Each spring brings a new wildflower blooming in the fields along the highway I travel daily to work. There is one particular blue flower that has always caught my eye. I've noticed that it blooms only in the morning hours. The afternoon sun is too warm for it. Every day each year for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

This spring, I started a wildflower garden in my yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I've often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the fields would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers.

Every day I drove past the flowers, thinking, "I'll stop on my way home and dig them." "Gee, I don't want to get my good clothes dirty…" Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a tool one year for that expressed purpose.

One day on my way home from work, I was saddened to see that the highway department had cleared up the fields and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, "Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring. "

A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister-in-law has a cancer. She is 20 years older than my husband and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven't been as close as we all would have liked.

I couldn't help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my husband's sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us.

And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, I'm sure I'll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.

1. How long might the blue flower bloom in spring?

A．The whole day.                         B．The whole season.

C．About one week.                        D．About two weeks

2. Where did the writer want to transplant the flowers?

A．In the garden                          B．Along the highway.

C．Across the fields.                        D．Outside the yard.

3. Which of the following is NOT true about the writer's sister-in-law?

A．She is seriously ill.

B．She is twenty years old.

C．She lives far away from the writer.

D．She is not in close touch with the writer.

4. What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Refresh our wonderful moments every year.

B．Visit our relatives only after they get ill.

C．Value now and don't lose chances.

D．Plant flowers and don't enjoy them in the field.

 

 

An old woman had two large pots (罐), one on each end of a pole (扁担). She carried the pole with the pots across her neck.

   One of the pots had a crack (裂缝) in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered (递送) a full pot of water. At the end of the long walk from the well to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.

   For two years this happened daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection.

   One day, the cracked pot spoke to the woman by the well: “I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.”

   The old woman smiled: “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your crack, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you water them.”

   “For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate (装饰) the table. Without you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty.”

   Each of us has our own cracks. But it’s these cracks that make our lives together so interesting and meaningful.

1.How did the cracked pot feel about itself at first?

A. Proud.    B. Happy.      C. Excited.     D. Ashamed.

2.Where were the flowers growing?

A. On both sides of the path.

B. In the woman’s house.

C. On the perfect pot’s side.

D. On the cracked pot’s side.

3.Which is the correct order of the following events?

① The woman picked the flowers and decorated the table.

② The woman told the truth to the cracked pot.

③ The cracked pot talked to the woman about its crack.

④ The woman found a crack on one pot.

⑤ The woman planted some flower seeds.

A. ④⑤①③②                      B. ⑤④③②①

C. ④③①②⑤                                   D. ④⑤③①②

4.What does the passage mainly want to tell us?

A. Never laugh at old women.           

B. Imperfection makes life meaningful. 

C. Try your best to be perfect in life.

D. Don’t use a cracked pot to carry water. 

 

We supply the bike, panniers, all the support gear, easy to follow maps, cycle routes and either the accommodation or several accommodation suggestions depending on the tour.

All you need to do is bring your cycle gear. Book your accommodation off the detailed list  if required, and you are all set for a cheap, environmentally friendly holiday in New Zealand.

We do all the hard work of sorting routes and where to stay — you just relax and enjoy the riding! Too easy.

There are more tours to come so if you don’t see a tour that suits your needs let us know!

Tour	Grade	Cost from	Options
2 Day Self Guided Road Tour Banks Peninsula	2	$182		View Map
2 days of self guided cycling on Banks Peninsula roads. Includes bike hire, trip notes, panniers and lots great riding around lyttelton Harbour.
3 Day Self Guided Road Tour Canterbury and the Southern Alps	2	$215		View Map
An easy three day introduction to cycle touring to the inexperienced cyclist. From the high alpine passes of Arthur Pass cross the fertile Canterbury plains to the endless sandy east coast beaches.
5 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown	4	$480		View Map
The wonderful and wild West Coast in a flash! For the fit and keen cyclist
6 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown	2	$365		View Map
A tour that gets you from Christchurch to Queenstown a different way with far less hills! Cycling through the center of the South Island where great feast of fresh Salmon and breath taking views of Mt Cook await.
8 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown	3	$390		View Map
From Christchurch to Queenstown in eight days down the West coast. The Transalpine does the hard work for you across Arthurs Pass and drops you in Greymouth for the start of your tour.

 

1.

 If you learned how to ride bike only a week ago, you should choose _______.

   A. 2 Day Self Guided Road Tour                            B. 3 Day Self Guided Road Tour

   C. 5 Day Self Guided Road Tour                            D. 8 Day Self Guided Road Tour

2.

Where can we mostly see the passage?

   A. Newspaper             B. TV                                     C. Internet                          D. Magazine

3.

What do you have to do when you want to enjoy your cycle tour?

   A. Bring your cycle gear.                                        

B. Bring your support gear and book your accommodation.

C. Book your accommodation.

D. Bring your bike gear and do some hard work.

 

If there’s one memory Anna wanted to keep from her experiences during the Second World War, it was her son, Andrzej. Anna, 89, lost touch with him when she was forced to leave her native Poland and sent to a labor camp in Austria more than 60 years ago. Now, 64, Andrzej hugged his mother at the air port, who had been waiting for him.

Andrzej searched for his mother for more than 50 years, almost giving up. But his mother made the first phone call. Unluckily, he wrote down his mother’s phone number wrong and spent another month trying to reach her again. When he did, the two talked regularly on the phone for two months to break down the language barrier. Anna can hardly speak Polish over the years and Andrzej doesn’t speak English.

After the war, Anna could not find her son and went to Italy, finally ending up in Great Britain, the US, then Canada 45 years ago. She used the Internet to track her son, making phone calls with no luck. Meanwhile Andrzej contacted the Polish Red Cross last year to help in his search.

At last, they locate each other at the same time. Andrzej will spend a month with his mother in Britain.

1.Andrzej was about _______ years old when his mother left him for Austria 60 years ago.

A．eight

B．six

C．four

D．two

2.Where did they meet for the first time after 60 years separation?

A．In Britain

B．In Italy

C．In Poland

D．In Canada

3.Andrzej delayed a month to phone his mother because________.

A．he had to learn English first

B．he put down a wrong number

C．he needed some time to prove the news

D．he just couldn’t believe the news at first

4.The best title for the passage would be ________

A．The story of Anna and her son Andrzej

B．The war separated the families for 60 years

C．Anna suffered a great deal from the war

D．Mother reunited with son after 60 years.

 

改正下面短文中的错误。对标有题号的每一行作出判断：如无错误，在答题卡该行右边横线上画一个勾（√），请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。

注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；

      2.原行没有错的不要改。

I like travel very much. I had been to most                                1.___________

of the interested places in Britain already and I just                   2.___________

don’t want other cold English summer. So I’ll go                       3.___________

abroad for change this year. Where I’d like                                4.___________

to is France, Spain, or Italy. Though going abroad                     5.___________

has the trouble of changing money abroad. But                           6.___________

when I just think of the sun I’d enjoy for, the new                   7.___________

places I’d see, the people I’d meet, I get excited.                     8.___________

In fact, which I’d really like to do is to practice my                 9.___________

French and Spanish. It would do me a lot at work.                  10.___________