It was June 15, and in two days I would be turning thirty. I was not sure about entering a new decade of my life and feared that my best years were now behind me.
My daily routine included going to the gym for a workout（ 锻炼） before going to work. Every morning I would see my friend Nicholas at the gym. He was seventy­ nine years old and in terrific shape. As I greeted Nicholas on that particular day, he noticed I wasn't full of my usual vitality（活力）and asked if there was anything wrong. I told him I was feeling anxious about turning thirty. I wondered how I would look back on（ 回顾）my life once I reached Nicholas's age, so I asked him, “What was the best time of your life？”
Without hesitation, Nicholas replied, “Well, Joe, this is my philosophical（哲理的）answer to your philosophical question：
When I was a child in Austria and everything was taken care of for me and I was nurtured by my parents, that was the best time of my life.
When I was going to school and learning the things I know today, that was the best time of my life.
When I got my first job and had responsibilities and got paid for my efforts, that was the best time of my life.
When I met my wife and fell in love, that was the best time of my life.
The Second World War came, and my wife and I had to flee Austria to save our lives. When we were together and safe on a ship bound for（开往）North America, that was the best time of my life.
When we came to Canada and started a family, that was the best time of my life.
When I was a young father, watching my children grow up, that was the best time of my life.”
“And now, Joe, I am seventy­ nine years old. I have my health, I feel good and I am in love with my wife just as I was when we first met. This is the best time of my life.”
【小题1】When was the writer's birthday?

“I Went Skydiving at 84!”

As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of for a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001,when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community（社区）announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.

In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn’t believe it. Inspired by this， I decided to realize my dream, even though some of my family members and my doctor were against it.

On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn’t frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute（降落伞）, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it.

Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don’t stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there’s something you want to experience, look into it. If it’s something that is possible, make it happen.

1.What happened to the author in 2001?

A. She flew an airplane              B. She entered a competition

C. She went on a hot air balloon ride   D. She moved into a retirement community

2.The author mentioned George Bush Sr. in her essay to       .

A. build up her own reputation        B. show her admiration for him

C. compare their health condition      D. make her argument persuasive

3.How did the author feel immediately after she jumped out of the plane?

A. Excited           B. Scared      C. Nervous        D. Regretful

4.What did the author enjoy most when she was skydiving?

A. The beautiful clouds     B. The wonderful view

C. The company of Jay     D. The one-minute free fall

5.Which word could be used to replace the word “instructor,” in Paragraph 3?

     A. doctor             B. conductor       C. pilot        D. trainer

When I received my grade on my first writing assignment, I was very disappointed．I met with Dr．Caldwell to discuss my    41 and my work．She gave me lots of _42 and allowed me to rewrite my paper．My grade improved but I was   43 not completely satisfied．Dr．Caldwell decided to help me and  44  me into a good writer, Before each paper was due, I turned in a   45 draft and she corrected it for me, Her dedication to my success was very encouraging because she 46 _ the time to personally help me time and time again．

Dr．Caldwell was behind my dedication to the learning process．Not only did she help me, but also Dr．Caldwell  47 me to become a teacher and dedicate my life to helping children who struggle through school. My most memorable   48  as a teacher was when I tutored a fourth-grade boy, Darnell, in math．He was unable to add, minus, multiply, or divide．He was far 49  his classmates and needed personal  50  to help him work at the same level．

51  we first began our sessions, Darnell was very quiet and  52 _ in learning．I was becoming annoyed and impatient because after two weeks, it seemed as if we had not   53  a thing．To my surprise, Darnell finally _54  __ up to me and began to work hard at his lessons．His progress began to show through and his teacher told me his grades in class had 55  greatly, I was very happy with the progress that we had made and． became even more dedicated to Darnell's success, We had a lot of   56   learning math; we created  many games and played them to make learning more  57  for Darnell． All that Darnell needed was the one-on-one attention that I was able to give him and once he 58   it, his improvement was evident almost  59 . I was able to work with Darnell and encourage him to learn the 60 Dr. Caldwell worked with me to become a better writer．

1.                A．grade          B．study           C．future    D．essay

2.                A．solutions        B．approaches      C．assessments   D．suggestions

3.                A．still            B．also            C．again D．even

4.                A．talk            B．put            C．turn D．build

5.                A．tough          B．similar          C．rough    D．general

6.                A．spent          B．took           C．cost D．paid

7.                A．encouraged     B．forced          C．expected D．begged

8.                A．experiment     B．experience      C．example  D．moment

9.                A．behind         B．below          C．out of    D．ahead of

10.               A．influence       B．sympathy       C．comfort   D．attention

11.               A．When          B．Before         C．While D．Once

12.               A．absorbed       B．delighted       C．concerned D．uninterested

13.               A．conveyed       B．submitted       C．learned   D．accomplished

14.               A．looked         B．opened        C．walked    D．came

15.               A．obtained       B．raised          C．improved  D．decreased

16.               A．trouble         B．patience        C．fun   D．difficulty

17.               A．difficult        B．important       C．reasonable D．enjoyable

18.               A．learned        B．received        C．afforded   D．failed

19.               A．instantly        B．punctually      C．slowly D．gradually

20.               A．skill           B．means         C．knowledge D．way

One year ago, when Fiona turned four, Sam and I decided to home-school her instead of sending her to pre-school．I have always felt that the 0-5 years are an irreplaceable dreamtime．As Fiona is an inventive, observant child, sensitive and funny and great company, it would be a tragedy to find school rubbing away her uniqueness and restricting the building of her personality．

I tried not to reproduce school at home．I never had the urge to get a chalk, or a blackboard．I didn’t go and search out a curriculum(课程表)．I felt that my children would learn best if I stayed accessible (易接近的)and stayed out of their way．

Every day we worked some, relaxed some, read some and played some, but Fiona did not seem particularly happy here．She lost her temper once in a while．

How strange it was that my child who was free from school didn’t want to be free at all．Her friends all went to pre-school．She felt left out of a major part of her friends’ shared lives and experiences．I thought she was not in school for very strong, clear reasons, one of which was that the quality of learning my child did at home would be good, even better than expected．

Well, here was a situation I hadn’t expected．When we first decided to do this, Sam and I agreed that we would reassess(再评价)the situation for each child as she turned seven．Meanwhile we would offer her non-school-based opportunities to give her plenty of time with other kids-ballet lessons and swimming classes．She seemed to be enjoying all．But at times she kept asking when she was going to school．Whenever she asked this question, we told her that there would be a family meeting about it when she turned seven．She nearly always responded, “That’s when I’m going to go, then．” A fair amount of her curiosity was about school and I was afraid she was dreaming of going to school before she turned seven．

Although the advantages of home-schooling, I think, far outweigh its disadvantages, it is important for me to respect my daughter’s feelings and allow her to direct her own education．If her curiosity leads her to school, isn’t that where she should go?

Next week I’ll drive Fiona to her school．I hope that Fiona will learn to read and discover something wonderful to pursue in the world that opens up for her．I hope she will find the school activities provide her with satisfactory kid-time．

1．The writer decided to home-school her daughter, Fiona, because she thought________．

A．children aged 0-5 were too young to go to pre-school

B．Fiona may not be accepted by schools for her bad temper

C．home-schooling was much better than school education

D．children at Fiona’s age were too young to have their characters formed by school

2．In home schooling her daughter the writer tried to_______．

A．make her home just like a school

B．teach with a pointer, a piece of chalk, and a blackboard

C．be there when her child wanted her but tried not to stand in her way

D．teach according to a curriculum, which was suitable for Fiona

3．What was the writer’s biggest problem in home schooling her daughter?

A．She couldn’t decide what to teach and how to teach her daughter

B．She was not sure whether her teaching was suitable for Fiona．

C．She could not make Fiona give up the thought of going to school．

D．She didn’t know how to control Fiona’s temper

4．We can learn from the text that_______．

A．Fiona always acted against her mother’s instructions

B．it was against Fiona’s wish that she was educated at home

C．home-schooling was popular some years ago

D．Fiona’s parents would ask her opinions about school education

— Do you still remember how we first met?
— Yes, you ________ to my office and ran into me on the way.