1 . Mr. Lang worked in a factory. As a driver, he was busy but he was paid much. His wife was an able woman and did all the housework. When he came back, she took good care of him and he never did anything at home. So he had enough time when he had a holiday. A few friends of his liked gambling(赌博) and he learned it soon. So he was interested in it and hardly forgot anything except gambling. He lost all his money and later he began to sell the television, watches and so on. His wife told him not to do it but he didn’t listen to her. She had to tell the police. He and his friends were punished for it. And he was hardly sent away. After he came out of lockup(拘留所), he hated her very much and the woman had to leave him.
It was New Year’s Day. Mr. Lang didn’t go to work. He felt lonely and wanted to gamble again. He called his friends and they came soon. But they were afraid the police would come. He told his five-year-old son to go to find out if there were the policemen outside. They waited for a long time and didn’t think the police would come and began to gamble. Suddenly opened the door and in came a few policemen.
“I saw there weren’t any policemen outside, daddy,” said the boy, “so I went to the crossing and asked some to come.”
1. Mrs. Lang did all housework because ________.| A．she couldn’t find any work | B．she thought her husband was tired |
| C．her husband spent all time in gambling | D．she wouldn’t stop her husband gambling |
| A．The boy hoped his father to be put into lockup again. |
| B．The boy thought his father needed some policemen. |
| C．The boy hoped his father to stop gambling soon. |
| D．The boy hoped his mother to come back. |
| A．Son’s help | B．A clever son | C．Mother and son | D．Father and son |
2 . Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.
I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.
Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I was going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.
After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes thought I learned more from my students than they did from me. Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and returned to the United States as a different man.
1. According to Paragraph 2, it is most likely that the author ________.| A．discussed his decision with his family |
| B．asked previous volunteers about voluntary work |
| C．attended special training to perform difficult tasks |
| D．felt frightened about having to leave his family and friends |
| A．participated in many discussions | B．went through challenging survival tests |
| C．wrote quite a few papers on voluntary work | D．faced strong competition from other candidates |
| A．He found some difficulty adapting to the local culture. |
| B．He had learned to communicate in the local language. |
| C．He had overcome all his weaknesses before he left for home. |
| D．He was chosen as the most respectable teacher by his students. |
3 . I like staying overnight at my Gramma Ruiz’s house until Gramma starts telling me how wonderful my cousin Maya is. Then it’s Maya this and Maya that until I don’t ever want to hear another word about her.
That’s why I wasn’t too excited when Gramma called me to “come on over”. When I got there, it was worse than I’d expected. Maya sat there, all dressed up and wearing fancy shoes.
Maya was taller than I’d remembered her from her last visit four years ago. She was talking about how nice to see me again. But I could tell that she didn’t really think so. She looked about as happy to see me as if I’d been a skunk(臭鼬) crossing her path.
I couldn’t remember what it was I didn’t like about her. The last time she was here, we’d had hours of fun together. After that, I’d heard about her only through Gramma’s tales. Now Maya was here, looking great with the latest haircut and a beautiful dress. I glanced down at my jeans and sneakers. I wished I hadn’t come. It was bad enough that she was Gramma’s favorite — smarter and more talented than I was — but elegant, too. This was too much.
Maya’s words crashed through my thoughts. “I hear you like to skate,” she was saying. I was surprised. I wondered how she knew about my skating.
“I hear you take piano lessons,” I countered. A funny look crossed her face and she nodded.
“I hear you were captain of your softball team,” she said.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “How do you know all of this?”
Maya shrugged and looked down. “I hear about you all the time from Gramma’s letters. You’re her favorite person to write about.”
I couldn’t believe it. Then I looked at Maya’s face. Could she be jealous of me? “Gramma tells me about you all the time, too!” I said. “I even know you wear a size-three shoe!”
Maya laughed. I also smiled, knowing now that Gramma had two favorites.
1. What can we learn about Maya and the author?| A．They hadn’t met each other for about four years. |
| B．They were eager to know something about each other. |
| C．Not both of them were happy about the get-together. |
| D．They both loved sports, such as skating and softball. |
| A．excited | B．curious |
| C．amazed | D．envious |
| A．Fun Time with Maya | B．Gramma’s Favorite |
| C．Our Loving Gramma | D．A Surprise get-together |
4 . At first, Michael Surrell didn’t see the black smoke or flames shooting from the windows of his neighbors’ home. Then they got a call from one of his daughters: “The house next door is on fire!” He went over and saw three women crying madly on their porch(门廊).
“The baby’s in the second floor!” one of the women cried. Though the fire department had been called, Surrell, then 64, bravely ran inside. “The baby” was Tiara Roberts, the woman’s granddaughter and a playmate of Surrell’s three youngest kids.
Entering the burning house was like “running into a bucket of black paint,” Surrell says. The thick smoke caused him to stumble blindly around, burned his eyes, and made it impossible to breathe. The conditions would have been dangerous for anyone, but for Surrell, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (慢性阻塞性肺病), they were life-threatening.
Taking a deep breath, he moved around in the overwhelming darkness. Because the house had a similar layout to his, he found the stairs and made it to the second floor. Then he heard a soft but clear moan. Still unable to see, Surrell fell to his knees on the hot wood floor. He crawled toward the sound, feeling around for any sign of the girl. Finally, he touched something. A shoe, then an ankle. He pulled Tiara toward him, scooped her into his arms and stood. Turning, he fought through the smoke and ran blindly into the blackness…
Surrell woke up in the hospital a couple of days later and spent over a week in the hospital. Tiara was released from the hospital after a few days. The fire worsened Surrell’s pulmonary condition, and he feels the effects even two years later. As a result, he takes extra medication that helps open his airways. “It’s a small price to pay,” he says. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t give it a second thought.”
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the story?| A．Tiara Roberts was the Surrell’s youngest granddaughter. |
| B．Surrell was familiar with the structure of the burning house. |
| C．Surell ran into the fire before the fire department was called. |
| D．The fire was life-threatening for Surrell, mostly considering his age. |
| A．Normal. | B．Unexpected. |
| C．Mild. | D．Extreme. |
| A．Humorous and patient. |
| B．Outgoing and intelligent. |
| C．Determined and ambitious. |
| D．Warm-hearted and selfless. |
5 . Exams never made me break out in a nervous sweat with tears threatening to ruin my already-trembling façade — but this one did. Even booking my piano exam reduced me to a blubbering mess of anxiety.
I feel permanently scarred inside churches — no longer admiring their beauty because, over the years, I have received such terrible marks from examiners hiding behind the stained-glass partitions. Despite being 15 — too old, too cool to be frightened — I remember trembling inside the bathroom stalls before my tests. I wished I never had to play in front of others.
But this time, after booking my Level 8 Royal Conservatory of Music piano exam, I went back to my normal routine. A little practice here, a little practice there. And then it happened.
My trusty, 10-year-old electric piano gave out. Middle C started to sound like an F-sharp and all other keys sounded like they were a fourth above their natural tone. Thankfully, my precious, boredom-saving buttons still worked. I could still change my piano’s settings from “piano” to “harpsichord .” I admit, it was a lot of fun banging on my wacky keys. Each note bonged like the sound on children’s TV shows when a character repeatedly runs into a wall.
Goofiness aside, I had to get my act together. I hated practicing but I really wanted a good mark. When I told my father what had happened to my piano, he only glared at me with disappointment, “When I was your age, I learned to be resourceful.”
Hmm. I had a broken piano, an exam coming up in a few months and a father who refused to buy me a new piano because he wanted to teach me a “life lesson”. I finally came upon a decision: I’d practice at school.
Going to a private school had to have its benefits, so I looked for a place to play. The school had many pianos but only a few in tune. Within a few days of searching, my piano books, my artistic best friend and I headed off to a music room at every available opportunity.
I loved finding new pianos in hidden corners of the school and I laughed at the dusty old historic pianos. They really had character. I spent hours in those music rooms while my friend honed her art skills in sketching and drawing. She suffered through my annoying, repetitive scales while I looked over my shoulder once in a while and admired her work. Not only did I become a better musician, but I also managed to gain a few subpar skills as an art critic.
As my exam drew close, all the music teachers knew to look for me in the piano rooms during recess, after school and late on Fridays. In anticipation of my assessment, one of my music teachers let me perform for her as a mini practice exam. To my surprise, she was greatly impressed.
Within a few months I went from not caring about my playing to feeling actually, maybe, kind of proud of my work. And over countless hours spent in my favorite, soundproof music room, I discovered that behind the piano, I could become anyone. Talking to other people never came easy to me, but I was able to express myself through music. I became overjoyed. It was like I had developed a sixth sense, one that only musicians could understand.
When I played, my worries about what others thought of me and how I viewed myself merged to reveal who I really am. All my adolescent musings made me feel like I was in a cage, but music gave me the key. Sitting behind a piano and creating music combined the movement of my body and the inner workings of my heart.
Music had never been the love of my life but that was changing. I loved the idea of being on a stage and creating something for others to enjoy and remember. Actually, it wasn’t a something, but rather a feeling that the audience would carry outside into a world where music wasn’t the only thing that people cared for.
When the time came to play in front of an examiner, instead of fearing my judge, I feared nothing but being unable to represent all my hard work. All the anxiety I had about going up on stage dimmed, and when the lights went on, all I could think about was the marvellous journey I’d had to get here. Trilling the keys reminded me of when I’d spent nearly two hours alone in a music room, more content than I had been anywhere else. Playing the melody reminded me of the bittersweet music experiences of past years.
Many days later, I received my mark. Not only did I earn a rarely mentioned “well done” and an 82 per cent, I had rewritten what music meant to me.
Now whenever I get caught up in the daily struggle, I remember the hard work that it took to reach my goal. Whenever I feel discouraged, I never forget to look at the gleaming keys of my new upright piano. As my father always says, some lessons are just learned the hard way.
1. What made the author so stressful inside churches these years?| A．The religious atmosphere. | B．The artistic performance. |
| C．The horrible surroundings. | D．Her colorful fantasy. |
| A．The author’s family was too poor to afford a new piano. |
| B．The father was quite angry about the author’s bad behavior. |
| C．The author showed great dissatisfaction about her father. |
| D．The father wanted the author to address the problem independently. |
| A．mixed | B．separated | C．interacted | D．exploited |
| A．Her good friend accompanied her to get through hard time. |
| B．Her teachers treated her much better than before. |
| C．Her family supported her quite well. |
| D．Her own understanding of musical value. |
| A．Nervous — disappointed — angry — calm |
| B．Curious — frustrated — hopeful — grateful |
| C．Frightened — indifferent — passionate — proud |
| D．Depressed — satisfied — disappointed — peaceful |
| A．An important Music Test |
| B．A Hard but Enjoyable Life |
| C．The Key to Happiness |
| D．My Favourite Piano |
6 . Passing biker Anuchit saw the dog twice on a highway in Roi-Et, northeastern Thailand, and last month. He stopped to check on the dog and was told by the locals that it had been sitting at the same place for its owner in the last four years.
Saowaluck , 45, said that she found the dog at that place in early 2016. Then he was so skinny and he had injuries, so Saowaluck took him to the vet, adopted him and named him Leo, but after a couple of days he was missing from her house and appeared at that spot again so she let him stay there and have been coming to feed him every day.
Anuchit decided to share the story of Leo and a video online, prompting the dog's owner to come forward. Video shows Leo sitting by the roadside and looking out as the cars drove past.
Owner Noi , 64, said her dog Bong Bong had gone missing after jumping down from her truck in 2015. “My husband and I drove around to find him but we failed." On seeing the video, she went back to the spot where she lost the dog on September 9, while Leo bounded over excitedly to Noi and let her rub his head. However, he refused to go home when she carried him to the truck. It appeared that Bong Bong needed time to adjust himself, so Noi promised to go back again the next day.
However, that night Saowaluck called Noi and said that she wanted to keep the dog because she had become attached to him. Noi responded that she was more than happy to let the dog stay with Saowalack. She said: "I have no intention to refuse her request. Due to her good care I believed she and the dog will be happy together and I would like her to keep the dog in her house.''
Saowaluck promised to take the dog home and would take good care of him while Noi suggested she was happy to take the dog back, if Saowaluck no longer wanted him.
1. Why had the dog been sitting at the same place for four years?| A．He was fond of freedom. | B．He forgot where he was heading. |
| C．He was waiting for his owner. | D．He was looking for a new family. |
| A．Propose | B．Force |
| C．Promote | D．Urge |
| A．He refused to approach Noi. |
| B．He stayed with Saowalack. |
| C．He jumped over in excitement. |
| D．He rubbed against Noi’s legs. |
| A．She had an intention of being the dog’s new owner. |
| B．She wanted to tell Noi what she had done for the dog. |
| C．She planned to attach the dog to the truck of her own. |
| D．She intended to return the dog to Noi. |
7 . I didn't grow up in a very loving family. In fact, there are few, if any, happy memories I have of my childhood involving my family members. My happiest moments were spent with the few friends I was allowed to have. My family eventually distanced from all the neighbors. So the time came when I didn't even have neighborhood kids to play with. So, I learned to spend my time reading, discovering nature and setting and achieving small goals for myself.
There was another family in town that was quite similar to mine. They had a lot of children like my own family. They attended the same church. I always wondered what it would be like if my family were more like them. They never knew it, but I watched them and admired hem. They were happy and close — everything I wished my family could be.
Decades Later I found myself back at that very same church I had left behind. This time I was in that church for my mother's funeral. As I approached the church for the funeral, memories came flooding back home. I remembered the warm, kind smiles of that family when I was a child.
After the funeral service, I heard a familiar voice call my name. I turned around and he was there, the father of that, family I had admired when I was young. He was a church volunteer for my mother's funeral lunch. We chatted for a bit. I pointed out my happy child to him and it was at that point I realized I was raising my boy in a way I had seen him raise his own children so long ago. He didn't realize it, but my son s life has been greatly affected by him.
Live your life with virtue.You never know who’s watching, who you will inspire and whose life you'll change.
1. What do we learn about the author's parents?| A．They got along well with each other. |
| B．They were good at educating children. |
| C．They didn't love the author very much. |
| D．They didn't do well in dealing with people. |
| A．To meet the man. | B．To visit the church. |
| C．To work as a volunteer. | D．To handle something personal. |
| A．Reliable. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Kind-hearted. | D．Hardworking. |
| A．Try to build a happy family. | B．Watch your words and deeds. |
| C．Learn from others all the time. | D．Help others whenever possible. |
8 . 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 |
9 . Adventure-seeker Emma broke her ankle when she fell awkwardly while climbing a rock and spent a week in hospital waiting for an operation on her foot. When she was sent home to recover under strict instructions not to bear any weight, she became so fearful of crutches (拐杖) that she didn't move for three weeks. “I tried crutches but I kept falling over and injuring myself. So I literally just stayed on the sofa all day, ” says Emma.
She was gutted at the thought of missing the Wolf Run — a quarterly event that she hasn't missed since 2014. “If you complete four Wolf Runs in a year, one in each season, you get Alpha Wolf status,” explains Emma. “This year was going to be my fifth in a row as an Alpha Wolf and I was really upset that I'd lose my status.” So she was willing to try anything to get through the course — even with her injured ankle.
“I was telling my friend that I was going to cancel, and he persuaded me to give it a go. Having something to aim for really kept me going." Emma completed the run wearing an iWALK2.0, which is a medically-approved device and it basically functions like a hi-tech artificial leg, allowing users to walk freely. I decided to get one and it completely changed my recovery. I could move around the house and start getting out and about again, which had a real impact on my mental well-being.”
On the day of the race, Emma was nervous but the sound of people cheering her on kept her motivated. Emma made it over the finish line in just under six hours and clocked up her 23rd Wolf Run in five years. “It was an incredible day and my determination to finish combined with the support I received along the way kept me going,” says Emma.
1. Why was Emma frightened to use a crutch?| A．She was afraid of recovering slowly. |
| B．She was warned not to move around. |
| C．She just had an operation on her foot. |
| D．She often got injured when using one. |
| A．Extremely sad. | B．A bit relieved. |
| C．Very surprised. | D．Pretty cheerful. |
| A．Her new hi-tech artificial leg. |
| B．Her fear of letting her friend down. |
| C．Her strong desire to achieve her ambition. |
| D．Her complete recovery from the operation. |
| A．Strong-willed. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Creative. | D．Humorous. |
10 . When I was nine years old, I went off to summer camp for the first time. And my mother packed me a suitcase full of books, which to me seemed like a perfectly natural thing to do. While reading, you have the animal warmth of your family sitting right next to you, but you are also free to experience the adventure land inside your own mind. And I had this idea that camp was going to be just like this.
On the very first day, our counselor(顾问) gathered us all together and she taught us a cheer that she said we would be doing every day for the rest of the summer to instill(浸润) camp spirit. And it went like this: “R-O-W-D-I-E, that's the way we spell rowdie. Rowdie, rowdie, let's get rowdie . Yeah！”. So I couldn't figure out why we had to spell this word incorrectly. But I recited the cheer along with everybody else. I did my best. And I just waited for the time that I could go off and read my books.
But the first time that I took my book out of my suitcase, the coolest girl in the room came up to me and asked me, “Why are you being so mellow(安静的)?” Mellow, of course, is the exact opposite of R-O-W-D-I-E. And then the second time I tried it, the counselor came up to me with a concerned expression on her face and she repeated the point about camp spirit and said we should all work very hard to be outgoing.
And so I put my books away, back in their suitcase, and I put them under my bed, and there they stayed for the rest of the summer. And I felt kind of guilty about this. I felt as if the books needed me somehow, and they were calling out to me but I just gave them up.
1. According to the author, what would the coming camp be like?| A．It would be very noisy. |
| B．It would involve lots of reading. |
| C．It would be full of danger and excitement. |
| D．It would make a good chance to get close to nature. |
| A．Puzzled. | B．Excited. |
| C．Concerned. | D．Frightened. |
| A．She got very angry. |
| B．She praised the author. |
| C．She asked the author to share the book |
| D．She indirectly advised the author not to read. |
| A．She was kind of quiet. |
| B．She had to leave her books unread. |
| C．She was unwilling to open her books. |
| D．She didn't follow the counselor's advice. |
