1 . While I was working at a French school, I was often preparing my work in the staff room. Sometimes I would hear the school secretary talking. At first I thought she was talking to me, as there was no one else in the room except me, so I tried to respond to her. However, I soon realized that in fact, she was talking to herself. I noticed a lot of people do this in France. In the UK, people might think you’re a bit strange if you talk to yourself at work, but there it seemed quite normal. It really did confuse me at times, because I was not sure whether people were talking to me or just talking to themselves.

Another area of confusion involved the French language. In French, there are two ways to say “you”: “tu” is the informal form while “vous” is the formal form. This is an aspect of French which, even now, I do not really understand. When I learnt French, I was taught to call everyone vous unless they were my family or friends. So I was surprised that virtually everyone in France used the informal tu all the time. School children used tu when they stayed with their teachers and all the staff called the head teacher tu. But I continued to use vous because I didn’t want people to think I was impolite.

As you might know, school children in the UK traditionally wear school uniforms but in France pupils do not wear a uniform. It was a culture shock for me to see children wear Spiderman T-shirts and baggy (宽松的) blue jeans in the classroom.

I found the differences puzzling at times, but I couldn’t deny what a great opportunity it was to live and work in another country. The UK and France are only separated by a small channel of the sea, but there are many differences between the two countries.

1. In the staff room, the school secretary ________.

A．always chatted online

B．interrupted the writer

C．talked to herself often

D．always made speeches

2. Why did the author always use “vous” when talking to others?

A．She tried to be polite to others.

B．She couldn’t tell tu from vous at all.

C．She didn’t have close friends in France.

D．She couldn’t understand French very well.

3. How did the author feel seeing French kids wear Spiderman T-shirts at school?

A．Pleased.	B．Embarrassed.
C．Frightened.	D．Surprised.

4. What made the author feel happy to live in France?

A．Experiencing different cultures.

B．Communicating in an informal way.

C．Traveling along the channel of the sea.

D．Having a chance to work with French teachers.

2 . It was a sunny weekend. I had planned to go mountain climbing in the suburbs with Daniel. However, a sudden heavy rain that morning disrupted my plan. Looking out of the window, I couldn’t help feeling a little ________ as the rain poured down.

However, Daniel ________ , “Since we can’t go mountain climbing, why don’t we go to an old ________ in the city? I heard there are many interesting shops and delicious food there.” I thought it was a good idea and _________. We braved the heavy rain and arrived at the old neighborhood. Although the sky was still ________ , the old buildings and unique atmosphere of the neighborhood attracted us.

We walked through the narrow streets and admired the ________ shops on both sides. A retro-style coffee shop caught our attention and we decided to go in and rest. In the coffee shop, we tasted the delicious coffee and talked about our daily lives. ________ , a strange figure walked into the coffee shop. He looked ________ and lost. His eyes fell on us casually and seemed to be looking for something. Out of ________ , we took the ________ to talk to him. It turned out that he was a photographer and he had just lost an important memory card which contained his works of many years. He had been searching for it in the neighborhood for a long time, but still couldn’t find it.

After hearing ________ his troubles, we decided to help him search for it. We searched around the neighborhood and asked many people, but couldn’t find the memory card. Just when we were about to give up, a little kid ________ to us with a memory card and said he had found it by the roadside. We excitedly took the memory card and after checking it was ________ , we gave it back to the photographer. The photographer looked at us gratefully with tears in his eyes. He said, “Thank you very much. This memory card means a lot to me.” We felt happy that we could help him and it added more meaning ________ this unexpected trip.

This experience made me realize that life always has unexpected surprises and twists. Sometimes, ________ your plan is not a bad thing and it may bring you a more wonderful experience.

1.

A．disabled

B．disappointed

C．disgraceful

D．disturbed

2.

A．suggested

B．claimed

C．answered

D．demanded

3.

A．museum

B．community

C．street

D．neighborhood

4.

A．admired

B．agreed

C．jumped

D．permitted

5.

A．sunny

B．chilly

C．gloomy

D．clear

6.

A．ancient

B．crowded

C．spacious

D．various

7.

A．Gradually

B．Slowly

C．Suddenly

D．Quickly

8.

A．tired

B．angry

C．energetic

D．relieved

9.

A．question

B．curiosity

C．control

D．danger

10.

A．action

B．measures

C．responsibility

D．initiative

11.

A．about

B．from

C．out

D．into

12.

A．listened

B．talked

C．came

D．pointed

13.

A．complete

B．correct

C．full

D．useful

14.

A．with

B．up

C．in

D．to

15.

A．changing

B．scheduling

C．making

D．following

3 . Ruby was a police dog with the Rhode Island State Police, but she didn’t always work with them. Ruby was once a handful who was in and out of the sheller. She was returned five times by different families. She was considered unadoptable because of her high energy and she was just unmanageable

The shelter workers thought her energy may be put to work. They reached the state police, who wanted to give Ruby a second chance and decided to try her out as a rescue dog. O’Neil was picked to be her handler (驯犬员) .

“We have something in common. When I was younger, I couldn’t focus and I wasn’t good at school. But no one really ever gave up on me,” O’Neil said. “I think that’s why we were bound to be together.” A normal dog could be trained in months. For Ruby, it took a year and a half, but O’Neil didn’t want to give up on her. Finally, she was a certified police dog. Six years later, she became even more than that -a hero.

“We got a call stating there was a missing boy, and we just went out and started searching. After eight hours, Ruby ran down a hill. I looked over the hill and saw the injured boy,” ONeil recalled.

O’Neil went to tell the mother that the boy was found alive and told her a police dog helped save her son. Then they realised a surprising connection: the boy’s mum once worked at an animal shelter. “There was a dog that I heard became a state trooper (兵) a few years ago. The dog was named Ruby. She was the sweetest thing,” she told him.

“Are you kidding?” O’Neil said. “That dog that you helped for all those times to get adopted just saved your son’s life.”

1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “handful” in paragraph 1?

A．Popular dog.

B．Good helper.

C．Troublemaker

D．Intelligent dog

2. What was Ruby before she became a trooper?

A．A shelter dog.

B．A rescue dog.

C．A guard dog.

D．A pet dog.

3. What was the main factor that made Ruby a successful rescue dog?

A．ONeil’s guidance.	B．Ruby’s high energy
C．Ruby’s determination.	D．ONeil’s perseverance

4. What was the connection between Ruby and the boy’s mother?

A．The mother once helped Ruby in the shelter.	B．The mother was Ruby’s former handler
C．Ruby was once adopted by the mother.	D．Ruby saved the mother before.

4 . I was expecting to have a quiet day, but it turned out(结果是) to be just the opposite. It was Saturday morning _______ I was reading on the sofa when the phone rang. “Come quickly, Sam, I need your _______!” It was my best friend George, so I couldn't_______. “Where are you?” I asked. “I'm _______home, watching the house opposite. Come quickly, through the back garden.”

I_______there. George told me two men were stealing things from Simon's house. They were moving the TV and the computers onto their van(客货车).

“But George, it's clear,” I said impatiently(不耐烦地). “They _______ be moving house.”

“That's impossible! You know Simon's in our class, but he has said _______about it！” said George.

I realized he was right. So we phoned the_______. They soon arrived and took the two men _______. “You are so brave！” said one policeman. Later, Simon's parents learned what we had done and they were so ________. They took us out for dinner that night.

Sometimes, a small act can mean a lot to others.

1.

A．and

B．but

C．if

D．or

2.

A．book

B．time

C．answer

D．help

3.

A．refuse

B．try

C．forget

D．run

4.

A．with

B．at

C．on

D．by

5.

A．swam

B．walked

C．rushed

D．flew

6.

A．need

B．will

C．might

D．must

7.

A．something

B．nothing

C．anything

D．everything

8.

A．police

B．classmates

C．teachers

D．family

9.

A．in

B．off

C．away

D．up

10.

A．serious

B．thankful

C．famous

D．clever

5 . Seba Stephens is only 10 years old, but he’s a very talented musician. Before he turned three, his parents asked him what he wanted for his birthday. “Drums!” (鼓) he answered. His parents weren’t sure, but after seeing him play the drums at a local music store, they decided he was serious. They bought him a set of junior drums. It was a huge step. “He didn’t stop playing-ever”, says his dad, Everett.

But soon Seba grew unhappy, he couldn’t get his junior drums to make the sounds that the famous drummer Copeland made. Therefore, his parents bought him a set of professional drums and sent him to a drum teacher. Just a few months later, his teacher reported that Seba was learning extremely quickly and needed a higher level of training. He was still four.

His father encouraged him to explore music in other ways. In 2020, Seba got special permission to join a summer guitar online program at Berklee College of Music as an 8-year-old. To keep up, he had to practice 36 hours a week. After the busy summer, Everett thought Seba might want a break. However, Seba asked his parents to home-school him so that he could continue the program during the school year. Seba did school work in the morning. In the afternoon he worked on music. And at night, he still worked on music.

Recently, Seba earned a professional certificate (证书) in music through the Berklee Online program.

1. What did Seba want for his birthday?

A．Drums.	B．Music lessons.
C．A guitar.	D．A music book.

2. Who does the underlined word “his” refer to in Paragraph 2?

A．Seba’s.	B．Copeland’s.
C．Seba’s parent’s.	D．Seba’s teacher’s.

3. Seba needed a higher level of training because

A．he grew very worried	B．he failed to hear the sounds
C．he bought a new drum	D．he was learning extremely quickly

4. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Seba joined a summer camp.	B．Seba worked hard on music.
C．Seba did school work at home.	D．Seba graduated from a college.

5. How did Seba earn a professional certificate in music?

A．By going to a famous college.	B．By getting special permission.
C．Through the Berklee Online program.	D．Through the lessons given by his parents.

6 . Very far away from the city lived a poor farmer and his wife. In front of their house was a small dirt road. Very few cars drove on this road because it was so far from the city. On the dirt road, there was a big hole filled with water. The hole was very deep, but drivers on the road didn’t know just how deep. Drivers always drove into the hole, but they never drove out.

One day, a man in a new car was driving down the road. He saw the hole with the water, but he didn’t think it was very deep. He drove into the hole, but he couldn’t drive out. The man saw the farmer on his tractor working in the field, and he signaled to the farmer. The farmer drove over to the man in the new car.

“Is there a problem?” asked the farmer.

“Yes,” said the man. “My car is stuck in this hole. Can you help me?”

“Maybe,” said the farmer. “But I’m very busy.”

“If you help me, I’ll pay you,” said the man.

“OK,” said the farmer. The farmer pulled the car out of the hole with his tractor, and the man paid him a lot of money. The man looked at the farmer and said, “You must make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole day and night.”

“Actually, no,” said the farmer.

“Why not?” asked the man.

“The hole is very deep, and a lot of people get stuck and ask for help. But I don’t make money day and night because I don’t pull cars out at night.”

“At night I’m busy filling the hole with water,” answered the farmer.

1. Why did very few cars drive on the small dirt road?

A．Because the road was dirty.	B．Because it was so far from the city.
C．Because very few people knew the way.	D．Because the drivers knew there was a hole.

2. According to paragraph 2, we can know about the man in a new car __________ .

A．he just learnt to drive a car	B．it was the first time that he passed there
C．he knew how deep the hole was	D．he knew the farmer in the field

3. Which of the following is true according to this passage?

A．Drivers didn’t see there was a hole on the road.

B．The man drove into the hole and never drove out.

C．The farmer was busy filling the hole with water at night.

D．The driver made a lot of money pulling cars out of the hole day and night.

4. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A．The road

B．The city

C．The car

D．The man

7 . Kariko worked in a few different research jobs before landing a junior position at the University of Pennsylvania. And for many years her career at the UPenn was fragile. She migrated from lab to lab, relying on one senior scientist after another to take her in. She never made more than $60,000 a year. She struggled to raise the funding essential for a scientific career and never had a stable position. Kariko said she endured being made fun of by university colleagues for her dogged pursuit. In 2013, she was kicked out from UPenn — forced to retire. She said in an interview that the university told her that she was unfit for her work. Yet the scientist’s commitment to her work did not falter. “When I was terminated (终止), I didn’t feel sorry for myself,” she said. “I have to focus all the energy on seeking out what’s next.”

What does the underlined word “falter” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Weaken.

B．Quit.

C．Fail.

D．Insist.

8 . Henry Ford didn’t always pay attention in school. One day, he and a friend took a watch apart. Angry and upset, the teacher told them both to stay after school. Their punishment is was to stay until they had fixed the watch. But the teacher did not know Ford’s genius. In ten minutes, this mechanical wizard had repaired the watch and was on his way home.

Ford was always interested in how things worked. He once plugged up the spout of a teapot and placed it on the fire. Then he waited to see what would happen. The water boiled and, of course, returned to steam. Since the steam had no way to escape, the teapot exploded. The explosion cracked a mirror and broke a window. The young inventor was badly scalded (烫伤).

Ford’s years of curiosity and thinking paid off. He dreamed of a horseless carriage. When he built one, the world of transportation was changed forever.

1. Henry Ford __________ in school.

A．studied very hard	B．was absent-minded
C．never paid attention	D．did very well

2. The teacher asked Henry Ford to __________.

A．punish his friend

B．stay at school until he had repaired the watch

C．go home at once

D．stay at school and take the watch apart

3. Who fixed the watch in ten minutes?

A．Henry Ford.	B．Ford’s friend.
C．Ford’s teacher.	D．A mechanic.

4. The teapot exploded and the explosion __________.

A．broke a mirror	B．broke a window
C．hurt Henry Ford	D．All of the above

5. According to this passage, we know that Henry Ford __________.

A．was interested in everything

B．was the youngest inventor in the world

C．paid for a horseless carriage

D．built one of the earliest car

9 . Hello! My name is Bob. I’m an English boy. But now I’m in China with my parents Jack and Helen, and my sister Sally.

In China, November 11th is a special day. Many people buy a lot of things on Taobao. This year, my mother buys some things for us. They are a quilt, four jackets, two cups and a pen. The quilt is blue. It’s for me. The yellow jacket is for Sally. The black jacket is for my father and the green jacket is for me. My mother buys herself a red jacket. She likes red very much. The white cup is for Sally and the other cup is for my father. It’s blue. The pen is black. It’s for Sally.

My mother likes shopping on Taobao. She says it’s convenient because she doesn’t need to go out. What do you think of it? Tell me about your ideas.

1. Bob is in __________ now.

A．England

B．America

C．Japan

D．China

2. The quilt is for __________.

A．Bob

B．Sally

C．Bob’s father

D．Bob’s mother

3. Bob’s mother buys __________ for Sally.

A．a red jacket and a white cup

B．a green cup and a red quilt

C．a yellow jacket, a white cup and a black pen

D．a yellow jacket, a green cup and a blue pen

4. The underlined word “convenient” in Paragraph 3 means __________ in Chinese.

A．靠近的

B．方便的

C．迅速的

D．浪费的

5. What is the passage mainly about?

A．It’s about what Bob’s mother buys for him.

B．It’s some information about Bob’s family.

C．It’s about different ways of shopping.

D．It’s about a special way of shopping — shopping on Taobao.

10 . It was July 15, 2021, and my friends had helped me celebrate my 31st birthday.

Earlier in the day I had prepared for the _________ event of a flood. We are about a third of a mile from the banks of the Ahr River. It had been raining heavily that week, and the government had issued a flood _________, though not for where I was. _________, I’d placed sandbags on the floor outside my garden door just in case _________ got through. Before my friends left, they _________ me for doing that, but I thought, why take a chance?

As I drifted off to sleep, I was awakened by the _________ of rushing water, as if I were lying beside a waterfall instead of in my bedroom. When I moved my legs off the bed, I was _________ by the touch of cold water lapping against my knees and rising fast. Trembling and in darkness, I _________ my cellphone and turned on the flashlight. I saw water was shooting through the gaps of the garden door.

I admit it, I began to _________. The Ahr, usually such a __________, slow-moving river, had violently burst its banks. And now I had to get out—fast!

Any effects of the celebratory drinks I’d had earlier were now gone. I heard the garden door starting to crack under the __________ of the flood. In bare feet, I started to move to my only __________: the door that leads to the hallway. All around me things were breaking, and the cupboards were being __________.

I tried to pull the door open, but the force of the water wouldn’t __________ me. Finally, I __________ to make a gap of about a foot, just wide enough to squeeze through and make it into the __________.

If I had __________ just a few minutes later, I would have drowned. Many of the houses around us were destroyed, including, __________, a home for the disabled. Not everyone got out.

I came close to drowning that day. But rather than keep thinking about that, I prefer to __________ what my mother told me afterward: “Christian, don’t remember the day when you lost everything. Remember the day you __________.”

1.

A．unimportant

B．unlikely

C．unnoticed

D．unbearable

2.

A．warning

B．report

C．challenge

D．statement

3.

A．Besides

B．Moreover

C．Therefore

D．Still

4.

A．air

B．sand

C．water

D．someone

5.

A．laughed at

B．appreciated

C．blamed

D．shouted at

6.

A．coldness

B．push

C．sound

D．fear

7.

A．moved

B．excited

C．inspired

D．shocked

8.

A．grabbed

B．lost

C．forgot

D．left

9.

A．operate

B．reflect

C．panic

D．cry

10.

A．powerful

B．quiet

C．broad

D．winding

11.

A．guidance

B．control

C．protection

D．pressure

12.

A．equipment

B．belongings

C．surroundings

D．escape

13.

A．thrown away

B．cut up

C．torn apart

D．broken into

14.

A．help

B．let

C．stop

D．influence

15.

A．managed

B．tried

C．determined

D．expected

16.

A．bedroom

B．backyard

C．hallway

D．basement

17.

A．woken up

B．jumped down

C．moved away

D．run out

18.

A．secretly

B．tragically

C．accidentally

D．possibly

19.

A．request

B．recall

C．realize

D．research

20.

A．survived

B．recovered

C．matured

D．refused