【推荐1】A mother had two daughters. She loved them very much, but two girls would fight with each other from their earliest years. As they grew older, they became total strangers. They had no contact with each other when they were adults.
This caused the mother great pain. Then, later, she had an idea. She decided to write a letter to them. In this letter, she told them how much she loved them, and how she wanted them to love each other in this way. She also gave them news of herself and some guidance on how to live happier lives.
When the letter was ready, she wrote out one copy for each daughter, but these copies were special. Each copy contained only every second sentence of the original letter: the copy for one daughter had only the even (双数的) sentences, and the other daughter’s copy contained only the odd sentences. Neither contained the fullness of the mother’s message.
When the two daughters received their letters, they were puzzled. To understand the half-letter, they would have to put the two letters together and read them as one, which meant they must approach one another again in love and respect. But they each blamed the other for not helping them when trying to read the half-letter.
For a long time, the mother waited in vain. Then one day, when the mother had almost given up hope, there was a knock at the door. There they stood, together. “We’ve come home,” they said at the same time. “We’ve finally put our letters together, and we’ve come to say how much we love you, Mum.” Then she hugged them both, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks, and welcomed them back home.
1. The mother gave her daughters incomplete letters mainly to ______.

A．mend their relations

B．offer them advice

C．tell them her news

D．win their hearts

2. Upon receiving their letters, the two daughters ______.

A．put the letters together and read them

B．blamed her mother for the half-letter

C．complained about each other as usual

D．understood the mother’s purpose at once

3. Why did the two daughters visit their mother at last?

A．They wanted to apologize.

B．They felt grateful for the mother.

C．They had put the letters together.

D．They missed home very much.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．A Sincere Apology to Mother

B．A Mother’s Endless Love

C．Two Special Daughters

D．An Unusual Letter

【推荐2】Dear Dad and Mom,

The time has come — I’m graduating, and I thank you both for all your help throughout these 15 years. I still remember when you used to say, “You can be whatever you want.” I’m so glad you are my parents, especially when I hear other kids say they don’t get on well with theirs. I’m glad that you support me when I decide to do anything. You always try to help, and that’s important to me.

Dad, I remember when you first took me fishing. I loved going even though I never caught anything. I also remember when you would get angry with me. I realize you were only trying to show me the right way. When I cried, you would always be there to try to cheer me up. That’s what I call a good, loving and caring dad. Sometimes you and Mom don’t agree with me, but you are there on my side in anything that I do, and that’s why I love you so much.

Mom, I enjoy going out with you and having our happy time every Friday night, and I hope that that never changes. I love telling you everything and the best part of you is that you listen. I’m glad we have a lot of fun together. You always give me your opinion and I listen. Thank you for bringing me up.

There may be many frustrations and setbacks on the road to the future, but the thought of your support and help fills my heart with strength. Dear Mom and Dad, I love you and I love our family. I hope and believe that we will be happy all the time.

Love always,

Alison

1. Alison writes the letter to show 　　　　 to her parents.

A．wishes

B．support

C．help

D．thanks

2. In Alison’s opinion, other kids of her age may 　　　　 their parents.

A．have problems with	B．get on well with
C．like to have a chat with	D．like to listen to

3. When might the father get angry with Alison?

A．When she didn’t accept him.	B．When she didn’t catch any fish.
C．When she didn’t do things in the right way.	D．When she didn’t agree with her parents.

4. What makes Alison and her mother become good friends?

A．Cheering up each other.	B．Listening to each other and having fun together.
C．Encouraging each other.	D．Going out together.

【推荐3】When the sand began kicking up and hitting our faces, I started to worry that maybe we had made a mistake.

That afternoon, my dad had stood on the deck (露台) of our home and laughed as our neighbors packed up their cars and headed inland. They left to spend the night in motels or at friends’ homes that were out of range of approaching summer storm.

Challenging the weather that threatened to damping our spirits, we lit a fire on the beach. Dad told jokes and we had a good time. When it was 6:30 p.m., all laughter disappeared. Our eyes were drawn to the sky. A tornado (龙卷风) was headed straight for us! In a flash, we were all on our feet. The wind started screaming and now we were running to the cottage. My mom stopped next to the front door. “Where can we go?” She shouted at my dad.

Most cottages on this part of Lake Michigan had been built without basements. Ours was no exception. The huge windows and the cottage itself wouldn’t offer safety from high wind.

“Follow me!” my dad yelled. We crawled (爬) beneath the deck, pressing ourselves against the foundation of the cottage. Between the deck supports, we watched the approaching storm in silent terror.

My dad shouted, “Hold on!” and something else I couldn’t hear over the screaming wind. I think he was praying. By the time it reached our cottage, it was nothing more than a strong wind. The rest of the storm lasted for an hour and then simply blew away.

“Next time, we’ll stay inland at Grandma’s. Okay?” my dad said.

1. What did the family do before the storm came?

A．They left the motels.	B．They packed up the cars.
C．They stayed on the beach.	D．They visited their neighbors.

2. What was the family’s immediate action when they saw the tornado approach?

A．Closing their eyes tightly.	B．Praying in silent terror.
C．Crawling on the ground.	D．Running away at once.

3. Where did the family stay in the storm?

A．Under a deck.	B．In a basement.
C．Inside the car.	D．Behind a door.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Life on the beach	B．An Unusual Cottage
C．Surviving a Storm	D．My Admirable Family

【推荐1】A few years ago, my younger sister and I were the first to board our flight for Norfolk, Virginia. Just as we were about to board the plane, a mechanic came out of the aircraft and blocked the door with his arms. He turned to the flight attendant and hurriedly stated, “We got problems!”

I thought to myself, “Why did I have to be the one to hear that? Why couldn’t I have been at the back of the line? I didn’t need to know that!” Very soon we were back in the terminal, waiting, and then finally back on the plane. I waited for the pilot to give an explanation. Pilots take courses to ease passengers’ mind, right? They know what to say to calm nerves.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think this pilot took that course. Soon his voice thundered throughout the plane. “Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen. We had no power on the plane. We have a generator on the ground right now, and we’re going to jump—start the engine. Once we get them going, we’ll get up in the air and head to Norfolk, and see what happens.”

See what happens? We were going to get up in the air, and see what happens? Couldn’t we have another plan, one that’s been worked out just a little better?

At this point, all I could do was to laugh nervously. One woman started yelling, “Oh no! We’re going to crash!” There were sighs of desperation and anxiety spreading throughout the cabin. Finally, we got up in the air thirty minutes later, and what happened? Nothing—other than thrust(推力) and lift. We arrived in Norfolk, and no sooner had the wheels touched the ground than a round of applause burst out, as everyone throughout the airplane breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

Although, I did sincerely like to have a plan better than “see what happens” worked out when flying—it really isn’t such a bad life strategy. Success will never be guaranteed. The best thing you can do is just get up in the air, and see what happens. Sometimes adjustments would be made in the air, or shall we say, in the middle of the process.

1. The purpose of the text is to _______.

A．introduce a frightening flight experience

B．prove that taking a plane is dangerous

C．show a way of making plans

D．tell readers a life strategy

2. What event was beyond the author’s expectation?

A．The mechanic explained the problems to the passengers.

B．The pilot said nothing to calm the passengers.

C．The passengers arrived in Norfolk safely.

D．The flight was delayed for half an hour.

3. Having known the problems, many passengers _______.

A．complained about the mechanic’s carelessness

B．stood up and started yelling

C．waited calmly for the problems to be solved

D．felt hopeless and anxious

4. Which opinion would the author most probably hold?

A．To ensure success, don’t get started before you’ve got everything ready

B．To avoid repeating failure, give yourself all the reasons why you can’t.

C．To set up a business, don’t wait until you have everything you need.

D．To achieve success, try to prepare for the worst.

【推荐2】When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and he wrote letters to many companies until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris began to lose his confidence, then depressed. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.

“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him. “The world is a money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it. ”

“But what can I do?”

“Get out and have a look round. ” advised his uncle.

“See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it. ”

Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to win his good fame. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good:   in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other problems. But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop in a new place where there were plenty of customers but no competition.

Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair motorcycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed to open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.

1. Which of the following best describes Boris’s job hunting experience?

A．Boring.

B．Surprising.

C．Encouraging.

D．Disappointing.

2. Boris started his career by _______.

A．repairing cycles

B．buying empty shops

C．cycling around the town

D．developing a waste ground

3. Boris finally chose an empty shop in a place because _______.

A．it was not so expensive

B．he had a lot of old customers there

C．there were good opportunities there

D．he could make good use of his skills there

【推荐3】Growing up, I understood one thing about my dad: He knew everything. This was our relationship :     1    

In my teen years, he taught me things I’d need to know to survive in the real world. When I moved out on my own, I called him at least once a week, usually when something broke in my apartment and I needed to know how to fix it.     2    I got married, and my husband had most of the knowledge I lacked. For everything else, we had Google.

I don’t know when it happened, but our conversations when I called changed into six words. “Hi, Dad, sweets. Here’s Mom.” (Because I still needed her. ) I loved my dad, of course, but I wondered at times if maybe he had already shared everything I needed to know.    3     Then, this summer, my family and I moved in with my parents for three weeks while our house was being renovated (翻新). One day, Dad asked me to help him rebuild the board at their dock. As we put the new board together piece by piece, my dad knowing exactly what went where. I looked at him. “How do you know how to build it?” The heavy hammer he was swinging paused in midair. “I spent a summer in college building them on the Jersey Shore.”    4    But I never knew this. I realized that maybe it’s not that there’s nothing left to say.

A few weeks later, after my family moved back into our house, I called my parents. Dad answered. “Hi, sweets,” he said. “Here’s Mom.” “Wait, Dad,” I said. “How are you?” We ended up talking about what he was working on. To anyone else, it would sound like a normal conversation between a dad and his daughter.     5    I spent the first part of my life needing to talk to my dad. Now I talk to him because I want to.

A．But to me, it was novel , a new beginning.

B．We loved each other very much.

C．I asked him questions and he told me the answers.

D．I thought I knew everything about my dad — his various jobs.

E．He was not as strong as before and out of breath.

F．But then, eventually, I needed him less.

G．Maybe, after knowing a man for 40 years, there’s nothing left to say.