I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes people who show up and love you when no one else will.

In May 1977, I was living in a Howard Johnson’s motel off Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I  21  a room with two double beds and a bathroom which was too  22  for a 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was   23   and my stepmother had   24   us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no   25_   what to do with me. And that’s when my other family   26  .

Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home   27   their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I   28   with them for the next seven years.

Barb washed my skirts the same as Su’s. She   29   I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I were being cheerleaders.  30  I could tell, for the Beaches there was no  31  between Su and me; I was their daughter, too.

When Su and I  32  college they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance policy they bought when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.

The Beaches knew  33  about me when they took me in – they had heard the whole story from Su. When I was seven, my mother died and from then on my father relied on other people to _34  his kids. Before I went to live with the Beaches I had believed that life was entirely   35__ and that love was shaky and untrustworthy. I had believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.

 36  the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, cynical (愤世嫉俗的) woman. They gave me a(n)  37  that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed(使瘫痪 ,使麻痹 ,使无能力)by my _38   , and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.

I   39  family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was   40   , but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate 10.

1.A. lived      B. shared          C. possessed          D. bought

2.A. cheap     B. noisy        C. small             D. limited

3.A. in trouble  B. in sight        C. in place         D. in parts

4.A. struck         B. removed        C. kicked D. knocked

5.A. plan          B. choice   C. chance          D. idea

6.A. looked after    B. showed up     C. turned over    D. came cross

7.A. so            B. because       C. until                    D. while

8.A. worked        B. traveled       C. lived                 D. learned

9.A. worked out     B. called up      C. watched out       D. made sure

10.A. As long as        B. As far as         C. As soon as    D. As many as

11.A. change    B. problem       C. conflict             D. difference

12.A. set off           B. left for          C. entered into           D. admitted into

13.A. all   B. little     C. something    D. nothing

14.A. supply      B. teach   C. encourage   D. raise

15.A. different          B. unfair   C. easy          D. hopeful

16.A. Thanks to         B. In spite of     C. Except for     D. But for

17.A. home      B. house C. ability       D. lesson

18.A. choice     B. failure C. past       D. present

19.A. doubt about    B. call on C. center on     D. believe in

20.A. born        B. accepted      C. educated      D. deserted

Crossroads International

How does Crossroads work?

Crossroads is a resource network. We take goods Hong Kong doesn’t want and give them to people who badly need them. We collect those goods and give them out in the welfare arena(福利院) in Hong Kong, Mainland China, elsewhere in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. So Crossroads is just that: a Crossroads between need and resource.

Who do we help?

The welfare agencies we help do not run on large budgets(预算). They are grass-root groups who have seen a need and tried to meet it. They can’t get the job done without back-up, though, so our task is to help them do their task. Our warehouse is full of goods, from computers to high chairs, clothing to books, stationery(文具) to medical provision, cupboards to dinning sets. They send us a list of their needs and we try to match it with the resource we have in stock.

How do we operate?

Crossroads itself also operates on a low budget. We do not buy the goods we send. They are donated. Similarly, rather than raising funds for freight(货运)，we ask transport companies to donate their services. Nobody in our organization receives a salary. Even our full-time staff works on a voluntary basis.

Those that donate goods and services:

·Factories ·Manufacturers ·Hospitals ·Hotels  ·Householders

·Offices  ·Other Charities ·Transport Companies ·Educational Institutions

One resource that we are always in need of is people. While we receive large quantities of goods and there is never a short supply of requests for them, we are always in need of hands to help sort and prepare them for shipping.

What can I do?

We are always in need of people. We have a lot of tasks. If you are volunteering regularly, we can offer work in some of the following categories, some of the time. You are welcome to number your top three choices and we will do our best to accommodate them.

·Clothing categorization ·Sewing ·Toy categorization ·Furniture handling

·Driving ·Book categorization ·Household goods categorization ·Office work

·Electrical goods categorization ·Book keeping ·Fund- raising

·Stationery categorization ·Medical categorization

Where to find us?

All volunteer work is done at out warehouse:

Located in Basement Zone M of the Kai Tak Government Building

Our warehouse hours: Tues.-Sat. 10:00am-5:30pm

Postal address: 16 Man Tong, Silvermine Bay, Lantau Island, HK

Office details: Ph: 2984 9309, 2740 9657

1.Crossroads International is             .

   A. a welfare agency     B. a place to store goods donated

 C. an organization to collect goods for those who need them 

 D. an organization run by the government

2. People in poor areas can’t get help from the Crossroads if they need             .

 A. toys and books              B. furniture and computers

 C. fresh water and food            D. clothes and washing machines

3. Which of the following is not the choice if you decide to offer help?

  A. Driving    B. Fundraising      C. Furniture handling   D. Teaching

4.The purpose of this brochure(小册子) is mainly to             .

  A. look for volunteers to work for Crossroads        B. call on people to donate more goods

  C. let people know what Crossroads International is   D. tell people what Crossroads can provide

5.From the above brochure, we can conclude that              .

  A. people who work at Crossroads get low pay from it

  B. Crossroads doesn’t give goods directly to the people who need them

  C. You can do whatever you like if you offer help at Crossroads

  D. Crossroads has collected more goods than needed

I believe that families are not only blood relatives, but sometimes people who show up and love you when no one else will.

In May 1977, I was living in a Howard Johnson’s motel off Interstate 10 in Houston. My dad and I 21 a room with two double beds and a bathroom which was too 22 for a 15-year-old girl and her father. Dad’s second marriage was 　23 and my stepmother had 　24 us both out of the house the previous week. Dad had no　 25_ what to do with me. And that’s when my other family 　26 .

Barbara and Roland Beach took me into their home 　27　 their only daughter, Su, my best friend, asked them to. I 　28 with them for the next seven years.

Barb washed my skirts the same as Su’s. She 　29 I had lunch money, doctors’ appointments, help with homework and nightly hugs. Barbara and Roland attended every football game where Su and I were being cheerleaders. 30 I could tell, for the Beaches there was no 31 between Su and me; I was their daughter, too.

When Su and I 32 college they kept my room the same for the entire four years I attended school. Recently, Barb presented me with an insurance policy they bought when I first moved in with them and had continued to pay on for 23 years.

The Beaches knew 33 about me when they took me in – they had heard the whole story from Su. When I was seven, my mother died and from then on my father relied on other people to _34 his kids. Before I went to live with the Beaches I had believed that life was entirely 　35__ and that love was shaky and untrustworthy. I had believed that the only person who would take care of me was me.

36 the Beaches, I would have become a bitter, cynical (愤世嫉俗的) woman. They gave me a(n) 37 that allowed me to grow and change. They kept me from being paralyzed(使瘫痪 ,使麻痹 ,使无能力)by my _38　 , and they gave me the confidence to open my heart.

I 　39 family. For me, it wasn’t the family that was there on the day I was 　40　 , but the one that was there for me when I was living in a Howard Johnson’s on Interstate 10.

16．A. lived　　 B. shared 　　 C. possessed　　　　 D. bought

17．A. cheap　　 B. noisy　　　 C. small　　　　　　 D. limited

18．A. in trouble B. in sight 　　 C. in place 　 D. in parts

19．A. struck　　　　 B. removed　 C. kicked 　　 D. knocked

20．A. plan　　　　 B. choice 　　　 C. chance 　　 D. idea

21．A. looked after　 B. showed up　　 C. turned over 　　 D. came cross

22．A. so　　　　　 B. because　　　 C. until 　　　　 D. while

23．A. worked　　　 B. traveled　　　 C. lived 　　　　 D. learned

24．A. worked out　　 B. called up　　 C. watched out　　　 D. made sure

25．A. As long as B. As far as　　 C. As soon as 　　　 D. As many as

26．A. change 　　 B. problem 　 C. conflict 　 　　D. difference

27．A. set off　　　　　 B. left for　　　　 C. entered into 　　 　　　 D. admitted into

28．A. all 　　 B. little 　 C. something D. nothing

29．A. supply B. teach C. encourage D. raise

30．A. different 　 B. unfair 　　　 C. easy　　 　　　 D. hopeful

31．A. Thanks to B. In spite of C. Except for 　　　 D. But for

32．A. home 　　　 B. house 　　　 C. ability 　　　 　　D. lesson

33．A. choice 　　 B. failure 　　　 C. past　 　　 　　D. present

34．A. doubt about 　　 B. call on 　　 C. center on　　 D. believe in

35．A. born B. accepted 　 C. educated　　 D. deserted

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．

Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．

But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．

The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．

First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．

The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．

The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．

“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．”

1..The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

A.memorizing telephone numbers        B.improving working memory

C.training in concentration                             D.recalling a card

2..The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．

A.ignoring irrelevant items                             B.monitoring ongoing performance

C.managing two tasks at the same time                   D.using previous experience

3..When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．

A.trained the four groups for the same period of time

B.only made comparisons between the four groups

C.compared the four groups with control groups

D.trained the four groups together

4..By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．

A.inform the readers of a new study

B.call on people to be trained to increase intelligence

C.prove one’s born brainpower can be improved

D.tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old son. Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) landed on their window.

The father asked his son, “What is that?”

The son replied, “That is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son for the second time, “What is this?”

The son said, “Father, I told you just now. It’s a crow.”

After a little while, the father asked his son the same question for the third time, “What is this?”

This time, the son said to his father in a low and cold tone, “It’s a crow, a crow.”

After a moment, the father yet again asked his son for the fourth time, “What is this?”

This time his son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? I have told you already, ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”

A minute later the father went to his room and came back with a diary, which he had kept since his son was born. On opening a page, he asked his son to read that page.

Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa when a crow suddenly landed on the window edge. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied him 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question. I didn’t at all feel angry, but instead felt affection for my son.

If your parents reach old age, do not look at them as a burden, but speak to them gently, and be kind to them. From today say this aloud, “I want to see my parents happy forever. They have cared for me ever since I was a little child. They have always showered me with love. I will take care of my old parents in the best way no matter how they behave.”

1.The writer mainly intends to ______ .

   A. tell us the function of a diary     B. call on us to love our parents

   C. teach us what a crow is          D. introduce a pair of son and father

2.The underlined word “affection” (last but one Para.) probably means______.

   A. puzzlement      B. hatred(恨)  C. worry        D. love

3.We can infer that the father wrote that piece of diary at the age of ______.

   A. eighty          B. three       C. thirty-eight    D. forty-five

4.The old man brought out the diary, which he had kept since his son was born, because ______.

   A. he forgot what had happened     B. he would like his son to read it        

C. it could remind himself of the past D. he wanted to find what a crow was