1 . I was born in a poor community on the north side of Boston, US, raised by a single mother who didn’t finish 3rd grade, lived each day on food stamps and attended what the media called “the most dysfunctional (功能失调的) public school district”. Not many people expected much of me, so I had to expect.
On my 13th birthday, I bought a poster of Harvard to hang in my room. Being at Harvard became what I dreamt about. Even if my electricity was cut off, I still woke up at 5:30, because I knew that my poster of Harvard was still hanging only two feet away from me.
Reminding myself of my goal each day made it easy to say no to the same choices I saw my peers making, because those paths wouldn’t have had me closer to my goal. Being poor could not take away my power to decide what I choose to do with my day. The poster gave me the courage to send emails to about 50 Harvard students to ask for feedback on my application essays; it gave me the energy to study just one more hour on my SATs when my friends were asleep; and it gave me the determination to submit just one more scholarship application when 180 others had already turned me down.
Every day, I could feel myself getting closer and closer to my goal as my writing got better, my SAT score increased, and my scholarship checks started coming in. Finally, an email arrived from Harvard. The first word was “Congratulations!” A month later, Harvard flew me up to visit the campus where for the first time I stepped onto my dreaming land.
Who you are today is the result of the decisions you made yesterday, and who you will be tomorrow will be the result of the choices you make today. Who do you want to be tomorrow?
1. What can we learn about the author from the first two paragraphs?| A．All people expected too much of him. |
| B．He grew up in a happy family. |
| C．He accepted the greatest education. |
| D．He had high expectation of himself. |
| A．He spent more time preparing for the exams. |
| B．He learnt from his peers from time to time. |
| C．He often wrote feedbacks on others’ essays. |
| D．He turned to his teacher when facing problems. |
| A．Intelligent and humorous. | B．Generous and selfless. |
| C．Determined and hardworking. | D．Courageous and friendly. |
| A．Failure is the mother of success. |
| B．Perseverance can help realize your dream. |
| C．Easier said than done. |
| D．It’s never too late to study. |
2 . 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. |
3 . I worked in a small company with about thirty-five employees (雇员). We had a good-sized kitchen with a fridge that several employees used. But people would often go to the fridge to surprisingly find either their whole lunch missing, or in my case, my can of Cherry Coke gone. I usually kept it in my lunch bag. At times when I bought takeaway food, I would get two—one for lunch and one for dinner—so I didn’t have my lunch bag. Even so, I often couldn’t find the food. It was a shock to everyone.
We doubted who was stealing, but could never prove (证明) it. One day, a good idea came to my mind, and I couldn’t wait to try it.
It was break time at noon. I headed down to the kitchen about five minutes early and gave my Coke such a hard shake that I feared it may actually go off in my hands. I placed it back in the fridge. Then, I hid into a cupboard in the kitchen, waiting for the right moment.
BINGO! A lady came in and took the Coke. I put my hand over my mouth for her to open it, but she took it with her and left. I thought she would open it in the hall. No!
As I left the kitchen, I heard her yell (叫喊). I passed her office, and Coke was everywhere: the walls, the floor, all over her desk, computer, her work, and all over her—everywhere!
Well, food has never gone missing again since then because the lady got fired.
1. Why did the employees feel surprised?| A．Their lunch was often lost. |
| B．The fridge was full of free food. |
| C．The kitchen was never clean. |
| D．The company was small-sized. |
| A．To play a joke on the lady. |
| B．To carry out some repairs inside. |
| C．To find out who was stealing. |
| D．To prove who was the best worker. |
| A．The kitchen. | B．The drink | C．The hand. | D．The fridge. |
| A．A small company. | B．An honest lady. |
| C．A special lunch. | D．An office story. |
4 . 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. |
5 . On the day he almost died, Kimbal Musk had food on the brain. The Internet startup talent and restaurateur had just arrived in Jackson Hole from a conference where chef Jamie Oliver had spoken about the benefits of healthy eating. This made Musk think a lot—how he might make a difference to the food industry—but beyond expanding his farm-to-table movement along with his restaurant, Musk hadn’t yet broken the code. Then he went sailing down a snowy slope (坡) and fell over, breaking his neck.
Musk eventually made a full recovery, but it involved spending two months on his back, which gave him plenty of time to come up with a plan. Since then, he has launched an initiative to put “learning gardens” in public schools across America; attracted Generation Z to the farming profession by changing shipping containers into high-tech, data-driven, year-round farms; and this year, is kicking off a new campaign to create one million at-home gardens.
Aimed at reaching low-income families, the Million Gardens Movement was inspired by the pandemic, as both a desire to feel more connected to nature and food insecurity have been at the forefront of so many people’s lives. “We were getting a lot of inquiries about gardening from people that had never gardened before,” says Musk. “People were looking to garden for a bunch of reasons: to save money on groceries, to improve the nutritional quality of their diets, or just to cure the boredom that came with the lockdown.”
The program offers free garden kits that can be grown indoors or outdoors, and will be distributed through schools that Musk’s non-profit, Big Green, has already partnered with. It also offers free courses on how to get the garden growing and fresh seeds and materials for the changing growing seasons. “It’s not difficult. Anyone can do this, no matter where you come from, no matter where you live. We are all able to grow something,” says Musk.
1. What inspired Musk to make a difference to food industry?| A．The pandemic. | B．A skiing accident. |
| C．Jamie Oliver’s speech. | D．The farm-to-table movement. |
| A．To get access to healthy food. |
| B．To make their house beautiful. |
| C．To make money by selling garden produce. |
| D．To build up their strength during the pandemic. |
| A．Encouraging people to preserve nature. |
| B．Providing free food for low-income families. |
| C．Promoting “learning gardens” across schools. |
| D．Educating new gardeners to grow their own food. |
| A．Charity-minded. | B．Stubborn. | C．Easy-going. | D．Scholarly. |
6 . Hannah Burrows isn’t able to put into words how much she loves water, but when you see the 6-year-old in a pool there’s no doubt about it. “As soon as you put her in a swimsuit, she’s flapping (摆动) her arms and getting excited,” said Hannah’s mom, Kristy Burrows.
Hannah is in kindergarten at Longview School, a school for children with severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Last year, the family was referred to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an on-profit (非盈利的) organization that brightens the lives of kids who face health challenges. They considered what that wish might be. “We wanted to do something that would last a long time and that she would get a lot of use out of,” Kristy said. Weekly swimming is part of Hannah’s physical therapy at Longview, so they decided on a pool.
But building a pool in your back yard means getting a permit. But the Burrowses didn’t have one. If they wanted to get one, they should spend hundreds of dollars, which could be too much for the family.
AS it turned out, a local company volunteered to do a site plan free. Followed were discounted products or services. Kristy said, “The permit was issued on the 5th of June and the pool was built in the next five days...We went from, ‘Oh, it will be next summer’ to 15 days later there was a pool in my backyard.”
It’s an aboveground pool, 3.5 feet deep, perfect for Hannah.
“She loves it,” said Kristy. She’s been swimming almost every day for an hour. “Hannah is delighted to be in water, of course, but her family has noticed that the pool has improved her life out of it, too. She struggled with sleeping through the night,” Kristy said. “But now, she’s had a couple of great nights of sleep just from the activity.”
| A．She can’t express her excitement to be in water. |
| B．She is good at swimming though she is young. |
| C．Her health condition has greatly improved with the pool. |
| D．She has severe intellectual and physical disabilities. |
| A．More than satisfied. | B．Very disappointed. | C．A little annoyed. | D．Very discouraged. |
| A．Swimming Helps Improve Little Girl’s Health | B．Six-year-old Girl Enjoyed Swimming |
| C．A Special Girl’s Wish Came True | D．Building a Swimming Pool Needs a Permit |
7 . 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. |
8 . I am an ordinary 17-year-old girl. I go to school, chat to my friends and play my guitar. I don't have much in my mind. At least, that's what most people think. In fact, life changed drastically (巨大地) for me and my family in the summer of 2011, when I was 10. It was a beautiful summer's day when my dad had his accident. He had gone out for a bike ride and seemed to be taking a lot longer than usual. When Mum called him to check if everything was all right, a nurse answered the phone. I was inside the house and could hear her speaking to someone in the garden. As I looked out of the door.
I knew something terrible had happened. She looked stricken ( 受困 扰的) and I stood worriedly in the doorway until she hung up and told me Dad was in hospital. He had been involved in a road accident and had a severe injury. On that beautiful day, we didn’t have many details about what was going on because the nurse couldn’t disclose a lot through the phone and the unknown was the scariest thing. I had no idea whether my dad was going to live. My mum went alone to the hospital and I stayed at my grandparents’ house. I was too shaken to do anything, so I just sat quietly and hoped that everything would be OK. I don't have any siblings (兄弟姐妹), so Mum and I were the only ones in the house for the eight months when Dad was in hospital. It seemed empty and quiet especially as Mum was sometimes at work when I got back from school. Before Dad went into hospital there had always been someone there asking me about my day and helping me with homework. Now there wasn’t. I became more independent and tried to take care of myself as much as possible. When I think about my life, I split (分成) it into before and after the accident because I feel like a very different, more mature person than the one I was before. Most people’s childhood fades slowly into adolescence and then adult life, but mine ended abruptly (突然地). I was forced to grow up.
1. How did the author live before her father's accident?| A．Busy but peaceful. | B．Common but happy |
| C．Tired and meaningless. | D．Comfortable and harmonious. |
| A．Understand. | B．Appreciate |
| C．Charge. | D．Uncover. |
| A．Eight months. | B．Five years. | C．Ten months. | D．Two years. |
| A．Difficulty makes a man grow up. | B．Life is full of challenges. |
| C．Independence is important. | D．Life needs all kinds of experiences. |
9 . Two good friends, Sam and Jason, met with a car accident on their way home one night. The next morning, Sam woke up blind. His legs were broken. The doctor, Mr Lee was standing by his bed, looking at him with a thoughtful expression. When he saw Sam awake, he asked, “How are you feeling, Sam?” Sam smiled and said, “Not bad, Doctor. Thank you for doing the operation (手术).” Mr Lee was moved by Sam. When he was leaving, Sam said, “Please don’t tell Jason about it.” “... OK.” Mr Lee replied.
Months later when Jason’s wounds (伤) healed, Sam was still very sick. Neither could he see or walk. What he could do was just stay in his wheelchair all day long. At first, Jason stayed with him for a few days. But days later, Jason felt very discouraged and embarrassed to spend time staying with a disabled man like Sam. So he went to see Sam less and less. He made new friends. From then on, he didn’t go to visit Sam any more. Sam didn’t have any family or friends other than Jason. He felt very sad.
Things went from bad to worse. Sam died a year later. When Jason came, Mr Lee gave a letter to him. It was from Sam. In the letter Sam said, “Dear Jason, I am disabled. But I want you to be a healthy man. So I gave my eyes to you so that you can enjoy life as a healthy man. Now you have new friends. I’m glad to see that you are as healthy and happy as usual. I’m glad you live a happy life. You are always my best friend ... ... Sam”. When he finished reading the letter Mr Lee said, “I have promised that I will keep this a secret until Sam is gone. Now you know it.” Jason stood there. Tears ran down his face.
1. The reason why Sam thanked Mr Lee was that ________.| A．Mr Lee was very kind and friendly to him |
| B．Mr Lee came to see him early in the morning |
| C．Mr Lee did the operation according to his wish |
| D．Mr Lee saved both his and Jason’s lives |
a. Jason made new friends.
b. Sam gave his eyes to Jason.
c. Sam and Jason were caught in a car accident.
d. Sam became disabled and needed friends.
e. Sam died and Jason knew the truth.
| A．dacbe | B．dcbea | C．cbdae | D．cdbea |
| A．Sam drove too badly and caused the car accident |
| B．the unsuccessful operation led to Sam’s blindness |
| C．Jason knew how Sam helped him before Sam died |
| D．it was Jason that was made blind in the car accident |
| A．thought friendship was very important |
| B．was unfriendly to his friends |
| C．felt hopeless after the car accident happened |
| D．always listened to his friends |
10 . A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year who left the place quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Scaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast.”
Duret, an engineer on vacation, was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头)when he saw something falling into the water .He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he got close to the river. In a moment,he took off his coat and jumped into the water.
When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said. Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.
Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was taking photos. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from passers-by. Duret caught a train with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his story of being a hero had greatly moved New York until he got home. “I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same ting.”
1. Why was Duret in New York?| A．To meet his girlfriend | B．To work as an engineer | C．To visit the Andersons | D．To spend his holiday |
| A．He was interviewed by a newspaper | B．He disappeared from the place quickly |
| C．He went to the hospital in the ambulance | D．He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes |
| A．A taxi driver | B．A passer-by | C．His girlfriend | D．David Anderson |
