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My grandparents were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word “shmily” in a surprise place for the other to find.
“Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even opened an entire roll of toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled (潦草地写) hurriedly were found on dashboards (仪表板) and car seats, or taped to steering wheels.It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents’ game. Skepticism (怀疑态度) had kept me from believing in true love — one that is pure and lasting. However, I never doubted my grandparents’ relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious (爱调戏的) little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on devotion and passionate love.
Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other’s sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble. My grandma whispered to me about how cute my grandpa was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew “how to pick ‘em.”
But there came a dark cloud into my grandparents’ life: when my grandmother got breast cancer. Gradually it took over the whole of her body. One day, what we all dreaded finally happened. Grandma was gone.
“Shmily.” It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my grandmother’s funeral bouquet (花束). The family came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time. Grandpa stepped up to my grandmother’s casket (棺) and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her. Through his tears and sadness, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby (催眠曲,). Shaking with my own sorrow, I would never forget that moment.
S-h-m-i-l-y: See How Much I Love You.
1.The point of the article is to ________.
A. give advice on how to keep love fresh
B. explain to readers the meaning of “shmily”
C. show the true love between the writer’s grandparents
D. express how much the writer loved her grandparents
2.What is the function of the second paragraph?
A. To support the first paragraph. B. To introduce the next paragraph.
C. To give the main idea of the article. D. To make the article more interesting.
3.The author’s grandmother ________.
A. used to kiss her grandfather in secret
B. died from breast cancer, which spread all over
C. played crossword puzzle daily with her grandfather
D. considered her grandfather old and careless
4.What is the author’s attitude toward her grandparents’ love?
A. She doubts whether it was true love.
B. She finds their way of expressing love strange.
C. She admires their romantic and passionate love.
D. She thinks she will never be able to love like that.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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A turkey named Courage gave thanks to President Obama for saving his life on the day before Thanksgiving. Honouring a 62-year-old tradition, the President pardoned the bird on Thanksgiving eve.
The tradition of a turkey pardon at Thanksgiving began with President Truman in 1947. Courage comes from Ellsworth, Iowa. The name Courage was chosen by voters (投票人)who took part in a survey posted on the White House website. The lucky turkey walked on the lawn of the Rose Garden and posed for the cameras at the presidential podium(讲台).
The dinner that has become known as the First Thanksgiving was actually a harvest festival celebrated in December of 1621. That’s when English settlers in Plymouth, Massachusetts, gave thanks for the progress they had made after a hard winter in their new country. As America grew, Thanksgiving customs also spread and got bigger. George Washington declared that the first national Thanksgiving would be on November 26, 1789. In the decades to follow, however, people celebrated Thanksgiving locally, with no official date. President Abraham Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November 1863 a national day of Thanksgiving. It stayed that way until 1939, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved it one week earlier. He wanted to lengthen the shopping period before Christmas to encourage gift-buyers and to help businesses. So Congress（议会） ruled that, after 1941, Thanksgiving would be an official federal holiday falling on the fourth Thursday of November.
This year we celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday, November. Millions of Americans got together to give thanks with friends and family. The lucky turkey, Courage, was one of them. After his pardon, Courage would be sent to Disneyland Resort in California, where he would be the grand assemble of Disney’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
1.That the turkey Courage was pardoned was decided by ________.
A. George Bush B. Congress C. President Truman D. the public
2.The first Thanksgiving Day was held to ________.
A. celebrate the harvest of British settlers
B. celebrate the progress of Americans
C. encourage the struggle with British settlers
D. celebrate the joy of all Americans after a hard winter
3.In 1939, President Roosevelt put forward the national day of Thanksgiving to ________.
A. encourage the economy B. help the poor
C. please Congress D. lengthen the summer holidays
4.We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. President Obama pardoned a turkey before Thanksgiving because of the economic crisis
B. the turkey named Courage was pardoned by President Roosevelt before Thanksgiving
C. the pardoned turkey walked on the lawn of the Rose Garden on Thanksgiving eve
D. the pardoned turkey will appear in a celebrating parade of Thanksgiving Day
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Chinese New Year for Kids
‘Chinese New Year for Kids’ is a full color paperback book with beautiful Chinese illustrations (插图). This is a hands-on workbook for parents and teachers, written for children from ages 3 to 12 years old, for use in the classroom or at home. Music, physical movement, art, and food all add to the atmosphere of taking an imaginary trip to China during the Chinese New Year.
Author: Cindy Roberts
Date: 2002-10-01
List Price: $ 9.95
Price: $ 8.95 Buy it On Amazon.com
The Polar Express
One couldn’t select a more delightful and exciting premise (前提) for a children’s book than the tale of a young boy lying awake on Christmas Eve only to have Santa Claus sweep by and take him on a trip with other children to the North Pole. And one couldn’t ask for a more talented artist and writer to tell the story than Chris Van Allsburg.
Author: Chris Van Allsburg
Date: 1985-10-28
List Price: $18.95
Price: $ 12.89 Buy it On Amazon.com
The Secret of Saying Thanks
Perhaps you’d like to know a secret, one of the happiest ones of all. You’ll discover it all on your own, maybe when you least expect. If you’ve not yet discovered the secret of saying thanks, it’s waiting for you. The secret can be found in the sunrise that offers promises for the day ahead, or in the gentle shade of a tree sheltering you from the hot rays of the sun.
Author: Douglas Wood
Date: 2005-9-27
List Price: $ 16.95
Price: $ 11.53 Buy it On Amazon.com
The Runaway Pumpkin
When Buck, Billy and their little sister Lily spy the biggest pumpkin they’ve ever seen, they can’t resist (抵制). Buck and Billy try to roll the pumpkin down the hill to show everyone, but it’s too big! Before they know it, it’s rolling out of control down the hillside. It knocks over Grandpa Baxter and makes him think of pumpkin soup. And when Poppa Baxter finally stops, all he can think of is pumpkin bread.
Author: Kevin Lewis
Date: 2003-09-01
List Price: $ 15.95
Price: $ 6.38 Buy it On Amazon.com
1.We can infer from the passage that Chinese New Year for Kids ________.
A. is very popular with readers all over the world
B. is helpful to foreigners to travel to China.
C. helps readers to learn about Chinese culture
D. introduces a lot of outdoor activities.
2.If you buy a copy of The Runaway Pumpkin on Amazon. Com, you can save ________.
A. 30% B. 60% C. 40% D. 70%
3. The author wrote the passage mainly to ________.
A. offer us some advice on shopping B. tell us some interesting stories
C. introduce some children’s books D. compare some books’ information
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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I try to be a good father. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed (拉着) him 2.4 miles in a dinghy (小游艇) while swimming and pedaled (蹬车) him 112 miles — all in the same day. And what has Rick done for his father? Not much — except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled (使窒息) by the umbilical cord (脐带) during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
When Rick was 11 the Hoyts took him to hospital and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,’’ Dick was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.’’
“Tell him a joke,’’ Dick countered (反驳). They did. Rick laughed. It turns out that a lot was going on in his brain. Equipped with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor (光标) by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate.
And after a high school classmate was paralyzed (瘫痪) in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out (啄出), “Dad, I want to do that.’’
How was Dick, who had never run more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried.
That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,’’ he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled any more!’’
And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed(迷恋) with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon. In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon (三项全能运动)?’’
Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record.
“No question about it,’’ Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.’’
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries (动脉) was 95% blocked. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,’’ one doctor told him, “you probably would have died 15 years ago.’’ So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.
1.What is the meaning of the underlined word ‘limbs’ in Paragraph 3?
A. fingers and toes B. hands and feet C. arms and legs D. wrists and knees
2.At the 24th Boston Marathon, Dick and Rick ________.
A. reached the finish line within 160 minutes B. nearly broke the world record
C. did better than 5082 athletes D. completed the journey 35 minutes ahead of time
3.What changed Rick’s life?
A. Rick’s love for his father. B. Rick’s joining in the charity run with his father.
C. A computer enabling Rick to communicate. D. Rick’s strong will and perseverance.
4. What do we learn from the last two paragraphs?
A. Dick was considered as the Father of the Century by the public.
B. Rick made his father so well-known that the doctors treated him well.
C. Dick got into great shape by assisting his son in marathons and triathlons.
D. Rick saved his father when he had a heart attack in a race two years ago.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
阅读下面文章，根据语篇内容，用恰当的词完成题后表格中所缺单词。(每格限填一词)
Hey! It's going to be Mother's day again. Have you planned something good for your Mama? If not, try even one of these tips.
Make Your Mama Proud
What special talents do you have? Maybe this is the right time to show it to her. She would be very proud and surprised if she'd realized that you have something that she doesn't expect.
What's Her Favorite?
Most teens don't know what their mama's favorite. You do? Then, what are you waiting for ? Buy her some of her favorite stuff and put a little twist on it. Make it more special.The best time to give her that is while she is sleeping at night. Put it on the drawer next to her so that when she wakes up she'll be surprised to see it. And, maybe, a little tear may fall down from her cheeks.
The Memories
Our mothers have special memories in mind. Those are the times that they gave birth to their healthy baby. How about you? What's your best moment with her? Maybe you can tell her about the time she got mad at you because you did something that you thought is right but since that day forward you realized your mistakes. Or, you can tell her how happy you are when she was there during your painful days in your life.
Be Her
What does she look like if she is so exhausted and angry and tired? What does she do for your family? This is the right time to show her the things that she usually does at home. Try to imitate her voice when she is angry. Make your face as if you are her when she is mad.
Treat a Queen
Your house is a palace with a king and queen (it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor). Our mother is the real queen in our life and in our family though her duties make her look like she is not. Give the lady a day off by being a servant to her.
Make-Over Beauty
Because of stress and the problems that she is facing right now, especially in the family, she doesn't look great any more. Admit it! Most mothers are not into trends anymore because their focusing on us.
Perhaps you could take some of your savings to treat her in a salon or the department store. Then, choose nice clothes that would make her look GLAMOROUS!
Have Some of Your Time
It's the cheapest but a meaningful way. Most of us are busy from our work, friends, boy/girl friends, school. We stay home late and after several hours, we go out again.
Have you ever had a meaningful time with your mother where you don't think or talk about problems and arguments? Have you ever told her how much you thank her from the life she gave to you, the time she took care of you, and for every suffering she'd felt for you? Have you ever told her that you love her?
Life is short. We don't know what will happen tomorrow nor today. Those three words can make her heart jump for joy, you know? Just tell her “I love you!” and it would make her smile so sweetly. Just try! We don't want to miss a thing, right?
Tips on 71 _________ to make mother happy
Tell your mother your best 77 ______ with her. For example, tell her you were so happy when she 78 ________ care of you during painful days. Imitate her when she is tired or angry and all that she does for the family.
Show your mother your special talents so that she would take 74________in you. Buy her something that she likes best and put it on a drawer next to her to 75 _______ her. Maybe she would be moved to
76 _________.
Have some of your time.
Have a meaningful time with your mother and don’t think or talk about any problems or
80_________. Tell her that you love her.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
“Shmily” was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my grandmother even opened an entire roll of toilet paper to leave “shmily” on the very last sheet. Little notes with “shmily” scribbled (潦草地写) hurriedly were found on dashboards (仪表板) and car seats, or taped to steering wheels.
Most teens don't know what their mama's favorite. You do? Then, what are you waiting for ? Buy her some of her favorite stuff and put a little twist on it. Make it more special.
