When my father was dying, I traveled a thousand miles from home to be with him in his last days. It was far more heartbreaking than I’d expected, one of the most difficult and painful times in my life. After he passed away I stayed alone in his apartment. There were so many things to deal with. It all seemed endless. I was lonely. I hated the silence of the apartment.
But one evening the silence was broken: I heard crying outside. I opened the door to find a little cat on the steps. He was thin and poor. He looked the way I felt. I brought him inside and gave him a can of fish. He ate it and then almost immediately fell sound asleep.
The next morning I checked with neighbors and learned that the cat had been abandoned by his owner who’s moved out. So the little cat was there all alone, just like I was. As I walked back to the apartment, I tried to figure out what to do with him. Having something else to take care of seemed like the very last thing I needed. But as soon as I opened the apartment door he came running and jumped into my arms. It was clear from that moment that he had no intention of going anywhere. I started calling him Willis, in honor of my father’s best friend.
From then on, things grew easier. With Willis in my lap time seemed to pass much more quickly. When the time finally came for me to return home I had to decide what to do about Willis. There was absolutely no way I would leave without him.
It’s now been five years since my father died. Over the years, several people have commented on how nice it was of me to rescue the cat. But I know that we rescued each other. I may have given him a home but he gave me something greater.
小题1: When the author first saw the cat, she_____________.| A．was very happy | B．felt sympathy for him | | C．didn’t know what to do | D．was angry with his crying |
小题2: The underlined sentence in the third paragraph implies that the author___________.| A．needed something to fill the empty apartment | | B．was too busy and tired to keep a cat | | C．loved to stay alone in the apartment | | D．needed something to take care of to kill time |
小题3: The cat rescued the author by ____________.| A．making her feel better in her hard times | | B．giving her courage to go on with her life | | C．helping her tidy the department | | D．telling her what life is |
小题4: We can learn form the passage that _________.| A．Willis was named after his previous owner | | B．Willis didn’t like staying in the apartment | | C．the author and Willis were both homeless | | D．time passed quickly after the author adopted Willis |
小题5: What’s the best title for the passage?| A．A little cat | B．A painful experience | | C．How to take care of animals | D．What I got from a little cat |
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小题1:B
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:D
小题5:D |
小题1: 根据I opened the door to find a little cat on the steps. He was thin and poor. 他又瘦又可怜，可知选B.
小题2:根据I tried to figure out what to do with him.可知我并不是想收养这只猫，故选B。
小题3:根据From then on, things grew easier. With Willis in my lap time seemed to pass much more quickly. When the time finally came for me to return home I had to decide what to do about Willis. There was absolutely no way I would leave without him.这段描述可知这只猫让作者在那段艰难的日子里感到不再孤单，故选A，让他感觉好点。
小题4:根据From then on, things grew easier. With Willis in my lap time seemed to pass much more quickly.可知选D。
小题5:本文中作者正处于孤独悲伤地时候，自从救了这只猫以后，作者快速的忘记悲伤，重新面对生活。所以选D，最符合短文中心。 |
核心考点
试题【When my father was dying, I traveled a thousand miles from home to be with him i】；主要考察你对
题材分类等知识点的理解。
[详细]举一反三
Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity(默默无闻).
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not—kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的) stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,” writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson. “The focus is firmly on following your dream.”
小题1:The first paragraph is mainly to ____________.| A．build interest and lead us to Mary’s secret dream | | B．remind us why Cinderella is popular all the years | | C．inform us of the main topic of the whole passage | | D．tell us how interesting the fairy tale Cinderella is |
小题2:In the movie, Mary Santiago is the main character who _____________. | A．is brave in expressing her love | | B．is attended badly by the stepmother | | C．has a dream of meeting a prince | | D．is embarrassed by the pop singer |
小题3: What can we infer from the passage?| A．Joey is just like other boys in Mary’s class. | | B．Mary’s mother influences her a lot in singing. | | C．Not many people have a dream to be realized. | | D．The MP3 player helps Joey in finding Mary. |
小题4:The passage is mainly about ___________.| A．an introduction to a film | | B．a review about a film | | C．an essay about dreams | | D．an advertisement of Cinderella |
小题5:According to the passage, Another Cinderella Story ________. | A．follows Cinderella with nothing new | | B．pays more attention to the looks of the actors | | C．encourages young people to follow their dreams | | D．focuses more on materialism than other films |
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A trip to the bookstore with my granddaughter is always a big event. She __36__ in it for hours, touching the books, running her hands over the covers, looking at a few ___37___ here and looking at a few pages there.
I never ___38__ the full importance my five-year-old Grand Angel placed on these trips, until the day I suggested she pick the book she liked best, __39____ we could go home for dinner. Her response（答复） was __40___.
“But Grammy, I ___41___ them all the best. All the covers are be-yoo-tiful and all the pictures are bee-yoo-tiful and they’re all __42___. Just like people. Remember when you told me about people?”
I most certainly __43___ when I told her about people. I had explained that we are all __44___ in our own different way. Each of us has a story to ___45___ and no two stories are similar. We learn by ____46__ our stories and listening to the stories of others. Difference is the thing that makes each and every one of us __47___. I had no idea that she’d connected the lesson with ___48___. Actually, no one book was ___49___ than any other book. They were equally beautiful and equally special(特别的).
With dinner still ___50___ and our stomachs beginning to make noise, ___51___ time was finally at hand. But how to choose? I suddenly ___52___ the right question when I asked, “Which book wants to go home the most with you today?” After a short moment of ___53___, her eyes lit up. She ran to a specific book and ___54___ it from its place on the shelf. The main __55____ was the picture on the cover, a turtle with sad eyes. “We need to find out why the turtle is sad,” she said.
| 小题1: | | A．reason | B．act | C．question | D．problem |
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In 1971, a young man who grew up very poor was travelling across the country, trying to make a new __36__ for himself. Along the way, he had __37__ run out of money and was forced to spend the night in his car. This 38 until one morning, after a week of sleeping in his car, he walked 39 into a restaurant and ordered a big breakfast.
After eating his first good meal in 40 , he found himself 41 to the waiter, telling him he had lost his 42 . The waiter, who was also the owner, walked 43 the chair where the young man had been sitting. He bent down, 44 a $20 bill that looked 45 it had fallen on the floor and said, “Son, you must have 46 this,” the owner said. The young man couldn’t believe his 47 ! He quickly paid for the breakfast, left a 48 , bought gas with the change, and headed West.
On the way out of town, he began to understand 49 the fellow did. Maybe nobody dropped the money 50 . “Maybe that fellow just knew I was 51 and he helped me in a way that didn’t __52__ me.” Right then he made a promise to help others if he could.
Later, he worked very hard and became a rich man. Now, he lives near Kansas City. Each year he 53 thousands of dollars. He is known as the “Secret Santa” because at 54 time each year, he personally hands money out to those on the streets and at hospitals. “I’ve lived the story, so I know it certainly more blessed（带来快乐的） to give than to ___55__, because it comes back to you many many times over,” he says. “It restores some faith in humanity.”
| 小题1: | | A．conclusion | B．impression | C．start | D．surprise |
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| 小题2: | | A．unexpectedly | B．completely | C．strangely | D．necessarily |
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| 小题3: | | A．continued | B．began | C．spread | D．struggled |
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| 小题4: | | A．hopefully | B．nervously | C．carelessly | D．excitedly |
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| 小题5: | | A．hours | B．weeks | C．years | D．months |
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| 小题6: | | A．turning | B．lying | C．smiling | D．joking |
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| 小题8: | | A．behind | B．near | C．before | D．under |
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| 小题9: | | A．took out | B．picked out | C．took up | D．picked up |
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| 小题10: | | A．even if | B．as if | C．as well | D．even so |
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| 小题11: | | A．placed | B．put | C．dropped | D．removed |
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| 小题12: | | A．luck | B．word | C．promise | D．action |
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| 小题13: | | A．message | B．note | C．mark | D．tip |
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小题14:A. what B how C. where D. that
| 小题15: | | A．after all | B．above all | C．in all | D．at all |
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| 小题16: | | A．in danger | B．in pain | C．in trouble | D．in charge |
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| 小题17: | | A．astonish | B．embarrass | C．interest | D．discourage |
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| 小题18: | | A．gives up | B．sends out | C．puts away | D．gives away |
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| 小题19: | | A．breakfast | B．Christmas | C．church | D．New Year |
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| 小题20: | | A．steal | B．provide | C．receive | D．rob |
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No one in the United States could forget the sorrowful story, April 14th, 1865 36 Abraham Lincoln was murdered.
The night after a very busy 37 , the President and his wife went to Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C where a new play was to be put on.
Near the theatre 38 a 25-year-old unsuccessful actor named John Wilkes Booth, who was strongly against the North though he hadn’t fought 39 the South himself. As the play 40 after a moment of rest, Booth came into the theatre. He walked slowly and quietly 41 the door through which he could see the President’s 42. He looked 43 carefully so as to find the guards 44 task was to protect the President from the enemy. To his joy, there was none of 45 and nobody noticed him. He reached the door quickly and began to get hold of the gun 46 in his pocket.
It was quiet in the theatre and everyone 47 his eyes on the stage. Suddenly a terrible sound of 48 broke in on the play. It surprised everyone and soon they looked 49 where the sound had just come .Smoke was seen coming out of the President’s box, where the 50 had enjoyed the play. Right away the theatre was full of shouting and excited people. Soldiers hurried in to _51 the building, but it was too 52 ! The murderer had already 53 from the box onto the stage, from which then he hurriedly ran out of the theatre and soon disappeared in the 54_.
The news came that Lincoln, whom the people had 55 to love as an inspiring leader and a wise, warm-hearted, honest man, was short in the chest and died early the next morning.
| 小题3: | | A．lived | B．stayed | C．stood | D．worked |
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| 小题4: | | A．against | B．with | C．for | D．under |
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| 小题5: | | A．stopped | B．started | C．lasted | D．ended |
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| 小题6: | | A．towards | B．into | C．up | D．over |
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| 小题8: | | A．around | B．behind | C．back | D．forward |
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| 小题9: | | A．which | B．whose | C．that | D．their |
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| 小题10: | | A．guards | B．them | C．people | D．soldiers |
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| 小题11: | | A．hidden | B．put | C．kept | D．lain |
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| 小题12: | | A．put | B．fixed | C．made | D．fastened |
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| 小题15: | | A．wife | B．guard | C．Lincolns | D．President |
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| 小题16: | | A．search | B．enclose | C．search for | D．looked at |
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| 小题17: | | A．noisy | B．dark | C．late | D．smoky |
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| 小题18: | | A．went | B．rushed | C．run | D．jumped |
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| 小题19: | | A．building | B．dark | C．crowds | D．country |
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| 小题20: | | A．wanted | B．gone | C．come | D．meant |
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Ellen and Bill County are both teachers. They met in college an d became good friends because of their shared love for children. Two years after the couple got married, Ellen saw a huge change in the life of one of her students, a 9-year-old girl. Three years ago both of the little girl’s parents had died and there was no one to take care of her. She was taken away to live in a government office. But finally she was taken in and adopted by a family and became their daughter. Ellen said that she noticed the difference in the child’s life after she was placed in a permanent home and thought that maybe she and her husband could help a child in a similar way.
They decided to become temporary parents and to take a child into their home on the weekends when the real parents could not take care of him or her. The pair planned to have their own children in a few years, but decided that this would be a way to give to the community in the meantime.
The couple quickly grew to love one of the children they looked after. When he became legally available, Billy became the first child they took in permanently. Six months after adopting Billy, Ellen was told by her doctor that she was unable to have children naturally. Ellen says she knew then that adoption was the way she was meant to have a family.
Since adopting Billy, now 17, Ellen and Bill have adopted five more children --- Rose,16； Albert, 11; Joshua, 5 and in June 2003, they added biological brother and sister Tyler and Rylee to the County family.
The County family has been recognized for their work on adoption, and have received many awards for their efforts. Last June, the family was even interviewed on the television show, “Adoptio n Stories”.
Ellen says she would like to encourage other families to adopt children. She adds that the best part of being a mother of six is: “Giving Josh a bath, putting a band-aid on a cut knee or just the everyday mom things, that makes motherhood such an honor and a privilege.”
小题1:What is the passage mainly about?| A．How a couple first met at college | B．Where you can adopt a child | | C．The benefits of adoption to the community | D．How adoption created a happy family |
小题2:Why did Ellen and Bill first decide to adopt a childe?| A．Because they had always loved children very much | | B．Because they saw the benefits of adoption for a child | | C．Because they were not able to have children of their own | | D．Because they wanted to receive awards for their community work |
小题3:Which of the children are related to each other by blood?| A．Rylee and Tyler | B．Billy and Tyler | | C．Albert and Joshua | D．Rose and Albert |
小题4:What can be inferred from this passage?| A．Ellen had thought of adopting a child before getting married. | | B．Only kids under 16 can be adopted by a family | | C．A loving family is important to a child’s happiness | | D．Adopting a child always makes the family become famous |
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