【推荐1】Life is kind of like a party. You invite a lot of people, some leave early, some stay all night, some laugh with you, some laugh at you, and some show up really late. But in the end, after the fun, there are a few who stay to help you clean up the mess. And most of the time, they aren’t even the ones who made the mess.     1     They are the ones who matter most. Here are four things real friends do differently:

They face problems together. A real friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else still believes the smile on your face.     2     Just look for someone who will face them with you.

    3     Your word means everything. If you say you’re going to do something, DO IT! If you say you’re going to be somewhere, BE THERE! If you say you feel something, MEAN IT! If you can’t, won’t, and don’t, then DON’T LIE. Real friends keep promises and tell the truth upfront.

They accept each other. Trying to change a person never works. A real friend is someone who truly knows you and loves you just the same.     4     Be yourself and people will love the real you. If you feel like changing something about your friend, ask yourself what change you can make in yourself instead.

They support each other’s growth changes. Our needs change with time. When someone says, “You’ve changed,” it’s not always a bad thing.     5    Don’t apologize for it. Instead, be open and sincere, explain how you feel, and keep doing what you know in your heart is right,

A．They keep their promises.

B．No one is happy all the time.

C．They make time for each other.

D．Don’t change so that people will like you.

E．Sometimes it just means you’ve grown.

F．These people are your real friends in life.

G．Don’t look for someone who will solve all your problems.

【推荐3】One day a professor entered the classroom and told the students about a surprise test. After hearing that, all students were seated and waited for the test to begin. Now, the professor gave the test papers to all students with text facing down on the desk. Once he was done with handing out the test to all students, he asked them to turn the test pages and begin.

Students were confused to see that there was not a question but just a black dot in the center of the page. The professor noticed the students’ facial expressions and told them, “I want you to write about what you see there.”

The students were still confused but got started with the test. At the end of the class, the professor took all answer sheets and started reading each answer from each sheet in front of all students. All of them described about the black dot and tried to explain its position. After the professor finished reading, the whole class was silent.

Now, the professor began to explain, “Don’t worry. I am not going to give you grades for this but I just want you to think about something. Here everyone focused on the black dot and wrote about it but no one wrote about the white paper. The same is with our lives. The white paper embodies our whole life and the black spot problems in our life.

Our life is a gift given to us by God, with love and care, and we always have reasons to celebrate---our friends around us, the job that provides us our livelihood, the miracles we see everyday. Still we just focus on day to day problems like health issues, lack of money, problems in relationships, etc. But we never see that these problems are very small compared to everything we have in our lives.”

1. From the text we learn that _________.

A．the professor gave the students an unexpected test

B．the professor graded the students’ test papers

C．none of the students focused on the black dot

D．the students were unwilling to take the test

2. The underlined word “embodies” in Paragraph 4 probably can be replaced by ________.

A．presents	B．represents
C．empties	D．enriches

3. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Be happy to take tests

B．Life is filled with problems

C．There are many black dots in our life

D．Take eyes off problems and enjoy life

【推荐1】Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for living. One night, I took a fare (出租车乘客) at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, sanding on the side way was a small woman in her 80s with a big suitcase.

After I helped her into the taxi she gave me an address and asked, “Could you drive through downtown?” “It is not the shortest way,” I answered quickly. “I don’t mind,” She said, “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice (临终安养院).” I looked in the rear-view mirror (后视镜). Her eyes were wet. I quietly reached over and shut off he meter (计价器). “What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newly married. She had me stop in front of a shabby house, where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she asked me to slow in front of a particular building and sat staring into the darkness, saying nothing. At last, she said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”

We drove in silence to the destination. It was a grey low building.

“How much do I owe you?” She asked, reaching into her purse. “Nothing,” I said. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held on to me tightly and whispered a “Thank you”. I squeezed her hand and walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers, but drove aimlessly, lost in thought. What if that woman had come across an impatient driver? What if I had refused to drive through downtown? Great moments often catch us unaware, beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

1. What caused the author to shut off the meter?

A．His distrust of the fare.	B．His pity for the woman.
C．The breakdown of the meter.	D．The cold weather at midnight.

2. What was the aim of the women’s ride downtown?

A．To find a place to settle down.

B．To reach the destination on time.

C．To kill time before the hospice opened.

D．To see the city for last time.

3. What can we learn from the story?

A．Giving is always a pleasure.

B．People should respect elderly people.

C．A small act of kindness brings people great joy.

D．Strangers are family you haven’t known yet.

4. Which of the following describe the author best?

A．Positive and energetic.	B．Helping and humorous.
C．Sensitive and patient.	D．Kind-hearted but demanding.

5. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．A taxi ride I will never forget

B．My strange driving experience

C．The ending of an old woman’s life

D．An old woman passenger and her life

【推荐2】Marty Verel, a 59-year-old kidney transplant patient in Ohio, should have been near the top of the list to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Yet like millions of others, he wasn't having any luck. Marty and his wife, Nancy Verel, would sit with computers on their laps trying for hours to book an appointment on different sites, all of which were complex. “I felt hopeless,” Nancy says.

Then Nancy heard about Marla Zwinggi, a 40-year-old mom of three who was spending up to ten hours a day online trying to secure appointments for vulnerable (易受攻击的) individuals. As a result, Nancy messaged Marla on Facebook: “Can you help?” Twenty-five minutes later, Marla responded by asking for Marty's legal name, date of birth, and other information. Nine minutes after that, Marla reported back—Marty had an appointment.

Marla's vaccine hunting started on February 1, when she learned that her parents—her father has leukemia (白血病) and her mother is a breast cancer survivor with a heart condition, were unable to get appointments themselves. She hated that they had to wait. Clicking around on vaccine registration sites, Marla discovered just how difficult it was to book an appointment. “It was like trying to get a World Series ticket,” she says.

She applied strategies that web insiders are familiar with (keeping multiple browsers open, refreshing sites every 20 seconds, erasing cookies) and added a few of her special skills. “I’m determined. I drink a lot of coffee, and I’m a fast typer,” she says. Soon enough, Marla had secured appointments for her parents. “I felt like a rock star,” she says.

Marla decided that helping others would be her way of giving back. “I feel like I need to will us out of this pandemic (大流行病),” she says. On February 10, she logged on to Facebook to let people know that she was assisting with bookings. By March 2, she’d secured appointments for 400 seniors, a feat that made Nancy and Marty fail to make an appointment themselves?

1. Why did Nancy and Marty fail to make an appointment themselves?

A．They had no access to the websites.

B．Too many people applied at the same time.

C．They were not among the first seniors to be vaccinated.

D．The registration sites were too difficult for them.

2. Why Marla started her vaccine hunting in the first place?

A．To help old people.	B．To provide guidance to Nancy.
C．To assist her sick parents.	D．To give back to society.

3. Which of the following words best describe Marla?

A．Helpful and skillful.	B．Reliable and humorous.
C．Confident and generous.	D．Ambitious and cooperative.

4. What's the passage mainly about?

A．An effective way to book a vaccination appointment online.

B．An old couple's trouble during the pandemic.

C．An angel helping others online.

D．A woman's special way of giving back during the pandemic.

【推荐3】As John George remembers it, the Detroit neighborhood he grew up in was straight out of Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. ''We knew all our neighbors,'' George, 60, told Detroit's Metro Times. ''On Christmas Eve, we'd all go to midnight Mass, and there would be 300 people in our house at one o'clock to about five in the morning. The folks were just really good, hardworking people. ''

By the 80s, however, the old neighborhood was more Pottersville than Bedford Falls. Due in part to economic downturns and a nationwide drug epidemic (泛滥), well-kept homes had been abandoned and kindly neighbors had fled to the suburbs. But not George. ''Living in any city, it's like being in a relationship,'' he told Reader's Digest. ''Some days are better than others. But it was my home. And when I saw it deteriorating, I had two choices: I could leave, or I could stay and fight. I decided to stay and fight. ''

When the abandoned home behind his turned into a crack den, the father of two grabbed some plywood and nails and began boarding up the house. After two neighbors stopped to ask what he was doing, they decided to help, with great results. ''When the drug dealers came back, they turned around and went home,'' says George. ''That's how it all got started. ''

''It'' is Detroit Blight Busters, or DBB, an organization of civic-minded volunteers devoted to reviving the city they love, one abandoned house, one vacant lot, and one garbage-strewn park at a time.

In the 30 years since that first home rescue, an army of approximately 182,000 volunteers, along with corporate and private donors, has helped George destroy around 300 abandoned homes, mostly in the poorer Northwest area of Detroit. They've also secured 400-some homes by boarding them up, thus keeping bad actors out. They've painted and renovated nearly 900 homes and built over 100 from scratch. According to Forbes, more than 1,000 Detroiters have been housed as a result of DBB's work.

''I'm half Lebanese, half Italian, and 100 percent Detroit stubborn, '' George told nationswell.com. ''Once we get something in our heart and in our head, it's almost autopilot. ''

But that was only the beginning. In 2003, George also breathed life into a dilapidated (破旧的) square mile of Detroit by turning it into Artist Village, an area now filled with galleries, a performance space, community gardens, a coffee shop, and outdoor courtyards. Because this region of North Detroit was a food desert, George also persuaded a supermarket chain to move into the neighborhood.

''Blight is like a cancer: If you don't set upon it, it will spread,'' George told thehubdetroit.com. And then there's Halloween. In Detroit, October 30 was ruefully known as Devil's Night, a period when all hell would break loose in the form of crime and vandalism. In response, George created a citizens' patrol (巡逻队) that would take to the streets, keeping an eye on suspicious behavior. He called it Angels’ Night. What began with 12 neighbors on patrol in 1990 has grown to more than 60,000 citywide.

George's inspired ideas have not gone unnoticed by the city he loves.''John wants to show that there is still something to Detroit. That it's still worth it,'' says real estate agent Robert LaBute. And others are buying into it.''We're seeing the trend of younger homeowners coming in.''

Is George proud of having boosted his once-ailing hometown? You'd better believe he is. As he puts it: ''We are on the front porch of the greatest urban comeback story in this nation’s history. ''

1. Why was John George reluctant to leave Detroit?

A．He wanted to save his city.

B．He enjoyed a wonderful life.

C．He stayed to fight against drugs.

D．He got along with his neighbors.

2. What was the result of the first home rescue?

A．An official organization was founded.

B．A voluntary movement began with it.

C．A better neighbor relationship was formed.

D．The drug dealers mended their ways at last.

3. The data provided in Paragraph 5 suggest that ______.

A．many people have been lifted out of poverty

B．many abandoned homes have been destroyed

C．DBB has done a lot to bring the city back to life

D．the number of the volunteers has been increasing

4. What did John George do to revive the city of Detroit ?

A．He transformed the city into an industrial area.

B．He created a citizen's patrol to prevent crimes.

C．He expanded investment in real estate business.

D．He built a supermarket chain in the neighborhood.

5. According to the passage, John George can be described as ______.

A．cautious and creative

B．stubborn and ambitious

C．proud and self-centered

D．strong-willed and inspiring

6. What's the best title for the passage?

A．The Life of a Hero

B．Detroit's Proud Tiger

C．The Power of Devotion

D．The Blooming of Detroit