Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall，England.He never studied the piano.However，he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them.He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts.Then he thinks about the notes in his head.Two years ago，he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata(奏鸣曲)by Beethoven.He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly，his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable.They say his ability is very rare，but Samuel doesn't even realize that what he can do is special.Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents，but music teachers told him he should study music instead.Now，he studies law and music.
Samuel can't understand why everyone is so surprised.“I grew up with music.My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar.About two years ago，I suddenly decided to start playing the piano，without being able to read music and without having any lessons.It comes easily to me—I hear the notes and can bear them in mind—each and every note，”says Samuel.
Recently，Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college.The piece had more than a thousand notes.The audience was impressed by his amazing performance.He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can't play it.Samuel says confidently，“It's all about super memory—I guess I have that gift.”
However，Samuel's ability to remember things doesn't stop with music.His family says that even when he was a young boy，Samuel heard someone read a story，and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager.He doesn't know what he wants to do in the future.For now，he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.
1.What is special about Samuel Osmond?
A. He has a gift for writing music.
B. He can write down the note he hears.
C. He is a top student at the law school.
D. He can play the musical piece he hears.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents.
B. Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician.
C. Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability.
D. Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers.
3.Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he ________.
A. received a good early education in music
B. played the guitar and the piano perfectly
C. could play the piano without reading music
D. could play the guitar better than his father
4.What can we infer about Samuel in Paragraph 4?
A. He became famous during a special event at his college.
B. He is proud of his ability to remember things accurately.
C. He plays the piano better than many professional pianists.
D. He impressed the audience by playing all the musical pieces.
When I told my father that I was moving to Des Moines, Iowa, he told me about the only time he had been there. It was in the 1930s, when he was an editor of the literary magazine of Southern Methodist University（SMU）in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a professor at SMU, and there was a girl student in his class who suffered from a serious back disease. She couldn’t afford the operation because her family was poor.
Her mother ran a boardinghouse in Galveston, a seaside town near Houston, Texas. She was cleaning out the attic（阁楼）one day when she came across an old dusty manuscript（手稿）. On its top page were the words, “By O. Henry”. It was a nice story, and she sent it to her daughter at SMU, who showed it to my father. My father had never read the story before, but it sounded like O. Henry, and he knew that O. Henry had once lived in Houston. So it was possible that the famous author had gone to the beach and stayed in the Galveston boardinghouse, and had written the story there and left the manuscript behind by accident. My father visited an O. Henry expert at Columbia University in New York, whoauthenticatedthe story as O. Henry’s.
My father then set out to sell it. Eventfully, he found himself in Des Moines, meeting with Gardner Cowles, a top editor at the Des Moines Register. Cowles loves the story and bought it on the spot. My father took the money to the girl. It was just enough for her to have the operation she so desperately needed.
My father never told me what the O. Henry story was about. But I doubt that it could have been better than his own story.
1.Who found the O. Henry’s manuscript?
A. The girl’s mother. B. The author’s father.
C. The girl. D. The author.
2.Which of the following might explain the fact that the manuscript was found in the attic?
A. O. Henry once worked in Houston.
B. O. Henry once stayed in Galveston.
C. O. Henry once moved to Des Moines.
D. O. Henry once taught at SMU.
3.The underlined word “authenticated” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
A. named B. treated
C. proved D. described
4.According to the text, why did the author’s father go to Des Moines?
A. To sell the O. Henry story.
B. To meet the author himself.
C. To talk with the O. Henry expert.
D. To give money to the girl.
Low-cost Gifts for Mother’s Day
Gift No. 1
Offer to be your mother’s health friend. Promise to be there for all doctor’s visits whether she has a disease or needs a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say there is no need, but another set if eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor’s visit. The best part? This one is free.
Gift No. 2
Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what time she takes them. “Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother’s life,” Dr. Marie Savard said.
Gift No. 3
Enough sleep is connected with general health conditions. “Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep,” Savard said. “We know that good sleep is very important to our health.”
Gift No. 4
Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother’s Day by picking gifts, 10 percent of whose price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构). Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things — many of which are “green” — and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.
1.What are you advised to do for your mother at doctor’s visits?
A. To take notes. B. To be with her.
C. To buy medicines. D. To give her gifts.
2.Where can you find an idea for gifts to improve your mother’s sleep?
A. In Gift No. 1. B. In Gift No. 2.
C. In Gift No. 3. D. In Gift No. 4.
3.Buying gifts from Presents for Purpose allows mothers to ______.
A. enjoy good sleep B. be well-organized
C. get extra support D. give other help
假定你是李华。你的英国笔友David获悉你校正在进行主题为“Beat Plastic Pollution”的系列活动，来信向你咨询有关情况。请根据如下内容要点予以回复：
1.活动目的;
2.具体做法。
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单词拼写
1.The course is _________(设计) as an introduction to the subject.
2.Her parents died in the accident, but she _________(幸存).
3.He was too tired to _________(搬开) the big stone.
4.The ship ________(下沉) to the bottom of the river.
5.I hear that many people are _________(竞争) for that position.
6.My deskmate Wang Tao is so outstanding that we are sure he will be a________ into Peking University or Qinghua University.
7.The coat was half-price, a real __________(便宜货).
8.He is a responsible writer and he __________(应受) respecting.
9.They gave him several __________(信号), but he just took no notice.
10.I’m afraid that your explanation is not __________(符合逻辑) enough.
语法填空
Don Ritchie was a famous Australian man. For nearly 50 years, he successfully stopped 160 people from killing 1. (they) at a cliff (悬崖), with just a kind word and a smile.
Don was a real gentleman, he purposely chose to live right across the street from the cliff, just because he wanted to save lives of 2. (stranger). He would wake up every morning and look out of the window for anyone 3. (stand) too close to the edge of the cliff. If he saw someone and thought they might jump, he would 4. (simple) walk over with a smile and say, “Is there something I could do to help you?” That sounds very simple, 5. it worked – Ritchie tried to have a talk with these people and ended up inviting them back to his house 6. tea or breakfast.
In a situation 7. most people would turn a blind eye, with such simple actions taken by Don, he saved 160 lives. He 8. (give) the Local Hero Award in Australia in 2011. Don passed away at the age of 85 in 2012. His story 9. (touch) the hearts of all Australians and challenged us to rethink 10. it means to be a good neighbor.
