1 . As a clueless freshman, I waltzed into my first creative writing course by accident, thinking it was a literature class on how to read stories, not how to write them.
When the teacher introduced the course, I realized my mistake. The credits I earned from the course wouldn’t count toward my major. By the end of the session, however, I decided that I had to be a part of the course. Perhaps, as a lifelong reader, I was eager to understand how stories worked their magic.
But taking the class would be impossible: I wasn’t even on the waitlist. That’s when the teacher asked for a volunteer to submit the first workshop story.
Silence blanketed the room. No one risked eye contact. Whoever volunteered would have to write a whole story in a week. Perhaps they, like me, had never written one before.
Seizing my chance, I raised my hand and asked, “If I go first, will you give me a spot in the class?” He said he would.
So, instead of keeping my head down and avoiding eye contact, I did the opposite.
Years later, I’d completed a degree in creative writing and was working on a novel when a literary agent (经纪人) asked to read the first 50 pages of my draft. But I wasn’t comfortable showing her anything; the novel was far from done.
Throughout graduate school, I’d been advised many times not to contact agents until I have a complete draft. In the meanwhile, I knew the beginning of my story was attractive and that the agent might not remember me after a year.
So, once again, instead of keeping my head down and avoiding eye contact, I did the opposite. I sent her the first three chapters. A month later, she signed me on the strength of those chapters alone. She has since seen me through the publication of three novels.
Determination, focus, perseverance—the qualities that I consider crucial in getting me into Stanford no doubt helped me become the novelist I am today. And yet if I’d trained my gaze only on the path ahead, I would have missed so many happy accidents, so many beautiful opportunities to look up, raise my hand, and say yes.
1. What made the author finally decide to take the course?| A．The popularity of the course. |
| B．Her curiosity about story writing. |
| C．Her confidence in her writing skills. |
| D．The need to get credits for her degree. |
| A．challenge herself | B．impress the teacher |
| C．display her talent | D．win a place in the class |
| A．her friends advised her to do so |
| B．her story was attractive to readers |
| C．the agent asked her to turn in the work |
| D．she wanted to get the chance of publication |
| A．Action speaks louder than words. |
| B．Chance favors only the prepared mind. |
| C．Success comes to those who will and dare. |
| D．Confidence leads to growth and fulfillment. |
It is strange how a single moment can change a person’s life. It is incredible how one simple act of love can forever change one’s soul.
My adult son walked to the table this morning for breakfast. He opened his arms to me, saying, “Good morning, Mom. I love you!” I opened my arms, too, responding, “Good morning, honey. I love you, too!” And I gave him a big hug just like I do every morning. Just at this time, a beautiful memory from many years ago came back to me.
My Italian grandmother who lived in countryside liked hugging very much when I was a girl. But my mom had studied in the city and grown up in a more reserved environment. My mom hugged me sometimes, but less often as I grew into my teenage years. My dad also seemed to follow the gender roles of the day back then and didn’t hug me much as I got older. By the time I was a teenager, I didn’t hug anyone else except my grandmother.
I clearly remembered that when I was sixteen, I left on a trip with a group of boys to tour a college in the middle west America. As we entered the college, we were greeted there by an old professor. He was over six and a half feet tall with huge arms and a powerful voice. And as he greeted us, he gave each one of us a huge hug. When my turn came, I felt scared but stepped forward and hugged him back. I felt warmth in my heart as he shared his loving kindness. I felt peace and joy in my spirit as well. It was amazing.
Later that day, I began to wonder why I had ever stopped giving and receiving hugs when they brought so much joy. When my children were born, I decided to never stop hugging them and telling them I loved them, no matter how old they grew. As time went by, my children got used to my hugs and they learned to offer to hug me and others.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I posted the story of my hug on the Internet.
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Then I started a “Hug Me” activity with my friends.
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My father always tells me not to gossip (八卦) about others behind their backs. When in middle school, I once
4 . Many of us have stories about that one person who, along the way, chose to believe in or help us.
When I was a first-semester college junior, my GPA(Grade-Point Average)was in the 2.9 range—too
After I got into the honors program, I needed to have a faculty member who
Life junctures (特定时刻) where someone in a position of
If you find yourself in a position of power,
| A．difficult | B．ridiculous | C．low | D．sensitive |
| A．assessment | B．information | C．standard | D．requirement |
| A．exception | B．excuse | C．decision | D．reservation |
| A．expected | B．agreed | C．prepared | D．promised |
| A．award | B．qualification | C．compliment | D．compensation |
| A．random | B．common | C．challenging | D．free |
| A．surprise | B．chance | C．jump | D．hit |
| A．power | B．trust | C．doubt | D．advantage |
| A．determined | B．optimistic | C．responsible | D．supportive |
| A．plan | B．analyse | C．control | D．advance |
| A．adopting | B．changing | C．rejecting | D．raising |
| A．effort | B．attention | C．equipment | D．knowledge |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Besides | D．Otherwise |
| A．attempt | B．opportunity | C．approach | D．accident |
| A．future | B．impression | C．idea | D．experience |
I’m not usually a big risk-taker. I like to make plans and stick to them,
Soon after we set off, the driver announced that we’d make a quick detour (绕路) to drop off a couple of
It had been something we were
You really never know what experiences are waiting for you if you take the risk and change
Many of you fail to seek your purpose in life. You dream and then follow it up with a list of reasons why the dream is unachievable. You fill your life
Many great companies came from a dream, were nurtured (培育) a garage or basement and
Dreaming is the easy part while
7 . A few years back a group of young teachers from another school was spending a day in my class. They were energetic, bright and
We were building
It’s important to remember that we
| A．curious | B．cute | C．caring | D．encouraging |
| A．role | B．reason | C．goal | D．mistake |
| A．fall | B．break | C．guess | D．tour |
| A．cars | B．roller coasters | C．rockets | D．tracks |
| A．showed | B．given | C．called | D．awarded |
| A．together | B．down | C．back | D．aside |
| A．present | B．plan | C．buy | D．read |
| A．avoided | B．forbade | C．suggested | D．kept |
| A．quickly | B．firmly | C．correctly | D．politely |
| A．students | B．parents | C．friends | D．teachers |
| A．continues | B．happens | C．stops | D．matters |
| A．Thus | B．Now | C．Then | D．But |
| A．broke | B．appeared | C．worked | D．opened |
| A．taught | B．understood | C．created | D．changed |
| A．shut up | B．come up | C．get up | D．keep up |
I was traveling with my husband and three teenage sons, in the United States. We ordered our food at a fast-food place, and with my meal I also wanted a blueberry pie. My husband is the chatty one in the family and likes to socialize, so he started to a conversation about the place where blueberries grow with the girl. She answered, with some anxiety, “They grow on trees.”
The whole family’s jaws dropped! How could this girl not know where blueberries grow? We tried not to embarrass her, and just took the opportunity to teach her a little about how blueberries grow, on small shrubs on the ground. She seemed to appreciate learning something new. We can’t know all the same things, as you’ll see from the next thing I’m going to tell you.
In 2002 our family made a short trip to a coffee plantation. The road to the plantation was narrow filled with hairpin bends. I worried about hitting another car. We didn’t, lucky us! When we finally got to our destination, we learned a lot about the plantation and coffee production, but we didn’t see any coffee plants. Where were they? We decided to ask one of the people working there. “So where are the coffee plants? We can’t see them anywhere.”
She reached out her arm and caught a twig right next to us and explained, “This is the coffee plant and these little things will be coffee beans.” I looked around in embarrassment, as we were surrounded by coffee plants! She explained that coffee plants aren’t big and that they have to grow in the shade of other bigger plants. I appreciated her lesson.
We love our coffee, but I’m sure most of my countrymen would not be able to recognize a coffee plant among other tropical plants if asked. Our jaws can drop at different things, depending on geographical locations, at what we know and don’t know. Never take anything for granted!
1. What topic did the author’s husband discuss with the girl? (no more than 5 words)2. How do you understand the underlined part in Paragraph 2? (no more than 10 words)
3. How was the way to the coffee plantation ? (1 word)
4. What did the author learn from the worker? (no more than 15 words)
5. What inspiration do you get from the story? Please express it in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
When I was a little girl, I spent memorable holidays with my grandmother, who lived in a small village. She was a farmer with a stooped (弯曲的) back that made it seem like she was always leaning forward to examine something. Early in the morning, she would tie a cloth around her waist and set out to the farm. I would skip breathlessly alongside, trying to keep up. On our way, she would greet everyone we passed.
There was the standard greeting, “Did you wake up on the right foot this morning?” Then, the more personalized greetings. To Patriarch Kosi who sat under the mango tree, she would ask, “Are the grandchildren in good health?” To the Bean Stew Seller who was preparing to serve breakfast, she would inquire, “Are your boys well?”
Sometimes, the greetings were spoken soothingly (安慰地). When we walked past the widow, Dada Mawusi, many months after her husband’s death, Grandmother would say directly, “How is your grieving?” She didn’t like to beat around the bush. The greeting made more sense to her to acknowledge the woman’s suffering, and in doing so, empathize (理解) with her.
The people that Grandmother greeted would respond similarly. “I see you have your granddaughter with you today. How is her father?” or “I see you have woken up before the cock’s crow today. May it be a fruitful day at the farm.” As a young girl, I thought these greetings were unnecessarily time-consuming. What I now realize is that the greetings increased a sense of belonging. My grandmother taught me that there is always time to greet someone before getting down to business. You can always take a few extra seconds to say a greeting to a person. We enrich our society when we acknowledge the unique presence of one another.
1. Where did the writer spend holidays when she was young? (no more than 6 words)2. What made the writer feel breathless? (no more than 8 words)
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
4. What did the writer think about greetings when she was young? (no more than 10 words)
5. Why do you think greeting neighbors is important? Give your reasons, (no more than 20 words)
10 . I didn’t quite know what I was looking for when I flew to Mongolia for a term abroad. I just needed something different, far from the late-night libraries of my college town. Most different, I hoped, would be my rural homestay: two weeks in central Mongolia with a family of nomadic(游牧的) herders.
I was studying Mongolian at the time, but still, there was so much I couldn’t say or understand. As we walked in the snow behind the goats, my host mom would ask me if I was cold, then giggle (咯咯地笑) and copy a big shiver to make sure I understood. In the evenings, she showed me how to make dumplings with her fingers. My host siblings would talk with me, speaking too fast for me to understand, as we explored the rocks around our tent; I’d listen and nod.
This verbal(言语的) barrier was strangely freeing. In the crowded dining hall at home, meeting new people made me anxious. I’d stay quiet, measuring out my words, struggling for something to say that wouldn’t expose me as unfunny or boring. In Mongolia, I couldn’t perfect my words. I could only smile, and try out one of the phrases I’d mastered: “May I help?” “Where is the dog?” “Are you tired?” My host family laughed at my pronunciation, at the way I threw up my hands and eyebrows in a frequent gesture of confusion. But in their laughter, I felt safe, unembarrassed.
With my Mongolian family on the grassland, I found a feeling of ease I’d never felt before. We were so different, they and I, and not just in language. Their skin was hardened and darkened by sun; I’d been hidden under hats and sunscreen since birth. My host siblings(兄弟姐妹) grew up drawing water from frozen streams and jogging behind herds of sheep; I spent summers at tennis camp.
For me, these gaps made all the difference. Without shared social measures, I wasted no time wondering how I was measuring up. Only real things—kindness, helpfulness—mattered.
1. Why did the author go to Mongolia for a term abroad?| A．She dreamed of living a nomadic life. | B．She was tired of studying late at night. |
| C．She had to study Mongolians’ normal life. | D．She was collecting information for libraries. |
| A．Hug. | B．Smile. | C．Attack. | D．Shake. |
| A．She felt at ease in the crowd. | B．She usually weighed her words. |
| C．She asked a lot of funny questions. | D．She often made others laugh with jokes. |
| A．You are judged wherever you go. | B．Nature makes humans feel insignificant. |
| C．Appearance reflects one’s standard of life. | D．Being kind is the common social standard. |
