Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into actions. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机)with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash(现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.

      I couldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.

     Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.

      What had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.

41. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits______.

A. promised to obey the store rules                    B. forgot to take any money with him

C. hoped to have the food first and pay later       D. could not afford anything more expensive

42. Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?

A. kind and lucky                                                   B. poor and lonely

C. friendly and helpful                                            D. hurt and disappointed

43. The writer acted upon the store rules because___________.

A. he wanted to keep his present job                   B. he felt no pity for the old gentleman

C. he considered the old man dishonest       

D. he expected someone else to pay for the old man

44. What does the writer learn from his experience?

A. Wealth is more important than anything else.  B. Helping others is easier said than done.

C. Experience is better gained through practice.

D. Obeying the rules means more than compassion.

Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket―anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.

It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.

The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’” Saunders says.

In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.

This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

56. The turning point in Saunders’ life came when _____

A.      he started to play ball games

B.      he got a mountain bike at age 15

C.      he ran his first marathon at age 18

D.     he started to receive Ridgway’s training

57. We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

A.      dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

B.      built up his body together with Saunders

C.      hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

D.     won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

58. What do we know about Saunders?

A.      He once worked at a school in Scotland.

B.      He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

C.      He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

D.     He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

59. The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

A.  Excited          B. Convinced        C. Delighted               D. Fascinated

60. It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

A.      was accompanied by his old playmates

B.      set a record in the North Pole expedition

C.      was supported by other Arctic explorers

D.     made him well-known in the 1960s

     The coyote (丛林狼), that clever animal of wide-open spaces, has come to the nation's capital. In fact, coyotes have spread to every comer of the United States, changing their behaviors to fit new environments and causing researchers to deal with a troublesome new kind of creature: the city coyote.

     The coyote originally lived in the middle of the continent. One of its most obvious characters is its smartness, which has made the animal a notorious (臭名昭著的) pest. Hunters trapped, shot and poisoned more than a million coyotes in the 1900s. It's still one of America's most hunted animals. Yet the coyote has survived. How has the coyote shown this extraordinary ability? "I guess if you wanted to use one word, it'd be 'plasticity'," says Eric Gese, an expert at Utah State University. Coyotes can live alone, in pairs, or in large packs like wolves; hunt at night or during the day; occupy a small region or an area up to 40 square miles; and live on all sorts of food, from lizards and shoes, to ants and melons.

      Unbelievably people helped coyotes increase when they killed most of the wolves in the United States. The spreading of coyotes into city areas, though, is recent. They travel at night, crossing sidewalks and bridges, running along roads and ducking into culverts (钻入 涵洞) and underpasses. No one knows why coyotes are moving into cities., but experts explain that cleverer, more human-tolerant (不怕人的) coyotes are teaching urban survival skills to new generations.

      Occasionally, coyotes might attack human beings. There have been about 160 attacks on people in recent years. Therefore, people have been consistently told not to feed coyotes or leave pet food unsecured. That, plus a large trapping program in the neighborhood, has cut down on the coyote population.

63. The underlined word "plasticity" in Paragraph 2 refers to______

    A. the ability to fit the environment         B. notorious smartness

    C. hunting ability                      D. being human-tolerant

64. The aim of the passage is to______

    A. tell people how to fight against coyotes

    B. tell us why the coyote is the most hunted animal

    C. supply the reason why the coyote is a kind of notorious pest

    D. explain how the coyote has spread to and survived in cities

65. According to the passage, coyotes_______

    A. originally lived in the west of the continent

    B. sleep during the day but look for food at night

    C. are teaching survival skills to their younger generations

    D. suffered a population decrease because people killed wolves

66. According to the passage, to cut down on the coyote population, people are advised to_______

    A. leave pet food secured                 B. keep coyotes in small regions

    C. force coyotes to live alone              D. avoid using trapping programs

Daniel Boone was born in the United States in 1734. He didn't go to school and couldn't read, although he learned all about the forests, streams and hunting. He could move silently like an Indian leaving no marks. He loved to live alone in the woods where nothing frightened him.

When he grew up, he married and tried to settle down on a farm. A year later, however, he wasn't satisfied and decided to go into the unknown western lands, crossing the Appalachian Mountains. When he returned after two years, he became famous for his long journey. He brought valuable animal skins and told stories about the Indians.

After this, he chose to keep travelling to unknown places. Once he lost to the Indians in battle and was taken away. The Indians liked him and became his friends.

Daniel Boone died at the age of 86. He is remembered as an explorer(探险者)and a pioneer who lived an exciting life in the early years of American nation.

1.Daniel Boone's early life was mainly spent in ______ .

A.learning about nature

B.hunting with his friends

C.learning useful skills from the Indians

D.studying at home because he couldn't go to school

2.When he got married, Daniel Boone first planned to ______.

A.set up a large farm

B.go on a journey with his wife

C.find food, new land for his farm

D.live a peaceful life with his family

3.Daniel Boone became famous because ______ .

A.he travelled a lot in the western lands

B.he was very good at telling stories

C.he found better animal skins than others

D.he was the first to climb the Appalachian Mountains

4.Why did the Indians want to make friends with him?

A.Because they wanted to learn from him.

B.Because he wanted to make peace with them.

C.Because they wanted to make friends with white people.

D.No reason is told in this article.

5.In this article, Daniel Boone is best described as ______ .

A.warm-hearted                          B.strong

C.careful                               D.brave

 

Donald had his own difficulties in sleeping that night. Not just because of the bright lights of the shelter or people’s constant voices, it was the happening repeatedly nightmare that caused him to stay awake, to fear sleep. Donald was back in his small house. He did his best to ignore the howling winds outside his window. Yet he could not turn out the fearful whimpers (呜咽) of his little dog, or the uncomfortable sounds of his mother anxious in her room next door, unable to sleep through the storm despite her insistence they would be all right.

Donald did not want his mother to be upset, but on some level, he was glad to hear she was awake, It meant he was not alone in the dark. Though he was 12, until recently it was impossible for Donald to fall asleep unless his mother lay down by his side.

Suddenly there was a crash. Their living room window is shattered (打碎) by 125 miles an hour winds. Troy rushed to Donald and sat anxiously on the edge of his bed. He did his best to calm his mother, and she had to comfort him. Soon water was seeping (渗入) into the single floor house. Quickly it rose from ankle level to leg level. At Donald’s insistence, they pushed their way through the water --- now chest high --- toward the front door. When they fought their way into the living room, water rose to their chins.

It was a struggle for the boy and mother to stay afloat. In a total panic, desperate to hold on to something, Troy caught a curtain rod. She was breathing hard, shouting that she couldn’t swim.

Donald cried out, “Mom! Hold on!” Just then Donald also caught a floatable wood board.

1.The passage is mainly about _____.

A.how a storm happened and caused damage

B.how a mother and son experienced a storm

C.how a mother and son survived a storm

D.how a son helped his mother in a storm

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the story?

A.The rising water.

B.The broken window.

C.The lucky dog.

D.The noisy environment.

3.Which phrase can describe Troy’s feelings at the beginning of the storm most suitably?

A.In excitement.

B.In calm.

C.In anxiety.

D.In despair.

4.What will the author most probably talk about next?

A.How the other people struggled in the storm.

B.Why the rainstorm happened.

C.What damage the rainstorm caused.

D.How Donald and Troy struggled to save themselves

 

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