2 . “If you could have any three things, what would you want?”

Eleven-year-old Ruby Kate Chitsey loves asking that question, but it’s not a game she plays at recess (课间). She asks it at nursing homes in the Harrison, Arkansas, where she lives. Even more amazing, she then sets out to make the residents’ wishes come true.

Ruby Kate often comes along with her mother, Amanda, who works at nursing home in the summer. “I’ve never found them scary at all, so I’m able to just go up to them and ask if they need anything,” she says.

Last May, Ruby Kate noticed a resident named Pearl staring out a window. She seemed sad. “What are you looking at?” Ruby Kate asked. Pearl said she was watching her dog being led away by his new owner after a visit. Pearl didn’t know when she would see her dog again. Pearl was a Medicaid recipient (医疗补助受益人), who got only$40 a month to spend on personal items. Ruby Kate and Amanda asked around and discovered that many residents are unable to afford even the smallest luxuries. So Ruby Kate decided to do something about it.

She started by asking residents what three things they wanted most. “That’s a lot simpler than going, ‘Hey, what do you want?” she explains. “They can understand you better.” Amanda worried that people would ask for things an 11-year-old wouldn’t be able to provide. Instead, they asked for chocolate bars, McDonald’s fries, and even just a prayer (祷告).

“It broke me as a human,” Amanda says with wet eyes. “We left the nursing home that day and went straight to a store and bought as many items as we could.”

Using their own money, the Chitseys made the wishes of about 100 people come true in three months. Then they started asking for donations. The good people of Harrison responded enthusiastically, and they raised $20,000 in 24 hours and more than $250,000 in five months.

1. Why does Ruby often ask the same question?

A．She likes hearing everyone’s stories.	B．She wants to help residents in nursing homes.
C．She finds it interesting to repeat the question.	D．It makes her famous in the community.

2. What can be inferred about Pearl in paragraph 4?

A．Pearl was in good health.	B．Pearl didn’t have enough money to keep her dog.
C．Pearl was too old to raise a dog.	D．Pearl sold her dog for small luxuries.

3. What moved Amanda most?

A．The simplicity and sincerity of the residents’ requests.

B．The popularity Ruby achieved for her kind behaviors.

C．The residents’ gratitude for Amanda’s assistance.

D．The generosity and enthusiasm of the good people of Harrison.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．Action speak louder than words.	B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.
C．Nothing is difficult to a willing heart.	D．Kindness is the language of the heart.

4 . When I think about ducks, I picture my mother’s pets. She saved Lucy and Fran from a very wet area when I was 16 years old. The little ducks were weak and sick. My mother helped them to get healthy.

Lucy and Fran lived in a large box in the garage. They became family pets. They were members of our family. Lucy followed me around. She quacked (嘎嘎叫) and quacked. She liked attention.

My brother Tim read everything he could find about ducks. He learned to care for our pets. He made sure that the box in the garage was fit for our pets. It had a heat lamp and a feeder. He gave them water and fresh straw each day. What a hit!   Lucy and Fran loved their house. They quacked to say, “Thank you!”

On a rainy morning, Lucy walked near me to the mailbox. She walked so close that we knocked each other. I fell into a big mud hole. All the letters from the mailbox got wet. They were covered with muddy, brown water.

What’s worse, Tim watched from the window. When I got back into the house, he was on the kitchen floor holding the sides of his stomach. He laughed there.

I stomped (跺脚) my feet and threw up my arms. My mom calmly listened to me shout. “It’s okay, honey. If you prefer to, you can trade beds with the ducks!” she comforted.

With that in mind, I went to the garage and made my peace with the ducks. My own bed looked a lot better than their straw and heat lamp.

1. Where did Lucy and Fran live?

A．In the kitchen.	B．In the bedroom.
C．In the water.	D．In the garage.

2. Why did Tim read everything he could find about ducks?

A．To make a box for the ducks.	B．To choose a heat lamp for the ducks.
C．To learn to care for the ducks.	D．To read stories to the ducks.

3. What happened on a rainy morning?

A．The writer fell into a big mud hole.	B．The mailbox got lost.
C．The ducks both disappeared.	D．Tim picked up some letters.

4. What could be the best title for the text?

A．Two Noisy Ducks for Sale	B．A Family’s Love for Ducks
C．A Family’s Photo with Ducks	D．Two Boys’ Fight with Ducks

7 . We sometimes think that everything was much better and easier in the past. It’s one of the tricks our minds play on us, especially when we are in low spirits.

Actually, it’s unlikely that things were objectively better in the past. This form of thinking is called rosy retrospection, which is a well- studied cognitive (认知的) mistake. It happens because when we think about the past, we are more likely to focus on positive aspects than negative details.

If you think back to a holiday with your family five years ago, you’re likely to recall the beautiful views rather than the uncomfortable bed. In other words, the annoying details disappear from our memory over time while the positive ones remain.

Rosy retrospection can influence how we make decisions, and it’s one of the reasons why we easily return into problematic relationships. The longer it is since we experienced the negative influence of a relationship, the more likely we are to let the good memories outweigh the bad memories and to perhaps forgive unforgivable behavior. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to review our nostalgic (怀旧的) feelings with a healthy degree of doubt.

But rosy retrospection does serve an important purpose. It keeps us in a positive state of mind in the present and is important to our mental health. In fact, people who tend to remember negative experiences more than positive ones are likely to suffer psychological disease. Research generally suggests that our happiest days are still to come. And even if they're not, it’s still important to believe that they are. Don’t shy away from looking upon the past with a certain degree of nostalgia. But, for the same reason, don't use the past as an excuse to be unhappy in the present.

1. What does the underlined phrase “rosy retrospection” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Concentrating on impossible things.	B．Thinking objectively about the past.
C．Having a preference for good memories.	D．Remembering exactly about the details.

2. Which of the following is encouraged by the author according to Paragraph 4?

A．Forgiving the unacceptable behavior generously.

B．Reviewing the nostalgic feelings critically.

C．Ignoring the nostalgic feelings absolutely.

D．Getting back to the problematic relationships bravely.

3. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The importance of maintaining a positive mindset.	B．The good excuse for present happiness.
C．The accuracy of remembering past details.	D．The negative impact of recalling past experience.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward rosy retrospection according to the passage?

A．Negative.

B．Cautious.

C．Subjective.

D．Objective.

8 . Most adults view human life as especially precious. For example, a survey of millions of people in 233 countries, most of them in their 20s and 30s, found they largely agreed that self- driving cars should crash into dogs or cats instead of people if they had to choose. However, growing evidence suggests many young children feel differently.

Using a toy railway and Lego figures, Matti Wilks and her colleagues at the University of Edinburgh presented170 children aged 6 to 9 in an urban part of Poland with scenarios (场景) based on a thought experiment called the trolley (有轨电车) problem.

The children had to decide whether to direct a rail car down one of two tracks so that it crashed into a Lego person or a Lego animal — either a dog or chimpanzee. Surprisingly, children were likely to save a dog over a person. About 42 percent of the children wanted to save the dog and make the rail car knock down the person, compared with just 17 percent of adults. About 28 percent of children also prioritized the chimpanzee over the person, compared with 11 percent of adults.

“Children learn from their parents, teachers and others that it’s morally (道德上) important to care for others, but it may be easier for them to learn this as a blanket rule (通用规则),” says Karri Neldner at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. As a result, they don’t show a strong preference for saving one over the other, she says. “However, as they get older, they might pick up on cultural narratives that tell us it’s really important to care for other people,” says Neldner.

The reason children value dogs so highly is probably due to familiarity, says Wilks. Her studies have found that children who spent more time with dogs were more likely to say they would save a dog over a person.

1. What is the author’s purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To present a scientific finding.	B．To introduce the topic of the passage.
C．To provide background information.	D．To advertise for self- driving cars.

2. What can be inferred from Wilks’ thought experiment?

A．It’s a normal phenomenon that children in the experiment prefer to save a dog.

B．Children’s moral development is shaped by their love for pets.

C．The trolley problem is a tool to assess children’s intelligence.

D．Children may fail to understand the value of human life.

3. What causes children to change their moral choices as they grow up?

A．Care for parents and teachers.	B．Learning the blanket rule.
C．Familiarity with others.	D．Cultural influence.

4. Which might be the best title for the text?

A．Children’s Choices: Saving Lives or Animals?	B．Mental Effects of Animals on Children
C．Moral Dilemma (困境): the Trolley Problem	D．Different Opinions about Self- driving Cars

10 . The seven Cs of a good letter

What is the secret of writing a good letter? You will be successful if you follow these seven Cs.

Clear.     1    . Make them easy to understand. Talk as if the reader were right there with you.

Correct. Writing should be taken seriously.     2    . Use your dictionary. If you need to, check a reference book too. Use them as much as you need to.

Complete. Complete your points. Finish one point completely before going on to the next.

Courteous (礼貌的). Be friendly. Present your information nicely even if you are complaining about something.     3    

Concise. Make each point as clearly and briefly as you can.

Conversational. This is really the secret of good writing,     4    . Such a letter has a natural, friendly tone.

Considerate.     5     Write about what you believe the reader needs or wants to know. Try to be helpful. This will build good feeling toward you.

The seven Cs are about writing letters. But how about school papers? Use the seven Cs. Write as if you are talking to your teacher or professor. You’ll be surprised. You’ll almost instantly become a good writer. And you might even enjoy writing from now on.

A．Use short, direct sentences.

B．Include long sentences in your letter.

C．Think of the readers’ point of view as you write.

D．Just“ talk” to the person.

E．In all letters, treat others as you want them to treat you.

F．Don’t guess, even for spelling.

G．Make sure what you say is correct.