My chance came at last. Our school was going to hold a sports meet. I knew what it   41   to me so I got up very early to prepare for it. I  42   running and jumping. When I was   43 , I reminded myself of my promise and went on.

  44   the time came nearer, I felt quite   45  . On the first day I came fourth in the 1500m   46   but I was far from   47   because what I wanted most was the highlight of the sports meeting—250x8 relay race. I would run the last leg for my team.

With a shot, the race began. All the students were   48   for their team. The competition was so   49   that I began to feel nervous. Before my turn came, my team was   50   the others. Even worse, I almost dropped the stick when I was trying to   51   it.

  52  after that, there was nothing in my mind except to run as fast as possible. Just when I was approaching the finish line, my legs   53  . Then my promise came to mind again and   54   me to go on. To my surprise, I was the first to   55  the finish line!

  56  , I had proved to myself and those who had often laughed at me that I am not   57   at all! My classmates greeted me warmly and I hugged them tightly. I had won the prize as well as their   58  .

From the sports meeting, I learnt that sometimes things are not so difficult as they   59   to be. Just try your best without fear and you might be surprised at the   60  .

A. mattered                B. held                  C. meant               D. brought

A. exercised               B. practiced           C. chose                D. tried

A. tired                   B. upset                 C. lazy                  D. happy

A. For                    B. By                    C. With               D. As

A. confident               B. worried             C. proud                D. nervous

A. run                    B. jump                 C. race                  D. match

A. happy                    B. sad                   C. excited              D. pleased

A. heading                 B. racing               C. cheering            D. shouting

A. difficult                 B. close                 C. heated               D. near

A. running before           B. leading           C. falling behind    D. catching up with

A. fetch                         B. hold                  C. pass                  D. take

A. Then                     B. But                   C. Thus                 D. Even

A. gave in                  B. gave out            C. gave up             D. gave away

A. had                    B. made                C. let                    D. got

A. draw                         B. cut                    C. cross                 D. catch

A. At last                   B. After all            C. Above all          D. As a result

A. bad                    B. weak                 C. slow                 D. strong

A. congratulations       B. respect                     C. support             D. pride

A. seem                     B. hope                 C. look                  D. expect

A. beginning                 B. place                 C. result                D. time

Trudy, an American girl, tried swimming across the English Channel. That was August 6, 1962. Her father had ___1___ her two things. One was not to pull her out of the water ___2___ she asked. The other was to give her a red sports ___3___ if she made it.

In gay spirits Trudy ___4___ out, swimming strongly. All the swimmers started at 7:09 in the morning. Her father and the trainer were going along in a boat beside her. At ten o’clock, rain began falling.

___5___, Trudy trod(踩) water while drinking and eating a chicken leg. Then she started swimming ___6___. The wind was ___7___ and the sea became rougher. Late ___8___ the wind became even worse. The trainer ___9___ it was useless trying to finish. He called to Trudy to ___10___.

“No human being could do it in this weather,” he said. “It’s ___11___ to go on. “however, her father shouted, “Don’t grab her. Let her ___12___. “At seven o’clock the tides(潮水) turned ___13___ her. It was more difficult to move a- head. But Trudy still swam on. She ___14___ victory was possible now, for the English coast was in ___15___.

It was getting dark. A sound could be heard ___16___ the wind；hundreds of car horns(喇叭) were cheering her on. With ___17___ strength, she finished the last 200 yards. At 9:35p. m., Trudy got out of water. She had swum some 35 miles in ___18___ the 21-mile-wide Channel ___19___ a strong storm. But she had made it in 14 hours and 30 minutes. “Well, Pop,” she said to her father. “I ___20___ I get my car this time, don’t I?”

1. A. given     B. refused       C. allowed      D. promised

2. A. as   B. unless C. even if       D. when

3. A. suit B. shoe    C. hat      D. car

4. A. rushed    B. left     C. started D. worked

5. A. At midday     B. In the morning   C. In the evening    D. In the late afternoon

6. A. faster     B. better  C. again  D. across

7. A. stopping B. rising  C. changing    D. increasing

8. A. morning B. afternoon   C. evening      D. night

9. A. thought  B. considered  C. decided      D. felt

10. A. keep up       B. slow down  C. give up      D. take a rest

11. A. difficult       B. stupid C. impossible  D. unnecessary

12. A. go B. decide C. come out    D. go on

13. A. towards       B. with    C. at       D. against

14. A. realized       B. noticed       C. found out   D. thought

15. A. the distance        B. reach  C. sight   D. hand

16. A. over     B. in       C. with    D. from

17. A. fresh    B. greater       C. weakening  D. remaining

18. A. flying   B. swimming  C. crossing     D. passing

19. A. in spite of    B. because of  C. against       D. during

20. A. demand       B. am afraid   C. hope   D. guess

Do’s and Don’ts in Whale Watching

The Department of  Fisheries and Oceans has developed guidelines for whale watching in Johnstone Strait,where killer whales are found on a daily basis each summer.It is strongly recommended that vessel(船只)operators follow these guidelines for all kinds of whales.

Approach whales from the side,not from the front or the back.

Approach no closer than 100 metres,then stop the boat but keep the engine on.

Keep noise levels down-no horns,whistles or racing of engines.

Start your boat only after the whales are more than 100 metres from your vessel.

Leave the area slowly,gradually moving faster when you are more than 300 metres from the whales.

Approach and leave slowly,avoiding sudden changes in speed or direction.

Avoid disturbing groups of resting whales.

Keep at low speeds and remain in the same direction if travelling side by side with whales.

When whales are travelling close to shore,avoid crowding them near the shore or coming between the whales and the shore.

Limit the time spent with any group of whales to less than 30 minutes at a time when within 100 to 200 metres of whales.

If there is more than one vessel at the same observation spot,be sure to avoid any boat position that would result in surrounding the whales.

Work together by communicating with other vessels,and make sure that all operators are aware of the whale watching guidelines.

For whom is this text written?

When leaving the observation areas, the vessel should ________________.

When going side by side  with whales, the vessel should ________.

D
Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown（成熟的）. Quite the opposite ,just as the cook as to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at his desk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is — schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication. You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.
There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe（抄写员）to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service of that rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letters writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put into mails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into the wastepaper basket. This is the reason we make efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.
48. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food because both______.
A. are enjoyable     B. are easy to learn       
C. are unnecessary to life      D. take a short time to prepare
49. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Writing skills are less important than experience.
B. A good writer should have his own way of writing.
C. A good writer should learn to write the same kind of article.
D. The more efforts one makes, the more money one can earn.
50. The authour thinks that the most important reason for us to practice writing skill is ______.
A. to learn about our life                            B. to attract others to read
C. to do daily reports easily                 D. to become good secretaries
51. The purpose of the author in writing his passage is to ______.
A. comment and blame                       B. introduce and describe
C. explain and persuade                      D. interest and inform

The latest research suggests that the key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success. Instead, it’s purposeful practice. Top performers spend more hours practising their craft. It you wanted to picture how a typical genius might develop, you’d take a girl who possessed a slightly above average language ability. It wouldn’t have to be a big talent, just enough so that she might gain some sense of distinction. Then you would want her to meet, say, a novelist, who coincidentally shared some similar qualities. Maybe the writer was from the same town, had the same family background, or shared the same birthday.

This contact would give the girl a vision of her future self. It would hive her some idea of a fascinating circle who might someday join. It would also help if one of her parents died when she was 12, giving her a strong sense of insecurity and fueling a desperate need for success. Armed with this ambition, she would read novels and life stories of writers without end. This would give her a primary knowledge of her field. She’s be able to see new writing in deeper ways and quickly understand its inner workings.

Then she would practise writing. Her practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused. By practising in this way, she delays the automatizing process. Her mind wants to turn conscious, newly learned skills into unconscious. Automatically performed skills. By practising slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, she forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance. Then she would find an adviser who would provide a constant stream of feedback, viewing her performance form the outside, correcting the smallest errors, pushing her to take on tougher challenges. By now she is redoing problems — how do I get characters into a room—dozens and dozens of times. She is establishing habits of thought she can call upon in order to understand or solve future problems.

The primary quality our young writer possesses is not some mysterious genius. It’s the ability to develop a purposeful, laborious and boring practice routine; the latest research takes some of the magic out of great achievement. But it underlines a fact that is often neglected. Public discussion is affected by genetics and what we’re “hard-wired” to do. And it’s true that genes play a role in our capabilities. But the brain is also very plastic. We construct ourselves through behaviour.

1.The passage mainly deals with????????? .

A. the function of I.Q. in cultivating a writer

B. the relationship between genius and success

C. the decisive factor in making a genius

D. the way of gaining some sense of distinction

2.By reading novels and writers’ stories, the girl could???????? .

A. come to understand the inner structure of writing

B. join a fascinating circle of writers someday

C. share with a novelist her likes and dislikes

D. learn from the living examples to establish a sense of security

3. In the girl’s long painstaking training process, ________.

A. her adviser forms a primary challenging force to her success

B. her writing turns into an automatic pattern of performance

C. she acquires the magic of some great achievement

D. she comes to realize she is “hard-wired” to write

4.What can be concluded from the passage?

A. A fueling ambition plays a leading role in one’s success

B. A responsible adviser is more important than the knowledge of writing.

C. As to the growth of a genius, I.Q. doesn’t matter, but just his/her effort.

D. What really matters is what you do rather than who you are.