1 . One day, when I was working as a psychologist(心理学家) in England, a young boy showed up in my office.
It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had introduced him to me before. “This boy has lost his family,” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I’m very worried about him. Can you help?”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems which psychology doesn’t have answers to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and silently. And I would do in this way.
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon — in complete silence and without looking at me. It’s not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering. ” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times, about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I have also learned that one — without any words — can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
1. What was David like when the writer first met him?| A．He was very nervous. | B．He was in deep sorrow. |
| C．He was mentally troubled. | D．He was frightened by the writer. |
| A．The writer didn’t know what to do. | B．The writer had a plan to help David. |
| C．The writer decided to keep silent. | D．The writer couldn’t solve the problem. |
| A．The writer cheated when playing chess. | B．David never looked at the writer. |
| C．Chess healed David’s wounded heart. | D．The writer gave his chess to David. |
| A．A boy fixed his mental problem by playing chess. | B．A psychologist should be good at listening. |
| C．A calm mind helps solve problems. | D．A listening ear matters in helping others. |
Dear Maya Shao-ming,
To me, June 6, 1990 is a special day. My long-awaited dream came true the minute your father cried, “A girl!” You are more than just a second child, more than just a girl to match our boy. You, little daughter, are the link to our female line, the legacy of another woman’s pain and sacrifice 31 years ago.
Let me tell you about your Chinese grandmother. Somewhere in Hong Kong, in the late fifties, a young waitress found herself pregnant (怀孕) by a cook, probably a co-worker at her restaurant. She carried the baby to term, suffered to give it birth, and kept the little girl for the first three months of her life. I like to think that my mother—your grandmother—loved me and fought to raise me on her own, but that the daily struggle was too hard. Worn down by the demands of the new baby and perhaps the constant threat of starvation, she made the painful decision to give away her girl so that both of us might have a chance for a better life.
More likely, I was dropped at the orphanage (孤儿院) steps or somewhere else. I will probably never know the truth. Having a baby in her unmarried state would have brought shame on the family in China, so she probably kept my existence a secret. Once I was out of her life, it was as if I had never been born. And so you and your brother and I are the missing leaves on a family tree.
Do they ever wonder if we exist?
Before I was two, I was adopted by an Anglo couple. Fed three square meals a day, I grew like a wild weed and grasped all the opportunities they had to offer—books, music, education, church life and community activities. In a family of blue-eyed blonds, though, I stood out like a sore thumb. Whether from jealousy or fear of someone who looked so different, my older brothers sometimes teased me about my unpleasing skin, or made fun of my clumsy walk. Moody and impatient, burdened by fears that none of us realized resulted from my early years of need, I was not an easy child to love. My mother and I conflicted countless times over the years, but gradually came to see one another as real human beings with faults and talents, and as women of strength in our own right. Lacking a mirror image in the mother who raised me, I had to seek my identity as a woman on my own. The Asian American community has helped me regain my double identity.
But part of me will always be missing: my beginnings, my personal history, all the delicate details that give a person her origin. Nevertheless, someone gave me a lucky name “Siu Wai”. “Siu” means “little”, and “Wai” means “clever”. Therefore, my baby name was “Clever little one.” Who chose those words? Who cared enough to note my arrival in the world?
I lost my Chinese name for 18 years. It was Americanized for convenience to “Sue”. But like an ill-fitting coat, it made me uncomfortable. I hated the name. But even more, I hated being Chinese. It took many years to become proud of my Asian origin and work up the courage to take back my birth-name. That, plus a little knowledge of classroom Cantonese is all the Chinese culture I have to offer you. Not white, certainly, but not really Asian, I try to pave the way between the two worlds and bridge the gap for you. Your name, “Shao-ming”, is very much like mine—“Shao” means “little”. And “ming” is “bright”, as in a shining sun or moon. Whose lives will you brighten, little Maya? Your past is more complete than mine, and each day I cradle you in your babyhood, generously giving you the loving care I lacked for my first two years. When I pat you, I comfort the lost baby inside me who still cries for her mother.
Sweet Maya, it doesn’t matter what you “become” later on. You have already fulfilled my wildest dreams.
I love you.
Mammy
1. Why is June 6, 1990 a special day for Mommy?| A．Her dream of being a mother came true. | B．She found her origin from her Chinese mother. |
| C．She wrote the letter to her daughter. | D．Her female line was well linked. |
| A．It is bitter and disappointing. | B．It is painful but understandable. |
| C．She feels sorry but sympathetic. | D．She feels hurt and angry. |
| A．I walked clumsily out of pains. | B．I was not easy to love due to jealousy. |
| C．I was impatient out of fear. | D．I looked different from others. |
| A．She used to experience an identity crisis. | B．She fought against her American identity. |
| C．She forgot the pains of her early years. | D．She kept her love for Asia from childhood. |
| A．To match her own birth-name. | B．To brighten the lives of the family. |
| C．To identify her with Chinese origin. | D．To justify her pride in Chinese culture. |
| A．her past was completed earlier than Shao-ming’s |
| B．Shao-ming has got motherly care and a sense of roots |
| C．her mother didn’t comfort her the way she did Shao-ming |
| D．her past was spent brokenly, first in Asia, then in the US |
Like so many teachers，I try hard to make each of my students feel they are special. I'm not a mother, so I look at my students as my children. In short year I have the opportunity to touch their lives. I want to teach each child that he or she is special because of who he or she is. During one year of teaching of fifth- grade class, I was shown how important my actions and lessons were.
It was toward the end of January when I started seeing notes passed around. This was unusual because the students had many opportunities to speak with each other while doing class activities. And because the notes were between students who weren't friends.There was not a certain individual initiator(发起人） of the notes nor was there just one receiver. They were simply circulating on a regular basis.
These notes were passed for a few days before I asked several students caught with them why they were being passed. I then lectured the whole class on their disrespect to me as I was trying to teach, while they passed papers. I didn't read the notes but placed them in the trash can.
After a week or two, I thought I had put an end to the note passing because the activity subsided. As January changed to February thoughts turned towards Valentine's day, but there was very little of the usual talk that goes on this holiday. The art teacher taught them to make big envelopes to hold their valentines and those were taped to the desks. I passed out a class list of names, so students could address their valentines. Finally on the day before the holiday, the students asked if they would be having a party. I asked them if they thought the last hour of the day would be a fair arrangement, and they agreed. Later they pushed for a 90 minute time period. And I gave them the old line, we will see how the rest of the day goes first.
On valentine's day we went through the morning lessons with no problem. I was surprised at how calm they were, considering what a holiday like valentine's day could do to ten-year-olds. Before the students went to lunch, I told them we would celebrate when we came back. They finally showed some excitement. When I went back to the cafeteria to pick my students up from lunch, they were not there.The assistant principal said the music teacher had taken them. I walked around the building to the music department and circled back toward the cafeteria. In the doorway was the music teacher who was waiting to greet me. The cafeteria had been cleared with the exception of one chair in the middle of the room. My students all stood before me on the stage as the music teacher walked me to the lone chair in the center of the room.
Candi, my shy little one spoke into the microphone. “We wanted to do something very special for you because you do so many special things for us. We had many ideas but decided you would like this one the very most. We have put together a talent show for you as our present. We hope you enjoy it.
Each student performed for me that day, there was dancing, singing, a roller blade routine set to music, a piano piece, a poetry reading. Every child did something in that show. I watched in disbelief. They had organized an entire variety show on their own. There was a master of ceremonies, props, scenery and equipment. All the notes that had been passed weeks before were plans for after school meetings to prepare and organize the show. They had asked for the help of the music teacher to help them get permission to use the stage and operate the sound system.
After an hour long performance to an audience of one beaming teary-eyed teacher, the show ended with all the students lined up on the stage. Together they said, “We knew the best gift we could give you would be a part of us. Happy Valentine's day.”
I have never felt so much love on valentine's day for the students and for being a teacher.
Questions 1 to 5. Judge if the following statements agree with the information given in the passage. Choose A for TRUE if the statements agree with it; choose B for FALSE if the statements don’t agree with it; choose C for NOT GIVEN if the information the statements carry is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.
1. The teacher regarded her students as her own kids because she didn’t have a child.
2. The students in her class didn’t respect the teacher and always passed on note in class.
3. Her students practised their performance for the talent show at school every day.
4. Her students were too young to show interest in Valentine’s day.
5. The students showed their love to the teacher in an unexpected way with the help of the music teacher.
Questions 6 to 9. Match the following words with their meanings in the passage. Note that there are four choices more than you need.
6. circulating
7. subsided
8. taped
9. beaming
| A．recorded |
| B．died down |
| C．smiling |
| D．shining |
| E．stuck |
| F．passing around |
| G．moving easily |
Question 10. Choose the best answer from A, B, C or D.
10. What is the best title for the passage?
| A．My gifted and loving students | B．Special gifts on Valentine’s Day |
| C．Love first, teaching second | D．A memorable talent show. |
4 . More than 30 years ago, there was a well-known boxer named Eugene Hart. Hart was heavily favored to win his next round against an ungifted boxer, Antuofermo. It was said that the only thing that Antuofermo could do was “he bled well". However, here was an important thing. He had good qualities that you couldn't see.
During the fight, Hart controlled Antuofermo, knocking him down and giving him a good beating. Antuofermo absorbed the punishment that was dealt to him by his naturally superior opponent, and he did it so well that Hart became discouraged. In the fifth round, Hart began to tire, not physically but mentally. Taking advantage of the situation, Antuofermo attacked and knocked Hart down, thus ending the fight.
When the fighters went back to their temporary restrooms, only a thin curtain was between them. Hart's room was quiet, but on the other side he could hear Antuofermo's coach talking about who would take the fighter to the hospital. Finally he heard Antuofermo saying, "Every time he hit me with that left hook （左勾拳）to the body, I thought I was going to quit. After the second round, I thought if he hit me there again, I'd quit. I thought the same thing after the fourth round. But he stopped hitting me there."
At that moment, Hart began to weep. He was crying because for the first time he under- stood that Antuofermo had felt the same way he had and even worse. And the only thing that distinguished the guy who was talking from the guy who was crying was perseverance （毅力）. The coward （懦夫）and the hero had the same emotions. They're both humans.
The important question to ask yourself here is this： How does each man respond to the tough situation that they are experiencing? Maybe you are in a tough position right now or, if not, one might be coming. How will you react? Like a hero or a coward?
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．Hart was an ordinary boxer. |
| B．Antuofermo was hardly defeated. |
| C．Hart was believed to win the game. |
| D．Antuofermo was gifted in boxing. |
| A．He trained hard before the fight. |
| B．Hart became discouraged by his coach. |
| C．He was confident about his boxing talent and power. |
| D．He dealt with the punishment properly and grasped the chance. |
| A．He realized he was just mentally defeated. |
| B．He was hurt and sent to a hospital. |
| C．He lost the game easily. |
| D．He was considered to be a coward. |
| A．Hard-work and honesty. | B．Humor and intelligence. |
| C．Perseverance and determination. | D．Enthusiasm and responsibility. |
5 . Where do you find beauty? Fashion Magazines? Music Videos? One American photographer is finding beauty in unexpected places. And a new documentary about his work might help change the traditional standards of "who" is beautiful.
Rick Guidotti put aside his career as a fashion Photographer to turn his lens (镜头)to people living with genetic, physical and behavioral differences. He says what changed his perception of beauty was a chance encounter with an albino(白化病) girl.
"I was just tired of people telling me who was beautiful. Every season that face would change but1 was always told who was beautiful. As an artist, I don't see beauty just on covers of magazines. I see it everywhere. So that was my initial intention that opened my eyes a little wider and wider." Said Guidotti.
Guidotti has created Positive Exposure, a not-for-profit organization that uses photography and video to transform public perceptions and promote a world where differences are celebrated. Guidotti and Positive Exposure are featured in a new documentary called On Beauty.
The cast and crew recently hosted a screening at Georgetown University in Washington. One of the women featured in the film is Jayne Waithera. “I never thought I was beautiful because nobody said that to me, but meeting him was my profound moment. I remember that particular day he took my picture and I felt so good like I felt there's somebody who, really loves me and sees me for who I am and who sees me more than my condition.” said Waithera.
The documentary is the brainchild of producer Joanna Rudnick. After seeing Rick's photos, she decided to tell his story. Joanna and Rick are traveling from city to city to promote On Beauty. They say their tour is not about money, it's about the message: “As I travel from community to community, I'm taking photographs and I'm empowering individuals with a positive sense of who they are. They're seeing beauty in their reflection but I'm also empowering their families and they in turn are empowering their communities as well. All is based on the philosophy of change how you see, see how you change."
1. Why did Rick change his career?| A．Because he couldn't earn enough money from his former career. |
| B．Because the beauty on covers of magazines are not beautiful. |
| C．Because he wanted to create his own company. |
| D．Because his comprehension of beauty changed owing to an albino girl. |
| A．It brings a lot of money for Rick. | B．It makes the public more beautiful. |
| C．It welcomes differences in the world. | D．It makes photography more popular. |
| A．Jayne was beautiful indeed. |
| B．Photographs gave Jayne a positive sense of who she was. |
| C．It was unfair that nobody discovered Jayne's beauty. |
| D．Jayne's picture was more beautiful than herself. |
| A．We should travel frequently. |
| B．Community has a great influence on everyone. |
| C．We should make contributions to our community. |
| D．Your attitude to seeing the world decides your behavior. |
| A．He's a talented photographer with a firmly established reputation. |
| B．He's a social worker devoting himself to helping the disadvantaged. |
| C．He conveys a new concept of beauty by means of a documentary. |
| D．He promotes people' s taste of beauty through his fashion photographs. |
6 . I remember watching my first rental (租赁的）movie when I was a kid. My aunt owned a video store and we borrowed a VHS copy of Poltergeist.
In 2004, I was 33 years old, living in Bend and looking for a part-time job to help support our family. My best friend, Mary, a saleswoman at the Blockbuster, suggested I might like working with her at the Blockbuster, and I’ve been here ever since. Back then, there were five Blockbusters in Bend alone. The movie-rental business was at its peak (顶点): we were still storing VHS tapes but DVDs were also coming in, and both were doing well.
When it became clear that DVD was going to replace VHS, I got very excited because those cassettes were so big and heavy. I often dropped them on my feet. Even then, I never dreamed I would end up managing the last store in town.
For me, the best thing about this job is the people. I love chatting to customers and hearing their opinions on movies. Now I’m the manager, however. I have all kinds of other responsibilities, like handling mountains of paperwork. I’m a bit like an old policeman in a movie who hates the desk job and longs to go back to the beat (巡逻区域). I hate being the manager.
The final store closures happened so fast. At the end of 2017, there were seven Blockbusters left in the US, but by early 2019 there was only our store and one other store in Australia, in the world. Since March when only our store remained, things have been crazy. The local community has been surprisingly supportive, and people have come from all over the world to rent movies: we’ve set up close to 5,000 new memberships. Most of them are regulars.
I’ll be sad to see the end of video stores. We have several years left on our lease (租期）and, as long as we can continue to pay our staff, we’11 stay open. Becoming the last store has given the business a push and we’re selling Blockbuster souvenirs. I’ve watched enough movies to realize there’s an end to everything, but hopefully the ending of this story is a long way off.
1. What can we learn about the Blockbuster?| A．It was quite popular in the past. | B．It was mainly found in America. |
| C．It provided many part-time jobs for kids. | D．It offered workers high salaries. |
| A．It’s troublesome. | B．It’s low-paid. |
| C．It’s boring. | D．It’s challenging. |
| A．Because few people want to work in Blockbusters. |
| B．Because many Blockbusters have broken down. |
| C．Because VHS tapes and DVDs became hard to buy. |
| D．Because their store became popular unexpectedly. |
7 . Having worked at a 7-Eleven store for two years, I thought I had become successful at what our manager calls “customer relations”. But the other night an old woman shattered my belief that a glib(非诚恳的) response could smooth over the rough spots of dealing with other human beings.
The moment she entered the store, the woman presented a sharp contrast to our shiny store with its bright lighting and neatly arranged shelves. On a zero-degree night, she was wearing only a faded print dress, a thin sweater too small to button, and black slippers with the backs cut out to expose heels. There were no stockings or socks on her blue-veined legs.
After strolling around the store for several minutes, the old woman stopped in front of the rows of canned vegetables. She picked up some corn niblets and stared with a strange intensity at the label. At that point, I decided to be a good employee and asked her if she needed help.
“I need some food,” she muttered(嘟囔) in reply to my bright “Can I help you?”
“Are you looking for corn, ma’am?”
“I need some food,” she repeated. “Any kind. But I can’t pay.” She said.
For a second, I was tempted to say, “Take the corn.” But the employee rules flooded into my mind. I responded dutifully, “ I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t give away anything for free.”
The old woman’s face collapsed a bit more, and her hands trembled as she put the can back on the shelf. She shuffled(蹒跚) past me toward the door, her torn and dirty clothing barely covering her bent back.
Moments after she left, I rushed out the door with the can of corn, but she was nowhere in sight. For the rest of my shift, the image of the woman kept coming to my mind. I had been young, healthy. She had been old, sick and desperate. Wishing with all my heart that I had acted like a human being rather than a robot, I was saddened to realize how fragile a hold we have on our better instincts(本能).
1. What does the underlined world “shatter” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Maintain. | B．Hold. |
| C．Break. | D．Lose. |
| A．She was attracted by the shiny store with neatly arranged shelves. |
| B．She left the store in disappointment without any food. |
| C．She declined the writer’s offer of a can of corn. |
| D．She was very healthy and was not afraid of the cold weather. |
| A．He was actually very mean. |
| B．He followed the employee rules. |
| C．He disliked the woman’s appearance. |
| D．He wanted to give her after she went out of the store. |
| A．A Lady and I | B．Working at A Store |
| C．Sadness | D．If Only …… |
When I was young, my mum had a hard time. Five years earlier, my Dad drowned. The burden to raise us kids only fell on my mum’s shoulders. Because Dad had no pension, there was not much money. Thus, we went on relief (救济), now called social assistance.
Looking back, I realize what Mum went through, sending us kids to school. Every morning she would put a new piece of cardboard in our shoes, because our soles were worn out. Constant moving was typical for my family in these times. I still remember that once the rent for a house was twenty-five dollars a month. But Mum couldn’t pay it, and we knew we would be evicted right after Christmas on the first of January.
Unexpectedly, when Christmas was approaching, we received a twenty-five dollar Christmas fund for social services. Mum said that instead of buying food, she would use the money to pay rent, assuring us all of a roof over our heads for a little while longer. She told us then there would be nothing for Christmas.
I had a secret that was unknown to Mum. I had been selling Christmas trees, and doing odd jobs to earn enough money to buy a new pair of comfortable boots for myself.
Well, the big day came on the afternoon of the Christmas Eve. I was very excited. But on the way to the boots store, I noticed a house with Christmas lights and decorations. It was then that I realized at our house, we had no lights, no decorations, nor turkey or ham for Christmas. I felt very sad.
I was eleven years old, and I was feeling a strange sense of guilt. Here I was going to buy a new pair of boots while Mum was home in tears. She would be trying to explain to us why there were no presents. So finally, I bought a turkey, ham, oranges and all the Christmas treats with my hard-earned money.
Later, with great excitement in my eyes, I knocked on the door. When my mum opened the door, some of the groceries fell onto the floor, and she just stood there surprised. Holding back the tears, I said, “Merry Christmas Mother!”
I did a lot of explaining as we unpacked all the food. That day I got enough hugs and kisses from Mum. She said I had grown up.
1. Why did the author’s mother have a hard time? (no more than 12 words)2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably mean? (no more than 10 words)
3. What was the author’s secret? (no more than 10 words)
4. What made the author’s mother surprised? (no more than 10 words)
5. Do you agree with the mother’s words that the author had grown up? And why? (no more than 25 words)
9 . When Liberia was my home, they called it sweet. Sweet was the word I remembered the most during the war. When I was five, my father, two sisters and I fled from Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, and headed north on foot among panicked masses of criers - a journey that ended in a village where we hid from flying bullets (子弹). Every dawn, my sisters and I joined my father and covered the pages of his small journal with words. My favorite word to write was “sweet,” one that had the power to numb the reality of our 6-month abandonment by peace and civilization.
Eventually, we were considered the lucky ones: part of the wave of refugees who left Liberia in 1990 to settle in America. My mother studied at Columbia University at the time, and we made our new home in her dormitory while awaiting her graduation. My father who left early in the mornings looked for work or news of a possible return to Liberia, only to return home with nothing to give us but new words to write in notebooks. He quickly found that the education he received in Liberia was not good enough for an engineering job in the United States. So he took whatever job he could find to make sure we always had food on the table - and books.
In 2011, I founded a children’s book publishing company: One Moore Book. It provides children’s literature for the children of countries with low literacy (识字) rates and underrepresented cultures by publishing culturally relevant books that have something meaningful to say to them. My hope is to give children the peace I was given through the words of my father, by allowing them to see themselves in literature. I also think it is important to provide books about foreign countries to children in the United States, to increase the overall awareness of the world outside them.
I will never be able to give my father back the twenty years he spent working to educate us, or the home and life in Liberia he lost. I repay his sacrifice (牺牲) by honoring the education he fought for and offering my art to the world, with stories that make the histories of my people come alive, and with words to live by.
1. What was the author’s family’s life like in Liberia?| A．Sweet and peaceful. |
| B．Frightening but positive. |
| C．Comfortable but boring. |
| D．Adventurous and exciting. |
| A．He was crazy about reading. |
| B．He regretted moving to America. |
| C．He worked hard to raise his family. |
| D．He tried to receive a higher education. |
| A．To meet poor children’s growing demands. |
| B．To provide multicultural books for children. |
| C．To support her father’s books about Liberia. |
| D．To help immigrants understand American culture. |
| A．Her pity for her father’s suffering. |
| B．Her thanks to her father’s devotion. |
| C．Her pride in working for her people. |
| D．Her disappointment over the life in Liberia. |
10 . Once there was a piano player in a bar. People came just to hear him play. But one night, a lady asked him to sing a song.
I don’t sing, “said the man.
But the lady told the waiter, “ I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want the player to sing! “
The waiter shouted across the room,” Hey,friend! If you want to get paid,sing a song!” So he did. He had never sung in public before. Now he was singing for the very first time! Nobody had ever heard the song Mona Lisa sung so beautifully!
He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life as a no - name piano player in a no - name bar. But once he found, by accident，that he could sing well,he. went on working hard and became one of the best - known singers in the US. His name was Nat King Cole.
You,too,have skills and abilities. You may not feel that your talent is great,but it may be better than you think. With hard work, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may have no success at all if you just sit on your talent.
1. Nat King Cole succeeded because .| A．the lady helped him a lot | B．he caught the chance |
| C．he continued to play in the bar | D．he played the piano well |
| A．fail to realize | B．forget to use |
| C．try to develop | D．manage to show |
| A．hide it and wait | B．ask others for help |
| C．pay no attention to it | D．work hard to improve yourself |
| A．Sing in the Bar | B．Achieve Success in Life |
| C．Never Lose Heart | D．Find Your Hidden Talent. |
