When I was 16 years old and in foster care in Tennessee, people told me I was unadoptable. But I desperately wanted a family. I sought the help of a judge, even the commissioner of the Department of Children’s Services, and was adopted just a week before my 18th birthday.
We have a lot to be grateful for and this holiday season let’s not forget about the more than 415,000 youth in foster care especially older youth. These youth are the most likely to get overlooked for adoption, but they shouldn’t be. They need and deserve a family just as much as young children do. Making an older youth a part of your family can bring just as much a joy as adopting a baby or a younger child—without all the diapers and potty training.
My adoption was life changing and probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I still remember the first gift my parents gave to me. It was a Mickey Mouse key chain with a key to their home. They told me that no matter what happened they would always love me and I’d always have a place to come home to. This is our 17th Thanksgiving together...
My first Thanksgiving with my family was a little overwhelming with lots of extended family including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. However, it’s when I realized that I would never have to spend another holiday alone and that was truly an amazing feeling.
I was always eager to spend time with my little sister, Beth. She was six when I joined the family. My dad always says he knew we were really sisters, and I was no longer a guest in the house when Beth and I had our first fight. Today, she’s one of my best friends, and I’m her biggest cheerleader.
There were also bittersweet Thanksgivings. One we spent in my mom’s hospital room. It was there that she helped me plan my wedding but passed away three weeks before the ceremony. My dad walked me down the aisle, and my sister was my maid of honor. Because of our bond, we were able to support each other through that challenging time and that’s what family is for—the good and bad times.
It’s nice having my dad and sister to share holidays and special occasions. But they’re even more important when it comes to the little things—like having someone to share my bad day with, celebrate my promotion at work, or help me think through a difficult decision. It’s in these moments that I just can’t imagine being alone in the world.
I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to those people who said I was unadoptable, I’d never find a family, and that I was putting myself out there for rejection. It’s a risk for older foster youth to consider adoption. It’s an opportunity to be rejected once again. But it’s a risk they should take because life doesn’t end at 18. It’s really just beginning.
If you know someone who might consider adopting an older teen, please share my story -- and have him or her think of my family. They didn’t get to see my first steps or watch me be a pilgrim in my second grade Thanksgiving play. But they taught me so many things about life, and were there to watch me walk across the stage when I graduated from college and law school and accompanied me to the White House last year as I was honored for my work helping foster youth.
I look forward to many more Thanksgivings with my family, and I’m eternally thankful they chose me to be a part of their family.
1.What contributes to the author’s feeling that she can’t imagine being alone in the world.
A. The family’s giving the author a Mickey Mouse as a gift.
B. The author’s spending her Thanksgiving with her extended family for 17 years.
C. The mother’s failing to attend the author’s wedding ceremony for her severe disease.
D. The family’s always sharing happiness and sorrow with her.
2.What does adoption for older youth really mean
A. It means not living alone any longer.
B. It means being taken good care of by others.
C. It means being successful in career.
D. It means being loved and a sense of belonging.
3.The underlined sentence “It’s an opportunity to be rejected once again.” in Paragraph 8 means that _________.
A. older teens take the opportunity to be adopted
B. older teens are less likely to be adopted
C. older teens create the opportunity to be adopted
D. older teens are in danger of being adopted
4.What’s the author’s main purpose of writing the passage
A. To express her appreciation for her family.
B. To show sympathy to the unadoptable older youth.
C. To appeal to more people to adopt the older youth.
D. To persuade the readers not to believe others’ words.
War or natural disasters often destroy or cause major damage to sanitary systems. The destruction of waste treatment systems can increase the risk of disease and even death among survivors.
Some people dig holes in the ground that serve as individual toilets. However, micro-organisms from human wastes can reach water supplies and cause cholera or other diseases.
A United Nations team is now developing a toilet for disaster areas. The experimental project is called eSOS—for the Emergency Sanitation Operation System. The system is lightweight and operates on sunlight power.
Scientists are working on the toilet at the UN’s Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands. Damir Brdjanovic is heading the project. He says his team hopes to bring disaster assistance into the 21st century.
The eSOS system has several ‘smart’ features, such as a self-contained energy supply unit. Another is a global positioning system sensor, very much like the GPS equipment in some vehicles. There is also equipment that measures waste buildup. All of the information from the toilet system can be shared with an emergency organization center. Officials at the center can then identify the needs of an affected disaster area. The eSOS system can also recycle liquid wastes into water that can be used for farming. This involves treating the urine(尿液)with the help of a membrane bioreactor system(膜生物反应器系统).
The smart toilet is being tested. Damir Brdjanovic and his team plan to test the toilet at a refugee camp in the Philippines later this year. The developers hope this disaster relief will save the lives of many refugees.
1.What’s the best title of the passage?
A. Toilet for Our Future Life
B. Machine to Recycle Human Wastese
C. New Technology to Reduce the Risk of Disease
D. SOS—the Emergency Sanitation Operation System
2.Which of the following is NOT true about eSOS?
A. It weighs light.
B. It serves as individual toilet for disaster survivors.
C. It doesn’t need any power.
D. It is equipped with a global positioning system sensor.
3.What can we infer from this passage?
A. eSOS can prevent any risk of disease.
B. eSOS will be put into use in the near future.
C. Damir Brdjanovic holds a negative attitude to eSOS.
D. The eSOS system can recycle liquid wastes into drinkable water.
When times get tough, we all look for ways to cut back. When we’re hungry, we eat at home instead of going out. We take buses instead of taxis. And we wear our old designer jeans just a few months longer. With college expenses at all-time highs, high school students are eager to do anything to cut the cost of a university education.
One cost-cutting proposal is to allow college students to get a bachelor’s degree in three years instead of four. Educational institutions have been actively exploring ways to make the learning process more efficient. But there’s a question: Would the quality of undergraduate education suffer? Few US universities have formally approved a “three-year degree” model.
I doubt that mainstream North American colleges will carry out a three-year curriculum any time soon. For one thing, most universities already allow highly qualified students to graduate early by testing out of certain classes and obtaining a number of college credits. In addition, at famous universities, the committee who determine which courses are required and which courses are electives are unlikely to suddenly “throw out” one quarter of the required credits. Professors will resist “diluting(稀释)”the quality of the education they offer.
In my opinion, a quality four-year education is always superior to a quality three-year education. A college education requires sufficient time for a student to become skilled in their major and do coursework in fields outside their major. It is not a good idea to water down education, any more than it’s not a good idea to water down medicine. If we want to help students find their way through university, we should help them understand early on what knowledge and skills they need to have upon graduation. We should allow students to test out of as many courses as possible. We should give them a chance to earn money as interns(实习生)in meaningful part-time jobs that relate to their university studies, such as the five-year co-op program at Northeastern University.
1.Which of the following can be the best title?
A. It’s time to shorten the learning process
B. Best learning takes place over time
C. University education should be watered down
D. College education calls for reform
2.In most US universities, ________ .
A. some excellent students can graduate ahead of time
B. college students are offered the co-op program
C. electives’ credits make up one quarter of the required credits
D. all students are required to finish four-year education before graduation
3.We can infer that ________ .
A. the author is a college professor
B. the author considers the university education quality very important
C. the author thinks the cost of a university education is too high for people to afford
D. the author pays special attention to the all-round development of college students
4.The first paragraph serves as a(n) ________ .
A. explanation B. Definition C. Comment D. introduction
Dear Santa Claus,
My name is Amy. I am 9 years old. I have a problem at school. Can you help me, Santa? Kids laugh at me because of the way I walk and run and talk. I have cerebral palsy. I just want one day when no one laughs at me or makes fun of me.
Love,
Amy
At radio station WJLT in Fort Wayne, Indiana, letters poured in for the Christmas Wish Contest. When Amy’s letter arrived at the radio station, manager Lee Tobin read it carefully. He thought it would be good for the people in Fort Wayne to hear about this special third grader and her unusual wish. Mr. Tobin called up the local newspaper.
The next day, a picture of Amy and her letter to Santa made the front page of the “News Sentinel”. The story spread quickly. All across the country, newspapers and radio and television stations reported the story of the little girl in Fort Wayne, Indiana, who asked for such a simple, yet remarkable, Christmas gift—just one day without teasing.
Suddenly the postman was a regular at the Hagadorn house. Envelopes of all sizes addressed to Amy arrived daily from children and adults all across the nation. They came filled with holiday greetings and words of encouragement. Some of the writers had disabilities; some had been teased as children. Each writer had a special message for Amy. Through the cards and letters from strangers, Amy glimpsed a world full of people who truly cared about each other.
Many people thanked Amy for being brave enough to speak up. Others encouraged her to ignore teasing and to carry her head high.
Amy did get her wish of a special day without teasing at South Wayne High School. Teachers and students talked together about how bad teasing can make others feel.
That year, the Fort Wayne mayor officially proclaimed December 21st as Amy Jo Hagadorn Day throughout the city. The mayor explained that by daring to make such a simple wish, Amy taught a universal lesson. “Everyone, ”said the mayor, “wants and deserves to be treated with respect, dignity and warmth. ”
1.Amy’s letter showed that ________ .
A. her school wasn’t a good place for students like her
B. her schoolmates cannot understand her disability
C. she wanted to win Christmas Wish Contest
D. she was often ignored in and out of class
2.The postman was a regular at the Hagadorn house because ________ .
A. he had to send letters to Amy daily
B. he was quite curious about Amy
C. he went to encourage Amy frequently
D. he was moved by Amy’s story
3.We may infer from Amy’s story that ________ .
A. people are easy to turn their eyes to the disabled
B. Amy will still be made fun of by others
C. the news media played an important role in helping Amy
D. there are few disabled people in Amy’s country
4.The Fort Wayne mayor officially proclaimed Amy Jo Hagadorn Day ________ .
A. to tell how bad teasing can make others feel
B. to encourage people to carry their heads high
C. to call on the public to treat everyone properly
D. to explain how brave Amy was by making her wish
完形填空
请阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中, 选出最佳选项。
I will always remember my first day at the University of Lagos. On arrival at the campus, I was expecting to be met by some tired students(as was practiced in my secondary school), ______ every student around was new like myself. I asked the way to the multi-purpose hall but no one could tell me. I asked a number of questions about issues that ______ me, such as where and how to pay my fees, the way to the dining hall and so on, but no ______ was offered. “So in the midst of so many people I am all ______ . ”I thought to myself. The prospect was not ______ at all and all the delight I had felt at gaining ______ into a famous university at seventeen began to disappear.
Then as if ______ by an unknown force, I walked a little bit down the corridor in the direction of a notice board at which some boys and girls were ______ . Because of ______ of something to do, I decided to stop and look at the notice board. Yes! I happened on the ______ to all riddles that had _____ me since I set foot on the campus that morning. On the board there was a big campus ______ , on which I was able to______ the multi-purpose hall and all the other places. There were ______ details of various activities for freshmen and a comprehensive list of those offered admission into various courses.
How enjoyable it was to see the light of knowledge, having been wandering in the darkness of______ . Even then I was not able to ______ the thought that though I could not be sure how much of the responsibility was mine, the fact that not paying attention to the notice board had ______ contributed to my initial problems. I learnt from that incident an unforgettable______ which was very useful to me throughout my stay in the university, namely the ______ of reading notice board and handbooks if one is to be well ______ about places and events in the university.
1.A. but B. and C. so D. for
2.A. interested B. bothered C. excited D. surprised
3.A. view B. advice C. method D. help
4.A. available B. accessible C. alone D. afraid
5.A. helpful B. cheerful C. respectful D. thoughtful
6.A. entry B. insight C. popularity D. welcome
7.A. persuaded B. reviewed C. offered D. driven
8.A. knocking B. throwing C. gazing D. shouting
9.A. lack B. dream C. rest D. desire
10.A. way B. key C. place D. door
11.A. inspired B. encouraged C. puzzled D. frightened
12.A. notice B. message C. signal D. map
13.A. list B. locate C. land D. load
14.A. also B. always C. only D. just
15.A. disbelief B. ignorance C. appreciation D. difference
16.A. describe B. explain C. escape D. control
17.A. clearly B. nearly C. naturally D. relevantly
18.A. secret B. knowledge C. experience D. lesson
19.A. cause B. importance C. advantage D. example
20.A. educated B. warned C. concerned D. informed
It’s an either-or situation—we can buy a new car this year or we can go on holiday but we can’t do ______.
A. others B. either C. another D. both
