题目内容
That was my grandmother's first Christmas without Grandfather. When my parents and I arrived at her little house ,we found she had waited up all night for us.
Grandfather had always said that the Christmas tree was the most important decoration (装饰物) of all. So first we took out the beautiful tree that was stored in the closet (贮藏室). But the star was missing. It was my grandmother's favorite part of the tree.
"Why? It must be somewhere in the closet," my grandmother said.
As we opened up boxes one by one and found no star, my grandmother's eyes were full of tears. Grandfather had given it to her some fifty years ago, on their first Christmas together. But on her first Christmas without him, the star was gone.
The next morning, my family sat down together to open the presents.
"The last gift is to Grandmother from Grandfather," Father said, in a strange voice.
"From whom?" There was surprise in my grandmother's voice.
"I found this gift in Grandfather's closet when we got the tree down," Mother explained.
My grandmother opened the box. There was a shinning (发亮的) golden star and a note in it:
Don't be angry with me, dear. I broke your star while putting away the decorations, and I couldn't bear to tell you. I hope it brings you as much happiness as the first one. Merry Christmas!
Love, Bryant
根据短文内容，从题中所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选择最佳答案。（10分）
【小题1】 The family couldn't find the star on the Christmas tree because _____.
| A．the grandfather had taken it away with him |
| B．the grandfather put it in a box |
| C．the grandfather had broken it |
| D．the family didn't look carefully enough for it |
| A．She lived with the author's family. |
| B．She felt sad when the star was missing. |
| C．She had never got a Christmas present from her husband. |
| D．She couldn't believe her husband's death. |
| A．She would ask her children to buy a new star. |
| B．She would get angry with her husband. |
| C．She would be greatly moved (感动). |
| D．She would throw away the new star. |
| A．褪色的 | B．错过的 |
| C．想念的 | D．找不到的 |
| A．The grandfather was afraid of his wife. |
| B．The grandfather loved his wife very much. |
| C．The grandmother didn't know how to spend Christmas Day. |
| D．The grandfather left home on Christmas Day. |
【小题1】C
【小题2】B
【小题3】C
【小题4】D
【小题5】B
解析试题分析：这篇短文说的是圣诞节那天奶奶收到了爷爷去世前留给她的圣诞节礼物，表达了人间真爱。
【小题1】细节理解题。根据文中最后一段中I broke your star while putting away the decorations,（我在整理这些装饰品的时候弄坏了你的星星）可知圣诞树上的星星是被爷爷弄坏了，故选C。
【小题2】细节理解题。根据全文理解及文中句子As we opened up boxes one by one and found no star, my grandmother's eyes were full of tears.（当我们把盒子一个一个打开没有找到星星，奶奶的眼里充满了泪水）可知当星星不见了之后奶奶很伤心，所以B的描述是正确的。
【小题3】推理判断题。通过文中描述圣诞节那天奶奶收到了爷爷去世前留给她的圣诞节礼物可知奶奶一定会非常感动，故选C。
【小题4】词义猜测题。根据下文一家人再找那个星星，说明那个星星找不到了，所以此题选D。
【小题5】推理判断题。从文中提供的信息可知爷爷是一个心细的人并且深爱着他的妻子，故选B。
考点：人生百味类短文阅读
互动课堂系列答案
激活思维智能训练课时导学练系列答案Have you ever noticed that your fingertips are winked when you’ve just finished swimming or washing dishes? It seems as if your hands have aged 30 years in a second. But is this an accident? Or is it something that nature has built into our bodies?
If your finger’s wrinkling up had no use at all, “ it wouldn’t need to.” Professor Tom Smulders from Newcastle University, UK, told BBC News. By studying wet fingers closely, Smulders and his partners found that the wrinkles looked a bit like the patterns on the car tire or on the bottom of the running shoes. So they made a guess that wrinkles on fingers might be able to help the hand hold things more tightly.
To test this, researchers asked 20 people to pick up marbles from water with their hands. But before they started, some of the people had to keep their hands in water for half an hour.
The researchers found that the people with wrinkled fingers completed the task the task faster than those with dry hands. But when they were asked to move dry marbles, all the people performed equally well, no matter they had the wrinkled fingers or not.
Our ancestors might not have played with marbles, but wrinkled fingers could have made it easier for them to climb around in the wet forests and catch fish from rivers, researchers say.
Similarly, our toes also get wrinkled in water. This may have developed from our ancestor’s need to run on wet ground.
But the question is, if wrinkled fingers are so helpful, why don’t our hands just stay that way all the time? Researchers explained that wrinkling has its disadvantage: wet fingertips are far less sensitive than smooth ones, reducing our sense of touch.
【小题1】What does the underlined world “this ” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Whether fingers have wrinkles after they are put in water. |
| B．Whether wrinkled fingers can hold things more tightly. |
| C．Why keeping things in water makes them wrinkled. |
| D．Why wrinkles help hands hold things more tightly. |
| A．winkled hands hold dry things more tightly than dry hands do. |
| B．dry hands hold dry things more tightly than wrinkled hands do. |
| C．winkled hands hold wet things more tightly than dry hands do. |
| D．dry hands hold wet things more tightly than wrinkled hands do. |
| A．They are too sensitive to be touched. |
| B．They might be more likely to get hurt. |
| C．They cannot hold things tightly enough. |
| D．They are not so sensitive as dry fingers. |
Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are decided to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference. Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, the average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
“Dollars buy status (social position), and status makes people feel better,” say some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways, scientists or actors, for example, may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In his research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires, not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health, rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap. Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the measures of only income.”says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen. In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotion questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people. Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their time running out. Older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.
“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”
【小题1】Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs__________.
| A．make them feel much better |
| B．provide chances to make friends |
| C．improve their social position |
| D．satisfy their professional interests |
| A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger |
| B．they have a stronger desire for friendship |
| C．the hope for good health is much greater |
| D．their income is far below their expectation |
| A．would like to have more goodbye kisses than young people |
| B．are used to living a hard life because they are kind to others |
| C．express their positive opinions just as some young people do |
| D．find it easier to feel happy because they are more realistic |
| A．increases gradually with age |
| B．is controlled partly by desires |
| C．has little to do with wealth |
| D．is decided mostly by genes |
Years ago I worked at a factory in a small county. Every day I got up very early and often did much extra work at night. I was so tired and exhausted. My whole life was hopeless. Then one day I read the following article from a magazine:
"A woman went to live with her husband in camp on the Mojave Desert during the war. She simply hated the place: the heat was almost un-bearable, 125 degrees in the shade, the wind blew incessantly, and there was sand everywhere. Finally, in desperation (不顾一切地) she wrote her parents in Ohio that she couldn't stand it another minute and was coming home.
Quickly came the reply by airmail from her father——just two lines:
"Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw the mud, the other saw stars."
The daughter did some real thinking, not only with the intellect (思维) but also with her heart. She decided to stick to her post.
She made friends with the natives, learned to love the country, and eventually wrote a book about it.
The desert hadn't changed, but her attitude had. Because she listened with her heart to the words her father sent, a whole new world opened up to her.
A change of attitude could change everything.
After reading the article, I was deep in thought (陷入沉思)…
【小题1】At first, the woman the life with her husband in the desert.
| A．could stand. | B．could accept. |
| C．couldn’t stand. | D．couldn’t understand. |
| A．look at the mud. | B．look at the stars. |
| C．come home. | D．stay with her husband. |
| A．a woman went to live with her husband in camp. |
| B．the desert hadn't changed, but her attitude had. |
| C．the daughter's parents wanted her to stay with her husband. |
| D．a change of attitude could change everything. |
| A．give up the tiring work. | B．go to the desert. |
| C．write a letter to father. | D．go on the work. |
Did you know that people without friends are more likely to die an early death? It’s true. Just ask science. The following types of friends are just what you need.
A Loyal(忠诚的) Best Friend
Everyone needs a loyal best friend who will support them no matter what happens . This is the kind of friend who knows all of your deepest and darkest secrets, but still loves you all the same.
An Adventurous Friend
We live in a big world where there are so many places to see, people to meet, and experiences to be had. We all need an adventurous friend who will pull us out of our shells and introduce us to new ideas, cultures and activities.
A Wise Mentor
If you have someone smart, inspiring (启发灵感的) and admirable (令人敬佩的) in your life, you’re extremely lucky. He’s simply someone who’s a few steps ahead (在…之前) of you in life and has enough wisdom and patience to guide you in the right direction. Being around such a person will challenge us to better ourselves every day.
A Friendly Neighbor
These days, a lot of people don’t know their own neighbors. It’s a shame, because some neighbors can be the nicest and most helpful people ever. If you’re on a vacation, and you suddenly realize that you forgot to lock the front door, you can call up your trusty neighbor and ask them to lock it for you.
With those friends in your life, you’re sure to live a long and happy life!
【小题1】We need _______ to support us whatever happens.
| A．a loyal friend | B．an adventurous friend |
| C．a wise mentor | D．a friendly neighbor |
| A．boring | B．hot |
| C．old | D．new |
| A．教授 | B．导师 | C．教练 | D．军师 |
| A．smart, tall and rich |
| B．tall, rich and outgoing |
| C．smart, inspiring and admirable |
| D．tall, inspiring and admirable |
| A．a pity | B．a shame |
| C．important | D．normal |
Droughts (干旱)are common in Kenya . Before ,they came every 10 years ,but now they seem to be hitting us more often and for a longer time .
We gave the droughts names :“longoza”was the drought when many animals died ; there was the drought of the “planes” because food was dropped from the air by planes; and one particularly bad drought was called “ man who dies with his money in his fist (拳头)”，because ,even if there was money , there was simply no food to buy .
I was born in 1951 in Machakos. From what my mother tells me , when I was 7, there was a serious drought . I clearly remember the terrible weather and the hunger. I can’t tell you how many times I went to bed without eating . “ I slept like that ,” is how we described it . I can’t count the number of days when “ I slept like that,” or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry ,knowing I’d wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.
My father would leave early in the morning carrying a little basket to ask for food on credit (赊欠). Each night he would return home around 10:00p.m. My mother would try to encourage me by telling me to keep the water in our pot boiling so that when my father arrived we could quickly cook any food he brought in the already prepared water . I would keep the fire burning and the water boiling , along with the hopes that we would eat that night. But my father would arrive frustrated and empty -handed. And I would sleep like that.
【小题1】The best title for the text is ________.
| A．A Hungry Childhood Caused by Droughts |
| B．Food and Hunger |
| C．Protecting the Environment |
| D．Droughts and Their Names |
| A．Many animals needed food dropped by planes. |
| B．People had to eat animals because of hunger. |
| C．Many animals died because of the droughts. |
| D．People died of hunger even if they had money. |
| A．To wait for her father to come back to have supper. |
| B．To cook the food that her father would bring back. |
| C．To keep her house warm all night. |
| D．To make her hungry mother happy. |
| A．I was disappointed when my father came back empty-handed |
| B．I felt sorry because my family got hungry again |
| C．I went to sleep with no food for breakfast. |
| D．I went to bed with nothing to eat |
In front of my daughter, Shelly, was a bowl filled with cabbage. She hated cabbage. She only sat there in silence with tears in her eyes.
“Shelly, my dear, why don’t you eat a little? If not, your mum will shout at us.”
Shelly didn’t feel happy. “OK, dad. I will eat, just a little.” Then Shelly said, “Dad, if I eat it all, will you give me what I want?”
“Yes.”
Slowly she began to eat. It took her almost half an hour to finish all the food in the bowl. Then she came up to me and said, “Dad, I want to have my hair cut off!”
“Shelly, why don’t you ask for something else? If we see your head like that, we’ll feel very sad,” I said.
“But Dad, you promised! Now you’re going back on your words. ”
I had to keep my promise. Shelly had all her hair cut off. She smiled.
On Monday morning, I took Shelly to school. Just when I arrived, a boy got out of a car and shouted, “Shelly, please wait for me!”
Guess what? The boy had no hair, either.
“Sir, your daughter is great!” a man got out of the car and said, “This boy is my son, Harish. He has cancer. He lost his hair when he got ill. Shelly cut hers off so Harish felt less different. She is a special girl.”
I stood for a while, “My little daughter, you teach me how selfless real love is!”
【小题1】 Shelly _____________ before she ate her meal.
| A．felt happy | B．felt unhappy |
| C．cut off her hair | D．shouted at her dad |
| A．all the food in the bowl | B．nothing |
| C．just a little of the cabbage | D．everything except the cabbage |
| A．to tell people she was selfless |
| B．to become more different |
| C．to look more special and beautiful |
| D．to show her care and love for Harish |
When my son, Mark, was in the third grade, he saved all his pocket money for over three months to buy Christmas presents. The third Saturday in December Mark said he had made his list and had twenty dollars in his pocket.
I drove him to a nearby supermarket. Mark picked up a basket and went in while I waited and watched in the car. It took Mark over 45 minutes to choose his presents. Finally he came to the checkout counter and reached into his pocket for his money. It was not there! There was a hole in his pocket, but no money. Mark stood there holding his basket, tears falling down his face.
Then a surprising thing happened. A woman came up to Mark and took him in her arms. "You would help me a lot if you let me pay for you," said the woman. "It would be the most wonderful gift you could give me. I only ask that one day you will pass it on. When you grow up, I would like you to find someone you can help. When you help others, 1 know you will feel as good about it as I do now."
Mark took the money, dried his tears and ran back to the checkout counter as fast as he could. That year we all enjoyed our gifts almost as much as Mark enjoyed giving them to us.
I would like to say “thank you” to that very kind woman, and tell her that four years later, Mark went house to house collecting blankets and clothes for the homeless people in the fire. And I want to promise her that Mark will never forget to keep passing it on.
【小题1】When did the story probably happen?
| A．On Christmas Day. | B．Before Christmas Day, |
| C．On New Year's Day. | D．After New Year's Day. |
| A．with the writer | B．by himself |
| C．with the woman | D．with his friends |
| A．His gifts were stolen. | B．He broke his basket. |
| C．He lost his money. | D．He lost his way. |
| A．Because she bought Mark a nice present. |
| B．Because she always paid money for others. |
| C．Because she collected clothes for the homeless. |
| D．Because she taught Mark to help people in need. |
| A．A big supermarket | B．A kind woman |
| C．A happy family | D．A wonderful gift |
When you are feeling unhappy or forget how great you are，these are six ways to make you feel good about yourself．
1)Look in the mirror and say to yourself，“I am a special person and there's no one in the world like me．I can do anything!” It may not sound so good，but it really works !
2)Do something nice for someone．Helping others always makes you feel good．
3)Smile! Be friendly to people you meet．Look for the good things in your friends and family．
4)Learn something new! Have you always wanted to decorate your own room or learn how to swim? Go for it! New challenges(挑战)are fun and give you a sense of accomplishment (成就感)when you have finished．
5)Read and start a diary．Turn off the TV and let your imagination(想象)fly! Write down your thoughts，dreams or anything you want! Writing always helps to express your feelings．
6)Stay with your family．We all need our family time．Talk with your Mum or Dad or maybe even your cousin．
【小题1】You may see this passage in ____________．
| A．a science book | B．a story book | C．a magazine | D．school rules |
| A．are fun | B．make you feel confident |
| C．are dreams | D．both A and B |
| A．You should always look for the good things of others． |
| B．Stay alone at home as much as possible． |
| C．Learn something new and go for it! |
| D．Keep a diary to express your feelings． |
| A．Do Your Best |
| B．Six Ways to Feel Good about Yourself |
| C．It's Never too Late to Learn |
| D．Always Smile to Your Life |