1 . As a child, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather’s farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded by miles of stone walls, the house and field provided endless hours of fun for a city kid like me.
Since my first visit to the farm, I had wanted more than anything to be allowed to climb the stone walls surrounding the houses. My parents would never agree because the walls were so old that some stones were loose and falling. However, my idea to climb across those walls grew so strong that finally I had all my courage to enter the living room, where the adults had gathered after Sunday dinner.
“I want to climb the stone walls.” I said. “Heavens, no! You’ll hurt yourself!” The response was just as I’d expected. But before I left the room, I was stopped by my grandfather’s loud voice. “Now hold on just a minute.” I heard him say. “Let the boy climb the stone walls. He has to learn to do things for himself.”
“Go,” he said to me, “and come and see me when you get back.” For the next two and a half hours I climbed those old walls —and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my adventures. I’ll never forget what he said. “Fred,” he said, smiling, “you made this day a special day just by being yourself. Always remember, there’s only one person in this whole world like you, and I like you exactly as you are.”
Many years have passed since then, and today I host the television program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, seen by millions of children throughout America. There have been changes over the years, but one thing remains the same: my message to children at the end of almost every visit. “There’s only one person in this whole world like you,” the kids will hear me say, “and people can like you exactly as you are.”
1. Why did the writer enjoy his visits to the farm?A.There were old stone houses. | B.He was allowed to climb the walls. |
C.He missed his grandfather a lot. | D.He could experience new fun there. |
A.He was backed up by his grandfather to follow his heart. |
B.He didn’t expect his parents’ disagreement on wall climbing. |
C.He became a TV program host with his grandfather’s help. |
D.He didn’t know the possible danger of the stone walls. |
A.Open-minded. | B.Adventurous. | C.Kind-hearted. | D.Dependable. |
A.Unforgettable Childhood | B.Just Be Yourself |
C.Do Whatever You Like | D.Like grandfather, like grandson |
2 . George saved every coin for twenty years and used all that money to build a house on his farm for his family.
But just two days before that day, a (n)
However, George took out the
George smiled and said. “You only
A.Actually | B.Suddenly | C.Finally | D.Obviously |
A.canceled | B.chosen | C.changed | D.forgotten |
A.flood | B.sandstorm | C.typhoon | D.earthquake |
A.hearing | B.spreading | C.breaking | D.editing |
A.town | B.market | C.village | D.farm |
A.respect | B.concern | C.thanks | D.wishes |
A.impress | B.praise | C.comfort | D.accept |
A.sweets | B.tools | C.coins | D.bricks |
A.awkward | B.anxious | C.pleased | D.confused |
A.confident | B.amazed | C.crazy | D.powerful |
A.money | B.time | C.chance | D.profit |
A.putting away | B.handing out | C.packing up | D.showing off |
A.challenge | B.explore | C.fear | D.notice |
A.positive | B.ugly | C.natural | D.caring |
A.remembered | B.killed | C.found | D.sheltered |
Zu Ti of the Jin Dynasty was a man who had with great ambition. When he was young, he had a good friend
One day, when they were sleeping. Zu Ti heard the rooster crowing (鸡鸣) . He woke up Liu Kun and said, “How about
The idiom “to rise with the rooster” teaches us that with ambition and hard work,
4 . Once there was a young farmer who had an appointment with his lover to meet under a big tree. He was short-tempered and came very early. It was a fine spring day with flowers in full bloom (盛开), but he wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it.
Suddenly an angel turned up before him. “You get impatient, don’t you?” said the angel. “If you don’t want to wait, just turn the button to the right. You can jump over any life period if you want to.”
The young fellow was so happy that he turned the button lightly. How amazing! His lover appeared before him immediately staring at him with love. How wonderful it would be if the wedding ceremony were held now! He, again, turned the button. a grand wedding appeared in front of him; the band was playing cheerful music, he lost himself in it deeply. Unknowingly, the desires in his heart appeared endlessly: I also want a big house. He turned the button. I also want a crowd of lovely children. Instantly a group of lovely kids were playing joyfully in the large living room. Again, he jumped at turning the button to the right more than half.
How time flies! Before he saw the blooming flowers in the garden, everything had been covered in a deep snow. Looking at himself again, he had already become so old, his hair and beard totally white.
He was filled with regrets. I’d rather spend my life step by step than go in such a hurry. Better let me wait patiently! The button moved to the left with a rush. Once again, he was waiting for his lover under that big tree. His restlessness disappeared completely.
1. The angel gave the farmer a magic button in order to________.A.make an appointment with him |
B.help him enjoy beautiful flowers |
C.shorten his future time |
D.change his temper |
A.Impatience. | B.Hopelessness. |
C.Eagerness. | D.Amazement. |
A.Regrets may exist if life is not fun. |
B.Lovers had better wait. |
C.People should live a realistic life. |
D.Life can’t skip forward. |
5 . When I was a senior high school student in 1980, God gave me a gift, it was happiness.
One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside.
However, it’s easier said than done.
A.Happiness depends on what we have! |
B.They get a bad grade on a test |
C.How sad I felt at that time! |
D.On my way home a car hit me and cut off my arms because of its high speed. |
E.Maybe it was just a joke for me. |
F.It took me nearly half a year to get out of the sadness completely. |
G.I had a wonderful time here. |
6 . A young woman one day said something that hurt her best friend of many years. She regretted it immediately and would like to do anything to take the words back. what she had said hurt her friend so much that her woman herself also felt very painful. To make up what she had done, she went to an old wise man in the village and ask for advice.
The old man understood the young woman’s suffering. He know he must help her. He knew he could never remove her pain, but he could teach. And he also knew the result would depend only on her character.
“Tonight, take your best feather pillows and put single feather on the doorstep of each house in the village before the sun rises,” he said.
The young woman hurried home to prepare for it, even though the feather pillows were very dear to her. All night long, she made her efforts alone in the cold. Finally it got light and she places the last feather on the step of the last house. Just as the sun rise, she returned to the old man.
“Now,” said the man, “go back and refill your pillows with the feathers you have put on the steps. Then every thing will be as it was before.”
“You know that’s impossible! The wind blew away each feather as fast as I placed them on the doorsteps!” The young woman was surprised.
“That’s true,” said the old man. “Each of your words is like a feather in the wind. Once your words are spoken, no matter how much effort you make and how sincere you are, you can never return them to your mouth. Choose your words well and protect people you love from being hurt.”
1. According to Paragraph 2, the old man ______.A.could remove her pain | B.knew a lot about her character |
C.refused to teach her | D.decided to help her learn something |
A.In the evening | B.At midnight |
C.At sunrise | D.In the afternoon |
A.put the feathers back to the pillows | B.make some now pillows |
C.take away the feathers | D.Find more feathers |
A.Taking one’s advice before doing. |
B.Thinking carefully before speaking. |
C.Asking for advice when you have troubles. |
D.Talking to people when you have troubles. |
No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts. I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program. The school took part in the league matches every year. However, it never ended well. We were more of the audience, watching and cheering instead of sweating out in the fields.
Fortunately, the school held the tradition that the school’s old team was to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. For lack of resources, the old team bad no coach, and they didn’t even practice to prepare for the game.
I was assigned (指派) as the coach of the new team, which was why I was excited. I believed that we were going to win, but to my disappointment, we were defeated. I couldn’t believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I tried to figure out the reason and what I should do next.
It didn’t take long before I came to realize that my team was depending on me. Without proper guidance or previous experience, my team was at a loss what to do. I had to change my attitude so that I could bring out the best in them about their ability and potential.
I would let my action do the talking. First, I started doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. I could see their spirits lifted, with their head held high in great confidence. Most importantly, I began to treat them like winners. Only when they regarded themselves as winners could they willingly invest time and energy.
This summer, the other teams enjoyed their vacations.
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Six months later, football season started.
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8 . When I was in my college, I have a full class schedule and a part-time job. I
After graduation, I decided to go to the
Me? Sports? No way. I was not
But just as I was beginning to feel comfortable.my friend suggested we play tennis
The first few months were quite
Obviously, if I hadn’t stepped outside of my comfort zone (区域), I would have never
A.seldom | B.always | C.finally | D.still |
A.lazy | B.overweight | C.diet | D.good |
A.woods | B.court | C.gym | D.zone |
A.often | B.independently | C.skillfully | D.properly |
A.calm | B.inspired | C.angry | D.bored |
A.relaxed | B.rich | C.afraid | D.athletic |
A.changed | B.expected | C.followed | D.traveled |
A.formally | B.normally | C.again | D.instead |
A.hardly | B.strongly | C.partly | D.strangely |
A.Awkwardly | B.Actively | C.Amazingly | D.Rudely |
A.carrying | B.missing | C.seeing | D.holding |
A.useful | B.sweet | C.satisfying | D.hard |
A.in peace | B.in person | C.in surprise | D.in a hurry |
A.questioned | B.wondered | C.discovered | D.remembered |
A.excitement | B.fear | C.duty | D.pride |
9 . Not having done physical exercise for some time, I found myself a little low-spirited and couldn’t study efficiently, so I decided to do some running the next day. At 6:15 the next morning, my alarm clock rang. Unwilling to rise from my bed, I turned it off and went back to sleep. However, 5 minutes later, I struggled to get up. After washing and brushing, I had my sneakers on and went out.
Wow! The air was so fresh that I couldn’t help breathing it deeply. I stretched (伸展) my arms and legs, then started to run. I found all things around me were so attractive. Look, the branches were waving, as if they were welcoming me; the blossoming flowers were bowing, with shyness, just like girls. Listen, the wind was whispering, as if to say “come on, girl”. What’s more interesting was those two birds, perching in the tree. They were scared and flew away when I passed them. “Hey, chaps, relax.” I shouted without stopping running. “Let’s enjoy the beautiful morning together!” Then miracle (奇迹) happened. The two little creatures seemed to understand what I said. They turned back and twittered (吱吱叫) around me. “Are you singing for me?” I asked. They twittered again and again, sounded like “Yes”. I was delighted to hear that. Ah, what a wonderful morning and how beautiful life is!
Actually, there are a lot of charming things around us. Helen Keller wrote in her famous article Three Days to Sec, “The seeing see little”. Indeed, many of us ignore (忽视) the beauty around us, just because we are familiar with them. They always complain that life is boring. But, I just want to say, if you live each day with appreciation of things around, you’ll find life is very charming. So, let’s enjoy life from now on.
1. According to the passage, the writer went running with the purpose of ______.A.making herself more active | B.seeing the beauty of nature |
C.talking with birds | D.breathing fresh air |
A.The writer hated the singing of the two birds. |
B.The writer rose immediately after the clock went off |
C.The writer did some warm up exercises before running. |
D.The writer felt tired after doing some running in the morning. |
A.People who can see rarely find the beauty of nature. |
B.Those who can see enjoy nature very much. |
C.People who go outside can see more. |
D.Those who go out only see little things. |
A.the nature is very beautiful |
B.fresh air is beneficial |
C.physical exercise is useless |
D.we should appreciate the beautiful things in life |
10 . Graduation is a significant milestone for everyone. An 89-year-old man called Rene Neira had been trying to finish a degree since the 1950s. However, in the 1960s, he was so passionate about urban and economic development of the southside of San Antonio that he stopped school and got involved with the local government. From that time, one of his life goals was to earn a degree in economics. In 2017, the grandpa and his 19-year-old granddaughter both enrolled (入学) at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
“There were times when we would get lunch together, be in the library together, and just work silently side-by-side,” Melanie Salazar, Rene’s granddaughter, recalled. “He always had something to say, especially if his professors had different opinions than him,” Melanie said. “And there were often times when a professor would invite him to talk about the past.”
Rene’s college years weren’t easy. “He has worked very hard over time. Especially in recent years, with hearing loss and going through seasons of not having a car, there was a term where he had to take medical leave because he had a stroke, so he couldn’t go back to school that term. And then the pandemic started,” said Melanie.
After four years, their hard work finally paid off—they graduated. Together, they stood on the stage. Everyone broke into applause and cheered for this fantastic pair.
Their story has been making waves online. People have nothing but good words for them, “Awww... I love stories like this. This was such a beautiful moment. Congratulations to both of them. Grandpa definitely demonstrated that one shouldn’t give up their dream no matter how long it takes,” one wrote. Another wrote, “I’m motivated to go back to school myself, thanks to his example.”
Rene had the determination to finish his degree even at an advanced stage in his life. Hard work, patience, and determination are the keys to success, especially when the path is not easy or clear.
1. Why did Rene fail to get a degree when he was young?A.He was not interested in university life then. |
B.He devoted himself to city development. |
C.He needed to work to support his family. |
D.He was not good at his school work. |
A.It made him physically ill. | B.It was full of surprise. |
C.It was smooth and plain. | D.It came with challenges. |
A.Admirable. | B.Doubtful. | C.Funny. | D.Pitiful. |
A.Actions speak louder than words. |
B.It is never too late to achieve one’s dream. |
C.Genius without education is like silver in the mine. |
D.A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. |