题目内容
My doorbell rings at 11 a.m. On the step, I find an elderly Chinese lady. She is small and slight. She holds a paper carrier bag in her hands.
I know this lady. It is by no means her first visit. Her daughter, Nicole, bought the house next door last October. Nicole, who is currently in Shanghai, has apparently told her mother that I am having heart surgery shortly, and the result is that her mother has decided I need to be supplied with meals.
I know what is inside the paper carrier bag — a stainless-steel container with a meal of rice, vegetables and either chicken, meat or shrimp. This has become an almost-daily occurrence.
Communication between my benefactor (恩人)and me is somewhat handicapped by the fact that she doesn’t speak English and all I can say in Mandarin is “hello”. Once, she brought an iPad and pointed to the screen, which displayed a message from Nicole telling me that her mother wanted to know if the food was all right.
“Your mother just can’t be bringing me meals like this all the time” I protested. “I can hardly reciprocate by cooking something from my native land, like roast beef or Yorkshire pudding for her” I said.
“Oh,no,” Nicole said. “Don’t worry about that. She has to cook for the family anyway, and she wants to do it for you. You can call her Wing, which is her surname.”
The tenant in my basement suite is a university student who speaks Mandarin quite well, so with her help, I have found out that Wing is 68—13 years younger than I am — and that she lived through the Cultural Revolution. For my part, I was raised in wartime Britain.
So here we are, two grandmothers a world away from where we were raised, neither of us able to speak the other’s language. But the doorbell keeps ringing and there is the familiar paper earner bag, handed smilingly to me by Wing.
Right now I am working on some more Mandarin words—it’s the least I can do after such a display of kindness.
“Thank you” is, of course,the first one, which somehow seems inadequate.
1.The author and Wing got to know each other .
A. as next door neighbors
B. when exchanging meals
C. by sharing similar experiences
D. after using an iPad to communicate
2.The underlined word “reciprocate” in Paragraph 5 probably means .
A. do as well B. offer generously
C. give in return D. accept with pleasure
3.The author’s effort to learn Mandarin shows her .
A. great satisfaction B. real kindness
C. heartfelt thanks D. sincere friendship
With all the snow and bitter cold we’ve had this winter, it’s hard to imagine jumping into a large body of water. But not far away, there are plenty of warm places where you can not only splash but swim.
Snorkel the Philippines On the other side of the world, there are some amazing hidden destinations in the Pacific Ocean that offer diving and swimming. The Coral Triangle is named for its vast variety of corals(珊瑚), some 600 different species. And, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the area is home to six of the seven world marine turtle species and more than 2,000 species of fish. |
Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire Often referred to as a diver’s paradise(天堂), Bonaire has an average forecast of 82 degrees and sunny year-round. Bonaire is known for “shore diving”, which means you can walk into the water and off you go. There are more than 50 easily accessible dive sites along the west coast. The natural reefs(礁) are full of more than 400 colorful species of fish, sea turtles and coral, as well as several shipwrecks (nowhere else to be seen). |
Plunge the Depths of Palau Also in the Western Pacific is the remote island of Palau, an island country also nicknamed “Rainbow’s End” because it’s so far away. You have to fly from Asian areas, like Thailand, India, Vietnam, but it’s worth it. In Palau, divers will find drop-offs, shallow reefs and channels beneath the sea. Reef walls in Palau team with marine life, schools of fish, old growth coral gardens and hidden marine lakes. |
Greg Deaver Talking of Mexico, the island of Cozumel is a premier warm-weather diving site, with the second largest reef system in the world. It’s Mexico’s largest Caribbean island, largest permanently inhabited island, and Mexico’s third-largest island, and its people mainly live in the town of San Miguel. Easy to reach by plane from the US, Cozumel is known for its massive underwater walls and “drift diving”. In Cozumel, you’ll find a vast number of fish, corals, sponges, nurse sharks, big stingrays, hawks bill turtles and lots of macro life within its clear blue and very warm waters. |
1.What do the four places have in common according to the passage?
A. They own the largest reef systems.
B. They are good diving spots in winter.
C. They all provide you with shipwrecks.
D. They are all difficult to reach.
2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. If you want to go to Plunge the Depths of Palau, you can take a flight from Vietnam.
B. Snorkel the Philippines is disliked by the world because of its location.
C. Buddy Dive Resort Bonaire is the only place where you can see corals.
D. Greg Deaver is the coolest one among the four places.
3.It can be learned from the passage that ______________.
A. Cozumel is a small country in the Atlantic
B. Cozumel is famous for the town San Miguel
C. Cozumel is a close neighbor to Mexico
D. Cozumel is located in North America