Josh Morrison, 17, dreamed of raising $100, 000 to build a home for a low-income family. After years of hard work, his dream has come true. The house is now in the early stages of building.
Six years ago, Josh and his dad went into a Habitat for Humanity Restore, a home improvement store and donation center run by the nonprofit organization. They were there to buy a sink. Josh, then 11, also noticed a collection of pennies. “I instantly felt the urge to help out with that,” he said. Josh set fundraising (筹款) deadline of four years. Many people doubted whether he could reach his goal of $100,000, but it didn’t’ shake his faith. He raised money at his school and other nearby schools He collected money from neighbors, got publicity from local newspapers, and placed cans in stores so that people could donate extra change.
Josh’s fundraising efforts began to produce results. Still, there were challenges. Four months before his deadline, he was $30,000 short. He decided to hold a Family Fun Fair and Spaghetti Dinner in Uxbridge, which is in the province of Ontario. The event raised $19,000.
“I didn’t care how long it took me,” Josh said. “I would raise $100,000.” With three weeks left, a company called Josh’s house offering to donate $18,000. Eventually, Josh reached a total of $124,000 before his deadline. “The momentum just kept going, and we decided to do more,” he said. “Josh’s Penny House” is being built by Habitat for Humanity in the city of Oshawa, along with 24 new townhouses. Josh has helped with some of the construction, as have other volunteers. He will choose the family that moves into the unit.
Next year, the 17-year-old will head to college in British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province. As a 11-year-old kid when starting fundraising. Josh was able to send a powerful message across the world. No matter how old you are, if you have a dream and are willing to do anything to achieve it, it can come true.
1.Which word can best describe Josh Morrison in Paragraph 2?
A.Straightforward. B.Open-minded.
C.Determined. D.Cautious.
2.Why was the Family Fun Fair and Spaghetti Dinner event in Uxbridge held?
A.To call for more attention.
B.To attain his goal.
C.To win approval from the locals.
D.To find sponsors for a family.
3.What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 mean?
A.His project became more popular.
B.He received continuous donations.
C.The result was beyond expectations.
D.He got more support from the company.
4.What will be the best title of the text?
A.An Astonishing Fundraiser B.Boy with a Warm Heart
C.Kindness from a Company D.The Penny House Dream
Great Part-Time Jobs for a College Student
TECHNICAL SUPPORT It seems almost everyone has a friend who is a technical genius. Such people earn money using their talent. If you are one of them, you could be responsible for technical support in your college or university and get your part-time job for a college student. You are able to help your friends with programs install and you can market services on different sites and social media. Set your hours free and enjoy the process of earning money by doing your favorite thing. |
TUTOR A lot of students hire a tutor to help them in high school or college. If you are good at some subjects, why not work as a peer tutor? It’s dual thing because you help your friends and earn money at the same time. If you know foreign languages, you can make more money. All you need to do is to make an appropriate advertisement of your services using college newspapers and other tools of spreading information One of the best things about being a tutor is that you can set your hours. |
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR If your college has a fitness center and if you are a sporty person, go and sign up to get this job. You will have an absolute free opportunity to engage yourself in sports. You need to be a good psychologist, because you are going to work with people and it will be your job to persuade and motivate them to become sporty, healthy and strong. Being a fitness instructor is a perfect position for those who love to help other people and want to make more friends. |
OFFICE WORKER Nowadays many companies cooperate with students, giving them part-time jobs. Some of the major duties of an office worker are answering calls and scheduling appointments. If you are interested in doing this job, contact the representatives of different companies to find out if they are currently hiring anyone. |
1.What kind of part-time job suits you best if you have impressive academic performance?
A.Technical support. B.Tutor.
C.Fitness instructor. D.Office worker.
2.What do you probably do if you want to be a technical support?
A.Go to different sites and social media to market your services.
B.Contact the representatives of different companies.
C.Have a friend who is technical genius.
D.Cooperate with college students.
3.What is special about being a fitness instructor?
A.You can earn more money.
B.You can be good psychologist.
C.You can enjoy the fitness equipment for free.
D.You can set your hours.
假设你是红星中学高二学生李华。你的英国笔友Jim发邮件询问你这学期居家学习的状况。请给Jim回一封邮件，内容包括：1.你居家期间的主要学习活动；2.你对居家学习的感受。
注意：1.词数不少于50；2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。提示词：居家期间the quarantine period
Dear Jim,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
A Controversial Restoration(修复)
Certain masterpieces are recognized worldwide as outstanding achievements in human creativity and imagination.1. All of these works are hundreds of years old,and like everything that ages,some parts of them need to be restored from time to time.However,not everyone agrees on how and when certain works should be restored.
2. For example,through careful study of the building, experts found that the Taj Mahal was sliding toward the river beside it!Restoration efforts then began to repair cracks in the building and halt(停止)its slide.However,such works as the Sistine Chapel and the statue of David are not under any threat of serious damage or loss.Rather,restorations are planned to clean or touch up the works so that they look better.
David is a perfect case in point of just such a touch-up project.For the statue’s 500th“birthday”,the museum in Italy where David stands today planned to restore the statue’s appearance.In reality,David was just dirty. 3.For more than 300 years,the statue stood outdoors in a square in Florence.When he carved the sculpture,Michelangelo planned for it to stand outside and naturally accumulate the marks of weathering.Therefore,critics of David’s restoration claimed that cleaning the statue would change its intended appearance by the artist.
4. After nine months of careful cleaning,the restored David was revealed(展现)to the public.So,how was the statue different?For one thing,David’s hair was no longer blackened with thick dirt.Also,the stains on his hands were gone,and the dirty streaks(条痕)on his left leg had been erased.As one art expert remarked,“Only someone with expert knowledge and long as familiarity with the‘skin’of the statue will be aware that certain unattractive irregularities are no longer there.”
On the other hand,the restoration of the Sistine Chapel resulted in a dramatic difference in the work’s appearance.Through painstaking efforts,the frescoes(壁画)of the Sistine Chapel were beautifully restored by erasing years of dust and dirt from the ceiling and walls. 5. However,most view its restoration as a marvelous success.
A.That should not have surprised anyone.
B.A few critics maintain that the artist’s work has been ruined.
C.Ignoring these cries of disapproval,the museum went ahead with the restoration.
D.The museum wanted to understand how the changes were happening and the best way to restore it.
E.In some cases,there is a pressing need for something to be done in order to save a historical treasure.
F.Even critics of the project agreed that the touch-ups to the masterpiece were very moderate(适度的).
G.Three good examples of such works are the Taj Mahal,the Sistine Chapel，and the sculpture of David.
Olympiads(奥林匹克竞赛)are a kind of competitive exam to tap exceptional students with the best of potential,talent,and IQ.These exams are conducted to challenge and motivate the brightest students from around the world and to urge more and more children to take up a career in pure science.But why do most parents nowadays want their children to participate in Olympiads?
Participating in and winning any kind of competition is one of the best feelings in the world.Competitions award merit(优点),performance,excellence—quite literally,the best in a human being.Thus,it might be understandable that:a lot of pride is associated with a child qualifying at any of the Olympiad levels.Who doesn’t want to be the proud parent of a smart,intelligent young child?
It has also been claimed that Olympiads can act as a great morale booster(信心增强剂).Bangalore-based programmer of Olympiad Helper,Vikash Anil says,“Even when students don’t win,their confidence grows.”
However,there are a number of serious considerations parents are missing out on,which has impacts on children.They are being burdened with the pressure of performing well in these exams—a pressure that is often too high and unhealthy for their young minds and bodies.They are also being introduced to peer pressure and“competition”in a very negative and ugly light.
What’s worse,the age at which children are being forced to take these exams keep dropping with each passing year.Children as young as 5 or 6 years old are being sent away to tuitions(辅导)right after school gets over.Many educationists are condemning this,because the International Science Olympiads is for high school students only.
The claim that Olympiads actually make children“more confident”cannot be readily accepted.While a lot of good outcomes are possible from Olympiads,it is also true that all students will not react positively to“failing”at Olympiads.More students are going to come out feeling miserable for having failed the exam.
Being a parent in today’s dynamic,commercial and material world is not easy.It is indeed a pity if parents are chasing“recognition”,rather than“excellence”and“merit”for their children.There is no such thing as a“good”,or a“poor”child.Parents should realize this,embrace this,and empower themselves and their children with this.
As a parting thought I would like to leave this Einstein quote:“Everybody is a genius.But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
1.Why do most parents want their children to participate in Olympiads?
A.To prove their children’s potential and excellence.
B.To prepare their children for a pure science career.
C.To strengthen their children’s competitive awareness.
D.To make their children benefit from stress and failures.
2.What is the author’s attitude to Vikash Anil’s words?
A.Doubtful. B.Positive. C.Disapproving. D.Uninterested.
3.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Olympiads:Are Children Relying on Tuitions Too Much
B.Olympiads:Are Children Starting at a Too Young Age
C.Olympiads:Are Parents Being Driven by Commercials
D.Olympiads:Are Parents Becoming Over-Ambitious
Free Haircuts on a Red Chair
Last summer, Katie Steller was on her way to work. She stopped at a traffic light, where a man, in his 60s,looking out of luck, was sitting alone. She rolled down her window.
“Hey!” she shouted.“ I’m driving around giving free haircuts. Do you want one right now?”
The man, missing a few teeth, paused and laughed. “Actually,” he said, “I have a funeral(葬礼)to go to this week. I was really hoping to get a haircut.”
Then, Steller unloaded a red chair from the car. The man,named Edward, took a seat.As Steller was cutting his curly graying hair,he told her about growing up in Mississippi,about moving to Minnesota,and how he still talked to his mom over phone every day.
To date,Steller has given 30 or so such haircuts to people around the city.They are all living on the margins,and she is aware of the power of her work.
“It’s more than a haircut,”she says.“I want it to be a gateway,to show value and respect,but also to get to know people.”
Steller knows that a haircut can change a life.One changed hers:As a teen,she suffered from ulcerative colitis(溃疡性结肠炎)that was so serious,her hair thinned severely.Seeing this,her mother arranged for Steller’s first professional haircut.
“To sit down and have somebody look at me and talk to me like a person and not just an illness,it helped me feel cared about and less alone,”she says.
After that,Steller knew she wanted to have her own hair salon so she could help people feel the way she’d felt that day.Not long after finishing cosmetology school(美容学校)in 2016,she realized her dream.Two years later,she began what she now calls her Red Chair Project,reaching out to people on the streets.
Steller said,“I can’t fix their problems,but maybe I can help them feel less alone for a moment.”Steller listens to people’s stories of loss,addiction,and struggle to get back on their feet.
An offshoot of the Red Chair Project is the Steller Kindness Project,in which people who commit acts of kindness are invited for a free makeover(美容)at Steller’s salon.In exchange,they tell their stories,which Steller shares on her website.Her hope is that by reading about kind acts,others will be inspired to do their own.
So far,it’s working.“You have no idea what people are going to do with the kindness that you give to them,”says Steller.
1.Edward agreed to have a haircut by Steller because________.
A.he wanted to talk with Steller about his life
B.he wanted to look good for a special occasion
C.he was too old to go to a hair salon by himself
D.he was just waiting for a free haircut on the street
2.In paragraph 5,the underlined words“living on the margins”can probably be replaced by________.
A.living with little care and attention
B.living far from downtown areas
C.living with serious illnesses
D.living in untidy conditions
3.What made Steller want to set up her own salon?
A.Her excellent haircut skills.
B.Her mother’s encouragement.
C.Her experience of a formal haircut.
D.Her dream to offer people free haircuts.
4.What’s the purpose of Steller Kindness Project?
A.To make contributions to charity.
B.To encourage people to spread kindness.
C.To reward kind people with free makeovers.
D.To collect moving stories for Steller’s website.
