1 . My father loves his garden. He planted some seeds in it. But at that time, I didn’t understand why working in the dirt excited him so much.
Unfortunately, in early May, my father was seriously injured in an accident. He had to stay in bed for a while. My mother had several business trips, so she couldn’t take care of the garden. I didn’t want my father to worry, so I said that I would take care of his garden until he recovered. I assumed that the little plants would continue to grow as long as they had water, and luckily it rained fairly often, so I didn’t think much about the garden.
One Saturday morning, my father said to me, “Christine, the vegetables should be about ready to be picked. Let’s have a salad today!” I went out to the garden and was upset to see that many of the lettuce leaves and carrots had been half eaten by bugs. There were hundreds of bugs all over them!
I panicked for a moment but then I quietly went to the nearest store to buy some vegetables. When I gave the salad to him, he said, “Oh, Christine, what a beautiful salad! I can’t believe the carrots are this big already. You must be taking very good care of my garden.” I felt a little bit guilty.
Coming home, my mother saw the bag from the supermarket in the kitchen. I was embarrassed, and I admitted Dad wanted a salad but the garden was a disaster. I didn’t want to disappoint him so I went to the store. She laughed but promised to help me in the garden and weeks later I was finally able to pick some vegetables.
I carefully made a salad and took it to my father. He looked at it with a hint of a smile, “Christine, the carrots are smaller in this salad, but they taste better.”
Now, I better understand how putting a lot of effort into caring for something can help you appreciate the results more, however small they may be. Perhaps this was one of the reasons for my father’s love of gardening.
1. Why did Christine originally promise she would do the gardening?| A．She was asked by her father to do it. | B．She was interested in growing vegetables. |
| C．She knew it was important to her father. | D．She wanted to improve her gardening skills. |
| A．Insects destroyed the lettuce and carrots. | B．Animals often dug holes in the garden. |
| C．The plants were given too much water. | D．The vegetables were marked incorrectly. |
| A．Her mother helped her to buy the vegetables. |
| B．Her mother regularly helped her to make a salad. |
| C．Her father couldn’t see the progress of the vegetables in his garden. |
| D．Her father went on a business trip at that time. |
| A．Always get ready for a rainy day. | B．Don’t be disappointed by bugs. |
| C．Working alone produces results. | D．Hard work can often be rewarding. |
2 . Yesterday after work, the boss told me I was fired. When I walked along a riverbed sadly, I suddenly realized it was New Year’s Day, a day to start afresh.
I passed by a man holding his son, one or two years old. The baby’s face was in pure joy, and his innocent eyes were full of wonder. The simple sweetness of the baby made me moved.
Walking on, I saw a young couple repairing their bicycle. They smiled at me and said, “Happy New Year!” I smiled and wished them the same. It was a simple thing, but for a moment it brought me a sudden joy.
I kept walking, enjoying the cheerful singing of birds. With people around laughing out loud, an old woman immersed herself in her sewing. She didn’t seem either happy or sad. A feeling of timeless peace flowed through me and all fear of what the future might bring disappeared. I thanked her in my heart, and moved on.
As I reached home, I was filled with great thanks and hope for life, which took me a long time to find. Actually, happiness could be simple and easy. Now I knew whatever the New Year would bring, there would be joy and enough love to help me through the hard times we all had to face.
“Happy New Year!” I said to myself.
1. What did the writer’s boss tell him after work?| A．It was New Year’s Day. | B．He was fired. |
| C．He needed a day to relax. | D．He had a day off. |
| A．age | B．laughing | C．innocence | D．crying |
| A．repairing their bicycle | B．waiting for the writer |
| C．watching the passers-by | D．celebrating the New Year |
| A．Lucky. | B．Hopeless. | C．Fearful. | D．Thankful. |
| A．Greetings make people polite. | B．Happiness could be simple and easy. |
| C．Walking makes people energetic. | D．Friendship lies in getting together. |
3 . In the 1950s, Japan began to focus on developing is economy. Every day, many people traveled by train between Tokyo and Osaka. Many industrial materials were also transported on those railway lines. But the Japanese railway system was so outdated that the 320-mile trip could take 20 hours. So in 1955 the Japanese railway chief asked the nation’s engineers to create a faster train.
Months later, a team managed to create a train going at a speed of 65mph — a speed that made it one of the fastest passenger trains worldwide at the time. But the railway chief wasn’t satisfied. He wanted 120mph. The engineers immediately explained that at those speeds, if a train turned too sharply, the speed would force the cars off the track.
But the railway chief didn’t change his mind. After making many attempts, the engineers eventually created a train running up to 120mph and had a big influence on the industrial design worldwide. This is an example of what a “stretch goal” (延展性目标) can achieve. When exploring psychology, I was frequently told by researchers that the most successful people tend to set goals differently from everyone else. In particular they tend to identify big, seemingly unrealistic objectives.
“Stretch goals break complacency (自满),” some scientists wrote. “By forcing a big rise in collective hopes, stretch goals can shift attention to possible new futures and perhaps lead to increased energy in the organizations. They thus can achieve more.”
This lesson can be used in the most ordinary aspects of life. Take to-do lists for instance. When making to-do lists, some people often write down tasks they can cross off right away. That’s wrong. Before writing easy tasks, you should first put down at the top of your list a big stretch goal that will constantly remind you of the main objective you’re trying to get done.
1. What does the description of Japan’s problem in the 1950s show?| A．The public’s discontent at its train service. |
| B．The unfavorable economic situation of Japan. |
| C．The practical need to improve its railway system. |
| D．The unbalanced development of its transportation. |
| A．They found it tough but worthwhile. |
| B．They considered it totally unrealistic. |
| C．They put forward their own research plan. |
| D．They believed it would gradually come true. |
| A．How to break down big goals into smaller ones. |
| B．How to understand “stretch goals” matters. |
| C．How to create success step by step. |
| D．How to set goals sets people apart. |
| A．encourage people to keep making to-do lists daily |
| B．indicate we’d better first achieve easy goals |
| C．prove to-do lists are crucial to organizations |
| D．show stretch goals can apply to our daily life |
| A．A stretch goal can be a double-edged sword. |
| B．Ambition pushes personal and social progress. |
| C．Readers need to listen to members’ opinions. |
| D．Goals should fit in with the reality. |
Sam Watts was a 37-year-old fisherman living and working in Canada. One day, Sam planned to head out into the Pacific at 9 am and work straight through until 5 pm the next day. Joining Sam would be his crewman, 24-year-old Tom Buck.
Although Sam had been warned that a storm was coming, there was little that would keep him from going. As he sailed through the waves some 120 kilometers from land, Sam let out his three-kilometer-long fishing line. The storm was gaining strength on land but had yet to reach the men far offshore. That changed around 1 am. Waves rocked the small boat, which began to turn sideways like an amusement park ride. “Get us out of here!” Tom screamed to Sam. “Let’s go back!”
With the winds and waves kicking up, the boat began to fill with water. Sam and Tom tried to pull in the fishing line together, but the high waves filled the boat with water, forcing Sam to make a hard decision. He cut the line, losing thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment and fish in the sea. He then pointed the boat toward a port five hours away. Sam then called his boss, William Fox, to report his position.
With dawn coming, Sam spotted the rise of the mountains on the horizon. He was figuring out a route through the dangerous waters when suddenly the motor stopped. “I couldn’t believe it,” Sam said. “We were 24 kilometers off the coast, and the motor died.” High waves raised and dropped the boat, sending the men crashing into the sides. “William, William!” Sam yelled into the radio. “If you’re coming to get me, come now!”
“We’re coming!” William shouted back.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150词左右；
2. 可以使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
Shortly after, the radio died and the wind continued to blow straight offshore, driving the men farther out to sea.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The next morning, Sam spotted a fishing boat in the distance.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 . My wife and I moved into our home nine years ago. We have a yard a “rock garden”. There the rocks appear to be just thrown up onto the dirt as if someone were in a hurry to finish. Very often when we have more flowers, Denise or I would plant them between the rocks, just to bring some color to the area.
Last summer I found, in the rock garden, a tiny little plant that I could not immediately recognize. I knew I didn’t plant it and Denise said she didn’t either. We decided to let it continue growing until we could find out what it was.
Weeks passed and as I made my way back to the strange plant, it appeared to be a sunflower. It looked thin and tall with only one head on it. I decided to baby it along and weed (除草) around it. As I pulled rocks from the area to get to the weeds, I noticed something unusual. The sunflower had not started where I saw it begin. It actually had begun under a big rock and grown under and around it to reach the sun.
If a tiny little sunflower didn’t let a big rock stand in its way of developing, we too have the ability to do the same thing. If we believe in ourselves like that little sunflower, we can reach where we aim to go and get what we need for growth.
We need to believe in ourselves knowing we have the ability to achieve our goals. Like the sunflower, it knew it had the ability to get over the rocks because it had faith in itself that it would succeed. Stand tall like the sunflower and be proud of who and what we are, then other things will begin to support us. We will find a way to go under or around any “rocks” in order to realize our goals.
1. The family planted flowers in the yard ________.| A．to attract visitors | B．to remove the rocks |
| C．to please their neighbors | D．to make the area colorful |
| A．to see how long it could live | B．to see how big it could grow |
| C．to find out what it actually was | D．to know if his wife had planted it |
| A．it was very thin and tall | B．it had only one head on it |
| C．it grew on top of a big rock | D．it began to grow under a rock |
| A．rocks cannot prevent us from success |
| B．we can get over difficulties if we trust ourselves |
| C．we should take good care of the rock gardens |
| D．sunflowers are able to grow everywhere |
| A．Stand Tall Like the Sunflower | B．The Sunflower and My Family |
| C．Being Proud of the Sunflower | D．The Secret of the Sunflower |
6 . For my 8th birthday my
I bumped into the curb (路缘),
Learning life lesson is
But things are different now.
My husband, Rich,
When the life lessons come along in this New Year you may
| A．dream | B．reward | C．gift | D．aim |
| A．brothers | B．sisters | C．friends | D．classmates |
| A．stuck | B．turned | C．knocked | D．pushed |
| A．wildly | B．carefully | C．slowly | D．instantly |
| A．jumping | B．flying | C．moving | D．leaving |
| A．sadness | B．happiness | C．excitement | D．sympathy |
| A．although | B．until | C．because | D．while |
| A．passed | B．remained | C．happened | D．changed |
| A．crowded | B．busy | C．covered | D．empty |
| A．experiments | B．attempts | C．fights | D．conflicts |
| A．though | B．even | C．much | D．still |
| A．wonderful | B．comfortable | C．dangerous | D．painful |
| A．ready | B．perfect | C．wrong | D．strong |
| A．forced | B．taught | C．allowed | D．ordered |
| A．practice | B．habit | C．development | D．feeling |
| A．repair | B．fix | C．steady | D．move |
| A．almost | B．usually | C．always | D．seldom |
| A．in time | B．in relief | C．in turn | D．in case |
| A．accept | B．learn | C．refuse | D．avoid |
| A．blame | B．complaint | C．support | D．criticism |
7 . It was one of those moments every new parent dreads (恐惧). My baby son was screaming as if I’d just dipped him in a bucket (桶) of battery acid. It felt as if he’d been screaming like that for years, though he was only two months old. Even worse, this was happening in public— I was sitting with my howling baby in the food court of a Los Angeles mall, despairing (绝望) as other diners silently judged me while watching us over plates of food.
Until, that is, one woman— a complete stranger— did something and taught me a lesson about kindness that lingers to this day. She walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “This won’t last forever,” she said. “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but things will get better. He’ll stop crying. You’ll get some sleep.”
It was such a small thing, a tiny kindness, really, but it made all the difference. It was 2001 and I was living in a foreign city with a newborn, without friends or family, and I was terribly lonely. This woman had seen me, if only for a moment, and taken the time to make a human connection. It was just a minute out of her day, but it has stayed with me for nearly two decades.
We all want to be better in the world and more giving to others. But we can easily get hung up on the sheer (完全的) importance of that challenge— making time to regularly volunteer or finding money to donate to a cause. Doing good doesn’t have to be an important task, though; it can be incremental (递增的). It can be as quick as a smile, a word, a phone call, an email. It can be the note you send to a friend who is feeling blue or the baby carriage you help carry down the subway stairs for a parent on their own, even though you’re late for work.
I’m reminded of a line from Brian Goldman’s bestseller, The Power of Kindness: “The opposite meaning of empathy is apathy (冷漠).” That is, the opposite of doing good isn’t doing harm; it’s doing nothing. Every tiny act of generosity— every door held open, every coffee bought for a stranger— builds a bridge to another person. It says, “I see you.” Today, when we spend most of our time looking at our phones, and not at people’s faces, that’s invaluable.
So, while I’m not particularly good at regularly volunteering or running marathons to raise money for charity, I’m committed to small gestures. I try to send a note of praise every day to someone whose work I admire. I’ve become phone friends with a lonely 87-year-old woman who contacted me about something I wrote, and who lives in a city far from her own children and grandchildren. On airplanes, I find the new parents with panicked eyes and offer to hold their babies. I remember what it felt like when the screaming baby was mine. I remember when a tiny kindness felt monumental, enough to change the world.
1. Why did the author mention her baby son’s crying in Paragraph 1?| A．To create a disappointing atmosphere. | B．To prove her opinion. |
| C．To show her helplessness. | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．Always trying to do important deeds. | B．Being short of time. |
| C．Being lacking in money. | D．Keeping looking at their phones. |
| A．doing harm to others is better than doing nothing |
| B．people are supposed to pay more attention to others’ faces |
| C．every small gesture counts in connecting people |
| D．spending most of our time looking at our phones is invaluable |
| A．The Kind Strangers | B．The Small Mercies |
| C．The Power of Words | D．The Power of Kindness |
8 . I love the feeling of exchanging goods with my parents. When we visit them, we often end up
These creative quilts, looking
I wish I could go back in time and watch them
| A．leaving | B．buying | C．taking | D．returning |
| A．hugs | B．handshakes | C．nods | D．greetings |
| A．door | B．window | C．wheel | D．seat |
| A．closely | B．neatly | C．loosely | D．quickly |
| A．taken down | B．given away | C．passed down | D．put away |
| A．shabby | B．delicate | C．ugly | D．old |
| A．working | B．learning | C．playing | D．feeling |
| A．warm | B．wrinkled | C．smooth | D．soft |
| A．make | B．invent | C．clean | D．check |
| A．brought | B．sent away | C．delivered | D．left behind |
| A．pushed | B．felt | C．paved | D．change |
| A．If | B．When | C．Once | D．Though |
| A．regretful | B．convinced | C．thankful | D．respected |
| A．through | B．before | C．by | D．for |
| A．replace | B．build | C．set | D．follow |
9 . Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? My friend Stella is such an example. Every time we went to a restaurant she would not take a bite until all the dishes we
Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to
If they really want an elegant life, they should put more
| A．ordered | B．served | C．offered | D．prepared |
| A．cooking | B．washing | C．setting | D．collecting |
| A．messy | B．arranged | C．casual | D．missed |
| A．dishes | B．restaurants | C．tables | D．pictures |
| A．chance | B．choice | C．excuse | D．reason |
| A．comfort | B．please | C．inspire | D．discourage |
| A．independent | B．generous | C．responsible | D．confident |
| A．real | B．secret | C．peaceful | D．healthy |
| A．rarely | B．hardly | C．exactly | D．nearly |
| A．difficulty | B．change | C．guidance | D．harm |
| A．question | B．dislike | C．doubt | D．follow |
| A．effort | B．ambitions | C．feeling | D．money |
| A．other than | B．more than | C．rather than | D．less than |
| A．identifying | B．accepting | C．persuading | D．amusing |
| A．simplifying | B．ruining | C．beautifying | D．worsening |
10 . About a decade ago, my grandpa who was suffering from Alzheimer’s(阿尔茨海默病)got into my car and drove off. Angel and I
They said they overheard him crying about being
I was
I’ve spent the rest of the day thinking about what an extraordinary person she is, and about those amazing college kids who helped my
| A．condemned | B．contacted | C．consulted | D．found |
| A．college | B．naughty | C．homeless | D．kindergarten |
| A．careless | B．scared | C．lost | D．forgetful |
| A．left | B．drove | C．kicked | D．carried |
| A．depending | B．coming | C．reflecting | D．going |
| A．afraid | B．skeptical | C．sure | D．aware |
| A．turned | B．walked | C．got | D．looked |
| A．sadness | B．surprise | C．feelings | D．tears |
| A．reacted | B．thought | C．asked | D．replied |
| A．extremely | B．worriedly | C．anxiously | D．surprisingly |
| A．father | B．grandma | C．uncle | D．grandpa |
| A．merciful | B．helpful | C．careful | D．peaceful |
| A．courage | B．failure | C．fear | D．choice |
| A．positive | B．little | C．optimistic | D．opposite |
| A．minute | B．time | C．honor | D．luck |
