Last summer I went through a training program and became a literacy volunteer（扫盲志愿者）. The training I received, though excellent, did not tell me how it was to work with a real student, however. When I began to discover what other people’s lives were like because they could not read, I realized the true importance of reading.

My first student Marie was a 44-year-old single mother of three. In the first lesson, I found out she walked two miles to the nearest supermarket twice a week because she didn’t know which bus to take. When I told her I would get her a bus schedule. She told me it would not help because she could not read it. She said she also had difficulty once she got to the supermarket, because she couldn’t always remember what she needed. Since she did not know words, she could not write out a shopping list. Also, she could only recognize items by sight, so if the product had a different label, she would not recognize it as the product she wanted.

As we worked together, learning how to read built Marie’s self-confidence, which encouraged her to continue in her studies. She began to make rapid progress and was even able to take the bus to the supermarket. After this successful trip, she reported how self-confident she felt. At the end of the program, she began helping her youngest son, Tony, a shy first grader, with his reading. She sat with him before he went to sleep and together they would read bedtime stories. When his eyes became wide with excitement as she read, pride was written all over her face, and she began to see how her own hard work in learning to read paid off. As she described this experience, I was proud of myself as well. I found that helping Marie to build her self-confidence was more rewarding than anything I had ever done before.

As a literacy volunteer, I learned a great deal about teaching and helping others. In fact, I may have learned more from the experience than Marie did.

What did the author do last summer?

A. She worked in the supermarket.

B. She helped someone to learn to read.

C. She gave single mothers the help they needed.

D .She went to a training program to help a literacy volunteer.

Why didn’t Marie go to the supermarket by bus at first?

A. Because she liked to walk to the supermarket.    B. Because she lived far away from the bus stop.

C. Because she couldn’t afford the bus ticket.       D. Because she couldn’t find the right bus.

How did Marie use to find the goods she wanted in the supermarket?

A. She knew where the goods were in the supermarket.  B. She asked others to take her to the right place.

C. She managed to find the goods by their looks.       D. She remembered the names of the goods.

Which of the following statements is true about Marie?

A. Marie could do things she had not been able to do before.

B. Marie was able to read stories with the help of her son.

C. Marie decided to continue her studies in school

D. Marie paid for her own lessons.

Once an Englishman named Larry Belmont went to Russia for a holiday. After he got back some of his friends came. “I had a very dangerous trip while I was in Russia.” Larry said, “I went to see a friend in the country and when the sun went down, I was still traveling through a forest in a sleigh(雪橇). It was a long way from my friend’s house when about twenty wolves began to follow my sleigh.”

“It was very dark in the forest. There was thick snow on the ground. First I heard the wolves. The noise was terrible! Then I saw long, grey forms among the trees, and soon the wolves were near me. They were running very fast, and they didn’t seem to get tired like the horses.”

“What did you do?” one of Larry’s friends asked.

“When the wolves got very near,” Larry answered, “I put up my gun and shot the first wolf dead. Then all the other wolves stopped and ate it, so my sleigh got away from them for a few minutes. Then they finished their meal, and I heard them coming again. The moon was shining brightly on the snow now, and after a few minutes I saw them running among the trees once more. They came nearer again, and then I shot another one of them, and the others stopped once more to eat it. The same thing happened again, and my horses become more and more tired and ran slower and slower until, after two hours, only one wolf was still alive and following me.”

“Wasn’t it too fat to run?” one of Larry’s friends asked.

The purpose of this passage is to ______.

A. amuse readers                B. tell an exciting adventure

C. praise Larry Belmont’s bravery  D. show the danger of traveling through a forest

According to what Larry said, the last wolf _______.

A. was the strongest of all              B. had eaten up all the other wolves

C. ran much faster than the other wolves  D. was very fat and couldn’t run fast enough

From what Larry’s friend asked at the end, we know that_______.

A. Larry’s trip was really dangerous    

B. the last wolf was too fat to run

C. all the wolves had been shot by Larry

D. the friend did not believe what Larry had said

Once an Englishman named Jack Brown went to Russia for a holiday. He stayed there for several months and then came home again. Some of his friends visited him a few days after he got back. “I had a very dangerous trip while I was in Russia.” Jack said to them. “I wanted to see a friend of mine in the country and the bad weather made me very late. So I was still travelling through a forest in sleigh<雪橇>when the sun went down. It was a long way from my friend’s house when about 20 wolves began to follow my sleigh. It was very dark in the forest. There was thick snow on the ground. It was cold, and there were no houses for miles and miles. First I heard the wolves, and the noise was terrible! The horses heard them, too. They were frightened and began running faster. Then I saw long, grey forms among the trees, and soon the wolves were near us. They were running very fast, and they didn’t seem to get tired like the horses.” “What did you do?” one of his friends asked. “When the wolves got very near,” Jack answered, “I put up my gun and shot the first wolf. The sleigh was moving about, but I hit the animal and killed it. Then all the other wolves stopped and ate it, so our sleigh got away from them for a few minutes.” “Then they finished their meal, and I heard them coming again. The moon was shining brightly on the snow, and after a few minutes I saw them among the trees once more. They came nearer again, and then I shot another of them, and the others stopped once more to eat it.” “The same thing happened again and again, and my horses became more and more tired and ran slower and slower until, after about two hours, only one wolf was still alive and following us.”

“Wasn’t it too fat to run?” one of his friends asked.

Jack told his friends what happened to him when he was______________.

A. in England one winter evening    B. in Russia one winter evening

C. in America one winter morning    D. in Russia one winter morning.

In the sentence “They finished their meal.” “meal” here means ___________.

A. the food Jack had brought with him        B. the meal prepared by Jack’s friends. 

C. the wolf which had been killed by Jack      D. the dead animals on the way

According to what Jack said, the last wolf ______________.

A. had eaten up all the other wolves

B. ran much faster than the other wolves

C. was the strongest of all     D. was very fat and didn’t run fast.

From what Jack’s friend said we know that _____________________.

A. all the wolves had been shot by Jack.

B. the last wolf was too fat to run

C. Jack was telling the truth

D. the friends did not believe what Jack had said.

A metaphor is a poetic device that deals with comparison. It compares similar qualities of two dissimilar objects. With a simple metaphor, one object becomes the other: Love is a rose. Although this does not sound like a particularly rich image, a metaphor can communicate so much about a particular image that poets use them more than any other type of figurative language(修辞). The reason for this is that poets compose their poetry to express what they are experiencing emotionally at that moment. Consequently, what the poet imagines love to be may or may not be love we see it. Therefore, the poet’s job is to enable us to experience it, to feel it the same way as the poet does.

Let’s analyze this remarkably unsophisticated metaphor concerning love and the rose to see what it offers. Because the poet uses a comparison with a rose, first we must examine the characteristics of that flower. A rose is spectacular in its beauty; its petals(花瓣) are nicely soft, and its smell is pleasing. It’s possible to say that a rose is actually a feast to the senses of sight, touch, and smell. The rose’s appearance seems to border on(近似于)perfection, each petal seemingly symmetrical(对称的) in form. Isn’t this the way one’s love should be? A loved one should be a delight to one’s senses and seem perfect. However, there is another dimension added to the comparison by using a rose. Roses have thorns(刺). The poet wants to convey the idea that roses can be tricky(机警的). So can love, the metaphor tells us. When one reaches out with absolute trust to touch the object of his or her affection, ouch, a thorn can cause great harm! “Be careful,” the metaphor warns: Love is a feast to the senses, but it can overwhelm us, and it can also hurt us and cause acute suffering. This is the poet’s perception of love--a warning. What is the point? Just this: It took almost 14 sentences to clarify what a simple metaphor communicates in only four words! That is the artistry and the joy of the simple metaphor.

According to the passage, what is a metaphor?

A. A comparison between two different objects with similar features.

B. A contrast between two different things to create a vivid image.

C. A description of two similar objects in a poetic way.

D. A literary device specially employed in poetry writing.

The main idea of this passage is that         .

A. rose is a good image in poetry    B. love is sweet and pleasing

C. metaphor is ambiguous          D. metaphor is great poetic device

It can be inferred from the passage that a metaphor is        .

A. difficult to understand        B. rich in meaning    C. not precise enough      D. like a flower

As is meant by the author, thorns of a rose_________.

A. protect the rose from harm              B. symbolize reduced love

C. add a new element to the image of love    D. represent objects of one’s affection

The meaning of the love-is–a-rose metaphor is that____________-

A. love is a true joy              B. true love comes once in a lifetime

C. love does not last long          D. love is both good and bad experiences

Once an Englishman named Jack Brown went to Russia for a holiday. He stayed there for several months and then came home again. Some of his friends visited him a few days after he got back. “I had a very dangerous trip while I was in Russia.” Jack said to them. “I wanted to see a friend of mine in the country and the bad weather made me very late. So I was still travelling through a forest in sleigh<雪橇>when the sun went down. It was a long way from my friend’s house when about 20 wolves began to follow my sleigh. It was very dark in the forest. There was thick snow on the ground. It was cold, and there were no houses for miles and miles. First I heard the wolves, and the noise was terrible! The horses heard them, too. They were frightened and began running faster. Then I saw long, grey forms among the trees, and soon the wolves were near us. They were running very fast, and they didn’t seem to get tired like the horses.” “What did you do?” one of his friends asked. “When the wolves got very near,” Jack answered, “I put up my gun and shot the first wolf. The sleigh was moving about, but I hit the animal and killed it. Then all the other wolves stopped and ate it, so our sleigh got away from them for a few minutes.” “Then they finished their meal, and I heard them coming again. The moon was shining brightly on the snow, and after a few minutes I saw them among the trees once more. They came nearer again, and then I shot another of them, and the others stopped once more to eat it.” “The same thing happened again and again, and my horses became more and more tired and ran slower and slower until, after about two hours, only one wolf was still alive and following us.”

“Wasn’t it too fat to run?” one of his friends asked.

Jack told his friends what happened to him when he was______________.

A. in England one winter evening             B. in Russia one winter evening

C. in America one winter morning            D. in Russia one winter morning.

In the sentence “They finished their meal.” “meal” here means ___________.

A. the food Jack had brought with him         B. the meal prepared by Jack’s friends. 

C. the wolf which had been killed by Jack      D. the dead animals on the way

According to what Jack said, the last wolf ______________.

A. had eaten up all the other wolves

B. ran much faster than the other wolves

C. was the strongest of all    

D. was very fat and didn’t run fast.

From what Jack’s friend said we know that _____________________.

A. all the wolves had been shot by Jack.

B. the last wolf was too fat to run

C. Jack was telling the truth

D. the friends did not believe what Jack had said.