Some say every day miracles are predestined (注定的)---- All that’s necessary is readiness, the right circumstance for the appointed meeting. And it can happen anywhere.
In 1999, 11-year-old Kevin Stephan was a bat boy for his younger brother's Little League team in Lancaster, New York. It was an early evening in late July. Kevin was standing on the grass away from the plate, where another youngster was warming up for the next game. Swinging his bat back and forth, and giving it all the power an elementary school kid could give, the boy brought the bat back hard and hit Kevin in the chest. His heart stopped.
When Kevin fell to the ground, the mother of one of the players rushed out of the stands to his aid. Penny Brown hadn't planned to be there that day, but at the last minute,she had changed her shift (轮班) at the hospital, and she was given the night off. Penny bent over the senseless boy, his face already starting to turn blue, and giving CPR, breathing into his mouth and giving chest compressions (按压). And he came to life.
After his recovery, he became a volunteer junior firefighter, learning some of the emergency first-aid techniques that had saved his life. He studied hard in school and was saving money for college by working as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in his spare time.
Kevin, now 17, was working in the kitchen when he heard people screaming, customers in confusion, employees rushing toward a table. He hurried into the main room and saw a woman there, her face turning blue, her hands at her throat. She was choking .
Quickly Kevin stepped behind her, wrapped his arms around her and clasped his hands. Then, using skills he'd first learned in Scouts, the food that was trapped in the woman's throat was freed. The color began to return to her face.
“The food was stuck. I couldn't breathe,” she said. She thought she was dying. “I was very frightened.”
Who was the woman?
Penny Brown.Kevin Stephan fell to the ground and fainted probably because ________.
| A．he stood close to the boy who was swinging his bat |
| B．he suffered from heart attack all of a sudden |
| C．he was too excited when watching the game |
| D．he swung the bat too hard to keep his balance |
Which of the following statements is True of Kevin Stephan?
| A．He was hit on the face by a boy and almost lost his life. |
| B．He was a volunteer junior firefighter, teaching the players first-aid skills. |
| C．He worked part-time in a local restaurant to save money for college. |
| D．He saved Penny Brown though he didn’t really know how to deal with food choke |
Why did Penny Brown change her shift and was given the night off that night?
| A．She was there to give her son directions. |
| B．She volunteered to give medical services. |
| C．She was a little worried about her son’s safety. |
| D．She came to watch her son’s game and cheered him . |
Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore’s education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education. Read the summary of his thoughts on education below.
For a start, the government is prepared to send an additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught. But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help.
Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principles and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic’s schools can be even better. To help the schools make a jump in quality, the government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges. Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers. Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students.
More teachers must not mean more homework, however. In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students. Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have. PM Lee is convinced that “we must teach less so that our children can learn more.”
Another change will be in the teaching of the mother of tongue so that students can become more fluent. The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin. Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language. To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons.The text is mainly about in Singapore.
| A．the education reform |
| B．adding more teachers |
| C．the mother tongue |
| D．ways of teaching |
The general goal of using extra teachers is to .
| A．make classes smaller |
| B．assist more senior teachers |
| C．teach more |
| D．help teachers improve teaching quality |
PM Lee holds that the students should .
| A．do more homework |
| B．give up higher grades |
| C．study more courses |
| D．be given more time to learn more |
The key to teaching Chinese well is to .
| A．make it academic |
| B．have a creative environment |
| C．give more Chinese lessons |
| D．encourage speaking and reading a lot |
The measures to be carried out will have pressure taken off .
| A．teachers |
| B．students |
| C．parents |
| D．the government |
When Frida Kahlo’s paintings were on show in London, a poet described her paintings as “a ribbon(丝带)around a bomb”. Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time. Sadly, she is actually a much bigger name today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City, Kahlo suffered from polio(小儿麻痹症)at the age of seven. Her spine(脊柱)became bent as she grew older. Then, in 1925, her back was broken in several places in a school-bus accident. Throughout the rest of her life, the artist had many operations, but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back. However, the accident had an unexpected side effect. While lying in her bed recovering, Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929, she got married to Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. Rivera’s strong influence on Kahlo’s style can be seen in her early works, but her later works from the 1940s, known today as her best works, show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately, her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s, even in her home country. Her first one-woman show in Mexico was not held until 1953. For more than a decade after her death in 1954, Kahlo’s works remained largely unnoticed by the world, but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last.What does the phase “a much bigger name” in Paragraph 1 most probably mean?
| A．A far better artist. |
| B．A far more gifted artist. |
| C．A much stronger person. |
| D．A much more famous person. |
The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by .
| A．polio | B．her bent spine |
| C．back injuries | D．the operations she had |
Kahlo’s style had become increasingly independent since the .
| A．1930s | B．1940s |
| C．1950s | D．1970s |
What is the author’s attitude toward Kahlo?
| A．Devotion. |
| B．Sympathy. |
| C．Worry. |
| D．Encouragement. |
Top lists are lecturing people on everything from “100 places to visit” to “100 books to read”. Aren’t you just tired of being told what to do with your time?
Now you have a list to end all lists!
Take a look at the following two examples from the list of “101 thins not to do”:
Swim with Dolphins?
Swimming with dolphins is one of the world’s most profitable tourist activities. However, every dolphin will welcome having their busy, tiring day interrupted by tourists screaming pushing around them in the water. Worse yet, when dolphins get too near to the boats loaded tourists, they could get caught up in ropes and killed by propellers(螺旋桨).
Here’s a little secret. Dolphins look like smiling at you, but actually they’re just opening mouths.
Go to see the Mona Lisa?
There must be something about the mysterious smile. The 6 million people who visit the lady in the Louvre every year can’t all be wrong, after all. But they can be quite annoying, standing in front of you, holding up their cameras to prevent you from seeing anything. In fact, it is hard for you to see the painting clearly because you have to stay away from it for security reasons. After queuing for hours, many tourists can remain in front of the painting only for 15 seconds most.
If the mysterious lady in the picture knew her fate, she wouldn’t just be smiling, she’d be laughing.
So, still long to see the Mona Lisa? If you want to find out more about the list, read 101 Things NOT to Do Before You Die. Visit www. not2dobeforeidie. co. uk and buy the book at a 20% discount.According to the passage, swimming with dolphins .
| A．is the world’s most popular tourist activity |
| B．gives fun to both tourists and dolphins |
| C．will make tourists busy and tired |
| D．can cause danger to dolphins |
What does the author think about going to see the Mona Lisa?
| A．It is wrong to go and see the mysterious smile. |
| B．It is not as satisfying as expected. |
| C．Fifteen seconds in front of the painting is enough. |
| D．Queuing for hours is worthwhile. |
The list of “101 things not to do” is made most probably because its author .
| A．thinks it boring to do the things suggested by other lists |
| B．believes other lists are not humorous enough |
| C．intends to persuade people to read more lists |
| D．wants to provide a list different from other lists |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To advertise a book. |
| B．To introduce a website. |
| C．To comment on popular lists. |
| D．To recommend tourist activities. |
One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).
On September 11th, 1958, Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying. “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honour! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. “If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” he hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”
“Thank God.” I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958?
| A．He got a baby brother. |
| B．He got a Christmas gift. |
| C．He became four years old. |
| D．He received a doll. |
What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Fearful. |
Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A sad Christmas day. |
| B．Life with a lovely baby. |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family. |
In his 1930 essay “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren”, John Keynes, a famous economist, wrote that human needs fall into two classes: absolute needs, which are independent of what others have, and relative needs, which make us feel superior to our fellows. He thought that although relative needs may indeed be insatiable(无止境的), this is not true of absolute needs.
Keynes was surely correct that only a small part of total spending is decided by the desire for superiority. He was greatly mistaken, however, in seeing this desire as the only source of insatiable demands.
Decisions to spend are also driven by ideas of quality which can influence the demand for almost all goods, including even basic goods like food. When a couple goes out for an anniversary dinner, for example, the thought of feeling superior to others probably never comes to them. Their goal is to share a special meal that stands out from other meals.
There are no obvious limits to the escalation of demands for quality. For example, Porsche, a famous car producer, has a model which was considered perhaps the best sports car on the market. Priced at over $120,000, it handles perfectly well and has great speed acceleration. But in 2004, the producer introduced some changes which made the model slightly better in handling acceleration. People who really care about cars find these small improvements exciting. To get them, however, they must pay almost four times the price.
By placing the desire to be superior to others at the heart of his description of insatiable demands, Keynes actually reduced such demands. However, the desire for higher quality has no natural limits.According to the passage, John Keynes believed that .
| A．desire is the root of both absolute and relative needs |
| B．absolute needs come from our sense of superiority |
| C．relative needs alone lead to insatiable demands |
| D．absolute needs are stronger than relative needs |
What do we know about the couple in Paragraph 3?
| A．They want to show their superiority. |
| B．They find specialty important to meals. |
| C．Their demands for food are not easily satisfied. |
| D．Their choice of dinner is related to ideas of quality |
What does the underlined word “escalation” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
| A．Understanding | B．Increase |
| C．Difference | D．Study |
The author of the passage mainly argues that .
| A．absolute needs have no limits |
| B．demands for quality are not insatiable |
| C．human desires influence ideas of quality |
| D．relative needs decide most of our spending |