高中英语故事类阅读试题

When the swim season began, my 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and I cut a deal. She would go to practice three times a week, and I wouldn’t make her compete in swim meets.
Elizabeth does not like swim meets. She gets horribly nervous because she is afraid that she will do something wrong and let everyone down. She started to talk about quitting swimming, which broke my heart because she loves swimming. So I came up with the deal.
Recently, Elizabeth’s team announced a T-shirt relay, which works like this: One person from each relay team puts on a T-shirt and a pair of socks and swims 50 meters. She takes off the clothes and put them on the next person, who then swims 50 meters. This continues until everyone on the team has completed a lap.
It wasn’t exactly a meet, because it would involve only team members. But Elizabeth thought it was. I told Elizabeth I really wanted her to go. She fought back angrily but finally agreed.
When the day for the T-shirt relay arrived, Elizabeth was nervous. She was chosen to swim the anchor leg (最后一棒).By the last leg, Elizabeth’s team had built up a narrow lead. Then it was Elizabeth’s turn to swim.
Approaching the halfway mark, she was still in the lead. Then somebody noticed that one of Elizabeth’s socks had fallen off and was floating in the pool. “She has to get that sock on before the end of the race,” a swimming official told Elizabeth’s team, “or you will be disqualified.”
Everybody on her team started shouting, “Elizabeth! Get the sock!” But she couldn’t hear them. Meanwhile, a girl in lane two was gaining on Elizabeth. Just then, a girl on my daughter’s team jumped in the pool, grabbed the sock, swam after Elizabeth and put the sock on Elizabeth.
With the sock finally on, Elizabeth swam her heart out for the last 15 meters and won! There was much celebration. And, for a few minutes, Elizabeth was the hero.
On the ride home, she relived her moment of glory again and again. She told me that if the T-shirt relay was an Olympic event, her team would win the gold medal, I told her that in my professional opinion, she was absolutely right.
What do we know about the T-shirt relay?

A．Elizabeth was eager to attend it.

B．Elizabeth made full preparations for it.

C．Elizabeth thought she was sure to fail the relay.

D．Elizabeth agreed to attend it after a lot of persuasion.

What happened to Elizabeth when she was swimming the anchor leg?

A．The girl on the other team swam faster than her.

B．She was disqualified for breaking the rule.

C．She was too nervous to swim.

D．One of her socks fell off.

We can infer from the last paragraph that Elizabeth_____.

A．believed she was the best of her team.

B．hoped to take part in the Olympics.

C．overcame her fear of swim meets.

D．was grateful for the girl’s help.

What would be the best title for the text?

A．Born to be a swimmer	B．Swimming in socks
C．The swim season	D．Never give up!

Three Japanese tourists taking a holiday in Australia got stuck when their GPS told them they could drive from the mainland to an island, failing to mention the 15 kilometres of water and mud in between.
As they drove their hired car from Moreton Bay to nearby North Stradbroke Island, they started to notice the firm surface they were driving on giving way to the well-known bay mud. However, being confident that their GPS would direct them to a road soon, they decided to drive on, managing to travel around 500 metres before their car was up to its tires in mud. To make matters worse, the tide(潮汐) started to come in and soon forced them to seek help and abandon the vehicle. Just four hours later the car was trapped in two metres of water — to the great amusement of onlookers on the shore and passengers on passing boats and ferries.
Yuzu Noda, 21, said she was listening to the GPS and “it told us we could drive down there. It kept saying it would navigate(导航) us to a road. But we got stuck…there’s lots of mud.” She and her travel companions Tomonari Saeki, 22, and Keita Osada, 21, instead had to give up their plans for a day trip to the island and headed back to the Gold Coast of a lift from the RACQ tow truck(吊车) driver who was called to the trapped car. No such luck for the hired car though – after assessing the situation, no attempt was made to recover it. The students from Tokyo, who are due to return home tomorrow, said the experience would not put them off returning to Australia for another visit. Mr. Tomonari said, “It has rained every day on our six day holiday. Hopefully next time we come back, it will be sunny.”
The car was covered by insurance, but the tourists will have to pay up to about $1500 in extra charges.
The three Japanese tourists got stuck because___________.

A．there was no way to the island

B．their GPS was broken during their journey

C．their GPS had given the wrong information

D．their car was not made in Japan

They didn’t abandon their car until _________.

A．some onlookers went to save them

B．they got stuck in the mud

C．there came the tide

D．they managed to travel around 500 metres

How did these Japanese students get back?

A．They had to walk back to their living place.

B．They had to take a lift from the tow truck driver.

C．They had to repair their GPS and drove back.

D．They had to turn to passengers on boats and ferries.

Jeanne Calment, a French woman, became a record breaker on 17 October of 1995, when at the age of 120 years and 238 days, she became the longest-lived human being on record. A Japanese man died in 1986 at the age of 120 years and 237 days.
Jeanne Calment lives in a small old people’s home in the south of France; her husband, her only child and her grandson have all died. She is nearly blind and deaf and is always in a wheelchair, but her doctor describes her as being more like a 90-year-old in good health than someone of 120. She still has a lively sense of humor. When asked on her 120th birthday what she expected of the future, she replied: A very short one. She also remarked that she thought the good Lord had forgotten all about her.
So what is the key to a long life? According to some doctors, diet, exercise and no smoking are the three important factors. Jeanne Calment has followed two of the tips. She has always eaten a healthy diet, and she used to do exercise every day until she broke her leg at the age of 115. However, until recently she drank two glasses of strong red wine a day, and she does smoke (now only a little). Besides, Jeanne Calment might have got very good genes from her parents. Her father lived to the age of 94 and her mother to 86.
A local lawyer bought her house when she was 80 under an agreement that he would pay her some money every year until her death. It must have seemed a good move at the time, but so far the lawyer has paid her at least three times the value of the house. Every year on her birthday Jeanne Calment sends him a card saying:
Sorry, I’m still alive!
How does Jeanne Calment feel about her old age?

A．She is miserable and unhappy.

B．She is cheerful and humorous.

C．She would like to live much longer.

D．She feels she is going to die very soon.

Jeanne Calment owes her good health and long life to _______.

A．smoking only a little every day

B．her giving up smoking and drinking

C．drinking two glasses of strong red wine every day

D．the good genes from her parents, a healthy diet and some exercise

Which of the following could best replace the word “move” in the fourth paragraph?

A．deal

B．trick

C．march

D．sport

Why does Jeanne Calment say “Sorry, I’m still alive” to the local lawyer every year on her birthday?

A．Because she had an agreement at 80 with the lawyer which was to her advantage.

B．Because she has asked the lawyer to pay her more rent than they first agreed.

C．Because the lawyer has paid her much more money than the value of the house.

D．Because the house she sold to the lawyer isn’t worth the money he has already paid.

Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins. The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.
Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.
A. help the Javanese with their illness
. find ways to grow better crops
C. do some research about the island
D. spend his holiday
Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?

A．To eat them.

B．To make money by selling them.

C．To give the Javanese a surprise.

D．To carry out his experiments.

If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.

A．eat more rice	B．eat vitamin pills
C．eat some chicken	D．eat more meat

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people werr not willing to work on farms along the Atlantic because they worried about the terrible storms that would destroy buildings and crops. The farmer received a steady stream of refusals at the interview for a farmhand.
Finally, a short, thin man approached the farmer. “Are you a good farmhand?” the farmer asked him.
^“Well, I can sleep when the wind blows. ” answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer ，the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm ，busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.
Then one night the wind howled loudly from offshore. Jumping out of bed，the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled，“ Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they are blown away! ”
The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, “No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows. ”
Enraged (激怒）by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot . Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement，he discovered that all of the hay had been covered. The cows were in the barn，the chickens were in the coops，and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could be blown away.
The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he also returned to his bed to sleep while the wind was still blowing.
Why did the farmer constantly advertise for hired hands?

A．Because he needed hired hands all the year round.

B．Because there was too much work to do on the farm.

C．Because he could hardly hire a farmhand.

D．Because he offered poor conditions for the hired hands.

The farmer felt amazed because _______.

A．the little man was sleeping

B．everything was in safety

C．the wind was too strong

D．he could not open the doors

What did the man mean by saying “I can sleep when the wind blows” ?

A．He needed much sleep after working hard on the farm.

B．He was very brave and not afraid of wind

C．He enjoyed sleeping when the wind blew.

D．He would get everything done before the wind blew.

Which of the following statements about the little man is TRUE?

A．He was not afraid of storms.

B．He was a heavy sleeper under any condition.

C．He was hard-working and devoted to his work.

D．He was fired shortly after he tied everything down.

In 1978, I was 18 and was working as a nurse in a small town about 270 km away from Sydney, Australia. I was looking forward to having five days off from duty. Unfortunately, the only one train a day back to my home in Sydney had already left. So I thought I’d hitch a ride (搭便车).
I waited by the side of the highway for three hours but no one stopped for me. Finally, a man walked over and introduced himself as Gordon. He said that although he couldn’t give me a lift, I should come back to his house for lunch. He noticed me standing for hours in the November heat and thought I must be hungry. I was doubtful as a young girl but he assured （使…放心）me I was safe, and he also offered to help me find a lift home afterwards. When we arrived at his house, he made us sandwiches. After lunch, he helped me find a lift home.
Twenty-five years later, in 2003, while I was driving to a nearby town one day, I saw an elderly man standing in the glaring heat, trying to hitch a ride. I thought it was another chance to repay someone for the favour I’d been given decades earlier. I pulled over and picked him up. I made him comfortable on the back seat and offered him some water.
After a few moments of small talk, the man said to me, “You haven’t changed a bit, even your red hair is still the same.”
I couldn’t remember where I’d met him. He then told me he was the man who had given me lunch and helped me find a lift all those years ago. It was Gordon.
The author had to hitch a ride one day in 1978 because           .

A．her work delayed her trip to Sydney

B．she missed the only train back home

C．she was going home for her holidays

D．the town was far away from Sydney

Which of the following did Gordon do according to Paragraph 2?

A．He helped the girl find a ride.

B．He gave the girl a ride back home.

C．He bought sandwiches for the girl.

D．He watched the girl for three hours.

The reason why the author offered a lift to the elderly man was that             .

A．she realized he was Gordon

B．she had known him for decades

C．she was going to the nearby town

D．she wanted to repay the favour she once got

What does the author want to tell the readers through the story?

A．Those who give rides will be repaid.

B．Good manners bring about happiness.

C．Giving sometimes produces nice results.

D．People should offer free rides to others.

Peter, a high school student, was pretty busy with school, and he was on the soccer team. High school was hard, because everyone wanted to have nice clothes, hang out, drive cars, and all these cost money. Peter’s father was the sort of guy that believed you had to earn whatever you got, so he wasn’t just about to hand over lots of money for Peter to use to have fun. So, he had to get a job.
During his freshman year summer vacation, his classmate got him a job working on a hay (干草) farm. He threw hay up into wagons as the tractor drove around fields, and then they stacked (剁起) it in the hot barn.（干草棚） It was a hot, low paying job.
He once worked a few nights a week at a grocery store. He put things on the shelf. It was a lot of lifting and carrying, and his arms were strong from this and the previous job. It was dull and didn’t pay much.
He took some time off when soccer got serious, but the following summer he tried working at a lumber（废旧家具）yard. It was hot outside, but he got a lot of exercise lifting and carrying things like boards and drywall. He also learned a lot about building supplies. It still didn’t pay well.
From there, he spent a year doing some tutoring for a friend of the family, but that was piecemeal. His first real job came the last year at school, when he fixed registers and worked on computers at a big box store. It was his favorite job yet, but it still didn’t pay well.
What Peter realized with all of these jobs was that he needed a better paying job! The only way to get that was to get trained or educated. He could go to school and get a 2­year degree in an office or technical position. His other choices were going to a 4­year college or joining the army. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet, but he knew he had to do something. Jobs were a lot of work, money was hard to earn, but he liked staying busy and being able to buy things. Peter wanted the most out of life, and that meant education.
How many jobs had Peter taken?

A．Three

B．Four

C．Five

D．Six

All the jobs Peter had taken had one thing in common:________.

A．They were done during his vacation

B．They were dull and tiresome

C．They needed hard labour

D．They didn’t pay well

________was the most important for Peter if he wanted a good job.

A．Confidence

B．Education

C．Opportunity

D．Wisdom

We can learn from the text that________.

A．Peter knew what to do for his future

B．Peter’s father didn’t care about him

C．it was very hard for Peter to make his choices

D．Peter was determined to do whatever he liked

A long time before I was born, my grandma and grandpa had a young family of four little girls. During the Great Depression (大萧条时期), work was hard to find, so Grandpa did whatever jobs he could. On weekends he and Grandma dug a garden to grow some of their own food.
Everybody worked to keep the garden growing. All summer long, the family ate food and enjoyed flowers from the garden. Grandma put up strawberry jam, tomatoes, beans, peppers, pears and peaches in canning jars. They were good to eat through the long winter.
The family grew up, and grandparents grew old. It became hard to keep up the garden, so they made it a little smaller. There was still plenty to eat from the garden and lovely flowers to enjoy.
Then one summer when Grandpa was eighty-nine years old, all he could do was watch from his lawn chair as the vegetables grew and the roses bloomed. Summer slowly faded, and Grandpa died before it was time to bring in the harvest.
It was a lonely winter for Grandma. She sat near the window, looking out at the yard and wondering if she could plant a garden in the spring. When spring came, she planted only a little garden.
One sunny day in the early summer, Grandma heard a commotion (骚动) in the front yard and looked out the window to see a frightening sight. A huge swarm of bees filled the air between two tall trees. The buzzing sound was very loud.
The bees made their way into a hole up in one of the trees. Before long, every one of those bees had disappeared into its new home. During the next few days, the bees were busy minding their own business. Grandma could always see a few bees buzzing in and out around the opening high in the tree. Before long, she decided the bees weren’t bothering anyone, so she didn’t give them another thought.
That summer, Grandma’s little garden grew and grew. The neighbors would stop to admire the huge crop of vegetables and puzzle over their own gardens weren’t doing well.
One day, Grandma’s brother Frank visited from Arizona. As Grandma made Frank a delicious lunch of squash cakes and homemade applesauce, she told him the story about the swarm of bees. Frank said, “In Arizona, the farmers often hired beekeepers to set up beehives near their fields. The bees pollinated (授粉) the crops and helped them to grow.”
That was when Grandma realized that her bees had helped with her garden all summer. “So that’s why my little garden had such a big crop!” she exclaimed.
From that time on, Grandma always believed that since Grandpa couldn’t be there to help her that summer, he had sent the bees to take his place and make Grandma’s little garden grow and grow.
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．The garden was dug by Grandparents during the Great Depression.

B．The garden provided enough food and flowers for the family.

C．The garden was made smaller as Grandparents grew older.

D．The garden once lay in waste after Grandpa passed away.

It can be inferred from the passage that __________.

A．Grandma was too busy to hire someone to deal with the bees.

B．Grandma felt very lonely and helpless when Grandpa passed away.

C．Frank hired beekeepers to help Grandma keep the garden growing.

D．Grandpa turned into bees to help Grandma keep up the garden.

The method the author uses in the underlined sentence is _______.

A．offering analyses	B．providing explanations
C．making comparison	D．giving examples

Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Grandpa’s Bees	B．Grandparents’ Garden
C．The Harvest of Summer	D．The Secret of the Garden

My name is Amy. I’m a 25-year-old graduate student who likes yoga, home-decorating shows and eating spoonfuls of peanut butter straight from the jar. Oh yeah, and I’m an iPhone addict.
I wasn’t always an addict. In fact, for many years I told myself I didn’t want a fancy cellphone. They seemed like too much work, always ringing and demanding attention. I was perfectly content with my simple cellphone, and I didn’t feel like changing my mind any time.
However, about a year ago, I found myself envious of all those proud iPhone owners, holding their shiny new phones and showing them off to all their friends. I started to eavesdrop on conversations about “iPhone apps”, feeling like a tourist listening to a language I couldn’t speak.
Eventually I couldn’t ignore my iPhone instinct (本能) any longer, and I welcomed my new iPhone into my life. I instantly fell in love with the little bundle of joy, and could no longer imagine a life without it.
To my surprise, I suddenly found myself with a whole new circle of friends—other iPhone owners I could go to for advice and support as I learned the various functions of my new device. They responded to my iPhone-related queries when my other friends couldn’t, and didn’t roll their eyes when I bragged（吹牛）about all the things little Eloise (yes, I named her) could do.
For a couple months I built my new life with Eloise. However, I realized I had a problem when one day I found myself Google-mapping my way to my mailbox, which happens to be right outside my front door.
When I reflected upon the past few months, I couldn’t believe I didn’t see this coming. All the warning signs were there. Eloise slept right beside me and was the first thing I reached for in the morning. I checked my e-mail about 20 times a day. I also experienced attachment anxiety when I left poor Eloise in the changing room at the gym. What if she rang and needed my response? Or, even worse, what if a careless gym-goer knocked her out of my bag and caused her screen to crack?
Once I admitted I had a problem, things started to change. What used to feel like friendly messages now felt like constant complaining to respond. I hated that I could no longer leave the house without Eloise in my hand. Eventually, I felt angry with Eloise so much that I wanted to throw her at the wall.
I decided something had to be done. But, as I quickly realized, iPhones are like cigarettes and not easy to quit.
Then, while taking the bus to work one day, I was unexpectedly forced to quit—at least temporarily. When I reached into my purse to grab Eloise, I found her overcome by fever. My head swam with panic as I attempted to solve the problem, but without result. I couldn’t call anyone for advice. I couldn’t Google whether this had happened to any fellow iPhone owners. The Apple Store was closed by the time I finished work, so I headed home with fear into an Eloise-less night. But, after a couple hours without any text alerts, push notifications, or even good old-fashioned phone calls, I felt ... calmer. Without my electronic bed partner, I drifted off into the deepest sleep I’d had in months. The next morning, I read the news from the simplicity of the newspaper, instead of from my iPhone. I even noticed the cherry blossoms blooming.
My goodness, what had I been missing?
The passage is mainly about ___________.

A．how I changed my attitude towards iPhone

B．why I was content with my iPhone

C．how my simple cellphone changed my lifestyle

D．why I preferred to use iPhone eventually

The phrase “ eavesdrop on” ( Paragraph 3) is closer in meaning to __________.

A．adapt suddenly to	B．join unwillingly in
C．listen secretly to	D．argue fiercely in

IPhones’__________ can not be listed among the reasons why the writer was addicted to it.

A．diverse application	B．excellent service
C．bundle of joy	D．good company

When did the writer get to know that she had to tear herself away from her iPhone?

A．She needed her iPhone to lead her to the mailbox.

B．She slept with her iPhone beside her every night.

C．She checked and read her e-mails too frequently.

D．She dared not leave her iPhone alone at the gym.

What message does the writer pass on at the end of the passage?

A．She considered throwing away her iPhone regretful.

B．She looked forward to starting her new life with Eloise.

C．She thought it of little benefit to have a simple cellphone.

D．She was aware that she had to kick the habit of being addicted to her iPhone.

EACH of us fails from time to time. If we are wise, we accept these failures as a necessary part of the learning process. But all too often we convey to our children either by words or by actions that failure is something to be ashamed of, that nothing but top performance meets our approval.
Donnie was my youngest third-grader. His fear of failure kept him from classroom games that other children played excitedly. He seldom answered questions – he might be wrong. He seldom finished his work because he repeatedly checked with me to be sure he hadn’t made a mistake.
I tried my best to build his self-confidence. But nothing changed until midterm, when Mary Anne, a student teacher, was assigned to our classroom. She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, adored her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary was baffled by this little boy who feared he might make a mistake.
Then one morning we were working math problems. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row. Pleased with his progress, I left the children with Mary. But when I returned, Donnie was in tears. He’d missed the third problem.
Mary looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. From the desk we shared, she got a canister (小筒) filled with pencils.
“Look, Donnie,” she said, “I’ve got something to show you.” She removed the pencils and placed them on his desk. “See these pencils, Donnie?” she continued. “They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That’s because we make mistakes too. Lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That’s what you must learn to do, too.”
She kissed him and continued: “I’ll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you’ll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers.” Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer (少许) of a smile.
The pencil became Donnie’s prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne’s frequent encouragement and praise for even Donnie’s small successes, gradually persuaded him that it’s all right to make mistakes – as long as you erase them and try again.
The word “baffled” in Paragraph 3 most probably means __________.

A．eased

B．confused

C．defeated

D．impressed

Which of the following words best describe Mary Anne as she is shown in the article?

A．Patient and inspiring.	B．Creative and modest.
C．Determined and strict.	D．Considerate and proud.

Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?

A．Each of us should try our best to be a perfectionist.

B．Donnie rarely finished his work because he seldom answered questions and thus had difficulties.

C．The story was written mainly to sing high praise for Mary Anne.

D．The author seems to believe that failure is an opportunity to learn and make progress.

Sir Steven Redgrave
Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
“In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes(糖尿病) . Believing my career was over, I felt extremely low. Then one of the specialists said there was no reason why I should stop training and competing. That was it—the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believe in myself. I am not saying that it isn’t difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way.”
Karen Pickering
Swimming World Champion
“I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that sort of workload by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success—you can’t follow a career in any field without being well-organized. List what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you’ll be a step closer to achieving them.”
Kirsten Best
Poet & Writer
“When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can’t achieve something. Then, there are other distractions, such as family or hobbies. The key is to concentrate. When I feel tense, it helps a lot to repeat words such as ‘calm’, ‘peace’ or ‘focus’, either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and increases my confidence. This is a habit that can become second nature quite easily and is a powerful psychological tool.”
What does Sir Steven Redgrave mainly talk about?

A．Difficulties influenced his career

B．Specialists offered him medical advice.

C．Training helped him defeat his disease.

D．He overcame the shadow of illness to win.

What does Karen Pickering put on top of her diary?

A．Her achievements	B．Her daily happenings
C．Her training schedule	D．Her sports career

What does the underlined word “distractions” probably refer to?

A．Ways that help one to focus.

B．Activities that turn one’s attention away.

C．Words that help one to feel less tense.

D．Habits that make it hard for one to relax.

According to the passage, what do the three people have in common?

A．Hard work.	B．Devotion
C．Courage	D．Self-confidence

Growing up in Philadelphia, Lieberman started cooking with his stay-at-home dad when he was seven. His food-loving family had two kitchens, and he quickly learned what was the best way to bake his cakes. Lieberman improved his kitchen skills greatly during a year abroad before college, learning from a cook in Italy and studying local specialties（地方特色菜）in Germany, Spain and France. At Yale, he was known for throwing dinner parties, single-handed frying and baking while mixing drinks for dozens of friends. Just for fun, he and some friends decided to tape a show named Campus Cuisine about his cooking. Lieberman was a real college student showing his classmates how to do things like making drinks out of dining-hall fruit. That helped the show become very popular among the students. They would stop Lieberman after classes to ask for his advice on cooking. Tapes of the show were passed around, with which his name went beyond the school and finally to the Food Network.
Food Network producer Flay hopes the young cook will find a place on the network television.He says Lieberman’s charisma is key.“Food TV isn’t about food any more,” says Flay. “It’s about your personality and finding a way to keep people’s eyeballs on your show.”
But Lieberman isn’t putting all his eggs in one basket. After taping the first season of the new show, Lieberman was back in his own small kitchen preparing sandwiches. An airline company was looking for someone to come up with a tasteful, inexpensive and easy-to-make menu to serve on its flights, Lieberman got the job.
We can learn from the text that Lieberman’s family __________.

A．love cooking at home	B．have relatives in Europe
C．often hold parties	D．own a restaurant

The Food Network got to know Lieberman __________.

A．at one of his parties	B．from his teachers
C．on a television program	D．through his taped show

What does the underlined word “charisma” in the text refer to?

A．A way to show one’s achievement.

B．A natural ability to attract others.

C．Lieberman’s after-class interest.

D．Lieberman’s fine cooking skill.

Why did the airline company give Lieberman the job?

A．He could prepare meals in a small kitchen.

B．He was famous for his shows on Food TV.

C．He could cook cheap, delicious and simple meals.

D．He was good at using eggs to make sandwiches.

Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook  page  was  for  the  Ryan  Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.
Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.

A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet

B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person

C．an object reminded him of Ryan

D．he raised money for Ryan

After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.

A．proud of her son	B．grateful for his help
C．happy about his recovery	D．sad again at her son' s death

Which of the following can best describe Ryan?

A．Determined and considerate.	B．Optimistic and brave.
C．Friendly and patient.	D．Brave and proud.

We know from the text that Walter_________.

A．survived the cancer

B．experienced 14 operations

C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook

D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation

Treasure hunts (寻宝) have excited people’s imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues (线索) found in a book when he wrote a children’s story, Masquerade, in 1979. The book was about a hare, and a month before it came out,  Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of “red herrings”, or false clues, to mislead them.
Ken Roberts, the man who found the hare, had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time, he found it by logic, not by luck. His success came from the fact that he had gained an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words: “One of Six to Eight” under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII’s six wives. Even here, however, Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year before a new idea occurred to him. He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well, but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon, until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.
Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24th 1982, he found the treasure. It was worth ₤3000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.
The underlined word “them” (paragraph 1) refers to __________.

A．readers of Masquerade

B．treasure hunts

C．Henry VIII’s six wives

D．red herrings

What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．An exciting historical event.

B．The importance of logical thinking.

C．The attraction of Masquerade.

D．A modern treasure hunt.

Which of the following describes Roberts’ logic in searching for the hare?
a. Henry VIII’s six wives
b. Katherine’s burial place at Kimbolton
c. Williams’ childhood in Ampthill
d. Katherine of Aragon
e. stone crosses in Ampthill Park

A．a -b- c- e- d	B．d- b- c- e- a
C．b- a- e- c- d	D．a- d- b- c- e

What is the most important clue in the story to help Ken Roberts find the hare?

A．Katherine of Aragon.

B．Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

C．Two stone crosses in Ampthill.

D．Williams’ hometown.

Like lots of other girls and boys，when Lisa Cao was a kid，she used to watch the Olympics. “I always wanted to be good at sport and I found athletic potential in my body”， the New York City citizen tells her friends. But there was no sport available so she took up piano lessons. Then，at the age of 15，she decided to drop the lessons and put her athletic potential to the test with running. At age 18，Lisa Cao ran her first-ever marathon in New York City. And now，the 27-year-old  has 54 marathons 26. miles) and ultramarathons (100 miles)  under her belt.
What does it take to be an ultramarathoner? A lot of devotion，even when difficulties occur sometimes. “Making time for running is really hard when life is so busy，” she says. “There’s a big work-life balance that I have to keep. I have to wake up earlier on the weekends. And oh，the potential for excuses! With NYC’s wild winters as of late，it’s easy to blame the weather，roll over in bed and put off a solid run. I have a fix for this，though，” she says. “Cute clothes. With the horrible weather， I bought cute clothes as motivation to run and actually wear them. ”
While she’s training during low season in the winter，Lisa Cao tries to run a “base” of 20 to 30 miles per week to stay prepared. During high season in the spring and summer，she’ll run around 30 to 40 miles，but she also gets a lot of quality miles from her races.
When did Lisa Cao run her first marathon?

A．At the age of 27.

B．When she was 15 years old.

C．Three years after she began running.

D．Nine years after she dropped her piano lessons.

What made Lisa Cao have the desire of joining in sports?

A．Being different from other kids of her age.

B．Wanting to join in the Olympics.

C．Having no interest in piano lessons.

D．Having athletic potential.

Why does Lisa Cao buy beautiful clothes in terrible weather?

A．To have a better sleep.

B．To motivate herself to keep running.

C．To protect herself from any harm.

D．To save time for further training.

Where is the  text probably taken from?

A．A sport website

B．A science book.

C．A college poster

D．A football magazine.