1 . Last year I decided to do some volunteer work. I began to
I was sent to the Coronado National Forest for my first 8-day
My job was to
Three days later, a beautiful stairway came into being. The
But on the last night we were
A.calculate | B.negotiate | C.advertise | D.research |
A.imagined | B.introduced | C.enjoyed | D.found |
A.annoyed | B.surprised | C.scared | D.excited |
A.arriving | B.sleeping | C.thinking | D.walking |
A.confident | B.friendly | C.energetic | D.curious |
A.funny | B.good | C.lucky | D.easy |
A.tour | B.project | C.campaign | D.course |
A.drop | B.make | C.carry | D.buy |
A.nice | B.safe | C.long | D.quick |
A.build | B.test | C.clean | D.guard |
A.helped | B.ended | C.allowed | D.meant |
A.hunted | B.trained | C.seen | D.fed |
A.satisfaction | B.ambition | C.expectation | D.intention |
A.work | B.memory | C.record | D.story |
A.left | B.caught | C.attacked | D.separated |
A.boiling | B.average | C.normal | D.freezing |
A.tidy | B.dry | C.new | D.soft |
A.By the way | B.Regardless of that | C.Needless to say | D.In either case |
A.survived | B.resisted | C.escaped | D.recovered |
A.smarter | B.stronger | C.happier | D.busier |
2 . Regardless of the weather or the distance, Paul Wilson will make sure low-income students in his neighbourhood arrive at their college classes on time.
A retired engineer, 76-year-old Wilson has been
Tina Stern
Wilson first worked as a driver through a student-support programme of the non-profit organisation. On Point for College. Although the
For many students, Wilson’s help is not only appreciated, it’s also entirely
A.linking | B.sending | C.offering | D.distributing |
A.donating | B.lending | C.delivering | D.volunteering |
A.paved | B.covered | C.measured | D.wandered |
A.arguments | B.interviews | C.negotiations | D.conversations |
A.met | B.driven | C.addressed | D.greeted |
A.even | B.ever | C.once | D.already |
A.earned | B.received | C.assessed | D.demanded |
A.transportation | B.style | C.time | D.communication |
A.forced | B.awkward | C.ridiculous | D.suspicious |
A.selects | B.recites | C.guesses | D.remembers |
A.act on | B.settle on | C.check on | D.agree on |
A.club | B.league | C.college | D.programme |
A.far | B.around | C.beyond | D.forwards |
A.assist | B.watch | C.urge | D.warn |
A.expects | B.attempts | C.manages | D.hesitates |
A.extra | B.unusual | C.necessary | D.adequate |
A.share | B.fuel | C.repair | D.exchange |
A.required | B.allowed | C.reminded | D.convinced |
A.experience | B.arrangement | C.appreciation | D.employment |
A.effort | B.ambition | C.privilege | D.convenience |
3 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own
I learned this lesson from a(n)
It was a tradition for the school’s old team to play against the
I started doing anything I could to help them build a little
Six months after suffering our
From the experience I learnt a lot about how the attitude of the leader can
Winners are made, but born.
1.A.luck | B.tests | C.efforts | D.nature |
A.experiment | B.experience | C.visit | D.show |
A.operating | B.editing | C.consulting | D.coaching |
A.successful | B.excellent | C.strong | D.new |
A.cheer for | B.prepare for | C.help with | D.finish with |
A.believe | B.agree | C.describe | D.regret |
A.realize | B.claim | C.permit | D.demand |
A.reacting to | B.looking for | C.depending on | D.caring about |
A.decision | B.attitude | C.conclusion | D.intention |
A.pride | B.culture | C.fortune | D.relationship |
A.leaders | B.partners | C.winners | D.learners |
A.rewards | B.vacations | C.health | D.honor |
A.risked | B.missed | C.considered | D.practiced |
A.defeat | B.decline | C.accident | D.mistake |
A.relax | B.improve | C.expand | D.defend |
A.shame | B.burden | C.victory | D.favor |
A.chances | B.thrills | C.concerns | D.offers |
A.surprise | B.serve | C.interest | D.affect |
A.encouraged | B.observed | C.protected | D.impressed |
A.honestly | B.individually | C.calmly | D.differently |
4 . Years ago, my sixth grade teacher had us write letters to our heroes.
In that
I didn’t want to seem like a crazy fan. So I
It was from Jennifer. We
During the conversation, we realized we
Jennifer Cihi, my early hero,
A.Whether | B.While | C.Unless | D.Once |
A.write | B.receive | C.mail | D.open |
A.found out | B.missed out | C.piled up | D.put away |
A.fan | B.business | C.reminder | D.introduction |
A.letter | B.book | C.present | D.song |
A.secret | B.balance | C.word | D.appointment |
A.gradually | B.suddenly | C.generally | D.quickly |
A.comfort | B.appreciate | C.envy | D.encounter |
A.embarrassed | B.thrilled | C.astonished | D.amused |
A.eventually | B.gently | C.slowly | D.merely |
A.allowed | B.expected | C.inspired | D.advised |
A.teacher | B.singer | C.presenter | D.supporter |
A.instant | B.consistent | C.constant | D.insistent |
A.signaled | B.declared | C.explained | D.marked |
A.published | B.discussed | C.exchanged | D.expressed |
A.by | B.in | C.at | D.on |
A.shared | B.formed | C.needed | D.promoted |
A.controlling | B.providing | C.attracting | D.demanding |
A.described | B.selected | C.considered | D.designed |
A.however | B.besides | C.though | D.again |
5 . Eight months after my father died, I saw some letters on top of my mother’s coffee table. They were tied with a silk ribbon and addressed to her decades ago in my father’s neat handwriting. I couldn’t imagine my serious father ever writing anything like love letters.
“Would you like me to read them to you?” Mom asked with a hint of a smile.
The letters were written in 1974 over the course of a month when my father traveled to Italy to care for his beloved, sick mother, leaving his wife and me, their newborn daughter, behind in Toronto, the city my parents called home after immigrating to Canada from Italy in 1956.
Growing up, my father was my hero and protector, but he was also a man of few words, part of a generation of immigrant men who worked hard for a better life.
I sat back while my mother read his letters to me, and thought, “Who is this guy?” My father used endearing terms I had never heard him say. He referred to my mother as “my dearesr” and “my companion” who was always in his thoughts. In each letter, he enclosed a Canadian one-dollar bill for me and declared, “You and your mother are my life.”
As children, we assume we know everything about our parents. But, sometimes, we find out that they were and are people with various facets.
My father was proud and stubborn, and he married a woman who was his equal in that regard. During their 58-year marriage, their stubbornness often led to conflict. So it was bittersweet to hear my father’s youthful sentiments read aloud by my elderly mother with a wistful (留恋的) tone. I knew she was thinking about what could have been and what had been once upon a time. After she finished reading the letters, I held them in my hands and examined them like they were fossils. Although a man I knew as economical with his thoughts, he had filled the front and back of several pages.
These letters are only part of their correspondence. My mother wrote back to my father. One day she will read those letters to me, she’s assured me. And just as with my father, they might help me discover another dimension of a parent I never knew before.
1. What kind of person did the author think her father was?A.Optimistic. | B.Reserved. | C.Sensitive. | D.Romantic. |
A.Her mother was the family’s provider. |
B.She didn’t get on well with her father. |
C.Her parents were emigrants to Italy. |
D.Her parents shared similar personalities. |
A.Interests. | B.Ideas. | C.Sides. | D.Possibilities. |
A.Surprised. | B.Awkward. | C.Thrilled. | D.Heartbroken. |
A.He was good at hiding his feelings. |
B.He regretted not being with his family. |
C.He was a loving husband and father. |
D.He was stubborn from the inside out. |
6 . One of the most stressful days of Susan McFrederick’s life was watching her son get wheeled away for surgery hours after he was born in 2011.
But after the operation, Susan burst into tears for a different reason: across the cut on their newborn sons back was a sweet winter scene, hand-drawn on his bandages(绷带).
“There were rolling hills of snow, a pine tree and a snowman with a hat and broom, she recalled. It was extremely touching and comforting to know that somebody had taken the time to do that for my family. It was a moment I'll never forget.”
Susan soon learned the artist was her sons surgeon, Robert Parry, who discovered another way to use his hands in the mid-1980 s during his internship(实习期)at children's medical center. where he saw one of his colleagues cut out heart and shark shapes to decorate children’s bandages.
“My first reaction was, 'What is he doing? Hey, that’s kind of neat,’ ” Parry recalled. “I especially liked the reactions of the parents and the patients when they saw his artwork. The smiles took everyone's attention from the surgery. Then I decided to follow suit.”
Parry quickly graduated from his early hearts and sharks, and started to surprise families with drawings that captured young patients' personalities. From Snoopy to Spider-Man and bears to butterflies, there isn’t much he hasn’t drawn. Most kids want superheroes sports team logos or princesses, while babies often receive scenes with flowers trees and sea creatures During the last 30 years, Parry estimates he has left examples of his handiwork over the stitches(伤口缝线) of more than 10, 000 children.
“During a time of stress for families, it's nice to be able to help them smile and laugh," Parry said. This is something positive that I can do for them, which is what I like most about it.”
For Parry, the reward is knowing he hopefully made a difference in a child’s life, and except for his drawings on bandages, they can go on and live their lives and never know I was in it.” he said.
He's not ready to retire, but he's found a new hobby to keep his hands skillful in the years to come.
“I've taken up knitting(编织),” Parry said. “Hats, sweaters, gloves---I enjoy it all. But mostly, I enjoy giving everything away.”
1. Susan burst into tears after her baby's operation because she was__________.A.moved | B.amused |
C.stressed | D.heartbroken |
A.He was motivated by his patients. |
B.He was inspired by his colleague. |
C.He was required to learn the skill during his internship. |
D.He was encouraged by Susan to show his genius for art. |
A.devoted himself more to art than to medicine. |
B.knew more about his patients than their parents. |
C.took into consideration the tastes of individual patients. |
D.created a large number of works beyond his expectations. |
A.To get a reward from the artistic circle. |
B.To win the admiration of his colleagues. |
C.To make a difference in his dull medical career. |
D.To lift the spirits of his patients and their parents. |
A.He is eager to show others his new skills. |
B.He enjoys trying new ways to help others. |
C.He is looking forward to life after retirement. |
D.He is more interested in knitting than drawing. |
When I was a boy growing up, I could not once ever remember either my mom or my grandmother wasting food. Anything we didn’t eat at one meal was saved, stored, and served as leftovers (剩饭剩菜) later on. I can remember my grandmother making a huge pot of brown beans with a large cake of cornbread. We would all eat until we were stuffed but there was always about half of the beans left over. A few days later my grandmother would take those beans out of the refrigerator, boil pasta, add parsley and mix them all together into her delicious Pasta Fasule. And I also remember when I watched my mom fry bacon for us in the mornings, she would always take the grease (油脂) and carefully pour it into a container. Then she later would use it to flavor up so many other dishes. I was an adult before I realized that green beans didn’t actually taste like bacon.
I learned their lessons well and after I grew up I tried never to waste food by myself. I always planned the week’s meals ahead of time and only bought what was on my shopping list so nothing went to waste. Every meal went into my stomach and any leftovers were later eaten by either myself, my boys, or my dogs. To me throwing food in the trash was just wrong. All the work it took to grow it, harvest it, and prepare it needed to be honored, not wasted.
I learned something else over the years, however: when it comes to living there are no leftovers. Each moment that you don’t live is lost forever. Life cannot be saved. Life cannot be stored. Life has to be lived, TODAY!
Live each moment of your life to the fullest then. Make every day a feast of love with no leftovers. Leo Buscaglia once said: “Each day is a fresh beginning, a little life unto itself.” Don’t let any of these little lives go to waste. Live your life with a full belly and a full heart.
1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 1 probably mean? (1 word)2. How could the beans the author ate as a child taste like bacon? (no more than 10 words)
3. What did the author do to avoid wasting food? (no more than 15 words)
4. What do the last two paragraphs mainly talk about? (no more than 20 words)
5. How do you live your life to the fullest? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
8 . Alice is standing in front of me and crying. She looks so
Sometimes Alice has to
But today Alice is sitting crying not because of her situation, but because she is moved by a stranger’s
It showed her that in a world that often seems
A.satisfied | B.curious | C.confused | D.upset |
A.health | B.reputation | C.effects | D.intentions |
A.lost | B.afforded | C.left | D.passed |
A.medicines | B.goods | C.gifts | D.bills |
A.cover | B.skip | C.reject | D.replace |
A.processes | B.expects | C.meets | D.searches |
A.involved | B.experienced | C.absorbed | D.engaged |
A.knocked at | B.slid into | C.stared at | D.fit into |
A.argued | B.demanded | C.estimated | D.felt |
A.store | B.factory | C.clinic | D.school |
A.situation | B.consequence | C.occasion | D.environment |
A.kindness | B.worry | C.beauty | D.perfection |
A.told | B.gave | C.showed | D.returned |
A.faded | B.appeared | C.doubled | D.presented |
A.played | B.shopped | C.served | D.begged |
A.saved | B.celebrated | C.spent | D.shared |
A.painful | B.ashamed | C.nervous | D.disappointed |
A.thing | B.promise | C.interest | D.difference |
A.bright | B.polite | C.dark | D.quiet |
A.pill | B.example | C.order | D.instruction |
Life on the street is a constant struggle for homeless people. In extreme weather conditions, that struggle becomes even more difficult. Recently, homeless people across Chicago faced freezing to death if they couldn’t find shelter for the night.
Thankfully, one local woman refused to let that happen. On January 30, 34-year-old Candice Payne, a local managing broker, was lucky enough to have shelter from the dangerous conditions. “It was -20℃, and I knew they were going to be sleeping on ice and I had to do something,” said Payne. Payne started brainstorming different ways she could possibly help. Finally, she decided to see if there were any rooms available at local inns and hotels that she could get to help those stuck on the street.
For Payne, her mission was personal. According to Payne, her husband, Carlos Callahan, had lived on the street at one point in his life. Based on his experience, Payne knew that the homeless people still living on the street desperately needed help and she wanted to step up.
However, when Payne explained what she was trying to do, many of the local hotels refused to allow her to pay for the rooms as they didn’t want homeless people to stay in their rooms. “No one wanted them, but one hotel, the Amber Inn, was nice enough to allow me to buy the rooms,” said Payne.
Payne’s selfless act made news across the country. However, she insisted she had never done it for attention. “I am a regular person,” said Payne, who spent thousands of dollars of her own money to help complete strangers. “It all sounded like a rich person did this, but I’m just a little black girl from the South Side.”
1. What was the biggest problem homeless people had when extreme weather came? (no more than 10 words)2. Why was Candice Payne determined to help homeless people? (no more than 10 words)
3. How did Candice Payne help the homeless people? (no more than 8 words)
4. What does the underlined part mean in the last paragraph? (no more than 3 words)
5. What do you think of Payne? Please give your reasons. (no more than 20 words)
10 . My brother Joe had a passion for driving cars. Fords in particular. He was especially fond of speed. It was enough to make my mother fear that he was crazy. But she had that fear about everyone, even herself.
When Joe was just a little boy, he would often say to me, “Sister, when I am old enough to get my license and drive my own car, I will fly so fast that angels will run scared.” With a big grin (咧嘴笑), he would imagine the scene.I could have told him it would never happen. No matter how old he got, he would never get a license, never drive a car. But I didn't tell him that.
Joe was born blind. He couldn't see his own face in a mirror. But he could dream like anyone. I didn't want to be the one to dim Joe's dreams. Life would do that for him, soon enough. Until then, didn't he deserve his happiness?
Joe had trouble not just with his eyes, but with his legs. He was born premature (早产的) suffered from disabilities and could not walk until he was 5. That's when he got his first “car”, a red Radio Flyer tricycle that he called his 49 Ford. He couldn't pedal it, so he would push it everywhere, sometimes even falling over.
Growing up is a tug of war between disappointment and surprise, between dreams and reality. By the time Joe was 12, I think he knew he would never get a license. As with the other hard facts of life, he seemed to accept it without question or bitterness, as if it were nothing more than a card drawn at random.
One hot summer day when he was 16, Joe went tapping out the driveway with his stick, finding his way to my stepfather's 49 Ford. He ran his hand along the car, felt the heat of the metal, opened the door and climbed in.
He looked good.
Under the seat, he discovered a six-pack of Budweiser (百威啤酒). And he drank all six cans. He felt inside the car, found the keys, shouted, “Hooweece!” and fired it up.
I have heard various versions of this story. They all boil down to this: the Ford's engine roared. My mother fainted (昏厥). My stepfather rushed outside.
And my brother, after a moment of pure joy, threw up all over the car. Fortunately, for everyone, the Ford didn't move an inch. But to this day, Joe still swears that when he found those keys and fired that old engine up, he heard the angels starting to flee.
1. What do we know about Joe?A.He learned to drive at school. |
B.He is keen on fast-speed driving. |
C.His mental development is slower than others. |
D.He had a car accident when he was 5. |
A.She made fun of him. |
B.She told him to face reality. |
C.She let him dream his dream. |
D.She encouraged him to ride a tricycle. |
A.Joe thought all this was fate. |
B.Joe preferred to playing cards. |
C.Joe accepted it with more questions or bitterness. |
D.Joe do it on purpose as if he would draw this card. |
A.He is not living in reality. |
B.His family members are like angels to him. |
C.He realizes he fell asleep inside the car. |
D.He believes he realized his dream of driving fast. |
A.Positive. | B.Generous. | C.Emotional. | D.Humorous. |