shared love for children. Two years after the couple got married, Ellen saw a huge change in the life of one
of her students, a 9-year-old girl. Three years earlier both of the little girl"s parents had died and there was
no one to take care of her. She was taken away to live in a government office. But finally she was taken in
and adopted by a family and became their daughter. Ellen said that she noticed the difference in the child"s
life after she was placed in a permanent home and thought that maybe she and her husband could help a
child in a similar way.
They decided to become temporary parents and to take a child into their home just on the weekends
when the real parents could not take care of him or her. The pair planned to have their own children in a
few years, but decided that this would be a way to give to the community in the meantime.
The couple quickly grew to love one of the children they looked after. When he became legally available,
Billy became the first child they took in permanently. Six months after adopting Billy, Ellen was told by her
doctor that she was unable to have children naturally. Ellen says she knew then that adoption was the way
she was meant to have a family.
Since adopting Billy, now 17, Ellen and Bill have adopted five more children-Rose, 16; Albert, 11; Joshua,
5 and in June 2003, they added biological brother and sister Tyler and Rylee to the County family. The County
family has been recognized for their work on adoption, and has received many awards for their efforts. Last
June, the family was even interviewed on the television show,"Adoption Stories".
Ellen says she would like to encourage other families to adopt children. She adds that the best part of being
a mother of six is: "Giving Josh a bath, putting a band-aid on a cut knee or just the everyday Mom things,
that makes motherhood such an honor and a privilege."
B. Where you can adopt a child.
C. The benefits of adoption to the community.
D. How adoption created a happy family.
B. Because they saw the benefits of adoption for a child.
C. Because they were not able to have children of their own.
D. Because they want to receive awards for their community work.
B. Billy and Tyler.
C. Albert and Joshua.
D. Rose and Albert.
B. describes the things that make Ellen happy
C. says what Ellen does every day
D. lists the problems Ellen has with the kids
Freda Bright says," Only in opera do people die of love." It"s true. You really can"t love somebody to
death. I"ve known people to die from no love, but I"ve never known anyone to be loved to death. We just
can"t love one another enough.
A heart-warming story tells of a woman who finally decided to ask her boss for a raise in salary. All
day she felt nervous and late in the afternoon she summoned the courage to approach her employer. To
her delight, the boss agreed to the raise.
The woman arrived home that evening to a beautiful table set with their best dishes. Candles were
softly glowing. Her husband had come home early and prepared a festival meal. She wondered if someone
from the office had tipped him off, or-did he just somehow know that she would not get turned down?
She found him in the kitchen and told him the good news. They embraced and kissed, then sat down
to the wonderful meal. Next to her plate the woman found a beautifully lettered note. It read: "Congratulations,
darling! I knew you"d get the raise! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Following the supper, her husband went into the kitchen to clean up. She noticed that a second card
had fallen from his pocket. Picking it off the floor, she read:" Don"t worry about not getting the raise! You
deserve it anyway! These things will tell you how much I love you."
Someone has said that the measure of love for his wife is love without measure. What this man feels for
his wife is total acceptance and love, whether she succeeds or fails. His love celebrates her victories and
soothes her wounds. He stands with her, no matter what life throws in their direction.
Upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa said, "What can you do to promote world peace?
Go home and love your family. And love your friends. Love them without measure."
B. love is one thing, and life is another
C. love in operas is truly touching
D. love can survive forever, though people die at different ages
B. he has a great way to promote his wife"s love towards him
C. he has a false love for people even if the person is his wife
D. he loves his family members truly, whether they are in good conditions or not
B. criticizes the attitude of suspicion of the love
C. doesn"t believe there is true love in the world
D. thinks the true love does not expect repayment
"Any old 1 , lady?" I was busy. I wanted to say 2 - until I looked down at their feet. Thin little shoes,
wet with snow.
" 3 and I"ll make you a cup of hot coffee."
There was no conversation. Their wet 4 left marks upon the floor of the fire place. I served them coffee
and toast with jam to keep the 5 out. Then I went back to the kitchen and started 6 on my household
budget.
The silence in the front room 7 me. I looked in. The girl held the empty cup in her hands, 8 it. The
boy asked in a flat voice, "Lady... are you rich?"
"Am I rich? Mercy, no!" I looked at my 9 slipcovers (沙发套). The girl put her cup back in its saucers
(茶托) - 10 .
"Your cups match your saucers."
Her voice was old, with a 11 that was not of the stomach. They left then, holding their bags of papers 12
the wind. They hadn"t said thank you. They didn"t 13 to. They had done 14 that. Plain blue pottery cups and
saucers. But they 15 .
I tested the potatoes and tasted the gravy. Potatoes and brown gravy, a roof over our heads, my 16 with
a good steady job-these things matched, too.
I moved the chairs back from the fire and 17 the living room. The dirty prints of small shoes were 18
wet upon my floor. I let them be. I want them there 19 I ever forget again how very 20 I am.
( )1. A. papers ( )2. A. cheese ( )3. A. Go away ( )4. A. snow ( )5. A. danger ( )6. A. later ( )7. A. surprised ( )8. A. drinking from ( )9. A. small ( )10. A. carefully ( )11. A. anger ( )12. A. out of ( )13. A. manage ( )14. A. more than ( )15. A. mattered ( )16. A. daughter ( )17. A. designed ( )18. A. too ( )19. A. in case ( )20. A. rich | B. food | C. rubbish C. yes C. Turn up C. umbrellas C. cold C. too C. followed C. looking at C. clean C. naturally C. patience C. by C. need C. rather than C. counted C. mother C. painted C. still C. so that C. empty | D. books D. no D. Shut off D. shoes D. air D. even D. comforted D. warming D. wet D. completely D. confidence D. like D. want D. other than D. matched D. sister D. tidied D. already D. until D. well | |||||||||||
阅读理解。 | ||||||||||||||
For a long time, a boy wondered why his next-desk pal was always the first in the class, whereas he could only rank the 21st. At home, he asked his mom, "Am I more stupid than other kids? How come I always lag behind? I just can"t come up with an answer." Mom was aware that her son"s self-respect had been damaged by the ranking system, but she didn"t know what to say to help. She was tempted (想要) to say that intelligence differs and that yes, her son"s friend really was the smarter boy. But that would have so upset her son. Thank goodness she resisted the temptation to say it. Her son and his friend went on to high school that year, but despite trying as hard as he could, her son"s friend still outdid him. But she was proud of her boy for his hard work, sincerely proud. It was around this time she decided to take him on a trip to the seaside. On the trip, she at last found an answer for him. Today her son no longer cares about rankings. He doesn"t have to, for he himself is now the top of the class-at the top national university he attends. Invited to speak to his old high school, he mentioned a valuable childhood experience: Once, on a trip to the sea, my mother and I were lying on the beach. She pointed to the sea and said to me, "Do you see the seabirds fighting for food out there? When a wave comes near, the little birds rise quickly. The "clumsy" seagulls are far less quick and have to struggle to get away from the wave. But these "clumsy" prove to have the biggest, strongest wings, which open the widest and allow the bird to travel the furthest. When the season changes, they leave for foreign shores, leaving the little birds behind. Son, I have a feeling that you are one of those seagulls." | ||||||||||||||
1. From the first paragraph, we could conclude the mother ______. | ||||||||||||||
A. knew her son was not bright enough B. was troubled by her son"s low rankings C. decided to help with her son"s school work D. saw the harmful effects of the ranking system | ||||||||||||||
2. The mother didn"t give an answer at first because she didn"t want to hurt her son"s ______. | ||||||||||||||
A. self-respect B. intelligence C. strength D. rankings | ||||||||||||||
3. The story conveys the message that _____. a. only rankings show intelligence b. hard work and confidence can lead to a change in rankings c. parents should see children"s strengths and encourage them d. competition between students is good for society | ||||||||||||||
A. b, c B. c, d C. a, b, c D. b, c, d | ||||||||||||||
4. Which of the following would be the best title for the story? | ||||||||||||||
A. How Important are Rankings? B. Little Birds and Seagulls C. The Answer Mom Gave D. Hard Work Pays Off! | ||||||||||||||
完形填空。 | ||||||||||||||
He lost his arms in an accident that claimed his father"s life who was the main 1 of support for the family. He had to 2 the arms of his younger brother, and his younger brother became his 3 , never leaving him alone for years. Except for writing with his toes, he was completely unable to do 4 in his life. One late night, his younger brother accompanied him into the toilet and went back to 5 . But being so 6 , his younger brother fell asleep, leaving him on the toilet for two hours. As the two brothers grew up together, they had their share of problems and they would often 7 . His younger brother wanted to live 8 from him, living his own life, as many normal people do. So he was 9 and didn"t know what to do. A 10 misfortune befell (降临) a girl. One night her mother, who suffered from mental illness 11 . So her father went out looking for her mother, leaving her alone at home. She tried to prepare a 12 for her parents, only to overturn the stove, 13 in a fire which took her hands away. Though her elder sister who was studying in another city, showed her 14 to take care of her, she was determined to be completely 15 . At school, she always studied hard. One day, the boy and the girl were both invited to appear on a television interview program. They were both asked to write something on a piece of paper with their toes. The boy wrote: My younger brother"s arms are my arms; 16 the girl wrote: Broken wings, flying heart. Disasters can 17 at any time. If you choose only to complain and 18 from the ordeal (苦难的经历), it will always follow you wherever you go. But if you decide to be 19 , the hardship will turn out to be a(n) 20 on which new hopes will arise. | ||||||||||||||
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