It was the middle of the day on a bright sunny Saturday, and Jay and his friends Mike and Tony were riding their dirt bikes on one of their favorite off-road trails. The trail twisted and turned through some incredible small woods. Occasionally they would stop to climb a tree and find a comfortable branch to sit on so they could take a break from riding in the heat.
On this particular day, the three kids were settled in one of their preferred trees when Jay spotted something shiny on the ground. “What could that be?” he asked Mike and Tony as he pointed out the object reflecting the sun.
They all hopped down from their individual branches and went to take a closer look. What they found was unbelievable. It was a gold money clip ( 夹子) holding five hundred dollars.
Mike immediately cried out, “Awesome! We can split up the money, and we will each be much closer to being able to buy the new bikes we want.”
“Not so fast,” said Tony. “Jay was the one who spotted the cash. To be fair, he should get more.”
“Are you guys crazy?” asked Jay. “We can’t keep the money. It isn’t ours. Aren’t we more mature than to play finders keepers like we did when we were kids?”
“Stop being such an advocate for honesty,” complained Mike and Tony.
“Let’s all go home and think about this,” said Jay, knowing that he could have made the call because he was the one who spotted the money clip in the first place.
Mike and Tony agreed to Jay’s suggestion. Jay kept the money and they all rode their bikes home. They decided to meet up after dinner at the head of the off-road trail.
Mike and Tony lived on the same street so they rode home most of the way together. They were able to talk a bit more without Jay’s input. The more they talked, the more they came to see Jay’s point.
A.followed | B.followed by | C.being following | D.following |
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
The Power of Silence
Joe was an old man aged 75. He lived happily in a beautiful family. His children grew up and moved to different cities in pursue of good career and future. He lived in a small village carrying the memories of his deceased wife.
Joe had four grandchildren. They used to visit him during their holidays. It was now their vacation time and Joe was eagerly waiting for their arrival. He prepared his home for the kids, cleaning the house, mowing the garden, and buying their favourite foods and dresses.
In the busy arrangements, he lost his watch. The watch was gifted by his dead wife when their first child was born. Joe treasured the watch. After his wife’s death, it became his sole companion with its ‘tick, tick’ sound throughout the silent night.
He was happy with the kids at home. He forgot the watch missing. It was only the next day when he was about to take bath, he remembered the watch was lost. He saw it last when he was arranging things in the barn.
He was very upset. His grandchildren asked him why he was so dull and what troubled him. Joe said, “Dear children! I lost the most precious watch I have ever had and ever got in my life. It was a gift from your grandma. I lost it while cleaning the house! I feel like I’m missing my heart.” The children tried to comfort him. One granddaughter asked, “Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last time before it was missing?”
Joe said, “I guess when I was cleaning the barn!”
The children rushed to the barn to search for the watch. The barn was full of waste materials. They searched for more than two hours with the help of Joe, but could not find it. Joe was completely lost, and he asked the children to stop searching.
A.had followed | B.should follow |
C.was to follow | D.followed |
A.that, where | B.where, which | C.which, where | D.where, that |
I needed to do something in my community (社区) in order to complete the community service hours required to graduate from high school. Some of my friends had signed up to spend time at a soup kitchen, so I did, too. It seemed like a good thing to do.
I thought that we would just be passing out dinners to those in need, but I found out we would be doing everything from preparing to serving the dinner. We began preparing the food, from mixing salad dressing to separating frozen meat. Much still needed to be done before dinner was served, but already outside the building many homeless people were gathering. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that we opened the doors and began serving dinner.
As the line of people came toward me, I got a little scared. I’d come face to face with the homeless: How should I act? How would they treat me? Would they hate me for having more than they did? While some of the people looked very friendly, some of them looked so dangerous. I didn’t have too much time to worry about it. I was assigned (分配) to serve the salad with the lady next to me. She smiled at me and said if I needed help, she’d be right there, which I found quite comforting.
I had never seen so many people wanting food. They were of all ages and nationalities. Most of them wore clothes that were torn and dirty. Some looked like they had tally given up on life, while others seemed to be making the best of the situation, smiling and joking. Some were better off than others, but they all needed a good meal and a warm place to eat. It saddened me to think of how many people there were who didn’t have a place to call home and the only food they got came from a soup kitchen.
As they came in my direction, I put on my brightest and happiest smile.
I was so happy that I had earned my service hours in this way.
Stop Asian Hate
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A.inquires | B.requires | C.receives | D.inspires |
A.difficult | B.easy | C.possible | D.necessary |
A.copy | B.focus | C.find | D.clean |
A.however | B.moreover | C.because | D.nevertheless |
A.disturb | B.seem | C.occur | D.disappear |
A.solution | B.approach | C.problem | D.wonder |
A.official | B.annual | C.objective | D.alternative |
A.predicted | B.presented | C.postponed | D.preferred |
A.available | B.outstanding | C.attractive | D.evident |
A.by means of | B.moreover | C.in spite of | D.however |
A.focus | B.analysis | C.object | D.target |
A.describe | B.grasp | C.link | D.force |
A.conclusions | B.appointments | C.aspects | D.contents |
A.react | B.establish | C.memorize | D.leave |
A.enhanced | B.invented | C.contrasted | D.behaved |