1 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Many students feared maths subject, and I was among them. Once I failed     1     the mathematics, I was     2    (annoy), My friends started making fun of me. I was     3    (luck)that my mother was a maths teacher. She always helps me, but I didn’t take that seriously.

When my mother     4    (tell）that I didn’t pass the maths subject, she got shocked. But     5    （fortunate）, she didn’t shout at me. Instead, she gave me     6     inspirational speech.

Later on she started teaching me mathematics. She taught me     7    (play)with maths and really I enjoyed a lot, from which maths became my favourite subject. Now I also teach those friends who really fear maths. They think that maths subjects is very difficult and it has lots of formula（公式）to remember. But my mother taught me maths in an     8    (interest)way. I used that technique to solve problems. From this my     9     (confident) has increased and I’m happy that most difficult subject has become a game for me.

Becoming an engineer is my ambition,     10     may support me through hardships and setbacks.

2 . Doing one good deed turns into another coming your way. Liz’s life was ______forever over the course of that year. It all ______ with a single act of kindness towards two strangers who walked into her diner (小餐馆) early one morning.

After they fought horrible_______for 12 hours, Tim and Paul stepped into the 130 Diner for breakfast. When the time came to pay the bill though, they were in for a______.The young waitress who had served them had_______their conversations and paid their bill, leaving a sweet message on their check instead, “Your meal is on me today. Thanks for ______others and running into the places everyone runs away from.”

Touched, the two firefighters _______her kind deed on social media where it quickly went viral. And that was when they found Liz Woodward had been struggling to______ ends meet for the last few years after her father suffered a brain disease that left him paraplegic(瘫痪).

______to help the woman who had showed such kindness even if she was suffering, they _____ a campaign to raise$10,000 for a wheelchair accessible for her father. The ______, however, did not stop pouring in when the campaign ended. Having______of her kind deed, Mobility Ventures, which made the wheelchairs, refused to take the money and gave the Woodward family one for free.

Liz couldn't be too ______ to many strangers who have reached out to help her, saying, “The kindness and generosity the ______supporters and the Mobility Ventures have shown is really incredible, and I hope this bring hope to others in ______ situations, and inspires people to help those in need in any way possible.

1.

A．created

B．changed

C．spent

D．disturbed

2.

A．met

B．ended

C．formed

D．started

3.

A．fire

B．flood

C．earthquake

D．hurricane

4.

A．satisfaction

B．reminder

C．surprise

D．inspiration

5.

A．interrupted

B．ignored

C．joined

D．overheard

6.

A．changing

B．educating

C．serving

D．attacking

7.

A．wrote

B．sent

C．introduced

D．shared

8.

A．make

B．take

C．keep

D．live

9.

A．Embarrassed

B．Encouraged

C．Determined

D．Threatened

10.

A．set up

B．take up

C．pick up

D．make up

11.

A．friendships

B．instructions

C．comments

D．donations

12.

A．talked

B．heard

C．thought

D．dreamed

13.

A．accessible

B．sensitive

C．helpful

D．grateful

14.

A．firefighter

B．community

C．campaign

D．family

15.

A．hopeless

B．similar

C．dangerous

D．various

3 . Standing at the finish line, 70-year-old Bob Long spent a while reflecting on the achievement he’d just made. Behind him was the wild, endless Mongolian grassland extending into the distance. This American had just become the oldest person ever to complete and win the Mongol Derby, the world’s longest horse race.

Long, a rider all his life, entered the race after being inspired by All the Wild Horses, a movie based on the grueling event.

Fearing that he wouldn’t be able to complete it, he set about preparing his mind and body for this “hardest, toughest, most demanding thing you can do on a horse”, an annual 1,000-kilometer race that was recognized as the world’s longest horse race by The Guinness Book of Records in 2011.

Although Long had been riding horses for many years, the hardship and uncertainty of the task pushed him to his limit and forced him to depend entirely on his own will. The race organizers had provided an extensive support network to keep an eye on the participants from afar. Despite that, the physical strain of riding such a long distance made simple things like squatting (蹲) down at the end of the day almost impossible.

Along the vast race course there were unpredictable circumstances beyond Long’s control, however well prepared he’d been. Weather was one of them, which could switch from heavy rain to burning sun unexpectedly.

Above all else, the biggest obstacle was the state of mind. Without a living soul in sight, Long was desperate for interaction, guidance, and comfort. This feeling of loneliness accounted for his hope that one of his fellow competitors would catch up.

Regardless of the hardship, Long felt a sort of spiritual adventure while traveling through the wilderness. He was provided with some memorable moments while connecting with nature. Still holding the passion for riding, Long never dismisses the idea of competing in another Mongol Derby.

1. What distinguished Bob Long from other competitors in the Mongol Derby?

A．He rode the whole race course alone.

B．He was the oldest participant of the horse race.

C．He was most likely to enter the competition again.

D．He was made into The Guinness Book of Records in 2011.

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

A．Pains-taking but senseless.	B．Comfortable and pleasant.
C．Difficult and exhausting.	D．Romantic but time-consuming.

3. What was the biggest challenge that Long faced during the race?

A．The changeable weather.

B．The mental state in the course.

C．The difficulty in finding the right route.

D．The physical strain of riding a long distance.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．An introduction to the Mongol Derby.

B．A review of a film based on the longest horse race.

C．The contributions Bob Long made to the horse race.

D．The experience of the Mongol Derby’s oldest winner.

4 . The city of Richmond announced that Roscoe Burnems would become the city’s first poet laureate (桂冠诗人), a poet recognized for achievements in poetry

During his two-year term as a poet laureate, Burnems is responsible for being a poetry advocate by providing access to poetry throughout the city and offering opportunities to use the power of words to heal wounds, open hearts and minds, and bring people closer together. He has the freedom to create and develop his own projects during his term and will receive a $4,000 annual bonus.

Burnems’ love of poetry began at an early age when he was struggling against depression. His English teacher recommended him to read poetry, which later brought him a peaceful mental state and helped him recover from depression. He soon decided that poetry was something he would run after for his lifetime. “People gravitate to poetry because they can find themselves in the poems,” he says. “It allows readers to feel the emotional part of our experiences.”

He says poetry is a great platform to discuss mental health. depression and the emotional stresses that come with daily life. Relieving those stresses is central to some of the work he does with young people Last year. Burnems started a youth poetry producing competition for local high school students.

Burnems says he loves and supports different types of art, and his next move is to explore poetry through cooperation across media Richmond’s paintings on the wall are a good example. He says, “Richmond is getting known for these beautiful paintings on display across the city, and I want to add a literary component to that.”

1. What is Burnems’ responsibility as a poet laureate?

A．Creating more good poems.	B．Developing his own projects.
C．Spreading the power of poetry.	D．Bringing poetry lovers together.

2. Why did Burnems develop a great passion for poetry?

A．Poetry made him more confident.

B．Poetry helped him through a tough time.

C．He was influenced by his English teacher.

D．He viewed writing poems as a lifelong career.

3. What does the underlined phrase “gravitate to” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Take pride in.

B．Be used to.

C．Break away from.

D．Be attracted by.

4. What is Burnems going to do in the near future?

A．To shift his focus to paintings.	B．To combine poetry with other arts.
C．To hold more poetry competitions.	D．To help youth with mental problems.

5 . Have you ever gazed at a test question and wondered where on earth it came from? You’re just certain the teacher has never covered the information, because it isn’t in your notes.     1     And furthermore, they got the question right.

    2     It is a common frustration. Very few people can write fast enough or can concentrate long enough to record everything the teacher says.

As you can imagine, college lectures can be much longer and more detailed than the lectures you receive in high school. For this reason, many college students deal with the potential problem of missing critical information by developing a personalized form of shorthand (速记).

    3     You don’t have to learn a squiggly-line (潦草书写的) language. You simply come up with a set of symbols or abbreviations (缩写) for common words that you find in lectures.

Developing shortcuts in your writing is not a new idea, of course. The trick is to develop a good system and to do it well.     4     Try these tips:

★Develop a list of the most commonly used words and make shortcuts for them.

★Practice your course-specific shorthand at the beginning of the term when your text is still new and you’ re curious and excited about the information. Find a few interesting passages and practice writing them in shorthand

★If possible, find a study partner to read the passages to you.     5    

★ Time yourself for each passage you practice. Pretty soon you’ll start to build up speed.

A．To do that, you have to practice.

B．Find the common terms for the passage.

C．We miss things when we take class notes

D．Look through the textbooks for each course

E．That sounds much more complicated than it really is.

F．You can get the real experience of taking notes during a lecture in this way

G．Then, you discover that some of your classmates did record the information in their notes

6 . Who is a genius? This question has greatly interested humankind for centuries.

Let’s state clearly: Einstein was a genius. His face is almost the international symbol for genius. But we want to go beyond one man and explore the nature of genius itself. Why is it that some people are so much more intelligent or creative than the rest of us? And who are they?

In the sciences and arts, those praised as geniuses were most often white men, of European origin. Perhaps this is not a surprise. It’s said that history is written by the victors, and those victors set the standards for admission to the genius club. When contributions were made by geniuses outside the club—women, or people of a different color or belief—they were unacknowledged and rejected by others.

A study recently published by Science found that as young as age six, girls are less likely than boys to say that members of their gender(性别)are “really, really smart.” Even worse, the study found that girls act on that belief: Around age six they start to avoid activities said to be for children who are “really, really smart.” Can our planet afford to have any great thinkers become discouraged and give up? It doesn’t take a genius to know the answer: absolutely not.

Here’s the good news. In a wired world with constant global communication, we’re all positioned to see flashes of genius wherever they appear. And the more we look, the more we will see that social factors(因素)like gender, race, and class do not determine the appearance of genius. As a writer says, future geniuses come from those with “intelligence, creativity, perseverance(毅力), and simple good fortune, who are able to change the world.”

1. What does the author think of victors’ standards for joining the genius club?

A．They’re unfair.	B．They’re conservative.
C．They’re objective.	D．They’re strict.

2. What can we infer about girls from the study in Science?

A．They think themselves smart.

B．They look up to great thinkers.

C．They see gender differences earlier than boys.

D．They are likely to be influenced by social beliefs

3. Why are more geniuses known to the public?

A．Improved global communication.

B．Less discrimination against women.

C．Acceptance of victors’ concepts.

D．Changes in people’s social positions.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Geniuses Think Alike	B．Genius Takes Many Forms
C．Genius and Intelligence	D．Genius and Luck