The Brown Bear
My wife Laura and I were on the beach, with three of our children, taking pictures of shore birds near our home in Alaska when we spotted a bear. The bear was thin and small, moving aimlessly.
Just a few minutes later, I heard my daughter shouting, “Dad! The bear is right behind us!” An agreesive bear will usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy but would suddenly stop at the last minute. This one was silent and its ears pinned back---- the sign (迹象) of an animal that is going in for the kill. And it was a cold April day. The bear behaved abnormally, probably because of hunger.
I held my camera tripod (三脚架) in both hands to form a barrier as the bear rushed into me. Its huge head was level with my chest and shoulders, and the tripod stuck across its mouth. It bit down and I found myself supporting its weight. I knew I would not be able to hold it for long.
Even so, this was a fight I had to win: I was all that stood between the bear and my family, who would stand little chance of running faster than a brown bear.
The bear hit at the camera, cutting it off the tripod. I raised my left arm to protect my face; the beast held tightly on the tripod and pressed it into my side. My arm could not move, and I sensed that my bones were going to break.
Drawing back my free hand, I struck the bear as hard as I could for five to six times. The bear opened its mouth and I grasped its fur, trying to push it away. I was actually wrestling (扭打) with the bear at this point. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended. The bear moved back toward the forest, before returning for another attack----- The first time I felf panic.
Apparently satisfied that we caused no further threat, the bear moved off, destroying a fence as it went. My arm was injured, but the outcome for us could hardly have been better. I’m proud that my family reminded clear-headed when panic could have led to a very different outcome.
小题1:The brown bear approached the family in order to _______.| A．catch shore birds | B．start an attack | | C．protect the children | D．set up a barrier for itself |
小题2:The bear finally went away after it _______.| A．felt safe | B．got injured | | C．found some food | D．took away the camera |
小题3:The writer and his family survived mainly due to their ______ .| A．pride | B．patience | | C．calmness | D．cautiousness |
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小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:C |
【文章大意】本篇是一篇故事，介绍的是我和全家人在海滩上拍照时突遇一头棕熊的遭遇。作者和熊进行了搏斗，最后棕熊感觉他们没有威胁时，返回了森林。
小题1:B 考查细节阅读。A项为无效信息，因为文中没有提到棕熊捕杀鸟类的事情；B项是由“An aggressive bear will usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy”推测而来，因此是正确答案；C项为错误答案，棕熊袭击了他们，而不是来保护作者的孩子们；D项是倒置了文中的内容，文中提到作者提起照相机的三脚架作为保护自己和孩子的屏障，而不是棕熊建立屏障。
小题2:A 考查细节理解。根据文章最后一段中“Apparently satisfied that we caused no further threat”可知，棕熊是因为没了威胁才走的，也就是感到了安全。B、C、D选项都是文中没有提到的信息，为无效信息。
小题3:C 考查细节推理。根据文章最后一段内容“I’m proud that my family reminded clear-headed when panic could have led to a very different outcome”可知，他们全家保持了头脑清晰（clear-headed），如不如此，可能结果迥异了。所以，他们全家无虞全仰仗他们的冷静（calmness）。D. cautiousness小心，谨慎，与文章内容不合。 |
核心考点
试题【The Brown Bear My wife Laura and I were on the beach, with three of our children】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
From my second grade on, there was one event I feared every year: the piano recital(独奏演唱会). A recital _____I had to practice a boring piece of music and perform before strangers. Each year I _____ask my father if I could skip the recital “just this once”. And each year he would shake his head, muttering(嘀咕) _________about build self-confidence and working toward a ________.
So it was with really great______that I stood in church one recent Sunday, video camera in hand, and ______my 68-year-old father sweating in his shirt ______rising to play the piano in his very first recital.
My father had longed to play music since childhood, but his family was poor and couldn’t _________lessons. He could have gone on regretting it, _______too many of us do. But though he was rooted in his past, he wasn’t ________there. When he retired three years ago, he _____ his church music director to take him as a student.
For a moment after my father sat down at the keyboard, he ______stared down at his fingers. Has he forgotten the ______? I worried, remembering those split seconds______ago when my mind would go blank and my fingers would _______. But then came the beautiful melody(旋律)，from the _____fingers that once baited(装饵于) my fishing lines. And I______he had been doing what music teachers always stress:___ _____the music and pretend the others aren’t there.
“I’m ________of him for starting something new at his age,” I said to my son Jeff.
“Yeah, and doing it so______,” Jeff added.
With his first recital, my father taught me more about courage and determination than all the words he used those 30-plus years ago.
| 小题1: | | A．reflected | B．explained | C．meant | D．proved |
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| 小题2: | | A．would | B．could | C．might | D．should |
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| 小题3: | | A．nothing | B．everything | C．anything | D．something |
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| 小题4: | | A．goal | B．stage | C．journey | D．chance |
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| 小题5: | | A．trouble | B．satisfaction | C．strength | D．disappointment |
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| 小题6: | | A．kept | B．sent | C．watched | D．felt |
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| 小题7: | | A．through | B．from | C．against | D．before |
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| 小题8: | | A．miss | B．afford | C．select | D．understand |
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| 小题10: | | A．educated | B．protected | C．stuck | D．spoilt |
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| 小题11: | | A．allowed | B．invited | C．inspired | D．persuaded |
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| 小题12: | | A．roughly | B．simply | C．merrily | D．curiously |
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| 小题13: | | A．words | B．videos | C．notes | D．lessons |
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| 小题14: | | A．decades | B．weeks | C．hours | D．moments |
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| 小题15: | | A．play | B．freeze | C．click | D．adjust |
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| 小题16: | | A．same | B．warm | C．different | D．dirty |
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| 小题17: | | A．predicted | B．realized | C．imagined | D．insisted |
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| 小题18: | | A．pass over | B．turn up | C．bring in | D．concentrate on |
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| 小题19: | | A．ashamed | B．aware | C．tired | D．proud |
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| 小题20: | | A．casually | B．anxiously | C．nicely | D．frequently |
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It was Mother’s Day morning last year and I was doing my shopping at our local supermarket with my five-year-old son, Tenyson. As we were leaving, we found that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and had hit her head on the concrete. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock.
Walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very upset about what had happened to the couple. He said to me, “Mum, it’s not much fun falling over in front of everyone.”
At the front of the supermarket a charity(慈善) group had set up a stand selling cooked sausages and flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we should buy the lady a flower. “It will make her feel better,” he said. I was amazed that he’d come up with such a sweet idea. So we went over to the flower seller and asked her if we could buy a flower for the lady to cheer her up. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can’t take your money for such a wonderful gesture.”
By now paramedics（救援人员）had arrived, and were attending the injured woman. As we walked up to her, my son became intimidated by all the blood and medical equipment. He said he was just too scared to go up to her.
Instead I gave the flower to the woman’s husband and told him, “ My son was very upset for your wife and wanted to give her this flower to make her feel better.”
At that, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you so much, you have a wonderful son. Happy Mother’s Day to you.”
The man then bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Though badly hurt and shaken, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile.
小题1:What dose the author intend to tell us?| A．One can never be too careful. | | B．Actions speak louder than words. | | C．Love begins with a little smile. | | D．A small act of kindness brings a great joy. |
小题2:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?| A．The elderly woman was knocked down by Tenyson. | | B．Tenyson’s idea of buying a flower gained his father’s support. | | C．Tenyson’s care for the elderly woman puzzled the flower seller. | | D．The elderly woman was moved to tears by Tenyson’s gesture. |
小题3:The underlined word “intimidated” in the fourth paragraph probably means “___________”.| A．astonished | B．struck | C．frightened | D．excited |
小题4:What would be the best title for the passage?| A．Flower Power | | B．Mother’s Day | | C．An Accidental Injury | | D．An Embarrassing Moment |
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Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata（奏鸣曲）by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.
Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable .They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn’t even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.
Samuel can’t understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note,” says Samuel.
Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional pianists can’t play it. Samuel says confidently,” It’s all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.”
However, Samuel’s ability to remember things doesn’t stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.
Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.
小题1:What is special about Samuel Osmond? | A．He has a gift for writing music. | | B．He can write down the note he hears. | | C．He is a top student at the law school. | | D．He can play the musical piece he hears. |
小题2:What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Samuel chose law against the wish of his parents. | | B．Samuel planned to be a lawyer rather than a musician. | | C．Samuel thinks of himself as a man of great musical ability. | | D．Samuel studies law and music on the advice of his teachers. |
小题3:Everyone around Samuel was surprised because he _________.| A．received a good early education in music | | B．played the guitar and the piano perfectly | | C．could play the piano without reading music | | D．could play the guitar better than his father |
小题4:What can we infer about Samuel in Paragraph 4?| A．He became famous during a special event at his college. | | B．He is proud of his ability to remember things accurately. | | C．He plays the piano better than many professional pianists. | | D．He impressed the audience by playing all the musical pieces. |
小题5:Which of the following is the best title of the passage?| A．The Qualities of a Musician | | B．The Story of a Musical Talent | | C．The Importance of Early Education | | D．The Relationship between Memory and Music. |
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Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.
I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.
Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.
After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.
Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.
小题1:What do we know about the author? | A．His university education focused on the theoretical knowledge. | | B．His dream at university was to become a volunteer. | | C．He took pride in having contributed to the world. | | D．He felt honored to study English literature. |
小题2:According to the Paragraph 2, it is most likely that the author | A．discussed his decision with his family. | | B．asked previous volunteers about voluntary work | | C．attended special training to perform difficult tasks | | D．felt sad about having to leave his family and friends |
小题3:In his application for the volunteer job, the author | A．participated in many discussions | | B．went through challenging survival tests | | C．wrote quite a few paper on voluntary work | | D．faced strong competition from other candidates |
小题4:On arrival at the village, the author was | A．asked to lead a farming team | | B．sent to teach in a schoolhouse | | C．received warmly by local villagers | | D．arranged to live in a separate house. |
小题5:What can we infer from the author’s experiences in Nigeria? | A．He found some difficulty adapting to the local culture | | B．He had learned to communicate in the local language. | | C．He had overcome all his weaknesses before he left for home. | | D．He was chosen as the most respectable teacher by his students. |
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Joe Simpson and Simon Yates were the first people to climb the West Face of the Siula Grande in the Andes mountains. They reached the top _______, but on their way back conditions were very _______. Joe fell and broke his leg. They both knew that if Simon _______ alone, he would probably get back _______. But Simon decided to risk his _______ and try to lower Joe down the mountain on a rope（绳）.
As they _______ down, the weather got worse. Then another _______ occurred. They couldn’t see or hear each other and, _______, Simon lowered his friend over the edge of a precipice（峭壁）. It was _______ for Joe to climb back or for Simon to pull him up. Joe’s _______ was pulling Simon slowly towards the precipice. _______, after more than an hour in the dark and the icy cold, Simon had to _______. In tears, he cut the rope. Joe _______ into a large crevasse（裂缝）in the ice below. He had no food or water and he was in terrible pain. He couldn’t walk, but he _______ to get out of the crevasse and started to _______ towards their camp, nearly ten kilometers _______.
Simon had _______ the camp at the foot of the mountain. He thought that Joe must be _______, but he didn’t want to leave _______. Three days later, in the middle of the night, he heard Joe’s voice. He couldn’t _______ it. Joe was there, a few meters from their tent, still alive.
| 小题1: | | A．hurriedly | B．carefully | C．successfully | D．early |
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| 小题2: | | A．difficult | B．similar | C．special | D．normal |
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| 小题3: | | A．climbed | B．worked | C．rested | D．continued |
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| 小题4: | | A．unwillingly | B．safely | C．slowly | D．regretfully |
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| 小题5: | | A．fortune | B．time | C．health | D．life |
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| 小题6: | | A．lay | B．settled | C．went | D．looked |
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| 小题7: | | A．damage | B．storm | C．change | D．trouble |
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| 小题8: | | A．by mistake | B．by chance | C． | D． |
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| 小题9: | | A．unnecessary | B．practical | C．important | D．impossible |
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| 小题10: | | A．height | B．weight | C．strength | D．equipment |
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| 小题11: | | A．Finally | B．Patiently | C．Surely | D．Quickly |
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| 小题12: | | A．stand back | B．take a rest | C．make a decision | D．hold on |
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| 小题13: | | A．jumped | B．fell | C．escaped | D．backed |
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| 小题14: | | A．managed | B．planned | C．waited | D．hoped |
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| 小题15: | | A．run | B．skate | C．move | D．march |
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| 小题16: | | A．around | B．away | C．above | D．along |
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| 小题17: | | A．headed for | B．traveled to | C．left for | D．returned to |
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| 小题19: | | A．secretly | B．tiredly | C． immediately | D．anxiously |
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| 小题20: | | A．find | B．believe | C．make | D．accept |
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