Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength．       the story of this boy for example．He decided to study judo(柔道)       he had lost his left       in a car accident．

The boy began lessons        an old Japanese judo master．The boy was doing well，      he couldn’t understand why，after three months of training，the master had      him only one move．

“Sensei，”the boy       said to his master，“shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”

“This is the only move you’11 ever      to know，”the sensei replied．

Not quite understanding，but believing in his teacher，the boy       training．

Several months later，the sensei       the boy to his first tournament．

To his      ,  the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more        ，but after some time，his opponent(对手)became impatient and charged；the boy skillfully       his one move to win the match．Still amazed by his       ，the boy was now in the finals．

This time，his opponent was bigger，stronger，and more       ．For a while，the boy appeared to be defeated．       that the boy might get       ，the referee called a timeout(暂停)．He was about to stop the match when the sensei       ，saying，“No，let him continue．”

    Soon after the match began again，his opponent made a big       :he dropped his guard．The boy won the tournament．

When asked，“how did I win with only one move ? ”，the sensei answered, “First，you’ve  almost      one of the most difficult throws in all of judo．Second，the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grasp your left arm．”

1.A．Take           B．Give            C．Tell             D．Make

2.A．because        B．though           C．before           D．until

3.A．1eg            B．eye             C．arm             D．hand

4.A．with           B．as               C．beneath         D．1ike

5.A．for            B．since             C．so             D．or

6.A．promised       B．taught            C．allowed         D．delivered

7.A．honestly        B．finally           C．impatiently       D．rapidly

8.A．need           B．fail              C．agree            D．demand

9.A．avoided        B．stopped           C．kept             D．regretted

10.A．applied         B．kept             C．carried           D．took

11.A．embarrassment   B．encouragement    C．disappointment     D．astonishment

12.A．difficult         B．awkward         C．frightening        D．unique

13.A．sacrificed        B．suggested        C．quitted           D．used

14.A．competitor       B．master           C．success          D．challenge

15.A．responsible       B．experienced       C．casual           D．stressed

16.A．Concerned       B．Threatened        C．Disappointed      D．Delighted

17.A．tired            B．defeated          C．hurt              D．fined

18.A．sighed          B．added            C．approved          D．interrupted

19.A．discovery       B．difference         C．mistake           D．decision

20.A．created         B．mastered          C．exposed           D．watched

 

The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks (火星) fly from his hammer.

The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.

“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks (钉), even if it is only to pass the time?” said the blacksmith. “Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you.”

The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.

Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes.

Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.

“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “even making tacks can make money. My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches.”

1. The young man learnt to make shoe tacks because ________.

A. his father told him to                        B. he wanted to learn a skill

C. Jones encouraged him to                   D. he just wanted to pass his time

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Old Mr. Smith enjoyed making the shoe tacks.

B. The blacksmith had predicted the young man would be in need of the skill.

C. The higher prices they paid, the more tacks the shoemakers would get.

D. The young man earned his living by his skills learnt when he was young.

3. What can we learn from the story?

A. Practice makes perfect.                   B. Skill makes life easy.

C. A good beginning makes a good ending.        D. Every man has his gift.

 

I was telling my boy Sonny the story of the hare (兔子) and the tortoise (乌龟). At the end I said, “ Son, remember: Be slow and steady (镇定的), and that will win the race. Don’t you think there’s something to learn from the tortoise?”

Sonny opened his eyes wide, “Do you mean next time when I’m entering for the 60-metre race I should wish that Billy, Tony and Sandy would all fall asleep halfway?”

I was shocked, “But the tortoise didn’t wish that the hare would fall asleep!”

“He must have wished that,” Sonny said, “Otherwise how could he be so foolish as to race with the hare? He knew very well the hare ran a hundred times faster than he himself did.”

“He didn’t have such a wish,” I insisted. “He won the race by perseverance (坚忍不拔的), by pushing on steadily.”

Sonny thought a while. “That’s a lie,” he said. “He won it because he was lucky. If the hare hadn’t happened to fall asleep, the tortoise would never have won the race. He could be as steady as you like, or a hundred times steadier, but he’d never have won the race. That’s for sure.”

I gave up. Today’s children are not like what we used to be. They’re just hopeless.

1.The writer argued (辩论)with his son because ______________.

A．he liked tortoises while his son liked hares

B．they disagreed about whether the tortoise was foolish

C．he tried to teach his son a moral (品德) lesson but the son had totally different opinion

D．he liked the story of the hare and the tortoise while his son didn’t.

2.Sonny believed that the tortoise ______________.

A．won the race by his own hard working

B．took a risk (冒险) by agreeing to run a race

C．was not given a fair chance in the race

D．in fact did win the race luckily

3.Billy, Tony and Sandy must be_______________.

A．boys who were unknown to Sonny’s father

B．boys who Sonny has run races with before

C．boys who Sonny has never raced with before

D．boys who Sonny did not expect to race with again

4.The writer thinks that his generation (一代人) ______________.

A．are cleverer than Sonny’s generation

B．have the same ideas about life as Sonny’s generation

C．are more hopeful than Sonny’s generation

D．have different ideas about life from Sonny’s generation

5.According to the passage, who do you think learnt a lesson?

A．The tortoise                           B．Sonny

C．The hare                              D．Sonny’s father