1 . Thein Shwe is sitting with one of his students, 14-year-old Nur Hakim, outside a small classroom built of wood. Thein Shwe has been working at this non-formal primary education centre since it was first set up five years ago. He says, “I love teaching. I was a personal tutor (家庭教师) before. When I learnt that this centre was looking for teachers, I applied.”
Thein Shwe is very popular among his students. Even Nur Hakim, who at first was very shy, becomes more confident as his teacher smiles, nodding to encourage him. I come from a poor family, says Nur Hakim. “My father died when I was a baby.”
Nur Hakim’s father, who was a factory worker, was the main provider. Since his father’s death, his mother has had to support the family of six by herself. Nur Hakim was not attending school until the age of 12, when he got the chance to attend this non-formal primary education centre. “I love English and I love my teacher because he is always on time and teaches us well,” says the boy.
Nur Hakim says he hopes to join Grade 5 students next year in a nearby government school. Nur Hakim holds on to his dreams. “I want to be a doctor,” he says. “In my village, I see a lot of illnesses.”
Thein Shwe admits he finds it difficult to support his family working as a volunteer. But Thein Shwe talks more about the successes and difficulties he has faced keeping his students in class. He says over the four years, about 80% of the students continue on to the government school or vocational (职业的) training.
When Thein Shwe is asked about his main success as a teacher, he needs no time to think. “It’s being able to keep the poorest children in school,” he says.
1. What can we learn about Thein Shwe?| A．He started teaching when he was 14. |
| B．He used to work in a government school. |
| C．He has worked as a volunteer teacher for five years. |
| D．He helped set up the non-formal primary education centre. |
| A．Be a worker like his father. | B．Work in the field of medicine. |
| C．Teach in a government school. | D．Be a volunteer teacher like Thein Shwe. |
| A．Teaching kids useful life skills. |
| B．Providing chances of education for poor kids. |
| C．Changing children’s attitude towards education. |
| D．Sending his students to schools of higher education levels. |
2 . For the brave in the armed forces, being sent away from home for months at a time is just part of the duty. However, it's never an easy one to perform especially for those with children. So when I found out I was going to be stationed in South Korea for a year, I was nervous about how my five children, particularly my eldest daughter Abigail, would take the news since it meant I wouldn't be home to see her graduate from high school.
Incredibly, Abigail told me not to worry and even suggested we live stream the event among family members when I leaked the news. “We've been lucky you haven't had to be sent abroad yet. Anyway we can get connected through the Internet. See me on your phone on my spot,” Abigail said. She stepped into many of my roles when I was gone. I wanted to find a way to thank her and show her how proud I was of her. I started planning the special surprise when my request to return home a few weeks early to attend Abigail's graduation ceremony was approved.
When my time in South Korea finally came to an end, I flew home, rented a car, and stayed in a hotel. And on Abigail's graduation day, I hid in an office behind the stage waiting until I heard my daughter's name called. I just kept thinking “Don't cry. Don't trip in your heels. Don't fall over.” At last！Abigail was up on stage. I slipped up behind her, whispered in her ear, and around she turned! “I was just thinking, like, ‘You aren't supposed to be here. What? What? How？’ It was the biggest shock...I'm pretty sure my dad made people he didn't even know cry. Emotional for everyone,” Abigail cried.
You know what followed: Embraces, kisses, tears, laughs, flowers, wishes...Aren't they what a family has in store?
1. What worried the author most?| A．His duty in South Korea. | B．His five children's safety. |
| C．His eldest daughter's study. | D．His absence from a big event. |
| A．Plan. | B．Celebrate. | C．Prepare. | D．Broadcast. |
| A．Embarrassed. | B．Overjoyed. | C．Nervous. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．A soldier's personal sacrifice. | B．A father's love for his family. |
| C．The meaning of family bond. | D．The way to plan a big surprise. |
3 . Leeny stood in the chicken coop（笼子）, shovel in hand, smiling widely. She was not faking it: My 7-year-old daughter was having fun cleaning out the chicken coop. I was happy she was enjoying herself, but I’d meant the household work to be punishment for losing a library book. So, was I winning or losing at parenting?
Leeny always has her nose in a book. She even took to reading in the car on the long drive to summer camp, which was where she lost the book. This is the first lost library book in my life. My family has always been overeducated, but we were poor. I didn’t own books. I borrowed books. However, my daughters have more books now than I owned my whole childhood and I knowingly contribute to it by adding to the stacks（堆）. So it’s probably my fault that when Leeny realized she had lost the book, she shrugged（耸肩）. “Sorry. I can't find it.” My daughter said. “It’s only $20, right? What's the big deal?”
I felt the need to make her feel responsible for the book. She agreed to clean the chicken coop in trade for my paying the library fine. I thought this idea was very clever because cleaning the coop is some work I had been avoiding for months. It was summertime, and dust floated in the dry air.
But my girl, my animal-loving, mini-me, thought shoveling chicken poop（铲鸡粪）was the most fun she’d had on a Saturday morning in a long time. She did not feel any of the emotions that punishment is supposed to introduce. In fact, she looked as if she might lose another book on purpose in order to clean the coop again. I stood, somewhat dumbfounded（发愣的）, watching her.
It took me a while to realize what had happened, why my punishment had failed completely and why I didn’t care. The fact is that I had Leeny help me clean the chicken coop. I was there, too, shoveling chicken poop, fetching the clean straw and feed. Leeny’s little sister, Vicki, was inside watching a cartoon while my husband paid bills. Only Leeny and I were outside. She had me all to herself for the first time since Vicki was born, and she was enjoying all the attention for once. I don’t know what she learned about responsibility, but I found that I didn’t care about the book anymore. We bonded over that unpleasant job and spent quality time together: mother, daughter, and chicken poop.
1. How does Leeny find reading?| A．It is very enjoyable. |
| B．It is full of challenges. |
| C．It inspires her to be a camper. |
| D．It teaches her to lover her family. |
| A．the author didn’t own any books |
| B．the author’s daughters own too many books |
| C．the author’s daughters often lost library books |
| D．the author could never have enough books to read |
| A．Worried. |
| B．Ashamed. |
| C．Astonished. |
| D．Embarrassed. |
| A．My punishment failed, but I didn’t care |
| B．What I owe to Leeny: much more attention |
| C．My daughter drove me crazy, but I felt grateful |
| D．Surprise: my daughter loves cleaning chicken coops |
4 . One day, when I was working as a psychologist(心理学家) in England, a young boy showed up in my office.
It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had introduced him to me before. “This boy has lost his family,” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I’m very worried about him. Can you help?”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems which psychology doesn’t have answers to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and silently. And I would do in this way.
The first two times we met, David didn’t say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children’s drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon — in complete silence and without looking at me. It’s not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with,” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering. ” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It’s your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times, about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I have also learned that one — without any words — can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
1. What was David like when the writer first met him?| A．He was very nervous. | B．He was in deep sorrow. |
| C．He was mentally troubled. | D．He was frightened by the writer. |
| A．The writer didn’t know what to do. | B．The writer had a plan to help David. |
| C．The writer decided to keep silent. | D．The writer couldn’t solve the problem. |
| A．The writer cheated when playing chess. | B．David never looked at the writer. |
| C．Chess healed David’s wounded heart. | D．The writer gave his chess to David. |
| A．A boy fixed his mental problem by playing chess. | B．A psychologist should be good at listening. |
| C．A calm mind helps solve problems. | D．A listening ear matters in helping others. |
5 . I live in a second-floor flat with an ancient tree right on the corner of the house. House and tree have been here, side by side, for well over a century. No one really knows how old the tree is, but it was already there when builders started on the house at the beginning of the 1900s.
It was still rather young and flexible back then, so it easily welcomed the new structure into its path. It bent and adjusted itself to make room, and to find the space to grow big and strong and wise, which means that some hundred years later, the solid, strong branches of the tree reach around two full sides of my home. It’s covered in moss（苔藓）, which is, in turn, crawling with all sorts of insects. I have never seen the insects, by the way, I just know that they’re there because of all the birds trying to pick them out. They are always hopping around, looking for this and that and singing songs.
I feel like I have become part of the ecosystem. When I’m eating breakfast or making dinner in the kitchen, I can look out and see a bird hopping around skillfully, gathering its own meal while I tend to mine. When I’m sitting in the living room, reading or drinking tea, I can suddenly find myself face to face with another bird. We’ll be staring at each other and, after some time, decide we can both carry on with our business, living side by side. Even as I write this—the large windows open to a lovely, soft evening—a white feather comes floating down by my side, probably from one of the resident pigeons.
As I don’t have the luxury of a garden, this tree makes me feel connected to the outdoors. Such is an ancient tree, a tree that is itself home to many other creatures—that feels different. It is as if it has adopted me and made me a part of its world, without ever asking for something in return. But if needs be, I know that it can count on me and I will protect it with all my strength.
1. The flat that author lives in is _________.| A．built in an ancient tree | B．hugged by a giant tree |
| C．decorated with branches | D．surrounded by a garden |
| A．birds keep her warm company | B．she has adopted the residents. |
| C．moss makes her flat nice and cool | D．she has been bothered by the insects |
| A．A close-to-nature life. | B．A luxurious garden. |
| C．A spacious house. | D．A sociable neighbor. |
| A．Jealous. | B．Inferior. |
| C．Content. | D．Passionate. |
6 . My love for libraries blossomed when I joined the public library. From the age of 8 I was allowed to walk from my home to the downtown library, housed above the police station. Once the librarian gave me my first membership card, I could enjoy a range of books, which started with Little House in the Big Woods. I was addicted instantly, and this love of libraries and reading would change my life, allowing me to one day create a safe space for high-school kids, too.
By the time I was in high school, I could read the authors that we were studying in class, including Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Emily Bronte. During the summer months, I got caught up in Gone with the Wind.
When I studied English literature at university, I thought it was time to build my own library. For the next 40 years, I continued to collect books. Until one day, I realized that all my books had become a part of the house, like wallpaper.
Toward the end of my teaching career, I became a teacher-librarian at my old high school, where I had first learned English literature. This position enabled me to regain my love and appreciation for libraries. I had a generous budget for my classes, so I searched for novels that would interest my teenage audience and hopefully spark a love of books. Fantasy, science-fiction, graphic novels -I bought almost any type of books that my students wanted to read. I bought sofas and comfortable chairs, turning the library into a safe public space, for everyone.
In doing so, I realized that the library isn’t just a place to do research. They are, in fact, places that offer an opportunity to connect with the past, present and future. All that is required is a tiny bit of curiosity. Libraries are places that should be full of life. They help us adjust to the world, and their doors must be kept open to everyone for free!
1. What inspired the author to set up a library for students?| A．Some well-known classics. |
| B．His early experience of reading. |
| C．The suggestion of a librarian. |
| D．The book: Little House in the Big Woods. |
| A．In primary school. | B．In high school. |
| C．During university years. | D．After leaving college. |
| A．What his career was like. |
| B．Where he stored his books. |
| C．Why school kids loved reading. |
| D．How he improved the school library. |
| A．A private library | B．Read with curiosity |
| C．A librarian’s life | D．More than just books |
7 . 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. |
