1 . Leanne Carrasco ordered 95 pizzas (比萨饼). The high school senior and her friends filled up goody bags. But this was not your typical graduation party.
Carrasco had volunteered before, with her family, at the Star of Hope Family Development Center. But this time was different.
On Sunday, it was party time. The pizza was a hit, and so were the bags.
In all Carrasco and her friends served about 200 people. For the shelter residents, it was a magical day.
Carrasco did a good job but she won’t let it go to her head anytime soon. The graduating senior plans to study nursing at Briar Cliff University in Iowa in the fall.
| A．Carrasco didn’t want that. |
| B．She was able to think of other people. |
| C．They lined up to give thanks to Carrasco. |
| D．She said she would continue giving back. |
| E．Carrasco decided to spend money on a party. |
| F．She invited a group of her friends and got to work. |
| G．But Carrasco and her friends gave the residents something more than just food and soap. |
2 . Recently I’ve had two good roles on television. But when I was just getting started in theater work 17 years ago, I never thought I’d make it. Back then I was recovering from surgery and had been off work for six months. Even worse, as a single mother with three youngsters, I had no place to live in. I felt hopeless.
One Sunday morning I saw actor Robert Young on the television talking about his faith: Believe yourself! If we confidently take that first step, well take the next, until we reach our goal.
The first step was scary. After I went working part-time, I looked for an apartment. The ones I saw were either too expensive, or I couldn’t raise my children in them. I knew a house, not an apartment, was more suitable for me. However, after seeing several houses, my confidence was shaken. I found two seemed right, but when I was about to make an offer, someone else had ordered.
I remembered a saying, “When one door closes, a better one opens.” I wouldn’t just sit staring at the closed one but got up and struggled on. In a real estate (房地产) agent, I found a small house with proper price. To buy it, I had to borrow $ 3,000 for a down payment and get a mortgage (按揭). Common sense argued that a mortgage for a single mother working part-time was impossible. But I had enough self-confidence without following common sense.
After getting the house, my new self-confidence grew. Later , when I began filling small parts in television productions, that self-confidence showed. I'd always played the role as the director wanted. Now I find myself freer to interpret (演绎) it.
Self-confidence has made it through life. Trouble can be scary at first, but each time I take that step, I believe I will win the next.
1. How did the author feel when entering television industry at first?| A．Hopeful. | B．Embarrassed. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Aggressive. |
| A．To show the value of self-confidence. |
| B．To share her different life experiences. |
| C．To introduce her toughest part of life. |
| D．To tell us her ways to get over difficulty. |
| A．Her sense of confidence. | B．The difficulty in her life. |
| C．The director’s good direction. | D．Her success in her first attempt. |
| A．Appear on the Stage | B．Struggle with Life |
| C．Stick to Your Plan | D．Believe in Yourself |
3 . When the sand began kicking up and hitting our faces, I started to worry that maybe we had made a mistake.
That afternoon, my dad had stood on the deck（露台）of our home and laughed as our neighbors packed up their cars and headed inland. They left to spend the night in motels or at friends’ homes that were out of range of approaching summer storm.
Challenging the weather that threatened to damp our spirits, we lit a fire on the beach. Dad told jokes and we had a good time. When it was 6:30 p.m., all laughter disappeared. Our eyes were drawn to the sky. A tornado（龙卷风）was headed straight for us! In a flash, we were all on our feet. The wind started screaming and now we were running to the cottage. My mom stopped next to the front door. “Where can we go?” She shouted at my dad.
Most cottages on this part of Lake Michigan had been built without basements. Ours was no exception. The huge windows and the cottage itself wouldn’t offer safety from high wind.
“Follow me!” my dad yelled. We crawled（爬）beneath the deck, pressing ourselves against the foundation of the cottage. Between the deck supports, we watched the approaching storm in silent terror.
My dad shouted, “Hold on!” and something else I couldn’t hear over the screaming wind. I think he was praying. By the time it reached our cottage, it was nothing more than a strong wind. The rest of the storm lasted for an hour and then simply blew away.
“Next time, we’ll stay inland at Grandma’s. Okay?” my dad said.
1. What did the family do before the storm came?| A．They sat on the deck. | B．They stayed on the beach. |
| C．They packed up the cars. | D．They visited their neighbors. |
| A．to the motels | B．to the their friend’s home |
| C．to the cottage | D．to the beach |
| A．Our cottage had got a basement. | B．Our cottage hadn’t got a basement. |
| C．We hadn’t expected to get a cottage. | D．We had expected to get a cottage. |
| A．How the family survived the tornado. | B．What to do in face of a tornado. |
| C．How important it is to build a basement. | D．How a father protected the family. |
4 . I am a mother of three children and have recently completed my college degree. The last class I had to take was social study. The last class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions.
Soon after we were given the project, my husband, my youngest son, and I went out to McDonald’s one cold March morning. It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.
We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back way. I turned around and found there standing behind me were two poor homeless men with a horrible “dirty body” smell. The short gentleman, close to me, was “smiling”. His beautiful sky-blue eyes were full of light as he searched for acceptance. The second man played with his hands uneasily as he stood behind his friend. I realized the second man was mentally challenged and the blue-eyed gentleman was his salvation(救赎). The short man just asked for a coffee because that was all they could afford.
I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to give me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray(餐盘).I then walked around the corner to the men’s table. I put the tray on the table and laid my hand on the blue-eyed gentleman’s cold hand. He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said “Thank you”.
I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son. When I sat down, my husband smiled at me and said, “That’s why God gave you to me, Honey. To give me hope.”
On the last evening of class, I turned in “my project” and the instructor read it. Then she looked up at me and said, “Can I share this?” I slowly nodded as she got the attention of the class. She began to read and we all knew that we need to heal people and to be healed.
I graduated with one of the biggest lessons I would ever learn: UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE. “LOVE PEOPLE AND USE THINGS--NOT LOVE THINGS AND USE PEOPLE.”
1. Why did the people around the author back away?| A．Because the second man stood playing with his hands. |
| B．Because the two homeless men were also waiting in line, with a bad smell. |
| C．Because the short gentleman was smiling to everyone around. |
| D．Because both men were poorly dressed and mentally ill. |
| A．regretted and cried | B．turned in her project |
| C．went back to her husband and son | D．talked with them for a while |
| A．Lovely. | B．Mature. |
| C．Over-curious. | D．Caring. |
| A．Poor as the homeless men were, they had their dignity. |
| B．The author felt we should know how to heal people. |
| C．The author’s husband was very proud of her. |
| D．What the author did to the men touched many people. |
5 . I have received many Christmas gifts over the years. The best gift I ever received was presented to me by a stranger. I never even knew his name and I only had contact with him for less than 60 seconds. His Christmas present to me changed the way I think about people and about Christmas.
It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child’s bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. I told my wife that if we got a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.
As the shelf of bikes began to gradually decrease in size, I saw my polite opportunity to wrap my hands around the corner of one of the boxes. I lifted it off the box and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up to see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Threat was not the word to describe his presence. He was decorated with numerous belts of metal pointed leather around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos (纹身) were an obvious passion of his.
I started to return anxiously the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best Christmas gift I had ever received. The kindness of a stranger that broke all previous views I may have had of stereotypes and prejudices. I will never forget the tenderness of a human heart in a simple act.
1. Why does the author see the gift as best?| A．Because it was given by a stranger. | B．Because it was donated by a charity. |
| C．Because it improved his level of living. | D．Because it changed his way of thinking. |
| A．He is eager for it. | B．It doesn’t matter. |
| C．It depends on its price. | D．He doesn’t like it at all. |
| A．Strong and kind. | B．Tall and cautious. |
| C．Lovely and energetic. | D．Handsome and polite. |
| A．A True Gentleman I Met | B．The Best Gift I Ever Received |
| C．A Choice That Changed My View | D．A Stranger Who Gave Me a Gift |
6 . Many years ago, my dad decided to volunteer at the local children hospital. My dad loved kids. It was the perfect job for him. He would talk to them and play with them and do arts and crafts with them.
There was a girl, Karen, who had been admitted with a rare disease that paralyzed (使麻痹) her from the neck down. She was very depressed (沮丧的). My dad decided to try to help her. He started visiting her in her room, bringing paints, brushes and paper. He stood the paper up against a backing, put the paintbrush in his mouth and began to paint. He didn’t use his hands at all. Only his head would move. He would visit her whenever he could and paint for her, telling her, “See, you can do anything you set your mind to.”
At the end of the day, she began to paint using her mouth, and she and my dad became friends. Soon after, the little girl was discharged (允许出院) because the doctors felt there was nothing else they could do for her. Some time later, my dad was at the volunteer counter in the lobby (门厅) of the hospital when Karen came in. She ran straight over to my dad and hugged him really tight. She gave my dad a picture she had done using her hands. At the bottom it read “Thank you for helping me walk”.
My dad would cry every time he told us this story. He would say sometimes love is more powerful than doctors, and my dad who died just a few months after the little girl gave him the picture—loved every single child in that hospital.
1. The writer’s father decided to volunteer ________.| A．at the children bookstore | B．in the shopping mall |
| C．at the local children hospital | D．in the community |
| A．He showed her she could still do things. |
| B．He painted special pictures for her. |
| C．He helped her practice walking. |
| D．He visited her and made a toy for her. |
| A．Because he liked pictures very much. |
| B．Because she wanted to thank him for his help. |
| C．Because he was badly ill. |
| D．Because her mother wanted her to do that. |
| A．The girl was discharged after she had recovered from her disease. |
| B．The girl became a famous painter at the end. |
| C．The girl who paralyzed from the neck down could do nothing. |
| D．Love has a magic power and can make wonders. |
7 . Another person’s enthusiasm (热忱) was what set me moving toward the success I have achieved. That person was my stepmother.
I was nine years old when she entered our home in the countryside of Virginia. My father introduced me to her with these words, “I would like you to meet the fellow who is well known for being the worst boy in this town and will probably start throwing rocks at you no later than tomorrow morning.” My stepmother walked over to me, raised my head slightly upward, and looked at me right in the eye. Then she looked at my father and replied, “You are wrong. This is not the worst boy at all, but the smartest one who hasn’t yet found a way to give out his enthusiasm. ”
That statement began a friendship between us. No one had ever called me smart. My family and neighbors had built me up in my mind as a bad boy. My stepmother changed all that. She changed many things. She persuaded my father to go to a dental school, from which he graduated with honors. She moved our family into the county seat (别墅), where my father’s career could be more successful and my brother and I could be better educated.
When I turned fourteen, she bought me a secondhand typewriter and told me that she believed that I could become a writer. I knew her enthusiasm, and I saw how it had already improved our lives. I accepted her belief and began to write for local newspapers and finally reached the goal she set for me. I wasn’t the only beneficiary (受益人). My father became the wealthiest man in town. My brother and stepbrothers became a physician, a dentist, a lawyer, and a college president.
1. What can be learnt about the author from Paragraph 2?| A．He was the worst boy in the town. |
| B．He liked throwing rocks at people. |
| C．His father had a low opinion of him. |
| D．His stepmother praised him for his kindness. |
| A．Stepmother’s influence on the family. |
| B．Friendship between mother and son. |
| C．Changes in the family relationship. |
| D．Reasons for receiving education. |
| A．To congratulate on his success. |
| B．To encourage him to write. |
| C．To help him find a good job. |
| D．To teach him to read and write. |
| A．Enthusiasm changes life |
| B．Success lies in education |
| C．A stepmother’s amazing life |
| D．The secret of a good writer |
8 . One day, when I was a boy, my classmates and I were going to pick berries (莓果). Before I left, my father said, “Harry, when you find a good bush, don’t leave it to try to find a better one. The other kids will run about, picking one or two berries here, and one or two there, and getting very few in the end. If you want to get more berries, stick to your bush!”
I went with my classmates and we had a good time. But it was just as my father had said. Once one of my classmates found a good bush, he called to the others, and they would leave their places and run off to see what he had found.
But I remembered my father’s words, and I stuck to my bush. When I had done with one, I went to another. When night came, I had a large basketful of nice berries, and more than all the others put together. And I was not so tired as they were. I went home happily that night.
Now I have worked for 6 years, but I never forget the lesson my father taught me. I always stick to my bush. When I had a good place and was getting on well, I wouldn’t leave it and spend days or weeks trying to find a better place. When my friends said, “Come with us, and we will find you something better to do.” I shook my head, and stuck to my bush. Now I’m running a big company. I owe(归功于) all I have to the lesson my father taught me.
1. What did Harry think of that day’s berry picking?| A．Boring. | B．Surprising. |
| C．Enjoyable. | D．Painful. |
| A．Harry had got the most berries | B．Harry’s father came to pick him up |
| C．Harry was as tired as his classmates | D．Harry shared his berries with his classmates |
| A．accepted his friends’ help | B．is not satisfied with his job |
| C．spent weeks finding his job | D．is in charge of a big company |
| A．Keep on doing one thing. | B．Who laughs last laughs best. |
| C．Always keep parents’ words in heart. | D．A good beginning makes a good ending. |
9 . Danelle Ballengee, 35, was a world-class athlete who had run in over 500 long distance competitions through deserts and mountains around the world. Up ahead, Taz disappeared, but Danelle did not worry as she climbed a rocky path to the top of a ridge (山脊) near the top, her foot hit a piece of ice. She slipped over a stone and fell over a cliff (悬崖).
She was badly injured. She could swing her toes but when she tried to stand, the pain was terrible. The lower half of her body was useless.
Danelle looked at her watch. It was noon. She guessed she was three kilometers from her truck trapped in a hidden desert in winter. Then she heard Taz. He ran down from the top to meet her. Danelle remained still, her pain became less serious and she could think her way out of this trap. She would follow Taz down the path to the valley floor and crawl back to her truck.
She rolled onto her stomach. Taz went ahead of her, then back, wondering why Danelle didn’t follow him. Bearing the pain, she focused on her task.
Five hours later, Danelle reached the valley bottom, 500 meters closer to her goal, too tired. Then she noticed an ice-covered hole. She needed water to go through. She dipped her bottle into the hole, but it came out full of soil. She used the lid to slowly pick water from the surface. It took over 50 picks to get enough. She finally stopped as it was full. Danelle reached out to her and she put her arms around Taz. She fell his warmth and held on.
As the hours went on, Danelle tried to pay no attention to the pain and cold. She stared at the night sky, talked to Taz and counted the stars with him. Pain annoyed her constantly. Throughout the night, she took sips of water, realizing that if she drank too much, she would urinate and the liquid would freeze on her legs.
1. How do you judge that Danelle was an experienced athlete?| A．She had trained for lots of times. |
| B．She had been a player for many years. |
| C．She had got through too many troubles. |
| D．She had taken part in hundreds of competitions. |
| A．To reach her truck. | B．To find the rocky path. |
| C．To arrive at the valley floor. | D．To make Taz get what she wanted. |
| A．By dipping her bowl into the hole. |
| B．By dipping her bottle into the hole. |
| C．By using the lid to pick water from the surface. |
| D．By using her hand to pick water from the surface. |
| A．She took some medicine and made a fire. |
| B．She counted the stars and talked with Taz. |
| C．She asked Taz to put warm clothes on her. |
| D．She drank hot water and wrapped the wound. |
10 . Two of the saddest words in the English language are “if only”. I live my life with the goal of never having to say those words, because they convey regret, lost opportunities, mistakes, and disappointment.
My father is famous in our family for saying, “Take the extra minute to do it right.” I always try to live by the “extra minute” rule. When my children were young and likely to cause accidents, I always thought about what I could do to avoid an “if only” moment, whether it was something minor like moving a cup full of hot coffee away from the edge of a counter, or something that required a little more work such as taping padding (衬垫) onto the sharp corners of a glass coffee table.
I don’t only avoid those “if only” moments when it comes to safety. It’s equally important to avoid “if only” in our personal relationships. We all know people who lost a loved one and regretted that they had foregone an opportunity to say “I love you” or “I forgive you.” When my father announced he was going to the eye doctor across from my office on Good Friday, I told him that it was a holiday for my company and I wouldn’t be here. But then I thought about the fact that he’s 84 years old and I realized that I shouldn’t give up an opportunity to see him. I called him and told him I had decided to go to work on my day off after all.
I know there will still be occasions when I have to say “if only” about something, but my life is definitely better because of my policy of doing everything possible to avoid that eventuality. And even though it takes an extra minute to do something right, or it occasionally takes an hour or two in my busy schedule to make a personal connection, I know that I’m doing the right thing. I’m buying myself peace of mind and that’s the best kind of insurance for my emotional well-being.
1. Which of the following is an example of the “extra minute” rule?| A．Start the car the moment everyone is seated. |
| B．Leave the room for a minute with the iron working. |
| C．Wait for an extra minute so that the steak tastes better. |
| D．Move an object out of the way before it trips someone. |
| A．keep her appointment with the eye doctor |
| B．meet her father who was already an old man |
| C．join in the holiday celebration of the company |
| D．finish her work before the deadline approached |
| A．abandoned | B．lacked |
| C．avoided | D．taken |
| A．To Keep Emotional Well-being | B．To Prevent “If Only” Moments |
| C．To Follow the Most Useful Rule | D．To Achieve the Peace of Mind |
