One Sunday, my family had gathered at my parents’ house to feast upon Mom’s wonderful cooking. During the normal dinner chatter (闲聊), I noticed that my father was slurring (说话含混) his words. No one mentioned this during dinner, but I felt compelled to discuss it with my mother afterward.
We decided that there was something seriously wrong and that Dad needed to see the doctor.
Mom phoned me two days later. “The doctor found a brain tumor (肿瘤). It’s too large at this point to operate. Maybe they can do something then, but the odds are long.”
Even with the treatment, my father’s condition worsened, and the doctor finally informed us that this condition was terminal (晚期的). During one of his stays in the hospital, we brought our baby daughter Chelsey with us when we visited him. By this time he had great difficulty speaking. I finally figured out that he wanted Chelsey to sit on his stomach so he could make faces at her.
Watching the two of them together, I realized I was living an experience that would stay with me forever. Though grateful for the times they could share, I couldn’t shake the feeling of a clock ticking in the background.
On the visit to my parents’ home during what we all know was my father’s last days, my mother took Chelsey from my arms and announced, “Your father would like to see you alone for a minute.”
I entered the bedroom where my father lay on a rented hospital bed. He appeared even weaker than the day before.
“How are you feeling, Dad?” I asked. “Can I do anything for you?”
He tried to speak, but he couldn’t make out a word.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t understand you,” I said.
With great difficulty he said, “I love you.”
We don’t learn courage from heroes on the evening news. We learn true courage from watching ordinary people rise above hopeless situations. In many ways my father was a strict, uncommunicative man. He found it difficult to show emotion. The bravest thing I ever saw him do was overcome that barrier to open his heart to his son and family at the end of his life.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The writer accompanied his father to a medical examination. |
| B．The writer’s father got worse after the removal of the brain tumor. |
| C．The writer was quick to notice the strange condition of his father. |
| D．The writer’s father had known about his illness before the writer discovered it. |
What does the underlined sentence “the odds are long” mean?
| A．There’s little possibility for Father to recover. |
| B．It takes a long time for Father to recover. |
| C．Father needs love and care from his family. |
| D．They need a proper time to operate on Father. |
The father had never said “I love you” to the writer before because ________.
| A．he believed in strictness and punishment |
| B．he was not so attached to the writer |
| C．he thought there was no need to tell the writer |
| D．he was not used to openly showing his emotions |
What does the writer attempt to tell us?
| A．We don’t often value health until we lose it. |
| B．Don’t wait to see a doctor till it is too late. |
| C．Life is short, so live your life to the fullest. |
| D．Bravely express your love for your family. |
After the birth of my second child，I got a job at a restaurant.Having worked with an experienced ____ for a few days，I was ____ to wait tables on my own.All went ____ that first week.When Saturday night came，I was luckily ____ the tables not far from the kitchen.____，I still felt it a little hard to carry the heavy trays (托盘)．
Before I knew it，the ____ was full of people.I moved slowly，____ every step.I remember how ____ I was when I saw the tray stand near the tables；it looked different from the one I was ____ on.It had nice handles (手柄)，which made it ____ to move around.I was pleased with everything and began to ____ I was a natural at this job.
Then，an old man came to me and said，“Excuse me，dear，my wife and I loved ____ you work.It seems your tray stand has been very ____ to you，but we are getting ready to ____ now，and my wife needs her ____ back.”
At first his ____ did not get across.“What was he talking about？”Then，I got it.I had set my trays on his wife’s orthopedic walker (助步器)．I stood frozen as ice，but my face was ____.I wanted to get into a hole and ____.
Since then，I have learned from many mistakes such as the one I just ____.I have learned to be more ____ and not to be too sure of myself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Since 1989 Dave Thomas，who died at age 69，was one of the most recognizable faces on TV.He appeared in more than 800 commercials (商业广告) for the hamburger chain named for his daughter.“As long as it works，”he said in 1991，“I’ll continue to do those commercials.”
Even though he was successful，Thomas remained troubled by his childhood.“He still won’t let anyone see his feet，which are out of shape because he never had proper fitting shoes，”Wendy said in 1993.Born to a single mother，he was adopted (收养) as a baby by Rex and Auleva Thomas of Kalamazoo in Michigan.After Auleva died when he was 5，Thomas spent years on the road as Rex traveled around seeking construction work.“He fed me，”Thomas said，“and if I got out of line，he’d beat me.”
Moving out on his own at the age of 15，Thomas worked，first as a waiter，in many restaurants.But he had something much better in mind.“I thought if I owned a restaurant，”he said，“I could eat for free.”A 1956 meeting with Harland Sanders led Thomas to a career as the manager of a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that made him a millionaire in 1968.
In 1969，after breaking with Sanders，Thomas started the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers，in Columbus，Ohio，which set itself apart by serving madetoorder burgers.With 6,000 restaurants worldwide，the chain now makes $6 billion a year in sales.
Although troubled by his own experience with adoption，Thomas，married since 1954 to Lorraine,66，and with four grown kids besides Wendy，felt it could offer a future for other children.He started the Dave Thomas Foundation(基金会) for Adoption in 1992.
In 1993，Thomas，who had left school at the age of 15，graduated from Coconut Creek High School in Florida.He even took Lorraine to the graduation dance party.The kids voted him Most Likely to Succeed.
“The Dave you saw on TV was the real Dave，”says friend Pat Williams.“He wasn’t a great actor or a great speaker.He_was_just_Joe_Everybody.”What is the article mainly about?
| A．The life of Dave Thomas. |
| B．The dream of Dave Thomas. |
| C．The schooling of Dave Thomas. |
| D．The growth of Dave Thomas’s business. |
What do we know about his childhood?
| A．He lived a poor life. |
| B．He had caring parents. |
| C．He stayed in one place. |
| D．He didn’t go to school. |
Choose the right time order of the following events in Thomas’s life.
a．graduated from high school
b．started his own business
c．became a millionaire
d．started a foundation
e．met Harland Sanders
| A．e，b，c，d，a |
| B．a，e，c，b，d |
| C．e，c，b，d，a |
| D．a，e，b，c，d |
“He was just Joe Everybody.”(in the last paragraph) means________.
| A．Dave was famous |
| B．Dave was ordinary |
| C．Dave was showy |
| D．Dave was shy |
What is the name of Dave Thomas’s business?
| A．Thomas’s. | B．Wendy’s. |
| C．Lorraine’s. | D．Rex’s. |
阅读理解
The Pow Wow(印第安人的帕瓦仪式)is held annually at the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in Hopkinsville，Kentucky.The Pow Wow provides an opportunity for participants to celebrate the great heritage of the American Indian through dance，drumming and singing，traditional foods，crafts and storytelling.For the visitors，it provides an exceptional educational experience.
The idea for hosting a Pow Wow in Hopkinsville was developed by the Trail of Tears Commission in 1988 as a way to commemorate(纪念)the 150th anniversary of the cruel Cherokee removal from their ancestral homelands in the southeast，across the Mississippi to Indian Territory，which is now Oklahoma.Known as the“trail of tears”，this forced removal affected Hopkinsville，which was along the trail，and served as a major stopping point for the Cherokees during the freezing winter of 1838 and 1839.
The president and founder of the Trail of Tears Commission，Beverly Baker，began work in late 1985 to gain support for his idea for a commemorative park，and to encourage interest in acknowledging this event in local history.Volunteers joined Baker in pursuing support of the park and designation(指定)of the Trail of Tears as a National Historic Trail.City and county governments，and a church offered$1,000 in seed money to the group.And then other help came.
A proclamation(宣言)by the governor set 1988 as the Year of the Trail of Tears.In 1992，the Pow Wow celebrated the Year of the American Indian.The state provided money to help develop the Pow Wow grounds as the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park，which opened in 1993.In 1996，the National Park Service designated the park as a site on the National Historic Trail of Tears—the first nonfederal property to receive this designation.Since 1989，Pow Wow’s own income has supported development，operation，and maintenance of the park and its heritage center.School and scout groups，local clubs，and tourists regularly visit the park and center.The Pow Wow is held each year to________.
| A．honor Beverly Baker |
| B．offer all kinds of entertainment to visitors |
| C．provide visitors with an educational experience |
| D．honor the cruel Cherokee removal |
The Pow Wow was first held in the Trail of Tears Commemorative Park in________.
| A．1988 |
| B．1838 |
| C．1989 |
| D．1993 |
Which of the following shows the correct order for the development of Trail of Tears Pow Wow?
a．The idea for hosting a Pow Wow was developed.
b．The Trail of Tears Commemorative Park was designated as a site on the National Historic Trail of Tears.
c．The Pow Wow celebrated the Year of the American Indian.
d．The idea for a commemorative park was put forward.
| A．a，b，c，d |
| B．d，a，c，b |
| C．c，a，d，b |
| D．d，b，c，a |
It can be inferred that when the idea for a commemorative park was put forward，________.
| A．it won many people’s support |
| B．Beverly Baker grew more and more famous |
| C．it was refused by the government |
| D．it only received$1,000 in seed money in all |
How many of the following pieces of information can be gathered from the passage?
a．It was in 1838 that the cruel Cherokee removal took place.
b．Hopkinsville sheltered the Cherokees from freezing cold of winters throughout their trail.
c．Conventionally federal property has the honor to be designated as the site on the National Historic Trail of Tears.
d．The park relies on Pow Wow in terms of monetary support.
| A．4 |
| B．3 |
| C．2 |
| D．1 |
There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries.The origins of most of the days are unknown.They were certainly not created by individual people.Other days，however，especially those celebrated in western countries often owe their origins to a particular person.One of the most popular of these，even though it is fairly recent，is Mother’s Day.Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures.The ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria，during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”．The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday.However，over the years this custom was gradually forgotten，and almost disappeared by the end of the 19th century.
Born in 1864 in Virginia，USA，Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care.Encouraged by a friend，she wrote to thousands of important people—politicians，churchmen，doctors，city officials and asked them to support her idea：a special day of the year for thanking mothers.
In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state.The date chosen was May 10—the second Sunday in May，which is still observed in America today.This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother died.In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.
Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.
Anna Jarvis，a sad and disillusioned woman died in 1948.The custom she had worked hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose.It had been taken over by business.As with Christmas，the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multimillion dollar industry.The story is about ________.
| A．Mothering Sunday for Christmas |
| B．the origin of a special day for mothers |
| C．President Wilson and Anna Jarvis |
| D．how people celebrate Mother’s Day |
Hilaria was a festival in ________.
| A．ancient Rome |
| B．America |
| C．China |
| D．the Christian Church |
Anna Jarvis wanted to ________.
| A．thank her mother for her care |
| B．introduce a celebration for mothers |
| C．meet thousands of important people |
| D．make her pupils celebrate her on Mother’s Day |
May 10 became the date for Mother’s Day because ________.
| A．May is in the American spring |
| B．it was the second Sunday in May in 1910 |
| C．President Wilson liked the date |
| D．this was the date on which Anna Jarvis’s mother died |
Unfortunately，Anna Jarvis was not happy with Mother’s Day when she died because ________.
| A．her mother was not there to see it |
| B．she had never been a mother herself |
| C．people were too interested in making it a business |
| D．no one gave any presents or cards to their mothers |
If you look for a book as a present for a child，you will be spoiled for choice even in a year where there is no new Harry Potter J．K Rowling’s wizard is not alone：the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books，which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that，reading is increasingly unpopular among children.According to statistics，in 1997,23% said they didn’t like reading at all.In 2003,35% did.And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computer games.Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile.Either way，Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class.In his prebudget report，he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six year olds，who receive four months of individual daily halfhour classes with a specially trained teacher.An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year，whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well，but read less often for fun than those elsewhere.Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success.According to the OECD，being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.Which of the following is TRUE of Paragraph 1?
| A．Many children’s books have been adapted from films. |
| B．Many highquality children’s books have been published. |
| C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films. |
| D．The sales of presents for children have increased. |
Statistics suggested that________.
| A．the number of top students increased with the use of computers |
| B．a decreasing number of children showed interest in reading |
| C．a minority of primary school children read properly |
| D．a large percentage of children read regularly |
What do we know about Reading Recovery?
| A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year. |
| B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking. |
| C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading. |
| D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading. |
Reading for fun is important because bookloving children________.
| A．take greater advantage of the project |
| B．show the potential to enjoy a long life |
| C．are likely to succeed in their education |
| D．would make excellent future researchers |
The aim of this text would probably be________.
| A．to overcome primary school pupils’ reading difficulty |
| B．to encourage the publication of more children’s books |
| C．to remind children of the importance of reading for fun |
| D．to introduce a way to improve early childhood reading |