1 . I was 9 years old when I found out my father was ill. It was 1944, but I can remember my mother’s words as if it were yesterday, “Kerrel, I don’t want you to take food from your father, because he has AIDS. Be very careful when you are around him.”
AIDS wasn’t something we talked about in my country when I was growing up. From then on, I knew that this would be a family secret. My parents were not together anymore, and my dad lived alone. For a while, he could take care of himself. But when I was 12, his condition worsened. My father’s other children lived far away, so it fell to me to look after him.
We couldn’t afford all the necessary medication for him, and because Dad was unable to work, I had no money for school supplies and often couldn’t even buy food for dinner. I would sit in class feeling completely lost, the teacher’s words muffled(消声) as I tried to figure out how I was going to manage. I did not share my burden(负担) with anyone. I had seen how people reacted to AIDS. Kids laughed at classmates who had parents with the disease. And even adults could be cruel. When my father was moved to the hospital, the nurses would leave his food on the bedside table even though he was too weak to feed himself.
I had known that he was going to die, but after so many years of keeping his condition a secret, I was completely unprepared when he reached his final days. Sad and hopeless, I called a woman at the nonprofit National AIDS Support. That day, she didn’t know any about me and my father, but kept me on the phone for hours. I was so lucky to find someone who was so kind. She saved my life.
I was 15 when my father died. He took his secret away with him, having never spoken about AIDS to anyone, even me. He didn’t want to call attention to AIDS. I do.
1. What was Kerrel’s life like when she was little?| A．She often took food from her father. |
| B．She had to be careful when staying with her father. |
| C．She didn’t look after her father until she was 15. |
| D．She worked hard to pay for her father’s medication. |
| A．She couldn’t understand her teacher. |
| B．She had special difficulty in hearing. |
| C．She was too concerned to focus on the lesson. |
| D．She was too tired to hear her teacher’s words. |
| A．She thought it was shameful to have AIDS. |
| B．She was afraid of being looked down upon. |
| C．She found no one willing to listen to her. |
| D．She wanted to obey her mother. |
| A．A secret never spoken. | B．The sufferings of my father. |
| C．The terrible AIDS. | D．Dark days in childhood. |
2 . “My wife's locked in,” explained Wilson calmly, “she's going to stay there till we move away.”
Michaelis was surprised to hear words like those from his neighbor. He tried to find out what had happened, but Wilson didn't want to explain. After seven he heard Mrs. Wilson's voice, loud and angry, downstairs in the garage. She was shouting at her husband.
A moment later she ran out into the dark night. Before Michaelis could do anything, it was over.
The car, as reported, didn't stop. Michaelis wasn't even sure of its color. He told the policeman later that it was light green. Another car heading for New York stopped and its driver hurried back to where Mrs. Wilson lay dead in the road.
“Crash！” said Tom “Good. Wilson'll have some business.”
He stopped at the garage.
“We'll take a look,” he said.
A wailing (恸哭) sound was coming from the garage — it was Wilson. “Oh, my god!” he cried over and over again.
“There's some bad trouble here,”said Tom, trying to look over the heads of the crowd.
Suddenly he made a strange sound and started pushing through the people. Jordan and I followed. Mrs. Wilson's body lay in a blanket on a table by the wall. Tom was bending over her. Tom turned to the policeman, “What happened？”
“A car hit her. She was killed instantly.”
“Killed instantly,” repeated Tom.
“She ran into the road,” said Michaelis. “There were two cars. The one coming from New York hit her.”
Another man said, “It was a big, new, yellow car.”
“Did you see the accident?”
“No, but the car passed me down the road. It was going very fast.”
Some of this conversation reached Wilson.
“You don't have to tell me！I know what kind of car it was!” he shouted.
The muscles in Tom's shoulders tensed. He walked over to Wilson and took hold of him.
“Pull yourself together,” he said quietly. “I got here a minute ago, from New York. I was bringing you that coupe (敞篷车). That yellow car I was driving this afternoon wasn't mine.”
1. From Wilson's reply in Paragragh 1, Michaelis probably sensed that ________.| A．danger was drawing near |
| B．Wilson did not love his wife at all |
| C．the Wilsons quarrelled over something unusual |
| D．Mrs. Wilson was to be locked for a long time |
| A．To protect himself against being suspected. |
| B．To take Wilson away from the scene. |
| C．To cheer Wilson up in face of trouble. |
| D．To express sorrow for Mrs. Wilson's death. |
| A．Wilson thought his wife deserved it. |
| B．Michaelis was the owner of the coupe. |
| C．“I” was at the scene, knowing what happened. |
| D．Tom was eager to find truth about Mrs. Wilson's death. |
3 . Jonathan Bauer is afraid of heights, but that didn’t stop him from leaping off a bridge some 25 to 40 feet to the water below to save a little girl’s life.
On May 2, Bauer and his teenage daughter Ava were driving on the bridge over Maryland’s Assawoman Bay when they got caught in a serious five-car pileup. The accident sent eight people to the hospital and left a pickup truck hanging dangerously over the guardrail.
After making sure Ava was okay, Bauer got out of his car to see if anyone needed help. As he headed toward the shaking truck, its passenger informed him of a heart-wrenching sight — a very young child was floating in the bay. “I looked over and saw the car seat, and then about six feet away from the car seat, I saw the little girl floating perfectly on her back, arms moving, legs kicking.” Bauer said, as reported by WJLA.
Scanning the water for nearby boats that might be able to help, Bauer found none close by. When he turned his attention back to the little girl, he saw she was in trouble. “She had turned over onto her stomach and her face was in the water,” he said.
Bauer yelled to his daughter to pull over the first firefighter or paramedic (护理人员) she saw. Then he simply took off his shoes and jumped in, feet first.
Surfacing without injury, he swam to the child, who appeared to be only half-conscious. Lifting the child over his shoulder, he patted her back to force the water out of her system. Moments later, boaters Joe and Alayna Oertel who had witnessed the events arrived. After pulling them to safety, the Oertels rushed the pair to the place where they were met by waiting paramedics.
Meanwhile, Bauer slid away without taking credit for his brave actions. Even after reports of the incident went public, he initially tried to keep his involvement quiet, preferring to remain an unknown good Samaritan.
1. It can be learned from the passage that Bauer ________.| A．got into a panic at the sight of the drowning girl |
| B．refused to be reported for his bravery by WJLA |
| C．saved the girl by giving her instant first aid treatment |
| D．hung back before jumping off the bridge for fear of heights |
| A．is motivated to assist others for fame |
| B．performs good deeds out of sympathy |
| C．saves others’ lives at the cost of his own |
| D．chooses to stay away from public attention |
| A．Random acts of kindness make a difference to moral judgment. |
| B．Basic first-aid techniques enable us to escape from danger. |
| C．Heroic actions ask for no honor or approval in return. |
| D．Success is based on the team not the individual. |
4 . Mother slipped into my bedroom on the night of my sixth birthday, hands behind her back. “I have one more present for you,” she said. “One I wanted to save until now. Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
I did so in amazement. And in my hands she placed a brand-new hardcover book. A picture of a little girl with her arms wrapped around a pig decorated the cover. “It’s Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White,” Mother said. “The perfect story for a six-year-old.”
“It might be too hard for you to read by yourself right now,” Mother said. “But I thought I’d read a chapter to you every night if you want me to.” I nodded. And so she began the timeless story of Charlotte, the spider that is loving and clever, with the magical first sentence I’ll never forget: “where’s Papa going with that ax?”
Mother wasn’t exactly true to her word. She didn’t read me a chapter of Charlotte’s Web every night. Sometimes she read three or four. In less than a week, we reached the final pages, sobbing together as she read the part where Charlotte dies. We sighed sadly as the book ended with the magical sentences I’ll never forget: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.” That’s when I fell in love with reading.
And more books followed. As time passed and my reading skills improved, Mother and I took turns reading chapters aloud, snuggled (依偎) together in the oversized armchair in the corner of my bedroom.
When I read To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye and The Grapes of Wrath in high school, Mother did, too, so that we could talk about them. My letters and phone calls home from college began, “Let me tell you what I’m reading.”
So it was no surprise when, just hours after the birth of my first child, Mother slipped into my hospital room with her hands behind her back. “I have a present for Meg.” she said. “Close your eyes and hold out your hands.”
1. What do we know about Charlotte’s Web according to the passage?| A．It built up the writer’s reading skills. |
| B．It impressed the writer a lot with its amusing story. |
| C．It was the only present the writer received for her sixth birthday. |
| D．It tells a classic story where a spider serves as a friend and a writer. |
| A．Responsible and protective. | B．Supportive and inspiring. |
| C．Knowledgeable but dishonest. | D．Considerate and warm-hearted. |
| A．The writer began to read books with her mother again. |
| B．The writer began to read books to Meg right after her birth. |
| C．The writer started reading Charlotte’s Web to Meg on her sixth birthday. |
| D．Meg developed interest in reading with the direct help of her grandmother. |
5 . Todd Steinkamp left his hotel around 5:30 a. m. for a funeral in Green Bay. Wisconsin. About half an hour into his journey on the road, he noticed a strange sound coming from the front tire (轮胎). By 7 a. m, he still had 70 miles ahead of him, but the noise was so loud that he knew he had no choice but to stop.
Steinkamp thought there was little chance anyone in the little town could help him so early in the morning. Still, he took his chance at a repair shop and asked for help. The worker Geib checked out the car. Geib told Steinkamp the wheel bearing (轴承) was failing. Fixing it would take a few hours. And without being repaired, the car couldn't go further.
Steinkamp started working out another plan. Could he rent a car somewhere? Geib went to the store across the street, but its only rental car wasn't available. Finding another place to rent would need a 40-mile drive. Steinkamp was unhappy and worried at that time. “However, Geib reached into his pocket, pulled out the key to his own truck and gave me,” Steinkamp said. With a smile, Geib said the truck could go 120 miles per hour if needed.
The men had met just 10 minutes before. They didn't know each other's names, but Geib did that. Steinkamp jumped in the truck and drove it to the funeral. When he came back to the shop seven hours later, he chatted with Geib. He thanked the 74-year-old worker, who turned a terrible day into a good one with a great lesson. Just be kind and help if you can.
1. Why did Todd Steinkamp want to go to Green Bay?| A．To pay a visit to his friends. | B．To rent a car for his travel. |
| C．To attend a funeral. | D．To repair his own truck. |
| A．There was something wrong with his car. |
| B．He was too tired to go on with his trip. |
| C．There was something wrong with his friend. |
| D．He lost his way during the trip. |
| A．Embarrassed. | B．Impatient. |
| C．Sorry. | D．Upset. |
| A．Steinkamp was 74 years old |
| B．Steinkamp ran away with the borrowed car |
| C．Geib lent Steinkamp a truck |
| D．Geib worked for the author for free |
| A．Make enough preparations ahead. | B．Help others if you can. |
| C．Treat others with respect. | D．Learn from each other. |
6 . When was the last time someone did something unexpectedly nice for you? Not someone you knew, but a total stranger? It happened to me a few times, but two examples really stand out.
A few years ago, I was dining out with a person who kept going on and on about himself, completely not aware of the fact that I was sitting there in misery. It wasn’t his company that disappointed me. I was recovering from a broken heart, and just sitting down to dinner reminded me of my last relationship. I could have burst into tears right there at the table.
When we picked up the check, the waitress said, “Your meal was already paid for.” My friend and I didn’t have a clue how it happened, Then I remembered a man coming in out of the corner of my eye. He was dressed in mostly white, sat down at the bar, had a glass of wine, stayed for maybe ten minutes, and then left. The waitress said, “Yes, the gentleman who was in here a while ago paid for you.”
Just last year, I was running a half-marathon. With just 1 mile to go, I was out of gas. Runners call it “hitting the wall”; I thought I couldn’t move another muscle. Out of nowhere, a teenager jogs up next to me and says, “What’s your name, sweetie? Jennifer? Okay, Jennifer, let’s go! Come on! It’s just around the comer! You can do it!” And he ran with me until I picked up ray pace. I found him at the finish line to thank him for the encouragement only to learn he wasn’t even supposed to be in the race that day. He was running in place of someone else. I still shake my head when I think of these momentary angels that came to me at my point of need. Do you have any experiences like this?
1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?| A．The Kindness of Strangers. | B．Valuable friendship. |
| C．Two Special Experiences. | D．Helping others is worthwhile. |
| A．being hurt by the wall | B．winning the game |
| C．taking a deep breath | D．running out of energy |
| A．giving her a bottle of water | B．running with her and encouraging her |
| C．showing her the right way | D．keeping her cool and awake |
7 . Throughout history, people have promoted stories of curse. Here are some famous ones.
King Tut's Curse
In 1923, a British archaeological team opened the tomb of "King Tut". Two months later, when the team's sponsor died from a bacterial infection, British newspapers claimed that was because of "King Tut's curse". Whenever other members of the team died, the media mentioned the curse gain.
Though it's not clear how many people took the curses seriously, these stories became popular subjects for some horror movies and comedies.
The Curse of the Polish King's tomb
In 1973, a group of archaeologists opened the tomb of Polish king Casimir IV in Poland. European media covered the great event, and the researchers joked they were risking a curse on the tomb by opening it.
When some team members began to die shortly after, some media suspected it was due to a curse. Later, experts discovered traces of deadly bacteria inside the tomb that could cause lung illnesses when breathed in.
The Curse of Tippecanoe
In the mid-20th century, US media began to note a pattern that, starting with Harrison and ending with Kennedy, every 20years the country elected a president to die in office.
Believe It or Not claimed the "pattern" was due to a curse placed by the chief of Shawnee, Tecumseh, on Harrison and future presidents after Harrison's troops defeated Tecumseh's at the battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. This story bears a similarity to other "curses" in US books and movies about disturbing Native burial grounds.
1. What can be learned from the first two curses?| A．It was the media that made up the curses. |
| B．Whoever opened the tombs would be cursed. |
| C．All he members died after the opening of the tombs. |
| D．The bacteria in the tombs could probably cause the deaths. |
| A．evil spirits |
| B．loyal guards |
| C．powerful gods |
| D．American natives |
| A．Events. |
| B．Mystery. |
| C．Religion. |
| D．Entertainment. |
8 . The Ghost Bridegroom
At the time of this story, there was a great family gathering at the castle to meet the promised bridegroom of the Baron’s daughter. An arrangement had been made between the Baron and an old nobleman of Bavaria, Berton, for a marriage between their children. It would increase the importance of both families. The initial plans had been made in the usual way: the young people were engaged without having met each other and the date set for the wedding.
The young Count (伯爵) Von Altenburg had been recalled from the army and was on his way to the castle to meet his promised bride. Messages had been received from Wurtzburg where he was accidentally delayed. The messages indicated the day and time when he might be expected to arrive. The castle was in a fever of preparation to provide him with a suitable welcome.
Anne had dressed with particular care. Bertha and Wilda had selected her clothing and quarreled all morning about what she should wear. The young lady had taken advantage of their arguments to wear exactly what she wanted and had chosen very well. She looked as beautiful as any young bridegroom could wish for, and the excitement made her look even lovelier. The two aunts constantly directed her, as single aunts usually take a great interest in the love affairs of others. They were giving her the final instructions on how to behave, what to say, and how to greet her intended husband.
Hour by hour passed. The sun, which had been so warm over the rich forests of the Odenwald, was now setting along the tops of the mountains. The Baron went to the tallest tower in the castle to see if he could see any sign of the Count and his escorts.
Once, he thought he saw them. The sound of horns came floating up from the valley. A party of men was seen far below, riding slowly along the road. It was a false alarm, for when they reached the foot of the mountain, they suddenly rode off in a different direction. The sun, by now, had set, and the bats began to fly about in the evening light. It was getting dark, and the only movement on the road was the occasional worker returning home.
1. Which is the right relationship of the characters in the novel?| A．Von Altenburg was the Baron’s son. |
| B．Anne and Bertha were the Baron’s sister. |
| C．Anne was Berton’s only daughter. |
| D．Von Altenburg was Anne’s intended husband. |
| A．He accepted his intended marriage arranged without his knowledge. |
| B．He was eager to meet his intended wife so he retired from the army. |
| C．He wouldn’t have been welcomed by the bride had he arrived on time. |
| D．He didn’t like the marriage, so he purposely delayed going to the castle. |
| A．The sun was so warm over the rich forests of the Odenwald. |
| B．The Baron went to the tallest tower to see if he could see any sign of the Count. |
| C．The sound of horns came floating up from the valley. |
| D．The sun had set, and the bats began to fly about in the evening light. |
| A．What happened to the bride. | B．What happened to the bridegroom. |
| C．What happened to the Baron. | D．What happened to the aunts. |
9 . Kemira Boyd’s 12-day-old daughter, Ryleigh, was choking after being fed 10 minutes earlier. The 24-year- old new mother began patting her daughter on the back, but she didn’t cry as she usually did. She knew Ryleigh needed to get to the hospital fast.
They had barely made it out of their neighborhood when the flash lights of a police car appeared behind them. Deputy（警官）Will Kimbro figured that the speeding driver was either too careless to notice him or simply unconcerned. Once she’d stopped to his call, Kemira jumped out and handed the baby to Kimbro, exclaiming that her daughter had stopped breathing. He put a hand on her little chest. Ryleigh’s heart was barely beating. Kimbro radioed for an ambulance－it was seven minutes out, and the hospital was even further away. That was seven minutes Ryleigh didn’t have.
Kimbro is an officer who usually spends his days going around the halls of a middle school ten miles away. But he travels farther when school is out in the summer. He had recently completed a CPR class. “Shocked as I was, my training kicked in, and I went to work to keep that baby alive,” says Kimbro. The deputy checked for a pulse and began tapping her chest, hoping to bring her heart back into action. Kimbro used one finger to clear the airway. That was a magic touch; 20 seconds later, there came her crying. Until the ambulance arrived, Kimbro continued with delicate chest pressure and regularly clearing her airway. “The whole time I was thinking: Do not let this baby die in front of her mother,” he later told Inside Edition.
At the hospital, Ryleigh recovered quickly－thanks to a determined school officer who was in the right place at the right time.
1. Why did Deputy Kimbro call to stop the car?| A．He wanted to help the young mother. |
| B．He was eager to give first aid to the baby. |
| C．He would punish the driver for speeding. |
| D．He was angry that the driver didn’t notice him. |
| A．started to work. | B．calmed me down. |
| C．woke up the baby. | D．made some progress. |
| A．A policeman’s first aid skill. |
| B．A mother’s love for her baby. |
| C．An officer’s duty for road safety. |
| D．A timely and lifesaving traffic stop. |
10 . Located in the Bahamas, Andros Island is also known as “The Sleeping Giant”，yet with only about 8.000 people living on it. Now the island has a new luxury resort Caerula Mar Club- which opened this February. The once-abandoned property was discovered by a well- known HGTV reality star couple who transformed it into a hotel. The Canadian design duo Bryan and Sarah Baeumler were vacationing in the Bahamas in the summer of 2017 when they discovered a once-abandoned resort. They instantly decided to purchase it with hopes to transform the 10-acre beachfront property into a luxury hotel.
However, they had no idea how much the investment would end up costing them. Here most supplies had to be shipped in, and the property was in bad shape. The budget for the remodelling should be around $ 4 million, but they've spent well over $ 10 million. What's worse, in the fall of 2019, category 5 Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas, and their employees and friends were affected.
Finally, several months later, as they prepared to open the resort to the public, the Coronavirus pandemic （大流行病）struck. They'd just been fully booked throughout the fall and winter months when the new disaster stopped everything as the Bahamas were put on lockdown.
With tourism opening up again, new plans are now for an October launch, but they're just taking things one day at a time. "I think at the end of this pandemic, well find many people are searching for a different experience，” says Bryan. "Instead of crowding into large resorts, they'll be going to properties where they can meet people, connect with the locals and experience nature. Our hotel is just such a place.”
Now the couple is focusing on the future while creating new development for visitors. “We certainly have plans to responsibly and sustainably develop the island that will help support the local economy says Bryan.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Life on Andros Island is fast-paced. |
| B．Andros Island is lightly populated. |
| C．The couple built the hotel as planned. |
| D．The couple found the luxury hotel accidentally. |
| A．Finances and disasters. | B．The bad local economy. |
| C．Poor health conditions. | D．Local people's objections. |
| A．He thinks it's not worth the price. | B．He is worried about it. |
| C．He is confident about it. | D．He thinks it should be reevaluated. |
| A．The sustainable ways of developing the island. |
| B．The political effects of the hotel on the island. |
| C．The promising future of the tourism on the island. |
| D．The couple's determination to contribute to the island. |
