1 . Eleven o’clock at night saw a large woman with a large purse walking alone, when a boy ran up behind and tried to snatch (抢夺) her purse. But the boy lost his balance and fell on his back. The woman picked him up firmly by his shirt front.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” shouted the woman. Two or three people passed, stopped, and stood watching.
“I’m very sorry, lady. I’m sorry,” whispered the skinny little boy, in broken tennis shoes.
“Um-hum! And your face is dirty,” said the large woman dragging the frightened boy. “Since you put yourself in contact with me, you are going to remember Mrs. Luella Jones.”
He began to struggle, but Mrs. Jones continued to drag him up the street. When she got to her door, she dragged the boy inside. “What’s your name?” the woman asked.
“Roger,” answered the boy in a low voice. “Then, Roger, you go to that sink and wash your face,” ordered the woman and finally let go of him.
“You gonna take me to jail (监狱)?” asked Roger, bending over the sink.
“Not with that face,” said Mrs. Jones. “I believe you were hungry to snatch my purse.”
“I wanted a pair of blue shoes,” replied the boy.
There was a long pause. After he had dried his face, the boy turned around. The door was open. He could run!
After a while the woman said, “I was young once and I wanted things I could not get. I have done things too, which I would not tell anybody else, son.” There was another long pause. The boy’s mouth opened.
Then Mrs. Jones went to do the cooking. She did not watch the boy to see if he was going to run, nor did she watch her purse left behind her. She did not ask him anything about where he lived, or his folks. Instead, as they ate, she told him a lot about her job in a hotel shop and how all kinds of people came in and out. She cut him another piece of her cake.
When they finished eating, she got up and said, “Now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some blue shoes. Do not make the mistake, because shoes come by devilish ways like that will burn your feet.”
She led him to the front door. “Good night! Behave yourself, son!” she said, looking out into the street.
1. How did Roger feel when Mrs. Jones mentioned her past?| A．Frightened. | B．Surprised. | C．Settled. | D．Ashamed. |
| A．She intended to go easy on him. |
| B．He reminded her of her own son. |
| C．He put himself to be in contact with her. |
| D．She lacked an excuse to teach him a lesson. |
| A．Kind and generous. | B．Able and ambitious. |
| C．Frank and cooperative. | D．Calm and courageous. |
| A．Home is where the heart is. |
| B．Life is full of ups and downs. |
| C．A best parent is to lead by example. |
| D．A good deed shines the light into the dark. |
2 . My parents ran a small eatery, and my first real job was shining diners’ shoes. My
Working in the restaurant was a source of great pride because I was
Except for the shoeshine job, I was never
After being away in the army for about two years, I came back home. I had just been promoted to captain and was full of
“I can’t believe this!” I thought. “I’m an officer in the army!” But it didn’t matter. As far as Dad was concerned, I was just another member of the
| A．duties | B．scores | C．wages | D．ideas |
| A．waiter | B．cook | C．cleaner | D．manager |
| A．attending | B．applying | C．reacting | D．contributing |
| A．standards | B．challengers | C．achievements | D．customers |
| A．insistent | B．confident | C．courageous | D．responsible |
| A．arranged | B．praised | C．paid | D．suspected |
| A．succeed | B．negotiate | C．operate | D．promise |
| A．dignity | B．respect | C．curiosity | D．gratitude |
| A．frequently | B．later | C．instead | D．immediately |
| A．army | B．class | C．team | D．party |
3 . I recently attended a wedding in a rural area in north Italy, and guests were provided with a car and driver for the 90-minute journey into the hills. That was exciting: A private car! I could pretend I was rich! Since I’m not, though, I had no idea how much this trip actually cost. As a result, after our driver picked us back up at midnight, I secretly worried all the way home about tipping him.
I fished around nervously in my purse and realized that all I had was a $100 note, which I was keeping for an emergency. I had nothing smaller. And I had nothing else to offer but two chocolates from the wedding. So, I could tip the driver that $100 note or two chocolates. In the end, I chose the money.
The whole matter of tipping has long been a source of awkward interactions — and, for some travellers, mild anxiety — throughout the world. Tipping customs vary wildly from country to country. A friend in Rome tells me that Italians get hurt by big tips. “Leaving a big tip is considered impolite,” she adds, “I’ve had Italian friends make me take money back.”
It reminded me of my 100-dollar tip. What if I had annoyed the driver? So I decided to call the car company and ask them to pass on a message to the driver apologizing for the improper tip and explaining the situation.
To my surprise, the car company responded that the driver had actually called to express his gratitude for the unexpected big tip. He had apparently been having a tough week and the money had come at just the right time.
I was astonished. All my worry had been for nothing. What started out as a source of anxiety ended up being a heartwarming experience. I learned that sometimes it’s better to go with your feelings and be generous, even if it means taking a risk.
1. What did the author realize when she dug around in her purse?| A．She had spent 100 dollars on emergency. |
| B．She had to ask the driver for smaller changes. |
| C．She had nothing but two chocolates to offer the driver. |
| D．She had no smaller notes and might tip too high or too low. |
| A．To compare different tipping customs. |
| B．To share a personal story of her friend. |
| C．To show the possibility of upsetting the driver. |
| D．To demonstrate her rich knowledge on tipping. |
| A．He was annoyed by the large tip. | B．He appreciated the author’s generosity. |
| C．He was grateful and refused the money. | D．He was upset by the awkward interaction. |
| A．Good things are possible when you follow your heart. |
| B．You’d better think carefully before taking action. |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
| D．A penny saved is a penny earned. |
4 . I remember driving to Palm Springs from San Diego two Thanksgivings ago. None of us pictured an icy blizzard (暴风雪)on our California vacation, but one hour into the drive, the first snowflake fell. My eyes lit up. I’d missed snow. Seeing it land on a prickly cactus made my tears well up. How I longed for cold Minnesota, my hometown.
As the altitude rose, the storm got fierce. It wasn’t long before we had no choice but to pull over. As our car slid to a stop, I looked into the distance. A line of cars as long as the Mississippi River were lined up.
Just then, a car came from behind, suddenly changing the direction to avoid hitting our car. The driver, an old man, slammed on the brakes and his car drifted across the path. It didn’t take us too long to realize his car was awfully near the edge of the mountain and slowly creeping more and more towards the side of the cliff.
Suddenly, 10 people who were sitting in their cars leapt out. From the car window, I watched an inspiring scene. Four people took the chains that protected their tires off their cars and put them on the old man’s tires. One person shoveled the snow out from his tires and tried to break the ice with his boot. Just as the old man’s car and all his belongings were about to be lost off the edge of the cliff, people stepped up and let their kind hearts override the snowstorm.
Though it was minus 30 degrees centigrade, my heart was as warm as ever. This act of kindness just reminded me how thankful I am for people and moments like these.
1. Why did the author cry when he saw the snow?| A．He felt a little homesick. |
| B．He disliked the bad weather. |
| C．He was surprised to see the snow. |
| D．He was anxious about the traffic delay. |
| A．Its braking system failed. |
| B．It was about to drop from the cliff. |
| C．It ran into the author’s car. |
| D．It lost control due to the sudden speeding. |
| A．Reliable and modest. |
| B．Kind and easy-going. |
| C．Brave and cooperative. |
| D．Enthusiastic and ambitious. |
5 . Up until I was eight years old. I was an only child in my family and life was sweet. Then along came Grant, my little brother, and everything changed.
As Grant got older, he
However,
I wondered if the transition happened because he became less annoying and more of a buddy or because I became more
Today, Grant and I are a team. I know that we will always be close, if not in age or distance, then in the
| A．developed | B．changed | C．maintained | D．broke |
| A．reliable | B．annoying | C．unique | D．disappointing |
| A．angel | B．guide | C．shadow | D．enemy |
| A．besides | B．despite | C．beyond | D．for |
| A．considerate | B．critical | C．envious | D．respectful |
| A．missed | B．suggested | C．stopped | D．enjoyed |
| A．hesitated | B．happened | C．pretended | D．volunteered |
| A．creative | B．ambitious | C．independent | D．patient |
| A．innovation | B．combination | C．limitation | D．expectation |
| A．hope | B．courage | C．love | D．pride |
6 . I know what courage looks like. I saw it on a flight I took six years ago, and only now can I speak of it without tears filling eyes at the memory.
Our flight left the Orlando Airport one Friday morning. But immediately upon take-off, it was clear that something was wrong. The aircraft was bumping(颠簸) up and down. All the experienced travellers, including me, looked around with knowing smiles. If you fly much, you see these things and learn to act calmly about them. However, we did not remain calm for long.
Minutes after we were in the air, our plane began falling quickly. The pilot soon made a serious announcement. “We are having some difficulties,” he said. “Our indicators show that the control system has failed. We will be returning to the Orlando Airport. The flight attendants will prepare you for a bumpy landing. Also, if you look out of the windows, you will see that we are dumping fuel from the airplane. We want to have as little on board as possible in the event of a rough touchdown.” In other words, we were about to crash. Many travellers looked visibly frightened now. No one faces death without fear, I thought.
Then a couple of rows to my left, I heard a still calm voice, a woman’s voice, speaking in an absolutely normal conversational tone. I had to find the source of this voice. All around, people cried. Many screamed. Finally, I saw her. In this chaos, a mother was talking to her child. The woman, in her mid-30s, was staring full into the face of her daughter, who looked to be four years old. The child listened closely, sensing the importance of her mother’s words. The mother’s gaze held the child so fixed that she seemed untouched by the sounds of grief and fear around her.
Finally, I leaned over and by some miracle could hear this soft sure voice with the tone of comfort. Over and over again, the mother said, “I love you so much. Remember, no matter what happens, I love you always.” Fortunately, our landing gear held at last and our touchdown was not a tragedy.
However, the voice I heard that day never faded. That mom showed me what a real hero looks like.
1. What does the author imply by saying “some travellers’ knowing smiles” in Paragraph 2?| A．They were used to this kind of experience. |
| B．They were quite familiar with each other. |
| C．They were well-educated passengers. |
| D．They were pretending to be calm. |
| A．The plane met bad weather and had to return immediately. |
| B．The flight indicators showed the plane’s control system failed. |
| C．One of the passengers was badly ill and the plane had to turn back. |
| D．A flight attendant explained flight safety instructions to the passengers. |
| A．They asked for help. |
| B．They remained calm. |
| C．They cried and screamed. |
| D．They rejected the bumpy landing. |
| A．The shape of love. |
| B．The voice of courage. |
| C．The wisdom of a pilot. |
| D．The danger of a journey. |
Once it snowed, I netted a bird.
8 . Once I was playing in the woods when the sky started to turn dark and the wind started to blow. I saw a big black cloud
9 . The Deep Roots
When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Dr. Gibbs. He didn’t look like any
When Dr. Gibbs wasn’t
The good doctor had some
He planted an oak and, instead of watering it every morning, he
Dr. Gibbs passed away a couple of years after I left home. Every now and again, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I’d
It seems that
| A．gardener | B．farmer | C．doctor | D．professor |
| A．uniform | B．overcoat | C．suit | D．dress |
| A．nicer | B．tender | C．richer | D．stronger |
| A．encouraging | B．discovering | C．saving | D．protecting |
| A．landmark | B．castle | C．yard | D．forest |
| A．interesting | B．embarrassing | C．puzzling | D．expecting |
| A．usually | B．never | C．sometimes | D．always |
| A．labour | B．dignity | C．habit | D．wisdom |
| A．generation | B．structure | C．resource | D．pressure |
| A．sensitive | B．particular | C．rough | D．positive |
| A．shallow | B．intensive | C．muddy | D．flexible |
| A．search | B．charge | C．case | D．control |
| A．cover | B．beat | C．push | D．clean |
| A．permission | B．admiration | C．expectation | D．attention |
| A．heard | B．helped | C．made | D．watched |
| A．planted | B．watered | C．burdened | D．firmed |
| A．surroundings | B．sufferings | C．suggestions | D．opportunities |
| A．marking | B．sharing | C．sailing | D．rising |
| A．brave | B．successful | C．easy | D．confident |
| A．observe | B．reveal | C．change | D．mind |
I gave a dress to my granddaughter Anne for her birthday. With a pause at the dress, she smiled lovingly at me and
