1 . For a teenager whose chances of survival were slim when he was born, just making it to the starting line at the Olympics is a miraculous achievement in itself.
William Flaherty was born in Cincinnati. When he was 3, he was diagnosed with HLH. It is an often-fatal disease where the immune system attacks the body’s organs. There were days when they didn’t know if he would live through. The 17-year-old Flaherty has had more than 30 operations in his life, including a bone-marrow transplant from his older brother Charles in 2008.
At five, William skied for the first time. It helped a lot with low bone density and got him back in good shape. One year later, William moved to Puerto Rico and fell in love with the island. Puerto Rico doesn’t have snow and balancing the island and skiing life was tough. During the first few years a lot of it was pushed by his father and older brother Charles—himself a former Olympic skier. Motivated by his older brother, William wanted to give it a try himself. When he brought up to represent Puerto Rico in Alpine skiing, his friends laughed. However, he didn’t let it hold him back.
As a teenager, Flaherty had to balance his training with medical appointments and going to school. Even a cold could lay him up for two weeks, so William took extra pre-cautions over the last two years. While training, he wore an N95 mask the whole time and couldn’t ride the lift with anyone. After training, he came home directly, hid in his bedroom and stayed away from people. He managed to maintain straight A’s despite having to study on chairlifts and do final exams sometimes only days before racing. He had his English final three days before he left for Beijing.
“All my medical problems have definitely helped with my motivation. Skiing is really helpful because it forces me to focus on one thing. I really want to prove to all the other transplant survivors that you can do whatever you want in life. Move on with your life and achieve whatever you want,” he said.
1. Why did William Flaherty start skiing at the age of five?| A．To entertain himself. | B．To participate in the Olympics. |
| C．To improve his health. | D．To follow in his father’s footsteps. |
| A．His studies gave way to his training for skiing. |
| B．Puerto Rico could offer him better training conditions. |
| C．He was inspired by his older brother Charles in skiing. |
| D．He started to learn skiing when he moved to Puerto Rico. |
| A．Brave and kind. | B．Creative and generous. |
| C．Modest and shy. | D．Optimistic and hardworking. |
| A．Skiing Life of a Teenager. | B．Preparing Well for the Olympics. |
| C．Surviving from Severe Illness. | D．Defeating Disease to Deliver Hope. |
My family moved from Taiwan to a smalltown in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my friends. Santa Claus would come down one’s chimney and put toys in one’s stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up “stocking” in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do and always expected that day.
Finally, the big day came. On that wonderful night, after everyone went to bed, I sneaked out of bed, took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel (壁炉). Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character. Gazing at the sock and imagining the delicately-packed gift in it, I couldn’t help giggling (咯咯笑). For the first time, I found it hard to fall asleep.
And for the first time, I woke up before everyone else in the early morning. Then I headed straight to the fireplace and was even ready for what to say after seeing the gift. However, what happened next was the least thing I wanted to mention. On the nail was the empty and lonely sock. I was hit with the reality of the empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I tried my best to holdback my tears but failed. Bursting into tears, I quickly took down the sock and stuffed it in the back of a drawer.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry once again. I didn’t know whether any of my audience ever noticed the sparkling tears hidden in my eyes.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, I heard a knock on the door when I was watching TV. Unwillingly, I dragged my feet and opened the door.
(1)所续写短文的词数应为150左右；(2)如下格式作答。
Outside the door stood an old man with a white beard and a red cap, holding a well-packed box.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting on the card.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . If not for the kindness of a stranger, Jamaican hurdler (跨栏运动员) Hans le Parchment may not be a Tokyo Olympic gold medalist today.
The 31-year-old athlete took the
“By the time I
With time running out quickly, it was impossible for him to
Parchment was
He
Parchment also showed his
| A．regular | B．wrong | C．punctual | D．final |
| A．Lost | B．Experienced | C．Skillful | D．Successful |
| A．looked up | B．calmed down | C．walked around | D．went ahead |
| A．seats | B．athletes | C．citizens | D．surroundings |
| A．follow | B．grab | C．drive | D．order |
| A．bus | B．island | C．race | D．house |
| A．cheer up | B．think over | C．take off | D．warm up |
| A．hesitant | B．satisfied | C．careful | D．determined |
| A．turned | B．delivered | C．drew | D．welcomed |
| A．mistakenly | B．previously | C．incredibly | D．intentionally |
| A．approached | B．invited | C．interviewed | D．convinced |
| A．saving | B．returning | C．handing | D．leaving |
| A．appreciation | B．ambition | C．regret | D．concern |
| A．counting | B．checking | C．repaying | D．charging |
| A．cancel | B．spread | C．stop | D．continue |
Emma had two exams that day — physics and history. She really hated physics. It was her worst subject. Alice looked at her, and then looked away quickly. Emma thought Alice looked pleased, because she didn’t have a problem with physics, she didn’t have a problem with anything...Miss Perfect!
“I thought we were friends, but she hasn’t spoken to me for two weeks now. she promised to help me go over for the physics exam too, but then she’s forgotten all my calls and texts. And when I rang her house, her mum just told me she was busy.” Emma thought angrily. At that moment, Mr. Read asked all the students into the exam room.
Emma couldn’t answer some physics questions. Suddenly she saw Alice sitting two rows in front of her. Emma couldn’t believe it! Alice was holding her phone on her knee under the table and reading from it. Is that how Alice always got such good grades? She felt really angry at Alice, and thought about telling the teacher, but...“Stop writing,” said Mr. Read and started to collect the exam papers. Oh no, Emma hadn’t answered two of the questions. She was going to fail again!
Emma wanted to talk to Alice at lunchtime, but she couldn’t find her anywhere. Emma went to the library to prepare for the history exam, which was her favorite. But she couldn’t concentrate. “Unfair! Alice was getting good grades by cheating all that time.” She thought about telling a teacher, but everyone would hate her if she did that. Just then, Mr. Read walked past her table. “Mr. Read...”
Emma was sitting behind Alice again in the history exam that afternoon. Mr. Read wanted her to look at Alice and agreed if she saw that Alice was cheating in the exam.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
She was working on the last question when she saw that Alice had her phone under the table.
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Paragraph 2:
Emma was walking towards the school gate when she saw Alice waiting for her there.
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Mary and her little son Andy lived alone and led a hard life. They didn’t have much, but there was always food on the table-for Andy, at least.
To support the family, Mary did three jobs. It was tiring, but Mary didn’t give up. Each day when she finally got home, she’d bring Andy home from a kind neighbor, who attended to her boy for hours daily.
Years later when Andy was 15, Mary was still working hard. One morning she crazily looked for the house keys, worried about getting late for work. She had a long day ahead, but she didn’t even make it to her house’s front door. She tried to move the sofa to see if the keys had fallen behind it. At the time, Andy was preparing to go to school.
Suddenly, Mary fell due to long-term lack of sleep. And when she fell, her head hit the sofa’s edge, which caused her to faint immediately. So worried, Andy did everything he could to help his mom. Finally, he took her to hospital.
Hours later, Mary woke up, noticing Andy’s hand on her shoulder. The doctor brought her document for her to read. She soon knew why she was in hospital. And she knew the fall had reduced her sense of hearing to 20%. Mary couldn’t help crying. “What am I going to do now?” she thought as she looked at Andy. With tears in eyes, Andy said, “I love you, Mom!” And it saddened them both again because Mary could barely hear Andy’s words.
The doctor recommended wearing a hearing aid. It was a very expensive device. “Who has that kind of money?” Mary thought, feeling upset and hopeless.
But Andy wasn’t. “Mom has taken good care of me for years. It’s high time that I did something to try to repay her,” Andy thought. He was determined to take a part-time job to earn the money for the hearing aid. Since his academic performance was very good, he decided to work as a tutor for grade kids.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右;2．请按如下格式作答。
First, he made advertisements.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________One morning when Mary was still sleeping soundly, Andy put the hearing aid in her ear.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a small pool of water ahead on the path. I changed my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn’t covered by water or mud. As I reached the pool, I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did nothing for the attack. It was so unpredictable and from somewhere totally unexpected. I was surprised as well as unhurt though I had been struck four or five times. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Had I been hurt, I wouldn’t have found it amusing. And I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly!
Having stopped, laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He charged towards me at full speed, attempting to hurt me but in vain. For a second time, I took a step backwards while my attacker paused. I wasn’t sure what to do. After all, it’s just not everyday that one is attacked by a butterfly. I stepped back to look the situation over. My attacker moved back to land on the ground. That’s when I discovered why my attacker was charging at me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying.
Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it up on himself to attack me for his mate’s sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life. His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate’s safety seemed admirable. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the pool. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.
Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge barriers facing me.
1. Why did the writer change his direction while walking down a path?| A．To reach the pool. | B．To avoid getting his shoes dirty. |
| C．To escape a sudden attack. | D．To get close to a butterfly. |
| A．Not to get hurt. | B．Not knowing what to do. |
| C．Being attacked by a butterfly. | D．Stepping on a butterfly. |
| A．Horrible. | B．Amusing. | C．Aggressive. | D．Courageous. |
| A．what he should do when faced with trouble |
| B．people should show sympathy to the weak |
| C．how he should perform to protect his male |
| D．whether people should protect butterflies |
7 . Every year when Thanksgiving comes around, I remember a bit of wisdom handed to me. Having some
Half a century of observing life has left me
William Stidger
| A．difficulties | B．hopes | C．differences | D．concerns |
| A．explained | B．persuaded | C．reminded | D．complained |
| A．because | B．though | C．until | D．why |
| A．satisfied | B．shocked | C．interested | D．alarmed |
| A．rule | B．grammar | C．law | D．method |
| A．awful | B．bright | C．calm | D．incredible |
| A．obeyed | B．advised | C．doubted | D．convinced (坚信的) |
| A．authority | B．development | C．gratitude (感激) | D．regret |
| A．enjoyed | B．stood | C．suffered | D．followed |
| A．impatient | B．unfriendly | C．unable | D．unlucky |
| A．challenged | B．attacked | C．treasured | D．respected |
| A．illness | B．thankfulness | C．sadness | D．loneliness |
| A．simply | B．hardly | C．nearly | D．especially |
| A．doctor | B．teacher | C．miner | D．nurse |
| A．reaction | B．attraction | C．action | D．operation |
| A．ruined | B．hurt | C．damaged | D．blinded |
| A．achieved | B．protected | C．discussed | D．received |
| A．turned to | B．gave up | C．kept on | D．set off |
| A．injured | B．wondered | C．screamed | D．recovered |
| A．seriously | B．eventually | C．slightly | D．slowly |
8 . Since young, Aisha Ismail has said she let labels (标签) define what she could be. “I was a black girl, from a refugee (难民) family,” Aisha said. “It seemed
After a high school chemistry class
Born and
When Aisha was eight years old, her mother got a job by studying hard back in school in order to
“I always want to be the
Aisha’s efforts
When asked what advice she would give to others like her, Aisha warned them not to underestimate themselves. “Don’t tell yourself that the scholarship is too
| A．as if | B．even if | C．as soon as | D．as long as |
| A．cycle | B．explore | C．sleep | D．establish |
| A．warned | B．ordered | C．inspired | D．asked |
| A．subjects | B．life | C．jobs | D．labels |
| A．raised | B．worked | C．observed | D．recovered |
| A．Because | B．While | C．Once | D．Whether |
| A．affected | B．famous | C．enthusiastic | D．fearful |
| A．abandon | B．blame | C．move | D．support |
| A．fortune | B．difference | C．shadow | D．shelter |
| A．richest | B．favorite | C．perfect | D．luckiest |
| A．made sense | B．died down | C．came to nothing | D．paid off |
| A．admitted | B．devoted | C．close | D．equal |
| A．by comparison with | B．in addition to | C．instead of | D．regardless of |
| A．easy | B．small | C．far | D．unnecessary |
| A．joining | B．flooding | C．handing | D．breaking |
As a fourteen-year-old girl, you may think that the biggest problem you can probably face is failing one of your classes in high school, but not everything is as easy as it seems. My parents are going through a lot lately. We recently moved from Houston and bought a house in Dallas, and my dad had almost no money left in the bank due to the fact that he had to pay the water and electricity company in order for them to be available in my house.
My brother, who was a nice, happy, free-caring six-year –old boy, just like every other, started to become very distant from us the first week we moved into the house. As much as we tried to ask him what was wrong, he wouldn’t tell us. I was really confused by the way he acted, because he normally was a nice and kind little boy who would often go out and play with the neighbours and would just be outside, enjoying the day. That little boy completely turned around and became a very distant, cold child. He would keep silent and sit in his room the whole day with the door closed. He would not go out even for supper, and we were wondering what happened.
We went to talk to his teacher who said that he was very shy when it came to talking in front of the other kids, but he had developed a little confidence and started to play with the kids in his class. The teacher mentioned that he and a kid from a higher level started ‘‘hanging out” away from the rest of the kids. My mum thought of it as a good thing, thinking it meant that my brother had started to make new friends, but I knew it meant something else. I tried talking to my brother even though he didn’t want to, but he didn’t say anything dealing with the bigger kid.
Paragraph 1:
Until one day, he came home, crying, and it seemed I was the only one who noticed.
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Paragraph 2:
After a while, he gave in and started telling me that the bigger kid had stolen his lunch.
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10 . Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he stopped at once. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front legs. No chains, no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”
How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn’t.
Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed in it once before?
| A．a small rope | B．a big chain | C．a long line | D．a piece of cloth |
| A．excited | B．surprised | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．they liked their living places | B．they were too old to do it |
| C．they thought they could not | D．they got on well with the trainer |
| A．Failure is part of learning | B．We should be different from others |
| C．Helping animals is helping ourselves | D．Traveling always makes people relaxed |
| A．A Pleasant Trip | B．A Bad Trainer |
| C．Elephant Training | D．The Elephant Rope |
