Felicia Grimmenhag of Sweden doesn’t let anything get in her way — even a life-changing injury. After surviving a serious car accident, Felicia had to
Felicia was 17 when she was
Felicia has since taken part in competitions around the world, proving she doesn’t need
It’s true that when you want something, all you need is the
| A．give up | B．worry about | C．adjust to | D．speak of |
| A．forgetting | B．pursuing | C．losing | D．describing |
| A．pick up | B．searched for | C．sent away | D．knocked down |
| A．magically | B．immediately | C．logically | D．hopelessly |
| A．rang up | B．stood up | C．woke up | D．turned up |
| A．tough | B．additional | C．forbidden | D．acceptable |
| A．swum | B．skated | C．cycled | D．ridden |
| A．excuse | B．accident | C．mistake | D．conflict |
| A．technically | B．biologically | C．mentally | D．intellectually |
| A．disabled | B．frightened | C．disciplined | D．focused |
| A．cars | B．motorbikes | C．horses | D．legs |
| A．hesitates | B．fails | C．intends | D．pretends |
| A．suspect | B．challenge | C．evaluate | D．protect |
| A．preferences | B．schedules | C．principles | D．limits |
| A．pressure | B．desire | C．budget | D．responsibility |
The Healing Power of Humor
As a heart doctor, I have to deliver a lot of bad news. Humor is a wonderful tool. Not only can it help lift patients’ spirits up, but it actually helps them recover faster. There is tons of scientific evidence that patients who are depressed after heart operations have a higher death rate, and optimistic patients have significantly fewer wound infections.
It relaxes patients.
Medical operations usually make patients feel nervous. Some may sweat, have chest pain and feel unusually strong or irregular heartbeats.
People are scared of their bodies. Humor can crack through the ice and take the fear away. For example, I have to tell patients about the risk of cognitive impairment (认知损伤) after operations. They’re terrified, fearing the worst.
It eases worries.
After open-heart operation, a patient might say, “Doctor, my chest really hurts.” And I’ll smile and say, “Oh, does it feel like someone opened you up, cut the bone and operated in there?” That tells them the pain is normal and they are going to be fine. So they take their minds off their troubles and worry less.
It helps doctors.
| A．It calms fear. |
| B．It reduces risk. |
| C．So, recovering cognition is important. |
| D．However, humor can be a healing power. |
| E．Breaking bad news is never a pleasant task. |
| F．Others may even feel like they are choking. |
| G．Humor truly is the best medicine in many ways. |
Rich, heavy food is a major part of the end of the year holidays in the United States. People in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving on the third Thursday of November. People around the world celebrate Christmas on December 25. Both holidays involve (包含) traditions of cooking very large meals. The food at these meals usually has lots of sugar, salt, and butter in it. Turkey and pie are some of the most common foods in these holidays.
Terri Price has hosted a holiday party on the last Saturday before every Christmas for 30 years. It started when her children were very, very small. She has been preparing many of the dishes for most of the 30 years.
But over time, some traditions do change. The Neveldines are a family who hope to be healthier by changing what they eat. Mick Fury, the Neveldine’s oldest child, said this change is important during the holidays and the rest of the year, too.
Mick and his wife, Michelle, try to eat only organic food. Organic food is any plant or animal food product made without the use of unnatural chemicals or processes. But, Mick is not the only Neveldine who changed their diet. Felicia Neveldine, Mick’s sister, decided nine years ago to become a vegan. A vegan is a person who does not eat or use animal products of any kind.
Felicia became a vegan because of her concern for the treatment of animals and the environmental effects of animal farming. She said that her change in diet also improved her health.
Choosing these special diets means the Neveldines choose their foods carefully. Mick grows a garden behind his house where he gets fresh vegetables.
Holiday traditions may not change, but the way these traditions happen just might.
1．What does paragraph I mainly tell us?| A．The end-of-year holidays is vital. |
| B．Heavy food is rich in nutrition. |
| C．Cooking large meals is a tradition in USA. |
| D．Heavy food is popular in holidays for Americans. |
| A．They have turned healthier. | B．They have given up the tradition. |
| C．They have remained the same. | D．They have grown unhealthy. |
| A．sportsman. | B．vegetarian. | C．dieter. | D．volunteer. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Objective. | D．Unclear. |
Attention! We need to put a stop to parents doing harm to youth sports. It has gotten out of hand.
A recent study showed 26 million American children took part in non-school sports. By the age of 13, about 18.2 million quit.
No wonder kids are quitting. Many parents show no sportsmanship. They often shout happily at an injury if the injured player is on the other team. My brother Mario Widdowson got hit in the face during a soccer game. The parents from the other team were shouting gladly at his pain. All of the players were down on one knee waiting for Mario to get up, out of respect and it was the right thing to do. The kids did much better than these parents.
There are different types of parents. In the book “Parenting with Love and Logic” the authors describe two different types of parents. The first is helicopter parents, who don’t allow their kid to succeed or fail on their own. The other type is lawnmower parents, who clear anything in their child’s path to make life as easy as possible.
I have observed helicopter parents. When my brother was playing club soccer, one of his teammate’s parents shouted at their son. “Shoot the ball”. It was from about half field. He did it and the coach stopped him from playing and asked him to leave the field.
The parents are trying to coach their kids. The players on the field follow blindly and many mistakes happen. It’s not good for kids’ confidence. What is the purpose of youth sports anyway?
Problems happen in youth sports all over the United States. Parents need to behave themselves. Then the number of students who quit at the age of 13 will drop greatly.
1．What does the author want to show by using numbers in Paragraph 2?| A．American kids are sports lovers. |
| B．Parents can’t behave themselves. |
| C．Most kids give up sports half-way. |
| D．Non-school sports are popular among teens. |
| A．They lent a helping hand. | B．They cheered at his injury. |
| C．They waited for him to get up. | D．They kept shouting at their kids. |
| A．He made a mistake. |
| B．He missed his goal. |
| C．He turned to the coach again. |
| D．He didn’t want to go on with the sport. |
| A．Parents Should Respect Sports. | B．Non-school Sports Is Popular. |
| C．Encouragement Is Important for Kids. | D．Kids Need to Love Sports. |
At 8 years old, Danay Ferguson is the youngest business owner in Fresno, California, where the literacy (识字) rate is shockingly low when compared to the rest of the United States.
“I wanted to share my enthusiasm for reading with other kids, so I asked my daddy if I could open up my business,” Danay says, adding that her father, Dwayne Ferguson, asked her to prove she was serious about taking on such a major project. “He said I had to invite all of his friends on Facebook to the fan page he made for me,” she says. “It took me two days to invite my dad’s 4,000 friends to ‘like’ my page, one by one.”
With the help of her family and team of over 40 volunteers (mostly consisting of kids), Danay strengthened her literacy support in 2014 with her very own no-profit (非营利的) organization named Reading Heart. Danay has worked hard to raise awareness of her organization’s task by giving talks at schools, meeting with city officials and hosting board meetings.
“Her main line is ‘How about you get a book and read it and then share the book with somebody else, and do it again?’ instead of, ‘I give you a book and keep it,’ says Dwayne. “She’s starting a movement on ‘I will give everybody books, but you have to read and share them.’ And she’s trying to do this worldwide.”
And Danay also hopes to break the Guinness World Record for most books collected in a 24-hour period. Danay has a goal of beating the existing record (set at 274,325) with 500,000 donated books, which she is now making possible with a speaking tour that covers 130 schools encouraging kids to read. So far, Reading Heart has collected 90,000 books and given out over 20,000 books, having gifted used and new books to kids in schools, hospitals and in poor areas. “It is the most amazing thing to be a part of,” Dwayne tells us. “My wife and I have to remember that we are her parents because we have great respect for her.”
1．What is Reading Heart intended for?| A．Collect books. | B．Encourage reading. |
| C．Break world records. | D．Make friends. |
| A．To show its achievements and aims. | B．To explain why it is successful. |
| C．To voice Danays’s views on books. | D．To discuss its future. |
| A．Danay’s fan page on Facebook has few followers. | B．Reading Heart offers books to readers for a fee. |
| C．Danay has broken the Guinness World Record. | D．Danay’s parents gave her great support. |
| A．Outgoing and selfish. | B．Warm-hearted and traditional. |
| C．Smart and self-centered. | D．Strong-minded and tireless. |
Walk Through History
It’s no surprise to anyone who’s been to Charleston that it is among the best US cities to visit. “It can feel like you’re in a dream sometimes, like you’ve stepped back 200 years,” says Brian Sim ms, the owner of Charleston Sole Walking Tours. These are Sim ms’s must-sees.
“People don’t realize how much African culture is here.” says Sim ms. He recommends learning about the African-A merican heritage that shaped the city, region and country to fully understand Charleston.
Gullah Tours offers a two-hour bus tour for $ 18.www.gullahtours.com
A large public park and garden with walking paths and artifacts (人工制品)—all shaded by beautiful trees.
Middleton Placeis a historic plantation(种植园) with vivid exhibits and a working table. It provides an all-around view of what was going on with the history of the families that ran the plantation.
$ 28 / adult; $ 15 / student 14 and older; $ 10 / child 6-13; free / under age 6.www.middleton place.org
Marking the site where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, this historic place includes several sites around Charleston Harbor and an education center at Gadsden’s Wharf. The best time of yearto visitis spring—when the azaleas(杜鹃花) are flowering—or fall.
Admission is free； boat ride is $ 19.5 / adult, $ 12 / child. www.nps.gov/fosu
1．Where can you book a tour to learn about African A merica culture?| A．On www.nps.gov / fosu. | B．On www.gullahtours.com. |
| C．On www.charlestonsole.com. | D．On www. middletonplace.org. |
| A．Visit an education center. |
| B．Appreciate the beauty of azaleas. |
| C．Learn about the history of American families. |
| D．Learn about the operation of a historic plantations |
| A．$20. | B．$36. |
| C．$39. | D．$56. |
“No matter how hard we try, some things are just not meant to be,” Andrew thought bitterly. He looked down at the hospital bills in his hands and tears filled his eyes. His poor mom had been so ill, and here he was complaining and feeling sorry for himself! He should be praying for her recovery, not crying over a lost, childish dream.
Andrew was nineteen, and as far back as he could remember, he’d wanted to become a software engineer. That dream had become harder to reach after his dad died when Andrew was twelve. His mom had been left to raise him on her own, and it was hard to make ends meet. So Andrew started doing part-time jobs.
Every cent he earned he put away for college. When he was sixteen, he got himself a summer job at a local IT company, where his insight and intelligence caught the owner’s eye. Mr. Lewis, the CEO, made Andrew the assistant of his best and most innovative developer, and the boy thrived (不断成长) on the challenge. He couldn’t wait to go to college!
Unfortunately, when Andrew was in his senior year in high school, his mother became very ill. The usually energetic woman was constantly tired and in pain. She went from doctor to doctor, but no one knew exactly what was wrong with her. They sent her off to do dozens of expensive tests, then shook their heads over the results. Andrew’s mom started getting weaker and weaker, and thinner and thinner until she could barely walk.
Andrew added up the medical bills and was shocked. They owed over $23,000! Andrew pulled out his bank book. He had close to $30,000 in his savings account. He’d painstakingly (艰苦地) saved up for YEARS, so he’d be able to go to college, but his mom’s health was more important.
Best regards,
Li Hua
There are 43 Chinese items included on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage lists
In 2001, when Kunqu Opera
One of the
Like many traditional Chinese art forms, Kunqu Opera has faced competition from mass culture and a lack of interest among young people, but the
搜索
