1 . It was a warm winter’s day in South Africa and I planned to go surfing. The area of beach I went to is famous among surfers for its powerful waves and popularity with sharks.
After a while my brother and some of my friends got out of the water because they felt uneasy. There was the smell of fish in the air, which can attract sharks. A few of us stayed. Finally, I saw my first big wave, but as I was about to hit it, two great white sharks attacked me.
It happened so quickly. One shark hit me, throwing me into the air; a second later, it dragged me under the water. The shock stopped me from feeling pain. Under the water, another shark went for my head and shoulders but missed.
Perhaps surprised by the competition, the first shark lost its grip (控制) on me and the next thing I knew was that I was staring a shark straight in the face. It stared back at me for a few moments. Its mouth was wide open; I could see huge teeth and dark black eyes. After it passed, I swam to the surface as fast as I could.
When surfing, there is always the fear in the back of your mind of sharks. Now it was real. I was shaking, crying and panicking, realizing that I could die. I tried all my hardest to swim back to the shore. Eventually, I made it to dry land. I felt relief. Someone tied my arm to slow the bleeding and my brother rushed me to the hospital. The surgeon managed to save my fingers.
That day changed my life, but it hasn’t stopped me from surfing. I started a surfing school to teach the sport to others. I was more afraid of sharks before my attack. Now I know what it means to be alive.
1. Why do sharks like appearing at the surfing beach?| A．There are powerful waves in winter. | B．The beach is their natural habitat. |
| C．The smell of fish attracts them. | D．The beach is crowded with surfers. |
| A．By swimming as fast as possible. | B．By surfing on his surfboard alone. |
| C．By frightening the sharks away. | D．By fighting with the sharks at once. |
| A．He is more afraid of sharks. | B．He is appreciative of being alive. |
| C．He started a surfing school. | D．He didn’t surf after the incident. |
| A．An activity in South Africa. | B．A safety problem for surfers. |
| C．A terrible lesson for surfers. | D．An experience of a surfer. |
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 |
3 . Looking back, I spent many unhappy days. In middle school I didn’t think I was as smart as everyone else; I didn’t have cool enough clothes. Junior high was the same. I wasn’t as tall and thin as all the other girls; my baby teeth hadn’t fallen out yet. Fast forward to high school. Still everyone was smarter; still everyone dressed better. Eventually, in my first job out of college I wasn’t making as much money as my friends did.
I come from a long line of people who’ve suffered from depression. When I was single, I thought that was just who I was — it was the genes (基因) I was born with. When I was twenty-six, I got married, and three years later I had my first child.
Once we had kids, my excuse of “it’s-in-the-genes” didn’t work so well for me anymore because that meant my kids would be depressed. Although I realized that still might be the case, I began looking at my unhappiness in new ways.
Over the years many things helped me fight depression: healthy eating, exercise, fresh air, friends and medicine. They all helped. But I had a little secret, too. It’s an exercise I did every night before bed. By the side of my bed, I had a small datebook — every day I only had enough space to write one line.
Every night I asked myself: “What made me the happiest today?” Because I didn’t have space to write a lot, it only took me a few seconds. But in those seconds I replayed my day and decided on its happiest moment.
Some days it was “reading before bed with the kids” or “laughing with a friend on the phone”. And other days it was “finally getting to get into bed” or “not having to cook dinner again”. Anyway, I actively sought the positive every day. Today, when I have a difficult day, I look back through the datebook, read and remember those happy moments in the past.
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1?| A．The author led a poor life. |
| B．The author got a high-pay job. |
| C．The author challenged herself bravely. |
| D．The author usually compared herself with others. |
| A．Her first career. | B．Her happy marriage. |
| C．Her care for her children. | D．Her knowledge of genes. |
| A．To ease her loneliness. | B．To have a sound sleep. |
| C．To recall happy moments. | D．To serve as bedtime stories. |
| A．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. |
| B．Mother should set a good example for kids. |
| C．There could be a solution to any problem. |
| D．We should appreciate life’s bright aspects. |
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,
5 . Last month, on Oct.15, there was a marathon (马拉松赛) in the city of Luoyang, Henan Province. A lot of people in and around the city participated (参与) in it.
It was Sunday. There were some clouds in the sky in the early morning but the sun was shining when the race began. Eighteen boys and girls in my class, as well as four of my teachers, gathered on the south side of Luohe River to take part in the marathon. It was the first time that we had been in a marathon. We were excited and had fun running with people. We had to run 10 km. It was not a race, but an event to challenge ourselves. We helped each other during the run. When someone fell behind, others would go to encourage him or her not to give up. Tired but happy, all of us made it in about 90 minutes.
The marathon is like life, in which we can choose whether or not to keep going when we feel tired or meet difficulties. The biggest enemy is ourselves, whom we should fight with and defeat (打败). We never know what will happen in the future, but what we can do is try our best. If we can keep running, success will belong to us, because it’s impossible to defeat a person who never gives up.
Challenges make life interesting and meaningful. This very first marathon will always be remembered as an unforgettable event in my life.
1. The marathon was held __________ according to the passage.| A．on a very cold morning | B．on the playground of the writer’s school |
| C．on a Sunny day | D．on Saturday |
| A．Four. | B．Fourteen. | C．Eighteen. | D．Twenty-two. |
| A．encouraged each other | B．stopped to have a rest |
| C．never noticed each other | D．wanted to defeat others |
| A．should fight with and defeat the others during the race |
| B．must try our best to do everything |
| C．can defeat a person who never gives up |
| D．didn’t feel tired or meet difficulties in the marathon |
| A．We should face challenges bravely and defeat ourselves. |
| B．Life is meaningful and we should value it. |
| C．Smile to all the challenges in our lives. |
| D．Remember all the wonderful experience happening in our lives. |
6 . I once wrote to my Future Self. The
And then I think: does any of it
Do you remember when we were wishing our life away in high school? We couldn’t wait to go to college, to grow up and be an adult. But now we are wishing time would
| A．outdated | B．original | C．revised | D．secondhand |
| A．promote | B．forget | C．ignore | D．wonder |
| A．solutions | B．answers | C．questions | D．projects |
| A．dream | B．temporary | C．old | D．routine |
| A．confident | B．married | C．intelligent | D．separated |
| A．hurt | B．weigh | C．rise | D．matter |
| A．requires | B．gives | C．means | D．includes |
| A．selfish | B．selfless | C．considerate | D．generous |
| A．seldom | B．twice | C．often | D．once |
| A．release | B．grab | C．abandon | D．refuse |
| A．disaster | B．misfortune | C．chance | D．week |
| A．present | B．gone | C．valuable | D．fallen |
| A．slow down | B．hold up | C．break up | D．pay off |
| A．And | B．While | C．So | D．But |
| A．choice | B．task | C．career | D．arrangement |
7 . On a bright afternoon, Jordan, Mahir and Mahir’s father gathered at the foot of a mountain. “Hey, Jordan, over here!” Jordan’s best friend, Mahir, waved his hand, pointing to a crack in the side of the mountain. “We could
Jordan tied his safety harness (系带) and checked his rope. He weighed one of them in his hand, determining its weight. Then he looked for
“At the time of a test, a person rises or falls.” said Ghanim, Mahir’s dad. Shaking his head in
His own father’s voice resounded in his thoughts, as if in a half-forgotten dream. “Climb a mountain, son, and you climb the insecurity in your own life. You climb over your shadow, climb over your
And now Jordan wouldn’t either.
| A．hike | B．pack | C．climb | D．dive |
| A．worthwhile | B．possible | C．unique | D．immediate |
| A．effectively | B．conveniently | C．amazingly | D．unbelievably |
| A．confusion | B．awareness | C．understanding | D．appreciation |
| A．agreement | B．destination | C．balance | D．crack |
| A．shock | B．power | C．doubt | D．struggle |
| A．accident | B．journey | C．event | D．trap |
| A．discouraged | B．connected | C．pulled | D．prevented |
| A．Agreed | B．Faced | C．Ended | D．Gone |
| A．Concentrating | B．Depending | C．Moved | D．Carrying |
8 . This month I finally lived my dream: I visited behind the scenes at Disneyland, “the happiest place on Earth.” Watching thousands of smiling employees rushing, around the park, completely absorbed in their work, I suddenly understood the magic behind the park and why joy had escaped me for so long.
When I was younger, I tried to pursue happiness directly by creating as many happy moments as I could. However, no matter how many happy moments I had, they could not protect me from sadness. The sadness would unexpectedly arise when it shouldn’t when I was with friends or family, when I had achieved success, and when I tried to create art. It was the persistence (持续) of this sadness that finally made me realize the truth: the Happy/Sad model was wrong.
I updated my mental model to the Pleasure/Pain model. I saw that what I had called happiness was simply emotional pleasure, which was anything that confirmed the way I saw myself and the world. As I removed emotionally and physically painful moments from my life, I established a mental image of myself as a “happy person.” However, I was stuck in a one-dimensional emotional world.
Wandering down the 19th street and waving to the 100th friendly costumed character, I finally found the words that completed my third model — Joy/Fear, one that gives real depth to life. Disneyland, with its immersive (沉浸式的) world and perfect performances, goes beyond creating happiness and lessening pain. It is carefully getting rid of fear. It removes the possibility of anything going wrong, of disappointing us. And behind the scenes, Disneyland works tirelessly to ensure that everything always run the way it should.
Life is not Disneyland, however. Try as we might, we can’t control the world around us or completely erase our fearful moments. But we can control how we approach life and how we understand our fears. And in the absence of that fear, joy arises.
1. What gives the author a deep insight into happiness at Disneyland?| A．The beautiful scenes of Disneyland. |
| B．The relaxing working environment. |
| C．The smiling and committed staff. |
| D．The magical life principle. |
| A．had no close friends |
| B．didn’t get along well with family |
| C．achieved no success in the art creation |
| D．misunderstood the true meaning of happiness |
| A．It is entirely subjective. |
| B．It gives real depth to life. |
| C．It focuses on temporary joy. |
| D．It highlights the external state. |
| A．Disneyland is a magical and joyful place. |
| B．Emotional pleasure is the key to happiness. |
| C．Fear is inevitable for all of us in the whole life. |
| D．Approaching life with devotion brings genuine joy. |
9 . On a summer morning, I woke up early, herded my three-and five-year-old daughters into the car, packed my friend and her two daughters into the car, and drove two hours to the New Jersey Shore, where we spread our towels on the beach by 10 a.m.
Out of nowhere, the girls took off running. About 50 yards from us, a man—maybe in his late 50s—was fishing with gigantic poles. The girls stood next to him and watched with their little mouths hanging open as he cast the lines. He smiled at them. They ran back to us — all except my three-year-old, Drew.
My brain immediately shot into Mama Bear mode: human trafficker (人贩子).
“Drew! Come here! Play with your friends!” I yelled, very aware that my speeches about not talking to strangers weren’t working. Good moms should be cautious. Good moms should teach their daughters that the world is a dangerous place. So I felt relieved when Drew trotted over to me and grabbed a shovel. Then she looked me in the eye, “I want to be with that man.” She ran back, sat down next to him, and started digging.
As I was thinking about what she was saying to him, she ran back to us, waving something very shiny and slimy. “A toy fish!” This must have been what he was using for bait. And he’d given it to Drew. The three other girls were impressed, and they all longed for the fish. Drew looked at me for help, then at the man, then back at me.
“My friend gave me that fish!” she protested. The sand turned into a preschool cage match with a yellow rubber fish flipping through the air. Tears were fast approaching. I felt like I might cry myself.
Suddenly, there he was. He was holding three more rubber fish and handed them to each of the girls. By their faces, you would have thought he was actually the really cute Jonas brother. “Thank you,” they said, without prompting.
“Thank you,” I said, realizing that yes, there is evil in the world... but there is also good, and kindness in strangers, and lessons for mothers to learn that only a three-year-old could teach them.
1. The author thought a good mom should ______.| A．allow her kids to relax | B．care about her kids’ safety |
| C．take her kids to explore nature | D．encourage her kids to share with others |
| A．The man letting Drew sit next to him. | B．The man teaching the kids how to fish. |
| C．The man handing a rubber fish to Drew. | D．The man handing extra rubber fish to the kids. |
| A．There is goodwill in the world. | B．Children have their own blessings. |
| C．Everything comes to those who wait. | D．Watch out for people with bad intentions. |
10 . Running with Heart
My name was missing from the list. All my friends had made the cheer-leading team. But somehow my name was not there. I felt lost and embarrassed. Knowing that next year would bring a new round of try-outs, I began practicing routines on my own, hoping to become a cheerleader the next year. But my dad suggested that I get involved in running track — just to try it out for a year. I had always been the fastest kid to run a mile in gym class, so I figured that I might as well sign up for running for just one season.
I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In the first race on the track team, I took the last place. Race after race, I continued to place last and I felt my lungs burning from the effort. I wanted to quit, feeling like a failure. But my dad reminded me that once you are committed to something, you should always follow through. So I finished my first track season, placing last in every race.
The next year came. Although running was not a popular activity, like cheer-leading was at our school, I signed up again to run the long-distance races. I wanted to challenge myself. Within one year, I became the fastest female cross-country runner on our school’s team. A few years later, I placed 3rd in the Ohio State meet. Not only that, but I was offered an athletic scholarship for college.
Classmates may have laughed at me for choosing running over cheer-leading, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t running track to be cool or to prove anything to anyone else. Running made me proud of who I was. When I chose to be a runner, I chose to be true to myself. We all make that choice every day — we can be who we were born to be or we can simply follow the crowd. For me, I am happiest to be...just me.
1. After failing to make the cheer-leading team, the author ________.| A．wanted to quit |
| B．blamed her father |
| C．turned to her friends |
| D．continued to practice |
| A．wanted to prove herself |
| B．was inspired by her father |
| C．got an athletic scholarship |
| D．performed well in the races |
| A．Confident and honest. |
| B．Creative and ambitious. |
| C．Generous and committed. |
| D．Hardworking and determined. |
| A．follow others’ opinions |
| B．try out for popular activities |
| C．appreciate who we really are |
| D．help those who are in trouble |
