1 . I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.
“What for?” I asked.
“I’m going to sell some of my stones,” he answered.
Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over.
“I’m too busy to do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help,” I said.
A short time later, Nick returned with a sign, reading, “Stones, One Dollar Each.” He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.
After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn’t.
Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn’t hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.
I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted, “I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar— if you believe in yourself, you can do anything.”
1. Why didn’t the writer help his son?| A．Because his wife is better at making a sign. |
| B．Because he didn’t know what to write. |
| C．Because he was busy sweeping leaves. |
| D．Because he didn’t want his son to sell the stones. |
| A．sweeping leaves | B．selling stones |
| C．making a sign | D．collecting stones |
| A．who was kind | B．who had a strong mind |
| C．who was honest | D．who had many hobbies |
| A．the story happened in spring |
| B．the car was driven by a woman |
| C．Nick spent half an hour selling one stone |
| D．the writer might be moved (感动) by his son |
2 . Evans Wadongo was from a village of Africa. He had to do homework by the light of a kerosene lamp (煤油灯). Evans’ eyes hurt and this made studying difficult. It was common in his village. Many children left school for this reason, so they remained poor for the rest of their lives.
Although studying was difficult, Evans was an excellent student and went to a university. He continued to worry about the kerosene lamp. By this time, he realized it was not just bad for schoolchildren but for the whole family. First, it can cause illnesses such as coughs. Also, the light can hurt people’s eyes. Besides, it can lead to fires. Lastly, kerosene is expensive, so families have less money for food. It was difficult to come up with a different kind of lamp that was cheap and good for the environment. Yet Evans did not give up.
One day, he had an idea. He could use a small solar (太阳能的) light. Sunlight is free and solar power is good for the environment. Evans built his first solar lamp, and it worked. He began to build more lamps and sent them to local families. An organization heard about this and provided money for him to build more solar lamps.
Each lamp only cost $20. However, this was a lot of money to many villagers, who only earned around $34 a week, so Evans made sure he kept the cost down. First, Evans used recycled materials. Next, volunteers built the lamps. At last, people from many countries gave away money to his team, so the lamps were usually free.
Thousands of people had safe light. Julia, a mother of three, said, “Thanks to Evans, my children have light to read, and I have my own light to cook.” The solar lamps made a big difference.
1. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Leaving school. | B．Doing homework. |
| C．Having eye problems. | D．Having a bright idea. |
| A．6. | B．5. | C．4. | D．3. |
| A．To share Julia’s experience. | B．To show Evans’ influence. |
| C．To describe Evans’ feelings. | D．To introduce Evans’ invention. |
| A．Polite, talented and humorous. | B．Quiet, smart and honest. |
| C．Humorous, clever and friendly. | D．Hard-working, loving and creative. |
3 . “Late again, Mavis! How many times I have told you to come back in time to help me cook dinner?” asked Mrs. Muntari.
“But, Mum, I can’t just walk away in the middle of a game!” said Mavis.
“You shouldn’t be playing the game in the first place.”
“But, Mum, why can’t I? You never tell Adibe or Senze not to play football. I had to leave the game at half time and rush back so you wouldn’t get angry with me,” said Mavis.
“You are a girl! It is as simple as that. Boys and girls have different roles to play. I have 11 hungry mouths to feed and I need your help! You are the oldest girl not working, so it is your job to help me. That’s the way of our people. Now go and fry some more chicken...”
At the dinner table, Adibe and Senze were excitedly talking about today’s game, while eating the chicken Mavis had fried. They talked about how Mavis scored in the first half with a power shot from the halfway line. It was a great goal as their team was losing by 0-1 at that time.
Dad came home then and brought the boys a local newspaper, in which there was news about football scouts from England visiting Ghana (加纳). These scouts had asked to be allowed to visit schools to look for players of the future. Adibe and Senze looked at each other and cheered, “Wow, I’m going to be like Essien!” And they started arguing which one would make it as a superstar.
Mavis decided to take this chance. She stole out of home. When she arrived at the playground, one player happened to get injured (受伤) and the coach was worried. “I can take his place! ”Mavis shouted. Though it was unbelievable to let a girl play, the coach agreed. During the second half, she made an amazing shot!
When the game was over, the scouts all stood up, cheering.
1. Why was Mrs. Muntari unhappy with Mavis?| A．Mavis didn’t like cooking. | B．Mavis’ team lost the game. |
| C．Mavis arrived home late again. | D．Mavis left the game at half time. |
| A．Because she was a girl. | B．Because she wasn’t talented. |
| C．Because she was too old. | D．Because her brothers did better. |
| A．侦察兵 | B．队友 | C．制造商 | D．球探 |
| A．Mavis had to find a job. | B．Mavis was chosen by the scouts. |
| C．Mrs. Muntari said sorry to Mavis. | D．Mavis changed the woman’s role. |
4 . Franz Kafka was a famous writer. He never married and had no children. Once, at the age of 40, when Kafka was walking through a park, he saw a young girl crying. She lost her favorite doll.
He helped her look for the doll, but they couldn’t find it. Kafka told her to meet him there the next day and they would look for it again.
The next day, when they still didn’t find the doll, Kafka gave the girl a letter “written” by the doll that said, “Please don’t cry. I have gone on a trip to see the world. I’m going to write to you about my adventures (历险经历).”
Thus a story that continued to the end of Kafka’s life began.
When they met every time, Kafka read aloud the letters (which he had written, of course) of adventures that the girl found exciting. Finally, Kafka read her a letter in which the doll said it had finally returned to Berlin. Then, he gave her a doll that he had bought.
“This does not look like my doll at all,” she said. Kafka handed her another letter that said, “It is my trips that have changed me.” The girl took the doll home happily. A year later, Kafka died.
Many years later, the girl found a letter hidden inside the doll. It said, “Everything you love is very likely to be lost, but in the end, love will return in a different way.”
1. Why did the girl cry?| A．Because she got lost in the park. | B．Because she had no friends to play with. |
| C．Because she lost her favorite doll. | D．Because she was too excited to see Kafka. |
| A．The lost doll wrote the letters. | B．Kafka actually wrote the letters. |
| C．All the letters described real events. | D．Someone sent the letters to the girl. |
| A．Take care of your belongings. | B．We should never love anything. |
| C．Trips can change a person a lot. | D．Love will come back in a different way. |
| A．the letter | B．the girl | C．the doll | D．the trip |
5 . (One day, Gulliver was caught in a storm and his ship hit a rock, then broken. He was washed to the beach by the sea wave and soon fell asleep. When he woke up, he found himself in Lilliput and a lot of people were around him and all of the people he saw were just the same size as mice.)
The emperor spoke in such a high voice. His followers and all the ladies wore rich and beautiful clothes. The ground where they were standing looked like gold and silver cloth.
The emperor and I communicated with each other but neither of us understood a single word. I tried words from my languages—French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. No one could understand my words, even the emperor’s cleverest followers.
After about two hours of useless communication, the emperor, his wife and their servants decided to leave, and only six strong guards (卫兵) were left around me. This was to stop me from running away and later, they would think up ways to kill me.
These six guards were trying to give me some punishment. To scare them, I put five of them in my pocket. Then I pretended (假装) to eat the sixth man. The poor man shouted terribly when he saw my knife in my hand. But I only cut the binding (捆绑物) around his hands. Then I put him on my feet and let him go. I lifted the other five men out of my pocket and put them gently on the ground, too.
The people and soldiers were very surprised at what I did. They told the emperor about it quickly. After hearing this, the emperor ordered his men to make a bed for me to have a rest and they had to put six hundred of theirs together to make one for me. It seemed that they changed their idea of killing me.
(Adapted from Gulliver’s Travel)
1. Gulliver tried many languages except ________.| A．French | B．German | C．Spanish | D．Italian |
① Gulliver and the emperor couldn’t understand each other.
② Gulliver only cut the binding around one of the guard’s hands.
③ Gulliver was washed to the beach and found himself in Lilliput.
④ There were six guards around Gulliver to stop him from running away.
| A．①③②④ | B．③①④② | C．①④②③ | D．④②①③ |
| A．huge and kind | B．rich and huge | C．little and short | D．strong and scary |
| A．he was so strong that they weren’t able to kill him |
| B．there was a lot of heavy work for him to do |
| C．he didn’t hurt them and they considered him as a kind person |
| D．he asked all the guards not to kill him |
| A．Poor and clever. | B．Wise and poor. | C．Rich and clever. | D．Wise and kind. |
6 . Online classes in space got lots of attention among Chinese students. The “classroom” in space station is about 400 kilometers away from the earth. As a special “teacher”, Wang Yaping is regarded as “the most beautiful astronaut”.
Wang Yaping was born in a small village in Shandong in 1980. She was good at all subjects, especially sports. Luckily, in 1997, she was enrolled by the Air Force, Changchun Flight Academy. Wang’s space dream started in 2003, when China sent its first astronaut Yang Liwei into space. She told herself, “China now has a male astronaut. When will there be a female one?” At that time, Wang was a pilot in the Chinese army. After having safe flights for 1,600 hours during nine years in the training center, Wang was a strong candidate (候选人) to become an astronaut in 2010. In 2013, Wang was sent to space by Shenzhou-10. She joined the team of Shenzhou-13 in 2021 and flew into the space for the second time.
However, it is difficult to be an astronaut. She has to experience a lot of pain that most people can’t stand and keep training all the time. Wang Yaping told Xinhua, “The space environment won’t change because you are a woman.” She pushed herself hard, getting the same training as men, including the pull-ups and barbells (杠铃). That finally made her dream come true.
“You are on the way to success as long as you stick to your dreams.” Wang Yaping said. Millions of students are encouraged and inspired by the most beautiful astronaut.
1. What does the underlined word “enrolled” in Paragraph 2 mean?| A．Refused. | B．Accepted. | C．Satisfied. | D．Sent. |
| A．How Wang achieved her dream. | B．How Wang gave a class. |
| C．What Wang’s dream was. | D．How students are encouraged by Wang. |
| A．In 1979. | B．In 1980. | C．In 1997. | D．In 2013. |
| A．Beautiful look. | B．Strong spirit. | C．Nice family. | D．Good luck. |
| A．The Most Beautiful Astronaut | B．The Special Online Classes |
| C．The Introduction to Science | D．The Life in Space Station |
Andy’s mom died in a car accident. A drunk driver hit his mom’s car. Andy was angry and accused (控告) the driver. The drunk driver is now in prison. Andy visited the prison to confront (对峙) the driver. The drunk driver said sorry many times. Andy kept crying. “‘Sorry’ is not going to bring my mom back. Your carelessness took away my mom,” he said. Andy was mad and left the prison. He couldn’t stay calm when he confronted the driver. He wanted him to stay in the prison for the rest of his life.
Andy was not in the mood to work. He asked his boss if he could take a week off. He loved his job, but he could not stop thinking about his mom’s death.
Andy’s wife told him to do something useful instead of watching TV all day. Andy agreed with her. It was time for him to start doing something that would make his mom proud. Andy created a program to prevent drunk driving. He wanted to give drunk people free rides. Andy visited colleges, clubs, and bars all across the country to encourage people to avoid driving after drinking.
Prevent driving after drinking | |
When happened to Andy’s mother? | Andy’s mother Although the driver said sorry again and again, but Andy |
How did Andy deal with his sadness? | Andy couldn’t walk out of his mother’s |
What did Andy do to stop drunk drinking? | He wanted to make his mom feel |
8 . One day we went to pick up our grandson Mark at his school. It was a beautiful spring day, so we went to the garden.
We noticed how sad Mark was. He said, “There is nothing special about me. Well, I am smaller than my elder brother and I am bigger than my younger brother.” I knew he felt that he, the middle son, was not getting the same attention.
We walked a little farther into the woods when Mark asked me if we could throw rocks into the brook (小溪) to see which one would go the farthest.
“OК,” I said.
Mark said, “I am going to throw the biggest rock, because I know it will go the farthest.” Mark picked up the biggest rock he could find and threw it. Although it made a very big splash (飞溅的水), it didn’t go very far. Mark thought for a minute and said, “I am going to throw a small rock instead.” He picked up a small rock and threw it, but it didn’t go very far because it was too light.
I thought this was a very good opportunity to teach. I said, “Why don’t you pick up a medium-sized rock and see what happens?”
Mark picked up a medium-sized rock and threw it. Mark said, “Look, the medium-sized rock went the farthest!”
I smiled, “You see, Mark, you are like the medium-sized rock. In this situation the small rock was too light, the big rock was too heavy, but the medium-sized rock was just right.”
“So, I am special?”
“Yes, Mark. Everyone and everything is special and has a special purpose, especially you.”
1. How many children were there in Mark’s family?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Because he was waiting for a good chance to teach. |
| B．Because he had no idea how to help Mark at that time. |
| C．Because he knew Mark would cheer up quickly. |
| D．Because he thought what Mark said was not true. |
| A．Brave. | B．Honest. | C．Serious. | D．Wise. |
| A．No person can do everything alone. |
| B．Anything larger isn’t necessarily better. |
| C．One can go farthest without pain. |
| D．Everyone is special as a matter of fact. |
9 . Many people say that they are working too many hours. They don’t have enough time to relax or to stay with their family.
Work hours are different from one country to another. In France, people spend about 1,646 hours a year at work. In Japan, however, people work about 2,159 hours a year. That means a Japanese worker works 513 more hours a year than a French worker.
Why do people work so many hours? Some people work extra hours because they want to make more money. However, many companies don’t pay overtime. Their workers don’t get more pay for more work. Some people think it’s their duty to work more hours. Some are afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t work more hours.
Many people say that their vacations are too short. In France, people get five weeks of paid vacation a year. In Germany, they get four to six weeks, and in the United States, two weeks. One study shows fewer than half of workers used all their vacation days. In Great Britain, there is a saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull (迟钝的) boy.” If that is true, there must be a lot of dull people in the world.
1. A Japanese worker works ________ more hours a year than a French one.| A．513 | B．1,646 | C．2,159 | D．3,805 |
| A．正常的 | B．额外的 | C．有用的 | D．少量的 |
| A．France | B．Germany | C．the United States | D．Great Britain |
| A．they are not afraid of losing their jobs | B．they don’t think it’s their duty |
| C．they have other jobs to do | D．they want to make more money |
| A．Many workers have to work long hours. | B．Many people have vacations long enough. |
| C．Work hours are the same around the world. | D．There are a lot of dull people in the world. |
10 . Long long ago, there was a young man who made his living by making tofu. One day, the tofu was not sold out. In order to keep the tofu fresh, he cut the tofu into pieces and mixed some flavor (香料) in. Then he put it into a crock (瓦罐). A few days later, he opened the crock and found that the smell was terrible. Then he tasted a piece. To his surprise, the taste was nice. An idea came into his mind-maybe his smelly tofu (臭豆腐) would be a kind of special food. As expected, the smelly tofu became popular with local people. Soon it was well-known all over the whole nation.
Now smelly tofu is the most special food in Hunan. And it is recommended (推荐) to all the people around the world.
1. The young man made his living by ________.| A．making kites | B．making tofu | C．selling cloth | D．farming |
| A．he wanted to make a kind of special food |
| B．he wanted to have it for dinner |
| C．he wanted to keep it fresh |
| D．he wanted to sell a kind of special tofu |
| A．terrible | B．well | C．bad | D．good |
| A．China | B．Japan | C．America | D．Australia |
