One cold day in winter, my wife and I were walking back home from the grocery store as usual when we suddenly decided to walk into a coffee shop.
My wife ordered a coffee at the counter. Just then, I saw a young woman in her thirties helping with a rather weak Mexican woman into the shop. Maybe it was the gentleness of their difficult experiences or an unclear familiarity (熟悉) with the situation that drew my full attention. I immediately had a strong wish to do something for them. Unfortunately, before I could think of anything reasonable to say, they left the coffee shop without ordering anything!
When my wife returned, I told her about the two women and said, “I missed the chance to do something for them.” Strangely enough, though, they came back into the same coffee shop five minutes later. Unbelievable! “This is my chance,” I thought out loud as my wife shared some creative possibilities. The two women ordered, took their place card and left the counter.
After quickly finishing our coffee, we walked up to the counter and asked the smiling cashier (出纳员), “What is your most popular dessert (甜点)?” Chocolate Cake,” she answered. With a childlike feeling of happiness, my wife made an unusual order. “Can I buy a chocolate cake for the two women who were here just before us? But don’t tell them it is from us. Just give them this card,” she said while taking out a smile card. The cashier couldn’t believe it. “ Do you do this all the time?” she asked. “ Not all the time, but just whenever the heart calls for it,” I answered with a natural smile.
We, my wife and I, are people of middle income (收入). That night, we had planned to have our once-in-a-while dinner at a restaurant. But walking out of that coffee shop, both of us stood upright and said, “Let’s eat at home today.” It’s more filling (能填饱肚子的) to give a chocolate cake than to eat it.
1.How did the author feel when he first saw the two women?
A. Proud. B. Frightened.
C. Interested. D. Upset.
2.The author missed the first chance to help the two women because__________.
A. they refused to receive the author’s help
B. the author didn’t bring too much money
C. the author’s wife took away his wallet
D. they left the coffee shop immediately
3.What did the author’s wife do for the two women?
A. She shared some good ideas.
B. She ordered a cake for them.
C. She made a usual order for them.
D. She bought them a smile card.
4.Why did the author and his wife decide to eat at home?
A. They had no money left.
B. They had drunk enough coffee.
C. They were full of happiness from giving.
D. They wanted to go home to take a rest earlier.
As a funny student, Brian loved watching comedies (喜剧) best and hoped to become a comedy actor one day. When he heard about the talent show (才艺展示) to be held at this school, Brian decided to take part in it.
He had never acted in public before, and he was very excited. But some students laughed at him. “You are not funny but silly,” Ken, one of his classmates, said to his face. “No one will like what you do,” another boy also said to him, loudly.
Brian couldn’t understand why they were so unkind to him. For a moment, he thought about giving up the show. But he remembered how much his friends liked his jokes, and also his teachers said he was very funny. So he decided to prepare for the show.
Brian did a great job at the talent show. Everyone loved his performance (表演), and he won the first prize! His teachers and friends were proud of him. Even so, Ken told Brian that he was not funny, and that he would never be successful. Brian didn’t understand why Ken said so, but he realized that it had nothing to do with him. He confidently continued to work towards his dream.
As the years went on, Brian met more people like Ken. “You’ll do a terrible job,” they said to him. Luckily, most people encouraged him and some helped him to become even funnier. He got a lot of chances to perform in movies. He was even invited to appear on television. His fans thanked him because his comedies made them feel good when they were unhappy.
Now Brian is a big comedy star! He is doing what he loves best. He never feels worried like those unkind people, and he laughs all day long!
1. What was Brian’s wish as a student?
A. To be a comedy actor.
B. To go to a famous university.
C. To take part in a talent show.
D. To make more new friends.
2. What did Brian do after winning the first prize?
A. He began to understand Ken.
B. He became a teacher of acting.
C. He encouraged others to join him.
D. He went on working hard.
3. Brian’s fans thanked him because his comedies brought them__________.
A. success B. pleasure C. luck D. pride
It was late one evening. I can’t remember what it was about, but my dad and I had a very big argument (争吵) when my mom was away. We both said things we didn’t mean, and in the end I said, “I’m leaving.” And he said, “Good. The sooner, the better.”
I threw a few things in a suitcase and closed the door angrily behind me, not knowing where I was going. After walking aimlessly for about 20 minutes, I stopped at a local supermarket. Then my phone rang. It was my mom calling. She said, “Hey, Mary. Where are you? Dad is worried about you.”
“How can he worry about me? I’ve been away for nearly half an hour, but he didn’t call,” I said with annoyance (烦恼). My anger returned and I remembered all the hateful things he’d shouted to me. “Listen, Mom. You can tell Dad that I’m fine. I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said and hung up.
I walked around the store, trying to get my thoughts together. By the time I paid for my purchases, it had been much later than I used to be out alone. When I left the supermarket, a large piece of white paper was in front of me. On the piece of white paper were these words: “Please come home! I miss you and I’m worried about you!”
Then a car pulled up beside me. Hanging out of the window was my dad. Beside him, smiling gently, sat my mom. And that’s when I started laughing. I laughed so hard that I cried. Despite (尽管) my best efforts to run away from home, my father finally managed to track me down. I couldn’t leave now, not with him sitting there with caring eyes.
1.Hearing Mary decided to leave home, Mary’s father was very__________.
A. worried B. angry
C. nervous D. surprised
2.After her mother called her, Mary__________.
A. became angrier than before
B. gave in to her father
C. cried and calmed down
D. agreed to go home
3. What does the underlined word “purchases” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A. actions Mary regretted B. goods Mary bought
C. telephone calls Mary made D. lessons Mary learned
4. What probably happened at the end of the story?
A. Mary returned home happily.
B. Mary still refused to go home.
C. Mary’s father became angry again.
D. Mary’s mother hated her father.
The worst tourist (旅行者) in the world may be Nicholas Scottie of San Francisco. Once he flew from the US. to his hometown in Italy. He had some troubles on his journey. The night before, he stayed up late to deal with some emails, so when he boarded on the plane he decided to have a sleep. Hours later, he was woken up by some noise and he found the plane had landed.
As he thought he had arrived home, Mr. Scottie got off the plane . He thought he was in Rome. However, the truth was that the plane made a one-hour stop to get oil at Kennedy Airport of New York.
Mr. Scottie waited at the airport for some while, but nobody was there to meet him, he thought maybe they were held up by heavy traffic which was very common in Rome. He decided to give his family a phone call. Unfortunately, he found he had left his cellphone at the hotel in San Francisco. Therefore, he decided to go home by himself. While he was walking in the city, Mr. Scottie found that the old “Rome” had changed a lot. Many old buildings were replaced by high modern ones. He also found that many people spoke English instead of Italian and that many street signs were written in English. What made him most surprised was that drivers’ awareness of traffic safety was improved and he hardly found any driver speeding on the road. All cars were driving in line. The condition was widely different from that in the past. He was feeling proud.
Mr. Scotti knew very little English, so he asked a policeman (in Italian) the way to the bus station . He happened to meet a policeman who was also born in Italy and answered him in the same language. Mr. Scotti thanked him, left, quickly found the bus station and got on a bus. He looked outside of the bus window.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1 ：
After twelve hours' travelling round on a bus, Mr. Scotti thought to himself that Rome had changed so much that he even failed to find his home
Paragraph 2 ：
To get him on a plane back to San Francisco, he was sent to the airport in a police car with sirens (警报) on.
你校正在进行“英语论坛周”活动，请以“To Be a Popular Student”为题，就以下三方面提出要成为一名受欢迎学生应具备的素质，用英语写一篇100~120词的短文参加该主题的讨论。
1. 对待集体；
2. 对待他人；
3. 对待自己。
注意：短文的开头已给出（不计词数）。
To Be a Popular Student
To Be a Popular Student, we should be equipped with the following qualities. _______________________________________________________________________________
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Once a circle missed a wedge（楔子）. The circle wanted to be 1. , so it went around looking for its missing piece. It was uncompleted and therefore could roll only very slowly. While rolling, it admired the flowers along the way, 2. (chat) with worms and enjoyed the sunshine.
One day the circle found a piece that 3. perfectly. It was so happy. Now it could be whole with nothing missing. It fixed the missing piece in itself and began to 4. . Now that it was a perfect circle, it could roll very fast, too fast to notice the flowers or talk to 5. . When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly, it 6. and left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away.
The lesson of the story, I suggested, was that in some strange 7. we are whole when we are missing something. The man who has everything is in some way a poor man. He will never know what it feels like to desire, to hope, to nourish his soul 8. the dream of something better.
When we accept that imperfection is part of human being, and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it, we will have achieved a wholeness that others can 9. wish to.
If we are brave enough to love, strong enough to forgive, generous enough to share in another’s happiness, and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all, then we can achieve a fullness that 10. other living creature will ever know.
