1 . The annual marathon (马拉松) in my town occurred as scheduled. My job was to follow behind the runners in an ambulance in case any of them needed medical attention. As the athletes began to pace themselves, the front runners started to disappear. It was then that my eyes were drawn to the woman in blue running shorts and a baggy white T-shirt.

I knew we were already watching our “last runner”. Her feet were turned in, yet her left knee was turned out. Her legs were so crippled (跛足的) and bent that it seemed impossible for her to walk, not to mention run a marathon.

The driver and I watched in silence as she slowly moved forward. We would move forward a little bit, then stop and wait for her to gain some distance. Then we’d slowly move forward a little bit more. As I watched her struggle to put one foot in front of the other, I found myself breathing for her and urging her forward. I wanted her to stop, and at the same time, I prayed that she wouldn’t.

Finally she was the only runner left in sight. I sat on the edge of my seat and watched with respect and amazement as she pushed forward with strong determination through the last miles. When the finish line came into sight, the cheering crowds had long gone home. Yet standing straight and proud waited a man. He was holding one end of a ribbon tied to a post. She slowly crossed through, leaving both ends of the ribbon fluttering behind her.

I don’t know this woman’s name, but that day she became a part of my life — a part I often depend on. For her, it wasn’t about beating the other runners or winning a prize. It was about finishing what she had set out to do. When I think things are too difficult or I get those “I-just-can’t-do-it,” I think of the last runner. Then I realize how easy the task before me really is.

1. What words can best describe the woman?

A．Proud and determined.	B．Modest and courageous
C．Diligent and considerate.	D．Strong-willed and honorable.

2. What has the author learnt from the woman?

A．Don’t depend on others when facing difficulties.

B．Nothing is too tough to accomplish if one is brave enough.

C．It’s not winning but holding on straight to the end that really matters.

D．The disabled can also run a marathon despite their walking difficulty.

3. What could be the best title for the text?

A．The Annual Marathon.	B．The Last Runner.
C．An Unforgettable Job.	D．Humorous Stranger.

2 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Nearly a week passed before the girl was able to explain     1     had happened to her. One afternoon she set out from the coast in a small boat and     2     (catch) in a storm. Towards evening, the boat struck a rock and the girl jumped into the sea. Then she swam to the shore after spending the whole night in the water. During that time she covered a distance of eight miles. Early next morning, she     3     (see) a light ahead. She knew she was near the shore because the light was high up on the cliffs (悬崖). On arriving at the shore, the girl struggled up the cliff towards the light she had seen. That was all she remembered. When she woke up a day later, she found     4     (her) in hospital.

4 . The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during the break. She seemed so small as she pushed her way ________ the crowd of boys on the playground. A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.

I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing ________. She would practice dribbling (运球) and shooting over and over again, sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked ________ in my eyes and without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball and I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t ________.” Then she smiled and ran towards the court to practice. Well, I had to give it in to her—she was ________.

One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head buried in her arms. I walked toward her and quietly asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply. “I’m just too ________.” The coach told her that at her height she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team, much less offered a scholarship. So she should stop dreaming about college.

She was heartbroken and I sensed her ________. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just didn’t ________ the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, ________ could stop her except one thing—her own attitude. He told her again, “As long as the dream is big enough, the fact that you’re not tall enough is no big deal at all.”

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship Game, she was seen by a college recruiter (招聘人员). She was indeed offered a scholarship. She was going to get the college education that she had ________ and worked toward for all those years.

1.

A．through

B．across

C．over

D．into

2.

A．only

B．lonely

C．simply

D．alone

3.

A．worriedly

B．shyly

C．directly

D．secretly

4.

A．compete

B．reduce

C．count

D．differ

5.

A．determined

B．encouraged

C．challenged

D．stressed

6.

A．slow

B．short

C．stupid

D．fat

7.

A．entertainment

B．movement

C．embarrassment

D．disappointment

8.

A．understand

B．experience

C．learn

D．believe

9.

A．anything

B．nothing

C．something

D．everything

10.

A．thought of

B．found out

C．dreamed of

D．worked out

5 . One day last June, Clifford Luther served a burger and fries to a man passing through his restaurant, Old West Express, in Saskatchewan, Canada. Two days later, the man returned and wrote him a _______ for $500,000. “I thought, they were good burgers and fries, _______ they weren’t that good,” Luther told CTV News.

The lucky man was Bob Erb of British Columbia, who won Canada’s $25 million Max jackpot (累计赌注) in November 2020 and has been giving money to people _______. He’s donated his money to food banks, the old people, and some organizations, and he helped 20 people in Terrace, his hometown, to get necessary care they couldn’t _______.

While giving the burger that first afternoon, Luther told Erb that his 25-year-old daughter had just got cancer in Vancouver, about 1,000 miles away. “He and I had a _______ experience. One of my children had cancer, too. But he died four years ago. So, I know the _______ a parent has,” says Erb. “I decide on the way home I’d _______ him some money so he could go to see his daughter.”

Two days later when Erb was on his way back to British Columbia, he _______ the restaurant for another burger, which Luther _______ to buy him because Erb had tipped him well just two days ago. Erb said “no way” and asked the restaurant owner for a pen, then wrote the check and left it on the table. “Luther looked at the check and couldn’t say anything. He just held his arms out,” Erb says.

Erb, 60, still works on a building site part-time and hasn’t __________ twice about the $7 million he’s given to his family, friends, and society. “If you have enough to feed yourself, you help others out,” he says.

1.

A．check

B．book

C．bill

D．card

2.

A．so

B．and

C．but

D．because

3.

A．in the dark

B．out of work

C．in need

D．on duty

4.

A．afford

B．forget

C．discover

D．refuse

5.

A．strange

B．similar

C．successful

D．different

6.

A．dreams

B．worries

C．choices

D．warnings

7.

A．pay

B．lend

C．mail

D．leave

8.

A．closed down

B．broke in

C．stopped at

D．worked at

9.

A．continued

B．offered

C．failed

D．proved

10.

A．prepared

B．cried

C．lied

D．thought

7 . 阅读表达

Life is about chances, creating them and embracing them, and for me, that was the Olympic dream. As a member of the Australian ski team heading towards the Winter Olympics, I was on a training bike ride. It was a perfect autumn day. I looked up to see the sun shining in my face. Suddenly everything went black. I was hit by a truck. I was badly hurt. I broke my neck and my back in six places was paralyzed from the waist (腰) down. The doctor said, “Janine, you’ll have to rethink about your life, because you’re never going to be able to do the things you did before.”

Six months later, I got home. I had no feeling from the waist down. I couldn’t walk. I had to use a catheter (导尿管) for the rest of my life. All of those totally depressed me. All I wanted was to give up.

Maybe being at rock bottom is actually the perfect place to start.

One day, sitting at home in my wheelchair, I saw an airplane fly overhead. I looked up and thought to myself, “That’s it! If I can’t walk, I might as well fly.” So I went to a flying school and a man named Andrew started to train me. People there used to look at me and think, “Oh, who is she kidding? She’s never going to be able to do this.” But that didn’t matter, because there was something inside me burning, which far outweighed my injuries.

Little goals kept me going along the way, and eventually I got my private pilot’s license (飞行执照) and became a pilot. Then I taught other people how to fly, just within 18 months after I’d left the hospital.

Then I knew for certain that although my body might be limited, my spirit was unstoppable.

1. How was Janine hurt?
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Please paraphrase the underlined sentence in your own words.
____________________________________________________________________________
3. What did Janine decide to do after leaving hospital?
____________________________________________________________________________
4. What kind of person is Janine? Why do you think so? (about 40 words)
____________________________________________________________________________

8 . I had driven home to celebrate my 38th birthday with my mother. When I arrived, I found her______ proudly at the kitchen table, a chocolate cake and two boxes wrapped orange ribbon (丝带) in front of her. “Happy birthday!” she said, _____at the boxes. “Open them.”

As she knows me better than anyone, she’d gotten me exactly what I wanted-running clothes. I ____ her and thanked her and proceeded (接着) to eat the cake.

For me that day came two weeks later, when I drove back for another short visit. I came upon exactly the same ____: my mom sitting at the kitchen table; a chocolate cake resting next to two boxes wrapped in curly ribbon. The ribbon was green this time. That was the only ____. “Happy birthday!” my mom said.

I was totally ____. “What’s going on?” I asked.

Mom smiled. “Can’t I celebrate my daughter’s birthday?”

This was no trick. This was real life, and since my mother clearly only wanted to make me happy, I pushed aside my fear and fulfilled my role as the ____ daughter. I hugged her, thanked her and ____ the clothes... I did not mention to her that we’d done all this two weeks ago.

My house is her world now. My mother and I have the ____ conversation almost 10 times a day. ____, I consider it a pleasure, because every minute is new to her.

1.

A．cooking

B．sitting

C．singing

D．dancing

2.

A．shouting

B．running

C．buying

D．pointing

3.

A．paid

B．hugged

C．comforted

D．ignored

4.

A．day

B．idea

C．scene

D．celebration

5.

A．color

B．choice

C．attraction

D．difference

6.

A．moved

B．confused

C．embarrassed

D．excited

7.

A．friendly

B．successful

C．forgetful

D．grateful

8.

A．admired

B．washed

C．declined

D．wrapped

9.

A．previous

B．annoying

C．only

D．same

10.

A．Therefore

B．Instead

C．However

D．Moreover

9 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.

After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters (汉字). He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.

In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.

All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.

This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.

1. Which place did the author want to go?

A．Subway station.	B．Beijing Hotel.
C．Friendship Hotel.	D．Train station.

2. The author decided to take the subway because ______.

A．he believed in his ability to deal with the trip

B．the network covered most of the stops

C．he lived near the city center

D．he had a good impression of its cleanliness

3. Having been shown the room card, the young man ______.

A．still remained puzzled	B．understood the author well
C．answered the author directly	D．pointed at the subway map

4. Which of the following can’t be used to describe the young man?

A．Helpful.	B．Rude.
C．Warmhearted.	D．Caring.

5. The author’s purpose of writing this passage is mainly to ________.

A．prove the importance of being careful

B．introduce a young man who didn’t know English

C．complain some cultural misunderstanding

D．describe one of his adventurous experiences

10 . I was successful at my job. I worked very hard, but it _________ me and my family a fabulous lifestyle. I’d worked for the same company for twenty years and had worked my way up to department director. _________, one afternoon last May, I was called to the office, and it was _________ explained to me that they were letting me go. I just sat there _________ they talked on and all I could think was, “I’ve _________ .” I’d been so well respected, but _________ I was of no value.

For six weeks, I was in a very _________ place. I wandered around my house like a zombie(僵尸). I could _________ things needed doing, but would not do anything. My beliefs in looking forward and seeing the positive in everything deserted me.

Then, in late June, my youngest son’s football team _________ the city cup final. The year before, he’d been very sad when I __________ the same final, so he was __________ when I told him I’d go. Not only did they win, but the look on his face as he saw me __________ him on lit up with joy. From then on, I spent the summer enjoying my sons and their passions(激情). I attended match after match and performances of my elder son’s band—I __________ went to another city to watch him play. These moments were so __________. My life had been so much devoted to __________ for so long, and I felt __________ that my sons were happy to welcome me into their world.

__________, being unemployed gave me back a sense of purpose—I was someone’s mum! I felt a sense of being __________ again. Now I feel more positive about my professional __________ and I’m getting on better with my family than I ever have. Losing my job made me realize just how __________ it is to achieve real balance in life.

1.

A．promised

B．afforded

C．showed

D．left

2.

A．Therefore

B．Anyhow

C．Otherwise

D．However

3.

A．quickly

B．gently

C．partly

D．easily

4.

A．until

B．after

C．as

D．so

5.

A．failed

B．finished

C．tried

D．changed

6.

A．suddenly

B．finally

C．immediately

D．shortly

7.

A．secret

B．quiet

C．lonely

D．dark

8.

A．see

B．get

C．suggest

D．understand

9.

A．had

B．competed

C．made

D．defeated

10.

A．watched

B．missed

C．lost

D．won

11.

A．disappointed

B．worried

C．honored

D．delighted

12.

A．cheering

B．taking

C．leading

D．passing

13.

A．just

B．even

C．still

D．almost

14.

A．hopeful

B．meaningful

C．difficult

D．strange

15.

A．work

B．family

C．matches

D．performances

16.

A．successful

B．thoughtful

C．thankful

D．peaceful

17.

A．Naturally

B．Doubtfully

C．Disagreeably

D．Unexpectedly

18.

A．employed

B．comforted

C．valued

D．encouraged

19.

A．education

B．experience

C．relationship

D．future

20.

A．important

B．interesting

C．simple

D．surprising