I was feeling a little blue because my mother had lost her job.

One day, while I was    on the street, I heard the piano music and singing rising above the noise of the people. I walked more slowly to      where it was coming from. Then I saw a young lady sitting at a piano.

She was singing songs about love,      yourself and keeping on trying. The way she was singing made me a little comfortable. I stood there     ，watching her playing on such a crowded New York square. I thought that she must be     enough to perform in front of so many people.

She noticed me. I walked over and told her how good her       sounded. “Thank you.” she said.

“I have been going through a hard time recently,     you’ve made me hopeful again.” I said to her.

“I’m glad that I could help,” she replied, “Why are you so    ?”

“Well, my mom has lost her job, and I’m not sure what to do …”

“Did you noticed the    you were walking? Your head was down.” she said. “Don’t be upset, because      comes in different ways and if your head is down, you might not see it. You should       more… lift your head up.”

I looked      her, amazed at how she was encouraging me. “    are you playing the piano here?” I asked her with a smile.

She     that she saw a lot of unhappy people in the world and she tried to cheer       up by playing music.

I smiled a little wilder, realizing that no difficulties could stop me from going on.

1.A. driving            B. riding                         C. running     D. walking

2.A. find out           B. send out                     C. take out     D. get out

3.A. dressing          B. believing                     C. hurting      D. losing

4.A. nervously         B. rudely                        C. angrily      D. quietly

5.A. brave             B. shy                          C. bored       D. honest

6.A. advice             B. idea                         C. music       D. interest

7.A. or                B. but                           C. so          D. and

8.A. dirty              B. busy                  C. sad         D. lazy

9.A. way               B. time              C. reason       D. station

10.A. opportunity     B. health            C. pain         D. life

11.A. complain       B. rest              C. smile        D. pay

12.A. like           B. after             C. for          D. at

13.A. How          B. Why              C. When       D. Where

14.A. dreamed       B. hoped             C. guessed     D. explained

15.A. us            B. them               C. me        D. her

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.

Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.

The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess

2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because

3. A. myself        B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness

4. A. that          B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply

5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always

6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light

7. A. that          B. what             C. which            D. where

8. A. moments       B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes

9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end

10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise

11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything

12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson

13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last

14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person

15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family

When you get up in the morning, do you find it hard to choose what clothes to wear? If so, you probably need help to make the bigger choices in your life, like what to do when you’re older. Brave New Girls, by American author Jean Gade-berg, will help you make such choices. It says you must be a brave new girl. A brave new girl is one who is confident, healthy and happy. A brave new girl can realize her dreams. To be brave, you need to make a decision for yourself. Other people may tell you what to do, but you should not listen to them. You must only do what you want. If you always wear clothes like your favourite TV star, you must stop doing so. Instead, become your own star and wear the clothes you want. You have to like your body, it says. If you don’t, you will not take good care of it, and it won’t stay healthy. The book also says that girls must start becoming more confident. If you are confident, you’ll succeed in life. A good way to become confident is to realize that you are as clever as boys. In fact you are. Just look at their grades! Only then can you realize your dreams and become who you want to be.
【小题1】 What quality should a brave new girl have?
A. Confident.      B. Healthy.        C. Happy.      D. A, B and C.
【小题2】Brave New Girls is a ________.

Kate Spotz is a 22-year-old girl from America. She wants to cross the Atlantic Ocean by boat. If she__ ___ , she’ll be the youngest and the first American to finish the 2500-mile trip.
Spotz began___ ____ when she was at university. She has swum all the way down the 325-mile Allegheny River and traveled by bike from Seattle to Washington.
Spotz knows that she______ see some unexpected(想不到的) things during the trip. It will be very______ if she meets very bad weather in the middle of the sea. _____ she believes that she can deal with all the difficulties.  “I had never thought I could run 26 miles,” she said. “But once I ______ it, I realized that maybe I could do something even______.”
Spotz wants to collect______ for an organization called“ Blue Planet Run” by going on this trip. The organization offers free and safe drinking water to people who need it.
It’ll take her about three months to finish this______. Good luck to this______ girl and best wishes to her!
【小题1】A. dreams .            B. misses                   C. succeeds
【小题2】A. sailing                B. biking                   C. swimming
【小题3】A. must                B. may                    C. should
【小题4】A. dangerous             B. boring                   C. exciting
【小题5】A. If                   B. But                     C. So
【小题6】A. saw                  B. met                     C. finished
【小题7】A. easier                 B. more difficult             C. more dangerous
【小题8】A.food                  B. money                   C. clothes
【小题9】A.plan                  B. lesson                   C. trip
【小题10】A. brave               B. modern                  C. polite