1 . When reading, my mother likes to slice a paragraph or a sentence out and attach it to the wall of her kitchen. She picks boring sentences that puzzle me. But I prefer copying favorite bright lines into a journal in soft, gray No. 2 pencil, word by word.
She doesn’t know any of this. There's nothing shocking: for our chatting. we seldom begin certain conversations though we talk on the phone weekly, sometimes making each other laugh so hard that I choke and she cries. But what we don't say could fill up rooms. Fights with my father. Small failures in school. Anything that really upsets us.
My mother has never told me “I love you, Lisa.”—as if the four-word absence explains who I am—so I carry it with me, like a label on me. The last time she almost spoke the words was two years ago, when she called to tell me a friend had been in hospital. I said, “I love you, Mom.” She stopped for a while and then said, “Thank you.” I haven't said it since, but I've wondered why my mother doesn't until I've found a poem that supplies words for the blank spaces I try to understand in our conversations:
Don’t fill up on bread. I say absent-mindedly. The servings here are huge.
My son, middle-aged, says: Did you really just say that to me?
What he doesn’t know is that when we’re walking together, I desire to reach for his hand.
It's humble, yet heartbreaking. After copying it down in my journal, I emailed it to mom, adding “This poem makes me think of you.” My mother doesn’t read poetry—or at least, she doesn’t tell me, and I felt nervous clicking “Send”.
She never mentioned the poem. But the next time I went home for vacation, I noticed something new in the kitchen fixed to an antique board: the poem. The board hung above the heater, the warmest spot in the kitchen. The poem still hangs there. Neither my mother nor I have ever spoken about it.
1. What's the function of paragraph 1?| A．To stress the theme. | B．To establish the setting. |
| C．To represent the characters. | D．To create the atmosphere. |
| A．Shaky. | B．Distant. | C．Reserved. | D．Intense. |
| A．It reminded her of mom's love. |
| B．She wanted to apologize to mom. |
| C．It suited mom's taste of literature. |
| D．She needed an interpretation from mom. |
| A．A memory of golden days. |
| B．Daughter’s gratefulness to her. |
| C．A decoration in the plain kitchen. |
| D．Daughter's understanding of her. |
2 . I’ve been in an 18-year love-hate relationship with a black walnut tree.
It’s a unique tree. In late September or early October, falling fruits as hard as baseballs threaten the skulls (头骨) of you, your children, your neighbors and those that reside next door to them. Umbrellas in the yard are a must while dining in early August, and as for me, I wear my bike helmet while working in the garden.
The black walnut also releases a chemical substance through its roots as a competitive strategy. It’s poisonous to several common plants. There have been many new plant varieties that I brought home with hopes that maybe the black walnut would accept them, but they failed to flourish.
What does work are native plants that naturally grow in the area. Native plants are important to have around since they provide beneficial pollinators (传粉者) like birds, bees and butterflies with seeds and contribute to a healthy and biodiverse environment. Native plants for this area are generally easy to grow, so they experience less stress.
Have I thought of getting rid of this giant pain in my tiny backyard? Yes, however, getting rid of this tree standing at 50 feet with an 87-inch trunk is next to impossible. It’s also protected under the law. Rightfully so. Trees are important to the urban forest and for all of those that inhabit it.
Sometimes I think about my life without the black walnut. I can’t imagine a spring without the birds who arrive every year and loudly sing their songs before dawn. I’d miss falling asleep on lazy weekend afternoons as I look up into its leaves.
Every spring, I wonder what the season holds: What are the chances of being knocked unconscious while barbecuing? Like any good relationship, I’ll never be pleased. I’m stuck with this tree, so I’ll listen to its needs and give it the space it requires. In return, my walnut offers a habitat for wildlife and a reminder.
1. Why does the author wear a bike helmet while working in the garden?| A．To protect the injured skull. | B．To prevent herself from sunburn. |
| C．To avoid being hit by the nuts. | D．To reduce the chance of getting bitten by bees. |
| A．It attracts beneficial pollinators. |
| B．It lets out poison to drive away pests. |
| C．It produces a chemical fatal to some plants. |
| D．It competes for nutrition with similar species. |
| A．The volume of its fruits may bring inconvenience. |
| B．The tree outcompetes the native plants in the garden. |
| C．The tree is home to numerous birds and other creatures. |
| D．The presence of the tree takes up much space of the garden. |
| A．it’s better to give than to take |
| B．trees and plants have their own ways to flourish |
| C．even a good relationship is not always trouble-free |
| D．acceptance, instead of resistance, is the better way to be |
When he was around 5-6 years old, my brother Ted, who is four years younger to me, suddenly found his legs unable to move one night. What followed was one of the hardest times of my parents'life. Months passed with them meeting various doctors, visiting different hospitals, and knocking at the doorstep of every possible chance — all the time with Ted in their arms, since he wasn't able to walk on his own anymore.
There were doubts of permanent paralysis（瘫痪）— the very mention of which was enough to break us down. From finding it extremely painful to walk, to not being able to get up on his own, and to not being able to stand at all, Ted's problem was worsening day by day. Most surprisingly, all this while, he was as strong as, perhaps, only children can be in such difficult times.
During this period, it was not unusual for my mother to have sudden breakdowns. Once, she burst into tears while watching Ted playing joyfully. He wiped off her tears, and said, “Don't cry, mummy. See, I can stand and even run on my own!” Saying this, he tried to get up, stood on shaking legs for just about a few microseconds and fell down, only to be safely caught in the arms of my mom, who hugged him dearly and cried some more.
This was the most heart-breaking thing that I had ever experienced. But it was also a powerful one for the simple fact that it was my little brother who taught us what life was all about—HOPE.
Witnessing my brother's strong will and positive attitude inspired me as well. As a brother, I could not stand by doing nothing at all. Hope was burning in my heart when I had the idea to train my brother to walk again. I firmly believe Ted could stand up and walk as he used to. Whenever school was over, I would put Ted into a pushchair and tell my mom that we'd just go to the park.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
In the park, I would put Ted one meter away from me, encouraging him to walk.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We agreed to keep this a secret from our parents until mom's birthday.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . British teen Kitty Tait wakes up at 5 am every day to bake bread, but it’s not just any old bread. The young girl who runs the Orange Bakery in her home town, with her dad Alex, adds a little humor to her bakes.
“If something is fun to eat, it makes it even tastier!” the teen baking star, who overcame depression after discovering the art of bread making, said. It was watching her dad make a simple loaf of white bread that changed her life forever. “Something that was so unpromising — a bit like how my brain felt at the time — had turned into something so magical,” she recalls.
Soon, Kitty was baking loaves for her neighbors. And before she knew it, there was a subscription service followed by a pop-up in her neighbor’s garage where she sold almost 100 loaves of bread and doughnuts (甜甜圈) in half an hour. “At that moment, I realized that this was what I wanted to do with my life,” she says.
A few months later, after raising enough money through crowdfunding,the teen rented a small retail space in town and her dad quit his job to become her business partner. They’ve been running the Orange Bakery ever since, selling everything from Marmite and cheese swirls to Danish pastries.
“I’m just really excited about people eating good bread, whether it is made by themselves or bought from a bakery,” says Kitty. “My main mission is to make bread inclusive and joyful because I have found so much joy in it.”
Today, the Taits are part of the global baking community, running baking classes at local schools.
1. What can we learn about Kitty before her picking up baking?| A．She worked part-time at a bakery. |
| B．She suffered from a mental illness. |
| C．She turned something magical into reality. |
| D．She learned baking from her mom and neighbors. |
| A．Popular. |
| B．Graceful. |
| C．Updated. |
| D．Ordinary. |
| A．He had ever been a good teacher. |
| B．He bought the Orange Bakery for Kitty. |
| C．He made a contribution to Kitty's cause. |
| D．He had ever done foreign trade in a company. |
| A．Making baking a fun thing. |
| B．Earning as much as possible. |
| C．Running joyful baking classes. |
| D．Thinking up better ways of baking. |
5 . My mother spent at least 12 hours every day rolling country cigarettes to support our family. One day she showed me her wage book,
As I watched her finally
When I was 13, I read the autobiography of Helen Keller. I
At the age of 22, I came back to my village to set up an institution that
Of course, to change people’s mind is challenging. The quickest way to
| A．pointing | B．asking | C．testing | D．giving |
| A．keep | B．break | C．play | D．remember |
| A．order | B．suppose | C．teach | D．advise |
| A．try | B．refuse | C．manage | D．pretend |
| A．agreement | B．complement | C．development | D．excitement |
| A．difference | B．plan | C．mistake | D．decision |
| A．dream | B．trouble | C．curiosity | D．demand |
| A．priceless | B．careless | C．fearless | D．worthless |
| A．abandoned | B．admired | C．conveyed | D．inspired |
| A．hometown | B．community | C．downtown | D．college |
| A．hesitated | B．applied | C．hated | D．agreed |
| A．activity | B．program | C．library | D．campaign |
| A．give out | B．turn out | C．step out | D．break out |
| A．changed | B．finished | C．fulfilled | D．connected |
| A．beautiful | B．joyful | C．useful | D．careful |
| A．supported | B．arranged | C．protected | D．introduced |
| A．recognition | B．invitation | C．examination | D．education |
| A．debate | B．question | C．argue | D．convince |
| A．gift | B．treat | C．job | D．bargain |
| A．affecting | B．receiving | C．suffering | D．improving |
6 . Wang Fang, a Suzhou native, has given her heart and soul to Kunqu Opera. Wang, who has twice won the Plum Performance Award — China’s top award for theater and opera performances-started to learn the traditional art form in 1977.
Born with a melodic voice, Wang loved to sing and dance when she was little. She performed frequently, and was recruited by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe (剧团) when she was in middle school. However, her parents refused the troupe’s invitation, insisting that she should concentrate on her studies and not drop out of school. After members of the troupe visited the parents repeatedly and showed great sincerity,Wang’s parents finally agreed.
Learning the traditional art form was never easy. She started to learn how to pronounce words, sing them lyrically and make gestures gently. As an actress playing martial artists roles at first, she had to spend extra time practicing kung fu movements. Years later, Wang used the word “unimaginable” to describe how hard the days were when she first learned Kunqu. She was soaked in sweat when practicing movements in summer, while in winter she often had chilblains (冻疮) on her hands when training in shabby classrooms with broken windows. “But I was young and determined at the time. No matter how difficult, I always got up early the next morning to practice,” Wang recalls.
Wang says she did not love Kunqu at first, but in her early 20s,when she watched the show Peony Pavilion performed by Zhang Jiqing, a master of the art form, it clicked. “I was shocked,” Wang says. “Her every movement was full of elegance and delicacy. Each of her lines and songs was perfect. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of Kunqu for the first time in my life, and it has stayed with me since.” Now, Wang has herself become a master of Kunqu. Her performances have impressed generations and helped to promote the art form among young people.
1. Why did Wang’s parents turn down the troupe’s invitation at first?| A．They didn’t think Wang had artistic talent. |
| B．They saw no future in learning Kunqu Opera. |
| C．They didn’t want Wang to ignore her studies. |
| D．They regarded members of the troupe as insincere. |
| A．Wang has made great efforts to learn Kunqu well. |
| B．Artists should be given more attention and care. |
| C．Traditional culture needs to be further promoted. |
| D．Wang has played a key role in the development of Kunqu. |
| A．Winning the Plum Performance Award. |
| B．Joining the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Troupe. |
| C．Watching Zhang’s masterly performance. |
| D．Being greatly admired by the audience. |
| A．It is never too late to learn. | B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．Doing is better than saying. | D．Don’t judge a book by its cover. |
In the first grade in senior high school, I was extremely shy, I had friends, but it just wasn’t in my personality to be very outgoing, even when I knew someone. I was afraid I would do or say something wrong, so usually I just smiled and listened to other people’s conversations.
I did well in school and I loved to write. However, I would escape into my writing, where I could be myself and never had to worry about what other people thought of me. In my stories, I was never shy, I often imagined that I was the main character in the story. My teacher, Mrs. Sather, always encouraged me to write more and be myself. She told our class to go after our dreams and dig in with great efforts. I thoughts he was one of the first people to see my inner strength.
One day, she showed us a play she had written and announccd that our class was going to perform it. “I’ll begin to choose all the performers tomorrow” she said, “I need someone who is not afraid to be onstage in front of a lot of people to play the lead part of Dorothy. Anybody wants to try?” A few excited hands shot up -mine, of course, was not one of them and Mrs. Sather smiled. “We’ll talk more about it later,” she said. Then the bell rang and my classmates slowly left the classroom.
“I will never do that,” I thought. But after rereading the play, I was deeply attracted by the story and couldn’t help imagining myself to be the main character Dorothy. There seemed to be a new person inside me, a much more daring, outgoing person who had been hidden all along, just waiting for the opportunity to appear. However, I still felt shy and could never picture myself acting in a play in front of two hundred people. Having struggled for a few minutes, I still did not know how to make the decision.
注意：1.续写词数应为 150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When I was packing my schoolbag, Mrs Sather asked me to go to her.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One week later, it was time for me to perform on the stage.
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As Valentine’s Day, a time for expressing affection through the exchange of presents, drew near, Kendra found herself seated at the kitchen table, carefully penning her name on Valentine’s cards for her classmates. She recognized her own hesitation; words didn’t come easily to her. While she envied the ease with which her peers talked and laughed, her shyness often kept her quiet.
Kendra grabbed another card. . Her eyes lit up at the phrase “You’re dynamite (引起轰动的人或物)!”—a term that would undoubtedly delight her Grammy, who frequently used the expression to praise their festive decorations. “Well, that looks dynamite!” Grammy would exclaim, her approval filling Kendra with warmth.
Just as Kendra was signing the cards, her mother came in, sharing the sad news of Elise, their neighbor, and her recent accident that led to a broken leg, restricting her to home schooling for the coming weeks. Kendra felt sorry for Elise, and quickly picked the most splendid valentine, hurrying to Elise’s home.
Upon arrival, Kendra’s look fell upon the life-sized deer statue decorating the front yard. She studied it, saying to herself, “Wouldn’t this deer look cool with a big heart around his neck? Elise could look out of the window and see it decorated for Valentine’s day.”
With this idea, Kendra got the sizable red heart her Grammy had given her, tied it with string, and hung it around the statue’s neck like a festive chain. The next day, she decorated the antlers (鹿角) with a variety of smaller hearts. It was during this act of kindness that Colin and Amy, Elise’s fellow classmates, happened upon the scene. “Are you decorating Elise’s deer for Valentine’s Day?” they asked. Kendra confirmed with a nod, explaining her intention to cheer up Elise. Despite her uncertainty about what to add next, Colin proposed adding some color, while Amy suggested putting decorations on the deer’s back and forehead. United by a shared purpose, they agreed to meet later.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
That afternoon, they met to decorate the deer with the materials they had sourced.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Just then, Elise’s front door opened, and Elise stuck her head out.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Bournemouth in Dorset has always been my favourite seaside town. When I was growing up, Mum and Dad didn’t have much money, but they’d saved enough for a few days in Bournemouth. I was four years old at the time. I don’t actually remember much about the trip, apart from being devastated when we had to leave. Mum said I fell in love with the place and insisted on waving goodbye to the sea when it was time to go. So I grew up believing Bournemouth was a wonderful place.
Forty years on, my wife and I returned for a week’s break. I was nervous, wondering if I’d be able to bring back that delight I’d felt as a child. I needn’t have worried. We had a fantastic time. It helped that the British weather had decided to provide us with high temperatures and plenty of sun. But it was Bournemouth that kept me spellbound, making me feel like a child again.
Bournemouth and its neighbour, Boscombe, are always busy, alive with chatter, music and other lively sounds. But as we stepped into Boscombe Chine Gardens, all the noise faded away. A sense of peace spread through us as we meandered along the paths, delighting in the squirrels climbing up and down the trees and the bright colours of the pretty plants.
One morning, we made a short trip to Poole Quay and took the ferry to Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, it’s a feast for the eyes, from its mock Tudor entrance, to the many peacocks walking around, to the magnificent views of the sun sparkling on the shining waters and boats bobbing up and down, seen from the island’s highest point.
Before we knew it, it was time to return home—but not before waving goodbye to the sea.
1. Which of the following best explains “devastated” underlined in Paragraph 1?| A．Sorrowful. | B．Surprised. |
| C．Thrilled. | D．Desperate. |
| A．The fear of losing childhood memories. |
| B．The adjustment to the new circumstances. |
| C．The uncertainty of recalling childhood delight. |
| D．The exposure to high temperatures and sunshine. |
| A．It boasts seaside views. | B．It belongs to wild animals. |
| C．It is free of the town’s noise. | D．It reminds him of his childhood. |
| A．Farewell to Bournemouth. | B．Working in a wonderful place. |
| C．A childhood unforgettable story. | D．Revisiting a childhood favourite. |
On a snowy day Steve sat down on the usual seat in the Union Square. Every Thanksgiving for nine years he had sat down there at one in the afternoon. Every time, a wonderful thing happened to him, which made his heart feel full of joy.
On those other Thanksgiving Days, Steve usually had been hungry. But today Steve was not hungry. He had come from a dinner so big that he had almost no power to move. His body had suddenly become too big for his clothes; it seemed ready to break out of them. They were torn. You could see his skin through a hole in the front of his shirt. But the cold wind, with snow in it, felt pleasantly cool to him.
The dinner had not been expected. He had been passing a large house near the beginning of that great broad street called Fifth Avenue, where lived two ladies of an old family who had a deep love of tradition that on Thanksgiving Day food will be offered to the first hungry person to walk by. Today Steve happened to be the one to pass by on his way to the park.
Steve sat in the park, appearing to be waiting for somebody, but appearing not to expect something to happen. Suddenly his eyes grew wider and his breath stopped. For the old gentleman was coming across Fourth Avenue toward Steve’s seat.
Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years the old gentleman had come there to find Steve on his seat. Then he had led Steve to a restaurant and watched him eat a big dinner, which had been a part of Thanksgiving Day. The old gentleman was thin and tall and sixty. His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been last year. His legs shook, seeming not as strong as they were the year before.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
As this kind old gentleman came toward him, Steve began to shake and his breath was shorter.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With these words, the old man looked into Steve' s eyes, expecting Steve to accept the dinner.
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