High climbing kid raises hopes
Michael McCarthy climbed to the top of the Willis Tower not long ago. The Tower stands 1451 feet
(442 meters) tall, the highest building in the US.
As he got to the last step, McCarthy almost fell down, but that didn"t stop him. The 14-year-old boy
finally finished climbing the 2,109 steps and arrived at the top, where he enjoyed the cheers from the
crowd.
"I just want to show people that if a kid with no legs can do it, anyone can do it," McCarthy said.
McCarthy, who was born without legs, has to wear prosthetic legs (假肢) and use a set of crutches (拐
杖) to walk. But McCarthy has a strong heart. He believes nothing can stop him from achieving his
success.
He has been in a karate (空手道) school since he was four years old. When he decided to climb the
Willis Tower, his karate teacher, Jeff Kohn, was moved and offered to help train him. They spent more
than 10 hours practicing climbing stairs and keeping balance with the prostheses and crutches on the steps
every day. "It seems that he never knows what tiredness is. Sometimes, I was so tired that I asked him to
call it a day,"said Kohn. "But he said he was still full of energy and wanted more exercise."
Kohn was with McCarthy for the climb. "I saw the last 10 floors — he went faster," said Kohn. "He"s
the most hardworking athlete I"ve ever trained."
McCarthy said he was proud of himself and that the Tower now holds special meaning. "When I"m
older, I"ll point to the building and say "Look at this building I climbed"." he said.
A. Because the Tower is very special.
B. Because he wanted to set a world record.
C. Because he wanted to show that anyone can do it.
D. Because he enjoyed climbing stairs very much.
2. Who helped McCarthy train for climbing the Willis Tower?
A. Nobody.
B. His brother.
C. His parents.
D. His karate teacher.
3. What does the underlined phrase "call it a day" mean in Chinese?
A. 结束当天的训练
B. 去打个电话
C. 再训练一天
D. 另请高明
4. Which of the following is True?
A. The Willis Tower is 442 feet tall in total.
B. McCarthy had a traffic accident and lost his legs.
C. While McCarthy was climbing the Tower,nobody was with him.
D. Many people cheered when McCarthy arrived at the top of the Tower.
5. What can we learn from this passage?
A. No man is born wise and learned.
B. Where t
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C. Time and tide wait for no man.
D. A little learning is a dangerous thing.
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are all true!
John Lee was an Englishman who refused to be hanged! In 1884 the police said Lee had killed an old
woman who he used to work with. There was nothing to show that Lee had killed the woman. Lee told
the police he hadn"t done it, but no one believed him and he was going to be hanged. On the day of the
hanging, however, the door in the floor, through which Lee"s body would fall, did not open. They tried
three times but each time the door stayed closed, even though it had worked well the day before. In the
end they sent Lee back to prison, where he lived for the next twenty-two years. At all times, John Lee
said he hadn"t killed the woman, and he believed it was the "hand of God" that had saved him from death
by hanging.
The police in Venezuela (委内瑞拉) in South America followed a man home one night. He was the
thief they wanted to catch. However, half of his house was standing in Venezuela and the other half was
standing in Colombia (哥伦比亚), Venezuela"s neighbor. When the police entered the house, the man
ran upstairs to his bedroom, which was in Colombia, and called his lawyer (律师). The Venezuelan
police were not allowed to enter Colombia so they could not enter the bedroom. They asked the police
in Colombia to help. The Colombian police refused to help because the man"s crime (罪行)was not a
crime in Colombia. In the end, the Venezuelan police gave up and went back to the police station.
A. shut in a room
B. questioned by the police
C. killed by putting a rope around the neck
D. kept in a place
2. What do we know about the door in the floor?
A. It had opened the day before the hanging.
B. It had been broken a long time.
C. After three times, it opened.
D. John Lee"s dead body fell through it.
3. From the story we know that the thief"s bedroom was _____.
A. in Venezuela B. in Colombia
C. in neither Venezuela nor Colombia
D. in both Venezuela and Colombia
4. Why didn"t the Venezuelan police go into the man"s bedroom?
A. They didn"t know where it was.
B. The Venezuelan police were not allowed to enter Colombia.
C. The police in Colombia told them that they would help.
D. The police in Colombia told them not to go inside.
5. The police in Colombia didn"t help the police in Venezuela to catch the thief because _____.
A. they didn"t know where he was
B. the police in Venezuela didn"t ask for help
C. the man"s lawyer told them not to help
D. the man"s crime was not a crime in Colombia
students. She made us feel both special and wanted. I _2 felt that Mrs. Abshere cared about me. Her
patience and kindness helped me 3 many hard times.
One day, after I got home, the police suddenly came and arrested (逮捕) my parents. I was 4 to
death! I held on to my brother and sister as we were 5 a children"s home.
As my parents waited for their 6 , my brother, sister and I waited in the children"s home. Soon days
turned into weeks. When I was told that they would be in prison for six months, I 7 on my bed and
cried for hours. I was mad at the world and no longer saw any future for myself. Just at this very moment
one of the girls came running up to me. "Hey, there"s a lady here to
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be true?
When I got to the end of the hallway, there stood Mrs. Abshere! She held her arms out to me.
"Honey, I know 9 is better than your mom, but I love you, too!" I hugged her and 10 thanked God
for bringing this angel thirty miles out of her way to see me.
As I 11 Mrs. Abshere around the grounds, I began to feel 12 again. I was so excited to show her
off to all my new friends.
Two weeks later, I said good-bye to all my friends and moved across the state to live in another city
with my grandparents.
Sixteen years later, I 13 Mrs. Abshere, so that I could tell her how grateful (感激的) I was. When I
found her, we had the most wonderful conversation. I felt so much 14 telling her that I was only a year
away from becoming a teacher myself. "Oh! That"s great. You can teach students in my room!" 15 ,
perhaps I will be returning to Mrs. Abshere"s classroom soon, only this time as a peer (同行) and a very
grateful friend.
( ) 1 A. message ( ) 2 A. surely ( ) 3 A. with ( ) 4 A. lonely ( ) 5 A. invited ( ) 6 A. news ( ) 7 A. jumped ( ) 8 A. must ( ) 9. A. nobody ( ) 10. A. carefully ( ) 11. A. walked ( ) 12. A. wonderful ( ) 13. A. searched for ( ) 14. A. patience ( ) 15. A. so | B. game B. truly B. through B. bored B. pushe d B. reply B. fell B. can B. somebody B. seriously B. helped B. hopeful B. rang up B. shame B. because | C. smile C. mainly C. out C. frightened C. found C. letters C. spread C. could C. anybody C. nervously C. talked C. interested C. called on C. pride C. however | D. prize D. hardly D. off D. sorry D. driven D. sentence D. slept D. may D. everybody D. silently D. saw D. relaxed D. bumped into D. hope D. though |
阅读理解。 | |||
After a serious earthquake happened, a father left his wife safely at home and rushed to his son"s school, only to find that the building where his son studied had collapsed and looked like a pancake. He was shocked. He didn"t know what he should do for a while, then he remembered the words he had said to his son, "No matter what happens, I"ll always be there for you! "And tears began to fill his eyes. He started digging through the ![]() As he was digging, other helpless parents and the firemen arrived and tried to pull him off the ruins, saying, "It"s too late! They"re all dead! There"s nothing you can do! " To them he replied with one line, "Are you going to help me now? " And then he kept on digging. No one helped, however. He went on alone because he needed to know for himself: "Is my boy alive or is he dead? " He dug for eight hours. . . 12 hours. . . 24 hours. . . 36 hours. . . then, in the 39th hour, he pulled back a rock and heard his son"s words. He shouted his son"s name, "ARMAND! " He heard back, "Dad! It"s me, Dad! I told the other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you"d save me and when you saved me, they"d be saved. You promised, "No matter what happens, I"ll always be there for you! You did it, Dad! " "What"s going on in there? How is it? " the father asked. "There are 14 of us left out of 33, Dad. We"re frightened, hungry, thirsty and thankful you"re here. When the building fell down, it made a triangle (三角) , and it saved us." "Come out, boy!" "No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, because I know you"ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you"ll always be there for me!" | |||
1. The underlined word "collapsed" probably means "_____". | |||
A. break down B. shake away C. stand by D. fall into | |||
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A. His wife. ![]() B. Other parents. C. The fir ![]() D. No one. | |||
3. Other parents and the firemen wanted to pull him off the ruins because they thought _____. | |||
A. he was mad B. all the children had died in the earthquake C. he was too dangerous to others D. it was not his job to dig | |||
4. How many students were already dead when the father found them in the ruins? | |||
A. Fourteen. B. Thirty-three. C. Forty-seven. D. Nineteen. | |||
5. We can learn from the passage that _____. | |||
A. it took the father one day to find his son and other students B. his wife died in the earthquake C. his son was the last one to come out of the ruins D. the son didn"t believe his father would come to save him | |||
词语填空。用方框中所给单词的适当形式填空,使短文通顺、正确、连贯(每个单词限用一次) | |||