Most teens can't wait to learn to drive. Not so with me. Driving made me nervous. I didn't get a license until I turned 24 years old. As a result, when I first married, we only had one car and car pooled to work. My husband's hours were different from mine by one hour. I worked earlier. So he dropped me off and went to the diner to drink coffee until work time.
Then, in the afternoons, I leisurely walked the three miles to his work place where I waited in his car, reading a book.
One day while waiting for him, I noticed the most beautiful Cadillac pull in the lot. It was powder blue and sleek looking. The kind of car you dream about. I was busily admiring the car, when I noticed the driver. Honestly, she was probably the prettiest woman I had ever seen off the movie screen.
She pulled into the spot beside our car and it was all I could do not to stare. There was a striking resemblance to Liz Taylor. Jet black hair and alabaster skin. Our eyes made contact and she smiled at me. Her eyes were as blue as the sea, and teeth like an even row of pearls. She was wearing a light blue shirt that just matched her car. Peeking through her long, softly curled hair I could see gold hoop earrings. They had to be gold to shine like that. A couple of minutes later, a nice looking man came out of the building, entered her car, leaned over and kissed her and she drove away.
Sitting there in my jeans, shirt and hair in a pony tail, I wanted to cry. How could some people have it all?
Maybe I would have forgotten about her, but the following week, I saw her again. Then it became almost routine to see her about once a week. She seemed friendly and always waved, flashing a big smile. My envy lingered long after she drove away.
Many nights when sleep evaded me, I would think about the beautiful lady. I wondered if she and her husband ate out, and where they dined, and what she was wearing. I wanted her to get out of the car and let me see her full length. Did she wear really high heeled shoes and pants, or a skirt.
I would get my answers in a couple of weeks.
Sitting in our usual parking lot, I was holding my book, watching her over the top of it. She was waiting and when her husband came to the car, she called to him. They spoke a few words and he opened the car door for her to step out. He took her arm and helped her out of the car. I could see very well as she moved to get out. She was wearing a skirt.
She haltingly walked around to the passenger side very slowly, leaning on a walking cane. Sitting sideways in the car, she lifted one leg with her hands and then the other one. The beautiful lady had a prosthesis on the left leg and a brace on the right leg. I couldn't watch them drive away as the tears were blinding me. For weeks I had envied this woman and her way of life, while I had been able to walk three miles to our car!
When my husband arrived and found me crying, he immediately asked what was wrong. Through my tears, I told him about the beautiful lady. He said he knew her husband and also knew the story. The beautiful lady and her parents were in a car that either stalled or got caught on the railroad tracks and was hit by a train. Both parents were killed and she was severely injured. She was only 12 years old. The railroad made a large settlement with her because the crossing had no signals. He explained her car was specially built for her needs as well as the home.
I prayed for forgiveness all the way home. The lady I thought had everything I didn't. I realized how lucky I was to have my parents, the ability to walk, run or dance through life and many wonderful things money can't buy. I would not have traded places with the beautiful lady for anything
When you meet a person who seems to be much better off than you, don't be fooled.In the afternoons the woman walked three miles to her husband’s work place to___.
| A．take exercise on the way | B．meet the beautiful lady. |
| C．enjoy the scenery and reading | D．wait for her husband |
After seeing the beautiful lady, the woman concluded_______.
| A．the beautiful lady led a rich and happy life. |
| B．the beautiful lady liked to show off herself. |
| C．she and her husband must make more money. |
| D．she shouldn’t have married her husband. |
The woman prayed for forgiveness all the way home because_______.
| A．She should have known the whole story earlier. |
| B．She shouldn’t have compared herself with the woman. |
| C．She shouldn’t have told her husband what she had seen. |
| D．She shouldn’t have seen the woman getting out of the car. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The woman learned that health and family are more important. |
| B．The woman was poor and couldn’t afford another car and fancy clothes. |
| C．The woman envied the beautiful lady of her capable husband. |
| D．The woman regretted marrying her husband. |
The underlined word “haltingly” probably means________.
| A．proudly | B．excitedly |
| C．difficultly | D．steadily |
Which of the following do you think can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Seeing is believing | B．Trust her heart instead of her look |
| C．Looks can be deceiving | D．Fooled by her look |
There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer(美容师) tried to trim(修剪) its claws.
Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis(硬化症), everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, “ I would like to buy her a new dog.”
A story about the death of Crouch’s pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.
Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. “If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can’t do that.” Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.
“This case is absolute animal abuse(虐待),” Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills, said.
People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue, in Roseville, said, “We have puppies to donate … and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog.”
“When Gooch was with me, I was happy,” Crouch said, “I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There’s never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again.”What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．A disabled woman’s service dog. |
| B．A cruel groomer killed a disabled woman’s dog. |
| C．People’s love for a disabled woman who lost her dog. |
| D．Disabled woman loves to have the dog as company. |
People called and emailed to .
| A．offer help and care to Laurie Crouch. |
| B．give their angry voice to the groomer. |
| C．offer a cure for Crouch’s disease. |
| D．tell Crouch how to punish the groomer. |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．Crouch refused to take another dog. |
| B．Crouch must be sad after losing her dog. |
| C．Crouch has accepted another dog from a stranger. |
| D．Crouch can live well without a dog’s company. |
Australians have evidently realized the fact that water means life and we need to he more thoughtful in our use of this rather precious resource．Since the year 2000, Australians have managed to reduce their use of water by 14% ． In the most populous city, Sydney, they've managed to use less water in 2007 than in 1974, even though the city grew by l． 2 million souls in this period．
Across the country nearly 20% of all households have water tanks．That would probably be due, in large part, to the various state governments offering generous rebates． In NSW, for example, where 24,000 households have taken up the offer, you can get $1,500 AUD back if you fix a 7,000 + litre tank and have it attached into your toilet and washing machine．
Creywater use has taken off too． The Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest that it's now the second most common source of water in Australia, with over half of the country's homes reusing water from their washing machines, showers and baths． The state of Victoria leads with 70% using greywater, and Queensland, coming close behind with 63%．
Up in the northern state of．Queensland, some of their dams have been below 20%． Sydney's main dam is only at 56% of its potential capacity．
The country's ongoing drought（干旱） has seen more than 95% of the length of the Murray- Darling Basin （ the two major river systems that supply the nation's 'food basket' ） regarded as ' degraded', Supply of water has become such an issue that hydro-electric power（水力发电） output has dropped 7% in a recent 9 year period for the states of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania．Not good for promoting our uptake understanding of renewable energy in these climate changing times．But at least the message is getting through about making every drop count．The underlined word "rebate" in paragraph 2 probably means ．
| A．discount or allowance | B．water tanks for free |
| C．agreements or payment | D．washing machine of high quality |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The state of Victoria is playing a leading role in greywater use． |
| B．More water has been used in Australia with the growing population． |
| C．The state of Queensland gets its water mostly from the north of its state． |
| D．Some of the dams in Queensland are too weak to hold potential water． |
We can learn from the last paragraph that ．
| A．the country's water shortage is partly due to continuous drought |
| B．large quantities of water are being used to produce electricity |
| C．the author hopes water resource could be used to the fullest |
| D．the author disagrees with the use of renewable energy |
The passage is likely to appear in ．
| A．a scientist's diary | B．a history paper |
| C．a travel guidebook | D．a newspaper |
A study by St． Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents． The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents（居民）．
Dr． Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team出at built a home-assistance robot． "If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions," he said．
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St, Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog．The groups' respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits．
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached． Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago．
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature．Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him． He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing（发出声音）, and blinking his lights．
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study's author, Dr． William Banks, " He's an attractive sort of guy． He gives a feeling: of being personal, not just a robot． "Before the new study, it was known that ．
| A．dogs could help get rid of old people's loneliness |
| B．robots could build close connection with humans |
| C．robots were more effective at reducing people's loneliness |
| D．dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness |
The first time those who contacted with the robotic dog ．
| A．accepted it immediately |
| B．found it easy to interact with it |
| C．were not quite comfortable with it |
| D．were confused by its behavior |
The findings of the researchers tell us that .
| A． robots are actually attractive sorts of guys |
| B．robots could make a good companion of the old. |
| C．it's easy for people to become close with robots |
| D． the elderly will have a robot assistant in no time |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Robots Serve People Better Than Thought |
| B．No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots |
| C．Dogs equipped with robots to Help the Elderly |
| D．Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly |
For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, lifting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and touching electronic pages on an iPad, A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston．will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional texts．Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs．
At Burlington High in suburban Boston, Principal Patrick Larkin says the $500 iPads is better than textbooks in the long term, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available." Lark/n said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered"．
But some experts warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure （设施）, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach． Mark Warschauer, an education and informatics professor said, "I think people will like it． I really don't know anybody in high school that wouldn't want to get an iPad," he said． "We're always using technology at home, then when you're at school it's textbooks．so it's a good way to put all of that together．" Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students' use．
And the nation's textbook publishing industry, accounting for $ 5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum （课程） specifically for iPads． Jay Diskey, executive director of the Association of American Publishers' schools division, said all of the major textbook publishers are moving toward electronic offerings, but at least in the short term, traditional bound textbooks are here to stay．"I think one of the real key questions that will be answered over the next several years is what sort of things work best in print for students and what smt of things work best digitally, "The first paragraph is mainly about ．
| A．a program to promote iPads marketing in new school year |
| B．a program to spread electronic learning in new school year |
| C．a plan of how to use iPads in the coming school education |
| D．a plan of how to use IT technique in die coming school teaching |
What's the problem for iPads to be used in schools at present?
| A．Some students wouldn't like to have iPads in schools． |
| B．The iPads are too expensive for school students to buy． |
| C．Most experts oppose the idea that iPads replace paper textbooks． |
| D．The iPads may be unavailable for some traditional courses． |
The underlined sentence in the passage implies that _．
| A．traditional textbooks are behind the times before they are printed |
| B．traditional textbooks possibly need to he printed again before delivered |
| C．contents of traditional textbooks can't be renewed in time as electronic ones do |
| D． the iPads can deliver information much more rapidly than printed textbooks |
From the passage we can draw conclusion that ．
| A．more students tend to use printed textbooks rather than electronic ones |
| B．textbook publishing houses will develop more electronic textbooks of their own |
| C．it is impossible for the iPads to be widely used in schools in the future |
| D．electronic textbooks will take the place of printed ones in new school year |
When his book Little Princes begins, Conor Grennan is planning a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month volunteer service at the Little Princes Children’s home, an orphanage(孤儿院) in Nepal.
When he arrived at the orphanage, Conor was immediately welcomed by all the children even though he had no previous experience in working with children. He quickly grew to love the job. But it wasn’t long before Conor came to learn that the children were not orphans at all — they were actually children who had been separated from their parents by a child trafficker(贩子).
This realization turned Conor’s global journey into a strong desire to try to find a way to reunite these children with their families. As a part of his efforts, Conor did a great amount of work when he was back in America. He started up a nonprofit organization called Next Generation Nepal(NGN), raising funds in order to buy a house in Nepal for another children’s home. Then, back in Nepal, he began a life-changing trek(艰苦跋涉) into the remote villages in the mountains of Humia.
It is really amazing to read about Conor communicating with the children and to read his descriptions of each of them. He made me truly care about the kids. I wanted them to be able to reunite with their families, too! Unfortunately, this was simply not possible for some of the children. But there were some children who received amazing surprises. Jagrit, for example, had thought for years that both his parents were dead. So, Conor was dumbfounded when he visited Jagrit’s village and was introduced to the boy’s father!
Conor successfully found many of the families of the children. Also, he was successful in finding his future wife while in Nepal.What do we know about Little Princes Children’s Home?
| A．It is a profitable organization. |
| B．The children in it are all orphans. |
| C．It has many branches all over Nepal. |
| D．Many children ended up there due to illegal trade. |
In order to help the children, Conor _________.
a. gave up his plan to travel worldwide b. set up the organization NGN
c. fought against child traffickers d. visited some remote villages
e. decided to settle in Nepal
| A．a, b, c | B．a, b, d |
| C．b, c, d | D．c, d, e |
What does the underlined word “dumbfounded” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Satisfied. | B．Interested. |
| C．Astonished. | D．Ashamed. |
It can be learned from the passage that Conor Grennan _________.
| A．is the author of Little Princes |
| B．is determined to remain single |
| C．likes teaching very much |
| D．is a friend of the author’s |
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