1 . We’re often told that there’s no age limit when it comes to pursuing our goals, but it’s truly inspiring to see someone achieve them later in life-especially if they are 95 years old. Angela Alvarez is a Cuban-born singer and songwriter who, after putting aside her dream of pursuing a career in entertainment for decades, finally released her first album in 2021.
Once Alvarez graduated from school, she told her father she wanted to become a professional singer. However, he prevented her from doing so. Eventually, she got married and found happiness in raising her four children, though life wasn’t easy.
With time, her grandson, Carlos Jos é Alvarez, grew up to be a music producer. When he found out his grandma had written over 50 songs throughout her life, he asked if she would like to record her songs. Her answer was “yes”. And that was the beginning.
Alvarez’s story even caught the attention of actor Andy García, who produced a documentary about this amazing woman and the recording process of her 15-song album. “She represents a generation, perhaps our greatest generation of Cubans,” said the actor.
The dream reached new heights as she became nominated for a Latin Grammy. Once she took to the stage to accept her award, she gave an inspiring speech, “I want to dedicate this award to my beloved homeland, Cuba; also to those who have not achieved their dream. Although life is difficult, there is always a way out, and with faith and love they can achieve it. I promise, it’s never too late.”
1. What do we know about Alvarez?| A．She lived a miserable life bringing up her children. |
| B．She has released 15 albums since she returned to music. |
| C．She got nominated as the best musician of her generation. |
| D．She gave up her dream after graduation owing to her father’s prevention. |
| A．Her hard life after marriage. | B．Her grandson’s support. |
| C．Her desire to make more money. | D．Her enthusiasm for music. |
| A．Inspiring. | B．Interesting. | C．Amusing. | D．Moving. |
| A．To introduce a woman’s life-time story. |
| B．To call on others to learn from Alvarez. |
| C．To praise what Alvarez has done in music. |
| D．To tell us it’s never too late to achieve one’s dream. |
2 . On July 29, 10-year-old Mayah Zamora went home after being hospitalized for 66 days. Mayah was a survivor of the May 24 shooting rampage at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas.
The little girl had more than 20 surgeries and underwent weeks of physical therapy after being shot in her hands, chest and back during the school shooting. Mayah’s doctors have called her survival miraculous.
On August 24, she was honored as the Hero of the Month for August by MLB’s Houston Astros at a game against the Minnesota Twins, where she threw out the first pitch. While there, Mayah also met former Astros shortstop (游击手) Carlos Correa, who shared some incredible news with her family.
The Zamoras learned during the game that the Correa family Foundation and other donors are funding the construction of a new home for the family in a location they chose. The trauma (创伤) of living just blocks from the gunman’s house had been taking a toll on (给……造成重大损伤) the young survivor.
“I could never begin to imagine everything she has gone through, and we feel that this is one thing we could do to try to alleviate some of her pain,” Correa said. “I’m thankful to both teams for being a part of this effort.”
His foundation shared a statement and some great photos of Mayah’s special night at the ballpark on its Facebook page.
“We are so proud of you. Mayah, and we are honored to recognize you as our Hero of the Month,” wrote the Correa Family Foundation. “We hope this will be an opportunity for Mayah and her family to rebuild their lives, make new memories, and look towards a bright future.”
1. Why did the Correa family Foundation and other donors fund a new home for the Zamoras?| A．Because the Zamoras didn’t want to live in their home. |
| B．Because Correa wanted to reward Mayah for her bravery. |
| C．Because the Zamoras’ home was near the gunman’s house. |
| D．Because the Zamoras’ home had been destroyed by the gunman. |
| A．Ease. | B．Suffer. | C．Delay. | D．Confirm. |
| A．Selfish. | B．Caring. | C．Determined. | D．Responsible. |
| A．A diary entry. | B．A news report. | C．A book review. | D．A moving story. |
3 . Two Georgian twins, separated at birth when they were sold to different adoptive families, have been reunited and have TikTok to thank for bringing them back together.
The astonishing story began 10 years ago when one of the twins, Amy Khvitia, sat watching Georgia’s Got Talent in her godmother’s house near the Black Sea. A young girl, who looked exactly like her, climbed up on stage and began to dance in front of the reality show’s judges. Another seven years went by when Ano Sartania, the young girl that had danced on television, was sent a TikTok video of a young woman with blue hair getting her eyebrow pierced. Determined, Ano took to a WhatsApp university group with her plea. asking for help finding the woman with the blue hair. Against all odds, someone in the group knew Amy and the pair was connected through Facebook. Amy and Ano agreed to meet in-person at a local train station.
“It was awkward, it was awesome, it was everything,” Ano told The Sun of that first meeting, adding, “It was weird for me like I was looking in a mirror.” As they grew to know each other more, the two women began to list the similarities they shared and admit to being a bit unsettled by it all. Both were born in the same hospital, but their birth certificates said they were born a couple of weeks apart. Wanting answers, they turned to their families to ask some hard questions and soon had an explanation — both families admitted to adopting the girls as newborns.
It turns out both of their mothers had been unable to have children and were told they could pay to adopt unwanted babies at the hospital. DNA tests ‘eventually confirmed that that Amy and Ano were twins. However, they wanted to know why their biological parents have given them up and if they had been sold for profit. The twins have since been reunited with their birth mother, Aza, who claimed she fell into a coma after delivering her identical daughters and when she woke up hospital staff told her that her babies were dead.
“While Ano and Amy’s story contains a lot of coincidence on their path to reunion, their adoption circumstances aren’t that unique in Georgia — as many as 100,000 Georgian babies have been put up for illegal adoption since the 1950s on the black baby market,” says Georgian journalist Tamuna Museridze, who has been working to reunite families.
1. Which of the following properly describes the twins?| A．Their foster parents paid to adopt them legally. |
| B．Their first in-person meeting was full of mixed feelings. |
| C．It took them a smooth decade to get connected with each other. |
| D．Their biological parents sold them at birth for profit through hospital staff. |
| A．Changed. | B．Shaped. | C．Upset. | D．Unsolved. |
| A．Tolerant. | B．Supportive. | C．Unclear. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Black baby market gains popularity in Georgia |
| B．Twin sisters, abandoned by birth mother, reunited |
| C．Twin sisters, sold illegally at birth, reunited thanks to TikTok |
| D．Lots of coincidence brought adopted twin sisters a family reunion |
4 . I was the only kid in college with a reason to go to the mail box, because my mother never believed in email, in Facebook, in texting or cell phones. I was literally waiting by the mailbox to get a letter with a warmest comfort from her.
So when I moved to New York and got depressed, I did the only thing I could think of. I wrote those same kinds of letters like my mother for strangers, and tucked them all over the city: in cafes, in libraries, and even in the subway. I blogged about those letters and promised if asked for a hand-written letter, I would write one.
Overnight, my inbox became this harbor of heartbreak — a single mother in Sacramento, a girl being bullied in Kansas, a 22-year-old immigrant, all asking me to write them and give them a reason to wait by the mailbox. And this is how I initiated the act The World Needs More Love Letters.
Today I run a global organization fueled by those trips to the mailbox. It is a miracle. But the thing about these letters is that most of them have been written by people brought up in a paperless world where some best conversations happen on a screen. We have learned to diary our pain onto Facebook, and we speak swiftly in twitter.
Therefore, I’ve been carrying this mail crate (大木箱) with me these days, which is a magical icebreaker. So I get to tell total strangers about a woman whose husband was traumatized (受精神创伤) from war, and how she left love letters throughout the house saying, “Come back to me.” And a man, who had decided to take his life, slept safely with a stack of letters just beneath his pillow, handwritten by strangers who were there for him.
These stories convince me that letter-writing will never need to be about efficiency, because it is an art now, all of it: the signing, the scripting, the mailing.
1. Why did the author share her experience in college?| A．To show her care for her family. | B．To convey her love for writing letters. |
| C．To express her feelings attached to letters. | D．To prove her consistency in writing letters. |
| A．She advocated the paperless lifestyle. | B．She intended to provide professional aid. |
| C．She tried to improve her communication skills. | D．She aimed to give emotional support with letters. |
| A．It cures people of mental diseases. | B．It serves as a conversation starter. |
| C．It has magic power to melt ice. | D．It empowers people to be brave. |
| A．Family Letters Are Priceless | B．Love for Writing Never Declines |
| C．World Needs More Love Letters | D．Hand-written Letters Improve Efficiency |
5 . Emest Owusu was 13 in 1980 when he was given the opportunity to appear in the audience of a BBC show, and ask Thatcher how she felt about being called the Iron Lady. This encounter re-emerged in a BBC’s programme recently.
At the time of their meeting, Owusu was on free school meals, living on a public estate in Brixton, south London, where he and his sister were being raised by their mother Rose, a struggling hairdresser.
Now 57, Owusu looks remarkably similar even with a greying beard. But his life has been transformed. The father of three is a human resources director, and the first black captain of the Addington golf club in its 110-year history. As a black guy, it is about breaking the glass ceiling. Speaking in its clubhouse, Owusu describes his rise in social status (地位) as a “Thatcherite Journey”. And he says it began by asking the woman herself. “To this day it still has an impact. My confidence changed from that sliding-door moment. Something about her connected with me.”
Thatcher told Owusu she enjoyed being called the Iron Lady. “I think it’s rather a praise, don’t you?” she said, “Because so often people have said to me if you’re in your job you’ve got to be soft and warm and human, but you’ve got to have a touch of steel.” Owusu recalls the moment, “I just remember her eye contact. She was answering me, not the camera. She welcomed the question saying you’ve got to be firm in this world. And that stuck with me.”
After the show was broadcast, Owusu said he became “a little hero in Brixton for a good three months”. Owusu added, “It all gave me extra confidence. Doors might not have opened so quickly. It was one of those key moments to make you do things maybe you wouldn’t otherwise have done.”
1. What do we know about Owusu when he was 13?| A．He met with Thatcher twice. |
| B．He joined a famous golf club. |
| C．He hosted a BBC’s programme. |
| D．He lived at the bottom of society. |
| A．Turning point. | B．Important decision. |
| C．Social status. | D．Remarkable achievement. |
| A．Others’ treating him equally at work. |
| B．Others’ voting him a hero in Brixton. |
| C．Thatcher’s efforts to preserve his dignity. |
| D．Thatcher’s faith in the necessity of toughness. |
| A．The Art of Dialogue | B．The Power of Confidence |
| C．A Life-changing Meeting | D．A Status-improving Tale |
6 . In August 2022, Don Powell from Orchard Lake Village, Michigan, found a wooden doll (玩具娃娃) couple, Mary and Shelley, inside his custom-designed mailbox. Initially assuming it was a mistake, he left them there out of curiosity. Over time, the dolls’ living space expanded with the addition of furniture like a bed, a painting and a stove. Don responded humorously, requesting a refrigerator. A year later, the dolls still reside there, amusing neighbors who follow updates on the local Nextdoor page.
The Powells had paid a local craftsman (工匠) $250 to create a mailbox that looked like their house, which included windows and solar-powered ceiling lights. This mailbox provided a large and bright space for the growing collection of doll furnishings.
Despite potential fines for non-postage items in mailboxes, Don didn’t consider removing the dolls, as the mail carrier found it amusing and it didn’t stop mail delivery. The Powells regularly discovered new items for the dolls, especially during holidays. For example, Halloween saw the dolls temporarily disappearing and replaced by skeletons (骨骼), and Christmas brought festive decorations.
The doll family grew, with the addition of a cousin, Shirley, and a service dog named Maggie. A note mentioned their gratitude for a one-story house compared to their previous multi-story dollhouse.
Don even contributed to the setup by adding a small letterbox to avoid confusion with their mail. He enjoys the mystery-and community enjoyment, resisting the idea of an outdoor camera to uncover the responsible party. The story continues to attract neighbors, who often stop by with questions and enjoy the lighthearted community spirit it brings.
1. What can we learn about the doll family from the first two paragraphs?| A．Don and Nancy Powell were expecting to find the dolls in their mailbox. |
| B．The local community was unaware of the dolls living in Don’s mailbox. |
| C．The doll family shared the big and bright house with the Powell couple. |
| D．Someone may have left the doll family and additional items on purpose. |
| A．To emphasize the legality of the dolls’ placement. |
| B．To illustrate the mail carrier’s disapproval of the dolls. |
| C．To show the mail carrier’s amusement and acceptance. |
| D．To discuss changes in delivery due to the dolls’ presence. |
| A．Community-minded and humorous. | B．Conventional and disciplined. |
| C．Disinterested and approachable | D．Indifferent and responsible. |
| A．How to Construct a Creative Custom Mailbox |
| B．The Legal Issues with Dolls in Custom Mailbox |
| C．The Disappearance and Return of Dolls in Michigan |
| D．A Unique Mailbox Brings Joy to a Michigan community |
7 . About 20 years ago, I was attending a law school while still doing my part-time job to provide my tuition. Despite that, my grades were still among the top ten percent of the class.
After several weeks, I completed the legal research and began writing my paper. Two weeks later, I ended my paper draft.
Later, I wrote a letter to the local newspaper detailing this story and explaining how paper grades were subjective. The letter was then published. Knowing this, the professor was awkward. Luckily, I didn’t mention his name. He emailed me and explained he’d made a mistake and confused my paper with another student’s.
| A．So I had nothing to complain about. |
| B．It was published and I got the check. |
| C．In fact, my paper should have been given an A. |
| D．Though annoyed, I could do nothing but accept it. |
| E．During the graduation season, I had to write an essay. |
| F．In order to win the competition, I prepared my essay very hard. |
| G．I showed it to some of my classmates, who gave me some constructive suggestions. |
8 . Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia, I saw a water puddle ahead on the path. As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did nothing for the attack was so unpredictable and from a source so totally unexpected. I was being attacked by a butterfly!
Having stopped attacking, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. I retreated a step while my attacker relented in his attack. Yet again, I tried moving forward and I was rammed in the chest over and over again. I wasn’t sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time. After all, it’s just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly. This time, though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over. My attacker moved back as well to land on the ground. That’s when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying. She was beside the puddle where he landed.
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 upon himself to attack me for his mate’s reason, 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 in case I was careless to step on her. Now I knew why and what he was fighting for. There was really only one option left for me. I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy. His courage in attacking something thousands of times large r and heavier than himself just for his mate’s safety justified it. I couldn’t do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed.
I left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later reached my car. Since then, I’ve always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge obstacles facing me. I use that butterfly’s courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.
1. Why did the butterfly attack the author?| A．To let him rescue his mate. | B．To teach him about love. |
| C．To protect the puddle. | D．To warn him off his mate. |
| A．Admiring. | B．Annoyed. | C．Absent-minded. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．He cured the dying butterfly. | B．He left the butterflies alone. |
| C．He stepped on the butterfly carelessly. | D．He fought with the butterfly. |
| A．A battle with a butterfly | B．A walk around a puddle |
| C．A true story of courage and love | D．A travel in Georgia |
9 . I joined the coast guard because I wanted to help people. Hovercraft (气垫船) are rare and special. They’ve been discontinued in most commercial operation, because they are so expensive to make, but when it comes to search and rescue, they’re priceless.
From far away, a hovercraft looks like a normal boat. But if you look under its skirt, the craft is not touching the water — it floats on a cushion of air. That cushion allows us to travel over everything from water to muddy land — and even break through ice. We do all of that as a 70-tonne machine, going a maximum of nearly 120 kilometers per hour. These features allow us to rescue a large number of people quickly get onto land, and get someone into an ambulance far easier than with any other device I can think of.
The advantages of hovercraft can also make them difficult to handle. We’ve got a massive vehicle moving fast, sometimes in a thick fog bank up a narrow river. During assignments on other coast guard ships, I had 20 minutes to make alterations to avoid a crash. In a hovercraft, I have 10 seconds. You have to have enough situational awareness to make the right decision every time.
People call us for all sorts of problems: missing divers, on-board fires, or even when they’ve run out of fuel or had a mechanical breakdown. A container ship could burst into flames. We have a strong network here at the base to help everyone through difficult situations like that. Thankfully, we have captains who train us in a safe environment, but you don’t ever get fully comfortable. Anything can throw the hovercraft off — maybe your lift settings are off a little, or the wind blows with a bit of extra weight. After several years operating a hovercraft, I’m still learning. Every one of the captains here agrees: you can drive this thing for 20 years and still be surprised.
1. What makes hovercraft unsuitable for commercial use?| A．Their safety risks. | B．Their poor durability. | C．Their low efficiency. | D．Their production costs. |
| A．How a hovercraft works. | B．What comprises a hovercraft. |
| C．What distinguishes a hovercraft. | D．How a hovercraft helps victims. |
| A．They have to make faster responses. |
| B．They often face mechanical breakdowns. |
| C．They need more people for decision making. |
| D．They must consider the environmental concerns. |
| A．Dull. | B．Demanding. | C．Enjoyable. | D．Effortless. |
10 . Every Saturday night, all through that lazy spring, I used to take a rose to Miss Caroline Wellford. Every Saturday night, rain or shine, at exactly eight o’clock.
Miss Caroline was abandoned by her future husband Jeffrey Pinniman, who married Christine Marlowe, a younger and prettier girl. It almost became a scandal (丑闻) in our town. Miss Caroline could hear unkind things about her everywhere she went. For six months she had shut herself up in her house and seemed determined to turn herself into an odd old maid. She looked like a ghost that night when I delivered the first rose. “Hello, Jimmy,” she said listlessly (无精打采地). When I handed her the box, she looked shocked — “For me?”
Again the next Saturday, at exactly the same time, I found myself delivering another rose to Miss Caroline. The third time she opened the door so quickly that I knew she must have been waiting. There was a little color in her cheeks and her hair no longer looked so straggly (散乱地).
The morning after my fourth trip to her house, Miss Caroline played the organ again in church. She held her head high with the rose pinned to her blouse. Week after week I delivered the rose, and gradually Miss Caroline returned her normal life.
When I made my final trip to Miss Caroline’s house, I said, as I handed her the box, “This is the last time I’ll bring this, Miss Caroline.” She hesitated and invited me to come in and handed me a model of a sailing ship, exquisitely (精巧地) carved. She said. “I’d like you to have it. You’ve brought me great happiness, Jimmy — you and your roses.”
Fleeing back to the shop, I looked in the file where Mr. Olsen kept his untidy records, and I found what I was looking for. “Pinniman,” it said.
The years went by, and one day I came again to Olsen’s flower shop. My old boss and I talked a while. Out of curiosity, I asked, “D’you suppose that Mrs. Pinniman ever knew her husband was sending flowers to his old flame?” “Jeffrey Pinniman never even knew about it.” Mr. Olsen smiled, “It is a lady who said she wasn’t going to sit around watching Miss Caroline make a martyr (长期受折磨者) of herself at her expense.”
1. Who is the person that sent the rose?| A．Miss Caroline. | B．Mrs. Pinniman. | C．Mr. Olsen. | D．Jeffery Pinniman. |
| A．Deserted by her husband, Caroline lived in a mess. |
| B．People in the town all show great sympathy for Miss Caroline. |
| C．Jimmy had thought Jeffery Pinniman sent roses to Miss Caroline. |
| D．Christine put an end to the marriage of Miss Caroline and Jeffery Pinniman. |
| A．Kind and considerate. | B．Awful and selfish. |
| C．Active and helpful. | D．Thoughtful and patient. |
| A．A poor woman. | B．A special Saturday night. |
| C．A rose from a stranger. | D．A rose for Miss Caroline. |
