She may have lacked a home, but now this teen has top honors.
A 17-year-old student who spent much of high school living around homeless shelters — and sometimes sleeping in her car — today graduated and spoke on behalf of her class at Charles Drew High School in Clayton County, Ga., just outside of Atlanta.
Chelsea Fearce held a 4.466 GPA and scored 1900 on her SATs despite having to use her cellphone to study after the shelter lights were turned off at night.
“I know I have been made stronger. I was homeless. My family slept on cushions on the floor and we were lucky if we got more than one full meal a day. Getting a shower, food and clean clothes was an everyday struggle,” Fearce said in a speech she gave at her graduation ceremony. Fearce overcame her day-to-day struggles by focusing on a better day. “I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore,” she told WSBTV.
Fearce, one of five children, grow up in a family that sometimes had an apartment to live in, but at other times had to live in homeless shelters or even out of their car, if they had one. “You’re worried about your home life and then worried at school. Worry about being a little hungry sometimes and go hungry sometimes. You just have to deal with it. You eat what you can, when you can.”
To our surprise, Fearce overcame the difficulties and even tested high enough to be admitted into college half way through her high school career. She starts college next year at Spelman College as a junior where she is planning to study biology, pre-med (医学预科). “Don’t give up. Do what you have to do right now so that you can have the future that you want,” Fearce said.How did Fearce go on with her study without access to lights?
| A.By the car light. |
| B.By her cellphone. |
| C.By lights out of shelters. |
| D.By moonlight. |
When Fearce starts college at Spelman College, she will _____..
| A.have graduated earlier from high school than normal |
| B.be a 17-year-old student from a poor family |
| C.have a home without sleeping in her car or shelters |
| D.have raised enough money to go to college |
What lesson can we learn from Fearce’s experience?
| A.Knowledge can change your fate. |
| B.Don’t give up, and tomorrow will be better. |
| C.Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well. |
| D.He that will not work shall not eat. |
Many years ago, in a small town, there lived a doctor. He was good and kind. At any time of the day and night, he was always ready to go to help a sick person. Everyone in the town liked him and people always went to him when there was anything wrong.
The years went past, and the doctor became old. He began to lose his memory.When people noticed this, they didn’t go to him any more.
“He may give us the wrong medicine,” they said, and they were afraid.
The good old doctor noticed that pe
ople didn’t come to him any more but didn’t understand why. So he asked, “Why does no one come to me now?”
No one wanted to tell him the real reason because they didn’t want to make the good old man unhappy, so they said, “You have helped all the sick people in the town. There is no one sick now.”
The doctor was pleased when he heard that.People always went to the doctor when they were____________.
| A.wrong | B.not right | C.not well | D.not happy |
“He began to lose his memory.”means __________.
| A.He couldn’t know his sick persons any longer. |
| B.He forgot everything in the past. |
| C.He couldn’t find anything. |
| D.He couldn’t remember things well. |
The sick people didn’t come to the doctor any more b
ecause____.
| A.there was no sick man in the town |
| B.he might give them the wrong medicine |
| C.they were afraid of him |
D.he was old and no longer a doctor |
The old doctor was _________ when he heard that there was no one sick in the town.
| A.sorry | B.angry | C.glad | D.surprised |
Camping wild is a wonderful way to experience the natural world and, at its best, it makes little environmental influence. But with increasing numbers of people wanting to escape into the wilderness, it is becoming more and more important to camp unobtrusively(不引人注目地)and leave no mark.
Wild camping is not permitted in many places, particularly in crowded lowland Britain. Wherever you are, find out about organizations responsible for managing wild spaces, and contact them to find out their policy on camping and shelter building. For e
xample, it is fine to camp wild in remote parts of Scotland, but in England you must ask the landowner’s permission, except in national parks.
Camping is about having relaxation, sleeping outdoors, experiencing bad weather, and making do without modern conveniences. A busy, fully-equipped campsite(野营地)seems to go against this, so seek out smaller, more remote places with easy access to open spaces and perhaps beaches. Better still, find a campsite with no road access: walking in makes a real adventure.
Finding the right spot to camp is the first step to guaranteeing(保证)a good night’s sleep. Choose a campsite with privacy and minimum influence on others and the environment. Try to use an area where people h
ave obviously camped before rather than creating a new spo
t. When camping in woodland, avoid standing dead trees, which may fall on a windy night. Avoid animal runs and caves, and possible homes of biting insects. Make sure you have most protection on the windward side. If you make a fire, do so downwind of your shelter. Always consider what influence you might have on the natural world. Avoid damaging plants. A good campsite is found, not made—changing it should be unnecessary. You needn’t ask for permission when camping in______________ .
| A.national parks in England | B.most parts of Scotland |
| C.crowded lowland Britain | D.most parts of England |
The author thinks that a good campsite is one_______________.
A. with easy access B. used previously
C with modern conveniences D far away from beaches The last paragraph mainly deals with_____________.
A. protecting animalsB building a campfire
C camping in woodland
D finding a campsite with privacyThe passage is mainly about______________.
A the protection of campsites
B the importance of wild camping
C the human influence on campsites
D the dos and don’ts of wild camping
Tsai Chin Chung is one of Taiwan’s most famous cartoonists, and his cartoons are enjoyed by people in many different countries in Asia. His books of cartoons have now become best sellers in Singapore, Malaysia, and even Japan.
As soon as he could hold a pencil, Tsai Chin Chung lived only for drawing. Every day he practised drawing people and things around him and from his favorite stories.
When he was only 15 years old, he left home to work for a publisher in Taipei. He worked hard to draw pictures for books. Two years later, he left his job and started to work on drawing cartoon series, which he liked better. He made up his mind to succeed as a cartoonist.
Now Tsai Chin Chung has achieved something unusual for a modern cartoonist. He has become extremely successful at changing Chinese literature and philosophy into humorous comic stories. In this way, he has made the Chinese classics known to thousands of people.
Because of his great achievement, several years ago Tsai Chin Chung was given a prize as one of the 10 Outstanding Young People of Taiwan. Since then, he has won many prizes, and his cartoons have become popular throughout Asia, America and Europe. So far, he has published more than 20 comic books. Ten of these are about ancient Chinese philosophers based on Chinese historical and literary classics.
Many of Tsai Chin Chung’s books of cartoons and comics have now been published in English in countries like Singapore. His books have also been translated into several other languages, including Japanese, Korean and Thai. Even publishers in France and Indonesia have recently signed agreements for permission to publish his cartoon series. Tsai Chin Chung left his first job because he ________.
| A.preferred drawing cartoons | B.wanted to go back to school |
| C.enjoyed drawing pictures for books | D.wanted to be famous |
Half of the books he has published are related to _______.
| A.Chinese and foreign comics | B.countries in Asia, America and Europe |
| C.foreign languages learning | D.Chinese history and literature |
Because of his great achievements, Tsai Chin Chung _______.
| A.travelled a lot in Asia and Europe | B.went to live in Singapore |
| C.won an important prize in Taiwan | D.has become famous in Africa. |
Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.
Before the n
ineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.
Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery(机械)have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers(肥料)has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal
care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.
As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has bec
ome more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving. We are told in the first paragraph about ____.
| A.the history of farming | B.the importance of farming |
| C.the development of farming | D.the changes of farming |
Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?
| A.Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms. | |
| B.Farmers used tractors to help them. | |
| C.Farming was the main way of living for most people | D.Farmers could supply materials to industry. |
The passage mainly talks about_____.
| A.the advantages of American farming | B.the changes in American farming |
| C.the situation of American farms | D.how rapidly farming has developed |
Traveling without a map in different countries, I find out about different “styles” of directions every time I ask “How can I get to the post office?”
Foreign tourists are often confused in Japan because most streets there don’t have name signs; in Japan, people use landmarks in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, “Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop.”
People in Los Angeles, the US, have no idea of distance on the map: they measure distance by time, not miles. “How far away is the post office?” you ask. “Oh,” they answer, “it’s about five minutes from here.” You don’t understand completely, “Yes, but how many miles away is it, please?” To this question you won’t get an answer, because most probably they don’t know it themselves.
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because tourists seldom understand the Greek language. Instead, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he’ll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.
Sometimes a person doesn’t know the answer to your question. What happens in the situation? A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers “I don’t know.” People there believe that “I don’t” is impolite. They usually give an answer, but often a wrong one. So a tourist can get lost very easily in Yucatan!
However, one thing will help you everywhere in the world. It’s body language.Which one of the followings is probably an example of Japanese directions?
| A.“Go south two miles. Turn west and then go another mile.” |
| B.“Turn right at the hospital and go past a school. The library is right in front of you.” |
| C.“The post office is about five minutes from here” |
| D.“The post office is at Street Kamira.” |
People in Los Angeles don’t give directions in miles because _________.
| A.they use landmarks in their directions instead of distance |
B.t hey prefer to lead you the way |
| C.they often have no idea of distance measured by miles |
| D.they prefer to use body language |
Greeks give directions by __________.
| A.using street names | B.using landmarks |
| C.leading people the way | D.giving people a wrong direction |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A.There are different ways to give directions in different parts of the world. |
| B.People in Yucatan give wrong directions on purpose. |
| C.People in some places give directions using landmarks. |
| D.People in some places give directions in time. |
What does the writer want to tell us?
| A.It's difficult to travel without a map. |
| B.It's important to use body language when you are travelling. |
| C.In different countries, there are different styles of directions. |
| D.You can't trust everyone when you are travelling. |