On Thanksgiving weekend, the Heffelmire family gathered for a meal at their home. After dinner, the family went down to the finished basement to relax except Charlotte’s father, Eric, who was in the garage to fix his truck．
Around 8 p.m., Charlotte decided to check on her dad. She walked through the kitchen. When she opened the side door to the garage, black smoke rose up into the kitchen. She could barely make out her father lying on his back, trapped under the truck. He’d removed the front passenger-side tyre and raised the truck on a jack（千斤顶）. The truck had slipped off the jack, and now the whole weight of the wheel was on his chest and shoulders．
Charlotte ran to the front of the truck and struggled to lift it. Eric was still conscious, and he yelled, “You got it! One more try!” She tried again and was able to tip the truck backward just enough for her to pull her dad by the shirt with both hands from under the truck．
She dragged him across the garage and 20 feet down the driveway. Then she ran back to the garage, which had burst into flames. “I was afraid the car was going to explode,” says Charlotte, so she climbed into the truck, which faced forward, turned the key, and pressed the gas pedal（油门）. The car slowly rolled out, the metal wheel scratching loudly against the concrete．
Safely on the driveway, Charlotte stopped the truck and ran back to the basement. “There’s a fire! Everybody get out!” she yelled as she picked up her three-month-old niece and ran out. Outside, she handed the baby to her mom, and then ran around to the burning garage. She picked up a garden hose（水管）and sprayed the fire while calling 911．
A few minutes later, firefighters and an ambulance arrived. Charlotte was treated for second-degree burns on both her feet and face. Her dad had injuries on his chest and shoulders, as well as minor burns on his face. The garage and the house were damaged but the family survived．
The Heffelmires are staying in an apartment while their house is rebuilt. “Charlotte is a remarkable kid,” says her dad. Charlotte, however, simply says, “ I was saving my family and my house. I wasn’t going to let my dad die.”
1. Eric got trapped because_________| A．the truck slipped off the jack. |
| B．the wheel fell off the truck. |
| C．the front tyre was removed. |
| D．the kitchen was on fire. |
a. Charlotte called the firefighters．
b. Charlotte saved Eric from under the truck．
c. Charlotte drove the truck out of the garage．
d. Charlotte warned the family to leave the house．
| A．b, c, a, d | B．a, b, d, c |
| C．b, c, d, a | D．a, c, b, d |
| A．the house was not fit to live in. |
| B．the truck exploded. |
| C．the three-month-old baby was injured. |
| D．Charlotte was burned on her chest and shoulders. |
| A．proud and clear-headed. |
| B．calm and quick-minded. |
| C．modest and easy-going. |
| D．independent and self-centered. |
2 . Cattle manure(粪肥) has become one of the world’s greatest environmental killers, but one Dutch artist is using chemistry to turn it into something that is both eco-friendly and valuable.
In recent years, scientists around the world have made great progress in their attempts to recycle cattle manure, including turning it into natural fertilizer, but Eindhoven designer Jalila Essaidi didn’t think they were efficient enough to solve the global manure problem. So she started on her very own solution, one that approached animal waste as a valuable material that could be processed into useful products.
She started by separating the waste, with the dry manure used to get pure cellulose(纤维素) from the grass that cows eat. From the wet manure, she got acids used to create a natural liquid plastic which was used to make fiber that are later turned into fabric(material used for making clothes).
This new material was named Mestic, from mest, the Dutch word for manure. Essaidi claim that it has the same function as plastic from fossil fuels, but is bio-degradable(可生物降解的). Better yet, the degradability can be dealt with in the lab, making it possible to create materials that last for different periods of time depending on their purpose. “This is not the first time that scientists have been looking for ways to solve the manure problem, but it is the first time that manure is being considered as a valuable resource.” the Dutch designer said.
Last year, Jalila Essaldi partnered with the city of Eindhoven to produce a fashion show using Mestic-based fabrics. Her Mestic collection was so impressive that clothing giant H&M awarded her the Global Change Award and a $1million prize. And cow manure is just the beginning of Jalila Essaldi’s experiments with animal waste. “After cows, we’ll deal with pigs and other animals,” she said.
1. Why has the author written the text?| A．To suggest practical ways to deal with cattle manure. |
| B．To advertise for some clothes made by a Dutch company. |
| C．To introduce a designer who turns cow manure into clothing. |
| D．To persuade people to purchase products made from manure. |
| A．acids→liquid plastic→manure→fabric→fibers→clothing |
| B．manure→acids→liquid plastic→fibers→fabric→clothing |
| C．liquid plastic→manure→fabric→fibers→ acids→clothing |
| D．fibers→manure→acids→fabric→liquid plastic→clothing |
| A．Its smell is rather terrible. | B．It is made from fossil fuels. |
| C．Its name has a Dutch origin. | D．It can only be made in the lab. |
| A．Something more needs to be done about cow manure. |
| B．She will switch to other animals waste in the future. |
| C．What experiments to do next really puzzles her. |
| D．The future of fashionable clothing is optimistic. |
3 . One day, a man saw an old lady sitting inside her car at the side of the road. Though it was dark, he could see she needed help. So he stopped his car and walked towards her. The old lady was worried, even though she noticed the smile on his face. Was he going to hurt her?“I’11 help you start your car, madam. By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson,”he said.
While Anderson was fitting a spare tire(备胎)to her car, the lady began to talk to him. She thanked him much for coming to help.
Anderson just smiled as he put his tools away. The lady asked how much she should pay him. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give them the help they needed. He waited until she started her car and drove off.
A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small restaurant. She went in and a waitress came over with a sweet smile. The old lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant(怀孕的), but she never let the pains and aches change her smile when she served her
The lady finished her meal and paid with a hundred-dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change, but the old lady was gone when the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she found there was a note on the napkin(餐巾), “You don’t need to give me anything back. Somebody once helped me out the way I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do—do not let this chain(链子)of love end with you.”
Under the napkin were four more$ 100 bills．
1. Why did Anderson tell his name to the old lady?| A．Because he wanted to check if the lady knew him． |
| B．Because he hoped that may help relax the lady． |
| C．Because he thought he could be paid back one day． |
| D．Because he wanted to leave his name for doing good things． |
| A．The old lady and Anderson． | B．The people who need help． |
| C．The old lady and the waitress． | D．The people who help others． |
①Thankful②Happy③Worried④Helpless⑤Willing and ready to help
| A．④③①⑤② | B．④①③②⑤ |
| C．③②①⑤④ | D．③①④⑤② |
| A．The meal cost the old lady 400 dollars． |
| B．Anderson must be helped by someone before． |
| C．The old lady was able to fit a spare tire herself． |
| D．The waitress will probably help someone later． |
| A．The Help of Strangers | B．The Power of Smile |
| C．The Chain of Love | D．The Bill of Kindness |
4 . Mekong fresh water irawaddy dolphin（短吻海豚）is an endangered species（濒危物种）throughout Asia, with reducing numbers inhabiting（栖息）stretches of the Mekong in Cambodia and Laos, and Bangladesh. The dolphins can live up to 30 years, grow up to 2. 5m in length, and can weigh 150kg.
Fortunately for travellers, the dolphins have become a popular tourist attraction in recent years, providing a vital development to the local economy. Kratie, a sleepy provincial capital 7 hours by bus from Phnom Penh, is the best place to see them. The irrawaddy dolphins live in deep Mekong pool all year round and can be found at Kampi village 15km north of Kratie town, which has become a symbol of the town’s rejuvenation after years of war and neglect. The trip to see the dolphins can be started at any time of the day from Kratie town and travel upstream around 30 minutes by car along a quiet paved road to Kampi, a riverside fishing village.
The dolphins can usually be seen right from the river bank, but it’s worthwhile to take a spotting cruise in one of the wooden long-tail boats available for hire. The irrawaddy dolphins won’t come right up to the boat like their gregarious （群居的）saltwater cousins, but they are easy to find, lying lazily on the surface, or breaking water with a distinctive puff of spray while chasing fish.
The boat trip in drive season is only 60 minutes. The boat men will turn off the motor to approach the dolphins and sail with wooden oars, or simply make fast to a clump of brush when dolphins are nearby. In just over an hour on the boat, you will see the dolphins over a hundred times, at a range close enough to distinguish（辨别）between individual animals.
1. What is the main idea of the first paragraph？| A．General information of irrawaddy dolphins. |
| B．The protection of irrawaddy dolphins. |
| C．The distribution of irrawaddy dolphins. |
| D．The growth of irrawaddy dolphins. |
| A．destruction | B．reunion |
| C．recovery | D．reform |
| A．Kampi→Phnom Penh→Kratie |
| B．Phnom Penh→Kampi→Kratie |
| C．Kratie→Phnom Penh→Kampi |
| D．Phnom Penh→Kratie→Kampi |
| A．Irrawaddy dolphins can be watched closely. |
| B．Irrawaddy dolphins are not afraid of people. |
| C．Irrawaddy dolphins like to come right up to the boat. |
| D．Irrawaddy dolphins don’t live in groups. |
5 . One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes.
“Nothing fits,” said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. “Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don’t fit. People get very unhappy.”
Wong and her design partner, Xuaner "Cecilia" Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a "virtual (虚拟)fitting room". Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time. Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. They say, ‘The color is wrong’ or ‘I got the right size but it still does not fit.’ We want to make it like you’re in the store trying on the clothes,” Zhang said.
Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player, Zhang scans Wong and turns her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong's dimensions (尺寸), and even her skin and hair color
“We put the clothes on the shopper’s 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed,” Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts.
Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, “I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men.”
1. Why is shopping conveniently online for clothes a disadvantage?| A．Students may easily get addicted to it. |
| B．Clothes bought online may not fit |
| C．It attracts more online clothing shoppers. |
| D．It causes shoppers to waste too much money |
| A．scanning - trying on clothes - getting images |
| B．trying on clothes - getting models - scanning |
| C．scanning - getting models -trying on clothes |
| D．trying on clothes - getting images - scanning |
| A．It is perfectly developed | B．It will have its market share |
| C．It is limited to women shoppers. | D．It is like a kind of video game player |
6 . The lander-ascender (上升器) combination of China's Chang’e 5 robotic lunar probe (探测器) has finished gathering subsurface samples and packed them in vacuum container and is continuing collecting surface samples, according to the China National Space Administration.
The administration said in a statement on Wednesday morning that the drilling and packing processes of rocks and soil from 2 meters beneath lunar surface concluded at 4:53 am. A mechanical arm is continuing gathering surface samples.
The combination landed on the moon at 11:11 pm on Tuesday, becoming the third spacecraft that has successfully touched down on the lunar surface this century. The first two aircraft that had achieved this are also from China — the Chang’e 3 and 4. The combination is tasked with collecting about 2 kilograms of samples.
China’s largest and most sophisticated lunar probe, Chang’e 5 was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket early on Nov 24 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, undertaking the world’s first mission since 1976 to return lunar samples to Earth. The spacecraft is composed of four parts — orbiter (轨道飞行器), lander, ascender and re-entry capsule (返回舱).
Before the landing, Chang’e 5 separated into two parts — the orbiter-reentry capsule combination and the lander-ascender combination — in a lunar orbit early on Monday morning so as to prepare for the landing operation.
While the lander-ascender combination is carrying out surface operations, the orbiter-reentry capsule combination is traveling in a lunar orbit at an average altitude of around 200 km above the moon. After all surface operations are done, an engine on the ascender will lift it to meet the reentry module. It will transfer the lunar samples to the module and then separate from it.
The orbiter-reentry combination capsule will then return to the Earth’s orbit, where the pair will break up and the reentry capsule will return to a preset landing site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in mid-December.
If the mission is successful, it will make China the third nation to bring samples back from the moon, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
1. What does the underlined word “sophisticated” in Paragraph 4 refer to?| A．Popular. | B．Advanced. | C．Necessary. | D．Difficult. |
a. landing on the moon.
b. separating Chang’e 5 into two parts.
c. launching Chang’e 5 lunar probe from the rocket.
d. collecting subsurface and surface samples.
e. returning to the Earth’s orbit.
| A．cbade. | B．baced. | C．bcaed. | D．cbdae. |
| A．Chang’e 5 has finished collecting samples on the surface. |
| B．The reentry capsule will return with the lunar samples. |
| C．The orbiter-reentry capsule will be together all the time. |
| D．The reentry capsule will return to the launch center. |
| A．In a travel brochure. | B．In a geography textbook. |
| C．In a science newspaper. | D．In a personal diary. |
7 . Rocky was a 65-pound dog. Rita was his eleven-year old owner. When Rocky was given to her, Rita immediately liked him. Whenever she was not in school,the two were always together and within touching distance. The family would lovingly call the pair “R and R".
But Rocky had one shortcoming. He feared water very much because of a terrible experience. When he was at the age of seven weeks long before he met Rita,he was nearly drowned by a naughty boy who had been blamed by his father.
One late afternoon,Rita's mother took R and R to a shopping area near a lake. Rita was running along the wooden bridge over the water,enjoying the beautiful scenery around. Suddenly a boy on a bicycle hit Rita. She let out a cry of pain and fell into the lake.
Rita's mother was at the entrance of a store not far away. She rushed to the lake shouting for help. Rocky seemed to forget his fear and jumped into the water to save his owner. Rocky immediately swam to Rita and held her by the shoulder's clothes with his mouth. Rita's face was quickly out of the water and she could cough.Luckily,the water was calm,they were not far from the bank,and Rocky finally reached a depth where his feet were on solid ground. He pulled Rita hard until her head was completely out of the water, and then he stood beside her, licking(舔） her face.
Rita and her family firmly believed that it was only the big dog's love for the little girl that caused him to take action that might be life-dangerous.
1. From the text, we know .| A．Rita was once blamed |
| B．Rocky was eleven years old |
| C．Rita spent her spare time with Rocky |
| D．Rocky lived in Rita's home since his birth |
| A．Brave. | B．Honest. | C．Unkind. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．At noon. | B．At night. | C．In the morning. | D．In the afternoon. |
① Rocky came into Rita's life.② Rocky was nearly drowned.
③ They were playing near the lake. ④ Rocky saved Rita from the water.
| A．①②④③ | B．②①③④ | C．③①②④ | D．④③②① |
| A．It is love that can defeat fear when in danger. |
| B．It is life-dangerous for children to be left alone. |
| C．Anyone who treats animals badly should be blamed. |
| D．Children should be encouraged to keep a pet as a friend. |
8 . Looking back on too many years of education, I can identify one truly impossible teacher. She cared about me, and my intellectual life, even when I didn’t. Her expectations were high—impossibly so. She was an English teacher. She was also my mother.
When good students turn in an essay, they dream of their instructor returning it to them in exactly the same condition, save for a single word added in the margin of the final page: “Flawless.” This dream came true for me one afternoon in the ninth course. I had heard that genius could show itself at an early age, so I was only slightly taken aback that I had achieved perfection at the age of 14. Obviously, I did what any professional writer would do; I hurried off to spread the good news. I didn’t get very far. The first person I told was my mother.
My mother is normally incredibly soft-spoken, but when she got angry, she was terrifying. I am not sure if she was more upset by my hubris(得意忘形) or by the fact that my English teacher had let my ego get so out of hand. In any event, my mother and her red pen showed me how deeply flawed a flawless essay could be. At the time, I am sure she thought she was teaching me about transitions (过渡), structure, style and voice. But what I learned was a deeper lesson about the nature of creative criticism.
Creative criticism implies something about who is able to give it, who knows you well enough to show you how your mental life is getting in the way of good writing. They are also the people who care enough to see you through this painful realization. ①
I was lucky enough to find a critic and teacher who was willing to make the journey of writing with me. “It is a thing of no great difficulty,” according to Plutarch, “to raise objections against another man’s speech, it is a very easy matter; but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.” Perhaps Plutarch is suggesting something a bit closer to Marcus Cicero’s claim that one should “criticize by creation, not by finding fault.” Genuine criticism creates a precious opening for an author to become better on his own terms—a process that is often extremely painful, but also almost always meaningful.
② My mother said she would help me with my writing, but first I had to help myself. For each assignment, I was to write the best essay I could. Real criticism is not meant to find obvious mistakes, so if she found any—the type I could have found on my own—I had to start from scratch. From scratch. Once the essay was “flawless”, she would take an evening to walk me through my errors. ③
She criticized me when I included little-known references and professional jargon (行话). She had no patience for brilliant but irrelevant figures of speech. Somewhere along the way I set aside my hopes of writing that flawless essay. ④ But perhaps I missed something important in my mother’s lessons about creativity and perfection. Perhaps the point of writing the flawless essay was not to give up, but to never willingly finish. Whitman repeatedly reworked “Song of Myself” between 1855 and 1891. Repeatedly. We do our absolute best with a piece of writing, and come as close as we can to the ideal. And, for the time being, we settle. In critique, however, we are forced to depart, to give up the perfection we thought we had achieved for the chance of being even a little bit better. This is the lesson I took from my mother: If perfection were possible, it would not be motivating.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?| A．The author performed perfectly as a professional writer. |
| B．The author didn’t think he was good at writing a flawless essay. |
| C．The author never dreamed of his essay being marked as “flawless”. |
| D．The author was not much surprised at his essay being marked as “flawless”. |
| A．The author’s mother taught him about the structure of a perfect essay. |
| B．The author’s mother pointed out lots of faults in his seemingly perfect essay. |
| C．The author’s mother taught him how to leave a lasting mark on the essay. |
| D．The author’s mother underlined the important style and voice in his essay. |
| A．giving constructive criticism is an easy matter |
| B．criticizing someone is painful and meaningless |
| C．finding fault is better than coming up with a better work |
| D．criticizing someone’s speech is easier than coming up with a better one |
That was when true criticism, the type that changed me as a person, began.
| A．① | B．② | C．③ | D．④ |
| A．generous and strict | B．demanding and caring |
| C．stubborn and loving | D．critical and troublesome |
| A．The Perfect Essay | B．My Dear Mother |
| C．True Criticism | D．The Skills of Writing |
9 . The Hodgeheg
By now it was quite late. The rush hour was over. The shops were shut. All was quiet. I'll wait, thought Max, and then when a car or truck comes along, I'll cross in front of it.
Soon he saw something coming. It was a truck. He was halfway across when he suddenly realized that the truck hadn't slowed at all and was almost on top of him, blinding him with its brilliant lights, deafening him with its thunderous roar. It was not going to stop! Trucks stopped only for people-not hedgehogs!
The truck driver had been quite unaware of the tiny pedestrian. With no time to brake, he straddled the little animal. Looking back in his mirror, he saw that it was continuing on its way unhurt, and he grinned and drove on into the night.
The horror of this great monster passing above with its huge wheels on either side of him threw Max into a blind panic, and he made for the end of the crossing as fast as his legs would carry him. He did not see the cyclist and the cyclist, who did not see him until the last moment, caught Max on the bottom and threw him headfirst into the roadside.
The next thing that Max recalled was crawling painfully. Somehow he had managed to come back. He had known nothing of the concern of the cyclist, who had stared at what looked like a small dead hedgehog, sighed, and rode sadly away. He remembered nothing of his journey home, guided only by his sense of smell. All he knew was that he had an awful headache.
The family crowded around him on his return, all talking at once.
“Where have you been all this time?” asked Ma.
“Are you all right, son?” asked Pa.
“Did you cross the road?” they both said, and Peony, Pansy, and Petunia echoed, “Did you? Did you? Did you?”
For a while, Max did not reply. His thoughts were muddled(混乱的), and when he did speak, his words were disordered, too.
“I've got a head on the bump,” he said slowly.
The family looked at one another.
“Something bot me on the hittom,” said Max, “and then I headed my bang. My ache bads headly.”
“But did you cross the road?” cried his sisters.
“Yes,” said Max. “I hound where the humans cross over, but…”
“But the traffic only stops if you're a human?” interrupted Pa.
“Yes,” said Max. “Not if you're a hodgeheg.”
1. What's the correct order of the events that happened?① Max got hit on the bottom and bumped the head.
② Max explained what led him to such a situation.
③ Max was surrounded by the family who were curious and concerned.
④ Max waited for the chance to cross the street.
⑤ Max narrowly escaped being hit by the truck.
⑥ Max managed to return home.
| A．④⑤①⑥②③ | B．④⑤①⑥③② | C．④①⑤⑥②③ | D．④①⑤⑥③② |
| A．Max wanted to find out how to cross the road safely when a vehicle came along. |
| B．Max was seriously injured, so he hurried to the end of the crossing. |
| C．The cyclist sighed sadly because he believed the truck driver had killed Max. |
| D．Peony, Pansy, and Petunia,who echoed “Did you?” were Max's brothers. |
| A．The writer intends to convey some moral ideas to his readers. |
| B．Readers may wonder what is special about the writer's writing techniques. |
| C．It is typical of writers to be creative and try unique ideas. |
| D．Readers' curiosity can be aroused and they will continue reading. |
| A．Serious. | B．Concerned. | C．Casual. | D．Humorous. |
| A．Science fiction. | B．Travel brochure. |
| C．Children's tales. | D．Traffic guidebook. |
10 . Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the center circles looks larger? In Diagram B? In fact, they are exactly the same size.
Then look at the picture on the right. What do you see? A vase? Or two faces？Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can never see them at the same time.
“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see.
Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:
When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “visual illusion ( 错误)”.
Movie makers often make use of visual illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey I shrunk the kids just make use of visual illusions.
1. Why does the center circle in Diagram A look smaller than that in Diagram B?| A．Something is wrong with our eyes. |
| B．The two circles are not the same size. |
| C．The two pictures change quickly from one to the other. |
| D．Our brains interpret the information in a wrong way. |
a. We look at things with our eyes. b. Our brains interpret the messages.
c. Our brains tell us what we have seen. d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.
| A．c a b d | B．a d b c | C．a c d b | D．b c a d |
| A．To make the actors seem different in size |
| B．To make the actors much braver |
| C．To help the actors become stronger |
| D．To help the actors look better |
