呂品

主題語境：生活 篇幅：358詞建議用時：7分鐘

Paula was living a happy life without a concern forfinancial or social problems. Married for almost 30 years，Paula had everything set for herself， and she knew that herlife in Somers Point， New Jersey was going to be a thrillingone.

Paula was in the bathroom cleaning everything up.She wanted to keep her familys home clean and beautiful. She had her ring on that herhusband， Michael， bought for their 20th anniversary. As soon as Paula finished washing thebath tub， something fell off， but she couldnt think of what it was. She noticed that her leftring finger felt a bit lighter. She was horrified to see that the ring was gone. Paula said，“ Ithad been a little big on my finger， because it was winter time and my hands were smaller. Ifelt so bad about it.”

She couldnt believe that she just let thousands of dollars go down the drain. She toldher husband everything that happened. Michael was quiet through the entire explanation，and his face didnt show any anger. Paula was completely shocked by Michaels reaction tothe situation. After Paula finished her explanation， Michael decided to buy her anotherring， exactly like the one she lost.

As suddenly as the ring disappeared， an identical ring suddenly reappeared on herfinger as if she never lost one in the first place. However， the guilt of Paulas mistake wasstill with her. Fast forward seven years， her hopes of finding it were still high. Determinedto rediscover it， Paula contacted Ted， the chief of the citys public works crew. Ted and hiscrew went into a sewer （下水道） tunnel about 400 feet from Paulas house. When doingmaintenance （維護(hù)）， Ted saw something shiny under the waste. After grabbing it andrubbing the muck off， he realized it was a ring.

Ted got in touch with Paula and gave the long?lost ring to her. Paulas eyes imme?diately picked out the features. This was her ring. Needless to say， it was a miracle thatnobody was expecting. After seven years， Paula finally feels complete again.

ReadingCheck

1. What did Paula do after realizing that her ring was missing？

A. She immediately started looking for it in her house.

B. She felt bad and told it to her husband.

C. She laughed it off and didnt tell anyone.

D. She bought herself another ring at once.

2. How did Michael react when Paula told him about losing the ring？

A. He got angry and scolded her.

B. He immediately went to search for the ring.

C. He was quiet and didnt take it seriously.

D. He asked Paula to help search for the ring in the sewer tunnel.

3. Which word can replace the underlined word“ muck” in paragraph 4？

A. Waste.B. Water.C. Tunnel.D. Diamond.

4. How did Paula feel after receiving her lost ring？

A. She felt guilty about losing the ring in the first place.

B. She thought it was normal to find the ring.

C. She didnt care much and thought it was just a ring.

D. She felt relieved and complete again.

LanguageStudy

Ⅰ. 日積月累

concern n. 憂慮

financial adj. 財務(wù)的

social adj. 社交的；社會的

thrilling adj. 激動人心的

anniversary n. 周年紀(jì)念日

horrified adj. 驚恐的；驚駭?shù)?/p>

explanation n. 解釋；說明

shocked adj. 震驚的；吃驚的

reaction n. 反應(yīng)；回應(yīng)

identical adj. 相同的

guilt n. 內(nèi)疚；罪責(zé)

grab v. 抓住

miracle n. 奇跡

complete adj. 完整的；完全的

Ⅱ. 語法填空

Paula， 1. （live） a happy and worry?free life in Somers Point， New Jersey， hada shocking experience when she 2. （realize） her expensive ring was missing.Despite feeling 3. （guilt）， she told her husband Michael all about it. However，Michael chose to 4. （surprising） her with another ring， exactly like the one shelost. After seven 5. （year）， the unexpected thing happened 6. a sewerworker named Ted found the lost ring during maintenance， bringing a miracle for Paula.7. （final） reunited with her cherished ring after so many years， Paula feltcomplete again. This heartwarming story highlights the importance of hope，8. （determine）， and the power of unexpected miracles.