1 . A British woman, Dr. Mantri, growing up in India started to notice his son, Dhruv, was struggling with simple arithmetic when he was in fifth-grade. After noticing this, she started employing an abacus (算盘) to help her son visually comprehend mathematics.
“I would ask him something like 35 minus 13 and he couldn’t do it.” said Dhruv’s mom Dr. Mantri. “I decided to change the way he looked at numbers,” she said. “An abacus is a tried and tested method, and the Egyptians used them for building the pyramid.” In just six days he started to show progress with the abacus and would go on to become a whizz kid with numbers, with even his classmates’ parents reaching out for help.
She never thought she would teach her son using an abacus, which she used as a child in India and it was always helpful. Within six days she started to notice a difference and see results. So dramatic was the turnaround, that school staff asked him to perform with the abacus at an assembly, where some parents even came to ask for advice on using it for their kids.
IT specialist Dr. Mantri said the humble abacus can be used for calculations into the trillions and kids enjoy learning on it because it’s like a game. “It becomes a playing tool for younger children, for it feels like a game. I think the success comes because children can touch and feel an abacus and visualize them.” She added.
By the age of 12, Dhruv was giving online cyber security seminars and is now pursuing a career in data science and analytics. Dhruv has now landed an apprenticeship (实习) at an international firm. During the four-year apprenticeship, he will spend one day a week studying Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Glasgow Caledonian University. “He is so confident now and I am so proud,” she said, with Dhruv adding “I don’t think my teachers would have guessed that I would be following a career in data science at that time.”
1. Why did Dhruv have difficulty in learning mathematics?| A．He was faced with language barrier. | B．He didn’t find a proper way. |
| C．He suffered from eyesight problems. | D．He lacked academic support from the family. |
| A．Careful. | B．Diligent. | C．Outstanding. | D．Struggling. |
| A．They find it appealing. | B．They can calculate faster. |
| C．They enjoy playing games. | D．They are eager for success. |
| A．Dhruv was addicted to the internet at 12. |
| B．Dhruv is teaching data science and analytics now. |
| C．Dhruv is a full-time student at Glasgow Caledonian University. |
| D．Dhruv’s career choice was beyond his teachers’ expectation. |
On a Friday evening in December, two weeks before Christmas, I lost my job. I hadn’t seen it coming. I was excited for the weekend, when my daughter, Kristil, then 12, and I planned to get our Christmas tree. Then I listened to my voicemail. “We’re sorry, madame, but your work assignment has ended as of today.” My heart sank.
My paycheck was what our survival relied on. I did everything I could to give Kristil a good life, but there were some things my love couldn’t fix. The next day as we searched for our tree, I struggled to be cheerful as I eyed the Christmas tree prices. Kristil noticed I was worried and I told her I had lost my job. She wanted to give me the $100 that Grandma gave her, but I refused.
Monday morning, I dropped Kristil at school and set off on my money-making pursuits. I headed to the pawnshop (当铺) with a gold ring my mother had given me, and they gave me $70. Next was the antiques store. I sold six Precious Moments statuettes for $150. I ended the day $220 richer.
Over the next week, I furiously (猛烈地) applied for jobs as my bank account grew smaller. I felt as if the world was closing in on me. On a weekend afternoon, I dropped Kristil in a wealthy gated community for a birthday party. I drove home defeated.
Back at home, I glanced out the window. It had been snowing all morning. I noticed a small woman struggling to open her car door against the wind. As she got out, I realized it was my old professor, Sister Esther. I hadn’t seen her since we’d met for lunch three months ago. I’d first met Sister Esther 10 years earlier, when I was her student at Edgewood College. After I graduated, Sister Esther kept in touch, meeting me for lunch every few months. I had grown to love her like family. I rushed to the front of my building. “What are you doing out in this weather?” I asked as we hugged.
Sister Esther said she called my office and knew I wasn’t working there anymore, so she came to see me. Upon arriving, she told me urgently, “Hearing the news that you were fired from the work, I felt greatly worried.” While saying, she handed me a Christmas card and an unexpected gift.
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(词组)限用一次，有两词为多余选项。| unprepared inform anxious approach eager optimistic turn down true measure disappoint expect resist | |||
| When Christmas was |  | I felt shocked and | |
| When we were picking our tree, my daughter Kristil sensed something was wrong and I told her the | | I struggled to be in a good mood for Christmas but only expressed my |
| In order to relieve financial pressure, I took some | | I |
| My college professor Sister Esther came to visit me after hearing that I no longer worked in my old office. | | I hadn’t |
2. What did the author do to relieve financial pressure?
3. Why did Sister Esther come to visit the author?
4. What might the unexpected gift be? And how would the author feel?
3 . The train shook back and forth, its wheels making a loud noise on the tracks. Outside the window, the freezing cold of winter ruled. The carriage was filled with passengers, cold and
| A．thrilled | B．exhausted | C．delighted | D．determined |
| A．led | B．came | C．pushed | D．lost |
| A．brave | B．generous | C．casual | D．helpful |
| A．hurriedly | B．anxiously | C．unexpectedly | D．accidentally |
| A．On some occasion | B．For a moment | C．At no time | D．Once in a while |
| A．kick | B．strike | C．search | D．pass |
| A．raised | B．tapped | C．lowered | D．nodded |
| A．loud | B．long | C．strict | D．strong |
| A．ashamed | B．astonished | C．satisfied | D．scared |
| A．well-behaved | B．elderly | C．strange | D．considerate |
| A．praised | B．kissed | C．scolded | D．touched |
| A．looks | B．gestures | C．characters | D．images |
| A．pulled | B．rushed | C．flooded | D．disappeared |
| A．sharing | B．remaining | C．moving | D．living |
| A．regret | B．stop | C．die | D．escape |
4 . Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.”
His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”
“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you,” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.
“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will come to see him and laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would!” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.
Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father’s rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come. “Be wild now,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will.” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie clambered down off the hill and walked away.
When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.
There was only one thing left to do. Tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.
1. Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she________.| A．had lied about her good health condition | B．had decided to send Bertie to a new school |
| C．knew selling the lion would upset Bertie | D．knew Bertie would hate to go to England |
| A．some audience | B．other animals | C．Bertie’s friends | D．circus’s owners |
| A．kill the lion out of helplessness | B．protect himself from being chased |
| C．threaten the lion back to the wild | D．show his anger towards his father |
| A．circuses are the last places for animals to live |
| B．animals belonging to the wild should be set free |
| C．parents are sometimes cruel to their children |
| D．people and animals can be faithful to each other |
5 . The day I met Hani Irmawati, she was a shy, 17-year-old girl standing alone in the parking lot of the international school in Indonesia, where I teach English. She asked if I could help her improve her English. I could
“I want to go to a US university,” she said with confidence. I was surprised.
I agreed to work with her
When I met Hani’s family at their
One day I received the announcement of a(n)
“Will you send in my name?” she asked.
I couldn’t
Three weeks later, just before Hani went to Jakarta to take the Test of English Fluency, she received a letter from the scholarship association. She had been
I leaped around the room, overjoyed and shocked. Hani stood by, smiling. I realized that it was I who had learned something Hani had known from the beginning: It is not intelligence alone that brings success, but also the
| A．believe | B．tell | C．spot | D．expect |
| A．convince | B．excuse | C．turn | D．approach |
| A．as | B．in | C．on | D．by |
| A．ride | B．break | C．stay | D．class |
| A．accent | B．assignment | C．guideline | D．journal |
| A．excited | B．bored | C．exhausted | D．confused |
| A．humble | B．comfortable | C．ugly | D．untidy |
| A．decreasing | B．increasing | C．showing | D．fading |
| A．promotion | B．growth | C．scholarship | D．investment |
| A．fair | B．solid | C．slim | D．real |
| A．genuine | B．subjective | C．practical | D．determined |
| A．put | B．take | C．break | D．turn |
| A．concern | B．praise | C．criticism | D．analysis |
| A．impressed | B．rejected | C．confirmed | D．accepted |
| A．drive | B．wisdom | C．pressure | D．secret |
6 . Every Christmas, we get “The Box” from my uncle, who owns a local sporting goods store. He
One year, we got caps that sported a company’s misspelled
Another year, we got a birthday party T shirt for a woman’s ninety sixth birthday when it was
You never know what you’re going to get out of “The Box”, so we play a
We have had a million
I’m not sure what we will do if my uncle runs out of things to send us! It’s a
| A．supplies | B．designs | C．transports | D．counts |
| A．celebrations | B．presents | C．blessings | D．impressions |
| A．place | B．time | C．name | D．form |
| A．but for | B．other than | C．compared to | D．instead of |
| A．supposed | B．allowed | C．forced | D．encouraged |
| A．ordinary | B．special | C．right | D．green |
| A．seen | B．ordered | C．found | D．placed |
| A．song | B．joke | C．sport | D．game |
| A．sets up | B．brings back | C．draws out | D．gets in |
| A．clue | B．opportunity | C．ability | D．dream |
| A．area | B．week | C．day | D．family |
| A．buys | B．takes | C．refuses | D．throws |
| A．laughs | B．protests | C．attempts | D．images |
| A．excites | B．reminds | C．disappoints | D．threats |
| A．beloved | B．legal | C．native | D．calm |
7 . There was a very special teacher who made a far-reaching difference in my life.
Fall, 1959, the first day of class at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School was about to begin. “Who”, I asked a senior, “is Mrs. McNamara, my 10th grade English teacher?” He just
The first time that I
Mrs. McNamara kept all of our written work in files. It was easy to see the
| A．nodded | B．laughed | C．apologized | D．shouted |
| A．trouble | B．sorrow | C．danger | D．anger |
| A．behaviour | B．evaluation | C．activity | D．thought |
| A．review | B．performance | C．practice | D．homework |
| A．added | B．related | C．contributed | D．compared |
| A．expected | B．persuaded | C．allowed | D．advised |
| A．collect | B．return | C．send | D．receive |
| A．on purpose | B．at first | C．by chance | D．in turn |
| A．talk through | B．hand over | C．read out | D．show off |
| A．so | B．and | C．but | D．or |
| A．tried | B．adopted | C．examined | D．experienced |
| A．undertaken | B．attempted | C．bothered | D．hesitated |
| A．Remember | B．Predict | C．Bear | D．Imagine |
| A．playing jokes on | B．making a fool of | C．setting a trap for | D．taking advantage of |
| A．brave | B．careless | C．proud | D．selfish |
| A．above | B．within | C．behind | D．below |
| A．tendency | B．preference | C．determination | D．sense |
| A．improvements | B．pains | C．difficulties | D．advantages |
| A．trusted | B．invited | C．forced | D．permitted |
| A．did | B．could | C．had | D．would |
8 . It might not surprise the average Floridian to find a baby turtle on a sidewalk, but to my teenage eyes it appeared to be something unusual.
One morning, when my mother and I were jogging outside our neighborhood, from a distance I spotted an object about the size of a quarter moving on the sidewalk. When my mother and I were close enough, we realized the quarter was a baby turtle. It looked as though it was on a journey. Yet I wondered if it really knew where it was going because it was heading straight for the road. I told my Mum that if we didn’t take this baby turtle home it would become roadkill. She finally agreed to save it and told me turtles represented good luck. We carried it home, named it Morton and cared for it the best way we could.
We first placed Morton in mother’s bathroom sink (槽) and then an amphibian tank (两栖动物水箱). Slowly Morton grew from a quarter, to a dollar, a chocolate cookie, then eventually a disk.
I knew that people kept turtles like Morton as pets. However, one day it occurred to me that Morton wasn’t a domesticated turtle in a pet store. He was a wild turtle taken from nature and forced into the tank. I was trying to protect him like an overprotective parent by not setting him free. Suddenly, my heart broke into pieces. Slowly I picked up Morton and transported him to his original amphibian tank. It was time.
I will never forget the day I set Morton free. I walked to the neighborhood lake and carefully placed him on the shore. Morton didn’t hesitate to swim into the lake and that was the last time I had seen him.
1. Why did the author take Morton home?| A．To keep it as a pet. | B．To protect it from danger. |
| C．To make it a lucky symbol. | D．To give it medical treatment. |
| A．It is rare in the region. | B．It has overprotective parents. |
| C．It has been raised in a pet store. | D．It grew in size after being brought home. |
| A．A pet store. | B．A new tank. |
| C．Mother Nature. | D．Mother’s bathroom sink. |
| A．Love me and let me go. | B．Love me and love my turtle. |
| C．Animals are humans’ best pets. | D．Distance makes the heart grow fonder. |
9 . I simply woke up one morning with a wish to return to Huntington and do something. It was hard to
When I finally arrived home, I rang the doorbell
One day, in her room, she took hold of my hand. She’d never
| A．affect | B．limit | C．describe | D．spread |
| A．settle down | B．start off | C．show up | D．get along |
| A．rude | B．close | C．generous | D．strange |
| A．behavior | B．dream | C．choice | D．concern |
| A．trouble | B．accident | C．hurt | D．doubt |
| A．nervously | B．happily | C．confidently | D．sadly |
| A．honor | B．duty | C．loss | D．emptiness |
| A．satisfying | B．normal | C．important | D．worrying |
| A．ability | B．hobby | C．personality | D．lifestyle |
| A．curious | B．disappointed | C．serious | D．sweet |
| A．wasting | B．reexperiencing | C．hiding | D．suffering |
| A．understood | B．punished | C．mentioned | D．touched |
| A．memories | B．suggestions | C．challenges | D．disasters |
| A．relied on | B．longed for | C．complained of | D．turned down |
| A．value | B．complete | C．regret | D．consider |
10 . Agnes Lloyd’s 70th birthday came, but the day went normally. Her husband
The last bell of the day rang. She picked up her
The thought made her smile as she
Her students were standing there carrying birthday signs. She hadn’t
As the song continued, tears
Some of the students parted and her three children stepped out holding a birthday cake with two
Don’t forget your parents,
| A．showed up | B．set out | C．fell ill | D．passed away |
| A．worrying | B．depressing | C．surprising | D．puzzling |
| A．purse | B．book | C．chair | D．food |
| A．recognize | B．admire | C．demand | D．recommend |
| A．promised | B．ignored | C．deserved | D．permitted |
| A．approached | B．discovered | C．started | D．touched |
| A．moved | B．frightened | C．delighted | D．satisfied |
| A．disturbed | B．inspired | C．amused | D．shocked |
| A．mentioned | B．realized | C．doubted | D．admitted |
| A．followed | B．invited | C．guided | D．introduced |
| A．gathered | B．dried | C．disappeared | D．remained |
| A．gradually | B．frequently | C．secretly | D．suddenly |
| A．presents | B．flowers | C．candles | D．cards |
| A．strength | B．enthusiasm | C．calmness | D．interest |
| A．as if | B．even if | C．so that | D．now that |
