1 . Thomas was a well-known wise man. One day, he wandered in a beautiful small town. Because of his fame, people from nearby towns who heard of his arrival all came to visit and seek his advice.

Many who came sought help with difficulties in daily life, and Thomas, unable to bear turning them away, patiently offered suggestions. Word spread quickly, and more and more people came to see Thomas for guidance.

One day, dozens of people crowded outside Thomas’s door, all clamoring (大声地要求) that their problems were the most serious and urgent, each insisting that Thomas address their concerns first, with no one willing to yield (让步).

After a moment of thought, Thomas took out some paper and a pen and said, “I can’t hear clearly with everyone talking at once. How about everyone write down your problem on a piece of paper and place it in this basket beside me?”

Once everyone had placed their notes in the basket, Thomas shook the basket and said, “Please each take a piece of paper from the basket and read what it says.”

As everyone read a note from someone else, they all realized that indeed, each person has their own troubles, and every household has its own challenges. Then Thomas spoke up, “Now, whose problem is the most urgent to solve?” Hearing that question, no one spoke again, because now no one dared to claim that their problem was the most severe.

Often, we are bound by our immediate feelings. When difficulties and problems strike, it feels as though we are caught in a vortex of pain. But if we shift our focus from ourselves and look towards others, we might discover that the problems we face are not so significant. Perhaps others are the ones who need help more urgently, or maybe there is something within our power that we can do for them.

1. Why did people visit Thomas?

A．For advice.	B．For a meeting.
C．For a competition.	D．For introductions.

2. How did Thomas handle the crowd?

A．He ignored them.	B．He listened to each one individually.
C．He prioritized the problems himself.	D．He asked them to write down their problems.

3. What did reading others’ problems show to the people?

A．The complexity of their difficulties.	B．The similarity of their situations.
C．Their need for more advice.	D．Their living conditions.

4. What lesson did Thomas teach?

A．Competition.

B．Sympathy.

C．Prioritization.

D．Self-confidence.

2 . SarahRose Black isn’t a doctor or a nurse. Since 2013 she has played an important role for patients at the center as a music therapist (治疗师). One day, a nurse at a medical centre asked her if she could reach out to a patient who refused to take part in any activities. “He’s angry with us, and we wonder if you might have an interest in it.” the nurse told her.

The next day, Black offered to play music for the patient. “If you don’t like it, you can tell me to leave.” she said. After thinking for a while, the man wrote down the names of some music he liked and then looked out the window. However, as Black began to play one of his favorites, he cried. She stopped playing, saying, "Do you want me to continue?" "Certainly," he said through tears.

“It was as if the music went places," recalls Black.” He shared afterwards that he’d been holding in so much and had been unable to talk about anything —but the music felt like a hug."

It has been shown that music can be medicine. A study conducted in Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar found patients receiving music therapy experienced obvious decreases in anxiety and breathing difficulties, as well as an increase in feelings of well-being.

At the Dr Bob Kemp Hospice in Hamilton, Ont., music therapy is widely used. Doug Mattina experienced a music-therapy program when his father spent his last days there. "During the treatment, my mom and I danced around my dad’s bed. He would request high kicks from us as he clapped along. He was so weak that he sometimes fell asleep, but he was happy. It meant a lot to us." Mattina says.

Music has an especially important effect on sick children. Ruth Hunston, a music therapist at a children’s hospital, says her program gives patients back some sense of control. "When children are in hospital, their worlds get much smaller," she explains. "Music allows them to create something themselves."

Music does count in treatment, but Black notes that people actually connect with music for their whole lives.“ We have a heartbeat, so we have a drum inside us; we are born to be musical,”she says,“ Music relieves our sadness in ways words cannot.”

1. How did the patient react to Black’s appearance?

A．He asked her to leave.	B．He cried and hugged her.
C．He handed her a list of songs.	D．He turned away and walked to the window.

2. What do the underlined words “went places” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Got faster.

B．Went wrong.

C．Worked well.

D．Slowed down.

3. What is mentioned about Doug Mattina’s father?

A．He often did high kicks.	B．He was once a music therapist.
C．He didn’t like talking about his illness.	D．He fell in and out of sleep in the treatment.

4. How does music therapy help children according to Hunston?

A．It improves their social ability.	B．It helps them create something.
C．It helps them enjoy a sound sleep.	D．It excites their interest in medical treatment.

5. Which of the following can best describe Black?

A．Thoughtful and helpful.	B．Strong and talented.
C．Intelligent and honest.	D．Hardworking and humorous.

3 . 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

4 . “The first prize for the bicycle race is $1,000,” said Mr. Hakansson.

“The judges won’t let you race,” said Mrs. Hakansson. “You’re 66 years old.”

“I am going to race,” said Mr. Hakansson. “And I am going to win!”

Mrs. Hakansson only smiled. She knew he couldn’t be in the race. He was 66 years old. But she also knew that he would try.

Mr. Hakansson went to see the judges. “I want to be in that race,” he said.

“Go home to your rocking chair!” said one of the judges. “You are too old. This race lasts for days. The men go from one end of Sweden to the other. That’s more than 1,000 miles. You would never make it.”

“We’ll see,” said Mr. Hakansson.

Over 1,000 men wanted to be in the race. The judges picked only 50. They were all strong young men. They went by train to the town where the race would begin. There they spent days getting ready.

Mr. Hakansson was not one of the 50. So he couldn’t ride on the train.

“Then I’ll ride my bicycle,” he said. And he did. He rode 1,000 miles just to get where the race was to start!

At last, the race began. The 50 strong young men climbed on their bicycles. One of the judges fired a gun. And the young men were off!

Close behind them came Mr. Hakansson. His long white beard waved in the wind. “You can keep me out of the race,” he said. “But you can’t keep me off the road!”

And then Mr. Hakansson moved in front of the 50 strong young men!

After a while he came to a small town. The street was lined with people. They cheered as Mr. Hakansson rode by.

“Look, Daddy,” said a small boy. “There goes Supergrandpa!” Everyone laughed.

A writer for a paper heard the boy. He took a picture of Mr. Hakansson and wrote a story about him. From then on everybody in Sweden was cheering for “Supergrandpa”.

Day after day the race went on. Each night the 50 strong men rested. But not Supergrandpa! He rode for three days and three nights without any sleep at all. Then he rested only three hours!

Supergrandpa didn’t even eat very much. He didn’t want to leave the road. But sometimes people brought him cake, coffee and berries. Then he would eat while sitting on his bicycle.

For more than six days Supergrandpa rode on. In all that time, he had only 10 hours of sleep.

At last he crossed the finish line — a day ahead of the strong men. All the town were there to meet him. Everybody cheered and cheered. A band from the fire station played. Dogs barked. Children danced around Supergrandpa.

1. Mr. Hakansson got to the town where the race began by ________.

A．running there	B．taking the train
C．driving his car	D．riding his bicycle

2. Mr. Hakansson crossed the finish line ________.

A．the day after he started the race	B．a few minutes before another racer
C．a day before the other cyclists	D．after ten hours of sleep

3. What might be the title of the story?

A．An Admirable Supergrandpa	B．An Exciting Riding Race
C．An Unbelievable Experience	D．An Unforgettable Old Man

5 . I had a summer camp with my classmates last year.

Early in the morning we met at the bus station. After saying goodbye to our parents, we got on the buses. It took us more than two hours to arrive at the campground (营地).

We got off the buses happily. Laughing and shouting. We jumped and ran all over the place. It was the first time for us to be away from the parents. Some of us started to feel homesick (想家).

However, when the night party and dances began, the homesickness was gone.

The next day, everybody went to the boating class hoping to be the first. At first, my friends and I worked hard, but the boat wouldn’t listen to us and kept going round and round. Then the teacher taught us how to work together. After many tries, we did much better. Swimming class was my favorite. It was about the hottest time of a day and the best time to stay in the cool water. The swimming teacher was a funny man, and during the class he often made us laugh happily. During the week I learned a lot of new things and made many new friends. I also learned how to take care of myself.

1. They got to the campground (营地)________.

A．on foot

B．by bike

C．by bus

D．by plane

2. The campground was ________ from their homes.

A．quite near

B．not far

C．very long

D．quite far

3. Why swimming class was the writer’s favorite?

A．Because it was good to stay in the cool water when the weather was hot.

B．Because the writer felt quite relaxed during the class.

C．Because the swimming teacher was interesting

D．All of the above(上面所有选项).

4. Which one is NOT true?

A．The children were so happy to go camping.

B．Their homesickness (想家) lasted for long time.

C．It was teamwork (配合) to boat

D．They camped for a week.

5. Which is the best title (标题) for the passage (文章)?

A．I learnt a lot	B．Boating and Swimming
C．For a week	D．My First Summer Camp

6 . 选词填空

A. eating          B. late       C. ducks       D. carefully     E. before F. vegetables     G. sorry     H. words       I. planted        J. shouted

Mrs. Brown had a small garden behind her house, and in the spring she     1     some vegetables in it. She looked after them very     2    , and when the summer came, they looked very nice. One evening Mrs. Brown looked at her     3     and said to her son, “Tomorrow we are going to pick them.”

But early the next morning, her son ran into the kitchen and     4    , “Mother! Come quickly! Our neighbor’s     5     are in the garden and they are     6     our vegetables!”

Mrs. Brown ran out, but it was too     7    ! All the vegetables were finished! Her neighbor was very     8    , but that was the end of the vegetables.

Then a few days     9     Christmas, the neighbor brought Mrs. Brown a large box. In it was a beautiful, fat duck, and on it was a piece of paper with the     10    , “Enjoy your vegetables!”

7 . It’s not unusual for kids to change friends, change schools, or change the way they dress as they’re growing up. But what about changing into a giant (巨大的) red panda? That’s the life of a 13-year-old girl named Mei Lee, the perfectly imperfect main character of Disney and Pixar’s new film, Turning Red.

Turning Red tells a coming-of-age story like no other. Mel is a Chinese Canadian girl who turns into a giant red panda anytime she experiences strong emotions, and must find a way to manage both her school life and home life in early 2000s Toronto, Canada. Mel tries to deal with hanging out with her three best friends, the boy band they like and her protective mother, who isn’t ready to let go of her growing daughter.

“Turning Red is inspired by the difficulties of growing up and trying to find out how to honor your parents, but also stay true to yourself,” said director Domee Shi. “For Mei Lee in the movie, before becoming the red panda, she thinks she has it all figured out, like we all did before we woke up one day and realized all of a sudden, we’re covered in body hair, our feelings are all over the place, and we’re hungry all the time.

Turning Red describes the complexities (难题) of mother-daughter relationships well. In fact, the real-life experiences of the film’s crew (摄制组成员) inspired several scenes. To make her crew share more about their childhood, Shi created a video at the office with her team. She encouraged everyone to look back to the past and bring out their embarrassing teen pictures and memories. It worked! “The crew started bringing in their old middle school yearbooks,” said producer Lindsey Collins. “They shared stories of their funny moments in middle school. Also, those of us who are parents shared our bad parenting moments. It’s meaningful. As a team, we just really tried to be real with one another about our daily failures and our daily successes.” It seems that however old you are, there is a little bit of Mei in all of us.

1. When will the girl turn into a giant red panda?

A．When she was 13 years old.	B．Anytime she has strong feelings.
C．When she stays with friends.	D．When she can manage her school life.

2. What is the main topic of the film?

A．Teenagers’ problems of growing up.	B．Dealing with home life wisely.
C．Getting along with best friends.	D．Ways to control emotions.

3. How did the director get inspiration about describing mother-daughter relationship?

A．She interviewed some middle school students.

B．She analyzed some typical pictures of her parents.

C．She thought hard and figured out the idea by herself.

D．She asked the film’s crew to share their experiences.

4. What is Lindsey Collins’s attitude towards sharing more about childhood?

A．Uncaring.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Supportive.

8 . My beloved grandma, had never left Australia and now never would due to cancer.

Planted _______ in the armchair, she had no alternative but to “travel” via the travel program on TV. I _______ the sadness and thought hard. It finally _______ me that I could ask strangers on the internet for help. I _______ the post:

My Nanny has cancer and she will never see the world. Please send her postcards so she can see the world from her armchair. I can offer nothing but gratitude.

I _______ not to breathe a word of this; should nothing come, I couldn’t bear to carry her _______ along with my own. Days _______ weeks and Nanny’s health declined rapidly, my suffering growing unbearable.

Finally, about six weeks after my post, a dog-eared, _______ postcard from UK wandered into our humble little letterbox. It was to me a ray of light and from that day, our letterbox became the _______ for postcards from all over the world and a hotel, ________ travel-weary cards. My dream of armchair travels became a reality.

In the months that followed, thanks to those cards, my Nanny had a private “flight” to board, travelling far and wide, satisfied and ________ . Cancer could not stop us. Our very last flight ________ on a warm morning. My dearest travel ________ bought a different ticket for this trip and began to explore another world.

I have ________ from great loss, knowing that her journey ahead would be a brilliant one with so many ________ from the strangers.

1.

A．calmly

B．anxiously

C．steadily

D．helplessly

2.

A．swallowed

B．expressed

C．shared

D．forgot

3.

A．impressed

B．comforted

C．touched

D．hit

4.

A．put out

B．looked through

C．showed off

D．picked up

5.

A．agreed

B．regretted

C．resolved

D．promised

6.

A．tolerance

B．disappointment

C．annoyance

D．anxiety

7.

A．made up

B．mixed up

C．led to

D．turned to

8.

A．travel-worn

B．brand-new

C．threatening

D．puzzling

9.

A．station

B．destination

C．museum

D．shop

10.

A．accepting

B．accommodating

C．delivering

D．attracting

11.

A．patient

B．confident

C．grateful

D．peaceful

12.

A．survived

B．sped

C．failed

D．departed

13.

A．companion

B．consultant

C．attendant

D．guide

14.

A．heard

B．collapsed

C．emerged

D．benefited

15.

A．expectations

B．blessings

C．congratulations

D．cheers

9 . Michael was just 14 weeks old when he suddenly suffered from heart failure at his parents’ home in Bristol, England back in March 2021. _________, doctors managed to save the baby and he _________ the heart attack. Michael’s mother Emma managed to capture the heart-warming _________ when Michael woke up from the coma (昏迷) and smiled at his father. The baby woke up from a five day coma.

Now, the _________ has helped to finance the _________ that will save his life. “To be _________, it’s got to be the happiest moment of my life. We feel so _________ him,” Emma said. Michael’s parents were then told that the boy’s best chance of survival was to get the tumour (肿瘤) _________ at Boston Children’s Hospital. Since the condition is so rare, no one in the United Kingdom can _________ the surgery. So, the Labuschagnes set up a GoFundMe page to finance their son’s operation. After Michael’s heart-melting smile __________ the Internet, the campaign reached its original __________ and raised more than $253,000 for his care.

“We really don’t know how we can thank you all. This has lifted a big __________ from our family, and we can ask the doctors to __________ Michael as early as possible!” she added. “We have stopped actively fundraising (募捐) __________ we have reached our target. Any additional donations after all of Michael’s cost have been __________ will be donated to another family in a similar situation.”

1.

A．Frequently

B．Occasionally

C．Fortunately

D．Slightly

2.

A．struck

B．stressed

C．supported

D．survived

3.

A．moment

B．word

C．gift

D．donation

4.

A．speech

B．picture

C．article

D．advertisement

5.

A．construction

B．match

C．deal

D．treatment

6.

A．honest

B．independent

C．cautious

D．active

7.

A．tired of

B．familiar with

C．strict with

D．proud of

8.

A．damaged

B．removed

C．broken

D．blocked

9.

A．conduct

B．describe

C．control

D．affect

10.

A．fixed

B．assisted

C．hit

D．attacked

11.

A．design

B．value

C．order

D．goal

12.

A．requirement

B．doubt

C．weight

D．pile

13.

A．operate on

B．see off

C．end up with

D．take advantage of

14.

A．even if

B．now that

C．in case

D．as though

15.

A．saved

B．reduced

C．increased

D．covered

10 . In the heart of the city, nested between the towering skyscrapers, stood a little library that had withstood the test of _______. Every brick and book in that building held stories not just from the pages, but of the countless souls who had walked its _______.

Anna, a young writer, often visited this oasis (绿洲) of knowledge. She was on the _______ of publishing her first book but was facing the crippling self-doubt that often troubles creators. One evening, as she wandered between the shelves, she happened to see an old, dusty _______. It was a journal from the 1800s, written by a then-unknown writer named Lillian.

As Anna skimmed through the pages, she was _______ by Lillian’s struggles which mirrored her own. Lillian wrote of her rejections, her moments of despair, and the nights she wanted to give up. But she also wrote of her _______ moments, where the words flowed like a river and the stories took a life of their own.

The final entry was dated a day before Lillian’s first book was published. It read, “To the future dreamers who may find this: Remember, every _______ has its dawn. Your struggles are merely the dark before the morning light. Keep writing, keep dreaming, and one day, your stories will light up someone’s _______ just as you have lit up mine.”

Anna felt a connection to Lillian across the centuries. With renewed _______, she left the library, ready to face the challenges ahead. For in her heart, she carried Lillian’s story — a beacon of hope and a testament to the timeless journey of ________.

1.

A．modernity

B．time

C．innovation

D．criticism

2.

A．rows

B．rooms

C．seats

D．gates

3.

A．edge

B．top

C．end

D．middle

4.

A．novel

B．diary

C．manuscript

D．brochure

5.

A．prevented

B．amazed

C．struck

D．puzzled

6.

A．disorderly

B．ordinary

C．bright

D．final

7.

A．story

B．night

C．path

D．task

8.

A．day

B．world

C．despair

D．book

9.

A．energy

B．purpose

C．hesitation

D．perspective

10.

A．creation

B．writing

C．discovery

D．learning