Minnie May, aged three, was really very sick. She lay on the kitchen sofa, feverish and restless, while her hoarse (嘶哑的) breathing could be heard all over the house. Young Mary Joe, whom Mrs Barry had asked to stay with the children during her absence, was helpless and nervous, quite unable to think what to do, or do it if she thought of it.
Anne went to work with skill and rapidity.
“Minnie May has croup (哮吼); she' s pretty bad, but I've seen worse. First, we must have lots of hot water. There isn’t more than a cup in the kettle! There, I've filled it up, and Mary Joe, you may put some wood in the stove. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but it seems to me you might have thought of this before if you'd any imagination. Now, I' ll undress Minnie May and put her to bed, and you try to find some soft and warm clothes. Diana. I' m going to give her some ipecac first of all."
Minnie May did not take kindly to, but Anne had not brought up three pairs of twins for nothing. Down it went, not only once, but many times during the long, worrying night when the two little girls worked patiently over the suffering Minnie May, and Young Mary Joe, honestly did all she could, kept a fire burning and heated more water than would have been needed for a hospital of croupy babies.
It was three o' clock when Matthew came with the doctor, for he had been required to go all the way to Spencervale for one. But the pressing need for assistance was past. Minnie May was much better and was sleeping soundly.
1. Which of the following can best describe Anne?| A．Knowledgeable and decisive. | B．Unreliable and changeable. |
| C．Curious and brave. | D．Helpless and nervous. |
| A．food | B．clothing |
| C．medicine | D．water |
| A．She read a book describing how to treat illnesses in children. |
| B．She once had croup and remembered how she was treated. |
| C．She got experience in helping raise six children. |
| D．She got the right instructions from the doctor. |
| A．Minnie May was seldom ill. |
| B．With the doctor’s help, Minnie May recovered . |
| C．Mrs Barry was at home. |
| D．The doctor came from Spencervale. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Ruth Simmons was born in a very poor family. Today, she’s the president of a famous American university. How did she do it?
The story begins on a farm in Grapeland, Texas, in 1945. Ruth was born that year. Her parents were farm workers, and she was the youngest of their twelve children. They weren’t able to give the children many things, and Ruth never had any toys. For Christmas, she didn’t receive any presents at all except a shoebox with an apple, an orange, and some nuts. However, in Grapeland, Ruth wasn’t really aware of being poor. Then the family moved into Huston. In the city, being poor was much harder.
At the age of five, Ruth fell in love with school. She was a bright child, and she was lucky to have some excellent teachers. No one in Ruth’s family had much education, but her teachers encouraged her to go to college, and Ruth was brave enough to try. They also gave her money and even a coat to wear.
At first, Ruth studied theater. Then she studied language. Later she married, had two children, and began a career as a college teacher and administrator. Soon people began to notice her and respect her abilities.
In 1995, Ruth became president of Smith College, a famous American college for women. Ruth was the first African American to lead a college like this one. Six years later, she accepted another challenge. She became the president of Brown University.
Ruth believes in the power of education. “Learning can be the same for a poor farm kid like me as it is for the richest child in the country. It’s all about cultivating one’s mind, and anybody can do that. So it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, it doesn’t matter how much money your father has, it doesn’t matter what kind of house you live in. Every learner can experience the same thing.”
1. Which of the following words can best describe Ruth Simmons?| A．Poor but honest. | B．Generous but unlucky. |
| C．Brave and strict. | D．Intelligent and hard-working. |
| A．Organizing. | B．Challenging. |
| C．Developing. | D．Establishing. |
| A．Ruth’s feelings about success. |
| B．Ruth’s opinions about education. |
| C．Ruth’s suggestions on studying. |
| D．Ruth’s expectations of learners. |
【推荐2】Life hasn’t always been easy for Sareana Kimia, 16. Her parents split up when she was young, and she hasn’t seen her dad since she was l0. In June 2014, she and her mom, Shefali Gupta, found out that they would soon be evicted (逐出) from their home. Sareana knew that her mom had money problems.
Even before the eviction, Gupta had become very sad. Because she didn’t have health insurance, Gupta couldn’t get a doctor’s help for her emotional problems.
Sareana took charge of things at home. For example, she often cooked her family’s meals. When she and her mom were about to lose their home, it was Sareana who arranged a place for them to stay.
For years, Sareana had been an active volunteer with several organizations. She even started her own group, Youth for National Change. It works to support the rights of young people.
Sareana called a few adults she had worked with. After finding out about her situation, one couple opened their doors right away. But by August 2014, the couple no longer had room for Sareana and her mom. The two ended up living in their car. They didn’t want to go to a homeless shelter out of fear that they could be split up. Through it all, Sareana kept working on projects and studying. “At no point did I let what was going on change my daily routine,” she says.
Sareana is homeschooled online and goes to classes at a nearby college. Last fall, school bills began piling up. She had no way to pay them. A friend suggested that she try raising funds online. After a newspaper ran an article about Sareana, donations poured in-nearly $ 30,000! She paid for school and had enough money left to rent a small apartment. She and her mom moved into it in January 2015.
1. What happened to Sareana in 2014?| A．She lost her father. | B．She became homeless. |
| C．Her mom abandoned her. | D．Her house was destroyed. |
| A．teach people to cook | B．support poor people |
| C．earn money | D．help youth |
| A．by raising money | B．by doing part—time jobs |
| C．with the help of her friends | D．with the help of her college |
【推荐3】Sylvia Ezer didn’t expect her shopping trip to take a turn for the extraordinary. On any other day, she would have been content to hang around some high street stores. But earlier this year, Ezer entered her favorite shop and created a fashion fairytale, one that led to the 88-year-old Londoner starring in a high street brand’s autumn-winter campaign.
Recalling their encounter, Ezer said she was just wandering around White Stuff’s shop when someone came over and asked her to take pictures. “She really stood out to me,” says her photographer. “She looked so individual and lively.” Soon, her images were shared on Instagram as part of customer street-style series. The comments were very favorable and completely unexpected, because the brand invited Ezer to appear in its main autumn campaign.
Ezer’s interest in fashion kicked off at eight years old. Entering university, she studied drama and performance. After marriage, she wanted to perform, but it wasn’t that easy. So she worked as a model until their children’s birth. Once all her children were in school, she returned to drama, running Shakespeare workshops and other theatre projects in schools. Finding herself the poster girl for a brand aged 88 has been the happiest surprise of her later life.
“You don’t see many mature women in fashion,” she says, “Brands should have some older models who look the way they look, rather than trying to look much younger. I’ll be happy to see people from the older generation watching my posters, think she looks okay. Maybe I can wear that kind of thing, too.” Then, she added, “I suppose it gives you confidence, as an older person and makes you realize that whatever you would like to try, you should go ahead and do it.”
1. What brought Ezer to a high street brand campaign?| A．A visit to a photographer. | B．Keeping brand relationships. |
| C．An unexpected encounter. | D．Winning a model competition. |
| A．She sacrificed her family life. | B．She stuck to her pursuit to art. |
| C．She started workshops in youth. | D．She became a successful dramatist. |
| A．Models from older generations. | B．Greater diversity in fashion style. |
| C．Elderly people with much make-up. | D．Mature models in their natural state. |
| A．Confident and inspiring. | B．Responsible and generous. |
| C．Creative and fashionable. | D．Humorous and determined. |
【推荐1】Does your life ever feel as if you’re pushing a heavy car—one on which you’ve spent much money and that has now broken down? You’ve done everything right: you haven’t invested heavily in a new business or quit your job to pursue your childhood dream of becoming a professional athlete. You have been a sensible adult living your sensible life. So why does it feel like such hard work?
This has been me for the past few months. Earlier this year, I took a long hard look at my sources of income and decided to focus on the ones that provided the most money. I’m lucky enough to have had a good financial year. But despite doing the right thing, it has used up my energy and I’ve worked out why.
Years ago, I realized that I disliked hard work. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind working hard, but hard work isn’t for me. What’s the difference? For a start, hard work feels as if it never really gets going. You can push hard work and it might move a little but there’s no celebratory moment when it gets done. Most importantly, hard work lacks joy. Working hard on a project you feel excited and moved by can be tiring and difficult, but it’s ultimately joyful and that is what I’ve been missing
So I asked myself what would feel scary but joyful and this is the answer. I’m going to write a romance. Of course, being a middle-aged journalist who suddenly decides to write a book is nothing novel. However, for me, it hits the sweet spot between being joyful enough to make me want to do it and scary enough to make me feel it’s worthwhile.
As with all good middle-aged changes, this one hasn’t really been thought through. I know little about writing fiction and even less about what makes a good book. I have the thinnest of ideas for a plot but, for the first time in a while, I’m excited, I will be another Jane Austen with my fantasies which give me life. So now, I have to go and sharpen my pencil.
1. What can best describe-the author’s current feeling about life?| A．A new business makes her feel fresh. |
| B．She has got everything under her control. |
| C．She is conflicted about living a sensible life. |
| D．A childhood dream inspires her to more efforts. |
| A．Living a rather sensible life. | B．Identifying income sources. |
| C．Discovering new life goals. | D．Sorting out the author’s jobs |
| A．Journalism is a career worth working hard. |
| B．Hard work is something either sweet or tiring. |
| C．Writing a romance is difficult but rewarding. |
| D．Working hard rarely brings about satisfaction |
| A．Works like a dream. | B．Middle-aged job crisis |
| C．Celebratory moment. | D．A future Jane Austen. |
The only problem with our plan was that this pasture was guarded by a huge, mean Hereford bull. Mr. Blickez had told us that Elsie was the meanest bull in the township, maybe even the county, and we believed him. But the hotter it got, the more we thought there was something doubtful about his claim. For one thing, we remembered Mr. Blickez liked telling tall tales; for another, Elsie seemed like an odd name for a bull.
Finally, I talked Mom into asking permission for us to walk through the pasture, but then another problem surfaced. Mom said she would talk to Mr. Blickez if we would take our cousin Joanie along with us. Joanie was almost two years older than me and a head taller. If her teasing ever got around my grade school, it would be all over for me. In fact, I still had a headache from a quarrel with her that morning. “I’m not going swimming with that dumb girl cousin.” I told my mom.
“Either Joanie goes with, or you stay home alone,” Mom said in her serious tone. I gave in and we set out. On our way across the pasture, Walt yelled suddenly. Elsie had approached him quietly and was licking(舔) his back. Joanie and I dove under the wire fence, but while I was on the ground I looked up and saw that Elsie wasn’t a big mean bull after all. She was going to keep licking my brother’s back as long as he stood still.
We had many good days growing up and visiting our secret swimming hole guarded by the so-called “big mean bull”. And as it turned out, for a girl cousin, Joanie hasn’t been too bad. She’s been one of my best friends over the years.
1. What’s the second problem the author has to face?| A．His mother insisted on his cousin going with him. |
| B．His cousin made jokes on him in his grade school. |
| C．He quarreled with his cousin and had a headache. |
| D．His mother failed to ask permission for him. |
| A．Aggressive. | B．Unkind. |
| C．Bad-tempered. | D．Friendly. |
| A．The bull guarding Mr. Blickez’s farm. |
| B．The story of visiting the swimming hole. |
| C．How friendly the so-called mean bull was. |
| D．How the author changed his attitude to Joanie. |
【推荐3】Jerry Lawson had a love of science and invention from a very young age. And, with the support of his family and teachers, he took that love and helped change the world for billions of people, when he invented the modern video game cartridge.
Both of Jerry's parents supported his love of science and invention. His father, a longshoreman, was a science fan and encouraged Jerry to always experiment with things. Jerry's first-grade teacher helped encourage him on his path to be someone influential similar to George Washington Carver, a great African American inventor. His first love in school was chemistry but he ended up liking electronics（电子学）even more.
He earned an amateur ham radio license at age 13 and built his own radio station in his room, with an antenna hanging out of his window! Jerry earned money from fixing television sets, visiting people's homes for inhouse repair, and also working at local electronics stores. Jerry also made walkie-talkies and sold them to other kids. He spent many Saturdays at an electronics store that had all of the parts he needed for his inventions. He would use his small allowance and money he earned to buy parts to help fuel his inventions.
When he was a young adult, Jerry joined Fairchild Semiconductor as an engineer. During this time, he created his own video arcade game（街机游戏），Demolition Derby, in his garage.
A few years later, Jerry was asked to work on a secret project. Not even his boss was allowed to know what he was doing! What it turned out to be was that he was designing the Fairchild Channel F video game console （游戏控制器）and leading the team that invented the video game cartridge. This was the first of its kind and enabled kids around the world to affordably play video games at home.
Just like with automobiles， many advances have occurred since the invention of video games. Video games are now one of the biggest forms of entertainment in the world. But all of this would not have been possible without the vision, passion, and skill of Jerry Lawson and his learn.
1. How did Jerry earn money when he was a teenager?| A．By running his radio station. | B．By selling television sets. |
| C．By repairing things for others. | D．By making electronic parts. |
| A．expensive | B．harmful | C．common | D．tiring |
| A．Jerry Lawson and his team can be more skillful. |
| B．Jerry Lawson is important to the game industry. |
| C．Many advances have taken place in the automobile industry. |
| D．Video games are now the most popular form of entertainment. |
| A．Video Gaming-An Important Industry |
| B．Game Console-Key to Home Video Games |
| C．Jerry Lawson-Father of Modern Gaming |
| D．Support and Encouragement-Necessary for Success |
【推荐1】Smart phones are dramatically changing the way we walk down the street. Office workers and young people are walking like pensioners (领退休金者) as they check emails and messages.
Scientists have found mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with modest steps, to avoid obstacles. The lead author of the study said the walk is similar to that of someone in their eighties. Researchers found people writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, finding it harder to stay in a straight line and lift their feet 18 per cent higher above a pavement edge. Their steps are more than a third shorter, as they rely on their restricted vision to avoid falling over while distracted by their phone.
The scientists examined 252 separate participants walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phone or without their phone at all. Writing a text is the most demanding activity, causing people to look down at their phone 46 per cent more, and 45 per cent longer, than when reading a message. This led people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phone. People walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent while talking on the phone.
Smart phones were found to prevent people from walking in a straight line, putting them at greater risk of colliding (碰撞) with other people, cars or street lamps. This increased the need to slow down and take more careful steps.
John Timmis said, "The idea for this study came from following someone walking down the street in the afternoon, who was walking as if he had had several drinks. I thought it was a bit early for that, then walked up alongside him and saw that he was on his phone. Simply being on the phone changes the way people walk."
1. What does the underlined word "modest" mean in the second paragraph?| A．Young. | B．Straight. | C．Small. | D．Low. |
| A．Those not carrying phones. | B．Those writing a text message. |
| C．Those reading a text message | D．Those speaking on their phones |
| A．The chance of possible accidents. | B．The need to walk straight. |
| C．The traffic jams during rush hours. | D．The desire for using their phones. |
| A．Mobile Phone Causing Danger to People’s Health. |
| B．Mobile Phone Changing the Way People Walk. |
| C．A New Finding about Using Mobile Phones. |
| D．No Checking Emails and Messages While Walking. |
【推荐2】Scientists say only enlarging the world’s nature reserve to help protect plants and animals may be useless. The main reason is that levels of human activity are rising in and around the nature reserves. In fact, recognizing spaces as protected areas is not reducing human activity there.
The researchers found that a lack of money to pay for land conservation (保护) is affecting conservation efforts. And it is a lack of communication between people who live in protected natural areas and outsiders. About 17 percent of the world is within protected areas, including the national parks, nature reserves and wilderness areas. Protected areas are important for supporting environments with many different kinds of plants and animals.
The researchers again found increasing human activity in most protected areas in every country. However, they said that human activity appeared to be more of a problem in nations with fewer roads and lower life standards on the Human Development Index (指数). The index uses information about life length, education and earnings to grade countries on human development.
Across the northern Australia, protected areas often proved effective at slowing human activity when compared with unprotected areas. But in South America, Southeast Asia and African countries, pressure from human activity inside protected areas was higher.
Experts say governments need to provide fund support to help protected areas. Simply recognizing a place as a protected area can’t be the beginning and the end of a conservation effort. Working with local people to take efforts is also important. If they’re not partners in the protected areas, then wildlife conservation is much more difficult.
1. What are protected areas mainly affected by according to the text?| A．Human activity. | B．Climate change. |
| C．Population growth. | D．Environmental pollution. |
| A．Record more roads in the world. |
| B．Improve education in all countries. |
| C．Grade countries on human development. |
| D．Lead more people to make money. |
| A．Enlarge protected areas. |
| B．Offer extra money and work with locals. |
| C．Attract more people to travel there. |
| D．Allow local people to farm there. |
| A．People May Cause Harm to Plants and Animals |
| B．Local People Should Focus on the Natural Environment |
| C．Nature Reserves in the World Should Be Increased |
| D．Nature Reserves May Not Protect Wildlife Safely |
【推荐3】One way people are responding to food safety concerns is by growing their own food. However, not everyone lives on property with enough space for a private plot. One solution is community gardens, which have become popular worldwide, numbering 18,000 in North America alone. In addition to providing low-cost, delicious food, these public spaces offer cities a range of other benefits.
Community gardens are located in a town or city and tended by local residents. Often, the land is on a vacant lot owned by the city. The site is divided into manageable plots, which may be tended by individuals or by the garden's members collectively. Since the land is usually publicly owned, the cost for gardeners to lease it is minimal. In fact, New York City, which is home to more than 750 community gardens tended by more than 20,000 members, charges people just $1 a year to lease a plot. Other costs involve soil, tools, seeds, fencing, and so on. However, because they're shared by many people, individual gardeners pay very little.
A community garden can quickly pay off, in terms of delicious fruits and vegetables, in addition to beautiful flowers. Excess produce can be sold for a profit at farmers markets. But a garden's benefits don't stop there. They also beautify cities, foster strong relationships among residents, and lower an area's crime rate. Award-winning spaces like London's Culpeper Community Garden even attract tourists. Beautiful and affordable, community gardens are often described as oases in crowded cities.
1. Community gardens are designed for those who ______.| A．are concerned about food safety. |
| B．live in a house with a private plot. |
| C．can’t afford to buy organic food. |
| D．don’t have their own property. |
| A．is owned by 20,000 individual gardeners. |
| B．charges residents a lot to lease tools and fencing. |
| C．contains more than 750 community gardens. |
| D．is tended by professional gardeners and local residents. |
| A．People can enjoy safe and delicious vegetables and animal meat. |
| B．Residents are more familiar and related with each other. |
| C．The neighborhood is becoming safer but of lower taste. |
| D．People can make some profits from the visiting tourists. |
| A．cultural and art centers. |
| B．popular platforms for exchanges. |
| C．peaceful and safe lands. |
| D．commercial and prosperous places. |
【推荐1】People often plan to receive medical exam but don’t, resulting in increasing health care cost. A surprising number of citizens mean to complete tax forms in time but forget to, forcing them to pay unnecessary fines. Many families miss the government deadline to complete financial aid forms, losing out on aid available for child care.
How can policymakers help people follow through on important tasks? They use carrots and sticks: bonuses, late fees, or regulations. These methods can be clumsy, and often aren’t effective for the situation at hand. Reminding people to form simple plans. however, provides a low-cost, simple, and powerful tool.
Evidence is growing that providing prompts, which push people at key times to think through how and when they will follow through, make people more likely to act on tasks of importance. In one early randomized study on tetanus vaccination rates, for example, a team of social psychologists showed that 28% of Oxford University seniors got the shot after being encouraged to review their weekly schedules and to select a possible time to stop by the health center. They were also given a list of times when shots were available and a map showing the health center’s location. Only 3% of the seniors got the shot when simply informed about how effective the shots were.
People who make a plan gain an advantage from their psychological forces. Specifically, they can overcome the tendency to put off as well as the tendency to be overly optimistic about the time it will take to accomplish a task. Imagine Sarah who wants to renew a car insurance, but it will require two hours of travel to and from a garage. Making a plan may lead her to lake two hours off and have her responsibilities covered by her colleagues while she is away. Moreover, she will be less likely to underestimate the time needed to accomplish the task—a particularly common problem for complex tasks.
People mistakenly believe that their strong intentions are enough to push them to perform desired behaviors. These psychological research results stress the need for policy decisions that encourage plan making and improve social welfare.
1. What phenomenon is described in paragraph 1?| A．Heavy burden of daily chores. | B．Lack of task management skills. |
| C．Disappointment of over-ambitions. | D．Failure to achieve original intentions. |
| A．People need to think deeply before they act. |
| B．Specific reminders help people accomplish plans. |
| C．Awareness of task significance matters in planning. |
| D．Seniors need encouragement to have vaccination shots. |
| A．They are realistic in the time required. | B．They are optimistic about the outcome. |
| C．They are confident to overcome hardship. | D．They are careful with task arrangements. |
| A．Medical staff. | B．Government officials. |
| C．Ordinary people. | D．Social psychologists. |
【推荐2】Taking breaks while studying contributes to better learning in a number of ways, and creates a major impact on the process of learning. Find out why a study break is essential, and how it helps you score the best.
Scientists conclude that the brain stops registering a constant stimulation over a gradual period of time, and declares it to be unimportant. The brain decodes（译）a monotonous（单调的）activity and gets habituated to it, no longer stimulating the brain to act in any way. Once this happens, you find yourself unable to concentrate, there by destroying the purpose of a study session-learning. A “break” does just that, it breaks the monotony for the brain. A change in place, a walk around the block, a cup of coffee; these little things can be limited in your study sessions to relax the mind, break the monotony, improve concentration levels, and finally assist the learning process.
The purpose of a study session is to study as much as possible and remember most of what has been learned in it. To be able to achieve this, it is absolutely necessary to continuously stay focused. It is highly likely that long hours of studying can become monotonous and cause you to believe that you are “learning”, when you are only just “reading”. A short rest eases out your stressed mind, brings you back on track, and allows you to start studying with new-found focus levels.
With a relaxed mind, improved concentration and focus levels, and a better capacity to retain information, it is obvious that your study session with breaks will turn out to be more productive, and you will get more benefits than you previously did. Put more such better-yielding study sessions together, and what do you get? perfect grades and a winner of the “race”.
1. What can the underlined word “habituated” in the second paragraph be replaced by?| A．Accustomed. | B．Absorbed. |
| C．Attached. | D．Related. |
| A．Help each other. | B．Remain concentrated. |
| C．Improve ways of learning. | D．Give up the learning process. |
| A．Efficient. | B．Improved. | C．Interesting. | D．Easy. |
| A．Students should concentrate on their study. |
| B．Students should take breaks after learning for long hours. |
| C．Teachers had better have a good rest before their lessons. |
| D．Teachers had better be strict with their students in learning ways. |
Antioch, Syria Saturday, May 23, AD 526 Dear Father, I write to tell you the shocking news that has happened since your departure last month. On Wednesday, Antioch suffered a terrible earthquake. Mother and I are safe, and our house is damaged but still standing. However, over 220,000 people in the city have died, and officials expect even higher numbers as the survivors search the rubble for their loved ones. Hundreds are fleeing the city, carrying their few undamaged belongings on their backs. Many of the familiar churches, markets, theaters, and monuments have been destroyed. Some buildings that withstood the initial quake collapsed during aftershocks. One of the saddest losses was the Great Church. Although it survived the aftershocks, it caught fire yesterday and burned. Looters are going into collapsed buildings and stealing valuables. Thieves have attacked some people who are feeling the city. But all hope is not lost. Just this morning, brave people rescued a young woman and her child from the ruins of a house. As I write, volunteers are retrieving many of our pieces of fine mosaic art. They are loading them into boats to transport them to other locations. And messengers arrived from Emperor Justin this morning. He has pledged to help us rebuild. I wish you a safe journey and urge caution on your return. Your son, Simeon |
1. What can you infer from the letter?
| A．Antioch was a small village in the year AD 526. | B．Most people were calm after the earthquake. |
| C．As days go by, the death toll will decrease. | D．In AD 526, Antioch was a large, cultured city. |
| A．Most people stay calm during catastrophes. | B．People only appreciate what they have after they lose |
| C．Even in tragedy, good things happen. | D．Saving people is more important than protecting art. |
| A．Sad about the city’s destruction. | B．Disgusted by the city’s crime rate. |
| C．Frustrated by the city’s leadership. | D．Amused by the Emperor’s offer. |
