Plant Anything
A good friend of mine, Miriam, was going away on a long trip during the autumn. I called her the day before she would leave for the trip to wish her have a good trip. She was completely behind on everything she needed to do. She was a little worried. “I bought some wonderful corms to plant for next spring. But now I have no time to deal with them,” she said.
I always plant many seeds（种子）in March and by June enjoy the sweet smell everywhere. I just can’t bear the thought of a plant not getting a chance to grow. “I’ll plant them for you,” I told her.
“Oh, would you?” Miriam was excited. She promised to put them out on the porch（走廊）for me.
I arrived several days later and found a paper bag on the porch. After a lot of work, I planted all the corms in the perfect place.
When Miriam got back a few months later, she and I went out for dinner to celebrate her return. While eating, she said, “You know, I still can’t believe I forgot to put those corms out on the porch!”
I looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean? Of course, you put them out. They were sitting on the porch in a paper bag.”
“No,” she said, “They’re still sitting on the desk where I left them.”
“So, what did I plant that morning?” I asked.
She stopped as if to prepare me for her news. Then she slowly said, “That was cat poop（猫屎）. You planted cat poop.”
Miriam looked at my face and did the best to keep from laughing. But I was too busy replaying the pictures of me picking these cat poop from a paper bag and planting them.
Years have passed since then, and both our gardens and our friendship have continued to grow. I guess, I really will try to plant just about anything.
1.What did Miriam worried about?
A.She had no time to plant her corms. B.She would spend too much time on the trip.
C.She had too many seeds to plant in spring. D.There was no place for her corms in her garden.
2.Why did the writer go out for dinner with Miriam?
A.To make friends with her. B.To plant seeds with her.
C.To listen to her news. D.To celebrate her return.
3.What did the writer know after Miriam got back?
A.The corms grew very well. B.Miriam’s garden was sweet.
C.The writer planted cat poop. D.Miriam had a very good trip.
Teenagers have a lot of new ideas. Let’s have a look at these teenage inventions that might change the world.
Banana leaves usually go bad in two or three days. Tenth Hadith, a teenager from India, used UV to make the leaves stay fresh for a year. Tenth thinks that one day the leaves will be used for making plates, cups and other things. |
David Cohen, an American teenager, built an earthworm（蚯蚓） robot. It is able to go into the smallest places, where humans or dogs can’t go. It will be used for finding people in a fire or an earthquake. |
Remya Jose, a 14-year-old girl from India, found it tiring and boring to hand wash clothes in the nearby river. She reused some bicycle parts and created a washing machine that saves time, energy and keeps people fit at the same time. |
Kenneth Shinozuku, a 15-year-old boy from New York, noticed that his grandfather who got Alzheimer’s disease（老年痴呆）would often leave home and get lost. So he invented the wearable sensors（感应器）to help people find their family members like his grandfather. |
1.How long did Tenth Hadith use UV to make the leaves stay fresh?
A.For two days. B.For three days. C.For two years. D.For a year.
2.The earthworm robot made by David Cohen can ________.
A.go into the smallest places B.help people wash clothes
C.take care of the old people D.make things stay fresh
3.Who created a washing machine that can save time?
A.Kenneth Shinozuku. B.Remya Jose. C.David Cohen. D.Tenth Hadith.
I knew I was not supposed to be quite so excited. I was too old for that. At age eleven, the oldest and my mom’s “grown up” girl, I had to keep calm. I was in middle school after all. But every chance I got, when I was alone, I_______ each present under the tree. I read every tag（标签）and felt every bag, guessing at the things within. I had examined each gift so often that I could tell which ______ went to which person without looking at the tags.
It had been a hard year for my family. Whenever my mom looked over at the tree and presents, she would sigh（叹气）and warn us, “There won’t be as much for Christmas this year. Try not to be______ .” Christmas had been a time for my parents to spoil（宠爱）us. I had heard the phrase “giving is better than receiving”, but getting presents was the whole point!
On Christmas morning, we ______waited in the hallway until Dad told us everything was ready. We rushed into the living room and had to wait and ______ while other family members opened their presents, but as the time passed we lost our self-control.
“Here’s another one for you,” said Mom as she handed me a bag. I looked at it, confused. Having spent so much time examining the presents before Christmas, I______ this one. It was for my mom!
It was a blow dryer. While this may seem only a simple gift, to me it was so much more. But, in my world, where receiving was more important than giving, my mom’s act of selflessness was difficult to_______. I thought in disbelief about how much my mom must love me to do that.
I have always remembered that Christmas with love. As an adult with children, I can now see my mom was finding an even greater_______in her Christmas because giving truly is better than receiving. To me, my mom’s simple act meant the world.
1.A.changed B.opened C.filled D.checked
2.A.child B.present C.tree D.word
3.A.disappointed B.excited C.worried D.satisfied
4.A.carefully B.hopelessly C.eagerly D.nervously
5.A.complain B.argue C.watch D.choose
6.A.received B.recognized C.refused D.expected
7.A.understand B.predict C.prove D.express
8.A.challenge B.role C.pleasure D.influence
Betty ________ a math teacher since 2016. She likes the work very much.
A.has been B.is C.will be D.was
— Alice, could you tell me ________ the computer?
— Oh, yes. I bought it from a store online.
A.where did you buy B.where you bought
C.where will you buy D.where you will buy
We________ basketball on the playground when it began to rain.
A.play B.will play C.were playing D.are playing
