1 . Cynthia, 72, has worked as a flight attendant (空乘人员) for Southwest Airlines for almost 20 years. After her granddaughter Hannah, 24, graduated from college and wasn’t sure what to do except traveling, she eventually decided to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and applied to Southwest. When Hannah got her acceptance notice, she was overjoyed and so was Cynthia.
Cynthia was present at Hannah’s flight attendant graduation in 2022. And behind the scenes, Cynthia was also trying to make sure she’d be on her granddaughter’s first Southwest flight. When Hannah saw her grandma on her first flight, she was very surprised. Working together for the first time was exciting for both of them. It was a long, multi-stop trip—the type Cynthia, with her years of seniority (资历) at the airline, usually avoids nowadays. She made an exception for Hannah.
When she was little, Hannah loved hearing her grandmother’s stories about her job, and had fond memories of flying with her grandmother during her summer vacation. But while Hannah always thought Cynthia’s job was amazing and exciting, she also saw the tough sides of flight attendants’ life. Often her grandmother would have to work on holidays and couldn’t take part in the family activities.
Cynthia also wanted to pass on wisdom to her granddaughter. She kept telling Hannah that flight attendants flew all the time, so everything was pretty simple and easy for them. Passengers sometimes just flew once a year and so flight attendants had to take it into consideration that they had to help these people, showing them the way, answering questions, and showing some enthusiasm.
Hannah says Cynthia brings this empathy (同理心) to every aspect of her life, and it has always inspired her. “That’s one thing that she has taught me—she’s just so sympathetic and so quick to help anyone. I see it when we’re working or outside of work. She really has the best heart,” says Hannah.
1. What did Cynthia keep secret from Hannah?| A．Holding a big celebration for Hannah. |
| B．Working together on Hannah’s first flight. |
| C．Planning a long, multi-stop trip for Hannah. |
| D．Asking other flight attendants to help Hannah. |
| A．It was easy and well-paid. |
| B．It brought lots of danger and uncertainty. |
| C．It was interesting all the time. |
| D．It sometimes meant missing family gatherings. |
| A．The flight attendants’ fortune to fly all the time. |
| B．Skills in dealing with co-workers during flights. |
| C．The concept of serving passengers wholeheartedly. |
| D．Emergencies flight attendants may meet. |
| A．Trying to cherish good memories of her flying. |
| B．Helping others anytime and anywhere. |
| C．Continuing working till the last minute. |
| D．Correcting every mistake in her flight job. |
2 . Mr. Evans works in Sydney. Last week he had a two-week holiday, but he didn’t know where to go. He said to his friend Robert, “I hate the hot weather here, but I can’t find a cool place in Australia. Where shall I take my holiday?”
“That’s easy,” said Robert, “You can go to Moscow. Snow and ice are covering the ground there now.”
Mr. Evans agreed with his friend. He bought a plane ticket and soon got to Moscow. He had a happy time there. But one day he got into trouble. After lunch he went to a park outside the city. He saw a dog following him while he was walking past a house. It was hungry and wished him to give it some food to eat. But he had no piece of bread or cake in his pockets. He tried to send it away, but it began to bark at him. Just at that moment, he saw a stone on the ground. He tried to pick it up but he couldn’t.
“How strange these Russians are!” Mr. Evans said to himself, “They do not tie their dogs, but firmly tie the stones!”.
1. Mr. Evans works in________| A．Sydney | B．London | C．New York | D．Beijing |
| A．hot weather | B．cool weather | C．rainy weather | D．cold weather |
| A．by train | B．by bus | C．on foot | D．by air |
| A．跳 | B．叫 | C．追 | D．咬 |
3 . Any 25th birthday is a cause for celebration. But it was even more so for Janus, a two-headed Greek tortoise (龟). Living in the Natural History Museum of Geneva, Switzerland, Janus is now believed to be the world’s oldest two-headed tortoise. The museum celebrated the special occasion with a day-long party filled with fun events, which included taking photos with the birthday “boy”.
In the wild, Greek tortoises can live up to two hundred years in their natural habitat. However, two-headed tortoises, like Janus, usually do not survive for that long. Unlike normal tortoises, they are unable to take back their two heads into their shell, making them highly easy to be attacked.
Janus, who has spent his entire life in the museum, faces no such danger. But life is not without challenges for the two-headed tortoise who also has two hearts and two pairs of lungs. Each head controls the front and back legs on its side of the body. The right head is more curious and more awake. The left head is more passive and loves to eat. This can lead to confusion when the two heads decide to go in different directions. To make matters worse, the two heads frequently rub against each other, resulting in skin sores (溃疡). Janus also has a hard time rolling back onto his feet when he accidentally turns over. If left on their backs for too long, tortoises can get sunburned, dehydrated (脱水的) and even die.
Fortunately, Janus has a special caregiver, Angelica Bourgoin, to make sure he lives a long and healthy life. The tortoise receives a daily massage and is bathed in green tea and flower water. He eats a special diet of organic fruits and vegetables, keeps active with walks, and rides on his skateboard. With such loving care, the two-headed tortoise will surely continue to break many more records for long life.
1. Why is it hard for two-headed tortoises to survive in the wild?| A．They can’t avoid biting each other. | B．They can’t find enough food to eat. |
| C．They can’t hide from their enemies. | D．They can’t run as fast as normal ones. |
| A．In a pet store. | B．In the museum. |
| C．In the ocean. | D．In Bourgoin’s home. |
| A．The death of thirst. | B．Different decisions. |
| C．The pain on his skin. | D．Two halves of body. |
| A．Terrible. | B．Free. | C．Easy. | D．Boring. |
4 . I was never very neat while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but my always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Overtime, Kate got neater and I got my merriser. She moved to push my dirty clothing over and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
Who broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! why under my bed!” Suddenly I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up. She quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, crying. Obviously. that was something she could not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy (同情) rose up in my heart.
Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bad. Cleaned the suckers and swept the floor even on her side. I got so absorbed into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching. Her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me. “Thanks.”
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
1. What made Kate so angry one evening?| A．She couldn’t find her books. |
| B．She heard the writer shouting loud. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill. |
| D．She saw the writer’s shoes beneath her bed. |
| A．Because she was scared by Kate’s anger. |
| B．Because she hated herself for being so messy. |
| C．Because she wanted to show her care. |
| D．Because she was asked by Kate to do so. |
| A．By analyzing courses. |
| B．By showing differences. |
| C．By describing a process. |
| D．By following time order. |
| A．My Friend Kate. |
| B．Hard Work Pays off. |
| C．How to Be Organized? |
| D．Learning to Be Roommates. |
5 . Everybody knows vegetables are necessary for us, but the difficulty in growing vegetables is more than you think. Many years ago I moved from the city to the country. One of the first things I did was to make a large vegetable garden. It was hard work to change the grassy area to a fine garden. Imagine how much work it must have been for the early pioneer families to break the native wilderness by hand. I planted a full garden that first year — everything from root vegetables like carrots and beets to green beans, com, tomatoes, zucchini, acorn squash, and melons. A root vegetable means that we eat the root of the plant that grows in the soil instead of the part that grows above the ground.
My best friends Fritz and Heidi, both German shepherd dogs, loved to play out in the country. They enjoyed discovering all the new places where rabbits and deer appeared. A garden was something new to the dogs. At gardening time Heidi preferred to go exploring but Fritz would stay close to me and help.
Once in a while I would find a cucumber (黄瓜) at the side of the garden with dog teeth marks in it. Who do you think tasted the cucumbers? Since Heidi didn’t stay near the garden, it must have been Fritz!
One day Fritz went into the garden. He sniffed among the leaves of the melon vines (藤) growing close to the ground. He had discovered ripe (成熟的) melons by their smell, fantastic! Knowing when melons are just right to pick is very hard for humans. But Fritz knew the exact right time to pick each melon in the garden. From then on, Fritz was my best garden helper even if he did sometimes eat the cucumbers.
1. Which of the following vegetables are root crops?| A．Tomatoes. | B．Green beans. |
| C．Beets. | D．Com. |
| A．Because they didn't know how to plant a garden. |
| B．Because they had to break up native wilderness. |
| C．Because here wasn't enough rain at that time. |
| D．Because their dogs didn't know how to help. |
| A．clever | B．humorous |
| C．easy-going | D．well-rounded |
| A．The Best Garden Helper | B．How to Grow Vegetables |
| C．Dogs Are Our Best Neighbors | D．How to Train a Good Gardener |
6 . The announcement that Donn had reached middle age came quietly and secretly without warning. Donna, at 42 years old, was in perfect health. She was fit, well-dressed, and ate only the healthiest of foods, avoiding soda and candy. She was still asked for her identification when buying wine at the grocery store. She ran several miles every day; in local road races, she was known for beating people half her age.
“Forty is the new twenty!” her friends would say of Donna’s seeming agelessness.
Donna heard the quip (俏皮话) so often that a part of her believed that this aging thing was surely only for other people.
But that all changed during what should have been a fairly common event: a trip to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew her driver’s license.
“Name?” the clerk asked, without looking up. Donna replied.
“Address?” Donna gave to her.
“Look through there, please,” The clerk pointed to an eye-testing screen hanging on the white wall. “Read the first four lines,” she continued.
Donna pushed her head against the equipment. “Go ahead.” The clerk added.
Donna was confused suddenly! Why was everything unclear?
“I think the glass is dirty,” Donna said, searching the desk for a tissue to wipe off the lens (镜头).
“It’s not dirty,” the clerk said, her voice filed with pride and anger. “There must be some problem,” Donna said, pressing her head against the machine once more.
“Madam, do you wear glasses?”
“No, no, I don’t,” Donna responded, a little embarrassed now, as other people in the room began turning to see what was going on.
The clerk looked down at Donn’s old license and back up at her. “Welcome to middle age, Madam. Come back when you’ve had an eye exam and gotten glasses.”
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．Donna was very healthy. | B．Donna couldn't make wine. |
| C．Donna looked very young for her age. | D．Dona ran faster than local people. |
| A．she had to go on a diet again | B．she was not in good shape any longer |
| C．her daily routine was not normal | D．something was wrong with her eyes |
| A．If you are in good shape and health, being 40 can feel like 20. |
| B．When people turn 40, they are likely to say they are in their 20s. |
| C．If you are 20 and are not in great shape, you can feel like you are 40. |
| D．If you stay away from sweet food, you can look 40 even when you are 20. |
| A．Donna’s eyesight recovered soon | B．Dona aged as time went by |
| C．Donna regretted visiting the clerk | D．Donna was not slim a all |
7 . If Albuquerque Police Officer Ryan Holets had his way, this story would never have got so much attention. CNN would not have learned that Holets, while on duty, had agreed to adopt a baby from a homeless drug addict.
Holets values his privacy and didn’t do it for the attention. He did it just because he knew it was the right thing to do.
On Sept. 23, Holets responded to a call about a possible theft from a convenience store in Albuquerque. By the time he arrived, the thief was no longer there, but Holets spotted a woman in a grassy area behind the store about to inject a needle into her companion’s arm. The woman, Crystal Champ, was eight months pregnant.
After a short conversation, he learned Champ longed for her child to go to a good family. Holets offered to do just that.
When Sergeant Jim Edison learned what Holets did, he was floored. In his 10 years as a police officer, he has seen many “heroic acts” but none like what Holets did, Edison said.
Edison awarded Holets for his outstanding service for the city, but felt that wasn’t enough. It’s his job to reward his officers and encourage them to do the right thing, so Edison signed Holets up to do an interview for CNN’s “Beyond the Call of Duty”series without telling him.
“Every day Edison calls me to ask for forgiveness.” Holets said laughing, “And I keep assuring him that we're fine. We didn’t quite realize it would get this response, and neither did he. But we all realize it’s a really good thing, and some really good things can come of it.”
One of Holets’s conditions when he agreed to CNN’s interview was that his superiors would not set up a GoFundMe page for his family. “We don’t want anybody to say we've used this occasion to enrich ourselves,” Holets said. He instead urges those who want to offer support to donate to a local drug recovery center or adoption organization.
1. What was Holets doing when he met Champ?| A．He was on his way home. |
| B．He was looking into a theft. |
| C．He was making a telephone call. |
| D．He was buying things in a store. |
| A．the encouragement | B．the telephone |
| C．the interview | D．the forgiveness |
| A．He did wrong to Holets. |
| B．He didn’t keep his promise. |
| C．Holets didn’t get promoted as expected. |
| D．He made Holets become the focus of attention. |
| A．Raise money for families like his. |
| B．Support the police’s routine work. |
| C．Make donations to adoption organizations. |
| D．Set up an organization to help the homeless. |
