1 . I live in California, about four miles from the beach. Every few years, the humpback whales (座头鲸) come into the bay for a few days while they’re migrating. Each one is immense, about 15 meters long, and sometimes they turn their side fins, making it look like they are waving at us.
One day, my friend, Liz and I took out our yellow double kayak (皮艇) to watch the wildlife. After a half-hour, we spotted two pairs of whales swimming toward us. We were in awe: it’s an amazing feeling to be so close to a creature that size.
Believing if we paddled toward that spot, we'd be safe from the whales, since they’d just left, we followed them at what I believed was a safe distance. Suddenly, the kayak lifted out of the water and then tipped back into the ocean. My initial fear was that the whale intended to drag us down. In a heart-stopping moment, I realized that Liz and I weren’t just lifted by the whale — we were inside its mouth. My entire body was enveloped except for my right arm and paddle. Liz, meanwhile, was staring up into the whale’s jaw. Fearing to be swallowed, I kept thinking: I’ve got to get up; I’ve got to fight this; I’ve got to breathe.
Whales have enormous mouths but tiny throats. They spit out anything they can’t swallow. We were wearing life jackets, which likely helped us quickly reappear out of the water. The entire course lasted only ten seconds.
A few nearby people paddled over, including a retired firefighter who asked us if we were OK. “You were in the whale’s mouth!” he told us. “We thought you were dead.” I came so close to being injured or killed. I am much more appreciative of life now.
1. Why did the author and her friend go kayaking?| A．To go fishing. | B．To watch humpback whales. |
| C．To race other kayakers. | D．To swim with humpback whales. |
| A．They dropped into the sea. | B．They were attacked by a shark. |
| C．The kayak broke down suddenly. | D．Their lives were in great danger. |
| A．They took off their life jackets. |
| B．They were spit out by the whale. |
| C．They fought back against the attacker. |
| D．They paddled towards a nearby firefighter. |
| A．Life is precious. | B．We should protect wildlife. |
| C．Kayaking is a risky activity. | D．Whales are dangerous animals. |
2 . I was on the train one afternoon. Our carriage was almost empty, just a few people. At one station, a drunk man suddenly entered the train. He shouted and swung his fists (拳头) at a woman holding a baby. Luckily the baby wasn’t hurt. Then he tried to kick an old woman. Everyone was scared.
I’d been learning aikido (合气道，功夫的一种) for the past three years. But I’d never fought in real life. As students of aikido, we are not allowed to start a fight. “Aikido,” my teacher always told us, “is about solving conflict, not starting it.”
I decided that this was my moment. If I didn’t do something fast, somebody might get hurt. So I stood up, ready to fight.
Just then, someone shouted, “Hey!” It was an old man. He was smiling at the drunk man. “What have you been drinking?” he asked.
“I’ve been drinking wine , but it’s none of your business!” said the drunk man angrily. “Oh, that’s wonderful,” said the old man. Then he told how he loved drinking wine with his wife and eating watermelon.
“I also love watermelon,” said the drunk man.
“And I’m sure you have a wonderful wife, too,” said the old man.
“No,” replied the drunk man. “My wife died,” Then he began to sob (啜泣), “I have no wife, no home, no job. I’m so ashamed of myself.”
“Oh, that is so difficult. Sit down here and tell me about it,” said the old man.
As I got off the train, I realized I’d just seen real aikido in action. This was the spirit of how to solve conflict.
1. What happened on the train?| A．A man was drinking wine. | B．A drunk man was acting wildly. |
| C．A baby was hurt by a man’s fists. | D．An old woman was knocked down. |
| A．Students shouldn’t learn aikido. | B．Aikido is not used to start fights. |
| C．Aikido can’t actually solve conflicts. | D．Using aikido may start conflicts. |
| A．His business went broke. | B．He had a wonderful wife. |
| C．He was living a great life. | D．He had no place to live. |
| A．There are real and fake (假的) forms of aikido. |
| B．The real spirit of aikido is to start conflict. |
| C．Fighting is not the only way to solve conflicts. |
| D．Everyone should learn aikido to protect themselves. |
There are two important teachers in this world. One is the nature. It was considered to be the best teacher in the old days, because man learned a lot from nature like lighting the fire and growing rice. It also provides man with many necessary things for life, such as water, food and so on.
Hu, 31, is a pioneer in nature education. He set up an organization five years ago. It offers nature-based programs to children under 12 years old, including many outdoor activities, such as planting trees and watching birds.
“Nature is friendly to us if we protect her. And don’t forget that we all are part of nature,” He said. The purpose of nature education is to teach people how to understand, respect (尊重) and get on well with nature.
Here comes the other important teacher — a book. The experiences people learned from nature were written down in the form of a book. This was a step forward because man could record their experiences and thoughts.
Books play an important role in our lives. Su Mingjuan, a girl from a poor family in a small village, has finished college and become a good bank clerk. She volunteers to encourage people to read more. She said, “Without reading books, I can’t have such a wonderful life.” Besides Su, millions of people learn from books and have better lives. Some people ever said, “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket (口袋).”
1. The passage mainly talks about2. According to Paragraph 1, nature teaches us some skills like
3. Hu works on nature education to help people
4. How did people record their experiences and thoughts in Paragraph 4? (10个词以内)
5. What can you learn from Su Mingjuan’s story? (20个词以内)
4 . I opened my car window and called out “Ma’am! Ma’am!” The only lady in the parking lot looked around until she saw me. “I just wanted to tell how nice you look today,” I said. “The colors you have on are beautiful on you.” Her face registered surprise for a second, and then she smiled. “Thank you!” she called back. Her final steps to her car seemed lighter, and I smiled to myself.
I grew up with very few cheerleaders in my own life. When I was in the middle of fighting a battle for my life, I had been confirmed depression, along with anxiety. It has taken many years and more effort and determination than I thought I was capable of recovering from this illness. With no cheerleaders in my court, I fought this battle alone. I am proud of the progress I have made thus far. There are times when I thought, if only I had had someone to hold me and say, “Susan, I believe in you. You can do this, and I’ll be there every step of the way.” I wonder how much sooner I would have recovered. I’ll never know.
So I have made it a point in recent years to praise people, especially women and girls. Instead of just thinking that someone looks nice or did a great job, I say it out loud. It doesn’t take long, and it’s easy. So, I wonder, why don’t more people do this? As women, we have learned from our role models to be quiet. We downplay (淡化) our own achievements even when we do receive a rare compliment (恭维). Now, when I compliment someone and she denies, I say to her, “Just say thank you.” Most women are relieved that they don’t have to deny the compliment; they can accept the praise without guilt.
Cheerleading doesn’t require any skills. It only takes a few seconds, although you do have to remind yourself to do it. Eventually, it becomes a habit.
1. How did the lady feel after hearing the author’s praise?| A．Delighted. | B．Anxious. |
| C．Relaxed. | D．Worried. |
| A．Her experiences. |
| B．Her habit. |
| C．Her personality. |
| D．Her ambition. |
| A．She can be rewarded. |
| B．She can be appreciated. |
| C．They can accept the praise. |
| D．They should say something. |
| A．Caring. | B．Brave. |
| C．Outgoing. | D．Honest. |
5 . As a university professor, I have been immersed in theory and guess for so long that it recently struck me: I don’t know how to do anything. By “do”, I mean something material, something done with my hands that produce an actual product.
The trades come to mind. Whenever I call an electrician, or a mason, or a carpenter, I look on in wonder as they smoothly employ their skills. For example, I recently had a new kitchen sink nulled by a young man. He kept singing as he worked at the pipes. Minutes later, he turned on the water and it flowed forth with nothing similar to a leak. Is this not a minor miracle?
All of this brought me to a decision: I registered for an adult evening course at a local technical school. The title: Basic Electricity and Wiring (线路). When we began, I felt immediately overwhelmed. So many new terms. In an instant, I was a student again in all respects: The anxiety, the self-doubt, the wondering if I had made a mistake. And then I recalled: “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence... Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.” So I worked my way through my basic wiring course. My initial impulse to jump ship gradually gave way to the awareness that I was, indeed, acquiring a useful new skill.
What followed ahead was the course’s climax: Each student was presented with a switch and a lighting fixture (照明设备). The task was to install them-in-a-door-frame and-wire them; but not throw the switch until the instructor was present. There I was, an experienced professor, standing like a fresh-faced schoolboy. I worked away, using my tools to connect wires. When I was done, I raised my hand. The instructor looked over my job and glanced at me. “Hit the switch,” he said.
It’s hard to characterize that moment. But I did feel that learning is not something that ends early in life. I need to widen my horizon through constant learning. The broader the horizon, the more opportunities there are to learn something new.
I hit the switch.
There was light.
In more ways than one.
1. Why did the author register for an adult evening course?| A．Because he met several problems in the daily life. |
| B．Because he wanted to learn the secret of the miracle. |
| C．Because he needed to strengthen his theoretical knowledge. |
| D．Because he desired to make actual products with his own hands. |
| A．Dropping out of the evening course. | B．Ignoring so many new terms. |
| C．Setting a goal and never giving up. | D．Impressing others with his new skills. |
| A．Responsible and sharp-eyed. | B．Determined and self-motivated. |
| C．Creative and well-informed. | D．Considerate and widely-interested. |
| A．There is no end to learning. | B．One good turn deserves another. |
| C．Actions speak louder than words. | D．A fall in a pit, a gain in your wit. |
6 . It’s said that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at what’s on their bookshelves. What do my bookshelves say about me? Well, I’d always thought of myself as a cultured person, but my bookshelves told a rather different story.
So, in October 2011, I registered my blog, ayearofreadingtheworld.com, and posted a short appeal online. I explained how narrow my reading had been and asked anyone who cared to suggest what I read from other parts of the planet. I had no idea whether anyone would be interested, but within a few hours, people started to get in touch.
Books came from surprising sources. My Panamanian read, for example, came through a conversation I had with the Panama Canal on Twitter, which advised I try the work of the Panamanian author Juan David Morgan. I found Morgan’s website and sent him a message, asking if any of his Spanish-language novels had been translated into English. And he said nothing had been published, but he did have an unpublished translation of his novel “The Golden Horse”, and he emailed it to me.
Morgan was by no means the only wordsmith to share his work with me in this way. From Sweden to Palau, writers and translators sent me self-published books and unpublished manuscripts (手稿) of books that hadn’t been picked up by Anglophone publishers or that were no longer available, giving me privileged glimpses (初步的感受) of some remarkable imaginary worlds.
The books I read that year have opened my eyes to many things. That can be an uncomfortable experience, particularly when I’m reading a book from a culture that may have quite different values to my own. But it can also be really enlightening. Wrestling with unfamiliar ideas can help clarify my own thinking and show up blind spots in the way I might have been looking at the world.
When I looked back at much of the English-language literature I’d grown up with, I began to see how narrow a lot of it was, compared to the richness that the world has to offer. Little by little, that long list of countries that I’d started the year with changed from a rather dry, academic register of place names into living, breathing entities.
1. Why did the author create the blog “A Year of Reading the World”?| A．To learn from others’ bookshelves. |
| B．To broaden her cultural horizons. |
| C．To get recommendations from readers. |
| D．To find out the literary works she lacked. |
| A．They presented a challenge to the author. |
| B．They blocked the author’s reading journey. |
| C．They offered unique access to literary worlds. |
| D．They inspired confidence in the author’s project. |
| A．Provide her with unfamiliar topics. |
| B．Make her absorbed in other cultures. |
| C．Show fields she needs to learn more about. |
| D．Reveal areas she lacks insight in her worldview. |
| A．Exploring the Global Literary Landscape |
| B．The Challenge of Reading the World |
| C．Uncovering Stories from Every Country |
| D．The Impact of Culture on the Worldview |
7 . I used to believe that only words could catch the essence of the human soul. The literary works contained such distinct stories that they shaped the way we saw the world. Words were what composed the questions we sought to uncover and the answers to those questions themselves. Words were everything.
That belief changed.
In an ordinary math class, my teacher posed a simple question: What’s 0.99 rounded to the nearest whole number? Easy. When rounded to the nearest whole number, 0.99=1. Somehow, I thought even though 0.99 is only 0.01 away from 1, there’s still a 0.01 difference. That means even if two things are only a little different, they are still different, so doesn’t that make them completely different?
My teacher answered my question by presenting another equation (等式): 1= 0.9, which could also be expressed as 1=0.99999.... repeating itself without ever ending.
There was something mysterious but fascinating about the equation. The left side was unchangeable, objective: it contained a number that ended. On the right was something endless, number repeating itself limitless times. Yet, somehow, these two opposed things were connected by an equal sign.
Lying in bed, I thought about how much the equation paralleled our existence. The left side of the equation represents that sometimes life itself is so unchangeable and so clear. The concrete, whole number of the day when you were born and the day when you would die. But then there is that gap in between life and death. The right side means a time and space full of limitless possibilities, and endless opportunities into the open future.
So that’s what life is. Objective but imaginative. Unchangeable but limitless. Life is an equation with two sides that balances itsef out. Still, we can’t ever truly seem to put the perfect words to it. So possibly numbers can express ideas as eually well as words can. For now, let’s leave it at that: 1= 0.99999... and live a life like it.
1. What does the author emphasize about words in paragraph 1?| A．Their wide variety. | B．Their literary origins. |
| C．Their distinct sounds. | D．Their expressive power. |
| A．The repetition of a number. | B．The way two different numbers are equal. |
| C．The question the teacher raised. | D．The difference between the two numbers. |
| A．Measured. | B．Composed. | C．Mirrored. | D．Influenced. |
| A．The Perfect Equation | B．Numbers Build Equations |
| C．An Attractive Question | D．Words Outperform Numbers |
8 . This fall marks a new beginning for the hundreds of students walking onto a small Midwest college campus, but it’s an especially memorable time for one family. It celebrates three generations starting the new school year together.
Samantha Malczewski, 19, said that when she learned her mom and her grandmother would be joining her and her younger sister Mia Carter, 18, at Carthage College this fall, her eyes were wide open.
“I was clearly already admitted, and Mia was also admitted. And then all of a sudden, they were like, ‘Oh, we’re going too,’” Samantha recalled. “I didn’t expect it.”
Mia said she had an inkling (略知) that their mom and grandmother were interested in going back to school.
“My great-grandma just passed away and I think my mom had the realization that your mom’s not always gonna be there ... and I think it’s just the fact of them simply going to the same classroom every day and just gaining another aspect of spending time together,” the freshman accounting and marketing student said.
Her mom Amy Malczewski had worked at Carthage College for the last 22 years. She said she “always” knew she wanted to enroll (注册) as a student herself though. “I have a little time now. I’m like, you know what, I should get that graduate degree I’ve always wanted. And Carthage has this amazing master’s degree in business and design and innovation, which is really in line with all the things that I love,” said Amy.
Meanwhile, when Christy Schwan heard of her daughter’s plan, she quickly realized they could set on the journey together. The 71-year-old had retired three years before. She said she was drawn to learning about change management.
Amy and Christy are now classmates, studying for master’s degrees in business, design and innovation. Both nontraditional students say they encourage their peers (同龄人) to go for it if they’re also considering going back to school. “My advice to anybody is just, life is so short and if there’s something that you’re interested in, and maybe you’re doubting yourself a little bit, put that doubt aside and just go for it,” Amy said. “Especially if you have somebody that can do it with you, I think it makes it even sweeter, right?”
1. How did Samantha feel when she learned the news?| A．Upset. | B．Surprised. | C．Excited. | D．Worried. |
| A．They wanted to have a richer life. |
| B．They wanted to fit in with younger groups. |
| C．They wanted to spend more time with each other. |
| D．They wanted to learn more about accounting and marketing. |
| A．Strong and devoted. | B．Persistent and brave. |
| C．Positive and knowledgeable. | D．Responsible and professional. |
| A．Treasure family. | B．Go to university. |
| C．Don’t waste time. | D．Go for their dreams. |
9 . Life is hard－even harder than anyone thought it would be. When you were younger, you dreamed of the world being your playground, and you were told that you could do anything and be anyone you wanted. Somehow, though, things haven’t been the smooth sailing that you wanted them to be. The world seems to go against you, and the last thing you want to hear is “Cheer up!”
Still, there’s a couple of things you might not notice about your situation. Next time you’re down, maybe the following will provide motivation.
Firstly, not everything is bad. It’s a well-accepted fact that bad news makes for sensational (极好的) television ratings. The fact is that something negative catches a lot more attention than something positive, and that’s because it’s easy to see things in a negative light. However, that shouldn’t distract you from the bigger picture.
Resist the tunnel vision that results from constant negativity. Remember that even though there’s lots of really nasty stuff going on, you’re surrounded by some pretty awesome stuff as well.
You should also remember other people aren’t you. No one likes being compared to another person. What makes it even worse, if that’s even possible, is when you do it to yourself.
Stop comparing yourself to another person and you’ll realize that you’re much more awesome than you give yourself credit for.
Lastly, failure isn’t where the game stops. So you tried something new, but you didn’t follow through. Frustrated at yourself, you stop trying. As a result, your quality of life goes down terribly. You’ve given up on it, though, because you don’t see the point (since you failed the first time).
Now, you’re an adult. The things you are trying are much more complicated than five-year-old you. However, your behaviour shouldn’t change in the slightest－when you fail in something, that’s just more information in your data bank. You know that method doesn’t work, so try another one! And another one after that! Do this until you figure it out. Giving up is for losers, and you sure aren’t one of those.
1. The author mentioned bad news in order to show that .| A．bad news makes people see things in a negative light |
| B．bad news is more likely to catch people’s eyes |
| C．bad news attracts people to see positive things |
| D．bad news has a negative effect on television ratings |
| A．Unstable emotions. | B．Important events. |
| C．Amazing incidents . | D．Something unpleasant. |
| A．We will change our behaviour. |
| B．We will keep trying the old method. |
| C．We should learn from failure. |
| D．We should think in a more complicated way. |
| A．It inspires us to learn from negative experiences. |
| B．It compares negative and positive experiences. |
| C．It criticizes those who are affected by bad experiences. |
| D．It discusses how negative experiences affect others. |
10 . Signs That You Are Growing
Growing is a lifelong process. Here are the signs that show that you are actually growing and not getting stuck in the process.
Often, we see how badly people look when they get overly upset due to unimportant things. So the first sign of maturity (成熟) is letting the small things go and not getting angry over a tiny detail that didn’t go as you planned.
You start forgiving and understanding other people
When we are young, we are often unforgiving. As we mature, we are better able to understand the world beyond black and white.
You always complete things that matter
Immature people don’t know when to commit (承诺) themselves and their energy or resources are always not well employed.
You accept the possibility of being wrong
Being mature is knowing that you are always growing up. You are never done learning and developing. This means that you don’t set yourself up as the highest authority.
| A．You follow the crowd |
| B．You let the small things go |
| C．Instead, mature people focus on completing things that matter |
| D．Immature and mature people can both have plans for their lives |
| E．Rather, you open your mind to other ideas and new possibilities |
| F．Becoming more understanding is a sign of strength, not weakness |
| G．Mature people appear more confident, however, they are not overconfident |
