1 . I clearly remember my first airplane ride. It was in my last year of high school that my friends and I decided to go to Italy. I was both really excited and afraid.
On that day, my mom drove me and one of my friends to the airport. We got there early. After my mother left, we waited outside for the rest of the group. From where we stood we could see every plane taking off. The planes were so close to us; I could almost feel their power. At the same time, there was a fear that a plane might crash (坠毁) at any time.
I couldn’t t take it anymore so we went back inside. I decided to eat some candy and chocolate before the flight. They always help to calm me down. Minutes later, the rest of the group arrived.
Then, we all went to the gate. My legs were shaking and I thought I was going to throw up. But no, I stood there like a “man” and faced reality.
We were about to board the plane. My friends were all laughing and joking around with each other like it was no big deal, and I walked right behind them terrified to death. Once we got into the plane and found our seats, I could only do one thing: look for the devices (装置) that can save lives.
Then I heard the engines starting. My eyes popped open wide and I took a really deep breath.
I felt the plane moving and I could only think to myself God will not let me die; God will not let me die. Ten minutes later I was myself again. I wasn’t afraid anymore. I started to relax; I even read a book and talked to my friends. I remember falling asleep for a while too. And in no time we were in Italy.
Rome sweet Rome!
1. How did the author get to the airport?
| A．By bus. | B．By bike. | C．By car. | D．On foot. |
| A．The author was frightened and nervous. |
| B．The author wanted to play with them. |
| C．The author’s friends were in danger. |
| D．The plane was going to crash. |
| A．The author’s friends. | B．People in the waiting room. |
| C．The author’ s parents. | D．Some candy and chocolate. |
| A．My Terrified Airplane Ride | B．My First Airplane Ride |
| C．My Unforgettable Experience | D．To Be a Real Man |
2 . A man was fishing on the bank of a river. A boy came to see him fishing. The man was really good at fishing and he could catch a full basket of fish in a short time. The man saw that the boy was very cute, and he wanted to give him a whole basket of fish. But the boy shook his head. The man was surprised and asked, “Why don’t you want the fish? ”
The boy replied, “I want the fishing rod(竿)in your hands.”
The man asked, “Why do you want the rod? ”
“I will eat up all the fish in the basket soon, but if I have the fishing rod,I can use it to catch a lot of fish by myself.”
Many people will certainly say the boy is very smart...wrong! If he doesn’t know fishing skills. He can’t catch fish without a fishing rod. It’s useless to only have a fishing rod, fishing skills are more important than having a fishing rod.
Many people want to have a “fishing rod” in their life. They are just like the boy, they thought that if they had a fishing rod, they would have fish to eat. Life is full of exciting things, we should try to learn fishing skills instead of having a fishing rod.
1. The man was fishing on the bank of________.| A．a river | B．a lake | C．a pool | D．a sea |
| A．smart | B．silly | C．wrong | D．hardworking |
| A．fish | B．eat fish | C．learn fishing skills | D．have a fishing rod |
3 . Five people were waiting for an interview in a room of a company(公司). Inside the room, they could do whatever they liked, except using the phone or the Internet.
On the first day, all of the five people were excited. They were imagining their bright future, but there was no interview.
On the second day, they came again for the interview. But to their surprise, there was no news about the interview. Two of them got upset.
On the third morning, they arrived earlier. Still no news came. By mid-day, most of them were irritated. Some thought the company did not care for them. Some regretted coming here. Only one man was different. He was happy all those days. He kept smiling while the others complained(抱怨).
At the end of that day, the boss appeared. To their disappointment, the boss said that their interview had ended and only one of them was chosen. It was the man who kept happy. Then the boss added, “We want someone who can keep happy in whatever situations. Keeping happy is an ability.”
1. The five people were waiting for________.| A．an interview | B．a meeting | C．a phone call | D．a meal |
| A．快活的 | B．愤怒的 | C．放松的 | D．胆怯的 |
| A．he listened to the others | B．he kept happy |
| C．his answers were better | D．he cared for others |
| A．a dictionary | B．a poster | C．a magazine | D．a notice |
4 . 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. |
5 . A man was fishing on the bank of a river. A boy came to see him fishing. The man was really good at fishing and he could catch a full basket of fish in a short time. The man saw that the boy was very cute, and he wanted to give him a whole basket of fish. But the boy shook his head. The man was surprised and asked, “Why don’t you want the fish?”
The boy replied, “I want the fishing rod (竿) in your hands.”
The man asked, “Why do you want the rod?”
“I will eat up all the fish in the basket soon, but if I have the fishing rod, I can use it to catch a lot of fish by myself.”
Many people will certainly say the boy is very smart…wrong! If he doesn’t know fishing skills. He can’t catch fish without a fishing rod. It’s useless to only have a fishing rod, fishing skills are more important than having a fishing rod.
Many people want to have a “fishing rod” in their life. They are just like the boy, they thought that if they had a fishing rod, they would have fish to eat. Life is full of exciting things, we should try to learn fishing skills instead of having a fishing rod.
1. The man was fishing on the bank of________．| A．a river | B．a lake |
| C．a pool | D．a sea |
| A．Because he didn’t like fish． |
| B．Because he wanted his fishing rod． |
| C．Because he wanted some big fish． |
| D．Because he wanted to have fishing skills． |
| A．smart | B．silly |
| C．wrong | D．hardworking |
| A．The Fishing Rod | B．The Fishing Man |
| C．The Fishing Boy | D．The Fishing skills |
6 . Henry was going through a very hard time. His wife passed away one month ago. He thought his life became meaningless. Henry sat in his house sadly and did nothing.
One day, Henry’s neighbor, Lisa, saw him from her yard. She hadn’t seen him outside for several days! She wanted to help Henry. Then she had an idea.
Lisa said to Henry, “Hello, Henry! Just look at this fence (篱笆) between our houses. It is falling apart. You are a strong man. Can you help fix this fence?”
After hearing Lisa’s words, Henry was a little angry. He didn’t want to help her. He thought he was the one who needed help. He thought Lisa was kind of rude. However, he agreed to help Lisa because Lisa was too old to fix the fence herself.
Henry spent a few days fixing the fence. When he finished, Lisa thanked him. Henry gave her a smile. It was his first time to smile after his wife passed away.
“What a wonderful job! Could you please paint it for me?” Lisa said to him. Henry thought for a while and agreed. Then he began to paint the fence in the hot sun. As his neighbors passed by and saw Henry, they all praised Henry for what he was doing. Henry felt happy and proud. He felt his life was not meaningless any more.
Henry finally understood Lisa’s purpose. She wanted Henry to know that staying busy could help him forget his sorrow (悲痛). Henry thanked Lisa a lot.
1. Which of the following shows how Henry’s feelings changed over time?| A．Happy→thankful→bored→sad. | B．Sad→angry→happy→thankful. |
| C．Sad→happy→thankful-→sad. | D．Happy→upset→thankful→happy. |
| A．She wanted him to get to know more neighbors. |
| B．She asked him to do some things to make him busy. |
| C．She encouraged him to make friends with other neighbors. |
| D．She advised him to find a new part-time job in his free time. |
| A．Silly and lazy. | B．Rude and lazy. |
| C．Clever and helpful. | D．Patient and hard-working. |
| A．Staying busy can help us forget our sadness. | B．We should help others at any time. |
| C．It is hard to make friends with neighbors. | D．Asking others for help isn’t rude. |
7 . Once upon a time, a young man wanted to go to a village on business. Halfway there was a mountain. Before he left home, his family warned him to stay calm and climb onto trees if he was in face of beasts(野兽). In this way, the beasts couldn’t do anything to him.
The young man remembered these words and began his trip.
He walked for a long time carefully and found no beasts were out there. He thought his family’s worries were unnecessary. And he became relaxed as he walked. Just at that moment, he saw a fierce(凶猛的) tiger running to him and he climbed onto a tree nearby at once.
The tiger roared(咆哮) around the tree and even jumped to reach the man. The young man was too scared to hold the tree and fell right on the back of the tiger. Full of fear, he had to hold the tiger tightly. The tiger thought that must be a giant beast. So it was afraid and started running madly.
People on the road didn’t know what had happened and said, “Look at the young man. He is riding a tiger!” “Cool!” “Superman!”
Hearing these words, the young man was very angry. “Why can’t they see I’m suffering a lot? Don’t they understand I am in fear and almost scared to death?” he said to himself.
1. Why did the young man go to the village?| A．To travel | B．To visit friends. | C．On business. | D．For holiday. |
| A．Excited | B．Scared. | C．Surprised. | D．Bored. |
| A．It was old and weak. |
| B．The young man was very strong. |
| C．It thought people around would kill it. |
| D．It mistook the young man for a giant beast. |
| A．People on the road were wise. |
| B．The young man was very brave. |
| C．We shouldn’t admire others blindly. |
| D．The young man shouldn’t listen to his family. |
8 . If there's one memory Anna wanted to keep from her experiences during the Second World War, it was her son, Andrzej.Anna,89, lost touch with him when she was forced to leave her native Poland and sent to a labor camp in Austria more than 60 years ago.Now,64，Andrzej hugged his mother at the airport, who had been waiting for him.
Andrzej searched for his mother for more than 50 years, almost giving up. But his mother made the first phone call. Unluckily, he wrote down his mother's phone number wrong and spent another month trying to reach her again. When he did, the two talked regularly on the phone for two months to break down the language barrier. Anna can hardly speak Polish over the years and Andrzej doesn't speak English.
After the war, Anna could not find her son and went to Italy, finally ending up in Great Britain，the US，then Canada 45 years ago. She used the Internet to track her son，making phone calls with no luck. Meanwhile Andrzej contacted( 接 触 ) the Polish Red Cross last year to help in his search. At last, they locate each other at the same time. Andrzej will spend a month with his mother in Britain.
1. The labor camp where Anna was sent was in________.| A．Poland | B．Austria | C．Germany | D．France |
| A．Over 30 years. | B．Over 40 years. |
| C．Over 50 years. | D．Over 60 years. |
| A．He had to learn English first |
| B．He needed some time to prove the news |
| C．He put down a wrong phone number |
| D．He had another special and important task to do. |
| A．Andrzej can speak English. |
| B．Anna went to Italy 40 years ago. |
| C．Anna is too old to use the Internet at present. |
| D．Andrzej turned to the Polish Red Cross for help last year. |
9 . There’s a man in the habit of hitting me on the head with an umbrella. At first I couldn’t stand it, now I’m used to it.
I don’t know his name. I know he’s average in appearance, wears a gray suit, and has a common face. I met him five years ago one hot morning when I was sitting on a tree-shaded bench in Palermo Park, reading the paper. Suddenly I felt something touch my head. It was the very same man who now, as I’m writing, keeps hitting me, mechanically (机械地) and impassively, with an umbrella.
On that occasion I turned around filled with anger. He just kept on hitting me. I asked him if he was crazy, he didn’t even seem to hear me. Then I threatened to call a policeman. Calmly, cool as a cucumber, he stuck with his task. After a few moments of hesitation, and seeing that he was not about to change his attitude, I stood up and hit him on the nose. The man fell down, but he immediately got back on his feet, obviously with great effort, and without a word again began hitting me on the head with the umbrella. His nose was bleeding and, at that moment, I felt sorry for him. I felt regret for having hit him so hard. After all, the man wasn’t exactly hitting me; he was merely tapping me lightly with his umbrella, not causing any pain at all. Of course, those taps were extremely bothersome. As we all know, when a fly lands on your forehead, you don’t feel any pain; what you feel is annoyance. Well then, that umbrella was one huge fly that kept landing on my head time after time.
Convinced that I was dealing with a madman, I tried to escape. But the man followed me, wordlessly continuing to hit me. So I began to run (I should point out that not many people run as fast as I do). He took off after me, trying to land a blow. The man was out of breath so that I thought, if I continued to force him to run at that speed, he would drop dead right then and there.
1. When the man began to strike the author with an umbrella, the author ________.| A．became angry |
| B．called the police |
| C．turned around and escaped |
| D．turned around and fought back |
| A．deaf | B．blind | C．dead | D．mad |
| A．the man formed a bad habit of beating others |
| B．he hit the man so hard that his nose bled |
| C．the man couldn’t catch up with him |
| D．there was a fly on the man’s head |
| A．shouted loudly while hitting the author |
| B．wanted to tell the author something |
| C．ran after the author breathlessly |
| D．acted as if he were a fly |
