After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me. I was told it would mean a great deal to him, so I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five, and then they were told he would not make it to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal power lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weights with me. When we had finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out the first gold medal I had won and put it around his neck. I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, “You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you.”
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before:
Dear Dick,
My mum said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don’t have long to live any more, but I still smile as much as I can.
I told you someday that I would go to the Olympics and win a gold medal, but I know now I will never get to do that. However, I know I’m a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.
Your friend,
Matthew
【小题1】The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that_______.

A．the boy never complained about how unlucky he was to have this disease

B．the boy never complained about not being able to go to school

C．the boy never complained why the author had never come to see him before

D．the boy never complained about not gettig a medal

【小题2】From the passage we learn that ________.

A．Matthew was an athlete

B．Matthew was an optimistic and determined boy

C．The author used to have the same disease as Matthew had

D．Matthew became a champion before he died

【小题3】Matthew didn’t accepted the author’s medal because           .

A．he thought it was too expensive

B．he was sure that he could win one in the future

C．he thought it was of no use to him as he would die soon

D．he would not be pitied by others

【小题4】 What would be the best title for this passage?

A．A sick boy.	B．A special friend.
C．A real champion.	D．A famous athlete.

I went to the Chinatown market in London last Sunday. The first thing I did was to go to one of the Chinese green grocers’ shops. As soon as I entered the shop, I smelt mixtures of Chinese spices and saw the new season’s fruits. My son wanted a bag of sweets, so we popped into the shop next door which sells many kinds of candy.
There’s a lot of noise in the Chinatown market and you will see many tourists too. There are a lot of cars and trucks that never stop beeping. While people are loading and unloading their goods, most of them have their cars and trucks parked in the middle of the road. This causes great inconvenience for other drivers. Can you imagine that?
After we had done all our shopping, my son and I went to a restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed our meal very much. But the shopping made us both very tired at the end. We headed down the road to catch our bus home. My son and I enjoyed riding in the bus. We also enjoyed looking at different buildings and people walking by dressed in fancy outfits. Although Chinatown can be a busy place to shop, I do enjoy going there now and then. I can buy some of my necessities, and I can also look and browse around the other shops and department stores where I can indulge (使沉迷) myself with some nice things. Chinatown is located in the heart of central London where you can find tons of shops and other places to amuse you. And for me, I certainly don’t mind going back there again soon.
【小题1】The underlined words “popped into” most probably could be replaced by “_____”.

A．broke into

B．rushed into

C．pushed into

D．walked into

【小题2】 The author probably didn’t go to a ______.

A．restaurant	B．grocery
C．clothing store	D．sweets shop

【小题3】What can we learn from the passage?

【小题4】From the passage, we can infer that the author most probably went to Chinatown by­­_____

【小题5】What does the last sentence of the passage imply?

Try and see inside your mind a wide open blue sky and a wide green sea far away. Breathe in as you circle your hands high above your head, then bend back a little. Breathe out as you circle your arms back down to your sides..."
Following the yoga teacher's gentle instructions, Bai Yunuo,15, from the High School attached to Beijing Normal University tried to get each of her poses correct.
Bai's school offered 24 elective courses (选修课) for Senor 1 students this term and she chose two. It was her first yoga class.
"I'm happy that I can learn yoga at school. I love dancing but I had some injuries on my knees when I was a kid. So I decide to try something soft. Simply stretching into different poses makes me feel free and quiet. And the music is quite comforting. The class is relaxing after a whole day's work," Bai said.
Liu Zehao,15, found his interest was Junior Achievement (企业经营模拟). The course brought students into the real world of business. In their first class, Liu and his group members named their company "Vision". Liu was elected as CEO of the company.
"Here we learn to think like an adult. We have to make our company get more money. It's new and different from other courses," he said.
Liu and Bai take their elective courses twice a week with students from other classes who share the same interest. The students will get two credits (学分) from each course at the end of this term. They have to achieve eight credit points from electives to graduate from high school.
If you are interested in more about elective courses, please CLICK HERE to register for general elective courses.
【小题1】 What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Skills for imagination.	B．Learning tips.
C．Instruction for yoga students.	D．Breathing rules.

【小题2】What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Bai does not like dancing.	B．Yoga is softer than dancing.
C．Students study hard for credits.	D．The elective courses are easy.

【小题3】 Which of the sentence is NOT true about Liu Zehao?

A．He was interested in Junior Achievement which brought him the real world of business.

B．He was elected as CEO of the company named "Vision".

C．He was an adult and he tried to make more money for his company.

D．He took their Junior Achievement twice a week.

【小题4】Where can you possibly find this passage?

A．A textbook

B．A newspaper

C．A magazine

D．The internet

Recently I gave my adult students homework. It was “go to someone you love and tell them you love them.” It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven’t shared those words with for a long time.
It sounds like very tough homework since most of the men were over 35 and were raised in the generation of men that were taught expressing emotions is not “macho (阳刚之气).” Showing feelings or crying was just not done. So this was very threatening homework for some.
At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them. I fully expected one of the women to volunteer, as was usually the case, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand, quite moved and a bit shaken.
As he unfolded out of his chair (all 1.85 meters of him), he began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this homework. Who were you to tell me to do something that personal?”
“But as I began driving home my conscience (良心)started telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you’ to.”
“Five years ago, my father and I had a severe disagreement and really never settled it since then. We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings. But even then, we hardly spoke to each other.”
“So last Tuesday by the time I got home I had convinced myself. I was going to tell my father I loved him. It’s strange, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest.”
【小题1】 The homework is threatening for some students because_________.

A．they are middle-aged people	B．they are not macho enough
C．they were taught to hide their emotions	D．they didn’t know how to show feelings

【小题2】 From the passage we know that_________.

A．the adult students have classes in the day time only

B．not all the adult students in the writer’s class are male

C．the man refused to meet his father after their quarrel

D．the man quickly decided to say “I love you” to his father

【小题3】 The underlined phrase “unfolded out of his chair” in Para 4 is closest in meaning to_________.

A．stood on his chair straight	B．sat quietly in the chair
C．bent himself over his chair	D．raised himself slowly from the chair

【小题4】 What does the man imply by saying the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?

A．He felt it too strange to say “I love you” to his father.

B．He felt relaxed just thinking of saying “I love you” to his father.

C．He felt very relaxed after saying “I love you” to his father.

D．He had to lift a heavy load off his chest before saying “I love you”.

Humans are naturally drawn to other life forms and the worlds outside of our own. We take delight in the existence of creatures and even whole societies beyond our everyday lives.
This sense of wonder is universal. Look at the efforts that scientists have made to find out whether life of some kind exists on Mars, and the popularity of fantasy(幻想) literature or movies like The Lord of the Rings. This sense of wonder draws us to each other, to the world around us, and to the world of make-believe(虚假). But have we gone so far in creating worlds of fantasy that we are missing the pleasure of other worlds that already exist all around us?
Human beings, as biologists have suggested, possess an inborn desire to connect with and understand other life forms. However, people, especially in big cities, often lead rather isolated(隔离的) lives. In a study of British schoolchildren, it was found that children by age eight were much more familiar with characters from television shows and video games than with common wildlife. Without modern technology, a small pond could be an amazing world filled with strange and beautiful plants, insects, birds, and animals. When we lack meaningful interaction(交互) with the world around us, and sometimes even with our families and friends, we seek to understand and communicate with things that exist only in our imaginations or on a computer screen。
The world of make-believe is not necessarily bad. But when the world of fantasy becomes the only outlet(出路) for our sense of wonder, then we are really missing something. We are missing a connection with the living world. Other wonderful worlds exist all around us. But even more interesting is that if we look closely enough, we can see that these worlds, in a broad sense, are really part of our own.
【小题1】The popularity of The Lord of the Rings proves       .

A．the close connection between man and the fantasy world

B．the wonderful achievements of fantasy literature

C．the general existence of the sense of curiosity

D．the fine taste of moviegoers around the world

【小题2】What can we infer from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3?

A．The world around us could serve as a source of wonder.

B．People are far less familiar with the world of fantasy.

C．The world of fantasy can be mirrored by a small and lively pond.

D．Modern technology prevents us from developing our sense of wonder.

【小题3】If our sense of wonder relies totally on the world of make-believe, we will       

A．be confused by the world of make-believe

B．fail to appreciate the joy in our lives

C．miss the chance to recognize the fantasy world

D．be trapped by other worlds existing all around us

【小题4】What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To show us the hidden beauty in our world.

B．To discuss the influence of the world of make-believe.

C．To argue against the misuse of the sense of wonder.

D．To warn us not to get lost in the fantasy world.