1 . My First Marathon（马拉松）

A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.

I remember back to my 7th year in school. In my first P.E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was ＂not athletic＂.

The idea that I was ＂not athletic＂ stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!

The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.

Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces(鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!

At mile 3, I passed a sign: ＂GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!＂

By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.

By mile 21, I was starving!

As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign. She is my biggest fan. She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a.m. or questioned my expenses on running.

I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.

Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels(世俗标签), I can now call myself a ＂marathon winner＂.

1. A month before the marathon, the author ____________.

A．was well trained	B．felt scared
C．made up his mind to run	D．lost hope

2. Why did the author mention the P.E. class in his 7th year?

A．To acknowledge the support of his teacher.

B．To amuse the readers with a funny story.

C．To show he was not talented in sports.

D．To share a precious memory.

3. How was the author’s first marathon?

A．He made it.	B．He quit halfway.
C．He got the first prize.	D．He walked to the end.

4. What does the story mainly tell us?

A．A man owes his success to his family support.

B．A winner is one with a great effort of will.

C．Failure is the mother of success.

D．One is never too old to learn.

3 . Two weeks ago, a 5-year-old girl named Sunshine Oelfke emptied out her piggy bank (存钱罐) onto the living room floor and immediately started counting. Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, thought she was playing as she carefully lined up the coins, but then she saw the girl put the coins into a plastic bag and place it in her backpack.

“What are you doing with that money?” Jackie asked her granddaughter.

“I’m taking it to school,” Sunshine replied. “I’m going to take it for milk money. My friend Layla doesn’t get milk— her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”

Jackie’s heart melted at Sunshine’s words. Choked with strong feelings, Jackie held her sweet granddaughter tightly in her arms.

Last week, Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved. There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk. It costs $ 0.45 a carton (纸盒). The total adds up to about $180 a month for every child in the class to have milk every day.

After dropping Sunshine off at school, Jackie posted a tearful video on Facebook to explain her granddaughter’s plan. To her surprise, many people offered to donate toward the cause. Within a week, Jackie raised more than $1,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class can get free milk for the rest of the year.

Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends. “She doesn’t understand the effect she’s brought about,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”

1. Why did Sunshine empty her piggy bank?

A．She hoped to show off her savings in class.	B．She needed to train her counting skills.
C．She wanted to play with the coins.	D．She intended to pay for her friend’s milk.

2. How did Jackie feel upon hearing Sunshine’s words?

A．Relieved.

B．Touched.

C．Curious.

D．Proud.

3. In Jackie’s eyes, what did Sunshine learn from the experience?

A．Two heads are better than one.	B．A friend in need is a friend indeed.
C．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.	D．There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

4. What is the best title for this passage?

A．Small Coins, Big Changes.	B．Jackie’s Piggy Bank.
C．Piggy Bank and Carton Milk.	D．A Moved Grandmother.

4 . A young English teacher saved the lives of 30 students when he took______ of a bus after its driver suffered a serious heart attack. Guy Harvold,24, had ______ the students and three course leaders from Gatwick airport, and they were travelling to Bournemouth to ______ their host families. They were going to ______ a course at the ABC Language School in Bournemouth where Harvold works as a ______.

Harvold, who has not ______ his driving test, said, "I realized the bus was out of control when I was ______ the students." The bus ran into trees at the side of the road and he ______the driver was slumped(倒伏) over the wheel. The driver didn't ______. He was unconscious. The bus______ a lamp post and it broke the glass on the front door before Harvold ______ to bring the bus to a stop. Police______ the young teacher's quick thinking. If he hadn't ______ quickly, there could have been a terrible______.

The bus driver never regained consciousness and died at Easy Surrey Hospital. He had worked regulary with the ______ and was very well regarded by the teachers and students. Harvold said, "I was ______ that no one else was hurt, but I hoped that the driver would ______.

The head of the language school told the local newspaper that the school is going to send Harvold on a weekend ______ to Dublin with a friend, thanking him for his ______. A local driving school has also offered him six ______driving lessons.

1.

A．control

B．care

C．advantage

D．note

2.

A．taken in

B．picked up

C．tracked down

D．helped out

3.

A．greet

B．thank

C．invite

D．meet

4.

A．present

B．introduce

C．take

D．organize

5.

A．drive

B．doctor

C．librarian

D．teacher

6.

A．given

B．marked

C．passed

D．conducted

7.

A．speaking to

B．waiting for

C．returning to

D．looking for

8.

A．learned

B．noticed

C．mentioned

D．doubted

9.

A．sleep

B．cry

C．move

D．recover

10.

A．ran over

B．went by

C．carried

D．hit

11.

A．remembered

B．continued

C．prepared

D．managed

12.

A．witnessed

B．recorded

C．praised

D．understood

13.

A．appeared

B．reacted

C．escaped

D．interrupted

14.

A．delay

B．accident

C．mistake

D．experience

15.

A．airport

B．hospital

C．school

D．police

16.

A．happy

B．fortunate

C．touched

D．sorry

17.

A．survive

B．retire

C．relax

D．succeed

18.

A．project

B．trip

C．dinner

D．duty

19.

A．bravery

B．skill

C．quality

D．knowledge

20.

A．necessary

B．easy

C．different

D．free

5 . One day, when I was going to check in at an airport, I noticed there was a big problem. The counter person was telling everyone that all the planes were having problems and they would not be able to fly! And it was suggested that a bus would be provided to take us to Seattle. Everyone was worried, as we only had an hour and a half to make the connecting flight, and the bus was not even at the airport yet.

Finally, the bus pulled up, and the driver said, “They just pulled me out of bed after an all-night shift (夜班), and they expect me to get you to Seattle in time to catch your flight. Good Luck!”

Needless to say, everyone was in a really bad mood. I was loading my luggage into the bus and had slung (吊) my banjo over my back when the driver said, “What? Are you going to play that in my bus?” “Well, really did not plan on it,” I replied. “I was only kidding,” said the driver. But I started thinking about it, and I pulled out the banjo. A worried, angry woman said, “Well, what if I don't like it?” “Then tell me and I will stop,” I replied.

We drove off, and the tension (紧张) made the atmosphere in the bus horrendous! Then I started plucking (弹奏) the old song Blue Skies. In a few minutes, I noticed everyone was singing along. I started to sing, too, and before long, the whole bus burst into song.

One song led to another and everyone seemed to have a request. “Do you know You Are My Sunshine?” Everyone laughed and sang, with food passed around the bus, and before long, the airport was in sight.

The bus driver called, “We made it! We never would have done it without the help of our banjo player.” Shouts of approval rang through the bus. The driver said to me, “This was the best ride I ever had. Thanks for your music.”

A few weeks later, my mailbox was filled with letters from my new friends. Their letters reminded me of how, by reaching out with just a song, you can turn a very tense situation into a peaceful experience-a magical, musical bus ride.

1. What can we learn about the driver from his words in Paragraph 2?

A．He was glad to take those people to the airport.

B．He was late because he just returned from an all-night shift.

C．He thought it was hard to get those people to the airport in time.

D．He thought he was lucky to take those people to the airport.

2. When the author decided to play his banjo, ________.

A．the driver fully supported him	B．not all the passengers preferred that idea
C．all the passengers disliked that idea	D．the whole bus burst into song

3. The underlined word “horrendous” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by _________.

A．changeable	B．strange
C．very bad	D．cheerful

4. What does this text mainly tell us?

A．A wonderful musical bus ride.	B．An unforgettable flight to Seattle.
C．A great banjo player.	D．The amazing friendship on a bus.

6 . I used to be a very self-centered person, but in the past two years I have really changed. I have started to think about other people _______ I think about myself. I am happy that I am becoming a _______person:

I think my _______started when I was at Palomar College. At first, I just wanted to get my _______, and be left alone. I thought I was smarter than everyone else, so I hardly ever _______to anyone in my classes. By the end of my first semester, I was really _______. It seemed as if everyone but me had made friends and was having fun. So I tried a(n) _______. I started asking people around me how they were doing, and if they were having trouble I _______to help. That was really a big _______for me. By the end of the year, I had several new friends, and two of ________are still my best friends today.

A bigger cause of my new ________, however, came when I took a part-time job at a Vista Nursing Home. One old lady there who had Alzheimer s disease became my ________. Every time I came into her room, she was so ________because she thought I was her daughter. Her real daughter never ________her, so I took her place. She let me ________. That making others feel good make me feel good, too. When she died, I was ________, but I was very grateful to her.

I think I am a much ________, person today than I used to be, and I hope I will not ________these experiences. They have ________e to care about other people more than about myself. ________who I am today, and I could not say that a few years ago.

1.

A．since

B．before

C．or

D．unless

2.

A．famous

B．simple

C．different

D．skilled

3.

A．education

B．career

C．tour

D．change

4.

A．balance

B．homework

C．degree

D．interest

5.

A．talked

B．wrote

C．lied

D．reported

6.

A．careful

B．lonely

C．curious

D．guilty

7.

A．argument

B．game

C．experiment

D．defence

8.

A．dared

B．offered

C．hesitated

D．happened

9.

A．dream

B．problem

C．duty

D．step

10.

A．us

B．which

C．them

D．whom

11.

A．attitude

B．hobby

C．hope

D．luck

12.

A．friend

B．partner

C．guide

D．guest

13.

A．polite

B．happy

C．strange

D．confident

14.

A．bothered

B．answered

C．visited

D．trusted

15.

A．explain

B．guess

C．declare

D．see

16.

A．homeless

B．heart broken

C．bad-tempered

D．hopeless

17.

A．quieter

B．busier

C．better

D．richer

18.

A．forget

B．face

C．improve

D．analyze

19.

A．forced

B．preferred

C．ordered

D．taught

20.

A．miss

B．like

C．wonder

D．expect

7 . “Look down, Lisa,” my father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can’t get to the place where you want to go by one road, ______ another.”

In the years that followed, I often remembered the words my father ______ me. I know where I wanted to go in life. I wanted to be a fashion ______. And on the way to my first small success I found the road blocked. What could I do? Accept the roadblocks and fail? Or use imagination and intelligence to find another road to my ______.

I came to Paris, the center of the world of ______, with my works. But none of the famous fashion designers seemed interested in buying them. Then one day I met a friend ______ a very beautiful sweater. The sweater was simple in color, but it had a(n) ______ knitting (编织) way.

I suddenly ______ a bold design knitted into such a sweater. I ______ a clear black and white butterfly picture and took it to Mrs. Vidian. She ______ it into a sweater. The result, I thought, was ______. Then came the test. I ______ the sweater to a party which people in the fashion business would attend. To my joy, the sweater was ______. In fact, the representative (代表) of a large New York store wanted 40 sweaters to be ______ in two weeks. I accepted the ______ and walked out on a cloud of ______.

My cloud ______, however, when I stood in front of Mrs. Vidian. “But it took me almost a week to knit that sweater,” she said. “Forty sweaters in two weeks? It is ______.”

I was so close to success and then to be blocked! ______, I walked away. All at once, it hit me that there must be ______ way. This knitting way did take special skill, but surely there must be someone else in Paris who knew how to do it. Luckily, I made it before the deadline.

1.

A．quit

B．try

C．ask

D．lead

2.

A．devoted

B．begged

C．taught

D．invested

3.

A．reporter

B．partner

C．lawyer

D．designer

4.

A．journey

B．goal

C．apartment

D．stage

5.

A．fashion

B．finance

C．jewellery

D．wildlife

6.

A．on

B．by

C．in

D．over

7.

A．unusual

B．brief

C．ancient

D．regular

8.

A．borrowed

B．pictured

C．reflected

D．solved

9.

A．mixed

B．cultivated

C．spotted

D．drew

10.

A．dressed

B．focused

C．knitted

D．took

11.

A．wonderful

B．puzzling

C．slight

D．terrible

12.

A．impressed

B．wore

C．mastered

D．permitted

13.

A．criticized

B．kept

C．noticed

D．overlooked

14.

A．ready

B．popular

C．curious

D．worthwhile

15.

A．pressure

B．bargain

C．material

D．order

16.

A．anger

B．sadness

C．disappointment

D．happiness

17.

A．poured

B．enhanced

C．disappeared

D．exposed

18.

A．likely

B．positive

C．alike

D．impossible

19.

A．Typically

B．Sadly

C．Excitedly

D．Mentally

20.

A．another

B．no

C．others

D．many

9 . At a speed of roughly 20 miles a day, the Ardines experienced practically all the extremes the United States has to offer. The brothers kept a detailed record of their _________ on the blog. With the right headlines and support of friends and family back at home, the brothers’ journey started to gain more _________. By day 60, they were already 1/3 into their _________ goal. News media started to _________ their story. In July, their news caught the _________ of Verizon Wireless, who _________ the brothers new cell phones and donated to the cause.

Along their heroes’ _________, Aiden and Louis met their own everyday heroes. A driver in Nebraska _________ them on the road in the extremely hot weather and doubled back to give them _________ drinks. In Iowa, a couple __________ them over for a hearty meal of steak and cheese. In Nevada, a woman who ran a campground let them stay __________. These actions made their hearts __________ with warmth.

Walking by 11 states, four times zones, mountains, deserts, forests, and a run-in with a black bear later, Aiden and Louis __________ the sandy beaches of San Francisco after 162 days. __________ by their parents and other supporters, the brothers were not only __________ that they achieved their goal, but that they doubled it. Thanks to the Ardines, $ 70,000 was __________ between the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation and the COCO Fund, nonprofits created specifically to __________ food workers hit hard by the pandemic (疫情).

Without the __________ of a huge community of people, they wouldn’t have been __________. It was confirmed that people are kind in their __________ and ready to help others at all times.

1.

A．reputations

B．virtues

C．surveys

D．experiences

2.

A．requests

B．motivation

C．tracks

D．admission

3.

A．interesting

B．tiring

C．moral

D．initial

4.

A．cover

B．enrich

C．replace

D．investigate

5.

A．information

B．attention

C．contribution

D．imagination

6.

A．saved

B．showed

C．offered

D．sold

7.

A．behaviour

B．speech

C．journey

D．advice

8.

A．adopted

B．spotted

C．defended

D．examined

9.

A．hot

B．cold

C．alcoholic

D．expensive

10.

A．rowed

B．took

C．turned

D．invited

11.

A．free of charge

B．ahead of time

C．at random

D．by accident

12.

A．assessed

B．satisfied

C．stabbed

D．filled

13.

A．searched for

B．cleared up

C．arrived at

D．passed by

14.

A．Greeted

B．Blamed

C．Attracted

D．Identified

15.

A．delighted

B．upset

C．cautious

D．ashamed

16.

A．arranged

B．discovered

C．shared

D．packed

17.

A．aid

B．hire

C．move

D．control

18.

A．spread

B．doubt

C．help

D．belief

19.

A．grateful

B．excited

C．determined

D．successful

20.

A．quantity

B．nature

C．anxiety

D．ambition

10 . 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange problem— inability to read.
In the library, I found my way into the “Children’s Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle. Without opening the book titled Amos, the Beagle with a Plan, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.
Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book.
My mother’s call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.
I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般地) experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words has held.
1. The author’s mother told him to borrow a book in order to_____.

A．encourage him to do more walking

B．help cure him of his reading problem

C．let him spend a meaningful summer

D．make him learn more about weapons

2. The book caught the author’s eye because_____.

A．it contained pretty pictures of animals

B．he found its title easy to understand

C．he was reminded of his own dog

D．he liked children’s stories very much

3. What can be concluded from the last paragraph?

A．The author’s mother rewarded him with books.

B．The author’s mother read the same book.

C．The author has become a successful writer.

D．The author has had happy summers ever since.

4. Which one could be the best title of the passage?

A．My Passion for Reading

B．Mum’s Strict Order

C．Reunion with My Beagle

D．The Charm of a Book