I’m a teacher. But there are days, like today, when I wonder why. The results of an English quiz taken by my fifth-graders were depressing. Despite my best efforts, the world of pronouns remains a mystery to them. How I wish there were a way to make the study of our language as exciting as a computer game, so the glazed (目光呆滞) looks would not appear in their eyes at the mention of the word “grammar.” I remember my husband’s words: “Why don’t you quit? You’d probably make more money by doing something else, and you wouldn’t have papers to grade every night.”
Tonight I have a stack of papers to grade, which I promised my students I would return tomorrow. But a friend, whom I haven’t seen in a year, is visiting from Belgium, and I told her I would keep this evening free.
Sitting in traffic behind a distant stoplight, it’s hard not to replay the day. A voice reports the body of a local youngster, missing for weeks, has been identified.
This missing child has had a deep effect on my students. They wondered, “If it happened to her, could it happen to me?”
My children had found the answer themselves. They got out their pencils, markers and made cards. Cards were written with words of compassion and love for a mother and father they didn’t know. Cards were filled with red hearts, golden crosses, flowers and angels. Their cards, intended to comfort others, comforted the children themselves by leading them past the anxiety, back into the world of security (安全) that should be theirs.
And then I remember why I’m still teaching. It’s the children. They’re more important than a lifetime filled with quiet evenings and more valuable than a pocket filled with money. My classroom, a child-filled world of discovery, of kindness and of caring is the real world.
It’s time to call my friend. I have promises to keep. She’ll understand. After all, she’s a teacher.The writer wonders why she is a teacher because _____.
| A．her students often play games in class |
| B．teaching is not a well-paid job |
| C．her students feel bored with grammar |
| D．she feels frustrated at teaching |
The students’ attitude to the missing child’s parents might be that of _____.
| A．doubt | B．unconcern | C．sympathy | D．tolerance |
What is the most important according to the writer?
| A．A pocket filled with money. |
| B．The kind and caring children. |
| C．A lifetime filled with quiet evenings. |
| D．The freedom to control her own time. |
What promise will the writer keep?
| A．To grade papers that night. | B．To help a student with homework. |
| C．To accept her husband’s advice. | D．To meet her old friend. |
My granddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry (莓果) Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine’s Day rush. We’d dipped (浸泡) hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be shipped around the country.
By the end of the day, the two middle-aged women, Joan and I, were exhausted. Shari didn’t seem tired. That was typical Shari. Though she was very busy, I’d seen her give away berries to everybody — parking attendants, mail carriers and hairdressers. “For me?” they would say, bursting into a smile.
As a “thank you”, Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-minute wait at her favorite restaurant. “No big deal. There’s another place just up the road,” she said, driving us there. This time we walked right in.
When the waitress came to take our drink orders, Shari reached into her handbag, pulling something out. “I want you to have these,” she said, handing the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. “She will love those berries!” I thought. But the waitress seemed startled. She only let out a “thank you” before grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned with our iced tea. “I apologize,” she said. “My best friend and I had promised to send each other something every Valentine’s Day. But she passed away last year. I didn’t know how I’d get through this day without her. Then you handed me that box.”“I’m so sorry to hear that,” said Shari. “It’s not much, but I hope you can enjoy them.”“Oh, I will,” the waitress said. “See, every year we always sent each other the same thing; a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favourite store, The Berry Factory.”What can be inferred in the first paragraph?
| A．The Berry Factory is a gift store |
| B．The Berry Factory has few shop clerks. |
| C．The Berry Factory has many branches around the country |
| D．The Berry Factory has customers from different parts of the country. |
Which of the following words can best describe Shari?
| A．Talkative | B．Creative | C．Kind-hearted | D．Well-known |
The underlined word “startled” in Paragraph 4 probably means _________.
| A．shocked | B．excited | C．tired | D．frightened |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _________.
| A．the waitress’ best friend didn’t like chocolate |
| B．the waitress’ best friend broke up with her |
| C．the waitress’ best friend worked for Shari |
| D．the waitress’ best friend was Shari’s customer |
“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity，” said the American talk show host Oprah Winfrey. I’ ve never watched her show, but when a self-made billionaire gives life advice it’ s probably worth listening to.
Her point is that blind luck is very rare. You may have to be lucky to find a good job these days but that does not mean you should sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you. If you’ re a Chinese，you may already be familiar with the tale of a farmer waiting by a tree stump (树桩) for a rabbit to run out and break its neck.
A book by the UK psychologist Richard Wiseman, called The Luck Factor, argues we can all make ourselves luckier. It’ s not about going to a temple to burn some incense (香) in hopes that the gods will give you good fortune; it’ s practical advice you can follow each day.
Wiseman conducted an experiment as part of his studies. First he divided volunteers into two groups：those who said they were lucky in life and those who said they were not. He gave everyone a newspaper and asked them to look through it to count how many photographs it had inside. On average, the unlucky people took about two minutes to count the photographs while the lucky people took just seconds. Why? On the second page of the newspaper, a command, “Stop counting. There are 43 photographs in this newspaper，” was written in big letters. The unlucky people mostly did not spot the message.
It’s easy to compare this situation to a young person looking for jobs in a local paper. They might search so hard for one type of position that they miss an even better opportunity. People who are “lucky”， in fact, keep an open mind and don’t go through the same routine every day.
I first came to China in 2002 when it was considered a rather strange thing to do. Like many foreigners，my plan was to teach English for one year. Seven years later, and still here, I’ ve had many great opportunities such as writing for newspapers and magazines. I did not dream these would have been possible. I’ ve also never been sick, had an accident, got into a fight or had problems with the police. Coincidence(巧合)? After reading about Professor Wiseman’ s studies I think not.
As Wiseman advises, I usually trust my own judgment. Your friends and parents may give you advice based on rational (理性)thinking, but it’s important to consider how you feel about each choice you make. Your feeling acts as a warning for a potential （潜在）problem.
Finally, try to turn bad luck into good. Even if you do fall down and break a leg, the time spent at home can be used wisely to study English.Which of the following proverbs most agrees with the writer’ s point?
| A．Make the best of a bad job. |
| B．Rome was not built in a day. |
| C．All is not gold that glitters. |
| D．A good heart conquers ill fortune. |
What do you know about Oprah Winfrey?
| A．She became famous through her family background. |
| B．She was very lucky and seldom suffered setbacks （挫折）in her life. |
| C．She is a British talk show host. |
| D．She became successful by her own effort. |
The writer quoted（引用） the Chinese tale of a farmer in order to show________.
| A．luck is in your own hand |
| B．bad luck can turn into good |
| C．you should not sit at home waiting for the opportunity to come to you |
| D．man can conquer nature |
From the experiment Wiseman drew the conclusion that________.
| A．lucky people are quick-minded |
| B．unlucky people are slow to read |
| C．lucky people often have an open mind |
| D．unlucky people are more creative |
The underlined word “spot” is the closest in meaning to“________”．
| A．discover | B．mark | C．make | D．receive |
America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect （影响） American society in many ways --- education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society - one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior （行为）is suitable （合适） at different ages.
A person’s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, ‘I am much younger than my mother - or my father - was at my age.’ No one says ‘Act your age’ anymore. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.From the passage, we know in America____.
| A．they used to go to school or stop work at a certain age |
| B．people won’t tell you their social position |
| C．the children no longer go to school. |
| D．people hold the old ideas about the age as before |
It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America .
| A．has made people feel younger |
| B．has changed people’s social position |
| C．has changed people’s understanding of age |
| D．has slowed down the country’s social development |
The underlined word ‘one’ refers to .
| A．a society | B．America | C．a place | D．population |
‘Act your age’ means people should _______ .
| A．be active when they are old |
| B．do the right thing at the right age |
| C．show respect for their parents young or old |
| D．take more physical exercise suitable to their age |
If a 25-year-old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it .
| A．normal | B．wonderful | C．unbelievable | D．unreasonable |
During the summer holidays there will be a revised(修改过的) schedule(时刻表) of services for the students. Changes for dining-room and library service hours and for bus schedules will be posted on the wall outside of the dining-hall. Weekly film and concert schedules, which are being arranged, will be posted each Wednesday outside of the student club.
In the summer holidays, buses going to the town center will leave the main hall every hour on the half hour during the day. The dining-room will serve three meals a day from 7: 00 am to 7: 00 pm during the week and two meals from noon to 7: 00 pm on weekends. The library will continue its usual hours during the week, but have shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekend hours are from noon to 5: 00 pm.
All students who want to use the library borrowing services must have a new summer card. This announcement will also appear in the next week’s student newspaper. The main purpose of this announcement is to _________.
| A．tell students of important schedule changes | B．tell students of new bus and library services |
| C．show the excellent services for students | D．ask students to renew their library cards |
At which of the following times will the bus leave the main hall?
| A．8: 00, 9: 00, 10: 00, 11: 00 | B．8: 00, 9: 30, 10: 30, 11: 30 |
| C．8: 30, 9: 00, 9: 30, 10: 00 | D．8: 00, 9: 30, 11: 00, 12: 30 |
Times for films and concerts are not listed in this announcement because _________.
| A．they are not to be announced | B．they are hard to arrange |
| C．the full list is not ready | D．the full list is too long |
In the summer holidays, the library will have _________.
| A．no special hours | B．special hours on weekdays |
| C．special hours on weekends | D．special hours both on weekdays and weekends. |
We may infer that during the summer holidays _________.
| A．the student newspaper will sell more copies | B．there will be a concert or a film once a week |
| C．many students will stay in the university | D．no breakfast will be served on weekends |
“Can I see my baby？” the happy new mother asked. When the bundle was in her arms and she moved the fold of cloth to look upon his tiny face, she gasped. The doctor turned quickly and looked out of the tall hospital window. The baby had been born without ears.
Time proved that the baby’ s hearing was perfect. It was only his appearance that was imperfect. When he rushed home from school one day and threw himself into his mother’s arms, she sighed(叹息), knowing that his life was to be misfortunate. He cried to his mum “A boy, a big boy... called me a freak (怪人)．”
He grew up, handsome. A favorite with his fellow students, he might have been class president, but for that. He developed a gift, a talent for literature and music. “But you might communicate with other young people，” his mother blamed him, but felt a kindness in her heart.
Two years went by. One day, his father said to the son, “You’ re going to the hospital, son. Mother and I have someone who will donate the ears you need. But it’ s a secret.” The operation was a great success, and a new person appeared.
Later he married and became a lawyer. One day, he asked his father, “Who gave me the ears? Who gave me so much? I could never do enough for him or her.” “I do not believe you could，” said the father, “but the agreement was that you are not to know... not yet.”
The years kept their secret, but the day did come. He stood with his father over his mother’ s casket棺材. Slowly, tenderly, the father stretched forth a hand and raised the thick, reddish brown hair to show the mother had no outer ears.
“Mother said she was glad she never let her hair be cut，” his father whispered gently, “and nobody ever thought Mother less beautiful, did they？”Why did Mother gasp when she saw her newborn baby?
| A．Because her son had a tiny face. | B．Because she saw her son crying. |
| C．Because her son was born imperfect. | D．Because her son was in her arms. |
Which word can describe Mother’ s feeling when the son threw himself into her arms?
| A．Nervous. | B．Sympathetic. | C．Proud. | D．Angry. |
We can infer that the person who donate the ears is_____.
| A．A doctor. | B．His father. | C．His mother. | D．A stranger. |
From the passage we know the followings are True except________
A, the mother felt sorry for the son without ears B. the doctor didn’t like the baby
C. the boy meant everything to the mother D. the father kept the secret until mother diedThe best title for the passage would be ________.
| A．Mother’s hair | B．An unforgettable memory |
| C．Who gave me the ears? | D．Who is my best respectable person? |
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