1 . MINNEAPOLIS—A 13-year-old entrepreneur (企业家) who was reported for operating a hot dog stand outside his house without a license is still in business, thanks to Minnesota officials who could have shut it down.
The Minneapolis Department of Health received a complaint this summer about the hot dog stand that Jaequan Faulkner had set up outside his home. But instead of closing down the operation, officials decided to help. “We helped Jaequan become permitted and went through some food safety techniques and procedures with him so he could operate legally and safely,” said Minneapolis Health Department supervisor Ryan Krick. Besides, the staff of health department raised the money for his permit fee, which was $87.00. Daniel Huff, the environmental health director for the department, says his agency was excited to give him coaching for some business knowledge, instead of shutting down the operation.
Jaequan says he is supported widely. “I was actually kind of surprised at first, because usually I would have one person at a time help me, but then so many people came at once. Now I realize how much people enjoy it, ” he added.
Jaequan began operating with a license on Monday. He started the hot dog stand with help from his uncle, who said Jaequan handles about 90 percent of the business. The teen now works four—hour days, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and spends his free time “thinking about what’s next.” Maybe a food cart, so he can take his operation on the road.
Jaequan said he’s also thinking about donating some of earnings to charities that help people with depression.
1. According to the passage, why was Jaequan complained?| A．Because he was too young. | B．Because he didn’t get the license. |
| C．Because he chose an improper location. | D．Because he sold some unhealthy foods. |
| A．offering advice on food security | B．helping him get the official permit |
| C．asking him to pay for the permit fee | D．coaching him for some business knowledge |
| A．Grateful. | B．Terrified. | C．Confused. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．Leaving his business to his uncle. | B．Expanding his business to some extent. |
| C．Working full time on his hot dog stand. | D．Giving away all his earnings to the poor. |
| A．To inspire teenagers to establish their own career. |
| B．To call on people to donate their earnings to charities. |
| C．To inform people of a touching story in Minneapolis. |
| D．To persuade people to support Jaequan’s business. |
2 . Check out these stories of some animals.
The cat Homer
Homer the blind cat weighs only four pounds. Gwen Cooper adopted him when he was three weeks old. One night his growling (狂吠) wakes up Cooper, He’s never growled before. Surprised, Cooper opens her eyes. A burglar is standing at the foot of her bed! Cooper reaches for her phone to call 911.
“Don’t do that!” the burglar says. The sound of his voice shows his exact location, and blind Homer leaps. No match for a cat with sharp claws, the would-be robber flees.
The dog Geo
Geo follows 10-year-old Charlie Rilcy everywhere. One day Charlie, his mom, and two younger brothers are standing at a street corner. Geo is sitting at Charlie’s side. Suddenly, an out-of-control truck is heading straight for Charlie!
But Geo makes a flying leap. “He hits me so hard that I fall over,” Charlie says. The speeding truck hits Geo instead. Geo is rushed to the animal hospital.
The dog Teddy
It’s 3 a.m. in West Jordan, Utah. A mother and two children stand outside as firefighters hose (用软管浇) water on their burning house. “Is anybody inside?” the firemen ask.
The mom says no, because she feels certain that her older son escaped out the back. But just to be sure, Don Chase and his partner plunge (冲入) through the flames to look.
And what do they find? Teddy the pet dog standing by the door. Chase reaches for him, but Teddy runs down the basement stairs. Midway down, he stops and waits. But just as the firemen reach him, he takes off again. “I’m really maddened.”Chase says. “We’re wasting time chasing a dog when we should be searching for human victims.”
Then they see him — the older son, unconscious on a basement couch. Grabbing his legs and chest, the astonished firemen move him to safety, as Teddy runs behind.
1. How does Homer know where the burglar is?| A．Cooper shows him. | B．He sees the burglar. |
| C．Through the burglar’s voice. | D．Through the burglar’s actions. |
| A．interested | B．surprised | C．excited | D．annoyed |
| A．Real animal heroes | B．Funny stories about pets |
| C．How to take care of your pets? | D．Why arc dogs better pets than cats? |
3 . In March 2022, I was recovering from an operation for breast cancer and going through a terrible time. I spent my days at home
The trip was fun, but when I got on the
“I had an operation,” I said
I could feel my eyes
“Don’t think too much of your problem,” he said. “Instead, think about how many people you could help.”
I had tears coming down my face, and said, “I can’t
“Look, you have a
I’ve not been a very outgoing person, and except the few people who needed to know, I’d kept my illness
But this man, whose name was Ken Duane, showed me that my illness gave me
I am forever
| A．devoting | B．explaining | C．storing | D．keeping |
| A．kindly | B．hurriedly | C．seriously | D．confidently |
| A．overlooked | B．accepted | C．doubted | D．dismissed |
| A．bus | B．train | C．plane | D．ship |
| A．normal | B．last | C．exact | D．whole |
| A．good-hearted | B．absent-minded | C．cold-blooded | D．bad-tempered |
| A．willingly | B．weakly | C．cheerfully | D．quickly |
| A．pain | B．center | C．part | D．symbol |
| A．coming | B．ending | C．taking | D．filling |
| A．believe | B．realize | C．quit | D．rely |
| A．still | B．already | C．even | D．then |
| A．choice | B．decision | C．goal | D．belief |
| A．clear | B．sort | C．mix | D．put |
| A．motive | B．amateur | C．secret | D．sense |
| A．defined | B．blamed | C．affected | D．defeated |
| A．surprise | B．advice | C．strength | D．reference |
| A．broaden | B．worsen | C．brighten | D．lighten |
| A．officially | B．publicly | C．clearly | D．sharply |
| A．expectation | B．exploration | C．appointment | D．conversation |
| A．regretful | B．conscious | C．grateful | D．curious |
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)2. How do you understand the underlined word in Paragraph 2? (no more than 5 words)
3. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about? (no more than 10 words)
4. Which word would you use to describe the author’s personality or character? (1 word)
5. What can you learn from the story? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
5 . 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. |
| A．Moved. | B．Cheerful. | C．Lonely. | D．Angry. |
| A．By bringing food. |
| B．By serving as a social bridge. |
| C．By keeping the house clean. |
| D．By protecting him from dangers. |
| A．The open window. | B．The lockdown. |
| C．A need for connection. | D．A stay with new neighbors. |
| 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. |
6 . A farmer owned an old mule(骡子) One day the mule
After carefully thinking about the situation, the farmer
At first, the old mule was mad! But as the farmer and the neighbors
This he did, blow after blow. “Shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up…shake it off and step up!” He repeated to
It wasn’t long before the old mule, tired out, stepped
That’s life! We should face our problems and respond to them
| A．flowed | B．felt | C．fell | D．flew |
| A．protesting | B．talking | C．singing | D．crying |
| A．failed | B．refused | C．escaped | D．succeeded |
| A．decided | B．imagined | C．requested | D．pretended |
| A．However | B．Therefore | C．Moreover | D．Otherwise |
| A．situation | B．house | C．wall | D．well |
| A．disaster | B．order | C．control | D．prison |
| A．stopped | B．suggested | C．continued | D．finished |
| A．replied | B．got | C．turned | D．occurred |
| A．pain | B．dirt | C．fear | D．pity |
| A．encourage | B．experience | C．expect | D．explore |
| A．painless | B．possible | C．hopeless | D．useful |
| A．slightly | B．suddenly | C．secretly | D．successfully |
| A．hurt | B．helped | C．punished | D．controlled |
| A．obviously | B．positively | C．curiously | D．necessarily |
7 . 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)
One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading the book Love Does, about the power of love in action, when his
In that first
“It was a strange thing to me,” Peterson recalled later. “I saw
Peterson’s
Many of Peterson’s new friends use the donations to secure immediate
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
| A．talented | B．strange | C．homeless | D．old |
| A．awake | B．anxious | C．awkward | D．amazed |
| A．approached | B．encountered | C．quarreled | D．spoke |
| A．hobby | B．space | C．quiet | D．work |
| A．Inspired | B．Enforced | C．Informed | D．Reminded |
| A．indifferent | B．independent | C．unexpected | D．unwise |
| A．conversation | B．compassion | C．presentation | D．realization |
| A．in painting | B．in health | C．in music | D．in sales |
| A．settled down | B．ended up | C．come up | D．arise from |
| A．beauty | B．friendliness | C．determination | D．thirst |
| A．honesty | B．calm | C．life | D．bravery |
| A．Even though | B．Now that | C．Since | D．When |
| A．sell | B．collect | C．evaluate | D．paint |
| A．competition | B．concentration | C．connection | D．cooperation |
| A．preparing | B．befriending | C．promoting | D．bargaining |
| A．customers | B．artists | C．models | D．volunteers |
| A．changes | B．contributions | C．necessities | D．salaries |
| A．childhood | B．forgotten | C．impossible | D．musical |
| A．support | B．comfort | C．similarities | D．recognition |
| A．differently | B．closely | C．safely | D．diversely |
8 . 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. |
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Fearful. |
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
| A．A sad Christmas day. |
| B．Life with a lovely baby. |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family. |
9 . Steve Sanders is a dad who suffered from a serious kidney (肾) disease. Although he had been living a
One day, Chris, a local shopper,
Chris filled out the paperwork and
Once the hospital showed his kidney was a
| A．busy | B．rich | C．simple | D．healthy |
| A．coming about | B．going down | C．taking off | D．showing up |
| A．fund | B．competition | C．search | D．plan |
| A．doubts | B．responses | C．permissions | D．ranges |
| A．but | B．until | C．so | D．if |
| A．support | B．forgive | C．blame | D．believe |
| A．agree | B．understand | C．fail | D．forget |
| A．recognized | B．discovered | C．cheated | D．contacted |
| A．Similarly | B．Hopelessly | C．Fortunately | D．Strangely |
| A．comfort | B．panic | C．shock | D．mistake |
| A．brave | B．willing | C．proud | D．lucky |
| A．changed | B．heard | C．noticed | D．started |
| A．examine | B．remember | C．repeat | D．practice |
| A．honest | B．positive | C．caring | D．patient |
| A．see | B．show | C．advertise | D．ignore |
| A．character | B．blow | C．pain | D．fit |
| A．secretly | B．regularly | C．immediately | D．generally |
| A．reward | B．generosity | C．creativity | D．carefulness |
| A．owing | B．promising | C．teaching | D．serving |
| A．famous | B．successful | C．adventurous | D．difficult |
10 . 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 |
| A．they were too afraid | B．they wanted to be happy |
| C．God asked them to | D．they were warned to |
| A．clever | B．health | C．strong | D．calm |
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 |
| A．Confidence | B．Determination | C．Behavior | D．Destination |
