1 . When Lucy was ten, she went to the theatre to see a play The House at Pooh Corner with her parents. Immediately, Lucy fell in love. But although she took part in school and college plays, she never thought it could lead to a career. Instead, she studied business at university, working for the Land Register of Scotland until she retired in 2012. Her newly free time reignited (重新，点燃) a decades-old spark. “I still wanted to do something with my brain so I went back to university to study theatre and performance,” says Lucy.
That year, she took part in a folk drama workshop and discovered mumming, an ancient masked form, in which male actors travel through villages, performing simple plays, often in exchange for food or shelter. “It’s a simpler story than conventional plays. It has one central conflict rather than slow character development. It’s rooted in history and involves more improvisation (即席创作) because the play is always tailored to a local audience,” says Lucy.
Interest grew and Lucy set up her group — the Meadows Mummers — as a charity, to attract wider support and donations. Its first performance was in 2015, at the Meadows festival in Edinburgh. Things snowballed from there. As well as touring central Scotland, the group went to the International Mumming Symposium and Unconvention in Gloucestershire in 2016, and learned more about the history of folk drama.
More recently, life circumstances have made performing difficult. “I’ve had health problems.” She says that, at times, she has considered giving up, but gets too much joy from doing it to stop. “We’ve just done one performance this year but I’m really excited that we’re getting ready for more festivals next year.”
The drive to keep going is inspired by an experience more than 30 years ago. “I was in a national park in Yugoslavia when I saw a woman staring attentively at this green river,” she says. “She told me she was going blind and wanted the river to be the last beautiful thing she ever saw.” Whenever doubt creeps in (不知不觉产生), Lucy recalls that encounter and feels forced to continue grasping life with both hands. “Just because you’ve reached 60, it doesn’t mean the drawbridge has been pulled up,” says Lucy.
1. Why did Lucy study theatre and performance after retirement?| A．To further her study. | B．To please her parents. |
| C．To recollect her interest. | D．To find a better job. |
| A．Its history. | B．Its characteristics. | C．Its importance. | D．Its prospect. |
| A．Stuck. | B．Collapsed. | C．Developed. | D．Froze. |
| A．We should try to live in the moment. | B．Roman was not built in a day. |
| C．Where there’s a will, there is a way. | D．Art is long, life is short. |
2 . Every Thursday afternoon, the food pantry (食品储藏室) at the local high school opens up to provide fresh food bags for families who can hardly make both ends meet to get their meals to last through the weekend. Nearly a hundred families rely on the extra food. Some are between jobs, some got hit hard with medical bills for a few months, and some are new to the neighborhood, placed there by refugee services.
On one breezy afternoon, two young mothers walked in together, each accompanied by a young child. There was nothing different about their dress, but their manner revealed a shyness that they struggled to overcome. When they spoke, it was clear why: Their accents were thick, even though they were trying hard to make their English sound American. They were uncertain of being understood. But the pantry is run by grandmothers who are never pressed for time when it comes to conversations. So they sat for a moment and told their story while the little ones were held in arms so very familiar with children.
The two lived in apartments in the basement of the Methodist Church. They had been in the United States for one month. Their husbands were well-educated but working labor jobs to pay for food and save for more typical apartments.
Both had fled the war in Eastern Europe, one family from Ukraine and one from Russia. They ended up in the same church basement and discovered that they needed each other. They became fast friends. Their children played together. They shared meals and navigated their new world together.
There were no bombs or soldiers or rations in their new neighborhood, only a chance to start over. Friendships are sometimes hard to come by, yet matter so much to each of us. A good friend gives us strength, love, laughter and the courage to keep trying.
These two families — worn down by uncertainty and war, thrown together in a new country, a new community with a new language — found so much in common. And isn’t that what we all need? A friend who faces the same life challenges, even if the forces above them have different political views. We are, after all, just mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors.
1. In the article, who primarily benefits from the services provided by the food pantry?| A．High school students. | B．People with disabilities. |
| C．Families with tight budgets. | D．Underpaid individuals. |
| A．Their clothing. | B．Their language. |
| C．Their children. | D．Their ID documents. |
| A．They both live in the basement of the same church. |
| B．They met at the same restaurant. |
| C．They are from the same country. |
| D．They both have similar professions. |
| A．Challenges of Life and New Friendship | B．The Story of the Food Pantry |
| C．New Life in America | D．From War to Peace |
3 . On a warm morning last summer, California bus driver Tim Watson was about halfway through his daily express route from Milpitas to Fremont when an alert from the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) flashed across his dashboard screen. A toddler had been kidnapped in Milpitas, the message read, and it asked that drivers be on the lookout for the boy.
The victim was described as a three-year-old child in plaid shorts and red shoes; the suspect, a man in his 20s wearing jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. Tim felt his stomach drop when he realized that a man with a toddler in plaid shorts had boarded the bus just ten minutes earlier.
Before alerting authorities, he wanted to confirm their identities. Pulling into a parking lot, he announced that he needed to look for a lost bag. He moved slowly down the aisle, peering under each seat, until he approached the last row. “I saw the red shoes,” says Tim. “But I knew I had to keep cool.”
Back behind the wheel, Tim apologized for the delay and pulled the bus onto the highway. Not wanting to arouse suspicion, he waited a few minutes, then radioed the bus dispatcher, who directed him to continue to his final stop, where police officers would be waiting.
Minutes later, after making the last turn, he stopped the bus and opened the doors. As the man got off the bus with the boy, a police officer grabbed the child out of his arms, threw the suspect to the ground, and handcuffed him behind his back.
The police officers told Tim that the man, David Edington, 23, had snatched the boy from the Milpitas library after he wandered away from his mother. Tim thought about his own sons, ages 17 and 21. “I went back in the bus alone and broke down,” he says. Then he climbed out again to check that the boy was OK. Tim found him sitting calmly in the front seat of a squad car, without a tear in sight. “I just smiled at him,” Tim says. “I knew he was safe.”
Now, Tim is still humble about his actions. “I try to teach my kids to look out for people who can’t defend themselves,” he says. “And that’s what I did.”
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To arouse the readers’ attention. | B．To introduce the reason for the story. |
| C．To state the setting of the incident . | D．To describe an emergent situation. |
| A．Because he had recognized the suspect on the bus. |
| B．Because he had spotted the suspect minutes earlier. |
| C．Because he desired to confirm the suspect’s identity. |
| D．Because he longed to get the suspect caught in time. |
| A．Alert and cautious. | B．Intelligent and pitiful. |
| C．Tough and respectable. | D．Humble and warm-hearted. |
| A．He closely resembled Tim’s sons. | B．He was in his 20s and was cool-headed. |
| C．He showed regret for what he did. | D．He kidnapped the boy to get more money. |
4 . Li Jing, 29, currently serves as the director assistant to the village secretary of Maotianping Village Committee in Cuijiaba, a town in Hubei province. Li is a native of this village and was one of the first from her community to achieve higher education. She studied hotel management and tourism. After graduation, she started a career in the hotel industry in Wuhan. However, she made a decision last year to return to her village. She wants to be an essential part of her hometown’s development, realizing her own personal value.
When Li returned to her hometown, she received unconditional support from her family, despite some villagers’ questioning her decision. She resolved to prove herself through determination and action.
Her job involves extensive communication with the villagers, with over half of her workload about promoting potato production, the main business of the village. Li and the villagers regularly hold meetings in the village square, where they share insights on potato planting techniques, sales channels, market trends, and more. These gatherings provide her with opportunities to equip the villagers with planting tools and offer a window for them to voice their concerns and experiences.
In her spare time, Li remains closely connected with the villagers through regular conversations. She admits that it demands a considerable investment of time and energy, but it’s all worthwhile.
Li has very fond memories of an incident from last year when one villager had a poor potato crop. Although her potatoes were unimpressive in terms of size and quality, she held faith in Li and worked tirelessly and enthusiastically. Li never forgets the smiles on the villagers’ faces at harvest time, which is the ultimate reward for her.
In the near future, Li hopes to continue helping her fellow villagers raise their potato production and increase their income. Her long-term vision is to promote urban-rural integration (整合).
1. Why did Li Jing desire to start a career in her hometown?| A．She received higher education. | B．What she has learned could help her. |
| C．She intended to live her dream. | D．She failed to start her own business in Wuhan. |
| A．Passionate and hardworking. | B．Strong-willed and competent. |
| C．Warm-hearted and easy-going. | D．Selfless and thoughtful. |
| A．To show Li Jing’s inability in potato planting. |
| B．To prove Li Jing’s success in gaining villagers trust. |
| C．To put emphasis on the hardship of potato planting. |
| D．To give evidence of Li Jing’s efforts. |
| A．No Pain, No Gain | B．East or West, Home Is Best |
| C．Graduates, Welcome Home | D．From the Village, for the Village |
5 . Chris Smith’s early life seemed ordinary, similar to any other boy in his small-town class with a cheerful character, sports involvement, and a charming smile. However, his family encountered big trouble, due to his father's dishonest business practices.
He ended up homeless and it all began when Chris's little brother drowned, leading to his father's imprisonment and his mother's emotional shutdown. Chris found himself homeless when his mother left without notice. At 17, he relied on his newly married sister's hospitality, hoping to graduate high school and make it on his own.
Despite challenges, a pivotal moment came from his history teacher, recognizing Chris’s intelligence and warning him of potential regrets if he didn’t graduate. Guidance extended further with Chris’s wrestling coach, teaching him the value of hard work and teamwork over individual achievement.
For Chris, school became a retreat. He would go to the library and gym, finding inspiration in stories of underdogs overcoming odds. Graduation brought a full college scholarship, but financial struggles led to loss of funding. Determined, Chris secured grants and loans, transferring to a smaller college, and graduating in the top 10 of his class.
Undiscouraged by setbacks, Chris earned acceptance to medical school, got married, and faced a new challenge when he and his wife adopted a child in need. Applying for medical residencies, Chris aimed high, including Johns Hopkins, the No. 1 program in the nation. To his surprise, he received the acceptance letter.
Chris, now a practicing radiologist, emphasizes the importance of hard work to students, echoing the encouragement he received. His journey from homelessness to professional success illustrates the transformative power of flexibility, mentorship, and a determined commitment to one’s dreams.
1. Which of the following didn’t contribute to Chris’s homelessness?| A．His father was behind bars. | B．His mother left him suddenly. |
| C．His brother's death. | D．His father was weak in business. |
| A．In his father’s old truck. | B．In the library and the gym at school. |
| C．In his sister’s hospital. | D．In Johns Hopkins University. |
| A．Ordinary | B．Inspirational. | C．Essential. | D．Emotional. |
| A．Chris Smith’s Ordinary Childhood | B．Overcoming Misfortune: Chris Smith’s Journey |
| C．A Small-Town Star: Chris’s Achievements | D．Financial Struggles and Family Challenges |
6 . One day as I drove toward my home, I passed the local bus depot. I pulled up as a group of people crossed the road in front of me. As I watched, I noticed a thin, shabbily dressed older lady struggling with a large suitcase.
Witnessing this lady and remembering similar struggles I had experienced in the past when traveling, I pulled up alongside her and leaned over to call out through the open passenger window, “I’m going right into the town,” I said. “I can drop you off. That suitcase looks awfully heavy.” “Well, all right,” she answered. When we got there, she thanked me, “Well, God bless you, lady. No one has ever done me a kindness like that before. I hope someone will do a good turn for you one day.”
Shortly after the encounter with the suitcase lady, I decided to spend a day in the mountains alone. I set off with my dog in my pickup, which was elderly but still serviceable. After driving for nearly two hours, I heard a sudden loud noise and my truck came to a full stop. I found its axle was broken and needed to be towed. In a remote area, with no hope of finding another person, I knew I was in big trouble. Over and over, I blamed my own stupidity for being in a deserted area with no possible chance of help. I hoped that no wandering bear would come to investigate. Or a hungry mountain lion — with babies. My imagination ran riot. I started to panic.
Then faintly, in the distance, came the roar of motorbikes. As they drew nearer, I could see that they were a group of motorcycle riders. “Do you need help, ma’am?” I heard a concerned voice say. The rest is history. My pickup, my dog and I were all transported back to safety. I shall never forget the kindness of the motorcycle riders who stopped. Some people may think it was a happy coincidence, but personally I like to say, it was someone that really did a good turn for me, just as the suitcase lady said.
1. How did the author help the old lady?| A．She gave her a lift to the town. | B．She helped her cross the road. |
| C．She carried the suitcase for her. | D．She took her to a nearby hotel. |
| A．It ran out of gas. | B．It crashed into a tree. |
| C．It broke down halfway. | D．It was attacked by animals. |
| A．She blamed it on the old road. | B．She lost her temper with the dog. |
| C．She stayed calm and asked for help. | D．She felt very uneasy and frightened. |
| A．Do as You Would Be Done by | B．A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed |
| C．What Goes Around, Comes Around | D．God Helps Those Who Help Themselves |
7 . At just 17, Lauren Schroeder has already made a significant impact on her community. Her voyage began at 14, volunteering at a food shelter. While packing boxes with canned goods for needy families, Lauren detected a substantial shortage: fresh vegetables. This observation sparked an idea that soon grew into a community-wide initiative.
Lauren pictured transforming part of her family’s 150-acre farm into a garden committed to growing produce for local families. Her proposal was met with a hint of concern from her mother, Katie Schroeder. While supportive, she also foresaw the extensive labor involved. Despite the agricultural background—her family typically planted soybeans and corn—vegetable cultivation was a novel pursuit. Nevertheless, Lauren was eager to tackle the nutritional deficiency she had uncovered.
The hard work began in earnest. Not discouraged by potential obstacles, Lauren dived into research to be a seasoned vegetable cultivator and secured a grant (拨款) from the National FFA Organization to cover initial costs. Subsequently, she spent two to three hours daily watering her crops by hand through the hot Iowa summers, sandwiching this commitment between softball practices. Furthermore, she carefully tended to her garden, combating weeds and harvesting crops, with green beans proving particularly challenging.
Eventually, with assistance from her younger brothers and sisters, Lauren’s half-acre garden produced 15 varieties of vegetables. In its first year, the garden generated 40 pounds of produce, benefiting food banks, nursing homes, and soup kitchens.
Motivated by the early achievements, Lauren doubled the garden’s size. To date, she has donated over 7,000 pounds of produce, valued at approximately $15,000, commanding community respect. Her work has found a deep echo among others, notably a mother from a local shelter who was grateful for the fresh food that reminded her children of home.
Lauren’s inspiration is straightforward yet deep-seated. “I wanted to have something that would impact people,” she told KWQC. Her actions demonstrate her belief in the power of community and the joy obtained from helping others—a feeling that will undoubtedly shape her future initiatives.
1. Why did Lauren initiate the community garden?| A．To pursue a new hobby. | B．To explore plant cultivation. |
| C．To fill a food shelter’s vegetable gap. | D．To gain recognition in her community. |
| A．By doing trial and error. | B．By conducting thorough research. |
| C．By engaging in fundraising activities. | D．By maintaining consistent hard work |
| A．She was passionate and determined. | B．She was inexperienced but creative. |
| C．She was observant and popular. | D．She was concerned but hardworking. |
| A．Garden to Table: a Solo Effort | B．Local Garden: Hope for the Globe |
| C．Harvesting Hope: Community Growth | D．Farming Fundamentals: a Teen’s Journey |
8 . Dr. Tatiana Erukhimova is a physics professor at Texas A&M who aims to show her students, especially the young women, that there are no limits.
Only 25% of physics undergraduate students are female. Perhaps it is because boys grow up playing with machines and making drawings of fast cars and rocket explosions. But girls are just as curious about the way the world works — they just haven’t jumped into the culture of chemical reactions, energy and magnetic force with as much enthusiasm. That is, until they see one of Tatiana’s videos showing the science behind real life’s magic. Tatiana is really one of the few living female examples they could follow.
Her videos get millions of views. She is a ball of energy with a short haircut, a Russian accent and a lively personality that makes physics accessible to the younger audience. Young girls are attracted to Tatiana’s attractive demonstrations the way they flock to pop concerts. This is real. This is science they can participate in. This is an open door to endless possibilities.
“These short clips are the spark that inspires,” Tatiana says with so much excitement that it lights up the room. Everything she does involves students. She believes the magic in learning is when your peers are part of the demonstration, when you are part of the teaching process.
“She wants everything to be a celebration of science,” says one of Tatiana’s former students. And indeed, the classroom is in a party atmosphere, with students cheering when amazed by Newton’s law of motion, demonstrated by a spinning bicycle wheel held upright by the professor. It’s hard to tell who is more delighted, Tatiana or her students. She is an attraction for female students who are graduating college and working in the sciences in higher numbers than ever before.
Dr. Tatiana’s story began in Russia and her parents were both physicists. After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Tatiana moved to Texas with her husband, also a physicist. They both teach at Texas A&M, and when Tatiana isn’t in the classroom, she is doing outreach with schoolchildren, amazing them with spinning lights that soon form words, liquid oxygen that shrinks objects and chemical reactions that expand matter to 10 times its size. But most importantly, she is expanding the audience of female physicists.
1. According to the passage, why do girls sometimes hesitate to jump into the culture of physics?| A．Lack of interest in chemical reactions. |
| B．Cultural differences in curiosity. |
| C．Absence of female role models. |
| D．Fear of liquid oxygen demonstrations. |
| A．They were made by a female physician. |
| B．They feature engaging demonstrations. |
| C．They are meant for Tatiana’s homeland. |
| D．They have received millions of likes online. |
| A．Appealing to students with fascinating demonstrations. |
| B．Teaching students some difficult physics concepts. |
| C．Explaining the history of Newton’s law of motion. |
| D．Encouraging girls to attend parties and pop concerts. |
| A．Female Professor Rejecting Gender Barrier |
| B．Russian Physicist and Female Scientists |
| C．Physics Professor Stimulating Girls’ Passion |
| D．The Significance of Online Short Videos |
9 . 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 |
10 . In 1975, a San Diego homemaker named Marjorie Rice came across a column in Scientific American about tiling (瓷砖). There is a problem which has interested mathematicians since ancient Greek times. After Rice’s chance encounter with tiling, family members often saw her in the kitchen constantly drawing shapes. “I thought she was just drawing casually (随意),” her daughter Kathy said. But Rice who took only one year of math in high school, was actually discovering never-before-seen patterns.
Born in Florida, she loved learning and particularly her brief exposure to math, but tight budget and social culture prevented her family from even considering that she might attend college. “For Rice, math was a pleasure,” her son David once said.
Rice gave one of her sons a subscription to Scientific American partly because she could read it carefully while the children were at school. When she read Gardner’s column about tiling as she later recalled in an interview: “I thought it must be wonderful that someone could discover these beautiful patterns which no one had seen before.” She also wrote in an essay, “My interest was engaged by the subject and I wanted to understand every detail of it. Lacking a mathematical background, I developed my own symbol system and in a few months discovered a new type.”
Astonished and delighted, she sent her work to Gardner, who sent it to Doris, a tiling expert at Moravian College. Doris confirmed that Rice’s finding was correct.
Later, Rice declined to lecture on her discoveries, citing shyness, but at Doris’s invitation, she attended a university mathematics meeting, where she was introduced to the audience. Rice still said nothing of her achievements to her children, but they eventually found out as the awards mounted.
1. Why did Rice often draw shapes in the kitchen?| A．To become a mathematician. | B．To explore the secret of tiling. |
| C．To fill her leisure time. | D．To show her passion for drawing. |
| A．She longed to start a column. | B．She was rejected from a college. |
| C．She was good at designing patterns. | D．She succeeded in developing a system. |
| A．The magic of math. | B．The efforts of Rice. |
| C．The humility of Rice. | D．The patterns of tiling. |
| A．Nothing is impossible to a willing mind. | B．Actions speak louder than words. |
| C．Every cloud has a silver lining. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
