阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
When a special occasion arrives, a colorful gift bag or a box often finds its way to a doorstep, an office desk or a mailbox. But once in a while, a present arrives at an unexpected moment to remind us that someone is thinking about us.
Wanda Anderson of Richland, US, remembers such a gift.
The rosebushes were finally in full bloom on that day in spring.
Seeing roses always brings to mind Wanda’s childhood memories. To this young girl, those flowers were extra special. “We never had money to buy extra things, so even a tired rose was something to cherish,” Wanda said.
Nowadays, to have a garden filled with many different roses is pure enjoyment. Wanda especially loves the very first blooms.
Her husband, Dale, devotedly takes care of the roses and knows this little fact about his wife. So, on this special morning, he picked the very first flowers of spring, fresh from the garden. But as Dale came back into the house, he was met by a neighbor who had stopped in for a quick visit. As the woman turned to go, Dale handed the roses to her. And even though their visitor insisted she didn’t want to take them, she was repeatedly told that the flowers were hers to keep.
“I told her I was happy for her to have the roses, but I really wasn’t,” Wanda said, remembering the emotions she was feeling right then.
Seeing her very precious first blooms go out the door filled her with regret, and a bit of selfishness.
Throughout the rest of the morning, Wanda argued with herself, knowing it was “better to give than to receive.” Nevertheless, she wished she could have kept the roses for herself.
Later that day, the couple headed to the post office, where Wanda waited outside in the car. Then, without warning, an older woman suddenly appeared at the car’s open window, with a bunch of roses in her arms.
“These are for you,” she said, giving the flowers to Wanda. “They’re my first blooms this spring.”
Totally surprised, Wanda thanked the woman and took a moment to smell the roses’ rich fragrance. When she looked up, the mysterious visitor was gone.
To this day, that “special delivery” changed Wanda. Now, her very first blooms always go to someone else, as a reminder that someone is thinking of them.
1.Why does Wanda love roses so much? (no more than 15 words)
2.What does the underlined word “devotedly” mean in Paragraph 6? (no more than 5 words)
3.How did Wanda feel after the neighbor left? (no more than 10 words)
4.What changed Wanda’s opinion of giving gifts? (no more than 10 words)
5.What’s your opinion about the saying “It was better to give than to receive”? Please explain. (no more than 25 words)
When Benjamin Cherkasky was in eighth grade, he quit the swim team. It wasn’t because he lacked the passion; he just couldn’t accept failures in matches. “I’m not Michael Phelps, why am I even on the team?” he said.
A US therapist (治疗专家) who researches perfectionism at Northwestern University realized years later what had happened. Cherkasky’s perfectionism was creating unrealistic standards. Unable to meet them, he quit.
“My perfectionism prompted (导致) very high expectations, and that caused real suffering,” he said.
Cherkasky is not alone in feeling that perfectionism can breed anxiety. So many millennials (千禧一代) suffer from the ills of perfectionism that psychologists are issuing warnings and schools are emphasizing the need to accept failure.
Northwestern had held several seminars that offered tips on how students could deal with a perfectionism problem.
Jessica Rohlfing Pryor, a psychologist leading the events, said every generation is a sponge for the messages it receives.
“Millennials, more than any other generation in American society, are receiving clear messages around achieving,” she said. “There’s an absence of messaging that trying your hardest is still OK.”
The American Psychological Association also found out that recent generations of college students have reported higher levels of perfectionism than earlier generations.
This “desire to achieve along with being overly critical of oneself and others” affects young people’s mental health, according to its research, which analyzed data from over 40,000 college students.
Researchers noted that social media adds comparative pressure, along with the drive to earn money and achieve career goals. Perfectionists often create even higher goals, which can lead to a higher risk of failure.
In college, Cherkasky found himself surrounded by so many intelligent people that he felt he should have been achieving a higher level than he was. “It makes you feel kind of crazy,” he said.
This type of thinking can lead people to putting in less effort, which, as they fall behind, can create more anxiety. “It makes people feel kind of isolated.” Cherkasky added, “And that can cause students to drift away from their school”. Northwestern is not the only school eager to help students.
Brown University includes perfectionism in its counseling (咨询) services, asking students if they ever feel that what they accomplish isn’t good enough.
1.Why did Cherkasky quit the swim team in eighth grade?
A.He wanted more time to study. B.He found he had no passion for swimming.
C.He couldn’t reach the goal he set for himself. D.He always did badly in swimming competitions.
2.Which of the following would Pryor probably agree with?
A.Millennials are unwilling to work hard.
B.Young people should accept being imperfect.
C.Young people should learn to deal with pressure.
D.Perfectionism can benefit individuals and society.
3.What did the American Psychological Association discover?
A.Social media users were more likely to be perfectionists.
B.Perfectionism could have a negative impact on physical health.
C.Few universities offered help to students with mental problems.
D.College millennial students suffer more perfectionism problems than ever.
4.The author describes Cherkasky’s experience in college mainly to show ______.
A.the harm of being a perfectionist B.the effect of isolation on perfectionists
C.the pressure college students experience D.the challenges underachievers have to overcome
Losing an arm means losing the ability to grab, as well as losing the sense of touch. Scientists have been working on mind-controlled prostheses (义肢) and have successfully built a few to help patients regain their ability to grab. But restoring the sense of touch has been quite a challenge – until now.
Seven years ago, a group of Swedish scientists created a new type of prostheses, which has since then been tried out on three patients to see how they perform in people’s daily lives. The study result was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to the study, this is the first time that people who have had an arm amputated (截肢) can experience sensations of touch in mind-controlled arm prostheses.
The new product is named “neuromusculoskeletal” prosthesis. As the name indicates, the prosthesis is connected directly to a user’s nerves, muscles and skeleton. The sensation of touch becomes possible by stimulating nerves that used to be connected to the biological hand before the amputation.
When a patient grabs an object, for example, force sensors planted in the prosthetic thumb would measure contact and pressure. The collected information would then be transmitted to the patient’s nerves that lead to the brain. In this way, the patient can “feel” the characteristics of the object being touched and perceive (感知) its pressure against the prosthetic hand, which can be crucial when handling delicate objects – an egg, for example.
“The ability of the patients to discern (觉察) smaller changes in the intensity of sensations has improved,” Max Ortiz Catalan, Associate Professor at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, who is the leader of the study, told Science Daily.
According to Catalan, the new study has demonstrated that their prosthesis is qualified as a “clinically viable replacement for a lost arm”.
“The sensors are not the obstacle for restoring sensation,” Catalan added. “The challenge is creating neural interfaces (接口) that can seamlessly (无缝地) transmit large amounts of artificially collected information to the nervous system, in a way that the user can experience sensations naturally and effortlessly.” And they did it.
With the development of prosthesis technology, people who suffer from limb loss will have a greater chance of getting their normal lives back.
1.Neuromusculoskeletal prosthesis’ unique advantage is helping people with arm amputations to _____ .
A.carry heavy objects again B.regain the ability to grab objects
C.move their prostheses as they wish D.experience the sense of touch again
2.The new prosthesis is connected directly to __________.
① user’s nerves ② user’s brains ③ user’s muscles ④ user’s skeleton
A.① ② ③ B.① ③ ④ C.② ③ ④ D.① ② ④
3.How do the new prostheses work?
A.They collect information about objects and process it.
B.They stimulate the cut nerves to restore the sense of touch.
C.They measure the size of objects and send the information.
D.They detect the material of objects and send the information.
4.What can patients perceive with the new prosthesis?
A.The intensity of an object. B.The structure of an object.
C.The pressure from an object. D.The changes inside an object.
5.What is the difficulty in developing the new technology?
A.Measuring the pressure of objects. B.Connecting the sensors to nerves.
C.Creating good neural interfaces. D.Building responsive sensors.
6.What’s the author’s attitude towards the prospect of prosthesis technology?
A.Optimistic. B.Neutral.
C.Critical. D.Unconcerned.
My 83-year-old mother came to live with me a year ago last November. She was very ill and I had to put my life on hold to care for her.
Each morning, I got her up and dressed her and made her breakfast and sat with her. I rushed for a bowl when she felt sick, and lit fires to keep her warm. I cooked and persuaded her to take a few bites.
It’s a hard job caring for a sick or dying parent, whoever you are. But it was especially hard for me, I feel, because I am a doctor myself. I couldn’t help looking at her in two different ways. The medical professional saw a body and scrutinized it with the coldness that medicine requires. But the daughter saw the woman who had given birth to me, wiped my nose, sent me off to college and had been a constant presence in my life for over half a century.
Also, my mother didn’t appreciate how hard it was for me to care for her. I remember an exchange between her and the nurse who came to see her once a week:
“You could get some more help with care.”
“Oh, I don’t think I need that,” Mom said.
Mom didn’t understand that the help would have taken some of the burden off me. None of the treatments her doctors gave her worked, and finally her life became about comfort. She refused painkillers (止痛药) for a long time, but finally the pain convinced her. And when she accepted the painkillers she accepted the fact that she would die.
Illness and needs took us across personal boundaries I’d never before considered. And yet, while living and being and dying with Mom I witnessed something precious dawning. We became closer. We shared so many stories from our past that it was as if our memories had become one.
In the past our relationship had been difficult. We had often argued. But when the end came, both of us simply accepted that we looked at the world in different ways. We were daughter and mother and we loved each other. That was all that mattered.
1.Why was taking care of her mom especially hard for the author?
A.She was too busy living her own life.
B.She and her mom had a difficult relationship.
C.She was too old to attend to her mom carefully.
D.She viewed her mom both as a patient and a loved one.
2.The underlined word “scrutinized” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_______”.
A.held B.checked
C.ignored D.left
3.How did the author probably feel about the conversation between her mom and the nurse?
A.Helpful. B.Thankful.
C.Surprised. D.Depressed.
4.What did the author learn from the experience of looking after her sick mother?
A.Love is more important than differences.
B.Being alive was the most important thing.
C.We should learn to understand other people.
D.It was better for family members to live independently of each other.
Icons of the ANIMAL KINGDOM
CHIMU ADVENTURES
SOUTH GEORGIA
Join a Chimu Adventures cruise to South Georgia and experience one of nature’s greatest spectacles. Witness thousands of king penguins up close while making a landing from one of our expedition cruises. Chimu are the UK’s leading operator to South Georgia, the Falklands & Antarctica offering a full range of ships to suit all budgets and requirements. Contact one of our polar experts today for more info and special offers!
www.chimuadventures.com
Tel:02074038265
ON THE GO TOURS
CHINA
The panda is the beloved animal mascot (吉祥物) of China, native to the mountain ranges in the south central region. There are many conservation projects working to increase the panda population and last year they were successfully downgraded from ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ on the list of species at risk. Visit and support the Chengdu Panda Research Base with On The Go Tours where you can watch pandas in their natural habitat.
www.onthegotours.com
Tel:02073711113
SEA WOLF ADVENTURES
CANADA
Combine cultural discoveries with world-class whale and wild life viewing on an adventure into the heart of the traditional territory of the indigenous Kwakwaka’wakw: Vancouver Island North. Share our love of the local landscape and learn more about our connection with the wild life that makes these waterways home. Experience a fast-paced tour that offers a personal perspective of our 13, 000+ years old Kwakwaka’wakw culture.
www. seawolfadventures.ca
Tel: (001) 2509029653
PIONEER EXPEDITIONS
MADAGASCAR
Madagascar is the land of the lemurs (狐猴). Over 100 lemur species inhabit this extraordinary island nation, ranging from the pocket-sized ‘pygmy mouse lemur’ to the 4ft tall ‘indri’ (狐猴). With many threatened by extinction, there’s never been a better time to witness these mesmerizing (令人着迷的) primates. We’ll guide you through Madagascar, which is the only country where you can experience unforgettable lemur encounters in the wild.
www.pioneerexpeditions.com
Tel:01202798922
ABORIGINAL JOURNEYS
CANADA
We depart in search of orcas (虎鲸) from Campbell River on Vancouver Island in British, Columbia, Canada. Orcas are an apex predator, making them the kings and queens of the ocean. Orcas have very close-knit families and normally will stay together throughout their lifetime. We have many beautiful waterways in which to explore for these magnificent mammals. Tours are guided by experienced, locally born guides.
www.aboriginaljourneys.com
Tel: (001)2508501101
1.Which route may offer you discount in travelling fee?
A.CHIMU ADVENTURES B.PIONEER EXPEDITIONS
C.ABORIGINAL JOURNEYS D.SEA WOLF ADVENTURES
2.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 is intended to show ______________.
A.you can only see pandas in limited areas as they are vulnerable to visitors
B.pandas are not endangered any more thanks to the efforts of many conversation
C.the panda is still an endangered species though its population has increased a lot
D.ON THE GO TOURS can help the Chengdu Panda Research Base save more pandas
3.Which of the following animals are unique to Madagascar?
A.Orcas. B.Lemurs.
C.Pandas. D.King Penguins.
4.What is special about Orcas?
A.They are born guides. B.They are gentle animals.
C.They live alone after growing up. D.They enjoy a close relationship.
5.What can we know from the passage?
A.You can enjoy the Kwakwaka’ wakw culture in ABORIGINAL JOURNEYS.
B.Orcas will depart the family once they become mature enough to feed themselves.
C.SEA WOLF ADVENTURES will present more than whales and wildlife to visitors.
D.Both SEA WOLF ADVENTURES and ABORINAL JOURNEYS set off in British, Colombia.
6.What’s the purpose of this passage?
A.To attract readers to start a wildlife trip.
B.To introduce different kinds of animals.
C.To encourage people to protect animals.
D.To tell us that the animals are endangered.
Nimal “Nims” Purja broke the existing world record by climbing 14 Himalayan mountain peaks in 189 days.
Though thousands of _______ have climbed Mount Everest (珠穆朗玛峰), the highest and most _______ of the world’s 14 tallest mountains, _______ 40 climbers have conquered them all. Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal “Nims” Purja, _______this extraordinary achievement in just six months and six days, faster than his own seven-month _______.
“I am incredibly _______ to have completed this final summit and my goal of climbing the world’s 14 tallest mountains in _______ time, ” Purja said in a statement. “I hope to have _______ that anything is possible with some _______, self-belief, and positivity.”
The adventurer, who was ________ by teams of Nepalese climbers on each of his adventures, encountered numerous memorable and ________ moments during his epic (史诗般的) journey. On April 23, 2019, while going down Mt. Annapurna, Purja and his team heard about a Malaysian climber who had been ________ from his group with no food, water, or supplemental ________ for over 40 hours. Determined to find him, they went back up to 7500 meters, where Dr. Chin Wui Kin was last seen. Though the climbers succeeded in ________ and getting him airlifted to a hospital, ________, Dr. Chin did not survive his injuries and ________ a few days later in Singapore.
Purja, who comes from a small Nepalese village, said his primary ________ for undertaking this enormous task was to ________ the world that anyone can ________ greatness if they put their minds to it. “By achieving this goal, I knew I could ________ people from all generations across the world,” he said.
1.A.athletes B.tourists C.researchers D.adventurers
2.A.serious B.isolated C.famous D.remote
3.A.still B.yet C.only D.even
4.A.represented B.accomplished C.evaluated D.accelerated
5.A.target B.dream C.desire D.focus
6.A.crazy B.generous C.proud D.nervous
7.A.right B.future C.harvest D.record
8.A.found B.seen C.proven D.imagined
9.A.determination B.respect C.delight D.relief
10.A.taught B.joined C.beaten D.conducted
11.A.awkward B.anxious C.exact D.tense
12.A.separated B.sent C.dismissed D.led
13.A.clothes B.oxygen C.tents D.equipment
14.A.guiding B.observing C.saving D.locating
15.A.unfortunately B.surprisingly C.naturally D.normally
16.A.broke down B.went by C.passed away D.set off
17.A.design B.purpose C.concern D.importance
18.A.challenge B.order C.inform D.show
19.A.attain B.control C.apply D.meet
20.A.bless B.inspire C.support D.admire
