The Quiet Hero 沉默的英雄

    It was Mother’s Day, the day we celebrate everything mothers are and everything we do. But I’ll   1    that Sunday in 2000 was bittersweet for me. As a single mother I   2    to think of my shortcomings — how many evenings I couldn’t spend with my children, and how many things I couldn’t   3    my waitress’ salary to buy.

    But what   4    kids I had! My daughter Maria was a senior in college, and Denny was home visiting from his freshman year at Harvard University. They were   5    impolite enough to complain, but there was so much more I   6    I had done for them. I just hoped they   ___7  .

As I walked into the   8    quietly to start breakfast, I was greeted by a vase   9    a dozen red roses! When had Denny possibly slipped down to leave them? But even their delicate beauty was overshadowed by the note sitting beside them, in the quick, manly   10    of an eighteen-year-old. It was about a story that happened between Denny and me long ago. It   11  :

She took a day off from her busy   12    to take the boy to see his hero in the flesh at the stadium. It took 3.5 hours just to get there, and they had to be there early   13    he could see his hero take batting practice.   14    their arrival, she took her hard-earned money to buy an overpriced T-shirt on which was   15    his hero making a diving catch. After the game, of course he had to   16    his hero’s signature, so she stayed with the little boy    17    one in the morning…

   It took me long enough to   18    it, but I finally know who the   19    hero is. Mom, I love you!

   And suddenly, it was a   20    Mother’s Day, after all.

A. admit                 B. adopt                    C. deny                    D. refuse

A. intended              B. liked                     C. tended                     D. hesitated

A. stress                  B. spare                     C. strengthen             D. spend

A. poor            B. great                     C. faithless                   D. pretty

A. merely               B. usually                  C. never                       D. often

A. wished               B. hoped                C. expected                  D. desired

A. supported            B. understood             C. approved                 D. disgusted

A. 1iving-room          B. kitchen                  C. bed loom                 D. study

A. including            B. containing             C. possessing             D. pinning

A. handwriting      B. description             C. tone                        D. scratch

A. wrote                B. recorded                C. memorized              D. read

A. event         B. content             C. schedule                  D. circumstance

A. or                    B. for                        C. but                          D. so

A. At                    B. In                         C. On                          D. By

A. impressed         B. printed                      C. presented                 D. pressed

A. buy                  B. abandon                C. get                          D. swap

A. before              B. until                     C. after                        D. when

A. see                   B. hear                      C. realize                     D. tell

A. actual               B. true                      C. imaginary             D. visual

A. sad            B. bitter                    C. happy                      D. exciting

I knew I was all right now.  Nobody else would come a­hunting after me. I got my traps out of the canoe and made me a nice camp in the thick woods. I made a tent out of my blankets to put my things under so the rain couldn't get at them. I caught a catfish and towards sundown I started my camp fire and had supper.

         When it was dark I sat by my camp fire, feeling pretty satisfied; but by and by it got sort of lonesome, so I went and sat on the bank and listened to the current crashing along, and counted the stars and drift logs and rafts that came down, and then went to bed; there was no better way to put in time when you are lonesome; you can't stay so, and you soon get it over.

         And so for three days and nights. No difference—just the same thing. But the next day I went exploring around the island.  I was boss of it; it all belonged to me, and I wanted to know all about it; but mainly I wanted to spend the time. I found plenty of strawberries and green summer grapes; and the green blackberries were just beginning to show.

         Well, I went fooling along in the deep woods till I judged I wasn't far from the foot of the island. I had my gun along, but I had shot nothing; it was for protection. About this time I almost stepped on a good­sized snake, and it moved quietly and smoothly through the grass and flowers, and I was after it, trying to get a shot at it. I clipped(疾驰) along, and all of a sudden I bounded(跳) right on to the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking.

         My heart jumped up among my lungs. I never waited to look further, but unlocked my gun and went sneaking back on my tiptoes as fast as I could. Every now and then I stopped a second among the thick leaves and listened, but my breath came so hard that I couldn't hear anything else. I moved quietly along another piece further, then listened again; and so on, and so on. If I saw a stump(树桩), I took it for a man; if I stepped on a stick and broke it, it made me feel that a person had cut one of my breaths in two and I only got half, and the short half, too.

         There was no time to be fooling around. When getting to the camp, I got all my traps into my canoe again to have them out of sight. I put out the fire and threw the ashes around to look like an old last year's camp, and then climbed a tree.

         I suppose I was up for two hours; but I didn’t see or hear anything—I only thought I heard and saw as much as a thousand things. Well, I couldn’t stay up there forever, so at last I got down, but I kept in the thick woods and on the lookout all the time. All I could get to eat was berries and what was left over from breakfast.

1.The underlined part “put in time” in the second paragraph probably means _____.

A. kill the time            B. take the time

C. employ the time    D. waste the time

2.Why did the boy always carry his gun with him wherever he went?

A. To show off his gun.

B. To hunt some animals for food.

C. To protect himself.

D. To play with it for fun.

3.How did the boy feel when he saw the ashes of a camp fire that was still smoking?

A. Surprised.                       B. Excited.                            C. Frightened.         D. Puzzled.

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The boy brought with himself a tent

B. The boy felt a bit lonely on the island.

C. The boy was surely the only person on the island at that time.

D. The boy might be bitten by some animal when the story happened.

 

Four brothers left home for college, and they became successful doctors and lawyers. Some years later, they  16  after having dinner together. They discussed the  17  they gave their elderly mother who lived far away in another city. The first said, “I had a  18  house built for Mama.” The second said, “I had my Mercedes-Benz dealer(经销商)send a  19  to her.” The third said, “I built a beautiful   20  for Mama.” The fourth said, “You know   21  Mama loved reading poems and you know she can’t read anymore because she can’t   22  very well. I met a   23  who had a parrot(鹦鹉)that can recite many poems. It took him 12 years to   24  it to speak and he earns his living by renting it out. I had to pay him $100,000 a year for twenty years,  25  it is worth it.” On hearing that, the other brothers were   26  by his good thought.

After the holidays their mother   27  her thank-you notes, which read:

“Milton, the house you built is so huge. I only live in one room, but I have to 28  the whole house. It’s a tiring job. Thanks anyway.”

“Marvin, I am too old to   29 . I stay home and have my foods delivered, so I’ll 30  use the car. The   31  was good, although not practical. Thanks.”

“Michael, you gave me an expensive building for 50 people to  32  plays or watch movies in it, but all my friends are dead. I’ve almost   33  my hearing and I’m nearly blind. I won’t use it. Thank you all the same.”

“Dearest Melvin, you were the   34  son to have the good sense to give a little thought to your gift. The chicken tasted so   35  . I liked it very much. Thank you.”

1.                A.fought         B.talked          C.studied   D.slept

 

2.                A.gifts           B.chances        C.wishes   D.challenges

 

3.                A.warm          B.big            C.safe D.lonely

 

4.                A.book           B.bike           C.car  D.bag

 

5.                A.station         B.museum        C.library    D.theater

 

6.                A.what           B.how           C.why D.when

 

7.                A.listen          B.feel            C.see D.walk

 

8.                A.nurse          B.writer          C.businessman   D.lawyer

 

9.                A.protect         B.beat           C.raise D.teach

 

10.               A.but            B.so             C.unless D.although

 

11.               A.treated         B.impressed       C.threatened D.hurt

 

12.               A.sent out        B.put up         C.took out   D.picked up

 

13.               A.sell            B.borrow         C.clean D.visit

 

14.               A.learn          B.work           C.exercise   D.travel

 

15.               A.never          B.often          C.regularly  D.sometimes

 

16.               A.future         B.hobby          C.idea  D.program

 

17.               A.create         B.enjoy          C.bring D.record

 

18.               A.lost            B.admired        C.remained  D.discovered

 

19.               A.same          B.last            C.next  D.only

 

20.               A.strange         B.unpleasant      C.bitter D.delicious

 

 

After a very busy afternoon, as I walked into my house, I heard the phone ringing. It was my friend Lydia, upset over an argument with her husband. My usual approach is to offer advice, but this time, extremely tired from chores, I simply pulled off my coat, sat down in a chair and listened to my friend's frustration and sadness. Without the disturbance of judgment or the desire to comfort her, I stayed totally quiet while she talked. Eventually Lydia's depression eased and we said our goodbyes. The next day she phoned to thank me. "I'm so grateful for the way you helped me through this," she said.

At first I was surprised. After all, I had done nothing except be there for her. But after I had my own venting(发泄的) experience with another friend later that evening, I realized that my focused silence had some value. In fact, most relationship experts agree that talk is cheap; it's listening that's rare and valuable. It allows you not only to hear what the other person is saying, but also to have a clear understanding of her thoughts and feelings. And for the speaker, that level of understanding translates into concern and respect.

Unfortunately, listening isn't as easy as it sounds. Thanks to schedules filled with family and work, multitasking has become the barrier(障碍) to listening. My tiredness may have been the only thing stopping me from folding laundry or checking my e-mail while Lydia talked that afternoon.

Another barrier to listening is our listening system: Most of us take in only about half of what's being said during a conversation, according to the International Listening Association. Research shows that we speak at 125 to 150 words per minute, yet think at 500 words a minute. Therefore, because we think much more quickly than we speak, it is easy for us to lose our concentration when listening to speakers.

While it can be hard to focus at times, it's a skill worth developing. With a little practice — employing some techniques— you can become a better listener.

1. In Paragraph 2, the author mainly talks about ____.

  A. the importance of listening         B. the importance of venting anger

  C. her own listening experience       D. her own venting experience

2.The author uses the result of the research in Paragraph 4 to mainly show that ____.

  A. we think much more quickly than we speak

  B. we can only understand about half of what we hear

  C. there is not much thinking time available while we are listening

  D. we lose our concentration easily while we are listening

3. What will be discussed following the passage?

  A. Why listening is valuable.        B. What we should do while listening

C. How to become a good listener    D. How to stop drifting off while listening.

 

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