1 . Michelle Swan, a 33-year-old mother, says she was ordered off a bus into the cold and rain by the driver because one of her twin toddlers(学步的小孩) was crying.
Michelle Swan says the driver stopped the bus angrily, walked up to her and shouted at her to shut up her son and get off the bus. Afterwards, she had a 30-minute walk into a nearby town Tonbridge in the cold and rain.
Ms. Swan said: “I was shaking and fighting back tears. I just froze. I felt awful. I’d been to hospital with one of the boys because he can’t walk properly. I had been to a hospital appointment. About every two weeks he goes to see the doctor. We go about three or four times a month. I had tried everything to stop Rocco crying, but it was useless,”
After she was forced to get off the bus, she had to walk in to Tonbridge town centre to get her prescription(处方) when it was so cold in the rain and then on home.
She telephoned the company and said she wanted an apology from the driver.
The manager from the company spoke to Miss Swan for around 15 minutes on the phone and listened carefully to everything she had to say. Then he apologised several times to her. Meanwhile, he took down the code(密码) on her bus ticket to find out who the driver was. As a result, the driver was spoken to and left work for one day.
1. Why was Michelle Swan ordered to get off the bus?| A．Because it was raining and very cold. |
| B．Because her twin babies were crying. |
| C．Because the driver couldn’t stand the crying baby. |
| D．Because the driver stopped the bus angrily. |
| A．The driver of the bus. | B．A son of Michelle Swan. |
| C．The manager of the company. | D．A doctor in the hospital |
| A．She wanted an apology from the driver. | B．She wanted some money. |
| C．She wanted to work as a driver. | D．She wanted to go home. |
| A．Careful and curious. | B．Cold and angry. |
| C．Sad and rude. | D．Patient and caring. |
2 . Apple, a 34-year-old doctor, had been on call at Atlanta Medical Center for more than two days, with only a few hours’ sleep. And now tiredness was clouding her eyes as she drove to a meeting in Kentucky, nearly seven hours away. She tried turning on her CB radio, which enthusiasts used to warn one another about road conditions, but the airwaves (广播频道) were silent. Soon Apple’s car started to weave.
A 41-year-old trucker named Woody Key found a car ahead, drifting (漂移) off the road. Key shouted into his CB microphone (麦克风), “Four-wheeler, are you all right?”
Apple woke up. She talked on her CB radio. “I’m tired, and I’m lucky I’m still alive driving this tired. Thanks!”
“Call me Woodpecker, my CB nickname (昵称),” the trucker said. “I’m going to Kentucky. And you?”
“Kentucky.”
“I’ll travel behind and help keep you awake. What’s your CB nickname?”
“Dr. Froot Loops,” she told him.
As they drove, they shared stories, and the time passed quickly. They parted near the Kentucky state line. She thanked him for keeping her awake and safe on the long, dark road.
Years later, Apple found several doctors checking a person brought in from an accident. His head was badly hurt. She put both hands on his head, hoping to calm him. “It’s not your time to die!” she said.
Then, he asked for her name.
“Dr. Sherry Apple,” she replied.
“No ... your CB nickname.”
“How did you guess I have a CB?”
“... I know your voice ...”
“My nickname is Dr. Froot Loops.”
“Oh … It’s me … Woodpecker!”
It was her truck driver! She said, “It’s not your time, Woodpecker!” Then Key was rushed into the operating room.
The first days out of the operating room were very painful for Key. Often Apple would get home and find her phone ringing. Nurses, unable to calm Key, asked her to return. She always did.
About two months after his accident, Key was ready to leave the hospital. As he was leaving, he told Apple, “I don’t think I could have made it without you.” Apple’s eyes welled up. “And I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
1. What happened to Apple on her way to Kentucky?| A．She was called back to hospital halfway. |
| B．.She was disconnected from her friend. |
| C．She fell asleep as she drove. |
| D．She met with a car accident. |
| A．By giving her a lift. |
| B．By driving her car instead. |
| C．By talking with her by phone. |
| D．By keeping her eyes on the road. |
| A．He fought to survive. |
| B．He returned home quickly. |
| C．He stayed quite calm in the hospital. |
| D．He was looked after by Apple every day. |
| A．It was heart-breaking. |
| B．It was life-saving. |
| C．It was serious. |
| D．It was strange. |
3 . Winter in Syria can be cold. With over 11 million people made homeless since the beginning of the war in 2011, many people are without enough heating or shelter during the cold winter months. A group of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) students has set out to change that.
The team of six, led by MIT Sloan School of Management undergraduate Vick Liu, created TravlerPack, a light sleeping bag that can stand up to temperatures as cold as -10℃, with the goal of sending the bags to Syrian refugees (难民).
During a freshman exercise last year, Liu was among a group of students discussing startup ideas when he realized he was interested in creating something that would help people. He wrote the idea for TravlerPack on a piece of paper and put it in his pocket so he wouldn’t forget it.
With fuel (燃料) and shelter hard to come by, refugees have few ways to keep warm during the Syrian winters. But a sleeping bag doesn’t require fuel. “It’s a simple solution to a big problem,” said Liu.
Liu and his team spoke directly with refugees to find out what additions to the bag they might need. They found that refugees had no way to store valuables, especially at night, so each TravlerPack contains one outside storage pocket and five inside storage pockets. When not being used, TravlerPack can be pressed down into a small bag, which can be worn as a backpack, allowing refugees to keep both hands free.
After reaching out to around 80 producers, the team officially partnered with one in April to make the sleeping bags.
The team reached out to many non-profits (非盈利性机构) and, luckily, NuDay Syria, a non-profit with experience of sending goods to Syrian refugees, signed on to send the packs to Northwestern Syria.
In September, the group started a GoFundMe movement to raise $15,000 to send TravlerPacks to Syrian refugees, and quickly reached their goal. Now the team is raising more money to send 1,000 bags overseas.
“We’ve been really lucky the whole way through,” Liu said. “This has been a journey of luck and a lot of planning.”
1. Why did Vick Liu create TravlerPack?| A．To sell sleeping bags to travelers. |
| B．To solve a big problem at his school. |
| C．To meet the needs of Syrian refugees. |
| D．To complete a task given by his team. |
| A．To check if they were receiving TravlerPacks. |
| B．To see how many sleeping bags they needed. |
| C．To try their best to improve TravlerPacks. |
| D．To deal with their money problems. |
| A．They have received great support. |
| B．They will put TravlerPacks to the test soon |
| C．They plan to advertise TravlerPacks worldwide |
| D．They found it easy to send sleeping bags to refugees. |
| A．Kind and strict. |
| B．Intelligent and sensitive. |
| C．Creative and thoughtful. |
| D．Humorous and talkative. |
4 . Heroic mother cat Lele gave birth to four kittens at home and lived alone for over 50 days in Wuhan, when its owners, a family of seven, were in hospital for treatment of novel coronavirus. In late January, Lele's owner, surnamed Chen, was infected with novel coronavirus and has been in hospital since then. Several days later, Chen's father, and five other family members all tested positive for the virus, leaving pregnant cat mom Lele alone at home.
For fear of cross-infection, Chen didn't ask friends to take care of Lele, but prepared two bags of cat food weighing about 24 pounds and some water at home.
As he gradually recovered in the hospital, worries about Lele, the expectant mother, always haunted him.
Fifty-four days later, when Chen' s family got back home, they were surprised to find Lele had already given birth to four kittens.
The four were healthy and active and have been weaning (断奶) from their mother's. According to Chen, Lele survived on the cat food and water found in a fish pond on the balcony. Since no one cleaned up for such a long time, the cat litter box has gone messy and smelly.
In memory of the special experience, Chen named the four kittens ''Xiaowu'', ''Hanhan'', ''Xiaojia'' and ''Youyou'', which together mean ''Wuhan, fighting'' in Chinese, hoping the city could stay strong and return to normal soon.
Lele's story went viral (迅速传播) on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and won over 366,000 likes. A Douyin user commented, "God bless the poor cats! Good luck to you, another netizen commented, ''What a kind family! Please don't abandon pets because of the virus outbreak. ''
1. How did LeLe survive during its owner's absence?| A．By being looked after by Chen's friends. | B．By the cat food left and water in a fish pond. |
| C．With the help of the doctors in the hospital. | D．With the help of its four babies. |
| A．All the members in Chen's family were not infected with the novel coronavius |
| B．The birth of the four kittens was an inspiration for Chen's family. |
| C．Both the cat LeLe and its babies were strong and healthy. |
| D．LeLe got popular among Chinese netizens. |
| A．how a family took good care of their pet cat. |
| B．how Wuhan people fought against the novel coronavirus. |
| C．that a cat saved its owner. |
| D．that a brave cat gives birth alone when owners in hospital. |
5 . 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. |
6 . When I was eight years old, I had cancer. It was really hard. One of the worst things was having to sit in the doctor’s office for hours during chemo (化疗) treatments. I’d want to walk around and do things, but dealing with the big intravenous poles (静脉输液架) that hold the bags of medicine was a pain. I’d have to roll them around with me. I’d trip over them, and the poles got stuck on everything. It made my stress over being sick even worse.
Last year for science fair, my teacher said we should think of how to solve an everyday problem. When you have cancer, the intravenous poles are an everyday problem. I started thinking of making a backpack for kids so they could get around and play and go outside while they are getting chemo. I especially want to make chemo easier for kids. I know how frightening it can be.
For my project, I got a backpack and made a model. I took a small box and made it look like an intravenous machine. I had a small pole sticking out of the top, where you’d hang the bag of medicine. Then I painted it to make it look nice.
After the science fair, I got a patent for my invention. That means I officially owned the idea. I was pretty surprised. Companies started talking to my family about making the backpacks. But it’s very expensive. A lot of people have donated money to help. So far I’ve raised $55,000.
Before the backpack project, I thought of cancer as terrible. But now I realize that a good thing that came from it was that I could help others. I don’t like seeing kids with cancer suffer through treatment. I hope my invention can help them.
1. What troubled the author most?| A．Her health. | B．Her studies |
| C．The chemo treatment | D．The medicine for cancer |
| A．To help kids know about cancer |
| B．To make treatment more effective |
| C．To make students’ school bags lighter. |
| D．To help kids feel better during chemo. |
| A．What the author did to raise money. |
| B．How the author made the backpacks. |
| C．What the author got from her teacher. |
| D．How the author got an intravenous machine. |
| A．It was fruitful. |
| B．It has made lots of money. |
| C．It was started by a company. |
| D．It was a school-owned business. |
7 . When I was in fourth grade, I worked part-time as a paperboy. Mrs. Stanley was one of my customers. She’d watch me coming down her street, and by the time I’d biked up to her doorstep, there’d be a cold drink waiting. I’d sit and drink while she talked.
Mrs. Stanley talked mostly about her dead husband, “Mr. Stanley and I went shopping this morning.” she’d say. The first time she said that, soda(汽水) went up my nose.
I told my father how Mrs. Stanley talked as if Mr. Stanley were still alive. Dad said she was probably lonely, and that I ought to sit and listen and nod my head and smile, and maybe she’d work it out of her system. So that’s what I did, and it turned out Dad was right. After a while she seemed content to leave her husband over at the cemetery(墓地).
I finally quit delivering newspapers and didn’t see Mrs. Stanley for several years. Then we crossed paths at a church fund-raiser(募捐活动). She was spooning mashed potatoes and looking happy. Four years before, she’d had to offer her paperboy a drink to have someone to talk with. Now she had friends. Her husband was gone, but life went on.
I live in the city now, and my paperboy is a lady named Edna with three kids. She asks me how I’m doing. When I don’t say “fine”, she sticks around to hear my problems. She’s lived in the city most of her life, but she knows about community. Community isn’t so much a place as it is a state of mind. You find it whenever people ask how you’re doing because they care, and not because they’re getting paid to do so. Sometimes it’s good to just smile, nod your head and listen.
1. Why did soda go up the author’s nose one time?| A．He was talking fast. | B．He was shocked. |
| C．He was in a hurry. | D．He was absent-minded. |
| A．He enjoyed the drink. | B．He wanted to be helpful. |
| C．He took the chance to rest. | D．He tried to please his dad. |
| A．recover from her sadness | B．move out of the neighborhood |
| C．turn to her old friends | D．speak out about her past |
| A．Open up to others. | B．Depend on each other. |
| C．Pay for other’s help | D．Care about one another. |
