【推荐1】My greatest regret in life is that I failed to tell my superb teachers how much they contributed to my early education.

Ruth Hammerman taught English to the eighth - graders. She was the first to show me the rules of what Evelyn Waugh called our “rich and delicate language.” She was a no-nonsense instructor. Unlike common teachers, she diagramed sentences so we could know the grammar rules. She never seemed to be tired of the simple pleasures of sharing her learning.

Under her influence, I had the strong belief that language needs to be well - spoken and properly written. Yet over the years I never made the effort to find her and to express my thankfulness for what she did for me. Two years after being in her class, I began the study of Latin and French, and the foundation (基础) she provided in English grammar served me well. Sadly, I never looked back.

In high school I took advanced French in a class taught by Richard Miller, the finest teacher I have ever experienced at any level. Mr. Miller brought to his subject a surprisingly deep understanding and new analysis. Reading “Phèdre”, Racine’s classic play, he asked us to note there were 1,654 lines in it, and then pointed out the care Racine devoted to structure. Years later I made the same point — giving Mr. Miller credit — in a college French class, and my professor was surprised by my understanding of the play, Mr. Miller taught us to enjoy literature with particular points of view. Yet I never made the effort in later years to tell him what he meant to me.

Mr. Miller is certainly long dead. If she is alive, Miss Hammerman would likely be in her 90s. In preparing this article, I tried to find her but was unsuccessful.

I am certain my act is common. People often forget to express love and thankfulness to their teachers. I ought to have told Miss Hammerman and Mr. Miller how much they did for me. I suppose they knew their work was effective because they believed in what they were doing. Now I appreciate how special they were.

1. What is special about Mr. Miller’s French class?

A．He asked students to count lines.	B．He stressed the importance of play.
C．He analyzed literature in a new way.	D．He showed great devotion to students.

2. What does the underlined phrase “my act” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．Preparing the article.	B．Looking for the teachers.
C．Failing to thank teachers.	D．Copying teachers’ points.

3. What best describes the two teachers according to the text?

A．Creative.

B．Frank.

C．Humorous.

D．Strict.

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

A．To show love for French literature.	B．To explore the meaning of education.
C．To explain why teachers are important.	D．To share memories of the two teachers.

【推荐1】When an empty parking spot appears before us, many of us would see it for what it is — a place that could be filled with cars and trucks. But to eco-engineer Shubhendu Sharma, it’s a space to be planted with trees and turned into a forest.

What’s more, he believes these tiny forests can grow anywhere, including our most crowded and polluted cities where they can help maintain clean air and water and provide habitat for animals. “A forest is not an isolated piece of land where animals live together,” says Sharma. “A forest can be a complete part of our urban existence.” Most of us know just how important trees are to our health and to the planet. Yet millions of hectares of forest are cleared every year due to farming, ranching, logging and construction. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest and surrounding ecosystems have already been lost.

Inspired by the work of Japanese scientist Akira Miyawaki, Sharma built a forest in the backyard of his family’s house in northern India in 2010. He planted 100 young trees in the 75-square-meter plot. They grew and a dozen species of birds came to check them out. The plantings created welcome shade, and their roots were able to absorb even the abundant monsoon (季风) rains. After a year, he had his own forest. Since then, Sharma has founded a company called Afforestt. Its top priority is to bring back natural forests to places where they no longer exist. So far, Afforestt has planted 144 forests in 45 cities around the world. Sharma has shown you can make a space the size of six or seven parking spots and create a forest with 100 trees. Ready to create your own tiny forest? If your answer is yes, let’s follow Sharma’s 5-step procedures to grow our own forests.

1. Ordinary people may regard a parking spot as a place for ________.

A．parking vehicles

B．planting trees

C．building houses

D．producing cars and trucks

2. What does the underlined word “they” refer to in Paragraph 2?

A．Cities.	B．Forests.
C．Air and water.	D．Animals.

3. How many trees has Afforestt planted?

A．45.

B．144.

C．224.

D．14,400.

4. What will be talked about in the following paragraphs?

A．How to create a forest.

B．Why we should plant trees.

C．What kind of forest we need.

D．Who will follow the steps.

【推荐2】When I was 8 years old, I decided to run away from home after a quarrel with my mother. With my suitcase(行李箱) packed and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door.

My mom asked where I was going. “I’m leaving home,” I said.

“What’s that you’re carrying?” she asked.

“Some clothes and food,” I replied.

“If you want to run away, that’s all right,” she said. “But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way.”

I threw my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor and started for the door again.

“Wait a minute,” Mom said. “You didn’t have any clothes on when you arrived, and I want them back.”

This infuriated me. I tore my clothes off — shoes, socks, underwear and all — and shouted, “Can I go now?”

“Yes,” my mom answered, “but once you close that door, don’t expect to come back.”

I was so angry that I shut the door forcefully and stepped out of my home. Then I noticed down the street two neighbor girls walking toward our house. I was so shy that I saw the big spruce (云杉) tree in our yard and jumped under the low-hanging branches (树枝). A pile of dried-up brown needles (针状物) were beneath the tree, and you can’t imagine the pain those sharp needles caused to my body.

After I was sure the girls had passed by, I ran to the front door and knocked at it loudly.

“It’s Billy! Let me in!”

The voice behind the door answered, “Billy doesn’t live here anymore. He ran away from home.”

Looking behind me to see if anyone else was coming down the street, I said, “Mom! I’m sorry. I’m still your son. Let me in!”

The door opened and Mom’s smiling face appeared. “Did you change your mind about running away?” she asked.

“What’s for supper?” I smiled back.

1. When the author was leaving home, his mother ordered him to _____.

A．stay at home	B．take some sandwiches
C．leave everything behind	D．check his suitcase carefully

2. Which of the following can best describe the author’s mom?

A．Selfish and proud.	B．Strict but loving.
C．Kind and helpful.	D．Wise but impatient.

3. Why did the author jump under the low-hanging branches?

A．To avoid being seen.	B．To find some needles.
C．To play a joke on the two girls.	D．To attract the two girls’ attention.

4. The last sentence “What’s for supper?” mainly shows that the author _____.

A．felt very hungry at that time	B．changed his plan not to leave home any longer
C．wished to eat something before leaving	D．wanted to know what his mother prepared for supper

【推荐1】Mark and his brother Jason both were looking at the shining new computer enviously. Jason was determined not to go against their father’s wishes but Mark was more adventurous than his brother. He loved experimenting and his aim was to become a scientist like his father.

“Dad will be really mad if he finds out you’ve been playing with his new computer.” Jason said, “He told us not to touch it.”

“He won’t find out.” Mark said, “I’ll just have a quick look and shut it down.”

Mark had been scolded before for touching his father’s equipment. But his curiosity was difficult to control and this new computer really puzzled him.

“It was a strange-looking machine — one his dad had brought home from the laboratory where he worked. “It’s an experimental model, ” his father had explained, “so don’t touch it under any circumstances. ” But his warning only served to make Mark more curious. Without any further thought, Mark turned on the power switch. The computer burst into life and seconds later, the screen turned into colors, shifting and changing and then two big white words appeared in the center of the screen: “SPACE TRANSPORTER. ”

“Yes!” Mark cried excitedly, “It’s a computer game. I knew it! Dad’s only been pretending to work. He’s really been playing games instead. ” A new message appeared on the screen:

“ENTER NAMES

VOYAGER 1: …

VOYAGER 2: …”

Mark’s fingers flew across the keyboard as he typed in both of their names.

“INPUT ACCEPTED. START TRANSPORT PROGRAM. AUTO-RETRIEVE INITIATED.”

The screen turned even brighter and a noise suddenly rose in volume.

“I think we’d better shut it off, Mark, ” Jason yelled, reaching for the power switch. He was really frightened.

But his hand never reached the switch. A single beam of dazzling white light burst out of the computer screen, wrapping the boys in its glow, until they themselves seemed to be glowing. Then it died down just as suddenly as it had burst into life. And the boys were no longer there. On the screen, the letters changed.

“TRANSPORT SUCCESSFUL. DESTINATION: MARS. RETRIEVE DATE: 2035. ”

1. Why did Mark touch the computer against his father’s warning?

A．He wanted to take a voyage.	B．He wanted to practice his skill
C．He was so much attracted by it.	D．He was eager to do an experiment.

2. Where did the boy’s father most likely work?

A．In an electronic factory.	B．In a computer company.
C．In a scientific research center.	D．In an information processing center.

3. Mark thought “SPACE TRANSPORTER” on the screen was the name of       .

A．a computer game	B．a company website
C．a software producer	D．an astronomy program

4. What happened to the boys at the end of the story?

A．They were blown into the air.	B．They were sent to another planet.
C．They were hidden in the strong light.	D．They were carried away to another country

【推荐2】An 80-year-oldman was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-olds on. Suddenly a crow(乌鸦) landed on their window.

The father asked his son, “What is that?”

The son replied, “That is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”

The son said, “Father, It old you just now. It’s a crow.”

After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?” This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”

After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”

This time his son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, IT IS A CROW’. Are you notable to understand this?”

A minute later, the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.

Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.

If your parents reach old age, do not look at the masa burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they be have.”

1. How many times did the father asked the same question?

A．Twice.

B．Three times.

C．Four times.

D．Five times.

2. How did the son probably feel when his father asked him the same question repeatedly?

A．Surprised.

B．Concerned.

C．Impatient.

D．Happy.

3. How old was the father when he wrote the diary?

A．Thirty-eight.

B．Twenty-three.

C．Forty-five.

D．Eighty.

4. Why did the old man takeout the diary he had kept?

A．Because he forgot what had happened.

B．Because he would like his son to read it.

C．Because it could remind himself of the past.

D．Because he wanted to find what a crow was.

【推荐3】

A man was working on his motorcycle in his yard. Suddenly it started to move. The man, still holding the hand lebars, was dragged through the glass doors, along with the motorcycle, and was thrown onto the floor inside the house. The wife ran in and found her husband lying on the floor, cut and bleeding. She ran to call an ambulance (救护车).

The ambulance arrived and they took the man to the hospital. The wife picked up the motorcycle and pushed it outside. There was gas all over the floor, so the wife got some paper towels, cleaned the gas with them, and threw them in the toilet. After he was treated, the man returned home. Not long after that he went to the bathroom, sat down on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. Sitting there, he finished the cigarette and threw it into the toilet. The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard the loud explosion (爆炸声) and her husband screaming.

She ran into the bathroom, and there she found her husband lying on the floor! His trousers had been blown away and his buttocks and other parts of his body were covered with burns! The wife again ran to the phone to call an ambulance. The same people came! While they were carrying the husband down the stairs to the street, one of the men asked the wife how the husband had burned himself. She told them and they started laughing very hard. One of them fell and the husband fell, too. The poor husband fell down the remaining stairs and broke his arm.

1. What most probably made the motorcycle start moving?

A．The man himself started it to see if it was working.

B．His wife did it for him to check if there was something working.

C．The motorcycle started by itself.

D．The man started the motorcycle without knowing it.

2. What did the wife do after the first accident?

A．She did nothing except calling the policemen.

B．She cleaned the gas with paper towels and threw them into the toilet.

C．She took the motorcycle and pushed it into the room.

D．She took her hushand to the hospital.

3. What do we know about the gas that caused the explosion?

A．The gas was from the motorcycle and could easily cause an explosion.

B．The gas was of poor quality.

C．The gas made the hushand suffer 4 accidents in a day.

D．The gas should have burned the wife.

4. The passage is most likely to be found in________

A．a survey	B．a textbook
C．a report	D．a book of funny stories

5. Which is the best title for this passage?

A．What a Bad Day for the Husband and Wife

B．A Man’s Worst Day

C．A Man Had Three Accidents in One Day

D．A Wife Burned Her Husband and Broke His Arms