1 . Flaco the owl (猫头鹰) is gone, but his life had all the elements of a classic hero’s story, not soon forgotten. Flaco lived a dozen years in a comfortable cage in the Central Park Zoo where little happened and less was needed. His life was a safe existence without freedom. Then, a year ago, someone released him.

On Friday, when he died of injury, perhaps from a collision (碰撞) with a Manhattan apartment building’s glass windows, his death offered us a chance to reckon with the question at the heart of many a hero’s journey: Can we put a price on freedom?

Flaco’s liberation from his cage came at a cost — he spent the final year of his life free, but threatened from all sides by a booming city. Was it worth it?

Almost from the moment he was released, Flaco became a symbol of hope for many of the people who followed his story and recognized parts of themselves in him. Some saw him as the symbol of the American dream, an outsider who had come to Manhattan and made a life for himself here, like millions of others who arrived penniless and unconnected in search of freedom.

As a result, he flew around the city. We were terrified that he’d succumb to (屈服于) the dangers of city life. Flaco had no experience living outside a cage, and New Yorkers initially doubted his chances of survival. We worried that he’d eat a rat with enough poison in its system to kill him. But Flaco never looked back. Perhaps freedom itself was the home he’d discovered.

And though we feared for him, his new life excited us. How many of us, our circumstances familiar and sale, are too frightened to seek our more fully realized selves?

How many of us, viewing our confinements as nothing out of the ordinary, have long stopped wondering what our wings are for?

Have we not all desired a life beyond the range of the one we lead? Flaco showed that our desire is not misplaced. His choice proved a truth that given a chance, living things choose freedom of movement.

1. What do the underlined words “reckon with” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Bring up.

B．Deal with.

C．Reflect on.

D．Look into.

2. What happened to Flaco the owl after he was released from his cage?

A．He died a natural death.

B．He was caught and returned to the zoo.

C．He died from a collision with a building.

D．He lived a free life but faced many threats.

3. What was the initial reaction of New Yorkers towards Flaco’s release?

A．They were excited and supportive.

B．They were worried about his survival.

C．They were indifferent and unconcerned.

D．They were angry and opposed to his release.

4. What does the author want to convey through the story of Flaco?

A．The importance of protecting wildlife.

B．The risks and rewards of seeking freedom.

C．The value of overcoming challenges in life.

D．The need for more awareness about animal rights.

2 . Ricochet, San Diego’s favourite surfing therapy (治疗) dog, has caught her final wave. The 15-year-old golden retriever — a pioneer of canine-assisted (犬只辅助的) surf therapy who helped countless veterans (老兵) and kids — died on Friday, owner Judy Fridono said Saturday.

Ricochet was raised to be a service dog, but the energetic pup was more fond of chasing birds than assisting with household chores. In 2009, the dog found her career. That was the year Ricochet got on a surfboard with local quadriplegic (四肢瘫痪的) surfer Patrick Ivison. A viral video of the encounter got more than 6 million views on YouTube. “That day she hopped on the board with Patrick, she was reborn,” Fridono said in a 2012 interview.

Throughout her life, the beloved dog touched the lives of kids with special needs, wounded service members and families of fallen veterans. Ricochet was known as an affectionate companion and a shameless belly-rub beggar and had a feeling for people who needed a hug.

Notably, the furry do-gooder helped raise $ 1 million for charity and the donation of more than 1 million bowls of food for homeless animals.

Her work brought numerous awards, media attention and a loyal fan base on social media. The dog had more than 141,000 followers on Instagram and more than 270,000 on Facebook.

Ricochet’s legacy (遗产) will live on through the sponsorship of Jose Martinez, an Army veteran and parasurfer, and through donations to adaptive surfing organizations. “People believe in Ricochet’s mission… she didn’t do it alone,” Fridon o said. “Her supporters are an extension of her legacy and her roots in helping others heal through dog intervention and therapy. Now that she’s gone, I don’t want people to be sad. I want them to celebrate and continue supporting what she started.”

1. What was Ricochet’s career?

A．Canine-assisted surf therapy.	B．Assisting with household chores.
C．Bird catching.	D．Working as a service dog.

2. Which of the following can best describe Ricochet?

A．Brave but lazy.	B．Naughty but caring.
C．Cute and handsome.	D．Fierce and strong.

3. What does Paragraph 5 mainly talk about?

A．The contribution of Ricochet.	B．Social media’s influence on Ricochet.
C．Recochet’s popularity.	D．Donations to the homeless animals.

4. Where can we probably find the text?

A．In a diary.	B．In a textbook.
C．In a newspaper.	D．In a guidebook.

3 . The Enduring Appeal of Peter Rabbit

“I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits, whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter,” wrote Beatrix Potter, an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist in 1893, in a letter to a little boy who was suffering from a serious infectious disease.

Like many children-story authors, Potter was not a writer by profession. Her chief enthusiasm was natural history. Childhood family holidays in Perthshire and the Lake District had given her the freedom to experience the natural world first-hand.     1     Owing to Potter’s illustrations, the humanized rabbits seemed to exist in a recognizably real place. As Potter once admitted, the “careful botanical studies of my youth” informed the reality of her fantasy drawings.     2     In these images, Peter in the vegetable garden ate radishes (萝卜) or jumped off the wall.

The Tale of Peter Rabbit was first published by Frederick Warne in 1902.     3     However, Warne disagreed. Only after Potter had the book privately published did Warne change his mind. It was an immediate success, much to Potter’s surprise. “The public must be fond of rabbits! What a shocking quantity of Peter,” she said. The original tales, under the Warne imprint, are still available today.

    4     In 1903, she registered a Peter Rabbit doll, making him the first fictional character to be made into a patented stuffed toy. After that, there were licensed wallpapers, board games and painting books. She earned large amounts of money. After her death, almost all her property was left to the National Trust.

A．Potter surely had a business mind.

B．A decade later, with slight adjustments, the lines formed the opening to what became the bestselling.

C．It was this experience that gave Peter Rabbit its unique atmosphere of believable wonder.

D．Potter was determined that the book should be small enough to fit into a child’s hands and inexpensive.

E．She spent holidays in the Lake District, developing a love of landscape, which she closely observed and painted.

F．Though her later stories would contain more strikingly detailed illustrations, The Tale of Peter Rabbit has charming pictures of its naughty hero.

4 . My parents’ new dog Mercy would rush out of bed and go-go-go all day long. So when they brought home a Christmas tree, they expected _________. But to their astonishment, Mercy didn’t seem to care. She paid zero attention to the tree _________ growing in the living room. Nor did she _________ the fancy gifts under it.

A few days before Christmas, Polly, my step mom, awoke early as usual. As she _________ the living room, she stopped cold. She saw that every last _________ was gone. Only the tree was still there. To find out the burglar, Polly walked toward the back door. She pushed the _________, bathing the backyard in light. Oh, yes, it was Mercy. She _________ in a nest of torn wrapping papers, _________ boxes, and curling bits of ribbons. Clearly Mercy’s self-control had _________. She’d silently carried one after another out of the doggy door and anything edible (可吃的) was __________including cookies, chocolates, and four pounds of Milk-Bones.

Nature took __________ on Mercy, and she eventually survived her midnight snack. Only one problem __________. With all the gift tags destroyed, how could my parents send back thank-you cards?

Mercy presented the problem, so Mercy provided the __________. A few days later, Polly happened to find Mercy __________ licking a plate where a doughnut had just been. Polly shot a picture of the shamefaced puppy and used it to make the cover of the thank-you card. Inside, the whole story was __________. We all laughed off the ruined presents and admitted that amid all the gift-giving, it’s really a season for MERCY.

1.

A．risk

B．chaos

C．fun

D．change

2.

A．suddenly

B．naturally

C．gradually

D．immediately

3.

A．used to

B．adapt to

C．react to

D．appeal to

4.

A．left

B．found

C．heard

D．approached

5.

A．dust

B．leaf

C．decoration

D．present

6.

A．switch

B．tree

C．pet

D．alarm

7.

A．waited

B．lay

C．appeared

D．moved

8.

A．cleaned-up

B．fixed-up

C．chewed-up

D．used-up

9.

A．failed

B．worked

C．counted

D．improved

10.

A．discovered

B．wasted

C．gone

D．rescued

11.

A．punishment

B．respect

C．comfort

D．pity

12.

A．changed

B．remained

C．ended

D．repeated

13.

A．love

B．answer

C．luck

D．food

14.

A．guiltily

B．hopefully

C．regretfully

D．regularly

15.

A．created

B．offered

C．explained

D．announced

5 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Two fast friends were Willie and his little dog Bounce. Willie could never think of taking a walk without Bounce. Cake and play were equally shared between them. Willie taught his dog many cunning tricks, and often said that Bounce could do almost anything in the world but talk. Then on a bright summer afternoon, Willie had strolled with Bounce down to the river, which was not more than two blocks from his father’s store—Mr. Brown’s store.

Willie began to throw stones into the water, and to watch ripples as they made one circle after another. Bounce lay on the grass, watching the flies buzzing around his nose, and catching any that came too near.

There were some logs floating in the river near the bank. Willie jumped upon one of them to see if he could throw a stone across the river. He drew back, sent the stone with all strength, just as it left his hand, the log turned and he fell into the water. He was frightened, for he did not know how to swim, and there was no one to hear, though he called as loud as he could for help.

If he had been a big water dog, he could have jumped in and brought his master out.

注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；

He ran up and down the bank two or three times, barking, looking first at Willie and then around.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Finally, the father came to the river.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Katie had always felt like she never connected with anyone. There was no one she considered a friend. So, when her parents decided to move, she was okay with it. She didn't feel sad because she wasn't leaving anyone behind.

She was eight when they moved to a new town. It wasn't that different from where they had lived before. There were a lot of trees and kids running around outside, riding bikes, and playing. One day her mother caught her staring out the window at some kids playing. Her mom told her to go out and play with those kids. So Katie went out. She could see that they were all having fun and she wanted to join in but she was afraid. She tried to muster up the courage to ask them if she could join them but she just couldn't do it.

She decided to go for a walk instead. She liked how peaceful the town was. The people seemed nice and polite. Her stroll finally led her to the town's lake. She felt the rush of cold air hitting her face. The beauty of the lake was something to behold. She sat there admiring it and decided that this would be her place. She would come here every day and maybe one day, she would bring her friends here.

After school, she always stopped by the lake before going home. She swore she could stay there for hours, maybe even live there. If she ever got hungry, she always had food ready in her bag.

One day when she was writing a poem about the lake, she heard her stomach growl. She put down her notebook and her pen and got her sandwich out. She was about to take a bite when she heard a noise. This alarmed her. She hadn't heard or seen anything strange before. She looked around and suddenly she noticed that there was something black moving toward the bank.

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。

“A swimming black dog!” Katie cried out in surprise.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Every day, Katie brought five extra sandwiches for her friend.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . We had to put our Belgian sheepdog Shadow to sleep yesterday. He was hands down the worst dog I have ever had—not so much a superdog as a superbad dog. For the first two years of his life, we worked relentlessly to train him to do the basic things. He balked at all of it. When made to lie down, he would roll his back and cry out as if he were being beaten. If pushed too hard, he would bite — never to draw blood, but enough to let you know who was in charge.

Frustrated, we sent him to a professional trainer, who took him into his home to work with him one-on-one. After the agreed-upon two weeks of training, the handler called and sheepishly asked for another two weeks with Shadow, free of charge, as he had been unable to make any progress. In another two weeks, we got the same phone call. So, after six weeks, the dog trainer returned our dog with apologies, stating that this was the first dog that he’d ever deemed untrainable. Shadow appeared quite pleased with himself.

For all of his 13 years, Shadow bested us, allowing us the privilege of living in his home. On his last day, my daughter commented, “Mom, I know he doesn’t feel good because he is not growling at me when I kiss his face.” That was him. Shadow was a genius. How else could he have compelled us to love the worst dog.

1. Shadow would bite when we push him too hard ________.

A．to make us bleed

B．to beat us

C．to train him

D．to show dissatisfaction

2. Why did the trainer ask for more time with Shadow?

A．Because he wanted to work with Shadow.

B．Because he wanted to charge more money.

C．Because he failed to train Shadow well within the agreed time.

D．Because Shadow was quite pleased with himself.

3. Which of the following is NOT true about Shadow?

A．He didn’t like being trained.

B．He spent twelve weeks altogether with the trainer.

C．He became the first dog that the trainer failed to train.

D．He would growl at our daughter when she kissed him.

4. According to the author, Shadow is ________.

A．naughty and intelligent	B．friendly and trainable
C．unkind and untrainable	D．superbad and disobedient

8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Brady was a recently retired search and rescue dog. He was not happy and missed his owner Al because Al had gone out on a rescue mission without him. Al’s nephew Steve took Brady along when he and his friend Zach went on a overnight hike. But suddenly Steve and Zach smelled something burning and they realized that lightning had set the woods on fire. Wind-blown flame had leaped from the top of one tree to another. The long dry summer had turned the forest into a tinderbox and the thunderstorm wasn’t helping much. It had more wind and lightning than rain. Zach pulled Steve’s arm.“Let’s go! We can make it back to the river we crossed today.” Steve pulled Brady’s leash and their heads down against the strong fire-wind, they hurried down the path they had followed earlier. The air was full of smoke，and pine branches broke from burning trees with a crisp sound. Steve kept his eyes on the route. All they had to do was to make it down to the river…

Brady barked a sharp warning. Ahead of them lay a dense curtain of smoke across the path. They’d never make it through that. They would have to find another escape route. The dog was pulling at his leash trying to draw them away from the smoke. This was what Brady was trained to do, and yet Steve was uneasy. It seemed to him they were moving away from the river.

Brady lifted his head and smelled the smoky wind. Suddenly, the dog ran away and disappeared. The boys yelled and shouted for him，but he didn’t come back.

They had no choice but to leave him behind. Heartsick, Steve and Zach went up a slope. He couldn’t blame Brady for panicking and escaping. He himself wanted to run even though he didn’t have a clue which way. They hadn’t gone far when there was a familiar bark, and Brady came running toward him.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
Paragraph1：

“Where’ve you been?” Steve cried .

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：

Brady led them back down the slope and into the trees.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . I’m Reed, 26 years old and from New York City, but I moved to Florida several months ago. I found out on the website that there was a huge rescue effort still going on down here and that volunteers were desperately needed. I was able to get a good friend to sponsor my trip here and had the opportunity to come up for a couple of weeks through the Christmas season,

When I first got here we were just moving into the new building. The first half of my stay I was mainly helping to set this place up, help build a lot of the dug runs and just help out with whatever else was needed. The second week I started to be able to get out more and started filling up feeding stations in St. Bernard Parish.

One day we were out trying to check out an extremely pregnant dog that was reported to be out in St. Bernard Parish, which would soon have parts of it destroyed so getting as many animals out of there as possible was definitely a priority (最重要的事). When we arrived at the location we did see a female dog that clearly had already given birth to her puppies. I tied to befriend her as much as possible, giving her treats and slowly trying to build her trust. She wasn’t going far, so that indicated her puppies were nearby.

Once we built somewhat of a rapport with her, we started to search for the puppies. Almost giving up, we arrived at a house that seemed like it could be a possibility. I got on my hands and knees trying to make out what was going on under the house, staying as quiet as possible. All of a sudden, I heard the weakest sound of a puppy’s crying. After homing in on it a little bit more, there was clearly a trash under the house. After getting a little more help, we were able to get the puppies from under the house with success and we found out they weren’t even a week old.

This experience was so unbelievable, one I know I’ll never forget.

1. What did Reed do in the first week in Florida?

A．Feeding dogs in the streets.

B．Searching for sponsorship to travel.

C．Helping with some construction work.

D．Assisting in tearing down an old building.

2. Which of the following can best describe Reed?

A．Warm-hearted and promising.	B．Enthusiastic and caring.
C．Considerate and generous.	D．Kind and humorous.

3. What does the underlined word “rapport” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Extreme hatred.

B．Everlasting friendship.

C．Harmonious relationship.

D．Psychological defense.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The puppies were strong and lively.

B．Reed made efforts to save the puppies.

C．St. Bernard Parish was being destroyed.

D．The female dog would give birth to puppies.

10 . Henry, a rescue dog, came first. Cynthia Bennett and Andre Sibilsky, a new couple, wanted a high energy dog that they could take on long hikes and camping explorations from Colorado to California. With his playful air of confidence and active nature, Henry fit right in. The first time the couple took him hiking, he jumped up onto the large rocks like a moun-tain goat. His favorite activities are hiking outdoors and exploring mountains. But he's a big softy with severe separation anxiety, so eventually, the couple searched for a calm yet adven-turous cat that could keep Henry company-and keep up with him on the paths.

Rescued from a cat shelter after his mother abandoned him, the lovable and dependent cat, Baloo, bonded to Henry within hours. And Henry discovered that Baloo loved to explore as much as he did. Cynthia had already planned a camping trip with Henry to Telluride, Colo-rado, and took Baloo along. That, as they say, was the beginning of a beautiful animal friendship.

One day on the halfway Baloo was tired, and Cynthia took it into her head to place Baloo on Henry's neck. “Baloo just hung himself over Henry's head and neck. And Henry didn't mind at all.” How could you not take a photo of that?

Hundreds of photos later, Henry and Baloo are Internet celebrities. Cynthia and Andre started the Henry and Baloo Foundation, an official nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve 1,000 acres across the West and help reforest land that has been claimed by wildfires. They hike the land all the time, and it's a way for them to give back to future generations.

Cynthia and Andre hope that the adventures of Henry and Baloo will inspire others to discover, explore and treasure our country's natural beauty.

1. Why did the couple choose Henry?

A．He is strong and brave.

B．He is active and energetic.

C．He is anxious and cautious.

D．He is gentle and considerate.

2. What can we infer about Henry and Baloo from the text?

A．They fight the moment they meet.

B．Henry hates carrying Baloo on his back.

C．Henry does not like to explore with Baloo.

D．They match each other in personality.

3. What is the main purpose of the Henry and Baloo Foundation?

A．To protect the natural environment.

B．To enjoy the country's natural beauty.

C．To train pets to experience adventures.

D．To set up an official nonprofit organization.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Pet Adventure Trips.

B．True Brotherhood.

C．Henry and Baloo.

D．Pet Celebrities Online.