A professor I have worked pretty closely with has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It has been devastating(悲惨的) for his family and heartbreaking for his students.
What made him extraordinary was not only that he was a rising star. He had only recently collected the highest honors for young researchers at the White House. We truly admire him—as someone put it, ‘He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.” It is very hard to find someone who is extremely intelligent should be so nice a human being.
I decided that we needed him to know our attitude and also how we are all praying for his recovery. I bought him a simple card which read, ‘Healing thoughts and wishes coming your way.” I met all the students he worked closely with and got them to sign on it. Each student in his laboratory signed and also added a message. ‘We love you so much”, ‘We miss you! We need you back here—recover soon”… These were some of the messages that were written. Most of the students were really glad we were doing this and said it was a very good idea to give it to him.
He is still undergoing intense treatment, and along with his family is trying his best to stay optimistic and hopeful. I didn’t see a trace of self-pity or sadness when I met him last week. Instead, he paid attention to every word of my presentation and asked me several questions related to my work. I was amazed at how much he gave his 100% on that day in spite of being in pain because of chemotherapy( 化疗)，he did not know if he even had another month to live. “I am trying to focus on staying positive, hoping to be back this summer,” he said.
Needless to say, I saw an expression of joy and hope on his face as he opened the card. He said he was truly touched to see the messages from the students he worked closely with.
There is one thing I learnt from last week: It is so important to tell people how much they mean to us and what an inspiration they are before it becomes too late. My professor, in spite of being too sick to teach classes, has managed to continue being a great teacher, introducing his last valuable message to us.
【小题1】The professor was admired because _______.

A professor I have worked pretty closely with has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It has been devastating(悲惨的) for his family and heartbreaking for his students.

What made him extraordinary was not only that he was a rising star. He had only recently collected the highest honors for young researchers at the White House. We truly admire him—as someone put it, ‘He always has a smile and a kind word for everyone.” It is very hard to find someone who is extremely intelligent should be so nice a human being.

I decided that we needed him to know our attitude and also how we are all praying for his recovery. I bought him a simple card which read, ‘Healing thoughts and wishes coming your way.” I met all the students he worked closely with and got them to sign on it. Each student in his laboratory signed and also added a message. ‘We love you so much”, ‘We miss you! We need you back here—recover soon”… These were some of the messages that were written. Most of the students were really glad we were doing this and said it was a very good idea to give it to him.

He is still undergoing intense treatment, and along with his family is trying his best to stay optimistic and hopeful. I didn’t see a trace of self-pity or sadness when I met him last week. Instead, he paid attention to every word of my presentation and asked me several questions related to my work. I was amazed at how much he gave his 100% on that day in spite of being in pain because of chemotherapy( 化疗)，he did not know if he even had another month to live. “I am trying to focus on staying positive, hoping to be back this summer,” he said.

Needless to say, I saw an expression of joy and hope on his face as he opened the card. He said he was truly touched to see the messages from the students he worked closely with.

There is one thing I learnt from last week: It is so important to tell people how much they mean to us and what an inspiration they are before it becomes too late. My professor, in spite of being too sick to teach classes, has managed to continue being a great teacher, introducing his last valuable message to us.

1.The professor was admired because _______.

A. he was very intelligent            B. he had won many honors

C. he had noble personalities         D. he was very determined

2.What do the underlined words “our attitude” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Our worry about his health.        B. Our pray for his health.

C. Our admiration for him.          D. Our pity for him.

3. When the writer visited the professor at hospital, what surprised him was that the professor ________.

A. was suffering form great pain          B. was still very confident

C. didn’t know he would die soon         D. still cared for others

4. Of the following statements, the writer may agree that _________.

A. the professor loves his job very much

B. few students supported the writer’s decision at first

C. the professor will go back to teach this summer

D. the professor often feels sorry for himself

5.According to the last paragraph, what did the author learn?

A. One should remain optimistic all the time.

B. It is important to let people know about their importance.

C. Teachers should have a positive influence on their students.

D. It is never too late to make a right decision.

All of us have read thrilling（惊险的）stories in which the hero had only a limited time to live．Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but we were always interested in discovering just how the hero chose to spend his last days or his last hours．

Such stories make us think and wonder what we should do under similar circumstances．What happiness and regrets should we find in thinking about the past?

Sometimes, I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow．Such an attitude would emphasize （强调）sharply the values of life．We should live each day with appreciation which is often lost when time stretches（延伸）before us with more days and months and years to come．

Most of us take life for granted．We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future．When we are in pleasant health, death is unimaginable．We seldom think of it．The days stretch out endlessly．So we go about our little task, hardly aware of our dull attitude towards life．

The same attitude, I am afraid, falls on the use of our abilities and senses．Only the deaf appreciate hearing; only the blind realize the importance of sight．But those who have never lost hearing and sight seldom make the fullest use of these abilities．Their ears take in sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation．People seldom realize how good it is being in good health until they have fallen ill．It is the same old story of not being grateful（感激的）without missing．

1．When reading the thrilling stories, we usually ________．

A．have curiosity about the hero’s limited life      

B．show great interest in our own lives

C．find many regrets in thinking about the past    

D．have pity on ourselves

2． From the passage, we can learn that ________．

A．if we want to live an excellent life we should die tomorrow

B．the disabled are eager to lose their abilities and senses

C．each of us should treasure what we have today

D．most of us are able to make full use of our time

3．The underlined word “hazily” in the last paragraph probably means ________．

A．happily              B．unclearly             C．freely             D．sadly

4．The best title for this passage may probably be ________．

A．Not Being Grateful without Missing         B．Giving a Hand to the Disabled

C．Making Use of Our Senses                            D．Learning from Thrilling Stories