High-climbing kid raises hopes

Michael McCarthy climbed to the top of the Willis Tower not long ago. The Tower stands 1451 feet (442 meters) tall, the highest building in the US.   

As he got to the last step, McCarthy almost fell down, but that didn’t stop him. The 14-year-old boy finally finished climbing the 2,109 steps and arrived at the top, where he enjoyed the cheers from the crowd.   

“I just want to show people that if a kid with no legs can do it, anyone can do it,” McCarthy said.   

McCarthy, who was born without legs, has to wear prosthetic legs（假肢）and use a set of crutches（拐杖）to walk. But McCarthy has a strong heart. He believes nothing can stop him from achieving his success.   

He has been in a karate（空手道）school since he was four years old. When he decided to climb the Willis Tower, his karate teacher, Jeff Kohn, was moved and offered to help train him. They spent more than 10 hours practicing climbing stairs and keeping balance with the prostheses and crutches on the steps every day. “It seems that he never knows what tiredness is. Sometimes, I was so tired that I asked him to call it a day,” said Kohn. “But he said he was still full of energy and wanted more exercise.”   

Kohn was with McCarthy for the climb. “I saw the last 10 floors — he went faster,” said Kohn. “He’s the most hard-working athlete I’ve ever trained.”   

McCarthy said he was proud of himself and that the Tower now holds special meaning. “When I’m older, I’ll point to the building and say ‘Look at this building I climbed,” he said.

(   )11. Why did McCarthy decide to climb the Willis Tower?

A. Because the Tower is very special. 

B. Because he wanted to set a world record.

C. Because he wanted to show that anyone can do it.

D. Because he enjoyed climbing stairs very much.

(   ) 12. Who helped McCarthy train for climbing the Willis Tower?

A. Nobody.   B. His brother.  C. His parents.   D. His karate teacher.

(   ) 13. What does the underlined phrase “call it a day” mean in Chinese?

A. 結(jié)束當(dāng)天的訓(xùn)練     B. 去打個電話     C. 再訓(xùn)練一天      D. 另請高明

(   )14. Which of the following is True?

A. The Willis Tower is 442 feet tall in total.

B. McCarthy had a traffic accident and lost his legs.

C. While McCarthy was climbing the Tower, nobody was with him.

D. Many people cheered when McCarthy arrived at the top of the Tower.

(   ) 15. What can we learn from this passage?

A. No man is born wise and learned.  B. Where there is a will, there is a way.

C. Time and tide wait for no man.    D. A little learning is a dangerous thing.

High­climbing kid raises hopes

Michael McCarthy climbed to the top of the Willis Tower not long ago. The Tower stands 1451 feet(442 meters) tall，the highest building in the US.

As he got to the last step，McCarthy almost fell down，but that didn't stop him. The 14­year­old boy finally finished climbing the 2,109 steps and arrived at the top，where he enjoyed the cheers from the crowd.

“I just want to show people that if a kid with no legs can do it，anyone can do it，”McCarthy said.

McCarthy，who was born without legs，has to wear prosthetic legs(假肢) and use a set of crutches(拐杖) to walk. But McCarthy has a strong heart. He believes nothing can stop him from achieving his success.

He has been in a karate(空手道) school since he was four years old. When he decided to climb the Willis Tower，his karate teacher，Jeff Kohn，was moved and offered to help train him. They spent more than 10 hours practicing climbing stairs and keeping balance with the prostheses and crutches on the steps every day. “It seems that he never knows what tiredness is. Sometimes，I was so tired that I asked him to call_it_a_day，”said Kohn. “But he said he was still full of energy and wanted more exercise.”

Kohn was with McCarthy for the climb. “I saw the last 10 floors—he went faster，” said Kohn. “He's the most hard­working athlete I've ever trained.”

McCarthy said he was proud of himself and that the Tower now holds special meaning. “When I'm older，I'll point to the building and say ‘Look at this building I climbed’．”he said.

61. Why did McCarthy decide to climb the Willis Tower?

A. Because the Tower is very special.

B. Because he wanted to set a world record.

C. Because he wanted to show that anyone can do it.

D. Because he enjoyed climbing stairs very much.

62. Who helped McCarthy train for climbing the Willis Tower?

A. Nobody.  B. His brother.  C. His parents.  D. His karate teacher.

63. What does the underlined phrase “call it a day” mean in Chinese?

A. 結(jié)束當(dāng)天的訓(xùn)練  B. 去打個電話

C. 再訓(xùn)練一天  D. 另請高明

64. Which of the following is True?

A. The Willis Tower is 442 feet tall in total.

B. McCarthy had a traffic accident and lost his legs.

C. While McCarthy was climbing the Tower，nobody was with him.

D. Many people cheered when McCarthy arrived at the top of the Tower.

65. What can we learn from this passage?

A. No man is born wise and learned.  B. Where there is a will，there is a way.

C. Time and tide wait for no man.  D. A little learning is a dangerous thing.

A blind schoolgirl has become the youngest interpreter (口譯員) when she is only ten years
Alexia Sloane is from Cambridge. She was told by the doctor she had a brain tumour (腦癌) when she was on holiday "with her parents in France. After that the two-year-old girl became blind.
Though the little girl can't see anything, she has great talent for languages and at the age of 10 she is already fluent (流利的) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese-and is learning German.
Now her dream of working as an interpreter has come true. East of England MEP (歐盟議員) Robert Sturdy invited her to the European Parliament (議會). "Usually a person who enters the European Parliament should be 14 at least. So it was amazing for Alexia to work there at the age of 10. " said Alexia's mother Isabelle. Alexia can speak three languages since birth. As her mum is hah" French and half Spanish and her dad Richard is English. " She has always been very good at languages and shown an interest from a very young age. " added Isabelle, who also has a four-year-old daughter Melissa.
Alexia has dreamed of becoming an interpreter since she was six and chose to go to the European Parliament as her prize when she won the Young Achiever Community Award of the Year (年度青年成就獎). She asked if she could learn from the interpreters and HEP Robert Sturdy agreed to take her along as his guest. " It was fantastic and I decided to become an interpreter, "said Alexia. "Nothing can stop me. "
【小題1】How old is the youngest interpreter according to the passage?

Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very   36  life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would   37  my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never   38  again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I didn’t want to be bad enough. She   39  that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school-walking on my own!
When the Great Depression（大蕭條）  40 , my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support（支撐） both of us. At that moment, I decided never to be   41  again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real   42  point happened on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1916. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels for families and was angry that they charged（收費）an extra $2 for each child. That was too   43  for most American families. I told my wife that I was going to open a hotel for families that would never charge extra for   44 . There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not   45 , mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of hard time. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my heart, I   46  doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world­ - Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a   47  in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.