Andy Tomas is proof of the typical case that life-changing disaster awaits the drunken driver.
“A lot of teachers say, ‘Don’t drink,’ but I’m not going to say that, because I know that students are going to do it,” Andy says. “I just say, ‘Don’t get in a car.’”
As an 18-year-old, he could be a classmate or a friend, and that familiarity adds to the power of his words. He has spoken to more than 2500 high school students so far, and he has noticed their unusual silence.
One year ago, Andy, having been with friends drinking, lost control of his car and was thrown into trees 20 feet away. He was found covered in blood, with many bones broken. He was diagnosed with a severe brain injury and remained in an unconscious state and on life support for nearly three weeks. His skull was opened to reduce pressure on his brain.
At Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, Doctor Erin Leahy initially found Andy unable to move the right side of his body. But by the end of his six-week stay, he was able to walk out of the building. Leahy called that an inspiration and a surprise.
Yet Andy’s recovery is incomplete. Brain and muscular therapy(治疗) has helped him regain movement in his right arm, but he still struggles with right hand.
In the process of recovery, Andy has thought deeply about what happened and why, and decided to share his story. Encouraged by his doctor, he began to attending meetings, delivering speeches.
He said he was nervous at first, but has grown used to the spotlight. “I feel like I know how to talk to people.” He said. And his recovery and visible injury help him draw serious attention from students.
Drunk driving, he tells students, is like playing gambles. “You might do it a bunch of times, but something is going to happen.”
Now his days are all about the therapy, work and going to the gym. Mentally, he says, “ I’m a lot happier in my life.” What’s the main purpose of the author?
| A．Warn students about the danger of drinking. |
| B．Tell readers the danger of driving a car. |
| C．Advise people not to drive a car after drinking. |
| D．Show readers Andy’s amazing recovery experience. |
Why does the author say Andy’s story is powerful as an 18-year-old boy?
| A．Because his family supported him and cared for him carefully. |
| B．Because he is just like one of our classmates or friends. |
| C．Because doctors and family never gave him up.[ |
| D．Because his classmates and friends are familiar with him. |
What does the underlined sentence mean?
| A．Drunk driving will be fined a lot of money eventually. |
| B．Drunk driving will eventually have a serious accident. |
| C．Drunk driving is as adventurous and thrilled as gamble. |
| D．Drunk driving is banned even if you are an experienced driver. |
What happened to Andy after the accident?
| A．He made a full recovery and returned to his normal life. |
| B．He recovered quite well at an unbelievable speed. |
| C．He became more experienced and eager for more adventures. |
| D．He shared his stories with others to warn them not to try drunk driving. |
Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the websites you’ve visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a husband or wife, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen—the 21st century equivalent (相等物) of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it’s important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times. But few boundaries remain. The digital bread pieces you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
ThekeyquestionisDoesthatmatter?
FormanyAmericans,theanswerapparentlyis“no.”
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found a serious depression about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessanfro Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠券).
But privacy does matter—at least sometimes. It’s like health when you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.What would psychologists advise on the relationships between friends?
| A．There should be a distance even between friends. |
| B．Friends should always be faithful to each other. |
| C．Friends should open their hearts to each other. |
| D．There should be fewer disagreements between friends. |
Why does the author say “we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret”?
| A．People leave tracks around when using modern technology. |
| B．Modern society has finally developed into an open society. |
| C．There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs. |
| D．Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities. |
What do most Americans do about privacy protection?
| A．They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. |
| B．They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
| C．They rely more and more on electronic devices. |
| D．They use various loyalty cards for business deals. |
According to the passage, privacy is like health because __________.
| A．people don’t treasure it until they lose it |
| B．its importance is rarely understood |
| C．it is something that can easily be lost |
| D．people will make every effort to keep it |
I made a promise to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a passage from the Bible about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.” “Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “do you know something I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that medical checkup I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me？Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?” It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.” From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage __________.
| A．all by himself | B．with Evelyn |
| C．with his family | D．with his children |
During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ________.
| A．he was willing to be a good husband |
| B．he could afford time to care for her |
| C．she looked lovely in her new clothes |
| D．she was seriously ill |
The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What was the one thing that went wrong?
| A．He praised her sweater, which puzzled her. |
| B．He was so good to her that she thought she would be dying. |
| C．He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her. |
| D．She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated. |
By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that __________.
| A．he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life |
| B．he is beginning to regret what he did to his wife before |
| C．he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change |
| D．he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband |
About seven years ago, whenever I notice someone looked nice, I started telling them they looked nice. Shortly afterwards, I came up with an observation: If you tell five people during the day that they look nice, at the end of the day, six people feel great. Here are some fruitful experiences I have with this.
One day, I was riding with a friend when we rolled to a stop at the traffic light. As we waited for the light to turn green, a man walked across the crosswalk. He looked very together, so I called out, “Hey, you look sharp today!” Pointing towards a building, he said, “Thanks, but I was sharper there.” His comment puzzled me. But before I could ask about it, the light turned green, and we drove on. I asked my friend what he meant. My friend informed me that we were at the corner of a radio station and the man was the voice on the radio. Then I understood. But no matter who he was the biggest thing for me was that he was smiling when he accepted my compliment (赞扬).
Later that day, there was a woman standing on the corner where we were turning, and I yelled (大喊) the compliment again, “You look nice!” She was just taking a sip of a bottle of water and started to laugh. I felt good to get a laugh.
Another day, while seated in a restaurant, there was a lady sitting near me. I really did not care for her skirt, but she did look nice in it, so I told her, “You look nice today.” She looked at me and rolled her eyes a little. Well, her friend sitting next to her told her, “He just gave you a compliment. Say thank you.” I don’t remember whether she said “thank you” or not, but what I did notice was that her friend was smiling at my “You look nice today” compliment.The underlined word “sharp” in Paragraph 2 probably means_________.
| A．attractive | B．sudden |
| C．strict | D．mild |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The first man the author praised accepted his compliment. |
| B．The first man the author praised worked at a radio station. |
| C．The woman standing on the corner didn’t like the compliment |
| D．The friend of the lady in the restaurant felt happy about the compliment. |
What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Fruitful Experiences |
| B．Help Others, Help Yourself |
| C．Learn to compliment. |
| D．“You Look Nice Today” |
Does your child struggle in school? Is he or she afraid of reading out loud, writing an essay, or working out a math problem? While every kid has trouble with homework from time to time, if a certain area of learning keeps going wrong, it might show a learning disorder. Learning disorders, or learning disabilities, are a general term for a wide variety of learning problems.
A learning disability is not a problem with IQ or motivation (动机). Kids with learning disabilities aren’t lazy or slow. In fact, most are just as smart as everyone else. Their brains are just wired (装电线) differently. Simply put, children and adults with learning disabilities see, hear, and understand things differently. This difference affects how they receive and process (处理) information. This can lead to trouble in learning new information and skills, and putting them to use.
It can be tough to face the possibility that your child has a learning disorder. No parents want to see their children suffer. You may wonder what it could mean for your child’s future, or worry about how your kid will make it through school. But the important thing to remember is that most kids with learning disabilities are just as smart as everyone else. They just need to be taught in ways that suit their unique learning styles.
It’s not always easy to tell whether a child has learning disabilities, for learning disabilities look very different from one child to another. One child may struggle with reading and spelling, while another loves books but can’t understand math. Still another child may have difficulty understanding what others are saying or communicating loud. However, some warning signs are more common than others at different ages. If you’re aware of what they are, you’ll be able to catch a learning disorder early and quickly and take steps to help your child as quickly as possible.From the passage, we can infer that_______.
| A．students with learning disabilities look quite different from normal students |
| B．students with learning disabilities can’t do well in their studies |
| C．only few students with learning disabilities are as clever as normal students |
| D．it is quite possible for a students with learning disabilities to succeed in their studies |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Learning about learning disabilities. |
| B．How to prevent learning disabilities. |
| C．Ways to identify learning disabilities. |
| D．Different learning disabilities. |
What will be most probably discussed following the Paragraph 4?
| A．Some ways which help parents teach their children with learning disabilities better. |
| B．Some suggestions on how to get along with their children with learning disabilities. |
| C．Some parents may have difficulties in helping their children with learning disabilities. |
| D．Some warning signs which show that a child may have learning disabilities. |
They are the sort of friends who are so close they trust each other with their lives. If one falls, the other is there to catch him.
They are Wellman, whose legs were permanently injured nine years ago in a rock-climbing accident, and Corbett, an experienced rock climber. Together, they climbed up Half Dome, the famous 2,000-foot rock in the Yosemite National Park, through one of the most difficult routes(路线).
During the climb, Corbett took the lead, hit in the metal spikes（尖状物）that guided the ropes and climbed up. Then, after Wellman pulled himself up the rope, Corbett went down to remove the spikes and climbed up again. This process was repeated time and again, inch by inch, for 13 days. Wellman’s job was not easy either. He got himself up the rope through upper body strength alone. In all, Wellman figured that he had done 5,000 pull-ups up the rope on the climb.
However, when the two men first met, they never talked about climbing. “He knew that was how I got injured.” Wellman said. Until one day Wellman decided that he wanted to climb again and they started training.
Their climb of Half Dome was not all smooth. At one point, pieces of rock gave way, and Corbett dropped down quickly. Wellman locked their rope in place, stopping the fall at 20 feet. His quick action probably saved his friend’s life.
“Your partner can save your life — you can save your partner’s life,” Wellman said as the pair received congratulations from friends. “There are real close ties.”Why did the two men never talk about climbing when they first met?
| A．Corbett was poorly trained. |
| B．Wellman had lost interest in climbing. |
| C．Corbett didn’t want to hurt Wellman. |
| D．Wellman hadn’t decided whether to climb again. |
What do we know about Wellman?
| A．He climbed Half Dome by himself. |
| B．He was disabled in a traffic accident. |
| C．He stopped rock-climbing for some time. |
| D．He was saved by Corbett during the climb. |
Which of the following was a challenge for Corbett in climbing Half Dome?
| A．To climb up to remove the spikes. |
| B．To climb it again after falling down |
| C．To do 5,000 pull-ups up the rope. |
| D．To lock the rope in place. |
The main idea of the text is that _______ .
| A．two heads are better than one |
| B．friendship is precious in life |
| C．the disabled should never give up |
| D．a man can be destroyed but cannot be defeated |