Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her three-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy.
The pregnancy progresses normally for Karen. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With siren howling in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital.
The little girl gets worse. The doctor tells the parents, "There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst." Karen and her husband have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby — now they plan a funeral.
Michael, keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. However, Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. “If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive.” She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into ICU. The head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now! " The mother, the usually mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line. "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!" Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”
Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady.
"You never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away "
The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.
Keep on singing, Michael. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse as well as Karen.
Funeral plans are scrapped. The next, day — the very next day — the little girl is well enough to go home!
NEVER GIVE UP THE ONE WE LOVE!How did Michal’s feel when he knew that he was going to have a sister?
| A．indifferent. | B．worried. | C．expectant. | D．disappointed. |
The doctor recommended the family ___________.
| A．get ready for the worst result. |
| B．wait for the hope in the near future. |
| C．prepare much more money for the infant. |
| D．prepare for another chance in other hospitals. |
Which word can best replace the underlined word in Paragraph 4?
| A．pointed. | B．yelled. | C．whispered. | D．ignored. |
What happened when Michael sang to his little sister?
| A．The little baby responded to his song and woke up immediately. |
| B．The baby heard the song and burst into tears. |
| C．The baby’s physical signs disappeared eventually. |
| D．The baby recovered from the dangerous state of coma gradually. |
What could be the best title of the article?
| A．An unexpected gift. | B．A miracle of love. |
| C．A iron-mother. | D．A medical success. |
With winter fast approaching, flu season is here. People can easily catch the flu bug and they try to fight it with western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine or some homemade secret recipes. Yet some of these strategies are ineffective or even harmful, the best way to counter the flu is to protect us from contracting（感染）it. So here are some good habits to protect people from contracting flu from the very beginning.
●During the day, keep the bedroom window open to let fresh air in．
●Wash your face with cold water in the morning and wash your feet with hot water in the evening. This practice can help boost blood circulation and improve the body's resistance.
●Do some exercises in the morning. such as jogging or shadowboxing（太极拳)for 10 minutes.
●Rinse(漱) your mouth with salt water or tea every morning and every evening. This can help kill flu bacteria, clear phlegm(痰）and keep the mouth fresh.
●Wear more clothes when it's cold and take some off when it's warm
●Get a bottle of vinegar or Chinese white wine at hand and smell it now and then. Their pungent smell can help people get refreshed and improve their body's resistance.
● Drink two kinds of beverages（饮料）before going to bed, which can help people stay away from the flu: soup made of radish（萝卜）and vinegar, and tea made of fresh ginger（生姜）．
●Close the doors and windows and put a pot of boiling vinegar in the room Vinegar steam is a good way to kill flu bacteria in the air. Some people like washing their face with cold water in the morning and washing their feet with hot water in the evening perhaps because______．
| A．they want to make themselves handsome or pretty |
| B．they know it is the best way to kill flu bacteria |
| C．they think it can strengthen blood circulation and improve their resistance |
| D．they have developed the good habit of living |
According to the passage, we can know that the best way to fight the flu is to ______.
| A．take western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine |
| B．avoid getting it at the very beginning |
| C．use some homemade secret recipes |
| D．drink two kinds of beverages before going to bed in winter |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Eight habits to keep the flu away | B．The cause of contracting the flu |
| C．Winter and flu | D．How to cure the flu |
During the week days, they are luckily busy office people; but on weekends, they are just a brood of（一窝）stay-home animals. A recent survey shows that office workers in China prefer quiet and easy ways to spend their weekends.
In the survey, conducted by job seeking and offering website Zhaopin.com, 32.8 percent of the 6,000 respondents choose to stay home at weekends and have a good rest, the Beijing Morning Post reported.
Twenty percent use their days-off to do housework. And only 19.3 percent are willing to have fun during the break time from work. Their first choice of fun is shopping.
Other choices, though practiced by few, include meeting friends, accompanying the children, trips to the suburbs, and lessons for more skills.
When they. go shopping, 54.5 percent of the white-collars actually shop in supermarkets, while 27.9. percent attend other stores, especially when discounts are offered.
These activities don't seem to cost much, as 60 percent spend average less than 200 yuan (US$26) during weekends, and 30 percent no more than 500 yuan.
When asked whom they would spend the weekends with, about 40 percent mention their partners, and 30 percent prefer a weekend all by themselves. Less than 20 percent hang out with friends.
Only 5.8 percent would kill the time with their colleagues. This is because we tend to avoid too many personal contacts with our co-workers when we don't have to work with them, according to some experts. How many of the office workers who are the respondents do the housework at weekends?
| A．1,968. | B．1,158. | C．1,200. | D．1,674. |
Why will less than ten percent of office workers kill the time with their colleagues at weekends?
| A．Because they can't spare time to play with them. |
| B．Because they tend to avoid too many personal contacts with hem when they don't have to. |
| C．Because. they have many things to deal with at weekends. |
| D．Because some experts suggest they should not keep in touch with their colleagues. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the survey?
| A．There is the same percentage about people preferring a weekend all by themselves and people spending no more than 500 yuan during weekends. |
| B．Most office workers can’t afford things in supermarkets, so they prefer to attend other stores, especially when discounts are offered. |
| C．More than one fifth of office workers like to hang out with friends. |
| D．All the office workers prefer to relax themselves and no one is willing to learn more skills. |
What is the best title of the passage?
| A．How to spend the weekends |
| B．Several ways of spending their weekends for office people |
| C．How to go shopping on the weekends for office people |
| D．Office people prefer easy weekends |
We know the westerners like to plan for their time carefully in order to do all the things that are important to them. So if your American or English friend asks you to dinner, he usually invites you a week ahead. But if you really have no time and can’t go to the dinner, you can ring him to say sorry. The dinner is usually served at home, sometimes at a restaurant. You should get there on time, and don’t forget to put on your fine clothes. It is also a good idea to take some little presents to your friend, such as flowers, chocolates and so on. When you are at dinner, you should also observe (遵守) some other customs. Here I’ll give you some dos and don’ts about them in the following:
●Don’t leave bones on the table or the floor. (You should put them on your plate with fingers.)
●Don’t use your bowl to drink soup, but use your spoon to help you instead.
●Don’t talk with much food in your mouth.
●Don’t ask others to have more wine. (This is quite different from that in China.)
●After dinner, use your napkin(餐巾) to clean your mouth and hands.
●Make sure small pieces of food are not left on your face.
Then after dinner, you can stay there a little time. And your friend will be pleased if you leave in half an hour or so. Next day, you had better ring him up to thank him for the good dinner.If your American or English friend wants to invite you to dinner, he will invite you _____.
| A．on the night before the dinner | B．on the day before the dinner |
| C．at the last moment | D．a week before the dinner |
It would be impolite to______.
| A．put bones on your plates with fingers | B．drink soup with your spoon |
| C．persuade others to drink more | |
| D．make sure that there is nothing left on your face after dinner |
Which of the following is not true?
| A．You'd better ring your friend the next day to show your thanks。 |
| B．After dinner, you'd better stay and talk with your friends for a long time to show your thanks. |
| C．After dinner, you'd better leave in half an hour. |
| D．After dinner, use napkin to clean your mouth. |
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1, 759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was ______.
| A．encouraging | B．caring | C．moving | D．interesting |
According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?
| A．Doctors. | B．Mom. | C．Nurses. | D．Friends. |
What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
| A． His mom’s support. | B．His previous business success of various levels. |
| C．His terrible experience in the hotel. | D．His wife’s suggestion. |
Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?
| A．Modest, helpful, and hard-working. | B．Careful, helpful and beautiful. |
| C．Loving, supportive and strong-willed. | D．Strict, sensitive and supportive. |
At the age of12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Week by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“ That’s just for you,” he said.“ You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?
| A．He told her to write down all that her“ enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true. |
| B．He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said. |
| C．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| D．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. | |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer. | |
| C．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. | D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| B． No an Enemy, but the Best Friend |
| C． My Father |
| D． My Childhood |
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