Have you ever been sad because you failed in something? If so, please remember, for often, achieving what you expect is not the most important thing. Here is a story to tell you why.

     One day a little boy decided to dig a hole behind his house after watching a science program. As he was working, a couple of boys stopped by to watch.  "What are you doing?" asked one of the visitors. "I want to dig a deep hole all the way through the earth!" the boy answered excitedly.  The older boys began to laugh, telling him that it was impossible to do it. Then they left.

      The little boy kept on digging and digging. Suddenly, a few small colorful stones caught his eyes. He collected them and put them into a glass jar patiently.  Humming a song, he went on digging. The jar was full soon. Then he talked to himself calmly and proudly, "Maybe I can't finish digging all the way through the earth, but look at what I have found in the process (过程) of digging !"

     The boy's goal was too difficult, but it did cause him to go on, in other words, to cause us to keep working!

      Not every goal will be achieved.  Not every job will end up with a success.  Not every dream will come true.  But when you can't achieve your goal, maybe you can say, "Yes, but look what I've found along the way! There are so many wonderful things that have come into my life because I tried to do something!" It is in the digging that life is lived. is the unexpected joy on the journey that really has a meaning.

1.What did the boy do after watching a program?

           A. He bought a glass jar.            

B. He started to dig a hole.

           C. He played with some visitors.

2.What did the older boys think of the little boy?

           A. He was silly.                      

B. He was strict.

           C. He was strong-minded.

3.When did the boy find the stones?

           A. Before he met the older boys.     

 B. When he wanted to give up digging.

           C. After the older boys laughed at him.

4.What does the underlined sentence "It is in the digging that life is lived.” mean according to the article?

           A. Life is to make a big success.      

B. Life is to find the colorful stones.

           C. Life is on the way to achieve the goal.

5.Which is the best title for this article?

           A. Enjoying the Process              

B. How to Achieve Goals

           C. A Journey through the Earth

 

Do your parents ever say, “act like a lady” or “be a gentleman” to you? But in the eyes of today’s teenagers, what should a lady or a gentleman be like? Let’s take a look.

What is a gentleman? The girls have their ideas:

  Huang Xiaoyu of Guizhou: A gentleman doesn’t always get angry. He wants others to be well and happy. He is always ready to help. There is a boy in my class and I think he is a gentleman. If I don’t do well in the English exam, he will say, “You will do better next time.” That makes me feel happy.

  Chen Tingting of Shenzhen: A gentleman always says, “Ladies first” When students clean up the classroom, he does the heavy work. He lets girls go into rooms first. There are no gentlemen in my class. When there is something to eat, the boys in my class always get them before girls!

What is a lady？ Boys tell us what they think a lady is:

  Wu Yifan of Dalian: A lady is quiet and kind, but she’s not shy (害羞) and she can talk about her ideas in front of others. To me, Dong Jie, a film star, is a lady. She is pretty and kind. She does a lot for others.

   Wang Lichao of Tianjin: A lady is not just beautiful but clever. She never says bad words. She is quiet and kind to others. I don’t think there is a lady in my class. Most of the girls are “wild beauties”, I think.

1.What does Huang Xiaoyu think a gentleman will do if she doesn’t do well in the English exam?

A. He will say “You’ll do better next time”

B. He will get angry

C. He will say “You’re so careless.”

D. He will laugh at her

2.Why does Wu Yifan think Dong Jie is a lady?

A. Because she is quiet.                          

B. Because she likes expressing (表现) herself

C. Because she is pretty and kind.

D. Because she is very shy.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?

A. Wang Lichao thinks pretty-looking is enough for a lady.

B. Huang Xiaoyu thinks there is a gentleman in his class

C. Chen Tingting thinks there is a gentleman in his class

D. Wu Yufan thinks a lady can’t talk about her ideas in front of others.

4.What does the underlined words “wild beauties” mean in this passage?

A. Beautiful and kind girls                              B. Pretty- looking but rude girls

C. Gentle and shy girls                                 D. Clever girls

 

One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, “Look! There's a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag.” Thomas said, “It isn't worth the trouble.” His father said nothing but picked it up himself. When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with the few pennies he bought some cherries.

    The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky, and there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth.

    And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up. When Thomas had eaten up all the cherries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you had bent down earlier to pick up that horseshoe. it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things.

1.Who picked up the horseshoe at last?

   A. Thomas.                           B. The old father.

   C. Both the father and the son.              D. Neither the father nor the son.

2.The farmer bought _______ with the money after he sold the horseshoe.

   A. some food     B. some water           C. some cherries    D. some pennies

3.When the son refused to pick up the horseshoe, the father _______.

   A. felt very happy   B. didn't say anything  C. beat the son     D. became a little angry

4. The father dropped the cherries one by one, because _______.

   A. he wanted his son to eat them all         B. he wanted his son to do more exercise

   C. lie wanted to teach his son a lesson       D. he wanted his son to pick them up

5.From the story, we can learn that _______.

   A. cherries are so delicious that most of us like to eat them

   B. a horseshoe is so expensive that it can bring us a lot of money

   C. if the boy wants to eat cherries, he must pick up the horseshoe

   D. if we want to do some great things, we should start with some small ones

 

Nowadays(如今) everyone has a practical goal for life. Do you have one? What’s it? Do you want to become a writer, singer or just become a rich person?

 A recent survey shows that in modern society, most people pick up practical goals, such as “earning money to buy a house and a car” , “to improve one’s life quality, “finding a good job”.

 Wang You worked in a small firm (商行) in Nanjing. The job was good and he didn’t have to work for extra hours. However he felt the work was not exciting at all and the life was boring. ① So he          ______   _______his job and went to Beijing in February, 2007. When he arrived in Beijing, he set his new goal as finding a good job.

 Nowadays more and more people want to live a better life. This fact shows that the society is making progress and people’s life goals have become more practical. One researcher says, “Everybody has his/her own life goal, which will be surely different from people to people. If one is poor, one’s life goal will be to earn more money; if one doesn’t have a diploma(文凭), studying hard to get a diploma will become his life goal; and if one doesn’t have love, his life goal will be to look for it. ②But if one has no life goal, he will idle away(虚度) his lifetime.”

1.回答下列问题：Why did Wang You go to Beijing though he had a good job in Nanjing?

 ____________________________________________________      

2.在①的空白处填入适当的单词使句意完整、上下文通顺：__________          

3.将②处翻译成汉语_________________________________________________________

4.找出文中与下列句子意思相近的句子：

He needn’t work in his spare time because of his good job.

________________________________________________________________________.

5.找出或写出文中最能表达短文主题的句子

    ___________________________________________________________________________

 

完型填空(10分)

A student and his teacher are walking past a field. They   1 an old pair of shoes. The shoes are the old man’s. He’s  2  on the other side of the field. The student says, “Let’s  3 the shoes away. It will be funny when he   4 find his shoes.” The teacher says, “Don’t play a  5  on others. It may be funny for you, but  6 will he do without shoes?” Then the teacher puts some  7   into the shoes and says,” Let’s go behind the tree.” A few minutes later, the old man comes to   8 his shoes. When he finds the money, he looks around. No one is there. He cries and  9  ,”Thank you very much for the money! My wife is ill and my children have nothing to   10  .”

1.                A．clean          B．sell            C．buy  D．see

 

2.                A．working        B．studying        C．playing   D．shopping

 

3.                A．bring          B．take           C．ask  D．put

 

4.                A．can            B．can’t          C．must D．mustn’t

 

5.                A．trick           B．game           C．ball  D．way

 

6.                A．when          B．where          C．what D．why

 

7.                A．eggs           B．apples          C．money   D．toys

 

8.                A．look after       B．put on          C．look at   D．wait for

 

9.                A．tells           B．says            C．talks D．speaks

 

10.               A．buy           B．learn          C．enjoy D．eat