【推荐2】In 1988, after being diagnosed with kidney cancer, Fenn, a high-end gallery owner, came up with a crazy plan: He would bury some of his favorite artifacts somewhere in the Rocky Mountains and then die next to them. “My desire was to hide the treasure and let my body stay there and go back to the soil,” he explains.

The contents are worth somewhere between $1 million and $5 million. Then he took his treasure chest out into the Rockies and hid it. He wanted it to be found. But he wasn’t going to just give it away.

In 2010, Fenn self-published a book, The Thrill of the Chase, which includes a 24-line poem that Fenn claims contains nine clues that “will lead to my treasure.”

At first, nobody really noticed. But word spread, and the chase was on. (The book is now out of print, and copies show up on Amazon for as much as $3,200.) Fenn estimates that 350,000 people from across the globe have searched or are currently searching for his treasure. Yet nobody has found it.

The problem with Fenn’s poem is that the “clues” can be interpreted a million different ways. The “home of Brown,” for instance, could be Browns Canyon National Monument in Colorado, or Brown Hill in New Mexico. Or a cabin or a bear. (Don’t laugh; several people have already looked.)

“It’s all in the poem,” some have recently started sharing more details, “and the treasure isn’t in a mine, I mean, they have snakes in ’em. It’s between 5,000 feet and 10,200 feet above sea level. It’s not in Canada or Idaho or Utah or a grave-yard.”

Why are Fenn’s treasure hunters so into what seems like a ridiculous thing to do with their time? Many are quick to say that their lives have been enriched by their experiences. “It’s changed us,” Neitzel says. “made us more confident, and even saved our marriages. Nothing scares us anymore.” They thank Fenn for giving them a reason to take a risk, for giving their lives meaning. Many claim that even if they found Fenn’s chest, they wouldn’t necessarily spend the money—and might even rehide the chest. Another hunter had this tantalizing insight: “I hope that I never find the treasure. The journey will be treasure enough.”

And so the hunt continues.

1. Which of the following is the right order?
a. The book The Thrill of the Chase came out.
b. Fenn made a large fortune as a high-end gallery owner.
c. Many hunters treasure their experience as a way of life.
d. Fenn took his treasure chest out into the Rockies and hid it.
e. Fenn was diagnosed with kidney cancer.

A．b   d   e   c   a	B．e   b   d   c   a
C．e   d   b   a   c	D．b   e   d   a   c

2. The word “interpreted” in the fifth paragraph can be replaced by__________.

A．divided

B．known

C．explained

D．understood

3. From the passage,which of the following is(are) least likely to join in the hunting?

A．A couple who have been tired of each other.

B．A reader of the book The Thrill of the Chase who likes to solve the riddle .

C．A merchant who needs money to enlarge his business.

D．A college student who wants to challenge himself.

4. Which proverb has the closest meaning to the underlined sentence?

A．Overcoming challenges makes life meaningful.

B．No pains, no gains.

C．Where there is a will, there is a way.

D．Penny and penny laid up will be many.

5. Fenn could be best described as_______.

A．warm-hearted, generous and intelligent

B．generous, creative and active

C．intelligent, helpful and active

D．helpful, creative and generous

6. Which one could be the best title of the story?

A．The man who buried a treasure

B．A treasure buried in the Rocky Mountains

C．Experiences of hunting for a treasure

D．Why the hunters so into a ridiculous thing?

【推荐3】Pablo Picasso, the great Spanish painter and sculptor, once said this about his ability, “My mother said to me, if you become a soldier, you’ll be a general.” But he would have agreed with Abraham Lincoln. “Whatever you are,” said Lincoln, “be a good one.” He demonstrated the wisdom of that advice with his own life.

Viennese-born composer Frederick Loewe, whom we remember from his musical scores that include — My Fair Lady, Gigi and Camelot, was not always famous. He studied piano with the great masters of Europe and achieved huge success as a musician and composer in his early years. But when he immigrated (移居) to the United States, he failed as a pianist. For a while he tried other types of work including searching for gold and boxing. But he never gave up his dream and continued to play piano and write music.

During those lean years, he could not always afford to make payments on his piano. One day, bent over the keyboard, he heard nothing but the music that he played with such rare inspiration. When he finished and looked up, he was surprised to find that he had an audience — three men who were seated on the floor.

They said nothing and made no movement toward the piano. Instead, they dug into their pockets, pooled together enough money for the payment, placed it on the piano and walked out, empty handed. Moved by the beauty of his music, these men recognized excellence and responded to it.

Whatever you are, be a good one. When you choose the path of excellence through this life, you will bring to it your best and receive the best it can offer in return.

1. What does the author want to tell us in paragraph 1?

A．Picasso’s mother is a wise woman.

B．What Lincoln said is right.

C．Everyone can be excellent somehow.

D．It’s important to take others’ advice.

2. What happened to Loewe after he moved to the United States?

A．He meant to change his original dream.

B．He was struggling on the road to art.

C．He turned to be a miner to make a living.

D．He achieved immediate success as a musician.

3. Which one can replace the underlined word “lean” in paragraph 3?

A．Unforgettable.	B．Special.
C．Long.	D．Hard.

4. Which of the following best describes Loewe?

A．Out-going.	B．Determined.
C．Humorous.	D．Modest.

【推荐1】阅读表达

I started drawing houses at six. Unlike most girls, my dream was to build a backyard clubhouse — a dream that was unrealistic given that we lived in an apartment. By high school I continued drawing and my dreams broadened — to become an architect. My older brother told me that took a university education. But my family couldn’t afford that kind of education. Still, I fanned the flame of hope.

I got a part-time job at Bayside Bowl and started saving money. My bank account, however, was growing quite slowly. When I looked at college catalogs, I couldn’t imagine how I would ever get there. I decided to shrink my dreams to a more realistic size.

Soon after that, a newcomer started frequenting Bayside Bowl. She arrived alone, and always carried a pink bag with a ball inside. Her dark, wrinkled skin and curly gray hair made her stand out among our younger customers. She talked to me whenever I cleaned near her lane. I learned her name was Bessie. She had been a singer for as long as she could remember. In her 20s she had tried to get a job as a restaurant singer. “I was a young black woman, and in the early 1950s doors didn’t exactly open wide for me. Zilch!” she said.

I admired her ability to pick up a split, but I also appreciated her advice. “Life’s like bowling.” she would say. “Set your eyes on your target and follow through.” Indeed, Bessie hadn’t let the “zilches” stop her. She had saved up and enrolled in the Brightwood Music Academy. It turned out this lady with the pink bowling bag was the Bessie Richards, a recording artist of the 1960s.

Bessie moved on to live with her sister, but before leaving, she left me with a $50 tip for helping her at the lanes, a reminder to ignore the “zilches” in my life, and some lines of poetry she had copied from a book. Bessie said, “Read this when the going seems tough. It’ll help you follow through and reach for your goal.” These are the lines:

Hold fast to dreams

For if dreams die

Life is a broken-winged bird

That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams

For when dreams go

Life is a barren field

Frozen with snow.

A year has passed since I last bowled with Bessie, and I’ve resumed my drawing. I’m working and saving money, taking drafting classes, and applying for internships(实习). Whenever I’m discouraged, I reread those lines of poetry.

There’ll be no barren field of frozen snow nor zilches for me. Inspired by Bessie and the poem, I plan to continue to dream.

1. What was the author’s dream when she was in high school?
___________________________________________________________________
2. According to Bessie, what does “Life is like bowling” mean?
___________________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
The author shrank her dream to a realistic size because she gradually lost her ambition.
___________________________________________________________________
4. Who is the “Bessie” in your life? How does he/she help you to pursue your dream? (about 40 words)
___________________________________________________________________

【推荐2】Thein Shwe is sitting with one of his students, 14-year-old Nur Hakim, outside a small classroom built of wood. Thein Shwe has been working at this non-formal primary education centre since it was first set up five years ago. He says, “I love teaching. I was a personal tutor (家庭教师) before. When I learnt that this centre was looking for teachers, I applied.

Thein Shwe is very popular among his students. Even Nur Hakim, who at first was very shy, becomes more confident as his teacher smiles, nodding to encourage him. “I come from a poor family,” says Nur Hakim. “My father died when I was a baby.”

Nur Hakim’s father, who was a factory worker, was the main provider. Since his father’s death, his mother has had to support the family of six by herself. Nur Hakim was not attending school until the age of 12, when he got the chance to attend this non-formal primary education centre. “I love English and I love my teacher because he is always on time and teaches us well,” says the boy.

Nur Hakim says he hopes to join Grade 5 students next year in a nearby government school. Nur Hakim holds on to his dreams. “I want to be a doctor,” he says. “In my village, I see a lot of illnesses.”

Thein Shwe admits (承认) he finds it difficult to support his family working as a volunteer. But Thein Shwe talks more about the successes and difficulties he has faced keeping his students in class. He says over the four years, about 80%of the students continue on to the government school or vocational (职业的) training.

When Thein Shwe is asked about his main success as a teacher, he needs no time to think. “It’s being able to keep the poorest children in school,” he says.

1. What can we learn about Thein Shwe?

A．He started teaching when he was 14.

B．He used to work in a government school.

C．He has worked as a volunteer teacher for five years.

D．He helped set up the non-formal primary education centre.

2. How has Nur Hakim changed after attending school?

A．He has begun to have a dream.

B．He has fallen in love with English.

C．He has come to understand his parents.

D．He has had a growing belief in himself.

3. What does Nur Hakim want to do in the future?

A．Be a worker like his father	B．Work in the field of medicine.
C．Teach in a government school.	D．Be a volunteer teacher like Thein Shwe.

4. What does Thein Shwe think is his main achievement as a teacher?

A．Teaching kids useful life skills.

B．Providing chances of education for poor kids.

C．Changing children’s ideas on education.

D．Sending his students to schools of higher education levels.

【推荐3】At the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, halfway in the women’s slalom (障碍滑雪) race, 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin took a commanding lead over the greatest women’s slalom skiers in the world. On her final run, she burst from the start house at a breakneck speed, snaking around the poles in crazy rhythm.

Skiing has always been a significant part of Mikaela’s life. Her mom raced and coached skiing and her dad ski raced all through college. The Shiffrins taught Mikaela and her brother, Taylor, to ski at a very young age. At the age of two and a half, Mikaela made her first ski run on plastic skis. From ages 8 to 11, she worked hard, practicing hundreds of training runs on small hills repeatedly to develop the correct techniques of slalom skiing.

When Mikaela was 11, she attended the Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont boarding school for skiers. She took classes, studied, and practiced her skiing crazily. According to Kirk Dwyer, Burke Mountain Academy headmaster, “It was the degree of Mikaela’s effort to be the best that distinguished her from others. Her commitment to conditioning, having proper sleep, eating correctly, doing the drills, and watching video was unusual for an 11 to 13-year-old. Mikaela practiced more than anyone and believed in herself then and now.”

By the time she was 17, she had already won her first World Cup race.

Working hard is a full-time job for Mikaela. Even her off-season is work time. In the summer, when Mikaela is off the ski slopes and in the gym, her daily training consists of six to seven hours of weight lifting, swimming, and biking to improve her core strength and flexibility. She does all of this so that she can dash down slopes at speeds topping 50 miles per hour while cutting back and forth around gates with astonishing precision.

“If you have passion for your targets, whatever they are,” she says, “the sky is the limit. Give it your all!”

1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?

A．Mikaela came from a skiing family.

B．Mikaela’s mother taught her to ski first.

C．Mikaela trained harder than her brother.

D．Mikaela’s father coached skiing in colleges.

2. Why were headmaster Kirk Dwyer’s words cited?

A．To stress Mikaela was a crazy teenager.

B．To show Mikaela’s distinct personality.

C．To praise the good students in his school.

D．To highlight Mikaela’s great devotion to training.

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

A．Talented and wise.	B．Creative and determined.
C．Flexible and brave.	D．Determined and self-disciplined.

4. What does Mikaela Shiffrin’s story convey?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Not to advance is to go back.

C．He who laughs last laughs best.

D．Actions speak louder than words.

【推荐1】Nick Vujicic was born with no arms or legs, but the brave 32­year­old man plays football and golf, swims, and surfs. Nick has a small foot on his left side, which helps him balance and enables him to kick. He uses his one foot to type, write with a pen and pick things up between his toes.

“I call it my chicken drumstick(畸形的小腿),” joked Nick. “I’d be lost without it. When I get in the water I float because 80 per cent of my body is lungs and my drumstick acts as a propeller (螺旋桨). ”

When Nick was born, his distraught mother couldn’t bring herself to hold him until he was four months old. “It was so hard for my parents, but right from the start they did their best to make me independent.” said Nick.

Throughout his childhood Nick dealt with the typical challenges. At the age of seven, Nick tried out some specially designed electronic arms and legs, in the hope that he would be more like other kids. But they turned out to be much too heavy for Nick to operate, affecting his flexibility quite significantly.

“When I was 13 I read a newspaper article about a disabled man who had managed to achieve great things and help others,” said Nick. “I realized why God had made us like this — to give hope to others. It was so inspirational to me that I decided to use my life to encourage others and decided to be thankful for what I do have, not get angry about what I don’t.”

“I tell people to keep on getting up when they fall and to always love themselves,” he said. “If I can encourage just one person then my job in this life is done.” By now, he has visited 35 different countries, touring the world as a motivational speaker.

1. What makes it possible for Nick to swim in the water?

A．His small size.	B．His small foot.
C．His light weight.	D．His big lungs.

2. The underlined word “distraught” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”.

A．cold­blooded

B．bad­tempered

C．extremely upset

D．really crazy

3. Nick abandoned the electronic arms and legs because ____________.

A．his family couldn’t afford them	B．his classmates didn’t like them
C．they were too heavy to handle	D．they affected his appearance

4. What did Nick decide to do when he was 13?

A．To travel to different countries.	B．To set up his business in newspapers.
C．To try to become a motivational speaker.	D．To encourage people who were in trouble.

【推荐2】It was the men’s skating finals of the Winter Olympics when I was 16. Someday I’d be in the Olympics. In fact, it was my dream.

That night I lay on our living room floor excitedly watching the battle between the Brians: American Brian Boitano facing Brian Orser in Canada. Both of them had been world champions. Both of them deserved to win. Naturally I was for Brian Boitano, a northern Californian like me. We had skated on the same ice. I held my breath in amazement. Boitano performed successfully. The gold medal! I jumped in the air when his score went up.

But what happened next is what I’ll never forget. Brian Boitano sat in front of the camera with his coach, surrounded by a group of journalists. He was talking about his career and his medal, talking to the whole world. A terrible sinking feeling went through me. I could never be in the Olympics, I thought. I could not talk in public like that. Just the idea of a press conference terrified me.

I loved skating partly because I didn’t have to talk. I could express myself with my jumps and dances better. I didn’t have to stand up and give a speech like some teachers expected. I could feel the blood rush to my face if I thought a teacher was going to call me. I stared at my shoes. I was sure I’d make a fool of myself.

The next day I was at the rink (溜冰场)as usual. I was practising a combination of jumps that had once seemed impossible. I worked very hard the next few years — on the ice and especially off. After journalists talked to me and although my heart pounded every time I spoke to them, I got to know them. They became familiar faces. And they got to know me. So when my big moment came four years after Brians, I was ready. Sometimes I think my biggest accomplishment was not winning the gold but talking to the press afterwards. When you do the thing you fear most, you put an end to fear.

Fear can stop you dead in your tracks. Fear can kill a dream. What are you afraid of? What scares you more than anything else? This year, walk right up to it and conquer it, step by step.

1. What information can we get from the second paragraph?

A．The author lived a hard life.

B．The author comes from Canada.

C．The author once skated with Orser.

D．The author wished Boitano to win the match

2. What is one of the reasons why the author liked skating according to the passage?

A．She could build up her body to be healthier.

B．It could help her to get closer to her idol.

C．She could better express herself with body language.

D．The possibility of her being a world champion was great.

3. What the author felt the most satisfied with is that ____.

A．she lived up to her coaches expectations

B．she became a world champion as planned

C．she managed to overcome her inner fear eventually

D．she handled the balance between her career and life

4. What does the author mainly want to tell us?

A．Face a fear bravely.

B．Practice makes perfect.

C．Bad times make a good man.

D．Failure is the mother of success.