1 . I lay in the hospital bed with my six-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, holding her in my arms. “Mommy, will you stay with me the whole time?” she asked, looking up. “You know I can’t be in the operating room,” I said carefully, not wanting to frighten her. “But Daddy and I will be waiting right outside.” Elizabeth nodded, but she stills looked anxious.

Elizabeth had broken her right leg in July. Seven months later, it still hadn’t recovered. In fact, it had gotten worse. She was here in the hospital for surgery.

I wanted to promise that this would be the last time she’d have to go through this and that everything would be okay. But what if something went wrong again? How could I comfort my daughter when I needed comfort myself?

There was a knock at the door. A nurse? I thought. Time to say goodbye already? But the woman who came in wasn’t a nurse. “Hi,” the woman said. “I’m a volunteer here, and I’ve got something for Elizabeth.” She handed a bright-blue box to my daughter.

Elizabeth sat up and took the box. She opened it and started pulling out goodies one by one--candies, stickers, a lovely toy in the shape of a star. She hugged the star, cheering up for the first time since she entered the hospital. “Thank you,” she said. “I love them.” There was a big smile on her face. It has been so long since I saw that big smile.

The gift was a great comfort not only to my daughter, but also to me.

1. Why did the author’s daughter feel nervous?

A．She would have surgery on her arm.

B．The author had no time to play with her.

C．She had to stay in the hospital for a long time.

D．The author couldn’t stay in the operating room with her.

2. The author couldn’t make any promise because__________.

A．there was no time for her to do so.	B．she wasn’t sure of the result herself.
C．she believed everything would be okay.	D．she thought there was no need for her to do so.

3. Why did the woman come in?

A．To offer a gift box.	B．To say goodbye.
C．To provide medical care.	D．To get all the things ready.

4. How did Elizabeth feel at last?

A．Nervous.

B．confused.

C．Surprised.

D．Cheerful.

2 . About five weeks ago, I noticed the skin of our pet lizard was growing dusty. Later, our lizard emerged (出现) from its tank with its old skin flowing behind it. I didn’t think about it much until a morning last week when I knocked my favorite teapot off the table. It burst into hundreds of pieces. As I swept up the mess, I wondered why we had been breaking so many things over the months.

The destruction started three months ago. It was my husband’s birthday. He had just lost his job. The uncertainty was starting to wear on us, so I wanted to do something special.

“Let’s make a cake for Dad!” I cried. My kids screamed with joy. We baked, iced and sprinkled for most of the day. Candles on the cake! Balloons on the walls! Flowers on the table!

Two hours before my husband came back home from another job interview, my daughter climbed up to grab a glass vase from a high shelf. It fell and crashed beside the cake. Tiny pieces of glass were everywhere. She sobbed loudly as I threw the cake away. My husband had banana pudding for his birthday.

Three days ago, the light in our living room suddenly went out. After several frustrating hours of unsuccessful attempts to fix it, my husband suggested watching the Michael Jordan documentary series The Last Dance.

The poignancy (酸楚) of Jordan retiring from his beloved basketball to play baseball and what had pushed him to make such a tough decision took me by surprise. As I watched him take off his basketball uniform and replace it with a baseball uniform, I saw him leaving behind the layer that no longer served him, just as our lizard had. Neither of them chose the moment that had transformed them. But they had to live with who they were after everything was different. Just like us. I realized that we have to learn to leave the past behind.

Humans do not shed skin (蜕皮) as easily as other animals. The beginning of change is upsetting. The process is tiring. Damage changes us before we are ready. I see our lizard, raw and nearly new.

Jordan said that no matter how it ends, it starts with hope. With our tender, hopeful skin, that is where we begin.

1. Why did the author’s husband have banana pudding for his birthday?

A．The birthday cake was ruined.	B．The author made good puddings.
C．Pudding was his favorite dessert.	D．They couldn’t afford a birthday cake.

2. Why does the author mention The Last Dance in the passage?

A．To prove a theory.	B．To define a concept.
C．To develop the theme.	D．To provide the background.

3. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Treasure Past Experiences.	B．Move on Whatever Happens.
C．Love Helps Us through Hardships.	D．Breaking Things Makes No Difference.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

When Marco was a boy, he tried everything to get his father’s love and attention. He worked hard to earn good marks; he tried to be obedient (顺从的), he chose inspiring friends and always tried to behave well.

Sensitive and shy, he was so timid (胆怯的) that he always wore turtleneck shirts. He hid behind his hair, which he wore long around his face and ears. To make it worse, Marco was naturally shorter than the other kids. And because his good marks had allowed him to skip second grade — he was younger than everyone else. This added nothing to his already low self-confidence.

When Marco was eight his parents divorced, and Marco was sent to a boarding school. Six years later, he and his young sister Sandra moved in with their dad and his new wife in S-Leonard, a French Canadian and Italian neighborhood on the east side of Montreal, It felt to Marco that his father had little time for him and Sandra. Except for his demands around chores (日常琐事) after school, communication was nonexistent. It seemed to Marco the only time his dad ever spoke to him was to be demanding. He began to fear to come home from school every day.

Marco sank further into his low self-confidence, feeling unappreciated, inadequate, depressed and confused.

One day, his aunt called him. To Marco, this seemed like a miracle. Aunt Ginette usually only called once a year, on his birthday. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest called Gala Personnalite sponsored by Club Optimiste — and she thought about him. She thought he, should give it a try. She told him she firmly believed he could perform on stage like the other kids.

Marco was greatly surprised. Him? Onstage? In a public speaking contest? To agree would be contrary to his entire shy, timid personality. But Aunt Ginette was so confident. She seemed really serious. She was sure it was something he could do. She truly believed in him. And feeling her strong belief, Marco agreed to enter the contest.

注意：

1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。

Paragraph 1:

An energy flooded him, which he never felt before.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2:

When the big night arrived, his family were all in the audience.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . After long hours of waiting for my friend at the bus station, I got tired and wanted to just leave and plan another meeting.

As I was still deciding, there came a man selling shoes and started showing them to me so that I could buy or something. I just smiled and said “thank you”. I don’t know if it was the smile or what but the young man stepped closer and stood beside me and started talking to me. “You know I didn’t just end up like this, selling shoes. I had a life… had a family but one day life just turned upside down and all was gone just like that,” he said. In short, his wife stole all his money, sold his car and house. It was really a hard time for him and he was psychologically anguished. A lot happened and then he decided to pick up the pieces of his life. That’s when he started making and selling shoes to earn a living.

As I stood there listening to him pour out his heart and story of his life. I was still surprised how in the world can someone be so open to a total stranger like that and it occurred to me that some people get relieved that way. You see, a lot of times we meet people and most of them have burdens in their hearts and some of them don’t even have a person to talk to, so I’ve learned to be good to all people and always give them my time to listen to what they have to say. By doing this it will not only help that particular person but also the one who listens since you get to learn something and see the other side of life.

1. What do the author’s smile and “thank you” mean?

A．He/She took interest in the man’s story.

B．He/She wanted to have a look at the shoes.

C．He/She had no intention to buy anything.

D．He/She was busy thinking his/her own things.

2. Which of the following best explains “anguished” underlined in paragraph 2?

A．Angry.

B．Painful.

C．Guilty.

D．Shy.

3. What can we infer about the man?

A．He was brave enough to continue his life.

B．He listened to others to bring them relief.

C．He got inspired after talking to the author.

D．He always talked to strangers about his life.

4. What does the author try to tell us to do in the last paragraph?

A．Speak out our trouble.	B．Learn to listen.
C．Pour out our hearts.	D．Be kind to strangers.

9 . To raise money for restaurant workers who had to stay at home during COVID-19, two brothers, Aiden and Louis Ardine, decided to walk 3,200 miles across America to raise money.

Having just arrived on the sands of the Pacific Ocean, Aiden and Louis Ardine have now completed their five-month walk which started on the Asbury Park boardwalk in New Jersey. They hoped to raise $30, 000 for some charities (慈善组织) that were helping restaurant workers waiting for lockdown (隔离) to end, but ended up making $70,000 — which they gave away to the COCO Fund and the Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation.

“This would not have been possible without the help of a huge community of people, whether people were donating or helping us guide our way across the United States,” said Aiden Ardine. “This was surely an adventure full of hope, and it proved people are born good and want to help their neighbors.”

Just like cross-country trips in this nation, their journey was characterized by amazing views, long roads, and helpful strangers: like a man who passed them in the extreme heat of summertime Iowa, before doubling back and giving them a cold Gatorade; or a Nevada campground manager who left them stay for free.

In Utah they had what the naturalist John Muir would have described as an “interview” with a black bear, when rounding a corner in the path, they found themselves within a few feet of it.

When they reached San Francisco, their supporters were waiting for them on the beach. Afterwards they flew home along with their mom who had been there to meet them. After their adventurous stay away from home, we can only imagine she was really feeling proud of her sons.

1. What did the two brothers collect money for?

A．Setting up some charities.	B．Helping to end the lockdown.
C．Completing their five-month walk.	D．Aiding restaurant workers stuck at home.

2. Which word can best describe the two brothers?

A．Humorous.

B．Caring.

C．Curious.

D．Honest.

3. What happened to the brothers in Utah?

A．They met with a bear.	B．They were interviewed.
C．They visited a naturalist.	D．They were lost in the path.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．A Long Journey	B．Walk with Love
C．A Proud Mother	D．Adventure with Fun

10 . 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.

2. What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Impossible.	B．Boring.
C．Difficult.	D．Fearful.

3. Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?

A．Excitement.	B．Happiness.
C．Sadness.	D．Disappointment.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．A sad Christmas day.

B．Life with a lovely baby.

C．A special Christmas gift.

D．Memories of a happy family.