I grew up poor---living in the housing projects (住房) with six brothers, three sisters, a varying assortment (各式各样东西的混合) of foster kids (养子), my father, and a wonderful mother, Scarlette Hunley. We had little money and few worldly goods, but plenty of love and attention. I was  36  and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still  37  a dream.

My dream was  38 . By the time I was sixteen, I could crush a baseball, and hit anything that moved on the baseball field. I was also  39 : My high school coach Jarvis, who not only believed in me, but taught me how to believe in myself. He  40  me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction (信念). One particular incident with Coach Jarvis changed my life forever.

It was the summer between my junior and senior years, and a friend  41  me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket—cash for dates with girls, certainly, money for a new bike and new clothes, and the  42  of savings for a house for my mother. The prospect of a summer job was attractive and interesting, and I wanted to jump at the opportunity. Then I realized I would have to  43  summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell Coach Jarvis I wouldn’t be playing.

When I told Coach Jarvis, he was  44  as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work，” he said. “Your  45  days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”

I stood before him with my head hanging, trying to think of the words that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his  46  to me.

“How much are you going to make at this job, son?” He demanded.

“3.5 dollars an hour.” I replied.

“Well,” he asked, “Is $3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”

That question, the plainness of it, laid bare for me the difference between wanting something right now and having a goal. I delicated myself to sports that summer and with the year I was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and was  47  a $20,000 contract. I signed with the Denver Broncos in 1998 for $1.7 million, and bought my mother the house of my dreams.

1..A. happy         B. polite               C. shy              D. honest

2. A. live          B. afford               C. make             D. need

3. A.athletics          B. music                C. business         D. money

4. A. right         B. popular          C. lucky                D. confident

5. A. persuaded     B. taught               C. brought          D. asked

6. A. sent          B. advised          C. gave             D. recommended

7. A. aim           B. idea             C. start                D. purpose

8.A. give in            B. give up          C. give away            D. give off

9. A. disappointed      B. mad              C. frightened           D. shameful

10. A. living           B. playing          C. working          D. learning

11. A.sadness           B. regret               C. hopelessness     D. disappointment

12. A.paid          B. got              C. offered          D. presented

 

Robby was 11 when his mother dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer students begin at an earlier age. Robby insisted that it had always been his mother’s dream to hear him play the piano, so I took him in as a student.

Robby tried and tried while I listened and encouraged him and gave him more instructions (指导). But he just did not have any inborn ability.

I only saw his mother from a distance. She always waved and smiled but never came in. Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons. I thought about calling him but I guessed he had decided to try something else.

I was also glad that he stopped coming for the sake of my career. However, several weeks before the recital (演奏会) of my students, Robby came，telling me that he never stopped practicing and begged me to allow him to take part. I agreed but I made him perform last in the program, so I could always save his poor performance through my “curtain closer”.

I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen one piece of Mozart’s. Never had I heard a piece of Mozart’s played so well by someone at his age. When he finished, everyone was cheering.

I ran up and put my arms around Robby in joy. “I’ve never heard you play like that, Robby!  How’d you do it?”

“Well, Miss Hondorf. Do you remember I told you my mom was sick? Actually she died this morning. She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she could hear me play. I wanted to make it special. I knew I could.”  That night, Robby was the teacher and I was the student. He taught me so many important things about life.

1.Why did Robby stop coming to the piano lessons suddenly?

A．He lost heart and believed that he would never make it.

B．His mother was too sick to send him to the piano lessons.

C．He thought his teacher disliked him.

D．His mother died and he didn’t need to play any longer.

2. Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

A．The writer thought playing the piano shouldn’t start too late.

B．The writer thought that Robby had given up the piano lesson.

C．The writer taught Robby carefully although he hadn’t a gift for music.

D．No one else could play the piece of Mozart’s well.

3.From the underlined sentence we can infer that  _______.

A．the writer looked down upon Robby and disliked him

B．the writer thought Robby a bad advertisement for his teaching

C．with Robby present, the other children couldn’t play well

D．the writer couldn’t teach so many students at a time

4. What did the writer learn from Robby?

A．The meaning of true love.

B．The meaning of giving up necessarily.

C．The meaning of being kind to teachers.

D．The meaning of believing in teachers.

 

 

第四部分  阅读理解（满分 30分）

Dear Daughter,

As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write to tell you that is on my mind.

First, I want to tell you how proud we are. Getting into Columbia is real testament (证明) of what a great well – rounded student you are. You should be as proud of yourself as we are.

  Your college years will be the most important of your life. It is in college that you will discover what learning is about. This will be the period when you go from teacher taught to master inspired, after which you must become self – learner. So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn is of no practical use in real life, the learning skills you get will be something you will value forever.

　　Follow your passion in college. Take courses you think you will enjoy. Don’t be bothered by what others think or say, but make up your own mind. Most importantly, make true friends and be happy. Don’t worry about their hobbies, grades, looks, or even personalities.

Start planning early what you’d like to do. Where would you like to live? What would you like to learn? I think your plan to study fashion is good, and you should decide where you want to be, and get onto the right courses. I will always be there for you, but the time has come for you to be in the driver’s seat – this is your life, and you need to be in corral. Being in control feels great. Try it, and you’ll love it!

So please treasure your college years – make the best use of your free time, become an in depended ticker in control of your destiny, and learn through your successes and challengers.

May your years at Columbia be the happiest of your life, and may you grow into just what you dream to be .

Love,

Dad (& Mom)

(Excerpt from Kai – Fu Lee’s letter to his daughter)

1．We can read between the lined that            .

        A．Dad has s strong love for his daughter

         B．Dad is very strict with his daughter

         C．Dad always worries about his daughter

         D．Dad is much concerned about his daughter’s health

2．The underlined word “destiny” in the passage is the closest in meaning to “_______”.

         A．weight        B．life      C．position      D．time

3．Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

         A．Plan thing – before you do them.

         B．Self – learning as very important in college.

         C．Follow your passion and what other people say.

         D．Leading a life is just like driving a car.

4．The purpose of the author in writing the letter is to tell his daughter to_________.

        A．smile to her trouble in life B．fight till she succeeds

         C．be confident and happy    D．make the most of the college

 

Ryan and Lowry had been friends since high school， but it wasn’t until after college that they hit on the idea of a home-care-products company．“We were shocked to learn how toxic cleaning products were” says Ryan．Why couldn’t they create green products that would be just as environmentally pure as Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines?

When Ryan’s mom heard about the plan，she stared at him blankly: “I’ve never even seen you clean your room!” Not discouraged，Lowry experimented with nontoxic ways to clean while Ryan focused on marketing．In February 2001，they mixed their first four cleaning sprays and convinced the managers of 20 grocers to try them· Once they had their approval，they tapped friends and family and pooled their  savings to come up with $90，000 in seed money．

From the start，“Go big or go home’’ was their mantra(口头禅)．Their first financing— that $l million—was due to be signed on September 11, 2001. By the time they got it, two months later，says Ryan, "we had$16 in the bank and personally owed$300,000.”

Seeking a national retailer(零售商)proved just as troublesome．The friends set their sights on Target，known for its trendy，affordable goods．“But Target didn’t like the product or the brand，”recalled Ryan．“We thought the deal was dead，but then a new buyer saw that even though we weren’t selling big volumes, we were  profitable, just on a smaller scale．”They won over Target．

Consumers were hooked on the natural things and wonderful fragrance. Today, the partners sell 130 products in more than 8,000 stores，and taxes are over$100 million. Such rapid growth has at times  stressed the men’s friendship. “Eric and I agree on ‘what’ but never on ‘how，’ says Lowry． “Although we are willing to challenge each other，we come up with interesting and smarter solutions．There’s little fire and ice between us.”

1.The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph 1 most probably means——·

  A．poisonous    B．dirty    C．expensive    D．troublesome

2.When Ryan told his mom his plan, ___________.

A．he knew his mom was sure to support him

B．his mom asked him to clean his room

C．his mom suspected his ability

D．he was discouraged by his mom

3.We can learn from the third paragraph that ___________．

    A．Ryan and Lowry wanted to give up and go home at first

    B．their plan didn’t go smoothly at the very beginning

    C．they made profit two months later after their first financing

    D．$1 million was not enough as their seed money

4.The partners’ cleaning products are sold very well because_________．

    A．the products are made of natural material and smell nice

    B．their friends and family offered to use their products

    C．they cooperated with a well—known national retailer

    D．they convinced 20 grocer managers to try them

5.It can be inferred from the passage that___________．

    A．Aveda’s skin-and-hair-care lines are not so successful as Ryan and Lowry’s

    B．Target is a famous environment-friendly cleaning brand

    C．The friends "cooperation with Target was very successful

D．The partners get on well with each other in their business     

 

Ambassador Hotel：

Welcome to the Ambassador Hotel. To make your stay as enjoyable as possible, we hope you will use our facilities to the full.

Dining Room

Breakfast is served in the dining mom from 8 a. m. to 9: 30 a.m. Alternatively, the room staff will bring a breakfast tray to your room at any time after 7 a.m. In this case, please fill out a card and hang it outside your door when you go to bed.

Lunch: 12:00a.m. to2:30p.m.

Dinner: 7:30 p. m. to 9:00 p.m.

Room Service

This operates 24 hours a day; phone the Reception Desk(前台), and your message will be passed on to the room staff.

Telephones

To make a phone call, dial 0 for Reception and ask to be connected. We apologize for delays in putting calls through when the staffs are very busy. There are also public telephone booths near the Reception Desk. Early calls should be booked with Reception.

Laundry

We have a laundry in the hotel, and will wash iron and return your clothes within 24 hours. Ask the room staff to collect them.

Bar

The hotel bar is open from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

1.You would see this notice _________ .

A. in a hotel bar

B. in a hotel dining room[来源:学.科.网Z.X.X.K]

C. in a bedroom of a large international hotel

D. at the entrance of a small family hotel 

2. What should you do if you have arrived to stay at the hotel at 2 a.m. and want something to eat?

A. Go to the hotel shop.　　                B. Go to the hotel bar.

C. Hang a message outside your door.　　    D. Phone the Reception Desk.   

3. What should you do when you come back to the hotel to make an important call and see a lot of people around the Reception desk?

A. Go to your room and phone from there.

B. Ask at the Reception Desk.

C. Use one of the telephones in the entrance hall.

D. Go out again and look for a public phone box

4.What do you think a room staff’s last job is before he goes off duty at 6 p.m.?

A. Lay the tables in the dining room.

B. Check the bedroom doors.

C. Start preparing the breakfast.

D. Wake any of the guests who have asked for early calls.