1 . The three men sat in the truck, unaware of the hot Nevada sun. Their attention was focused on a fourth man, middle-aged, tall slender, and rather well dressed for the desert-like land of the Carson River Valley. He walked purposefully over the sandy soil, systematically covering the area of a gentle rise. In his outstretched hands was a Y-shaped tree branch.
“I feel silly about this,” one of the men in the truck said. “What he's doing is contrary to all my beliefs.”
“Just you wait” one of the other two told him. “Then you won't feel so silly anymore.”
At length, the man with the branch stopped his walking. The stick he carried by the two ends of the Y no longer pointed toward the sky. Instead, it was pointing to the ground with a definite swinging motion.
“That's it,” one of the men in the truck called. He jumped over the side and ran toward the man with the stick. Within minutes, a stake had been driven into the ground at the point where the forked stick was pointing. Early the next morning，a drilling rig (钻机) lowered its bit into the earth at the same point and mechanical digging began. Less than twenty feet down, the drill stuck something the man who said he felt silly had been seeking for months: water.
It had been an uncommonly dry summer, even for that part of Nevada. One well had gone dry, and livestock were thirsty. Previous attempts at well drilling had failed, government geologists and soil engineers had gone over the area with maps, testing equipment, and sounding device. The best they could accomplish for the farmer was a gloomy series of dry holes. All the farmer had to show for his faith in men of science was a considerable drilling bill and a thirsty herd.
He had felt silly because he had been pushed by desperation into listening to some of his neighbours who suggested he try a water witch: the man with the forked stick.
After the well was completed and plenty water flowed forth, the farmer smiled nervously as he paid the water witch his twenty-five-dollar fee. “It seems so crazy to be doing this,” he said. Perhaps part of the craziness came because the farmer was a university graduate, a teacher of science at a nearby high school. However, even odder was the water witch's request for anonymity. “I don't mind you telling people you had searched for water through the use of a diving rod,” the water witch had said, “but I'll be grateful to you if you don't mention my name in any way that gets into print. I don't think my boss would like it.”
1. The farmer occasionally expressed the feeling that _________.| A．geologists would be able to do a better job. |
| B．he was foolish to hire a witch to find water |
| C．he firmly believed in water witching |
| D．the water witch's fee was too high |
| A．immediately | B．exactly |
| C．eventually | D．inevitably |
| A．brought him innumerable benefits |
| B．helped him to overcome difficulties |
| C．enabled him to maintain his livestock |
| D．made him waste a lot of money |
| A．to hire him for any future well drilling |
| B．not to reveal his name |
| C．to pay more for his service |
| D．not to tell people how he searched for water |
2 . At first glance Esther Okade seems like a normal 10-year-old. She loves dressing up as Elsa from “Frozen”, playing with Barbie dolls and going to the park or shopping. But what makes the British-Nigerian youngster stand out is the fact that she’s also a university student.
Esther, from Walsall, an industrial town in the UK’s West Midlands region, is one of the country’s youngest college freshmen. The talented 10-year-old enrolled at the Open University in January and is already top of the class, having recently scored 100% in an exam.
“It’s so interesting and super easy,” she laughs. “My mum taught me in a nice way.” She adds: “I want to finish the course in two years. Then I’m going to do my PhD in financial maths when I’m 13. I want to have my own bank by the time I’m 15 because I like numbers and I like people and banking is a great way to help people.”
And in case people think her parents have pushed her into starting university early, Esther disagrees. “I actually wanted to start when I was seven. But my mum didn’t agree.” After three years of begging, Mother Efe finally agreed to explore the idea.
Esther has always jumped ahead of her peers. Her mother noticed her daughter’s gift for figures shortly after she began homeschooling her at the age of three. Initially, Esther’s parents had enrolled her in a private school but after a few short weeks, the usually-energetic youngster refused to go back to that school because the teachers didn’t let her talk in class. In the UK, education is not compulsory until five, so Efe started to do little things at home by teaching basic number skills but Esther was miles ahead. By four, her natural talent for maths had seen the eager student move on to algebra (代数学) and quadratic equations (二次方程式).
And Esther isn’t the only maths miracle in the family. Her younger brother Isaiah, 6, will soon be sitting his first A-level exam in June.
1. Which of the following makes Esther Okade different from her normal peers?| A．She is the youngest college student in the UK. |
| B．She goes to university at a much earlier age. |
| C．She often gets full marks in maths exams. |
| D．She loves acting as a university student. |
| A．Esther thinks her parents expect too much of her |
| B．Esther cannot adapt herself well to college life |
| C．Esther asked to go to university even earlier |
| D．Esther dislikes being taught at home |
| A．The gene from her family. | B．Her course in the university. |
| C．The criticism from her teachers. | D．Her mother’s homeschooling. |
| A．is ambitious and has a clear goal | B．is creative and loves exploring the unknown |
| C．is rebellious but ready to help others | D．is energetic but reluctant to challenge herself |
3 . My father was left fatherless at the age of 12, and pretty much on his own then.
Because of that, he was never the loving type. He didn’t have time to offer a pat on the back or a loving hug（拥抱）. He was built for work, and work he did—7 days a week—expecting my brothers and me to do the same.
Growing up, I spent much of my free time laboring with him on jobs around the house. To him, working alongside someone was the best way to show you cared. The way you felt about a person was clear from the fact you spent time with the person; you didn’t need to express your feelings. As far as I know, he never did. Except once.
I was 22, graduated from college, and leaving home for the last time. He and I had loaded my things into the car and were talking in the garage. Without warning, he wrapped me in his huge arms and hugged me tight.“You were always my favorite,”he said.“I love you, and I’m going to miss you.”
With that, he shooed（用“嘘”声驱赶）me into the car and then left for the house, tears in his eyes.
I was floored by his response—and then felt proud, pleased and grateful. Yet some small part of me also wondered why it had taken him so long to express his love.
I can accept now that it wasn’t possible for him to be warm—his feelings were buried too deeply under the layers of a tough life. Thanks to my father’s once-in-a-lifetime hug, I’ve come to realize something he never could. A hug is more than simple physical touch. It is a lightning-like connection between two people. A link that expresses love, encouragement, comfort-all the emotions that can strengthen a relationship, even turn a life around.
1. According to the author, his father didn’t show his feelings easily because of all the following reasons EXCEPT _____.| A．he didn’t think it important to show his love |
| B．he always worked around the house and paid no attention to his kids |
| C．he himself grew up without love from his own father |
| D．he thought the best way to show feelings was to spend time together |
| A．frightened | B．flooded |
| C．hit | D．confused |
| A．hide his feelings for his kids as deeply as his father did |
| B．offer physical touch like hugs to his own kids quite often |
| C．not spend time working around the house with his own kids |
| D．not understand his father’s love for him for the rest of his life |
| A．mention the importance of a hug in our life |
| B．tell us an unhappy childhood without father’s care |
| C．share a touching story of the author and his father |
| D．show the difficult relationship between child and parents |
