1 . I came to work in New York about three years ago. Not long after I came to the city I learnt a good lesson.
I'm good at making friends. Soon after I came to New York, I made some very good friends. Loving parties, I often invited my colleagues and friends over. We often had fun together till late night. But people in the building disliked it. I was considered as a black sheep in the building.
One night, when I was throwing a big party for some Chinese students in New York, a neighbor could no longer stand the noise and he called the police. The police came, and many of my neighbors came, too. It was an unhappy night.
However, some days later, I found something very unbelievable. My neighbor Sam threw a big birthday party in his apartment. They sang and danced till midnight. But nobody went to ask them to stop the party. Feeling confused (疑惑的), I went to Sam the next morning and asked him why he could throw a party for his friends while I couldn't. He didn't say anything. Instead, he took me to a notice board in the hall of the building. It said, “My dear neighbors, Sam living on the sixth floor will throw a party tonight. About twenty people will come. We’ll sing and dance. The party will be over around midnight. We may make some noise tonight. Please accept my apology.”
He apologized even before the party began. People felt respected in this way. And that was why nobody bothered them that night.
1. From Paragraph 2, what can we know about the author?| A．He didn't get along well with his neighbors. |
| B．He never had parties late into the night. |
| C．He didn't love parties at all. |
| D．He often invited his neighbors to his parties. |
| A．happy | B．worried |
| C．surprised | D．excited |
| A．By taking him to the neighbors. | B．By telling him an unbelievable story. |
| C．By giving reasons to him carefully. | D．By taking him to a notice board. |
| A．Americans treat foreign people differently |
| B．we should learn to respect others in a proper way |
| C．there is no reason to hold parties at late night |
| D．there is a secret to every success |
2 . John H. Johnson was born in a black family in Arkansas City in 1918. His father died in an accident when John was six. He was reaching high school age, but his hometown offered no high school for blacks.
Luckily, he had a strong-willed, caring mother. John remembers that his mother told him many times, “Son, you can be anything you really want to be if you just believe. She told him not to be dependent on others, including his mother. “You have to earn success,” said she. “All the people who work hard don’t succeed, but the only people who do succeed are those who work hard.”
These words came from a woman less than a third grade education. She also knew that believing and hard work don’t mean everything. So she worked hard as a cook for two years to save enough to take her son, who was then 15, to Chicago.
Chicago in1933 was not the promised land (乐土、希望之地) that black southerners were looking for, John’s mother and stepfather could not find work. But there John could go to school, and there he learned the power of words — as editor of the newspaper and yearbook of Du Stable High School. His wish was to publish a magazine for blacks.
While others discouraged him, John’s mother offered him more words to live by: “Nothing beats a failure but a try.” She also let him pawn (典当) her furniture to get the $500 he needed to start the Negro magazine.
It is natural the difficulties and failures followed John closely until he became very successful. He always keeps his mother’s words in mind. “Son, failure is not in your vocabulary.”
Now John H. Johnson is one of the 400 richest people in America — worth $150 million.
1. Why did John’s mother decide to move to Chicago? Because ________.| A．John’s father died in his hometown when he was very young |
| B．life was too hard for them to stay on in their hometown, while life in Chicago would be better for blacks |
| C．there were no schools for blacks in their hometown |
| D．John needed more education and he could go to school there |
| A．woman with little school education but knew a lot about life |
| B．woman who would not do anything for her son |
| C．strong woman with much knowledge |
| D．woman who didn’t know how to encourage her son |
| A．if you try, you will succeed in the end |
| B．a failure is difficult to beat, even if you try |
| C．a try is always followed by failure |
| D．nothing but a try can help you out of failure |
| A．How John H. Johnson became somebody. |
| B．The mental support John’s mother gave him. |
| C．The importance of a good education. |
| D．The key to success for blacks. |
3 . A Massachusetts man has got his wedding ring back thanks to some hikers who decided to try their luck at finding it.
It all started after Bill Giguere lost his gold wedding ring. Looking for the lost golden wedding ring was like searching for a needle in a haystack (干草堆). He had lost it during a daytime hike on Mount Hancock. Giguere was not sure about the location of the missing ring. He only remembered that he had briefly pulled off his gloves at the top of the mountain. And he guessed that the ring might fall off at that time. By the time he returned to his car after the hike and noticed that his ring was missing, it was completely dark.
He then decided to take his chances by posting information about his missing ring in a Facebook group for hikers. Luckily, the post was seen by Tom Gately. “As I read the post, my heart went out to him because I had lost my wedding ring before and luckily a man picked it up and returned it to me. So I decided to help him and I was going to be on the mountain to look for it,” Gately said.
Gately didn’t believe there was any chance of finding the ring on a snowy 10-mile trail if he only depended on his eyes and hands. So he decided to improve his chances by bringing along his metal detector (探测器). Within minutes of Gately and his friends reaching the top for the ring, his metal detector started ringing. He then brushed away some snow only to find the missing wedding ring. “Everybody just started laughing,” Brendan, Gately’s friend, said, “You couldn’t believe it.”
After Giguere received a Facebook message about how they had found the ring, he drove 60 miles to Gately’s house so he could pick up his wedding ring. And he thanked the hikers for their efforts again and again.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Giguere accidentally fell during the hike. |
| B．Giguere realized he lost the ring while hiking. |
| C．It seemed impossible to find the lost wedding ring. |
| D．It was difficult for Giguere to finish a long hike alone. |
| A．Gately felt pity for Giguere. |
| B．Gately shared his story with Giguere. |
| C．Gately wished to be friends with Giguere. |
| D．Gately wanted to repay Giguere for his kindness. |
| A．He made use of a tool with friends. |
| B．He got help from an experienced ring finder. |
| C．He searched the snowy trail several times alone. |
| D．He posted information about the missing ring online. |
| A．Brave and lucky. |
| B．Helpful and wise. |
| C．Honest and thoughtful. |
| D．Humorous and positive. |
4 . Whenever a new person walks through the gates of the Science of Spirituality Meditation (冥想) and Ecology Centre in Richmond, one often hears the words, “I never knew such a place existed. It’s so peaceful and the gardens are so beautiful.”
In 2005, this centre was an old school, with a history going back to 1904. Rabbits had damaged the foundations (地基) and rats ran along littered hallways. The traffic roaring along Steveston Highway was hardly beneficial to meditation, and fresh air! Neither did we have sufficient funds at the time to carry out a purchase. But there was hope, wild hope! We had a vision. We could make it a reality.
Our group was inspired to take this step under the loving guidance of Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, a living Master in an ancient family of spiritual experts. Despite the small size of our local charity, we took chances to purchase this place that spoke to us at some very deep level. Generous donations and effort flowed in from members at exactly the right time. Thus, we could begin the physical origins of the SOS Meditation and Ecology Centre.
And to create it took a great deal of sweat efforts. Gardens were dug and planted by volunteers. Brothers and sisters worked together. Over the following years, beautiful gardens were established and every inch of the old building and roof took on a new look.
From a wishful dream and a loving handful, this special place, with its green gardens, became a reality. The Centre has become a sign of light and love in a materialistic society, where seekers find peace, joy, help in meditation, friendship and an opportunity to grow spiritually.
1. What can we infer from paragraph 2?| A．The founders intended to give up the center at the beginning. |
| B．The founders had sufficient funds to carry out the project. |
| C．The centre was not originally suited for meditation. |
| D．The centre was a school with good environment. |
| A．With the help of the old school. |
| B．With the contributions of generous people. |
| C．With the funds donated by a spiritual expert. |
| D．With the local government’s financial support. |
| A．Rude. | B．Distant. | C．Conventional. | D．Selfless. |
| A．To introduce an old school to readers. |
| B．To tell the story about the construction of the centre. |
| C．To call for people to meditate. |
| D．To explain the influence of meditation on average people. |
5 . Would you sail over 12,900 kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in a boat made from plastic bottles?
In 2010, a crew of six people did. They sailed on the Plastiki, an 18.3-metre boat made from recycled materials. Everything about the Plastiki was environmentally friendly. The sails were produced from recycled plastic and the masts that held them from used aluminum pipes. Organic materials, such as glue made from nuts and sugar, were used to keep the bottles in place. To power the boat, solar panels and wind turbines were used.
During the journey, crew members lived in a plastic cabin. Their daily routine consisted of sleeping, eating and doing chores. For food, they mainly survived on fresh vegetables grown in a hanging garden as well as canned and dried food. They also ate fresh fish, but were surprised to discover that they found more plastic than fish. “From above, the oceans still look beautiful and untouched,” David said, “but just below the surface is this toxic stew that could quickly end up on our dinner plates.”
The leader, David, organised the voyage in order to draw people’s attention to the environmental dangers our oceans face and the need to recycle plastic. He planned to visit damaged coral reefs and islands in danger from rising sea levels. However, his most important objective was to see the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a huge mass of plastic particles floating in the North Pacific. David hoped that, by sailing through the Patch, he could show the world how serious plastic pollution had become.
Unfortunately, the Plastiki was more difficult to control than expected. Therefore, the boat missed its main destination. However, the crew did make stops at islands in the mid-Pacific, where they picked up supplies and talked to local students. Along the way, they battled fierce ocean storms, torn sails and temperatures that reached up to 38°C.
When the Plastiki finally sailed into Sydney’s harbour, the crew were greeted by cheers. The Plastiki’s journey had shown that if we understand how to use waste materials efficiently, they can be transformed into valuable resources. It had also revealed that it was more important than ever to deliver a serious message: our oceans are filling up with plastic faster than we thought.
1. What was special about the Plastiki?| A．It had high-tech equipment. | B．It was made of green materials. |
| C．It once crossed the Pacific Ocean. | D．It had a professional crew on it. |
| A．To protect endangered ocean life. | B．To test the safety of a new boat. |
| C．To stop people using plastic products. | D．To highlight the plastic waste problem. |
| A．Boring but carbon-free. | B．Controversial but fruitful. |
| C．Aimless but comfortable. | D．Challenging but significant. |
| A．Limited resources should be valued. |
| B．Actions must be taken by individuals. |
| C．Plastic waste can be turned into treasure. |
| D．Environmental problems can be easily solved. |
6 . Last July, my 12-year-old car died on California’s Santa Ana Freeway. It was an hour before sunset, and I was 25 miles from home. I couldn’t reach anyone to pick me up, so I decided to take a bus. Not knowing the routes, I figured I’d just head east. A bus pulled up, and I asked the driver how far she was going. “Four more lights,” she said. There was another bus I could take from there. This clearly was going to be a long night. She dropped me off at the end of her route and told me which bus to look for.
After waiting 30 minutes, I began to think about a very expensive taxi ride home. Then a bus pulled up. There was no lighted number above its windshield (挡风玻璃). It was out of service. But the door opened, and I was surprised to find that it was the same driver. “ I just can’t leave you here,” she said. “ This isn’t the nicest place. I’ll give you a ride home.” “You’ll drive me in the bus?” I asked, perplexed(困惑的). “No, I’ll take you in my car,” she said. “ It’s a long way,” I protested. “Come on,” she said. “I have nothing else to do.” As we drove from the station in her car, she began telling me a story. A few days earlier, her brother had run out of gas. A good Samaritan picked him up, took him to a service station and then back to his car.
“I’m just passing the favor along,” she said. When I offered her money as a thank-you, she wouldn’t hear of it. “That wouldn’t make it a favor,” she said. “Just do something nice for somebody. Pass it along.”
1. Judging from its context, the place where the writer waited for the second bus was ________.| A．very quiet and peaceful | B．dark without street lights |
| C．neither clean nor beautiful | D．a little unsafe |
| A．No bus would come at the time. |
| B．A taxi ride would be more comfortable. |
| C．He became impatient and a bit worried. |
| D．He knew the driver would never return. |
| A．she happened to go in the same direction |
| B．she wanted to do something good for other people |
| C．her brother told her to do so |
| D．she wanted to earn more money |
| A．would do as she did | B．would keep her in memory |
| C．would give the money to others | D．would do her a favor |
7 . Phoenix is a hot place and its temperature can easily break records from June to September．But that doesn’t stop hikers from hiking 1．3 miles to the top of the city’s famous Camelback Mountain．Signs warn that the trip is “extremely difficult”．If you continue, you should take at least a liter of water per person．
Unfortunately, many people didn’t care the warnings．However, Scott Cullymore does．When he’s not working，the 53一year-old man can be found hiking up and down Camelback a couple of times a day, handing out cold bottles of water to tired hikers．He has helped so many hikers that he has earned a heavenly nickname: the Water Angel．
Cullymore was on Camelback Mountain one day in 2015 when a British tourist died after being lost nearly six hours in the July heat．That experience inspired him to start helping people caught unaware of the danger of Mother Nature．“They underestimate(低估)the mountain，and they get themselves in trouble, ”he said．If a hiker has a flushed face and is not sweating any more, he reaches into his backpack, pulls out a bottle，and hands it to the person．“It’s misleading that we’re in the middle of the city．But the truth is, you can die up here, and nobody would know．’’
1. What do we know from paragraph 1?| A．It is necessary to take water on the trip to the mountain． |
| B．The temperature of Phoenix easily breaks records all the year round． |
| C．The heat of Phoenix attracts hikers to the top of Camelback Mountain． |
| D．Hikers warn that the trip to the mountain is not easy． |
| A．He cares about the warnings． |
| B．He insisted on giving water to hikers． |
| C．He hikes up and down the mountain carrying water． |
| D．He hikes to the mountain a couple of times a day． |
| A．A hiker’s death contributed to Cullymore’s action of helping others． |
| B．A hiker’s flushed face suggests that he may need water． |
| C．It is misleading that we will die in the city． |
| D．We should be aware of the danger of Mother Nature． |
| A．Giving life-saving water for free． | B．The importance of taking water on hot days. |
| C．Hiking in a hot city is tough． | D．Conquering Camelback Mountain—you need water |
8 . Last week, our forum(论坛)asked if you had any funny or strange stories about using English. We didn’t expect to get so many posts! Here are some of our favorites, to remind us that some of the English we learn in the classroom is rather different from the English in the outside world.
| People say that the British always play safe with what they eat. Not true! I went to a summer school in Manchester and my English teacher was called Maggie. One day, a different teacher took our class. He told us that Maggie couldn’t teach that day COZ she had a frog in her throat. Poor Maggie-but why did she try to eat such a big frog?
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| When I first visited New York, I went to a downtown shopping centre to buy some winter boots. At the information desk at the entrance, I asked a lady where the shoe shop was. She said that it was on the first floor. So I went up to the first floor, but I couldn’t find any shoes. I decided to leave. When I was looking for the exit, I saw that shoes were actually sold downstairs on the ground floor, not the first floor. Why did she give me the wrong information?
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| The British must have really high standards. I was part of a student exchange programme between a university in England and my university in China. I spent days preparing and writing my first English paper. I knew I had done a good job and was looking forward to getting a positive comment. When I got the paper back, I found my teacher had written the comment “Not bad!” Not bad? But there weren’t any errors in my paper.
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| A．She didn’t play safe with what she ate. |
| B．She has drawn a picture of frog on her face. |
| C．She ate a big frog and her throat was blocked. |
| D．She couldn’t speak clearly because her throat is dry. |
| A．Both of them have difficulty in learning English. |
| B．They didn’t know the words’ different meanings in other countries. |
| C．The spellings are too complicated for both of them to understand. |
| D．The speakers spoke so fast that Sophie and Zheng Xu couldn’t follow. |
| A．In a novel. | B．In a magazine. | C．On the Internet. | D．In a diary. |
9 . Papa's jaw dropped when mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams - not to succeed but to fail. “It's unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”
“Yes, she has,” said Mama. “But it's not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.”
“Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”
“Of course she didn't,” said Mama. “She was afraid you'd blow your top. You already had her getting a swimming scholarship to collage and winning gold medals at the Olympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt? For her, being on the team couldn't have been much fun.”
“Oh, my Gosh!” Papa said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I've been so stupid! I just thought she'd want to be a champion swimmer because she's so good at it.”
“It's like anything else, dear,” said Mama. “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won't want to do it anymore.”
Papa put his head in his hands.
“She must be rally mad at me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should say sorry to her.”
Sister's footsteps could be beard on the stairs She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents. with a smile, "Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to.
“Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “Your papa and I have decided that there's no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don't want to.”
Sister's face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.
“And,” added Papa, “there's no need for any more drills. I'm sure you'll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”
Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big hug. “I'm going to go play cards with Lizzy!” she said. “See you later!”
From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter run down the sunny road toward Lizzy's house.
“It's good to see her happy again,” said Mama.
“It sure is,” Papa agreed. “As for the swimming team, there's always next year.”
“If?” Mama prompted him.
“Oh, right,” said Papa. “If she wants to.” Mama smiled. “At least you're learning, dear.” she said. She kissed him.
“Well, you know what they say,” Papa said. “Better late than never.”
1. Why did Sister cheat in her final exams?| A．To show she wanted to leave the swimming team |
| B．To improve her grades in her final exams |
| C．To let others know how badly she did in her study |
| D．To prove she was not as good at swimming as before |
| A．Change your idea | B．Become quite excited |
| C．Get very angry | D．Reach your goal |
| A．He taught her how to win gold medals | B．He offered her a swimming scholarship |
| C．He put much pressure on her to do the best. | D．He brought her much fun with his company |
| A．Sister was going to be punished by her cheating |
| B．Sister was required to take more drills to improve her grades |
| C．Papa was disappointed with his daughter's performance |
| D．Mama successfully persuaded Papa to change his mind |
| A．Better Late Than Never | B．Health Is Better Than Wealth |
| C．Better to Give Than to Receive | D．Something Is Better Than Nothing |
10 . John was waiting for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose. Thirteen months ago, in a Florida library he took a book off the shelf and found himself attracted by the notes in the margin (页边). The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind.
In front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort, he located her address. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. During the next year and one month, the two grew to know each other through the mail. A romance was developing. John requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. Later they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 p.m. at Grand Central Station in New York.
“You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my coat.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for the girl with the red rose.
A young woman in a green suit was coming towards him, her figure long and slim and her eyes were blue as flowers. Almost uncontrollably he made one step closer to her, and just at this moment he saw Hollis Maynell - a woman well past 40. The girl was walking quickly away. He felt as though he was at a loss, so eager was his desire to follow her, and yet so deep was his longing for the woman whose spirit had truly accompanied him and upheld his own.
He did not hesitate. He squared his shoulders and said, “I’m John, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”
The woman smiled, “I don’t know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should tell you she is waiting for you in the restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
It’s not difficult to admire wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.
1. What happened to John thirteen months ago?| A．He was touched by a girl’s notes in a book. |
| B．He was waiting for a girl outside a library. |
| C．He happened to read a thoughtful and insightful book. |
| D．He made acquaintance with Miss Hollis Maynell. |
| A．She was just the lady John was going to meet. |
| B．She was a middle-aged woman who was unattractive. |
| C．She happened to pass by the Grand Central Station. |
| D．She was required to wear a rose on her coat. |
| A．have had the dinner with a beautiful lady instead |
| B．have failed to meet the girl he fell in love with |
| C．have found that he was fooled by Miss Maynell |
| D．have followed the young woman in a green suit |
| A．tell us a romantic story between two young persons |
| B．show one’s spirit matters more than his appearance |
| C．show that one’s response to unattractive shows his heart |
| D．how a thoughtful soul and insightful mind can be reflected |
