1 . When your dream is to become a footballer, nothing should get in your way —even if you have no feet.
Gabriel Muniz, an 1l–year-old Brazil kid, was born without feet. Although his family thought he would have serious difficulties living a normal life, he started walking before he was one year old. His mother would go after him, expecting him to keep falling, but he never fell. It took him a while to make the jump from walking to playing football, but he did make it. And, in fact, there’s nothing he loves more than playing football. In his school, the skillful youngster is not only the best player in his school team but also the captain of his gym team.
He knows that his disability means he’ll never be able to play for a professional football team. So Gabriel is hoping that football will one day become a Paralympics(残疾人奥运会)sport. He proved to everyone there he could go head to head with any other boy. Watching him play is unbelievable. He’s fast and he’s got a big bag of tricks – he’s very skilled and he does everything he can to copy his hero, Messi so much that he was invited to go to Spain to meet his hero Messi and show his talent in the Barcelona Football Club. His coach says he is proving the disability only exists(存在)inside our heads and he is challenging the social rules.
1. What’s the meaning of “make it” in para. 2?| A．finish doing sth. | B．quit doing sth. |
| C．fail in doing sth. | D．succeed in doing sth. |
| A．thinks others laugh at him | B．is a skillful football player |
| C．prefers playing for a club | D．is a professional football player |
| A．Strong-willed and enthusiastic. | B．Devoted and kind-hearted. |
| C．Talented and patient. | D．Intelligent and considerate. |
2 . One summer day, as I was heading to the teaching building, I heard someone call my name. I turned around and saw Philip, a counselor at our college, standing with another young man. Philip introduced me to him, Stephen, and reminded me that Stephen would be taking one of my classes.
Stephen looked at me. With a somewhat painful expression, he asked if my class was going to be hard and if he would be able to pass. I introduced all the things that he would be expected to learn. As we talked, I saw Stephen’s eyes getting big with fear.
I told him to do all of his assignments, and to hand them in on time. Rather than being overwhelmed(压倒) by all of the work, I told him the most successful students made a master calendar of all the assignments so they could plan their workload.
As the fall semester went on, I learned more of Stephen’s story. It had taken him longer to finish the assignments than most young people. Family members, including his mother, kept reminding him thathewasafailure.Buthekeptatitanddidn’ttakethemtoheart.Hetoldmethatbeforecomingto our college, no one believed he could manage it.
Stephen didn’t become an A student. However, he managed to pass most of his courses by being in class every day, turning in all of his assignments on time and breaking down his studying into bite-sized parts. By passing course after course, he began to gain a measure of self-confidence.
On his graduation day, he walked up to me, and said,“Thank you.”
1. According to Stephen’s questions to the author, what do we know about Stephen?| A．He had never been an A student. | B．He didn’t want to attend the author’s class. |
| C．He wasn’t very confident about himself. | D．He couldn’t pass the author’s exam. |
| A．He helped Stephen get an A in his class. |
| B．He told Stephen how to deal with his studies. |
| C．He didn’t believe that Stephen could study in college. |
| D．He wouldn’t have met Stephen without the introduction of Philip. |
| A．He was an average student but hard-working. |
| B．He was a little stupid and didn’t do well at school. |
| C．He was far from a top student because of his failure. |
| D．He was an excellent student, but didn’t have self- confidence. |
| A．One bite at a time. | B．Look before you leap. |
| C．Haste makes waste. | D．A good beginning is half done. |
3 . Two weeks ago, a 5-year-old girl named Sunshine Oelfke emptied out her piggy bank (存钱罐) onto the living room floor and immediately started counting. Her grandmother, Jackie Oelfke, thought she was playing as she carefully lined up the coins, but then she saw the girl put the coins into a plastic bag and place it in her backpack.
“What are you doing with that money?” Jackie asked her granddaughter.
“I’m taking it to school,” Sunshine replied. “I’m going to take it for milk money. My friend Layla doesn’t get milk— her mom doesn’t have milk money and I do.”
Jackie’s heart melted at Sunshine’s words. Choked with strong feelings, Jackie held her sweet granddaughter tightly in her arms.
Last week, Jackie and Sunshine met with her teacher, Rita Hausher, and handed her the $30 the kindergartner had saved. There are 20 kids in Sunshine’s class and about half don’t get milk. It costs $ 0.45 a carton (纸盒). The total adds up to about $180 a month for every child in the class to have milk every day.
After dropping Sunshine off at school, Jackie posted a tearful video on Facebook to explain her granddaughter’s plan. To her surprise, many people offered to donate toward the cause. Within a week, Jackie raised more than $1,000. Now every student in Sunshine’s class can get free milk for the rest of the year.
Jackie said Sunshine doesn’t see her kind act as a big deal. She was just trying to look out for her friends. “She doesn’t understand the effect she’s brought about,” Jackie said. “But now she knows she can do whatever she puts her mind to.”
1. Why did Sunshine empty her piggy bank?| A．She hoped to show off her savings in class. | B．She needed to train her counting skills. |
| C．She wanted to play with the coins. | D．She intended to pay for her friend’s milk. |
| A．Relieved. | B．Touched. | C．Curious. | D．Proud. |
| A．Two heads are better than one. | B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. | D．There’s no such thing as a free lunch. |
| A．Small Coins, Big Changes. | B．Jackie’s Piggy Bank. |
| C．Piggy Bank and Carton Milk. | D．A Moved Grandmother. |
4 . There was once a boy called Mario who loved to have lots of friends at school. However, he wasn’t sure whether or not his classmates were his true friends, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need; it’s in the attic (阁楼). Wait here for a minute.”
Grandpa left, soon returning as though carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there. “Take it. It’s a very special chair. Because it’s invisible (无形的) it’s rather difficult to sit on, but if you take it to school and you manage to sit on it, you’ll be able to tell who your true friends are.”
Mario took the strange invisible chair and went to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. “Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing,” Mario said.
Then Mario tried sitting on the chair. He missed and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. Mario wouldn’t be beaten. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair, and kept falling to the ground... until, suddenly, he tried again and didn’t fall. This time he sat, hovering (悬停) in mid-air.
Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas, and Diana — three of his best friends — holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. At the same time, many others he had thought of as friends were doing nothing but make fun of him, enjoying each and every fall.
Leaving with his three friends, Mario explained to them how his grandpa had so cleverly thought of such a good idea. Now he knows that those who take joy in our misfortunes (不幸) when we are in difficulty are not our true friends.
1. What did Mario’s grandpa take from the attic?| A．An invisible chair. | B．An old chair. |
| C．A real chair. | D．Nothing. |
| A．To see whether Mario could sit on it. |
| B．To test who were Mario’s true friends. |
| C．To let Mario have fun with his classmates. |
| D．To test whether Mario was popular at school. |
| A．He saw the invisible chair suddenly. |
| B．He managed to sit on the chair finally. |
| C．His friends held him up with their hands. |
| D．His classmates gave him a chair to sit on. |
| A．Never laugh at our friends. |
| B．True friends can help us do magic. |
| C．True friends are those who care for us. |
| D．Having too many good friends isn’t a good thing. |
5 . Becca was 6 when she was told she had cancer on Sept. 8, 2014. She clearly remembers the bad days of her 26 months of non -stop treatment. Luckily, Becca celebrated her final treatment on Nov. 13, 2016, and she has been cancer-free ever since. But she was thinking about what her life was like while experiencing the treatment.
“I was never able to do much, and that’s what the kids lying in their hospital beds right now experience, asking their mom and dad, ‘When are we leaving? When can I play with my friends?’ So I decided I have to help them.”
In February, 2017, Becca came up with the idea for Knots and Arrows, a company that makes bracelets (手镯) out of swimsuit materials (泳衣布料). Part of the money made from each bracelet goes to the organizations that help people with cancer.
Becca created the company with her father, Gerhard Salmins. Gerhard Salmins once had cancer and already recovered from it. “I would be in the hospital sitting there crying and then my dad would come in and he would play games with me,” she said. “It made me forget about what I was going through” Becca said the name of the organization shows the motto (座右铭) she stuck to through her personal cancer journey.
Her organization has already given thousands of dollars to research organizations and families in need. Becca said she hoped her bracelets would make people remember that great things can result from small changes. “No matter what age you are, what you look like, and how you act, you can make a difference!”she said.
1. What happened to Becca at the end of 2016?| A．She recovered from cancer. | B．She created an organization. |
| C．She raised a lot of money. | D．She was helped by a company. |
| A．He showed Becca a famous motto. | B．He fought off cancer successfully. |
| C．He advised Becca to forget her pain. | D．He named the company Knots and Arrows. |
| A．Negative. | B．Creative. | C．Caring. | D．Clever. |
| A．To tell us having a motto is important. |
| B．To prove cancer can be got over successfully. |
| C．To show there’s always someone who needs help. |
| D．To make us realize everyone can make a difference. |
6 . My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked, “Who broke this window?”
Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what the teacher might have found out. She seldom became angry, but she was this time.
“Oh,” I thought. I was the one who broke the window. It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball. If I admitted guilt, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn’t even get an allowance. “My father is going to have a fit as a result of it,” I thought. I didn’t want to raise my hand, but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward (朝向天空). I told the truth, “I did it.” It was hard enough to say what I had done.
My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.
“I know how much you like birds,” she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face. “Here is the field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now. It’s time we got a new one for the school anyway. You will not be punished, but remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed (恶行), but I am rewarding you for your truthfulness.”
I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide — the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.
The lesson my teacher taught me stays with me every day, and it will echo forever.
1. From the story, we can learn that the boy .| A．didn’t break the window on purpose |
| B．lacked the courage to admit his guilt |
| C．tried to think about what he had done |
| D．didn’t know what the teacher had found out |
| A．be punished by the teacher |
| B．make his father angry |
| C．pay for the broken window |
| D．get a bird field guide |
| A．Afraid—Surprised—Thankful. |
| B．Frightened—Amazed—Proud. |
| C．Regretful—Guilty—Excited. |
| D．Nervous—Afraid—Satisfied. |
| A．Every coin has two sides. |
| B．Honesty is always valued. |
| C．Bad luck never comes alone. |
| D．You can’t be too careful. |
7 . 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. |
8 . In most situations, the responses of bystanders (旁观者)like negative body language, uninvited comments or pieces of advice on a child’s angry behavior can add to the stress of the situation. But sometimes bystanders’ understanding, and sometimes their words or actions can make a positive difference. One mom experienced this first-hand.
This mom was obviously pregnant and traveling alone with her young son at the Los Angeles International Airport. Then things took a turn for the worse.
The boy, about 18 months old, according to Beth, a Facebook user, was running all over the place, kicking, screaming, and lying on the floor, unwilling to get aboard the plane. His mom did her best to calm him down, but Beth said, “She couldn’t pick him up because he was so upset. He kept running away from her, then lying down on the ground, kicking and screaming again.” Finally, the mom was at her wits’ end. She sat down on the floor next to her son, buried her face in her hands, and began to cry.
Then the most amazing thing happened.
A group of six or seven women, Beth included, circled around the mother and son and did something to help. Beth sang him the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Another offered an orange. Another gave him a toy she had on hand. Another helped get his cup out of Mom’s bag. Yet another tended to Mom by offering her a water bottle. With the help of these women, the kid and his mother calmed down and were able to board the plane.
And then life moved on. All of the strangers went their separate ways without speaking of what had happened. But Beth said it was something she’d never forget. “We were strangers, gathering to solve something,” she wrote. “It occurred to me that a circle of passers-by, with a mission, can save the world.”
1. What are the bystanders supposed to do according to the first paragraph?| A．Laugh at the parents. | B．Give parents some advice. |
| C．Comment on the situation. | D．Be kind and offer assistance. |
| A．Made up her mind. | B．Felt worried and totally at a loss. |
| C．Gave up and ran away. | D．Collected her thoughts and calmed down. |
| A．Alarming. | B．Exciting. | C．Romantic. | D．Warm. |
| A．Strangers can help out. | B．Beth, a great mom. |
| C．Women can save the world. | D．Let’s care for children. |
9 . The morning had been a disaster. My tooth was aching, and I’d been in an argument with a friend. Her words still hurt, “ The trouble with you is that you won’t put yourself in my place. Can’t you see things from my point of view? ” I shook my head stubbornly-and felt the ache in my tooth. I’d thought I could hold out till my dentist came back from holiday, but the pain was really unbearable. I started calling the dentists in the phone book, but no one could see me immediately. Finally, at about lunchtime, I got lucky.
“ If you come by right now, ” the receptionist said, “ the dentist will fit you in. ”
I took my purse and keys and rushed to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist. What kind of dentist would be so eager to treat someone at such short notice? Why wasn’t he as busy as the others?
In the dentist’s office, I sat down and looked around. I saw nothing but the bare walls and I became even more worried. The assistant noticed my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my icecold one.
When I told her my fears, she laughed and said, “ Don’t worry. The dentist is very good. ”
“ How long do I have to wait for him? ” I asked impatiently.
“ Come on, he is coming. Just lie down and relax. And enjoy the artwork, ” the assistant said.
“ The artwork? ”I was puzzled.
The chair went back. Suddenly I smiled. There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it: on the ceiling. How considerate the dentist was! At that moment, I began to understand what my friend meant by her words.
What a relief!
1. Which of the following best describes the author’s feeling that morning?| A．Upset. | B．Nervous. | C．Cheerful. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．The laughing assistant of the dentist. |
| B．The surroundings of the dentist’s office. |
| C．The dentist’s being as busy as the other dentists. |
| D．The dentist’s agreeing to treat her at very short notice. |
| A．Because the dentist came at last. | B．Because she could relax in the chair. |
| C．Because she saw a picture on the ceiling. | D．Because the assistant kept comforting her. |
| A．Strike while the iron is hot. | B．Put oneself in other’s shoes. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | D．Have a good word for one’s friend. |
10 . On the day the tornado hit, there was no indication that severe weather was on its way—the sky was blue and the sun had been out. The first alert my husband, Jimmy, 67, and I, 65, got came around 9 p. m. , from some scrolling text on the TV Jimmy was watching. He ran upstairs to find me in our thirdfloor bedroom, and we changed the channel from the presidential primary debate I had been watching to our local Pensacola, Florida, station.
No sooner had we found coverage of the tornado than it was on top of us. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. The wind began to roar through the house, most likely through blownout windows and the door to our garage. We had three flights of steps to navigate to get to the relative safety of the first floor, because the cupboard down there is underneath a brick staircase.
I didn’t know how or if we would make it down the steps. It felt as if there were no floor underneath me as the wind lifted me off my feet. I tried to move forward, but this intense pressure held me in place.
As we reached the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Pieces of glass that looked like crushed ice flew everywhere. Suddenly, a threefootlong tree branch crashed into the door frame. It flew over our heads, missing us by inches. Had we been one step up, it would have hit us.
By the time I reached the cupboard, the tornado had been over us for about a minute. Jimmy pushed me down to the cupboard floor, but he couldn’t get inside himself because of the wind. I held Jimmy’s arm and tried to bring Jimmy with it. My knees were full of glass, but at that moment, I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house and into the bay.
All of a sudden, Jimmy lifted off his feet like people in tornadoes do in the movies. I thought he was gone. And then everything stopped. He landed on his feet. In those first quiet moments, I couldn't believe it was over, Jimmy said he'd go outside to check. “No,” I said. “Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. ”
Our neighbor said the storm lasted four minutes. In that time, four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Of the houses left standing, ours suffered the most damage. Amazingly, none of us were severely injured.
1. Where did the husband first get the warning information about the tornado?| A．From the weather forecast. |
| B．From a movie he was watching. |
| C．From the local broadcast station. |
| D．From the moving words on a TV programme. |
| A．Power. | B．Description. | C．Arrival. | D．Delay. |
| A．Because she didn't get any hurt when the storm hit. |
| B．Because she was too scared to feel pain. |
| C．Because she used all her strength to hold on to her husband. |
| D．Because she had reached the cupboard and she was safe. |
| A．To share with us her experience of surviving a tornado. |
| B．To warn us of the danger caused by tornadoes. |
| C．To show us how to fight against a tornado. |
| D．To tell us how to protect us from dangerous tornadoes. |
