1 . One day, Amanda was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer of an early stage. During this time, she was admitted to a college. She planned to save money to meet the college expense and then seek medical treatment for the cancer.
Her father, Clint and her friends didn’t want her to put off her treatment due to the expense. They took matters into their own hands and started a GoFundMe campaign. A longtime friend of the family was cofounder of a group named Praynksters, known for random acts of kindness. The friend decided to use their own group to help the family. The group came up with the creative idea to spread the word and invite families, friends, and strangers who wanted to help to take part in a donation activity. The event induced the enormous assistance from the local community.
Clint and Amanda were moved as the crowd passed by and the donations poured in. The event brought the family over $13, 000 in donations to go towards her medical treatments. The generous act of kindness gave the family a comforting, and optimistic feeling during a time when all hope seemed lost. Clint said that Amanda struggled with the idea of asking for help. She felt guilty and undeserving compared to others who are also struggling. She is still humbled by it all.
After several months of treatment, life for the family has started getting back to their normal routine. Once Amanda got her strength back, she returned to school and completed her bachelor's degree. The family is now inspired to volunteer in their local neighborhood and contribute to crowdfunding (众筹) efforts. They are grateful for the opportunity to give back and help others as many have helped them.
1. Why did Amanda postpone her treatment of cancer?| A．She didn't care about her disease. |
| B．She had to take care of her family. |
| C．She was in a bad economic situation. |
| D．She couldn’t find an effective treatment. |
| A．Brought about. | B．Made up. |
| C．Gave away. | D．Set about. |
| A．Shameful but caring. |
| B．Kind-hearted and grateful. |
| C．Curious and warm-hearted. |
| D．Hard- working and humorous. |
| A．It's quite easy to cure Amanda’s cancer. |
| B．Praynksters is a nonprofit organization funded by Clint. |
| C．Volunteering is very popular in Amanda's community. |
| D．A GoFundMe campaign is actually a crowdfunding activity. |
2 . Envelope Budget
From McDonald’s to Sonic, fast food had a bad effect on my waistline and my budget. It was nothing to run to a drive-through to pick up a cold drink or a quick bite to eat. It was so easy to use my card for a small purchase. For me, I got a lot of satisfaction from fast food.
One day I sat down and calculated that I was spending a surprising $40 a week on fast food. This was a lot of iced coffee and hamburgers! Instead of reducing my guilty pleasures, I decided to give myself a strong budget to reduce my consumption. Every Monday I placed an envelope with$20 in my purse. That was my fast food budget for the entire week. If there was anything left over at the end of the week, it was mine to save or spend. If I spent all of the money during the week, there were no more fast food stops that week.
The budget made me more mindful of my purchases. Instead of purchasing a large drink from Sonic, I would purchase a small. It was still satisfying but not nearly as pricey. Instead of eating a whole meal, I would pick the part that I actually wanted. Many days, the thought of hanging onto the money for a special purpose meant more to me than the instant satisfaction of fast food. I never really felt unhappy because it was a conscious choice to spend or save with each purchase.
Envelope budget kept me honest. I had a clear idea how much money was spent each week on fast food purchases. I started to bring my lunches more often to save more money for the week. It was a fun challenge to see how much I could save every week.
Changing the way I spent on fast food not only helped my budget, but improved my weight. In the first month I was able to get rid of 5 pounds by simply changing the way I approached spending on fast food. Now I am more likely to bring my lunch than to buy it. I am not upset, but empowered to make positive choices to improve my life.
1. According to Paragraph 1, the author ______.| A．had no time to cook for herself | B．was fond of fast food very much |
| C．lived with a small amount of money | D．got some benefits from using her card |
| A．envelope budget is good for health | B．the budget means a pressure on life |
| C．it is unusual to make some changes | D．it is hard to enjoy a healthy lifestyle |
| A．Why the author became addicted to fast food. | B．Why the author took envelope budget seriously. |
| C．How fast food controlled the author’s behavior. | D．How envelope budget changed the author’s life. |
3 . Most Valuable Possessions on Earth
Marie was a single mother of two children in a rural Missouri community.
Then one day Marie received some shocking news from her doctor. She had cancer, and it was spreading rapidly.
Soon , Marie witnessed what she had always known: although she was not financially wealthy, she already had the most valuable possessions on earth. Hundreds in her community and surrounding areas teamed up to help her and her family.
Many people she had touched in caring ways demonstrated appreciation for Marie’s life.
The spirits of love and gratitude multiply(增加) when they are shared.
All her life, Marie had demonstrated（演示） the truth of this simple principle :
| A．Happiness is the result of sharing love and gratitude. |
| B．She worked full-time during the day and sold handcrafted leather gifts on weekends. |
| C．She lived a rather poor and hard life with the two children. |
| D．Marie didn’t live to see the day when her bills were fully paid. |
| E．Love is second to none. |
| F．She had barely enough resources to put a cent in the medical treatments she would need. |
| G．Happiness will not come from worldly possessions of fortune. |
4 . Callaghan, father of a teenage girl — Emma, couldn’t understand why he had developed a disease which normally affects men twice his age.
“I was by myself,” Callaghan recalled. “I thought it was a kidney stone (肾结石). I was in the doctor’s office for about 45 minutes that day. I don’t remember anything more than one minute of it.” He believed anyone who had his condition would live only 12 months. And he would take tablets every day, possibly for the rest of his life.
Callaghan began finding hope in a small act of love for Emma: handwriting notes of love on a napkin and placing it in her lunch box; nothing unusual or life-changing, just some words of encouragement to Emma to think of during the day. His numbered days meant numbered napkins. “The reason why I started writing notes to her is that I want to matter in her life,” Callaghan said. “I see so many working parents today who give up a lot of their parenting. I want Emma to be able to look at me at whatever age she is and say ‘My dad loves me. I need his advice, I need his love and I trust that my dad’s going to be there.’”
But what started out as a father’s way of showing his daughter his love quickly grew. His idea of sharing his inspirational napkin messages with friends and family on Facebook got a generous response from the media. His new book Napkin Notes shares each message he’s ever sent to his daughter as well as more about his brave battle against cancer and life lessons he hopes Emma and maybe even grown readers can learn.
Now Callaghan is still fighting for his life. “The act of taking a napkin, holding my pen and thinking of something to write down inspires me just as much as I hope it inspires my daughter,” Callaghan said.
1. What doubt did Callaghan have in Para. 1?| A．Why he suffered the disease twice. |
| B．Why he had the disease at an early age. |
| C．Why he had to receive treatment twice. |
| D．Why the disease affected more men than women. |
| A．He felt lucky to be her father. | B．He desired to change her life. |
| C．He decided to number his days in this way. | D．He found it a good way to inspire both of them. |
| A．Creative. | B．Confident. |
| C．Humorous. | D．Patient. |
