When I was twelve years old, my family were the first black people to move into an all white part of Grand Rapids, Michigan． Many of our new neighbors weren’t very welcoming．Some of them said angrily that we should return to where we came from．The children sometimes threw stones at me or drove me home from school．

Most of my teachers simply took no notice of me, but not Dorothy Bean, my history teacher．Miss Bean was angry at how badly I was being treated, but she didn’t say this to me．Miss Bean showed her respect for me by teaching me just like anyone else．Instead of being unnoticed, I was given a chance to show that I was clever．Miss Bean was the first teacher who ever made me think for myself．She always wanted to know what I thought about difficult questions．Was Thomas Jefferson right to buy Louisiana from France? Why? She expected me to have my own idea．Miss Bean was teaching me that thinking for oneself was the real key to education．

One day, when I was not paying attention in class, Miss Bean suddenly threw an eraser at me．The eraser hit me right on the hand and sent my pencil flying．The whole class were very surprised at first, then started laughing．This event became famous in the school and, because it happened to me, the students wanted to get to know me．So that’s the story of how Dorothy Bean made me her target（靶子）, and how I became just another kid in school．

1． The author and his family were not welcomed by the local people because ________．

A． they returned from another country            B． they had different skin colour

C． they spoke a different language                   D． they moved to a wrong place

2． From the end of the first paragraph we know that ________．

A． children are more friendly to strangers

B． American schools are not safe for kids

C． children often follow their parents’ behavior

D． fighting each other is part of children’s nature

3． At school most of his teachers ______ the author．

A． were cold to    B． didn’t notice     C． threw things at   D． got angry with

4． Miss Bean respected the author by ________．

A． giving him chances to answer questions      B． hitting him with a eraser

C． giving him extra lessons                             D． treating him as one of her students

5． To Miss Bean the most important thing for a student is to ________．

A． pay close attention to what the teacher says

B． learn to think and have one’s own idea

C． keep silent and unnoticed in class

D． get special attention from the teacher

　　One day a rich man 1 Hardy. The rich man asked, “I hear that you are very clever and 2 is difficult to you. Can you tell me why you are so clever?” Hardy answered 3 a smile, “Oh, I am not so clever. If you think that I am clever, you are a 4 then. “ The rich man became very angry with the words. Seeing this, Mr Hardy said, “Sir, please don't be 5 . If you don't believe what I 6 , now let me ask you a 7 . If you have a group of 8 , I send you another group. Then, how many groups of sheep do you have?” “What? That's the 9 question in the world. One and one is two. Anyone knows that I have two groups.” Hardy laughed and said, “You are 10 , Sir. Two groups of sheep put together is still one group. That is the easiest question in the world.”

先阅读短文，然后从文中每小题的四个选项中选出一个可以填入短文中相应空白处的最佳答案。

I did very badly at school. My headmaster thought I was useless and when I was 14, he said, “You’re never going to be    (1)  but a failure(失败者).

After five years of poor jobs, I fell    (2)  with a very nice girl. But her mother said to me, “You’ve    (3)  in everything you’ve ever done. You can’t give any happiness to my daughter!” It was the frustrating thing that could have changed me later. I decided to do something    (4)  about my life, because I wanted to show her that what people said about me was    (5) .

So I tried hard with my writing and went to college. My first book came out while I was at college. After college I    (6)  during the day in high schools and went to evening classes at college. Later, I gave up that job to write full time. At the same time, I was offered a part­-time job as a    (7)     at Leeds University. I began to feel    (8)  of myself –here was once a poor boy who’d left school early, now teaching at the university. My writing career(生涯)   (9)  when I discovered my own style.

Now I’m rich and    (10)  , have been on TV, and met lots of film stars. But what does that mean? I just wish all the people who have put me down had said: “I believe in you. You’ll succeed.”