1 . The mission of Faces of Santa Ana is to lovingly engage the homeless through art. In July 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife had just moved to Santa Ana, California with a burning desire in their hearts to love their neighbors. Outside the couple’s fourth-floor apartment, a(n)____ man was often yelling on the street corner, sometimes keeping them ______ at night. Peterson, 28, would pass the guy on his way to work as a car designer, but they never _____ .

One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading the book Love Does, about the power of love in action, when his ____ disturbed by the homeless man. _____ by the book’s compassionate (有同情心的) message, Peterson made a(n)_____ decision: He was going outside to introduce himself.

In that first _____, Peterson learned that the man’s name was Matt Faris. He’d moved to Southern California to pursue a career _____, but he soon fell on hard times and _____ living on the street for more than a decade.

“It was a strange thing to me,” Peterson recalled later. “I saw ______ on the face of a man who hadn’t shaved in probably a year. And the ______ inside of him inspired me. ”______ Peterson, a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Art, hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in about eight years, he found himself asking if he could ______ Faris’s portrait. And Faris said yes.

Peterson’s _____ with Faris led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization focused on _____ and painting portraits of members of the community who are unhoused. Peterson sells the 30-by-40-inch canvas(画布) — signed by both subject and artist—for a few thousand dollars, and put half into what he calls a “love account” for his _____.

Many of Peterson’s new friends use the donations to secure immediate ____ — medical care, hotel rooms, food. Faris used the funds from his portrait to record an album, realizing his ____ dreams.

Peterson has painted 41 of these portraits himself. He’s discovered that the buyers tend to connect to the story of the person in the painting, finding ______ and often friendship with someone they might have otherwise overlooked. “People often tell me, ‘I was the one that would cross the street. But I see homeless people ____ now,” Peterson says. “I didn’t know that would happen. ”

1.

A．talented

B．strange

C．homeless

D．old

2.

A．awake

B．anxious

C．awkward

D．amazed

3.

A．approached

B．encountered

C．quarreled

D．spoke

4.

A．hobby

B．space

C．quiet

D．work

5.

A．Inspired

B．Enforced

C．Informed

D．Reminded

6.

A．indifferent

B．independent

C．unexpected

D．unwise

7.

A．conversation

B．compassion

C．presentation

D．realization

8.

A．in painting

B．in health

C．in music

D．in sales

9.

A．settled down

B．ended up

C．come up

D．arise from

10.

A．beauty

B．friendliness

C．determination

D．thirst

11.

A．honesty

B．calm

C．life

D．bravery

12.

A．Even though

B．Now that

C．Since

D．When

13.

A．sell

B．collect

C．evaluate

D．paint

14.

A．competition

B．concentration

C．connection

D．cooperation

15.

A．preparing

B．befriending

C．promoting

D．bargaining

16.

A．customers

B．artists

C．models

D．volunteers

17.

A．changes

B．contributions

C．necessities

D．salaries

18.

A．childhood

B．forgotten

C．impossible

D．musical

19.

A．support

B．comfort

C．similarities

D．recognition

20.

A．differently

B．closely

C．safely

D．diversely

2 . 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.

4 . He had been on a long flight. The first warning of the approaching problems came when the sign on the airplane flashed on: “Fasten your seatbelts.”

Then, after a while, a calm voice said, “We shall not be serving the drinks at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence (气流). Please be sure your seatbelt is fastened.” she looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming nervous.

Later, the voice of the announcer said, “We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us.

And then the storm broke out. The terrible thunder could be heard even above the sound of the engines. Lightning lit up the darkening skies and within moments that great plane was like a leather thrown around on a vast ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on great current so fair, the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.

The man admitted that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, “As I looked around the plane. I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying.”

“The future seemed terrible and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm. And then, I suddenly saw a girl to whom the storm meant nothing. She just sat on her seat and was reading a book. Everything within her small world calm.

Sometimes she closed her eyes and then she would read again. She would straighten her legs but worry and fear were not in her world. When the plane was being hit by the terrible storm, when it shook this way and that way, when it rose and fell so severely, and when all the adults were scared half to death, that unusual child was completely composed and unafraid.”

The man could hardly believe his eyes. It was not surprising, therefore, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying off board he asked the girl why she had not been afraid. The sweet child replied, “Sir, my dad is the pilot and he is taking me home.’’

1. What happened while he was taking the flight?            

A．A Passenger was scared to death	B．The plane met a turbulence
C．A girl became deaf in the plane	D．Drinks and food ran out

2. Some passengers were praying during the turbulence because           

A．they were too afraid	B．they wanted to be happy
C．God asked them to	D．they were warned to

3. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “composed” in paragraph 7?           

A．clever

B．health

C．strong

D．calm

4. Which is the right order of the description about the girl when others were scared half to death?           
a. She closed her eyes                      b. She straightened her legs
c. She went on reading                      d. She sat on her seat reading

A．a-d-b-c

B．d-c-a-b

C．d-a-c-b

D．a-b-c-d

5. What makes the girl be have so differently from others then?           

A．Confidence

B．Determination

C．Behavior

D．Destination

7 . 阅读表达

In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.

My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated (毕业) from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to give up college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.

Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopted (收养) and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic — and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.

You can imagine how fully occupied I became, raising four boys under the age of 8. Our home was a complete zoo — a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream, either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each semester.

The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to quit, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.

In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree！

I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you’re looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you’re in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won’t arrive in your life on one day. It’s a process. Remember: Little steps add up to big dreams.

1. Why did the author give up her education when she was young?(no more than 10 words)
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. What prevented her going back to college full time?(no more than 10 words)
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. For what reason did the author insist on having a college education?(no more than 10 words)
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. The underlined word “occupied” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.(no more than 5 words)
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. According to this passage, how would you deal with a challenge if you were faced with one?(no more than 10 words)
______________________________________________________________________________________

9 . 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 . At the age of 17 years 64 days, Mack Rutherford has become the youngest person to fly around the world alone! Mack’s journey around the world lasted five months and he flew across 52 countries in total. His record-breaking flight began in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on 23 March, 2022. He was 16 years old when he took off and celebrated his 17th birthday by himself in his plane.

Mack faced many challenges during his adventure. Because of his small-sized aircraft, he had to land whenever the weather got too rough. However, at some points he literally couldn’t land, such as when flying non-stop for 10 hours over an ocean. At other points, he faced extremely hot weather, such as in Dubai. In Sudan, a country in Africa, Mack also faced sandstorms which made it hard for him to see where he was going. Mack battled strong winds and pouring rain during his flight, but he never stopped smiling, joking and updating his flowers on his social media account along the way, and managed to expertly pilot his plane to safety.

And if Mack’s surname “Rutherford” sounds familiar, it’s because his elder sister Zara also flew around the world earlier this year, and still holds the female version of the record! The Rutherford siblings (兄弟姐妹) were inspired by their parents to become pilots. “I have known for certain I wanted to fly since I was eleven,” Mack said, “My dad Sam is a professional ferry pilot, my mum Beatrice is a recreational (娱乐的) private pilot.”

Mack hopes to inspire young people to begin working towards their own goals, “No matter what background you have, I believe it is never too early to work towards your dreams and you shouldn’t limit yourself by others’ expectations.” With both feet firmly back on the ground now, it’s time for Mack to turn his attention towards catching up on his schoolwork!

1. What can we know about Mack’s flight?

A．It began when he was 17 years 64 days old.

B．It made him the youngest person to fly alone.

C．It was a successful record-breaking attempt.

D．It took off in the capital of his home country.

2. What challenges did Mack face?

A．Limitation of flight hours.

B．Darkness and safety issues.

C．Loneliness of flying alone.

D．Bad weather and long distance.

3. Why did Mack and his sister want to be pilots?

A．To be inspired by their parents.

B．To encourage each other to dream big.

C．To serve as examples for their siblings.

D．To live up to their parents’ expectations.

4. What does Mack hope to do with his attempt?

A．To encourage young people to become pilots.

B．To inspire young people to fight for their dreams.

C．To warn young people of the dangers of flying.

D．To free young people of worries about school work.

5. What does Mack will do next?

A．He will start a new journey to other place.

B．He will help young people to dream big.

C．He will work towards his another dream.

D．He will focus on his schoolwork.