In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.

      First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.

      I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time— two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $100 a week.

      But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.

     I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.

49. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?

A. To pay for his schooling.                                     B. To save for his future.

C. To support his family.                                         D. To gain some experience.

50. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT_______.

A. loading boxes in the freezing cold                        B. having limited time for breaks

C. working and studying at the same time                 D. getting no pay for lunch time

51. What is the subject discussed in the text?

A. The writer’s unhappy school life.                   B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.

C. The writer’s experience as a full-time worker. D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.

52. How is the text organized?

A. Topic-Argument-Explanation                        B. Opinion-Discussion-Description

C. Main idea-Comparison-Supporting examples   D. Introduction-Supporting examples-Conclusion

In my whole childhood I focused on training to play professional soccer. Through the mid 90’s I  36 through Olympic training and on June 13,1997 I was  37 with a minor league team, when a 16-year-old boy ran a stop sign(闯红灯).That night 38 my life. I was on my motorcycle and got 39 by a car, partly disabling me six months. I lost most of my memory, 40 coma (昏迷)symptom and had to learn to 41  all over. During the coming 24 months of physical treatment I changed my 42 of life.

    I began making 43 as if each day was my last day 44. Before the 45 , I was studying at a university. I was taught that the 46 of life was to study career skills and pursue financial 47. After returning from near death I went 48 searching. I traveled through the native reservation of the northern USA and witnessed the most extreme 49. I slowly realized there was so much more to 50 than just doing things for myself. I started listening to the people I met and 51 to help them any way possible.

   Everywhere I stayed I met 52 people telling me stories about 53 the earth and making better use of nature’s energy. In 2005 my father quickly died from cancer and I 54 the desire to do much of anything for myself. I started looking for well-off people to aid those 55. I’ve accumulated a list of people nearing life threatening situations or those trying to make a major effect on the world and now I try to help them full time.

A. advanced       B. fought         C. looked        D. won

A. playing         B. working       C. competing     D. coming

A. corrected       B. influenced      C. destroyed      D. changed

A. run            B. hit            C. knocked       D. stuck

A. spread          B. caught         C. showed        D. suffered

A. walk           B. talk            C. eat           D. drive

A. duty           B. view           C. course        D. dream

A. decisions       B. discoveries      C. promises       D. studies

A. possible        B. available        C. present        D. alive

A. event          B. experience      C. difficulty      D. disaster

A. reality         B. value           C. purpose       D. content

A. balance        B. situation        C. stability       D. expense

A. head          B. spirit           C. heart         D. soul

A. poverty        B. anxiety         C. anger         D. simplicity

A. nature         B. society         C. life           D. happiness

A. refused        B. volunteered      C. tended        D. learned

A. wonderful      B. famous         C. wealthy       D. cautious

A. developing     B. exploring        C. respecting     D. understanding

A. realized        B. controlled       C. gained        D. lost

A. in despair      B. in need          C. in touch       D. in season 

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her free time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last year.

As a writer I know about winning contests, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip (退稿条) from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again? That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and ruined hopes can surface.

A revelation (启示) came last week when I asked her, “Don’t you want to win again?”

“No”, she replied, “I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade.”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously (自发地) told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly “guided” by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it.

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting (借用) my daughter’s experience.

While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment, grow and find their own voices.

What do we learn form the first paragraph?

A. Now too many entertainments take up too much time.

B. Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

C. Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her free time.

D. Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

What did the author say about her own writing experience?

A. She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

B. Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

C. She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

D. Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest?

A. She had won a prize in the previous contest.

B. She wanted to share her stories with readers.

C. She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

D. She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

What’s the author’s advice for parents?

A. Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions.

B. Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in.

C. Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience.

D. A writing career, though attractive, is not for every child to pursue.

In this age of Internet chat，videogames and reality television，there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied．Yet，despite the competition，my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories．She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest，a competition she won last year．

    As a writer I know about winning contests，and about losing them．I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher．I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories．What if she doesn.t win the contest again？That’s the strange thing about being a parent．So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface．

A revelation（启示）came last week when l asked her，”Don’t you want to win again？” “No,” she replied，“I just want to tell the story of an angel（天使）going to first grade．”

I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously（自发地）told them．Telling myself that l was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall. I offered suggestions for characters，conflicts and endings for her tales．The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly“guided”by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson．I had turned her contest into my contest without even realizing it．

Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks．Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade，I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting（借用）my daughter’s experience．

While stepping back was difficult for me，it was certainly a good first step that l will quickly follow with more steps，putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked．All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experiment，grow and find their own voices．

What did the author say about her own writing experience？

    A．Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers．

    B．She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer．

    C．Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations．

    D．She was constantly under pressure of writing more．

Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest？

    A．She wanted to share her stories with readers．

    B．She was sure of winning with her mother’s help．

    C．She believed she possessed real talent for writing．

    D．She had won a prize in the previous contest．

The author took great pains to refine her daughter’s stories because       ．

    A．she was afraid Rebecca’s imagination might run wild while writing

    B．she did not want to disappoint Rebecca who needed her help so much

    C．she believed she had the knowledge and experience to offer guidance

    D．she wanted to help Rebecca realize her dreams of becoming a writer

What’s the author’s advice for parents？

    A．Parents should keep an eye on the activities their kids engage in．

    B．Children should be allowed freedom to grow through experience．

    C．A writing career，though attractive，is not for every child to pursue．

    D．Children should be given every chance to voice their opinions．

    In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.

    First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For then hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.

    I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.

    But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.

    I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.

49. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?

  A. To pay for his schooling.

B. To save for his future.

  C. To support his family

D. To gain some experience

50. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ______.

  A. loading boxes in the freezing cold                     B. having limited time for breaks

  C. working and studying at the same time        D. getting no pay for lunch time

51. What is the subject discussed in the text?

  A. The writer’s unhappy school life.               B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.

  C. The writer’s experience to earn money.      D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.

52. How is the text organized?

  A. Topic—Argument—Explanation

B. Opinion—Discussion—Description

  C. Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples

D. Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion