Mistakes are a part of life. I have made a lot of mistakes during my life and learned a lot from them.
I remember several years ago a mistake I made. I planned to fill up my truck with gas for the week. As I drove to the gas station about 18 miles away from my home, I thought of something I needed to pick up at Publix, which was on the way. So I stopped and bought the thing I wanted.
As I turned the key to start the engine, it did not start again. I tried my best to start it but failed. Then, I looked at the fuel tank gauge and saw that it had passed empty, the truck was out of gas. That was a big misatke.
So I called my wife to get a can of gas and bring it to me. I heard silence on the other end, and then I heard chuckling (轻笑). I said sarcastically (挖苦地), “I just want know if you can bring me a can of gas to Publix.” I think she could feel the frustration (沮丧) in my voice. That certainly was another mistake added onto the first mistake. “Oh,” she said, “I might be able to get over there in about three hours.” I did hear her chuckling over the phone. I pretended I did not hear her chuckling, which was another mistake.
On my fourth deep sigh, I saw my wife driving her van slowly and park right next to my truck. I saw her through the window with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen her wear. She got a can of gas out of her van. Then I emptied it into my truck’s gas tank. When finishing, I took my time going to the gas station and filling up my truck. Because I knew I would experience the next stage of my wife’s laugh about my mistake as soon as I got home.
My biggest lessons have come from mistakes I’ve made. But the lessons only come when I deal with the error and make it right. It’s one thing to deal with the mistakes at hand, but it’s another thing to be wiser from secret faults.
1. Why didn’t the truck start again?| A．Because it was broken. |
| B．Because it ran out of gas. |
| C．Because it crashed against Publix. |
| D．Because it was out of control. |
| A．Buying something in Publix. |
| B．Calling his wife for help. |
| C．Speaking to his wife sarcastically. |
| D．Pretending not to hear his wife’s chuckling. |
| A．the fuel tank gauge |
| B．a can of gas |
| C．the truck’s gas tank |
| D．the gas station |
| A．A Helpful Driver. |
| B．A Frustrated Man. |
| C．A Thoughtful Wife. |
| D．A Mistake Lesson. |
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He then went up to the farm house and talked to the farmer, “Sir, I was just passing by and I saw that you have many chickens and an eagle.” The farmer smiled and said, “That’s not an eagle. It’s a chicken.” The young man kept saying that it was an eagle. He said to the farmer, “Sir, that is an eagle! I can proveit to you.” The farmer laughed, “Sure, go ahead.”
The young man then pulled that big bird out and climbed a high mountain. He held the bird in his hands and said, “You are an eagle, fly!” But the bird failed. The young man tried the second time. He said to the bird, “I don’t care you have been raised as a chicken for those years. But I know what you were created to be. You are an eagle, now fly!” After the young man tried another three times, the bird began to flap (拍打) its wings. Finally, it flew high and began to fly around the farm.
It is true to us. Some people around us have continued to keep us down by lying to us. Over all of those years, we were told to be a failure, not to be good enough and to accept the “reality”. They are wrong. We should try our best to reach our highest potential (潜能) to prove that we are eagles.
1. The underlined word “raised” probably has the similar meaning to the word “ ”.
| A．kept | B．treated |
| C．trained | D．regarded |
| A．Four. | B．Five. |
| C．Three. | D．Six. |
| A．to be a failure | B．not to be good enough |
| C．to accept the "reality" | D．to prove that we are eagles |
| A．Because he wanted to kill the bird. |
| B．Because the farmer asked him to do it. |
| C．Because he wanted to prove something to the farmer. |
| D．Because the farmer wanted the young man to throw the bird away. |
| A．You Are an Eagle | B．Chickens And an Eagle |
| C．How to Prove the Eagle | D．A Farmer And a Young Man |
At this time, a deep voice said, “if a breeze (微风) can cross the desert, so can a river.”It was the voice of the desert. But the little stream answered, “that’s because a breeze can fly, but I can’t.”
“That’s because you can’t give up what you are. Let yourself evaporate (蒸发) into the breeze, and it can take you across,” said the desert.
“Give up what I am now? No! No!” The little stream could not accept this idea.
“The breeze can carry the vapor (蒸汽) across the desert and let it leave as rain. The rain will form a river again,” said the desert. “And whether you’re a river or vapor, your nature (本性) never changes.”
Hearing this, the little stream went into the open arms of the breeze. It carried her to the next stage (阶段) of her life.
1. Where did the little stream aim to go?
| A．To the desert | B．To the mountain | C．To the ocean | D．To the air |
| A．She thought she couldn’t cross the desert. |
| B．She believed she could cross the desert. |
| C．She thought she knew well about the desert. |
| D．She started to worry about herself. |
| A．The desert. | B．The nature. | C．The breeze. | D．The stream. |
| A．Crossed the desert. | B．Stopped trying. | C．Failed to get to the ocean. | D．Died. |
| A．The road to success is not always easy. |
| B．We should do the right thing whatever others say. |
| C．Our lives can be as difficult as the little stream’s. |
| D．To succeed, we should change the way we used to be. |
【推荐3】It is not easy for people to sail around the world in quite small boats. Sometimes the weather gets bad. Accidents can happen easily and quickly.
One family once had an accident. A big fish swam under their boat and bit holes in it. Sea water came, in and the boat soon sank（下沉）. Luckily these people had another small boat -a lifeboat, so they all got into the lifeboat. They stayed in the boat for many days. They ate, slept and always hoped. At last people in a ship saved them.
How do people live in a very small lifeboat for a long time? They must be strong in every way. They must have a hope, and they must have a strong desire（愿望） to live. People can’t drink sea water. If they drink a lot of sea water, they will quickly die. They must collect rainwater and drink it. They must also catch fish and birds for food. Lifeboats do not often carry cookers. So people can’t cook their food in the lifeboats. Raw fish and birds are not very nice but they are their only food. They must eat raw food, or they will die.
1. One family once had an accident at sea because ________.| A．no one knew how to sail | B．a fish bit holes in their boat |
| C．they met bad weather | D．their boat hit a rock |
| A．food | B．a bed | C．a cooker | D．a hope |
| A．sea water | B．rainwater | C．dirty water | D．sweet water |
| A．The only food that people can buy. | B．Clean and delicious food in lifeboats. |
| C．Fish and birds that are not cooked. | D．Nice fish and birds that people feed. |
| A．it’s not interesting to sail around the world |
| B．fish in the sea are always dangerous |
| C．we must have a strong desire to live when we are in danger |
| D．what will happen when sailing in a boat |
【推荐1】A Piece of Cake
by Trudy Wilson
Two children, Daniel and Lisa, live next door to a woman named Mrs. Berry. She is a very good cook and often makes delicious cakes. The children can smell (闻到) them when they bake(烘培).
“How can we get some cake?” Daniel says to Lisa. “We can’t just go and ask for some. That’s rude.”
“I know what we can do,” Lisa says. “Come with me.”
The children go to the front door of Mrs Berry’s house. Lisa knocks (敲) on the door. When Mrs. Berry opens it, Lisa says, “Hello, ▲ ?”
Mrs. Berry laughs. “All right,” she says. “What game do you want to play?”
“We want to play zoo,” Lisa says. “We’ll be the animals. You can be the keeper to feed (喂养) us.”
1. Who is the writer (作者) of “A Piece of Cake”?| A．Trudy. | B．Daniel. | C．Lisa. | D．Mrs. Berry. |
| A．礼貌的 | B．粗鲁的 | C．困难的 | D．方便的 |
| A．can we get some cake | B．are you cooking something |
| C．will you play with us | D．do you like animals |
| A．They want to bake cake. | B．They really like animals. |
| C．They want to feed animals. | D．They want to get some cake. |
The world has many refugees (难民), but we usually hear little about their lives. This year’s Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, is helping people know more about their stories.
Gurnah’s works are mainly about the impact of colonialism (殖民主义的影响) and the experiences of refugees, who leave their countries to stay safe or find a better life. “These are things that are with us every day. People are dying, people are being hurt around the world—we must deal with these problems in the most kind way,” said Gurnah.
In fact, this problem is very close to his own heart. When he was just 18, Gurnah was forced to leave his home country as a refugee. He moved to England and soon started writing novels there.
Aged 73, Gurnah has written 10 novels and a number of short stories. In 1994, Gurnah wrote Paradise (《天堂》), one of his best-known novels. It’s about a boy in Africa called Yusuf, who grew up during World War I. Yusuf was sold by his father to a traveling trader to pay a debt (债务). As he traveled, Yusuf saw war, disease and child slavery. The name of the book is ironic (讽刺的), because although the scenery of Africa is beautiful, what happens in the story there is the opposite.
Before Gurnah retired, he was a professor at the University of Kent in England. The head of the university’s School of English said that Gurnah’s works “have touched millions worldwide and shine a light on human experiences that are so often ignored (忽略)”.
1. Gumah’s hope might be ________.| A．to make Africa more beautiful |
| B．to experience the life of a refugee |
| C．to help deal with the refugee problem |
| D．to keep refugees in their own countries |
| A．the beauty of East Africa |
| B．the experiences of an African boy |
| C．how war leads to disease and slavery |
| D．what Gurnah saw during World War I |
| A．one of his parents is British |
| B．all his works are long stories |
| C．he wrote many novels in Tanzania |
| D．he once worked at a university in the UK |
| A．East Africa: a terrible life |
| B．Paradise: a fantastic novel |
| C．World War I: forgetful history |
| D．Nobel winner: Abdulnizuk Gurnnh |
The first Monday of every month is our school’s free dress day (不穿校服日). On the free dress day, we can wear our own (自己的) clothes to school. We can also wear our own sun hats.
I have many dresses. Two are very long, two are to my knees and the other three are short above (在……之上) my knees. The two long ones are black. They make me look too serious (庄重) in school and I can’t do sports easily. The two ones to my knees are pink. They look pretty, but they can get dirty in a few hours. So I always wear the short dresses to school. Every time I wear a different color, sometimes blue and sometimes red. I also have three different sun hats to go with my dresses. All my friends say I’m good at matching (搭配) clothes.
I am waiting for the next free dress day!
1. How many free dress days are there in one month?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．They are too heavy. | B．They can get dirty easily. |
| C．They are too dark. | D．They make her feel hot. |
| A．hard to match | B．in different colors |
| C．not good for sports | D．too short for school |
| A．She does well in her studies. | B．She is nice and friendly. |
| C．She does not like the sun. | D．She is good at dressing. |
【推荐1】After a serious earthquake (地震) happened, a father rushed to his son’s school immediately and found all the buildings collapsed and looked like a pancake.
He was shocked. But after a while, he remembered the words he had said to his son, “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!” So he stated digging through the ruins(废墟).
After a day, most of the people gave up, but the father kept on digging. 12 hours... 24 hours...36 hours... then, in the 39th hour, he heard his son's words. He shouted, “ARMAND!” His son heard back, “Dad! It’s me, Dad! I told other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive(活着的), you’d save me and when you saved me, they would be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.’ You did it, Dad!”
“How is it now?” the father asked.
“There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. When the building fell down, it made a triangle(三角), and it saved us.”
“Come out, boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”
1. The underlined word “collapsed” probably means “________”in Chinese.| A．倒塌 | B．晃动 | C．站立 | D．裂开 |
| A．upset | B．excited | C．sad | D．worried |
| A．Fourteen. | B．Thirty-three. | C．Forty-seven. | D．Nineteen. |
| A．Because there was a large stone on his body. |
| B．Because many of the kids didn’t have parents. |
| C．Because he believed that his father would still be there for him. |
| D．Because he promised the others that they could get out first. |
【推荐2】Brian was a funny student. He loved watching comedies when he was young.
When he heard about the talent show at his school, Brian planned to take part in it.
He worked hard at his dream and at last Brian got a lot of chances (机会) to work in films. He appeared on television many times.
| A．Brian did a good job at the talent show. |
| B．Brian didn’t know why they said so, and he didn’t care about what they said anymore. |
| C．He hoped to become a comedian (喜剧演员) one day. |
| D．But some students laughed at him. |
| E．Now Brian is a famous comedian (喜剧演员)! |
【推荐3】I want to share with you a story from 28 years ago. My dad was a used car salesman. Every Thursday night, he would head off to Shreveport, LA for an auction （拍卖会）. Most of the time, I drove a car over there for him so he could sell it at the auction.
One day I was riding with my dad when he noticed a hitch-hiker（搭便车的人）with a backpack. Without hesitation, he pulled the car over and offered him a ride. Dad asked him his name, and proceeded （继续） to talk to him about all sorts of things. Dad asked him where he was going. The hitch-hiker told him that he was heading for the west. I can't recall why but he told Dad a lot of things that had occurred （发生）to him and that persuaded him to make that decision. He talked about the tragic （悲惨的） events that occurred to him several years before. He was in low spirits, but I could see that the hitch-hiker,s attitude（态度）was changing as someone was really listening to him.
We drove 45 minutes before the hitch-hiker got off. We pulled over and Dad told him to keep his head up and things would start looking up for him soon. He reached into his pocket and handed the hitch-hiker a twenty-dollar bill. The guy smiled. He nearly lit up right there on the cold, dark highway.
We drove on and my dad did not say a single thing. I was still completely amazed by what I had just witnessed. I was always told by everyone never to pick up a hitch -hiker and yet my dad did it every single time he saw one. While reflecting upon （反思）that story I came to understand that just one single kind act could change someone's life, and I am sure that my father’s deed made that poor man’s day.
1. What made the hitch-hiker become less upset?| A．The writer's father really listening to him. |
| B．The writer's father offering him a free ride. |
| C．The writer's father talking to him about all sorts of things. |
| D．The writer's father agreeing to drive him to his destination. |
| A．Catching the car | B．Heading for the west |
| C．Talking about his experiences | D．Driving 45 minutes |
| A．was deeply moved | B．strongly disagreed |
| C．admired his father | D．couldn't understand |
| A．Wealthy. | B．Warm-hearted. | C．Far-sighted. | D．Adventurous. |
| A．To tell a story of his father. |
| B．To explain the necessity of offering a free ride to hitch-hikers |
| C．To prove his father is the best teacher. |
| D．To advise people to learn from their father. |
