1 . We recently went to a friend’s backyard to meet her new puppy. He was lovely beyond words. Our friend was wearing smiles as she told us about his first days at home. It was truly puppy love.
Later that night, I walked behind my own dog to help her climb up the stairs, and heated up the homemade food that helps control her kidney (肾) disease. You can’t imagine these extra cares when you began raising a puppy. For me, I am lucky to know this more “mature” love. To love, and to be loved, by an old dog is truly an honor.
For a long time, I denied the fact that our dog was getting old, or I really didn’t notice that Skyler was getting older. But these days, there is no denying the fact. Sometimes, she will fall while eating from her bowl and wait patiently for someone to help her up.
I still remember the first days of Skyler. In the home, she always needed to be beside someone, with at least one part of her touching one part of you. At the park, it was different. If we started running toward the end of a field, she would cross the finish line before we had even made it halfway.
Now, at 15, Skyler still needs to be right beside you on the couch. But it is hard. It is sad to see this once fast, strong dog struggle to walk up the front steps or to see her begging eyes whenever she needs help to get up on the couch. Over the past few years, we have had to forgo certain family trips because we wanted to take care of her at home.
However, I know this experience has taught our children about sacrifice and unconditional love. It has taught me the same. Dogs give us unconditional love. The least we can do is give it back. There will likely be times of great sadness and hardship, but in the end, you will feel very lucky for the time you have together.
1. In paragraph 2, why does the author mention what he did late that night?A.To complain about the troubles of raising a dog. |
B.To show her regret of meeting her friend’s new puppy. |
C.To tell readers that she is taking care of an old sick dog. |
D.To illustrate the correct way of caring for dogs. |
A.When the author first got Skyler, she was always running in the house. |
B.Skyler has always been eager to have people beside her. |
C.Skyler will beg for some food before she gets up. |
D.To take care of Skyler, the author often brings her during the journey. |
A.cancel | B.forget | C.organize | D.delay |
A.She is strongly against keeping a dog. |
B.She considers it a double-edged sword to keep a dog. |
C.She suggests we should think twice before keeping a dog. |
D.She thinks keeping a dog is worthwhile for the whole family. |
2 . Two enterprising graduates are selling advertising space on their faces to pay off a combined student debt of almost £50,000. Faced with a challenging job market, former Cambridge students Ed Moyse and Ross Harper are painting different company logos on to their faces.
Anyone can buy the advertising space, from businesses to individuals or groups, on a day-to-day basis. The logos — which can be viewed at www.buymyface.co.uk — are then seen by everyone they pass as they go about their daily business.
The graduates, who met on their first day at Selwyn College, Cambridge, started the business on October 1 and said they made £3,500 in the first 10 days. The boys said they are “armed only with massive student debt and a firm grasp of the principles of viral advertising” as they attempt to survive for a year merely on income earned by transforming themselves into walking advertisements.
Mr. Harper, 21, from Greenwich, south London, who studied neuroscience, said, “It’s our untraditional way of paying off our student debt. The graduate job market is incredibly unfriendly, and so we thought we’d try and go through it altogether. We’ve seen so many students unsuccessfully applying for jobs, only to eventually settle in a career that they never really wanted. It’s just something a bit different and has taken off quite nicely.”
Mr. Moyse, 22, from Poole, Dorset, said, “It is well beyond our expectations, but we always knew it had value and is novel and crazy.”
“So far, one of the main contributors has been online betting agency, Paddy Power,” Mr. Harper said.
Mr. Moyse, who studied economics, and Mr. Harper came up with the idea after graduating in the summer as a scheme that would not require much investment.
1. The two graduates set up a business of selling advertising space on their faces because ________.A.they both have handsome faces | B.they have gained best education |
C.they have student loan to repay | D.they can possibly find no jobs |
A.earned them a lot of money | B.helped them to pay off the debt |
C.increased their exposure | D.met their wildest expectations |
A.customer | B.debtor | C.investor | D.designer |
A.fictional | B.meaningful | C.unusual | D.critical |
After the sudden loss of her five-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, Natalia Spencer felt she needed to do something to honor the little girl. That strong wish inspired Spencer to start what she calls a “Walk of Love”, a 6,000-mile trek(长途旅行) along the British coastline.
“Elizabeth particularly loved the beach and the sea and we visited the seaside a lot. After she passed away, I went to the seaside and it was the first time that I had felt some comfort,” Spencer said. “I knew this was what I had to do. It was something I could do and it would make life more bearable.”
On Valentine’s Day, Spencer began walking Durdle Door in Dorset, England, the last beach she took Elizabeth to before she became ill. So far, Spencer has journeyed about 1,500 miles, walking through Dorset , Cornwall, Devon and the entire coast of Wales. Every day, except Saturday, Spencer walks 20 miles. Often locals join her; many times they share stories about losing their own children.
Everything changed for Spencer on Nov. 22, 2015. Spencer noticed Elizabeth was ill with what she thought was a chest infection. But the girl’s health worsened rapidly. Doctors diagnosed her with a life-threatening immune condition where the immune cells damage the tissues and organs. This caused Elizabeth’s organs to shut down and stopped the blood supply to her arms and legs. She was moved to Bristol Children’s Hospital where she spent 18 days on life support before passing away on Dec. 10.
After Elizabeth died, Spencer struggled. In January, a friend encouraged Spencer to go for a walk and the two ended up at the Gower Peninsula in Wales. While walking provides Spencer with time to grieve(悲伤), she’s also using the trip to raise £100,000 for the Bristol Children’s Hospital.
Spencer expects to complete her walk next spring. She’d love to finish on Valentine’s Day, but doesn’t know if that is realistic.
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4 . Page, my younger brother by four years, has been braindamaged from birth. He does not speak, cannot hear and see poorly through his remaining eye. He stays home, staring at the television happily. But it wasn’t always this way.
On a lot summer morning, Mum had penciled “VISIT GRANDMA” for Page in large letters on a napkin before we left for the nursing home. No one expected to understand that this might be our last visit.
We arrived there and stepped into her room. The strokes had left grandma trembling and unresponsive. Her mouth hung open, and her wide eyes shut and opened quickly and stared but appeared not to see.
We stood round the bed, smiling uncomfortably, and saying that everything would be all right. For the first time, I was free to talk all I wanted.
Page was standing quietly next to the window with his face brilliant red, tears following from his eyes. Just then, he pushed through the group and made his way to the bed. He leaned over Grandma’s withered body and took her cheeks gently in his hands.
Those of us with healthy ears were deaf to the volumes being spoken in that wonderful, wordless exchange.
We kissed Grandma, and slowly walked out of the room one by one. I was the last to leave. “Bye, Grandma,” I said. As I turned to look at her one last time, I noticed her lips come together, as if she was trying to speak. Somehow, if for a moment, she gathered the strength to say goodbye.
That afternoon by Grandma’s deathbed, when none of us knew what to say, my speechless brother had said it all.
A.Head bowed, he stood there, his cheeks wet with tears. |
B.That is when I knew Page had reached her. |
C.I tried to express my love to her. |
D.I felt a rush of warmth deep inside me. |
E.Nobody thought he would appeared and burst out crying. |
F.But I could think of nothing to say to her. |
A.encouraged | B. excuse | C. featured | D. favor | E. approaches | F. defended |
G. access | H. serve | I. regional | J. celebrated | K. lengths |
When Coca-Cola was first sold in 1886, nobody thought it could be improved. Nearly a century later, in 1985, New Coke was introduced to replace the original recipe of Coke in order to rebrand the product amidst falling sales——Coke was losing customers to Pepsi, whose sweeter taste was finding
Something similar is happening with A Bite of China, a
In the first episode of Season Two, a teenager in the countryside collects honey high up in a tree. The scene is stunningly filmed, telling a moving story about the dangerous
Innovation is generally
6 . For ten years, Hingorani and I have shared a wall. In all these years, we shared nothing more than that wall.
Hingorani lost her husband around eight months ago. Now, the 82-year-old former headmaster of Mumbai’s Jai Hind College lives alone in the apartment next door.
Knowing it would be difficult for her to manage things without any help, I started dropping by. When I found out that she loves meat and chicken, I went with a plate of butter chicken and kulchas. And we started to talk of course.
As we started to talk, I realized how different she was from what I had thought. And that’s where our friendship really began. I found that she related to me in a lot of ways — both of us married of our own free will, and she, too, was a working mother, We spoke about her relationship with her two sisters who live abroad and how they connect with each other every day.
Her liberal thinking, the way she raised her daughter, her love for her culture and stories of her teaching days — including how the boys at her college gave her a hard time — all made for great conversation. I never felt we were generations apart. She, too, loves my company and looks forward to my crazy stories without judgment. I tell her about the challenges I face when raising a child. A chat with her is like a warm hug at the end of a bad day.
Hingorani has become part of my daily life. I look forward to either having a cup of tea with her on her balcony or enjoying a glass of wine on a Saturday night. Our connection is pure. Our friendship is not limited by age. Instead, it is strengthened by the circumstances.
1. Why did the author begin to visit Hingorani?A.She felt lonely living alone. | B.She was curious about the neighbor. |
C.She had extra food to share with the neighbor. | D.She wants to lend the neighbor a hand. |
A.They had a lot in common. | B.They both had two sisters. |
C.They had different thoughts. | D.They had known each other for years. |
A.She lives a very relaxing life. | B.She is good at raising children. |
C.She enjoys the old lady’s company. | D.She has no other friends except the old lady. |
A.I Found a Great Friend Beyond Age | B.I Saw Cooking as a Useful Bonding Tool |
C.A Great Conversation Saved My Life | D.My New Friend Taught Me to Cook |
Discovering the Lost City
Sixty miles south, in Cusco, Hiram Bingham gazed thoughtfully at the old Incan stone wall. He had come to this place in search of Vilcapampa, the lost city of the Inca. But right here was the most beautiful stonework he had ever seen-huge stones cut so perfectly that not even a razor blade could be slipped between them.
The Inca had no iron tools to carve them, no wheel or animals to move them. The wall had endured time and earthquakes.
It was a mystery.
He walked through the cobbled streets of the old capital, Cusco. The Spanish had come to this city, conquered the Inca, taken their gold, and built churches over their temples. Suddenly, he stopped. Before him was the famous Temple of the Sun. He placed his hands on the sun-warmed stones so beautifully carved, as if they had grown together.
The next day Bingham began his search. He would look for ruins-that might be the key. He and his party, accompanied by the military man Sergeant Carrasco, left for the holy valley of the Urubamba River. They came to the sleepy old village in the valley, long ago an important city.
“Are there any ruins nearby?” Bingham asked. “Do you know of the lost city of Vilcapampa?” No one knew of it. Traveling north, the adventurers came upon a remote and wild canyon. In the distance were snowcapped mountains over three miles high.
Far below in the valley, Bingham’s party camped on a sandy beach alongside the thundering rapids of the Urubamba River. Days had gone by. No one knew of any ruins.
This time, through the interpreter, the farmer said, “Yes. There are very good ruins on top of the mountain called Machu Picchu.” The farmer pointed straight up.
“Can you take us there?” Bingham asked.
...
A.Hidden in the mountains, the lost city would be built of stones like these. |
B.What could he be thinking! |
C.But now the adventurers aroused the curiosity of a local farmer named Arteaga. |
D.How had they built them! |
E.Cliffs rose thousands of feet above the roaring rapids of the Urubamba River. |
F.Suddenly, the clouds drifted away and there it was. |
1.
A.To offer them more gift choices. | B.To make herself popular among them. |
C.To help them build confidence. | D.To advertise for American Girl dolls. |
A.She praised Alice’s effort. | B.She wanted to work with Alice. |
C.She asked Alice to make more dolls. | D.She advised Alice to be more creative. |
A.All children should receive free medical treatment. |
B.Children with differences deserve a doll just like them. |
C.Blind children need light to help them see more clearly. |
D.The doll’s hair must match that of the owner’s. |
1.
A.He was new to the class. | B.He was tired of literature. |
C.He had an attention disorder. | D.He wanted to take the task home. |
A.He had good sight. | B.He made a great invention. |
C.He gave up reading. | D.He learned a lot from school. |
A.Angry. | B.Impatient. |
C.Sympathetic. | D.Encouraging. |
Tasting a Biker’s Life
For most of my life I knew nothing about motorcycles. I believed that motorcycle riders were tough and leather-wearing loners. They seemed
Then, on a warm May evening outside my house, my cousin came and showed me his new motorcycle. Never had a real motorcycle
It wasn’t until August
Since then, my prejudices about motorcycle bikers
Maybe the most important lesson, though, is that you really can’t judge a man by his appearance,