When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby, many families were left completely destroyed. Afterward all the local newspapers carried many human-interest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday, a particular picture especially touched me. A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home, a depressed expression twisting her features. A young boy, seven or eight years old, stood at her side, eyes downcast. Clutching (紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera, eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member. With growing interest, I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours. This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves. I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator, explaining their difficulty to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and to three-year-old Meghan.
“We have so much. And these poor people now have nothing,” I said. “We’ll share what we have with them.”
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor. Meghan watched seriously, as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes, I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games.
“I’ll help you find something for the little girl when I’m done with this,” I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes. Meghan walked up with Lucy, her worn, faded, much-loved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest. She paused in front of the box that held the toys, pressed her round little face into Lucy’s flat, painted-on-face, gave her a final kiss, then laid her gently on the top of other toys.
“Oh, Honey,” I said. “You don’t have to give Lucy. You love her so much. “
Meghan nodded seriously, eyes glistening with held-back tears. “Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she’ll make that other little girl happy, too. “
Swallowing hard, I stared at Meghan for a long moment, wondering how I could teach the boys the lesson she had just taught me. For I suddenly realized that anyone can give their cast-offs away. True generosity is giving what you value most.
Honest benevolence (善行) is a three-year-old offering a valuable, though shabby, doll to a little
girl she doesn’t know with the hope that it will bring this child as much pleasure as it brought her. I, who had wanted to teach, had been taught.
The boys had watched, open-mouthed, as their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box. Without a word, Brad rose and went to his room. He came back carrying one of his favorite action figures. He hesitated briefly, clutching the toy, then looked over at Meghan and placed it in the box next to Lucy.
A slow smile spread across Brett’s face. Then he jumped up, eyes twinkling as he ran to fetch some of his prized Matchbox cars.
Astonished, I realized that the boys had also recognized what little Meghan’s gesture meant. Swallowing back tears, I pulled all three of them into my arms.
Taking the cue from my little one, I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes. I replaced it with the new hunter green jacket that I had found on sale last week. I hoped the young woman in the picture would love it as much as I did.
It’s easy to give what we don’t want any more, but harder to let go of things we cherish, isn’t it? However, the true spirit of giving is to give with your heart.Why does the author give a detailed description of a particular picture in the Sunday newspaper?
| A．To create an atmosphere of fear and depression brought by the tornado. |
| B．To appeal to unconcerned people to donate for the poor families. |
| C．To show the helplessness and hopelessness of the family mentioned in the paper. |
| D．To stress what touched her and made her decide to help the hopeless family. |
Why did Brad and Brett also donate their favorite things finally?
| A．They were encouraged to donate some valuable things by the mother. |
| B．Meghan’s decision inspired them to donate their favorite things. |
| C．They also wanted to show generosity by giving away their valuable things. |
| D．Meghan’s gesture reminded them to replace their favorite things with new ones. |
By “swallowing hard”, the writer means that .
| A．she was deeply puzzled by what the little girl did |
| B．she had trouble persuading Meghan not to give away Lucy |
| C．she was greatly moved by Meghan’s unexpected decision |
| D．she was uncertain what consequences Meghan’s action would bring about |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．The Greatest Love | B．A Beautiful Heart |
| C．True Generosity | D．A Precious Gift |
Most people believe they don't have imagination. They are wrong. Everyone has imagination, but most of us，once we became adults, forget how to access it. Creativity isn't always connected with great works of art or ideas. People at work and in their free time routinely think of creative ways to solve problems. Maybe you have a goal to achieve，a tricky question to answer or you just want to expand your mind! Here are three techniques to help you.
This technique involves taking unrelated ideas and trying to find links between them. First，think about the problem you have to solve or the job you need to do. Then find an image，word，idea or object，for example，a candle. Write down all the ideas/words associated with candles：light，fire，matches, wax，night，silence，etc. Think of as many as you can. The next stage is to relate the ideas to the job you have to do. So imagine you want to buy a friend an original present; you could buy him tickets to a match or take him out for the night.
Imagine that normal limitations don't exist. You have as much time/space/money，etc. as you want. Think about your goal and the new possibilities. If，for example，your goal is to learn to ski, you can now practice skiing every day of your life (because you have the time and the money). Now adapt this to reality. Maybe you can practice skiing every day in December，or every Monday in January.
Look at the situation from a different point of view. Good negotiators use this technique in business，and so do writers. Fiction writers often imagine they are the characters in their books. They ask questions: what does this character want? Why can't she get it? What changes must she make to get what she wants? What does she dream about? If your goal involves other people, put yourself “in their shoes”. The best fishermen think like fish! According to the passage, when we become adults, _________ .
| A．most of us are no longer creative | B．we can still learn to be more creative |
| C．we are not as imaginative as children | D．we are unwilling to be creative |
The second technique suggests that you just imagine
| A．setting a goal is as simple as skiing |
| B．new possibilities will soon appear |
| C．December and January are the best months for skiing. |
| D．you have every resource to achieve your goal |
The phrase “put yourself in their shoes” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．dress yourself like them | B．think as they would |
| C．do as they ask you to | D．put on their shoes |
We learn from the third technique that a good salesman should ask himself “ _________ ?”.
| A．what do I usually do | B．what did my boss tell me to do |
| C．what are my customers' needs | D．how should I sell my products |
The name of our restaurant is Mediterranean Seafood Restaurant. When you hear the name you will immediately think of the sea and Europe. European countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France are all famous for their special cuisine(菜肴) and most of the best sea recipes come from these countries. These countries also produce the best wines and champagnes(香槟酒) in the world.
Our restaurant has the best seafood in the world. Enjoy the best sea recipes from the Mediterranean countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France. We only use fresh ingredients brought directly from the sea to our kitchen.
Among the beverages we serve, you will find the best brands of wines and champagnes on earth. We also have a large variety of colorful cocktails. If you drink one of those and eat our seafood, you’ll experience a feeling that you have never felt before. We also have excellent waiters and waitresses who wear typical mariner(水手) uniforms.
Mediterranean Seafood Restaurant is the best choice for seafood lovers because it has everything you need for the perfect meal. You can find every kind of seafood here. If you are tired of the typical restaurants, come here to discover the true taste of the sea.
Nowhere else has the wonderful environment that we have. Most of the other restaurants offer the same type of dishes without the real flavor of the sea. You’ll like the Mediterranean because the quality of our service is unique. Don’t waste your time trying to find another place to eat; we have everything that you are looking for — comfort, newness, and of course, delicious food.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Why the restaurant is named the Mediterranean. | B．Where the Mediterranean restaurant is. |
| C．A general introduction to the restaurant. | D．The entertainment in the Mediterranean. |
The underlined word “beverages” in the third paragraph probably means “______”.
| A．drinks | B．fruits | C．vegetables | D．dishes |
We can infer from the passage that the reason why waiters and waitresses wear mariner uniforms is that ______.
| A．they want to make people feel that they are at sea |
| B．they find it comfortable to wear uniforms |
| C．they want to remind people that they are on a ship |
| D．mariner uniforms can keep people safe at sea |
From the writing style of this passage we can see that it is ______.
| A．a news report | B．an advertisement | C．a pupil’s composition | D．a funny story |
We can stay young forever. That is the message Dr. Shen Ziyin wants to give the world. And the Chinese doctor claims that he has found an answer to the problems of aging.
His solution is a herbal medicine to slow the process of aging.
Dr. Shen Ziyin has been trained in Western medicine. At the same time he studied traditional Chinese medicine. And, he has been working for the past forty years to put together the best of both and find a cure for aging. He has taken a hint from the ancient Chinese medicine system called “shen”.
According to Shen, it is the kidney（肾脏）which adjusts the functioning of the body as well as its aging process. It is responsible for the level of activity that the human bodies go through. Studies conducted by Dr. Shen show that herbal medicine based on the shen system slow the aging process, says a report in The Telegraph newspaper.
We notice that when people grow old, they have reduced strength, loss of hair, backache, weakness in general, and wrinkles, among others. This happens because when people grow old, their bodies produce T-cells. These T-cells contain a particular substance called Fas. Fas makes the cells in the body destruct themselves.
So the only way to slow down aging is to slow the production of T-cells in the body. This can happen if people eat low calorie food. Then the body is not active enough to produce extra T-cells. But, is going hungry all the time a good price to pay for staying young?
This is where Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine comes in. But how effective it will be, only time can tell. How did Dr. Shen find the solution to the problem of aging?
| A．By studying Western medicine. |
| B．By learning traditional Chinese medicine. |
| C．By combining both Western and Chinese medicine. |
| D．By doing research on both Western and Chinese people. |
The reason why people become old is that _________.
| A．their bodies produce T-cells |
| B．their bodies are unable to fight diseases |
| C．they have reduced strength, loss of hair |
| D．they become weaker and weaker |
We can probably learn from the passage that _________.
| A．producing more low calorie food allows people to keep young |
| B．the more Chinese herbal medicine people drink, the better for health |
| C．people should try to quicken the production of T-cells in the body |
| D．it remains unknown how effective Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine is |
The World Health Organization says obesity rates are rising in Pacific island countries. So, too, are health problems linked to being overweight.
The WHO says a major reason for the rising obesity rates is an increase in imported foods. It says many Pacific islanders have replaced their traditional diets of vegetables and fruits with imported processed foods.
Dr.Temu Waqanivalu is with the World Health Organization’s South Pacific office in Suva, Fiji.He says many of the imported products lack nutritional value.
Temu Waqanivalu said: “In some of the places, you’d be amazed to see how a bottle of Coke is cheaper than a bottle of water. I think that represents the kind of offenvironment we’ve created that doesn’t really encourage or make lifestyle choices an easy choice for the population.”
And a lack of physical activity among many Pacific islanders only adds to the obesity problem.
The WHO says more than 50 percent of the population is overweight in at least ten Pacific island countries. The rate is as high as 80 percent among women in the territory（领地）of American Samoa. Fiji had the lowest obesity rate at 30 percent.
In all, almost ten million people live in Pacific island countries. The WHO estimates that about 40 percent of them have health disorders related to diet and nutrition.
Diabetes（糖尿病）rates are among the highest in the world. Forty-seven percent of the people in American Samoa have diabetes. So do 44 percent of the people in Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand.
By comparison, the diabetes rate is 13 percent in the United States, a country that has its own problems with rising obesity.
Officials also note an increase in nutritional problems like anemia and not enough vitamin A in the diets of Pacific islanders. Dr. Waqanivalu says treating conditions related to obesity and diet puts pressure on limited health resources and budgets.The main reason why obesity rates are rising in many Pacific islanders is ________.
| A．the change of society |
| B．the change of eating habits |
| C．the change of life style |
| D．lack of exercise |
Imported products lack nutritional value but people love to buy them because they are ________.
| A．cheap | B．popular | C．tasty | D．convenient to get |
How many people living in Pacific island countries have health disorders?
| A．1 million. | B．4 million. | C．6 million. | D．10 million. |
The percentage of diabetes rates in American Samoa is ________.
| A．optimistic | B．steady | C．worrying | D．low |
Teddy Bears have been a very popular children’s toy for many years. Most adults can remember their first stuffed（填充玩具）bear, and over the decades these toys have become nearly a symbol of their childhood. However, children are not the only ones with whom these toys have become popular, as many adults make it a habit to collect these toys as well.
The Teddy Bear first became popular during the early 20th century and was associated with then President Theodore Roosevelt. The story can date back to a hunting trip that President Roosevelt had taken where he was invited to be the one to shoot a black bear that had been tied to a tree. Being a crazy outdoors lover and hunter, Roosevelt refused to kill the animal because he believed that shooting the helpless bear was unsportsmanlike and wrong. This story quickly spread through newspapers across the country, and in the end inspired the introduction of a stuffed toy called “Teddy’s bear”.
These toys became popular soon after first introduced, and within ten years, they were being produced by dozens of companies around the world. Within a generation, these stuffed bears were “the” toy to have, and have always been within children’s toy boxes ever since.
They are most often mass-produced in factories in order to keep up with the high demand. However, there are still companies that take great pride in their handmade designs; and while handmade teddy bears are often preferred, they are also generally more expensive than their mass-produced ones.
Today, these bears and other similar toys generate well over a billion dollars a year in profits for the companies that make them. Walk through just about any toy store in America and you will find dozens of different teddy bears lining the shelves. According to the passage, we can know President Roosevelt ______.
| A．didn’t like hunting |
| B．enjoy being special |
| C．was not brave enough |
| D．was fair and respectable |
Compared with mass-produced teddy bears, the handmade ones ______.
| A．don’t sell well |
| B．are of high quality |
| C．are more expensive |
| D．are preferred by adults |
From the last paragraph, the writer intends to show ______.
| A．teddy bears are very popular |
| B．toys are loved by many companies |
| C．producing toys can earn more money |
| D．teddy bears are also enjoyed by adults |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．History of the Teddy Bear. |
| B．A popular toy — Teddy Bear. |
| C．Who made the first toy bear? |
| D．Profits Teddy Bear have made. |