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 . 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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 . I was out shopping with my kids doing my best to budget (谨慎花钱) the last of my paycheck. I saw a lady sitting beside my car with a sign that she was
The next day I was down to about $ 12 and
A.alone | B.homeless | C.cold | D.unhappy |
A.spend | B.lend | C.spare | D.make |
A.paycheck | B.water | C.key | D.money |
A.work | B.pay | C.home | D.school |
A.special | B.good | C.upset | D.curious |
A.bakery | B.park | C.field | D.restaurant |
A.save | B.keep | C.design | D.deliver |
A.credits | B.tickets | C.change | D.gold |
A.In return | B.In addition | C.In turn | D.Instead |
A.thanked | B.met | C.asked | D.shook |
A.equal | B.cheap | C.extra | D.small |
A.gesture | B.bag | C.amount | D.request |
A.depended | B.commented | C.lived | D.based |
A.wisdom | B.appreciation | C.love | D.kindness |
A.go | B.receive | C.give | D.say |