When Seattle-based poet Heather McHugh won $500,000 from the Mac Arthur Foundation, she didn’t buy a Maserati or fly to Paris. Instead, she put the money in the bank and continued teaching college courses and writing poetry. It wasn’t until about two years later, in 2011, that she finally figured out what to do with it.

She discovered there are millions of caregivers in the United States taking care of the chronically(长期地)ill or disabled. “It’s a heartbreaking contract of love,” she says. So in 2012, Heather formed Caregifted, a non-profit organization that offers a seven-day, all-expenses-paid vacation to Vancouver Island to people who have been caregivers for at least ten years.”It’s hard physical, psychological, and emotional work. “It’s clear they deserve and need a respite,” she says.

Tricia Eisner, a single mother of 19-year-old triplet(三胞胎中的一个)boys,two of them with severe illness, was one of the first caregivers to go on vacation, in 2013. When Tricia got a phone call saying Caregifted wanted to send her to Eastport,Maine,she “couldn’t believe” someone would pay for her to go on a vacation; disbelief gave way to concern about her sons. But after two days away, the worry was gone. n After being in Maine by myself, with nobody to take care of or think about except myself, I realized that rock was gone," says Tricia. She was afraid the heaviness would return when the week was over, but to her surprise, it hasn’t been back since.

Heather says, “Everybody needs restorative time. For some, it’s life-extending.” Tricia and the other guests aren’t the only ones to benefit from Caregifted ; Heather has too. “I thought I was the queen of love, being a poet, ” Heather says. “But I didn’t know a thing about love until I met these people.”

1.Whom is Caregifted intended for?

A. The disabled. B. The kids.

C. The caregivers. D. The patients.

2.What does the underlined word “respite” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A. reward B. rest

C. job D. promotion

3.How did Tricia feel after staying in Maine for two days?

A. Concerned. B. Relieved.

C. Excited. D. Doubtful.

4.What does the last paragraph suggest?

A. People benefit when they give.

B. Poets are full of love and helpful.

C. Caregifted is life-extending.

D. Heather once lackedlove.

It was 3:21 a.m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the cracking(爆烈声) of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin Long Island.

With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke-filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, fell down onto the lawn.

The nine-year-old boy raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother's room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious(昏厥的), and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and, as a fireman said later, "acted with all the self-control of a trained adult."

On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.

First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.

He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?

Grasping firmly a ball of string(线) from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother's room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.

Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan, "The string will lead you to mother." Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.

1.Why did Glenn run downstairs first?

A. He wanted to find out what was happening.

B. He was worried about his mother's safety.

C. He wanted to save his sister and brother.

D. He went to see if his father had come back from work.

2.Who called the fire brigade and ambulance service?

A. Glenn. B. Glenn's father.

C. Glenn's sister. D. Glenn's neighbor.

3.Glenn saved his family because _______.

A. his father had taught him to do so on the phone

B. he had learned something about first aid

C. he had dealt with the emergency(突发事件) calmly and wisely

D. he had followed his mother's instructions

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mum, you must come and see the daffodils(水仙花)before they are over.”  I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Lake Arrowhead. "I will go next Tuesday," I promised, a little unwillingly, on her third call.

The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible (看不见的) in the cloud and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see!"

My daughter smiled calmly and said, "We drive in this weather all the time, Mum. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand-lettered sign that read "Daffodil Garden."

We got out of the car and each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up amazed. Before me lay the most beautiful sight. Flows of flowers of different colors seemed poured down the peak and slopes. There were five acres of flowers! A sea of daffodil! It was like a fairyland all beyond description.

"But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. "It’s just one woman." Carolyn answered. "That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house. On the patio (露台), we saw a poster." Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking" was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs (鳞茎)" it read. The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman." The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than fifty years before, had begun one bulb at a time to bring the beauty and joy to the mountain top. Just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world where she lived and created something of magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small amounts of daily effort, we too can accomplish great things. Everyone can do something to change the world.

1.The writer wasn’t going to see the daffodils at first because ______.

A. she cared more about the children B. they were on a remote mountain top

C. the weather was not good enough D. it was not easy for her to drive there

2.What do we know from the passage about the woman who grew daffodil?

A. She must have been a modest woman.

B. It took her great determination to grow the daffodils.

C. She worked as a professional gardener.

D. Being poor, she made a living by selling daffodils.

3.What has the writer learned from this experience?

A. It’s never too late to learn

B. We must put the interests of others above our own.

C. Accumulation of small steps may lead to something magnificent

D. People can change the world where they live by growing flowers

4.Which may be the best title for the passage?

A. One Bulb at a Time B. I Love Daffodils

C. The Daffodil Garden D. An Unforgettable Experience

Once there was a very poor villager.He found it difficult even to support his family. 1. He walked about in the streets, but he did not get a job.One day, he met a rich businessman, who gave him the job of cleaning the office.The villager began his work and he even started reading and writing in his spare time.

One day,the businessman saw that the villager was writing something.He said,“You can also read and write!Your handwriting is very good.”2.The villager began to do this job as best as he could.

Later,the businessman learnt that the villager was good at accounting, and he made him his shop accountant(会计).The other accountants were very jealous of the villager’s abilities.They told the businessman that the villager had a small room where he hid the money stolen from him. 3.

One day,they had their chance.They saw the villager going into “that” room. 4. When they came back and opened the door, there was nothing in that room except an ordinary box.

The villager was ordered to open the box with his own hands.And there was only a pair of dirty shoes and some old clothes. 5.At the same time, he was so angry with the jealous accountants that he fired (解雇) them at once.The villager was made the only accountant for his office.

A.He came to a big city hoping to find a job.

B.They closed the door behind him and ran to the businessman.

C.So the businessman decided to give the villager a good lesson.

D.Seeing this, the businessman was moved by what he had seen.

E.So the villager was given the work of writing business letters for him.

F.The villager wished that some kind people might give him a good job.

G.But the businessman refused to believe them unless he had seen it with his own eyes.

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