My teenage son Karl became withdrawn after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this case he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged（乞求）him. Nothing worked.
One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and begged for help. "Please God, I can't do anything more for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you."
I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences." Before he could say another word, I choked（哽咽） up and all my disappointment（失望） and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. "I love my son but I just don't know what to do. I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It's out of my hands." For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, "Thank you for your time." and hung up.
Karl's next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were surprised at the way he had turned himself around.
After the meeting, Karl said, "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?" I nodded.
"That was me. I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That's when I knew I had to make you proud." By saying "Karl became withdrawn", the writer means the boy changed completely and _______.
| A．preferred to stay alone at home |
| B．lost interest in his studies |
| C．refused to talk to others |
| D．began to dislike his mother |
There was silence on the other end of the line because the speaker _______.
| A．was too moved to say anything to the mother |
| B．waited for the mother to finish speaking |
| C．didn't want the mother to know who he was |
| D．didn't want to say to his mother |
The phrase "at the end of my rope" means _______ in Chinese.
| A．心如刀割 | B．心意冷 | C．失魂落魄 | D．山穷水尽 |
What does this passage mainly tell us?
| A．Being understood by parents is very important to teenagers. |
| B．Mother's love plays an important part in teenagers' life. |
| C．School education doesn't work without full support from parents. |
| D．Children in single-parent families often have problems with their mind. |
The best title for the passage is _______.
| A．A lonely boy |
| B．How to get on with a teenager |
| C．A student who turned himself around |
| D．A joking phone call |
Have successful people ever felt sad? Do they have any “secrets” to success? The answers to these questions can be found in US president Barack Obama’s “back to school” speech. Here is an excerpt(摘录) from his speech.
I know that sometimes, you get the sense that you can be rich and successful without any hard work—that your ticket to success is through rapping (饶舌音乐) or basketball or being a TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. Not all the homework will seem completely important to your life right this minute. And you may not succeed at everything the first time you try.
That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was turned down 12 times before it finally came out. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots (投篮) during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures beat you—you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time.
No one’s born being good at things. You become good at things through hard work.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit(承认) when you don’t know something, and to learn something new.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged (泄气), and you feel like other people have given up on you—don’t ever give up on yourself. Because when you give up on yourself, you give up on your country.Why does Barack Obama mention (提到) JK Rowling and Michael Jordan in the fourth paragraph?
| A．To compare these two famous persons. |
| B．To explain that writing and sports are difficult skills. |
| C．To show that the two persons were treated unfairly. |
| D．To prove that failure is the mother of success. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．No one can be successful without working hard. |
| B．Failure can be good if you treat it in a right way. |
| C．Those who believe in themselves shouldn’t ask others for help. |
| D．One should try his best to make his dream come true. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined sentence?
| A．One should change his mind when others give honest advice to him. |
| B．One should believe in himself no matter what difficulty he is faced with. |
| C．One doesn’t have to work hard when he has failed several times. |
| D．One doesn’t have to take others’ advice when they get away from him. |
Cats are the most popular pets among Americans. So it is not surprising that there are a lot of expressions about cats. Some cats like to catch small birds, like canaries (金丝雀). If someone looks very proud and satisfied with himself, we say “he looks like the cat that ate the canary.”
Sometimes, a cat likes to play with a small animal it catches. So if you “play cat and mouse” with someone, it means that you change between different kinds of behavior when dealing with another person. For example, a girl might offer something sweet to her little brother and then take it away when he reaches for it.
Americans might say that something is “the cat’s miaow” or “the cat’s pajamas(睡衣)” to describe something that is the best or finest. “A copycat” is someone who acts just like someone else or copies another person’s work. “A fat cat” is a person with a lot of money.
If you tell about something that is supposed to be a secret, we say you “let the cat out of the bag”. If you are not able to speak or answer a question, someone might ask you if “the cat has got your tongue(舌头)”
Have you ever watched children in a classroom when their teacher leaves for a few minutes? “When the cat’s away, the mice will play” means people sometimes act badly when there is no supervision (监管).
You may have heard the expression “curiosity killed the cat”. This means caring too much about things that are not your business might cause problems.
If you have ever had cats as pets, you know it is difficult to train them or to get them to do something. Cats are not like Sheep or cows that can be moved in a group. So we say a difficult or impossible job is like “herding (放牧) cats “ What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The expression “a fat cat” is used to describe someone who is very fat. |
| B．The expression “play cat and mouse” usually means “play tricks on others”. |
| C．It is more difficult to keep sheep or cows than cats. |
| D．There are more expressions about cats than those about dogs. |
In which of the following situations do we most probably use the expression “curiosity killed the cat”?
| A．Someone always asked a lady her age or weight and it made her angry. |
| B．Someone promised to keep a secret but he failed to do so. |
| C．Someone won the first prize in an English singing competition and he felt very excited. |
| D．Someone tried to swim across the Yangtze River with his newly broken legs. |
Where can you most probably find the passage?
| A．In a scientific research paper about cats. |
| B．On a website telling people how to keep cats. |
| C．In a magazine telling various jokes and funny stories. |
| D．In a language book that teaches students how to use American slang. |
A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain (笔试).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge (挑战). The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended (假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride (自大) ! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life...”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach. What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.
d. The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.
| A．a, d, b, c | B．a, b, d, c | C．d, a, c, b | D．d, c, a, b |
What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Tired. | B．Bored. | C．Nervous. | D．Frightened. |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．The early bird catches the worm. |
| C．No pains, no gains. | D．Pride goes before a fall. |
What makes 15,000 men and women run for hours, and what makes them run through the streets on a cold day without coats? I was one of those runners. The race is called marathon (马拉松).
I had never run more than eight miles before, and here I was training. Since the race is in April, I had to run throughout the winter, and in Boston, winters are cold. For most people, just putting on their shirts, sweaters, jackets, and hats is exercise enough. I found myself out on the dark streets, running along ice sidewalks (人行道). Even in gloves, my fingers got so cold that they looked like red carrots. My nose didn’t get warm until lunchtime !
Finally, the big day arrived. The weather was cold, with ice and rain. Bang! The gun sounded, and we started. I didn’t go anywhere at first because I was standing behind so many people. I had to wait for them to move.
At first, the running was easy. The other runners just seemed to pull me along. Somewhere around the 20-mile mark I even said to myself, "This is nothing, why did I train so hard?"
Then I hit "the wall". "The wall" is what marathon runners call the special point. I knew my body reached the point and I thought I couldn’t go any more. I was out of breath and my legs turned into pieces of wood. I was almost falling down. I can’t remember anything about the last five miles of the race.
I kept running though. At last, I heard a voice at the finishing line.
"You look good," my friend Ted said. "How did it feel?"
"Wonderful !" I replied.
For everything, if you devote yourself into it, there will be a way. I finished the race, at least, in my heart, I was the winner.Which one best describes the weather on the race day?
| A．Cold and rainy. | B．Cold and sunny. | C．Dry and cloudy. | D．Wet and foggy. |
How did the writer feel about the race during the first 20 miles?
| A．Difficult. | B．Boring. | C．Easy. | D．Interesting. |
According to the article, what must someone do to prepare for a marathon?
| A．One must eat certain food and get plenty of sleep. |
| B．One must be willing to eat, sleep, and train twenty-four hours a day. |
| C．One must run along ice sidewalks every day. |
| D．One must be willing to train a lot and doesn’t give up easily. |
Then I hit "the wall". What do you think "hit the wall" means here?
| A．撞击墙壁 | B．到达极限 | C．抵达终点 | D．中途加速 |
Mr. and Mrs. Harris had always spent their summer holidays in a small hotel at the seaside near their hometown. One year, however, Mr. Harris made a lot of money in his factory, so they decided to go to a foreign country and stay at a really good hotel.
They flew to Paris, and arrived at a 5-star hotel late in the evening. They thought they would have to go to bed hungry, because in that small hotel where they used to stay in the past, no meals were served after seven in the evening. They were surprised to be told that the hotel served dinner until ten.
"Then what are the times of meals?" asked Mrs. Harris.
"Well, Madam, we serve breakfast from seven to eleven, lunch from twelve to three, tea from four to five, and dinner from six to ten."
"But that hardly leaves any time for us to see the city!" said Mrs. Harris.Why did Mr. and Mrs. Harris think they would have to go to bed hungry when they arrived at the hotel?
| A．Because it’s a 5-star hotel. |
| B．Because they thought no meals would be served late in the evening. |
| C．Because they were very tired after the trip. |
| D．Because they didn’t want to eat anything. |
How long did the service time for lunch last in the hotel?
| A．2 hours. | B．4 hours. | C．3 hours . | D．1 hour. |
What did Mrs. Harris think of the times of the meals in the hotel?
| A．She thought they would have enough time to see the city. |
| B．She thought they would have to spend too much time on meals instead of travelling. |
| C．She thought they would have enough time to have meals. |
| D．She thought the times were suitable and felt very satisfied. |
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