【推荐1】The first time I realized that I had a love for sports competitions was during the Field Day in elementary school. Small for my age, and more of a bookworm than a sports lover, I had suffered that special humiliation of being picked last for various gym teams. The Field Day, which focused on individual skills, was different. In the Softball Throw event, I got my first taste of sporting victory. Credit goes to the example of my first coach, my father. He lifted weights every morning at home. He bought us all baseball gloves and hats, and in the warm months, we spent hours playing catch.

Once I got to sixth grade and switched to private school, our entire student body was assigned to either the Red or the White team. Throughout the year, we competed against each other in various games and exercises for points. I eventually became president of The Committee of Games. I also played on the field hockey team and the basketball team. And at home, playing tennis, skating, skiing and biking were simply normal things we did. During the break time, magazines were also quite popular for us teens. These regularly featured articles on physical exercise. Somehow, my college roommate and I took up the habit of completing Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) exercises every day, a practice that continued into my marriage, when we had no spare money to use to join a gym.

So, though it shocks some of our friends, that early foundation continued in adulthood into a sports and fitness focus, considered important even on vacation. I still love reading and the arts, too. As far as I’m concerned, life is the richest with my feet in both worlds.

1. What does the underlined word “humiliation” mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Stress.

B．Threat.

C．Shame.

D．Glory.

2. According to the author, what contributes to her victory in the Softball Throw event?

A．Her confidence in her sports skills.	B．The efforts she put into exercising.
C．Her advanced sports gloves and hats.	D．The strong influence of her father.

3. What happened after the author stepped into adulthood?

A．She changed the focus into reading.	B．She stuck to working out.
C．She regularly exercised on weekends.	D．She joined Royal Canadian Air Force.

4. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To express her love for sports.	B．To show her father’s guidance on sports.
C．To stress the advantages of physical exercise.	D．To share her childhood memories about sports.

【推荐3】This year over twenty-three hundred teenagers from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.

Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study the language began to come to him. School was completely different from what he bad expected--much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that were usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car. “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”

At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I don’t think much of American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for activities. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”

1. What’s the purpose of the whole exchange program?

A．To have teenagers learn something about Germany.

B．To send students in America to travel in Germany.

C．To let students learn something about other countries.

D．To help teenagers in other countries know the real America.

2. What is true in American schools?

A．There are a lot of outside activities.

B．Students usually take 14 subjects in all.

C．Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room.

D．There is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings.

3. What did Mike think after experiencing the American school life?

A．German schools trained students to be better citizens.

B．American schools were not as good as German schools.

C．The easy life in American schools was more helpful to students.

D．A better education should include something good from both America and Germany.

4. What’s Mike’s attitude towards American education?

A．Praise.

B．Support.

C．Ignore.

D．criticize.

【推荐1】It was a hot day in late summer. I was a young dad working in a local lumber mill(伐木场).It was dangerous, back-breaking work that paid very little. In the year I had worked there, only four other people hadn’t been replaced with new faces. Those of us who stayed did so only because there was no other work to find to support our families.

One day, we were working hard. Suddenly, a voice called out, “Hey! A deer!” A lost little deer had wandered through the open doors and was now cowering(畏缩) in between the huge piles of lumber. All of us stopped working and went to look for her as she ran about crazily looking for a way out.

Now most people in the town where I live hunt deer in the fall but also treat them with great kindness the rest of the year. Some will even buy many bags of corn to help feed them during the tough winter months. It was no surprise then all of us were soon quickly working together to free this little deer. By blocking off all the other routes we were able to guide her desperate search back to the open doors. We watched as she ran out of the building and back into the woods. Then we walked back to work. I noticed something, though. On every face there was a joyful smile. It was as if this one single act of kindness had energized us again and reminded us of what life is all about.

Committing acts of kindness shows us the power that we have. They also bring us closer to love. Fill your day and your life with acts of kindness then Let them light up your life Let them lead you to love.

1. Why didn’t the author quit his job in the lumber mill?

A．He was well paid.	B．His work was easy.
C．He had a family to support.	D．He enjoyed working there.

2. What happened to the little deer at last?

A．It was killed.	B．It went crazy.
C．It was fed with some food.	D．It returned to the woods.

3. Which of the following words can best describe the author?

A．Brave and generous.	B．Strong and humorous.
C．Creative and confident.	D．Kind-hearted and hard-working.

4. What does the underlined word “them” refer to in the last paragraph?

A．Acts of kindness.

B．Days.

C．Life.

D．Love.

5. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing the passage?

A．To show his deep love for deer.	B．To encourage people to protect deer.
C．To stress the importance of being kind.	D．To describe his life in the lumber mill.

【推荐2】On a stormy day last August, Tim heard some shouting. Looking out to the sea carefully, he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat were being pulled out to sea.
Two 12-year-old boys, Christian and Jack, rowed out a boat to search for a football. Once they'd rowed beyond the calm waters, a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water. The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore. But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.
Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.
"Everything went quiet in my head," Tim recalls(回忆). "I was trying to figure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line."
Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water. Every 500 yards or so, he raised his head to judge his progress. "At one point, I considered turning back," he says. "I wondered if I was putting my life at risk." After 30 minutes of struggling, he was close enough to yell to the boys, "Take down the umbrella!"
Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella. Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat. He took over rowing, but the waves were almost too strong for him.
"Let's aim for the pier(码头)," Jack said. Tim turned the boat toward it. Soon afterward, waves crashed over the boat, and it began to sink. "Can you guys swim?" he cried. "A little bit," the boys said.
Once they were in the water, Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier. Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs. Tim swan toward land as water washed over the boys' faces.
“Are we almost there?" they asked again and again. "Yes," Tim told them each time.
After 30minutes, they reached the pier.
1. Why did the two boys go to the sea?

A．To go boat rowing.

B．To get back their football.

C．To swim in the open water.

D．To test the umbrella as a sail.

2. What does “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The beach.	B．The water.
C．The wind.	D．The boat.

3. How can the two boys finally reach the pier?

A．They swam to the pier all by themselves.

B．They were dragged to the pier by Tim.

C．They were washed to the pier by the waves.

D．They were carried to the pier by Tim on his back.

【推荐3】Amy Carter-James is small, blue-eyed and blonde, with a friendly smile. She doesn’t look like she could change the lives of thousands of people but, clearly, she has.

It all started when Amy took a gap year in Africa after she finished university. “I spent eight months volunteering in a very poor countryside school in Kenya,” she says. “That was the first time I saw poverty. I was so young and so easily inspired and I thought, ‘Why can’t tourism do the same thing for community development?’”

On her return to England, 22-year-old Amy and her boyfriend Neal decided to take “the road less travelled”. They drove across Mozambique, one of the poorest countries in Africa, but it wasn’t exactly a holiday. Mozambique had two qualities which appealed to them: great potential as a travel destination and local people who desperately needed help. Once there, the couple got off the beaten track and headed for Quirimbas National Park, where they found a tiny stretch of white sand close to a village named Guludo. Life in Guludo was hard: there was little clean water and not enough food. Healthcare was poor and people in the village had a life expectancy of 38 years. Amy and Neal had no qualifications in tourism or healthcare but they had common sense, enthusiasm and determination. They talked to the villagers about their plan to create a small beach resort, which would provide employment for people so that they could have a better life. The response from the villagers was extremely positive. Their only question was: “When can you start?”

The couple set to work on a beach lodge, building beach huts from local materials and employing people from the surrounding area. Once the lodge was complete, they set up a charitable foundation called NEMA, which received 5% of its revenue. This money was used to create clean water points, fund healthcare projects, build two primary schools and support conservation projects—it helped to improve the lives of thousands of people. “We wanted to show the world the power of tourism, that it could be a vehicle for change,” says Amy.

It isn’t easy to get to this village. It’s not a typical package holiday with airport pick-ups and drop-offs. There’s no public transport, either. The nearest city is about 260 kilometres away and once there, you have to take a boat or go on a three-hour car journey along badly maintained roads. But the village lodge is worth the effort. Today the lodge has nine beach huts, with beautiful sea views. There are no overpriced gift shops and other tourist traps. It’s the perfect place to take time out, escape the crowds and soak up the sun. Visitors can see the sights—explore the island nearby with a tour guide, go scuba diving or observe African wildlife. But the highlight for many is getting to know people in the village, taking part in festivals and learning about NEMA’s work. “People who stay with us often come for the diving or the beach,” says Amy, “but it’s the communities that really blow them away.”

Amy and Neal are not alone: all over the world, similar community-based tourism projects are being set up. This new concept is changing tourism and recreation, one lodge at a time.

Here is the fruit of their efforts:

NEMA in numbers 2new primary schools 150 secondary school scholarships 800 primary school meals 8,000 mosquito nets Clean water for 15,000 people

1. The couple have decided to travel to Mozambique, because___________.

A．they have never been to this tourist attraction before

B．this place both boasts beautiful scenery and warm locals

C．they want to aid poor people in need when having a trip

D．they want to develop their personal community career.

2. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the phrase “off the beaten track” in Paragraph3?

A．The road pressed down by people’s footsteps.	B．The road where few people travel and know.
C．The road which is being changed at times.	D．The road which doesn’t deserve people’s attention.

3. Which of the following CANNOT be inferred according to the passage?

A．People are surprised at the living standard of Mozambique.

B．The funds raised by NEMA will be used to improve locals’ livelihood.

C．Now Mozambique has grown out of poverty due to people’s help.

D．Mosquito nets are daily necessities in local people’s life.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．A Small Step Makes a Huge Difference.	B．A Road Less Travelled.
C．A Decision Between Life and Death.	D．A Travel Worth Investing In.