1 . My aunt got sick after her only son died. She was beginning to forget things. Simple tasks became a challenge for her.

    1     Then she went through chemotherapy (化疗) and radiation. Although she could still walk and talk, she forgot a lot of things that happened in the past and even conversations that had taken place a few days before.

My grandmother became my aunt’s caretaker. After school, I would go to my grandmother’s home until my mom got off work.     2     I started preparing meals and talking to my aunt to keep her company.

As my aunt’s symptoms developed, she could not stand for a long period, so we began assisting her as she walked.     3     This was the hardest part for me. But I did it to help my grandmother. After a while I began administering medicine and massaging (按摩) my aunt’s legs to help with the circulation.

    4     I didn’t think I had the courage to help someone who was sick or who could not look after himself. But after assisting my aunt I began to care more about the needs of others. Seeing someone so strong and passionate (热爱的) for life fall sick to the point where she needed assistance with things most people take for granted was a new understanding.     5     This experience not only changed my view on life, but also inspired me to consider becoming a physician’s assistant, or another career where I can help others.

A．Next I was asked to help bathe her.

B．My heart became soft for the needs of others.

C．She had been cancer-free for about four years.

D．After some tests, we were told that she had brain cancer.

E．I realized that we all need help in life, whether physical or mental.

F．This experience changed how I viewed old people and the sick.

G．During this time my grandmother started asking me to help her care for my aunt.

2 . Each year, the women of Olney, England, and Liberal, Kansas, have an unusual “pancake racing”. This tradition is said to have started on Shrove Tuesday,1445, in Olney. Shrove Tuesday is the day before the Christian season of Lent begins.

It is said that in 1445, an Olney woman was making pancakes. She suddenly heard the church(教堂) bells ring, signaling the beginning of the Shrove Tuesday service. Realizing that she was going to be late for church, she raced out the door still wearing her apron(围裙) and headscarf and holding her frying pan(锅) with a pancake in it. Olney women continue this tradition more than 500 years later.

In 1950, a person of Liberal wanted his town to join in Olney Pancake Race. He made some phone calls to Olney to set up a friendly competition, and the people of Olney accepted the challenge.

The rules are simple. Racers must wear the traditional headscarf and apron. They have to flip(抛) the pancake in the air so that it flips and lands back in the pan on the other side. After the race, there are Shrove Tuesday church services. Then Liberal and Olney connect through a video call to compare race times and announce a winner.

In both towns, the races have grown into larger festivals. Olney’s festival is an all­day event starting with a big pancake breakfast. Liberal’s festival lasts four days and includes a parade, a great show, and eating competitions.

Although the women’s race is still the main event, both towns now hold races for boys and girls of all ages. Emma Evans,14, was the winner of her age group’s race in Liberal last year. She wore an apron that her grandma made for her and used a pan passed down to her from her older brother. Her family cheered her on from the sidelines.

“It’s a family tradition, ”Emma says. “And there are only two places in the world that compete against each other in a race like this, so it feels special.”

1. What do we know about Olney Pancake Race?

A．It was founded by a cook.	B．It was started during Lent.
C．It is a centuries­old tradition.	D．It has been held every year since 1445.

2. What do the competitors have to do during pancake racing?

A．Wear their formal clothes.	B．Throw and catch the pancake.
C．Hand the pancake to another.	D．Eat the pancake while running.

3. Different from Olney’s festival, Liberal’s festival         .

A．lasts only one day	B．has more varied activities
C．holds different races for boys	D．starts with a delicious breakfast

4. How does Emma look at pancake racing?

A．It is family­friendly.	B．It is quite competitive.
C．It should be internationalized.	D．It should provide aprons for racers.

3 . The story of Santa Claus began hundreds of years earlier. During the fourth century, a Roman Catholic church official called Nicholas of Myra became famous for his many good actions. Nicholas was made a saint after his death and it became common in northern Europe to hold a celebration on December 6th, the day Nicholas died. All kinds of stories were told about saint Nicholas and the Dutch brought one of these stories with them to America. They believed that each year the saint rode a white horse from home to home. He gave presents to children who had been good, and coal or straw to children who had been bad. Other Americans who lived nearby greatly enjoyed the Dutch celebrations. They decided to make saint Nicholas part of their own celebration of Christmas. But he got a new name Santa Claus. It was taken from the Dutch words for Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus. The Dutch imagined Saint Nicholas to be a serious, even frightening person, who could punish as well as give gifts. But in 1822, an American named Clement C. Moore wrote a Christmas poem for his children, the poem called A Visit from St. Nicholas, created a completely new Santa Claus. Dr. Moore described a short, happy, little man who rode in an open sleigh. The sleigh was pulled from house to house by eight white reindeer. At each house Santa delivered gifts by dropping them down the chimney into the fireplace. Dr. Moore’s poem was published in a newspaper in New York, in 1823. It soon became popular all over America and it became the source for the Santa Claus American children still believe in today.

An American artist named Thomas Nast also played a part in creating Santa Claus. Beginning in 1860’s, Mr. Nast drew pictures of Santa Claus for an American publication called Harper’s Weekly. These pictures showed a fat, smiling old man with a red nose and white beard. He was dressed in a red suit with white fur and a black belt. Today more than one hundred years later, that same Santa Claus can be seen everywhere at Christmas time.

1. Nicholas died ________.

A．on December 25th	B．on December 6th
C．in 1822	D．in 1823

2. Nicholas became famous because ________.

A．he lived during the fourth century

B．he was a Roman Catholic Church official

C．he did a lot of deeds

D．he lived in Myra, the ancient capital of Lycia

3. The Dutch believed that Saint Nicholas ________.

A．gave presents to each child

B．gave nothing to the bad children

C．gave coal or straw to the bad children

D．gave presents to the adults

4. The Santa Claus that American children trust today comes from _______.

A．a newspaper	B．a poem
C．a chimney	D．a forest

4 . You may have been told in the past that reading to your children can help their development. Now an organization is trying to stress it even more.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is now having doctors encourage parents to read aloud to their children, even at the earliest stages. They say it is an important part of the brain’s development in the first three years of a child’s life.

“Although reading to our children can be a simple thing, it has a huge effect on our children. It can encourage our children to read later on in life and give a good start to their education. It can enhance the vocabulary and other communication skills. We can continue to do something that doesn’t take a lot of time and energy to tell the children that love of reading is so important when they are babies,” said Dr Heidi Stoltenberg at Mayo Clinic Health System.

Reading to your children is very important. Stoltenberg said it is never too early to start. “It may seem kind of unusual because we don’t necessarily think babies are at an age when you would read to them, but immediately when you come home from the delivery (分娩) of your baby is a great time to start that,” Stoltenberg said.

Studies have shown that the poverty level plays a major role in parents who read to their children. Many times, that is simply because the families cannot afford books or other things to read. There are many resources (资源) in our area to help those families get reading materials. The United Way of Freeborn County, and many others across the region, have teamed up with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Many local hospitals, including Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea and Austin, also take part in Reach Out and Read.

1. What does the underlined word “enhance” in the third paragraph mean?

A．Choose.

B．Receive.

C．Increase.

D．Prevent.

2. What is Stoltenberg’s opinion of reading to babies?

A．She thinks it is completely meaningless.

B．She believes babies may get hurt if you do that.

C．She insists that the parents turn to some experts.

D．She holds that reading to babies should start as early as possible.

3. What’s the main difficulty for parents to read to their children?

A．Being short of time.

B．Being short of money.

C．The bad family environment.

D．The poor education background.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The importance of reading to children.

B．New ways to develop children’s reading ability.

C．Reasons that influence children’s reading habits.

D．Necessity of paying attention to children’s brain development.

5 . When mothers I know talk about their gifted kids, I will have a lot of conflicting emotions. I get it that the moms are proud, and surely, I don’t mind hearing about the kids’ other amazing achievements. It’s the gifted thing that gets me.

I would probably feel differently if my daughter Violet was some great prodigy. Maybe I would be out there bragging (吹嘘) with some mothers if she was reading on an eighth grade level instead of struggling through “I’ll Teach My Dog a Lot of Words”. Like every other parent, I had dreams of Violet being some kind of combination of Lincoln and Mozart. But in schoolwork at least, Violet seems solidly normal, ahead of some in her class, behind when compared to others.

But why do I care? Normal is a good thing! Normal is great! As it is, what I’d like to brag about seems like a thing people never care about. My Violet is a really great little girl. She’s a little hothead, with a temper, but she also cares about other people’s feelings. When friends of hers are sick, she wants to make them little cards and pictures to help them feel well. A new little girl came to her classroom last week, and Violet noticed she was feeling lonely and scared, so she asked the new girl to play at break.

But no one brags how nice their kid is. Too bad. That’s the kind of thing I’d like to hear. I don’t think I’d mind listening to lots of stories of kindness. “Oh yeah? Well, my kid took his plate to the sink without asking!” “Yeah? My kid lined up his shoes in rows in his closet and then sat on my lap and told me I was pretty!” Listening to those kinds of stories makes me feel cheery. They make me feel like the world is a good place, full of people who care for each other. Unlike those about kids who are trying to be the best.

1. Hearing other moms bragging about their gifted kids, the author feels______.

A．calm

B．proud

C．uncomfortable

D．surprised

2. What does the underlined word “prodigy” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．A person who studies hard.	B．A person who acts unwisely.
C．A person with unusual abilities.	D．A person with a great personality.

3. Which of the following can best describe Violet?

A．She is intelligent.	B．She is kind-hearted.
C．She is a perfect girl.	D．She is sometimes lonely.

4. The author prefers to listen to stories about______.

A．kids’ happy lives	B．kids’ achievements
C．kids’ good character	D．kids’ wonderful talents

6 . The rescue of an Austrian skier who was found alive after being buried by an avalanche is being called a “miracle”. Police in Upper Styria — the mountainous and forested region in southern Austria — said they were alerted on Christmas Day that a 26-year-old skier had not returned from the slopes. The man who alerted police said he had managed to get through to the skier’s mobile phone but heard only “cracking noises” on the line, the BBC reported.

A rescue team was able to trace the skier beneath more than 3 feet of snow using an electric avalanche victim’s transceiver (无线电收发两用机), which skiers are required to wear in avalanche-prone areas. They found the man was on a slope of Mount Pleschnitzzinken, in the northwestern area of Upper Styria. “You can’t move under a blanket of snow like this,” Stefan Schrock of the Styria mountain rescue service told Austrian public broadcaster ORF. “The man was extremely lucky that he had a big enough air pocket under the blanket of snow, so he had oxygen too and was able to breathe.”

The man was found about two hours after authorities were first alerted. However, the avalanche hit the region three hours before that when the man was buried in the snow. A rescue team and local police dogs dug the man out of the snow and he was taken down the valley suffering from hypothermia (体温过低). He was otherwise unharmed.

An avalanche also swept across a marked ski trail near the Swiss town of Andermatt on Thursday, injuring two people. Four others were either rescued themselves from the snow unhurt. Police and rescuers searched the snowslide after witnesses said more people might be buried, but the operation ended with police saying there were no more victims. The avalanche occurred mid-morning while many holiday skiers enjoyed mountain sunshine the day after Christmas.

1. Why did the man alert the police?

A．He found two people injured.

B．A 26-year-old skier got lost.

C．He heard only terrible noises.

D．Many people got lost on the slope.

2. How could the skier survive?

A．Only the dog helped him.

B．He had an electronic transceiver.

C．A blanket of snow helped him.

D．He had a big enough air pocket.

3. How long was the man trapped in the snow?

A．For two hours.

B．For three hours.

C．For five hours.

D．For a week.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．A terrible avalanche.

B．A Christmas miracle.

C．An exciting rescue.

D．A Christmas ski.

7 . Simple steps to inner peace

If you wake up feeling tired and lazy, these moves can give you a lift. Our yoga warm-ups will help to loosen and stretch your muscles and joints, and deep breathing also helps you to focus your thoughts, so you feel refreshed.

Upper-body lift

Slowly lower your body to the floor, look up forward the ceiling and breathe in. Hold for a minute. Release (放松).

Toe touch

Bringing your hands to the floor, breathe out while putting your head between your knees (if you’re a beginner, keep knees slightly bent). Holding the position, breathe in as you stretch your head and chest upward. Hold for one minute. Release.

Spine stretch

Standing straight, feet together, breathe in and raise your arms straight overhead, hands touching. Look up, stretching your body for one minute. Release. Repeat moves as often as needed.

1. The purpose of the above exercises is to ________.

A．help you bring back your strength

B．get rid of pain from your back

C．get you warm enough to do further exercise

D．loosen and stretch your muscles to help you feel refreshed

2. The underlined phrase “give you a lift” means ________.

A．raising your body higher	B．making you release
C．helping you get energetic	D．getting your body straight

3. To a beginner, ________ may be the easiest and ________ the hardest.

A．upper­body lift; toe touch	B．toe touch; upper­body lift
C．spine stretch; toe touch	D．toe touch; spine stretch

8 . Teen Read Week is a week-long celebration for teens and reading. Teen Read Week is held during the third week of October each year. It aims at encouraging teens to read for pleasure. Reading for fun has many benefits.     1     More reading will improve test scores and broaden teens’ horizons. And it also helps with their future success.

    2     They will plan various activities in hopes of encouraging young adults to pick up a book. Activities can range from simple programs to events featuring special guests and some delicious food.

Some libraries host an open house for teens during Teen Read Week. During an open house, the young adult librarian may talk about his or her library’s services for teens, upcoming teen programs, and collections of books suitable for teens.     3    .

If the budget (预算) permits, some libraries may invite popular authors to their places. Authors who write books for teens can make a public appearance there.     4     If necessary, they can also answer questions from teens. In the end, the library can offer the authors’ books as a prize to some of the teens in the audience.

If you’re reluctant (勉强的) teenage readers, there are tips for you on how to follow Teen Read Week’s spirit — reading for fun.     5     An audiobook (有声读物) can be a good choice to start your interest in reading. You can listen on the way to school. If you like some movies about history, you can try reading related history books. You’ll probably enjoy the more detailed stories presented by the novels.

A．Teen gaming nights are another option for libraries.

B．Thus, the teens can better learn about the library.

C．You might think they are characters out of reach.

D．They can tell about their works and writing methods.

E．You can search for some interesting reading materials.

F．For example, teens can become more interested in reading.

G．Public libraries will organize events in honor of Teen Read Week.

9 . After years of teachers asking for the right answers, students aren’t used to someone asking for the wrong ones. Students’ failure tends to create mental burden that negatively affects learning. Lifting the burden requires us to face failure bravely and encourage students to accept it as a natural part of getting educated. While educators have to make sure that students have the right content and support to avoid long-term failure, it is just as important to accept mistakes as a normal part of education.

Sadly, our culture is so focused on success or perfection that students generally aren’t taught about failure. To fill the gap, I share with students a Samuel Beckett quote “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better”. It suggests one becomes better after each failure. I also play a video on game designed by Extra Credits, which shows people can quickly declare their ways as a failure if they don’t work out and then learn from them to move on. Both the quote and the video can help students get a more positive attitude towards failure.

Teachers can help students accept failure better. In her piece “5-Minute Film Festival: Freedom to Fail Forward”, Edutopia author Amy Erin Borovoy had a set of videos and articles on the subject of failure. Borovoy reminds readers that “a true thinker learns as much from failure as from success.” Taking these short videos as monthly or weekly reminders can be a great way to start “how have we failed and what have we learned” discussions with students.

Teachers can actually use a technique called “Effective Failure” to teach about failure at any time. In my writing class, I often have students volunteer to pick out the worst writing of their own. This lets writers deepen their understanding of why a sentence, word choice, or paragraph construction has failed, and it inspires a sincere interest in better writing. This makes failure work well in class.

Also, remember that students are not the only ones who can learn from their mistakes. As those who teach students, we should do that too.

1. What matters in education according to Paragraph 1?

A．Helping students face failure calmly.

B．Making sure every student gets educated.

C．Allowing students to show their true selves.

D．Training students to get used to long-term failure.

2. Samuel Beckett’s quote and the video by Extra Credits both __________.

A．show the benefits of failure

B．help students develop more interests

C．provide some ways to reduce failure

D．teach students to get relaxed properly

3. What can we learn about the author from the example in Paragraph 3?

A．He tried to advertise for those videos.

B．He considered Borovoy a role model to students.

C．He thought the videos useful in teaching about failure.

D．He found video teaching an easy way to attract students.

4. What benefit do students get when the technique “Effective Failure” is used in class?

A．They enjoy communicating with others.

B．They are brave to admit their disadvantages.

C．They can find more interesting writing topics.

D．They improve by learning from their weak points.

10 . Scientists have discovered a bit of hand-made string (线绳) that’s around 50,000 years old in Neanderthal remains. The first Neanderthal remains were found in the Neander Valley in Germany, which is where the name comes from. Neanderthals may have lived mainly in caves and made stone tools, but recent discoveries have given hints that Neanderthals developed some advanced skills that people used to think impossible. For example, Neanderthals knew how to make glue from the bark (树皮) of a tree.

Now, scientists report they’ve found a piece of string on a stone tool made by Neanderthals. Before this, the oldest known piece of string was one made by humans about 19,000 years ago. The string is about a quarter of an inch long. Almost all things made from plants during that time have broken down and disappeared, so it’s very special to find this bit of string.

The scientists don’t know whether the string was attached to the tool. But that doesn’t interest them as much as the fact that Neanderthals knew how to make string. Bruce Hardy, the lead scientist on the project, says that knowing how to make string was meaningful for humans. “We wouldn’t really be here today without that technology,” he says.

Making string is a very arduous process. This string was made from the inside bark of an evergreen tree. To make string that is strong enough, the string must be made of several smaller fibers twisted (缠绕) together in a special way. For the Neanderthal string, several fibers needed to be twisted together into something like yarn. Then three pieces of yam needed to be twisted together in the opposite direction to make the final string.

The scientists Aren’t sure what the string was used for, but they say that string like. the bit that was found could be used to make bags, baskets, traps, or other things. The researchers also suggest that because Neanderthals needed to make pairs and count fibers to make the string, the bit of string may also tell us something about the kinds of math that Neanderthals could do.

1. What can we know about Neanderthals?

A．They were named after a nation.

B．They didn’t know how to make tools.

C．They were not as smart as scientists thought.

D．They may master more skills than people realized.

2. What is special about the string?

A．It is surprisingly long.

B．It was made from wood.

C．It survives a long history.

D．It was attached to a stone tool.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A．Neanderthals strengthened stone tools with the string.

B．The scientists think the string is part of the stone tool.

C．The string-making skill is of great importance to humans.

D．Neanderthals had great difficulty in inventing the string.

4. What does the underlined word “arduous” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Difficult.	B．Normal.
C．Creative.	D．Boring.