1 . The bus screamed to a stop in Nazareth, Israel. Five Australian backpackers boarded and struck up a conversation with me. They asked typical travelers’ questions — where was I going and why was I traveling alone? My plan was to travel with a friend of a friend, I explained, but when I called her that morning, she didn’t pick up and I had no other way to reach her. My stomach was in knots, but I decided to head out anyway, thinking I might run into her if I traveled to Tiberius, where we had planned to go together.
“Why don’t you travel with us?” one of the backpackers offered. They were experienced adventurers who would work for a few months, save, and then travel for as long as they could. Their current plan was to explore the Middle East and Europe in three months while working in London.
It seemed risky to travel with strangers, but my instinct said yes. For the next two weeks, I explored Israel with the backpackers and learned to trust my instincts in all types of new and interesting situations. When they hook a ride, I took the bus, but when they wanted to steal into the King David Hotel’s swimming pool, I led the way.
The world opened up to me because I chose to travel alone. I joined complete strangers, who become close friends. Years later, one couple from the backpacking group even flew from Sydney to Phoenix to be in my wedding. The trip was such a special experience that it gave me confidence in all areas of my life. Since then, I’ve backpacked alone across South Africa, sky-dived from 12,000 feet in New Zealand and even moved across the U.S. with no job lined up.
On my third day wandering in Israel with my new friends, I bumped into the woman I was supposed to meet. Though I was happy she was all right, I was grateful she hadn’t picked up the phone.
1. By “My stomach was in knots,” the author probably means she was .| A．sick of repeating routines | B．nervous of new situations |
| C．upset about the sudden change | D．sorry about the careless plan |
| A．Homeless but lighthearted. | B．Jobless and poorly educated. |
| C．Courageous but disrespectful. | D．Warmhearted and experienced. |
| A．It might cause trouble to have a swim. | B．It could add excitement to get a free ride. |
| C．She would get along with the backpackers. | D．She ought to stay away from the backpackers. |
| A．The author thought it right to travel alone. |
| B．The author became a fulltime backpack traveler. |
| C．The woman missed the call in order to travel alone. |
| D．Most of the backpackers became the author’s lifelong friends. |
“Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day.” What crosses your mind when you think of tomorrow? Some people think of the future literally like the next day. To others, it means the unknown. To me, it signifies hope.
Every day, on the way to and from school I pass by a children’s hospital. One morning, as I was hurrying to school, I noticed a child staring out of a small window on the first floor. The next minute I tripped (绊倒) and sprawled on the ground. As I slowly pulled myself up and dusted myself off, I looked up again and saw the child laughing. In spite of my situation, I was pleased to have made someone laugh. I bowed as though I were a performer. The child clapped and waved at me. As I stepped closer, I saw that the girl’s head was bald, a sign that she was a cancer patient. I quickly waved one last time to her before heading for the school
The next morning and the next, I looked out for the little girl and waved to her, doing a little jig just to make her laugh. I thought about her and wondered what her life must be like. Was that how the child lived from day to day?
I felt the urge to visit the child. I went to the hospital and looked for the room facing the road. I found the little girl. She was thin and pale. When she saw me, her eyes widened with recognition and she welcomed me with a shy smile. I talked to her a bit and learned her name, Suki. The nurse who saw me talking to her later told me that Suki was a leukemia patient. Her mother died two years ago and her father was now on duty outside the country. The nurse encouraged me to visit Suki so that she would not be so lonesome. As I was leaving, Suki called to me, “Tomorrow?” I understood and said,
“Yes, tomorrow.”
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After that, I popped in to visit Suki after school every day.
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Two months later, Suki told me the good news.
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Life never really turns out the way we expect it to. We have dreams and expectations. And dream-come-true stories are everywhere — except, it may seem, in our own lives.
As a child, Barbara never quite found the bond with her parents that all children need. Her father left the family early, and her mother did menial jobs.
“I couldn’t let my life keep me from caring about other people,” she says. “Maybe it’s unfair or just the way it turns out for people, but I still have a son.”
Barbara raised her son the best she knew how and “he turned out pretty well,” she says, smiling. And after the hard years of making ends meet and giving him a good start, she made a career change.
“I never thought I was supposed to feel sorry for myself,” she says. “And I like people.”
Barbara works as an in-home caregiver for elderly people in their last year of life. She spends 10-hour days, six days a week, with people who have Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, sometimes sleeping on their sofa when they are afraid to spend a night alone. Most don’t have families close by, and Barbara becomes the person they rely on for everything: meals, bathing, bathroom duties, daily walks if they can, mental exercises like crossword puzzles and re-learning family faces.
She only charges what the family can afford and only works with one client at a time. “They become the family I never had, over and over again,” she says, laughing.
The spaces left empty in Barbra’s childhood are filled with memories shared with her from lives fading away in the dusk. For 30 years, she has been making people feel good at a time when most would just be waiting to die, alone and unnoticed. When seeing their faces when they are with Barbara, you’d think the last years were the best.
“I’ve found something I never had,” Barbara says. “We make each other happy. So I try to give them what they want most.”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
She’s learned from her experiences that old people want their loved ones to visit them.
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I posted Barbara’s story online to call on children to visit their parents.
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4 . Like any new ninth-grader on the first day of school, Joemar Class had ninth-grader- emotion (情绪). He’s not used to school in Hartford. He’s used to going to school in his home town of Florida, used to seeing his friends, used to having class in Spanish.
“Nervioso,” he said in Spanish.
We first met Joemar in mid-October in the San Juan Airport. His father, Guillermo Class, had sold his car to buy plane tickets to get his kids and fly them up from Puerto Rico. The island was almost destroyed (毁坏) by the deadly storm—Hurricane Maria.
Now, they are settling into their new home in Hartford’s South End. A week later, using his wife’s car, Class drove 16-year-old Joemar to his first day at Bulkeley High School. After a short ride, he got out in front of his new school. Inside, he met Gretchen Levitz—the school’s program director.
“I see you have new uniform,” Levitz said. “You look great. Are you ready for a good first day? ”
Then he met couple of teachers.
“Hello” they each said in Spanish. They asked where he was from, and told him they were happy to see him. Then Levitz took him on a quick tour of the school before classes began — to her office, the school store, the library, and the dining hall.
A total of 19 languages are spoken in Bulkeley High School. “We have so many new students coming here from other countries every single day,” Levitz said. “So it’s not like he’s the only one who has that feeling.”
“You could tell he’s little worried,” Guillermo said as we left. “But, at the same time, he’s expecting it.”
1. What kind of feeling did Joemar have on his first day of school?| A．Nervous | B．Excited | C．Annoyed | D．Amazed |
| A．His old school closed down. |
| B．He wanted to see his mother. |
| C．He expected to have a new life. |
| D．His town was hit by a terrible storm. |
| A．He had a long talk with his father. |
| B．He said hello to some of his classmates. |
| C．He learned some simple Spanish words. |
| D．He had a short look around his new school. |
| A．It has no library. |
| B．It is an international school. |
| C．It plans to open Spanish classes. |
| D．It requires all students to wear uniforms. |
5 . The Best Thing that ever Happened for Being Nice
A few weeks ago, my family and I were at a restaurant. We had just finished having lunch when I excused myself to go to the
When I was in one of the stalls (隔间), the lady in the stall next to me was saying something. At first, I didn’t realize what she was saying, but
I passed her some paper. When we got out of the toilet stall, she kept
Some people were staring at me and the lady as I walked back to my family and our table, but I didn’t care. The lady was
When I got back to our table, my parents were looking at me, puzzled. Their daughter had simply intended to go to the toilet for a minute or two,
A few moments later, someone came up to us. It was the lady again. She thanked me again then
The best thing that happened to me that day was not only getting a
| A．stage | B．shop | C．restaurant | D．toilet |
| A．naturally | B．eventually | C．actually | D．hurriedly |
| A．understood | B．knew | C．showed | D．discovered |
| A．praising | B．hugging | C．kissing | D．thanking |
| A．outside | B．over | C．along | D．past |
| A．carried | B．moved | C．insisted | D．worked |
| A．bargain | B．refuse | C．accept | D．follow |
| A．treat | B．take | C．invite | D．bring |
| A．trying | B．laughing | C．growing | D．acting |
| A．stranger | B．model | C．hero | D．leader |
| A．yet | B．so | C．or | D．thus |
| A．shared | B．explained | C．reflected | D．proved |
| A．village | B．house | C．country | D．building |
| A．delicious | B．free | C．special | D．large |
| A．powerful | B．successful | C．helpful | D．wonderful |
6 . When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and illustrate my own books. Half the students sneered. The rest nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be silly, only geniuses can become writers,” the English teacher said, “And you are getting a D this semester.” I was so humiliated(羞辱) that I cried.
That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the Capri’s Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer. I showed it to my teacher and fellow students. They laughed. “Just plain dumb luck, "the teacher said. I tasted success. I’d sold the first thing I’d ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of poems, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I never mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers and if people must choose between their friends and their dreams, they must always choose their dreams.
I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.
A month later Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a best seller, was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows. I traveled from New York to California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became required reading in native American schools in Canada.
People ask what college I attended, what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None.” I just write. I’m not a genius. I’m not gifted and I don’t write right. To all those who dream of writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Don’t listen to them.” I don’t write right but I’ve beaten the odds. Writing is easy, it’s fun and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn’t hurt.
1. Why did many students laugh after hearing what the writer said?| A．Because they didn’t like him. |
| B．Because they wished he could be successful as a writer. |
| C．Because their teacher laughed, too. |
| D．Because they felt it impossible for him to succeed. |
| A．The characters in his story. | B．His teacher. |
| C．His early experience. | D．His parents. |
| A．It is difficult for a person, who cares about what others say, to succeed. |
| B．It is important for a person to tell others what he wants to do. |
| C．It is necessary for a person, who wants to succeed, to take others’ advice. |
| D．It is impossible for an ordinary person to be a writer in the future. |
| A．A Famous Person | B．I Hate My Classmates and Teachers |
| C．I Never Write Right | D．A Genius Can Be a Writer |
7 . One summer night, my friends and I stole into the Jordans’ backyard and started harvesting their sweet, juicy raspberries (树莓). We were enjoying every bite of the tasty berries
“What are you boys doing out here?” he yelled as my friends ran off
However, speed was never my
They teased me about it for days afterwards, while all I could do was complain about how
“But what about the other guys?” I asked. “They didn’t get punished at all!”
“That’s not my concern nor should it be yours,” Dad said. “You can’t
| A．before | B．while | C．when | D．after |
| A．towards | B．in | C．at | D．from |
| A．smart | B．foxy | C．swift | D．intelligent |
| A．hid | B．marched | C．hurried | D．disappeared |
| A．strength | B．power | C．intention | D．option |
| A．cruelly | B．bitterly | C．mercilessly | D．pitifully |
| A．colorful | B．offensive | C．violent | D．creative |
| A．negotiate | B．celebrate | C．plot | D．congratulate |
| A．unhappy | B．frustrating | C．disappointing | D．unfair |
| A．thinking | B．warning | C．asking | D．informing |
| A．control | B．predict | C．accept | D．explain |
| A．put up with | B．get away with | C．agree with | D．deal with |
| A．In | B．For | C．Through | D．Since |
| A．get stuck in | B．get engaged in | C．be involved in | D．be buried in |
| A．problem | B．complaint | C．concern | D．choice |
8 . At thirteen, I was diagnosed with a kind of attention disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.
In my first literature class, Mrs. Smith asked us to read a story and then write about it, all within 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, “Mrs. Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it.
She glanced down at me through her glasses, “You are not different from your classmates, young man.”
I tried, but I didn’t finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.
In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind couldn’t get much education. But Louis didn’t give up. Instead, he invented a reading system of raised dots, which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.
Wasn’t I the “blind” one in my class, being made to learn like the “sighted” students? My thoughts flowed and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was not different from others; I just needed a quieter place. Now that Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up? I didn’t expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs. Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day —with an “A” on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: “See what you can do when you keep tying.”
1. Why did the author fail to finish class reading?| A．He had poor reading skills. | B．He was tired of literature. |
| C．He had an attention disorder. | D．He wanted to take the task home. |
| A．He was poor. | B．He was very creative. |
| C．He was near-sighted. | D．He was well-educated. |
| A．Angry. | B．Impatient. | C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
| A．The blind should be treated with respect. |
| B．Teachers can open up a new world to students. |
| C．Everyone needs a hand when faced with challenges. |
| D．One can find his way out of difficulties with efforts. |
After seeing the advertisement in the newspaper, Perce Blackborow resolved to join the Antarctic expedition
It was the most beautiful motorbike and the first of its kind in the neighborhood, a magic blue one with two smart rear-view mirrors. It belonged to Ranjan’s uncle. Overnight, Ranjan had become a prince among us boys.
We surrounded him the next day, wanting to learn more details. Ranjan’s uncle had come from Bombay, riding the new motorbike. Every afternoon when he slept, we would gather around the blue bike, admiring it. Sometimes Ranjan managed to take out his uncle's red helmet (头盔). We would wear it in turn and sit on the bike, imagining starting it and being off. In the evenings, we watched Ranjan go out for a ride with his uncle and our eyes were filled with envy (羡慕).
One Monday morning I was struggling with the homework when Ranjan whispered in my ear, “I am learning to ride it, Tony.” “What?” I doubted. “I will show you this afternoon. ”Ranjan sounded confident.
Ranjan, like the rest of us, knew everything about the motorbike, every part of it. But to ride it was another story. Like all grown-ups, his uncle had this belief that fourteen-year-olds could not ride things like motorbikes. It is unfair really.
The big moment came at last. After lunch, I came to meet Ranjan, who appeared at the gate seconds later, wearing the red helmet. Noiselessly, he wheeled the bike out of the gate. He looked around carefully, pushed it down the road, and started it. “Get on, boy!”I felt excited as I climbed onto the back seat, but still could not believe that he could ride it. “Ready?”Ranjan shouted. “Yeah. What are you waiting for?”
We were off. The road was nearly empty and we were moving smoothly. I had a look at the speedometer (速度计): 30 kmph. How cool it was!
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Suddenly, a dog rushed out and ran across the road.
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