2 . Pearl Moss looked out her front window in Bethel Park, Pennsyvania. She was instantly _________. A major snowstorm over the weekend had dropped_________ a foot of snow in her driveway, and there was more on the way. She was recovering from shoulder surgery and didn’t have family members nearby who could _________ to dig her out.

A few hours later, there was a _________ on her door. Moss looked out and was surprised to see two teenage boys with shovels (铁铲). David Shelpman and Aidan Campbell _________ in the same neighborhood as Moss and are on the football team at Bethel Park High School. Head Coach Brian DeLallo had emailed his team members on Sunday to _________ them that their Monday’s workout in the school gym wasn’t going to _________. DeLallo also instructed them to find an elderly or disabled neighbor and shovel their driveway. Shelpman and about 40 other team members took their _________ seriously.

Helping elderly and disabled residents to dig out after snowstorms is a Bethel Park _________ that goes back two decades. In Bethel Park, community support of the football team is strong. “Our games are always well __________ so giving back is the right response,” DeLallo said.

Pearl Moss said she’s grateful for the teens adding that if they hadn’t shown up, she probably would have been stuck in her house for a while.

1.

A．moved

B．tired

C．worried

D．excited

2.

A．only

B．nearly

C．hardly

D．partly

3.

A．pretend

B．learn

C．refuse

D．help

4.

A．note

B．hole

C．knock

D．lock

5.

A．wait

B．gather

C．live

D．hide

6.

A．inform

B．persuade

C．warn

D．advise

7.

A．fail

B．matter

C．change

D．happen

8.

A．experiment

B．contest

C．assignment

D．education

9.

A．tradition

B．problem

C．career

D．trend

10.

A．attended

B．designed

C．known

D．done

4 . I sill remember my first day of second grade. I was led to a classroom. No teacher yet. Girls talking and laughing. Boys playing games.

I took some paper and a pencil, picked a desk, and went to work. Minutes later, a girl came over and sat on top of my desk.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“I am doing Fun with Number” I replied. Then I rose from my seat to get my pencil sharpener. I had no idea that when I stood, the desk would fall over and hurt her leg.

Her name was Lucy. From that day on we got to know each other, and she became my best friend. Now we have been close friends for more than 60 years. We often get together and recall the past.

Some TV advertisements try to tell us what children need for school, new shoes, clothes, and schoolbags. But really, children’s needs are simple. Besides the basics—to be fed, cared for, and loved—they need the gift of friendship.

For years, I feared how people saw me. But one day, I finally understood I didn’t need to be smart or pretty or popular, but just needed to be kind.

My grandson William recently finished his preschool and received a prize for “friendship”. Even an Olympic medal wouldn’t make me prouder! I think children need to know that they are loved. They need to know they have all they need and that the best way to win friends is to be kind.

1. When and where did the author meet Lucy for the first time?
_______________________________________________________________________
2. What was the author doing when Lucy came over?
_______________________________________________________________________
3. How do Lucy and the author keep their friendship growing?
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Besides the basics, what do children need for a happy school life?
_______________________________________________________________________

5 . Happiness always lies in giving help to others. And Steven Smith has just set us a good example.

Donald Austin is a teacher. He had a_________accident several months ago. And he had to spend three months in hospital. He also had part of his left _________cut off.

Now he was able to go back home. Donald thought he could go up the steps to the front door of his home using walking sticks. But he wasn’t as_________as he had hoped. And the wheelchair was too_________. His wife, Jennifer Austin, couldn’t lift it up the steps, even with his mother’s help. Donald gave up at last. And the family all felt very sad. They were out of strength and almost lost_________.

Just then, a car_________their eyes. It had driven past but was slowly_________back. The stranger, Steven Smith, stopped and asked if he could help. The family watched Smith help Donald inside the house and place him carefully on the sofa. But Smith knew there was still more to do.

He thought Donald might have to_________those steps many times in the future. So the next day, Smith came to Donald’s house again. He asked if he could build a ramp (斜坡) in front of the house. With some other helping hands, Smith successfully built a ramp over the steps. And now the wheelchair can go up and down easily. The kind act brought the family to_________.

“This stranger has__________the day for us twice within 24 hours,” Jennifer wrote on Facebook. “He brought us hope and made our day more beautiful.”

1.

A．serious

B．strange

C．clear

D．strict

2.

A．arm

B．stomach

C．heart

D．leg

3.

A．strong

B．clever

C．weak

D．thick

4.

A．small

B．heavy

C．full

D．cheap

5.

A．mind

B．hope

C．face

D．weight

6.

A．kept

B．threw

C．held

D．caught

7.

A．walking

B．offering

C．turning

D．calling

8.

A．jump

B．climb

C．enter

D．run

9.

A．success

B．surprise

C．tears

D．anger

10.

A．received

B．started

C．contributed

D．saved

6 . 语法填空

My husband was looking     1    our two daughters. They started crying when my husband cooked lunch. He ran into the room and     2    (see) a small scorpion(蝎子), so my husband picked it up. The older girl said, “Girls can’t deal with it.” My husband told her, “You never have to be afraid of something only because you’re a girl. You are as smart and strong as any boy.” He held the scorpion’s tail with his     3    (finger). The girl asked to hold it. So my husband put it on her hands while he held the tail. She was so proud of     4    (she) that she talked about it until she went to sleep.

7 . Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick, just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him, his head warm on Bertie’s feet, when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England.”

His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”

“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you,” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.

“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will come to see him and laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would!” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.

Bertie felt completely betrayed. He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels, he crept downstairs in his pyjamas, took down his father’s rifle from the rack and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come. “Be wild now,” he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will.” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie clambered down off the hill and walked away.

When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.

There was only one thing left to do. Tears filling his eyes and his mouth, he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.

1. Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she________.

A．had lied about her good health condition	B．had decided to send Bertie to a new school
C．knew selling the lion would upset Bertie	D．knew Bertie would hate to go to England

2. The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to________.

A．some audience

B．other animals

C．Bertie’s friends

D．circus’s owners

3. In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle at the lion to________.

A．kill the lion out of helplessness	B．protect himself from being chased
C．threaten the lion back to the wild	D．show his anger towards his father

4. The passage intends to show that________.

A．circuses are the last places for animals to live

B．animals belonging to the wild should be set free

C．parents are sometimes cruel to their children

D．people and animals can be faithful to each other

8 . Two-year-old Nancy is deaf. However, that hasn’t stopped her from being a(n) _________ little girl trying to “chat” to anyone she meets. As soon as she goes out into town with her parents, she starts _________ in the hope that the person she is talking to knows sign language too.

Normally, hearing loss is a social _________ for those who don’t know how to use sign language. Anyone Nancy tried to talk to _________ this and felt so sorry they couldn’t respond. They wished they could _________ her and say something back, but they found themselves completely at a loss.

Then, something amazing happened. Instead of causing a/an _________, this barrier brought the community together. Determined to learn sign language so that they could talk to Nancy, her neighbors hired an instructor on their own, and now they are _________ to taking classes together. The teacher admits that this is really remarkable because, quite often, even the parents of deaf children don’t want to learn the language. But here Nancy has a full community that is signing and communicating with her, and it is a/an _________ story.

The teacher also says that this level of inclusion will make a huge difference in Nancy’s life. It almost certainly ensures that she will be a happier and more _________ individual in the future. Nancy’s parents are already noticing a __________ in their daughter and they have no words to express how grateful they are to their neighbors.

With a little girl and a lot of love, the neighbors truly make the neighborhood a community.

1.

A．independent

B．persistent

C．outgoing

D．generous

2.

A．signing

B．cheering

C．waving

D．smiling

3.

A．absence

B．barrier

C．stress

D．interaction

4.

A．discussed

B．ignored

C．realized

D．predicted

5.

A．inspire

B．protect

C．trust

D．understand

6.

A．conflict

B．separation

C．complaint

D．incident

7.

A．devoted

B．opposed

C．used

D．addicted

8.

A．appealing

B．fascinating

C．rewarding

D．moving

9.

A．well-adjusted

B．healthy

C．normal

D．grateful

10.

A．potential

B．belief

C．strength

D．difference

9 . A retired engineer, 76-year-old Wilson has been offering free rides to college students for the past eight years. Since he first started _______ his car to the young People, Wilson has _______ an astonishing 64,000 miles, and has had countless pleasant and often humorous conversations with the students he transports to and from school. The students who he’s driven have gone on to become physicians, teachers and engineers, but what they’ve also got out of their time in school is finding a role model and a friend in Wilson. Some students _______ call him “Grandpa”.

Tina Stern received rides from Wilson for all her four years in college, and the trips meant much more to her than just free transportation. “It’s not just a ride; you’re not just sitting there in _______ silence or with your headphones on.” Stern said. “He asks you questions and actually remembers the answers, so the next time you ride with him, he’ll _______ on those things.”

Wilson first worked as a driver through a student-support programme of the non-profit organization, On Point for College. Although the programme asks the members only to drive students to and from their classes, Wilson often goes _______ to ensure the welfare and safety of the students.

For many students, Wilson’s help is not only appreciated, it’s also entirely _______ for them to be able to complete their college education. Some students don’t have a reliable car, while others have to share vehicles with parents who work six days a week. For them, riding with Wilson has _______ them to complete their education—but according to Wilson, he benefits just as much from the _______. “I just love driving, and I love these kids,” Wilson said. “It’s such a(n) __________ to be a part of these kids’ lives, even just for a few hours, getting to know them and hearing their stories. ”

1.

A．donating

B．lending

C．delivering

D．volunteering

2.

A．paved

B．covered

C．measured

D．wandered

3.

A．even

B．ever

C．once

D．already

4.

A．forced

B．awkward

C．ridiculous

D．suspicious

5.

A．act

B．settle

C．check

D．agree

6.

A．far

B．around

C．beyond

D．forwards

7.

A．extra

B．unusual

C．adequate

D．necessary

8.

A．required

B．allowed

C．reminded

D．convinced

9.

A．experience

B．arrangement

C．appreciation

D．employment

10.

A．effort

B．ambition

C．privilege

D．convenience

10 . The Cloud Runners

Today, the first thing you see when you drive into the small town of McFarland, California, is a welcome poster. “Home of the State Champions,” it says proudly. Written across the bottom are the names of the members of the running teams that have brought McFarland nine state championships over the past twenty years. Today, this little farming town is the “home of champions”, but things weren’t always like this.

It all began with a group of seven young men, who were McFarland High School’s first running team. They were called “cloud runners” because it looked like they were floating on a brown cloud of dust as they carved paths through the surrounding fields.

They weren’t a very good team. But the turning point came one hot summer afternoon when the young men were doing hill practice. As there were no hills in McFarland, their coach, Jim White, made them run up and down large piles of nut shells covered in white plastic sheets.

“Enough!” one of the young men cried. The sound of breaking shells could be heard as he beat his fists on the sheet. The plastic tore and a river of nut shells poured out. “Do you know what these are, Mr White? They’re almond(巴旦木)shells. Do you know where they come from? My family has been working on farms picking almonds for forty years. You and your family, living in your big comfortable home, eat these without giving a single thought to where they came from. And now you are making us run on them! I’ve had enough!”

“We’re losers, Mr White, not winners,” another young man continued, his face wet with tears and sweat. “Nothing has changed here for forty years and nothing’s ever going to change! Running is for rich kids in private schools in the big city, not for us poor farm boys. We can’t even afford real shoes for running. We belong in the fields, picking. We’re ‘pickers’. I’m going home!”

Something in Jim White’s heart changed that day. He went into the fields and worked with the “pickers”. He bought running shoes for the boys. He spent evenings having dinner with the boys’ families. His wife baked and sold cookies to raise money. One small act of kindness led to another. Other families began to take notice, and slowly, the entire town came to support Mr White as he helped these young men change from farm workers to champions.

1. Why is the small town of McFarland called “Home of the State Champions”?

A．Because Jim White became state championship.

B．Because the running teams got nine state championships.

C．Because a group of seven young men got championships.

D．Because Mr. White changed the farm workers to champions.

2. What made the boy cry in the practice?

A．The tiredness of running.	B．The pain of training.
C．The difficulties of living.	D．The sound of breaking shells.

3. Which of the following can best describe Jim White?

A．Ambitious and strict.	B．Understanding and kind.
C．Optimistic and persistent.	D．Responsible and confident.