最新英语中考英语阅读理解专题
-
最新英语中考英语阅读理解专题
一、初三英语阅读理解（含答案详细解析）
< br>1
．
根据短文内容理解选择正确答案。
< br>
B
Everyone worries. But how do you deal with your
worries? Whether your worries are big or
small, you can take these three steps
to deal with your worries:
Try to find out what you're worried
about.
Sometimes, you
will know what you're worried about. Other times,
you might not. Try to find
it out
first. If you can't, you can ask for
help.
Think of ways to make
it better
There is
always something you can do to help you feel less
worried. Sitting there worrying is no
fun and it won’t solve your
problem.
Grades at
school are often a top worry for kids. If you're
worried about grades, ask yourself
these questions:
☆
Why are grades important?
What do grades mean to me?
☆
How do I get ready for
class? Do I go over
（复习）
my
notes even when there isn't a test?
☆
Do I have a
good place to do my homework?
☆
Have I tried
different ways of studying?
Ask for help
When you're worried, it can help to find someone
to talk to. You can ask your parents, friends,
or teachers for help.
（
1
）
How
many steps of dealing with your worries are
mentioned
（提及）
in the
passage?
A. Two
B. Three C. Four
D. Seven
（
2
）
When you don't know what you're
worried about, _______.
A. you should try to find it out
B. you can't ask for help
C. you don't need to think of ways
D. you can sit there
worrying
（
3
）
If
you're worried about grades, you can ask yourself
these questions except “_______”.
A. Why are grades
important? B. What do
grades mean to me?
C. How do
I get ready for class? D.
Why don't my friends like me?
【答案】
（
1
）
< br>B
（
2
）
A
（
3
）
D
【解析】
【分析】这篇短文主要讲述
了如何应对烦恼的三种方法，一是找出自己担心的问
题，二是想办法让情况变得更好，三
是请求帮助。
⑴
细节理解题。根据
Whether your worries
are big or small, you can take these three steps
to
deal with your worries:
描述
，可知本题主要提到了三步应对烦恼的方法。故选
B
。
⑵
细节理解题。根据
Try to find it out
first; if you can't, you can’t ask for help.
描述，可知当你
不知道自己的烦恼是什么时，不要去请求帮助。故选
A
。
⑶
细节理解题。根据文中列出的几个问题
★
，可知不包
括选项
D
。
【点评】阅读理解考查对篇章的把握和对细节的识别能力，答题时注意紧扣问题中的关键
词，在文章中寻找答案。
2
．
根据短文内容选择正确答案。
C
Jodie’s Daddy is a Garbageman
（垃圾清理工）
Mr. Swales wanted to find out what his
students’ parents did. He had just called Jodie
when
some girls burst out laughing.
Shirley shouted, “Jodie’s Daddy is a
Garbageman!”
Everybody
in the class laughed out loud, except Jodie. She
felt her face turn red.
“Silence!” Mr Swales said, “Being a
garbagemen is a difficult and useful job. We
should all be
thankful to Jodie’s
father.”
Jodie’s father came to walk her home
from school as usual, but she didn’t run up to him
the
way she always did. When they got
back home, Jodie went to her room and cried for a
long time.
Her father came into her room, “What
happened, Jodie? Why are you so sad?”
Jodie told her father what
ha
d happened and looked at him. He
didn’t seem angry or hurt.
“Well,” he
said, “they are right. Being a garbageman is a
dirty job. Tomorrow’s Saturday. Come to
work with me, Jodie.”
The place really smell
too good. Jodie wrinkled her nose. “Don’t
worry
, kid. In five minutes
you won’t smell a thing.” said her
father.
Everybody
there
was
working
hard,
and
they
seemed
to
have
a
good
time.
Jodie’s
father
handed her a pair of gloves and told
her to get the little plastic bags and throw them
into the
truck.
It was fun, but also hard work. Jodie’s
arms soom got tired. At last, no more garbage was
left
and Jodie felt very
happy.
“Garbage is disgusting, but when we
clear it away, everything’s nice and clean. You
can make
yourself happy only by
m
aking other happy. That’s why I like
being a garbageman so much.”
Jodie give her dirty, smeely
garbageman daddy a big
kiss
（吻）
. She said, “When I
grow up, I
will be a
garbagegirl!”
Now
whenever
someone
asks
Jodie
what
her
daddy
does,
she
says,
“He’s
a
garbageman!
Everybody makes
garbage, but my daddy takes it away!”
<
/p>
（
1
）
What
happened
in My Swale’s
class?
A. He
wanted to show what job was the most useful.
B. He asked an improper
question.
C. Jodie gave an
honest answer.
D. Jodie was laughed at.
（
2
）
Why
did Jodie’s father take her to his
workp
lace?
A. To make Jodie calm down
B. To prove how dirty his job was.C To
help Jodie learn about his job.
C. To help Jodie learn about his
job.
D. To keep Jodie away
from her classmates.
（
3
）
Jodie gave her father
a big kiss mainly because ______.
A. he was kind B. he
was unselfish
（无私的）
C.
he was cheerful D. he is hard-
working
（
4
）
How
does Jodie feel about her father now?
A. Sad
B. Curious
C. Guilty
（有罪的）
D. Proud
【答案】
（
1
）
D
（<
/p>
2
）
C
（
3
）
B
（
4
）
D
【解析】
【分析】这篇短文中作者主
要讲述了一个女孩对自己爸爸从事垃圾清洁工这一工
作态度和认识的转变的故事，从一开
始同学的嘲笑自己感到委屈，而最后得知爸爸工作的
辛苦和伟大。
（
1
）细节理解题。根据短文第一
段第二、三句
He had just called Jodie when
some girls burst
out laughing. Shirley
shouted, “Jodie’s daddy is a garbageman!
可知，当同学们知道
Jodie
的爸
爸是一名垃圾清理工时都在笑话她；故选
D
。
< br>
（
2
）细节理解题。根据短文
第十段爸爸的话语
“Garbage
is
disgusting,
but
when
we
clear
it
away, everything’s nice
and clean. You can make yourself happy only by
making other happy.
可
知，爸爸要女儿来
到他工作的场所是让她体验到自己工作的光荣；故选
C
。
（
3
）推理判断题
。根据短文内容可知爸爸付出了自己的辛勤劳动，方便的市民的生活，其
精神是大公无私
的；所以女儿为爸爸自豪，而高兴地去亲吻他；故选
B
。
（
4
）推理判断题
。根据短文最后两段可看出女儿对爸爸工作态度的转变，她总是告诉别人
他爸爸工作的光
荣和以后也要当一名清洁女工来看，她是为爸爸的工作而自豪的；故选
D
。
【点评】阅读理解考查
对篇章的把握和对细节的识别能力，答题时注意紧扣问题中的关键
词，在文章中寻找答案
。
3
．<
/p>
根据短文内容选择正确答案。
C
Grace,
usually
known
as
the
Home
of
Microsoft,
is
inside
an
office
building
in
Redmond,
Washington. Once
you come into the building, you will feel that
you're in a modern and future
home.
When
you
enter
the
building,
Grace's
voice,
coming
from
a
hidden
speaker,
tells
you
your
messages. In the kitchen, you set a bag
of flour
（面粉）
on a flat stone
table. Grace sees what
you're doing and
makes a menu of flour-based foods on the table.
Once you choose one, Grace
gives you
ingredients
（配料）
.
There's also a notice
board in the kitchen made of
“intelligent
（智能的）
cloth”
that works
like a touch screen computer. You can
deal with postcards and invitations and surf the
net with
the touch of a finger. The
invitations could be
encoded
（编码）
. You can deal
with them on the
computer. It's part of
Microsoft's Smart Personal Objects Technology,
whose aim is to make every
object more
efficient
（有效率的）
.
“The day when your
house becomes a member of your family is not far,”
says Pam Heath, a
manager
of
Microsoft.
At
the
Andersen
Windows
Company,
Jay
Libby
imagines
that
windows
made
of intelligent glass can be changed into
TVs.
“Nobody wants a television set,” says
Libby. “What you want is the service it provides.”
If the
TV isn't improved, it will
disappear in the future.
Home
entertainment
is
one
consideration
for
the
future.
At
the
Georgia
Institute
of
Technology in Atlanta, scientists are
designing systems that will allow old people to
live better on
their
own.
So
Grandma's
home
can
be
cleverly
designed
to
recognize
（识别）
her
ways
of
waking, sleeping and movement. Family
members will be told any change by their
computers.
（
1
）
We
can know from the passage that Grace
_________.
A. is
an idea known as the Microsoft Home B. is a
machine that works like a TV
C. can understand what its master does
D. can cook meals for its master
（
2
）
According
to the passage, all the following are true
EXCEPT________.
A. Grace can help you in the
kitchen
B. you can use the
computer with a touch screen
C. windows will take the place of TV
sets in the near future
D.
TV technology needs improving
（
3
）
It
can be inferred
（推断）
from the
passage that ________.
A. the building in the future will be
intelligent
B. your windows
will be changed into TVs
C.
few people will like watching TV in the
future
D. all the old people
will live without
others’
help
（
4
）
Which would be the best title for the
text?
A. Modern
Home
B. Popular Home
C. Future Home
D. Smart Home
【答案】
（
1
）
C
（<
/p>
2
）
C
（
3
）
A
（
4
）
D
【解析】
【分析】你走进厨房，
Grace
会告诉你相关的留言，你看见面粉，
Grace
会给你提
供面食的菜单，你选择一个菜单，
Grace
会给你相关的配料，这些都是智能家庭给我们带
来的便利，高效。在未来智能家庭还会提供更多更便利的科技，计算机正改变着我们的生
活。
（
1
）推理判断。根据第一段的描述和第二段
tel
ls you your messages
告诉你信息；
makes a
menu of flour-based foods on
the table
制定面食菜单；
gives you i
ngredients
给你配料等，可
知
Grace
应该是一台家庭智能机器，它会看懂你做的事情，并提供必要的帮助，故选
C
。
（
2
）推理判断。根据第二段在厨房的活动可知
A
是对的；根据第二段
that
works
like
a
touch screen
computer
和
You can deal with
them on the computer
可知
B
是对的；根据第三
段
windows made
of intelligent glass can be changed into TVs
用智能玻璃做成的
Windows
可以
变成电视，并没有要取代电视的意思，故
C
是错误的
；根据第四段
If the TV isn’t
improved,
it will disappear in the futu
re
可知如果电视没有改进，它在将来会消失，故
D
也是对的。因
此选
C
。<
/p>
（
3
）推理判
断。根据最后一段
Home
entertainment
is
one
consideration
for
the
future
和
scientists
are designing systems that will allow old people
to live better on their own
可知科学家
们正努力使未来的建筑智能化。故选
A
。
（
4
）主旨大意。根据本
文举到的例子
“
智能厨房
”
可知，未来的家庭智能化必将是一种趋
势。故选
D
.
智能家庭。
【点评】阅读理解考查
对篇章的把握和对细节的识别能力，答题时注意紧扣问题中的关键
词，在文章中寻找答案
。
4
．
阅读理解
In
the
summer
between
my
first
year
and
second
year
in
college,
I
was
invited
to
be
an
instructor
（辅导员）
at
a high school camp. On the first day, when we were
dancing and playing
games,
I
noticed
a
boy
under
the
tree
who
was
small
and
thin.
His
shyness
made
him
appear
weak. I walked towards him, introduced
myself and invited him to join in the activities
and meet
some new people. He quietly
replied,
he was in a new world but I
knew it wouldn't be right to force him either.
Actually, the boy didn't
need a close
talk but a friend.
At
lunch the next day, I was leading camp songs when
I saw the boy under the tree sitting alone.
I
tried
again
with
the
same
invitation,
but
he
refused
once
again.
That
evening
I
was
told
the
boy's
name was Tommy. Then I asked the campers to pay
special attention to the boy and spend
time with him when they
could.
The
days
went
by
and
the
time
came
when
we
had to
leave.
We
held
a
big, warm
party
to
celebrate
the
closing
of
the
camp.
All
the
campers
shared
their
wonderful
moments.
To
my
surprise, I found the boy from under
the tree dancing joyfully with two girls. I
couldn't believe it
was the same
person.
In October of my
second year, I received a phone call from Tommy's
mother. She told me that
Tommy
was
hit
by
a
car
and
died.
I
offered
my
deep
sadness.
The
mother
said,
mentioned you so many times.
I want you to know that he went back to school and
made new
friends with confidence. You
made a difference to Tommy during his last
months.
At that moment,
I realized how easy it was to give a bit of
yourself every day. You may never
know
how
much
each
gesture
may
mean
to
someone
else.
I
hope
that
everyone
can
pay
attention to his own
（
1
）
Before
the writer came to the high school summer camp, he
was
a
（
n
）
.
A. instructor
B. camper C. student
D. reporter
（
2
）
How
many times did the writer invite the boy to join
in the activities?
A. Once.
B. Twice.
C. Three times.
D. Many times.
（<
/p>
3
）
Which is the
CORRECT order about the
story
？
①The boy danced joyfully with two
girls.
② The boy went back
to school and made new friends.
③ The boy refused to join in the
activities.
④The boy's
mother made a phone call to the writer.
A.
①②③④
B.
②③①④
C.
③①②④
D.
④③②①
（
4
）
From
Paragraph 4, we can infer that Tommy's mother was
very to the writer.
A. thankful
B. helpful C. faithful
D. harmful
【答案】
<
/p>
（
1
）
C
（
2
）
B
（
3
）
C
（
4
）
A
【解析】
【分析】本文讲述了作者曾
给一个男孩精神上的帮助，让大家指代每天给自己一
点自信是多么容易。
（
1
）推理题。根据
In
the
summer
between
my
first
year
and
second
year
in
college,
I
was
invited to be an
instructor
（辅导员）
at a high
school camp
在大学一年级和二年级之间的那个
夏
天，我被邀请去当一名教师（辅导员）在一个高中营地可知，
在作家来到高中夏令营之
前，他是名学生，故选
C
。
（
< br>2
）细节题。根据
invited him to
join in the activities
和
I
tried again with the same invitation
可知，
作者邀请这个男孩参加了
2
次活动，故选
B
。
（
3<
/p>
）细节题。根据全文描述可知最初
男孩拒绝参加活动，后来男孩和
两个女孩快乐地跳
舞，
这个男孩回到学校，交了新朋友，
男
孩的母亲给作家打了一个电话，故
是
C
选项的排
序是正确的，故选
C
。
（
4
）推理题。根据
Tommy
mentioned you so many times. I want you
to know that he
went
back
to school
and
made
new
friends
with
confidence.
You
made
a
difference
to
Tommy during his last
months
汤米多次提到你。我想让你知道，他回到学校，
自信地交了
新朋友。在汤米的最后几个月里，你改变了他
可知，
汤米的母亲对作家很感谢
，故选
A
。
【点评】考查阅读理解。本文涉及细节题、推断题，细节题要
注意从文中寻找答案；推断
题需要联系上下文，推断出需要的信息。
5
．
阅读理解
The village of Hengly
was going to have the Bean Olympics. It was a
competition to see which
kind of bean
would grow the fastest and the tallest. Everybody
was excited. They couldn't wait to
show
their best plants.
Cassie
knew
clearly
which
bean
she
would
choose
for
the
competition,
for
her
family
had
planted a special
Sicily.
Her grandmother planted the beans every year and
served them at many meals. Cassie was
sure they would be unbeatable
beans.
However,
the
plan
did
not
work
out
that
way.
Although
Cassie's
bean
plants
looked
healthy
with beautiful purple flowers, they did
not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her
neighbours.
These
people
chose
beans
from
seed
（种子）
shops.
Their
beans
had
wonderful
names
like
and his
plants climbed almost to the top of the fence.
Cassie's plants were just near the middle of
the fence.
On
the day of the competition, Cassie was
disappointed that her beans were in last place.
Ivan
laughed at her beans and said she
could win a prize for the slowest, shortest
bean.
The
organizer,
Mr
Williams,
handed
out
medals
for
the
fastest-growing
and
the
tallest
bean
plants.
Mr Williams cooked the beans from
each competitor and chose five experienced
villagers as
judges
（裁判）
.
Cassie was
nervous. Would her family beans lose another
time
？
After
the judges tasted the beans, Mr Williams counted
the results.
winner.
Cassie grinned at this unexpected result. Many of
her neighbours, even Ivan asked for her seeds.
They were all in favour of the good-
tasting beans even though they didn't grow fast or
very tall.
（
1
）
Cassie's beans were from
.
A. the
organizer
B. seed
shops
C. her
neighbours
D. her
family
（
2
< br>）
Cassie won the prize for.
A. the tallest beans
B. the most delicious beans
C. the most beautiful beans
D. the fastest-growing beans
（
3
）
Wha
t does the underlined word
？
A. smiled widely.
B. left silently.
C. nodded quickly.
D. sang sadly.
（<
/p>
4
）
What is the
topic of the passage
？
A. The experience of
growing beans. B. The tallest
bean in the competition.
C.
The history of a special family bean.
D. The bean competition in Hengly
Village.
【答案】
（
1
）
D
（
2
）
B
（
3
）
A
（
4
）
D
【解析】
【分析】主要讲了利村要举
办豆豆奥运会。这是一场竞赛，看哪种豆子长得最
快、最高。大家都很兴奋。他们迫不及
待地要展示他们最好的植物。
（<
/p>
1
）细节题。根据
for her
family had planted a special
科学
< br>Cassie
的豆子是家
人种的，故选
< br>D
。
（
2
）细节题。根据
They
were all in favour of the good-tasting beans even
though they didn't
grow fast or very ta
ll.
他们都喜欢味道好的豆子，尽管它们长得不快也不高，可知豆子是美味
的，故选
B
。
（
3
）推断
题。根据
The judges all agree that Cassie's
beans are the winner.
可知
Cassi
e
的豆子
是获胜者，所以
Cassie
是高兴的，即咧嘴笑，
smiled widely
，故选
A
。
（
4
）主旨
题。根据全文可知主要讲了利村要举办豆豆奥运会。这是一场竞赛，看哪种豆
子长得最快
、最高。大家都很兴奋。他们迫不及待地要展示他们最好的植物。故选
D
。
【点评】考查阅读理解
，主要考查细节题，注意从文中仔细寻找答案。
6
．
阅读理解
I felt very sad not to
be able to get the ticket to the film Titanic last
Friday. I learned in the
newspaper
that
tickets
could
be
bought
at
the
cinema
box
office
in
Richland
Hills
every
day
between
10
：
00 a.m. and
4
：
00 p.m. Because I work
from 9
：
00
5
：
30 p.m., the only
time I could go to the cinema was
during my 45-minute lunch time. It is a pity that
the cinema is
on the other side of the
town, and the bus service between my office and
Richland Hills is not
very good. But if
you are lucky, you can make the
round
（往返）
trip in 45
minutes.
Last Monday I
stood at the bus stop for fifteen minutes, waiting
for a bus. By the time I saw one
coming
around the corner, there was not enough time left
to make the trip-so I had to go back to
the office. The same thing happened on
Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I got on a
bus
right away and arrived at the
cinema in twenty minutes. But when I got there, I
found a long line
of people at the box
office. I heard one man say he had been waiting in
line for fifty-five minutes.
I found
that I would not have enough time to wait in line.
I caught the next bus and went back
across the town.
Then on Friday I understood my only hope was to
make the trip by car. It was not cheap, but I
felt it would be worthwhile to see the
film. The trip by car only took 10 minutes, but it
felt like
one hour to me. When I
reached the cinema, I was delighted to see that
nobody was waiting in
line. But I
quickly found out that it was because they had
already sold out all the tickets.
（
1
）
It
seems that the writer of the story works
.
A. in a small
town
B. in Richland Hills
C. on a
farm near the town
D. at a bus service centre
（
2
）
The
writer tried to go to the cinema to buy a ticket,
but he really go there .
A. five times
B. four times C. three
times D. twice
（
3
）
The
underlined word
A. sure
B. sorry C.
surprised D.
pleased
（
4
）
What's the best title for the
story
？
A. How to get a ticket
B. Tickets sold out
C. A wonderful film
D. The way to the cinema
【答案】
（
1
）
A
（<
/p>
2
）
D
（
3
）
D
（
4
）
B
【解析】
【分析】主要讲了作者坐公
交车去城镇买电影票时发现票已经全部卖完。
（
1
）细节题。根据
It
is a pity that the cinema is on the other side of
the town
可知遗憾的是
电影院在城镇的另一边，所以作
者在一个小城镇工作，故选
A
。
（
2
）细节
题。根据
The same thing happened on
Wednesday. On Thursday my luck changed, I
got on a bus right away and arrived at
the cinema in twenty minutes.
星期三也发生了同样的
事
情。星期四我的运气变了，我马上上了公共汽车，二十分钟后到了电影院，所以作者去
了
两次，故选
D
。
（
3
）推断题。根据
nobody
was
waiting
in
line
可知没人排队买票，所以作者是高兴的，
delighted
意思是高兴的，即
pleased
，故选
D
。
（
4
）主旨题。根据全文可知主要讲了作者坐公
交车去城镇买电影票时发现票已经全部卖
完，故选
B
。
【点评】考查阅读
理解。本文涉及细节题、推断题和主旨题三种常考题型，细节题要注意
从文中寻找答案；
推断题需要联系上下文，推断出需要的信息；主旨题需要通读全文，了
解大意之后找出中
心思想。
7
．
阅读理解
Boston Children's
Museum is the second oldest children's museum in
the United States. It has
been teaching
children with a huge collection of
objects
（可触摸的实物）
since 1913.
Here's a
list of some interesting
exhibits in the museum.
Arthur
&.
This exhibit features
the characters
（人物）
from Marc
Brown's books and the
Friends
television
series.
Children
can
learn
and
play
in
the
Read
Family
Kitchen,
Mr
Ratburn's Classroom and the Backyard
Sleepover.
Art
Studio
Art Studio is a
place where children and their parents can create
art together.
The
Common
House
The
Common is a place where visitors can experience
light shows, musical chairs,
a
gigantic checkers game and many other
activities.
sister city.
Visitors can learn about 'Japanese family life,
culture, art and seasonal
events at
the exhibit.
Kid
Power
This
exhibit
teaches
visitors
how
to
live
healthier
lives
by
eating
right
and
exercising.
（
1
）
How
many children's museums in the US are older than
Boston Children's Museum?
A. One.
B. Two. C.
Three. D.
Four.
（
2
）
Which of the following is TRUE?
A. The museum is over 100
years old.
B. Arthur is a
real person.
C. Parents
cannot go into Art Studio.
D. Japanese House is in Kyoto right
now.
（
3
）
Seven-year-old Tony is interested in
checkers games. Which exhibit should he visit?
A. Art Studio.
B. The Common.
C. Japanese House.
D. Kid Power.
（
4
）
Children can
learn about healthy eating at _______________.
Japanese
Japanese House is a real two-storey
house from Kyoto, Japan, Boston's Japanese
A. Arthur & Friends
B. Art Studio
C. Japanese House
D. Kid Power
（
5
）
The
passage is most probably a _______________.
A. speech
B. notice
C. poster
D. story
【答案】
（
1
）
A
（<
/p>
2
）
A
（
3
）
B
（
4
）
D
（
5
）
C
【解析】
【分析】大意：本文介绍波
士顿儿童博物馆，这里孩子可以触摸实物，并且介绍
了博物馆一些有趣的展览处所。
（
1
）细节题。根据
Boston Children's Museum
is the second oldest children's museum in the
United
States.
波士顿
儿童博物馆是美国第二最古老的儿童博物馆。可知，美国只有一个博
物馆比波士顿儿童博
物馆更古老，故选
A
。
（
2
）细节
题。根据
It has been teaching children with
a huge collection of
objects
（可触摸的
实物）
since 1913.
可知，博物馆已有
100
多年了，故选
A
。
（
3
）细节
题。根据
The Common is a place where
visitors can experience light shows, musical
chairs,
a
gigantic
checkers
game.
可知，托尼对跳棋游戏感兴趣，可以去
the <
/p>
common
，故选
B
< br>。
（
4
）细节题。根据
This exhibit
teaches visitors how to live healthier lives by
eating right and
exercising.
可知，孩子们可以在
Kids power
学习到健康饮食，故
选
D
。
<
/p>
（
5
）推断题。本文介绍了波士顿儿童博
物馆，而且详细介绍了博物馆里一些处所，这篇
文章很可能是一篇海报，故选
C
。
【点评】考查阅读理解。细节题和推断题是阅读理解题中常考题型。细节题需要从文中寻
找答案；推断题需要联系上下文，推断出需要的信息。
8
．
阅读理解
Esperanza
lives
in
a
poor
Latino
（拉丁美洲的）
neighbourhood
in
Chicago,
America.
She
dreams of having her own
house one day. Her parents told her that when they
moved from their
last house, they would
have a new and shiny
（亮闪闪的）
house. But the house is small and old.
Many people live in Mango Street,
in a big old house, Esperanza lives behind it with
her family.
A
lot
of
the
people
who
have
come
from
Mexico
don't
speak
English.
Many
miss
their
home
country. Esperanza
understands their sadness, but she also feels at
home in America. She is an
American,
but her roots
（根）
will always
be Latino.
Esperanza is
young. Like her friends, she has to grow up fast.
She is stuck between being a girl
and
being
a
woman.
In
the
poor
and
dangerous
area
where
she
lives,
this
is
difficult
for
her.
Mexican people usually
live in a close neighbourhood. This means that
people live
packed
（挤塞
的）
in
together. Everyone knows everyone else. So
Esperanza knows other older girls that do
things she is not comfortable doing. It
is just a fact of her life.
But
Esperanza
has
good
friends
too.
She
becomes
friends
with
two
sisters
named
Lucy
and
Rachel.
They ride bikes and have
adventures
（冒险）
together.
Esperanza is also friends with a