One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people can be.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of  which  would be considered a very poor family. On their  return  from their trip, the father asked his son, “ How was the trip?”
“It was  great , Dad .”
“Did you see how poor people can be?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah?” said the son.
“So what did you  learn  from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered, “I saw that we have one dog and they have four. We have a pool that  reaches  to the middle of our garden and they have a creek (小溪) that has  no  end. We have lanterns in our garden and they have the  stars  at night. We have a  small  piece of land to live on and they have fields that go  beyond  our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve  themselves . We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have  walls  around our property（财产） to protect us but they have friends to protect them.”
With this the boy’s father was  speechless .
Then his son  added , “Dad, thank you for showing me how  poor  we are.”
Too many times we  forget  what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s  priceless  object is another’s prize possession. It’s all  decided  on one’s perspective (视角). Think about what would happen if we all gave  thanks  for what we have,  instead of  worrying about what we don’t have.
Be thankful for every single thing in your life, exactly as it is now–and  especially  your friends. Be sure to take the time to express your appreciation and gratitude for the people whom you are close to.

Last December, I performed 30 shows in 11 days. I knew it would be a tiring tour before I set off, but I just wanted to be there to support our men and women.

From the minute I walked onstage the afternoon I arrived at the army, the soldiers were cheering, singing along at the top of their voices. I had done hundreds of concerts, but it was my first time to perform for troops. Looking at the smiling faces of these soldiers --- some of them only teenagers --- I felt great joy moving through me. They were the loveliest fans I had ever met. Then, from out of nowhere, words came into my head. “I want to play you something new … a song just came in my head minutes ago. It’s called Here with Me,” I told them. Cheers rang out. As I sang, I could see the tears in some of soldiers’ eyes. I finished to thunderous applause.

At the autograph(亲笔签名)part afterward, one of the soldiers took out a picture of a high school student. “This is my girl. You know, I miss her so much,” he said. “That new song you sang … it meant so much to me. Those were the words I’ve always wanted to tell her.

I realized that the song wasn’t about me and that it was, in fact, a gift for these men and women. I played it in every concert after that, always with the same unbelievable reaction.

On the long plane ride home I kept thinking about the soldiers I’d met. They risked their lives every day to defend our country, yet they were grateful for a simple concert. I decided to record the new song to thank our men and women           in uniform(制服).

1.Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “troops” in the second paragraph?

A．officials           B．teenagers         C．soldiers           D．students

2.When the author performed on the stage, he felt _____.

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

3.What might be the topic of the new song?

A．The tiring army life

B．The danger of being a soldier

C．The excitement of going to a concert

D．The family one misses

4.From the text, we can infer that the author _____.

A．served in the army before

B．received many gifts during shows

C．was impressed by the soldiers

D．always cared for the soldiers

5.The passage is most probably written by a(n) _____.

A．dancer           B．teacher           C．singer            D．official leader

It was a quiet village in which there was a military camp (军营). It was far from the towns and cities and there were some high mountains around. Of course it was a good place for training the new soldiers. But it was difficult for the young men to go outside. Mr. White, an officer of forty, was strict with them and he hardly let them leave the camp.

Once Mr. White was ill in bed. He couldn’t work and a young officer, Mr. Hunt began to train the new soldiers instead of him. He knew the young men well and let nine soldiers go to the nearest town to have a holiday. But night fell and none came back to the camp. He was worried about it and stood at the gate. It was five to twelve when Mr. Hunt decided to go to the town and see what was happening to the young men. He started the car quickly and set off. At that moment the nine soldiers came back. It seemed they drank wine. Of course they found the officer was angry.

“I’m sorry, sir,”said the first soldier.“I left the town on time. But something was wrong with my bus on my way here. I had to buy a horse and made it run fast. Bad luck! It died and I had to run back.”

And the other seven soldiers said they were late for the same reasons. It was the last soldier’s turn. He said, “I’m sorry, sir. I got on a bus on time, but…”

Having heard this, the officer became even angrier and stopped him at once. He called out, “If you say something was wrong with your bus, I’ll punish you at once!”

“No, no, sir,” said the young man. “My bus was all right, but the horse died!”

1.The military camp was built in the village to________.

A. stop the soldiers from going to towns    

B. stop the soldiers from meeting their friends

C. train the new soldiers

D. make the young men live quietly

2.Mr. Hunt let the nine soldiers have a holiday because__________.

A. he was kind to them                   B. they felt lonely

C. they had something important to do       D. they were the best of all

3.The young officer was worried because_______.

A. a traffic accident had happened       

B. he was afraid something happened to the nine soldiers

C. the nine soldiers would come back

D. the nine soldiers drank too much in the town

4.The nine soldiers returned to the camp late because________.

A. something was wrong with their buses   

B. their horses died on the return way

C. it took them much time to run back      

D. they all drank much in the town

5.Which answer do you think is true?

A. You’ll believe only the last soldier.     

B. The officer believed the nine soldiers.

C. You’ll believe none of the nine soldiers. 

D. The officer won’t punish his soldiers.

Charlton Heston was born in 1923 in Evanston, Illinois. Charlton Heston discovered his interest in acting while performing in plays at his high school. He later spent two years studying theater at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. But he left college to join the Army Air Forces during World War Two.
After the war, he found small roles in the theater as well as in television shows. His performance in a television version of the book Jane Eyre caught the attention of the Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille who later asked Heston to play the role of Moses in his movie The Ten Commandments which came out in 1956. This role made Heston famous and defined (明确) his career as a hero and leader. His face and body represented strength and heroism in many different roles. He played cowboys, soldiers and athletes.
The 1959 movie Ben Hur made Charlton Heston an even bigger star. Ben Hur won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Actor for Charlton Heston. Heston starred in many adventure movies during the 1960s. In the 1970s, Heston appeared in popular disaster movies like Earthquake,. Skyjacked and Airport 1975.
Charlton Heston was also very active in the movie industry. He worked to help set up the American Film Institute. In 1977 he was honored for his service in the industry. He received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 1997 he was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor. And, in 2003, President Bush gave Charlton Heston a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.
In 2000, Charlton Heston issued a statement announcing that he had an Alzheimer's disease. He died in 2008 at his home in Beverly Hills, California.
【小题1】What kind of role did Charlton Heston often play in films?

A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train. He had never seen them before, so began, “My name is Stone, and I’m even harder than stone, so do what I tell you or there’ll be trouble. Don’t try any tricks (诡计) with me, and then we’ll get on well together.”

    Then he went to each soldier one after the other and asked him his name, “Speak loudly so that everyone can hear you clearly,” he said, “and don’t forget to call me ‘sir’.”

    Each soldier told him name, until he came to the last one. This man remained silent, and so Captain Stone shouted at him, “ when I ask you a question, answer it! I’ll ask you again: What’s your name, soldier?”

    The soldier was very unhappy, but at last he replied, “My name’s Stonebreaker, sir,” he said nervously (紧张地).

51. The officer was strict _________.

   A. because the soldiers were new.    

B. with any of his soldiers, new or old.

   C. because he was named Stone.     

D. only when he was before soldiers.

52. According to what the officer said, _______________.

   A. obeying his orders would sometimes bring no trouble.

   B. trouble would come if anybody made tricks.

   C. he always got on well with his soldiers.

   D. he often had trouble with his soldiers.

53. The last soldier remained silent because _______________.

   A. he didn’t like the way the officer spoke to them.

   B. he wanted to see what would happen if he disobeyed his order.

   C. the question was difficult for him to answer.

   D. he was afraid the officer would be angry when he heard his name.

54. According to the officer, how to answer the question, “How old are you?”

   A. (sadly) Twenty, sir.           B. (clearly) Twenty.

   C. (loudly)Twenty, sir           D. (quickly)Ten years younger than you, sir