My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one’s chimney（烟囱） and put toys in one’s stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up “stocking” in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew what I had to do.
On that fateful night, after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel(壁炉). Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character.
I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the reality of an empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I burst into tears, quickly took down the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red cap knocked on my front door. He said, “I’ve been looking for you for twenty-five years.” He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and left. On top of the stocking was a card. It read: “For Becky—I may have missed you in the second grade, but you’ve always lived in my heart. Santa.”
Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it.
So now I believe that Santa is real. I don’t mean the twinkle-eyed character of children’s mythology(神话) or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that live inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, really listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness. What does the underlined part “what I had to do” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．Waiting for Santa Claus. |
| B．Putting a stocking on the mantel. |
| C．Asking for gifts from her parents. |
| D．Looking up “stocking” in the dictionary |
It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s parents ____.
| A．didn’t love their child at all |
| B．didn’t know the previous owners of the house |
| C．didn’t know much about Christmas tradition |
| D．didn’t have enough money to buy the author Christmas presents |
When the author told her friends about the story, she felt ______in her heart.
| A．proud | B．amusing | C．hate | D．regret |
By writing the passage, the author speaks highly of ________
| A．friendship | B．parenting |
| C．religion | D．culture |
The author of the passage is probably ________.
| A．a teenager |
| B．a primary school student |
| C．a middle-aged woman |
| D．a native American |
In the seventh grade, Brittany Blythe dreamed of being a cheerleader. Her school's coaches were less than enthusiastic. "They said, ‘I don't know how you'll be able to do it,”，she recalls. “‘You won't be able to do it. ’”
But Brittany, now a junior at Strath Haven High School near Philadelphia, persisted. And when the junior team cheerleaders won a competition last year, she was right there, dancing and cheering with the rest of the team.
Not bad for someone whose legs were amputated(切断）below the knee when she was two years old.
Brittany, 18, was born without shin bones (胫骨)—"just blood and muscle tissue，" as she puts it. When she tried to walk, her legs twisted. After the operation, she adapted quickly. “From that day, I basically jumped up and wanted to do everything，”she says. Prosthetic legs (假肢）allowed her to move
around upright, but too slowly to keep up with her friends. Brittany's solution： take the legs off and walk on her knees—something she still does when safety and comfort permit.
She's rarely been discouraged. Other children teased her through the years, especially in junior high school, but she says the challenge only made her stronger. Now she's trying to convince her coaches to let her remove the prostheses and be a flyer, the cheerleader who's thrown in the air and caught by her teammates.
Brittany doesn't think her problems are any more difficult than the next person's. “My disability was the first thing I had to get through, and that's going to prepare me for the future，” she says. “It's all just a test ： If someone throws you a ball, what are you going to do?” What was the coaches' first attitude towards Brittany's dream?
| A．Supportive. |
| B．Enthusiastic. |
| C．Optimistic. |
| D．Doubtful. |
What was Brittany's reaction after the operation?
| A．She abandoned herself to self-pity. |
| B．She refused to use the prostheses. |
| C．She accepted the result and tried to get used to it. |
| D．She became a flyer. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Brittany __________
| A．doesn't think she is better than others |
| B．is not well prepared for the future |
| C．takes a positive attitude towards life |
| D．likes the challenge of learning new things |
What's the best title for the text?
| A．A new leg, a new life |
| B．A new cheerleader, a new record |
| C．Passing the test |
| D．Seeking advantages |
A
Disabled Students' Allowances are grants (补助金） to help meet the extra costs of studying that students face as a direct result of a disability or specific learning difficulty.
The allowances provide help for full-time, part-time and postgraduate students. The amount you can get does not depend on your household income. You do not have to repay this help.
Do you qualify?
To apply, you will have to show your local authority written proof of your disability from an appropriate medical professional.
If you have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia (诵读困难），the local authority may ask you to have an independent assessment carried out to establish this.
Your local authority cannot meet the costs of this assessment. If you cannot afford to pay for it, you can apply to your college or university for help through the Access to Learning Fund.
You can apply if you are studying：
a full-time course that lasts at least one year.
a part-time course that lasts one year and doesn't take more than twice as long to complete as an equivalent(相同的)full-time course.
However, you will not be eligible (有资格的) for Disabled Students' Allowances if you receive a bursary (奖学金） from the NHS (the National Health Service). Bursaries are similar to grants and are usually linked to a certain profession or qualification.
How much do you get?
That will depend on your particular circumstances. If you are a part-time student，the intensity of your course will also affect how much you can receive.
How are they paid?
Student Finance Direct will pay the money into your account as needed, or directly to the supplier of services, for example, your university, college or equipment supplier. What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．How to apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances |
| B．How to be qualified for Disabled Students' Allowances |
| C．Disabled Students' Allowances |
| D．How much Disabled Students' Allowances can you apply for? |
The underlined word “establish” （in Paragraph 5) probably means __________
| A．to make people accept a belief, claim, custom, etc. |
| B．to discover or prove the facts of a situation |
| C．to start or create an organization, etc. |
| D．to start a relationship with another person, group or country |
A student who gets Disabled Students' Allowances __________
| A．should apply to his college or university for them in advance |
| B．is required to return the allowances after he finishes his education |
| C．might get more allowances if he finishes his course in a longer time |
| D．should not receive scholarships from the NHS at the same time |
A mother from Colorado who doctors said had died while giving birth to her son, has said it is a Christmas miracle that both she and the boy are alive.
Tracey Hermanstorfer's heart stopped beating and her son Coltyn appeared lifeless after the Caesarean section(剖腹产手术）on Christmas Eve. However a few minutes after he was born, both began breathing again. Dr Stephanie Martin told Good Morning America she could not explain how the pair survived. Mrs. Hermanstorfer and her husband Mike told the American television show that their baby was now healthy and that they were doing “good” following the drama at Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital.
The couple，who already had two children, had to go into the hospital seven weeks earlier than planned. Her husband, 37, said his wife was tired after receiving an epidural (硬膜夕卜麻醉）during the labour (分娩)but after closing her eyes, she "wasn't waking up". She stopped breathing and she is believed to have suffered a heart attack before her heart stopped beating entirely.
Dr Martin said she was called in and that the outlook was grim since in most situations like this，"despite the best efforts of the team"，the mother was often unable to be revived. In that case doctors then tried to focus on delivering the baby but when he was born he was "completely lifeless".
Mr. Hermanstorfer told the Associated Press news agency，" I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me. "
Dr Martin said she did not have a “great explanation" for why Mrs. Hermanstorfer、heartbeat re-turned. "Somewhere between four and five minutes she had been without heart rate and had stopped breathing a minute or two prior to her heart stop-ping," she said. The doctors were then able to bring the baby back to life, and the mother was alive after that.
Despite tests, she said doctors were still not sure about what had happened. However Mrs. Hermanstorfer and her husband Mike have said they believed it was down to a miracle. She said，“I got a second chance in life. ” The story happened on __________
| A．December 24 |
| B．December 25 |
| C．December 31 |
| D．January 1 |
What might have happened to Tracey Hermanstorfer just before her heart stopped beating?
| A．She became unconscious. |
| B．She took a nap. |
| C．She had a bad headache. |
| D．She suffered a heart attack. |
Which of the following is the correct order of what happened to Tracey Hermanstorfer?
a. suffering a heart attack
b. stopping heart beating entirely
c. stopping breathing
d. coming back to life
e. receiving an epidural
f. producing a baby
| A．acfdbe |
| B．fcadbe |
| C．eacbfd |
| D．eabcfd |
What feelings did Mr. Hermanstorfer experience during the incident?
| A．Sad and delighted. |
| B．Disappointed and depressed. |
| C．Sad and angry. |
| D．Touched and regrettable. |
Which of the following words best expresses Dr Martin's attitude towards Tracey Hermanstorfer's coming back to life?
| A．Shocked. |
| B．Puzzled. |
| C．Normal. |
| D．Curious. |
It's not unusual for parents to stay with sick children round the clock. But the floor nurses noticed something special about Kathy. She was always smiling even on days when Michael was very ill or received bad news about blood tests. “It was never about Kathy or the sacrifices she was making，”says Debra ,one of Michael's nurses. "She never let Michael see how hard this was on her. ”
One day, Michael told one of the nurses, Felice ,that he was so impressed by what she and the other nurses did, he planned to enroll in the nursing program when he was healthy enough to go back to college.
Michael always believed he would conquer the disease. He'd done so with other hurdles in his life. Born a premature(早产的婴儿），he overcame a learning disability and was admitted into a regular classroom by the third grade. Despite good grades, he did poorly on his SATs，the college entrance exam. He gave up a trip to take a summer prep program at Widener University, south of Philadelphia, then entered as a freshman that fall. He was always told he was too short to play sports, yet he managed to be-come a linebacker (中后卫球员）on Widener's Division ID football team.
When the third round of chemo(化疗）was finished, Michael returned home to await the results. A few weeks later, Kathy and Matthew were extremely sad when Selina Luger, the doctor in charge of Michael's illness, pulled them aside in the hall of the clinic ,out of Michael's earshot, and told them, “The chemo didn't work. Michael's incurable. ”
Matthew was shell-shocked at the news. Like his son，he always believed they would beat this. This can't be the end of it； he tried to convince himself. Kathy wept against a hallway window while Dr. Luger and Matthew walked into an exam room. We can learn from the first paragraph that __________
| A．Kathy didn't care about her son's illness |
| B．Kathy made few sacrifices for her son's illness |
| C．Kathy cared much about her son's illness but never showed her anxiety |
| D．Kathy didn't feel sad despite her son's illness |
How many hurdles in Michael's life are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Two. |
| B．Three. |
| C．Four. |
| D．Five. |
What do we know about Michael from the passage?
| A．He was born with the deadly disease. |
| B．He enrolled in the nursing program before he went to college. |
| C．He did well in his study in high school. |
| D．He acted as a linebacker just because he was too tall. |
We can conclude from the passage that Michael's father __________
| A．thought his son would make a recovery |
| B．was disappointed with his son's disease |
| C．was sure that his son would be better very soon |
| D．doubted if his son would be well |
A mother from Colorado who doctors said had died while giving birth to her son, has said it is a Christmas miracle that both she and the boy are alive.
Tracey Hermanstorfer's heart stopped beating and her son Coltyn appeared lifeless after the Caesarean section(剖腹产手术）on Christmas Eve. However a few minutes after he was born, both began breathing again. Dr Stephanie Martin told Good Morning America she could not explain how the pair survived. Mrs. Hermanstorfer and her husband Mike told the American television show that their baby was now healthy and that they were doing “good” following the drama at Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital.
The couple，who already had two children, had to go into the hospital seven weeks earlier than planned. Her husband, 37, said his wife was tired after receiving an epidural (硬膜夕卜麻醉）during the labour (分娩)but after closing her eyes, she "wasn't waking up". She stopped breathing and she is believed to have suffered a heart attack before her heart stopped beating entirely.
Dr Martin said she was called in and that the outlook was grim since in most situations like this，"despite the best efforts of the team"，the mother was often unable to be revived. In that case doctors then tried to focus on delivering the baby but when he was born he was "completely lifeless".
Mr. Hermanstorfer told the Associated Press news agency，" I had everything in the world taken from me, and in an hour and a half I had everything given to me. "
Dr Martin said she did not have a “great explanation" for why Mrs. Hermanstorfer、heartbeat re-turned. "Somewhere between four and five minutes she had been without heart rate and had stopped breathing a minute or two prior to her heart stop-ping," she said. The doctors were then able to bring the baby back to life, and the mother was alive after that.
Despite tests, she said doctors were still not sure about what had happened. However Mrs. Hermanstorfer and her husband Mike have said they believed it was down to a miracle. She said，“I got a second chance in life. ” The story happened on __________
| A．December 24 |
| B．December 25 |
| C．December 31 |
| D．January 1 |
What might have happened to Tracey Hermanstorfer just before her heart stopped beating?
| A．She became unconscious. |
| B．She took a nap. |
| C．She had a bad headache. |
| D．She suffered a heart attack. |
Which of the following is the correct order of what happened to Tracey Hermanstorfer?
a. suffering a heart attack
b. stopping heart beating entirely
c. stopping breathing
d. coming back to life
e. receiving an epidural
f. producing a baby
| A．acfdbe |
| B．fcadbe |
| C．eacbfd |
| D．eabcfd |
What feelings did Mr. Hermanstorfer experience during the incident?
| A．Sad and delighted. |
| B．Disappointed and depressed. |
| C．Sad and angry. |
| D．Touched and regrettable. |
Which of the following words best expresses Dr Martin's attitude towards Tracey Hermanstorfer's coming back to life?
| A．Shocked. |
| B．Puzzled. |
| C．Normal. |
| D．Curious. |