One in 400 children in the United States has diabetes(糖尿病). And the most difficult thing for the young diabetic patients is that many of them don’t have a clear idea when they need to take insulin(a drug used in treating diabetes).The parents of one Long Island boy found the perfect solution—Hero, a specially trained dog that can discover when a diabetic is in trouble and find help.

Johnny Pion, eight years old, is a poor kid that was told he was a diabetic in 2008. He can’t do without insulin. His blood-sugar levels should be closely checked. He even can’t go out to play without his mom or dad fearing he might need help.

With Hero in her new home, Johnny’s parents may worry a little less. They received the news about Hero on the newspaper. The dog cost around $20,000. With the help of friends and family, the Pions brought Hero home from Warren Retrievers in Virginia. Mary Campbell. Hero’s trainer, said the dog could discover the slightest changes in blood sugar by her sense of smell.“Humans have 5 million smell receptors(感受器)； dogs have 5 billion smell receptors,”she said.

When the dog discovers something’s wrong, she’ll rub(蹭)her head against Johnny’s legs. If he doesn’t answer her, Hero knows to look for Johnny’s mom and dad. Hero even could ring up 911.

On their first night, Johnny’s was comfortably sleeping in his own bed with Hero and not with his parents for the first time. Night time is very important because blood sugar goes unchecked while sleeping. Now Hero is a round-the-clock nurse.

1.Young people with diabetes have difficulty      .

A．telling when they need to take medicine

B．finding what is he best medicine for them

C．remembering the names of their medicine

D．knowing how to keep healthy and live a longer life

2.Hero can help Johnny because she      .

A．cost around $20,000

B．never sleeps during the night

C．has 5 million smell receptors

D．can discover the changes of blood sugar

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A．Hero can telephone her owners for help.

B．Hero is helpful for the family.

C．The Pions paid for the dog by using donations.

D．The Pions provided special food for the dog.

4.After Johnny Pions got ill, he had to      .

A．carry insulin every day

B．go to hospital very often

C．sleep under the care of others

D．live with his family doctor

 

 

Tre’S mom，Christina Thompson, cannot believe how much her son already learned this year in his full-day, free pre-school class in Oklahoma City. “Since he’s been in school his vocabulary has increased surprisingly,” Thompson says. “The other day he came home and said, ‘You know what ，mom? You are being ridiculous，” Thompson laughs quietly. “And then he asked, ‘Do you know what ‘ridiculous’ means, mom?’” Tre knows the entire alphabet, his numbers to 100，and he’s starting to read. And letters and numbers aside, Thompson is most struck by how fast Tre is absorbing vocabulary and language.

Of course, not all pre-school is created equal. High quality pre-schools have well-trained, well-educated teachers in the classroom (much like Tre Thompson’s teacher Mrs. Wallace, who uses play-based learning to teach both academics and social skills and can rattle off (飞快说出） a battery of data on how well her students are progressing towards their year-end goals). Texas can also offer a model for educator development: its Texas School Ready! Campaign has proven to increase the quality of participating pre-schools by providing early childhood teachers with coaching, professional development, research-based curriculum (课程)，and progress monitoring. States and districts should also combine pre-school with the K-12 system, as Oklahoma does ，so that children enter kindergarten smoothly.

Oklahoma is one of the leading states in providing students like Tre with free ，full-day pre-school. And the results are already paying off: According to a 2012 study, Oklahoma kids that went through pre-school showed vocabulary gains 28% higher than those of children without pre-school, and math gains 44% higher than non-pre-school kids. And we know that high-quality pre-school doesn’t just mean higher scores in elementary school. They were more likely to have graduated from high school and less likely to have committed a violent crime. They also earned more money and were more likely to be employed.

We know pre-school works, so let’s stop talking and start building a system where all children have access to excellent early childhood education. As any well-educated four year old could tell us, not doing so would be ridiculous.

1.The case of Tre in the first paragraph serves as the evidence of______.

A.children’s disrespect towards parents

B.the bad performance of students at school

C.the positive effect of pre-school on children

D.Thompson’s doubt about her son’s education

2.At high quality pre-schools, children may learn by______

A. playing B. modelling      C. researching  D. monitoring

3.It can be inferred that______.

A.children can not enter kindergarten without pre-school

B.Oklahoma is the best state offering full-day pre-school

C.all pre-schools have well-trained, well-educated teachers

D.kids with pre-school may be better equipped for their future

4.What would be the best title for the passage?

A.Not all pre-school works

B.All pre-school is created equal

C.We owe our kids universal pre-school

D.Pre-school goes well with K-12 system

 

Last year, around Labor Day, I read a “Happy Ad” in our local newspaper． There was a lady in a local nursing home, who was celebrating her 90th birthday and her family wanted everyone to know about it． It said that if you wanted to drop her a line, here was her address． So I did． I found a birthday card and dropped her a short note, wishing her a happy birthday．

A week or so later, someone knocked at my front door． I opened the door and found a middle-aged man standing on my doorstep． He introduced himself as the son of this woman to whom I had sent the card． He explained that he just wanted to drop by in person and thank me for sending such a nice card to his mom． Apparently, like many older folks, she did not receive much mail and was quite excited to receive mine． I just didn’t know what to say． I told him it was my pleasure and that I hoped his mom had enjoyed her birthday．

That year, I did not send out any Christmas cards, except to this lovely old lady in the nursing home． I just told her that I was thinking about her and hoped that she had a nice holiday． I sent her a Valentine and also a couple of notes in between． I just thought she might like to have someone write to her, to get some mail．

She passed away a couple of months ago． I never met this lady, but I did keep her and her family in my thoughts． I dropped them a line of sympathy． I hope that my few little notes were enough to brighten a couple of her days here on earth．

1.The old lady’s address was given because ____________．

   A． her family wanted to make her well-known

   B． the old lady wanted to receive a birthday card

   C． the son of the old lady wanted to meet the author

   D． her family wanted to give her a happy birthday

2.Which of the following best describes the author?

   A． Brave．          B． Polite．       C． Caring．        D． Faithful．

3.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

    A． A Kind Act     B． An Old Lady     C． A Happy Ad      D． A Considerate Son

 

Section B (18 marks)

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

When I was 8 years old, I once decided to run away from home. With my suitcase   36  and some sandwiches in a bag, I started for the front door and said to Mom, “I’m leaving.”

“If you want to   37 , that’s all right,” she said. “But you came into this home without anything and you can leave the same way.” I   38  my suitcase and sandwiches on the floor heavily and started for the door again.

“Wait a minute,” Mom said. “I want your   39  back. You didn’t wear anything when you arrived.” This really angered me. I tore my clothes off—shoes, socks, underwear and all—and   40 , “Can I go now?” “Yes,” Mom answered, “but once you close that door, don’t expect to come back.”

I was so   41  that I slammed (砰地关上) the door and stepped out on the front porch.   42  I realized that I was outside, with nothing on. Then I noticed that down the street, two neighbor girls were walking toward our house. I ran to   43  behind a big tree in our yard at once. After a while, I was   44  the girls had passed by. I dashed to the front door and banged on it loudly.

“Who’s there?” I heard.

“It’s Billy! Let me in!”

The voice behind the   45  answered, “Billy doesn’t live here anymore. He ran away from home.” Glancing behind me to see if anyone else was coming, I begged, “Aw, c’mon, Mom! I’m   46  your son. Let me in!”

The door inched open and Mom’s smiling face appeared. “Did you change your   47  about running away?” she asked.

“What’s for supper?” I answered. (277 words)

1.                A．packed         B．returned        C．cleaned  D．repaired

 

2.                A．drop out        B．go by           C．move around  D．run away

 

3.                A．pressed        B．shook          C．threw    D．pulled

 

4.                A．bag            B．clothes         C．sandwiches    D．suitcase

 

5.                A．explained       B．suggested       C．continued D．shouted

 

6.                A．angry          B．sorry           C．frightened D．ashamed

 

7.                A．Certainly        B．Naturally        C．Suddenly D．Possibly

 

8.                A．play           B．bide           C．rest  D．wave

 

9.                A．sure           B．proud          C．eager    D．curious

 

10.               A．house          B．tree           C．door  D．yard

 

11.               A．also           B．still            C．even D．already

 

12.               A．conclusion      B．promise        C．concern   D．decision

 

 

In the clinic, I asked if Michael could be retested, so the specialist tested him again. To my _36_, it was the same score.

   Later that evening, I _37_ told Frank what I had learned that day. After talking it over, we agree that we knew our _38_ much better than an IQ test. We _39_ that Michael’s score must have been a _40_ and we should treat him _41_ as usual.

   We moved to Indiana in 1962, and Michael studied at Concordia High School in the same year. He got _42_ grades in the school, especially _43_ biology and chemistry, which was a great comfort.

   Michael _44_ Indiana University in 1965 as a pre-medical student, soon afterwards, his teachers permitted him to take more courses than _45_. In 1968, he was accepted by the School of Medicine, Yale University.

   On graduation day in 1972, Frank and I _46_ the ceremony at Yale. After the ceremony, we told Michael about the _47_ IQ score he got when he was six. Since that day, Michael sometimes would look at us and say _48_, “My dear mom and dad never told me that I couldn’t be a doctor, not until after I graduated from medical school!” It is his special way of thanking us for the _49_ we had in him.

   Interestingly, Michael then _50_ another IQ test. We went to the same clinic where he had _51_ the test eighteen years before. This time Michael scored 126, an increase of 36 points. A result like that was supposed to be _52_.

         Children often do as _53_ as what adults, particularly parents and teachers, _54_ of them. That is, tell a child he is“ _55_”, and he may play the role of a foolish child.

1.A. joy                        B. surprise                  C. disappointment              D. dislike

2.A. hopefully            B. fearfully                  C. cheerfully                        D. tearfully

3.A. student                B. son                           C. friend                               D. doctor

4.A. decided               B. realized                   C. argued                             D. understood

5.A. joke                B. mistake           C. warning                            D. wonder

6.A. specially              B. naturally                 C. strictly                              D. carefully

7.A. poor               B. average           C. good                            D. standard

8.A. in                         B. about                       C. of                             D. for

9.A. visited                           B. chose                      C. passed                              D. entered

10.A. allowed             B. described               C. required                          D. offered

11.A. missed               B. held                         C. delayed                            D. attended

12.A. high              B. same                         C. different                          D. low

13.A. curiously           B. eagerly          C. jokingly                   D. calmly

14.A. faith                            B. interest                   C. pride                                 D. delight

15.A. looked for                  B. asked for                C. waited for                        D. prepared for

16.A. received      B. accepted                  C. organized                         D. discussed

17.A. imperfect                   B. uncertain                C. impossible                       D. unsatisfactory

18.A. honestly      B. well                           C. much                               D. bravely

19.A. expect                        B. learn                        C. hear                               D. speak

20.A. wise                       B. rude                          C. shy                                    D. stupid