1 . Have you ever had an embarrassing experience? Last week we asked readers to tell us about embarrassing experiences. We received thousands of letters! Here is a selection.
Tony: My most embarrassing experience happened when I had just left university. I had just started teaching in a Liverpool middle school. One morning my alarm clock didn’t ring. I woke up at half past eight and school began at nine. I quickly washed, dressed, jumped into my car and rushed to school. When I arrived, the students had already gone into class. I didn’t go to the office, but went straight into class. After two or three minutes the students began laughing, and I couldn’t understand why! Suddenly I looked down and understood. I had put on one black shoe and one brown shoe!
Henry: The most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had happened two years ago. After seeing a film, my wife and I had lunch in our favorite restaurant in town. Then we decided to take a walk along the street. The street was very busy and we started holding hands. Suddenly my wife saw a dress that she liked in a shop window, and stopped. I started looking at some watches in the next window. After a minute or two I reached for my wife’s hand. There was a loud scream, and a woman slapped my face. I hadn’t taken my wife’s hand. I’d taken the hand of a complete stranger (陌生人)!
1. Tony arrived at school late that morning because ________.| A．he couldn’t find hid shoes | B．his alarm clock didn’t ring |
| C．he washed and dressed slowly | D．his car went wrong on the way |
| A．wearing a wrong shoe | B．his alarm clock didn’t ring |
| C．looking down suddenly | D．rushing into the classroom |
| A．at the cinema | B．in the shop |
| C．at the restaurant | D．along the street |
| A．尖叫声 | B．笑声 | C．哭声 | D．呼救声 |
| A．slapped the woman in the face | B．took the hand of a complete stranger |
| C．heard his wife screaming in the street | D．knocked over some watches in the shops |
2 . Six years ago, Libby and Joseph Lombardo gave birth to their first daughter Isabella. To the new parents, Isabella was surely perfect and they went home
| A．secretly | B．excitedly | C．worriedly | D．hurriedly |
| A．checking | B．moving | C．touching | D．training |
| A．misunderstood | B．expected | C．feared | D．dreamed |
| A．puzzled | B．amazed | C．angry | D．glad |
| A．exit | B．solution | C．suggestion | D．aim |
| A．remembered | B．realized | C．ignored | D．believed |
| A．unfortunately | B．luckily | C．similarly | D．unexpectedly |
| A．heard | B．predicted | C．promised | D．discovered |
| A．live | B．walk | C．speak | D．sleep |
| A．opportunity | B．point | C．possibility | D．rule |
| A．strength | B．independence | C．responsibility | D．confidence |
| A．discuss | B．report | C．observe | D．compare |
| A．admitted | B．requested | C．complained | D．warned |
| A．traditional | B．hopeful | C．popular | D．normal |
| A．results | B．problems | C．disappointment | D．failure |
I’d lived next door to Debbie and her 84-year-old mother, Nan, for about six months and we’d become fast friends. Nan was blind and was also hard of hearing. One day, when Debbie was at work, she asked me to check on her mother. She fixed some baby monitors (监控器) and gave me a receiver.
I was glad to help. But I also felt a little funny about it. After all, what could I do? I’ve been born blind, too. In fact, at 54, I’d come to wonder if I had much value anymore.
At 9:00 pm I grabbed up my cane (手杖) and headed over to Debbie’s. After a brief check, I felt everything was fine, so I said goodnight to Nan. Then I locked the door and found my way home. I sat on my chair, switched on the receiver and laid it on an end table. However, Minutes later I heard a sound. It was Nan on the receiver. She was walking slowly across the floor. A door opened. Maybe she’s heading to the bathroom. Then I heard something strange, something I couldn’t identify. Had she turned on the shower? Why? Maybe the sound was something else. Something catching fire?
The monitor was one-way. I couldn’t call her. I reached for my cane and starting to get worried. I got out of my chair and headed for the door. “Jim! Jim!” I heard over the monitor. “The house is on fire! Help!”
I went as fast as I could to Debbie’s. I had to get Nan out. But how? I wasn’t even sure where Nan was, let alone how I would get to her. One thing I knew: There wasn’t much time. When getting to the front door, I could smell heavy and thick smoke. I reached for my key and unlocked the door. “Nan!” I called. No sound. Was I too late?
“Here, Jim. Help!” Her voice was weak.
“Nan, where are you? Keep talking!”
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右。
2.请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
“Here, Jim, here!” Sounded as if she’s right in front of me.
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I tapped with my cane until we found the front door.
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Once upon a time, a young girl whose name was Lily, lived in a small village in the heart of a forest. She was known throughout the village for her kind heart. She spent her days helping her neighbors, taking care of the animals and exploring the forests.
One day, as she was walking through the forest, she came across a small, injured bird lying on the ground. Its wing was broken, and it looked up at her with painful eyes. Lily knew she had to help the bird, so she carefully picked it up and put it in her arms.
She took the bird back to her house and dealt with its wounds. She fed it and gave it water, and soon the bird was on the way to recovering (康复). As the days passed, Lily came to love the bird. But she knew it belonged to the forest, so she helped the bird fly back to the forest.
Another day, Lily happened to see a group of children playing a joke on a young boy for his height, and the boy seemed to cry. Seeing that, Lily realized she had to do something to help.
She walked to the group of children and asked them to stop laughing at the boy. They looked at her doubtfully, but Lily seriously told them that it wasn’t kind to make fun of others. Finally, the children listened to her. They stopped laughing at the boy and even apologized (道歉) to him. Lily smiled, feeling proud of herself for standing up for what was right.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As the years went by, Lily continued to spread kindness throughout the village.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One day, Lily heard a knock at her door
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . Mark Twain was a great American writer, and he was also a famous speaker. He liked to tell funny stories to make people laugh. He also liked to play jokes on his friends.
Once Mark Twain was travelling with a friend of his. His friend lost his money, so he asked Mark Twain to buy a train ticket for him.
“But I don’t have enough money to buy two tickets,” said Mark Twain. His friend didn’t know what to do.
“You can hide under my seat when the conductor(列车员) comes to check the tickets,” Mark Twain said to him.
When the conductor came to check the tickets, Mark Twain gave him two tickets, one for himself and one for his friend. He said to the conductor, “My friend is a strange man. When he travels on a train, he does not like to sit on the seat. He likes to lie on the floor under the seat.” Everyone in the train looked at his friend under the seat and laughed.
1. Mark Twain was a writer and _______. .| A．scientist | B．speaker | C．pianist | D．singer |
| A．he was very poor | B．he forgot to buy one |
| C．he lost his money | D．he arrived too late |
| A．Under the seat. | B．Behind the door. |
| C．Under the train. | D．Behind Mark Twain. |
| A．shy | B．strict | C．serious | D．funny |
6 . One day, Tom’s teacher, Miss Mak, held a class meeting. “There will be a flag day next Saturday. Does anyone want to join this meaningful event?” asked Miss Mak. Tom was interested in raising money for homeless children, but he was not brave enough to talk to the strangers, so he kept quiet in his seat.
“Tom, you haven’t sold flags before,” said Miss Mak suddenly. “Would you like to have a try?” Tom was hesitant, but he finally nodded.
On the flag day, Tom and Angela sold flags in a busy street. “Excuse me. Could y-o-u pl-ea-se buy. . . ? ”said Angela softly to the first person she met. The man smiled and put a five-dollar coin into Angela’s collection bag. Then she said thanks and put a flag under his shoulder. “I did it!” said Angela happily. “It’s your turn now.”
Feeling nervous, Tom began to shake. Soon, he saw a young lady walking towards him. The lady was smiling and holding a few coins in her hand. She asked, “Are you selling flags for Fund for the Homeless Children?” Tom’s face turned red and said yes. Then the lady made the donation and Tom gave her a flag. “You made it! ”laughed Angela.
In the next couple of hours, Angela and Tom sold flags quickly and bravely. At last, their collection bags were so heavy that they had to hold them with both arms. They felt very proud.
1. Why did Tom keep quiet in his seat?| A．He had other plans. | B．He didn’t like Miss Mak. |
| C．He was not interested in the activity. | D．He was not brave enough to talk to the strangers. |
| A．In a busy street. | B．In their school. |
| C．In a tall building. | D．In a small garden. |
| A．Five dollars. | B．Ten dollars. | C．Fifteen dollars. | D．Twenty dollars. |
| A．Bored. | B．Shy. | C．Proud. | D．Sad. |
7 . When she was 14 years old, Amy’s life was turned upside down by a family trouble.
Amy lived in a small village in India. Her mother fell ill and her father had to spend his time caring for her. As a result, she had to do most of the housework — including washing clothes. What’s worse, her family couldn’t afford an electric washing machine. Instead, she had to do the washing all by hand in the local river, and then carefully carry everything back to her home — a task that took several hours.
Interested in engineering, Amy wanted to make a washing machine which could be used without electricity. She started studying electric washers to learn how they worked. Amy then designed a machine with bicycle pedals (踏板) and chain. To get those, she went to a local shop. Workers there not only gave her the parts, they also helped her make the machine!
Here’s how the machine works: Amy used a cylinder (圆筒) to hold the clothes and put it in a cube (立方体). Next, she connected the bicycle pedals and the chain to the cylinder. As Amy pushed the pedals with her legs, the cylinder cleaned the clothes just like a regular washing machine.
Amy’s invention worked! She had created her own human-powered washing machine — and now a task that used to take several hours took only 30 minutes. Amy’s washing machine was chosen as India’s best invention! And the story of this young woman’s creative invention spread around the world.
“Amy’s invention saves time and money for the world’s poor,” said Jeanine Thomas of the Borden Project, “she made a difference.”
1. What problem did Amy try to solve?| A．Her mother suffered from illness. |
| B．Her family was too poor to afford her education. |
| C．It was a long way to get water from the river. |
| D．It took too much time and effort to wash clothes. |
| A．designing→studying→getting materials→making the machine |
| B．designing→getting materials→studying→making the machine |
| C．studying→getting materials→designing→making the machine |
| D．studying→designing→getting materials→making the machine |
| A．By turning the cylinder around with hands. |
| B．By pulling the chain with machines. |
| C．By pushing the pedals with legs. |
| D．By turning on the machine with electricity. |
| A．Amy changed the way a washing machine works. |
| B．Amy won a big prize and improved her family’s life. |
| C．Amy improved many poor people’s lives with her creativity. |
| D．Amy encouraged many young inventors among the poor. |
8 . Sam is not happy today. He doesn’t do well in his English test this time. Now he is sitting alone in his room.
Seeing this, his grandmother comes and talks to him to make him feel good. She sits down next to Sam and gives him a pencil. Sam looks at his grandmother and doesn’t take it. “Things like this are only for students who do well. I don’t do well!” Sam says.
Sam’s grandmother says, “It’s not a present for you. I want you to learn something from it. The pencil is just like you. It gets a painful sharpening(痛苦的削磨), just like how you get the pain of not doing well in your test.”
“But it will help you be a good student. See, all the good things coming from the pencil are from itself. And you too will find something good in yourself. Finally just as the pencil will make its mark (痕迹) on the paper, you will also leave your mark on anything you choose to do. Just ‘sharpen’ yourself and do well next time!”
Sam feels good right away. He plans to make a change as his grandmother says.
1. Where does the grandmother talk to Sam?| A．In Sam’s school. | B．In Sam’s room. | C．Outside the house. | D．In a pencil shop. |
| A．He believes it too small. | B．He hates pencils. |
| C．He thinks it a present. | D．He doesn’t like it. |
| A．Sam can’t do well without, the pencil. |
| B．Work hard and do well next time. |
| C．The pencil can help him do better. |
| D．A sharpening pencil writes well. |
| A．Foolish. | B．Strange. | C．Interesting. | D．Helpful |
9 . The post office is not my favorite place. However, that was the day I went through the door with a huge smile. My story had been accepted for publication. I had read the e-mail three times before I actually believed it.
Grasped in my hand was the form giving permission to print my story. No faxing for me — I decided to send it back through the mail just to be sure it reached its destination. Filled with excitement, I told the clerk about my good news. “Wow, look at you go!” she said. “That will be ten dollars.” I reached for my credit card. “Our system doesn’t work today, so we can only accept cash,” said the clerk. I searched through my purse. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I carried cash. But now, I rarely did. Then a deep voice behind me said, “I’ll take care of it.” I hadn’t noticed the man behind me. I turned to meet him as he held out a ten-dollar bill.
“Congratulations on your story,” he said. “Just pay it forward.” I thanked him. Then I drove to the seaside restaurant to meet Tina. As we walked back toward our cars, I noticed something on the sidewalk, shining in the sun. I picked up a credit card.
“How are we going to find the person who dropped this?” Tina asked. “First, let’s try to spot someone who seems to be searching anxiously,” I said. A moment later, Tina said excitedly, “I’ll bet that’s her!” A young mother had a baby on her back as she dug through some bags.
I approached the woman. “Are you Jessica Slate?” I asked.
Her eyes grew round. “Yes!”
“I believe this is yours,” I said, handing her the card.
“Thank you! During normal times, I’d give you a hug,” she said. We laughed and bumped elbows instead.
I realized being on both the receiving and the giving end of kind gestures felt equally good. I had experienced an interpretation of paying it forward-first with cash, then with credit.
1. Why did the author go to the post office?| A．To print his story. | B．To mail the form. |
| C．To fetch his publication. | D．To fax the publishing house. |
| A．The clerk refused to serve him. | B．His credit card failed to work. |
| C．He exchanged some cash with a stranger. | D．A man asked no reward for helping the author. |
| A．He met the owner in a restaurant. |
| B．He waited for the owner to contact him. |
| C．He found the owner with careful observation. |
| D．He searched for the owner anxiously on the sidewalk. |
| A．A small act can change your life. | B．To give or to receive is your choice. |
| C．Paying it forward will make your day. | D．Genuine help expects nothing in return. |
Little Tom was a student in senior high school. He was not good at his work and failed many times in the exams, and he never knew why he couldn’t catch up with others.
One day, Tom and his teacher were walking through the forest. He was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest. He asked his teacher, “Why most people’s minds are restless, and only a few have a calm mind? What can one do to calm the mind down?”
The teacher looked at Tom, smiled and told him a story:
On one beautiful day, an elephant was standing by the shade of a tree, eating its leaves. Suddenly, a small fly came buzzingly and landed on the elephant’s ear. The elephant stayed calm and continued eating, ignoring the fly. The fly flew around the elephant’s ear, buzzing noisily, yet the elephant seemed to be unaffected. This confused the fly, and it asked, “Are you deaf?”
“No!” the elephant answered.
“Why aren’t you bothered by my buzz?” the fly asked.
“Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can’t you stay calm just for a few moments?” asked the elephant, and peacefully continued eating the leaves.
The fly answered, “Everything I see, hear and feel attracts my attention, and all noises and movements around me affect my behavior.”
“What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still, while I am buzzing around your ears?”
“I can continue eating peacefully, because my five senses do not disturb my peace.”
“How is it possible?” asked the fly amazed and confused.
“Because I don’t let them rule my attention,” answered the elephant.
“I am in control of my mind and my thoughts, and therefore, I can direct my attention where I want, and ignore any disturbance including your buzz.”
“And therefore,” continued the elephant, “I am completely lost in the act of eating, enjoying my food and chewing it peacefully.”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After listening to the story, Tom’s eyes opened wide and smiled.
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From that day on, he paid his attention to whatever he was doing.
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