1 . Apple, a 34-year-old doctor, had been on call(待命) at Atlanta Medical Center for more than two days, with only a few hours’ sleep. And now tiredness was clouding her eyes as she drove to a meeting in Kentucky, nearly seven hours away. She tried turning on her CB radio (无线电，对讲机), which enthusiasts used to war none another about road conditions, but the airwaves (广播频道)were silent. Soon Apple’s car started to weave (迂回前进).
A 41-year-old trucker named Woody Key found a car ahead, drifting (漂移)off the road. Key shouted into his CB microphone, “Four-wheeler, are you all right?”
Apple woke up. She talked on her CB radio. “I’m tired, and I’m lucky I’m still alive driving this tired. Thanks!”
“Call me Woodpecker, my CB nickname,” the trucker said. “I’m going to Kentucky. And you?
“Kentucky.”
“I’ll travel behind and help keep you awake. What’s your CB nickname?”
“Dr. Froot Loops,” she told him. As they drove, they shared stories, and the time passed quickly. They parted near the Kentucky state line. She thanked him for keeping her awake and safe on the long, dark road.
Years later, Apple found several doctors checking a person brought in from an accident. His head was badly hurt. She put both hands on his head, hoping to calm him. “It’s not your time to die!” she said.
Then, he asked for her name.
“Dr. Sherry Apple,” she replied.
“No...your CB nickname.”
“How did you guess I have a CB?”
“...I know your voice...”
“My nickname is Dr. Froot Loops.”
“Oh...It’s me...Woodpecker!”
It was her truck driver! She said, “It’s not your time, Woodpecker!” Then Key was rushed into the operating room.
The first days out of the operating room were very painful for Key. Often Apple would get home and find her phone ringing. Nurses, unable to calm Key, asked her to return. She always did.
About two months after his accident, Key was ready to leave the hospital. As she was leaving, he told Apple, “I don’t think I could have made it without you.” Apple’s eyes welled up. “And I wouldn’t have made it without you.”
1. What happened to Apple on her way to Kentucky?| A．She was called back to hospital halfway. |
| B．She was disconnected from her friend. |
| C．She fell asleep as she drove. |
| D．She met with a car accident. |
| A．By giving her a lift. | B．By driving her car instead. |
| C．By talking with her by phone. | D．By keeping her eyes on the road. |
| A．By her appearance. | B．By her nickname. |
| C．By her name. | D．By her voice. |
| A．He fought to survive. | B．He returned home quickly. |
| C．He stayed quite calm in the hospital. | D．He was looked after by Apple every day. |
| A．It was heart-breaking. | B．It was life-saving. |
| C．It was serious. | D．It was strange. |
2 . Tears of relief and shouts of joy rang out at the San Jose Mine in northern Chile when 33 miners were lifted to freedom, one by one. The men, ranging from 19 to 63 years old, have been buried alive since a cave in the copper and gold mine they were working collapsed on August 5, 2010. It is the longest time anyone has ever survived being trapped underground.
After the collapse, the men found an emergency shelter off one of the mine’s tunnels. The temperature in the dark shelter was around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. For more than two weeks, the miners’ water came from the tanks on their work vehicles. They shared a supply of food that was meant to last for only 48 hours.
The miners were totally isolated until rescue teams made contact with the men on August 22. They sent a note to the surface explaining their situation. Rescuers drilled small holes to reach the cave and sent down supply tubes containing food, water, clothes, medicine, fresh air and other supplies. They also received letters from their families, a television set and games.
Additional collapses slowed down rescue efforts. Finally, a tunnel was built that could fit a 13—foot rescue capsule (救生舱), called the Pheonix. The escape hole measures 28 inches across, a tight fit for the twisting 20 minutes, 2, 041—foot ride. The first miner reached the surface just after midnight on October, 13. The rescue mission was faster than expected, and all 33 men had been brought to safety by late the same day.
The miners were met by family members who were waiting at Camp Hope, a settlement of tents near the mine. Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera, cheered at the scene and hugged the miners. “We made a promise never to give up, and we kept it,” he said. After an immediate medical exam, the men were airlifted to the nearest hospital for 48 hours of observation.
1. How long were the rescued miners trapped in the mine?| A．About 48 hours. | B．About two weeks. |
| C．One month and a half. | D．More than two months. |
| A．The water from the tanks. |
| B．Small holes drilled to reach the cave. |
| C．A tunnel built to fix a rescue capsule. |
| D．Letters, games and a TV from the surface. |
| A．All miners reached the surface just after midnight on October 13. |
| B．The loss of the mine collapse. |
| C．The health condition of the trapped miners. |
| D．The concern of Chile’s president about the mine collapse. |
| A．received medical examination in a hospital at first |
| B．could go home immediately they got out of the mine |
| C．had to stay in a hospital for two days before going home |
| D．felt relieved to see their family members taken good care of |
| A．Disaster at the Mine | B．A Miracle at the Mine |
| C．Efforts of Great Chileans | D．Miserable Life of Chilean Miners |
3 . On a July afternoon in 1937, 15-year-old Betty Brown was playing with her father’s shortwave radio and searching for her favorite songs when she casually turned the dial on the radio and heard something that made her stop. It was a voice that sounded familiar. Back in those days, news clips (新闻摘要) were played at movie theaters. Brown recognized the voice from one of the news films she had seen.
“I heard Amelia Earhart in a panicked voice, a heartbreaking voice,” Brown recalled in a 2007 interview. “She was saying, ‘This is Amelia Earhart Putnam, please help me. Please hear me.’”
Brown quickly began writing down what she heard --- parts of desperate conversations between the woman she believed was Earhart and an unknown man. Later, she decided that the man must have been Earhart’s navigator (领航员), Fred Noonan. As the signal faded in and out, Brown never left the radio. She scribbled (潦草地写) away as Earhart and Noonan struggled for control of the radio. Earhart tried to prevent Noonan from leaving the plane after they had apparently crash-landed. All the while, Earhart repeated strings of numbers and mentioned rising water. After about three hours, Earhart and Noonan were seemingly forced to abandon the plane as it was filled with water, and the distress calls (遇险呼救) stopped.
Brown and her father both tried to give her notes to the United States Coast Guard, but they were told the situation was under control. The search for Earhart was abandoned after a great effort was made. But Brown kept her notebook. In 2000, people from an organization researching Earhart’s disappearance asked to see it. The researchers were convinced that Brown’s notes were reliable. If the researchers are right, the notes are a priceless, yet sorrowful, record of the sad ending of an American hero.
1. Betty Brown stayed by the radio for so long because she________.| A．was waiting for her music to come back on |
| B．enjoyed recording people’s conversations |
| C．wanted to gather more information about Earhart’s situation |
| D．wanted to take notes for a book about Earhart |
| A．did not want to look for Earhart |
| B．did not believe Brown heard Earhart |
| C．wanted Brown to help them find Earhart |
| D．already knew where Earhart was |
| A．Determined. | B．Forgetful. | C．Independent. | D．Careless. |
4 . The big fire inside her flat did not stop the brave grandmother. The 70-year-old only had thoughts of saving her mentally-unsound son as she dashed right into the sea of fire.
The fire happened in the morning at an apartment block in Hong Kong. The grandmother, identified as Madam Guan, had gone for Mandarin lessons at her local community centre. When she returned home at around 10 a.m., she heard her neighbors calling for the firefighters the moment she stepped out of the lift.
When Madam Guan realized it was her flat that was on fire, she got frightened. Inside the flat was her second son Mr. Feng, diagnosed with depression when he was 15 and also with problems with his vision.
Guessing that her son was probably trapped in the fire, Madam Guan rushed into the flat even though it was already covered in smoke. She found him moving on the floor of his room, with his face and hands badly burnt. She quickly helped her son up and half-carried him as they made their escape.
The firefighters arrived soon after and put out the fire. Mr. Feng was later sent to the hospital, with 20 percent burns on his body. Madam Guan was unhurt. Mr. Feng is the only child still living with her since her husband died more than 10 years ago. Mr. Feng is jobless, preferring to stay in his room.
After the fire was put out, she was reportedly so distraught upon seeing the scene.
“I’ve really lost everything this time.”
The fire at her flat is believed to have been caused by a short circuit(电路).
1. When did Madam Guan realize her house caught fire?| A．When she went for her lessons. |
| B．At about 10:00 p.m. |
| C．After she stepped out of the lift. |
| D．When she saw her son moving on the floor. |
| A．liked to work at home |
| B．had been ill for many years |
| C．was only injured a little |
| D．often stayed at home alone |
| A．20 percent of Mr. Feng’s face was badly burned. |
| B．Madam Guan’s house was seriously destroyed. |
| C．With the firefighters’ help Mr. Feng escaped from the fire. |
| D．When found, Mr. Feng was finding his glasses. |
| A．worried | B．angry | C．happy | D．disappointed |
| A．A Brave Grandmother in a Big Fire |
| B．A Big Fire |
| C．A Lucky Escape |
| D．Granny, 70, Rescues Son from Burning Flat |
5 . It was late, about 10:15 p. m. Janice Esposito got off the train at Bellport, New York, went to her car and started driving home. She was so familiar with the route that she almost drove automatically. However, when Esposito's car had just crossed the railroad tracks—bam!, it hit another vehicle and was pushed back onto the tracks. Injured but mostly shocked by the crash and by the airbags that popped up, she was stuck in the vehicle.
As it happened, Pete DiPinto was just about to go to sleep when he heard a sharp noise. As a volunteer firefighter, he fetched a flashlight and rushed out without hesitation. “Any firefighter would have done what I did,” he said. “We're always on duty.”
After making sure that the driver was all right, DiPinto discovered Esposito's car straddling the railway tracks. And then he heard the bell ring, which signaled a train's arrival.
DiPinto rushed to Esposito's car and broke the window on the driver's side. Esposito looked up at him, with her eyes glazing over. “I don't know where 1 am,” she said.
“I have to get you off right now!” DiPinto yelled. The train was running toward them at a high speed. The driver's door cannot be opened due to the collision (硬撞), so DiPinto quickly ran to the other side and managed to open the door. He pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until finally got her out to safety. Several seconds later, the train crashed into the vehicle. “It was like a Hollywood movie,” DiPinto told reporters the next day.
“Last night,” said Gregory Miglino Jr, Chief of the Department in South Country Ambulance, “the hero arrived in pajamas (睡衣裤), not in a fire truck.”
1. What can we know about the accident from Paragraph 1?| A．Esposito's car hit another vehicle. |
| B．Esposito drove too fast. |
| C．Esposito didn't know the route well. |
| D．A running train crashed into Esposito's car. |
| A．She felt all right. |
| B．She was badly hurt. |
| C．She got stuck in the car. |
| D．She completely lost her consciousness. |
| A．Through the window on the driver's side. |
| B．Through the door on the driver's side. |
| C．Through the window on the passenger's side. |
| D．Through the door on the passenger's side. |
| A．DiPinto was not a professional firefighter. |
| B．DiPinto rushed to save life without thinking about himself. |
| C．DiPinto was a special firefighter who liked wearing pajamas. |
| D．DiPinto was unable to find a fire ruck when the accident happened. |
6 . I'm Victor Bobra from Belarus. When I was three years old, a nuclear explosion (核爆炸) blew up in Chernobyl, Ukraine. At the time, I was living on the border with Ukraine.When the explosion happened, my dad, was looking after the trucks at the station. When he heard about the disaster, he took us to Brest on the truck. After that, my family moved to Minsk.
Many years have passed since the explosion. Different places were affected differently. If you live in an area like Minsk, it's not as polluted as other areas. Kids there were born normally. Maybe they were underweight or something, but this was because of the problems of the economic situation. If kids were born around the Brest area, they were, born almost perfectly, because it's the cleanest area in Belarus. But if kids were born around the area to the east of Belarus,most of the kids were born deformed (畸形的).
I don't know much about how it has affected my health. But what happened was that everybody had a medical check-up after the disaster. The doctors found that I had got some protein inside me: So they thought there was something wrong with me, and suggested I should be treated.
My mum set up 'a charity, Chernobyl Children Lifeline, which raised some money for me. I've stayed here for treatment since then. The reason I can't go to Belarus is because of the radiation (辐射). If I go back, I might get radiation and get ill. Certainly there isn't any medical care, because the country is very poor. At the moment I can't even see my parents for a holiday. My parents probably miss me. I think the fault (过失) that Chernobyl blew up is the government's.
1. What can we learn from the second paragraph?| A．People in Minsk were rich before the disaster. |
| B．Victor Bobra lived in the cleanest area in Belarus. |
| C．The east of Belarus was seriously affected by the disaster. |
| D．Kids born in Minsk were underweight because of the disaster. |
| A．provide home for the homeless |
| B．collect money for his treatment |
| C．raise money for deformed kids |
| D．help those suffering from radiation |
| A．The author's father didn't survive the disaster. |
| B．The author lived in Minsk when the disaster happened. |
| C．The author was given good treatment with the help of the government. |
| D．The author thought the government should take responsibility for the disaster. |
| A．everybody had a medical examination after the nuclear explosion |
| B．the doctors did not think it necessary to have the author treated |
| C．the author's country can afford to provide medical care |
| D．the author is living with his parents now |
| A．To prove the great force of the nuclear explosion. |
| B．To tell readers the nuclear explosion in Chernobyl. |
| C．To show the bad effects of the nuclear explosion. |
| D．To find out the truth of the nuclear explosion. |
The Lomax family needed a dog. Though their house was already full with seven people, they knew a dog would truly make the house a home. So they settled on a dog whom they named Jack. It turned out to be the best decision they ever made.
It was Jack’s protective instinct(本能) that would save the lives of the Lomax family. If it wasn’t for him, the family may never have survived the terrible accident that would eventually befall one cold January day in 2020.
It was a night like many others. Autumn, the family’s youngest child and her mother Ashley had settled into bed in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Jack, who rarely left Autumn’s side, had settled in there as well. Little did they know that something terrible was about to happen that night. While the family was fast asleep, a fire had started in one of the other second floor bedrooms. Jack had picked up a whiff (些微的气味) of smoke in the next room. In an instant, the brave dog jumped into action.
The four-legged family member knew something was wrong but had no way of telling his owners. He jumped up Ashley’s bed and began touching her face. She pushed him off her bed and tried to roll over but he began again, until she was up.
As soon as she could, Ashley took hold of Autumn and began to move away from the door. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she ran from the room, alerting the rest of the family to the disaster that was taking place. Jack did his part again too, barking loudly. Ashley’s screams woke the four other adults and two more children. All of them headed out into the cold January night. In no time, the fire had engulfed (吞没) nearly the entire home, but luckily, all of them had made it out alive, with Jack leading the way.
1. Why did the Lomax family raise a dog? (No more than 15 words)2. What does the underlined word mean in the 2nd paragraph? (No more than 3 words)
3. Which floor did Jack sleep? (No more than 5 words)
4. What did Jack do when he sensed something wrong? (No more than 10 words)
5. What do you think of Jack? Please explain? (No more than 20 words)
8 . Barbara was driving her six-year-old son, Ben, to his piano lesson. They were late, and Barbara was beginning to think she should have called it off. Barbara, a nurse at the local hospital, was very tired at that moment. The coldest season and the terrible weather just brought them more difficulties.
“Mum!” Ben cried suddenly. “Look!” Just ahead, a car had lost control on the icy road and crashed（猛撞）into a telephone pole. Barbara stopped her car quickly and opened the door. She said to Ben, “Dear, promise me you'll stay in the car!” “I will, Mum,” Ben said as his mum ran. She was a nurse-she might be able to help the unlucky people. It was terrible. Two girls aged about 18 were in the car. One was dead and the other was still breathing. Barbara quickly cleaned the wounds in the driver's head. Ben called for help on his mum's phone. Soon an ambulance came. “Good job, Barbara, you've saved her life,” one doctor said as he examined the driver's wounds. Barbara walked back to her car with a feeling of sadness, especially for the family of the girl who had died. Later, Barbara was able to meet the family of the driver. They expressed their thanks to Barbara for the help she had provided.
1. When did the accident happen?| A．In spring. | B．In summer. | C．In autumn. | D．In winter. |
| A．Because he saw a traffic accident. | B．Because he didn't want to go to the piano lesson. |
| C．Because he wanted to tell his mum to drive carefully. | D．Because he remembered the piano lesson had been called off. |
| A．the driver died in the end | B．Ben and Barbara were helpful |
| C．Barbara called an ambulance on her phone | D．the two girls were taken to hospital by Barbara |
| A．Sad. | B．Happy. | C．Surprised. | D．Excited. |
| A．The accident happened on Barbara's way home. | B．Ben helped his mum clean the driver's wounds. |
| C．The girl who died was a nurse, too. | D．The one who examined the driver's wounds knew Barbara. |
9 . The town of Paradise has suffered a camp fire, which lasted 17 days and caused a damage of $16.5 billion. As a result, the beautifully named place lost its beauty.
Shane Grammer, a creative director for Disney’s theme parks in Los Angeles, paid close attention to the news of the fire. He felt quite helpless when seeing the pictures shared by his childhood friend Shane Edwards in the town, in which Shane photographed his white chimney, the only part of his house left after the fire.
“I’ve got to paint that chimney,” he said to Inside Edition. “I’m not trying to say anything. And it was an opportunity for me to express and be an artist, isn’t it?”
Grammer spent three hours spray-painting the image of a woman on the chimney, which is strikingly mysterious black and white, in the ruins. Perhaps it serves as a reminder of the beauty of life or just life itself. Then Grammer put the picture on Instagram. On seeing it, the victims of the fire could not contain themselves. “Beautiful and haunting,” one of them commented. And another said, “You bring beauty and hope.”
At this time, Grammer became aware that something deeper had been transformed by a purely artistic expression. “When the first mural (壁画) moved so many people, I knew I had to come back up,” he said to KRCR-TV. Grammer returned to Paradise eight times in three months, during which he completed 17 paintings of victims and Biblical figures, pickups and parts of buildings on walls.
Today, Grammer’s efforts have developed into a movement. He has also painted murals in dark places that seriously need some light around the world.
Ironically, the first painting, on the chimney in Paradise, existed for just several months, since the bulldozer (推土机) is a merciless art critic. But Grammer couldn’t be more pleased about it, which means the spirit of Paradise is rising again.
1. How did Grammer come up with the idea of painting the chimney?| A．From Disney’s theme parks. |
| B．From his friend’s description of the fire. |
| C．By looking at a picture of Shane Edward’s remaining chimney after the fire. |
| D．After learning about the news of the fire. |
| A．Because he had nothing to say. |
| B．Because he felt it difficult to express himself. |
| C．Because he had his way to express himself. |
| D．Because he had no opportunity to express himself. |
| A．People’s inner feelings. |
| B．People’s words. |
| C．The meaning of the mural. |
| D．The background situation. |
| A．They are mysteries. |
| B．They are entertaining. |
| C．They are artistic expressions. |
| D．They are inspiring. |
| A．The people in Paradise are in high spirits now. |
| B．Paradise is recovering from the disaster in a short time. |
| C．Grammer is not happy for the destruction of his mural. |
| D．The bulldozer was so cruel that it destroyed Grammer’s mural. |
10 . Those with closed minds refused to consider any contradictory facts, and they proceed with their planned course of action, full speed ahead, with their “minds made up” and tightly shut. As an illustration, consider the situation in 1986, prior to the space shuttle Challenger’s disatrous launch that killed all seven astronauts aboard, there was a heated telephone debate between two engineers from the company that produced the shuttle booster rockets and the top officials of NASA (the federal government’s space agency). The engineers insisted that the flight was too risky because of freezing temperature at the Florida launch site. They explained that some of the seals on the fuel tanks were not designed to withstand such low temperatures and might leak under pressure, thus endangering the craft and crew.
Despite the pleas to stop the flight, officials at NASA overruled the engineers, who were best qualified to make judgments about the complex technical problems of space flight. What caused the officials to ignore the engineers? Several flights had already been postponed, and it would not look good to postpone another. It would be bad public relations to disappoint the crowds of people and news reporters waiting for the launch. Top government officials were ready to appear on the national television and take the credit for another safe flight. As a result, with their minds absolutely closed to the facts presented by the engineers, NASA officials ordered the Challenger to take off. Seventy-three seconds later, the spacecraft was enveloped in flame.
Incredibly, seventeen years later, the lesson of the Challenger disaster was repeated. In 2003, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart while re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, killing another crew of seven. During the shuttle’s liftoff, a piece of foam insulation(泡沫隔热材料) had broken off, hitting the shuttle's wing at five hundred miles per hour. Lower-level engineers at NASA begged for photographs of the Columbia in orbit, which might have shown the extent of the damage, but their closed-minded superiors ignored their requests. It was the damage caused by the 1.7 pound chunk of insulation that doomed the Columbia.
There is no virtue in ignoring contradictory facts and “sticking to your guns” when the course taken shows all the signs of being the wrong one. Closed minds are especially noticeable in political campaigns and debates. Many people line up to support one candidate or another and won’t listen to any facts presented by the opposing candidate.
All those with an open mind say is this: “I don’t know everything, so I’d better keep my mind, eyes, and ears open to any new facts that may come along.” The world would be a much better and safer place if everyone had this attitude.
1. Which of the following brought about the disastrous launch of the Challenger?| A．Its crew | B．The engineers |
| C．The fuel tanks’ seals | D．The size of its rocket |
| A．postponed the flight at once. |
| B．made judgments about the complex technical problems. |
| C．announced the news on national television. |
| D．ordered to launch the Challenger as scheduled. |
| A．The Columbia disaster was impossible to foresee. |
| B．Engineers were to blame for the Columbia’s explosion. |
| C．The Columbia disaster could have been avoided. |
| D．The Columbia was deliberately damaged. |
| A．Holding firm to your own opinion. |
| B．Remaining and firing your gun at enemies. |
| C．Strengthening your status. |
| D．Keeping an open mind. |
| A．To inform readers about what an open mind is. |
| B．To entertain readers with two stories of tragedies in space. |
| C．To persuade readers to keep an open mind. |
| D．To criticize what NASA officials had done in aerospace history. |
| A．By stating arguments. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By explaining statistical data. | D．By providing research result. |
