Florence Nightingale was born in a rich family. When she was young she took lessons in music and drawing, and read great books. She also traveled a great deal with her mother and father.
As a child she felt that visiting sick people was both a duty and a pleasure. She enjoyed helping them.
At last mind was made up. “I’m going to be a nurse,” she decided.
“Nursing isn’t the right work for a lady,” her father told her.
“Then I will make it so”, she smiled. And she went to learn nursing in Germany and France.
When she returned to England, Florence started a nursing home. During the Crimean War in 1854 she went with a group of thirty eight nurses to the front hospitals. What they saw there was terrible. Dirt and death were everywhere to be seen — and smelled. The officer there did not want any woman to tell him how to run a hospital, either. But the brave nurse went to work.
Florence used her own money and some from friends to buy clothes, beds, medicine and food for the men. Her only pay was in smiles from the lips of dying soldiers. But they were more than enough for this kind woman.
After she returned to England, she was honored for her services by Queen Victoria. But Florence said that her work had just begun. She raised money to build the Nightingale Home for Nurses in London. She also wrote a book on public health, which was printed in several countries.
Florence Nightingale died at the age of ninety, still trying to serve others through her work as a nurse. Indeed, it is because of her that we honor nurses today.When she was a child, Florence _______.
| A．loved to travel very much |
| B．knew what her duty in life was |
| C．loved to help the sick people |
| D．want to learn music and drawing in the future |
During the Crimean War in 1854, Florence served in the front hospital where _______.
| A．she earned a little money |
| B．work was very difficult |
| C．few soldiers died because of her work |
| D．she didn’t have enough food or clothes |
Why was Florence honored by Queen Victoria?
| A．She built the Nightingale Home for Nurses. |
| B．She wrote a book on public health. |
| C．She worked as a nurse all her life. |
| D．She did a great deal of work during the Crimean War. |
The passage can best be described as _______.
| A．the life story of a famous woman |
| B．a description of the nursing work |
| C．an example of successful education |
| D．the history of nursing in England |
Head held high, hands firmly gripping her walker, Mary Arnott, 99, walks slowly with dignity through the women’s changing room at the Etobicoke Olympium pool, past the teenage girls who have been blow-drying their hair for half an hour, into the mist of the showers, then out the door and first one into the heated pool. She jumps over to the shallow end, stopping to talk to friends—everyone knows Arnott here; she swims twice a week and treats it as a job—about their children, the viciousness(谬误) of bridge and their health.
In fact, Arnott is an exception to the exception. Not only has she lived 20 years past the average lifespan for Canadians, she’s healthy, her mind is sharp and she lives independently.
Born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1909, Arnott was raised on Staten Island. She survived scarlet fever(猩红热), helped bring up four siblings after her mother died in 1923 and worked as a secretary in New York City for 12 years, earning＄35 a week and a＄150 bonus at Christmas.
Now she’s happy living in a one-room apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom in her daughter’s house. She wears a hearing aid, does the cryptic(有隐义的) crossword with a magnifying glass, and can’t really explain why she has live so well so long.
Until recently, she has still liked to drink red wine—she used to drink two glasses before supper each day. It’s more likely genes, she admits. Her interest in other people and life in general may have had something to do with it. Asked if a star photographer can take her picture at the pool, Arnott seems cheerful.
“I look good in a swimsuit,” she says, nodding her head firmly. “I look better in a swimsuit than I do in pants. ”What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．Mary Arnott can’t swim but she likes water. |
| B．Mary Arnott is afraid to swim at the swimming pool. |
| C．Mary Arnott likes to swim and is known to the local people. |
| D．Mary Arnott just likes to talk to her friends at the bank of the swimming pool. |
Which of the following is TRUE as for Mary Arnott as an exception to the exception?
| A．She lives with her daughter. |
| B．She’s healthy and her mind is sharp. |
| C．She likes to live with her children and has a happy life. |
| D．She has lived 30 years past the average lifespan for Canadians. |
If someone asks about swimming, Mary Arnott may ________.
| A．like swimsuit better | B．like pants |
| C．like to sit at the bank | D．like to swim with girls |
The most famous animal said to be capable of counting was a horse in Germany at the beginning of the 19th century called Clever Hans. The horse’s owner that animals could think and reason as we can and that this could come from training them. He trained Clever Hans to give the to arithmetic (算术的) problems; the horse gave the correct answer by the right number of times with its forefoot. The animal gave the correct answers not only to additions but to other arithmetic, too. It also gave the right answers when the questions were shown to it on a card.
This was talked about so much that scientists studied the horse’s . The committee, after a(n) study, found that Clever Hans’ owner and trainer was . He had not deliberately trained his horse to stop tapping by giving it a slight . Members of the committee got the right answers from Hans when the owner wasn’t there, that this type of trickery (诡计) hadn’t happened.
It looked as if the horse really could think and . But soon after this another scientist found that if the horse was asked questions to which none of the people there knew the answers, then the animal gave a correct answer. The questions were asked by showing the horse a card that the questioner himself had not .
This biologist soon discovered that the horse had actually to very slight unconscious (下意识的) movements of head or body made by a questioner who knew the number of taps. He counted the taps to himself, and when the horse got to the right number, the questioner’s tension (紧张感) was by a small, unconscious movement of his head or body. The horse then tapping. Questioners who didn’t know the answer didn’t do this. The horse had really itself to answer these very small during its training.
A．believed B．remembered C．expected D．doubted
A．chance B．knowledge C．method D．ability
A．explanations B．information C．answers D．facts
A．jumping B．tapping C．moving D．dropping
A．problem B．program C．case D．model
A．interests B．activities C．habits D．powers
A．careful B．simple C．general D．extra
A．honest B．creative C．independent D．patient
A．praise B．hint C．trust D．attention
A．still B．nearly C．even D．only
A．knowing B．considering C．pretending D．proving
A．work B．play C．count D．argue
A．never B．sometimes C．always D．ever
A．designed B．read C．improved D．answered
A．responded B．returned C．complained D．compared
A．various B．correct C．strange D．direct
A．ignored B．checked C．offered D．shown
A．Practiced B．continued C．stopped D．began
A．permitted B．taught C．regretted D．forced
A．suggestions B．instructions C．questions D．movements
This afternoon, my office sent out over 34,000 e-mail notifications to high school seniors who were waiting to learn whether they would be invited to spend the next four years at Stanford. Even though I have been in the admission field for over 30 years, I still feel the pain of the many exceptional youths who were not offered places.
Given that todays teens already have enough pressure in their lives, I wish to impart (告知) three messages to any particularly disappointed parents.
First, it’s all relative. While the number admitted into the undergraduate (本科的) class has remained unchanged for years, Stanford, like many of its peer (同类的) schools, has had a record number of total applicants more than 42,000. Regardless of arguments over whether too much preference is given to one category over another, thousands of students are going to be turned away, and there is no doubt that the vast majority of them could have met the demands of a Stanford education.
I wish there were a formula (公式) to explain who is accepted and who isn’t, but the decision-making is as much art as it is science. Each class is a symphony with its own distinct composition (乐曲)and sound. The final roster (花名册) is an effort to create harmony (和谐), and that means that some extraordinary bass players don’t get a chair. What’s more, even among my staff (员工) there are legitimate (合理的) differences about applicants.
Second, celebrate the bigger picture. Most of the applications I reviewed are truly remarkable. The transition from high school to college is a turning point, and it’s more important to focus on how a young adult is moving on to a new stage than where that stage happens to be. You should mark the success of your children and rejoice (喜悦) in the excitement that the next four years will bring.
And that leads to my final point: education is what a student makes of it. Of course, certain schools have resources (资源) that others don’t, but they all offer opportunities to learn and to grow. Thousands of applicants who arent accepted to Stanford go on to have fulfilling lives. What parents and college applicants across the country need to remember is that the news they receive, whether good or bad, is but a single step on a much longer journey. Which of the following statements might the author agree with?
| A．Bass players, even some extraordinary ones, have little chance of being accepted by Stanford. |
| B．Those who fail to get admitted into Stanford don’t necessarily do worse than those who make it. |
| C．Those who fail to get admitted by Stanford probably wouldn’t meet the demands of a Stanford education. |
| D．There are more students applying to study at Stanford than its peer schools in the US. |
In the last two paragraphs, the author intends to convey the message that ______.
| A．most colleges offer students the same resources as Stanford does |
| B．Stanford offers the best opportunities for young adults to learn and grow |
| C．parents should tell their children that this rejection will only make them stronger |
| D．its not which college that students enter but what they do there that counts |
What is the main purpose of the article?
| A．To congratulate those who have been admitted into Stanford. |
| B．To tell parents that there is no need to feel down if their children werent admitted to Stanford. |
| C．To inform us what kinds of applicants are more likely to be accepted by Stanford. |
| D．To inform us of the characteristics of a Stanford education. |
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humour. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time. One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
| A．to see one of his friends |
| B．because he wanted to do something there for his writing |
| C．because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there |
| D．to see one of his relatives |
The waiters felt sorry because _____.
| A．they did something wrong to Mark Twain |
| B．their hotel was too small |
| C．the room was not very clean |
| D．there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room |
All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
| A．the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room |
| B．the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number |
| C．Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents |
| D．Mark Twain made a joke |
From the story we know _____.
| A．no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night |
| B．the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night |
| C．Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night |
| D．there were no mosquitoes in the hotel any longer |
On March 19, 2013, Malala Yousafzai, a 15-year-old Pakistani student and women’s-education activist(积极分子)， returned to the classroom for the first time since being attacked by a member of the Taliban on October 9, 2012. Malala was shot on her way home from school in Mingora, Pakistan. The Taliban(塔利班) said that they did the attack. The group said the attack should be a warning to others. Malala was targeted(作为目标) because she expresses her opinion publicly about girls’ rights to education.
After a long period of recovery, Malala is starting as a ninth-year student at Edgbaston High School. It is the oldest independent girl’s school in Birmingham, England. Though she has no specific plans to return to Pakistan, Malala still speaks out as a voice for change in her country, and everywhere. “I’m excited that today I have realized my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this kind of chance,” Malala said in a statement .
Malala has been an Internet blogger since she was 11 years old. In 2011 she was awarded Pakistan’s National Peace Award for her bravery in writing about the difficulties of life and education in the shadow of the Taliban. She has spoken publicly about children’s rights and been nominated(提名) for an international children’s peace prize.Why did the Taliban attack Malala?
| A．She is a Pakistani student. |
| B．She was targeted without being planned. |
| C．She didn’t want to be a member of the Taliban. |
| D．She spoke publicly about girls’ rights to education. |
How long did it take Malala to recover from the attack?
| A．Four years. | B．About one year. |
| C．Over five months. | D．About four months. |
We can learn from the passage that Malala______.
| A．is now attending school in Pakistan |
| B．is still under the shadow of the attack |
| C．has made a careful plan for her future |
| D．cares about the situation in her home country |
There was a story many years ago of a school teacher — Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He didn’t play well with the other children and he always needed a bath. She did not like him.
Then Mrs. Thompson got to know that Teddy was actually a very good boy before the death of his mother. Mrs. Thompson was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when, like all her other students, Teddy brought her a Christmas present too. It was his mother’s perfume(香水).
Teddy said, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smell just like my Mom used to.” After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she stopped teaching reading, writing and math. Instead, she began to teach children.
Mrs. Thompson paid more attention to Teddy. The boy’s mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he improved. By the end of the sixth grade, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class.
Six years went by before she got a note from Teddy. He wrote that he had finished high school and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. He went to college. Mrs. Thompson got two more letters from him with the last one signed: Theodore Stoddard, M.D.（医学博士）.
The story doesn’t end there. On his wedding day, Dr. Stoddard whispered(低声说) in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. You made me feel important and showed me that I could make a difference.”
Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”What did Mrs. Thompson do on the first day of school?
| A．She made Teddy feel very ashamed. |
| B．She asked the children to play with Teddy. |
| C．She changed Teddy’s seat to the front row. |
| D．She told the class something untrue about herself. |
What did Mrs. Thompson find out about Teddy?
| A．He told lies every now and then. |
| B．He was quite good at math, in fact. |
| C．He needed care from mother or someone like that.[ |
| D．He enjoyed playing with others. |
In what way did Mrs. Thompson change after she received the gifts?
| A．She taught fewer school subjects. |
| B．She became stricter with her students. |
| C．She no longer liked her job as a teacher. |
| D．She cared more about educating students. |
Why did Teddy thank Mrs. Thompson at his wedding?
| A．She had kept in touch with him. |
| B．She had given him encouragement. |
| C．She had sent him Christmas presents. |
| D．She had taught him how to judge people. |
EDGEWOOD ---- Every morning at Dixie Heights High School, customers pour into a special experiment: the district’s first coffee run mostly by students with special learning needs.
Well before classes start, students and teachers order Lattes, Sappuccinos and Hot Chocolates.Then, durning the first period teachers call in orders on their room phones, and students make deliveries.
By closing time at 9.20 a.m., the shop usually sells 90 drinks.
“Whoever made the chi tea, Ms. Schatzman says it was good,” Christy McKinley, a second year student, announced recently, after hanging up with the teacher.
The shop is called the Dixie PIT, which stands for Power in Transition. Although some of the students are not disabled, many are, and the PIT helps them prepare for life after high school.
They learn not only how to run a coffee shop but also how to deal with their affairs. They keep a timecard and receive paychecks, which they keep in check registers.
Special-education teachers Kim Chevalier and Sue Casey introduced the Dixie PIT from a similar program at Kennesaw Mountain High School in Georgia.
Not that it was easy. Chevaliver’s first problem to overcome was product-related. Should school be selling coffee? What about sugar content?
Kenton County Food Service Director Ginger Gray helped. She made sure all the drinks, which use non-fat milk, fell within nutrition (营养) guidelines.
The whole school has joined in to help.
Teachers agreed to give up their lounge (休息室) in the mornings. Art students painted the name of the shop on the wall. Business students designed the paychecks. The basketball team helped pay for cups.What is the text mainly about?
| A．A special educational program. |
| B．A best selling coffee. |
| C．Government support for schools. |
| D．A new type of teacher-student relationship. |
The Dixie PIT program was introduced in order to ________.
| A．raisemoney for school affairs |
| B．do some research on nutrition |
| C．supply teachers with drinks |
| D．develop students’ practical skills |
How did Christy McKinley know Ms. Schatzman’s opinion of the chi tea?
| A．She met her in the shop. |
| B．She heard her telling others. |
| C．She talked to her on the phone. |
| D．She went to her office to deliver the tea. |
We know from the text that Ginger Gray _________.
| A．manages the Dixie PIT programin Kenton Country |
| B．owns the school’s coffee shop |
| C．teaches at Dixie Heights High School |
| D．sees that the drinks meet health standards |
When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games. Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them. We always felt better when she was around.
One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up (咬破) one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, “Bad girl,” she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.
Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet. She went everywhere with us. People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of course she’d let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we’d be out walking and a small child would come over and pull on her hair. She never barked (吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.
Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss the days when she was with us.What would Brownie do when someone was ill in the family?
| A．Keep them company. | B．Look at them sadly. |
| C．Play games with them. | D．Touch them gently. |
We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Brownie__________.
| A．would eat anything when hungry |
| B．felt sorry for her mistake |
| C．loved playing hide-and-seek |
| D．disliked the author’s dad |
Why does the author say that Brownie was more than just a family pet?
| A．She was treated as a member of the family. |
| B．She played games with anyone she liked. |
| C．She was loved by everybody she met. |
| D．She went everywhere with the family. |
Imagination and fantasy(幻想) can play an important role in achieving the things we fear. Tom, a four-year-old boy with a cancer in his back bone, knew this very well. Fred Epstein, in his book If I Make It to Five, tells a story he heard from one of friends about Tom. He came through several operations and a lot of pain by mastering his imagination.
Tom loved to pretend, and he particularly loved to play superheroes. Dr. Epstein explained that it was actually a wonderful way for his young mind to manage the terrifying and painful life he led.
The day before his third trip to the operating room, Tom was terribly afraid. “Maybe I could go as Superman,” he said to his mom. Hearing this, the mother hesitated (犹豫) for a while. She had avoided buying the expensive costume (戏装), but finally she agreed.
The next day Tom appeared as the powerful Superman, showing off through the hospital halls and coolly waving his hand to the people greeting him along the way. And Tom, with the strength of his fantasy, successfully made it through the operation.
The power of imagination need not be reserved for children only. we all have the power to use our fantasies to attempt things we never thought possible, to go through those things that seem impossible, and to achieve what we never believed we could. Just as Dr. Epstein puts it, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
It doesn’t mean that you should dress as a superhero for your next job interview. But, next time you are tested in a way that seems impossible, imagine what it would take to overcome it. Become the person you need to become to win over your challenge and do it in your mind first. So, let your imagination run wild, and dare to dream.What do we know about Tom?
| A．He was seriously ill | B．He was a dishonest boy. |
| C．He was crazy about magic. | D．He was Dr. Epstein’s patient. |
What can be inferred about Tom’s mother?
| A．She was a rich lady. |
| B．She refused Tom’s request. |
| C．She wanted Tom to be a superhero. |
| D．She wanted to get Tom through the pain. |
When Tom went for the third operation, he ______.
| A．pretended to be painful | B．acted like a superhero |
| C．appeared in poor spirits | D．argued with his mother |
In the last paragraph, you are advised ______.
| A．to go through some difficult tests |
| B．to wake up from your wild dreams |
| C．to become a powerful person in your mind |
| D．to wear expensive clothes for job interviews |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us an interesting story. |
| B．To help us make right decisions. |
| C．To advise us to care about children. |
| D．To encourage us to use our imagination. |
John Blanchard was studying the crowd making their way through the station. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
When reading a book in a Florida library a year before, John became interested not in the contents of the book, but in the notes penciled in the margin. The handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and beautiful mind. He discovered the former owner’s name in the front of the book: Miss Hollis Maynell.
He located her address and wrote a letter introducing himself. The next day he was shipped overseas to serve in the army. During the next year, they grew to know each other through the mail and their friendship developed. John requested a photograph, but she refused, saying if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return home, their first meeting was suggested — 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York.
She wrote, “You’ll recognize me by the red rose I wear on my coat.” So now John was in the station to meet the girl with a rose.
As a pretty and slim girl in green came over, John noticed her blue eyes like flowers in spring. He walked directly towards her, entirely forgetting she was not wearing a rose. As John came closer to her, he saw another woman with a red rose stood nearby. Well past 40, this woman had graying hair done under a worn hat. Seeing the girl in green walk quickly away, John felt as if he were split in two. He desired to follow that girl, but longed for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and supported him.
The woman looked gentle and sensible. John went to her, saying, “I’m Captain John Blanchard. You must be Miss Maynell. I am glad to meet you here. May I take you to dinner?”
She replied with a smile, “I don’t know what this is about. But the lady in green who just went by, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I’d tell you she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”What do we know about the woman with a rose?
| A．She was Miss Maynell’s close friend. |
| B．She was a waitress in the big restaurant. |
| C．She was probably a passerby. |
| D．She was paid to meet John at the Station. |
Which would be the best title of the text?
| A．An Interesting Book | B．A Woman With a Rose |
| C．A Brave Soldier | D．A Love Test |
He’s an old cobbler(修鞋匠) with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven’t time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street; he’ll fix them for you right away.”
But I’d had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人). “No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well.”
“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait” — without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair.
My man saw I wouldn’t give in, and he smiled. He looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week.”
I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.
“See what I can do?” he said with pride. “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.”
When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft.
These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption(消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler?
| A．He was equipped with the best repairing tools. |
| B．He was proud of his skills. |
| C．He was the only cobbler in the Marais. |
| D．He was a native Parisian. |
The underlined sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend.” shows that ______.
| A．it was difficult to communicate with this man |
| B．the man was very strange |
| C．nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him |
| D．the man was too old |
According to the author, many people work just to ______.
| A．make money | B．realize their abilities |
| C．gain happiness | D．gain respect |
This story wants to tell us that ______.
| A．craftsmen make a lot of money |
| B．craftsmen need self-respect |
| C．whatever you do, do it well |
| D．people are born equal |
“I would almost rather see you dead,” Robert S. Cassatt, a leading banker of Philadelphia, shouted when his twenty-year-old eldest daughter announced that she wanted to become an artist. In the 19th century, playing at drawing or painting on dishes was all right for a young lady, but serious work in art was not. And when the young lady’s family ranked(位列) among the best of Philadelphia’s social families, such an idea could not even be considered.
That was how Mary Cassatt, born in 1844, began her struggle as an artist. She did not tremble before her father’s anger. Instead, she opposed(抗拒)him with courage and at last made him change his mind. Mary Cassatt gave up her social position and all thought of a husband and a family, which in those times was unthinkable for a young lady. In the end, after long years of hard work and perseverance(坚持), she became America’s most important woman artist and the internationally recognized leading woman painter of the time.How did Mr Cassatt react when his daughter made her announcement?
| A．He feared for her life. | B．He warned her. |
| C．He nearly killed her. | D．He was very angry. |
What in fact was Mr Cassatt’s main reason in opposing his daughter’s wish?
| A．Drawing and painting was simply unthinkable among ladies in those days. |
| B．He did not believe his daughter wanted to work seriously in art. |
| C．Ladies of good families simply did not become artists in those times. |
| D．He believed an artist’s life would be too hard for his daughter. |
What made Mary Cassatt’s “struggle” to become a recognized artist especially hard?
| A．Her father opposed her. |
| B．She was a woman. |
| C．She had no social position. |
| D．She did not come from an artist’s family. |
What do we know about Mary Cassatt’s marriage?
| A．She never married because she did not want to be just a wife and mother. |
| B．Her marriage failed because she never gave a thought to her husband and family. |
| C．After marriage she decided to give up her husband rather than her career. |
| D．She didn’t marry because for a lady of her social position to marry below her was unthinkable. |
A mouse happened to look through a hole in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered. But he was sad to discover it was a mousetrap (老鼠夹子).
Back to the farmyard, the mouse announced this warning: “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The hen clucked (咯咯地叫) and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a great concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”
Then the mouse turned to the pig. The pig sympathized, but said, “I am very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”
Then the mouse turned to the cow and repeated the same words. The cow said, “Moo, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”
So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and sadly faced the farmer’s mousetrap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey (猎物). The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it. It was a poisonous snake whose tail was caught in the trap. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. When she returned home, she still had a fever.
Everyone knows fresh chicken soup is good to treat a fever. So the farmer took his knife to the farmyard. The hen was killed.
But his wife’s sickness continued. Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife did not get well but died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow killed to provide enough meat for all of them for the lunch.
The mouse looked on it all from his hole in the wall with great sadness.What did the mouse do when it returned to the farmyard?
| A．It warned its neighbors of the danger. |
| B．It argued with its neighbors loudly. |
| C．It had a warm talk with its friends. |
| D．It tried hard to cheer its friends. |
Which of the following is mentioned in the story?
| A．The farmer was bitten by a snake. |
| B．The neighbors came for chicken soup. |
| C．The pig expressed its sympathy for the mouse. |
| D．The hen was sure that it’ll be bothered by mousetrap. |
Which of the following can best express the moral of the story?
| A．Out of sight, out of mind. |
| B．Mind works faster in time of danger. |
| C．Never put your nose into others’ business. |
| D．We should pull together in time of trouble. |
How does the author develop the passage?
| A．By argument. | B．By time. |
| C．By discussion. | D．By space. |
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 AM. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
“Oh, you’re such a good man,” she said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice (临终医院). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计价器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At dawn, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to _____.
| A．show she was familiar with the city |
| B．see some places for the last time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．reach the destination on time |
The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he _____.
| A．wanted to do her a favor |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment in advance |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passengers |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Giving is always a pleasure. |
| B．People should respect each other. |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others’ concern. |
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