1 . Nicole Ihus’s son John Henry was born last month with a life-threatening disease. Nicole and her husband, who live in Kansas City, contacted doctors from Minnesota and Missouri in hopes of finding a doctor who could treat John Henry for the condition, but to no avail. Luckily, Nicole managed to get in contact with the “best doctor in the world for this condition” at Johns Hopkins All Children’s in St. Petersburg, Florida, so she traveled all the way to the Sunshine State to give her newborn son a fighting chance.
After John Henry was into the ICU, Nicole felt alone in the new state, although she knew that she had to leave her son’s side in order to buy him some new clothes. Upon ordering an Uber ride to the nearby Rhea Lana children’s clothing store, she was picked up by a woman named Belinda.
Shortly after Nicole got into Belinda’s car, the new mother couldn’t help talking about her heartbreaking circumstances.
“She told me her story,” Belinda said. “She was in tears a couple of times and I really felt for her.” Rather than simply dropping Nicole off at the store, however, Belinda parked the car and insisted on accompanying her passenger into the store so she could treat John Henry to new clothes. Needless to say, Nicole was filled with gratitude.
Nicole said, “For this stranger to go completely out of her way - stop what she was doing and stop making money- to come be with me for a couple of hours while we shopped together, that was just incredible.” As Nicole cares for her newborn son and raises money for his medical conditions, she hopes to introduce the Uber driver to her son as a thank you for her compassionate gesture.
1. Why did the new mother have to travel to Florida?| A．Her husband worked there. |
| B．She wanted to have a baby there. |
| C．Her sick son might get cured there. |
| D．She wanted to find a cheap hospital there. |
| A．Drop her off at the hospital. |
| B．Accompany her while shopping. |
| C．Make friends with her son. |
| D．Buy new clothes for her. |
| A．Grateful and astonished. |
| B．Shocked and disappointed. |
| C．Worried and embarrassed. |
| D．Puzzled and regretful. |
| A．An unforgettable experience. |
| B．A heroic helper around you. |
| C．A special shopping experience. |
| D．An unexpected kindness. |
2 . Many kids start humming tunes like “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” as their first songs, but Nygel Witherspoon was an exception. He preferred Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D Minor.
So when Nygel Witherspoon began to hum the very difficult concerto(协奏曲), his family guessed that he should have music lessons. He was, however, just 3 years old.
“He was calm, with an ability to focus.” recalled David Holmes, Witherspoon’s cello(大提琴) teacher from age 3 to l6.
Witherspoon is a familiar name in his hometown. He has inherited his talent from both sides of his family, including his aunt, the late jazz vocalist Shirley Witherspoon.
The 17-year-old doesn’t see himself as competitive. “I think it’s more important for students to have a supportive environment than a competitive one;” he said. “It’s great to have a support system, where you can be yourself and improve right along with others doing the same thing.”
Witherspoon’s love of music blossomed as he attended viola(中提琴) lessons with older siblings. Their teacher, David France, noticed that the little boy was a sponge(海绵).
“He’d absorb everything they did.” France said. Witherspoon was given a box violin, but he wanted to play “the big one”— the cello. He loved its size and tone. That’s when he was matched with his teacher Holmes.
Witherspoon’s drive is inspired by the connection music provides. He recalled that he and his siblings performed as a chambertrio(室内乐三重奏) at their grandmother’s nursing home. The positive reaction from residents gave him motivation.
“It’s so important, whether it’s hip-hop or classical,” he said. “Music is the universal language. It connects all of us.”
1. How was Witherspoon different from other kids when he was 3?| A．He began to teach himself music. |
| B．He was able to hum very difficult tunes |
| C．He had already made up his mind to learn violin |
| D．He could already play the songs he’d heard. |
| A．Practicing hard. |
| B．Being very competitive. |
| C．Being in a supportive environment. |
| D．Having a good teacher from an early age. |
| A．He is a fast learner. | B．He is a creative player. |
| C．He works very hard. | D．He is open-minded. |
| A．To compare Witherspoon’s performance with his siblings. |
| B．To show that motivation plays a big role in music studies. |
| C．To stress that music connects people. |
| D．To show how studying music helped Witherspoon overcome difficulties. |
3 . We were sitting in her classroom, giggling each other and talking about the latest information of the day. Mrs Virginia De View, whose physical appearance made her an easy target for snickers (窃笑) and cruel jokes among students, cleared her throat and asked us to be silent.
“Now, Mrs.” Virginia De View said smiling, “we are going to discover our professions.” The class seemed to be greatly surprised. We were only 13 and 14 years old!
“Yes, you will all be searching for your future professions.”she said.
“You will have to do a research paper on your upcoming career. Each of you will have to interview someone in your field, plus give an oral report.”
Finally, I picked print journalism, and interviewed a true-blue newspaper reporter in the flesh. After a few days, I gave my oral report totally from memory in class. I got an A on the entire project.
Years later, I forgot all about Virginia De View and the careers we selected. I was in college looking around for a new career. but with no success. Then I remembered Virginia De View and my desire at 13 to be a journalist. And I called my parents. They didn't stop me. They just reminded me how competitive the field was. This was true. But journalism did something to me; it was in my blood. For the past 12 years, I've had the most incredible and satisfying reporting career .
I get asked all the time: “How did you pick journalism?”
“Well, you see, there was this teacher...” I always start out. Virginia Deview will probably never know without her help, I would not have become a journalist and a writer. I wonder now how many other students benefited from that career project.
I believe that when people reflect back over their school days, there will be their very own Virginia De View. Perhaps you can thank her before it's too late.
1. What did the students think of Mrs Virginia's project in her class?| A．Harmful | B．Crazy |
| C．Beneficial | D．Flexible |
| A．Career planning | B．Oral ability |
| C．Paper research | D．Interviewing skills |
| A．He keeps in touch with Mrs. Virginia. |
| B．He practiced as a journalist in college. |
| C．His parents were against his decision. |
| D．He enjoys working as a journalist |
| A．To express gratitude to Mrs. Virginia. |
| B．To give an oral report on selecting a career. |
| C．To show challenges he me as a reporter. |
| D．To look for his previous classmates. |
