阅读理解

In October, I told the eight­year­olds I taught in New Jersey about my plan. "I'd like all of you to do extra jobs around the house to earn some money, " I said. "Then we'll buy food for a needy grandmother who had lived alone for many years. "

Early in that week, the boys and girls arrived in class clutching their hard­earned money. They had raked leaves, set tables, washed dishes, helped with younger siblings. And now they couldn't wait to go shopping.

In the supermarket, when we headed toward the checkout, pushing a cart filled with turkey and all the trimmings (配料), a kid suddenly spotted another "necessity" and cried "Flowers!" Then, the group dashed toward the holiday plants.

I tried to stop them. Obviously, it would be more sensible to use any extra money to buy basic food that could be stretched into meals. Therefore, I pronounced, "You can't eat flowers."

"But Mrs. Sherlock," came the complaint in a loud voice, "she'll need them. " Defeated, I gave in at last. And the children agreed to buy a pot of funny purple chrysanthemums.

As we finally pulled up in front of a small bungalow hidden in the woods after bouncing along a rutted (留有车辙的) road, a slightly built woman with a weary face came to the door to welcome us.

My little group raced to get the food. With each box carried in, the old woman smiled and nodded— much to her visitors' pleasure. When the kids put the flowers on the counter, the woman seemed surprised. "Do you like it here?" a kid asked. "In the woods, I mean."

The woman brightened. She told the children about the birds that flocked to the bread crumbs she put out.

As we returned to the car, we could see the kitchen window. The woman inside waved goodbye, then turned and walked across the room, past the turkey, the trimmings, straight to the chrysanthemums. She put her face in the petals. When she raised her head, there was a smile on her lips. She was transformed before our eyes.

1. （1） What does the underlined word "clutching" in Paragraph 2 mean?

   A . Grabbing quickly. B . Seizing tightly. C . Holding casually. D . Catching nervously.
3. （2） According to Paragraph 4, why did the author try to stop the children from buying the flowers at first?

   A . The children didn't earn enough money. B . The children couldn't decide what kind of flowers to buy. C . The author thought it worthwhile to buy more food. D . The author believed flowers can't be eaten.
5. （3） What can we learn from the Paragraph 6?

   A . The children were unwilling to go shopping with their teacher. B . It was not easy for the children to reach the old woman's house. C . The old woman showed more interest in the food than the flowers. D . The appearance of the old woman was changed in front of their eyes.
7. （4） What does this story intend to tell us?

   A . It is hard to please all. B . Joys shared with others are more enjoyed. C . Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind. D . A small act of kindness can make a big difference.

阅读理解

Where can you volunteer your time? Check out these 4 activities for excellent volunteer opportunities that require no previous experience.

Animal Rescue Shelters

Local animal shelters always need volunteers. Brush up your office skills by answering emails or phone calls, and providing general administrative assistance. Try making some connections among the staff or offering your dog walking services to the pet owners. It makes for a great part­time job, and plus, may turn into a full­time one.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity offers locally targeted volunteer opportunities. If you are interested in developing experience in home repair and building maintenance, check out its A Brush With Kindness campaign or the Women Build program, designed specifically to help women learn construction skills. Your experience can contribute directly to team­building and leadership ability.

Local Libraries

As a teenager, I volunteered at my local library for a few hours a week for a school project. I liked it so much that I ended up volunteering every week and developed a life­long love of books. Libraries badly need help to organize shelves and assist readers, and you may sometimes help set up and run public events, such as author signings and book fairs.

Art Museums

If you love art, working in a museum can be an invaluable experience. You can surround yourself with timeless works of art, soak up knowledge, and acquire administrative skills meanwhile. Get involved in the community by volunteering for family programs and children's activities at your local museum.

1. （1） What is an extra advantage when you volunteer in animal shelters?

   A . Owning your favorite pet free. B . Becoming a full­time dog walker. C . Helping to build up your knowledge base. D . Contribute to your own leadership ability.
3. （2） Where can you learn skills of bettering your home?

   A . At Habitat for Humanity. B . At a local animal shelter. C . At a local library. D . At an art museum.
5. （3） What is badly needed for local libraries?

   A . Helping design posters. B . Helping with public events. C . Organizing large book fairs. D . Organizing books on the shelves.

完形填空

Ice and snow fell heavily down the window of the office where I was working. As the wind1, I wondered how I would get 2. The 12­mile route took me up and down steep hills and around dangerous turns. I whispered a prayer for safety.

My old green car was doing well over the icy roadway, 3 the snowdrifts (雪堆). But as I went up one of the steepest and scariest hills, I 4the tires were slipping, and my car was having difficulty 5the slope.

I decided it was time to switch to four­wheel drive. I pulled the lever (操纵杆) back, just like my husband had taught me. Slowly the 6held the road without slipping, and the top of the hill came 7. But on the top, the car just stopped. I pushed and pulled the lever—nothing happened. I was 8.

Now what? Even though I had met no one on this lonely stretch of road, I 9 expected that someone might come to help. After a few minutes, I 10 an old truck. A smiling young man I'd never seen before 11 his window and asked if I needed 12. I told him that I did. He showed me 13 to control the four­wheel­drive shifting equipment, locking it into place.

In no time, I had my car moving toward home. When I thanked the 14 and asked if he lived around the area, he just said, "Oh, over there." Do I believe in angels? 15.

阅读理解

"Turtle time!" loudly called out by one of my newly­found friends, meant the beginning of either a morning or afternoon shift at Turtle Camp in Nusa Penida, Indonesia. Upon arrival at the project each day, we would look eagerly for our names on the whiteboard to see which task we would be undertaking. Would it be the highly desirable "turtle feeding" , the pretty fun "tank cleaning", the exciting "medicine administering" or the less appealing "fish cutting"? Fine in theory but not when every fly in Indonesia decides to crowd onto these dead fish while you're cutting!

Life at the turtle project was fun because twice a day we got to hang out with sea turtles. By "hang out", I obviously meant "work", as we were on shift, but it certainly didn't feel like work. Another fun thing was getting to know the other volunteers! With volunteers from all over the world, it was just common to hear Finnish being spoken, Australian slang mixed with French expressions and Swedes making plans to visit newly­found friends in the USA.

Of course, not all the time at Turtle Camp was consumed by volunteering. Scheduled activities included a trip to Crystal Bay, a beautiful paradise for swimming and sunbathing, an awesome beach bonfire complete with a beautiful sunset as well as our local co­workers showing off their guitar playing and singing skills.

Our time at Turtle Camp was capped off by setting free two of our turtles into the sea to begin their journey as independent turtles! Hopefully, the love and care provided at the turtle project would ensure that these turtles had a greater chance of survival in the big, wide and scary ocean.

1. （1） Which task is less fun to the volunteers at Turtle Camp?

   A . Turtle feeding. B . Tank cleaning. C . Medicine administering. D . Fish cutting.
3. （2） What does the underlined part imply?

   A . The volunteering was a challenge. B . The time at the camp was difficult. C . The work at the project was a delight. D . Communication was time­consuming.
5. （3） When setting free the two turtles, the volunteers felt a sense of ________.

   A . achievement B . belonging C . loss D . independence

阅读理解

Keeping fit often means sharing a busy pathway with cyclists, runners and walkers, but imagine facing the task of doing it all without being able to see or hear. It is a challenge many disabled athletes face, unless someone agrees to be their eyes and ears.

Newly formed group Achilles Brisbane pairs vision­and hearing­impaired (视觉和听觉受损的) athletes with people who would like to guide them.

Jane Britt, president of Achilles Brisbane, who is vision­and hearing­impaired, said, "When we go out, it's much less frightening to have someone beside us that has full hearing to listen for us and tell us what's there. " Ms. Cullen and Ms. Britt meet up most Saturday mornings to take part in the free five­kilometer park run. Their partnership is built on trust, but Ms. Britt said that it took time to develop.

Ms. Britt said it took an unexpected storm for her to trust Ms. Cullen completely. "There was violent rain, my glasses were broken and we were walking together. I suddenly had to tell her I couldn't see anything, and I was going to have to completely trust her. From that time I knew it was going to work because she was so good about dealing with the special situation we both found ourselves in, " she said.

Isabella Allen and her seeing­eye dog Tatum are two new additions to the Achilles Brisbane. Ms. Allen kept active by rowing, running and cycling but found it difficult to keep going as her vision became worse. After nearly giving up completely, she worked up the courage to ask Achilles Brisbane to find someone to share a boat with her.

Ms. Allen said the fear of not finding anyone to row with almost stopped her from reaching out to Achilles Brisbane. "But, they found people and matched me to them, "she said. "It's the best thing I've ever done. "

1. （1） What does Paragraph 1 try to show?

   A . The danger of walking on a busy road. B . The difficulty the disabled athletes face. C . The exercise people do to keep fit. D . The necessity of building roads for the blind.
3. （2） How does Jane Britt feel about going out alone?

   A . Relaxed. B . Excited. C . Worried. D . Bored.
5. （3） What happened in the heavy rain according to Ms. Britt?

   A . She developed a strong sense of teamwork. B . She led Ms. Cullen forward on the road. C . She began to rely on Ms. Cullen as her guide. D . She fell down on the ground.
7. （4） What was the best thing Ms. Allen has done?

   A . Asking Achilles Brisbane for help. B . Working in Achilles Brisbane. C . Exercising non­stop. D . Meeting Tatum.

任务型阅读

When it comes to the benefit of volunteering, a lot of people think it's all about the warm feeling after helping someone. As is known, charity work requires a wide variety of people to do a wide variety of things for everything to work. It means that there are some surprising benefits for volunteers. For example, volunteering:

Teaches you new skills.

From helping make websites to teaching immigrant kids your native language, or to arranging events for charity, volunteering can really be almost anything. It means that when you get involved in charity work, a lot of the time you will face challenges.

Can teach you what truly matters.

It's a great way to find new perspectives (角度) on life. When you've been at it for a while, you just might find yourself re­evaluating your advantages. One of my friends went from wanting to be a lawyer to discovering a true passion for teaching.

Maybe it is not surprising, but what might surprise you is how genuine these friends are. Some of my long­term friends are people I've met through volunteering. I'm not that kind of guy that makes friends for connections, but sometimes it's very convenient to have a broad network.

Summed up in one line: Volunteering helps you grow. You meet a wide variety of people who don't have a lot in common with. You learn to get along with people involved in many different walks in life. You learn to know what you are to do. So if you've ever considered volunteering, what are you waiting for?

A. Helps you make new friends.

B. Can help improve social skills.

C. As it turns out, that's far from the only benefit.

D. You might even decide on a completely new path to take in life.

E. Not only as a person, but it helps you develop your skill as well.

F. Volunteering helps you look outside yourself and your problems.

G. Through overcoming the challenges, you learn completely new skills.

阅读理解

Volunteering Is Fun

One afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so bored. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I wanted to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering. I searched on my computer and found a website where I could volunteer on a farm in France.

My time working on a farm was a new experience for me. It was basically a free holiday as food and accommodation were provided. However, it was not my typical holiday as I had to look after fifteen horses and to sleep at the top of a tower in a castle! I was an awful farmer but it did not matter because I made some great friends. However, you do not need to go abroad to volunteer. I have had plenty of adventures at home as volunteering can become a hobby. For example, I love singing so I had a good laugh waving my arms in an attempt to conduct my local choir. I did slowly improve and it felt great to conduct the choir in a concert. At university, I organized a concert for charity with my friends. It was really fun finding bands and raising money for a cause we believe in.

It is true that you feel good volunteering but there are also other advantages. I once volunteered as a server at a charity sports event where the organizers gave me cupcakes to thank me for my services. I also volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe (衣柜).

While this is all fun, my favorite aspect of volunteering is creating and sharing stories. My terrible attempts at farming have given me hilarious stories to tell! Talking to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world. I feel thankful to have had so much fun with many nice people thanks to volunteering.

1. （1） Why did the author want to be a volunteer?

   A . He wanted to taste a new life and make friends. B . He felt ashamed of himself. C . He wanted to be a farmer. D . He wanted to go abroad.
3. （2） The underlined word "hilarious" in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to "________".

   A . sad B . critical C . awful D . funny
5. （3） What voluntary work did the author do?

   A . Taking care of sheep. B . Helping on an Italian farm. C . Helping in a charity shop. D . Conducting a choir in a sports event.
7. （4） How does the author feel according to the last paragraph?

   A . Curious. B . Anxious. C . Grateful. D . Cautious.

阅读理解

My son Sam is 16 and autistic (患自闭症的). There's a lot of things going on in that beautiful and brilliant mind of his, but even on a good day he can be easily at a loss. Thrown in some diagnosed anxiety, an inability to read social cues (信号) and an unexpected change to his daily routine, and you will have the way to deal with a very public meltdown (崩溃).

It was Sam's very first day of high school. We'd set up a plan for how he'd get home: I'd pick him up outside the shop near his school at 3: 30 p. m. and I believed this was a perfect plan. Unknown to me, very bad weather was on its way and I was unable to warn him to take a shelter.

With the combination of his dead phone battery and my dead car battery, I was running late and unable to communicate that to him. As a result, he was left alone and extremely frightened. He became very upset outside the shop, exactly where I'd told him to wait.

This was when a beautiful old Vietnamese lady not only went to check on him, but took him inside her shop, calmed him down, got my phone number from him and called me.

Five years later he continued to go into her shop every afternoon, bought a drink, had a chat and she sent him home with enough bread rolls to feed a small nation.

Sam will graduate this year, and I'm increasingly feeling the need to drop by the shop to let this wonderful lady know that she has saved Sam, and that she has saved me. I'm not sure if I can communicate all of these, but at least I will get to thank her.

There are people I will not get to thank, though—the many kind strangers who have been there for Sam. And believe me, if you're wondering if this world is a complete mess right now, I'm here to say that it is not.

So I guess this is a love letter to those of you who have helped a stranger out of the goodness of your heart. Please know you are appreciated, that your beautiful heart and kindness are appreciated, and that, perhaps unknowingly, you have made a great difference in someone's life.

1. （1） What can we learn about Sam from the first paragraph?

   A . He is rather slow with his studies. B . He can deal with sudden changes well. C . He has difficulty in dealing with things. D . He tries hard to learn how to read social cues.
3. （2） What does the underlined part "check on" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

   A . Discover. B . Visit. C . Recognise. D . Examine.
5. （3） What happened to Sam after his first day at high school?

   A . He could get on well with his classmates. B . He made good friends with the nine lady. C . He brought the lady some food to thank her. D . He became willing to communicate with others.
7. （4） What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

   A . To express her thanks to kind people. B . To remind us all to help autistic people. C . To show how difficult life is for autistic people. D . To tell us how to make a difference in others' lives.

阅读理解

I was getting ready to go to bed when the phone rang. This could not be good. My mind raced through the list of family members who might need help, but the voice was hardly familiar.

"Lindy, this is Lesley." I didn't know Lesley well. We did occasionally speak with each other, but to say we were friends was not appropriate. I asked what she needed. Perhaps something really awful caused her to reach someone she barely knew. Instead, she asked me," Do you have room for a turkey? In your freezer?" We had lots of room in our freezer, and in fact, too much. "Sure," I responded, "did your freezer break down?" "Not exactly," Lesley replied, "but I will explain when I arrive. "

Minutes later came a huge freezer truck. Lesley stepped down and explained the lease (租约) of the grocery store her husband serviced had run out and that they had to empty all the freezers that very night. Thinking it was a shame to throw away all this good food, they decided to drop off food to anyone she could think of. Noticing our freezer was pretty empty, Lesley asked to fill it up. Our home was their last stop and anything left would have to be put in our freezer. An hour later, everything finished, I asked her, "When will you come back for all this?" Lesley laughed," We don't want it back. It is yours! Thanks for helping us out!" Then they waved goodbye and drove away.

"For helping them out?" We opened our freezer door. Inside were all expensive foods we never bought but often longed to try. We were struggling to buy groceries, yet it was not something we shared with anyone. However, our needs were met in an unexpected way, by that call," Do you have room for a turkey?"

1. （1） How did the writer feel when she heard the phone ringing?

   A . Angry. B . Anxious. C . Shocked. D . Relieved.
3. （2） What does the author indicate by the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

   A . They were running out of food supplies. B . Their freezer was too large to fill. C . They were glad to put the turkey in the freezer. D . Their freezer was less frequently used.
5. （3） Why did Lesley call up the writer?

   A . Because she didn't want food to go to waste. B . Because the writer was her good friend. C . Because something awful had happened. D . Because she knew the writer was in need.
7. （4） What can be a suitable title for the text?

   A . A Friend on Speaking Terms B . Who Is My Angel? C . Unexpected Bargains D . Do You Have Room for a Turkey?