It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently. My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbor we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbor itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it — there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale — actually as big as our boat — was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe — and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

The author says “I’m so glad I did.” (in Para.2) because __________.

A. he spent the weekend with his family

B. be witnessed the whole process of fishing

C. he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

D. he experienced the rescue of the whales

The harbor survived the storm owing to __________.

A. the long coast line                         B. the shape of the harbor    

C. the arms of the bay                         D. the still water in the channel

The mother whale failed to help her baby because __________.

A. the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

B. she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

C. the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

D. she had no other whales around to turn to for help

What is the theme of the story?

A. It’s vital to protect the environment

B. Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness

C. Fishing provides excitement for children

D. It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals

Isn’t it cool to surf (冲浪) in summer? You catch a wave and enjoy the ride. Surfing is not only our favorite sport, though. A group of penguins (企鹅) enjoy the sport as much as we do. And they show their excitement and skills in the new animated film —Surf`s Up, which came out on June 6, in the US.

    Cody loves the sport. Cody’s idol (偶像) is Big Z, a great penguin surfing king. Cody doesn’t like his brother and his mother who are not supportive. He really wants to get away. Cody believes that winning a surfing competition will bring him admiration and respect. When Mikey Abromowitz, a talent scout (侦察员), comes to Antarctica to look for talented penguins for a surfing competition, Cody’s really excited, but during his show there are no waves and he doesn’t make it. But he knows he can’t give up. He runs after Mikey’s whale and begs until Mikey agrees to take him.

    There Cody meets Lani, the island’s beautiful lifeguard, as well as his main rival (对手), the surfing champion Evans. The cocky Evans shows no respect for Big Z, which makes Cody angry. For this, he challenges Evans to a surfing match, only to suffer a terrible defeat.

    Lani takes Cody to the island doctor. As they spend time together, Cody realizes that this doctor is really Big Z himself. When he learns this, Cody begs him to train him and make him a better surfer.

    Cody begins to find his own way. Cody improves his skills with the help of Big Z and discovers that a true winner isn’t always the one who comes in first.

1.The passage mainly tells us ______.

A. that winning can bring you good luck and respect

B. how a penguin can be a good surfer

C. about a new animated film —Surf`s Up

D. about the life of a teenage penguin called Cody

2.Which of the following statements about Big Z is NOT true?

A. He is a great penguin surfing king.

B. He doesn’t help Cody with surfing although Cody begs him.

C. He works as a doctor after he leaves surfing.

D. He is loved by the teenage penguin Cody.

3.The underlined part “doesn’t make it” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.

A. feels very sad                     B. can’t breathe freely

C. is not successful             D. can’t continue surfing

4.Which of the following statements about Cody is NOT true?

A. He likes surfing and lives in Antarctica.

B. He thinks winning will win him the respect of others at first.

C. He gets along well with his brother and his mother.

D. He is defeated by Evans in a surfing match.

 

Derrius Quarles, 19, had an unhappy childhood. But the Chicago teen didn’t give up. He tried his best and won $1 million in college scholarships (奖学金)! Now Derrius is a successful college student with a bright future.

When Derrius was 4, his father was killed. His mother couldn’t take care of him because of taking drugs. Derrius and his 9-year-old brother sometimes had to steal food to eat. Derrius felt different from other kids. In seventh grade, Derrius went to live in a foster home (寄养家庭). His foster parents weren’t nice to him. They told him that he’d never be anything in life.

Derrius didn’t do his best in school. The summer after ninth grade, that changed. Derrius had signed up for a biology class. He didn’t go to class the first day. On the second day, he showed up late. His teacher took him outside. She told him he was smart, but that he was wasting his potential (潜力). The talk inspired him and he planned to prove that he could be anything if he worked hard enough.

Adults at a summer program helped Derrius find out about scholarships he could earn to pay for college. In his senior year, Derrius filled out lots of applications. He told his friends, “You’re not going to see me for a long time.” Derrius’s hard work paid off. He won more than $1 million in scholarships! He has a lot to be proud of. But he’s most proud of helping others. Derrius gives speeches to teens, telling them how to find scholarships. In high school, Derrius got help buying a computer. He wanted to help others who needed them. Last year, he gave two laptops to high schoolstudents. There’s a lot of work in his future. Derrius doesn’t mind — hard work has got him where he is today. He knows it can take him anywhere.

1. From Paragraphs 2 and 3, we can learn that Derrius _____.

A.always studied hard in school

B.lived in the same foster home with his brother

C.hated his parents very much

D.was encouraged a lot by his biology teacher

2.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to _____.

A.great success

B.a scholarship

C.hard work

D.a computer

3.What kind of person do you think Derrius is?

A.Lazy but kind-hearted.

B.Selfish and naughty.

C.Confident but troublesome(带来麻烦的).

D.Determined and generous(慷慨的).

4.What does the author want to tell us?

A.The way to win a scholarship to a college.

B.The importance of family background.

C.Never forget people who have helped you.

D.Hard work pays off sooner or later.

 

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it ——there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale——actually as big as our boat——was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves. ”She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side, ”my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe——and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day, Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.     

1.The author says “I’m so glad I did ” (in Para. 2)because ______.

A.he witnessed the whole process of fishing

B.he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea

C.he experienced the rescue of the whales

D.he spent the weekend with his family

2.The harbour survived the storm owing to____________.

A.the shape of the harbour

B.the arms of the bay

C.the still water in the channel

D.the long coast line

3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because__________.

A.she had stayed in the polluted water for too long

B.the whirlpools she had made were not big enough

C.she had no other whales around to turn to for help

D.the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction

4.what is the theme of the story?

A.Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness

B.Fishing provides excitement for children

C.It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals

D.It’s vital to protect the environment

 

There were red faces at one of Britain’s biggest banks recently. They had accepted a telephone order to buy £100,000 worth of shares from a 15-year-old schoolboy (they thought he was 21). The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up. The bank lost £20,000 on the deal which it cannot get back, because, for one thing, the young boy does not have the money, for another, being under 18, he is not legally liable for his debts. If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell, he would have pocketed £20,000 profit. It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper. In another case, a boy of 14 found, in his grandmother’s house, a suitcase full of foreign banknotes. But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else. This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes. The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90%. They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate. In three days, before he was found out, he took £200,000 from nine different banks. Amazingly, he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him. Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money, and several cashiers have lost their jobs.

Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty? Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight-fisted parents. Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts. It is hardly surprising, given the expensive things that young people want to buy, such as fashionable running shoes and computer games, if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers. These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it.

Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six-year-old daughter£300 a week pocket money. He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank(存钱灌)“She will soon learn the value of money, ” he said. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better.” At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown-up children, While even the most hard-hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets, we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents. Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest, look after themselves and pay their own way in life. But when is it?

1..

 Recently one of Britain’s biggest banks _____.

   A. bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss

   B. lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts

   C. lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value

   D. received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21-year-old boy

2..

. The author’s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is _____.

   A. objective     B. subjective       C. questioning      D. negative

3..

 The man paid his daughter £300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because _____.

   A. he wanted her to know making money was not easy

   B. he wanted to save money for her future education

   C. he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together

   D. he wanted her to learn the value of money 

4..

It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that _____.

   A. children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible

   B. grown-up children should live on their own

   C. children should be taught not to cheat others

   D. parents should give more pocket money to their children

 

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