2 . Joäo Carlos Martins, the 80-year-ald Brazilian classical pianist, had lost the ability to play for almost 20 years due to a series of unfortunate events in his life. But everything changed thanks to a pair of special bionic (仿生的)gloves.

He is one of the best pianists alive today. He had already won a contest playing Bach when he was only 8 years old. Then at the peak of his skills, he could play 21 notes per second. However, luck wasn’t always on his side. At 24 years old, he suffered an accident that caused nerve damage to his arm, atrophying (使萎缩) three of his fingers. Then when he was 55, an accidental brain injury completely paralyzed (使瘫痪) his arm.

Joäo went through 24 surgeries, forcing him to stop playing the piano. However, Joäo didn’t give up on his musical career. He became a conductor in 2003. He couldn’t turn the pages in the score, so instead, he just tried his best to memorize every score, note by note. He still played the piano sometimes, but extremely slow, since he could play only one note per second.

That might have been his life, were it not for an engineer who saw the pianist playing live and decided to work out something to help him. After a concert, he approached Joäo with the first pair of special bionic gloves. Yet, they didn’t work. When the engineer first showed Joäo the gloves, he joked that they were for boxing, not to play the piano.

But neither of them gave up, and after testing out several models, the perfect match was created. The gloves provide the necessary support for each finger and can even“tune” to what he plays. Joäo knows that he might never recover his speed of the past, but he will keep pushing.

He won’t give up.

1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?

A．Joäo Carlos Martins lost his ability to play the piano because of an accident.

B．Joäo Carlos Martins got three atrophied fingers because of a serious disease.

C．Joäo Carlos Martins won a contest when he was 24 years old

D．Joäo Carlos Martins suffered a brain injury in his fifties.

2. What made Joäo choose to become a conductor in 2003?

A．His love for music.	B．The engineer’s suggestion.
C．His desire to make more fortune.	D．The thought of giving up music.

3. What do we know about the improved gloves?

A．They can help Joäo recover to his previous speed.

B．They offer each finger the necessary support.

C．They were made by a doctor.

D．They are for boxing.

4. What can we learn from Joäo’s experiences?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．Well begun is half done.

C．It is better to be a head of a dog than a tail of a lion.

D．Heaven never seals off all the exits — there is always a way out.

3 . The little country schoolhouse was heated by an old coal stove. A little boy, Glenn Cunningham, came to school early each day to start the fire and warm the room before his teacher and his classmates got there.

One morning they arrived to find the schoolhouse burning. They dragged (拖) the little boy out of the building. He was almost dead. Then he was quickly taken to a nearby country hospital. The doctor told the boy’s mother that since the lower part of his body was seriously burnt, he couldn’t use his legs anymore. However, the brave boy made up his mind that he would walk. Unluckily his thin legs just hung there, all but lifeless.

Finally he returned home from the hospital. Every day his mother would press his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was as strong as ever.

When he wasn’t in bed, he would sit in a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair and pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.

He worked his way to the white fence (栅栏) around the yard. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then, he began dragging himself along the fence, and he believed that he would walk. He started to do this every day. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.

In the end, through his determination he stood up. Gradually he began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the joy of running. Later in college he made the running team.

Still later, this determined young man in Madison Square Garden, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world’s fastest mile in 1934!

1. What happened to Glenn Cunningham in his childhood?

A．He had a serious illness.	B．He saved a little boy.
C．His legs were badly burnt.	D．His mother was out of work.

2. How did Glenn Cunningham run the fastest mile at the time?

A．The doctor helped him with training.

B．The college team members helped him.

C．He had a great talent for running.

D．He trained his legs with great effort.

3. Which of the following best describes Dr. Glenn Cunningham?

A．Determined and strong-willed.	B．Serious and confident.
C．Gifted and open-minded.	D．Friendly and careful.

4. What can we learn from this story?

A．All roads lead to Rome.	B．Determination counts.
C．Easier said than done.	D．Seeing is believing.

4 . Sirine Jahangir has been singing, writing and playing instruments since she was a little girl. She was badly injured in a traffic accident by the time she turned 5, so now the teen uses her gift “as a way to — not escape, but to help me through”. Not only did her passion get her through some difficult times, but when she was 14 it also brought her to the “Britain’s Got Talent” stage, where she impressed everyone with her performance.

Sirine was totally paralyzed by the time she was 10 years old. While her parents and doctors have tried to find treatments for her, there isn’t much they can do. So her parents focused on helping her adjust to her new life, which was when her dad said she was first introduced to music. “I remember one day, we were driving in the car. This is about when she was getting to the stage where she couldn’t look out the window anymore to see things, and I didn’t know what to do. I just put the music on really loud. She started singing in the car, and she was so happy. And then she just found happiness every time I put music on,” her father said.

It didn’t take long for them to realize Sirine had tremendous talent. When she appeared on “Britain’s Got Talent”, she told everyone just how much her passion means to her. “I guess music heals me,” she said. “That’s just what I live by, and music is my thing.” Then she headed over to the piano, where she played the piano and sang beautifully enough to bring the audience to tears! Unsurprisingly to everyone but Sirine, all four judges voted her into the next round of the competition!

Afterward, she said, “I can’t even say it’s a dream come true, because I didn’t even dream of it at any point... I never thought that would be realistic in my life.”

1. What can be learned about Sirine Jahangir from Paragraph 1?

A．She was born with disabilities.

B．She experienced a traffic accident when she was fourteen.

C．Her performance on the stage turned out to be a success.

D．She performed on the stage at the age of ten.

2. How did Sirine’s musical talent be discovered by her parents?

A．By putting the music on while driving.

B．By teaching her to write songs.

C．By singing songs together with her.

D．By taking her to the “Britain’s Got Talent” stage.

3. What role does music play in Sirine’s life?

A．Making her dream come true.	B．Bring her happiness and passion.
C．Earning her both fame and fortune.	D．Helping her escape away from reality.

4. Which of the following can best describe Sirine?

A．Optimistic and honest.	B．Creative and gifted.
C．Courageous and responsible.	D．Talented and passionate.

7 . Eleven-year-old Angela was stricken with a disease involving her nervous system. She was unable to walk and her movement was ______ in other ways as well. The doctors did not ______ much hope of her recovering from this illness. They predicted she’d spend the rest of her life in a ______. They said that few, if any, were able to come back to normal after ______ this disease. The little girl was brave. There, lying in her hospital bed, she would swear to anyone who’d listen that she was ______ going to be walking again someday.

She was then ______ to a specialized rehabilitation (康复) hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. Whatever treatments could be ______ to her case were used. The doctors were charmed by her ______ spirit. They taught her about ______ about seeing herself walking. If it would do nothing else, it would at least give her hope and something ______ to do in the long waking hours in her bed. Angela would work as hard as possible in physical treatment. But she worked just as hard lying there ______ doing her imaging, visualizing herself moving, moving and moving!

One day, as she was making efforts with all her might to imagine her legs moving again, it seemed as though a(n) ______ appeared: the bed moved! It began to move around the room! She screamed out, “Look what I’m doing! Look! Look! I can do it! I moved, I moved!”

______, at this very moment everyone else in the hospital was screaming, too, and running for ______. People were screaming, equipment was ______ and glass was breaking. It was the San Francisco earthquake! ______ don’t tell that to Angela. She’s ______ that she did it. And now only a few years later, she’s back in school. On her own ______, no wheelchair. You see, anyone who can ______ the earth between San Francisco and Oakland can ______ a small disease, can’t they?

1.

A．improved

B．restricted

C．avoided

D．arranged

2.

A．hold out

B．give up

C．account for

D．wipe off

3.

A．hospital

B．school

C．wheelchair

D．house

4.

A．passing on

B．researching on

C．figuring out

D．suffering from

5.

A．probably

B．definitely

C．nearly

D．barely

6.

A．sheltered

B．seized

C．transferred

D．followed

7.

A．applied

B．referred

C．attached

D．exposed

8.

A．energetic

B．relaxing

C．attractive

D．undefeatable

9.

A．imaging

B．promising

C．expecting

D．predicting

10.

A．comfortable

B．positive

C．meaningless

D．simple

11.

A．anxiously

B．relievedly

C．faithfully

D．randomly

12.

A．conflict

B．disagreement

C．accident

D．wonder

13.

A．In addition

B．In conclusion

C．In fact

D．In general

14.

A．celebration

B．surprise

C．assistance

D．cover

15.

A．falling

B．flashing

C．rising

D．restarting

16.

A．So

B．But

C．And

D．Or

17.

A．convinced

B．excited

C．satisfied

D．supposed

18.

A．hands

B．legs

C．bike

D．vehicle

19.

A．destroy

B．control

C．shake

D．protect

20.

A．possess

B．ignore

C．fear

D．conquer

8 . He man Bekele was not atypical high school student._________spending his free time playing videogames, this 14-year-old was conducting experiments. His goal was to create a_________that could treat skin cancer, and make it affordable for everyone who_________it.

Growing up in Ethiopia, Africa, He man_________saw people getting sunburned by the hot sun working outside. He didn’t_________much of it when he was really little, but a she_________he realized how serious skin cancer really was.

Skin cancer does have cures and it is_______in most cases. However, the average_______of skin cancer treatment is almost $40, 000. When hearing the shocking_________, He man planned to create a more__________and accessible solution. He started doing experiments and working on different things, which turned into his bar of soap as a project.

His__________won him the prize in this year’s 3M Young Scientist’s Challenge, a competition that__________kids to think of unique ways to solve everyday problems. He man was so surprised and__________when he first heard the news of his award. “It’s__________to see that my ideas can be __________and seen by the science community,” he said.

1.

A．Due to

B．As for

C．Rather than

D．Regardless of

2.

A．website

B．product

C．hospital

D．school

3.

A．invests

B．promotes

C．approves

D．needs

4.

A．constantly

B．rarely

C．objectively

D．fortunately

5.

A．lose

B．think

C．use

D．report

6.

A．walked in

B．turned up

C．grew up

D．gave in

7.

A．preventable

B．complex

C．deadly

D．treatable

8.

A．price

B．speed

C．wage

D．life

9.

A．news

B．figure

C．secret

D．sound

10.

A．temporary

B．peaceful

C．affordable

D．possible

11.

A．speech

B．honesty

C．plan

D．work

12.

A．reminds

B．encourages

C．warns

D．orders

13.

A．overjoyed

B．embarrassed

C．frightened

D．annoyed

14.

A．puzzling

B．disappointing

C．inspiring

D．tiring

15.

A．protected

B．permitted

C．guided

D．recognized

10 . Mary was always dreaming of graduating from college successfully and finding a good job. Since Mary came from a poor family, her dream seemed_________ Her family didn’t have enough money to send her to college_________no member of her family had ever gone to college. But Mary never_________that thought. In secondary school, she studied hard and spoke_________of her dream to teachers and friends. When her_________day at school came, the headteacher called her into his office. “I have a (n)___________for you,”he said. It was a scholarship to a nearby college. The power of a thought had_________its reward.

Mary’s dream came true when she graduated from_________. She took a major in teaching and_________herself to a local school for a job, but she was __________. She applied again. The answer was no. She kept going back until the school leader__________her.

Many years later Mary and her colleagues__________at a special party to honour her as an outstanding teacher. At the party, She explained the secret of her __________.“With__________and faith you can become what you wish. Not that your life will be without problems, but along the way problems will be__________”.

1.

A．possible

B．likely

C．impossible

D．capable

2.

A．but

B．or

C．so

D．and

3.

A．gave up

B．looked up

C．made up

D．came up

4.

A．selfishly

B．freely

C．unwillingly

D．jokingly

5.

A．first

B．formal

C．final

D．usual

6.

A．book

B．surprise

C．enemy

D．test

7.

A．joined

B．wasted

C．used

D．produced

8.

A．college

B．street

C．high school

D．hospital

9.

A．limited

B．related

C．accustomed

D．presented

10.

A．picked up

B．turned up

C．turned down

D．taken in

11.

A．faced

B．praised

C．accepted

D．ignored

12.

A．gathered

B．declared

C．decided

D．called

13.

A．loss

B．failure

C．hope

D．success

14.

A．sadness

B．dream

C．politeness

D．hunger

15.

A．raised

B．solved

C．forgotten

D．collected