We were on our way home from Houston one Saturday morning. We decided to stop at a local gas station to get coffee and something to snack on since it was a good hour and a half before we got home.

When we were done, we got back into our car and before I started it, we noticed a man standing outside in front of the building. He was a homeless man with worn clothes and it looked like he had gone in and gotten himself some coffee or something warm to drink since it was cold this time of the year. He must have not had enough money to get something to eat.

Then a dog walked up to the front of the building. I could tell she was a “she”, because you could tell that she had baby dogs. She was terribly in need of something to eat and I felt so bad for her. I knew if she didn’t eat soon, she and her baby dogs would not make it.

I and my wife sat there and looked at her. We noticed that people walked by and didn’t even pet her, like most people do when they walk by an animal in front of a store. We still did not do anything. But the homeless man, who I thought did not buy himself anything to eat, went back into the store. And what he did brought tears to me and my wife. He had gone into the store and with what money he may have had, bought a can of dog food and fed that dog.

This story plays a great part in our lives. You see, that was Mother’s Day weekend. And a lot of people forget that some animals are parents too.

It took a homeless man, to show me what I should have done. He make me a better man that day.

The homeless man only had something to drink because _______.

A. he didn’t have enough money for food           B. he was thirsty only

C. the store only provided drinks                       D. he felt cold that day

Seeing what the poor man did for the dog, the author and his wife ________.

A. were puzzled                                              B. were greatly moved

C. regretted they hadn’t done anything                      D. were indifferent

If the homeless man hadn’t given the dog food to eat, she and her babies would ________.

A. not survive                                                B. have to attack people

C. not have to die                                           D. lose their homes

Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?

A. A kind Homeless Man                                 B. A Lucky Mother Dog

C. Mother Day’s Weekend                               D. Animals Are Parents Too

I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical (圣经) passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “do you know something I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… that checkup I had several weeks ago… our doctor… did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me… am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
【小题1】In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably mean ________.

A.unnecessarilyB.unconditionallyC.impossiblyD.unintentionally
【小题2】From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ________.
A.aloneB.with his familyC.with EvelynD.with his children
【小题3】During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ________.
A.she looked lovely in her new clothes
B.she was seriously ill
C.he was determined to be a good husband
D.he had made a lot of money in Wall Street
【小题4】 By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ________.
A.he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before
B.he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change
C.he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life
D.he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

Everyone has done experiments in high school laboratories, but have you ever thought about designing a satellite to explore space?
On Nov. 19, a team of students from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the US awed peers and even scientists by successfully launching a satellite.
The first satellite designed and built by high school students was sent up into space along with a record-setting. 28 other small ones on a rocket were sent from a NASA center in Virginia, CNN reported. It took the students seven years to build.
The students call their tiny satellite TJ3Sat, which is named after their school. It is just 10x10x12 centimeters and weighs only 0.89 kilograms, according to Orbital Sciences, a company which developed the rocket and supported the students’ project. It can be controlled with a smartphone.
Like most satellites, TJ3Sat can send and receive data. The small spacecraft is equipped with a voice synthesizer (合成器), which can switch text to voice and transmit those sounds back to Earth over radio waves, said Orbital officials. In this case, anyone can give it a try via the project’s website (school website) by submitting (提交) a text. The texts that get approved will be sent to the satellite, changed to voice and then broadcast back to Earth via radio waves.
“I can say ‘Go Colonials’ on our ground station and when it is on the other side of the world, in India, someone can hear ‘Go Colonials’over the radio,” the team explains on the website.
The satellite will stay in space for at least three months.
School principal Evan Glazer told The Washington Post that the project started in 2006 as an activity in the spare time. Later it became a research project for a select group of seniors.
At a time when American students are busy with SATs, the launch of the satellite shows what diligent teenagers can achieve when allowed to pursue their own curiosities, Glazer said.
“It used to be that kids growing up wanted to be an astronaut,” Andrew Petro, program executive (主管) for small spacecraft technology at NASA, said in a statement. “I think we might be seeing kids saying what they want to do is build a spacecraft. The idea here is that they really can do that.”
1. The underlined word “awed” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ___.

Ainfluenced? Bamazed? Cdelighted? Dinspired

2. Which of the following statements about TJ3Sat is TRUE according to the article?

AIt took a group of students about a decade to build the satellite.

BBesides TJ3Sat, 28 other small satellites were built by the students.

CTJ3Sat can receive text messages that the students send into space, which it can change to voice messages and broadcast back to Earth.

DTJ3Sat is expected to stay in orbit for the next year, sending out messages together with information about its position in space.

3. According to the article, the launch of the satellite _______.

Ais evidence of the advance of spacecraft technology

Bproves that hard-working teenagers can achieve a lot

Cshows the importance of extracurricular activities at school

Dhas inspired many people to take an interest in space travel

 

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

It was 20 years ago. I was driving home with my 4-year-old son. Traffic was light. I was singing quietly along   36   the song playing on the radio. I   37    at the intersection(交叉路口) and looked both ways. The road was   38  . I slowly started to make a right turn when suddenly a car rounded the curve at high speed and came straight at me. I stomped (猛踩) on the brakes of my car  39  the engine in the process. The speeder zoomed (疾驰) past my dead car  40   me by inches without even slowing down.

  41   I knew it, a stream of rude words was flying from my lips,   42   after the car and its driver. I then saw my son who was staring up at me   43  . With a red face and a(an)   44   smile I started the car, pulled back onto the road, and headed home.

Later that evening I was reading a book when I heard certain  45  words coming from my son’s bedroom. He was replaying the   46   over and over in his mind. Too   47   I realized the   48   of those words that had   49   from my lips in that moment of anger. It took a lot of talks about good language and bad language with my son to undo (消除)the   50   of that incident.

That  51   , however, did teach me just how strong words  52   be. It helped me to decide to stop swearing (咒骂) in my own life and to start using words uplifting and    53    instead. I slowly realized that language is a gift from God and should be used to make our world better but not worse. I learned   54  that a few loving words can help a hurting heart, strengthen a   55   spirit, and lighten a heavy load. I pray then that all of your words today are full of love, joy, happiness, and light.

1.A. to                B. by                   C. through             D. over

2.A. pulled in         B. pulled up           C. pulled out      D. pulled back

3.A. clean            B. light                 C. clear               D. busy

4.A. slowing         B. killing        C. running        D. firing

5.A. leaving           B. missing              C. knocking            D. approaching

6.A. When           B. After                C. Before              D. Until

7.A. chasing          B. hunting              C. looking              D. seeking

8.A. awfully           B. innocently          C. bravely              D. typically

9.A. pleased         B. embarrassed        C. surprised           D. worried

10.A. acute           B. unpleasant     C. accurate       D. marvelous

11.A. music          B. story                C. language            D. incident

12.A. sorry          B. badly               C. soon                D. late

13.A. power       B. strength       C. nature          D. potential

14.A. said            B. spoken             C. flown               D. floated

15.A. damage      B. lesson               C. image               D. process

16.A. mistake                B. accident            C. crash          D. phenomenon

17.A. should         B. can                    C. need                  D. would

18.A. considering     B. promising     C. inspiring       D. motivated

19.A. or                                B. otherwise               C. too                          D. however

20.A. challenging     B. struggling            C. rising               D. caring

 

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