1 . Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They ______ with them lots of waste. The ______ might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers (冰川) are disappearing, changing the face of Kilimanjaro.

Hearing these stories, I’m ______ about the place — other destinations are described as “purer” natural experiences.

However, I soon ______ that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of ______ among tons of rubbish. I find a ______ mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are ______ but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be ______.

The best of a Kilimanjaro ______, in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are ______ as spiritual places by many cultures. This view is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as ______ go through five ecosystems within a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends suddenly at 3, 000 meters, ______ lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather ______ — low clouds envelop the mountainsides, which are covered with thick grass. I counted twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4, 000 meters is the highland desert: gravel (砾石), stones and rocks. ______ you climb into an arctic-like zone with permanent (永久的) snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.

Does Kilimanjaro deserve its reputation as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ______ the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.

1.

A．keep

B．leave

C．connect

D．bring

2.

A．stories

B．buildings

C．crowds

D．reporters

3.

A．silent

B．doubtful

C．serious

D．crazy

4.

A．discover

B．argue

C．decide

D．admit

5.

A．equipment

B．grass

C．camps

D．stones

6.

A．clean

B．quiet

C．tall

D．faraway

7.

A．new

B．special

C．significant

D．necessary

8.

A．taking over

B．spreading out

C．carrying on

D．paying off

9.

A．atmosphere

B．experience

C．experiment

D．sight

10.

A．regarded

B．observed

C．explored

D．studied

11.

A．adventurers

B．climbers

C．natives

D．officials

12.

A．holding on to

B．going back to

C．setting out to

D．giving way to

13.

A．changes

B．clears

C．improves

D．permits

14.

A．Obviously

B．Seemingly

C．Absolutely

D．Finally

15.

A．keeping

B．ruining

C．replacing

D．creating

2 . When my father was dying, I traveled a thousand miles from home to be with him in his last days. It was far more heartbreaking than I’d expected, one of the most difficult and painful times in my life. After he passed away I stayed alone in his apartment. There were so many things to deal with. It all seemed endless. I was lonely. I hated the silence of the apartment.

But one evening the silence was broken: I heard crying outside. I opened the door to find a little cat on the steps. Thin and poor, he looked the way I was. I brought him inside and gave him a can of fish. He ate it and then almost immediately fell sound asleep.

The next morning I checked with neighbors and learned that the cat had been given up by his owner who’d moved out. So the little cat was there all alone, just like I was. As I walked back to the apartment, I tried to figure out what to do with him. Having something else to take care of seemed like the very last thing I needed. But as soon as I opened the apartment door he came running and jumped into my arms. It was clear from that moment he had no intention of going anywhere. I started calling him Willis, in honor of my father’s best friend.

From then on, things grew easier. With Willis in my lap, time seemed to pass much more quickly. When the time finally came for me to return home I had to decide what to do about Willis. There was absolutely no way I would leave without him.

It’s now been five years since my father died. Over the years, several people have commented on how nice it was of me to rescue the cat. But I know that we rescued each other. I may have given him a home but he gave me something greater.

1. How did the writer feel when she first saw the cat?

A．Happy.

B．Sad.

C．Doubtful.

D．Excited.

2. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?

A．The author needed to do something else badly.

B．The author lacked the experience of raising a cat.

C．The author couldn’t decide what to do in the situation.

D．The author was too busy and heartbroken to keep a cat.

3. What can we learn about Willis from the passage?

A．He ensured the safety of the apartment.	B．He didn’t like staying in the apartment.
C．He was abandoned by his previous owner.	D．He was found outside the author’s own home.

4. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing the passage?

A．To highlight the benefits of being one with nature.

B．To share tips on how to take good care of animals.

C．To remind people to cherish their family members.

D．To appreciate the cat’s company and healing power.

3 . A couple of months before I started high school, my parents gave me the greatest gift any teenage boy could ask for: a cellphone. I lived on that phone all summer with my face buried in its screen. I ignored my family and my surroundings. Being connected was more important than being present.

So, you can imagine my displeasure when I learned what my dad had planned for our family vacation that year. “This year,” my dad said, “we’ll be doing something special. We’re going camping!” His excitement was met with a disappointed sigh. It wasn’t my dream vacation because mind was on my phone. I was so buried in the screen, in fact, that the first time I can remember truly looking up was when we drove across a bridge on the way to our campsite.

I stared out the window and saw redwoods towering above us, their branches threatening to pierce (刺破) the blue sky. I saw a roaring river, with slivers of silky black water appearing between crashing white rapids. The air blowing into the car from the open windows was hot. But none of that mattered to me. The reason I had looked up was for something far more serious: my phone no longer had service.

The last hour of the drive was increasingly tense. My dad announced that he had chosen a campsite that had no cell service, and that my phone would be useless until we returned home. I would be trapped in the forest for four days with no way to contact the outside world! I went through the full cycle of teenage emotions during the first day of the trip. I raged. I bargained. I begged. I flip-flopped (转变) from a depressive state to anger and back.

I went to bed angrily that night. But when I awoke in the morning, something had changed.

1. 根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中，每词限用一次，有两词为多余选项

ignore   enjoy   teenager   present   prize   disappoint bury   surrounding   camp   serve   anger   use

The author, a ______ boy, shared a four-day family vacation in which he was separated from his cellphone.

PLOT	FEELING
Months before the author started high school, his parents gave him a cellphone as a ______.	The author was very happy.
With his face ______ in the screen, the author lived on the cellphone all summer.	He ______his family and his ______.
Dad planned to go _____ for their family vacation that year.	The author was very displeased and ______.
On the way to the campsite, the author was so absorbed in his cellphone that he didn’t raise his head until his phone was out of ______.	The scenery on the way didn’t matter at all to the author.
The last hour of the drive became even more tense when the author got to know that his phone would be ______ until they went back home.	The author was depressed and ______.

2. What problem did the author have after he got a cellphone?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What would they do the next day?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How would the author feel at the end of the vacation? Why?
____________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 阅读下面的短文，请根据文本回答下面的问题。

Dave had loved basketball for as long as he could remember and he had never had a day without playing it. At primary school and junior high school he joined basketball clubs, attended training programs and watched basketball games, from which he learned the moves of the star players, wishing to play in a professional team like them and shine on the court.

Now as a senior high school student, however, his dream of becoming a professional player was dimming (变暗) because he was only of average height. He had to give up the hope of joining the school team. The guys on the school team were all tall boys who played matches and won honors for the school. They were like heroes. Dave watched them play and cheered them but he knew he would never be one of them.

Dave felt it a pity not to be tall enough, but this didn’t stop him from pouring his passion into basketball. He just played for the love of the sport. He played in the school gym with other boys or by himself every day, even during holidays and weekends, when it was open for two hours in the morning. He enjoyed every minute on the court making every effort to play better.

It was one Saturday morning. Dave was playing in the gym by himself, as all the other boys were busy with other weekend affairs. Then he noticed a tall boy approaching. It was Lankas. Everybody knows him as captain of the school basketball team. “Hi, Lankas,” Dave greeted him. “My name is Dave.” “Hi, Dave,” Lankas replied as he got closer. “Nice to see you here. Do you need an opponent (对手) to play against?” Dave was shocked, frozen right there, unable to believe his ears but somehow, he answered, “Why not?” So, a game of two players began. During the game, Dave went all out to play against this opponent, forgetting all about his height. It was a game he could play to his heart’s content. It was more like an enjoyment than a challenge. “Can we meet again?” Lankas asked.

1. Why did Dave give up the hope of joining the school team? (3 points)
____________________________________________________
2. What made Dave keep playing basketball? (3 points)
____________________________________________________
3. What might happen after the game? (4 points)
____________________________________________________

5 . Papa’s jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams—not to succeed but to fail. “It’s unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

“Yes, she has,” said Mama. “But it’s not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.”

“Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”

“Of course she didn’t,” said Mama. “She was afraid you’d blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn’t have been much fun.”

“Oh, my gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I’ve been so stupid! I just thought she’d want to be a champion swimmer because she’s so good at it.”

“It’s like anything else, dear,” said Mama. “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won’t want to do it anymore.”

Papa put his head in his hands.

“She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should say sorry to her.”

Sister’s footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

“Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there’s no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don’t want to.”

Sister’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.

“And,” added Papa, “there’s no need for any more drills. I’m sure you’ll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”

Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. “I’m going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said. “See you later!”

From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy’s house.

“It’s good to see her happy again,” said Mama.

“It sure is,” Papa agreed. “As for the swimming team, there’s always next year.” “If?” Mama prompted him.

“Oh, right,” said Papa. “If she wants to.”

Mama smiled. “At least you’re learning, dear,” she said. She kissed him. “Well, you know what they say,” Papa said. “Better late than never.”

1. The underlined expression “blow your top” probably means     .

A．change your opinion	B．become very excited
C．get very angry	D．fall down with fear

2. Mama insisted that the child should do     .

A．what she was willing to	B．what she felt easy to
C．what she was able to	D．what she felt right to

3. Which of the following words best describes Papa?

A．Cruel but reasonable.	B．Crazy but confident.
C．Stubborn but honest.	D．Ambitious but considerate.

4. What message does the passage want to convey?

A．It is easier to say something than to do it.

B．Health is better than wealth.

C．It’s never too late if you really want to learn and change.

D．To do something is better than to do nothing.

6 . It’s 1:30 am in Kenya’s populated north, and 50 people are lying on their backs on the shore of a dried-up river, staring up at the night sky. These stargazers have travelled 250 miles to Samburu to _________ the Perseid meteor shower(英仙座流星雨). They are not _________: Every few minutes, arrows of light shoot _________ the sky like silent fireworks.

The Star Safari is organized by a Kenyan astronomer(天文学家), Susan Murabana, who has brought a 50 kg, 170 cm-long _________to allow the group to view Mars and deep-sky objects. But here in Samburu, where _________ pollution is minimal, the Perseid meteors — visible with the naked eye (裸眼) — _________ all the right boxes.

Every two months, Murabana and her husband put their equipment on to the _________ of their truck and _________ to rural communities, where they help up to 300 children to view the planets and learn about constellations(星座) and the _________ of astronomy. Her primary mission is to give __________ an opportunity that she wishes had been available to her.

“There is a common misconception in Kenya that astronomy in general is hard, boring, and only for boys,” she adds. “I’d like to __________ young ladies that it’s not right and that they, too, can become astronomers,” says Murabana.

“When I started this work, I was a lone ranger and I wanted to change that.” She says. __________by a similar outreach activity, which lighted her __________ for astronomy in her early 20s, Murabana set up her own outreach program after her online master’s degree in astronomy in 2011.

She __________ Dr Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space, as a role model. “I hope that one day, those small actions can make a butterfly effect that __________ the first African woman in space.”

1.

A．witness

B．protect

C．sweep

D．search

2.

A．surprised

B．satisfied

C．disappointed

D．sorrowed

3.

A．across

B．into

C．toward

D．throughout

4.

A．helicopter

B．telescope

C．cellphone

D．camera

5.

A．water

B．light

C．sound

D．soil

6.

A．tick

B．kick

C．stick

D．pick

7.

A．wheel

B．roof

C．mirror

D．window

8.

A．set up

B．set down

C．set back

D．set off

9.

A．harms

B．papers

C．ruins

D．basics

10.

A．kids

B．guys

C．girls

D．teenagers

11.

A．warn

B．teach

C．beg

D．realize

12.

A．Promoted

B．Comforted

C．Moved

D．Inspired

13.

A．passion

B．imagination

C．impression

D．depression

14.

A．referred

B．recommended

C．regarded

D．requested

15.

A．attracts

B．preserves

C．challenges

D．produces

7 . 任务型阅读

Poor Bobby was getting cold sitting out in the backyard in the snow. With only one dime (10美分硬币) in hand, he could not come up with an idea for his mother’s birthday gift. Ever since his father had passed away, the family of five had struggled. Although the family was short of money, they had love and family unity(团结).

Bobby had three sisters, all of whom had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Wiping tears from his eyes, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the stores opened. Anyway, he wanted to try his luck.

Bringing together all his courage, he walked into the first store he saw. His heart quickly turned cold when salesperson after salesperson told him that he could not buy anything with only a dime. Finally he saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his dime. Then he put his hand on Bobby’s shoulder gently and said, “You just wait here and I’ll see what I can do for you.” Then the shop owner left. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. After a little while, the shop owner came out with a bunch of red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow.

1. 根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中，每词限用一次，有两词为多余选项。

store       poor       gift       make       flower       turn   courage       treat       disappoint       sad       refuse       leave
Bobby was thinking hard about the ________for his mother.			His family was ________ but full of love.
Bobby’s sisters all ________gifts, but Bobby just had only one dime and didn’t know what to do.			Bobby felt ________ and helpless.
In hope of trying his luck, Bobby gathered all his ________and walked to the l________.			Bobby became very ________when he was told only one dime could buy nothing.
Bobby went to a ________shop and asked the owner if he could buy a flower with one dime.			Instead of ________Bobby, the shop owner ________and then came out with a bunch of red roses.

2. How might the shop owner feel when he heard Bobby’s words?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
3. How might Bobby react when he saw the roses? Why?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What might the shop owner do next?
______________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . I was talking to my friend Sandy about our children. Sandy had recently moved into the neighborhood with her four ________, including her youngest, eighteen-month-old Kim. She seemed ________ to have kids nearby, until she saw our dog, Sam.

Sam, our shiny black dog, loved to play with the kids and ________ them. But Sandy was ________ of dogs, and she started to back away as Sam approached. I grabbed Sam’s collar and made him sit, trying to ________ Sandy’s fear.

Sandy mentioned that she needed to get her kids ready to go to their grandmother’s house. Just then, her door opened and her kids rushed out. Sandy warned them not to ________ Sam.

The kids huddled (蜷缩) around their mom, looking at Sam ________. Emma, my daughter, showed the kids how to ________ a dog properly. Gradually, the kids were won over by Sam’s ________ nature.

One day after that incident (事件), when the kids were playing across the street, I ________ the eighteen-month-old baby heading towards a small hill. I saw a car approaching at a high speed and shouted to everyone to ________ the baby. Sam rushed to the boy without ________ and pushed the baby away from the oncoming car ________. The kids cheered, completely unaware of the ________. They thought Sam had come to play.

Within a year, Sam had made friends with all the neighbors. Even Sandy started to ________ Sam and would often come over to give him a hug.

1.

A．friends

B．kids

C．neighbors

D．pets

2.

A．happy

B．anxious

C．proud

D．surprised

3.

A．protect

B．follow

C．appreciate

D．push

4.

A．tired

B．fond

C．frightened

D．aware

5.

A．feel

B．record

C．hide

D．ease

6.

A．take care of

B．get close to

C．turn to

D．stare at

7.

A．eagerly

B．hopefully

C．sadly

D．nervously

8.

A．call

B．approach

C．feed

D．select

9.

A．cold

B．common

C．strange

D．friendly

10.

A．sensed

B．heard

C．noticed

D．imagined

11.

A．watch

B．find

C．touch

D．avoid

12.

A．permission

B．excuse

C．hesitation

D．doubt

13.

A．quickly

B．madly

C．suddenly

D．occasionally

14.

A．accident

B．danger

C．mistake

D．fight

15.

A．ignore

B．understand

C．influence

D．love

9 . 任务型阅读

For Sara’s family, decorating the yard was always a celebration for the New year. This year it was Sara’s father’s turn to hang colorful lights all round their roof according to family tradition.

On New Year’s Eve, light enveloped the whole house. Everything seemed to be going fine until misfortune happened: Sara’s father passed away suddenly. Sara was very sad. However, seeing the hanging lights, she was in a state of feeling happy, gaining a tiny thread of relief.

The lights reminded her of her beloved father. Taking them down meant the final connection with her father would disappear, which she wasn’t ready to accept. So she kept them. One day in March, Sara received a typed note in the mail. “Take your New Year’s lights down!” The letter read, which made Sara angry. She couldn’t hold back her anger, and shared it with her story online. Messages of support flooded into Sara’s inbox quickly. Besides, one day, Sara was driving back home and surprised to find that New Year’s decorations reappeared on houses in her neighborhood —her neighbors had made a collective (共同的) decision to hang their lights back up in honor of her father!

She never learned the sender’s identity. But for her, that hurtful deed was far less important than so many acts of kindness. A few weeks later, Sara eventually took down the decorations. “It was hard. But due to all the support and love, it was not as hard as I thought.”

1. 选词填空：根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中，每词限用一次，有两词为多余选项。

hang     relief     remind     painful     willing     annoy     kind     easy     appearance     tradition     lucky     post

Sara’s New Year Lights

It is _________ for Sara’s family to celebrate the New Year by decorating the yard.	→	Sara’s father ________ the colorful lights all round their roof.
↓		↓
_________, Sara’s father died suddenly and she was in great ________.	→	The lights were a _________ of her father, so Sara was ________ to take them down.
↓		↓
Sara received a typed note asking her to take the New Year’s lights down, which made her _________.	→	Sara ________ it with her story online and messages of support came flooding in.
↓		↓
Sara was surprised to find the _______ of the New Year’s decorations in her neighborhood.	→	Because of the ________ and support of her neighbors, Sara was relieved and decided to take down the decorations.

2. Why did Sara feel happy when seeing the hanging lights and what did she decide to do with the colorful lights?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What’s the purpose of Sara sharing the typed note with her story online?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. How did Sara feel when she made a decision to take down the decorations?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . I was required to read one of Bernie Siegel’s books in college and had a great liking for his positivity from that moment on. The stories of his untraditional _________ and the exceptional patients he wrote about were so _________ to me and had such a big _________ on how I saw life from then on. Who knew that so many years later I would depend on Dr. Bernie and his CDs again to _________ my own cancer experience?

I’m an ambitious _________, and when I started going through chemo (化疗), even though I’m a very _________ person, I lost my drive to write. I was just too tired and not in the _________ . One day, while waiting to go in for _________, I had one of Dr. Bernie’s books in my hand. Another patient _________   what I was reading and started a conversation with me __________ he had one of his books with him as well. It __________ that among other things, he was an eighty-year-old writer. He was __________ a published author, and he was currently __________ on a new book.

We would see each other at various times and __________ friends. Sometimes he wore a duck hat, and I would tell myself, he was definitely a(n) __________ of Dr. Bernie. He really put a __________ on my face. He unfortunately __________ last year due to his cancer, __________ he left a deep impression on me and gave me the __________ to pick up my pen again. I __________ to myself, “If he can do it, then so can I.”

1.

A．tastes

B．ideas

C．notes

D．memories

2.

A．amazing

B．shocking

C．amusing

D．strange

3.

A．strike

B．push

C．challenge

D．effect

4.

A．learn from

B．go over

C．get through

D．refer to

5.

A．reader

B．writer

C．editor

D．doctor

6.

A．positive

B．agreeable

C．humorous

D．honest

7.

A．mood

B．position

C．state

D．way

8.

A．advice

B．reference

C．protection

D．treatment

9.

A．viewed

B．knew

C．noticed

D．wondered

10.

A．while

B．because

C．although

D．providing

11.

A．came out

B．worked out

C．proved out

D．turned out

12.

A．naturally

B．only

C．hopefully

D．actually

13.

A．deciding

B．operating

C．working

D．relying

14.

A．became

B．helped

C．missed

D．visited

15.

A．patient

B．operator

C．fan

D．publisher

16.

A．sign

B．smile

C．mark

D．mask

17.

A．showed up

B．set off

C．fell down

D．passed away

18.

A．since

B．but

C．so

D．for

19.

A．guidance

B．trust

C．opportunity

D．inspiration

20.

A．promised

B．laughed

C．thought

D．replied