The ladies spent some time ____ on each other's health and families.

 America has more than fifty states, ____ , Kentucky, is the place ____ Abraham Lincoln was born. 

阅读理解

The curb cut（路缘坡）is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder—in more ways than one.

Pushing a baby stroller onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car—all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.

But it was created with a different purpose in mind.

It's hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps（斜坡）to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb "might as well have been Mount Everest" for wheelchair-bound people. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help disadvantaged people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.

I think about the "curb cut effect" a lot when working on issues around health equality. The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equality as "a zero-sum game（零和游戏）". Basically, there is a deeply rooted social belief among them that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. What the curb cut effect reveals though, Blackwell said is that "when society-creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins."

One such example is closed captioning（字幕）, originally intended to help deaf people understand movies and TV shows without needing to hear dialogue or sounds. But it's easy to think of other applications for closed captioning: it's convenient for customers watching TV in a noisy bar or gym, second-language learners who want to read as well as listen, or students who use it as a study aid.

So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk—think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.

1. （1） What does the underlined quote imply concerning a six-inch curb?

   A . It is an unforgettable symbol. B . It is an impassable barrier. C . It is an important sign. D . It is an impressive landmark.
3. （2） According to Angela Blackwell, what do many people believe?

   A . It's not worthwhile to promote health equality. B . It's necessary to go all out to help the disabled. C . It's impossible to have everyone treated equally. D . It's fair to give the disadvantaged more help than others.
5. （3） Which of the following examples best illustrates the "curb cut effect" principle?

   A . The four great inventions of ancient China spread to other countries in the world. B . Reading machines for blind people help build the digital maps drivers use to navigate. C . Your reaching out to the disadvantaged contributes to more people doing it. D . A butterfly flapping its wings in one country leads to a Tornado in another country.
7. （4） What is the main idea of the text?

   A . The curb cut is a convenient ramp designed to benefit the disabled. B . Everyone in a society should be treated equally. C . Supporting disadvantaged groups often ends up benefiting much larger ranges of society. D . How disability rights activists fought for equality that changed the life of his followers.

 She has a strong mind and is always ready to ____challenges.

—I want you both to be on your best ____ at Grandad's.

—OK we will, Mum.

 Everyone in our class was working hard and doing what we can to ____a key university.

 ____ her disappointment, she ____ and managed a bright smile.

 It is ____ of him to be late, which makes us very angry.

 We must do something to____ the factories sending out poisonous gases so as to keep the city____.