1 . Last week, I was stuck on a crosstown bus during rush hour. The bus was filled with cold, tired people ________ with one. another. Two men barked at each other for an unintentional push. An elderly woman got on, and nobody ________ her a seat. Anger was in the air; no mercy (怜悯) could be found here.

As the bus ________ Seventh Avenue, the driver’s words came from the ________ “Folks,” he said. “I know you’ve had a(n) ________ day and that’ you are depressed, but I will help out. When each of you walks by before getting off, ________ your troubles into my palm (手掌). My ________ goes right by the Hudson River, into which I’ll cast them.”

It seemed as if a spell had lifted. Everyone ________ laughing, their faces shining with ________. The passengers who had been ignoring each other’s existence were suddenly grinning (咧嘴笑) at each other — is this guy ________?

At the next stop, just as ________, the driver held out his hand, palm up, and. waited. All the ________ passengers performed the gesture of putting something into his palm. The driver ________ the same action at every stop that followed.

Occasionally we may sink into a grey world, but someone can ________ it like a ray of light, showing us hope. What if we are the light? Actually, anyone possesses the ________ to shine on others’ dark days.

1.

A．confused

B．annoyed

C．impressed

D．embarrased

2.

A．offered

B．lent

C．lifted

D．chose

3.

A．closed

B．approached

C．showed

D．went

4.

A．bus

B．speaker

C．head

D．air

5.

A．tough

B．average

C．important

D．easy

6.

A．push

B．touch

C．drop

D．take

7.

A．route

B．day

C．time

D．mind

8.

A．gave out

B．passed on

C．burst out

D．lifted on

9.

A．memories

B．pride

C．pleasure

D．greed

10.

A．hard

B．serious

C．mad

D．envy

11.

A．ordered

B．promised

C．requested

D．reported

12.

A．angry

B．fooled

C．sitting

D．exiting

13.

A．interpreted

B．designed

C．repeated

D．pretended

14.

A．break

B．brighten

C．reward

D．exchange

15.

A．power

B．courage

C．idea

D．heart

2 . Last Monday, I visited Jalan Besar to find a new fan blade for a standing fan that my daughters had broken.

I’d worked in the Jalan Besar area 30 years ago and remembered that there were lots of small hardware shops selling unusual things so I thought that I would have no problem finding a fan blade. However, after walking around for almost an hour, I found out that these shops were no longer around.

When I was ready to give up and go home, I spotted an old-fashioned hardware store. After being greeted by a woman, I explained my predicament. She immediately asked me to show her the broken blade. Out of nowhere, a man who looked to be in his 60s came out.

He asked to see the blade and then disappeared into the shop. He came back with a blade but it did not look the same as what I had in my hand. We compared the two blades and he said that it might work.

I asked him how much it was. He told me that he had taken the blade off an old fan that someone had brought in for repair. He said: “It didn’t cost me anything, so why should I charge you for it?” That really touched me. I took the blade home and it work perfectly! My daughters got a “new” fan for nothing.

When I told them this story, they were shocked as they are used to patronizing big modern shops where everything is transactional and the employees go strictly by the book. Not so much my wife. She is almost in her 60s, and said this reminded her of the kind aunties and uncles who used to run small shops and were always ready to help others when she was growing up.

1. Why did the author go to Jalan Besar?

A．To visit old friends.	B．To fix the broken fan.
C．To apply for a job.	D．To buy a new fan.

2. What does the underlined word “predicament” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Nervous mood.

B．Anxious waiting.

C．Difficult situation.

D．Embarrassing moments.

3. Which of the following can best describe the old man?

A．Honest and helpful.	B．Kind and brave.
C．Determined and curious.	D．Open-minded and humorous.

4. How did the author’s wife react to his experience?

A．She thought little of it.	B．She was greatly surprised.
C．She couldn’t believe it.	D．She remembered the old days.

3 . Being fat is a non-stop fight between not being noticed and attracting much notice. Sometimes you want to be accepted; instead, you’re singled out and judged. In 2015, when I became the first plus-size designer to win Project Runway, I hoped it would be a moment not only for inclusive fashion, but also for all other fat human beings out there. It wasn’t just me who had won; we’d won. Many women told me they were afraid to wear bright colors or show off their arms until they saw me doing it. But some of the words on the Internet were terrible: “Why did they pick that fat designer?” “How can she encourage such an unhealthy lifestyle?” My positive psychology was affected. I got sad and negative and put on more weight. I reached a point where I couldn’t climb stairs without losing my breath.

I finally realized that if I didn’t take care of myself, I couldn’t keep doing what I loved, so I went to see a doctor and started doing exercise every day. After that I got more judgments, this time from people in the fat group who once supported me. They turned their backs on me and said, “You can’t be body positive and still losing weight.” I thought, “Well, why not? I wasn’t trying to be ‘prettier’; I wanted to have control of my life.”

Size should not divide us, whether we are fat, thin, or anywhere in the between. I’m designing clothes for plus women, but one day I might be open to designing straight (直筒型的) sizes. People judge me for that, too. But I just want to create clothes that make people feel good. I want every woman to love herself and go after her dreams like I did.

1. What was the author’s hope after she won Project Runway?

A．People would look up to her.	B．Other fat people would share her pride.
C．The clothes she designed would sell well.	D．Fat people would lead the fashion industry.

2. What did the author do after she saw the words on the Internet?

A．She lost interest in fashion.	B．She lost control of her body.
C．She stopped wearing bright colors.	D．She decided to have a healthy lifestyle.

3. What was fat people’s attitude to the author when she started losing weight?

A．Dissatisfied.	B．Uninterested.
C．They laughed at her.	D．They couldn’t believe it.

4. In which part of a newspaper might this passage appear?

A．Environment.

B．Medicine.

C．Career.

D．Entertainment.

4 . When Dave was eighteen, he bought a secondhand car for $200 so that he could travel to and from work more _________ than by bus. It worked quite well for a few years, _________ then it got so old, and it was costing him so much in repairs that he decided that he had better _________ it.

He asked among his friends to see if anyone was particularly _________ to buy a cheap car, but they all knew that it was falling to pieces, so _________ of them had any desire to buy it. Dave’s friend Sam saw that he was _________ when they met one evening, and said, “What’s wrong , Dave?”

Dave told him, and Sam gave a(n) _________, “Well, what about advertising it in the paper? That way you may _________ more than the cost of the advertisement!” Thinking that Sam’s _________ was reasonable, he put an advertisement in an evening paper, which read “For sale: small car, __________ very little petrol, only two owners. Bargain at $50.”

Two days after the advertisement, there was no __________. But then on Saturday evening he had an enquiry (询问). A man rang up and said he would like to __________ him about the car. “All right,” Dave said, feeling happy. He asked the man whether ten o’clock the next morning would be __________ or not. “Fine,” the man said, “and I’ll __________ my wife. We intend to go for a ride in it to __________ it.”

The next morning, at 9:45, Dave parked the car in the square outside his front door, __________ to wait there for the people who had __________ his advertisement. Even Dave had to __________ that the car really looked like a wreck (残骸). Then, soon after he had got the car as clean as it could be, a police car stopped just behind him and a __________ got out. He looked at Dave’s car and then said, “Have you reported this __________ to us yet, sir?”

1.

A．hardly

B．usually

C．difficultly

D．easily

2.

A．but

B．for

C．as

D．until

3.

A．keep

B．repair

C．sell

D．throw

4.

A．eager

B．lucky

C．smart

D．kind

5.

A．some

B．all

C．none

D．most

6.

A．happy

B．sad

C．excited

D．surprised

7.

A．excuse

B．answer

C．order

D．call

8.

A．learn

B．miss

C．get

D．refuse

9.

A．message

B．letter

C．request

D．advice

10.

A．uses

B．loses

C．has

D．spends

11.

A．difficulty

B．help

C．trouble

D．reply

12.

A．pay

B．see

C．agree

D．send

13.

A．exact

B．suitable

C．early

D．late

14.

A．buy

B．meet

C．bring

D．introduce

15.

A．borrow

B．gain

C．sell

D．test

16.

A．happening

B．wanting

C．using

D．failing

17.

A．read

B．said

C．put

D．placed

18.

A．forget

B．show

C．disagree

D．say

19.

A．policeman

B．teacher

C．waiter

D．painter

20.

A．bargain

B．sale

C．accident

D．result

5 . Amy Taylor had weathered some tough years. Her husband suffered a lot from kidney failure and in 2020, the poor mother ________ her job in the economic depression.

During the spring break, her 14-year old daughter, Emily Moore, took a part-time job, and ________ minimum wage. But before she could spend the money, Emily had an idea. The news in Kansas City that week had been filled with stories about a police officer, Jimmy Moss, who was badly hurt in a car accident in the line of duly He was in ________ condition. Emily and her unemployed mother had never forgotten how ________ the police had been when Taylor was robbed in the street one day. Emily decided to ________ the money to Officer Moss’s family. Her mom ________ agreed.

Taylor called the police and made an anonymous (匿名的) donation. Moved by her ________ expression of thanks, the officers did what they do best— they ________ Taylor. When she explained the family’s ________, the officers could hardly believe it. “With her current financial ________, we encouraged her to keep the money,” the department later explained. “She ________, saying the officer’s family needed it and the police needed to know they were ________.”

By then, that feeling of support was mutual. The police set up a GoFundMe page for Taylor, whom they named “The Woman with the Heart of Gold.” As of January 11, 2023, they had ________ $165,405. Even better: Officer Moss, who had a 1 percent chance of ________, is out of the hospital and ________.

1.

A．changed

B．lost

C．quit

D．finished

2.

A．offered

B．suggested

C．set

D．earned

3.

A．critical

B．rare

C．stable

D．fair

4.

A．annoyed

B．nice

C．disappointed

D．wise

5.

A．lend

B．pass

C．donate

D．show

6.

A．temporarily

B．hesitantly

C．readily

D．cautiously

7.

A．generous

B．distant

C．written

D．public

8.

A．came across

B．tracked down

C．turned to

D．calmed down

9.

A．motivation

B．faith

C．tradition

D．principle

10.

A．credit

B．security

C．service

D．hardship

11.

A．agreed

B．complained

C．refused

D．guessed

12.

A．supported

B．promised

C．treated

D．defeated

13.

A．kept

B．added

C．taken

D．raised

14.

A．promotion

B．survival

C．freedom

D．growth

15.

A．regretting

B．collapsing

C．recovering

D．escaping

6 . I had a student today who got his finger stuck inside a test tube in science class. It was really quite stuck. This young man’s finger ________to get whiter and whiter right before my eyes.

Remaining________, I suggested he carefully rotate (转动) the tube. It wouldn’t move a bit. He ________ soap and cold water. Still stuck. Meanwhile ________ was breaking out in the class. Finally, I ________ the young man to our secretary who was a miracle worker raising three kids of her own. With her in charge, I was________ all would be OK.

To get the students back in order, I shared my own story of getting my knee stuck between the rails of a balcony. Same kind of curiosity, I remembered ________ then how far I could thrust ( 塞 ) my knee between the rails. Inch by inch, I kept pushing and________ I knew it, my knee was stuck and ________ before my eyes and in front of lots of ________ at a popular Las Vegas hotel!

Hearing my story, many students followed with their own stories of heads, arms, fingers stuck in places they shouldn’t________. A few minutes later, the young man came back, test tube unbroken and finger________ to a lovely shade of pink.

I just couldn’t get mad at this kid. He’s only twelve. I too got my knee unstuck, but not without great ________ . The excuse for me, however, was not ________ but plain stupidity. I was________ fifty years old when this happened.

1.

A．used

B．appealed

C．happened

D．continued

2.

A．calm

B．silent

C．quite

D．professional

3.

A．chose

B．fetched

C．tried

D．applied

4.

A．fire

B．chaos

C．violence

D．argument

5.

A．described

B．carried

C．introduced

D．sent

6.

A．informed

B．convinced

C．acknowledged

D．guaranteed

7.

A．calculating

B．measuring

C．wondering

D．imagining

8.

A．until

B．when

C．before

D．after

9.

A．hanging

B．lifting

C．resting

D．swelling

10.

A．waiters

B．strangers

C．visitors

D．firemen

11.

A．be

B．exist

C．stay

D．stop

12.

A．pointing

B．returning

C．belonging

D．growing

13.

A．encouragement

B．disappointment

C．embarrassment

D．excitement

14.

A．ambition

B．youth

C．bravery

D．experiment

15.

A．somehow

B．in total

C．after all

D．at any rate

7 . Stephen Glenn is a famous American research scientist. He has made several very important medical ________. When a newspaper journalist asked him why he was able to be so much more creative than the average person, he responded that it all came from a(n)________with his mother that occurred when he was a child.

Stephen had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he________ his grasp on the slippery bottle and it fell, spilling(泼出)its contents all over the kitchen floor—a real sea of milk!When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of punishing him, she said, “What a great and wonderful________you have made! I have rarely seen such a huge pond of milk. Well, the________ has already been done. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes ________          we clean it up?”

Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “Stephen, whenever you make a mess like this, ________you have to clean it up and restore everything to its proper order.” And together they cleaned   up   the   spilled   milk.   His   mother   then   said,   “You   know,   what   we   have   here   is a ________experiment in how to effectively carry a big milk bottle with two tiny hands.”

Let’s go out in the back yard and fill the bottle with water and see if you can discover a way to carry it without ________ it. “The little boy learned that if he grasped the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could ________ without dropping it. What a good________to him!” This famous scientist then remarked that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to make________. Instead, he learned that mistakes were just________for learning something new, which is, after all, what scientific________are all about. Even if the experiment doesn’t work, we usually learn something________from it.

1.

A．impressions

B．breakthroughs

C．promises

D．intentions

2.

A．experience

B．word

C．argument

D．adventure

3.

A．lost

B．tightened

C．adjusted

D．caught

4.

A．discovery

B．mess

C．change

D．joke

5.

A．injury

B．research

C．assignment

D．damage

6.

A．when

B．as

C．after

D．before

7.

A．gradually

B．initially

C．eventually

D．constantly

8.

A．successful

B．failed

C．completed

D．useless

9.

A．shaking

B．dropping

C．lifting

D．touching

10.

A．make up

B．make off

C．make it

D．make sense

11.

A．attitude

B．apology

C．project

D．lesson

12.

A．efforts

B．plans

C．mistakes

D．decisions

13.

A．requirements

B．routines

C．chances

D．goals

14.

A．achievements

B．approaches

C．seminars

D．experiments

15.

A．valuable

B．ambiguous

C．familiar

D．abstract

8 . 语法填空

Normally, my two-year old cat, Tiger, hates it when I use my tablet (平板电脑) because it takes my attention away from him. July last year, I had    1     terrible fall from the ladder(梯) at home and was on the floor for six     2    (hour). During this time, I was     3    (able) to move and couldn’t get to the phone to call for help. Tiger stayed by my side until he    4    (disappear) suddenly under my bed. “What’s he up to?” I wondered.     5    my surprise, he started to push something towards me. It was my tablet,     6     had fallen off the bed and onto the floor. Tiger     7    (probable) didn’t know what it was,     8    he knew it would make me happy.

Thanks to Tiger, I was able to contact a friend of     9    (I), who then called emergency(急救) services. It took me the next eight days in hospital     10    (recover). When I returned home, I bought Tiger a big fish to thank him.

10 . As the drumbeat changed, the dress fluttered in tune with the girl’s changing steps. Finally, she _______ the performance in a neat pose on stage before the audience.

The girl _______ is actually me. I’ve learned Latin dance since childhood. However, when I became a young girl, conflicts brought by Latin dance made me _______. The fair skin and slim bodies of mainstream beauty stand in contrast to what Latin dance pursues: power and wildness. As a young girl, I am _______ for beauty. But a girl like me with strong muscles stands out in a crowd. In addition, _______ feelings caused by unkind judgment piled up in my heart. It was so much that I compromised between power and _______.

Luckily, in Vienna, the match for the Chinese youth team _______ my attention, dragging me out of _______. Players from different countries gathered to _______ the honors. Though I had made my efforts, I was ________ to find that I didn’t get the score I expected. The reason, obviously, lay in my ________. With my reduced intake of protein and carbohydrates, I ________ lost a lot of weight, but at the cost of a sense of power and speed in dance.

In between games, I saw a little girl from Europe take firm and powerful steps in the ________. Her beauty came from her full muscles. The confidence in her eyes was unstoppable. Definitely, she won the top prize. ________ her so much, I made her acquaintance and shared my difficult situation. Till now I do remember the confidence that ________ me and some of her words: “Just be yourself.”

Looking back, I’m still the dancing girl but my heart has grown lighter. Something within me is dancing.

1.

A．improved

B．paused

C．finished

D．started

2.

A．described

B．blamed

C．praised

D．appointed

3.

A．satisfied

B．serious

C．calm

D．discouraged

4.

A．known

B．thirsty

C．ready

D．qualified

5.

A．Lonely

B．Mixed

C．Disturbed

D．Guilty

6.

A．speed

B．muscles

C．softness

D．beauty

7.

A．stopped

B．needed

C．interrupted

D．shifted

8.

A．anxiety

B．patience

C．embarrassment

D．excitement

9.

A．fight for

B．give away

C．hand out

D．deal with

10.

A．pleased

B．disappointed

C．ashamed

D．amazed

11.

A．attitude

B．exercise

C．laziness

D．diet

12.

A．hopelessly

B．unconsciously

C．visibly

D．eagerly

13.

A．programme

B．activity

C．project

D．competition

14.

A．Missing

B．Admiring

C．Helping

D．Supporting

15.

A．inspired

B．delighted

C．confused

D．reminded