When I was a little girl, I spent memorable holidays with my grandmother, who lived in a small village. She was a farmer with a stooped (弯曲的) back that made it seem like she was always leaning forward to examine something. Early in the morning, she would tie a cloth around her waist and set out to the farm. I would skip breathlessly alongside, trying to keep up. On our way, she would greet everyone we passed.
There was the standard greeting, “Did you wake up on the right foot this morning?” Then, the more personalized greetings. To Patriarch Kosi who sat under the mango tree, she would ask, “Are the grandchildren in good health?” To the Bean Stew Seller who was preparing to serve breakfast, she would inquire, “Are your boys well?”
Sometimes, the greetings were spoken soothingly (安慰地). When we walked past the widow, Dada Mawusi, many months after her husband’s death, Grandmother would say directly, “How is your grieving?” She didn’t like to beat around the bush. The greeting made more sense to her to acknowledge the woman’s suffering, and in doing so, empathize (理解) with her.
The people that Grandmother greeted would respond similarly. “I see you have your granddaughter with you today. How is her father?” or “I see you have woken up before the cock’s crow today. May it be a fruitful day at the farm.” As a young girl, I thought these greetings were unnecessarily time-consuming. What I now realize is that the greetings increased a sense of belonging. My grandmother taught me that there is always time to greet someone before getting down to business. You can always take a few extra seconds to say a greeting to a person. We enrich our society when we acknowledge the unique presence of one another.
1. Where did the writer spend holidays when she was young? (no more than 6 words)2. What made the writer feel breathless? (no more than 8 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
4. What did the writer think about greetings when she was young? (no more than 10 words)
5. Why do you think greeting neighbors is important? Give your reasons, (no more than 20 words)
Over the past three years, I've had one major goal in my personal life: To stop being so angry. I grew up in an angry home. Yelling and phone throwing were my parents’ basic means of communication. I brought these to my marriage.“Why are you always yelling?”my husband would say. Then three years ago, an earthquake hit our home: We had a baby girl. I wanted her to grow up in a peaceful environment.
Then, six months ago, I was talking with Lisa Feldman Barrett, a psychologist at Northeastern University. She gave me this suggestion: “You could increase your emotional granularity(情绪粒度）.”Over the past 30 years, she has found evidence that anger isn't one emotion but rather a whole family of emotions. And learning to identify different members of the family is a powerful tool for regulating your anger. So in many ways, anger is like wine. There are these major varieties but each drink has its own unique combination of aromas(香气）and flavors.
“If you learn to detect all the various flavors of anger and label(给……加标签) them, you can start to handle your anger better,”says psychologist Maria Gendron at Yale University. “Analyze what's causing your different types of anger, give them specific names and start using the terms with family and coworkers.”
I started paying attention to what typically triggers my anger. And I found three major types, which I named. Illogical(不合逻辑的）anger: This emotion happens when somebody at work makes a decision that seems completely illogical. Once I labeled this anger, I quickly realized that trying to convince an illogical person of logic is a waste of time. Hurry-up anger: This is the anger I feel when someone else is not doing something fast enough. Yes, I'm talking about the driver of the gray Prius at the stoplight this morning. Once I labeled it, I realized my anger doesn't help things become any better. Disonophous anger: The dog was barking and the child was screaming. I made up disonophous anger from the Latin for “two sounds.”
Now when my husband says “I have disonophous anger, Emma ...”, we know exactly what to do: Feed the dog and pick up the baby. And I know he's not angry at me. He just wants some peace and quiet.
1. What inspired the author’s goal? (no more than10 words)2. Why does the author compare anger to wine?(no more than 10 words)
3. What does the underlined word probably mean in Paragraph 4?(1 word)
4. When might the author feel disonophous anger?(no more than 15 words)
5. How do you control your anger? Please explain.(no more than 20 words)
It was late on a Saturday afternoon. A young boy and his father were sitting quietly, watching the snow fall.
“Son, you see every snowflake is different, but when they are all together, they are so beautiful.” Dad, smiling, turned to his son, “Just like people. God makes every one of us different.”
Then came a question. “If people are like snowflakes, unique and special, how could they get along?”
Dad sat there for a moment, thinking. “Choice,” he said. “One of the greatest gifts God has given us is the gift of choice. Different as we all are, we have one thing in common. We can choose what we do, how we dress, where we live, and how we treat each other.”
“But some people don’t get along. So their choice is a bad thing?” the boy asked.
“Oh, no. Only when they choose the wrong things.”
“How do we know what’s right and what’s wrong?”
Without a word, Dad began to work with the snow. First he made several snowballs. And then he placed three of them on top of each other.
“It’s a snowman!” the boy shouted with excitement. “Those that made the snowman did the right thing.”
“Yes, these three came together and joined in an effort to build up mankind,” Dad said.
Then he held his boy tightly and said, “I pray to God that your world will learn to work and live together.”
The boy leaned back in the comfort and protection of his father’s arms, and said, “I will make the right choice. I will learn to build the best snowman ever.”
1. What was the weather like in the story?2. What do people have in common according to Dad?
3. How did Dad show the right choice with the snowballs?
4. What does “the right choice” in the underlined sentence mean?
5. What do you think of the father in the text?
4 . Mom wanted only one thing for her birthday．"Can you find me another copy of this song？"she asked，and handed me a worn-out cassette tape. I know exactly what was recorded on it-"My Redeemer (救世主)."I heard the song played at least a thousand times while growing up. After 37years，the cassette tape was too worn-out to be used. I promised her I would find a replacement．
"My Redeemer"had become Mom's favorite song after my younger brother Tim was killed by a drunk driver in 1973. The only thing that helped her calm down was the soulful sound of"My Redeemer"from the local radio station．We recorded it on a cassette tape so she would listen to it any time she wanted，but none of us knew who the singer was. These days, I figured it would be easy to find out. I went home and searched the Internet. Several songs with that title came out，but none of them were the one Mom loved. I got depressed.
Mom's birthday drew near and then one day, I was driving home, listening to our local radio station．I heard a familiar song, "My Redeemer!"As soon as I could, I phoned the station. I found out the singer was Alan Parks．I typed his name into Google and found his home number in South Carolina. Minutes later, I was telling him how much his recording meant to Mom. He offered to post two CDs to me personally. I gave him my address．
"Red Lion, Pennsylvania?"he said."Do you know the Logans?""They're our neighbours!""I've been friends with them for 25years，"Alan said. "They'll be at my concert at Your Gospel Chapel on April 17th. Would you and your mom come, too？"We sure would. Mom was excited to hear Alan sing"My Redeemer", on the evening of her 87th birthday.
1. The author promised her mother she would ________ ．| A．help her mother go to the concert |
| B．buy her mother a new cassette tape |
| C．record a new popular song for her mother |
| D．find another cassette tape of"My Redeemer" |
| A．It was first sung by her． |
| B．It was the memory of her mother's youth． |
| C．It helped her calm down after her younger son died． |
| D．It was such a fantastic song that she couldn't forget forever． |
| A．She searched for it on Google． |
| B．She called the station and got it． |
| C．She heard it from the radio station． |
| D．She got it from Alan's neighbour． |
| A．He lives in Red Lion，Pennsylvania． |
| B．He'll sing for the author's mom at the station． |
| C．He offered to give the author two cassette tapes． |
| D．He has been friends with the Logans for many years． |
5 . There is a wonderful story about a young girl who had no family and no one to love her.
One day, feeling very sad and lonely, she was walking through a grassland when she noticed a small butterfly caught in a thorn (荆棘) bush. The young girl carefully released the butterfly. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy. The young girl rubbed her eyes in disbelief.
“For your wonderful kindness, ” the good fairy said to the girl，“I will give you any wish you would like.” The little girl thought for a moment and then replied, “I want to be happy.” The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up，there was no one in the land as happy as she. Everyone asked her secret of happiness . She would only smile and answer，“The secret of my happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl.”
When she was very old and on her deathbed, the neighbors all gathered around her, and feared that her unbelievable secret of happiness would die with her. “ tell us，please, ” they begged，“ tell us what the good fairy said. ” The lovely old woman simply smiled and said，“ She told me that everyone，no matter how safe they seemed，no matter how old or young，how rich or poor, had need of me.”
1. ________the girl felt sad and lonely.| A．There were many friends but | B．There was nobody to love her so |
| C．There was nothing to do | D．Seeing the butterfly was caught |
| A．helped the butterfly escaped from the thorn |
| B．felt sorrow，but she didn’t go up to help it |
| C．fell down on it too |
| D．failed to help it release from the thorn |
| A．flied away | B．still died |
| C．changed into a fairy | D．was more beautiful than before |
| A．to be rich | B．to have her own parents |
| C．to have a lot of friends | D．happiness |
6 . A Teacher’s Lifesaving Call
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Julia Koch began what was only her second year as a first grade teacher in a virtual classroom.
One September afternoon a few weeks into the school year, she received a call from Cynthia Phillips, who was having technical difficulties with her granddaughter’s tools for online learning.
Koch immediately knew something was wrong with Phillips. The two women had spoken numerous times before, but Koch had never heard the grandmother sound quite like this. Her words were so jumbled that Koch could barely understand her, though she was able to make out that Phillips had fallen four times that day.
Koch called her principal, Charlie Lovelady, who assured her that he would call and check on Phillips himself.
Just like Koch, Lovelady could barely understand Phillips. He suspected she might be having a stroke—he recognized the signs from when his own father had suffered one. Lovelady was able to make out the word “kids” and immediately became concerned that Phillips’s two grandchildren, aged six and eight, were probably home alone with her—she is their primary guardian—and scared. Lovelady asked his office manager to send an ambulance to the grandmother’s home. Then Lovelady called two deans in the school district, to tell them what was going on, both of whom dropped everything and drove to the family’s home.
When they pulled up less than ten minutes later, the EMTs(急救人员)were treating Phillips while the two girls, looking visibly shaken, were outside with a neighbor.
The quick response from Koch and Lovelady saved Phillips’s life. She arrived at the hospital in time to get treatment and before chronic damage occurred.
“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here,” said Phillips from her hospital bed about a month after her stroke.
Thanks to an extended stay in the hospital, she has regained most of the movement throughout her body except for one hand and a portion of her mouth, which affects her speech.
1. When did the story happen?| A．When Koch was in her first grade. |
| B．When the grandchildren were having online classes. |
| C．When Lovelady was with his own father. |
| D．When the EMTs were giving medical help to Phillips. |
| A．Because Phillips’s voice sounded strange. |
| B．Because Phillips had seldom called Koch. |
| C．Because Phillips spoke a strange language. |
| D．Because Koch could not hear very clearly. |
| A．By calling the hospital for advice. |
| B．By visiting Phillips in person. |
| C．By recognizing the signs he knew. |
| D．By asking the office workers for help. |
| A．minor. | B．unknown. | C．obvious. | D．serious. |
| A．She could not move about properly. |
| B．She could not speak clearly. |
| C．She could not have meals properly. |
| D．She could not use her hands as before. |
I recently gave my adult class homework. The assignment was to “go to someone you love and tell them you love them. It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or haven’t shared those words with for a long time”.
That doesn’t sound like a tough assignment, but most of the men in that group were over 35 and were taught that expressing emotions is not “macho（男子汉的）”.
At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. One of the men raised his hand. He appeared quite moved and a bit shaken.
He began by saying, “I didn’t feel that I had anyone to say those words to. But as I began driving home, I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you’to. Five years ago, my father and I had a disagreement and never resolved it. We hardly spoke to each other.” “The next morning, I called my dad. When he answered the phone, I said, ‘Dad, can I come over tonight? I have something to tell you.’ I assured him it wouldn’t take long, so he finally agreed.”
“At 5：30, I was at my parents’ house ringing the doorbell. As luck would have it, Dad answered the door.”
“I took one step in the door and said, ‘Dad, I just came over to tell you that I love you’”
“His face softened, his wrinkles（皱纹）disappeared and he began to cry. He reached out and hugged me and said, ‘I love you too, son, but I’ve never been able to say it.’”
“Dad and I hugged for a moment longer. I hadn’t felt that great in a long time.”
“Two days after that visit, my dad had a heart attack and ended up unconscious in the hospital. I don’t know if he’ll make it.”
“My message to all of you is this：Don’t wait to do the things that need to be done. Take the time to do what you need to do and do it now！”
1. Why might the assignment challenge the students?（no more than 10 words）2. What happened to the author’s student and his father five years ago?（no more than 15 words）
3. What is the meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 5?（no more than 5 words）
4. Why did the student’s father cry? （no more than 10 words）
5. What do you often do when you have disagreements with your parents? Please explain.（no more than 20 words）
8 . A small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree and it has been there for ten years or so.
It all began because my husband Justin hated Christmas—oh, not the true meaning of Christmas. Overspending was one thing, but compared to the difficult experience of choosing gifts—running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and a pair of gloves for Grandma…, spending money is nothing.
I felt too tired to think of any special gifts. Knowing Justin felt the same way, I decided one year not to buy the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so on. I reached for something special just for Justin. The inspiration came in an unusual way.
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church. These youngsters, dressed in such worn-out shoes that shoe strings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, while our boys were in their blue and gold uniforms and new wrestling shoes.
As the match began, I was shocked to see that the other team were wrestling without wearing helmets to protect their heads. Well, our boys ended up defeating them. We took every weight class.
Justin, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot potential, but losing like this could take the heart out of them." Justin loved kids—-all kids, and he knew them, having coached little league football and baseball. That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought different kinds of wrestling helmets and shoes. I sent them to the inner-city church without leaving my name.
On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Justin what I had done and that was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and since then the envelope has become the highlight of our Christmas.
1. Justin hated Christmas because________.| A．he thought Christmas makes no sense |
| B．he had a hard time choosing gifts |
| C．he spent too much money buying gifts |
| D．he disliked putting gifts under the Christmas tree |
| A．were well dressed | B．paid no attention to safety |
| C．feared Kevin's team | D．couldn't afford helmets |
| A．didn't wear any helmets |
| B．were dressed in worn-out shoes |
| C．may lose confidence completely |
| D．failed in the match against his son |
| A．what the writer had done | B．the envelop on the tree |
| C．the note inside the envelop | D．the gifts the writer sent to church |
| A．A Church Gift | B．A Special Note |
| C．A White Envelope | D．A Christmas Card |
In March 2019, when Sara Cook first got a letter in the mail telling her that someone had paid off a large amount of her medical debt, she simply couldn't believe it. Cautiously, she called the number listed on the letter. What she learned was that this was not a scam. It was 100 percent real.
A remarkable nonprofit called RIP Medical Debt had indeed paid $5,000 toward her bills. The organization didn't take care of all the debt she'd accumulated from several back surgeries, but the former nurse was still moved by the gesture. “I felt really loved and blessed,” she says, “knowing that complete strangers just did that out of the goodness of their hearts.
Craig Antico and Jerry Ashton do have good hearts. They're also former collection agents who have seen how heavy health-related debt has destroyed lives. “I never thought about all the hardship of the people who couldn't pay. Now I'm trying to find the people who need help.” said Antico. They got their money from individuals and charities that support RIP's mission.
RIP researches potential receivers based on three criteria. First, they look for people who make no more than two and a half times the amount established as the federal poverty level. Then they screen for those whose debt is equal to 5 percent or more of the gross income (总收入). Third, they look to see whether a person can pay off debts.
For the people who do qualify, RIP's help is life-changing. “After their letter, I realized that my life really wasn't so hard,” says Cook, “I may never be able to work as a nurse again but I can sit at the school library and help kids read or serve up food in the soup kitchen. When people do something out of the kindness of their hearts, sometimes they may wonder: Does it really make a difference? I want people to know that this has a positive impact.”
1. What does the underlined word in Para.1 most probably mean? (1 word)2. What was Sara Cook's reaction to RIP Medical Debt? (no more than 2 words)
3. How did RIP Medical Debt get funds? (no more than 10 words)
4. What's the main idea of the 4th paragraph? (no more than 8 words)
5. What's your example of doing "kindness"? Please share. (no more than 20 words)
Behind the band, there was a picture of a young man named Philip Hancock shown on the screen. And he was the reason they were all there. Hancock was a 27-ycar-old Australian who taught English in Chongqing. When he died in 2018 due to complications from diabetes, his parents followed his wishes and donated his organs with the help of the Red Cross Society of China’s Chongqing branch.
“I’m Philip’s liver”; “I'm Philip’s kidney”; “Philip’s eyes...”
The five people — a salesperson, a farmer, a former truck driver and two doctors introduced themselves onstage.
“Last year, Red Cross officials told me that Philip’s parents mentioned during an earlier memorial service that he loved music and dreamed of having his own band one day,” said former truck driver Chen Xianjun. Chen instantly wanted to form a hand in memory of Philip, and so did the other four receivers.
Since they had no music experience, they had to start from scratch. From learning the guitar to mastering the maracas (响葫芦) and faking on the drum they took time out of their busy lives to practice over the past year.
“Picking up a new instrument is certainly difficult at my age, but we have a clear goal in mind and are determined to achieve it.” said Mo Li, the 36-year-old real estate salesman.
Peter Hancock, Philip’s father, said after watching the bands performance that his biggest wish was for the five to enjoy their lives more. think Philip not only gave them a new life, but also some musical cells that enable them to appreciate beautiful melodies."
1. What do these five people have in common? (no more than 8 words)2. What does the underlined part “from scratch” mean in English? (no more than 5 words)
3. What goal did these five people want to achieve? (no more than 10 words)
4. What was Philip’s father’s biggest wish? (no more than 8 words)
5. What inspiration do you get from the story? Please say it in your own words.(no more than 20 words)
