On a number of drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat __________ in the car.
Though Mother’s Day _______ Earth Day, for me, they have always been _________ each other. My mom has been “green” since she became_________ the environment. Part of this habit was _________of thrift (节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mom _________her plastic bags.
Mom creates a kind of ________ relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to _________ the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders(给食器) out at night, it is _________that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons (浣熊). Spiders that __________ their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be ________ in the garden.
I try to________ my children that looking out for the environment starts with being ________of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions (蒲公英) to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and _________ plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by __________. Mom didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to ________ living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct for protection.
I am slowing down and it isn’t __________the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet, it is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelopes. I pause in my daily tasks to ___________ the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.
Last summer, in the _________of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness I immediately wanted to __________ with my mom.
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Carolyn Stradley is the founder of C&S Paving Ine.(铺路公司)in Atlanta, USA.In the following account, she recalls the job that challenged her and skill but left her flying high.
“When the Atlanta Airport was under in 1979,we were a new company struggling to make it.National Car Rental wanted to have 2500 square meters of dirt paved the cars could be on site the airport opened,and the official opening was only ten days away! other local paving company wanted to do the job, it couldn’t be done in such a short time.”
“Because we were new and really needed the work,we were to try harder.We gave National Car Rental our offer and our best effort to get the job finished within ten days.We also them that if we failed,they would be no worse off, they had plenty to gain if we succeeded.”
“We got the job and immediately went into .Working at night needed lights,so I rented a machine to produce electricity for the site. Our challenge was to keep the rock mixture enough. All the available water wagons(洒水车)were rented out for the airport construction, and we certainly couldn’t afford to buy a new one. ,I got a special to rent fire engine hoses(消防水龙带)and connect them to nearby hydrants(消防);then I held one of those hoses to down the rock.”
“Those ten days were filled with challenges that one creative idea after another.Nine days later,the night before the airport opened,National Car Rental was the company that had cars on the parking lot.”
“The key to our success was having the to take on any job and then being creative in our approach to getting it done.”
A．kindness B．patience C．imagination D．experience
A．construction B．repair C．control D．development
A．after B．as C．for D．so
A．while B．since C．where D．when
A．Some B．Any C．No D．Every
A．stating B．reporting C．telling D．warning
A．able B．nervous C．afraid D．willing
A．supported B．promised C．continued D．improved
A．asked B．surprised C．reminded D．demanded
A．though B．but C．as D．unless
A．discussion B．action C．practice D．production
A．next B．first C．past D．previous
A．cold B．wet C．loose D．clean
A．Naturally B．Obviously C．Meanwhile D．Instead
A．excuse B．order C．permit D．reason
A．exactly B．personally C．angrily D．hardly
A．pull B．knock C．hit D．water
A．required B．mixed C．followed D．formed
A．best B．last C．second D．only
A．courage B．interest C．hope D．chance
Sometimes I really doubt whether there is love between my parents. Every day they are very busy trying to in order to pay the high tuition for my brother and me. They don’t act in the ways that I read in books or I see on TV. In their opinion, “I love you” is too for them to say. Sending flowers to each other on Valentine’s Day is even more out of .
One day, my mother was sewing a quilt. I sat down beside her. “Mom, I have a question to ask you. Is there between you and Dad?” I asked her in a very low voice. She didn’t answer immediately. She her head and continued to sew the quilt.
I was worried because I thought I had her. I was and I didn’t know what I should do. But at last I heard my mother say the following words:
“Susan,” she said thoughtfully, “Look at this thread. Sometimes it , but most of it disappears in the quilt. The thread really makes the quilt . If life is a quilt, then love should be a thread. It can hardly be seen , but it’s really there. Love is .”
I listened carefully but I her until the next spring. At that time, my father suddenly seriously. My mother had to stay with him in the hospital for a month. When they returned from the hospital, they both looked _ . It seemed both of them had had a serious illness. After they were back, every day in the morning and dusk, my mother helped my father on the country road.
“Dad, how are you feeling now?” I asked him one day.
“Susan, don’t me.” He said gently. “To tell you the truth, I just like walking with your mom.” his eyes, I know he loves my mother deeply.
Once I thought love meant flowers, gifts and . But from this experience, I understand that love is just in the quilt of our life. Love is inside, making life strong and warm.
A．keep fit B．rise early C．earn money D．collect money
A．magic B．romantic C．fantastic D．attractive
A．simple B．easy C．relaxing D．luxurious
A．control B．question C．reach D．the question
A．feeling B．love C．quarrel D．smile
A．raised B．Shook C．nodded D．bowed
A．hurt B．Injured C．wounded D．harmed
A．in great surprise B．in a great embarrassment C．with deep depression D．at extreme sorrow
A．happens B．comes about C．appears D．occurs
A．warm and soft B．hot and hard C．thin and cool D．strong and durable
A．somewhere and sometime B．anywhere or anytime C．more or less D．here and there
A．inside B．outside C．faraway D．nearby
A．could believe B．couldn’t understand C．wouldn’t recognize D．might know
A．got sick B．got stuck C．threw up D．became disabled
A．quite healthy B．very pale C．fairly red D．much surprised
A．jump high B．go hurriedly C．run fast D．walk slowly
A．think about B．talk with C．worry about D．laugh at
A．Reading B．Seeing C．Saying D．Writing
A．fresh roses B．gold ring C．sweet kisses D．beautiful jewelry
A．a thread B．a needle C．the cloth D．the cotton
James sat outside the office waiting for the interview. He felt so that he didn’t know what to do with .The person who had gone in him had been there for nearly an hour. And she looked so confident when she went in. James. He felt that she had already got the . The problem was that he wanted this job 47 .It meant to him. He had it such a lot before the day of the interview. He had imagined himself brilliantly at the interview and the job immediately. But now here he was feeling .He couldn’t all those things he had to say. At that moment, he almost decided to get up and .But no—he had to do this. He had spent so much time considering it that he couldn’t like that. His hands were hot and sticky and his mouth felt dry. At last the door of the office opened. The woman who had gone in an hour earlier came out looking very with herself. She smiled sympathetically at James. At that moment James her. The managing director then appeared at the office door. “Would you like to come in now, Mr Davis? I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.” James suddenly that he had gone home after all. He got up, legs and forehead sweating and wondered whether he looked as terrified as he felt.
A．healthy B．nervous C．careless D．confident
A．the managing director B．the woman C．himself D．the situation
A．by B．with C．before D．after
A．Not like B．So did C．Do as D．Do like
A．doubtful B．sure C．angry D．astonishing
A．reward B．first C．prize D．job
A．hopelessly B．naturally C．easily D．so much
A．everything B．happiness C．difficulty D．nothing
A．dreamed of B．learned of C．thought about D．talked about
A．explaining B．performing C．answering D．performed
A．offered B．asked for C．being offered D．being asked for
A．crazy B．excited C．probable D．terrible
A．depend on B．afford C．believe in D．remember
A．kept B．been taught C．planned D．been supplied
A．leave B．go in C．prepare D．practise
A．take back B．put off C．give up D．put down
A．ugly B．pleased C．sad D．pretty
A．noticed B．loved C．missed D．hated
A．thought B．hoped C．wished D．regretted
A．shaking B．bending C．walking D．stopping
Though giant pandas may appear perfectly happy chewing bamboos, scientists recently discovered that they would rather have something sweeter. Scientists chose because the animals are herbivores (食草动物), which would mean that they would love sweets. However, the plant they choose, the bamboos, has a very sugar content and is therefore not considered sweet. Could this mean that pandas have their hobby for sweet things?
The pandas were given six kinds of sweet liquids that are found in fruits and vegetables. They were also given at the same time. In each of the taste tests, the animals the natural sweeter liquids and ignored the water . They ate up all the sweet liquids and the water was left untouched.
What was even more interesting is that when the scientists the water with five different man-made sweeteners, ones that humans find delicious, the pandas were not as . In these tests, they picked the water instead. The scientists believe that it could be either because pandas found them to be too or not sweet enough and that the mixture could not the pandas.
The scientists were not too by the results, since pandas in zoos have always shown a preference for treats like apples, sweet potatoes and even mooncakes. Scientists believe that the pandas may have once sweeter foods that were available in the lowland areas that they used to live in. But when human settlement in the lowland areas them to the bamboo forests in the mountains, they had no but to settle for the almost sugarless plants.
A．horses B．bears C．monkeys D．pandas
A．high B．simple C．low D．different
A．lost B．followed C．started D．kept
A．specially B．hardly C．naturally D．rarely
A．fruits B．water C．bamboos D．oxygen
A．picked B．hid C．rejected D．shared
A．largely B．gradually C．occasionally D．completely
A．mixed B．covered C．exchanged D．replaced
A．funny B．picky C．perfect D．interested
A．salty B．sweet C．sour D．hot
A．harm B．save C．attract D．change
A．Delighted B．surprised C．disappointed D．concerned
A．Enjoyed B．disliked C．controlled D．ignored
A．Encouraged B．forced C．introduced D．guided
A．desire B．chance C．wonder D．choice
Inspiration
“Mama, when I grow up, I’m going to be one of those!” I said this after seeing the Capital Dancing Company perform when I was three. It was the first time that my ___ took on a vivid form and acted as something important to start my training. As I grew older and was ____ to more, my interests in the world of dance ____ varied but that little girl’s dream of someday becoming a ___ in the company never left me. In the summer of 2005 when I was 18, I received the phone call which made that dream a ____; I became a member of the company ____ back to 1925.
As I look back on that day now, it surely ____ any sense of reality. I believe I stayed in a state of pleasant disbelief ____ I was halfway through rehearsals (排练) on my first day. I never actually ___ to get the job. After being offered the position, I was completely ___. I remember shaking with excitement.
Though I was absolutely thrilled with the change, it did not come without its fair share of _ _. Through the strict rehearsal period of dancing six days a week, I found it vital to _ up the material fast with every last bit of concentration. It is that extreme ____ to detail and stress on practice that set us ____. To then follow those high-energy rehearsals __ a busy show schedule of up to five performances a day, I discovered a new ___ of the words “hard work.” What I thought were my physical ____ were pushed much further than I thought _ _. I learned to make each performance better than the last.
Today, when I look at the unbelievable company that I have the great ____ of being a part of, not only as a member, but as a dance captain, I see a ___ that has inspired not only generations of little girls but a splendid company that continues to develop and grow-and inspires people every day to follow their dreams.
A．hobby B．plan C．dream D．word
A．connected B．expanded C．exposed D．extended
A．rarely B．certainly C．probably D．consistently
A．director B．trainer C．leader D．dancer
A．symbol B．memory C．truth D．reality
A．bouncing B．dating C．turning D．tracking
A．lacks B．adds C．makes D．brings
A．while B．since C．until D．when
A．Cared B．Expected C．Asked D．Decided
A．motivated B．relaxed C．convinced D．astonished
A．challenges B．profits C．advantages D．adventures
A．put B．mix C．build D．pick
A．Attention B．association C．attraction D．adaptation
A．apart B．aside C．off D．back
A．over B．by C．with D．beyond
A．function B．meaning C．expression D．usage
A．boundaries B．problems C．barriers D．efforts
A．necessary B．perfect C．proper D．possible
A．talent B．honor C．potential D．responsibility
A．victory B．trend C．tradition D．desire
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