Reading material 1
(New York) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year-old Julien Duret from France is the man who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Sunday.
He lifted the little girl out of water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Seaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
Reading material 2
Food sometimes gets poisoned with harmful things. A person who eats such food can get an illness called food poisoning. Food poisoning is usually not serious, but some types are deadly. The symptoms of food poisoning usually begin within hours of eating the poisoned food. Fever is one of the most common symptoms.
Reading material 3
The human body is a living machine, and like all machines, it needs fuel to supply it with energy. That is the food we eat. But how much do we need to stay healthy? The energy value of food is usually measured in calories. A calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1kg of water by 1℃. The number of calories people need per day is different, as the chart shows ……
Reading material 4
Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children．In spite of the hopeless condition, two of the children, Albrecht Durer and Albert, had a dream．They both wanted to pursue their talent for art．After many long discussions, the two boys finally worked out an agreement．They would toss a coin．The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother who attended the academy．Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy．
Tossing a coin, Albrecht Durer won and went off to Nuremberg．Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the （轰动）．By the time he graduated, he had earned considerable fees for his outstanding works．
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner to celebrate lbrecht’s triumphant（胜利的）homecoming ．Albrecht drank a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled him to complete his dream ．“And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn．Now you can go to Nuremberg to look for your dream, and I will take care of you．”
……
To show thanks to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s injured hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward．He called his powerful drawing simply “Hands”, but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed it “The Praying Hands”．
练一练
In the animal kingdom, weakness can bring about aggression in other animal. This sometimes happens with humans also. But I have found that my weakness brings out the kindness in people. I see it every day when people hold doors for me, pour cream into my coffee, or help me to put on my coat. And I have discovered that it makes them happy.
From my wheelchair experience, I see the best in people, but sometimes I feel sad because those who appear independent miss the kindness I see daily. They don't get to see this soft side of others. Often, we try every way possible to avoid showing our weakness, which includes a lot of pretending. But only when we stop pretending we're brave or strong do we allow people to show the kindness that's in them.
Last month, when I was driving home on a busy highway, I began to feel unwell and drove more slowly than usual. People behind me began to get impatient and angry, with some speeding up alongside me, horning (按喇叭) or even shouting at me. At the moment I decided to do something I had never done in twenty-four years of driving. I put on the car flashlights and drove on at a really low speed.
No more angry shouts and no more horns!
When I put on my flashlights, I was saying to other drivers, "I have a problem here. I am weak and doing the best I can." And everyone understood. Several times, I saw drivers who wanted to pass. They couldn't get around me because of the stream of passing traffic. But instead of getting impatient and angry, they waited, knowing the driver in front of them was in some way weak.
Sometimes situations call for us to act strong and brave even when we don't feel that way. But those are few and far between. More often, it would be better if we don't pretend we feel strong when we feel weak or pretend that we are brave when we are scared.
26. The author has discovered that people will feel happy when ________.
A. they offer their help B. they receive others' help
C. they feel others' kindness D. they show their weakness
27. The author feels sad sometimes because ________.
A. he has a soft heart B. he relies much on others
C. some people pretend to be kind D. some people fail to see the kindness in others
28. What did the other drivers do when they saw the flashlights?
A. They speed up to pass. B. They waited with patience.
C. They tried their best to help. D. They put on their flashlights too.
29. In this passage, the author advises us to ________.
A. handle problems by ourselves B. accept help from others
C. admit our weakness D. show our bravery
30. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. A Wheelchair Experience. B. Weakness and Kindness.
C. Weakness and Strength D. A Driving Experience