1 . Terasa Hill did not intend to do something unplanned. It began when Terasa was observing a horse auction (拍卖). A chestnut: racehorse was for sale? “She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, though it had an injured leg,” said Terasa.
When the bidding started, Terasa surprised herself by stepping in. Finally, Terasa became the new owner of Sierra, and Sierra, limping (跛) and hurt with pain from a broken knee, became a labour of love for Terasa. After three long months of nursing her under the guidance of a local animal doctor, the leg recovered.
It wasn’t only Sierra’s leg that needed to recover; Sierra needed to relearn how to trust people. Terasa thought the best way to win Sierra’s trust and fondness was to feed her treats. Terasa kept providing Sierra with many treats, but none passed the sniff (嗅) test. Desperate, Terasa experimented by making her own mixture of molasses and grains, which she baked in her own kitchen. The cookies were a hit with Sierra and other horses, sending Terasa’s life in a new direction.
Her treats, called “Barnies”, were sold to a local store and like hotcakes, within months local businessmen began demanding for more. Terasa’s kitchen was no longer big enough for the increased demand, moving her operation to an Oshawa company.
Then a serious health problem threatened to ruin her plans. Terasa called upon the same resolution that had helped her save Sierra to help her overcome her own illness. Family and friends came to her rescue and kept Barnies Ltd. going. Almost a year later, healthy and more resolute than ever, Terasa found a national distributor and Bainies began selling in 144 stores across Canada.
And what about Sierra, the inspiration for all this success and change? The horse has fully recovered and has become a wonderful riding horse.
1. Why did Terasa create her own cookies?| A．To show superb cooking skills. | B．To provide a special diet for Sierra. |
| C．To find a way to bond with the horse. | D．To lay the foundation for her business. |
| A．Inflexible. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Confident. | D．Determined. |
| A．It raises a valuable question. |
| B．It provides surprising information. |
| C．It returns to the topic of the opening paragraph. |
| D．It continues the focus of the paragraph before it. |
| A．A remarkable encounter. | B．A famous food company. |
| C．A rescue of a weak horse. | D．A career from previous devotion. |
2 . My favourite book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, talks about a formula called “SFF” which stands for “stopping finding fault”. I used to be a critical person and tried to find fault. I guess I somehow inherited this character from my father. Actually, many good qualities of my father are worth admiring except this.
My father is a person who constantly looks for mistakes in other people and he thinks no one is perfect in the world. His character created a negative atmosphere in my family. I was the same as my father, so I often felt angry, disappointed, depressed, and lonely in school.
After I had read my favourite book I began to seek “good things” in other people. It has completely changed my life. Now I feel happier, I have more friends, I have more trust in people, and I realize everyone has his own strength! Another important lesson I got from this book is that I should always behave myself in a positive manner. Let's admit that we sometimes complain about our situation. That's not good. Believe it or not, people don't like to listen to negative opinions.
One more valuable lesson I got from the book is that I should be a good listener. When I was younger, I only wanted people to pay whole attention to my words so that I could show them how important I was. I was very proud and would show off my achievements in school without considering others' feelings. I had very few friends and most people considered me as an arrogant person. Now, I find it much easier to make friends after making some changes!
1. What do you know about the author's father?| A．He makes his son feel angry and disappointed. |
| B．He likes finding fault with people around him. |
| C．He seems a critical person but in fact easy-going. |
| D．He can create a negative atmosphere when necessary. |
| A．self-important | B．admirable |
| C．troublesome | D．cold-blooded |
| A．To persuade readers to be good listeners. |
| B．To share his painful experience of making changes. |
| C．To tell readers the influence of a book on him. |
| D．To show the result of his father's negative character. |
3 . Most Valuable Possessions on Earth
Marie was a single mother of two children in a rural Missouri community.
Then one day Marie received some shocking news from her doctor. She had cancer, and it was spreading rapidly.
Soon , Marie witnessed what she had always known: although she was not financially wealthy, she already had the most valuable possessions on earth. Hundreds in her community and surrounding areas teamed up to help her and her family.
Many people she had touched in caring ways demonstrated appreciation for Marie’s life.
The spirits of love and gratitude multiply(增加) when they are shared.
All her life, Marie had demonstrated（演示） the truth of this simple principle :
| A．Happiness is the result of sharing love and gratitude. |
| B．She worked full-time during the day and sold handcrafted leather gifts on weekends. |
| C．She lived a rather poor and hard life with the two children. |
| D．Marie didn’t live to see the day when her bills were fully paid. |
| E．Love is second to none. |
| F．She had barely enough resources to put a cent in the medical treatments she would need. |
| G．Happiness will not come from worldly possessions of fortune. |
4 . Callaghan, father of a teenage girl — Emma, couldn’t understand why he had developed a disease which normally affects men twice his age.
“I was by myself,” Callaghan recalled. “I thought it was a kidney stone (肾结石). I was in the doctor’s office for about 45 minutes that day. I don’t remember anything more than one minute of it.” He believed anyone who had his condition would live only 12 months. And he would take tablets every day, possibly for the rest of his life.
Callaghan began finding hope in a small act of love for Emma: handwriting notes of love on a napkin and placing it in her lunch box; nothing unusual or life-changing, just some words of encouragement to Emma to think of during the day. His numbered days meant numbered napkins. “The reason why I started writing notes to her is that I want to matter in her life,” Callaghan said. “I see so many working parents today who give up a lot of their parenting. I want Emma to be able to look at me at whatever age she is and say ‘My dad loves me. I need his advice, I need his love and I trust that my dad’s going to be there.’”
But what started out as a father’s way of showing his daughter his love quickly grew. His idea of sharing his inspirational napkin messages with friends and family on Facebook got a generous response from the media. His new book Napkin Notes shares each message he’s ever sent to his daughter as well as more about his brave battle against cancer and life lessons he hopes Emma and maybe even grown readers can learn.
Now Callaghan is still fighting for his life. “The act of taking a napkin, holding my pen and thinking of something to write down inspires me just as much as I hope it inspires my daughter,” Callaghan said.
1. What doubt did Callaghan have in Para. 1?| A．Why he suffered the disease twice. |
| B．Why he had the disease at an early age. |
| C．Why he had to receive treatment twice. |
| D．Why the disease affected more men than women. |
| A．He felt lucky to be her father. | B．He desired to change her life. |
| C．He decided to number his days in this way. | D．He found it a good way to inspire both of them. |
| A．Creative. | B．Confident. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Patient. |
