1 . In my childhood, whenever I was being unreasonable, or questioning whatever direction my mother was giving, she would say “I’m the momma and you’re the baby.” End of discussion. Until one day she asked me to do something for her and I said, “No. You’re the momma; I’m the baby.” It gave her a good laugh.
But, at 31, I’m realizing the dynamic might be shifting. She’s the momma; I’m the baby. But I’m also something else now. More will be asked of me to take care of her. My mother is getting older.
The realization hit me during a recent visit home. In my memory, our house wasn’t spotless, but I’d call it tidy. Weekends were for cleaning. Yet during this visit I was taken aback by piles upon piles of mail and papers and junk. A fridge full of spoiled food. A mountain of clothes begging to be located. Was it always this way? When did she become a hoarder (囤积者)? A symptom of aging?
But my mother would like you to know something: She is not a hoarder. She spoke frankly with more self awareness than I expected about life and time and happiness. “The time that I have to go through those things would be my weekends. Do I want to spend my Saturday afternoon going through all the junk? Or do I want to go hang out with my friends? I think the latter. I don’t want to spend one minute of my free time doing anything that doesn’t bring me joy,” she says.
It’s not that my mother has no worries about aging, but she came to terms with it long before. “Trey, you could spend so much time worrying about things that aren’t perfect. Then time slips by, and they’re never going to be,” she continues. “I think happiness is a moment-to-moment, day-to-day kind of thing. It’s not something you sustain. I still think I’m hot—that might be in my head, but so that.”
1. What was the author’s tone in his response to Mom in paragraph 1?| A．Nervous | B．Pleased. | C．Unwilling. | D．Sympathetic. |
| A．Her refusal to donate old stuff. | B．The mess in Mom’s house. |
| C．Her preference for an economical life. | D．The decline of Mom’s health. |
| A．She had plans with her friends. | B．She was too old to do it on her own. |
| C．She desired a pleasant time for herself. | D．She had trouble sorting out the junk. |
| A．Never say die. | B．Live in the present. |
| C．Tomorrow is another day. | D．Better late than never. |
2 . Throughout my childhood, I constantly dreamed of being an only child-having no one around to fight with, to share with, to grab the remote control away from me in the middle of a “big game.” But I have an elder sister, whom I have always called “Kicki,” instead of her real name Christie, because I used to have trouble pronouncing the “r” and “s”.
I started playing basketball in primary school. My dad was the coach of my team, and my mom kept score. So my sister, not old enough to stay home alone, was forced to come to all my games. I remember looking toward the stands for my mother’s approval and seeing my sister’s face, confused. It was obvious that she wasn’t excited, but she cheered along with the crowd anyway.
On the car ride home, my parents and I would relive the game. My sister sat in the back seat with me in silence, not knowing how or when to enter the conversation. Often, she would say, “Good game, Brad. ” I would smile and thank her but never took it seriously. She couldn’t possibly know whether I had played well or not.
It wasn’t until I reached high school that I realized how popular she was, and I was referred to as “Christie’s little brother. ” I played basketball in high school, and although Christie wasn’t forced to attend my games anymore, she still came to cheer me every week. In the last game of the last season, she came with a large group of friends. Printed on her shirt, in big bright red letters, were the words “BRAD’S SISTER. ” Suddenly I was embarrassed, not for her presence, but for my previous attitude to her praise.
Kicki left for college after that game. I finally have the remote control all to myself. However, watching TV alone has turned out to be boring. I went to visit her at college during a weekend, and as I stood outside her dorm, waiting for her to come out, a friend of hers whom I didn’t know walked past me and asked, “Hey, aren’t you Christie’s brother?” I smiled broadly and said proudly, “Yeah, I am. I’m Christie’s brother.”
1. How did Brad feel about being an only child when he was young?| A．Boring. |
| B．Awesome. |
| C．Tough. |
| D．Awful. |
| A．She hoped to know more about Brad. |
| B．She was interested in basketball games. |
| C．She was too young to be left alone at home. |
| D．She wanted to spend more time with her family. |
| A．He treated Christie’s praise lightly before. |
| B．He forgot Christie’s presence at his last game. |
| C．He saw the big bright red letters on Christi’s shirt. |
| D．He received unwanted attention from Christie’s friends. |
| A．She was proud of Brad. |
| B．She didn’t like watching TV. |
| C．She enjoyed Brad’s calling her Kicki. |
| D．She seldom went home during college. |
3 . Who are your friends? Are they all similar in age to you?
Having older friends can change your attitude towards life because they have already gone through the challenges you are facing. They have been young parents, have survived a job loss, and can help you get through these changes in your own life.
When older people make friends with younger people, they get to share their experiences which can be very rewarding.
All in all making friends with people not your age can open your eyes to new ideas and new experiences that can be life-changing.
| A．For human beings, giving is good. |
| B．Where to find friends sharing a common interest? |
| C．Then how can you make intergenerational friends? |
| D．Having friends at your own age is natural, of course. |
| E．What’s more, younger friends can give you some fresh ideas. |
| F．It’s believed that joining in activities like volunteering is also an effective way. |
| G．An older friend also helps you “try on” certain life experiences before you get there. |
4 . One grandma in Japan went above and beyond to connect with her grandchildren. Taechan, a woman in her 70s, began making Gundam models-plastic armor (盔甲) suits inspired by the anime Mobile Suit Gundam. Her amazing results impressed her grandchildren and sparked an unexpected passion.
Gundam suits are sold as kits by Bandai. They’re sometimes called “Gunpla”, which combines the words “Gundam” and “plastic model”. Despite being sold in box sets, building these suits of armor can be complicated and include numerous tiny pieces that the person has to fit together. Taechan now documents her builds in YouTube videos.
During these recordings, you see her work at a desk with the manual of illustrated instructions open in front of her. Each page includes dozens of detailed steps. Taechan, however, is a patient and diligent worker and takes her time completing each step with care. Her dedication to completing these models really shows in the final product.
When Taechan shared her Gundam results and the reason for making them on Twitter, thousands of people reacted to her story. Those who are familiar with the process of making these plastic suits were surprised that Taechan put in such effort, especially considering her health condition. Many also found it endearing that she went the extra mile to connect with her grandchildren. Best of all, Taechan seems to have found a new hobby for herself, too!
Even though her hands shake due to chronic (慢性的) illness, she managed to make many impressive plastic suits that wowed her grandchildren.
1. Why did Taechan make Gundam Models?| A．To kill time. | B．To cure her shaking hands. |
| C．To bond with her grandchildren. | D．To become an Internet celebrity. |
| A．Strict and helpful. | B．Patient and careful. |
| C．Healthy and determined. | D．Generous and hopeful. |
| A．People are puzzled about Taechan’s behaviour. |
| B．People offered Taechan advice on making Gundam models. |
| C．Taechan’s health condition stopped her making good models. |
| D．Taechan’s effort to connect with her grandchildren was admired. |
| A．In an advertisement. | B．In a novel. |
| C．In a newspaper. | D．In a diary. |
5 . Beth Booker of Florida, turned to Twitter for help last week after seeing the images of her 78-year-old grandmother’s home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida being in water. In the days before Hurricane Ian struck her grandmother’s community, Beth and her husband helped her granny, Carole McDanel, prepare herself and her home for it.
Her granny wanted to stay where she had been living for more than two decades. She felt safe to stay because Ian was heading north for another city and the house had survived quite a few major hurricanes in history. In addition, the home contained priceless family memories and heirlooms (传家宝), among which were photos of Booker’s dad, who passed away when she was only five years old. After her dad’s death, Booker had to live with her grandmother, McDanel.
Once the storm struck, Booker received updates from her granny, who shared photos and videos showing flood started to fill the home. In her last phone call with granny, Booker told her granny to climb on the roof if the flood waters continued to climb. Unable to communicate with her granny any longer, Booker turned to Twitter for help with everything from searching for her granny to contacting local emergency officials.
The Fort Myers area was left devastated Wednesday after Hurricane Ian. On Thursday, as rescue crews came over to search for survivors, Booker’s husband and friend began their own search for her granny by boat. Just a few hours later, at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Booker tweeted the news that her husband and friend found granny sitting on her own sofa, where she was able to remain safe during the storm.
McDanel and Booker, who declined to be interviewed, said in a statement that they felt grateful for the support they had received and that they are calling for the world to continue the same energy and love into recovery and relief efforts for their community.
1. What does the underlined word “devastated” mean in paragraph 4?| A．Disturbed. | B．Rebuilt. | C．Destroyed. | D．Attacked. |
| A．In her home. | B．In a very small boat. |
| C．In an emergency office. | D．Among the flood victims. |
| A．Powerful. | B．Responsible. | C．Hard-working. | D．Humorous. |
| A．Natural disasters had ever struck the Earth frequently. |
| B．Booker had a good relationship with her grandmother as well. |
| C．Booker knew nothing about Hurricane Ian ahead of time. |
| D．Social media play a very great role in people’s daily life. |
My neighbor Josie was a good cook and college professor. We have been good friends for many years. Each early morning, Josie would invite me to join her in walking and she would make breakfast for me as a reward!
Josie planted a lovely garden. Every flower and vegetable made its debut (首秀) once a year. There were so many kinds that I could not even recognize what was growing, and we had the freshest salads in the neighborhood all summer long!
Each evening, Josie and I would sit in front of the garden. We would have a chat, exchanging our world views as well as funny jokes. However, one evening, Josie was a “no-show”. Then I heard the ambulance and saw her husband and children running outside. Josie suffered a stroke (中风).
Later, when I set eyes on her, she was in a wheelchair, covered in a thick blanket. She looked smaller and older than before. But how she chose to face it made me surprised. During the days when Josie had some strength, her husband wheeled her into the living room, and they watched old movies together. She called it “date time”. And during the most special days when Josie was doing well, her husband took her for a walk outside in her wheelchair. She called it “going on vacation”. Despite the fact that Josie was not expected to make a full recovery, they continued to watch movies and took lots of mini-vacations.
She is grateful for listening to her grandchildren telling stories to her, smelling a summer barbecue, sharing a laugh with her favorite neighbor, and being here for another day. I am thankful for her simple life lesson: Find the positive, and you will find your reason to live.
1. What was Josie like before she suffered a stroke? (no more than 10 words)2. How was Josie’s skill in gardening? (no more than 5 words)
3. How can we understand the underlined part in Paragraph 3? (no more than 5 words)
4. What made the author surprised after Josie suffered the stroke? (no more than 10 words)
5. How does Josie’s story inspire you? Please explain in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
7 . When Marguerite Richards made a TikTok introducing her father’s decade-old thriller novel, she was hoping to arouse a little interest. A few dozen new readers, maybe. As the first few positive comments started rolling in, she was pleased to have done something nice for a dad who definitely deserved it.
She had no idea that, within a matter of days, millions of people would see her video, and her father’s book would rocket to the top of Amazon’s Best Seller list.
Lloyd Devereux Richards first published Stone Maidens in 2012. It’s a thriller about an FBI agent following a killer in Indiana and, by his daughter’s account, it’s quite attractive. However, the original release failed to drum up excitement.
It’s a different world now, and Richards, the daughter, decided to try her luck. “I saw how much time and effort and passion my dad put into his book. I know what a lovely storyteller he is,” she told CNN. “He never stopped writing, and he always stayed positive.”
Whether it was the interesting thriller, or the efforts of a proud daughter, the story of Lloyd Devereux Richards and Stone Maidens struck a chord.
Marguerite Richards posted the first TikTok about Stone Maidens about two weeks ago. It has since received 48 million views and numerous positive responses. Richards then posted more videos of her father, the author of the hour, delighting in his unexpected success.
This particular incident falls under a social media type best described as “Young people giving their elders love and recognition on a platform the latter doesn’t understand.” It’s a fruitful one, full of parents just like Lloyd Devereux Richards who wake up one morning to find their talents, hobbies or unusual habits have been broadcast to the world—and won them a great number of admirers. The experience has breathed new life into a labor of love. It’s also driven home some lessons about inspiration and determination.
1. What did Marguerite Richards do according to the text?| A．She helped her father to publish his novel. |
| B．She introduced her father on social media. |
| C．She wrote an interesting novel about her father. |
| D．She made a video to promote her father’s novel. |
| A．It was an instant success. |
| B．It wasn’t interesting indeed. |
| C．It didn’t attract much attention at first. |
| D．It was written more than fifteen years ago. |
| A．Satisfied people’s needs. | B．Aroused people’s interest. |
| C．Made people feel confused. | D．Made people feel disappointed |
| A．Great barriers. | B．Novel experiences. |
| C．Comfortable zones. | D．Unexpected surprises. |
8 . Every night when I was a child, my father would sit in the old chair next to the bed to read a story created by his words and my imagination. The unique voice he used for each character extremely amused me, and I would laugh so hard that sometimes I missed the plot and would beg him to start the page over again. My dad’s storytelling developed my language and vocabulary, teaching me creativity and empathy.
My dad encouraged me to love books long before I learned to read. At the second grade, I still struggled to read full sentences. By the fifth grade, I was suddenly able to finish reading chapter books in a matter of days. Even after I was reading on my own, I’d still ask Dad to sit in the old chair and read me a chapter before bed. His words still had the power to touch me, but more than that, when Dad read to me, he was showing me how much he loved me.
I have loved telling stories since I was a child, whether it was with my friends gathered around me at rest or on stage in a play. I’ve been lucky to find ways to fit stories and books into my professional life — from my first job as a theater camp counselor (辅导员) to being a high school English teacher in Malaysia. During my time as a preschool teacher, I would sing songs, talk about colors and feelings, count together, and move our bodies like the characters did in the stories with my students.
When I got to Tandem, I knew my favorite part of the job would be the interactive Read Alouds. So I started the preparation for it. I would practice my books at home and try out different voices for each character the night before. The day before I visited my first Tandem classroom, I drove to my parents’ house and asked Dad to be my audience. He gave me his full attention, smiling through the whole book.
1. What made the author laugh while listening to the bedtime story?| A．His father’s unique voice. | B．The cute animals in the story. |
| C．The funny plots of the story. | D．His father’s vivid imagination. |
| A．To be accompanied by family members. | B．To feel his father’s deep love. |
| C．To enjoy his father’s pronunciation. | D．To continue this reading tradition. |
| A．He once worked as an actor. | B．He could apply his hobby to his work. |
| C．He had formed good reading habits. | D．He would seize every chance to show talent. |
| A．Two heads are better than one. | B．Time and tide wait for no man. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. | D．A good beginning is half done. |
9 . Coming of age is that time in each of our lives when we begin to see the possibilities. The world opens up in ways that mature our vision and give us a sense of responsibility and gratefulness. Connor had just started college and loved being at that stage in his life where he could eat all the pizza he wanted, yet engage in adult conversations with his parents about the responsibility to make life better for others. Connor’s optimism was infectious. There was so much he could do, and so much he could become.
But it all ended one night when Connor was distracted while driving on a Colorado highway. A young man, who gave off so much light, suddenly went dark.
Connor’s father, David, took it particularly hard.A father sees more than his own traits(性格) in his son; he sees greater possibilities than he achieved. Taking that hope away left David feeling at a loss. But Connor ‘s optimism was one of those traits passed on to him by his father. So, David got to work.
First, he established the Honor Connor Scholarship Fund to reward students who served in the community, Next, he went to work creating a research-based curriculum that educates University of Colorado Boulder students and their families about the dangers of texting while driving. It includes a very simple three part promise: Do not text or use social media while driving, speak out if riding with a driver who is distracted and encourage friends and family to drive phone-free.
David now works with lecturers at various colleges’ and high schools, ensuring young minds understand how statistically at risk they are when they text while driving. He’s become a passionate advocate for preparing young people to drive safely and not reach for their phones while they’re at the wheel. “I just don’t want other parents to go through what I did when I lost Connor,” says David. “It’s just so preventable.”
1. What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To give the background of a funny story. |
| B．To explain why David chose to volunteer. |
| C．To set off David’s great pain of losing his son. |
| D．To sing high praise for Connor’s healthy growth. |
| A．The headlight of his car went wrong. |
| B．He drove carelessly and died in an accident. |
| C．He suffered an accident for his father’s fault. |
| D．He died from another driver’s careless driving. |
| A．His coach. | B．His grandfather. | C．His teacher. | D．His father. |
| A．He wanted to take a job in a college. |
| B．He took the classes that Connor hadn’t finished. |
| C．He wanted to prevent similar sad stories repeating. |
| D．He honored Connor for what he had done in the community. |
10 . On a damp, boring, stay-in-the-house kind of day, I was a 4-year-old artist armed with a new treasure: my own big box of crayons. Somehow, the usual paper wasn’t special enough for these 64 perfect, sweet-smelling sticks of vivid color. I looked around for a bigger canvas (画布). The walls presented an inviting yet forbidden landscape. If only there were hidden walls, walls that people could sometimes see and sometimes not. Walls like the ones in Mom and Dad’s closet.
Slipping quietly down the hall to the bedroom, I stood on tiptoe to reach the string for the closet light. Using my whole body, I pushed aside the heavy clothes and shut the door behind me. Words and images filled my mind faster than my hands could make them.
A brilliant rainbow was seen on one wall, with a cheery golden sun peeking out from above. Below, a giant shade tree supported a swing for sick-figure (人物线条画) children. Around them, flowers bloomed everywhere. Then I drew my reddish-brown cat with its green eyes and long black whiskers.
My masterpiece! All my very own magic! I took in the walls, the colors and the brightness. Joy swelled inside me. But as my creativity wound down, a thought popped up: I’ve got to show Mom! Suddenly I was still. I looked around with new eyes. What had I done?
Mom called out, “Dinner’s ready.” After a short time, her footsteps approached, and then finally, the closet door opened. I stood nervously in the corner. Oh, please don’t be mad, I thought. Please, please.
Mom breathed in sharply, then stood frozen. Only her eyes moved as she slowly looked over my masterpiece. She was quiet for a long, long time. I didn’t dare breathe.
Finally, she turned to me.
“I like it,” she said. “No, I love it! It’s you! It’s happy! I feel like I have a new closet!”
Now, 45 years later, my childhood artwork is still there. And in my own house, the closet walls are masterpieces, too, created by my own daughters when they were little girls.
Every time I open a closet door, I remember that, as big as that box of crayons and white walls seemed when I was little my mother’s love was the biggest thing of all.
1. What could NOT be seen in the author’s artwork?| A．A fantastic rainbow in the sky. | B．Children playing on a swing. |
| C．Flowers everywhere. | D．A green-eyed cat playing with children. |
| A．she felt very creative |
| B．she felt afraid of being punished |
| C．an image got stuck in her mind |
| D．she wanted to ask her mom for advice |
| A．She was angry. |
| B．She was disappointed. |
| C．She managed to calm herself down. |
| D．She was amazed by the author’s talent. |
| A．The author was not pleased with her childhood artwork when she grew up. |
| B．The author encouraged her children to draw on the white walls in the house. |
| C．The author’s childhood artwork always reminds her of her mother’s love. |
| D．The author learned from her mother to let children do whatever they want. |
