1 . In 2000, Andréa Speranza achieved her dream of becoming a firefighter joining the Halifax Regional Fire Service. Her job was exactly as satisfying as she imagined it would be, except for one thing: she still hadn’t seen another woman in her role — not in a magazine, not on television, not in real life. Even today, less than five percent of firefighters in Canada are women. Speranza decided that she wanted to help young women see that they, too, could have a career like hers.

The result is Camp Courage, a program for girls aged 15 to 19 who want to learn more about firefighting. In 2006, Speranza and about 20 volunteers welcomed their first 17 participants, recruiting (招募) attendees through advertising in schools and recreation centers. Over the course of eight days, the girls discovered the ins and outs of being first responders: learning how to put out fires, deliver first aid and even use the jaws of life (救生钳) on a car.

Camp Courage now runs one session every year in Halifax and is free to attend. To offset costs, Speranza and her fellow campers fundraise by holding everything from car washes to comedy nights. Hopeful campers must also submit an essay describing how they plan to help their community, or a specific individual in need. And they have to deliver on the plan—from building a bench (长椅) for a senior at a bus stop to launching a local chapter of the Kids Help Phone.

Hundreds of girls have passed through Camp Courage, and 36 percent are doing exactly what 52-year-old Speranza hoped they would: working as first responders across the country. This past summer, the camp held its first session for young women in Halifax, as well as its first national camp in Calgary with plans to roll out more in 2023.

1. What was probably Speranza’s wish in 2001?

A．To see more female firefighters.

B．To make contact with more teenage girls.

C．To be recruited to the Halifax Regional Fire Service.

D．To work part-time in schools and recreation centers.

2. What does the underlined part “ins and outs” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Risks.

B．Chances.

C．Details.

D．Purposes.

3. What can be inferred about Camp Courage?

A．It is a nonprofit international organization.

B．It teaches the value of being helpful to others.

C．It requires its campers to write an essay every week.

D．It introduces boys and girls to the emergency services.

4. What can we say about Speranza?

A．She had a burning ambition to play comedy.

B．She used to be reserved and disciplined.

C．She is intellectual and scholarly.

D．She is brave and inspiring.

2 . Music is known to have a great deal of mental and physical benefits on humans. From helping to treat physical medical problems to relieving stress, music can be extremely beneficial in helping to improve health.     1    

Animals may have a great deal of stress.     2     Dogs and cats may be stressed when around men because they were badly treated by a man, and they may never forget that. A dog who was attacked by another dog while on a walk may be always afraid to go on walks, or even be afraid to leave the house.

    3     Cats, dogs and horses will not all have the exact same stressors (压力源), so you just have to pay close attention to your animal and what makes them unique, such as changes in eating habits, too much sleep and too little sleep, just to name a few.

Music can be extremely beneficial for animals in high stress situations.     4     In the atmosphere, they feel calm, safe and well protected. Music can be specifically helpful when played at veterinary (兽医的) clinics for animals who are afraid of the vet. This helps calm the owners of the animals and the staff at the office besides the animals.     5     That’s why it is being taken up at a variety of veterinary clinics around the world.

A．It can create a space for them.

B．The same goes for our furry friends, too.

C．They could be stressed for a variety of reasons.

D．It would be a beneficial practice for all parties.

E．Another place where music can be helpful is in car rides.

F．There are ways that you can identify stress in your animals.

G．It’s no wonder loud noises can cause dogs and cats so much stress.

3 . For Sandra, the teachers who stuck in her mind were the ones that gave her their time and effort and really prepared her for her future.    1    In this way she hoped to provide that same, high quality education for young people and give something back.

She saw herself as a teacher who helped students and gave them love for what they had to do, whether they wanted to do it or not.    2    One of them was that a GCSE student who simply aimed to get a D at the very beginning later achieved an A in his RE exam. Every time when hearing such news, she was just smiling with pride. No one knew how much she had done for such a day.

    3    She always said to them, “Ignore that goal, and put yourself at the goal you want to achieve. Even if you are not good at your subject, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get a D. I believe you’re going to get something far greater.”

Giving students that push to get better grade made a great difference to them. When they got it, the result was just amazing.”    4    You’ve helped them with something that’s going to make their lives much easier and better,” she explained.

Based on this teaching concept, Sandra focused on making each student a better “himself”. And what’s more, she has been among one of her former teachers and really has given something back. She once received a huge bunch of flowers with a card in it, writing, “Dear Sandra, you’ve given me the time and energy to help me get what I needed.     5    ”

A．She kept encouraging her students

B．It is useful to make friends with students

C．Her encouragement turned out to be of great use

D．It makes you feel like you’ve done your job so well

E．It is you and your teaching style that make it possible

F．So she chose to train as a teacher after college graduation

G．Looking back, there were many moments to make her proud

4 . Like most spa(温泉)treatments, a mud bath can relax the body and calm the mind. But the mud bath has something else going for it, too.     1     .

Mud baths can improve the symptoms of certain skin conditions. That seems to be related to one particularly special quality of spa mud.     2     , which is a common cause of many skin problems. And while mud-bath ingredients vary geographically, they do have a lot in common, and the anti-inflammatory(抗炎症的)effects might be related to these common ingredients.

When you are enjoying a mud bath, you’re not sinking in the mud on the side of the road after the rain.     3     . For one thing, it’s pretty smooth；it also has a higher mineral content than the standard wet dirt. A typical mud bath contains some combination of mineral water, clay and volcanic ash. The anti-inflammatory quality may result at least partly from the high mineral content.

Of course, inflammation isn’t the only problem drawing people to the mud.     4     . Some ingredients, as we have already discussed, can have anti-inflammatory effects, but they can also be antibacterial(抗菌的).

    5     , but the potential benefits of mineral-rich mud are enough to get many people to the nearest spa. The stress-reducing qualities of spa treatments in general are practically impossible to argue with.

A．The mud in a mud bath is special

B．That is, it can reduce inflammation

C．There are others to be found in spa mud

D．It can improve the condition of your skin

E．People have been taking mud baths for centuries

F．The skin requires an adequate supply of such minerals to heal further research

G．Whether mud bath can achieve the desired effect still need further research.

5 . The pumpkin (南瓜) theme is everywhere at Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, Maryland. It has thousands of pumpkins, including a pumpkin patch where people can pick their own pumpkin. There are also other things to do, like riding a pony, rushing down a slide or walking around a corn maze with its confusing winding pathways. Some children discover the big orange fruits way more than they think. Visitors can pick their own in season fruits, vegetables and flowers. Butler’s Orchard opened more than sixty years ago，as one of the first pick your own farms in the area.

Ken Merriam brought his children. He says Butler’s Orchard brings back good memories of growing up on a farm in Honduras. “It’s a little bit of what I used to have as a kid, so that’s why I think it’s nice to bring them over here. Get them out of the city.” Shirley Butler’s grandchildren who are in their 30s are now the third generation to run the farm. General manager Tyler Butler says children who usually only see pumpkins in grocery stores can learn how pumpkins are grown.

“I didn’t know pumpkins came from a vine. There are flowers on this vine. There are roots.” These little girls are earning about pumpkins during their first trip to a pumpkin patch to feel the nature and the fruits. For Tristan Piazza’s mother, the Fall Festival is an annual event. “My parents have always brought me. I bring my kid now. I hope he stays in the area and he can bring his kids.” Since family funds are hard to keep afloat these days, Tyler Butler appreciates the tens of thousands of visitors who come to the Fall Festival each year.

1. At Butler’s Orchard, visitors can experience ________.

A．picking vegetables in person	B．growing vegetables by themselves
C．tasting fruits off season	D．selling pumpkins online

2. Why did Ken Merriam take his children to the farm?

A．They want to run it.	B．They want to grow vegetables.
C．It reminds him of his childhood.	D．It provides them with fun activities.

3. Which of the following best explains “keep afloat” underlined in the last paragraph?

A．Guarantee.

B．Earn.

C．Expand.

D．Spend.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The Fall Festival is an annual event.

B．Pumpkins at Butler’s Orchard are organic.

C．Pick-your-own farms are increasingly popular.

D．Butler’s Orchard strengthens the bond of the family.

6 . Your own backyard may be a fun place to play. You may have trees to climb, and insects to study.     1    . But did you know these things are related to each other through the food chain? Every part of nature belongs to a community where each member uses the lower members to stay alive.

Every part of the world has food chains, including the oceans and the deserts (沙漠).     2    , the whole chain could fall apart. The food chain is most disturbed (扰乱) by people because we build neighborhoods on the land where animals live and we pollute the environment. Both these actions make it difficult for other living things to survive. Still there is a lot we can do to protect the parts of food chains. Here are some ideas that can help:

    3    . Make your backyard a place that other living things can enjoy. Plant more flowers and trees. And, most of all, try not to disturb the places where other animals live.

Do not pollute the environment. Recycle (回收) any material you can.     4    . Having fewer cars on the road means having better air for all of us to breathe.

Keep learning about and respecting (尊重) plants, animals, and the environment.     5    . You may even pass it on to your own children someday. It's important that as many people as possible protect nature and keep the food chain whole.

A．Share your space

B．If you ever want to see it

C．But if one part is taken away

D．We depend on each other for food and survival

E．Ride your bike or walk to places that you need to go

F．You can then pass this information on to your parents and friends

G．Maybe you hear birds singing or see your pet cat sleeping in the sun

7 . A father has been given a very unusual birthday gift from his two sons. Since Chris and Mike both live in Florida, they felt upset that they could not be with their father in Linwood, New Jersey for his special day.

As kids, they would always celebrate their father's birthday by going out to dinner and "play a trick" on him. Because they could not continue their mischievous (恶作剧的) tradition, they decided to seek some outside help.

Their father, Christopher Ferry, totally didn't know their plan until last week when he woke up to a text message from a number he did not recognize. The first text said, "Happy Birthday." And then another one said, "I read it on a billboard (广告牌)."

Sure enough, Chris and Mike had taken out an entire billboard reading "Wish My Dad a Happy Birthday—Love, Your Sons." The billboard also featured Christopher's name, face and phone number. Originally, they only expected their father to receive birthday wishes from friends and family members who recognized his face, but with the billboard hanging above the Black Horse Turnpike in Atlantic City, his phone quickly became flooded with messages and voicemail from total strangers wishing him a happy birthday. The billboard has made Ferry something of a local celebrity, too. Ferry said, "The waitress recognized me and she said, 'Oh, you're the billboard dad.' And that's my new title. I'm the billboard dad. I love it. It's really coo1."

Though a large number of wishes have made Christopher's phone temporarily unusable, he said that he was filled with joy and pride.

1. Why did Chris and Mike feel upset?

A．Their father was not willing to ask for help.

B．They weren't invited to attend a birthday party.

C．Their father didn't want to live with them in Florida.

D．They couldn't stay with their father on his birthday.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined word "celebrity" in Paragraph 4?

A．Hero.	B．Director.
C．Famous man.	D．Successful man.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．The billboard dad	B．Two ambitious sons
C．The kindness of friends	D．A special tradition for Dad's birthday.