The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was waving goodbye to my son, the last one of my fledglings （刚会飞的鸟）to leave home and go to new woods, "University actually" . I felt so lighthearted after spending many years looking after my four children—cooking, washing, ironing, teaching them how to look after themselves and manage their finances—that I actually thought “At long last, freedom".
But, as I watched my last one leave, although it was a joyous occasion, I realized I had not really prepared for this day, I was too tied up with bringing up these adults of the future to realize that they would all leave the nest and lives independently.
At first I didn"t know what "I" wanted to do. I tried a part time job, which ended in me running out in tears. I started a business making soft furnishings, but that didn"t work either. I grew my own veggies and fruit, which lasted 3 years, until I was advised by my doctor that my feet couldn"t take any more "tools” driven through them.
I began wondering if I had a future of my own. I cried for the life I was used to, and hadn"t known or wanted anything different.
Then one day I saw an ad. for foster parents, I discussed it with my husband who was always behind everything I tried and with great disturbance , I rang up the number.
I now laugh and sing with my 14-year-old foster daughter, even when my cooker is a mess and my bathroom is a disaster area. I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.
小题1:How did the mother first feel when her last child went off to university?| A．Lonely. | B．Anxious. | C．Relieved. | D．Annoyed. |
小题2:The underlined phrase “was tied up with” in the second paragraph means “ ”.| A．was occupied in | B．was associated with | | C．was tired of | D．was addicted to |
小题3:In the third paragraph, the poor mother did all the things just to .| A．live a greener and healthier life | | B．earn more money for her kids’ education | | C．shift her attention and ease her anxiety | | D．start her own decorating business |
小题4:What did the empty-nested mother think of her husband?| A．Skilled | B．Supportive | C．Stubborn | D．Open-minded |
小题5:Thanks to the foster daughter, the author .| A．got rid of her busy work | | B．forgot her other children | | C．found a suitable job | | D．knew what she really wanted |
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小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:B
小题5:D |
小题1:细节题。由第一段第三行I felt so lighthearted 说明‘我”宽慰了，如释重负。
小题2:A词义猜测题。
小题3:推理题。从第二，三段可知‘我”从一直忙碌中闲下来无所适从才找些事情做为转移注意力减轻焦虑。
小题4:从my husband who was always behind everything I及下文中提到我”收养女儿可知丈夫是支持的。
小题5:从I now know, 8 years later, what “I” was meant to be doing with all the spare hours, days, and weeks I had on my hands when my last fledgling flew the nest. The sun shines once again in my home.可知找“我”找到了自我。.
试题分析
点评：文章讲述了一位空巢母亲因为落寞而去找些事情做来消遣生活以平衡儿女离开自己后的失落，发现行不通后，收养了一个女儿，找到自己想要的生活。要注意把握心理状况进而进行逻辑推理。对于考生在上下文中理解字里行间的能力要求较高。 |
核心考点
试题【The day was warm and the sun shone down like a new beginning on my life. I was w】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Of all the things our wisdom tells us will make life entirely happy, the greatest is the possession of friendship. One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed.
On the first Sunday in August, it’s time to recognize your friends and their contribution to your life. The first Sunday in August was fixed as National Friendship Day by the U.S. Congress in 1935, and remains a tradition observed in many countries and cultures. In 1997, the United Nations named Winnie the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.
Apparently, there are several friendship holidays, all of which fall on fixed dates.
National Friendship Day is on the first Sunday in August
Women’s Friendship Day is on the third Sunday in September
International Friendship Month is February
Old Friends, New Friends Week is the third week of May
People show their appreciation for friendship in various ways. Some expressions may be practical ones, such as flowers, particularly the pink friendship roses, cookies, chocolates, souvenirs from their vacations, a tape of favorite songs, farewell dinners, and welcome balloons.
Recipe for Friendship 2 cups of patience, 1 heart full of love, 2 handfuls of generosity, 2 cups of loyalty, 1 cup of understanding, A dash of laughter. Mix them all well. Spray generously over a lifetime and serve everyone you meet.
Friendship helps to bring peace and positivity to the globe, another great reason to celebrate! Although our friends certainly deserve thanks on more than just one day of the year, what better day to honor them than Friendship Day!!
小题1:Which of the following proverbs supports the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．Friendship cannot stand always on one side. | | B．A friend in need is a friend indeed. | | C．A friend without faults will never be found. | | D．A life without a friend is a life without a sun. |
小题2:Which of the holidays happens first in a year?| A．National Friendship Day. | B．Women’s Friendship Day. | | C．International Friendship Month. | D．Old Friends, New Friends Week. |
小题3:What is most needed to make friendship grow, develop and last?| A．Inviting your friends over for a party. | | B．Looking on your friends as relatives. | | C．Honoring your friends on Friendship Day. | | D．Being loyal and generous to your friends. |
小题4:“Recipe for Friendship” here actually means .| A．a prescription for curing friends | B．a method of keeping a friendship | | C．the pleasure of having friends | D．the importance of friendship |
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One rainy night many years ago ,an elderly couple entered the hall of a small hotel in Philadephia. The couple walked to the front desk hoping to get some 21 for the night. “Could you give us a 22 here?” the husband asked.
The waiter, a 23 man with a bright smile, looked at the couple and 24 that there were three meetings in town. “All of our rooms are taken,” the waiter said. “ 25 I can’t send a nice couple like you out into the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you be 26 to sleep in my room? It’s not 27 a suite(套房)，but it will be good enough to make you 28 for the night.”
When then couple refused 39 , he explained, “Don’t worry about me.”So the couple 30 . The next morning, the elderly man said to the waiter, “you are the kind of manager who should be the boss of the best 31 in America. Maybe someday I’ll 32 one for you.” The waiter looked at them and 33 .Then they drove away.
Two years passed. The waiter had almost 34 it when he received a letter from the old man. It recalled（提起）that 35 night and enclosed（附上）a round-trip to New York, asking the young man to pay them a visit.
The old man 36 knowledge, the knowledge of the life, history and geography of the people whose 37 him in New York and led him to Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He 38 to a great new building there.
“That is the hotel I have just built for you,” said the elderly man.
“You must be 39 ,” the young man said.
“I’m not,” said the elderly man.
The elderly man was William Waldor-Aster, and that 40 building was the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The young waiter who became its first manager was George Boldt.
| 小题1: | | A．food | B．shelter | C．light | D．space |
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| 小题3: | | A．serious | B．patient | C．friendly | D．careful |
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| 小题4: | | A．decided | B．thought | C．suggested | D．explained |
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| 小题6: | | A．ready | B．glad | C．grateful | D．natural |
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| 小题7: | | A．clearly | B．nearly | C．exactly | D．simply |
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| 小题8: | | A．calm | B．special | C．successful | D．comfortable |
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| 小题9: | | A．easily | B．politely | C．give | D．know |
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| 小题10: | | A．left | B．agreed | C．complained | D．happened |
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| 小题11: | | A．hotel | B．shop | C．school | D．restaurant |
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| 小题12: | | A．build | B．keep | C．find | D．invent |
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| 小题13: | | A．checked | B．excused | C．smiled | D．changed |
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| 小题14: | | A．expected | B．realised | C．discovered | D．forgotten |
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小题15: | A．bright | B．warm | C．cloudy | D．stormy |
小题16:本题有误| A．ticket | B．map | C．form | D．travel |
小题17:本题有误| A．met | B．thanked | C．missed | D．watched |
| 小题18: | | A．waved | B．pointed | C．moved | D．returned |
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| 小题19: | | A．laughing | B．arguing | C．joking | D．reporting |
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| 小题20: | | A．small | B．common | C．simple | D．beautiful |
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Thid is a true story of a mother’s sacrifice(牺牲) in an earthquake.
When the rescuer reached the ruins of a young man’s house, they saw her dead body through the cracks. Her pose was somehow strange—she knelt(跪) on the ground like a person who was worshiping(祷告);her body was leaning forward, and her two hands were supported by an object. However, the cold and stiff body told them that she had passed away for sure.
The rescuers left this house and were going to search the next collapsed building. For some reason, the team leader was driven by a strong force to go back to the ruined house. Again, he knelt down to search the little space under the dead body. Suddenly, he screamed with excitement, “A child! There is a child1”
The whole team worked together; carefully they removed the piles of ruined objects around the dead woman. There was a 3-month-old little boy wrapped in a blanket under his mother’s dead body. Obviously, the woman had made great sacrifice in order to save her son. When her house was falling, she used her body to make a cover to protect her son. The little boy was still sleeping peacefully when the team leader picked him up.
A doctor came quickly to examine the little boy. After he opened the blanket, he saw a cellphone inside the blanket.There was a text massage on the screen. It said, “If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” Everybody that read the massage cried
小题1:Why did the young woman kneel on the ground?| A．To protect herself from the earthquake | | B．To show respect for God | | C．To ask God for help | | D．To protect her baby |
小题2:After reading the text massage, everyone felt quite ______.| A．shocked | B．excited | C．moved | D．afraid |
小题3:What’s the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?| A．To prove that a cat has nine lives. | | B．To show the power of a mother’s love. | | C．To express his thanks to the rescuers. | | D．To give advice on how to rescue others. |
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Last year, I met a little boy to whom my heart went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. His problem was that he stuttered (口吃) extremely badly when he tried to talk. It was really hard to understand what he was saying, although he loved to tell big tales!
One morning, I was talking to the teachers who ran the school store. The boy stopped by and said hello to all of us. Afterwards they told me that the boy would stop every day to ask if they would be there the next day. But of course, he never had money to buy anything.
I decided that I would get him a little something just as a surprise. So I picked out a pencil, a rubber, and a small notebook for just $1.00. I cannot describe the look on his face when I gave him the three little things. Then, without a stutter, he loudly said, "Thank you so much!" and just kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you!" He gave me a big hug before going off to class.
I was touched to see someone appreciate something that much. As he walked off, he was showing his new stuff to other kids walking to class. I have to say that I have never spent a dollar that would mean so much to me.
小题1:Why did the boy never buy anything from the store?| A．Because he couldn’t make himself understood. | | B．Because the teachers were unwilling to sell him anything. | | C．Because he couldn’t afford anything. | | D．Because he could never decide what to buy. |
小题2:What do we learn from the third paragraph?| A．Actually the boy had no stutter at all. | | B．The boy was too excited to stutter at the moment. | | C．What the author had bought helped the boy speak normally. | | D．The author wanted to find out whether the boy really had a stutter. |
小题3:Which would be the best title for the passage?| A．A Stuttering Boy | | B．Kindness Can Do Wonders | | C．One Dollar Can Buy Anything | | D．The Best Dollar I Have Spent |
小题4:What is the boy’s attitude to his life?| A．active | B．passive | C．disappointed | D．fearful |
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The last time I saw my mother, she didn’t know who I was. Although having 36 from dementia(老年痴呆症) for many years, mother was never 37 . All our family came to the hospital to spend time with her. She didn’t 38 them either, but we wanted to be there with her.
I have just flown back from Texas. Mother 39 looked at me, or past me, and said “Yeah”. That’s 40 she responded to 41 around her. In spite of this, I held her hand and talked to her.
I told her about the big old house in Highland where I 42 . When we first 43 there from Mascoutah when I was 5 years old, I was 44 of that house. The yard was full of 45 and the house was falling apart. But my father and mother were intelligent and 46 and we eight kids helped to turn it into a home. All of a sudden, I wasn’t frightened any more.
I told her she must have been very 47 when I decided to go to college to study journalism 48 being a priest（牧师）, which she thought was the highest 49 for a family. But she didn’t show it. She just saw me 50 with my favorite chocolate chip cookies.
When I told her all about Texas, 51 she and father had been to visit me, mother seemed 52 by that Texas beach on which they had taken a 53 . She 54 the trip and kept the picture in the living room all the time.
We had too many stories to tell. It was time for me to say 55 to mother and I told her I’d see her again. “Yeah,” she answered. But I wasn’t able to.
| 小题1: | | A．recovered | B．suffered | C．damaged | D．lived |
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| 小题2: | | A．healthy | B．awake | C．unconscious | D．alone |
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| 小题3: | | A．see | B．understand | C．recognize | D．like |
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| 小题4: | | A．never | B．just | C．excitedly | D．seldom |
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| 小题5: | | A．because | B．when | C．how | D．what |
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| 小题6: | | A．somewhere | B．everywhere | C．something | D．everything |
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| 小题7: | | A．experienced | B．grew up | C．brought up | D．worked |
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| 小题8: | | A．moved | B．visited | C．left | D．withdrew |
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| 小题9: | | A．fond | B．afraid | C．curious | D．tired |
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| 小题10: | | A．weeds | B．flowers | C．trees | D．waste |
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| 小题11: | | A．fortunate | B．easy-going | C．hospitable | D．hard-working |
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| 小题12: | | A．disappointed | B．excited | C．surprised | D．anxious |
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| 小题13: | | A．as well as | B．instead of | C．except for | D．in spite of |
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| 小题14: | | A．praise | B．prize | C．honor | D．encouragement |
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| 小题16: | | A．which | B．that | C．where | D．when |
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| 小题17: | | A．delight | B．interested | C．happy | D．impressed |
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| 小题18: | | A．note | B．boat | C．picture | D．bath |
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| 小题19: | | A．enjoyed | B．hated | C．remembered | D．accounted |
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| 小题20: | | A．thanks | B．goodbye | C．sorry | D．hello |
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