【推荐1】When I was a kid, my Mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at hospital.

On that evening so long ago, my Mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was to reach for his toast, smile at my Mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don’t remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him spread butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite!

When I got up from the table that evening, I remember bearing my Mom apologize to my dad for burning the toast. And I’ll never forget what he said: “Honey. I love burnt toast.”

Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his toast burnt. He took me in his arms and said. “Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she’s really tired. And besides, a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!”

You know, life is full of imperfect things and imperfect people. What I’ve learned over the years is that learning to accept each other’s faults is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. This good quality is the base of any relationship — husband-wife or parent-child or friendship! As far as I’m concerned, I’m not the best engineer as expected. However, I have made my efforts. That’s enough.

So learn to take the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of your life. Burnt toast isn’t a deal-breaker! Don’t put the key to your happiness in someone else’s pocket but into your own. You will appreciate the value of every soul including yourself.

1. When his mother put the burnt toast on the table, the author       .

A．wanted to see how his father reacted

B．pretended not to notice it

C．pretended to enjoy the burnt food

D．stopped his father eating the burnt toast

2. Wt can infer from the passage that the author’s mother       .

A．was not good at cooking.

B．actually played a trick.

C．felt sorry for the burnt food.

D．spent more time on breakfast than dinner.

3. How did the author feel when his father said he loved burnt toast?

A．Moved.	B．Puzzled
C．Pleased	D．Disappointed.

4. According to the text, to get a happy life, one should       .

A．give help to people in need	B．try to be a perfect person
C．learn from one’s mistakes	D．learn to be understanding

【推荐3】We all have defining moments in our lives ---- meaningful experiences that stand out in our memory. Many of them owe a great deal to chance: a lucky encounter(相遇) with someone who becomes the love of your life. A new teacher who spots a talent you didn’t know you had. These moments seem to be the product of fate or luck. We can’t control them.

But is that true? No necessarily. Defining moments shape our lives, but we don’t have to wait for them to happen. We can be the authors of them. It is possible to create defining moments if we understand more about them. Our research shows that they all share a set of common elements. We start by asking: why do we remember certain experiences and forget others? In the case of big days, such as weddings, the answer is pretty clear----it’s a celebration that is grand in scale and rich in emotion. No surprise that it’s more memorable than a maths lesson. But for other experiences in life ----from holidays to work projects----it’s not so clear why we remember what we do.

Consider an experiment in which participants were asked to submerge(浸入) their hands for 60 seconds in buckets filled with 14℃ water. (Remember 14℃ water feels much colder than 14℃ air.) They were then asked to submerge their hands for 90 seconds instead of 60, but during the final 30 seconds, the water warmed up to 15℃. The participants were then given a choice: would you rather repeat the first trial or the second?

Psychologists have explained the reasons for this puzzling result. When people assess an experience, they tend to forget or ignore its length. Instead, they seem to rate the experience based on two key moments: the best or worst moment, known as the peak, and the ending.

In the participants’ memories, what stood out for them was that the longer trial ended more comfortably than the shorter one. So when we assess our experiences, we don’t average our minute-by-minute feelings. Rather, we tend to remember flagship moments: the peaks, the pits(低谷) and the transitions. What we don’t remember are the bits in between----sometimes there is little to distinguish one week from the next.

Partly this is because there may be only a dozen moments in your life that show who you are----those are big defining moments. But there are smaller experiences, too, in the context of a memorable holiday, romantic date or work achievement. Once we understand how we remember certain moments and why, we can start to create more moments that matter.

1. How does the author understand defining moments?

A．We can create defining moments in our lives.

B．Defining moments are just out of our control.

C．No similarities exist between defining moments.

D．Defining moments consist of smaller experiences.

2. We can learn from the experiment that _____.

A．the striking moments are more likely to be remembered.

B．the length of an experience determines our memory of it

C．it is meaningful to distinguish the bits in between flagship moments.

D．all the components of an experience should be equally remembered

3. What would probably be discussed in the following part of the text?

A．What to prepare for life’s trials.

B．Why to create defining moments.

C．Whom to owe our good fates to.

D．How to create life’s big moments.

【推荐1】The sound of my mother preparing breakfast fills the house — my morning alarm.

As I walk toward the kitchen, I’m greeted by my mother standing over the cooker. She effortlessly cooks a dish that blends (融合) Western and Eastern styles, a beloved breakfast classic in our family. This is my grandmother’s recipe.

Since my grandmother’s passing, I’ve become more aware of my mother’s aging and her devotion to cooking for us. She has cooked for her family for more than 30 years, dividing her time between three countries — Korea, Canada and Germany. When my parents visit us from Korea, they stay with us for several months. My mother helps around the house, showing her cooking skills to provide delicious meals for me, my partner and our kids. In every other year, she and my dad will travel to Berlin to spend a couple of weeks with my sister and her partner.

According to Statista, most Canadians report spending between 31 and 60 minutes preparing an average weekday dinner for themselves and others in their houses. Ten percent stated that they spend more than an hour preparing their evening meal. My mother belongs to that 10 percent.

Her cooking goes beyond the kitchen, starting with careful grocery shopping trips where she examines produce and finds the best deals. She takes everyone’s preferences and needs into account. The meal she creates becomes a ritual (仪式), bringing the family together to connect and share. Helping her out in the kitchen requires a great deal of patience. Yet, I know it’s her way of expressing love.

As I prepare the vegetables, she notices that my carrots are not evenly sized. She pushes me aside to take over the task.

“Just do the dishes.’’

1. What do we know about the author’s mother from the text ?

A．She has three daughters.

B．She has great cooking skills.

C．She lives with the author in Korea.

D．She invented the author’s beloved breakfast classic.

2. What’s the author’s purpose in mentioning data about meal preparation time in Paragraph4?

A．To show her mother’s love.

B．To present a common issue.

C．To explain the reasons behind infrequent cooking.

D．To stress the significance of home-cooked meals.

3. Why does the author say helping her mother in the kitchen requires patience?

A．Her mother gets angry easily.

B．Her mother wants to teach her everything.

C．Her mother dislikes being bothered.

D．Her mother expects perfection in cooking.

4. Which would be the best title for the text?

A．Mother’s Love Needs to Be Responded to

B．Mother’s Recipe Is the Best in the World

C．Mother’s Kitchen Draws Us Closer Together

D．Mother’s Selflessness Inspires My Family

【推荐3】My roommate and I sat very still and held our breath to watch the showdown between ice skaters Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan and Nathan Chen of the United States at the Beijing Winter Olympics. But when Mr Chen launched himself into the air, it wasn’t his movement that caught my eye—it was the empty seats in the audience behind him. They looked familiar. Those seats were where my parents had stood, my dad holding a video camera to record my daily practice sessions.

Born and raised in Beijing , I began skating at age 8. I’d seen Chinese pair skaters Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo’s performance at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. They inspired a wave of national pride and made figure skating(花样滑冰) a mainstream sport in China. I joined the rush.

I spent most of my time outside school at the rink (溜冰场). One day, two intense years later, I’d had enough. The pressure was too much. I told my parents I couldn’ t do it anymore. Thankfully, they understood and let me stop. But even after I quit, guilt and pressure stayed with me. My parents had sacrificed so much for me, and I felt I’d failed to meet their expectations. Then I started a new athletic attempt—cross-country running that I still pursue today. Even so, I still enjoyed watching figure skating on TV from time to time.

Right before COVID -19 lockdowns began, I returned home to Beijing over winter break from college in the US. In my cupboard, I was surprised to find a shiny new pair of figure skates(滑冰鞋) my dad had bought for me. Then I brought the skates back with me to Boston.

This winter, I put on the skates again. I carefully stepped onto the ice at a Boston rink. And this time skating felt the way it had when I fell in love with it for the first time. I danced on the ice realizing that one cannot learn without falling sometimes—or often.

1. What brought back the author’s childhood memory ?

A．His interest in skating.	B．The unoccupied seats.
C．The noise from the audience.	D．An action of Nathan Chen.

2. What can we learn about the author ?

A．He preferred running to skating.

B．He got tired of his college life in the US.

C．He competed at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

D．He skated under the influence of two Chinese skaters.

3. What is the author’s parents’attitude to his giving up skating ?

A．Indifferent.

B．Disappointed.

C．Supportive.

D．Annoyed.

4. What will the author probably do next ?

A．Pursue a career in skating.	B．Work as a coach in Beijing.
C．Take up his previous hobby.	D．Start cross-country running.

【推荐1】Tom arrived at the bus station quite early for the London bus. The bus for London would not leave until five to twelve. He saw a lot of people waiting in the station. Some were standing in lines, others were walking about. There was a group of school-girls. Their teacher was trying to keep them in order. Tom looked around but there was nowhere for him to sit.

He walked into the station cafe. He looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. He found a seat and sat down, facing a large mirror(镜子) on the wall. Just then, John, one of Tom’s friends, came in and sat with Tom.

“What time is your bus?” asked John.

“Oh, there is plenty of time yet,” answered Tom.

“Oh, I’ll get you some more tea then,” said John.

They talked while drinking. Then Tom looked at the clock again.

“Good heavens! It’s going backward!” he cried. “A few minutes ago it was twenty to twelve and now it’s half past eleven.”

“You are looking at the clock in the mirror,” said John.

Tom wanted to kick himself for being so foolish. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. He has never liked mirror since then.

1. The London bus left ________.

A．at 11∶55	B．at 5∶12
C．before 11∶55	D．at 12∶05

2. Tom went into the station cafe because________.

A．John asked him to have a cup of tea

B．he wanted a drink there

C．he would meet a friend of his

D．it was early yet and he wanted to find a place to sit

3. What time was it in fact when he looked at the clock in the mirror?

A．Half past twelve.	B．Half past eleven.
C．Twenty to twelve.	D．Half past one

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Tom missed his bus.

B．He has liked mirror since then.

C．The next bus would leave soon.

D．Tom arrived in London on time.