3 . It was already dark when an old man came to a small town.He found an inn and wanted to stay there for the night.After he had gone to his room,the owner said to his wife,“Look at his bag,dear.I’m sure there are lots of valuable things in it.I want to steal it when he is asleep.”

“No,no,” said the woman.“He must look for his bag tomorrow morning.Then he’ll take you before the judge.”They thought and at last the woman had an idea.“We have forgetful grass,” said the woman,“Why not put some into his food?If he has the food,he will forget to take his bag away.”“How clever you are!” said the owner,“Don’t forget it when you prepare supper for him.”

The old man had the food with the forgetful grass and went to bed.The next morning,when the owner got up,he found the door was open and the old man had left with his bag.He woke his wife up and said angrily,“What a fool!Your forgetful grass isn’t useful at all.”

“No,no,” said the woman.“I don’t think so.He must forget something.”

“Oh,I’ve remembered!”The owner cried out suddenly,“He forgot...”

1. The old man came to the inn 　　　.

A．in the morning	B．in the afternoon
C．in the evening	D．at night

2. The owner and his wife wanted to 　　　.

A．get the man’s bag	B．steal the man’s money
C．make the man pay them more	D．hide the man’s bag

3. The owner and his wife put the forgetful grass into the food because 　　　.

A．the old man always forgot something

B．they wanted to make the food better

C．they hoped the old man would leave the bag in the inn

D．they wanted to know if the grass was useful

4. According to the passage the old man forgot 　　　.

A．to take his bag away	B．to tell the owner when he left
C．to close the door when he went to sleep	D．to pay them the inn money

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Both the owner and his wife were clever.

B．The owner of the inn got nothing from the old man.

C．The old man left the inn without his bag.

D．The woman forgot to put the forgetful grass into the food.

4 . I went to a small and poor elementary school. I remember the first time a computer showed up in class. It was 5th grade and the computer was an Apple. It was the only computer in my school. This was the 80s and it was a $2600 machine.

Before I discovered computers, I took typing class on old typewriters and I was the kid in class that repaired the typewriters. I remember spending hours trying to figure out what each typewriter needed to fix a stuck key. I was also the Audio/Visual geek （狂热的人）. This meant I was the only one in the class who can thread （穿过）film onto the projector.

Anyway, when this Apple showed up, I immediately opened it. I had to see what was inside. This totally freaked out the teacher but it seemed clear I wasn't going to break it. I quickly learned how to get out of educational games and write things in BASIC. This was all in 5th grade.

I and my 5th grade teacher stayed in touch until her passing. I honestly don't know what I'd be doing if she hadn't done something extraordinary. She let my father and me took the Apple home. I'd spend the weekend programming, reading the massive notebooks. This was a $ 2000+computer in the middle of the 80s — the pride of the school —and they let me take it home. A year later, I came home from school one day and the family car was gone and there was a Commodore 64 left in its place. My parents had sold the car and bought a Commodore.

Now, I think about this crazy journey. I am standing on the shoulders not only of computer science giants, but also heroes like my parents and my 5th grade teacher. Thanks Mrs. Hill, for introducing me to computers even though you were breaking rules. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for bringing a computer home even when there wasn't money for one.

1. What can we learn about the author from paragraph 2?

A．He was a hard-working student.

B．His family was too poor to buy him a computer.

C．He had already had some skills to operate a computer.

D．He was one of the clever ones who could handle a computer.

2. What does the underlined phrase "freaked out” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Frightened.

B．Interested.

C．Amused.

D．Annoyed.

3. What was the author's feeling when writing this article?

A．Thoughtful.

B．Grateful.

C．Relaxed.

D．Anxious.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Why We Need Computers	B．How I Learned to Use a Computer
C．How I Got My First Computer	D．Thanks For Giving Me a Computer

5 . "Smile!" I shouted, holding a yellow sign up on a busy street in Seattle. We were three thousand miles away from home on a Random Acts of Kindness and Volunteerism Road Trip. We had two aims. One was to try out our new "Smile!" signs and see how much kindness and joy we could spread in Pike Place Market. The other was to raise $80 by doing street performances, enough for gas to Portland and a small hotel room.

We weren't sure how people would react (回应) to our signs. I nervously raised up our signs and shouted, "Hi, there!" to a young couple. They looked over and felt confused. Then they read our signs and broke into a smile. Before long, some tourists wanted to take a photo with us and some strangers stopped to ask us about our signs.

In fact, we paid so close attention to our "Smile!" project that we forgot the other aim. Before we knew it, the sun was setting, and we had no money for our trip to Portland. We sat down to watch a blind musician play the guitar while thinking about what to do. He was packing up when a passing crowd kicked down his change bowl. He stumbled (绊倒) into the crowd. We rushed to help him, but another man moved more quickly to help him.

Once the musician had his money safely returned, we ran over to meet the strange helper and said, "We just wanted to praise you for your good deed." He smiled, looking at our signs. "Your trip reminds me of something similar I once did when I was young," he said. "Look! I'd like to donate (捐赠)." We told him, "No, thanks! We are fine. We've collected plenty of money." We lied. "Please let me donate. It will make me feel like I'm a part of this adventure," he insisted. And then the stranger opened his wallet and pulled out four $20 bills. The money was exactly what we had intended to raise that day. We were astonished. It seemed as if he had known somehow.

1. What's the main purpose of the road trip?

A．To spread kindness and joy.

B．To invite more people to join in the trip.

C．To raise money for a trip to Portland.

D．To encourage people to take happy photos.

2. How did people react to the "Smile!" signs later?

A．Disappointed.

B．Worried.

C．Interested.

D．Moved.

3. According to the last paragraph, why did the strange helper want to donate money?

A．Because he felt pity for the author.

B．Because he wanted to join in the project.

C．Because he hoped to help the homeless.

D．Because he felt sorry for his impoliteness.

4. What does the underlined word "astonished" in the last paragraph most probably mean?

A．Tired.

B．Satisfied.

C．Frightened.

D．Surprised.

6 . Kyle Cassidy and three other members of the Annenberg Running Group were stretching on the grounds of the University of Pennsylvania, waiting for a few slow members to start. The Penn colleagues and other community members meet three days a week for a roughly 30-minute jog and an occasional lecture. It's not your normal exercise chatter—during some runs, one of them delivers a talk; the topics range from the brain to Bitcoin（比特币）.

But on this day last January, it would not be their normal run. The first sign was the man who ran past them very fast. "Probably running a 7:15 pace（per mile）," Cassidy thought admiringly.

Cassidy discovered why the man was so fast at running when another man ran by, yelling "Help! He took my phone!"

Hearing that, the group did what running clubs do: They ran, chasing the suspect down the streets until he quickly hid in a construction site. The runners split up. Cassidy ran around to the far side of the site to cut the thief off while the others wandered the neighborhood hoping he had abandoned the stolen phone in a backyard.

No luck. Then they asked the residents whether they'd seen the guy. When they knocked on the door of one house, they were in for a surprise. They didn't know the thief had already come out of the construction site and was hiding behind a bush by that very house. As the owner opened the door, the suspect suddenly rushed out from behind the bush and right into the arms of the campus police, who had joined the chase shortly behind the runners.

The members of this running group are not passionate（狂热的）runners. But they do understand the benefit of a little exercise. "Running is typically a useless sport where you turn fat cells into heat," Cassidy said. "But occasionally it can be useful, and here was one of those opportunities."

1. What does the running group do at times while exercising?

A．Share ideas.	B．Talk nonsense.
C．Help search for lost things.	D．Play with their smartphones.

2. How did Cassidy feel right after the thief ran past him?

A．Confused

B．Frightened

C．Motivated

D．Impressed

3. What does the underlined phrase "split up" refer to?

A．gave up.

B．stayed up.

C．got separated

D．ran away.

4. What message can we get from the story?

A．It's very important to keep fit.

B．Exercising can be socially beneficial.

C．Whatever you do, you should do your best.

D．Teamwork is more important than individual skills.

7 . When I was growing up, I had an old neighbor named Doctor Gibbs. He didn’t look like any doctor I’d ever known. He never yelled at us for playing in his yard, but was always very kind.

When Doctor Gibbs wasn’t saving lives, he was planting trees. He had some interesting theories about planting trees. He hardly watered his new trees, an attitude which flew in the face of conventional wisdom.

Once I asked why and he told me that watering plants spoiled them because it made them grow weaker. He said he had to make things tough for the trees so that only the strongest could survive. He talked about how watering trees made them develop shallow roots and how, if they were not watered, trees would grow deep roots in search of water.

So, instead of watering his trees every morning, he’d beat them with a rolled-up newspaper. I asked him why he did that, and he said it was to get the trees’ attention.

Doctor Gibbs died a couple of years after I left home. Every now and then, I walked by his house and looked at the trees that I'd watched him plant some 25 years ago. They were tall and strong.

Every night before I go to bed, I check on my two sons. I often pray that their lives will be easy. But lately I’ve been thinking that it’s time to change my prayer. I know my children are going to encounter hardship. There’s always a cold wind blowing somewhere. What we need to do is to pray for deep roots, so when the rains fall and the winds blow, we won’t be torn apart.

1. What did the author think of Doctor Gibbs’s planting trees at first?

A．Perfect .	B．Puzzled.
C．Amused.	D．Impractical .

2. What did Doctor Gibbs do to the trees he planted?

A．He let them grow quickly.

B．He beat them to get their attention.

C．He helped them search for water.

D．He read a newspaper near them.

3. Which of the following can best describe Doctor Gibbs?

A．Kind and wise.	B．Calm and brave.
C．Careful and ambitious	D．Strict and devoted.

4. What does the author learn from Doctor Gibbs?

A．Elders are treasures.

B．Two heads are better than one.

C．A man without distant care must have near sorrow.

D．Only those who bear the most become the highest.

8 . I'd done it before, and so I had no reason to believe that this time would be any different. I was sure that when I returned home from my mission trip, as always, I'd bring back nothing more than some mud on my boots, a hole or two in my jeans and, of course, a lot of great memories.

The summer before my high school graduation, I went to West Virginia with others as volunteers to repair the homes of those in need. Arriving at our destination, my group was assigned the task of rebuilding sections of a home that had been damaged by fire. No sooner had we parked on the home's dirt driveway than we saw an excited little girl, no more than six years old, standing in the doorway of the family's temporary home. Shoeless and wearing dirty clothes and the biggest smile I'd ever seen, she yelled, "Ma, Ma, they really came! " I didn't know it then, but her name was Dakota, and four more days would pass before she’d say another word near me.

Behind Dakota was a woman in a wheelchair—her grandmother, we'd soon learn. I also discovered that my job that week would be to help change a fire—damaged dining room into a bedroom for this little girl. Grabbing our tools, we went to work. Over the following days, I noticed Dakota peeking at us every now and then as we worked. A few times. I tried talking with her, but she remained shy and distant, always flying around us like a tiny butterfly but keeping to herself.

By our fifth and final day, however, this was about to change.

Before I went to work on her home on that last morning, I spoke for a moment or two with the grandmother. I was especially pleased when she told me how much Dakota loved her new room so much, in fact, that she'd begged to sleep in it the previous night, even though it wasn't quite ready. As we talked, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before—Dakota was hiding behind her grandmother. Cautiously, she stepped into view, and I could see that just like her clothes, her face was still dirty. But no amount of soil could hide those bright blue eyes and big smile. She was simply adorable. I wanted so much to hug her, but respecting her shyness, I kept my distance.

Slowly, she began walking toward me. It wasn't until she was just inches away that I noticed the folded piece of paper in her tiny hand. Silently, she reached up and handed it to me. Once unfolded, I looked at the drawing she'd made with her broken crayons on the back of an old coloring book cover. It was of two girls—one much taller than the other—and they were holding hands. She told me it was supposed to be me and her and on the bottom of the paper were three little words that instantly broke my heart. Now almost in tears, I couldn't control myself anymore—I bent down and hugged her. She hugged me, too. And for the longest time, neither one of us could let go.

By early afternoon, we finished Dakota's bedroom, and so I gladly used the rare free time to get to know my newest friend. Sitting under a tree away from the others, we shared a few apples while she told me about her life. As I listened to her stories about the struggles she and her family went through daily, I began to realize how boring various aspects of my own life were.

I left for home early the next morning. I was returning with muddy boots and holes in my jeans. But because of Dakota, I brought back something else, too—a greater appreciation for all of the blessing of my life. I’ll never forget that barefoot little butterfly with the big smile and dirty face. I pray that she’ll never forget me either.

1. From the appearance description of the little girl, we know _______.

A．she formed a bad living habit

B．she hoped for a better education

C．she was an innocent and lovely child

D．she was strong and calm in the inner world

2. What were probably written on the bottom of the paper?

A．Enjoy your help.

B．Please don’t leave.

C．Help me, please.

D．Hug me close.

3. How did the author feel after unfolding the piece of paper?

A．She worried about the little girl’s future.

B．She decided to keep helping the little girl.

C．She felt a greater affection for the little girl.

D．She got surprised at the little girl’s worthless gift.

4. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A．One must learn to share life experiences.

B．One often wants to lead a meaningful life.

C．One occasionally benefits from the poverty.

D．One should be more grateful for the gift of life.

9 . I had just won a bidding for a 1950s cookie tin full of memories at an estate sale. Delighted at my victory, I took the box and gave it a shake. The contents rattled. Inside were hundreds of buttons, pins, and other items, all glittering in the sunlight. As a girl, I'd always enjoyed digging through my mom's box, just as my daughters enjoyed looking through mine.

My eye caught the movement of a swing on the front porch of the house. An old woman watched the happenings in her yard. As I carried my purchases to my car, I stopped to chat with her. She told me she was selling almost all her possessions because she was moving to a nursing home.

Her eyes fell to the button box, and when she looked up, they were glistening with tears. I took the lid off the tin, and her rough hands lifted a handful of buttons and then slowly dropped them back into the container. Her fist closed around a delicate pearl button, now yellow with age. "It was from my first husband's uniform," she said. "It's one of the few things that remind me of him when he didn't return home alive." They had been married seven months before he left to serve his country in World War II.

As we sifted through the box together, we found hairpins ranging from black to brown to shades of gray and even white; a key to a music box that played a special love song; garter clips, wooden nickels, ruby buttons; all took her further down memory lane. I learned about her wedding, the birth of her children, and much more of the life she'd led for 89 years.

After our chat, I set the woman's box of memories down on the swing and slid my hands into hers. I knew we would talk again, when I went to visit her at her new home. And I knew that when l reached my own home, my heart would pull me to my sewing room, where I would rediscover my own lifetime of memories in my own button box.

1. How did the author feel when she got the tin?

A．Curious.	B．Regretful.
C．Joyful.	D．Embarrassed.

2. What can we infer about the old woman from the text?

A．She was to sell her house and move to a new one.

B．She had to sell many things to make ends meet.

C．She didn't marry again after her husband died.

D．She was the former owner of the cookie tin.

3. What does the underlined phrase "sifted through" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Examined.	B．Picked.
C．Carried.	D．Decorated.

4. What does the button box represent?

A．Antiques that add history to a place.

B．Memories of unpleasant experiences.

C．Objects that bring moments to mind.

D．Expressions of kindness from strangers.

10 . 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.

2. What is the probable meaning of the underlined phrase“ live stream”？

A．Plan.

B．Celebrate.

C．Prepare.

D．Broadcast.

3. How did Abigail feel when meeting the author?

A．Embarrassed.

B．Overjoyed.

C．Nervous.

D．Satisfied.

4. What does the author mainly intend to express by telling the story?

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.