1 . In the post-war era, re-gifting and returning gifts to shops were commonly occurring.My mother and Aunt Florence ran a
One item I particularly remember was an ugly ornament (饰物) framed in a horseshoe.My mother was shocked by its
The following Saturday, our family was invited to a 21st birthday party, and my father was
At the party, as the presents were
The next day, realizing my mother discovered the ornament which had been sold had been returned by Sheila, the recipient’s mother, who
A.company | B.department | C.market | D.store |
A.challenge | B.decision | C.secret | D.promise |
A.satisfactory | B.unaffordable | C.undesirable | D.cheap |
A.frequently | B.suddenly | C.occasionally | D.gradually |
A.advantage | B.colour | C.influence | D.appearance |
A.display | B.get | C.rent | D.appreciate |
A.selling | B.investing | C.pricing | D.charging |
A.expense | B.loss | C.figure | D.value |
A.planned | B.agreed | C.failed | D.hesitated |
A.impressed | B.satisfied | C.tasked | D.bored |
A.dating | B.shopping | C.meeting | D.riding |
A.borrowed | B.bought | C.designed | D.selected |
A.ornament | B.jewel | C.horseshoe | D.card |
A.unlocked | B.covered | C.unwrapped | D.dusted |
A.thoughts | B.reviews | C.mistakes | D.reactions |
A.disbelief | B.sadness | C.delight | D.anxiety |
A.instructed | B.explained | C.added | D.informed |
A.exchanged | B.donated | C.received | D.rejected |
A.mysterious | B.temporary | C.aggressive | D.optimistic |
A.Speaking of | B.Working on | C.Hearing of | D.Reflecting on |
2 . Do you find yourself pulling away from others, especially if you’ve experienced a deep disappointment? Maybe the most
A man who lost his wife to cancer found himself wanting to be
His friends became
The man responded that he felt better
They sat in
The man sat in silence,
We cannot
A.exciting | B.common | C.difficult | D.obvious |
A.independent | B.cheerful | C.sociable | D.alone |
A.enjoyed | B.refused | C.looked back to | D.took part in |
A.quit | B.reduced | C.kept | D.became fond of |
A.hurriedly | B.hopefully | C.straight | D.eagerly |
A.greetings | B.visits | C.kindness | D.invitations |
A.annoyed | B.alarmed | C.disappointed | D.curious |
A.warm fireplace | B.beautiful garden | C.bright window | D.TV set |
A.inspired | B.told | C.encouraged | D.required |
A.inform | B.expect | C.leave | D.allow |
A.while | B.without | C.regardless of | D.because of |
A.besides | B.otherwise | C.generally | D.therefore |
A.turn | B.silence | C.tears | D.talks |
A.frightening | B.heartwarming | C.unusual | D.interesting |
A.black | B.burnt | C.dark | D.flaming |
A.watching | B.holding | C.admiring | D.ignoring |
A.down | B.away | C.ahead | D.around |
A.point | B.invitation | C.news | D.notice |
A.think | B.understand | C.escape | D.survive |
A.welcomed | B.concerned | C.connected | D.affected |
3 . For years going home for the holidays has been bittersweet. I appreciate the opportunity to spend quality time with my mom but it is painful for me to see her house littered with stuff.Clothes bought but never worn, and new items in their original packaging carelessly purchased and never used. It’s evident that seeing the stuff on a daily basis reminds my mom of a time when shopping was her way of spending money.
I didn’t fully understand the extent to which my mom was suffering until this week, when I saw piles of clothes on her bed. “How do you manage to sleep every night with all that stuff, Mom?” I asked. To my horror, she replied, “I do it because I know I have to get rid of all this stuff eventually; I am punishing myself by sleeping with them until I do that. ”
Shocked and upset, I gently explained to her that punishing herself was only to make things worse,and that everybody deserves a place to sleep in peace, no matter what mistakes they’ve made. I suggested she move all the stuff upstairs, leaving her room comfortable to sleep in.
With patience and her slow but steady guidance, I helped her go through some of the piles and move them upstairs. For the rest of the week I stayed there, she was in a better mood and was excited about going through the rest of the house to finally get rid of her stuff—past mistakes and painful times. The items brought back painful memories as we inspected and moved them, but I kept reminding her that removing them would allow her to move on and heal. We finally sold so many things and took bag after bag to charity.
The stuff is just a sign of the destructive patterns of self-hatred on past mistakes. Only through the act of self-forgiveness can we bring about a chain reaction of reorganizing—both of the house and heart.
1. What made the author feel bitter?A.She couldn’t understand her mom’s sorrows. |
B.Her mom was stuck in the painful memories. |
C.Her mom was always left alone at home. |
D.Her mom wasted money on useless things. |
A.getting rid of the stuff | B.buying the stuff |
C.opening the stuff | D.moving the stuff |
A.the author never bought her mom anything |
B.the author’s mom has no money to purchase now |
C.the author’s mom regrets buying so many things |
D.the author knows her mom’s suffering only this week |
A.How to do shopping wisely |
B.Clearance helps reorganize the house |
C.Keep an eye on the elderly’s behavior |
D.Self-forgiveness makes a difference |
4 . On the day he almost died, Kimbal Musk had food on the brain. The Internet startup talent and restaurateur had just arrived in Jackson Hole from a conference where chef Jamie Oliver had spoken about the benefits of healthy eating. This made Musk think a lot—how he might make a difference to the food industry—but beyond expanding his farm-to-table movement along with his restaurant, Musk hadn’t yet broken the code. Then he went sailing down a snowy slope (坡) and fell over, breaking his neck.
Musk eventually made a full recovery, but it involved spending two months on his back, which gave him plenty of time to come up with a plan. Since then, he has launched an initiative to put “learning gardens” in public schools across America; attracted Generation Z to the farming profession by changing shipping containers into high-tech, data-driven, year-round farms; and this year, is kicking off a new campaign to create one million at-home gardens.
Aimed at reaching low-income families, the Million Gardens Movement was inspired by the pandemic, as both a desire to feel more connected to nature and food insecurity have been at the forefront of so many people’s lives. “We were getting a lot of inquiries about gardening from people that had never gardened before,” says Musk. “People were looking to garden for a bunch of reasons: to save money on groceries, to improve the nutritional quality of their diets, or just to cure the boredom that came with the lockdown.”
The program offers free garden kits that can be grown indoors or outdoors, and will be distributed through schools that Musk’s non-profit, Big Green, has already partnered with. It also offers free courses on how to get the garden growing and fresh seeds and materials for the changing growing seasons. “It’s not difficult. Anyone can do this, no matter where you come from, no matter where you live. We are all able to grow something,” says Musk.
1. What inspired Musk to make a difference to food industry?A.The pandemic. | B.A skiing accident. |
C.Jamie Oliver’s speech. | D.The farm-to-table movement. |
A.To get access to healthy food. |
B.To make their house beautiful. |
C.To make money by selling garden produce. |
D.To build up their strength during the pandemic. |
A.Encouraging people to preserve nature. |
B.Providing free food for low-income families. |
C.Promoting “learning gardens” across schools. |
D.Educating new gardeners to grow their own food. |
A.Charity-minded. | B.Stubborn. | C.Easy-going. | D.Scholarly. |
Henry Tyler made the catch of the year on the weekend. When he saw a young child hanging from a sixth-floor apartment balcony (阳台), Henry ran one hundred metres, jumped over a 1.2-metre fence, and held out his arms to catch the
Eric Brown, only three years old, knocked Henry down when he fell. The boy is in the hospital and doctors say he'll be OK.
Eric woke up a little later when he heard children playing outside. He pushed a chair onto the balcony, and climbed up
Henry
"He saved my
"I just didn't want the boy to be hurt," said Henry.
6 . It was already dark. After the jetliner
He wanted to seem organized and remain
With Farida and Zohra in Doha, the months-long, tough
But the
A.landed | B.settled | C.appeared | D.flew |
A.curious | B.anxious | C.depressed | D.excited |
A.protect | B.comfort | C.meet | D.invite |
A.waiting | B.cheering | C.laughing | D.crying |
A.serious | B.gentle | C.kind | D.calm |
A.lesson | B.experience | C.nightmare | D.journey |
A.until | B.when | C.after | D.if |
A.bottom | B.top | C.end | D.exit |
A.hostess | B.dancer | C.singer | D.musician |
A.fell | B.climbed | C.ran | D.rolled |
A.broke away | B.stood up | C.looked down | D.gave up |
A.battle | B.mission | C.struggle | D.task |
A.arrival | B.departure | C.stay | D.delay |
A.off | B.apart | C.out | D.away |
A.flight | B.memory | C.sight | D.moment |
A.amazing | B.lucky | C.delighted | D.hopeful |
A.preserve | B.serve | C.appreciate | D.love |
A.fortunate | B.painful | C.sweet | D.disappointing |
A.happening | B.changing | C.coming | D.collapsing |
A.favorable | B.appealing | C.accessible | D.popular |
Ayala's colleague, Marcos Heredia, took a photo of the
“I want to make public this great gesture of
Ayala said she did not think twice about
The local fire department where Ayala volunteers in her spare time
As a result of her selfless
A.thin | B.quiet | C.disabled | D.wounded |
A.Unless | B.Now that | C.While | D.In case |
A.touch | B.see | C.adopt | D.feed |
A.careful | B.merciful | C.respectful | D.trustful |
A.finally | B.luckily | C.soon | D.once |
A.expression | B.love | C.fun | D.success |
A.recognized | B.indicated | C.responded | D.read |
A.refuse | B.analyze | C.suspect | D.hesitate |
A.smell | B.result | C.illness | D.pleasure |
A.keeping | B.educating | C.helping | D.arranging |
A.lovely | B.energetic | C.hungry | D.unhealthy |
A.protect | B.hug | C.check | D.control |
A.also | B.even | C.still | D.just |
A.challenge | B.congratulate | C.approach | D.encourage |
A.tried | B.stopped | C.regretted | D.arrived |
A.pride | B.concern | C.patience | D.practice |
A.act | B.wish | C.record | D.promise |
A.evaluated | B.announced | C.demanded | D.described |
A.decided | B.agreed | C.managed | D.waited |
A.duty | B.skill | C.doctors | D.police |
8 . Nine years ago, a few days before Christmas, I was a director at a company in San Francisco, and I was called into a meeting that was already in progress. That meeting turned out to be my exit interview. I was 64 years old at the time. It wasn’t completely unexpected. I signed a pile of papers and left the company.
So, 40 plus years of employment was over. I had a good reputation and background. Retirement was not a choice for me. I wanted to do something. And then an idea came into my mind, born from my concern for our environment. I wanted to build my own business, designing and producing biodegradable(可生物降解的)packaging from waste. This is called clean technology, and it was really meaningful to me. It could help reduce billions of pounds of single-use plastic packaging wasted each year.
Five years later, I’m delighted and proud to share with you that our income has doubled every year and we have no debt. Meanwhile, I have a wonderful partner, and we’ve won more than 20 awards for the work that we’ve done.
And I am doing the most rewarding and meaningful work of my life right now. But what I really long for is to find other first-time entrepreneurs(企业家)who are my age. I want to connect with them.
So I want to do something about that in a few years. I want us to start talking more about people who don’t become entrepreneurs until they are seniors. And then connecting all of them across industries, regions and countries—building a community.
1. What happened to the author nine years ago?A.He retired from his former company. | B.He failed an interview. |
C.He had a good family background. | D.He changed his job to a better one. |
A.It was beneficial to the environment. |
B.It developed a clean technology. |
C.It provided jobs for lots of people. |
D.It brought in quite a lot of money. |
A.Cautious. | B.Disappointed. | C.Ambiguous. | D.Positive. |
A.To do something else about environment. |
B.To help people who want to become successful. |
C.To meet more people from different backgrounds. |
D.To build a community for senior entrepreneurs. |
9 . Galaxy saw a man and a woman who communicated with the sign language at the train station when she was on the way home one evening. She noticed that the woman asked the man for the direction. He told her that he did not know. Galaxy decided to help them. She had learned the sign language when she served as a volunteer in the deaf and mute (聋哑) school. Then she showed the woman the direction and left her email address to them in case they needed her help later.
She received an email from that man the next day. Kazrim was his name. Galaxy replied his mail sincerely,They both started chatting online soon after and began seeing each other. Although they only communicated with the sign language, it never bothered her.
Galaxy was fond of him gradually. Obviously, Kazrim was the same too. He presented Galaxy with a bunch of sunflowers and asked her sincerely, “Are you willing to be my girlfriend?”
Galaxy was pleasantly surprised. She requested him to give her some time to persuade her parents.
As she had expected,her parents were very angry after they had learned of their love story.
Galaxy explained,“Kazrim is an excellent and a very optimistic person. He has a very positive attitude towards life and work. He cares for others always. He is 100% better than the normal. Moreover, the mute is still a human. He should possess a perfect and wonderful love. ”
Her parents asked to see him,then. The very worried Galaxy took Kazrim home a few days later. When they were on the train,Kazrim told her,“I'm going to tell your parents that I'll be looking after you well with all my life!” Galaxy was deeply moved.
As soon as they had entered the house,Galaxy introduced him to her parents. She said,“This is Kazrim. ”Just right after her speech,an unbelievable thing happened. Kazrim threw the gift away and held her in his arms tightly.
He said. “YOU CAN TALK?”It was the same question that Galaxy wanted to ask,too.
The four people were shocked all of a sudden. As a matter of fact, Kazrim always believed that Galaxy was a mute and he still fell in love with her deeply.
1. How did Galaxy and Kazrim get to know each other?A.They met each other by chance. |
B.They were introduced to each other |
C.They once studied at the same university. |
D.They both served in a special needs school. |
A.Writing words on paper. | B.Using the sign language. |
C.Judging from his expression. | D.Speaking her native language. |
A.To have a talk with Kazrim. | B.To prepare for her marriage. |
C.To treat Kazrim as a normal man. | D.To accept Kazrim as her boyfriend. |
A.They fell in love at the first sight. |
B.They cheated each other to win love. |
C.They mistook each other for being mutes. |
D.They ignored the anger of Galaxy's parents. |
A few months ago, I was picking up the children at school. Emily, another mother that I knew well, rushed up to me. She was full of
“Do you know
I forgot all about her story
“And what is your occupation?” she asked. What
The clerk stopped, her ball-point pen
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “just what you do in your
There was an increasing note of
I felt successful. Motherhood...what a great
A.surprise | B.anxiety | C.anger | D.excitement |
A.who | B.what | C.how | D.why |
A.When | B.As | C.Before | D.Since |
A.at | B.after | C.by | D.around |
A.nervous | B.sure | C.anxious | D.uncertain |
A.mother | B.worker | C.teacher | D.doctor |
A.think | B.list | C.expect | D.give |
A.since | B.unless | C.until | D.when |
A.got | B.caused | C.permit | D.made |
A.researcher | B.manager | C.expert | D.scholar |
A.dropped | B.floated | C.frozen | D.broke |
A.so that | B.even though | C.as though | D.because of |
A.family | B.subject | C.study | D.field |
A.words | B.reply | C.shout | D.whisper |
A.two | B.three | C.four | D.five |
A.rewards | B.awards | C.profits | D.benefits |
A.interest | B.respect | C.doubt | D.fear |
A.explained | B.passed | C.completed | D.filled |
A.accepted | B.greeted | C.recognized | D.refused |
A.person | B.award | C.career | D.business |