On a cool November afternoon in Fleming Island, Florida, Melissa Hawkinson, 41, was driving her five-year-old twins home from school when she saw a sudden splash in Doctors Lake just ahead. What was that? She thought. As she drove up to the scene, she saw a half-submerged car sinking about 30 yards offshore. “It was going down pretty quickly,” Hawkinson recalls. She stopped the car near the boat ramp and ran toward the water. Water is going to be cold, she thought.
She took off her vest and leather boots, got into the icy water, and swam to the car, where she found Cameron Dorsey, five, trapped into his car as the swirling water rose around him.
Hawkinson tried to open the door, but it was locked. So she pushed and pulled hard on the partially open window until she could reach through and unlock the door. She pulled the boy free, swam to shore, and handed him off to onlookers who were only watching them on a dock. The driver, the boy’s suicidal father, swam back to land on his own. Afterward, Hawkinson sat on the shore wrapped in a blanket. “For ten or 15 minutes, I couldn’t stop shaking,” she said.
There’s nothing visibly extraordinary about Melissa Hawkinson, an energetic stay-at-home mom with brown hair and a sweet smile. Yet something made her different from the dockside onlookers that day. Why do some people act quickly, willing to take a risk for a stranger? What makes them run toward danger rather than away from it? Hawkinson, the Granite Mountain Hotshots (能手，高手)---19 of whom lost their life this past summer in Arizona--- every hero who puts his or her life on the line to save another: what makes them brave?
Moreover, can bravery be learned, or is it a quality with which you are born? The answer is complex. Bravery taps the mind, brain and heart. It comes from instinct, training and sympathy. Today, neurologists, psychologists and other researchers are studying bravery, trying to uncover the mystery.It can be learned from the passage that _______.
| A．Melissa Hawkinson was a 41-year-old nurse |
| B．it was spring when the accident happened |
| C．Melissa Hawkinson was picking up her five-year-old son |
| D．Melissa Hawkinson was kind and courageous. |
What conclusion can we draw from the third paragraph?
| A．Not everyone was ready to risk saving the five-year-old boy.. |
| B．The father committed suicide because of the divorce. |
| C．The father was saved in the end by Melissa Hawkinson. |
| D．No one else was available except Melissa Hawkinson. |
How does the writer find other people on the dockside?
| A．Warm and ready to help | B．Thoughtful |
| C．Kind of cold-blooded | D．Not skillful at swimming |
What is the writer’s purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To set us thinking what makes people brave. |
| B．To call on us to learn from such people as Hawkinson. |
| C．To remind people of risk while saving others. |
| D．To show people bravery can be learned. |
I became a teacher at 55 years of age. Things were going on so well during my first two periods. Then came my 3rd period class – the 8th graders with only one girl in the class. I thought the class was bad until the intercom(内部通话系统) came on and the office was asking if I was in my classroom. “Of course,” I responded. A student who knew he was going to be late for class had informed the office I was not in my classroom – 10 minutes after class began.
When the student came in and I walked over to greet him, he said, “Don’t touch me.” He then put his head on his desk and did not seem to listen to a word I said. I did not comfront(使面对) him with the “lie” to the office.
The next day he came into class on time. This time instead of listening or following instructions on keyboarding software, he played Internet games. I walked over to him. He looked at me ready to snap back(没好气地顶撞) at anything I said. I asked him, “Where did you learn to use a computer like that?” he looked at me surprised. I repeated, “You are really good at that. Where did you learn so much?” He began to tell me his father “used to” buy him games to play, but not anymore. I could feel the pain. Instead of blaming him for being off task, I surprised him and praised him for his skills. Then, I asked him to show me what he could do in our software. He was amazed.
On a Friday night at a high school football game, I really got my breakthrough(突破). From about five feet away, in front of his friends he came over to me and gave me a big hug saying, “Hi, Ms. Marie.” We talked for a while and before he walked away, he had hugged me two more times. This was a long way from “don’t touch me” on that first day.How did the boy react(反应) towards Ms. Marie’s greeting on the first day?
| A．Gratefully. | B．Coldly. |
| C．Respectfully. | D．Amazedly. |
From the dialogue between Ms. Marie and the boy in Paragraph 3, we can infer that _____.
| A．the boy was impatient with Ms. Marie’s interruption |
| B．the boy was proud to show how to play games |
| C．Ms. Marie was curious about the boy’s father |
| D．Ms. Marie felt sorry for the boy |
By saying “I really got my breakthrough”, Ms. Marie meant _____.
| A．she finally learned to play games |
| B．she won the boy’s trust in the end |
| C．she scored at the football game |
| D．she made great achievements in teaching |
After 20 years as a full-time wife and mother, I decided to be a school bus driver for I loved kids. After hard practice, by the time school started that year I’d gotten the hang of it. I was happy in my new work. I became a combination of chauffeur, nurse and friend. And if the kids needed it, I’d put on my “Tough Big Sister” act. It was a lot like my previous job---being a mom.
When I think about my years of bus driving, many things crowded in, but mostly, I remember Charlie.
Charlie, eight years old, with blond hair and crystalline gray eyes, began riding my bus in September of my fourth year driving. They all had stories to tell me about their summers. Charlie, though, ignored me. He didn’t even answer when I asked his name.
From that day on, Charlie was a trial. If a fight broke out I didn’t have to turn my head to know who had started it. If someone was throwing spitballs I could guess the culprit’s name. If a girl was crying, chances were Charlie had pulled her hair. No matter how I spoke to him, gently or firmly, he wouldn’t say a word. He’d just stare at me with those big gray eyes of his.
I asked around some, and found out Charlie’s father was dead and he didn’t live with his mother. He deserves my patience, I thought. So I practiced every bit of patience I could muster. To my cheery “Good Morning”, he was silent. When I wished him a happy Halloween, he sneered. Many, many times I asked God how I could reach Charlie. “I’m at my wit’s end.” I’d say. Still I was sure that this child needed to feel some warmth from me. So, when he’d pass by, I’d ruffle his hair or pat him on the arm.
Toward the end of that year, the kids on my bus gave me a small trophy inscribed “To the Best Bus Driver Ever”. I propped it up on the dashboard. On top I hung a small tin heart that a little girl had given me. In red paint she had written, “I love Polly and Polly loves me.”
On the next-to-last day of school I was delayed a few minutes talking to the principal. When I got on the bus I realized that the tin heart was gone. “Does anyone know what happened to the little heart that was up here?” I asked. For once with 39 children, there was silence.
One boy piped up, “Charlie was the first one on the bus. I bet（打赌） he took it.” Other children joined the chorus, “Yeah! Charlie did it! Search him!” I asked Charlie, “Have you seen the heart?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he protested（抗议）. Standing up, he took a few pennies and a small ball out of his pockets. “See, I don’t have it.”
“I bet he does!” insisted the girl who had given me the heart. “Check his pockets.”
Charlie glowered when I asked him to come forward. His gaze burned into mine. I stuck my hand into one pocket. Nothing. I reached into the other pocket. Then I felt it ---the familiar outline of the small tin heart. Charlie stared at me for a long time. There were no tears in those big gray eyes, no plea(乞求) for mercy. He seemed to be waiting for what he’d come to expect from the world. I was about to pull the tin heart out of Charlie’s pocket when I stopped myself. Let him keep it, a voice seemed to whisper.
“It must have fallen off before I got here,” I said to the kids. “I’ll probably find it back at the depot.” Without a word, Charlie returned to his seat. When he got off at his stop, he didn’t so much as glance at me.
That summer Charlie moved away.
Eventually I retired. And there my story as a school bus driver ends, except for one more incident. A dozen years after retirement I was in a department store in Kansas City, when someone said tentatively, “Polly?”
I turned to see a balding（在脱发的） man who was approaching middle age. “Yes?”
His face didn’t look familiar until I noticed his big gray eyes. There was no doubt. It was Charlie.
He told me he was living in Montana and doing well. Then, to my surprise, he hugged me. After he let go, he pulled something from his pocket and held it up for me to see. An old key chain….bent out of shape, the lettering faded. You can probably guess what it was---the little tin heart that said, “I love Polly and Polly loves me.”
“You were the only one who kept trying,” he explained. We hugged again, and went our separate ways. That night I thought over his words. You were the only one who kept trying. Before I fell asleep I thanked the Lord for the reassurance that I’d done a good job and for all the qualifications he’d given me to do it with.From whose point of view is the story told?
| A．a mother’s | B．Polly’s |
| C．Charlie’s | D．Tough Big Sister’s |
From the passage, we learn that Charlie was _______ .
| A．gentle and smart | B．cold and firm |
| C．naughty and lazy | D．tough and lonely |
The sentence “He seemed to be waiting for what he’d come to expect from the world.”
suggests that Charlie __________.
| A．felt ashamed of what he had done |
| B．felt Polly had done wrong to him |
| C．expected to get away with what he had done |
| D．expected to get punished for what he had done |
Charlie kept the tin heart all the time because it reminded him __________.
| A．it was a Christmas gift from Polly |
| B．it once gave him warmth |
| C．someone there cared him |
| D．it was once a shame to him |
What do you think is the best reward to Polly’s love for Charlie?
| A．His doing well in his life. |
| B．People’s appreciation for her kindness. |
| C．His thanks to her love. |
| D．Charlie’s recognition of Polly after many years. |
Which detail from the story best shows Polly’s love for Charlie?
| A．She wished him a happy Halloween. |
| B．She ruffled his hair when he passed her. |
| C．She greeted him with cheery “Good Morning”. |
| D．She lied to the other kids about what happened to the tin heart. |
“OK,”I said to my daughter as she bent over her afternoon bowl of rice. “What’s going on with you and your friend J.?” J. is the leader of a group of third-graders at her camp-- a position Lucy herself occupied the previous summer. Now she’s the one on the outs. and every day at snack time, she tells me all about it, while I offer the unhelpful advice all summer long.
“She’s fond of giving orders, ”Lucy complained. “She’s turning everyone against me. She’s mean. And she’s fat.” “Excuse me,” I said, struggling for calm. “What did you just said?” “She’s fat.” Lucy mumbled(含糊地说).“We’re going upstairs,” I said, my voice cold. “We’re going to discuss this.” And up we went. I’d spent the nine years since her birth getting ready for this day, the day we’d have the conversation about this horrible word. I knew exactly what to say to the girl on the receiving end of the teasing, but in all of my imaginings, it never once occurred to me that my daughter would be the one who used the F word-Fat.
My daughter sat on her bed, and I sat beside her. “How would you feel if someone made fun of you for something that wasn’t your fault?” I began. “She could stop eating so much,” Lucy mumbled, mouthing the simple advice a thousand doctors have given overweight women for years.
“It’s not always that easy,” I said . “Everyone’s different in terms of how they treat food.” Lucy looked at me, waiting for me to go on. I opened my mouth, then closed it. Should I tell her that, in teasing a woman’s weight, she’s joined the long tradition of critics? Should I tell her I didn’t cry when someone posted my picture and commented , “I’m sorry, but aren’t authors who write books marketed to young women supposed to be pretty?”
Does she need to know, now, that life isn’t fair ? I feel her eyes on me, waiting for an answer I don’t have. Words are my tools. Stories are my job. It’s possible she’ll remember what I say forever, and I have no idea what to say.
So I tell her the only thing I can come up with that is absolutely true. I say to my daughter, “I love you, and there is nothing you could ever do to make me not love you. But I’m disappointed in you right now. There are plenty of reasons for not liking someone. What she looks like isn’t one of them. ”
Lucy nods, tears on her cheeks. “I won’t say that again,” she tells me, and I pull her close, pressing my nose against her hair. As we sit there together, I pray for her to be smart and strong. I pray for her to find friends, work she loves, a partner who loves her. And still, always, I pray that she will never struggle as I’ve struggled, that weight will never be her cross to bear. She may not be able to use the word in our home, but I can use in my head. I pray that she will never get fat.
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 indicates that Lucy ______.
| A．has turned against her friend J. |
| B．gets along well with her friend J. |
| C．has begun to compete with her friend J. |
| D．often makes fun of her friend J. |
Why does the author want to discuss with Lucy?
| A．Because she decides to tell Lucy a similar story of her own. |
| B．Because she is really shocked at Lucy’s rudeness. |
| C．Because she has prepared the conversation for nine years. |
| D．Because she wants to offer some other helpful advice. |
What does the author want to tell her daughter?
| A．People shouldn’t complain because life is unfair. |
| B．She herself was once laughed at for her appearance. |
| C．People shouldn’t be blamed for their appearance. |
| D．It is not easy to take the doctors’ advice to eat less. |
It can be inferred from the passage that_________.
| A．the author earns a living by writing stories. |
| B．the author is a fat but good-looking woman. |
| C．the author will stop loving her daughter for what she said. |
| D．the author’s daughter agreed with her from the very beginning. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that_________.
| A．Lucy was deeply moved by her mother’s prayer. |
| B．a mother’s prayer will shape her daughter’s attitude towards life |
| C．the author allows her daughter to use the F word in her head |
| D．the author hopes her daughter will never have weight trouble |
The author’s attitude towards her daughter can be best described as _________.
| A．unsatisfied and angry | B．loving but strict |
| C．indifferent but patient | D．satisfied and friendly |
I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box car in a freight yard in Atlantic City and landing on my head. Now I am thirty two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see again, but a calamity can do strange things to people. It occurred to me the other day that I might not have come to love life as I do if I hadn't been blind. I believe in life now. I am not so sure that I would have believed in it so deeply, otherwise. I don't mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate the more what I had left.
Life, I believe, asks a continuous series of adjustments to reality. The more readily a person is able to make these adjustments, the more meaningful his own private world becomes. The adjustment is never easy. I was bewildered and afraid. But I was lucky. My parents and my teachers saw something in me--a potential to live, you might call it--which I didn't see, and they made me want to fight it out with blindness.
The hardest lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was basic. If I hadn't been able to do that, I would have collapsed and become a chair rocker on the front porch for the rest of my life. When I say belief in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase alone. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: an assurance that I am, despite imperfections, a real, positive person; that somewhere in the sweeping, intricate pattern of people there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this assurance. It had to start with the most elementary things. Once a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was mocking me and I was hurt. "I can't use this." I said. "Take it with you," he urged me, "and roll it around." The words stuck in my head. "Roll it around! "By rolling the ball I could hear where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought impossible: playing baseball. At Philadelphia's Overbrook School for the Blind I invented a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
All my life I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to learn my limitations. It was no good to try for something I knew at the start was wildly out of reach because that only invited the bitterness of failure. I would fail sometimes anyway but on the average I made progress.
We can learn from the beginning of the passage that __________________.
| A．the author lost his sight because of a car crash. |
| B．the disaster strengthened the author's desire to see |
| C．the disaster made the author appreciate what he had. |
| D．the author wouldn't love life if the disaster didn't happen. |
What's the most difficult thing for the author?
| A．Building up assurance that he can find his place in life. |
| B．To find a special work that suits the author. |
| C．Learning to manage his life alone. |
| D．How to adjust himself to reality. |
According to the context, "a chair rocker on the front porch" in paragraph 3 means that the author
| A．was paralyzed and stayed in a rocking chair. |
| B．would sit in a rocking chair and enjoy his life. |
| C．would sit in a chair and stay at home. |
| D．would lose his will to struggle against difficulties. |
According to the passage, the baseball and encouragement offered by the man
| A．inspired the author. |
| B．hurt the author's feeling. |
| C．gave the author a deep impression |
| D．directly led to the invention of ground ball. |
According to the passage, which of the following is CORRECT?
| A．The author set goals for himself but only invited failure most of the time. |
| B．The author suggested not trying something beyond one's ability at the beginning. |
| C．Because of his limitations, the author tried to reach one goal at a time. |
| D．The bitterness of failure prevented the author from trying something out of reach. |
Ronald Hoffman born in 1937 is Polish-born American organic chemist and Nobel laureate(桂冠). As a theoretical chemist, Hoffmann studied energy levels in chemical bonds during chemical reactions. He put computers to use to solve his problems and, despite the complexity of his research, was able to explain his theories and discoveries to the non-specialist. For his work he was awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize in chemistry, which he shared with Fukui Kenichi.
Born in Poland, Hoffmann settled in New York City as a child and became a United States citizen. He received his undergraduate degree in premedical studies from Columbia College in 1958. He attended Harvard University, where he received his PhD. degree in chemical physics in 1962. He joined the faculty of Cornell University in the mid-1960s and remained there throughout his career.
Hoffmann and Nobel laureate chemist Robert Burns Woodward developed rules, based on quantum mechanics, to determine how energy levels in atomic electron orbits influence how a chemical reaction takes place. These simple rules, known as the Woodward-Hoffmann rules, allowed chemists to predict reaction results and was quickly accepted and put to use in a wide variety of situations.
Hoffmann later turned his research to a variety of problems related to discovering the molecular structure of inorganic and organometallic compounds. Hoffmann is also known for what is called the Isolobal Analogy, which is yet another discovery linking all areas of chemistry. It is useful in predicting the behavior of new molecules based on the orbit structure of the components used to form them.
Aided by computers, Hoffmann was able to generate a vast amount of data to support his ideas. Unlike the scientific papers of many chemists, Hoffmann's publications contain little raw data but instead are filled with diagrams and pictures to explain his results. His drawings of shaded balloons to indicate eigenvectors, a unit used in mathematics, are now the accepted scientific notation for illustrating this value.
What can be inferred from the above passage about Hoffman?
| A．He left his homeland when he got the Nobel Prize. |
| B．He went to the United States to gain his Nobel Prize. |
| C．He might find the Unites States a better place to learn chemistry. |
| D．His family may have settled in the United States. |
How did Hoffman make his research popular?
| A．He applied some computer skills to help explain his ideas. |
| B．He established a special computer system to help. |
| C．He drew some forms explaining his ideas. |
| D．He did series of experiments to prove his ideas. |
The underlined word “generate” in this passage might most probably mean “______”.
A. bring in B. break down
B. move away D. keep secret
Why was Ronald Hoffman awarded the 1981 Nobel Prize for chemistry?
| A．He established rules to predict chemical reactions . |
| B．He succeeded applying computer science to chemistry research. |
| C．He shared what he had achieved with another scientist named Fukui Kenichi. |
| D．He succeeded in both chemistry and computer researches. |
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside me. I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time. I know kids who have been shot or beaten up. I have friends who ended up in prison. I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr. Clark wouldn’t let that happen.
Mr. Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work. My grades rose. In fact, the scores of our whole class rose. One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem. Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full. We did not want to let him down.
Mr. Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year. He said he would draw three names out of a hat (抽签); those students would go with him to Los Angles to get the award. But when the time came to draw names, Mr. Clark said, “You’re all going.”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears. We didn’t want his class to end. In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch. He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a best-selling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55. In 2003, Mr. Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit orphanages (孤儿院). It was the most amazing experience of my life. It’s now my dream to start a group of women’s clubs one day, helping people from all backgrounds.Without Mr. Clark, the writer _________.
| A．might have been put into prison |
| B．might not have won the prize |
| C．might have joined a women’s club |
| D．might not have moved to Atlanta |
The Essential 55 is ___________.
| A．a show | B．a speech |
| C．a classroom rule | D．a book |
How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr. Clark?
| A．None | B．Three | C．Fifty-five | D．All |
In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that ___________.
| A．Mr. Clark went to South Africa because he liked traveling |
| B．Mr. Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs |
| C．a good teacher can raise his or her students’ score |
| D．a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students |
Napoleon stayed in a small inn (小旅馆). The next morning, he went to thank the innkeeper.
“You have served me well,” said Napoleon. “I wish to reward you. Tell me what you want.”
“Sir, we want nothing,” said the innkeeper. “But will you tell us something?”
“What is it?” Napoleon asked.
“We have heard a story,” said the innkeeper, “that once during the war , a small village was taken by the Russians. You happened to be in the village. You hid while they looked for you. Will you tell us how you felt when they were looking for you?” Napoleon looked very angry. He called in two of his soldiers. Then he pointed to the door. The soldiers took the innkeeper and his wife out into the yard.
At the end of the yard was a wall. The innkeeper and his wife were led to the wall. The soldiers tied the hands of the innkeeper and his wife. Napoleon watched, saying nothing. “Please, sir.” begged the innkeeper, “Don’t kill us! we meant nothing!” The soldiers moved back. The innkeeper saw them raising their guns. Then Napoleon called: “Ready! Aim!” The wife screamed. “Stop!” said Napoleon. He went to the innkeeper, “Now, you know the answer to the question you asked me just now, don’t you?”
While the Russians were searching for him, Napoleon ______.
| A．ordered his men to fight back |
| B．was frightened to death |
| C．feared nothing at all |
| D．regretted (后悔) having hidden there |
Why did Napoleon order his men to tie the couple?
| A．Because he wanted to teach the innkeeper a good lesson for bothering him. |
| B．Because he wanted to kill the couple to get rid of his anger. |
| C．Because he wanted to show that he was so admiring a general that nobody could upset him. |
| D．Because he wanted to make them know that he felt the same as they in face of danger. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Five people are mentioned in this passage. |
| B．In fact, Napoleon didn’t hide when the Russians were looking for him. |
| C．Napoleon was thankful to the innkeeper for his good service. |
| D．The couple had thought they would be killed before Napoleon said “stop”. |
Having parked near the car wash beside the supermarket, I came away to wait for my wife to come from work. Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum (流浪汉). From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don’t want to be bothered (打扰). This was one of those “don’t want to be bothered times.”
“I hope he doesn’t ask me for any money,” I thought. He didn’t. He came and sat on the seat by the bus stop but he didn’t look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke, “That’s a very pretty car”. He was ragged (衣着破旧的) but he had an air of dignity (尊严) around him. I said, “thanks,” without taking a look at him.
He sat there quietly for a moment. The expected begging for money never came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, “Ask him if he needs any help.” I was sure that he would say “yes”. So I asked, “Do you need any help?” He answered in three simple words that I shall never forget. The three words shook me. “Don’t we all?” he said.
I was feeling successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those three words hit me. Don’t we all? I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, you need help too. However, no matter how little you have, you can give help too.The author walked away from the car wash to _____.
| A．go to work |
| B．wash his car |
| C．go shopping |
| D．meet his wife |
When the author first saw the bum, he planned to _____.
| A．ignore his difficulty |
| B．give him a lesson |
| C．offer him some help |
| D．make friends with him |
When the bum said “Don’t we all?”, the author felt _____.
| A．satisfied | B．shy | C．sad | D．shocked |
What is the best title for the text?
| A．The clever bum |
| B．Never lose your dignity |
| C．Don’t we all need help? |
| D．To give or not? |
Jason had been watching the X Games on TV. Athletes from all over the world were competing in the most amazing sports. Just then his grandmother walked into the room. “I want to be extreme. Would you really let me do that? You always worry about my safety!” said Jason.
“You will have to follow some rules,” said his grandmother. “You can only ride in the park — never on the streets. You have to promise to wear a helmet (头盔). If you hurt yourself too much, I have the right to take your skateboard away. Is it a deal?”
“You bet!” Jason was so excited that he jumped off the sofa. A week later he had a board and a helmet.
On Saturday, his grandmother dropped him off near the park. He was happy to have a grandmother who let him try new things.
Kids in the park were moving quickly up and down the ramps (坡道). They flew into the air and landed as easily as birds. When he watched the X games, Jason felt like he was doing the tricks himself. But watching these kids up close, he knew that none of it was going to be easy. He felt a little bit scared.
Very slowly he carried his board to the ramp. Taking a deep breath, he put his right foot on the board. He kicked off with his left foot. For a few seconds he glided (滑行) along, just waiting to fall. Then he came to a stop. Kicking off again, he waited for the worst to happen. Again, he stayed up. The third time he kicked, lost his balance, and fell hard on his left knee.
It hurt, but it was no big deal! Why had he been so scared? Now he felt calm because things had gone wrong, and he was fine!
Next time he kicked off harder and went fast and farther. “Excellent!” said a girl as she passed him. “Extreme!” laughed Jason to himself. “Not quite.”Jason’s grandmother agreed to let him try skateboarding unless _____.
| A．he finished his homework |
| B．he liked the sport |
| C．he observed some rules |
| D．he won a bet |
Jason jumped off the sofa because _____.
| A．he was allowed to go skateboarding |
| B．he was angry at his grandmother |
| C．he was going to play outside |
| D．he was given a board and a helmet |
After watching the kids skateboarding in the park, Jason felt skateboarding was _____.
| A．easy | B．difficult |
| C．boring | D．exciting |
The girl praised Jason for his _____.
| A．skill | B．honesty |
| C．courage | D．kindness |
Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius.“ There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker.. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature , he often said ,is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then , he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “ Work,” he answered. “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Edison invented the electric light. |
| B．Many other people have changed Edison’s life. |
| C．Edison has changed the life of many other people. |
| D．Few men in history can change other people’s life. |
Edison thought .
| A．he could be happy if he was a genius |
| B．genius plays the most important part in one’s success |
| C．hard work could do better than genius |
| D．genius could do better than hard work |
Edison was .
| A．very much interested in nature |
| B．interested in discovering the secrets of nature |
| C．interested in changing people’s ideas |
| D．uninterested in making people happier by discovering the secrets of nature |
In Edison’s opinion, .
| A．thinking can supply people with enjoyment and pleasure as well as help |
| B．people’s success lies mostly in genius |
| C．hard work is the second important thing in making people successful |
| D．there are few secrets for him to discover later |
The last sentence in the passage most probably implies .
| A．life is too short for Edison to invent more for human beings |
| B．Edison made 100 inventions in his life |
| C．Edison was able to live and work for 100 years |
| D．People of his time were ready to give Edison another 100 years’ work |
Pakistani youth activist Malala Yousafzai was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, October 10. She is the youngest Nobel winner in history. Malala shares the prize with Kailash Satyarthi, a 60-year-old man from India who has helped lead a movement to end child slavery around the world.
Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997 in Mingora, the Swat District of northwest Pakistan to a Sunni Muslim family. When she was just 11 years old, she started blogging about the Taliban takeover of her hometown. Taliban members believe young girls should not go to school. Classrooms throughout the Swat district were closed for several months. Malala spoke publicly about her desire to go back to school. “All I want is an education,” she told one television broadcaster.
When the Pakistani government regained control, Malala was able to return to class. She continued to blog and speak out about girls’ right to education. But on October 9, 2012, the Taliban tried to silence her. A gunman boarded her school bus and shot her on the left side of her forehead. Malala survived, and showed great courage and optimism during her long recovery. Then she became a symbol of the struggle for girls’ rights all over the world.
Malala’s mission for peace is unstoppable. Nine months after she was shot, she gave a now-famous speech at the United Nations. “They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed,” she said. “And then, out of that silence came thousands of voice. Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage were born.”
How old was Malala when she won the Nobel Peace Prize?
| A．11 years old. | B．14 years old. |
| C．17 years old. | D．60 years old. |
After classrooms throughout the Swat district were closed, Malala ________.
| A．started blogging about the event |
| B．expressed her desire for education publicly |
| C．made a now-famous speech at the UN |
| D．turned to famous television broadcasters for help |
What does the underlined part silence her in the third paragraph probably mean?
| A．Kill her. |
| B．Make peace with her. |
| C．Offer suggestions to her. |
| D．Communicate with her in silent ways. |
What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Malala’s peace mission. |
| B．Malala’s courage and optimism. |
| C．Malala’s fight with the Taliban. |
| D．Malala’s winning the Nobel Peace Prize. |
Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight. The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder. It was 11 p.m. The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping. Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out.
Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom, but the phone didn’t work. Lubeck realized he was trapped. “I started panicking(恐慌),” he says.
His daughter and young granddaughters, who lived with him, were away for the night. “No one will even know I’m home, ” he thought. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless.
Up a hill about a third of a mile away lived Lubeck’s closest neighbors, Jeremie Wentworth and his wife. Wentworth had been lying down, listening to the radio when it occurred to him that the sound was more like a smoke detector. He jumped out of bed, grabbed a cordless phone and a flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise.
He dialed 911 “Is anyone there?” he called out as he approached the house. Wentworth knew that Lubeck lived in the house.
Then he heard, “Help me! I’m trapped!” coming from the balcony off Lubeck’s bedroom.
“I ran in and yelled, ‘Don, where are you?’ Then I had to run outside to catch my breath.”
After one more attempt inside the house, he gave up and circled around back. But there was no way to get to him. “I shone the flashlight into the woods next to an old shed and noticed a ladder,” says Wentworth. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Lubeck down just as the second floor of the house collapsed.
Wentworth and Lubeck don’t run into each other regularly, but Lubeck now knows that if he ever needs help, Wentworth will be there.
Lubeck still chokes up when he tells the story. “I was alone,” he says. “Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Jeremie.”
According to the text, Lubeck .
| A．stayed calm in the fire |
| B．couldn’t find a safe way out |
| C．lived on the first floor |
| D．called for help in the fire |
How did Wentworth help Lubeck escape?
| A．He called 911. |
| B．He went upstairs and took Lubeck out. |
| C．He put out the fire. |
| D．He used a ladder and pulled Lubeck down. |
Which of the following factors was not mentioned in the text that almost caused Lubeck’s life?
| A．He was living in his wood home alone that night. |
| B．The storm was too heavy and the fire was too fierce. |
| C．He lived far from the main road and was surrounded by pines. |
| D．He was too frightened to escape from the danger. |
What does the text mainly talk about?
| A．A near neighbor is better than a distant cousin. |
| B．A good way to get a narrow escape. |
| C．God helps those who help themselves. |
| D．Blood is thicker than water. |
The Man Who Never Put a Foot Wrong
Some people do not like anything to be out of place: they are never late for work, they return their books to the library on time, they remember people’s birthdays, and they pay their bills as soon as they arrive. Mr. Dodds is such a person.
Mr. Dodds works in a bank, and lives on his own. The only family he has is in the next town: his sister lives there with her husband, and her son, Mark. Mr. Dodds does not see his sister, or her family, from one year to the next, but he sends them Christmas cards, and he has not forgotten one of Mark’s birthdays.
Last week Mr. Dodds had quite a surprise. He drove home from the bank at the usual time, driving neither too slowly nor too fast. He parked his car where he always parked it, out of the way of other cars, and he went inside to make his evening meal. Straight away, there was a knock at the door. Mr. Dodds opened the door to find a policeman standing on the door-step.
“What have I done wrong?” Mr. Dodds asked himself. “Have I driven on the wrong side of the road? Has there been some trouble at the bank? Have I forgotten to pay an important bill?”
“Hello, Uncle,” said the policeman. “My name is Mark.”
From the passage we know that his sister .
| A．lives in the next town with her husband and son |
| B．is the only member of the family that he knows |
| C．never writes back to him |
| D．has a small family: a son and Mark, her husband |
“He has not forgotten one of Mark’s birthdays” means .
| A．he has forgotten Mark’s birthdays |
| B．he didn’t send Mark anything on his birthdays |
| C．he always sent Christmas cards on Mark’s birthdays |
| D．he always sent Mark something on his birthdays |
There was a knock at the door when Mr. Dodds was .
| A．driving home from the bank |
| B．parking his car |
| C．ready to make his evening meal |
| D．just about to shut the front door |
The policeman was there .
| A．to ask Mr. Dodds to go to see his uncle |
| B．to ask Mr. Dodds to park his car not too near to other cars |
| C．to meet Mr. Dodds, his uncle |
| D．to see Mr. Dodds about some trouble at the bank |
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to(属于) a rich man． One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house． On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children． They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the grounD． The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off． They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house． He asked to see the rich man． A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting．
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he saiD．
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man askeD．
"I met your children outside, and they stole(偷) some of the apples．"
Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because
| A．he was poor |
| B．he liked the rich man |
| C．his farm belonged to the rich man |
| D．the rich man’s children liked apples |
What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
A． They jumped and jumpe
B． They playeD．
C． They ran away．
D． They ate some of the apples．
The monkeys left the basket because
| A．they had thrown apples on the ground |
| B．the farmer had politely asked them to get off |
| C．they were afraid of the hat |
| D．the farmer wa s angry wit h them |
How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt 。
| A．pleased |
| B．unhappy |
| C．excited |
| D．moved |
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