1 . 阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

It was a few years ago. A friend sent me a restaurant gift card for Christmas and I picked a pretty, sunny Sunday afternoon to use it. It felt good taking my two grown sons and daughter to a nice sit-down restaurant instead of the fast food places we usually ate at. The meal was delicious and we all had a good time. When the waitress brought the check, I looked down at it. The gift card covered almost all of it. I reached into my wallet to get enough cash to cover the rest. I saw two bills in my wallet. The first would cover the rest of the bill and give the waitress a nice tip. The second bill was much larger, so I reached down to pick out the first one.

At that moment, my mind flashed back to 30 years ago. I was working as a waiter in a restaurant much like the one we were in now. It was long hours of hard work for low pay. I went home just only making enough to feed my young family. I also remembered how more than once I saw the waitresses counting their meager tips while worrying about how they were going to pay the rent and buy their kids things they needed. I remembered the pain in their eyes and sadness in their faces at the end of the day.

I blinked (眨眼) and was back in the present again. My fingers touched the smaller bill in my wallet. I smiled, pushed it back down, and picked out the much larger bill. I folded it around the gift card and covered both of them with the check. As we all got up from the table, I handed them to the hard-working waitress. “You keep the change,” I said with a smile and a happy heart.

We are all one family in this world. We live together, laugh together, and suffer together. Do your best to be a good person and love others. Replace the suffering with joy.

1. Why did the author initially want to use the first bill to pay? (no more than 15 words)
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2. How do you understand the underlined word in Paragraph 2? (no more than 5 words)
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3. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about? (no more than 10 words)
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4. Which word would you use to describe the author’s personality or character? (1 word)
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5. What can you learn from the story? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
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2 . I was scared when a loud noise in my apartment woke me in the middle of the night. I rushed to turn on my bedroom light and discovered it was a cat. Here’s the thing — I do not have a cat. And this was not the first time this particular cat had demanded my attention. I immediately calmed down and realized my mistake — I had left a window open. I approached my house guest to entertain her by giving her some treats and scratches under her collar.

Just like many others, I shifted from working in an office to working from home. Living alone can be separate from outside at the best of times. It was around the one-month mark of the lockdown when I heard a meow outside my window. Sitting outside on the grass was a long-haired, golden-colored cat. I opened the window, and this beautiful cat jumped into my home. Her short visit lifted my spirits for the day.

A few days later, I heard a familiar meow. I saw a name tag on her collar: Mika. On this second visit, I also noticed Mika was cross-eyed, which only made her more lovely.

Over the next few weeks, Mika would drop by occasionally. Sometimes, she only stayed for a few minutes; other times, she would wander around my apartment much longer. Each visit cheered me up. Mika even served as my social bridge, helping me connect with some new neighbors, who, as it turns out, had also received visits from her.

While the lockdown has been awful, I doubt I might not have ever met Mika if it had not happened. But perhaps she came by at this time because she sensed a need for connection on my part.

While dogs are said to be man’s best friend, a good cat can be everyone’s best friend.

1. What do we know about the cat from the first paragraph?

A．She entered by the window.

B．She used to go out at night.

C．She annoyed the neighbors badly.

D．She liked the author’s treats particularly.

2. How did the author probably feel at first during the lockdown?

A．Moved.

B．Cheerful.

C．Lonely.

D．Angry.

3. How did Mika help the author during the lockdown?

A．By bringing food.

B．By serving as a social bridge.

C．By keeping the house clean.

D．By protecting him from dangers.

4. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．The open window.	B．The lockdown.
C．A need for connection.	D．A stay with new neighbors.

5. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．The author lives an unusual life.	B．The author longs for a peaceful society.
C．Keeping cats is boring.	D．Befriending nice cats is worthwhile.

3 . One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap (包装).

On September 11th, 1958, Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honour! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. I told it over and over how much I loved it!

One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it.Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.

Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room.“If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.

The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”

“Thank God!” I heard Mum cry.

From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!

1. What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958?

A．He got a baby brother.

B．He got a Christmas gift.

C．He became four years old.

D．He received a doll.

2. What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Impossible.	B．Boring.
C．Difficult.	D．Fearful.

3. Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?

A．Excitement.	B．Happiness.
C．Sadness.	D．Disappointment.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．A sad Christmas day.

B．Life with a lovely baby.

C．A special Christmas gift.

D．Memories of a happy family.

7 . A Narrow Escape

Shortly after the war, my brother and I were invited to spend a few days’ holiday with an uncle who had just returned from abroad. He had rented a cottage in the country, although he hardly spent much time there. We understood the reason for this after our arrival: the cottage had no comfortable furniture in it. Many of the windows were broken and the roof leaked (漏水), making the whole house wet.

On our first evening, we sat around the fire after supper listening to the stories our uncle told of his many adventures in distant countries. I was so tired after the long train journey that I would have preferred to go to bed; but I could not bear to miss any of my uncle’s exciting stories. He was just in the middle of describing a rather terrifying experience he had once had when there was a loud crash from the bedroom above, the one where my brother and I were going to sleep.

When we got to the top of the stairs and opened the bedroom door, a strange sight met our eyes. A large part of the ceiling had fallen right on to the pillow of my bed.

1. The uncle disliked the rented cottage for the reason that________.

A．there were no beds in it

B．the windows were broken and the roof leaked

C．it was too old for him to live in

D．it was very rainy in the area

2. On the first evening, the writer was very sleepy, ________.

A．but he did his best not to miss any stories

B．so he had to go to bed early

C．because he was tired of his uncle’s stories

D．and he was gradually falling asleep while listening

3. The writer was attentively listening to a story________.

A．which his uncle read in a book

B．which was very funny

C．when his brother cried for being afraid

D．when he heard a loud crash from the bedroom

4. If the writer had not been able to stay up late,________.

A．his uncle would have stopped telling stories

B．his uncle would have been very sorry

C．he would have been injured or killed

D．his brother wouldn’t have been, either

5. A narrow escape means________.

A．A person runs away from a danger through a narrow door.

B．A person escapes a danger by luck.

C．A person escapes a danger easily.

D．A person runs away from a danger easily.

10 . Benjamin Franklin said, “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” That’s how Abreu practices.

During his years at Kellenberg Memorial High School in the US, Abreu made community service an important part of his life. “I don’t know where he finds the _______to do everything,” said Abreu’s math teacher.

Abreu took part in different _______ activities after school, during weekends and summer holidays. These _______ helping in the public library, doing landscape (景观) work at Kellenberg and serving _______ at a local restaurant.

“My appreciation for service has guided me into _______,” said Abreu. “It’s a feeling of _______ to help someone.”

During his years at high school, Abreu _______ between 40 and 50 hours of his time each year doing volunteer work — more than double the school’s _______ of 20 hours every year. For all his hard work, Abreu was welcomed into a leadership club that _______ students’ volunteer activities.

Abreu thanked his parents for ________ him to do the right thing, saying, “They are the ________ people I know.” He ________ when he was about 6 years old, his mother invited several children from poor families nearby to have dinner. Upon ________ the children’s happiness, Abreu got an idea of how he wanted to live his own life — “I won’t ________ on what I want. I’ll ________ as many people as I can,” he said.

1.

A．time

B．way

C．fund

D．power

2.

A．challenging

B．advanced

C．voluntary

D．official

3.

A．included

B．demanded

C．listed

D．accepted

4.

A．hosts

B．youths

C．audiences

D．customers

5.

A．going out

B．falling apart

C．checking in

D．giving back

6.

A．satisfaction

B．trust

C．curiosity

D．safety

7.

A．wasted

B．spent

C．used

D．chose

8.

A．speed

B．training

C．requirement

D．impression

9.

A．stressed

B．organized

C．applied

D．described

10.

A．guiding

B．forcing

C．preferring

D．recommending

11.

A．luckiest

B．kindest

C．wisest

D．busiest

12.

A．protested

B．wondered

C．imagined

D．remembered

13.

A．mastering

B．investigating

C．observing

D．exploring

14.

A．put

B．focus

C．depend

D．take

15.

A．remind

B．contact

C．arrange

D．help