【推荐2】When Kirk Alexander went missing for 11 days, an unlikely savior came to his rescue: his neighborhood pizza store.

Almost every night for more than ten years. Kirk Alexander, 48, of Salem, Oregon ordered a late dinner from his local Domino’s pizza store. He had no signature order. Sometimes he would call for a salad, sometimes a pie, sometimes chicken wings. The only sure thing for the staff of the Silverton Road Domino’s was that they would see Alexander’s name show up on their online ordering site sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight several times a week.

Until suddenly, for nearly two weeks at the end of April 2016, they didn’t.

It was a slow Saturday night on May 7th when Domino’s general manager Sarah Fuller felt she could no longer ignore Alexander’s recent absence.

“I went and looked up to see how long it had been since he last ordered,” Fuller told KATU.com. It was 11 days, which was not like him at all.

Fuller knew Alexander worked from home, and neighbors said he rarely left. She also knew that he had suffered some health issues in the past. Something, Fuller worried, was wrong.

Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 8, Fuller sent longtime delivery driver Tracey Hamblen to stop in at Alexander’s home. Hamblen approached Alexander’s door as he had countless times before and knocked. He could plainly see that Alexander’s TV set was on, as were his lights; but after several minutes, Alexander still didn’t answer the door.

Hamblen rushed back to the store to relay the upsetting developments to Fuller. She encouraged Hamblen to dial 911. Soon, officers were on their way.

When deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s office arrived at Alexander’s house, they heard a man calling for help from inside the residence, deputies said. They broke the door down, and found Alexander on the floor in need of immediate medical attention. One day later, and they might have been too late.

Alexander was rushed to Salem Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition shortly after the dramatic rescue. In the following weeks, Fuller, Hamblen, and other store employees went to visit him with flowers and cards, noting that Alexander greeted them with knowing smiles.

1. How did Fuller sense that something was wrong?

A．She knew Alexander had serious health problems.

B．Alexander hadn’t ordered chicken wings for nearly 2 weeks.

C．Alexander had never broken his routine in the store for 10 years.

D．Alexander had disappeared from the store’s ordering system for about 2 weeks.

2. What does the underlined word mean in the eighth paragraph?

A．Convey.

B．Emphasize.

C．Complain.

D．Share.

3. In which column of a newspaper will you probably read this article?

A．Life.

B．Technology.

C．Healthy.

D．Entertainment.

4. Which of the following saying can we learn from the story?

A．Born in distress (忧患), die in peace.

B．Details determine success or failure.

C．Even the wise are not always free from error.

D．Better late than never.

【推荐3】Whenever you are traveling and have the good fortune to arrive at your destination in one piece, I think that you have to tell people your trip was fine. I had a fine trip last week!

I went an hour north to a speaking engagement. Fifteen minutes out of town my vehicle began to shake. The engine light began flashing wildly. Fortunately, I had several friends who lived not far from the next exit. I called one and asked if I could borrow her vehicle for the afternoon.

I went straight to my friend’s place and left my vehicle behind, now shaking like a mechanical bull, and then headed back. I was behind schedule, which was why I may have broken the speed limit passing a motorcycle.

Once I had slowly driven through several miles of construction, traffic began to sail. Until we came to the trucks with flashing lights blocking traffic. Workers were removing a deer that was no longer with us. And a second. And a third.

After a brief moment of silence for the deer, traffic got back up to speed. Then dark and ominous (不祥的) clouds came. They were the kind of clouds that make tornadoes. Rain fell heavily. Traffic slowed right down and came to a complete stop.

I was thinking how to word my apology for being late when the hail began. It was so dark I could barely see. Thank goodness for the lighting. It was killer hail, the kind that blows out windshields (挡风玻璃). I couldn’t decide whether to shield my eyes or look to see what was happening around me.

Open, eyes! No, close! Open! Close! Open! Close!

The hail ended, the windshield was still there, and the traffic started again. The cloud came back and dumped all five Great Lakes on us. Stopped again.

Maybe whoever was introducing me could do a song and dance.

Waiting for the second rain to pass, I programmed my destination into Google maps. As they closed the flooded highway behind us, I took my exit and headed to my destination.

I arrived at my destination late, wide-eyed and in a mess, but in one piece.

“How was your trip?” A warm young fellow!

“Fine, thank you. Just fine.”

1. What does the underlined word “engagement” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．date

B．conference

C．workshop

D．contest

2. Why was traffic blocked when the author arrived behind some trucks?

A．Because the author had broken the speed limit passing a motorcycle.

B．Because there were several trucks with flashing lights blocking traffic.

C．Because three dead deer were in the way and the road should be cleared first.

D．Because dark and ominous clouds came, which can make tornadoes.

3. What can be inferred according to this text?

A．Rain fell so heavily that traffic slowed right down and came to a complete stop.

B．The author got through the flooded highway to her destination despite the terrible rain.

C．The author managed to arrive at her destination on schedule, in a mess but in one piece.

D．The author’s introducer might try to earn the young fellow forgiveness for her being late.

4. What message does the author want to convey with the story?

A．No sweat, no sweet.	B．Being safe is a must.
C．Love me, love my dog.	D．Grasp all, lose all.

【推荐2】阅读下面短文，根据题目要求回答问题。

When I was in Grade 4, I got my first diary as a present from my mother. It made me feel very important because it was a precious gift to me in the year when a printed diary was rare. During the first week of my life as a diary owner, I kept looking at it. My heart filling with pride. In the second week, I suddenly felt nervous. I had not written a single word in the diary. And now each page seemed to be looking at me in sorrow for the way it was being gored (弄褶皱), so I decided to keep an account of how I spent the day at school.

I kept my promise to the diary that every day after coming back from school, I would take out the diary, open the page dated for that day and write about what happened. But a strange thing happened — each page looked dull, instead of looking as if it came straight out of a famous writer’s book.

I recently read a 4000-year-old account of a young boy’s day in school. It surrounded almost the same thing as mine! I was shocked. This boy was from Summer (苏美尔). The Sumerians, as they were called, invented a lot of things. They constructed the first cities. They stuck to an idea that children must go to a place like school for education.

What was the account of the boy’s day in school like? Well almost like mine but 4,000 years ago! I read it in a book called The Mammoth Book of How it Happened, by Jon E. Lewis. In a fascinating manner, he has put the important and usual things together into one collection, eye-witness accounts of moments in history, also eventful and ordinary.

The book told me that for schoolchildren anywhere in the world and probably at any time in history, school has always meant the same. Perhaps writing diaries too.

1. What did the author do with his first diary during the first week?
________________
2. Who is Jon E. Lewis?
________________
3. Please underline the false part in the following statement and explain why.
▷The author felt dull when he read a 4000-year-old account of a young boy’s day, because the diary surrounded almost the same thing as his.
________________
4. What do you think about writing dairies? (In about 40 words)
________________

【推荐3】It was Groundhog Day. A winter storm had hit overnight too. I tried to open my backdoor only to find six inches of wet, heavy snow piled up against it. I knew I had quite a job of shoveling out ahead of me, so I reached over to grab my snow shovel. It looked a lot more ready to work than I did. I sighed and pulled on my boots, gloves, and heavy coat.

The wind chill was below zero and cut into my face as I slowly shoveled off my deck. After that I stayed my way over to my daughter’s house shoveling the path as I walked. It took a while to get her driveway clear and I knew I still had a lot to do. Next came the paths down the hill to my own cars covered in snow. I had grabbed the broom to sweep them off as well. I winced when the breeze blew the swept snow back into my face. Then I started to shovel out my driveways. My back was aching as I worked. I wished I could be building a snowman instead of shoveling. Winter sure had seemed a lot more fun when I was a boy.

When I was done I examined my work. It didn’t look half bad. I smiled and looked at the woods covered in white. They were such a special sight. I leaned on my shovel and took it all in. Then I started up the hill with the snow shovel in one hand and the broom in the other. Suddenly, an urge came over me and I dropped them both. I spread my arms, fed back into the blanket of white and happily moved my arms and legs to make an angel in the snow.

As you go through the seasons of this life take joy in your work. Take joy in your life. Remember that the course of your days rests in your own hands.

1. What’s the theme of the text?

A．Enjoy winter work.	B．Take things seriously.
C．Take joy in your life.	D．Fight against cold.

2. Which is the correct order of what the author shoveled?

A．his deck-his daughter’s driveway-his cars-his driveway

B．his cars-his deck-his daughter’s driveway-his driveway

C．his daughter’s driveway-his deck-his driveway-his cars

D．his driveway-his daughter’s driveway-his cars-his deck

3. What can we conclude about the author from Paragraph 3?

A．He was not satisfied with his work.

B．He was absorbed in the snow sight.

C．He was fond of making snowmen.

D．He was in low spirits after work.