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)
2 . A Teacher’s Lifesaving Call
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia Koch began what was only her second year as a first grade teacher in a virtual classroom.
One September afternoon a few weeks into the school year, she received a call from Cynthia Phillips, who was having technical difficulties with her granddaughter’s tools for online learning.
Koch immediately knew something was wrong with Phillips. The two women had spoken numerous times before, but Koch had never heard the grandmother sound quite like this. Her words were so jumbled that Koch could barely understand her, though she was able to make out that Phillips had fallen four times that day.
Koch called her principal, Charlie Lovelady, who assured her that he would call and check on Phillips himself.
Just like Koch, Lovelady could barely understand Phillips. He suspected she might be having a stroke—he recognized the signs from when his own father had suffered one. Lovelady was able to make out the word “kids” and immediately became concerned that Phillips’s two grandchildren, aged six and eight, were probably home alone with her—she is their primary guardian—and scared. Lovelady asked his office manager to send an ambulance to the grandmother’s home. Then Lovelady called two deans in the school district, to tell them what was going on, both of whom dropped everything and drove to the family’s home.
When they pulled up less than ten minutes later, the EMTs(急救人员)were treating Phillips while the two girls, looking visibly shaken, were outside with a neighbor.
The quick response from Koch and Lovelady saved Phillips’s life. She arrived at the hospital in time to get treatment and before chronic damage occurred.
“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here,” said Phillips from her hospital bed about a month after her stroke.
Thanks to an extended stay in the hospital, she has regained most of the movement throughout her body except for one hand and a portion of her mouth, which affects her speech.
1. When did the story happen?| A．When Koch was in her first grade. |
| B．When the grandchildren were having online classes. |
| C．When Lovelady was with his own father. |
| D．When the EMTs were giving medical help to Phillips. |
| A．Because Phillips’s voice sounded strange. |
| B．Because Phillips had seldom called Koch. |
| C．Because Phillips spoke a strange language. |
| D．Because Koch could not hear very clearly. |
| A．By calling the hospital for advice. |
| B．By visiting Phillips in person. |
| C．By recognizing the signs he knew. |
| D．By asking the office workers for help. |
| A．minor. | B．unknown. | C．obvious. | D．serious. |
| A．She could not move about properly. |
| B．She could not speak clearly. |
| C．She could not have meals properly. |
| D．She could not use her hands as before. |
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college an 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 withdraw from 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 adopt 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 81. 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 talking 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. When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be____.
| A．a writer |
| B．a teacher |
| C．a judge |
| D．a doctor |
| A．She wanted to study by herself. |
| B．She fell in love and got married. |
| C．She suffered from a serious illness. |
| D．She decided to look after her grandma. |
| A．She was busy yet happy with her family life. |
| B．She ignored her guilty feeling for her sons. |
| C．She wanted to remain a full-time housewife. |
| D．She was too confused to make a correct choice. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Little by little, one goes far. |
| C．Every coin has two sides. |
| D．Well begun, half done. |
| A．Caring and determined. |
| B．Honest and responsible. |
| C．Ambitious and sensitive. |
| D．Innocent and single-minded. |
