1 . More than 25 years ago, Saroo Brierley was one of many poor children in rural India. One day, he played with his brother along the rail line and fell asleep. When be woke up, finding himself alone, the 4-year-old decided his brother might be on the train he saw in front of him—so he got on.
That train took him across the country to a totally strange city, where he did not speak the language. He lived on the streets, and then in an orphanage (孤儿院). There, he was adopted by an Australian family and flown to Tasmania.
As he writes in bis new book, A Long Way Home, Brierley couldn’t help but wonder about his hometown back in India. He remembered landmarks, but since he didn’t know his town’s name, finding a small neighborhood in a vast country seemed to be impossible.
Then he found Google Earth—a digital mapping program. He spent years searching for his hometown in the program’s satellite pictures. In 2011, he came across something familiar. He studied it and realized be was looking at a town’s central business district from a bird’s-eye view. He thought, “On the right-band side you should see the three-platform train station”—and there it was. “And on the left-hand side you should see a big fountain”—and there it was.
Everything just started to match.
When he stood in front of the house where he grew up as a child, be saw a lady standing in the entrance. “There’s something about me,” be thought—and it took him a few seconds but he finally remembered what she used to look like.
“My mother looked so much shorter than I remembered. But she came forth and walked forward, and I walked forward, and my feelings and tears and the chemical in my brain, you know, it was like a nuclear fusion (核聚变). I just didn’t know what to say, because I never thought seeing my mother would ever come true. And here I am, standing in front of her.”
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?A.Brierley’s mother grew shorter and weaker as she aged. |
B.There was a mix of feelings when Brierley saw his mother again. |
C.Brierley kept trying and didn’t give up searching for his hometown. |
D.Brierley didn’t recognise his mother immediately. |
A.He was taken away by a foreigner. | B.He was adopted by an Australian family. |
C.He got on a train by mistake. | D.He got lost while playing in the street. |
A.By analyzing old pictures. | B.By studying digital maps. |
C.By spreading his story via his book. | D.By travelling all around India. |
A.His memory of his hometown. | B.His love for his mother. |
C.His long way back home. | D.His reunion with his mother. |
2 . The Decision That Changed My Life
We make decisions every day. Whether it is a small decision like what to wear that day or a big decision like where to go to college, these decisions have at least some influence on the rest of our lives. I wanted to talk about a decision I made that has changed my life forever.
I gave up soda about a month and a half before my trip to the Bahamas as a healthy step towards “getting in shape” for my trip. At first I thought it was going to be really hard giving it up, but after that first two weeks I wasn’t thinking about soda at all. One tiling led to another and I started eating better, working out more and just generally living a healthier life. I had already seen a difference in my life following this healthier life style.
That was because I wanted to show those who maybe thought I wouldn’t be able to do it that they were wrong. Soon the urge to drink soda somewhat disappeared and I really did not even become tempted by it by the end of the trip. I got home to the States and when I got back home I decided to weigh myself. I had lost 20 pounds on my trip!
I also wanted to give some advice for those who were in the same situation as I was, where you wanted/needed to give up something that you think you can’t live without.
A.You need a support system. |
B.I almost gave up a couple of times but stayed strong. |
C.I felt happier, more energized and just all around better. |
D.Weeks and weeks went by and I still was not missing drinking soda. |
E.I hope you are inspired by my story to give up something that is bad for you. |
3 . With about 1,000-meter-high steep cliffs (陡峭的悬崖) around, there Xiazhuang, Chongqing had only one pathway out of the village, and it took villagers three days to walk to the main town. People there used to risk their lives going out of the mountain village. In the 40 years to 1997, 23 people had died from falling off the cliff while cutting firewood or travelling to the county seat, and 75 people had been injured or disabled while doing the same activities. Then, village head Mao Xianglin held a meeting in 1997 and suggested building a road snaking along the mountains, but almost no villager agreed because they had no money, no machines and no confidence to take on the tough project.
Later that year, around 100 people volunteered to do the work after Mao’s efforts. Workers from ropes and used hammers, drills and even explosives to create the road. Falling rocks and other dangers led to the deaths of six villagers. When they slept in caves (洞穴) at night, they tied a rope around their bodies with the other end tied to the root of an old tree to make sure they did not fall off the cliff.
“Mountains had isolated us from the outside for generations. We had to do something to ensure the next generation could go out of the mountains for a good life,” Mao said. When the 8-kilometer road was completed in 2004, it enabled many villagers to travel out and find work. Incomes increased as a result. Mao will retire in five years, planning to widen the current road and focus on ecotourism. “The spirit of the Xiazhuang people can’t be lost and has to be passed down from generation to generation,” he said.
1. What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?A.The history of the village. | B.The development of the village. |
C.The specific deaths in the building. | D.The reason for building the road. |
A.It was a tough task. | B.It caused 100 deaths. |
C.It was far from dangers. | D.It made workers sleep soundly. |
A.Attracted. | B.Separated. |
C.Contacted. | D.Gathered. |
A.Frightened. | B.Determined. |
C.Distant. | D.Curious. |
4 . 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 |
5 . Michelle Swan, a 33-year-old mother, says she was ordered off a bus into the cold and rain by the driver because one of her twin toddlers(学步的小孩) was crying.
Michelle Swan says the driver stopped the bus angrily, walked up to her and shouted at her to shut up her son and get off the bus. Afterwards, she had a 30-minute walk into a nearby town Tonbridge in the cold and rain.
Ms. Swan said: “I was shaking and fighting back tears. I just froze. I felt awful. I’d been to hospital with one of the boys because he can’t walk properly. I had been to a hospital appointment. About every two weeks he goes to see the doctor. We go about three or four times a month. I had tried everything to stop Rocco crying, but it was useless,”
After she was forced to get off the bus, she had to walk in to Tonbridge town centre to get her prescription(处方) when it was so cold in the rain and then on home.
She telephoned the company and said she wanted an apology from the driver.
The manager from the company spoke to Miss Swan for around 15 minutes on the phone and listened carefully to everything she had to say. Then he apologised several times to her. Meanwhile, he took down the code(密码) on her bus ticket to find out who the driver was. As a result, the driver was spoken to and left work for one day.
1. Why was Michelle Swan ordered to get off the bus?A.Because it was raining and very cold. |
B.Because her twin babies were crying. |
C.Because the driver couldn’t stand the crying baby. |
D.Because the driver stopped the bus angrily. |
A.The driver of the bus. | B.A son of Michelle Swan. |
C.The manager of the company. | D.A doctor in the hospital |
A.She wanted an apology from the driver. | B.She wanted some money. |
C.She wanted to work as a driver. | D.She wanted to go home. |
A.Careful and curious. | B.Cold and angry. |
C.Sad and rude. | D.Patient and caring. |
6 . A few years ago, I moved to Aurora, Ont. with my boyfriend and I longed to make friends in my new neighborhood.
Where we lived the houses were jammed together so tightly. But the irony (讽刺) of living so close was that no one actually talked to each other; as in an open-concept office, they pretend they can’t hear or see each other to maintain at least an illusion of privacy.
It was not so easy to make friends as an adult. I was about to give up when I caught sight of a beautiful, tall blonde taking out her recycling. She walked with confidence—even her ponytail bounced. I gasped, “I recycle too! We have so much in common!”
The question was, how would we meet? What would I say? So I thought, “What if I just happened to be jogging by?” I put on my running shoes, but after a few times around the block, dripping sweat, I didn’t see her. I decided to seize on the one thing I already knew about her— she takes out her blue bin.
The following day, I woke up a little earlier than usual. A little after 8 a.m., the garage truck appeared and the blonde emerged. I grabbed a bin and made my way to the end of my driveway. “Just act naturally, Megan,” I told myself. “Good morning. How are you?” I said, cool as a cucumber. “Good. And you?” she replied. “Doing well…I am a new comer, just a DJ. I talk for a living. Clearly!” “Interesting,” she said.
As we both walked away, I turned and called out, “Oh, and by the way, I’m Megan.” “Michelle,” she replied. I walked back inside, wearing a giant grin.
Our “coincidental” recycling meet-ups continued for a few weeks until I finally gathered my courage to ask her to watch The Bachelor with me and she said yes.
That night, after we got everything ready, we settled on the couch and proceeded to drink wine, binge from our buffet, dissect doomed television relationships, tell stories about our own and laugh our faces off. We “found what we’d been looking for”: a new friend to fall platonically in love with.
1. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?A.The author lived in a small house. |
B.The neighbors actually didn’t have privacy. |
C.The author lived in a very crowded neighborhood. |
D.The neighbors did not communicate with each other. |
A.The tall blonde pretended to be very cool. |
B.The tall blonde wore a big smile when talking. |
C.The author was quite satisfied with their first talk. |
D.The two friends met accidentally when the truck came. |
A.Timid but kind-hearted. | B.Shy but persistent. |
C.Hospitable and generous. | D.Caring and modest. |
A.A DJ talking for a living began to recycle. |
B.A blonde watched The Bachelor with a DJ. |
C.A new comer finally made friends with a blonde. |
D.Two women recycled together in the neighborhood. |
7 . I had very good parents. My mother came to America from Scotland by herself when she was 11, and she didn’t have much education. My dad was kind of a street kid, and he eventually went into the insurance business, selling nickel policies door to door. One day, my dad asked his boss, “What's the toughest market to sell?” and the insurance guy replied “Well, black people. They don’t buy insurance.” My dad thought, but they have kids; they have families. Why wouldn’t they buy insurance? So he said, “Give me Harlem.”
When my dad died in 1994, I talked about him on The Tonight Show. I told the story of how he worked in Harlem and how he always taught us to be open-minded and not to say or think things of racism (种族主义). Then one day, I got a letter from a woman who was about 75 years old.
She wrote that when she was a little girl, a man used to come to her house to collect policies. She said this man was the only white person who had ever come to dinner at their house. The man was very kind to her, she said, and his name was Angelo—was this my father?
The letter made me cry. I called her up and said yes, that was in fact my dad, and she told me how kind he had been to her family. Her whole attitude toward white people was based on that one nice man she met in her childhood, who always treated her with kindness and respect and always gave her a piece of candy. From this experience, I learned a valuable life lesson: never judge people and be open-minded and kind to others.
1. What did my father do after knowing what was the toughest market to sell?A.He asked his boss to give him some insurance. |
B.He went to Scotland to improve his education. |
C.He specially went to white families with kids. |
D.He chose Harlem to face the toughest challenge. |
A.It was rare that a businessman had dinner in his customer's house. |
B.Angelo was the only white person to sell insurance in Harlem. |
C.The little girl admired Angelo very much. |
D.Racism was a serious problem in America at that time. |
A.Stubborn and generous. | B.Patient and intelligent. |
C.Determined and open-minded. | D.Confident and romantic. |
A.Memories from a TV Show. | B.A Letter from an Old Lady. |
C.Life Lessons from My Father. | D.My Father's Experience in Harlem. |
8 . Two young brothers from Malden. Massachusetts were in the spotlight Thursday after being named “heroes" by a national organization that recognizes young people doing great things. For the Bennett brothers, the goal of their work is nothing less than helping researchers find a cure for cancer. And their inspiration came from a friend.
Thirteen-year-old Hany Bennett and his nine-year-old brother Heath run their business out of their family kitchen. "We're making lip balm (润唇膏),"Harry says. They got the idea two years ago when their friend, Timmy, was diagnosed (诊断)with cancer. brothers wanted to do something. We learned that cancer patients( lips and skin can get really dry because of chemotherapy (化疗),Hany says.
A light bulb went off in both of their young heads, and " Bennett Brothers Balm was born. "We make lip balm, which is kind of like our main product/ says Heath. They also make and sell different body balms, all natural, all handmade, while the profits benefit cancer research. "We've raised S 15,000/ Heath says.
And with the great optimism of children, they don't just want to help ; they wont to win. We want to find a cure. We want to help doctors find a cure, Harry explains, The brothers are also Gelding a team for the Light the Night Walk, to fight cancer.
"I think it's great to raise money and help people who have cancer," says Heath. Their parents play a big role as well, but it's the boys who provide the most enthusiasm with a message we can all learn from. "If you want to do something... do it," Harry says. "I just feel very glad that we're helping. It feels very good”, adds Heath.
Harn and Heath just received the S 10,000 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Hwy intend to save some of il for college, invest some of it in their business and give the rest to charity. And their friend Timmy? "He's doing great. He's all better, Harry says.
1. What encouraged the Bennett brothers to make lip balm at first?A.Helping a friend with cancer. | B.Finding a cure for cancer. |
C.Raising public awareness of cancer. | D.Collecting money for cancer patients. |
A.The two brothers finished their first product. |
B.The two brothers came up with an idea. |
C.The two brothers struggled for a stress-free life. |
D.The two brothers found an effective way to study. |
A.It is quite competitive. | B.It is well worthwhile. |
C.It fails to satisfy their parents. | D.lt helps them make a big profit. |
A.Great minds think alike. |
B.Two heads are better than one. |
C.Young kids can make a big difference. |
D.The longest journey begins with the first step. |
9 . 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.
Yancy | 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? 135 comments |
Sophie | 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? 128 comments |
Zheng Xu | 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. 85 comments |
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. |
10 . A Hug from a Teenage Boy
Fifteen years spent in the field of education have provided Nancy Marra with many treasured moments. One of the most endearing happened when she was teaching second grade.
That year, she decided to plan something special for the children: a Mother’s Day tea. After all the preparations were made for it, each child took home an invitation. Nancy was surprised and relieved to see that every mother was planning to attend. She even invited her own mother.
Finally, the day arrived. That afternoon, each child lined up at the classroom door expecting the arrival of his or her mom. As it got closer to starting time, Nancy looked around and her eyes quickly found Jimmy. His mother hadn’t shown up and he was looking upset.
Nancy took her mother by the hand and walked over to Jimmy. “Jimmy,” Nancy said, “I have a bit of a problem here and I was wondering if you could help out. Since I’m going to be really busy today, I was wondering if you could keep my mother company.”
Nancy’s mom and Jimmy sat at a table with two other mother-child pairs. Jimmy served Nancy’s mom her treats, presented her with the gift Nancy had made, and pulled out and pushed in her chair, just as they had practiced the day before. Whenever Nancy looked over, her mom and Jimmy were in deep conversation
Ten years later, Nancy was at a high school to take a senior class on a field trip, and there was Jimmy. On the way back, Nancy had the students complete an evaluation form of their trip. She collected and checked the forms one by one.
When she came to Jimmy’s evaluation page, he had written, “Remember our Mother’s Day tea we had in second grade, Mrs. Marra? I do! Thanks for all you did for me, and thank your mother, too.”
As they began unloading at the school, Jimmy made sure he was the last one to go. Nancy told him she really enjoyed what he had written. He looked rather embarrassed, mumbled (咕哝) his own thanks, and then turned to walk away. As the bus driver began pulling the bus away, Jimmy ran back and knocked on the bus door. He jumped back on board and gave Nancy a big hug. “Thanks again, Mrs. Marra. No one even knew my mom didn’t make it that day!”
She ended her workday with a hug from a teenage boy who had probably stopped hugging teachers years ago.
1. Why was Jimmy paired with Nancy’s mother?A.Nancy was too busy to spend time with her. |
B.Jimmy’s mother didn’t come to the event. |
C.Nancy wanted Jimmy to get to know her. |
D.Jimmy could get along well with her. |
A.Near Jimmy’s high school. |
B.At a Mother’s Day tea. |
C.In Nancy’s classroom. |
D.On a field trip. |
A.Upset. | B.Embarrassed. | C.Grateful. | D.Satisfied. |
A.No act of kindness is ever wasted. |
B.A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
C.A mother’s hug lasts long after she lets go. |
D.The best teacher must be the best performer. |