1 . I was cutting up lettuce (生菜) in the kitchen when I suddenly remembered watching a video about putting the lettuce stub (残余部分) in water to grow a whole new vegetable. So I took out a wide-mouthed mug (大杯) and placed the stub into it, gave it a little water, and placed it by the window.

On a snowy morning, I noticed the first sign. A first small leaf from its heart spread out. A tiny green flag of hope. Beaten, but not defeated. Within days, it was impossible to see the cuts where I had removed the leaves. The growth was explosive. And when I lifted the blossoming head out of the mug, tiny root threads fell down, seeking for the earth. What is growing here? Lettuce or hope?

If I were a lettuce in a similar condition, I’d want to doubtfully assess where I found myself before being devoted to full growth. Yet for this lettuce, my inadequate offering of water and a place by a window was enough for it to decide to reclaim itself again. It grew in a mug of water, in faith. This is the heart of this lettuce: alive, strong and fearless. It deserved a name. I decided to call it Monty.

Monty wanted to grow, as we all do. I think I gave him a little love and freedom. Those two ingredients were all he needed to return to himself. I see joy in this lettuce. The return to self is always an expression of joy, which is life itself. With the right ingredients, this is the tendency of all living things.

Monty still lives in a mug, but I’m going to transplant him outside. He deserves to become his full self. The only problem I see now is my capacity to support Monty. I hope I have enough of a green finger.

I’m surprised to find myself where I am. Maybe Monty is, too. I have the same choice as he does: give in and decay (腐烂), or start again. The prospect of starting again is discouraging. But my lettuce-friend, Monty, leads the way. I can only hope to be as brave.

1. Why did the author put the stub in water?

A．To hope that it would grow.	B．To decorate the nice mug.
C．To conduct an experiment.	D．To remove his bad mood.

2. What is the first sign of life in the author’s eyes?

A．The remaining stub.	B．The small leaf.
C．The disappearing cuts.	D．The tiny root threads.

3. How would the author feel if in the lettuce’s situation?

A．Hesitant.

B．Fearless.

C．Confident.

D．Annoyed.

4. Which can be a suitable title of the passage?

A．Enjoy your own life to the fullest.	B．Believe in yourself when in trouble.
C．Never be afraid to restart yourself.	D．Give freedom to the heart in a way.

2 . We live in a world increasingly dominated by science. Since elementary school, I have always ______subjects like science and math. To me, these subjects, full of discoveries and ______, seem to play more significant role in human progress than humanities. And I always ______thought of these subjects as more solid and serious than classes like English. If there was no right ______I thought, why bother? But recently I had an ______that taught me my academic interests are more flexible than I had thought: I took my first philosophy class.

Before I entered the classroom, I was ______. I waited outside with the other students and wondered what exactly philosophy would involve. I imagined getting into pretty long and boring conversations ______intended to reflect on the meaning of life. But what I got was something quite ______.

A young man in jeans, Mr. Jones — “but you can call me Rob” — was far from the white- haired, buttoned-up old man I had ______. Rather than pulling us into dull arguments about difficult-to-understand philosophical points, Rob ______us on our level. To talk free will, we looked at our own obstacles. To talk morals, we looked at ______we had faced ourselves. By the end of class, I’d discovered that questions with no right answer can turn out to be the most ______ones.

It ______me that if I let go of my ______, I can actually get a lot out of the subjects I once thought little of. The class taught me — in more ways than one — to look at things with a(n) ______mind.

1.

A．chosen

B．evaluated

C．favored

D．avoided

2.

A．formulas

B．puzzles

C．challenges

D．innovations

3.

A．automatically

B．consciously

C．accurately

D．impatiently

4.

A．reason

B．answer

C．method

D．direction

5.

A．surprise

B．experience

C．incident

D．adventure

6.

A．hopeful

B．confident

C．doubtful

D．nervous

7.

A．jokingly

B．mistakenly

C．previously

D．naturally

8.

A．unique

B．common

C．different

D．strange

9.

A．mentioned

B．expected

C．encountered

D．missed

10.

A．engaged

B．tested

C．persuaded

D．invited

11.

A．choices

B．abilities

C．dilemmas

D．doubts

12.

A．objective

B．effective

C．encouraging

D．appealing

13.

A．confused

B．struck

C．warned

D．convinced

14.

A．pride

B．concern

C．assessment

D．prejudice

15.

A．open

B．strong

C．sharp

D．ready

4 . Three years ago, a group of researchers at Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab had a guess. They knew that many apples being _______ to kids as part of the National School Lunch Program were ending up in the trash, almost untouched. But unlike others, they wondered if the reason was more complicated than simply that the kids didn’t want the _______.

They thought the fact that the apples were being served _______, rather than sliced (切成片的), was doing the fruit no favor. And they wanted to _______ this idea.

They carried out a pilot study (初步研究) at eight _______ and found that fruit consumption _______ by more than 60 percent when apples were served sliced. They _______ made a follow-up study at six other schools, which not only showed the same result, but further _______ it. Both the overall apple consumption and the percentage of students who ate more than half of the apple served to them were more than 70 percent higher at schools that served _______ apples.

Based on these ________, it seems that even the simplest forms of ________ can influence us. Sliced apples just make more sense for kids. The hardest part is getting kids to start eating fruit, and that’s exactly why sliced apples are the way to go. A child holding a whole apple has to break the skin, eat around the core (果核), and ________ the inconvenience of holding a large fruit. These ________ might seem silly or unimportant, but they’re important when you’re ________ teeth or have braces (牙箍), as so many kids do.

It’s one of those situations where what seems like a really ________ inconvenience actually makes a huge difference.

1.

A．sold

B．served

C．delivered

D．shown

2.

A．attention

B．lunch

C．fruit

D．program

3.

A．whole

B．ready

C．alone

D．unwashed

4.

A．present

B．share

C．prove

D．try

5.

A．restaurants

B．colleges

C．cities

D．schools

6.

A．decreased

B．jumped

C．reached

D．slowed

7.

A．even

B．instead

C．already

D．then

8.

A．denied

B．supported

C．impressed

D．described

9.

A．sliced

B．delicious

C．juicy

D．fresh

10.

A．plans

B．guesses

C．methods

D．results

11.

A．reward

B．advice

C．inconvenience

D．decision

12.

A．deal with

B．think about

C．look into

D．point out

13.

A．studies

B．problems

C．ideas

D．worries

14.

A．brushing

B．cleaning

C．missing

D．counting

15.

A．small

B．serious

C．obvious

D．public