A Lesson from the Elder

Grandfather was an elder Cherokee Native American who had a wrinkled, nut brown face and kind dark eyes. His grandson often came in the evening to sit on his knee and asked the many questions that children would ask.

One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face and the following story. “Father and I went to the store today and because I helped him, he bought me a present---a jack-knife. I went outside to wait for father and to admire my new knife in the sunlight. Some town boys came by and saw me. They surrounded me and started saying bad things. They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife. The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys. I dropped my knife and one of them picked it up and they all ran away laughing. I hate them. I hate them all."

The elder Cherokee, with eyes that had seen too much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boy's face. Grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like drinking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if two wolves are inside me.... It is a terrible fight.

One wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. It will only fight when it is right to do so and in the right way. This wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, truth, and faith.

The other wolf is full of anger. The least thing will set off his fiercest temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so much. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. This wolf represents fear, envy, greed, self-pity, guilt, lies, false pride and superiority.

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me for both of them try to control my spirit. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too.”

The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied.... "The one you feed."

1.The boy was angry because __________.

A. he was not satisfied with his present

his back was badly injured in a fight

he had waited for his father for too long

his jack-knife had been taken away by some boys

2.How does the good wolf do things in the story?

A. He never fights against others.

B. He tries to get on well with others.

C. It is hard for him to live with other wolves.

D. Sometimes he had a terrible fight because some one hit him.

3.We can learn from the third paragraph that _________.

A.  “hate” is healthy

B.  “hate” hurts oneself

C.  “hate” is complicated

D.  “hate” harms one’s enemies

4.What did Grandfather mean by saying "The one you feed" in the last paragraph?

A. We should feed the two wolves equally.

B. Living in harmony with others is important.

C. Our feelings should be expressed at the right time.

D. The choices we make determine who we will become.

A boy carefully took his blind father to a seat in a noodle restaurant.

He called   1   for two bowls of beef noodles. When the restaurant owner was going to   2   the food, the boy suddenly whispered to him,“Only one bowl with   3  , the other without ---just plain noodles.”

In fact, the boy had a light purse and couldn’t afford   4  bowls of beef noodles. He called loudly just to let his   5  know.

When the noodles were sent to them, the father wasn’t in a hurry. He used his chopsticks to search in his bowls, trying to   6   a piece of beef. As soon as he succeeded in finding one, he picked it out   7  put it into his son’s bowl, saying kindly, “Eat some more. Have enough   8  so that you can study well.”

The boy accepted silently(默默地) and then quietly put the beef   9  to his father’s bowl.

When the restaurant owner saw this, he was   10 , then he asked a waiter to bring   11  some dishes from the kitchen. The boy thought   12  the waiter took the dishes to a wrong table, but the owner came up explaining with a smile, “Today is my restaurant’s anniversary(周年庆). The dishes are  13 .”

After the father and son left, the waiter   14  the bowls from the table and found some coins 15  one of them. The sum is just the price of the dishes.

1.                A．quickly         B．slowly          C．loudly    D．quietly

2.                A．ask            B．prepare        C．eat  D．heat

3.                A．pork           B．chicken         C．beef D．fish

4.                A．five            B．two            C．three D．four

5.                A．mother         B．father          C．friend    D．waiter

6.                A．look           B．listen           C．find  D．see

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

8.                A．money         B．book           C．food D．work

9.                A．back           B．up             C．down D．off

10.               A．angry          B．afraid          C．moved    D．nervous

11.               A．us             B．him            C．her   D．them

12.               A．who           B．that           C．where D．how

13.               A．free           B．cheap          C．expensive D．best

14.               A．found          B．cleaned        C．finished   D．came

15.               A．out            B．in             C．on   D．under

A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain(鄙视).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments(评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended(假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?”
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life…”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach

1. 1.

   What’s the correct order of the following events?
   a. The crow showed off its flying skills.
   b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
   c. The crow laughed at the swan’s flying.
   d. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
   e. The crow challenged the swans and a strong young swan accepted it

   1. A.
      e, c, d, a, b
   2. B.
      a, e, c, d, b
   3. C.
      c, e, a, d, b
   4. D.
      e, a, d, c, b
2. 2.

   What does the underlined word “exhausted” in Paragraph 4 mean?

   1. A.
      Tired
   2. B.
      Angry
   3. C.
      Frightened
   4. D.
      Regretful
3. 3.

   Why did the crow keep touching the water?

   1. A.
      It was showing another flying skill
   2. B.
      It was struggling to keep itself from falling into the water
   3. C.
      It was thirsty and wanted to drink some water
   4. D.
      It was enjoying itself by doing so
4. 4.

   What can we infer(推断) from the passage?

   1. A.
      The crow didn’t know flying
   2. B.
      Flying skills were useless
   3. C.
      The swan saved the crow because they were good friends
   4. D.
      The swan was better at long-distance flying than the crow
5. 5.

   What does the story tell us?

   1. A.
      No pains, no gains
   2. B.
      The early bird catches the worm
   3. C.
      Pride goes before a fall
   4. D.
      Practice makes perfect