1 . I entered this world with Poland syndrome, a disease that prevented the formation of my right arm and muscles. My parents believed playing with Lego could enhance my_______and gifted me my first kit when I was five. Initially I _______to piece the the components together but finally I crafted my first Lego work – a car. By the age of nine, I had _______my first prosthetic arm (义肢) using Lego– a simple box that perfectly accommodated my right arm.

This early creation sparked my drive for further _______. Years later, I developed another prosthetic arm called the MK-1, which had fingers, a motor, a pressure sensor, and a grabber capable of _______things. Before constructing it, I was against traditional prosthetics as they were too _______. My parents had looked into getting one years earlier, only to be discouraged by the prohibitive price. So, I concluded that I might not need one because I was managing well without.

As the years passed, my _______evolved from MK-1 to the more advanced and comfortable MK-V. One day, a couple with their eight-year-old son, who lost both_______in an accident, reached out to me after learning about my story. Short of money, they couldn’t afford well-functioning prosthetics. “Daniel,” the father_______asked, “we were wondering if you could help build a set of prosthetics for our son.”

It would be a _______task, but I responded with a “yes”. Without any delay, I _______ the task. The subsequent days witnessed how I carefully selected the Lego piece and intricately integrated practical components to enhance its dexterity(灵巧). Days _______into weeks, and the boy-customized prosthetics finally took shape. It’s time for them to fulfill their intended purpose.

I rushed to the boy’s home and _______the prosthetics onto him. They worked! The room erupted with cheers! The boy expressed his gratitude and sprinted to his parents to _______them in the biggest hug. Never had I imagined that my creations, born out of mere _______, would someday make such a difference.

1.

A．stability

B．mobility

C．flexibility

D．reliability

2.

A．learned

B．attempted

C．managed

D．struggled

3.

A．equipped

B．fashioned

C．decorated

D．upgraded

4.

A．effort

B．investment

C．application

D．exploration

5.

A．picking up

B．setting up

C．pulling up

D．rolling up

6.

A．unstable

B．expensive

C．inconvenient

D．clumsy

7.

A．passions

B．creations

C．thoughts

D．inspirations

8.

A．arms

B．legs

C．hands

D．fingers

9.

A．gratefully

B．desperately

C．hurriedly

D．earnestly

10.

A．frustrating

B．promising

C．challenging

D．embarrassing

11.

A．embarked on

B．set off

C．figured out

D．took on

12.

A．grew

B．followed

C．turned

D．developed

13.

A．secured

B．placed

C．guaranteed

D．stuck

14.

A．encounter

B．engrave

C．engage

D．envelop

15.

A．awe

B．dedication

C．fun

D．boredom

2 . My world changed when I was visiting my best friend Becky three years ago. Her dog had _________ a litter of pups and there was one puppy left when I arrived.

The puppy was so _________ that I still remember Becky saying, “Don’t get too _________, and I know you aren’t into a dog.” Unexpectedly, a few days into my visit, it _________ that this little puppy was coming home with me! I called him Timmy.

When getting home, it was very clear that my two cats were not so enthusiastic about the new _________ to our family. It took a while for the three of them to find their _________, and, for me, having a puppy really took some time to adapt to, who was always so _________ and wanted to be everywhere I was. I couldn’t believe how _________ this little puppy was on my time and love. In spite of that, there were _________ times when I wondered if I’d made the wrong decision — especially when he put __________ in my clothes. I soon learned that I couldn’t __________ things on the floor — nothing was safe from those little teeth!

Timmy is now three years old and I love __________ at the parks with my best buddy. He still follows me around like a __________. Wherever I go, my little man, who has got the best __________ that wins everyone over. I can’t __________ him not being right at my heels now.

1.

A．abandoned

B．identified

C．seen

D．had

2.

A．puzzling

B．fascinating

C．depressing

D．uplifting

3.

A．attached

B．occupied

C．frightened

D．amused

4.

A．witnessed

B．reported

C．happened

D．implied

5.

A．contribution

B．generation

C．combination

D．addition

6.

A．shelter

B．rhythm

C．feature

D．manner

7.

A．energetic

B．generous

C．brilliant

D．considerate

8.

A．precious

B．significant

C．dependent

D．essential

9.

A．hopefully

B．fortunately

C．rarely

D．definitely

10.

A．patterns

B．holes

C．buttons

D．paints

11.

A．leave

B．seek

C．tailor

D．drag

12.

A．cutting in

B．fading out

C．showing up

D．hanging out

13.

A．shadow

B．dog

C．friend

D．thief

14.

A．capability

B．position

C．personality

D．diversity

15.

A．cheat

B．picture

C．reflect

D．suggest

3 . Growing up in New Delhi, I saw Barbie as more than just a doll. She was the central _____________ in countless dramatic stories that I, like many other girls, _____________ on my bedroom floor.

As much as I loved Barbie, our time together could only last so long. Eventually, I grew _____________ that I still played with my Barbie dolls while my middle-school friends had all moved onto more “mature” _____________. Barbie became similar with being a fake, “plastic” girl, whose bright pink clothing _____________ my friends and me.

By the tender age of 12, my friends and I had become _____________ all girlish things, and Barbie topped our list of items to grow out of. Every _____________ we took up instead seemed either gender-neutral or traditionally masculine (男子气概). For a _____________ period I took up watching football to look cool (say exactly a month).

Looking back, I feel like we were missing the point: Barbie was simply a blank canvas upon which to draw our ideas. It was our own _____________ that we had come to abuse her for wearing pink clothes and having blond hair. That is why I appreciate the way the Barbie movie is being ______________. The movie ______________ and Barbie’s bright pink colors are everywhere — there are 100 or more co-brand products, and you can get everything Barbie-pink from sports facilities to make-up and shoes. In Malibu, there is a pink hotel ______________ after Barbie’s pink Dream House.

In an interview, the director Gerwig said the team had many meetings just to settle on the correct ______________ of pink for the movie — one that was beautiful but “not too fashionable”, she said, “because when I was a little girl, I loved the pinkest, brightest things”, without a hint of the ______________ that I and my peers had of Barbie all those years ago, which would have been really important to me as an adolescent girl who often felt ______________ in her femininity (女子气质).

1.

A．theme

B．character

C．argument

D．conflict

2.

A．assigned

B．gathered

C．created

D．staged

3.

A．embarrassed

B．satisfied

C．curious

D．aware

4.

A．peers

B．hobbies

C．ladies

D．companies

5.

A．involved

B．caught

C．offended

D．connected

6.

A．worried about

B．passionate for

C．content with

D．dismissive of

7.

A．appointment

B．journey

C．recreation

D．challenge

8.

A．difficult

B．contemporary

C．brief

D．spare

9.

A．fault

B．memory

C．experience

D．selection

10.

A．marketed

B．captured

C．illustrated

D．filmed

11.

A．settings

B．promotions

C．results

D．witnesses

12.

A．operated

B．managed

C．organized

D．modeled

13.

A．symbol

B．design

C．image

D．shade

14.

A．imagination

B．judgment

C．ignorance

D．appreciation

15.

A．interrupted

B．sympathetic

C．unsettled

D．familiar

4 . In the fall of 2008, I was looking to leave my current job in a doctor’s office to explore something more ________. So I started investigating the new world of travel nursing. With a bit of ________, I was connected to Carlyn.

At this time, I am working on all areas of my life...... in the ________of becoming a stronger, more confident person, and ________more about who I am. Without amazing, enthusiastic and supportive Carlyn, I wouldn’t be where I am today. For the past 2 years, Carlyn and I stayed in ________through email, facebook, and a periodic phone call, becoming friends…. I had a whole view of all the things she was ________in her life and it inspired me much.

I was anxious to ________Carlyn face-to-face for the first time. But, as soon as she ________in front of my house, it was like we had done it a million times before. This “my friends” is the ________ of the human connection that she talks about. It takes two people from ________to friends!

Now as fate would have it, Carlyn has ________my world. So now, I hope to repay her ________for all that she has helped me ________. I am fortunate to be part of a friendship that is a by-product of her ________. She continues to inspire me and I hope to learn and meet more through her _________.

1.

A．complicated

B．universal

C．challenging

D．profitable

2.

A．confidence

B．luck

C．fear

D．pride

3.

A．power

B．hope

C．absence

D．sense

4.

A．learning

B．complaining

C．discussing

D．worrying

5.

A．shape

B．order

C．place

D．touch

6.

A．abandoning

B．explaining

C．experiencing

D．delivering

7.

A．meet

B．phone

C．persuade

D．inform

8.

A．put away

B．backed down

C．carried on

D．pulled up

9.

A．trick

B．power

C．choice

D．origin

10.

A．students

B．workmates

C．strangers

D．learners

11.

A．influenced

B．left

C．explored

D．enjoyed

12.

A．as a result

B．by accident

C．with a bang

D．in a way

13.

A．suspect

B．accomplish

C．witness

D．appreciate

14.

A．anxiety

B．persistence

C．charity

D．passion

15.

A．recovery

B．comparison

C．example

D．diligence

5 . I am excited to be teaching in an introductory history seminar (研讨班) on the world of Thomas Jefferson. It affords a(n) ________ chance to help show students why history is a way of thinking, seeing, and understanding.

I love seeing students try to make ________ of somebody from the 18th century, whether it is Jefferson or somebody whose life was closely ________ with his own. Often, students at first are confident that they ________ an 18th-century person, and that such an individual was inspired by the same things that ________ them today. But then, when I ________ certain things this historical figure said or did, students are often amazed at how ________ the person in fact is, and how unusual the individual’s assumptions, beliefs, and desires are ________ to their own!

With more ________, they begin to see how the peculiar (奇怪的) can appear ________, how the strange can, in fact, seem so appropriate. At the beginning students ________ to force their own beliefs and assumptions on the past, while now they begin to see the past according to its own ________. I am always happy witnessing that transformation in vision, in seeing ________ come to life for students. Such a transformation not only certainly ________ the 18th century and allows students to better understand history, but it also helps them master a(n) ________ that they can use for the rest of their lives.

1.

A．expensive

B．serious

C．fantastic

D．acceptable

2.

A．sense

B．use

C．mistakes

D．excuses

3.

A．fixed

B．connected

C．tied

D．contacted

4.

A．interview

B．imagine

C．describe

D．understand

5.

A．support

B．satisfy

C．attract

D．guide

6.

A．point out

B．look on

C．think up

D．put through

7.

A．famous

B．powerful

C．unique

D．noble

8.

A．combined

B．compared

C．added

D．devoted

9.

A．experiments

B．research

C．suggestions

D．introductions

10.

A．magical

B．surprising

C．interesting

D．logical

11.

A．preferred

B．succeeded

C．expected

D．failed

12.

A．structures

B．agreements

C．conditions

D．directions

13.

A．century

B．history

C．seminar

D．facts

14.

A．reveals

B．discovers

C．divides

D．explains

15.

A．skill

B．subject

C．event

D．relationship

6 . The next morning Alex was waiting in the FMA president’s suite when Jerome Patterton arrived. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. Then he said, “I want you to give an order to the trust department to sell every share of Supranational we’re holding.”

“I won’t!” Patterton’s voice rose. “Who do you think you are, giving orders---“ “I’ll tell you who I am, Jerome. I’m the guy who warned the board against in-depth involvement with SuNatCo. I fought against heavy trust department buying of the stock, but no one---including you ---would listen. Now Supranational is caving in.” Alex leaned across the desk and slammed a fist down hard. “Don’t you understand? Supranational can bring this bank down with it.”

Patterton was shaken. “But is SuNatCo in real trouble? Are you sure?”

“If I weren’t, do you think I’d be here? I’m giving you a chance to salvage something at least.” He pointed to his wristwatch. “It’s an hour since the New York stock market opened. Jerome, get on the phone and give that order!”

Muscles around the bank president’s mouth twitched nervously. Never decisive, strong influence often swayed him. He hesitated, then picked up the telephone.

“Get me Mitchell in the trust department… Mitch? This is Jerome. Listen carefully. I want you to give a sell order immediately on all the Supranational stock we hold… Yes, sell every share.” Patterton listened, then said impatiently, “Yes, I know what it’ll do to the market. And I know it’s irregular.” His eyes sought Alex’s for reassurance. The hand holding the telephone trembled as he said, “There’s no time to hold meetings. So do it! Yes, I accept responsibility.”

He hung up and reached for a glass of water. “The stock is already down. Our selling will depress it more. We’ll be taking a big beating.”

“It’s our clients---people who trusted us---who will take the beating. And they’d have taken a bigger one still, if we’d waited. Even now we’re not out of the woods. A week from now the SEC may disallow those sales. They may rule we had inside knowledge that Supranational was about to be bankrupt, which we should have reported and which would have halted trading in the stock.

1. Alex filled him in quickly on the Jax report. The sentence means____.

A．He filled his name on the Jax report quickly.

B．Alex signed his name to the Jax report quickly.

C．He offered the FMA president the Jax report smartly.

D．He prepared the Jax report for Patterton to sign smartly.

2. From the context we can infer that ________.

A．SuNatCo would bring the stock market down if it sold all the Supranational stock they held.

B．The president was stubborn and would never listen to others.

C．Alex will take the place of Patterton in the future.

D．the clients would take a bigger beating than the bank

3. The New York stock market is the place where_____.

A．the old stock can be bought and sold

B．shares can be bought and sold

C．paper stock can be bought and sold

D．some of the stock can be taken without being paid for

4. In the sentence “Even now we’re not out the woods.” The phrase “out of the woods” means _____.

A．free from danger	B．short of wood
C．running out of wood	D．set free

7 . Age is truly just a number if our hearts are young. Lee Minor, an 85-year-old retired psychologist, has________this by finishing his 600th marathon race with 32 members of his family by his side. “Runners don’t have a________line. We just keep going,” he toldGood Morning America. “I felt________running with my family.” Minor has been running three days a week since 1969, and his heart is filled with enthusiasm for running.

“I like to run in all kinds of________. It is so childish as the rain touches your face. And I love to come here after snow and you watch your________as you go along.” he concluded.

Minor’s enthusiasm for running is________. “It is my joy. And I want to live as long as I can. And I mean live, not________.” His words ring true for Ron Robert, a man diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease who decided to ________ a three-year bachelor of artsprogram at King’s University College in London, Ontario. “I was always taught early in life that the brain is like the most ________instrument we have in our body,” said Robert.

Last fall, Robert graduated from the university, despite the challenges of his illness. “When I went across the stage, and as I’m getting my________, the kids all stood up andyelled and clapped,” he________. “I had to hold back the tears. It was something else, just wonderful.” He hopes that his story will give hope to others facing________difficulties. “There will come a time when I won’t be able to, and I fully________that. Butin the meantime, I’m living a full life.”

The stories of Minor and Robert are reminders that age and illness need not________us. We can choose to pursue our________and live life to the fullest, no matter whatchallenges we may face.

1.

A．proven

B．approved

C．won

D．imagined

2.

A．starting

B．center

C．finishing

D．bottom

3.

A．depressed

B．thrilled

C．calm

D．uneasy

4.

A．weather

B．zones

C．illness

D．phases

5.

A．position

B．footprints

C．reflections

D．route

6.

A．infectious

B．temporary

C．blind

D．restricted

7.

A．wait

B．abandon

C．exist

D．run

8.

A．award

B．suspend

C．quit

D．pursue

9.

A．powerful

B．visible

C．boring

D．accurate

10.

A．uniform

B．application

C．certificate

D．license

11.

A．slid away

B．gave up

C．broke in

D．choked out

12.

A．emotional

B．identical

C．financial

D．abstract

13.

A．enjoy

B．reject

C．doubt

D．expect

14.

A．save

B．define

C．distinguish

D．witness

15.

A．scholarship

B．fitness

C．passion

D．career

8 . Zhou Dongyu was born into an ordinary family in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province in early 1992. In 2010, Zhang Yimou chose Zhou from more than 8,000 actresses to star in Under the Hauthorn Tree, and she soon became known to the people of her hometown after winning Best Actress at the 56th Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain, the Outstanding New Actress Award at the 14th China Huabiao Awards and Best New Performer at the 20th Shanghai Film Critics Association Awards for her role in Under the Hauthorn Tree.

The luck of the young actress continued from there. In 2011, she was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy (BFA), China’s most respected film school.

In the three years there, Zhou received a number of film offers and starred in several, but the characters always seemed the same. “I’m always that innocent girl—the first-love type,” she once lamented. She felt the need to break out of the pigeonhole(禁锢). In 2013, Zhou auditioned(试演) for a small role in Breakup Buddies. “Actually, the director turned me down at first. But days later, he called me in for an audition. ‘I have to land this role’ was all I could think on the way to the audition. It was the perfect opportunity to change my image.” During her audition, Zhou was asked to do some name-calling. Two days later, she was told that she had been cast as a rural hairdresser, turning her previous lovable, innocent image upside down and resulting in the most memorable female character in the film.

After Breakup Buddies, Zhou began to receive a wider variety of offers, and she ended up playing an ill-tempered genius in The Ark of Mr. Chow and an agent in the TV drama Sparrow. “I still need to further improve my skills by playing different characters,” says Zhou. “By doing this, I get a deeper understanding of a wider variety of people I might not have otherwise ever known.”

1. What can we know of Zhou when she was 18?

A．She hit the big time.	B．She became world famous.
C．She performed in a senior high school.	D．She directed Under the Hawthorn Tree.

2. What does the underlined word “lamented” mean in the third paragraph?

A．Explained patiently.

B．Sighed sadly.

C．Said proudly.

D．Admitted unwillingly.

3. Which of the following marks the change in Zhou’s acting style?

A．Under the Hawthorn Tree.	B．The Ark of Mr. Chow.
C．Breakup Buddies.	D．Sparrow.

4. How is the passage mainly developed?

A．By giving descriptions.	B．By following time order.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By giving examples.

9 . This morning, I was flagged down by an elderly Chinese woman speaking to me in Mandarin. She spoke no English at all. She was _________ and was trying to walk home. Although I was on my morning exercise, I knew her reaching out had to be _________.

I quickly downloaded a(n) _________ App, and tried to find someone who could _________ Chinese but without success. So we used the microphone to translate and talk. Then I _________ she was at least 45 minutes walking distance from home. She didn’t want to take a taxi, but agreed to let me walk her to a bus stop where she could go by bus _________.

It was such a lovely encounter (相遇), despite having to _________ by an App and having to put trust in someone entirely strange. I was so pleased to be able to _________ this woman. This lost, elderly woman was extra grateful for my time and kept _________ for taking my time. I had to keep reminding her that was no __________ at all, and I only wanted to __________ she got home safely.

The time spent with her was really special. We chatted through the App, and I was __________ by her ability to ask for help from a total stranger and put her faith in me. We walked, talked and laughed for she had an awesome sense of __________.

We said goodbye, and my heart was filled with __________ for human. It’s one of the few times I’ve been so grateful for __________ because I could communicate with someone despite the language barriers.

1.

A．injured

B．lost

C．abandoned

D．robbed

2.

A．put aside

B．thought carefully

C．taken seriously

D．guarded against

3.

A．translation

B．entertainment

C．finance

D．medicine

4.

A．teach

B．grasp

C．write

D．speak

5.

A．guessed

B．found

C．inquired

D．agreed

6.

A．in a moment

B．without any delay

C．at no cost

D．on her own

7.

A．trade

B．riddle

C．exchange

D．communicate

8.

A．discover

B．assist

C．protect

D．adopt

9.

A．asking

B．accounting

C．apologizing

D．paying

10.

A．trouble

B．meaning

C．wonder

D．fun

11.

A．predict

B．suspect

C．believe

D．ensure

12.

A．terrified

B．amused

C．touched

D．astonished

13.

A．direction

B．humor

C．achievement

D．belonging

14.

A．hope

B．pity

C．sympathy

D．admiration

15.

A．sport

B．nature

C．technology

D．society

10 . I was young and determined to take an adventurous trip. But _________ nearly 875 yards out of a cable car (缆车), with a rubber band attached to my ankles, was not part of my plan. It’s _________ how intentions can change.

Staring over the _________ of the cable car, my heart was in my throat. I _________ heard the others behind me counting down. How could I have let myself be _________ into this? It was crazy!

My palms were _________, and my heart was pounding.

“Five.” They started the _________ for the second time, ignoring my useless protests.

“Four.”

“Three.”

“Two.” In that instant I _________ my mind a million times and came to the final _________ that there was no way I could allow myself to leap out of the cable car, suspended so high off the ground.

__________ my ankles please!

Then...

“One.”

I let go and leaped out as far as I could. If there had been time to __________ it for another second, I would have stopped myself. But instead, I jumped.

It felt as if all my fears, insecurities, and doubts were being let go. An enormous sense of __________ rose up in me. As I fell toward the earth __________ first, I saw my new friends waiting for me on the ground and could hear them __________ my victory over fear.

Jumping out of the cable car put me on __________ of the world, and that’s where I am determined to remain for the rest of my life.

1.

A．sliding

B．jumping

C．running

D．climbing

2.

A．unacceptable

B．important

C．inspiring

D．funny

3.

A．bottom

B．edge

C．middle

D．ceiling

4.

A．correctly

B．frequently

C．barely

D．actually

5.

A．talked

B．looked

C．checked

D．turned

6.

A．warm

B．dry

C．sweaty

D．icy

7.

A．encouragement

B．order

C．process

D．countdown

8.

A．changed

B．fixed

C．focused

D．made

9.

A．attempt

B．decision

C．destination

D．stage

10.

A．Untie

B．Hold

C．Unfold

D．Catch

11.

A．approve of

B．complain of

C．think about

D．dream about

12.

A．uncertainty

B．freedom

C．trust

D．panic

13.

A．head

B．hands

C．feet

D．back

14.

A．screaming

B．waving

C．claiming

D．applauding

15.

A．end

B．top

C．outside

D．center