I used to watch her from my kitchen window. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground. The school was across the 
street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during break. I remember the first day I saw her playing basketball. I watched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids. She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net. The boys always tried to stop her but no one could. I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.
One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without a moment of hesitation she said, “I want to go to college. The only way I can go is to get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don’t count.” Well, I had to give it to her—she was determined. I watched her through those junior high years and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory.
One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head in her arms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. “Oh, nothing,” came a soft reply, “I am just too short.” The coach told her that at 5’5” she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team—much less offered a scholarship—so she should stop dreaming about college. She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she truly wanted a scholarship and that nothing could stop her except one thing — her own attitude.
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was offered a scholarship and on the college team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of.
41．The author was probably the girl’s .
A．neighbor B．grandfather C．mother D．teacher
42．Why was the girl heartbroken?
A．She was considered too short to be a top player.
B．Her coach stopped her training because she did not play well enough.
C．Her father thought that she couldn’t be on a college basketball team.
D．She wouldn’t be admitted by an ideal college for her marks were not good.
43．We can learn from the passage that .
A．her family wouldn’t like to pay her college fee
B．her father forced her to play basketball in collage
C．being a top basketball player can win you a scholarship for college
D．she wouldn’t like to turn to his father for help when in difficulty
44．Which word can best describe her father?
A．Encouraging. B．Strict. C．Stupid. D．Cold.
45．Which proverb best matches the story?
A．Practice makes perfect.
B．Rome was not built in a day.
C．Where there is a will, there is a way.
D．Pride comes before a fall.
Learning to drive is important to the independence of teenagers, but it is also a great responsibility．Although having a law that keeps 16-year-old drivers from having more than one teenager in the car with them at first seems unfair, there are convincing reasons for this requirement．
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that teens are four times more likely than older drivers to be involved in an automobile accident．It also reports that 16-and 17-year-old drivers are twice as likely to have an accident if they have two teenage friends in the car and four times as likely to have one if they have three or more teenage friends in the car with them．Fatal （ 致命的） crashes of 16-year-old drivers involve the highest percentage of speeding, driver error, and number of passengers．This information is enough to cause any reasonable person to wonder about the wisdom of allowing new teen drivers to take a carload of friends anywhere, even if the law permits it．
A study at the National Institutes of Health indicates that the part of the human brain that controls judgment and evaluates the consequences of our actions might not be fully formed until the age of 25．Until this study, researchers had placed the age at 18．If this is true, it could explain the reckless （鲁莽的） behavior of many teens, behavior that often extends into their twenties．It also could be a strong reason for being cautious about the driving circumstances of young people．
This is not the only study that indicates such caution is necessary．One study at Temple University in Philadelphia examines the results of peer（同龄人） pressure in risky driving situations．The study, which uses a driving game, has an individual guide a car through a course, both alone and in the presence of friends．Three different age groups participated in the study: 13-16, 18-22, and 24 and older．Members of the oldest group showed caution whether driving alone or with friends present, but the two younger groups took more chances when they were with their friends．Furthermore, because these drivers were accustomed to the noise and distraction of many passengers, they were unable to see their own mistakes．Once again, this is a good indication that a law restricting the number of teenagers in the car with a young driver is a good idea．What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?
| A．Many deaths have occurred because of inexperience and overconfidence． |
| B．It' s reasonable to severely limit the passenger number of teen drivers． |
| C．New teen drivers have to ask permission before driving with friends． |
| D．There are many causes behind the teens' driving accidents． |
From the two studies, the author probably suggests that ______．
| A．different age groups have different peer pressure |
| B．teenagers often give wrong judgments above passengers' noise |
| C．underdeveloped brain makes teens ignore their mistakes |
| D．driving circumstances are bound up with（与…密切相关） the risk of accidents |
We can infer that the law restriction can probably ______．
| A．protect teens on the highway |
| B．raise teens' sense of responsibility |
| C．reduce the number of fatal crashes |
| D．force teens to drive with caution |
With which statement would the author most likely disagree?
| A．Some teenagers have risky behavior while driving． |
| B．Certain laws treat teenagers and adults differently． |
| C．We still need more studies on teen driving． |
| D．Driving is important to a teenager' s sense of independence． |
Some wonderfully creative uses of X-rays have been in the world of art．But the most impressive one is to uncover what has been covered up．Details unfolded by an X-ray of a painting can ' t be seen any other way．For example, in the past, paintings were often repaired if small pieces of paint fell off the canvas （帆布）． These repairs cannot be seen just by looking at the painting．It takes an X-ray to discover where the repairs have been made．
An X-ray of a painting is one of the best ways to tell if it was created by a famous painter or if it is a forgery（赝品）．If there is a question as to whether an old master has painted a certain painting or not, X-rays are made and compared to those of paintings that are known to be original．If the brushstrokes （笔迹） , for example, are shown to be totally different than in other work done by a certain artist, then the painting is proved to be a fake copy．
Since modern paints are usually made from different materials than paints of hundreds of years ago, the image they leave on an X-ray film looks different．This is another way X-rays can be used to spot a forgery．A modem artist will try to make a forgery look hundreds of years old by painting dirty varnish on it or by using artificial means to get the varnish to look cracked．To the naked eye the forgery may look old, but when a careful study of the X-ray image is made, the deception is obvious．
It was common many years ago for an artist to finish a painting, decide it wasn't any good, and paint a completely different picture on top of it．Or artists would paint over others' work —it was their version of recycling．Taking an X-ray is the only way to find out if there is a picture underneath the picture you see with your eyes．Sometimes museums will be more interested in the painting beneath than the one on top, and will restore the older one by having the top layer painstakingly removed．What is the main purpose of the article?
| A．To provide information to police who are looking for stolen art． |
| B．To persuade art dealers to check for fake copies before selling art． |
| C．To explain how modern technology can be applied in unique ways． |
| D．To help artists restore damaged artwork to its original appearance． |
According to the passage，X-rays are used to ______．
| A．make repairs on paintings in the past |
| B．identify the authenticity of an artwork |
| C．change the materials of a forgery |
| D．remove the recyclable paints |
In Paragraph 3, the word "deception" probably means ______．
| A．comparison | B．drawback | C．trickery | D．judgement |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．X-ray Detectives |
| B．Creative Uses of Technology |
| C．Forgery Studies |
| D．X-ray Painting Techniques |
Unlike many surfers who sought the perfect wave, my interests always lay beneath the sea' s surface in a world I could only imagine and dream of．When I was twelve, I made my first adventures in the deep．Later I would learn how to dive, expanding my world of exploration many times over．
Perhaps the greatest turning point in my life came when I was in high school and I wrote a letter to the famous Scripps Oceanographic Institution, asking how I might learn more about the sea．A kind scientist answered my letter and told me how to apply to Scripps for a summer scholarship, which I received．During one of their courses that summer, I met Dr．Robert Norris, a marine geologist．He loved the sea almost as much as I did．Soon he suggested I consider his school, the University of California, for my study．One year later I became a member of the freshman class．
Now my love affair with the sea became a serious endeavor（艰苦的努力）．If I wanted to be an undersea explorer, I needed to learn as much as I could about the laws of the physical world that controlled the environment I wanted to enter．The undersea world is not our natural world．It is unforgiving to those who make mistakes．At its greatest depths the water temperature is near freezing, the pressure is eight tons per square inch, and it is totally dark．It is easy to get lost in such a world．I needed to learn a lot about geography, navigation, geology, biology, and many other things．
I decided another important thing for me to do was to join the U．S．Navy．If I was going to be an undersea explorer, I would have to lead men and women on dangerous adventures where they might get hurt, and I didn't want that to happen．
In the Navy I learned discipline, organization, and how to motivate and lead people on adventures so that we could explore the wonders of the deep．
Finally, the time came to put all that I had learned to use, to go forth with a team of men and women and explore an adventure I am still on and hope to be on for many years to come．What happened to the author at the age of twelve?
| A．He dreamed about undersea exploration． |
| B．He began to swim under the deep water． |
| C．He surfed on big waves for the first time． |
| D．He learned to dive off the cliffs． |
In college, the author took many different types of courses because he
| A．was told it was easy to get lost in exploration |
| B．was advised to take them by Dr．Robert Norris |
| C．thought they were needed to fully understand the ocean |
| D．believed it would help him succeed in the Navy |
The author joined the Navy to ______．
| A．develop his leadership skills |
| B．get along with people under stress |
| C．learn about the dangers of the ocean |
| D．gather specific information about ocean life |
Which word can best describe the author?
| A．Imaginative． | B．Optimistic． | C．Independent． | D．Ambitious． |
Travis laughed as he tore at the wrapping paper on his birthday present．He was so 16 ! Finally, he would have the coolest pair of name-brand basketball shoes．
All the guys on his team were wearing the name-brand shoes of a popular basketball 17 , Chuck Hart． 18 Hart was criticized for his poor sportsmanship（运动员风范） and infamous（臭名远扬的） 19 , he was a great player．In fact, Travis wasn't thinking about Hart' s behavior; he had only expected to see Hart' s 20 on the side of the box．The first indication that something was 21 came as he tore away the last piece of paper．Not Hart' s．The new shoes were the name-brand of another player, Robert Ryann, who was 22 for his amazing work in the community．
Travis's hands 23 ; his heart stopped．It wasn't that the Ryann shoes weren't nice, but what would his friends think ?
They were the wrong shoes and Travis would be 24 by the other players． When he looked up into his dad' s eyes, however, Travis knew he 25 tell him． "'Thanks, Dad．I was really hoping for shoes," Travis said as he pulled the shoes out of the box．
Next morning his dad drove him to school．When they 26 in front of his destination, Travis slowly opened the car door．Just then, his dad stopped him．
"Hey, Travis, wait a minute, look"…" his dad said 27 "Travis, I know those aren' t the shoes you had hoped for, but I saw the names of the two guys and made a（n） 28 The guy whose name is on those shoes," he said, pointing down at Travis’s feet, "is someone I 29 .Do you know how often Ryann has found himself in 30 ?"
"No," Travis said．
" Never．He' s never talked back to his coach or started a fight, and he' s a team player．You could have acted like a 31 when you didn't get the shoes you wanted, Travis, 32 you were polite and made the best of it．You have 33 , like the guy whose name is on these shoes．I' m hoping that someday, your name will be on the coolest pair of shoes I' 11 ever see．"
When Travis looked down at his feet, he saw the shoes 34 . His dad had used his mind and heart to give the son a thoughtful 35 .
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