1 . Time was introduced to us when we were just kids and only knew the playing hours; but when we grew up we got our own senses about how important “The Time” is. There is a story on time management which can give you some guidance.
A philosophy professor, once, decided to teach the students a valuable lesson about Time Management, so he stood before his class with some items on the table. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a big and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in size. He then looked towards the class and asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was full. Therefore, the professor then moved to pick up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar gently. The pebbles, of course, rolled through the gaps between the rocks.
He then again looked up to the students and asked if the jar was full. They all again nodded their heads. For the last time, he turned towards the jar, this time, picked up a box of sand, poured it into the jar and shook it lightly. Of course, the sand moved into the gap s and filled up everything else. He then asked students for the last time if the jar was full or not. The students were surprised but gave a unanimous response “Yes.”
“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to realize that this jar actually is your life. The rocks are the important things — like your family, your children, your health, your partner. If nothing remained but only these. your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter — like your job; your career, your house. The sand is everything else, the unimportant stuff.”
“If you put the sand into the jar first.” he continued, “there is no space for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you keep on filling the jar with the sand, it means that you keep on spending all your time and energy on the pity things and you will never have room for the things that are crucial for you. First and foremost, focus on-the rocks — the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”
1. What can we learn from the text?| A．The professor put the pebbles into the jar first. |
| B．The professor did four experiments altogether. |
| C．The result of the experiment was beyond students’ expectation. |
| D．The class aimed to make students realize the importance of time for success. |
| A．Unwilling. | B．Consistent. | C．Confusing. | D．Relevant. |
| A．Your job and family. | B．Your career and children. |
| C．Your parents and fitness. | D．Your house and money. |
| A．It is important to make full use of time efficiently. |
| B．It is crucial to strengthen the consciousness of managing time. |
| C．It is vital to arrange enough time for all aspects of life in advance. |
| D．It is necessary to attach more importance to what truly matters in life. |
2 . It happened towards the end of secondary school before the state exams every Irish teenager has to sit if they want to go to university. Our only objective for an entire year was to memorize as much information as possible in order to deal with one exam after another. Our teacher’s only objective was to repeat all that information.
And it was just another day of that when it happened. I didn’t know why, but the teacher suddenly went off script, broke off what he was saying and considered us for a moment.
Then he spoke about how we were going to leave school soon, and head into the world, separately, forever. He said we wouldn’t be able to grasp it yet, but our horizons were about to expand in ways we wouldn’t believe. As a teenage boy, I thought it was inspiring to hear an adult address us like this, not as kids to whom he needed to pass information, but as humans with whom he wanted to share something like wisdom.
What stayed with me was the image he used. He said our awareness would be like a flame in a dark cave. The brighter and larger the flame grew, the more of the cave we would see. But with every bit of light, there would come a growing awareness of the vastness of the cave, of just how little of it we were actually seeing, and of how much more space and opportunity was left for our flame to grow.
According to him, life isn’t about reaching firm conclusions anyway, but about opening yourself to the possibility that you might be wrong, and that there’s always more to learn. Every awkward mistake can be a feeding of that flame.
What my teacher said passed by quietly in a sunlit classroom, but it kicked open a door in my mind, a door through which much of my subsequent life has flowed.
1. What can we learn about the author in the first paragraph?| A．He had difficulty with exams. | B．He was not confident of himself. |
| C．He didn’t get on well with teachers. | D．He had a boring secondary school year. |
| A．What we have already known. | B．How far we want to see. |
| C．How we would grow up. | D．Where we should go. . |
| A．Humble. | B．Inspiring. | C．Dynamic. | D．Generous. |
| A．To stay respectful to teachers. | B．To be content with what we have. |
| C．To be open to all the possibilities. | D．To make up for the past mistakes. |
3 . In 1948, Ladies Home Journal selected our family for its “How America Lives” feature. The reporter and photographer arrived at the end of May and followed all of us (Mom, Dad, my brother, sister and me) for a week, recording our every move. Everyone was pretty excited about it, especially in our town of 6,000, where things like this just didn’t happen.
Since the article would be published in early December, we had to pretend it was already autumn. The reporter asked mom to cook and serve a complete Thanksgiving meal. She told Mom to “go all out” and use her best holiday dishes for the feast.
Mom’s face fell. She didn’t want to admit that our best dishes weren’t exactly the best, let alone suitable for a national magazine. While the reporter continued with her interview, the photographer quietly excused himself and slipped away for over an hour. When he came back, he had a large box, which he placed on the floor, telling Mom to open it.
Her mouth wide open, her face lit up as if it was Christmas. Inside was a beautiful set of 12 dishes, each painted with patterns of flowers and golden brims (金边), made by the Homer Laughlin China Co. There was even a soup bowl, something we kids had never seen before. Mom was near tears as she lovingly handled each piece.
When it came time to serve dinner, Mom walked slowly from the kitchen with the lovely new plate, which contained a small “turkey” (in reality, a large chicken).
From that day on, Mom made sure they never saw the light of day unless it was a major event, though they were a must at every Thanksgiving.
I carry on the tradition, using the dishes for our Thanksgiving feast. But I serve a real turkey, and I serve it on the real Thanksgiving Day.
1. Where did the photographer possibly go while mom was interviewed?| A．A bookstore. | B．A china store. | C．A flower shop. | D．A candy shop. |
| A．She was calm as usual. | B．She was moved into tears. |
| C．She had a mix of feelings. | D．She thought little of them. |
| A．Cozy. | B．Leisured. | C．Troubled. | D．Badly-off. |
| A．To persuade readers to buy the same dishes her family cherishes. |
| B．To tell us about the moving story behind the family-cherished dishes. |
| C．To contribute an article concerning her family to a popular magazine. |
| D．To write something down in memory of her mother and good days. |
4 . On a cold February evening, while her mother slept peacefully, a kid slipped out of her home and into the darkened streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dressed only in a T-shirt, socks and a diaper (尿布), the 3-year-old girl wandered around the abandoned parking lots of the city’s southwest side all by herself. She was cold and almost certainly afraid, but most of all, she was not safe. Thankfully, the right person saw her out alone and knew something wasn’t right.
Gabe Botello was delivering pizzas for Villa Pizza when he saw the unattended child at around 3: 00 am. He caught sight of her in the McConnell parking lot, but by the time he’d dropped off the food to his clients and retraced his steps, she had disappeared into the night.
A father of three kids himself, Gabe refused to go back to work until he located the little girl. He started pulling into empty parking lots to search for her. He finally spotted her curling up (蜷缩) between two walls at a factory across the street.
The concerned father jumped out of his car, pulled off his coat and wrapped her up to keep her warm. He put her into his car and gave her some water while he called 911.
The police arrived and were able to locate the kid’s home, where they discovered her mother was sound asleep and thought her daughter was, too. Gabe didn’t judge the child’s mother, and he hoped no one else would, either. He said, “As a parent, I know that children are quick and don’t always listen when they are told what’s best for them.”
Gabe not only did the right thing by finding the child and calling the police, but his level-headed and compassionate response to her mother warms our heart. It truly does take a village sometimes to take good care of a child, and we’re so glad this experienced dad was there when a child needed him most:
1. What was the girl’s mother doing when she was in the parking lots?| A．Sleeping at home. | B．Searching for her. |
| C．Wandering in the street. | D．Curling up at a factory. |
| A．He called 911 to help the girl. | B．He comforted the girl. |
| C．He drove the girl home directly. | D．He tried to find the girl. |
| A．The little girl behaved well. | B．It’s not easy to care for kids. |
| C．Kids usually listen to parents. | D．The girl’s mother was to blame. |
| A．Talented and humble. | B．Hard-working and honest. |
| C．Ambitious and adventurous. | D．Warm-hearted and understanding. |
5 . In June 1985, two British mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates made the first-ever climb of the West Face of the 21,000 foot snow-covered Siula Grande mountain in Peru. It was exceptionally tough — but nothing compared to what was to come. Early in the descent (斜坡), Simpson fell and broke his right knee. Yates could have abandoned him but managed to find a way of lowering him down the mountain in a series of difficult drops blinded by snow and cold. Then Simpson fell into a crevasse (冰隙) and Yates eventually had no choice but to cut the rope, utterly convinced that his friend was now dead.
In his subsequent book on the climb entitled “Touching The Void”, Joe Simpson wrote: “As I gazed at the distant moraines (冰碛石), I knew that I must at least try. I would probably die out there amid those rocks. The thought didn’t alarm me. It seemed reasonable, matter-of-fact. That was how it was. I could aim for something. If I died, well, that wasn’t so surprising, but I wouldn’t have just waited for it to happen. The horror of dying no longer affected me as it had in the crevasse. I now had the chance to confront it and struggle against it. My leg would hurt when I fell and when I couldn’t get up I would die.”
The survival of Simpson himself was extraordinary. That somehow found a way of climbing out of the crevasse after 12 hours and then dragged himself six miles back to camp, going three days and nights without food or drink, would be the stuff of heroic fiction if it was not so true. Indeed, six operations and two years later, he was even back climbing. All because, against all the odds, he tried.
1. What happened to Simpson?| A．He went blind in the accident. | B．He was hurt for lack of the rope. |
| C．He had his knee injured in the descent. | D．He was deserted into a crevasse on purpose. |
| A．He tried to remove the rocks. | B．He struggled for food and drink. |
| C．He thought about his dead friend. | D．He stayed calm to rescue himself. |
| A．Face up to. | B．Give way to. | C．Get away with. | D．Come up with. |
| A．No way is impossible to wisdom. | B．Nothing is hard to the man who will try. |
| C．The good seaman is known in bad weather. | D．Good company on the road is the shortest cut. |
6 . In 1990, Hal Donaldson was 23 years old, fresh out of college and found himself in Calcutta, India, where he was asked to interview Mother Teresa.
Donaldson says about the great woman famed for feeding the hungry, “She wasn’t wearing shoes and her ankles were swollen. She sat down with me and was very polite.” After the interview, Mother Teresa asked him, “What are you doing to help the poor?” Donaldson admitted that he was young and wasn’t focused on helping others. With a smile on her face, Mother Teresa said, “Everyone can do something.”
Those words deeply struck Donaldson and forced him to face hard truths about himself.
Hal Donaldson grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. When he was 12 years old, his parents were hit by a drunk driver; his father died, and his mother was seriously injured. To make ends meet, they went on welfare. Donaldson says, “I had holes in my shoes and clothes. When you’re teased at school for that, you just want to escape.”
He managed to do just that. Donaldson got into college and turned his focus to making money for himself. He says, “I was just trying to find my way out of insignificance.” However, it’s easy to overlook others along the way. I was the guy that would see a homeless person and cross the street, so I didn’t have to confront (面对) him. My focus was on climbing to the top instead of helping those trying to climb with me.
Donaldson returned home from India with a different thought. He traveled to eight cities in America and stayed on the streets and listened to stories of the homeless. “My heart broke,” he says. “I knew I could no longer just live for myself.”
Inspired by Mother Teresa’s words and the stories he’d heard across America, Donaldson loaded a pick up truck with $300 worth of groceries and handed them out to anyone who needed help. In 1994, Donaldson created the nonprofit organization, Convoy for Hope, which works with communities across America and around the world. Their work focuses on feeding children, women’s empowerment, helping farmers and disaster services.
1. What did 23-year-old Hal Donaldson do in India?| A．He interviewed Mother Teresa. |
| B．He fed the hungry with Mother Teresa. |
| C．He attended an job-interview for a college. |
| D．He did something to help the poor. |
| A．He was born with disability. | B．He led a hard life as a child. |
| C．He was well treated at school. | D．He survived as an orphan. |
| A．Self-centered | B．Sympathetic | C．Popular | D．Generous |
| A．He preferred traveling to volunteering. |
| B．He suddenly fell in love with journalism. |
| C．He turned his focus to living for himself. |
| D．He gradually devoted himself to helping others. |
7 . Rain beat against the window, matching my mood. I should have known that my new job at the hospital was too good to be true. Throughout the day, rumors (传言) warned that the newest employee from each department would be laid off. I was the newest one in the training department.
My boss appeared. “You probably know we’re cutting back,” he said. “Administration wants us to offer outplacement classes to help those employees find other jobs, showing them how to act in an interview, for example.” “Fine,” I answered unwillingly, not knowing what else to say.
I decided to go home early that day. In the hall, I met the lady who brought us cookies every Friday. She was a little woman with gray hair. Only her head and the top of her green apron (围裙) were visible over the cart (小车) loaded with cleaning supplies. At least she had a job!
At the final meeting, laid-off workers formed a line at the door. A colleague whispered, “I can’t believe our Cookie Lady is being laid off. We’ll miss her as much as we’ll miss her cookies.” When the colleague spoke to her in Spanish, I knew my classes would be useless for her and I realized how much better off I was than this poor woman.
I decided to do something for her. I wrote to a newspaper expressing how I felt about the unselfishness of the Cookie Lady who needed a job. A few days later, my article appeared in the newspaper and the Cookie Lady was allowed to stay in her position. On the same day, I received a letter, which seemed so unlikely that I read it twice. “An editor of a local magazine likes your piece and wants you to call her next time you’re looking for work…”
1. How did the author feel on that rainy day?| A．Nervous. | B．Excited. | C．Embarrassed. | D．Proud. |
| A．Take care of patients. | B．Leave earlier that day. |
| C．Help the laid-off workers. | D．Give up the job in the hospital. |
| A．He offered her a high-paid job. | B．He gave her advice on job hunting. |
| C．He made her story known to others. | D．He taught her how to pass an interview. |
| A．Good deeds have their rewards. |
| B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| C．Little people can make a big difference. |
| D．Love brings more joy to people than work does. |
8 . We’ve all heard the stories of an actor’s struggles before a career breakthrough: living a hard life, working part-time, being a couch potato before getting that major role. Shelby, the star of “A Dog’s Way Home”, has an unfortunate tale that could top them all. Before her big break, she was living in a landfill, rooting through garbage for her next meal.
Shelby’s big break came in April 2017, when animal-control officer Megan Buhler was driving in Cheatham County, Tennessee. Out on an unrelated call, Buhler spotted and approached what she recalled was a noticeably scared puppy emerging from the dump. “I knelt down and just said, ‘Oh, come here, baby,’” said Buhler. “She was so scared, but she came right up to me, and I was able to put her in my truck.” They headed to the county animal shelter, where the staff began calling the new resident Baby Girl.
Buhler and others didn’t know that 3,200 kilometers away, Hollywood was looking for a dog to play Bella in a film written by Cathryn Michon. The find-a-Bella job went to freelance trainer Teresa Ann Miller. Her mission was to search shelters nationwide for a dog that could play Bella. One day, Miller spotted Baby Girl’s adoption photo. “Honestly, it was a really good picture, and she was flat-out smiling,” Miller said. Then she met Baby Girl, and assessed her on personality and the ability to respond to simple commands. After assessment, she adopted Baby Girl from the shelter, renamed her Shelby and took her to California for training. Miller and Shelby had trained for just over three months before filming began. Then they were together each day on the set.
Most of the film’s reviews have praised Shelby’s performance. Variety made the comments “an amazing dog, perfect performance!”
Shelby has come a long way from the garbage dump. But Buhler said when she saw Shelby recently she just needed only a second to compare the movie star with the dog she found from piles of trash. “She’s exactly the same,” Buhler said.
1. Why does the author mention an actor’s struggles before a career breakthrough at the very beginning?| A．To clearly point out the main idea of the passage. |
| B．To attract reader’s attention by giving dramatic examples. |
| C．To introduce a dog’s similar but even more striking experiences. |
| D．To make a sharp contrast between an actor’s struggle and a dog’s struggle. |
| A．Her adoption picture. | B．Her personality and ability. |
| C．Her flat-out smiling. | D．Her miserable experiences. |
| A．The dog looked sad as before. |
| B．The dog was really excited to live such a happy life. |
| C．The dog returned to the piles of trash where she found it. |
| D．The dramatic change of the dog’s life hasn’t changed her inner quality. |
| A．The Trainer and Her Star Dog. | B．Shelby’s Unfortunate Story. |
| C．From a Landfill Puppy to a Movie Star. | D．The Success of “A Dog’s Way Home”. |
9 . Szczecin, an ancient city in northwestern Poland, has plenty to offer to visitors. Without doubt, the Pomeranian Duke’s Castle and Kasprowicza Park are two of its most popular tourist attractions, but when it comes to online reviews, both pale in comparison to a fat cat named Gacek.
Gacek, whose name means “long-eared bat” in Polish, has nearly 2,600 reviews, more than any other attraction in Szczecin. According to a local woman, Gacek first appeared on Kaszubska Street in downtown Szczecin about 10 years ago. He stuck around and people started feeding him, so from a skinny feline (猫科动物), he soon turned into a thick-fleshed boy, which only made him more adorable. The cat rose to fame in 2020, after a local news site featured it in a video that then went viral on social media, and people have been showering him with positive reviews ever since.
Also known as the “King of Kaszubska Street”, Gacek, the city’s online influencer, now lives in a roofed wooden box outside a shop on Kaszubska Street, and even though he doesn’t technically have an owner, the people who run the shop act as his caretakers. There is a sign outside his house that tells passers-by to leave whatever treats they have for the cat in a sealed (密封的) container and not to pet him when he’s sleeping. Most people who posted a review awarded the feline the maximum 5 stars, making him the top-rated tourist attraction in the city. Most of those who have interacted with Gacek claim that he is a “fantastically handsome and superb fellow”.
But Gacek does have a few one-star reviews, mostly from people who criticize his caretaker or express worry about his weight. Some even complained that he scratched (抓伤) their hands or stole a sausage. “Gacek seems to have become their envy now,” a citizen jokingly commented.
1. Why are the two tourist attractions mentioned?| A．To illustrate the city’s history. |
| B．To present an online influencer. |
| C．To display comments on the city. |
| D．To show their rising popularity. |
| A．His Polish name. | B．His past experiences. |
| C．A featured video. | D．A local woman’s care. |
| A．Szczecin citizens are considerate to it. |
| B．He now lives in a well-furnished room. |
| C．Many people are envious of his fame. |
| D．Tourists are not allowed to disturb him. |
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Worried. | C．Objective. | D．Favorable. |
10 . As ninety approached, many things had changed for Mom except one: She wanted a big birthday party. But because of a fractured (断裂的) hip just 3 weeks before, we could only arrange a small one at the rehab (康复中心) instead of giving her a big celebration in a restaurant.
Mom’s husband, Fred, was also in the facility, admitted to the dementia (痴呆) unit prior to her admission. Mom visited him a few times each week, but these visits distressed her because he was usually asleep and did not respond to her. She often left in tears and was sad for days.
On the day of the party, we decorated the dining room with balloons, and a sheet cake was decorated in her favorite colour. Surrounded by her loved ones, Mom was overwhelmed with happiness. Only one other person could have made this day happier: Fred, her husband of thirty years. Because the party was held in the nursing facility, we had taken him to the party, too. When an attendant brought him into the room, Mom shouted with joy. We positioned them side by-side in their wheelchairs. He sat there with his eyes closed, unresponsive, and the party went on.
A short time later, there was a buzz in the room: “Fred’s awake!” And he was! Mom spoke to him, and he responded. He said, “I love you.” He ate the birthday cake and ice cream. He stayed for the rest of the party. After I sent him back to his nursing unit, the remaining guests were still talking about Fred and his miraculous awakening, just in time to share his wife’s ninetieth birthday. Mom was very happy, crying that his presence was the best gift of all.
God works in strange ways. We were able to give Mom a lovely celebration after all, and with her husband at her side, a happy birthday indeed.
1. Why couldn’t Mom enjoy a big birthday party?| A．Because her husband got sick. |
| B．Because she herself got injured. |
| C．Because she preferred to celebrate it with her husband. |
| D．Because we didn’t want to arrange one for her. |
| A．He was admitted to the rehab after Mom. |
| B．Mom felt disappointed with him. |
| C．He was unconscious most of the time at the rehab. |
| D．He had been married to Mom for nearly twenty years. |
| A．To inspire him to get better. | B．To help us get close to him. |
| C．To celebrate his birthday. | D．To make him keep his wife company. |
| A．Mom’s Unexpected Birthday Gift | B．Fred’s Amazing Recovery |
| C．Mom’s Miraculous Party | D．Mom’s Strange Birthday |
