1 . “BANG!” the door was shut loudly. It was just standing there, with my father standing on one side, and I on the other side.
We were both in great anger. “Never set foot in this house again!” my father said angrily. With tears in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.
I didn’t know whether it was because I had grown up or because my dad was getting old. He always put his opinions on me. We were just like two people in two different worlds. It felt like there was an iron door between us that could never be opened.
My heart was frozen on this hot summer night. As I walked on, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets. When I finally reached my house, I saw that the light was still on.
“Perhaps my dad is throwing away some of his old stamps,” I thought. “Perhaps he thinks they are useless.” I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps.
All the lights were off except my father’s.
Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself. After shouting at me, he never showed any moments of regret. This was how he always was. He had been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do had become his second nature.
The light was still on. With the key in hand, I opened the door nervously. When I opened the door, tears ran down my face. I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist.Love always exists.
1. Why did the writer run out and walk lonely on the street?| A．He wanted to make his father feel worried. |
| B．He wanted to think about his career carefully |
| C．Something unpleasant happened in his family. |
| D．Something interesting happened on the street. |
| A．Cold. | B．Sad. | C．Frightened. | D．Relaxed. |
| A．The stamps. | B．The opinions. | C．The streets. | D．The lights. |
| A．The son had already grown up. | B．They never agreed with each other. |
| C．The father was getting older and older. | D．The father had got used to doing that. |
| A．Love — it’s second to none. | B．Trust — it creates a better life. |
| C．The importance of communication. | D．The relationship among family members. |
2 . One day Howard had to go to New York for a meeting. He flew to New York and called a taxi.
“Congratulations!” he said. “You’re my first passenger and this is my first day as a taxi driver, but you don’t have to worry. In my old job I had lots of driving experience, and I know the city very well.”
Howard looked at his watch and noticed that he was early for his meeting. He decided to ask the driver to take him to a bookstore. He leaned forward and tapped him on his shoulder.
Howard was afraid. He shouted at the taxi driver. “Be careful!”
The driver screamed again, and the taxi went suddenly to the other side of the road and almost hit a truck. The truck driver shook his fist (拳头) angrily.
The driver looked at Howard. Then slowly he began to laugh. He laughed and laughed.
“What was your old job?” asked Howard. “Didn’t I tell you?” said the driver. “I used to drive a car that carried coffins (棺材) to funerals (葬礼)!”
| A．“That’s good,” said Howard. “I’m sure you’ll be a good driver.” |
| B．“I’m good at avoiding accidents,” the driver said confidently. |
| C．The driver screamed and made the taxi go suddenly across the road. |
| D．He told the driver the address of the hotel and sat in the back seat. |
| E．“It’s not funny,” said Howard. “You could have killed somebody!” |
| F．Then the taxi went into the sidewalk, just missing two more pedestrians (行人). |
| G．On the way to the hotel, Howard wanted to stop at a bookstore, so he tapped the driver on the shoulder. |
3 . On March 14, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic (新冠疫情) forced 57th Street Books, in Chicago, to close its doors. The store wouldn’t reopen for nearly a year and a half. During that time, director Jeff Deutsch was worried. Customers couldn’t come to the shop. His main advantage over online business had gone overnight.
Deutsch said he and his team were lucky. Customers stepped up. They offered gifts and support. “There was something very beautiful in the way our community came together,” he said. “We really supported one another’s businesses,”
Similar stories played out over the past two years in cities and towns around the country. Though independent bookstores were forced to close during the pandemic, many found ways to connect with and help their community.
Anne Holman is co-owner of the King’s English Bookshop. It’s in Salt Lake City, Utah. She said the store put books outside for reading and started doing a lot of events online. Other stores set up bookselling hotlines, and improved their tools for e-business.
Some bookstores did events that went more than bookselling. They offered COVID testing. They collected food for people in need. “Having an independent bookstore in your community is almost like a town square,” said Samira Ahmed, an author of books for young adults. “It’s an important place to build community.”
11-year-old Adele Sorkin, a fan of 57th Street Books, is on its Young Readers Advisory Board. Members receive early copies of books in exchange for writing reviews. “I think of the bookstore as a cookie jar (罐子),” Adele says. “It’s something special and fun that is always there for you.” Jeff Deutsch sees a bright future. “If we reimagine bookstores and do our best to support them,” he says, “then bookstores can thrive (兴盛).”
1. Why did Jeff Deutsch feel lucky?| A．A smart team had been built. | B．He could shop on the Internet. |
| C．Customers gave him a hand. | D．Online business grew overnight. |
| A．How they sold books to the young. | B．When they built a town square. |
| C．Why they helped people in need. | D．What they did for the community. |
| A．She dreams of running a business. | B．She praises the 57th Street Books. |
| C．She often brings cookies with her. | D．She tries to write a short story. |
| A．They will mostly offer COVID testing. |
| B．Their advantage has turned into nothing. |
| C．They could take the place of e-business. |
| D．Their growth is tied to the community. |
4 . On January 22, 2022, the British-Belgian 19-year-old, Zara Rutherford, successfully landed her two-seat microlight aircraft back at the Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport, from where she had departed 155 days ago, fulfilling her dream to be the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.
“I feel excited not only to break the Guinness World Record, but also to diminish the gender gap by 11 years between the current youngest male record holder Travis Ludlow 18 at the time of his record, and the previous female record holder Shaesta Waez, who was 30 when she completed her ‘Dreams Soar’ around-the-world flight.” Rutherford wrote on her blog.
Rutherford’s journey crossing five continents and 52 countries began on August 18, 2021. She encountered numerous unexpected delays along the way. They included an unscheduled stop in Redding, California, due to wildfires and a month-long stop in Nome, Alaska, to renew her Russian visa. She also faced several challenges in the air. When flying from Iceland to Greenland, Rutherford lost radio contact with her ground team for much of the 3-hour flight. The incidents also resulted in her having to cross over Russia in sub-zero temperatures. The hardest part was flying over Siberia — it was extremely cold and if the engine broke down, she’d be hours away from rescue. Despite the severe difficulties, the determined young pilot never gave up on her dream.
Rutherford grew up around airplanes. Her British father flies commercially, while her Belgian mother is a recreational pilot. The young girl began learning how to fly at age 14 and obtained her aviators license in 2020. With her goal of flying around the world accomplished, Rutherford now has her sights set even higher. She wants to become an astronaut and explore space.
She hopes that her journey will encourage more young women to pursue careers in aviation. Currently the number of female pilots is just 5 percent. Rutherford says, “It’s an easy thing to say, but just go for it. If you don’t try and see how high you can fly, then you’ll never know.”
1. What does the underlined word “diminish” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Cause. | B．Divide. | C．Narrow. | D．Expand. |
| A．The wildfires were too fierce. | B．Her Russian visa was due. |
| C．The weather was too severe. | D．Her engine broke down. |
| A．To switch to a new topic. | B．To summarize her achievements. |
| C．To illustrate her admirable talents. | D．To add some background information. |
| A．Life is not all roses. | B．Dream big, aim high. |
| C．Not to advance is to go back. | D．The greatest talkers, the least doers. |
5 . Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he stopped at once. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front legs. No chains, no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn’t try to get away. “Well,” the trainer said, “when they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free.”
How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they were always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn’t.
Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed in it once before?
| A．a small rope | B．a big chain | C．a long line | D．a piece of cloth |
| A．excited | B．surprised | C．angry | D．nervous |
| A．they liked their living places | B．they were too old to do it |
| C．they thought they could not | D．they got on well with the trainer |
| A．Failure is part of learning | B．We should be different from others |
| C．Helping animals is helping ourselves | D．Traveling always makes people relaxed |
| A．A Pleasant Trip | B．A Bad Trainer |
| C．Elephant Training | D．The Elephant Rope |
6 . Do you know the following expressions?
Homeric laughter
The “Homer” in this expression is the Greek poet who wrote The Iliad and the Odyssey. People laugh differently. Some laugh silently, while others tend to laugh loudly. “Homeric laughter” refers to laughter of the latter (后者) kind. It is at times uncontrollable, and the entire body shakes during the process. This kind of laughter is called Homeric laughter because this is how the gods laughed in Homer’s classics.
Faustian bargain
According to most stories, Faust was a German scholar who was rather unhappy with his life. The devil(魔鬼), Mephistopheles, promises him that in exchange for his soul, he will give Faust unlimited power and knowledge. Faust agrees and experiences all kinds of pleasures, but, in the end, his soul is condemned to the hell (下地狱). A “Faustian bargain” therefore is a deal that finally results in one’s ruin. It means a bargain made for temporary gain without taking future consequences into consideration.
A three-ring circus (马戏团)
When you refer to a situation as being a three-ring circus, you are saying that it is a situation of complete confusion. There are so many activities taking place all together that they leave you confused or annoyed. The expression comes from the world of entertainment — the circus. The area where the artists perform their acts is called the “ring”. In the past, some of the circuses were so grand that they had three acts taking place simultaneously in three different “rings”. The audience had to decide which “ring” they wanted to focus on.
In the swim (of things)
When someone is in the swim of things, the individual is actively participating in the things happening around him, as in “I’ve been ill, but soon I’ll be back in the swim of things.” In the world of fishing, fishermen use the word “swim” to refer to the section of the lake/river where fish can be found in plenty. So, if you are a fisherman and wish to catch a lot of fish, where would you be? You would be “in the swim”!
1. According to the text, Homeric laughter ________.| A．was the way Homer laughed |
| B．means nervous, silent laughter |
| C．is a way to show disagreement |
| D．comes from a Greek poet’s works |
| A．he might come to a bad end |
| B．he would be considered clever |
| C．his life would become satisfying |
| D．he would gain power and knowledge |
| A．It means having a lot of things to do. |
| B．It has nothing to do with swimming. |
| C．Originally it was used to refer to “going fishing”. |
| D．Patients use it to express their desire for health. |
7 . Growing up, I remember my father as a silent, serious man — not the sort of person around whom one could laugh. As a teenager arriving in America, knowing nothing, I wanted a father who could explain the human journey. In college, when friends called home for advice, I would sink into deep depression for what I did not have.
Today, at twenty-seven, I have come to rediscover them in ways that my teenage mind would not allow — as adults and as friends with their own faults and weaknesses.
One night after my move back home, I overheard my father on the telephone. There was some trouble. Later, Dad shared the problem with me. Apparently my legal training had earned me some privileges(特权) in his eyes. I talked through the problem with Dad, analyzing the purposes of the people involved and offering several negotiation skills. He listened patiently before finally admitting, “I can’t think like that. I am a simple man.”
Dad is a brilliant scientist who can deconstruct(解构)the building blocks of nature. Yet human nature is a mystery to him. That night I realized that he was simply not skilled at dealing with people, much less the trouble of a conflicted teenager. It’s not in his nature to understand human desires.
And so, there it was — it was no one’s fault that my father held no interest in human lives while I placed great importance on them. We are at times born more sensitive, wide-eyed, and dreamy than our parents and become more curious and idealistic than them. Dad perhaps never expected me for a child. And I, who knew Dad as an intelligent man, had never understood that his intelligence did not cover all of my feelings.
It has saved me years of questioning and confusion. I now see my parents as people who have other relationships than just Father and Mother. I now ignore their many faults and weaknesses, which once annoyed me.
I now know my parents as friends: people who ask me for advice; people who need my support and understanding. And I’ve come to see my past clearly.
1. What was the author’s impression of her father when she was a teenager?| A．Friendly but irresponsible. | B．Intelligent but severe. |
| C．Cold and forceful. | D．Caring and communicative. |
| A．She did not have a phone to call home. |
| B．Her father did not care about her human journey. |
| C．Her father was too busy to answer her phone. |
| D．Her father couldn’t give her proper advice. |
| A．he blamed her for impoliteness |
| B．he rediscovered human nature |
| C．he consulted with her about his problem |
| D．he changed his attitude towards the author |
| A．her father had too many faults and weaknesses |
| B．her father was not as intelligent as she had thought |
| C．her father was not good at interpersonal relationships |
| D．her father placed too much importance on social activities |
8 . To celebrate his friend’s birthday, Luke Fortune drove from a small town in Central Oregon to Portland, where he parked his car in a paid garage overnight. The next morning, he discovered that the car’s window had been smashed, along with his dreams for the future: His backpack and computer were gone.
“Everything important to me was on that computer,” said Fortune, 21, who is studying to become a paramedic.
Two days after the theft, another young man was standing outside his apartment, also in Portland. Masoud Almazrouei, 29, was an exchange student from the United Arab Emirates. He had been approached by a man who said he had a computer for sale. Only $200. Almazrouei, who had been in the United States for only a year, admits now that he was naïve. But he needed a computer so he bought it, took it home, and turned it on. Within seconds, he saw files and photographs.
“I wondered who would sell a computer with all of this on it,” he said. “I realized it could be stolen.” Almazrouei found what appeared to be the owner’s cell phone number and called it.
Fortune didn’t trust this guy with a thick accent and thought it was a scam.
Soon after, a police officer called Fortune to say that a man had dropped the computer off and had said he was sorry. He passed along the man’s number.
Fortune called and thanked Almazrouei and insisted on paying him a reward of $200, the money he was out. Almazrouei refused. He said it was his mistake to buy the computer from someone he didn’t know. More important, he said, it was his honor and duty as a Muslim to return the property to the rightful owner. “I saw a photo of this man in his paramedic uniform,” Almazrouei said. “They help people. He is a good man. I don’t want my money back.”
Still, the encounter produced its own kind of rewards. For Fortune, it was a lesson in cultural awareness amid the sometimes bitter national debate about immigrants, especially from the Arab world. “I’m from a small mainly white town,” Fortune said. “I’ve never met a Muslim. He’s a good man.”
Almazrouei’s lesson was perhaps more complex. When a story about the two young men’s encounter made it to the local papers, Almazrouei received a call from Wim Wiewel, the president of Portland State University, where Almazrouei is studying economics.
“We thought since you gave back the laptop, we should give you a laptop so that you’ll have one,” Wiewel told him. “We’re very proud of you. It was a great story, but you did the right thing.”
1. What is the correct order of the events that happened?①The computer was stolen in a paid garage.
②Almazmouei found a lot of files and photographs in the computer.
③Unsuspecting, Almazrouei bought the computer at $200.
④Almazrouei called Fortune but it didn’t work.
| A．①②③④ | B．①③②④ | C．③④②① | D．②①③④ |
| A．trick | B．game | C．gamble | D．accident |
| A．Kindness will eventually pay off one day. |
| B．Almazrouei got admitted into a renowned university. |
| C．Fortune could seek his dream with his computer back. |
| D．Both of the young men learned something in their own way. |
| A．Theft is common in Portland. |
| B．Almazrouei was short of money. |
| C．Fortune could not realize his dreams without his computer. |
| D．Fortune used to discriminate against Muslims. |
9 . A Georgia mom is winning praise for the way she’s teaching her children, aged 13,10 and 6, about money.
Shaketha MeGregor, a single mother in Dublin, Georgia, knew she needed a solution after frequent requests from her three kids for things like new toys and money to do things with their friends.
She came up with the unique idea to host a “job fair(就业展览会)”for her three children, Jahkeem, in seventh grade, Takeia, in fifth grade, and Serinity, in first grade. The three positions at the job fair were the kitchen manager, lead housekeeper and laundry supervisor(洗衣房主管).Children had to earn their pocket money by doing a job.
Jahkeem, Takeia and Serinity each picked the job they wanted to apply for, filled out the application and had interviews with their employer-their mom.
“My oldest and my youngest both applied for the lead housekeeper,” McGregor said.“ As to my 6-year-old daughter Serinity, I was more impressed with her application and her interview than my 13-year-old son Jahkeem.”
”I want them to be familiar with the process when they are older,“ she said. ”Whether they’re applying to a school or for a new job. they can look back and say, “I did this with Mom years ago.” As a parent you want to protect your children as much as possible, but you know that eventually they’ll have to experience it on their own and a child’s greatest lesson in life is going through the process.
MeGregor’s post on Facebook where she shared her job fair idea now has more than 200,000 likes. She said she hoped it inspired other parents to think outside of the box and let their kids’ voices be heard.“ What I’m realizing is that kids just want to be part of something. The first-hand experience is the best way to educate children,” McGregor said.
1. What do you know about McGregor’s solution?| A．It is creative. | B．It’s uninteresting |
| C．It is strange. | D．It’s traditional. |
| A．By doing housework. | B．By behaving well. |
| C．By getting good marks. | D．By listening to McGregor. |
| A．Serinity was awarded a new toy. |
| B．Serinity got the position as a kitchen manager. |
| C．Takeia became the lead housekeeper at the fair. |
| D．Jahkeen didn’t get the job he had applied for. |
| A．Children should always listen to their parents views. |
| B．Parents should pay their children for anything. |
| C．MeGregor’s post is well received online. |
| D．MeGregor’s idea is suitable for all families. |
10 . One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students. He used an illustration to express his point.
With his beginning words, “time for a quiz”, he pulled out a wide-mouthed jar and set it on the table. Then he carefully placed about a dozen fist-sized rocks into the jar until it was filled to the top, he asked, “Is this jar full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes!” “Really?” He then reached under the table, pulled out a bucket of gravel (石子), put some in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work down into the spaces between the big rocks. Then he asked again, “Is the jar full?” “Probably not,” one answered.
“Good!” He answered. Once more he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping (倾倒) the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked, “Is this jar full?” “No!” the class shouted. “Good!” Then he grabbed a can of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the edge.
Then he asked the class, “What is the point of this illustration?” One eager student replied, “The point is, however full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!”
“No,” the speaker answered, “The truth is: If you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all. So do things you love; schedule for yourself; make clear what are the big rocks in your life. Then, put those in your jar first.”
1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Strategy. | B．Example. | C．Registration. | D．Impression. |
| A．He enjoyed giving students a quiz. | B．He might teach in a normal school. |
| C．He was used to making experiments. | D．He was especially good at managing time. |
| A．To show his idea. | B．To offer a solution. |
| C．To contain the gravel. | D．To make an experiment. |
| A．A Good Activity. | B．A Jar-Filling Design. |
| C．The Story Of Big Rocks. | D．The Lesson For Source Arrangement. |
