My dearest daughter,
As I looked across at you sitting on the sofa watching The X Factor, I noticed that you are no longer a child, and that having just celebrated your 14th birthday, you are now a young woman starting a journey into becoming an adult woman. As I looked at you, I remembered myself at 14, and the vastly different places we are beginning this journey from.
Your identity as a mixed-race young woman, with an English father and a Pakistani mother, has already influenced how you place yourself in this world. Until now, you are unaware of the personal struggles that I took at the age of 25 to marry. How it felt when my mother refused to come to my wedding. The sharp criticisms of the Asian community that such marriages do not work out and always end in divorce. The confidence I had to grow, as we chose to live in a multicultural community, as I refused to be shamed into living in the leafier white suburbs.
Then, at the age of 30, I became your mum with all the joys and struggles this brought, as I refused the Asian traditions for a new baby's arrival. From your birth, your life could not have been more different from mine. I was brought up on a council estate, within a tight-knit extended Muslim family, through which poverty, racism and neglect were woven. I was never given the freedoms or the opportunity to experience new things. Now, as I hear you play your piano, I am grateful that you have these opportunities.
So many doors were closed to me as a young person, and as I fought for small steps of freedom, I soon learned that it was better to do what I wanted without the knowledge of my parents, and so deceit and deception(欺骗) became woven into my life too. The pressures to obey, to be a "good Muslim" girl and to keep the family honour were choking. Behind closed doors at home, the neglect and abuse took place. It was hidden; I felt the shame, lived with the fear and suffered alongside my sister and two younger brothers. Oh, the power we thought our parents had over us! I was convinced that one day my father would indeed beat us so hard that leaving us for dead, he would, as his threats said, bury us in the large back garden and tell the school he had taken us back to Pakistan for good. My sister and I longed for a different blue sky to live under.
As a daughter of immigrant parents, I carried their hopes of a better education for their children my own veins(血管) pulsing with the hard-work ethic(道德) and need to be grateful for the opportunity of a free education. And it was education that provided me with the strength to find my own blue sky. I fought to leave home to go to university at the age of 18, and never returned to live with my parents again.
Now as you explore your mixed-race heritage, which I hope we have supported you to do with visits to Pakistan and ensuring you go to multi-cultural schools, I want you to take the very best of all that is Asian with you as you become a woman.
The struggles of identity and belonging will come but I hope that we have given you a strong foundation from which to explore these struggles. All the opportunities and freedoms that I only dreamed of as a young woman, I have offered you. I have chosen a different path of loving you as my daughter, with an unconditional love that many consider "western".
I want you to know that although your journey has been vastly different. I am excited as I watch you standing on the threshold of becoming a woman for all the adventures and possibilities the future holds for you.
May you fly your blue sky with grace, confidence and hope as you find your place in this beautiful and crazy world.
Loving you now and always.
Mommy
1. Mommy's mother refused to attend her wedding probably because _____.| A．she married against the wishes of her family |
| B．she refused traditional Asian wedding ceremony |
| C．she would leave the family to settle in the white suburbs |
| D．she would bring shame to the multicultural community |
| A．her childhood was no different from her daughter's |
| B．her parents treated her the way she does her daughter |
| C．her daughter experienced the same traditions at birth with her |
| D．her daughter can enjoy the opportunities which she didn’t |
| A．She behaved like a good Muslim girl. | B．She fought against her Muslim identity. |
| C．She suffered much abuse in the family. | D．She was forced to drop out of school. |
| A．provide her daughter with more opportunities and freedoms |
| B．increase her daughter's exposure to different cultures |
| C．encourage her daughter to grow up to be a better woman |
| D．ensure her daughter more opportunities to visit Pakistan |
| A．uncover the sufferings she had as a teenage girl |
| B．criticize the social prejudice in her community |
| C．emphasize the importance of family support |
| D．encourage her daughter to try to achieve her dream |
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【推荐1】One summer during high school, my mom volunteered me to help Grandpa research our family tree. I thought, imagining hours spent pawing through dusty, rotting boxes and listening to boring stories about people I didn't know. "You'll be surprised," my mom promised, "Family histories can be very interesting."
In truth, Grandpa didn't want to limit my work to just research, hoping to also preserve our family memories. He'd discovered a computer program that helps digitally scan old pictures and letters to preserve their contents before they crumble from old age. Grandpa wanted me to help him connect the scanner and set up the computer program. He could type documents and send emails, but had never used a scanner.
Soon after, I became fascinated with my relatives' lives. I asked Grandpa to tell the story behind every picture and letter we scanned. The stories, which turned out not to be boring at all, helped me not only understand but also relate to my relatives. I became so hungry for more information that Grandpa needed additional props to keep me satisfied. He showed me a chest filled with random stuff, all covered in dust.
Perusing through their belongings, I felt I was opening a window into the world of my relatives, a world long since gone. Grandpa showed me a bundle of letters he had sent to Grandma from the front lines of World War II and I could almost smell the gunpowder. I turned the pages of my great-grandmother's recipe book and could picture her cooking in her kitchen. All of the people who had been merely names to me now had faces to match.
Later, Grandpa admitted, "I probably could have done this project myself. I just wanted someone to share it with." I can't thank him enough for sharing the experience and making me appreciate the family members who have made me the person I am. I will cherish family memories and hope that someday will be able to pass them down to my own grandchildren.
1. Which of the following can best describe the author's first impression of research?| A．Delightful. | B．Tiresome. | C．Surprising. | D．Interesting |
| A．Come to life. | B．Tear apart. | C．Fall to pieces. | D．Break through. |
| A．He used to serve in the army. | B．He knew nothing about computer. |
| C．He buried the letters under gunpowder. | D．He loved sharing what he had with others. |
| A．To show him a bundle of letters. | B．To keep him from boredom. |
| C．To give him something to sort out. | D．To fulfill his desire to know more. |
【推荐2】I grew up with a four-year gap between myself and my younger brother. It was a distance in age to keep us close as we got older, but also an age gap to make sure we lived our own lives in completely different ways. Having a younger brother while I was a girl was a lot of work, for there was a lot of fighting.
However, as we’ve got older, we’ve become closer, and I’ve learned several things in life from my younger brother that I didn’t realize I needed before.
My younger brother is one of the most talented and creative souls I’ve known. He’s continually feeding his creativity with new art forms and new instruments. He always seeks to understand and learn more about the world around him. He’s helped remind me through his actions and words that giving up on creativity is something a person should never do.
My younger brother has also been through hard times, but he’s able to focus on learning from the hard times, unlike me, who tends to hold on to every little thing from my life. It’s always been difficult for me to let things go and move on, but my younger brother has been an inspiration for me to try harder at letting go.
My younger brother has always been a more introverted type, and if you speak to him, you’re lucky to get over three words out of him at a time. Because of this, he’s certainly learned the whole “actions speak louder than words” thing. But, I’ve realized from my brother that I needn’t speak to fill the silence. Sometimes, it’s necessary to spend some of your time in silence and reflect in it.
1. What can we know about the author’s childhood according to paragraph 1?| A．The author thought the four-year gap made them distant. |
| B．The author had to do a lot of work for her brother. |
| C．There was a lot of fighting between the author and her brother. |
| D．The author often beat her brother. |
| A．New art forms. | B．Creativity. | C．New instruments. | D．Talents. |
| A．The attitude to hard times. | B．The ability of studying. |
| C．The aim of future. | D．The way to spend time. |
| A．Depressed. | B．Attractive. | C．Favorite. | D．Quiet. |
【推荐3】Childhood is all about the slow expansion of your world, from birth when you are quite clearly the centre of the universe, through the great shock of realising, when you are about three, that you are not actually kings and queens, that there is a whole world beyond the kitchen table and the bedtime story. It’s entirely up to you to let your children know that, while they may be blessed with a loving home, a warm bed, plenty to eat, many people are not.
My oldest son, Sam, is six now and a lovely boy, thoughtful and concerned about the world, kind to his brothers and in love with nature, insects and animals. I get nervous at the fact that it is my responsibility to make him aware of the dark side of life — war, starvation, environmental disasters — part of me wants to preserve his innocence, but most of me thinks he needs to know and I should be the one to tell him.
We’ve talked a little bit, about climate change, but I find it hard to be really honest with him. I sat down with him recently, to read something that Green Books sent to me, called How to Turn Your Parents Green. I thought a light-hearted book might be an easy way to talk to him about what he’s going to have to deal with.
I asked him if he knew about climate change and he said no and then yes. I asked him if he knew what was causing it and he said: “It’s because there are more and more cars on the roads. Maybe too many planes too. Maybe trains as well, but only a little bit.” He likes trains.
I said it was because we had too many lights on too — he jumped up and turned off the light straight away.
“What do you think it means?” I asked him. “I don’t know. Is the world getting hotter? What will happen?” he asked. “Well, some people’s homes may get covered in water, and other people may not have enough food,” I said. “There might be some big storms and hurricanes.”
He was quiet and thoughtful, and I couldn’t bear to push it any further. We did some colouring instead. But later that afternoon, he came back to me and put his hand in my back pocket. “I didn’t like that book, Mum. It made me feel really worried,” he said.
I still feel upset thinking about it now.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Slow development of a child’s intelligence. |
| B．Better understanding of the things around a child. |
| C．Natural response to what happens around a child. |
| D．Gradual process of a child knowing more about the world. |
| A．Very sorry. | B．Quite pleased. | C．A little hesitant. | D．Quite confident. |
| A．He hated to talk about lights. | B．His mother told him to do so. |
| C．Lights would cause climate change. | D．He wanted to save electricity for trains. |
| A．To make him less upset. | B．To take a short break with him. |
| C．To give him some time to think. | D．To develop his interest in colouring. |
【推荐1】While everyone feels lonely at times, being alone too much can negatively affect your physical and emotional health. Studies have found that loneliness can be just as harmful to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day.
·Acknowledge that you’re feeling alone
Admitting feeling alone doesn’t mean you’re a loser or you’re weak.
·
When you are feeling alone, sometimes it’s easier to connect with old friends than it is to make new ones. Perhaps you have lost touch with your college roommates over the years. You might reach out and see how they’re doing. Talk about how you’ve missed being able to catch up and say that you’d like to reconnect.
·Join a group or club
·Learn something new
Getting excited about something you’re learning— whether it’s a new language or a new skill— might help when you are feeling alone.
| A．It just means you’re human |
| B．Connect with people from your past |
| C．Address how you feel about being lonely |
| D．Loneliness is also linked with cognitive decline |
| E．It also might open up doors to meeting new people |
| F．Look for community activities that might be a good fit for you |
| G．It isn’t unusual to be alone and feel that you have few or no close friends |
Chris, an amazing singer, said he fell in love with Juliana the first moment he saw her and they became engaged soon afterwards. They had planned to get married two years after getting engaged. But shortly before they could hold each other’s hands into the marriage hall, Juliana, suffered from a brain injury in a tragic car accident. On the exact day they were supposed to get married, Chris shared a song he wrote for his fiancée. “I’m giving all I’ve got to give/ To pull you through/ In your darkest hour, I will be your light,” were some of his
Juliana’s idol is Oprah Winfrey and Idol judge Steven could see that she remains a fan of Chris’ music, accompanying him to the audition. Chris received a ticket to Hollywood, which Juliana proudly waved. While he is heading to Hollywood to pursue his dream of singing, Chris continues to take care of Juliana, alongside her mother.
Chris’ love story touched more than the Americans. It reached Irish rockers The Script, who spoke highly of the young man and his songs at the audition. “Chris Medina: not only are you a major talent, but you are one in a billion! Stay strong and never give up. This world needs more men like you.” the band’s guitarist, Mark Sheehan, said.
1. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?
| A．Chris touched the Americans mainly for his singing. |
| B．Chris has always been Juliana’s idol. |
| C．Chris was an American idol because of his love for his fiancée. |
| D．Chris’ lyrics showed his true love for Juliana. |
① Chris took Juliana to the audition of American Idol.
② Chris and Juliana became engaged.
③ Juliana suffered from a brain injury in a terrible car accident.
④ Chris received a ticket to Hollywood.
| A．①②③④ | B．①②④③ |
| C．②①④③ | D．②③④① |
| A．sincere | B．beautiful |
| C．exciting | D．pleasing |
| A．He is sad about Juliana’s suffering. |
| B．He is very pleased to hear Chris’ joining The Script. |
| C．He encourages Chris to continue to be a great man. |
| D．He hopes that Chris can do even better at the audition. |
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.
Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.
1. What is the best title of this passage?
| A．Competition! Why friends turn into enemies. |
| B．Competition! What self-respect depends on. |
| C．New meaning found in competition. |
| D．Two mistaken beliefs about competition. |
| A．Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition. |
| B．Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others. |
| C．Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost. |
| D．Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others. |
| A．One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair. |
| B．One should make every endeavor to avoid competition. |
| C．One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition. |
| D．One should be given rewards after competing with others. |
| A．one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others |
| B．one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills |
| C．one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems |
| D．one’s success is based on how hard he has tried |
