1 . 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. |
2 . 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 |
3 . 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. |
4 . 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. |
5 . Two things changed my life: my mother and a white plastic bike basket. I have thought long and hard about it and it’s true. I would be a different person if my mom hadn’t turned a silly bicycle accessory into a life lesson that I carry with me today.
My mother and father were united in their way of raising children, but it mostly fell to my mother to actually carry it out. Looking back, I honestly don’t know how she did it. Managing the family budget must have been a very hard task, but she made it look effortless. If we complained about not having what another kid did, we’d hear something like, “I don’t care what so-and-so got for his birthday, you are not getting a TV in your room, a car for your birthday or a lavish sweet-16 party.” We had to earn our allowance by doing chores around the house. I can still remember how long it took to polish the legs of our coffee table. My brothers can no doubt remember hours spent cleaning the house. Like the two little girls growing up at the White House, we made our own beds (no one left the house until that was done) and picked up after ourselves. We had to keep track of our belongings, and if something was lost, it was not replaced.
It was summer and, one day, my mother drove me to the bike shop to get a tire fixed — and there it was in the window. White, shiny, plastic and decorated with flowers, the basket winked at me and I knew — I knew — I had to have it.
“It’s beautiful,” my mother said when I pointed it out to her. “What a neat basket.”
I tried to hold off at first. I played it cool for a short while. But then I guess I couldn’t stand it any longer: “Mom, please can I please, please get it? I’ll do extra chores for as long as you say. I’ll do anything, but I need that basket. I love that basket. Please, Mom. Please?”
I was desperate.
“ You know,” she said, gently rubbing my back while we both stared at what I believed was the coolest thing ever, “If you save up you could buy this yourself.”
“By the time I make enough it’ll be gone!”
“Maybe Roger here could hold it for you,” she smiled at Roger, the bike guy.
“He can’t hold it for that long, Mom. Someone else will buy it. Please, Mom, please?” “There might be another way,” she said.
And so our paying plan unfolded. My mother bought the beautiful basket and put it safely in some hiding place I couldn’t find. Each week I eagerly counted my growing savings increased by extra work here and there (washing the car, helping my mother make dinner, delivering or collecting things on my bike that already looked naked without the basket in front). And then, weeks later, I counted, re-counted and jumped for joy. Oh, happy day! I made it! I finally had the exact amount we’d agreed upon....
Days later the unthinkable happened. A neighborhood girl I’d played with millions of times appeared with the exact same basket fixed to her shiny, new bike that already had all the bells and whistles. I rode hard and fast home to tell my mother about this disaster. This horrible turn of events.
And then came the lesson I’ve taken with me through my life: “Honey, your basket is extra-special,” Mom said, gently wiping away my hot tears. “Your basket is special because you paid for it yourself.”
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．The mother raised her children in an unusual way. |
| B．The writer envied the daughters of the U.S. president. |
| C．The writer’s parents shared the duty to bring up children. |
| D．Managing budget is an effortless job to most housewives. |
| A．well worth the effort she had made | B．the most valuable she had ever obtained |
| C．an unnecessary accessory to her bike | D．something the bike couldn’t do without |
| A．the basket cost more than she had saved |
| B．someone else had got a basket of the same kind |
| C．her paying plan was spoiled |
| D．a neighborhood girl bought a nicer bike |
| A．Save money for a rainy day. | B．Good advice is beyond all price. |
| C．Earn your bread with your sweat. | D．God helps those who help themselves. |
6 . For his entire life, Sergio Peralta from the US dreamed about playing catch. When he was born, his right hand didn’t fully develop, with only tiny fingers at the end of his arm. So he learned to write, eat and carry books with only one hand. Over the years, the 15-year-old lost hope that anything would change.
Peralta said on his first day of high school he honestly felt like hiding his hand in his sleeve, so nobody would ever find out. But his classmates, to his surprise, supported him in a way he never expected. The school’s engineering teacher, Jeff Wilkins, came and told him that his fellow students might be able to help.
“They ended up offering, ‘We could build your prosthetic (假体的) hand,’ and I never expected it,” he told CBS News. “Like, never in a million years.” Three students used their access to online models of prostheses and a 3D printer to make a plan. After four weeks, their project came to fruition. They used polylactic acid (聚乳酸), a common material in 3D printing that’s also used to make electronic devices, as the hand’s main fabric. They applied another plastic material commonly found in phone shells to make the fingers spread and squeeze objects. And they added a fishing line, so Peralta could fix the hand to his forearm.
Bob Cotter, the principal of Hendersonville High School, told the BBC that his students are encouraged to turn concepts “into reality”, adding that Peralta’s new prosthesis is “a proof to the students who care about each other”.
Peralta-who grew up learning to do everything with his left hand-was even able to catch a baseball with the prosthetic hand created by his classmates. “When I caught it for the first time, everyone started freaking out.” Peralta said with a smile. “It was the first time I caught a ball with my right hand in my IS years.”
1. How did Sergio feel about his hand when he started high school?| A．He felt at a loss for it. | B．He felt unaffected by it |
| C．He was optimistic about it. | D．He was open to accepting it |
| A．It was finished in four months. | B．It could be controlled by a phone. |
| C．Its main material is polylactic acid. | D．Its fingers were not flexible enough. |
| A．The students’ critical thinking. | B．The students’ imagination. |
| C．The students’ determination. | D．The students’ mutual support. |
| A．Feeling panicked. | B．Becoming overjoyed. |
| C．Calming down. | D．Showing concern. |
7 . In 1990, Hal Donaldson was 23 years old, fresh out of college and found himself in Calcutta, India, where he was asked to interview Mother Teresa.
Donaldson says about the great woman famed for feeding the hungry, “She wasn’t wearing shoes and her ankles were swollen. She sat down with me and was very polite.” After the interview, Mother Teresa asked him, “What are you doing to help the poor?” Donaldson admitted that he was young and wasn’t focused on helping others. With a smile on her face, Mother Teresa said, “Everyone can do something.”
Those words deeply struck Donaldson and forced him to face hard truths about himself.
Hal Donaldson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When he was 12 years old, his parents were hit by a drunk driver; his father died, and his mother was seriously injured. To make ends meet, they went on welfare. Donaldson says, “I had holes in my shoes and clothes. When you’re teased at school for that, you just want to escape.”
He managed to do just that. Donaldson got into college and turned his focus to making money for himself. He says, “I was just trying to find my way out of insignificance.” However, it’s easy to overlook others along the way. I was the guy that would see a homeless person and cross the street, so I didn’t have to confront (面对) him. My focus was on climbing to the top instead of helping those trying to climb with me.
Donaldson returned home from India with a different thought. He traveled to eight cities in America and stayed on the streets and listened to stories of the homeless. “My heart broke,” he says. “I knew I could no longer just live for myself.”
Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words and the stories he’d heard across America, Donaldson loaded a pick up truck with $300 worth of groceries and handed them out to anyone who needed help. In 1994, Donaldson created the nonprofit organization, Convoy for Hope, which works with communities across America and around the world. Their work focuses on feeding children, women’s empowerment, helping farmers and disaster services.
1. What did 23-year-old Hal Donaldson do in India?| A．He interviewed Mother Teresa. |
| B．He fed the hungry with Mother Teresa. |
| C．He attended an job-interview for a college. |
| D．He did something to help the poor. |
| A．He was born with disability. | B．He led a hard life as a child. |
| C．He was well treated at school. | D．He survived as an orphan. |
| A．Self-centered | B．Sympathetic | C．Popular | D．Generous |
| A．He preferred traveling to volunteering. |
| B．He suddenly fell in love with journalism. |
| C．He turned his focus to living for himself. |
| D．He gradually devoted himself to helping others. |
8 . When my wife and I didn’t work long, our budget was tight. We tried to save as much money as possible so we could afford overspend occasionally. At the same time, we benefited a lot from the kindness of local store owners.
When my wife was expecting our child, she developed a craving for a local Chinese restaurant’s version of tai dop voy, a mixture of meat, shrimp and vegetables. Even though they rarely saw us, the owners remembered us. One evening, I ordered tai dop voy. They enthusiastically treated me and said, “There is some fried rice for your wife. Have a healthy baby.” The bag was obviously heavier than normal. When I got home, there was not only fried rice but also two orders of tai dop voy.
That was many years ago. But those small kindnesses from locals made a difference. Customers were seen as more than a source of profit. We were members of the community that local businesses served.
The generosity I experienced years ago hasn’t disappeared. I witnessed it recently at my local farmers’ market. A family was debating whether to add another vegetable to the order. The farmer served them and said, “Sorry, I forgot. I have so many vegetables this year. Buy two, and you’ll get another for free. Pick out any one you like.” I thought the farmer was being morally flexible: no prices on the produce, but everything is fairly priced. Fairness is in the sense that care and kindness are parts of the merchant-client relationship.
The kindness of merchants is a sign of something deeper: We are all making our shared way together. For my part, I will continue to support farmers’ markets and family-run restaurants. I am happy to make a fair offer.
1. What does the underlined word “craving” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Desire. | B．Habit. | C．Proposal. | D．Technique. |
| A．To praise Chinese meals. | B．To prove love for his wife. |
| C．To show human goodness. | D．To express his thanks to the owners. |
| A．Appreciative. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Critical. | D．Cautious. |
| A．Tight budget, happy life | B．Low prices, fair business |
| C．Tasty tai dop voy, deep love | D．Small businesses, big kindnesses |
9 . Tim Holland is 18 years old and a senior at Lucy C. Laney Comprehensive High School in Augusta, Georgia. Ever since he was young, Holland has been loving animals, particularly the cold-blooded kind. He decided to try herping (野采), something most young men like him aren’t into, in 2020 and said the first time was “low-key and hard” because he didn’t know exactly where the animals were.
After a while, Holland gained hands-on experience and developed a sharp eye. Influenced by him, some of his friends tried out herping too. One of these friends, Ro Smith, encouraged him to start a TikTok page about herping. It took some convincing, but Holland eventually decided to try it and started his TikTok page Nukherping. The general format of his videos is pretty simple: Holland shows animals he has found, says a bit about them and then repeats, with the desire to make them known to the viewers. He has slowly become very popular, with his biggest video gaining over 2 million views in early April.
Though his videos are laid-back, Holland takes herping safety very seriously and hopes his audience could take it seriously, too. Holland keeps a distance from the dangerous animals he finds and adds warnings to videos with such creatures, telling his viewers “do not try this at home”. He also carries equipment such as hand sanitizer, gloves and snake sticks to ensure safety and cleanliness.
Holland hopes to travel after graduating from high school so he can check off some of the animals on his “must-see” list. He also plans to study zoology at North Greenville University in South Carolina and play on the soccer team there.
Some people around Holland think Holland is crazy for what he does, but his mother, Latasha, takes a different view. “I think that’s gonna be very interesting. He can inspire and educate other young boys and girls with his experience, and it’s also something that’s going to be good for the community,” she said.
1. What does Holland want to do with Nukherping?| A．Attract people to herping. |
| B．Spread knowledge about animals. |
| C．Support his friend Ro Smith. |
| D．Call on people to protect animals. |
| A．Traveling around the world. |
| B．Going into teaching young children. |
| C．Becoming a zoology major. |
| D．Playing for the national soccer team. |
| A．Ambitious and energetic. |
| B．Adventurous and inspiring. |
| C．Devoted and responsible. |
| D．Cautious and sharp-minded. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Critical. | C．Indifferent. | D．Favorable. |
10 . “In the past, there’d be ringing of the church bells during a national emergency. They should be ringing now.” says Hamish McKenzie－a bell-ringer, boat-builder, extreme recycler and climate change activist. “Climate change is the greatest danger we face. In 100 years’ time, maybe less, it will be unlikely for people to live there because of rising water levels and the likelihood of hurricanes.” he tells Amanda Jones, the reporter from New York Times, gesturing over to the bank just feet from his boat.
Hamish McKenzie lives with his wife on his floating houseboat in Shorehame-on-Sea. Now 63, he’s turned recycling into an art and has created lots of houseboats out of old vehicles and things from junkyards and farms. He and his wife live on Verda－a mixture of and old coach and a 1928 Portsmouth-Gosport ship, which Hamish rescued from the muddy seabed. He lists another houseboat, named Dodge, on Airbnb to fund his lifestyle. His idea of walking lightly on the planet extends into every area of life. Apart from his laptop and piano, almost everything seems to have been recycled－from the microwave letterbox to tractor tire windows. “I buy my clothes from charity shops and regard meat as a treat. We’re living off vast amounts of seasonal local vegetables from small shops.”
“Sadly, there are no groceries left in Shoreham. They have been ruined by cars and out-of-town supermarkets. I hate the scenery of 30,000 cars at the end of my road. An average car weighs around 1.2 tons, but how much does a passenger weigh? Petrol engines are only 30% efficient.”
Hamish gets around by bicycle and often says, “Many people feel powerless about what is happening all over the world and even stop watching the news. But we have to think about what we can do for the community. Everyone can take action and do their bit.”
1. Why is Hamish called a bell-ringer?| A．He recalls the ringing of church bells during an emergency. |
| B．He draws attention to the danger of climate emergency. |
| C．He extends recycling into every area of his life. |
| D．He knows people feel powerless about what’s happening. |
| A．Hamish has become an artist in designing boats. |
| B．Hamish recycles all the things on his houseboat. |
| C．Hamish intends his simple lifestyle to do less harm to the earth. |
| D．Hamish has some meat as a treat regularly. |
| A．They drive groceries out of town. |
| B．They have become a local scenery. |
| C．They shouldn’t be designed that heavy. |
| D．They are a such waste of energy. |
| A．Concerned and responsible. | B．Fearful and powerless. |
| C．Sensitive and optimistic. | D．Satisfied and hopeful. |
