1 . When I was four, I lost my sight by falling off a box car and landing on my head. Now I’m thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It’d be wonderful to see again, but a disaster can do strange things to people.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this belief. It had to start with the most trivial things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. “I can’t use this,” I was hurt, thinking he was teasing me. “Take it with you,” he insisted, “and roll it around.” The words stuck in my head. By rolling the ball I could feel where it went.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. Had I not done that, I’d have broken down and become a chair rocker for the rest of my life. And the path to the belief is never smooth.
| A．I’d fail sometimes, but on average, I made progress |
| B．This gave me an idea on something I had thought impossible to achieve |
| C．As people always say, it takes steel and temper to make a difference |
| D．It came into my mind all of a sudden |
| E．It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do now if I hadn’t been blind |
| F．Life asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality |
2 . The first two years of Stuart Singer’s retirement were pure play, killing time in the New York City by bike and visiting museums and art galleries.
“At some point, I realised I should do more than this,” said Mr Singer, a former high school teacher.
Now Mr Singer, 74, and his wife Madine, 69, are involved in the Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme. Mr Singer volunteers with the Community Health Advocates Programme, which started in 2010. The programme helps consumers to know better about the health insurance coverage(医疗保险). And it helps them to find access to low-cost or free care. Mr Singer’s main task is to answer phones for the Community Health Advocates’ helpline.
“There are lots of calls from different people who need medical care, but they can’t get it because their insurance company won’t pay for it,” he said. “And you got to go through doctors, and get the papers filled out. But when you get it done, yeah, it feels good.”
The helpline helps about 250 callers each week and has saved consumers $12.1 million since it began. Mr Singer comes in once a week, helping 10 callers every shift. In total, he estimates he has saved New Yorkers $443,000.
Despite the challenges, the work is a joy, not drudgery for Mr Singer, which inspired his wife to sign up for volunteer training after she retired in late 2014 as vice president of the Insurance Information Institute. It put her fear of retirement at ease.
Mrs Singer trained with the Advocacy, Counseling and Entitlement Services Project before being placed with the Actor’s Fund, a national human services organization for performing arts and entertainment professionals founded in 1882. “It just seems so unfair that these people have trouble finding housing,” said Mrs Singer. Since she started in early 2015, Mrs Singer has had more than 270 appointments with clients, from ticket takers to screenwriters to dancers. “Having someone help them really means a lot to them,” Mrs Singer said.
Much of her work is helping clients who are applying for affordable housing sort through a variety of income sources they receive. “It keeps the mind going,” Mrs Singer said. “It keeps the social life going, and I’m doing something.”
1. In paragraph 2, this refers to_________.| A．riding bikes in New York City | B．visiting museums and art galleries |
| C．spending Mr Singer’s life purely for fun | D．teaching in a high school |
| A．tiring training | B．boring work |
| C．inspiring training | D．exciting work |
| A．Meaningful. | B．Easy. | C．Affordable. | D．Relaxing. |
| A．Live a Simple Life after Retirement |
| B．Adapt to Social Life after Retirement |
| C．Find Rewards in Volunteering after Retirement |
| D．Overcome Difficulties in Volunteering after Retirement |
3 . People always regret asking me and my wife how we got together. It's a long story, involving other relationships and several countries, and to be honest, it's not that interesting, so I'll spare you the details. We were at a restaurant in Tuscany on our summer holiday last year though, when we met another English couple who had a far more interesting story than us. Lynn and Andy had actually met online before they got together, or at least they thought they had. After a few casual conversations through an online dating agency, they decided to meet for real. Lynn arrived at the restaurant first, and shortly after was approached by Andy, who thought she was someone else. It turns out they'd both arranged to meet different people, but liked the look of each other, and that was that!
And they're not alone. It seems there are all sorts of places you might meet that special someone. Lukas met Sofia for the first time when he crashed into her car — on his bicycle. It was raining and I was coming downhill really fast, so I couldn't really see where I was going. Sofia opened her car door and I went straight into it, and off my bike,explains Lukas. I was unconscious for a few seconds, and when I came round there was this beautiful young woman asking me "Are you OK?" Well, after that, she went to the hospital with me and was just really kind, really caring, and we hit it off. ”
Every cloud has a silver lining, so they say, and Nick McKiddie would most likely agree. He was leaving the office late one night when he got robbed by a group of young men. He wasn't hurt, but they stole his phone and wallet, so he called the police. Susan Harris, a young police officer at the time, attended the call. Nick explains, I don't know whether I was in shock because of what had happened, but I think it was love at first sight. I would never usually be so confident, but I just asked if she wanted to go for a drink sometime, and to my surprise, she said yes! Nick and Susan got married last December.
Animals don't have the same social inhibitions (抑制；顾虑) as humans do, and this was certainly the case when Ri took her dog, Ben, to the local dog park. “As soon as I took his head off, he ran straight to another dog on the other side of the park, and started getting very friendly indeed,” she laughs. “I actually had to pull him away, and that was when I met Ben, the other dog's owner. We had a good laugh about it all, especially when we realised he had the same name as my dog. We became friends after that, and well, the rest is history.”
1. According to the passage, Lynn and Andy .| A．first met in a restaurant in Tuscany |
| B．regretted talking to each other online. |
| C．were arranged to see other people at first. |
| D．preferred casual conversations to real meeting |
| A．The author and his wife | B．Lukas and Sofia |
| C．Nick and Susan | D．Ri and Ben |
| A．every day is good beginning |
| B．good luck comes with misfortunes |
| C．what you value matters in your life |
| D．people do not always behave as usual |
| A．The methods of joining animals and us. |
| B．The places where people get together. |
| C．The weird ways people meet. |
| D．The special cases of dating. |
4 . There once was a master who went to India. in those times, we didn’t have the communications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master went to India on foot. he had never been to India before; perhaps he came from Persia. And when he got there, he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell, but much of it is expensive because they can’t grow much due to the water situation. So he saw one basket, a big basket of some very red, long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop, not expensive at all.
So he went up and asked, ‘How much per kilo?’ And the shopkeeper said, ‘Two rupees.’ Two rupees in India is nothing; it’s like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and started eating it. But after he ate some of it: Oh, my God! His eyes watered, his mouth watered and burned, his eyes were burning, his head was burning and his face became red. As he coughed and gasped for breath, he jumped up and down, saying, ‘Ah!Ah!Ah!’
But he still continued to eat the fruit! Some people who were looking at him shook their heads and said, ‘You’re crazy, man. Those are chilies! You can’t eat so many; they’re not good for you! People use them as a condiment, but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You can’t just eat them by the handful like that; they’re not fruit!’ So the stupid master said, ‘No, I can’t stop! I paid money for them, and now I’ll eat them. It’s my money!’
And you think that master was stupid, right? Similarly, we sometimes do a lot of things like that. We invest money, time or effort in a relationship, business or job. And even though it’s been a long time, bitter expereince tells us it won’t work, and we know there’s no more hope that things will change in the future - this we definitely know by intuition - we still continue just because we’ve invested money, time, effort and love into it. If so, we’re kaput(故障)in the brain. Just like the man who ate the chilies and suffered so much but couldn’t stop because he didn’t want to waste the money he’d paid. ________________________. That’s better than continuing to lose.
1. After the master went to India, ________.| A．he bought much fruit | B．he thought the fruit there was just like dirt |
| C．he bought some chilies | D．he ate a lot of fruit |
| A．fruit | B．salt | C．vegetable | D．fish |
| A．No pains, no gains. |
| B．We can’t waste anything. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| D．So even if you’ve lost something, let it go and move on. |
| A．silly | B．thoughtful | C．truthful | D．frightening |
5 . I was standing in the checkout line behind a woman who looked to be in her 60s. When it was her turn to pay, the cashier greeted her by name and asked her how she was doing.
The woman looked down, shook her head and said, “Not so good. My husband just lost his job and my son is up to his old tricks again. The truth is, I don’t know how I’m going to get through the holidays.”
Then she gave the shop owner the food stamps(食品券).
My heart ached. I wanted to help but didn’t know how. Should I offer to pay for her groceries, ask for her husband’s resume?
As I walked into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart. I remembered something in my purse that I thought could help her. It wasn’t a handful of cash or an offer of a job for her husband, but maybe it would make her life better.
My heart pounded as I approached the woman.
“Excuse me,” I said, my voice trembling a bit,“I couldn’t help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you’re going through a really hard time right now. I’m so sorry. I’d like to give you something.”
I handed her the small card from my purse.
When the woman read the card’s only two words, she began to cry. And through her tears, she said, “You have no idea how much this means to me.”
I was a little startled by her reply. Having never done anything like this before, I didn’t know what kind of reaction I might receive. All I could think to say was, “Oh my. Would it be OK to give you a hug?”
After that, I walked back to my car and began to cry too.
The words on the card?
“You Matter.”
A few weeks earlier, a colleague gave me a similar card as encouragement for a project I was working on. When I read the card, I felt a warm glow spread inside of me. Deeply touched, I came home and ordered my own box of You Matter cards and started sharing them.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the first three paragraphs?| A．The woman’s family mainly depends on her son. |
| B．The cashier helped the woman by giving her some food for free. |
| C．The woman and her family were having a tough lime |
| D．The author wondered why the cashier was familiar with the woman. |
| A．it greatly encouraged her |
| B．she could use it to buy food |
| C．it could solve her present problem |
| D．it could land her husband a job |
| A．interested |
| B．grateful |
| C．ashamed |
| D．astonished |
| A．smart |
| B．kind-hearted |
| C．knowledgeable |
| D．confident |
“Any apples today?” Effie asked cheerfully at my window. I followed her to her truck and bought a kilo. On credit, of course. Cash was the one thing in the world I lacked just then.
All pretense （借口） of payment was dropped when our funds, food and funds decreased to alarming lows. Effie came often, always bringing some gift: a jar of peaches or some firewood. There were other generosities.
Effie was not a rich woman. Her income, derived from investments she had made while running an interior decorating shop. had never exceeded $200 a month, which she supplemented by selling her apples. But she always managed to help someone poorer.
Years passed before I was able to return the money Effie had given me from time to time. She was ill now and had aged rapidly in the last year. “Here, darling,” I said, “is what l owe you.”
“Give it back as I gave it to you--a little at a time.” I think she believed there was magic in the slow discharge of a love debt.
The simple fact is that I never repaid the whole amount to Effie, for she died a few weeks later. By now, the few dollars Effie gave me have been multiplied many times. But a curious thing began to happen.
Whenever I saw a fellow human in financial trouble, I was moved to help him. I can't afford to do this always, but in the ten years since Effie's death, I have indirectly repaid my debt to her.
| A．Our baby was not doing well, so Effie financed my wife's trip to New York for consultation with a specialist. |
| B．Give your help to those in greater need. |
| C．The oddest part of the whole affair is that people whom I help often help others later on. |
| D．Effie work diligently all her life. |
| E．“Pay me whenever you like,” said Effie, climbing back into her truck. |
| F．“Don't give it to me all at once,” she said. |
7 . Paul received a car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a boy was walking around the shiny new car, admiring it.
“Is this your car, mister？” he said.
Paul nodded. “My brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was astounded. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you anything? Oh, I wish…”He hesitated.
Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for. He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said shocked Paul all the way down to his heels.
“I wish.” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.”
Paul looked at the boy in astonishment, and then impulsively （冲动地） he added, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?”
“Oh. yes, I'd love that.”
After a short ride, the boy turned to Paul and said. “Mister, would you mind driving to my house？”
Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He waned to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked
He ran up the steps. In a little while he came back. carrying his little disabled brother. He sat him down on the bottom step. and pointed to the car.
“Buddy just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it... then you can see for yourself all the pretty things in the Christmas windows that I've been trying to tell you about.”
Paul got out and lifted the boy into the front seat of his car. The older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began a memorable holiday ride. That Christmas Eve. Paul learned what Jesus meant when he said. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
1. The boy wishes that_________.| A．he could own a shiny new car one day |
| B．his brother would give him a car as a present |
| C．he could buy a car for his disabled brother |
| D．Paul would give him the car |
| A．To show his neighbors he could ride home in a big car. |
| B．To get home early and tell his brother his exciting experience. |
| C．To show his brother the possibility of getting a car from him as a present. |
| D．To fully enjoy the comfort and convenience of owning a car |
| A．Because he hopes to be a rich man and live a luxurious life. |
| B．Because he wants his brother to see the outside world with his own eyes. |
| C．Because he wishes to have a healthy brother like Paul. |
| D．Because he expects his brother to be envied by others. |
| A．felt happy to offer the ride |
| B．regretted accepting the car |
| C．would buy his brother some presents |
| D．would love Jesus more |
8 . It was 1961 and I was in the fifth grade. My marks in school were miserable and, the thing was, I didn’t know enough to really care. My older brother and I lived with Mom in a humble house in Detroit. We watched TV every night.
But one day Mom changed our world forever. She turned off the TV. Our mother had only been able to get through third grade. But, she was much brighter and smarter than we boys know at the time. She had noticed something in the suburban houses she cleaned--books. So she came home one day, snapped off the TV, sat us down and explained that her sons were going to make something of themselves. “You boys are going to read two books every week,” she said. “And you’re going to write a report on what you read.”
We complained about how unfair was. Besides, we didn’t have any books in the house other than Mom’s Bible. But she explained that we would go where the books were: “I’ll drive you to the library.”
So pretty soon there were these two peevish boys sitting in her car on their way to Detroit Public Library, depressed and restless I wandered reluctantly among the children’s books. I loved animals, so when I saw some books that seemed to be about animals, I started leafing through them.
The first book I read clear through was Chip the Dam Builder. It was about beavers. For the first time in my life I was lost in another world. No television program had ever taken me so far away from my surroundings as did this verbal visit to a cold stream in a forest and these animals building a home.
It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but the experience was quite different from watching TV. There were images forming in my mind instead of before my eyes. And I could return to them again and again with the flip of a page. Soon I began to look forward to visiting this quiet refuge from my other world.
Now my older brother is an engineer and I am a doctor. Sometimes I still can’t believe my life’s journey, from a failing and indifferent student in a Detroit public school to this position, which takes me all over the world to teach and perform critical surgery.
But I know when the journey began the day Mom snapped off the TV set and put us in he car for that drive to the library.
1. We can learn from the beginning of the passage that ________.| A．the author and his brother had done well in school |
| B．the author had been very concerned about his school work |
| C．the author had spent much time watching TV after school |
| D．the author had realized how important schooling was |
| A．Tolerant and decisive. |
| B．Aggressive and open. |
| C．Determined and farsighted. |
| D．Persistent and literate. |
| A．naughty | B．bad-tempered | C．patient | D．obedient |
| A．he could constantly review the plots in the books |
| B．he could visualize what he read in his mind |
| C．he could get many rewards from his mother |
| D．he realized that books offered him new experience |
9 . The Daffodil Lesson
It was a bleak rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Caronlyn’s house. But she had insisted that I come see something at the top of the mountain.
So here I was, reluctantly making the two-hour journey through fog that hung like veils. By the time I was how thick it was near the summit. I’d gone too far to turn back. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I inched along the dangerous highway.
“I’ll stay for lunch, but I’m heading back down as soon as the fog lifts,” I announced when I arrived.
“But I need you to drive me to the garage to pick up my car” Caronlyn said. “Could we at least do that?”
“How far is it I asked.
“About three minutes”, she said I’ll drive--I’m used to it
After ten minutes on the mountain road, I looked at her anxiously. "I thought you said three minutes."
She grinned. “This is a detour（绕道）”
Turning down a narrow track, we parked the car and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens towards over us. Gradually the peace and silence of the place began to fill my mind.
Then we turned a corner and stooped-and I gasped in amazement.
From the top of the mountain, sloping for several acres across folds and valleys, were rivers of daffodils in radiant bloom. A profusion(大量) of color-from the palest ivory to the deepest lemon to the most vivid salmon-blazed like a carpet before us. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and spilled gold down the mountainside. At the center there was a waterfall of purple flowers. Here and there were coral-colored tulips. Western bluebirds frolicked（嬉戏）over the heads of the daffodils, their tawny breasts and sapphire wings like a flutter of jewels.
A riot of question filled my mind. Who created such beauty?Why?How?
As we approached the home that stood in the center of the property, we saw a sign that read: “Answers to the Question I Know You Are Asking.”
The first answer was “One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain.: The second was:” One at a Time,” The third:” Started in 1958.”
As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had been, I could scarcely speak. “She changed the world,” I finally said, “one bulb at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the beginning of an idea, but she kept at it.”
The wonder of it would not let me go. “Imagine,” I said, “if I’d had a vision and worked at it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished?”
Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. “Start tomorrow,” she said.
“Better yet, start today.”
1. The passage is mainly about .| A．a successful gardener | B．an inspiring gardening lesson |
| C．a worthwhile travelling experience | D．an unexpected countryside scenery |
| A．the road twisted and turned along the mountain |
| B．the fog crowning the mountain lifted eventually |
| C．the owner of the filed came to answer her questions |
| D．the vast stretch of daffodil field took her breath away |
| A．The beautiful daffodil field was all along the road. |
| B．The author and her daughter planned the journey well. |
| C．The owner of the field spent a lot of time working in the field. |
| D．The author planned to work in the daffodil field the next day. |
| A．East or west, home is best. | B．It is never too old to learn. |
| C．Birds of a feather flock together. | D．Rome is not built in a day. |
