[1]I'm a 34﹣year﹣old man， married， lived in a nice house， and have a successful career． But my life was not always so great． I had a learning disability from an early age． I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra（额外的） help． Still， I suffered（遭受） the rest of my school days in public schools．
[2] My life improved greatly when I discovered art． The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words． I went to a workshop and gradually became good at making things with clay． Here I learned my first important lesson： disabled as I was in language， I could still be smart and well express myself with clay． And my confidence（自信）came along．
[3]I got my next lesson from rock climbing． It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start． （3）I soon noticed it wasn't a talent thing：it needed lots of practice． So I did it more． After about five years of climbing， I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall． I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time， you will get better at it．
[4] Later I decided to learn（4）① to read and write． I practiced reading and （4）② ， which l used to avoid as much as possible． After two years， I was literate（有文化的）．
[5]Through the long process with art， （4）③ ． and reading and writing． now I've got to a point in my life： I am smart enough to dive into（潜入） an area that is totally unknown， hard， but interesting．
（1）What made the writer's school days difficult？ （No more than 5 words）
（2）Why did art give the writer confidence？（No more than 11 words）
（3）Translate the underlined sentence in the third paragraph into Chinese．
（4）Fill in the blanks in the last two paragraphs with proper words．
① ② ③
（5）What have you learned from the passage？ （No more than 20 words）
Once there was an old farmer. He had a horse and the horse was almost as old as himself. One morning he set out with his young son to sell the horse before it died. The father and the son walked because the farmer did not want the horse to be too tired.
They met two men on the road. They said, “Why are you walking, farmer? You have a horse. It’s a long way to get to the market. ” The farmer knew that this was true, so he rode on the horse while his son walked.
Then they met two old ladies. “What are you doing up there, farmer? Can’t you see how tired your son is? ”So the farmer got down, and let his son ride on it.
Twenty minutes later, three old men stopped them. One said, “Why are you walking, farmer? Get up. It’s too hot for an old man like you to walk today. ” So the farmer got up behind his son and they went on riding.
Some time later, a young woman passed them. “Why aren’t you walking? ” she asked, “It isn’t far to the market. Give your poor old horse a rest. ”So the farmer and his son got down once again. It is a fact that you cannot please all the people all the time.The farmer was______.
| A．nearly the same age as his horse |
| B．almost always older than his horse |
| C．not quite as old as his horse |
| D．a little older than his horse |
The two men on the road________.
| A．asked how far it was to the market |
| B．said they thought the horse looked very tired |
| C．asked why the farmer was not riding on his horse |
| D．told the farmer’s son to get off the horse and walk |
The two old ladies said it was wrong for_________ .
| A．the farmer to ride such a tired horse |
| B．the farmer to ride while his young son walked |
| C．the boy to ride instead of his father |
| D．only one person to ride such a long way |
The farmer got up behind his son because_________.
| A．the old farmer said it was too hot for him to walk |
| B．the three old men stopped them on the road |
| C．he did hot know why he was walking |
| D．his son could not ride the horse by himself |
What did the writer really want to tell us?
| A．The old man was a fool. |
| B．The horse was old and was going to die. |
| C．It is not right to listen to others. |
| D．It is impossible for a man to make everyone satisfied（满意）all the time. |
Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of 50. In fact, they say by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were when they were 18 years old.
The findings came from a survey of more than 340,000 adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in 2008. At that time, the people were between the ages of 18 and 85. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress.
Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 24 and 25. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
The study also showed that men and women have similar feeling patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men.
Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their feelings. They so spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry.
The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.According to the survey of the Gallup Organization people are most likely to become happier .
| A．when they are between the ages of 18 and 85 | B．when they come to their old age |
| C．when they are in their twenties | D．when they are 18 years old |
You may have the highest level of stress when you are at the age of .
| A．20 | B．25 | C．35 | D．40 |
According to Arthur Stone, old people may .
| A．have a positive attitude towards their life | B．know how to spend money wisely |
| C．dream about good things every day | D．control their behaviors better |
Who would probably show the greatest interest in the passage?
| A．Those who are worried about getting old | B．Those who are single and unemployed |
| C．Those who feel unhappy all the time | D．Those who suffer from mental stress |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Getting Older Means Getting Happier | B．The Young Are Happier Than the Old |
| C．Women Are Easier to Be Happy in Life | D．The Younger, the Happier |
Take a look at teenagers around, dressed in baggy-pants (宽松裤), drinking soft drinks such as coke, reading Japanese cartoons. Whether you are in Beijing, Wuhan or Hong Kong, you will get the same impression. But should we copy others or should we maintain (保留) our differences?
It sounds convenient that people around the world speak the same language, dress in the same style, eat the same food and play the same games. If the world was like this, you won’t feel strange in any corner of world. But just imagine living in such a strange world. How dull and colorless it would be!
Different kinds of food that people can taste, the colorful and fashionable clothes that we dress in and different languages we speak are all part of the different cultures that our ancestors left us. These differences represent their creativity (创造力) and talent. And we all enjoy different cultures in our daily lives. When you travel to other places, you want to see different things. When you talk to foreigners you expect to listen to interesting stories. These differences in culture are what make life colorful.
But the whole world is shrinking into a small village as globalization (全球化) takes effect and many different cultures are disappearing. In most big cities around the world people wear the same clothes. Fast food stores are everywhere. Hollywood movies are kicking traditional performing arts out of our lives. The colors of our life are disappearing.
There is joke that even the panda and zebra want to live a colorful life. So let’s take action to protect our colorful culture before it becomes as simple as black and white.
It’s not difficult. Learning some folk songs, trying on a traditional clothing and even eating local food instead of going to KFC can help. And we’re sure you will enjoy it. The passage is written to _______.
| A．explain cultural differences | B．convince readers to maintain cultural differences |
| C．predict the future of globalization | D．show some cultural phenomena(现象) |
The author thinks that cultural differences _______.
| A．make the world colorful | B．make communication difficult |
| C．only exist in food and clothing | D．will never fade away |
The author starts the argument by ________.
| A．mentioning certain cultural phenomena |
| B．mentioning his view at the very beginning |
| C．mentioning the opposite view at the very beginning |
| D．giving examples of cultural differences |
The underlined word “shrink” probably means “_______”.
| A．expand | B．disappear | C．become smaller | D．grow in number |
The author talks of all the following cultural phenomena except _______.
| A．food | B．clothing | C．language | D．architecture |
Ding-Dong！
“Jason, honey? Can you answer the door?”
“I am busy, mom！” Jason shouted back at his mother. He had spent three hours so far working to this point in the game. He couldn’t stop now.
Ding-Dong！Mom′s footsteps approached the front door.
“Jason, it’s your friend Todd.” Mom called from the doorway.
Todd, his best friend, stepped into the room. “ Jason！I need a partner for playing basketball. ”He sounded excited.
Jason snorted. “No way, Todd. I′m playing a game here.”
Jason gave his friend a dirty look, and his character in the game almost got killed while he looked away, “ I almost died because of you！”
Todd looked at Jason′s mother. Jason’s mother looked back at him. They both looked at Jason. “Why don′t you play basketball with your friend?” Jason’s mother suggested.
“Tomorrow, maybe…” There were more levels to beat tomorrow, though, Maybe he had played tomorrow. He’d have to see what mood he was in. He thought he heard footsteps walking away, but he was too busy beating the next level to care.
An hour later, Jason’s father came home. It was dinner time after his father washed up and sat down. Jason didn′t even hear his name being called to the table. He didn′t hear his father walk at behind him and ask him to turn the game off, either.
When the screen suddenly went black and his father’s angry face loomed in front of him, Jason finally heard. “No more game for a month.” Jason′s father shouted at him. “You don’t play basketball, you don′t come to dinner, and you don′t do your chores. We′ll make you do something else before you play any more.”
Jason nodded slowly. He knew better than to argue with his father, and when he thought about it, he had been playing quite a bit. It was fun, but he was letting down his friends, his family, and himself by paying too much.
He′d try harder in the future.What did Todd ask Jason to do?
| A．Help him cook dinner | B．Beat more levels for him. |
| C．Repair the computer for him | D．play basketball with him. |
Why did Jason finally stop playing the game?
| A．He won the game. | B．His mother got dinner ready. |
| C．His father turned off the computer. | D．He decided to play basketball outside. |
What did Jason learn in the end?
| A．He thought that his father was too strict with him. |
| B．He found that playing computer games was quite interesting. |
| C．He realized it was an unhealthy habit to play games without dinner. |
| D．He couldn’t spend all day playing games, because he had other duties. |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．Inside the game | B．Games or Supper. |
| C．Jason′s Angry Father | D．Use of the Computer. |
John and Bobby joined the same company together just after they completed their university studies the same year. Both of them worked very hard. Several years later, however, the boss promoted(提拔) Bobby to manager but John was still a worker. John could not take it, and gave his resignation（辞职书） to the boss. He complained that the boss did not think much of those who were hard -working, but promoted only those who flattered him.
The boss knew that John had worked very hard for the years. He thought a moment and said, “Thank you for what you said, but I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave”
John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling watermelons. The boss asked how much they cost every kilogram. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 every kilogram.
The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went and returned, saying, “Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 every kilogram, and $10 for 10 kilograms. The seller has 340 melons. On the table there are 58 melons, and each weighs about 2 kilograms. They were brought from the South two days ago. They are of good quality.”
Hearing what Bobby said, John realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided to stay and learn from Bobby.How did John feel when Bobby was promoted to manager?
| A．Angry. | B．Nervous. | C．Unlucky. | D．Helpless. |
The boss gave John a task because______________.
| A．he wanted John to do more for his company |
| B．he wanted John to learn more about himself |
| C．he wanted to punish John for what he said |
| D．he wanted to prove what John said was right |
We can infer from the passage that_____________.
| A．Bobby was unselfish | B．John was lazy |
| C．the seller was dishonest | D．the boss was wise |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The boss should treat all his workers in a fair way. |
| B．The boss should not promote one who flatters him. |
| C．One should not only work hard but also use his head. |
| D．One should try to get every detail of watermelons. |
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