Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new baby. They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's stomach.
In time, the labor pains come. But complications arise during delivery. Finally, Michael's little sister is born. But she is in serious condition. With alarm in the night, the ambulance rushes the infant to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee. The days go by. The little girl gets worse. The pediatric (儿科的) specialist tells the parents, “There is very little hope. Be prepared for the worst.”
Karen and her husband contact a local cemetery about a burial plot. They have fixed up a special room in their home for the new baby, but now they plan a funeral. Michael keeps begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says. But kids are never allowed in Intensive Care. Karen makes up her mind. She will take Michael whether they like it or not. If he doesn’t see his sister now, he may never see her alive.
She dresses him in an oversized suit and marches him into ICU. He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and shouts, "Get that kid out of here now. No children are allowed. Never disturb patients here.” The mother rises up strongly and said," He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"
Karen leads Michael to his sister's bedside. He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live. And he begins to sing. In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings:" You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray…" Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate begins to calm down and becomes steady.
“Keep on singing, Michael.”encouraged Karen with tears in her eyes. "You never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away."
The next day, the very next day, the little girl is well enough to go home! Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song". The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of Gods love!
Never give up on the people you love.What may the underlined words "the infant" refer to?
| A．The baby | B．Karen | C．Mary | D．Michael |
What do we know about the little sister after she was born?
| A．She was driven to St. Mary's shop. | B．A doctor came to see her in her house. |
| C．She was very thin and couldn't speak. | D．She was in great danger. |
Why did Karen firmly let little Michael see his sister in ICU?
| A．Because he could make his sister alive. |
| B．Because his sister would be sent to a far hospital. |
| C．Because his sister was going to die soon. |
| D．Because his father wanted to take him away. |
What do we know about the head nurse?
| A．The head nurse was careful. | B．The head nurse was rude. |
| C．The head nurse was responsible. | D．The head nurse had no sympathy. |
What is the general idea of the text?
| A．A boy’s singing saved his sister’s life. |
| B．The little girl is well enough to go home. |
| C．Michael's little sister is born with a serious disease. |
| D．No children are allowed to enter the intensive care unit. |
Imagine one day, the water taps in your house stop running. You have to buy water from shops. And still there isn’t enough for everyone. Your mother has to save the family’s shower water to do other things. Would you be able to stand that kind of life?
Probably not. But that’s what kids in Yemen are experiencing. Experts said Yemen is going to be the first country in the world to run out of water. According to a report, the capital, Sanaa, will run out of drinking water as early as 2025.
Because of the shortage, the government often cuts the water supply. Hannan, an 18-year-old from Lahej, told the Times: “In a good week we’ll have a water supply all week. But then the following week there will be water only for a day or two.”
Hannan said only rich people have enough water to use. They can buy water from the shops or from the water truck. Private companies own the trucks. They travel around the city every day to sell water – at very high prices.
“A lot of people can’t afford it,” she said.
The average person in Yemen uses 100 to 200 cubic meters of water per year. That is far below the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters.
The government is thinking of making use of seawater. But it will cost a lot and it may not happen soon enough to help the people of Yemen.The purpose of the text is to _______.
| A．tell us what life is like in Yemen |
| B．draw our attention to water shortage |
| C．remind us how important water is |
| D．show us ways of solving problems |
The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
| A．buying water from shops |
| B．drinking dirty water |
| C．suffering from water shortage |
| D．washing clothes with used water |
Hannan described _____.
| A．what her life is like |
| B．how beautiful Lahej is |
| C．how people use water fully |
| D．how heavy the traffic in Lahej is |
The Yemen Government _____.
| A．has found a practical solution |
| B．only cares about rich people |
| C．may try to make use of seawater |
| D．can do nothing about the water supply |
We can infer from the text that _____.
| A．Sanaa will run out of water in 10 years |
| B．Hannan is a teenager from a rich family |
| C．the capital of Yemen is developing fast |
| D．private companies make a lot of money |
The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is talking in English as much as possible. Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up(混合)and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’t understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor(幽默感),you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes you make. Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It’s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying. The most important thing for learning Englsih is：“Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”The writer thinks that the best way for you to learn a language is_______.
| A．writing | B．using it | C．listening | D．learning grammar |
What should you do in learning Englsih?
| A．Be careful not to make any mistake. | B．Write as quickly as you can. |
| C．Speak English as much as you can. | D．Laugh more often. |
When people laugh at your mistakes, you should______.
| A．not care | B．be happy | C．feel worried | D．be unhappy |
When you make a mistake, you should______.
| A．keep quiet | B．get angry | C．be kind | D．keep your sense of humor |
The story tells us,“________”
| A．Only foolish people make mistakes |
| B．Few people make mistakes |
| C．People never make mistakes |
| D．There is no one who doesn’t make mistakes |
Mr. Brown worked in a factory of a small town. He had been there for twenty years before one day he was sent to the capital for important business. He was quite excited because he had never been there before. Before he set off, he asked his wife and three daughters if they wanted him to buy something for them in Lon-don. Mrs. Brown began to think it over and then she said she wished her husband would be able to buy a nice umbrella for her, and so did their three daughters. As he was afraid he would forget it, he drew an umbrella on his hand. To his regret, he lost it at the station.
On the train Mr. Brown sat opposite to an old woman. The woman’s umbrella was so nice that he carefully looked at it and said to himself not to forget to buy a few umbrellas like it. When the train arrived at the station in London, he said good-bye to the old woman, took his bag and her umbrella and was going to get off.
“Wait a minute, sir,” shouted the old woman. “That’s my umbrella!”
Now Mr. Brown noticed that he had taken her umbrella. His face turned red at once and said in a hurry,“Oh, I’m very sorry, Madam! I didn’t mean it!”
Seven days later Mr. Brown left the capital. To his surprise, he met the old woman and sat opposite to her again. Looking at the four umbrellas, the old woman was satisfied with herself. “It seems that I had a better result than the other four women.” She thought.We can learn from the passage that Mr. Brown was ______.
| A．a conductor | B．a worker | C．a thief | D．an umbrella maker |
The underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refers to ______.
| A．his ticket | B．his bag | C．his drawing | D．his umbrella |
Why did Mr. Brown take the woman’s umbrella?
| A．Because he was lost in thought. |
| B．Because it was much like his own umbrella. |
| C．Because he thought the woman would not notice it. |
| D．Because the woman misplaced it beside Mr. Brown. |
When looking at Mr. Brown with four umbrellas, the woman felt ______.
| A．surprised | B．angry | C．fortunate | D．sad |
How did Mr. Brown get the four umbrellas?
| A．He picked them on the train. |
| B．He brought them from his small town. |
| C．He bought them in London. |
| D．He stole them from four women. |
Throughout time, people have loved music for its ability to transport them into a world of rhythm and melody. Recently more and more hospitals and clinics have been tapping into the power of music –not only to comfort patients, but to help cure them as well. Welcome to the world of music therapy(疗法).
After each of the two world wars, musicians visited hospitals and played instruments for injured soldiers suffering from emotional and physical pain. Today's music therapists continue this practice, playing instruments such as guitars and harps to bring comfort to their audiences.
Therapist Eric Mammen encourages his patients at a children’s hospital to participate with him as he plays. During visits with 13-year-old cancer patient Lawrence Garcia, Mammen encourages Garcia to beat on electric drums while he plays the guitar. The therapy won’t cure his cancer, but it does, according to Garcia’s mom, take away much of the boy’s depression(沮丧).
Music therapy can put patients in better moods and ease the symptoms of depression according to the American Music Therapy Association. Other benefits include relieving pain, calming tension, aiding sleep, reducing worry or fear, and easing muscle tension.
Jose Haro personally experienced the benefits of music therapy when he was recovering from heart surgery. During his recovery, he played a piano whose keys lit up, indicating which keys to touch to play along with the background music. Soon he was playing tunes and noticing something strange. “I was searching for my pain.” He says of his experience, “but it was gone.”
While Haro's experience provides an evidence of the power of music to relieve pain, scientific research has proven music also helps patients with Alzheimer's disease and arthritis.
In addition, music therapy helps premature babies. Doctors are tapping into a powerful way to teach premature babies that haven’t yet learned how to suck. Doctors use a device that comforts the babies by playing music when they suck on a pacifier（奶嘴）. Soon the babies learn to suck in return for music, gaining weight faster and going home earlier than those who do not use the device.
Even perfectly healthy people are discovering the power of music to calm and heal. Drum circles attract people who find stress relief in beating out rhythms. While music is not a cure-all, it does make life a little easier.In the first paragraph, the underlined phrase “ tapping into “ can be replaced by “_________”
| A．discussing on | B．looking for | C．showing interest in | D．making use of |
According to the passage, Jose Haro_______________.
| A．went through an obvious effect of music on his recovery |
| B．was asked to play the piano with the background music |
| C．felt no pain in his surgery because of music therapy |
| D．recovered from heart disease completely |
From the passage, we know_________________.
| A．music can prevent people from suffering from arthritis |
| B．Garcia found much comfort in music according to his mom |
| C．musicians cured many soldiers after each of the two world wars |
| D．the more music they listen to, the faster premature babies gain weight |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Music to Patient Ears | B．Music Popular in Hospitals |
| C．Musicians Work with Doctors | D．People's life Benefits from Music |
It is said that usually people learn from their experiences and the mistakes they make throughout their lives. This is correct because life teaches us what is correct to do and what is not.
Let’s consider a mistake that one has made while trying to learn to drive. It is true that, for a beginner, it is common to make mistakes, but after doing something wrong once, twice or three times, it is quite impossible to make the same mistake a fourth time. Everyone tries their best in order to improve their skills and they will be very pleased to notice that these improvements really happen.
On the other hand, being successful in everything he does, one cannot know what failure means. He would always see only the best side of things and it would be difficult for him to face the difficulties to come in the future. Here we can mention the case of a very successful football player, who has known what fame (名声) is from the very beginning of his career. We have to admit that most of his luck originates from the great talent that he was born with. But some fellow players can also work to achieve the same thing because they make mistakes in their games and they learn from each mistake that they make.
In the end, we can say that one needs to make mistakes in life in order to better appreciate things. And at the same time, mistakes teach us how important it is to fight for something we wish for in life. Of course, moments of happiness will come in return when we see the changes or improvements. The author mentions learning driving in the second paragraph to ______________.
| A．make a comparison |
| B．explain that learning is a slow process |
| C．show that driving is a very difficult skill |
| D．prove that success results from failure |
What is the author’s attitude towards someone that is always successful at something?
| A．He thinks they are lucky. | B．He is bored with them. |
| C．He wants to learn from them. | D．He believes their success is a bad thing. |
Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
A． |
B． |
C． |
D． |