian city which is often overlooked but well worth a visit. I can currently living in Huelva, just a short drive from Cadiz, so please pay attention to my next sharing!
1. What dose the word “that” underlined in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Studying in Cadiz. | B．Competing in a match. |
| C．Teaching a student. | D．Becoming an explorer. |
| A．The unknown origin and long history of Cadiz. | B．The beautiful life of people living to Cadiz. |
| C．The geographic position and scenery of Cadiz. | D．The author’s complex attitude towards Cadiz. |
| A．A number of local people enjoy humorous songs. |
| B．Singing is everywhere during a big annual carnival. |
| C．Many grand carnivals attract well-known singers. |
| D．A lot of singing competitions take place each year. |
| A．A post on the Internet. | B．A geography textbook. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A biography. |
【推荐3】I work in a nursing home and my job is to take care of the elderly.
This year, a very sweet old lady that I cared for, Alice, had gone through a difficult time. She got dementia and so she had been in the hospital twice. In November I was finally able to get her back to her “home”.
Alice had thought her daughter was coming to visit her on Christmas Day and that they were going to have the whole family together like the old days. When she finally realized that that happy moment was not going to happen, she was very sad. Knowing that her daughter was coming after Christmas was not enough to make her feel happy. I hated the idea of her being alone on the holiday!
On Christmas Eve, I gave her a surprise by asking if she would like to go to a candlelight service at church that night.
Instead of taking her to my church, I took her to her old neighborhood church where all her friends were. We got there early and I got her a seat where her friends could see her as they came in. Then soon some of her friends came to the church and they rushed over to greet her and sit with her.
The candlelight service was beautiful and Alice got a lot of love from her old and new friends there.
The truth of the story is that I am the one who got the best gift: the smile on Alice’s face.
1. The underlined word “dementia” in Paragraph 2 probably is ________.| A．a house | B．a letter |
| C．an illness | D．a plan |
| A．In her old house. | B．In her old neighborhood church. |
| C．In the nursing home. | D．In the hospital. |
| A．The candlelight service. | B．Praise from Alice’s friends. |
| C．Alice’s happiness. | D．Thanks from Alice’s daughter. |
【推荐1】Finding true love can be prey tough for a lot of people, but a lady from a fairly well-known San Francisco advertising agency seems to think money helps. She is offering $10,000 to any of her friends who can introduce her to her Mr. Right. She wants to find her future husband through this way.
The unnamed husband seeker who sent out the email had just finished reading the best-selling book named Lean In. It was 11 p.m. on a Sunday night and she realized this was the second self-help book she had read in the month. She was still single. Things were not looking fine, but there was hope for her still. If the book had taught her anything, it was that she needed to take a more positive role in finding love. After all, if she wanted to get a better job, she wouldn’t just sit outside an employer’s building and wait for someone to offer it to her, so why should finding a husband be any different? But instead of going out and meeting new people she decided to write an email to all her friends, offering to give them $10,000 on her wedding day if any of them managed to introduce her to her future husband.
“I am writing you today because I’ve decided to make an aggressive action plan on finding the man that I get to hang out with forever,” the woman writes in her email. “Introducing me to my husband is just not high on your to-do list. But I think I have an idea that might change that…” You guessed it, and this is where she offers to reward her “closest friends” with cold hard cash.
“I will personally give ten thousand dollars to the friend who introduces me to my husband.”
Here is how the program works:
Step 1: You set me up on a date with a man.
Step 2: I marry that man.
Step 3: I give you $10,000 on my wedding day.
I know you’re thinking that this is nuts. Just plain crazy. ‘You can find a husband without giving $10,000.’ Well for starters, thank you! I’m happy.”
1. What does the lady offer $10,000 to any of her friends for?| A．Celebrating the fact that she has made a decision to find a husband. |
| B．Checking the power of money among her circle of friends. |
| C．Encouraging her friends to help find her Mr. Right. |
| D．Sharing her happiness of having found true love. |
| A．delicious | B．sensible |
| C．angry | D．foolish |
| A．To stress the importance of finding a good job. |
| B．To stress the importance of taking a positive attitude. |
| C．To show that waiting patiently is necessary to get a job. |
| D．To state that we need to be patient before a job is offered. |
| A．Adventurous | B．Imaginative |
| C．Considerate | D．Polite |
【推荐2】A few years ago, the company I worked for sent my wife and me to live in New York for a year. I’ve always loved jogging (慢跑), so I was really happy when I found out the apartment they had rented for us was next to Central Park.
Because a lot of people had told me to be careful of robbers in the park，I didn’t usually take anything with me. How could they rob me if I didn’t have anything? But this one morning my wife asked me to buy some bread on the way home so I put a $10 bill in my back pocket.
It was a beautiful morning and the park was quiet with very few people walking or jogging around. While I was running, another jogger bumped into me. He apologized and continued running. For a while, I didn’t think too much of it. However, the warning of from others hit me. “It could have been a robber!” I suddenly became alarmed so I checked my pocket. I started shouting and demanding that he gave me the $10 bill. I’m not usually a hot-headed person, but I really lost my temper at that moment. I couldn’t believe the robbery was actually happening to me. Filled with anger, I shook my fist at him. This seemed to frighten him. He quickly put his hand in his pocket and gave me the money. Then he ran away as fast as he could.
I bought the bread and went home. As soon as I got home, I couldn’t wait to tell my wife the story. “You won’t believe what happened to me.” I started with pride. She immediately interrupted (插话).” I know you left the money for the bread on the kitchen table.
1. What made the author happy when he found the apartment?| A．He was fond of the scenery in the Central Park. |
| B．He preferred the new company where he worked. |
| C．He was likely to come across different local people. |
| D．He could find a suitable place to take morning exercises. |
| A．He felt sorry for his carelessness. |
| B．He gave it a second thought but said nothing. |
| C．He sensed it strange and fought with the jogger. |
| D．He felt nothing at first but then thought of the warning. |
| A．Confident and proud. | B．Ashamed and upset. |
| C．Annoyed and curious. | D．Pleasant and satisfied. |
| A．Things are not always what you think they are. |
| B．Jogging can offer people extra money. |
| C．Some problems can be solved by force. |
| D．Never bump into a stranger while jogging. |
【推荐3】It’s not easy to die when you are only fifteen.
Those were the words that began the story I heard from Robert White, a North Carolina factory worker. He and his wife were visiting their daughter Lee in the hospital, as they did every evening, but Lee had already accepted her fate.
This particular evening, she seemed calm, but suddenly she said, “I always dreamed of falling in love, getting married, having kids… but above all I would have liked to work in a big marine park with dolphins. I’ve loved them and wanted to know more about them since I was little. I still dreaming of swimming with them, free and happy in the open sea.”
She’d never asked for anything, but now she said with all the strength she had, “Daddy, I want to swim in the open sea among the dolphins just once. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so scared of dying.”
It seemed like an absurd impossible dream, but she, who had given up just about everything else, hung on to it.
Robert and his family talked it over and decided to do everything they could. They had heard of a research center in the Florida Keys, and they phoned them.
“Come at once,” they said.
When they arrived at Grass Key, Lee didn’t want to rest for a minute and begged her parents to take her straightaway to the dolphins. It was an unforgettable scene. Robert took her out toward the dolphins, Nat and Tursi, which were playing about thirty feet away from them. At first they seemed distracted and uninterested, but when Lee called them softly by name, they responded without hesitation. Nat came over first, raised his head and gave her a kiss on the end of her nose. Then Tursi came over and greeted her with little high-pitched squeaks of joy. A second later they picked her up with their mighty fins and carried her out to sea with them.
“It feels like I’m flying!” cried Lee, laughing with delight.
Lee’s family hadn’t heard her laugh like that since she became ill. They could hardly believe it was true. But there she was, gripping Nat’s fin and challenging the wind and the immensity of the ocean. The dolphins stayed with Lee for more than an hour, always tender, always attentive, never using any unnecessary force, always responsive to her wishes.
Maybe it’s true that they are more intelligent and sensitive creatures than man. What was certain was that those marvelous dolphins understood that Lee was dying and wanted to comfort her as she faced her great journey into the unknown. From the moment they took her in hand, they never left her alone for a second. They got her to play and observed her commands with the sweetness that was magical. In their company, Lee found for one last time the enthusiasm and the will to live. She was strong and happy like she used to be. At one point she shouted, “The dolphins have healed me, Daddy.”
The next day she was too weak to get out of bed. She didn’t even want to talk, but when Robert took her hand she squeezed it and whispered, “Daddy, don’t sad for me. I’ll never be afraid again. The dolphins have made me understand that I have nothing to fear.”
Just before dawn, Robert’s little girl died in his arms a few minutes later. They only realized her suffering was over because her body became colder and heavier.
They cremated her as she wanted and went out the next day to scatter her ashes in the ocean amongst the dolphins. They were all crying—not only Lee’s family, but also the sailors on the boat who had taken them out into the bay. And then, suddenly, through their tears, they saw the great arching silver shape of Nat and Tursi leaping out of the water ahead.
As Robert recounted, “They had come to take our daughter home.”
1. Why did Robert and his wife decided to do everything they could to help Lee realize her dream?| A．It might be the only wish for a girl who was dying soon. |
| B．It was an impossible dream that can’t be realized by Lee. |
| C．It was a good way to persuade Lee to be strong in life. |
| D．It was an effective treatment for Lee’s disorder. |
| A．They gave Lee a kiss and greeted her with high-pitched squeaks. |
| B．They understood what Lee would encounter in the unknown world. |
| C．They made Lee comfortable by carrying her out to sea. |
| D．They understood the dying girl and gave her courage. |
| A．They accompanied her to drive out her loneliness. |
| B．They swam with her to make her energetic. |
| C．They gave her strength and made her happy. |
| D．They sensed her illness and comforted her. |
| A．Sensitive and careful. | B．Strong-willed and optimistic. |
| C．Caring but pessimistic. | D．Determined but stubborn. |
| A．A story of dolphins being devoted friends with a dying girl. |
| B．A story of a father keeping her dying daughter company. |
| C．A story of dolphins curing the illness of a dying girl. |
| D．A story of a girl protecting dolphins from being killed. |
